Inside Sword Village, Yong Taihua and Yong Gui had spent the entire morning welcoming the continuous stream of guests. When the last honorable person was finally seated, Yong Taihua wiped the sweat from his forehead, utterly exhausted. He looked at his father. "Father, I didn't know a wedding was so troublesome. I never want to get married again."
Yong Gui laughed heartily. "Dandan is a good guniang. If you marry again, you are on your own!"
Yong Taihua sighed. "Father, go and rest. I can continue to wait for other guests."
"Alright," Yong Gui agreed.
Just as he turned, they saw a red flare suddenly shoot high into the sky.
Yong Taihua's eyes snapped to the signal. "That's a distress signal! It came from Mu Village!"
Martial artists familiar with the Sword Village signals immediately rushed toward the gate.
Li Kongbai called out. "What's the matter?"
Yong Taihua, interpreting the location, dismissed it as a minor annoyance. "It must be some idiot trying to dig Shizun's grave."
Cao Wenyan, however, took the threat personally. "Who dares to touch Mu Gongzi's grave? I will kill that person!" He rushed out instantly, followed quickly by Red Mice.
The rest of the gathered martial artists followed Yong Gui and Yong Taihua out of the village and raced toward Mu Village.
Rushing toward the red signal, the brother and sister, Kuo Lok and Kuo Wenqian, sprinted toward Mu Village. As they approached the Mu border stone, they were stopped dead by a grotesque sight: Liu Hung's severed head was placed directly in the middle of the road.
Kuo Wenqian screamed, a raw sound of sheer horror. "No…!" She collapsed to the ground, utterly unable to take another step toward the gruesome scene.
Kuo Lok was equally shocked, seeing his own brother-in-law's head staring straight at him. "Jie…" He quickly spotted Liu Hung's body a few yards away. He walked forward, sparing his elder sister the task of confronting her husband's head. Kuo Lok carefully picked up Liu Hung's head, walked to the corpse, took out his belt, and began the solemn, grim task of reattaching the head to the body.
Not far behind, Bazar Batu and the injured Yong Caixia finally caught up. They saw Kuo Wenqian sitting on the ground, sobbing and screaming uncontrollably.
Bazar Batu called out in alarm, "Wenqian Jiejie, what's wrong!"
Bazar Batu and Yong Caixia rushed forward. Looking closer, they saw Liu Hung lying in a pool of blood and Kuo Lok's hands covered in crimson. Yong Caixia stayed by Kuo Wenqian, trying to offer comfort, while Bazar Batu rushed to Kuo Lok.
Bazar Batu whispered, appalled, "What happened?"
Kuo Lok shook his head, his face pale. "We don't know. Jiefu had already been killed when we arrived."
Bazar Batu looked around frantically. "Dandan? Where is she?"
"I don't know," Kuo Lok replied.
Bazar Batu shouted her name in vain. "Dandan!" He looked at Liu Hung's corpse, a sick realization settling in. "Who would kill someone like jiefu, who isn't even a member of the martial arts circle?" He held tightly onto Kuo Lok's left arm. "Lok gege, you have to be my witness."
Kuo Lok tried to reassure him. "In addition to me, you have two other witnesses. No one will doubt you this time."
Bazar Batu frowned, skeptical. "I hope that's true." He sighed, looking at the bloody road. "Trouble is coming."
Coming from the other side of the road, the large contingent from Sword Village arrived: Yong Taihua, Yong Gui, and many other sector and clan martial artists. Yong Caixia, recognizing her father, immediately ran to Yong Gui.
Yan Zhanjin rushed forward and threw his arms around Bazar Batu, a wide smile on his face. "Batu, you're really here!" He picked Bazar Batu off the ground.
Bazar Batu grunted, struggling to breathe. "Let me down… Zhanjin, let me down! I can't breathe!"
Yan Zhanjin, oblivious in his excitement, only squeezed tighter. "Dandan will be very happy to see you!"
