Chapter 199: An Jingming's Tragedy

“Oh, it’s nothing…”

An Zheyen awkwardly shook his head, guiltily pulling back his hand as he replied, “While you were in seclusion a few days ago, I helped the Yu family plant agents in the Li family. I also had some drinks and spoke some nonsense.”

Having said this, An Zheyen quickly waved his hands, forcing a smile, and solemnly vowed, “But rest assured, everyone present at the time was a loyal confidant. Nothing will ever get out!”

“Nonsense?!” An Jingming retorted, ignoring his explanation. An ominous premonition already settled upon him as he murmured, “This isn’t about my cultivation level.”

An Zheyen instantly stiffened, his old face falling. An Jingming looked at his expression and immediately understood what An Zheyen’s nonsense had been. An Jingming instantly lost his composure, his expression greatly changing, and he gritted his teeth, saying, “Father! Do you understand the gravity of this matter?!”

An Zheyen, a grown man, bowed his head like a child. An Jingming fumed, just about to speak, when he felt the mountain-protecting array shake. He raised his head with a grim expression, as a grey-clad figure emerged outside the array, looking down indifferently and staring coldly at the hall below.

“An Jingming! Get out here!”

Yu Mugao was pacing in the air, his heart filled with irritation. According to his original plan, he intended to assassinate members of the Li family, and all the traces were prepared. The Li family would naturally seek an explanation from the An family, or at least an inquiry.

Yu Mugao had already prepared his planted agents and methods, just waiting for the Li family to send people. Who would have thought Li Xuanfeng would discover the traces, and even defeat Guest Elder Jiang and Yu Muyuan? The Li family suddenly fell silent. Yu Mugao had no choice but to act personally, fabricating an excuse to try and make the Li family share some of the impact.

“This person used sinister plots to kill the young master of the Li family. My Yu family, entrusted by the Li family, is here to kill this person to uphold justice in the world. Witnesses and testimonies are all here…” Yu Mugao said in a deep voice, then thought to himself, “However, this way, we cannot completely annex the An family. We can only seize the opportunity before the Li family reacts, settle the matter, kill An Zheyen and An Jingming, support a proxy leader of the An family, make the An family subservient, and use their mouths to twist right and wrong.”

Yu Mugao was accustomed to such matters. He knew that ‘right and wrong,’ ‘good and bad’ were merely matters of rhetoric. In a few breaths, he had already planned his next moves. He lowered his head and looked at the hall below.

Below, An Zheyen and An Jingming both looked greatly shocked. An Zheyen still stared with disbelief, exclaiming, “The Li family?! The Yu family?! What’s going on?” An Jingming, raising an eyebrow, sighed and whispered, “Father… your actions were not discreet enough, leading to harm. Do you think there are many loyal people left in our family now? The secret agents of both families have long since infiltrated us like a sieve… The person you sent might have already framed us for something. Such a large-scale mobilization means either Li Xuanxuan or Li Xuanfeng is dead.”

“This, this…!” An Zheyen stammered, unable to speak. He paused for a few breaths, his eyes turned red, and tears welled up. He regretfully slapped himself, and angrily said, “This is… Yu Mugao… You must go! I’ll hold them off! As long as you survive, our An family will be fine.”

An Zheyen pulled An Jingming’s hand, urgently instructing him, shouting, “Didn’t you have me build a secret passage that goes straight out of the mountain? You go! Leave the people outside to your father… You go…” He was covered in sweat, his expression anxious. Clearly, he didn’t care about his own life, focusing entirely on An Jingming.

An Jingming, however, shook his head despondently and replied, “Father… it’s too late. Don’t think it’s just Yu Mugao looking for me. Yu Xiaogui is probably secretly watching outside. With Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding, we can’t escape. The Yu family won’t rest easy until I am dead.”

The mountain-protecting array was already roaring. All around were panicked cries, and footsteps gradually approached. An Jingming stomped his foot, and the hall’s doors automatically closed tightly, emitting bursts of golden light.

“Patriarch! The Yu family is attacking! Patriarch!”

“Patriarch… save us!”

When his father, An Zheyen, built the hall, An Jingming had secretly carved arrays within it. The inner hall became an array itself. He never thought it would ultimately be used to block his own people. Outside the hall, people cried and pounded on the doors, leaving palm prints on the entrance.

