Hsieh Lan-chih's aim was already precise, and the combination of skill and strength was simply perfect.
"Stand up," Xie Lanzhi said coldly. She casually planted the long sword at Xie Yan's feet.
With a hint of lingering enjoyment, he said, "I haven't had enough yet."
Xie Yan was trembling all over. He didn't know if it was fear or the severity of his injuries. Even though he had only been slapped in the face, he felt as if a huge rock was pressing down on his chest, making him feel uncomfortable and uneasy.
He touched the warmth of his nose and felt that the bridge of his nose was broken.
Realizing his carelessness, Xie Yan laughed in anger. Afraid? "I'm not afraid of your grandma's legs! Xie Ying, today I'll fight you to the death!!"
He shouted loudly to dispel the lingering force, then immediately mobilized all his internal energy, drew his longsword, and slashed at Xie Lanzhi.
Xie Lanzhi changed her fighting style. She stood still, thrust her long halberd, and then put it down. She used her bare hands to grab the black blade.
Xie Yan tried with all his might to pull out the Mo Dao, but Xie Lanzhi held the blade firmly in her hand even as he lifted her half a step.
Xie Lanzhi then examined the weapon with some interest and commented, "This weapon is indeed of excellent quality, comparable to my long halberd."
"However, I still have doubts about the quality of the knife." After saying that, she spread her fingers on both hands and pressed down, and with a crack, the blade split instantly.
"It turns out it was a defective product."
Xie Yan glared angrily, released his Mo Dao, gathered his inner strength in his right fist, and threw a punch at Xie Lanzhi. Xie Lanzhi's hand was as fast as a snake's shadow, opening her hand to grab his fist. With a palm strike and a punch, the impact of the palm force instantly caused the cloaks of the two of them to flutter.
With a slight squeeze from Xie Lanzhi, Xie Yan's wrist was instantly dislocated with a snap.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xie Yan withdrew his hand, shook his limp right wrist, and then pressed it down. He delivered another powerful spinning kick, shattering Xie Lanzhi's arm armor. Xie Lanzhi calculated his strength.
"Niu Jin." Without taking a step back, she ripped off her arm armor, took off her cloak, and threw away her helmet.
Then she grabbed Xie Yan's left leg, put both hands together, and with a snap, Xie Yan's ankle dislocated instantly.
Xie Yan landed on one foot and quickly did a backflip to create some distance. He pressed his ankle against the ground, his forehead covered in cold sweat. He felt a bit terrified. Compared to the force of the punch that had just hit him in the face, dislocating his wrist now made him hesitate.
Xie Ying didn't fight like this before. Every move was aimed at a fatal spot; if you couldn't dodge, you died on the spot, and if you did, you were almost in a sorry state. Only he survived after taking several punches. But Xie Ying would never dare to kill him then, because her position as Xie Master was not yet secure, and she wouldn't even dare to have a high fever. But this was definitely not the Xie Master who would use such a treacherous and low-class fighting style.
"What kind of mud-slick fighting style is this?!"
"I do not agree with this standoff! Xie Ying, you must fight me with all your might!! Instead of resorting to these underhanded tactics!"
Xie Lanzhi glanced sideways: "At this critical moment of life and death, you're trying to argue with me about righteous kung fu?"
She paused, her gaze hardening as she suppressed her murderous intent: "It's not a good thing that you old thief have the intention to back down. Now you have ten thousand men following you against me. Don't tell me you haven't made all the preparations before leading ten thousand of your relatives to your death."
"Or have I given you too much of a misconception, making you think you can declare war on me at will and even survive under a benevolent ruler like me?"
Xie Lanzhi found it amusing, looking into Xie Yan's deeply wary eyes: "You, have you misunderstood?"
"Right now, just thinking about my little phoenix makes me want to beat you to death." She rubbed her forehead again, seemingly finding such words ridiculous and childish: "I just want to beat you to death, and you're trying to reason with me about how to do it?"
"Seriously, what should I say?"
"When a person is about to die, they talk a lot of nonsense."
This was Xie Lanzhi's final assessment of Xie Yan.
She didn't tease anyone like before. Instead, she swiftly moved to the halberd, drew it, and charged straight at it with a thrust, meeting the attack head-on.
Xie Yan sensed that she had changed her fighting style, so he immediately put both fists together, took a step forward, and channeled his inner strength into his fists, mimicking how Xie Lanzhi crushed his long halberd, sending it flying.