"You let me down first!" Yan Zhanjin finally released him. Bazar Batu scowled. "What's wrong with you?"
Yan Zhanjin shrugged, feigning casualness. "It's nothing, I just missed you a little bit too much."
Yong Gui saw the blood dripping from Yong Caixia's injured arm. "What happened?" he asked, his voice sharp with concern.
Yong Caixia explained, her expression serious. "We were attacked by a man and a woman. I believe that woman is the same one we encountered with the Seventy-Two Islands pirates who drowned our ship in Jiangnan."
Yong Taihua pressed her. "Are you sure?"
Yong Caixia nodded. "I'm pretty sure she is the same woman, even though that night was dark and I didn't see her face clearly, but I recognized her voice."
Monk Ling looked at the body. "Liu Gongzi... he?"
Bazar Batu answered grimly. "He is dead." When the people stared at him, he quickly defended himself. "It's not me. Besides Lok gege, I have other witnesses!"
Wang Biming, ever the provocateur, sneered. "Xiao Didi, it seems that every time you are in Sword Village, someone is dead."
Bazar Batu snapped back. "Wang Gongzi, the same goes for you! Wasn't it you that killed that old monk and blamed me?"
Yong Taihua, tired of the arguing, clarified the past incident. "It's his father."
Bazar Batu muttered under his breath, audible enough for a few to hear. "You guys are so easily forgiving people."
Yong Taihua refocused on the immediate crisis. "Caixia, where is Dandan?"
Yong Caixia turned Kuo Lok. "Lok Ge, where is Dandan?"
Kuo Lok shook his head, his face somber. "We don't know. We only found jiefu."
As they were looking around to see which way Chen Dandan had gone, a woman's groggy scream calling from Mu Village immediately drew the eyes of the gathered martial artists up the single dirt path heading to the ruins.
Yong Taihua shouted, "Dandan!" and rushed up the path instantly.
Yong Gui yelled after him, "Taihua!" The rest of the martial artists hurriedly followed the Sword Village leader.
Bazar Batu grabbed Kuo Lok's hand. "Lok Gege, let's go!"
Kuo Lok hesitated. "But Jiejie."
Kuo Wenqian stood up and walked toward him. "Go… go save her."
"Are you going to be okay?"
Kuo Wenqian confirmed, "Yes."
Yong Caixia stepped up. "Don't worry, I will stay with her."
Kuo Lok and Bazar Batu disappeared up the hill toward Mu Village. Yong Caixia looked at the remaining juniors. "Go get a stretcher and carry Liu jiefu back to Sword Village."
As soon as the group arrived at Mu Village, Li Kongbai spoke up. "It seems there is a grunting sound coming from the house over there." He pointed to his left.
The crowd rushed toward the third house. Yong Taihua angrily kicked the door open and stopped dead, seeing Ma Jingguo slam his palm onto Chen Dandan's abdomen.
Yong Taihua roared, his teeth gritted. "Ma Jingguo!"
Yan Zhanjin pushed everyone aside and rushed to Chen Dandan. He held her hand, noting it was still warm, but when he checked her pulse, there was none. Yan Zhanjin's lips trembled, and tears began to fall. He screamed, "Dandan… Dandan…" He looked at Ma Jingguo with pure, blazing hatred. "Why?!"
Ma Jingguo tried to defend himself. "It's not me—"
Yan Zhanjin shoved him away from the body. "Why?! Ma Jingguo, let her go!" He shoved Ma Jingguo harder, then pulled Chen Dandan's body into his arms. "Dandan..."
Nun Chingmei spoke; her voice laced with condemnation. "Ma Jingguo, you said you want to eliminate all those who stand in your way. I didn't expect you would hurt an unarmed woman and man!"
A Sword Village disciple rushed up to Yong Gui. "Chief Yong, bad news!"
Yong Gui, already reeling from the scene, snapped. "What could be worse than this?!"
The disciple gasped out the reply. "There are two coffins sent to Sword Village as wedding gifts!"