However, most of the An family members were useless drunkards, merely Fetal Breath cultivators. Apart from An Zheyen and An Jingming, there wasn’t even a single Jade Capital Wheel cultivator. How could they break the array? They could only cry and shout outside the array, with faint sounds of curses reaching inside.

An Zheyen collapsed to the ground with a cry. He furiously slapped himself, using so much force that blood streamed from the corner of his mouth, and two teeth fell out. He sobbed, “It’s all my fault! It’s all your father’s fault! I was selfish and greedy, fond of women and wine, ambitious but incompetent, and I’ve harmed you, harmed you…”

An Jingming, tears streaming down his face, knelt on the ground. He cupped An Zheyen’s plump, smooth face, and, like a father, admonished him, “I’ll fight my way out… You go through the secret passage. Yu Mugao is focused on me, so Father still has a chance to escape…”

An Zheyen’s legs trembled. He wanted to say something resolute, but a single sentence squeezed out from his throat: “Where… where do I go?”

“The Li family.” An Jingming, though weeping, had increasingly bright eyes. He whispered, “I finally understand… Time is short, I cannot tell you more.” He pulled An Zheyen up, sobbing, “Father, you must quit drinking, you must give up lust, you must be cautious in your words and actions, you must protect yourself, and do not think of revenge… Have more children.”

“Boom!” The An family’s grand array was breached with a roar. An Zheyen shivered, wiped his tears, and ran towards the back of the hall.

Watching An Zheyen enter the secret passage, An Jingming finally turned around. Smiling and weeping, he took off his jade crown. His black hair immediately fell loose, cascading over his shoulders. His usual serene demeanor was gone, replaced by a touch of wildness.

He took a magical sword from the wall and hung it at his waist, gripping his jade axe tightly. The golden rings on his wrists jingled. An Jingming slowly walked down the steps and kicked open the courtyard gate. Before him, the ground was covered in blood, and rolling heads bounced on the steps.

“Yu Mugao of the Yu family.” The young man before him had a ruthless expression, a strip of white cloth on his forehead, and stared at him like a wolf. An Jingming observed him carefully. Yu Mugao also stared coldly at him. An Jingming did not plead for his family’s lives, asking only to be killed alone, but instead said softly, “An Jingming of the An family.”

The jade axe was raised, and An Jingming lunged forward. Yu Mugao merely stood and watched. Behind him, an eighth-level Qi Cultivation clansman stepped forward, extending his magical sword to block An Jingming’s jade axe. With a clang, the eighth-level Qi Cultivation Yu family cultivator retreated a step. An Jingming’s jade axe spun. Yu Mugao raised an eyebrow. Another person stepped out from behind him, a peak Qi Cultivation cultivator, who extended a magical sword and parried An Jingming’s jade axe.

“Your cultivation has progressed rapidly, and your strength can still keep up, even slightly surpassing expectations,” Yu Mugao sighed and laughed. “If you hadn’t been born on this lake, had you cultivated diligently for a hundred years, the three sects, seven gates, and all families would surely know your name.”

An Jingming did not respond. He took a step back and swung his jade axe forward. He was entangled by two Yu family members. They exchanged more than a dozen blows. Although he barely managed to parry both, he lost the ability to advance or retreat. Feeling a slight anxiety, An Jingming still saw no sign of Yu Xiaogui. He had no choice but to use forceful moves, disregarding the expenditure of spiritual power, to force the two back, then leaped up.

As soon as he took a step, a grey-robed figure appeared before him. His temples were streaked with grey, his hands like jade. He stood silently with his hands behind his back, eyes closed.

“Yu Xiaogui.” An Jingming looked at Yu Xiaogui before him. He calmly fastened his jade axe back to his waist, bowed to Yu Xiaogui, and drew out a sharp white magical sword. He then placed it reversed against his own neck. His loose black hair gently fell over the blade. An Jingming whispered, “A great man should be like a river flowing into the sea, meeting all the heroes of the world. Though I have aspirations that pierce the clouds, I am burdened by my clan…”

With that, his left hand moved gently. In an instant, blood splattered, and his head separated from his body. His body slumped limply. Yu Xiaogui lifted his eyelids, used spiritual power to lift the corpse, and examined it carefully. Then he softly said, “He truly wasn’t some immortal, and he is indeed dead… To think there was such a genius.”