Wu Zhixian cracked his whip and bellowed, “Stop acting like corpses — hurry and put out the fire!”

Wu Zhixian’s horse raised its hooves, preparing to gallop forward. But at the same time, Zhou Shirong, who had just landed back on his horse, suddenly reached out and held onto Wu Zhixian’s reigns.

When Zhou Shirong made his move, Wu Zhixian’s horse was already in mid-air, beginning its gallop. But the moment Zhou Shirong grabbed the reigns with his pale, soft-looking hands, the galloping horse was stopped in its tracks, and was now held firmly back in place no matter how it tried to struggle.

Such a display of strength immediately stunned the crowd. Wu Zhixian himself became as pale as a sheet.

“The flames have spread too much. Even if the fire is put out, only ruins would remain. We might as well let it burn down completely!”

Zhou Shirong’s voice was cold and cut like a sharp knife. “Ma Zhao, go, find all the ants within five miles of the area and get rid of them!”

“Yes, sir!”

Wu Zhixian gasped in shock.

In his mind, he thought, Even though we can see countless figures running in and out of the fires from this far away, how could you possibly tell who is stealing your Zhou family’s fortunes and who is trying to put out the fire? How could you command your men to kill them all? This is MY county!

Zhou Shirong turned to Wu Zhixian with a cold stare, “Such a disaster has befallen my family and all these people failed to help. After committing such a grave crime, should they not all be killed?” As he spoke, his killing intent was evident on his face. His earlier gentle demeanour was all but gone.

Wu Zhixian’s mind raced. Zhou Daogan is no longer who he was before, and he is now of a much revered status as one of the four hall masters of Lingxiao Hall. Zhou Shirong may look like a gentleman, but he is actually a haughty young man. If I try to stop him, he might still insist on his way. Not only might I fail to help anyone, I might even offend Zhou Daogan. This is not worth it, no matter how I look at it.

With his calculations done, Wu Zhixian replied in a serious tone, “Of course they should be killed! Constable Zhao, get your men and assist Mister Ma. Surround them and leave no man alive within five miles of the place!”

Immediately, hooves shook the ground and swords were drawn. A mere troupe of a dozen riders, seemed as though they had the ferocity of a thousand men as they rushed forward.

As the riders left, Wu Zhixian suddenly remembered something. He frowned as he stated, “Brother, with such a large fire, this is likely no accident. I’m afraid your uncle and his family…”

As an experienced local official, he had handled many cases of families being wiped out, no less than a dozen in total. For a clan like the Zhou’s to have all their lands reduced to ash could definitely not be the result of an accidental fire.

And as it is commonly said, killing comes before arson.

Zhou Shirong replied expressionlessly, “Life and death is destined, and fortune and disaster is decided by the heavens. My uncle has already lived past fifty, so his life was not short. For most of his life, he has eaten well and has held a position higher than most. With such an enviable life, what is there to mourn in his passing? As for that cousin of mine, unsuccessful as a scholar and weak as a martial artist, even if he had survived, he would simply be a parasite. He not only failed to bring any glory to the family, but he also needed the help of the family to clean up his mess time and again. We would be better off without such scum!”

Wu Zhixian’s face was full of horror. Even if he racked his brains, he would have never thought that Zhou Shirong would be capable of speaking such cold and unfeeling words. It sent him into stunned silence for a while.

“Curse them, how dare they!” Zhou Shirong mumbled to himself as he patted his saddle. As he spoke, his handsome face became contorted with rage.

Wu Zhixian marvelled at his reaction, thinking, If you care so little about your uncle’s family, why on earth would you be so angry?

As he pondered, he heard Zhou Shirong grit his teeth and say, “Within Guang’an, even a dog of the Zhou Family should be treated like a noble. How dare someone bare their claws at my Zhou family today! No matter who they are, they will suffer a world of pain!”

Wu Zhixian was speechless again.

From the road to the west, a man in a green shirt dashed over, kicking up a cloud of dust behind him. He was extremely quick and reached the two of them in a flash. With a stumble, he fell to the ground crying, “Mister, you’re finally here, the Old Master… Young Master… they… ahhh…”

Wu Zhixian had worried that this tragedy would become a case with no leads, then a servant of the Zhou family fled towards them. This would mean that they could at least gather some clues about the situation. His heart leapt as he jumped off his horse. He quickly went up and picked up the man in green. “Quickly, tell us! Who was the culprit? What happened here?”

“I am the culprit!”

Bang! The man in green suddenly burst out, brandishing his palm and striking Wu Zhixian right on the top of his head. With a crack, his skull caved in and blood spurted everywhere. Before he could utter a single cry, Wu Zhixian had died then and there.

Needless to say, the man in green was naturally Xu Yi.

After Xu Yi had stolen the two pure gold biscuits from Old Master Zhou’s study and set the fires, he was about to flee when he heard the thundering of hooves.

He climbed up an old tree and watched from above. In no time at all, a troupe of horsemen had arrived. And as he looked further, his eyes locked onto Zhou Shirong’s face.

Although he had never seen Zhou Shirong before, with a face that shared so many features with Young Master Zhou, he could easily guess which family Zhou Shirong belonged to.

Upon guessing Zhou Shirong’s identity, Xu Yi felt his blood rushing again. The Zhou family had only two branches: one was Old Master Zhou’s, and the other was Zhou Daogan’s.

Old Master Zhou had only one son, which meant that Zhou Shirong must be one of Zhou Daogan’s spawn.

Xu Yi hated the Zhou family, and if there were a root of that hatred, it would definitely be Zhou Daogan.

The Xu family’s deep hatred and their terrible fates could all be traced back to the acts of Zhou Daogan alone.

Xu Yi knew that with his current abilities, there was no way he could even beat one of Zhou Daogan’s fingers. But, even if he could not kill Zhou Daogan, he could still kill his son and have that old thief experience a taste of heart wrenching pain.

With his mind made up, Xu Yi climbed down the tree, found a quiet spot, and dug up some earth as a grave. He lit up three incense sticks and placed the heads of the two Zhou’s in front of the grave. He knelt to the ground and gave an offering to his ancestors, then got up again. With a kick, he sent the two heads flying back into the flames. He then avoided the incoming horsemen and went straight for Zhou Shirong.

Xu Yi had planned his move carefully, not daring to underestimate Zhou Shirong. The mere fact that this was Zhou Daogan’s son meant that he could not afford to do so. If he wanted to get the upper hand against Zhou Shirong, the best way was to use schemes and catch them while they were unaware.

Indeed, taking advantage of the fact that his identity was unknown, he successfully got up close. With a sudden explosive move, he killed Wu Zhixian with one hit, a man who was also at the peak of Body Forging.

Although the explanation took up many words, Xu Yi’s killing of Wu Zhixian happened in just a flash. Zhou Shirong was carefully trying to listen to the situation when he was taken by surprise.

After Xu Yi’s palm struck, his body moved like lightning, appearing in front of Zhou Shirong in a flash. His two iron fists struck out like lightning. They managed to touch Zhou Shirong’s white robes and were about to land a hit.

But Zhou Shirong had impressive skills. His body suddenly vanished, just like a spectre, with no trace at all.

This was a surprise to Xu Yi, and a chill ran down his spine. He knew well how fast his fists were. They were thrown with all his might. If he were in Zhou Shirong’s position, he would definitely not have been able to avoid them.

Xu Yi was panicking when he felt a wind whistling behind him. The strong force of qi made his whole body shudder, as though he were being pricked by needles.