The news broke Yong Taihua's control. He sprinted forward and punched Ma Jingguo, roaring, "Ma Jingguo, I'm going to kill you!"
Ma Jingguo reacted instantly, intercepting Yong Taihua's incoming fist and slamming his own strike into Yong Taihua's abdomen. Before anyone could react, Ma Jingguo had seized Yong Taihua by the throat.
Yong Taihua snorted, defiant even as he choked. "Kill me! When I see Shizun in the underworld, I'll tell him how blindly he was to like someone like you!" He spat directly at Ma Jingguo's face.
Ma Jingguo's eyes flashed with rage. "Yong Taihua! Don't think because you are Xiao Shushu's disciple, I dare not kill you!"
Yong Taihua challenged him, his voice strained. "Then kill me!"
Ma Jingguo glanced down at Chen Dandan's body. She had spent her final breath begging him to spare Yong Taihua. With a frustrated growl, Ma Jingguo released his grip and hurled Yong Taihua backward into the crowd of martial artists. He then raised his eyes, spotting a familiar, infuriating face: Fu Yuanjun, who was watching the scene with a smirk. Ma Jingguo roared his name: "Fu Yuanjun!" and rushed forward.
Nun Chingmei immediately struck Ma Jingguo's arm with her horsewhip, protecting Fu Yuanjun. She yelled, "Demon Ma, how dare you try to hurt Chief Fu?"
The martial artists around the room erupted in shouts of condemnation:
"He is the leader of a demon sect!"
"Sunset Sect is a demon sect, and their members are evil!"
"A bad man, everyone has the right to kill!"
"Kill Demon Ma!"
The martial artists lunged in at once. Nun Chingmei hurriedly used her internal energy to strike Ma Jingguo, sending him soaring up through the broken roof. At the same moment, Kuo Jinsong flew from a distance, his powerful Dragon Palm strike slamming directly into Ma Jingguo's chest. The force sent Ma Jingguo flying backward onto an adjacent roof. He stood there, staggered and breathing hard, staring down the formidable figure of Kuo Jinsong.
Kuo Jinsong stood on the adjacent roof, his eyes blazing with fury as he stared down Ma Jingguo. "Ma Jingguo, you killed my son-in-law and my disciple! From this day forward, you are no longer a disciple of Jinfeng Sect. Now, give up your life!"
Kuo Lok was about to fly to the roof to aid his father, but Bazar Batu grabbed his hand, pleading, "Lok Gege, no!" He shook his head desperately.
Kuo Lok gently pulled his hand away. "I'm sorry, Batu, not this time." He flew up quickly and stood beside Kuo Jinsong.
From the ground, Kuo Wenqian screamed through her tears, "Ma Jingguo, give me back my husband's life!"
Ma Jingguo was genuinely stunned. "Liu jiefu is dead? How?"
Fu Yuanjun muttered softly, though loud enough for the surrounding martial artists to hear, "What an act."
The martial artists instantly seized on the comment.
Wu Jianping shouted, "Demon Ma, who are you trying to fool? You killed Liu Gongzi and then Chen Guniang?"
"There is no doubt that he killed them!"
"That evil man! Killing Gu Gongzi is not enough. Now he killed Liu Gongzi, and also Chen Guniang!"
"How many lives will he take before he is satisfied?"
Kuo Jinsong looked at Ma Jingguo, his voice shaking with finality. "Kill yourself, or I will do it."
Ma Jingguo smirked, defiant in the face of the overwhelming accusation. "I haven't killed anyone. I don't admit to it." He looked directly at the father and son. "If you want my life… you father and son must do better than staring at me."
Suddenly, Gu Tingfang, Cao Wenyan, Rao Zhengsheng, and Wang Biming jumped onto the roof, quickly surrounding Ma Jingguo.
Gu Tingfang sneered. "Demon Ma, you alone will never defeat our combined strengths."
Ma Jingguo slowly took out his metal gloves and began to pull them on, his eyes hard and cold. He stared at the six powerful martial artists. "If you want my life, come and claim it."