"Bah! Don't feed me that nonsense!" Yu Chengli spat in disgust in front of everyone.
Then, gritting his teeth, he addressed Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan and the others, "I don't care who you are. If you stand in the way of my grand ambitions, you all shall die."
With that, Yu Chengli whistled through his lips. Another group of men in black, hidden outside the courtyard, immediately revealed themselves, swiftly surrounding the old man's humble abode.
"Yu Chengli, for raising you these many years, I beg you, let them go. They are outsiders and will not interfere with whatever you intend to do," the old man pleaded.
"Hah! They must die tonight! Otherwise, it will be Yu Chengli who suffers misfortune later," Yu Chengli said with a contorted face, his eyes glinting with a mad, palpable killing intent.
Afterwards, he narrowed his icy gaze and swept it over the group of men in black outside the courtyard, roaring, "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and kill these people!"
As his words fell, the assassins who had surrounded the courtyard quickly scaled the bamboo fence and entered, filling the old man's entire yard with an aura of slaughter.
Moreover, the combat prowess of these assassins seemed many times stronger than the previous group.
Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan, watching these killers approach them, immediately heightened their vigilance. The men swiftly gripped their sword hilts, preparing for battle, while Leng Ruoli, drawing a miniature handgun from her sleeve, also made ready to fight at any moment.
In an instant, the assassins drew their long swords and charged at them. Yin Chen and the others immediately met them.
Jun Mohan channeled his inner energy, leaping into the air. Mid-flight, he gripped his soft sword and spun it, its tip creating a dazzling array of multicolored light, like twinkling stars falling from the sky. The cold gleam of the soft sword instantly extinguished the enemies' killing intent, and over a dozen men in black fell dead.
Following that, Jun Mohan brandished his long sword again. The blinding sword light surged upwards, like an aggressive, coiled dragon, cleaving from the heavens to connect with the earth.
Meanwhile, Leng Ruoli, holding her handgun, fired a shot at each of the men in black, quickly dispatching several. However, this also alerted the assassins to her presence, making it much harder for her to hit them later.
Thus, Leng Ruoli directly returned the handgun to her system space and, in its place, flung out a silver needle coated with potent poison towards the men in black.
As a result, anyone struck by Leng Ruoli's poisoned needles foamed at the mouth, convulsed, and fell to the ground dead.
Leng Ruoli's poisoned needles also eliminated quite a few enemies.
On this side, Yin Chen and Chu Mingxuan, along with the other two, were also vigorously battling the assassins. Swords rose and fell, and not a single expression could be seen on their faces. Although the combat strength of these assassins was many times greater than the previous group, their martial arts were still significantly inferior compared to Yin Chen and the others.
Soon, these men in black found themselves on the defensive.
At this moment, Yu Chengli watched the unfolding battle scene before him with a look of desperation, his attention inadvertently diverted.
Then, Leng Ruoli stealthily withdrew from the melee, using the cover of the dark night to hide in a corner. She immediately retrieved a sniper rifle from her system space, aimed it at Yu Chengli, and fired. The shot struck Yu Chengli precisely in the head. The dagger in his hand instantly dropped to the ground, and before he even knew what had happened, he fell dead.
Upon seeing Yu Chengli killed, the assassins frantically retreated from the battlefield. Without even a second glance at Yu Chengli's corpse, they scattered and fled.
The old man, looking at the corpse lying beside him, felt tears well up instantly. Despite Yu Chengli never having shown consideration for their master-disciple bond or the kindness of his upbringing,
Yu Chengli was, after all, a child the old man had raised since he was young, and the old man had always treated him like his own flesh and blood. Yu Chengli's sudden demise left the old man with immense grief.
Immediately, the old man knelt and embraced Yu Chengli, crying out loud and bitterly.
At this moment, the old woman inside the house, struggling to get up from the bed, stumbled to the old man's side. Seeing Yu Chengli, who was already devoid of life, she too instantly collapsed into tears. That night, the elderly couple wept with profound sorrow.
After their tears subsided, the old couple began to reflect. Yu Chengli's fate today was not entirely unrelated to them. Perhaps their overly strict demands on Yu Chengli had caused him to stray.
Later, after Leng Ruoli and the others heard the old man's detailed account, they learned that Yu Chengli had been an orphan since childhood. Before he was even five years old, the old man had found him and raised him, naming him Yu Chengli, hoping he would become an upright and good man.
Therefore, the old man taught him the art of carving under the guise of a master-disciple relationship, intending to pass on all his skills to him. However, Yu Chengli failed to appreciate the old man's good intentions. Impatient for success and ignoring the old man's advice, he secretly learned bad habits outside. This eventually led to a falling out with the old man and nearly drove the old couple to their deaths.
"Young lady, young master, thank you for saving our lives again tonight. But with what has happened in our home now, it's inconvenient for you to stay here overnight. You should leave as soon as possible."
After regaining his composure, the old man politely asked Leng Ruoli, Jun Mohan, and the others to leave.
Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan could understand the old man's current state of mind and did not blame him. The group quickly helped the old man clear the corpses from the courtyard and prepared to depart from his home.
However, just as Leng Ruoli stepped out of the main gate of the old man's courtyard, she suddenly remembered something. She returned to the house to find the old man, leaving Jun Mohan and the other five bewildered.
The old man, seeing the young lady returning, was slightly taken aback.
"Young lady, is there something else you need?"
"Yes, old grandpa, there is one more thing I need to ask you."
"Tell me, as long as old man [I] can help, I will help you," the old man replied readily.
"It's just that I have a very special stone in my hand that I'd like you to examine."
"Then take it out and let me see. I won't boast about anything else, but when it comes to identifying stones, I know its nature with just one glance." The old man's interest was piqued as soon as stones were mentioned.
Subsequently, Leng Ruoli immediately took out the white pebble she had hidden in her system space.