CHAPTER 474: CHAPTER 474 : SETTLING SCORES FROM THE PAST LIFE (5)

"If you do that, my father’s soul will be dispersed forever!!!" The First Prince slid off Xiao Huang’s back and knelt on the ground before the gigantic contraptions.

"Please! Please!" He banged his head repeatedly against the floor and begged the masked demon for mercy. "My father didn’t do anything atrocious to deserve this!"

"Heh."

The masked demon sneered, his hatred-filled gaze drilled holes into the First Prince’s back.

"All of you wolves are atrocious beings by nature," he claimed. "Particularly the Wuyang Palace Master. I need to put up a public display to deter others from following his path."

"But my father didn’t do anything to deserve this!" The First Prince cried out. "Our family has only recently been entrusted with Wuyang Palace Master Seat!"

The masked demon paused for a moment before he slowly asked, "What did you just say?"

The menace in his voice made the First Prince shake from head to toe.

"I... I..."

The long blade left the necks of the executioners and returned to the masked demon’s outstretched hand.

"How dare you try to feign innocence before me."

With a burst of extraordinary agility, the masked demon launched itself skyward. In mid-air, it twisted its body in a whirlwind of motion before landing silently on the ground, its form a perfect picture of deadly grace.

With a vicious hiss, the long blade sliced through the air. It descended like a starving guillotine, aimed at the First Prince’s cowering figure.

CLANG

The long blade and the spear blade met in the air, generating fire sparks just above the First Prince’s head.

"AAAAAHHHH!!!"

The First Prince cried out in fright and scrambled away like a frightened rabbit.

"Get away from here!" Zhang Fengxi hissed at the First Prince before he redirected his focus to the masked demon.

"Hmph!"

In retaliation, the masked demon smacked down hard with his blade, sending tremors to Zhang Fengxi’s arm.

"We meet again, Supreme General," he remarked with the same icy tone he employed previously. "Your loyalty to the wolf clan moves me to tears. Your heroic actions should be recorded within the ’Odes Of Power’!"

Zhang Fengxi widened his eyes in shock.

Steel clashed once more. The masked demon pressed forward, a relentless tide of power slowly chipping down Zhang Fengxi’s defense. Yet, it wasn’t just the demon’s raw strength that sent shivers down his spine. Something deeper gnawed at Zhang Fengxi’s conscience.

The mocking tone of the demon’s speech; his intimate knowledge about the Heavenly Realm, be it the Odes Of Power or the Execution Tower; the eerily familiar fighting style; the sheer force behind each blow; the horrifying echo of hatred in his every word.

Adding to that the threat of cutting the Wuyang Palace Master’s corpse at the Execution Tower into a thousand pieces, with the full intention of dispersing his soul.

The familiarity of the scenario posed a chilling realization on Zhang Fengxi, causing a tremor of violent dread to convulse his heart.

This demon meant to avenge Xie Jianyu’s death from the first life.

No, to be exact, it was Xie Jianyu from the first life himself!

A flicker of movement snagged the periphery of the masked demon’s vision. Wu Shenxia had already freed the executioners and was dragging the Wuyang Palace Master’s corpse toward safety.

A disdainful snort escaped the demon. With a flick of his wrist, he shoved Zhang Fengxi from the towering contraption. Following through the motion, he hurled his sword at the fleeing figures.

The long blade sang a deadly song through the air, only to thud harmlessly to the ground. The startled tower officials yelped and released the lifeless form it held, almost sending it through the hacking machine.

"AAHHHHHH NOOOO, DON’T!!!!"

The masked demon caught the lifeless body just in time, dangling it like a ragged doll over the chasm, readying it for its plunge into the machine below. Zhang Fengxi braced the tip of his Three Realm Spear beneath the demon’s chin, the razor-sharp point a hair’s breadth from piercing its flesh.

"Don’t do this," he said in a low voice.

"Oh? Are you going to stop me?" the demon asked with a pleasant curl of his lips. "What will you do if I shred this wolf into pieces? Stab me again?"

The masked demon pinched the tip of Zhang Fengxi’s spear between two unfeeling fingers. He then guided the weapon toward his abdomen, aiming for the very spot where it had pierced Xie Jianyu in his past life.

"Shouldn’t you aim here?"

Zhang Fengxi closed his eyes and sighed.

It was Xie Jianyu.

No.

Xie Jianyu was still sleeping in Fuxi Palace’s mausoleum.

It was...

In a single, fluid motion, Zhang Fengxi ripped the mask from the demon’s face, revealing what lurked beneath.

A familiar face pierced the alpha’s gaze, sending his heart into a frantic drum against his ribs.

It was not a demon at all.

It was a human being.

It was Qiao Wei.

And yet, the Qiao Wei before him was a stranger. Grimness etched his face, his eyes smoldering with a cold fire of vengeance. A chilling smile played on his lips as he tilted his head, a question laced with venom dripping from his tongue. "Do you know who I am now, Supreme General?"

"Jianb... No, Xie Jianyu, don’t do this."

Across the distance, Wu Shenxia’s jaw hit the floor. Her horrified gaze snapped to Qiao Wei, who remained impassive even as Zhang Fengxi uttered his name.

"Why not? His predecessor extended the same courtesy to my corpse back then."

Zhang Fengxi swallowed hard.

"Xie Jianyu, that was... this man is not related to the Grand Chancellor who ambushed Fuxi Palace back then."

After all, they had rewritten the past. This life’s Liu Yichen perished five years ago, his body and soul annihilated atop the execution platform at the Golden Dragon Palace. The current Wuyang Palace Master was picked out of the other noble families within the wolf clan. He did not share any blood ties with Liu Yichen at all.

An eyebrow arched sardonically on Qiao Wei’s face. In a lightning-fast strike that left Zhang Fengxi no room for reaction, Qiao Wei’s sword whipped out, burrowing its length into the Supreme General’s stomach.

"Do you take me as a fool, Zhang Fengxi?"

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Author’s note :

This author felt compelled to explain a little bit.

Of Liu Yichen’s children, I have only mentioned Liu Wenyuan, but Liu Wenyuan was not his only child.

Liu Yichen did have an unnamed alpha son, who, in the previous life, succeeded him as Wuyang Palace Master after Liu Yichen ascended the throne.

Qiao Wei killed the current Wuyang Palace Master thinking that he was Liu Yichen’s son.