Chapter 18 The Guillotine—Execution!
The Xia family residence.
It was noon, and the courtyard was lavishly decorated with a grand banquet, wine and laughter flowing freely.
“Now that the City Lord’s Mansion has intervened and that boy’s life and death are uncertain, we can finally be at ease.”
“I still don’t understand why that old fool Xia Kongming went to help the boy. Now that he’s been caught by the City Lord’s men, I’m afraid he’s as good as dead.”
“It was quite a close call, honestly. If Xia Jiuxuan hadn’t been so arrogant and secretly sent that old dog Xia Kongming to kill us, we’d have been finished.”
“Indeed. Thinking back, it’s still terrifying. Who would have expected Xia Kongming to break through and then turn to help that boy?”
“Enough of that. The old dog’s in prison, the little wretch’s fate is unknown—let’s eat, let’s drink! Once we’ve officially pledged ourselves to Master Zhong, our prospects will be bright! Hahaha, gentlemen, please!”
…
The Xia family was now completely in the grip of these elders.
Feeling no threat remained, they hosted a grand feast in celebration.
In the south of the city, before a certain residence.
Xia Jiuxuan glanced at the signboard. Yes, this was the Xu residence.
This was the home of Xu Wen, the alchemist.
Knock, knock, knock...
Xia Jiuxuan rapped on the gate.
“Who are you looking for?”
“Go inform your master that the Ice Spirit Body has arrived.”
“What nonsense is this? Get lost, get lost!”
Xia Jiuxuan couldn’t be bothered to argue and sent the servant flying with a single palm.
“Alchemist Xu, I’ve brought you the Ice Spirit Body you wanted. Aren’t you coming to collect it?”
His voice resounded through the entire estate.
“Guards!”
In the main hall, Xu Wen was resting with tea. On hearing the commotion, he immediately summoned several experts at the peak of Innate level to investigate.
“This...”
Xu Wen’s gaze locked straight onto Xia Ran.
“It truly is that little Ice Spirit Body girl!”
He could hardly believe it—the Ice Spirit Body he had dreamt of was actually delivered to his door.
“Did Master Zhong of the Xia family send you?”
Xu Wen didn’t recognize Xia Jiuxuan. Overjoyed, he secretly praised Master Zhong’s reliability.
“So you’re the one who wanted to use her to breed ice silkworms?” Xia Jiuxuan asked, seeing Xu Wen for the first time.
“Exactly, exactly! Ah, Young Master Zhong is truly a man of his word! I am deeply grateful! Young man, please come in!”
“No need. I’ve come to collect something,” Xia Jiuxuan replied coldly.
“Of course, of course! Someone, bring the remaining profound crystals for the young man to take back to Master Zhong.”
“Yes!”
Two guards hurried off and returned with the remaining hundred thousand profound crystals.
Such a fortune could rival the entire wealth of a medium-sized family!
Now that the girl was here, and judging by the boy’s aura, he was only at the seventh or eighth level of Innate—surely nothing could go wrong.
So Xu Wen handed over the remaining payment without the slightest worry.
The spatial ring containing the hundred thousand profound crystals was delivered into Xia Jiuxuan’s hand.
“I’ll take the crystals. But there’s one more thing I’ve come for,” Xia Jiuxuan said, a cold sneer playing at his lips.
“Oh? What else do you want, young man?” Xu Wen was baffled.
“Do you remember what I said before? I swore I would take your filthy head.”
Xia Jiuxuan’s words were fierce, his domineering tone forcing Xu Wen to stagger backward.
That voice—unmistakable in his memory.
“You! You! You’re that little bastard!”
“Someone! Guards! Where’s Old Ghost!”
Xu Wen was so terrified he nearly collapsed, never expecting the Xia family’s disgrace to come calling at his door.
“Kill him!”
Several peak Innate guards leapt at Xia Jiuxuan in a frenzy.
Spears flashed, heads rolled.
Peak Innate? Nothing but paper tigers.
One move—annihilated!
Such was the tyranny of the spear at its zenith!
“Someone—help! Save me!”
Xu Wen’s face was ashen, slumped on the ground.
Was this truly the Xia family’s castoff?
The highly paid expert guards he’d hired were dispatched as easily as swatting flies!
“Old wretch, I said I’d kill you. I keep my word.”
With that, Xia Jiuxuan moved like lightning, snapped Xu Wen’s spine, and dragged him toward the city.