Xie Lanzhi activated what seemed like internal energy within her body, but was actually called internal power. At this moment, it felt like a furnace burning in her abdomen, and the driving force gathered throughout her body.
Xie Lanzhi delivered a powerful knee strike, like a rhinoceros horn drilling into Xie Yan's chest.
Crackling sounds echoed as Xie Yan's face contorted in pain. He gathered all his inner strength, focusing not on defense, but on his right hand. With a single palm strike, he dislocated Xie Lanzhi's left arm.
Xie Lanzhi glared at her, a mocking smile playing on her lips: "The old scoundrel's words can no longer be trusted."
She swung her dislocated left arm and used her weak left arm, not rushing to fix it, but suddenly turned upside down, hooking her right foot around Xie Yan's neck. Xie Yan took the opportunity to dislocate Xie Lanzhi's right arm, and at the same time, Xie Lanzhi's left foot came together, locking her legs. Xie Lanzhi's arms dangled down, and she sneered repeatedly, as if her arms were not her own, and she used her feet even more forcefully.
Xie Yan felt as if his neck was being coiled by a giant python, and all the bones in his body were being tightly locked by her. His arms, which were originally his advantage, suddenly became powerless and he could not move.
“Since you don’t want to copy everything I do, I’ll just tell you directly: a woman’s upper body can only utilize up to 70% of its strength after long training, but her lower body can utilize up to 90% of its strength due to its softness.”
"Did you remember that?"
"You...no, again..." Xie Yan felt his neck getting tighter and tighter. His face turned red, as red as a boiling pot, and then began to turn purple. Under the high pressure of suffocation, his internal forces collided again. After the internal forces canceled each other out, only brute force remained in confrontation.
This time, there is no turning back.
With a snap, the sound of bones shattering crisply and cleanly.
"Bang!" Another sound. Xie Yan's massive body collapsed like a mountain.
Xie Lanzhi propped herself up on her legs and stood high above, the setting sun casting a long shadow of her. Xie Feng, who had arrived on time, and a thousand cavalrymen followed. They saw the scene before them: Xie Yan's lineage leader, Uncle Xie Qi, was lying on his back with his head behind his waist, looking like a defeated general with no face to show.
"Thank you, Lord Xie, for killing the Flame Bandit! The battle is over!" Xie Feng announced excitedly, "We won! We won!!"
"The Marshal is injured, we..." Xie Feng finished his congratulations and quickly moved closer to Xie Lanzhi.
Before she could even blink, Xie Lanzhi whistled, summoning the black horse back. She placed Xie Yan's body on the horse's back, then patted its rump, and the horse instantly carried Xie Yan's body towards the main road of Fengxi Town.
Along the way, Xie Yan's faction, who had fought desperately, were stunned when they saw Xie Yan's corpse. Some of the loyal ones even gave up their resistance and knelt down, weeping bitterly.
Those who put up a last-ditch resistance suffered a significant drop in morale.
The remaining cavalrymen were greatly encouraged by this and began to thoroughly eliminate the traitors.
In an instant, Xie Yan's soldiers were thrown into disarray on the entire street. They had nowhere to escape, and if they tried to resist, they would be killed. Even if they surrendered on the spot, they would have to wait and see if their master would accept them.
The entire Fengxi Town was in chaos, but fortunately, the town was full of Xie clan members, and Xie Bing was somewhat considerate of his clansmen, so he did not cause any war.
The black horse carried Xie Yan's corpse through the streets, and with another whistle, it immediately turned back.
After wandering around for a while, the resistance in Fengxi Town was reduced by more than half, and most of the remaining Xie Yan lineage chose to surrender.
Xie Lanzhi was injured at this time. She returned to the mansion in Fengxi Town and had the doctor set her arm. The wound on her leg was also roughly bandaged. She didn't have much time to rest.
He grabbed the long halberd and mounted the black horse.
Xie Yan's body was also placed in the mansion at this time.
Xie Feng and the other thousand cavalry followed her and asked, "Marshal, there are still resistance fighters in Fengxi Town. What are your plans to do?"
"Kill!" Xie Lanzhi ordered.
She wanted to purge the Xie clan that opposed her, and Fengxi Town was the perfect opportunity. To prevent this from happening again, Xie Yan's lineage had to be expelled from the Xie clan!
