Killing Ten People in a Row

Ren Tianye's delighted expression left Aunt Xiao momentarily stunned.

In her original expectations, once Ren Tianye realized that no one had followed him as backup, he would undoubtedly step aside in terror and respectfully apologize to her.

After all, with no one behind him, she could beat him up with absolute impunity.

But why was this Ren Tianye smiling so happily?

Furthermore, he didn't show the slightest intention of making way.

Feeling a surge of irritation and deeply worried about Young Master Li's injuries, she knew they could not afford any delays. Dispensing with further nonsense, she coldly commanded, "Ren Tianye, roll off that horse at once."

"Guards, bind him."

"Men, give him thirty strikes with the heavy board first."

The men acknowledged the order in unison. The four armored guards immediately advanced toward Ren Tianye. Then, a cold flash of halberd light suddenly flared.

In a split second, two bowl-sized human heads flew through the air and hit the ground.

The leading two armored guards instantly became corpses in the wilderness.

Before Aunt Xiao could even react, she saw that after Ren Tianye had decapitated two guards with a single swing, the Fangtian halberd in his hands didn't pause for a fraction of a second. With a fierce smash, he crushed the third armored guard into a bloody pulp.

The fourth armored guard met an equally gruesome fate.

Riding on his lingering momentum, Ren Tianye delivered another sweeping strike with his halberd, slamming into the man's waist and sending him flying. The guard crashed heavily into a large tree and spat out a mouthful of blood. Clearly lacking the plot armor of a main character, he was dead beyond a shadow of a doubt.

All of this occurred in a mere instant, completed in the blink of an eye. Moreover, Ren Tianye had been the first to strike, his intention to launch a sneak attack glaringly obvious.

It caused Aunt Xiao to immediately let out a piercing scream.

"Ren Tianye, you dare disobey my command?"

By the time she shouted these words, Ren Tianye had already charged forward, man and horse as one. The moment she finished speaking, the two maids closest to him each took a devastating blow from his halberd.

Aunt Xiao had brought eight maids on this trip. Besides attending to her daily needs, they also bore the responsibility of protecting her.

These eight maids were all highly skilled in martial arts.

Each and every one of them wielded an exquisite sword technique.

But unfortunately...

Ren Tianye's martial arts had already reached the level of a super first-tier battlefield general!

And in the face of a male warrior of such caliber, no matter how highly trained a woman's martial arts were, it was all for naught.

After all, women were at a natural disadvantage when it came to sheer physical strength. The martial arts they practiced could only rely on lightness and agility; it was fundamentally impossible for them to match a man head-on in a test of brute force.

The moment their weapons clashed, the sheer force transmitted through the steel alone was enough to instantly tear the webbing between their thumbs and index fingers, rendering them incapable of fighting in a split second.

Thus, the two maids who had just met Ren Tianye's halberd head-on were overwhelmed by his earth-shattering power. Their weapons were knocked out of their hands and sent flying. The halberd's momentum did not cease, smashing them into a bloody pulp.

Having slain four people in rapid succession, Ren Tianye's hands showed no sign of stopping. He swung his Fangtian halberd like a possessed god of war, practically cutting them down as easily as if they were helpless children.

The remaining maids tried to rely on their nimble footwork to dodge and look for a flaw in Ren Tianye's defenses. However, Ren Tianye would not afford them such an opportunity.

You want to dodge?

Fine, then he would aim straight for Aunt Xiao!

You might be able to dodge, but there was no way in hell Aunt Xiao could!

Consequently, in order to protect Aunt Xiao, the maids were forced to turn back and throw themselves into Ren Tianye's direct path, bearing the full brunt of his overwhelmingly tyrannical Fangtian halberd.

One by one, they either spat out fresh blood or were outright flattened.

In the blink of an eye, the four armored guards and eight maids had all perished beneath Ren Tianye's halberd.

The only ones left alive were Aunt Xiao and Young Master Li inside the carriage.

Giving his Fangtian halberd a swift flourish, he pointed the blade directly at her. A radiant smile bloomed on Ren Tianye's face, "So, Aunt Xiao, it turns out you really don't have anyone following you!"

"With no one backing you up, how the hell did you still dare to act so arrogantly?!"

Aunt Xiao was already shivering uncontrollably in terror. Forcing herself to put up a strong front, she stammered, "Ren Tianye, you, you, you dare murder an imperial court official?"

"Are you planning to rebel?"

"Are you not afraid of implicating the Duke Ren's estate?"

"Are you not afraid of implicating your entire extended family to the ninth degree?"

"Are you not afraid of implicating all your friends and relatives?"

The smile on Ren Tianye's lips grew even more brilliant, "Didn't you just say it yourself, Aunt Xiao? No one can see this, and no one is here to testify."

Aunt Xiao froze!

Ren Tianye then immediately adopted a righteous and solemn expression, "I, Ren Tianye, am an officer of the border army. I defend the rivers and mountains of the Great Yu, and I am fiercely loyal to my sovereign and my country. How could I possibly rebel?"