As for the Xu household’s guards, they had long since vanished without a trace.
“Second Father, are we going home?” Xia Ran looked at the familiar gates of the Xia mansion, her eyes full of fear.
“This is not our home. Today, we return for vengeance.”
“What is vengeance?”
“It’s killing the bad people who tried to hurt Ranran.”
“Second Father is the best.”
Bang!
Xia Jiuxuan kicked the Xia mansion gates to splinters. The elders looked toward the entrance, pupils contracting sharply!
“Xia—Xia Jiuxuan!”
The once-boisterous courtyard fell silent as death.
“Gentlemen, you seem to be enjoying yourselves.”
Xia Jiuxuan planted his spear in the earth, sweeping his gaze over the gathering.
“Someone, the brat has shown himself! Report to the City Lord’s Mansion at once!”
The elders were all deeply uneasy.
The day Xia Jiuxuan beheaded the heirs of the four great families in public, Xia Kongming and the family’s experts had fought valiantly and not been outmatched.
But in the end, the City Lord’s men intervened.
The City Lord’s Mansion, the legitimate power of the Immortal Martial Empire, commanded forces no ordinary family could hope to match.
Under their pressure, Xia Kongming had no choice but to surrender and was now imprisoned in the dungeons.
Xia Jiuxuan himself was a wanted man.
“Truly fearless, coming back here to die?” one elder shouted angrily.
Xia Jiuxuan’s expression betrayed neither joy nor sorrow.
He stepped forward, grabbed a wine jug at random, and took a swallow.
“I have come to send you all on your way. What does fear have to do with it?”
The Xia family members turned livid.
One elder stepped out and barked, “Xia Jiuxuan, do you still not understand your situation? The four great families want you torn to pieces, the City Lord’s men are hunting you, and even if you dodge all that, once Master Zhong returns, you’ll surely die. Yet you ignore your own safety and come back? Truly foolish!”
“Oh? Do you remember what I said seven days ago? You are all guilty of a capital crime.”
Xia Jiuxuan’s tone was cold.
“Hahaha, boy, do you think you’re someone important? Let me tell you—Xia Kongming is rotting in prison. And you? What can you do to us?”
Xia Jiuxuan said no more. He slammed his spear to the ground, a surge of force rippling outward.
“Kneel, and receive your death!”
A murderous aura, solid as iron, descended on the courtyard.
Swish!
The shadow of the spear flickered. An elder was forced to his knees, his legs severed.
“Ah, you—!”
The elder was consumed by terror.
In just seven days, how had this boy become so fearsome?
A dignified peak Innate could not even resist in the slightest?!
Shock, dread, and horror swept through the crowd.
“All together—kill him!”
The twelve elders of the Xia family, along with numerous juniors at the seventh and eighth Innate levels, all attacked at once.
“Kneel! Down!”
Boom!
The earth shook.
Xia Jiuxuan became a blur, sweeping through them.
Wherever he passed, blood splattered. Severed limbs whirled through the air.
The screams were unending.
“Young master, I was wrong, spare me!”
“Mercy, young master—Master Zhong forced me to his side, I had no choice…”
...
The pleas for mercy were ceaseless.
Too terrifying.
Xia Jiuxuan now was like a god of slaughter—none who stood before him survived.
They could not even muster the will to resist.
Within a few breaths, all the Xia family members lay fallen.
Ignoring the pleas, Xia Jiuxuan bound all the elders and dragged them toward the northern part of the city.
There, a guillotine awaited—the traitors’ final destination.
Soon, over a dozen Xia family elders, along with the alchemist Xu Wen, were lined up on the execution platform.
“Good nephew, good nephew, I was blind—please, give me a chance, I’ll never again—”
“Xu Wen, for plotting against my niece, you deserve death.”
A great blade fell.
Alchemist Xu Wen—his head rolled.
The remaining elders, seeing this, could hold back no longer and began to wail.
“Young master, we are family! How can you be so heartless? Please, forgive us…”
“Young master, I even held you as a child—don’t you remember? Spare me!”
“Young master, I was confused, lured by Zhong—I beg you for mercy…”
The wailing was truly wretched.
Many in the city had gathered to watch.
“Isn’t that Xia Jiuxuan from the Xia family? What’s going on? How does he dare come back?”
“The Xia elders, all paraded to the guillotine? What’s happening?”
...
Watching the imposing figure of Xia Jiuxuan atop the scaffold, the crowd whispered among themselves in astonishment.