Chapter 14: Encountering Change

"Fellow Daoist Bai Shi is one of us now. In the future, even if you lend him ten guts, he wouldn't dare lay a hand on you again." Han Li stood up, said with a smile, and cast a meaningful glance at Bai Shi Zhenren.

The old Daoist's body trembled violently, and he hurriedly nodded like a chick pecking at rice, his back already drenched in cold sweat.

Seeing this, Liu Le'er's expression finally relaxed.

"Let's go. We'll head out."

Han Li took Liu Le'er's delicate little hand, walked to the stone door of the rockery secret chamber, and raised a palm to press against it.

Just as he was about to push it open, his movement suddenly halted, and his brow furrowed slightly.

Liu Le'er sensed Han Li's subtle change, looked up at him, and a hint of confusion appeared in her eyes.

"What a coincidence!"

Han Li chuckled once, then without further hesitation, pushed open the stone door and strode out.

The sky outside was dark, clearly already night, but as they looked out from the island, the entire Yu Mansion was ablaze with fire, as bright as day.

Waves of chilling shouts and killing cries came from the front courtyard, interspersed with the rumbling sounds of massive explosions.

Thick smoke rose everywhere in the Yu Mansion, like thick, dark-gray demonic dragons writhing forcefully into the night sky.

Even on the lake island where Han Li and the other two were, far from the residential areas of the Yu family, the air was thick with an unusually heavy scent of blood.

"What... what's going on?" Liu Le'er looked at the Yu Mansion, now ablaze with fire, her face full of disbelief.

"Bai Shi, do you know what's happening?" Han Li asked indifferently.

"This junior doesn't know either. Perhaps the Yu family's enemies have come knocking." Bai Shi Zhenren hesitated before answering, then looked at Han Li respectfully, as if leaving everything to his decision.

Han Li glanced at Liu Le'er beside him and found the girl also looking up at him. After a moment's thought, he said:

"Regardless, I owe this Seventh Miss a favor for waking me up this time. I can't just walk away like this. Let's go take a look."

With that, the three left the Daoist temple, descended the mountain, crossed the stone bridge, and hurried toward the front courtyard of the Yu Mansion.

The closer they got, the clearer the shouts and killing cries became. When the three reached the circular archway, a gruesome scene like a hellish battlefield appeared before them.

Inside the small courtyard beyond the archway, piles of bloody corpses were stacked layer upon layer. Most were dressed in the uniforms of the Chancellor's mansion guards, with only a few in black night attire.

The courtyard was illuminated by firelight. In a corner near the front courtyard, a semicircular white light screen had been erected, blocking over a dozen black-clad figures outside.

At that moment, a spiral fire cone as thick as an adult's arm shot high into the air from among the black-clad figures. When it reached several zhang above the light screen, the tip suddenly turned downward and plunged like a fire dragon, spinning rapidly.

With a loud "boom!"

The spiral fire cone struck the light screen, causing the already faint light to scatter and then shatter with a "crack," completely breaking apart.

"Kill!"

Immediately after, a low voice sounded.

The dozen or so black-clad figures immediately raised their blades and advanced, pressing toward the corner.

"Save them."

Han Li made no move, merely uttering two words softly.

Bai Shi Zhenren beside him immediately stepped into the courtyard, opened his mouth, and spat out a stream of black light.

The serpent-shaped flying sword flashed with dark light in the air and in the blink of an eye appeared above the heads of the black-clad figures.

With a sharp "clang,"

the flying sword suddenly vibrated in the void, and dozens of snake-like black sword qi shot out from the blade, plummeting downward.

In the courtyard, a series of "puffing" sounds rang out incessantly, accompanied by loud cries of pain and wailing.

Of the dozen or so black-clad figures, all but one short-bearded man, who reacted quickly and rolled several zhang away, died on the spot.

"Who goes there?" the short-bearded man shouted harshly.

Bai Shi Zhenren paid him no heed. With a single-handed gesture, the flying sword hovering in midair immediately swooped down, heading straight for the short-bearded man's chest.

The short-bearded man's expression changed. Without time to think, he flicked his sleeve, and a small blue shield flew out from his cuff. After spinning once, it grew in the wind, turning into a large shield that blocked his front.

At the same time, he raised his hand, and the spiral fire cone flared up with a "whoosh," its flames surging as it rushed headlong toward the black flying sword.

With a loud "bang!"

In midair, sparks flew in all directions. The spiral fire cone had exploded into pieces, falling to the ground as clusters of flames.

As for the black flying sword, it flashed with dark light and pierced straight into the short-bearded man's chest. The blue large shield was pierced through like paper, as if it had no effect.

"A Core Formation cultivator..." the short-bearded man gasped, blood flowing from his mouth and nose.

Bai Shi Zhenren waved his hand to recall the flying sword and said disdainfully, "A mere Foundation Establishment dares to act tough in front of this Daoist..."

Before he could finish, he immediately shut his mouth and stole a fearful glance at Han Li behind him.

Han Li showed no reaction at all. He simply led Liu Le'er to the corner of the courtyard, where two people were huddled.

One was a young man in a blood-stained blue robe, with disheveled hair. Although he had Foundation Establishment cultivation, his aura was weak, clearly on the verge of exhaustion.

Behind him huddled a girl dressed as a maidservant, covered in blood, trembling and not daring to lift her head.

"Sister Xiaowu?" Liu Le'er recognized the maidservant's face, hesitated for a moment, then tentatively called out.

The girl stiffened, slowly poked her head out from behind the young man, and upon seeing Le'er, burst into tears with a "waa."

Liu Le'er quickly stepped forward and helped her up.

The young man rested for a moment, then forced himself to stand up and said bitterly to Bai Shi Zhenren, "Zhenren... quickly, go save Seventh Miss."

Bai Shi Zhenren was taken aback and didn't answer, instead secretly glancing at Han Li.

"Where is Seventh Miss?" Han Li asked calmly.

The young man clearly didn't know Han Li, but after a moment's hesitation, he replied:

"When Xiaowu and I came to the lake island to seek help, Seventh Miss and the others were being protected by several other family retainers and stayed at the main residence. But the enemy is fierce; they probably can't hold out much longer."

"You stay here and heal your wounds. Xiaowu, you know the Yu Mansion best. Lead the way." Han Li ordered casually.

Xiaowu, comforted by Liu Le'er, had stopped crying and looked at Han Li with some confusion.

She couldn't understand how the young man who had always seemed so wooden was now giving orders.

The young man was also somewhat surprised.

He had already noticed that among these people, the speaking Han Li was the leader, and Bai Shi Zhenren, who had always been held in high regard in the Yu Mansion, was completely deferring to him.

"Mm, okay. Follow me."

Xiaowu nodded subconsciously, steadied herself, turned, and trotted toward the front courtyard. Han Li and the other two followed.

The Yu Mansion had been under attack for some time. The entire front courtyard was littered with corpses lying in disarray, including both guards and soldiers as well as maids and servants. The black-clad figures had clearly made up their minds to wipe out the entire Yu family.

Liu Le'er watched in horror along the way. Although she had long experienced the cruelty and bloodthirstiness of humans, the scene before her once again reshaped her understanding of this race.

Besides the corpses everywhere, they also encountered several groups of black-clad figures, almost all of whom were killed on sight by Bai Shi Zhenren.

Occasionally, they met leading cultivators, but most were only at the Foundation Establishment level, no match for Bai Shi Zhenren.

The group of four thus passed through halls and corridors, hurrying toward the main residence.