"I merely take pity on you, Aunt Xiao, for being blind enough to place your trust in a wolf-hearted barbarian."

As he spoke, he gave his Fangtian halberd a shake, the tip of the blade pressing menacingly toward Young Master Li. He shouted coldly, "These barbarians are truly vicious!"

"You were severely injured, and seeing your youth, Aunt Xiao kindly saved your life. Yet you repaid her kindness with enmity, seizing the moment they lowered their guard to poison them all to death!"

"You even set fire to the convoy, intending to destroy the bodies and wipe away all evidence."

"Fortunately, this general discovered your plot in time, preventing you from escaping the inescapable net of justice."

"It is only a pity that Aunt Xiao, who was so fiercely loyal to His Majesty, met her end by your venomous hands. This general... is profoundly heartbroken by this!"

Young Master Li's face was completely ashen, drained of every last trace of color. Even the rosy cheeks of the beautiful Aunt Xiao had lost all their hue.

Unconcealable terror filled their eyes.

This Ren Tianye had even fabricated her cause of death. He was fully prepared to destroy the evidence and wipe out all traces!

Did he truly dare to kill him?

Aunt Xiao had no time left to ponder any further, because the cold gleam of the halberd flared once again.

By the time the halberd's gleam faded, a large, beautiful head had already rolled to the ground.

Aunt Xiao, dead!

But at that very moment, the dying Young Master Li suddenly leaped up, bolted out of the carriage, snatched a warhorse, and prepared to gallop madly away.

But this time, even if he possessed the quintessential plot armor of a main character, Ren Tianye was not going to give him the slightest chance.

He violently hurled the Fangtian halberd from his hand. With the massive weight of the weapon, it smashed ruthlessly into Young Master Li, while its sharp spearhead pierced squarely into the young man's back.

"Thud!"

Young Master Li plummeted from the horseback.

Ren Tianye also dismounted and approached to inspect the body.

Although, logically speaking, this Young Master Li should be dead beyond all doubt, this was a female-oriented novel, and logic simply didn't apply here.

He had been teetering on the very brink of death, yet he had still managed to leap out of the carriage. How the hell was that reasonable?

Therefore, he had to be extremely cautious.

Before inspecting the body, he casually picked up a blade from the ground. Upon getting close, he swung the blade and chopped off the boy's head.

Ren Tianye finally felt reassured.

With his head completely severed, even if his heart happened to grow on the soles of his feet, there was absolutely no way he could survive, right?

"Phew!"

After finishing all of this, he let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.

He couldn't help but feel that this day had been far too turbulent. He had only set out to save the citizens of the Great Yu, yet he never expected so many things to happen.

He had encountered one absurdly unreasonable person after another.

He had been forced to draw his weapon time and time again.

Fortunately, the ordeal was finally over.

Wait, no, it wasn't over yet!

He hadn't destroyed the bodies and erased the evidence yet!

Ren Tianye didn't dare to delay for another second.

In this absurd world of a female-oriented novel, any lack of caution could trigger some ridiculously illogical event. It was better for him to play it safe.

He immediately began gathering materials to start a fire.

Once everything was mostly ready, he began to search the bodies to see if they carried anything of value. And then... from the body of Young Master Li, he fished out a turquoise headpiece!

Turquoise headpieces were commonly worn by barbarian nobles. Given that the Li family had a background in transporting tea to the barbarian territories, it wasn't strange for him to possess such an item.

However, the highly unique style of this particular turquoise headpiece caused Ren Tianye to furrow his brows in a deep frown.

"This... appears to be a reward bestowed by the Eldest Prince of the Barbarians."

Ren Tianye sifted through the various pieces of intelligence gathered by the military, quickly cross-referencing them in his mind. He grew increasingly certain that this was indeed an item the Eldest Prince would gift to a subordinate.

"So, the Li family actually has deep ties with the Eldest Prince?"

"But that doesn't make sense..."

Ren Tianye felt a wave of confusion.

The Eldest Prince was the designated heir of the Barbarians. Commanding the largest cavalry force next to the Great Khan himself, he was the most powerful figure in the tribe.

For Young Master Li to be rewarded with this turquoise ornament, he clearly shared a close relationship with the Eldest Prince.

Moreover, Young Master Li's earlier cries about seeking refuge with the Eldest Prince only further proved this point.

And yet...

If the Li family were clearly the Eldest Prince's people, why were they being hunted and attacked by the Barbarians?

"Is there internal strife among the Barbarians?"

"Or is there some other hidden agenda at play?"

Ren Tianye realized the grave implications of this matter. Once he returned, he would need to handle it with the utmost caution. If necessary, he would have to report it to the Chifeng Army.

Stowing the turquoise ornament into his robes, he continued his search, focusing primarily on Aunt Xiao.

After all, it was highly probable that Aunt Xiao was carrying the imperial edict on her person.

Things unfolded exactly as Ren Tianye had anticipated. He did indeed find an imperial edict. However, the moment he unrolled it, his expression drastically changed in an instant.

"The Female Emperor intends to wipe out the Chifeng Army?"

...