Because Xie Yan had crossed her bottom line.
"Yes, sir!" Xie Feng and the other thousand cavalrymen received the order.
Xie Feng first stood at the entrance of the mansion. Taking advantage of the last rays of the setting sun, he launched a signal flare. A long, black column of smoke rose into the air, and the cavalry below immediately began to slaughter.
Meanwhile, Xie Guang had arrived outside Fengxi Town with 50,000 troops, whom he had persuaded to come after much pleading.
He thought he had won over his clansmen, but they told him that the marshal had already sent them a letter of goodwill in private a few days ago and had made arrangements well in advance.
At the time, no one believed that someone would rebel against Xie Yan, but unexpectedly, Xie Yan rebelled.
The Xie family was shocked, but Xie Zhu had made preparations in advance.
The current force of 50,000 is only because there are too many Xie generals petitioning in Tianjing, so they can only select 50,000 troops from the 100,000-strong army to support Fengxi Town.
As soon as Xie Guang and his men arrived near Fengxi Town, they saw that smoke signals were being fired continuously in the town, and the black smoke signals were Xie Shuai's exclusive weapon.
"We won." Xie Guang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
But he didn't dare to relax. Instead, he ordered the army behind him: "Surround Fengxi Town, capture Xie Yan's lineage, and hand them over to the Marshal for judgment!"
The young officers behind him replied in unison, "Yes, General."
However, when they arrived in Fengxi Town...
The gates of Fengxi Town were tightly shut, and inside, the sounds of fighting and battle raged. Xie Guang immediately ordered his men to break them open, and a cavalryman outside rode over to deliver the message.
"The Marshal has ordered! Fight until sunset, while the main force will advance only after the sun has set!"
"Alright, I understand." Xie Guang stopped issuing orders.
He turned to look at the setting sun on the mountaintop, its rays painting half the sky crimson, like blood staining the landscape. The sunset was so beautiful, and the sounds of battle echoing through Fengxi Town made it all the more enchanting.
The Xie Yan lineage in Fengxi Town all pinned their hopes on the setting sun overhead, pleading for it to descend the mountain as soon as possible.
The sunset seems to be falling very slowly today.
Half an hour later, the sun set, and the last batch of Xie Yanbing were forced into a corner. They were all in a sorry state, covered in wounds, like abandoned lambs at the mercy of others.
Xie Feng, who was in charge, immediately waved his hand: "The sun has set, let's call it a day!"
The surviving Xie Yanbing breathed a sigh of relief, put down their weapons, knelt in a corner, and wailed with their heads in their hands.
"Thank God, we survived."
"I want to see my parents."
"I never want to fight again."
Xie Feng sneered at the remaining thousand men: "Death sentence may be waived, but punishment will not be spared!"
The gates of Fengxi Town were quickly opened, and Xie Guang led 50,000 people like a swarm of migrating ants, pouring into Fengxi Town in batches, surrounding it inside and out, and even replacing Xie Yan's lineage to take control of Fengxi Town.
When Xie Guang found Xie Lanzhi, she was standing alone on the top of the sixth floor of the tower, overlooking the entire Fengxi Town.
"Marshal?" Xie Guang saw that she was covered in blood and had not changed her clothes, so he said carefully, "It's cold at night, please take care of yourself."
Xie Lanzhi, clutching the medicine bottle, turned to look at him and said, "Xie Guang."
"Your subordinate is here."
"This commander seems to have not killed enough."
Upon hearing this, Xie Guang's eyelids twitched: "Then I'll take care of the rest for you?"
Then she sighed again: "Never mind. Although I really wanted to, after a day of killing, Xie Yan's lineage has been almost wiped out."
"Next, all the surviving members of his clan will be expelled from the clan and sent back to the Southern Region as commoners, and they will never be allowed to enter the capital again."
This was her final act of kindness.
After Xie Guang received the order, he saw that the marshal was still standing on the top of the tower and couldn't help but ask, "You are injured, would you like to go down and rest first?"
"No need, I need to go back right away." As soon as Xie Lanzhi finished speaking, she stepped past Xie Guang and leaped lightly, instantly jumping from the sixth floor to the fifth-floor balcony, and then directly to the first floor.
Xie Guang asked in surprise, "Is it such a hurry that you don't even take the stairs?"
The marshal, who hadn't used his internal energy for a long time, still controlled it so well; he was truly remarkable.