"How long was I asleep?"
"Two days."
"What about Sister Chu Yue and the others?"
"For their safety, I had people send them back to the Azure Dragon Sect. Your family has already been buried."
"They must hate me. If I hadn't acted without thinking of the consequences, no one would have died because of me."
"Stop blaming yourself. Blaming yourself won't help anything. This isn't your fault — the only ones to blame are those despicable people who struck." Su Rou gripped Chu Feng's hand tightly, afraid he wouldn't be able to get past this mental burden.
"Don't worry. I, Chu Feng, am not that fragile. Right now I just want to know who did this." A bone-piercing chill surged in Chu Feng's eyes.
"Actually, there was a survivor of the massacre — Chen Hui, the city lord of Purple Gold City. He didn't die. He used a special method to fake his death and survive, and he saw the person who carried out the slaughter." Su Rou said slowly.
"Who? Who was it?" Chu Feng's voice was agitated.
"Don't get worked up — you'll wake Su Mei. Come outside, and I'll tell you." Su Rou cast a worried glance at Su Mei, who was still sleeping sweetly on Chu Feng's chest, then walked toward the tent entrance.
Chu Feng carefully lifted Su Mei onto the bed, tucked the blanket around her, and then stepped outside.
This time, before Chu Feng could even ask, Su Rou spoke first: "It was the Five Tiger Stronghold. It's a mountain fortress with five leaders, every one of them an expert of the Xuan Wu Realm."
"That stronghold is nothing more than a bandit den. They do all sorts of dirty work in exchange for huge payoffs."
"Because the Five Tiger Stronghold's base sits in a special zone — right on the border between my Vermilion Bird City and Xuan Wu City — my father has never bothered to deal with them. After all, they're a force not to be trifled with. Eradicating them wouldn't be easy, and it could even invite retaliation."
"But this time, my father has made up his mind to wipe the Five Tiger Stronghold off the map. He's already mobilized Vermilion Bird City's army and is marching toward the stronghold."
"Do you know where the Five Tiger Stronghold is?" Chu Feng asked.
"Yes." Su Rou nodded.
"Take me there!"
With that, Chu Feng summoned Little White, and the two mounted the White-headed Eagle, rushing toward the Five Tiger Stronghold at top speed.
The Five Tiger Stronghold was nothing more than a bandit den. The people here committed every atrocity imaginable — rape, pillage, murder — and inside the fortress they all called each other brothers.
Led by the Five Tigers, the strongest were at the Xuan Wu Realm, and even the weakest were at the Yuan Martial Realm. Their numbers weren't large — barely a thousand — but their strength was formidable, not to be underestimated.
Some days ago, the Five Tiger Stronghold had landed a big job. Now that it was done, they were celebrating. Some drank and feasted, others brutalized women they had abducted from elsewhere. No matter how agonized the women's screams were, not a single person showed a shred of sympathy. They kept at it until the women died from the abuse, and no one thought it was a pity.
The people here were nothing but beasts. They had committed every imaginable crime against humanity, utterly devoid of any shred of decency.
Suddenly, a White-headed Eagle descended from the sky, silencing the raucous laughter. Every eye was drawn to the two figures atop the eagle — especially the woman dressed in white. The sight made these brutes drool.
They had been with countless women, but never had they laid eyes on such a stunning beauty. She drove them wild with desire, their animal instincts flaring. Some of the more reckless ones were already itching to rush over and tear the white-clad beauty's gown from her body.