Zhang Xianmei thought she could intimidate Qin An Yu, but he remained unmoved. Without a word, he chopped off her cousin's hands. Before she could even react, his sword was at her neck. As for what he said, she didn't hear a single word, only letting out instinctive shrieks.
Qin An Yu raised his sword and tapped her face, his voice icy. "My parents disappeared. Were you involved?"
Zhang Xianmei finally reacted, screaming in panic, "I wasn't involved! I don't know anything!"
Qin An Yu's sword slid, and Zhang Xianmei lost three fingers. "You call this man your cousin. He's one of that mysterious organization's people."
Zhang Xianmei looked at him in terror, then turned to Qin Fang. "Brother Fang, you know, I really don't know anything."
Qin An Yu's sword slid down again, though this time slower than before.
Zhang Xianmei seemed to remember something and shrieked, "I truly wasn't involved. This cousin wasn't even someone I sought out. He found me at a gathering once and said that we were not far apart in generations, so I was his cousin. Oh, right, his name is Zhang Yuan, and he's from Dali Kingdom."
Seeing Qin An Yu's expressionless face, she continued, "I only know that Zhang Yuan has quite a few subordinates. A few days ago, I overheard something, that your maternal family had offended a powerful force, and the other party wanted revenge, so the family wanted to capture your mother's entire family and hand them over. Your parents were captured by Zhang Yuan's organization. I heard they killed several Qi Refining realm cultivators."
Qin An Yu was a little confused. "What does my maternal family's affairs have to do with Zhang Yuan's organization?"
Zhang Xianmei shook her head frantically like a rattle drum. "I don't know, I really don't know. I don't even know why they came here. An Yu, I am your aunt; I would never do anything to harm the Qin family."
"Why did he come today?"
"He just came to see me and casually ask Brother Fang about the progress of controlling Tan Zhou Prefecture."
"Do you know anyone else from their organization?"
"Yes, there's another Qi Refining realm cultivator, and he also visited Qin Manor once."
Qin An Yu immediately changed the subject. "When my parents went to Liuguang County, why did you tell them?"
Panic flashed across Zhang Xianmei's face. "I didn't say anything, nothing at all."
Feeling the sword at her neck slide down again, she cried out, "He said he normally doesn't see Brother and Sister-in-law and wanted to have a chance encounter on the road to get to know them. I thought there was no harm in that, more friends, more connections, so I told him."
Qin An Yu asked, "How did you deliver this information?"
Zhang Xianmei cried, "Came to the door and told them."
Immediately after, she felt the sword on her neck move away. Just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder. Then she saw the flat side of the sword strike, and she felt a piercing pain in her head, her brain buzzing, her body flying up. At the same time, a cold voice entered her mind: "Marrying into the Qin family, yet aiding outsiders against the Qin family, deserves punishment. For now, I'll leave your head. If you lied today, or if my parents die, I'll come back for your head."
Having done all this, Qin An Yu glanced at Qin Fang. "Uncle, this is the woman you so desperately wanted to marry, forcing my father to agree. Uncle, I hope you weren't involved in the actions against my parents."
From the moment Qin An Yu entered, Qin Fang had remained silent. Even when Zhang Xianmei had three fingers cut off, he said nothing. It was only when he saw her arm severed and her body sent flying into the wall by the sword's flat side that his mouth twitched, but in the end, he still didn't speak. Hearing Qin An Yu's words, Qin Fang's already hunched back stooped even further. "I'm so sorry, brother and sister-in-law."
Qin An Yu walked to the table, picked up an unopened wine jug, broke the seal, took a big gulp, and said, "This mansion was bought by my parents. I hope you clean up and move out."
Saying that, he slung the Clumsy Sword onto his back, grabbed the wine jug, and walked towards Zhang Yuan. He approached him and saw that he had already passed out. With one kick, he finished him.
"Bang... Pffft..."
The watermelon burst, red and white splattering.
Zhang Yuan, dead.
Immediately after, a ring appeared on the index finger of Qin An Yu's right hand.
Qin An Yu took off his Clumsy Sword, struck the ring once, and held it in his hand, weighing it. "I said he didn't bring anything, but he should have had a storage-type magical artifact. I didn't expect it to be a spatial ring. It seems he was highly regarded."
"It's just a shame the space is too small, only three feet long, wide, and high. If it were in the past, placed before this Immortal Emperor, I wouldn't even bother to pick it up. From riches to poverty, indeed."
"With only such conditions, three feet is three feet. It's still much more elegant than wandering around with a satchel."
"I didn't control my strength well and destroyed this fellow's Soul Sea, leading to not being able to extract any information. I can only go find that Qi Refining realm cultivator..."
Muttering incessantly, he grabbed the wine jug, slung the Clumsy Sword on his back, and walked out of Qin Manor...
While Zhang Yuan went to Qin Manor, the sturdy middle-aged man remained in the large courtyard. It was noon, and the weather was pleasant. He had a servant prepare him four dishes and a soup, which he ate under the large tree in the backyard.
"Such a large Tan Zhou Prefecture, and there are no more than twenty Qi Refining realm cultivators, most of whom are reclusive and scattered. The strongest, Qin Zhuan, has been captured. What's with this infiltration? Just kill them directly!"
"You also said Tan Zhou Prefecture is remote and martial arts are lowly, so why are you so hesitant? Without Qin Zhuan, the Qi Refining Ninth Stage Qin Fang is nothing. Who would care about him? If you want to support him, just kill all his opponents."
"Clearly, we could solve it directly, so why all the detours? It's really annoying."
"..."
He ate and grumbled, his mouth never stopping, filled with dissatisfaction and annoyance, completely different from his usual demeanor. As he was enjoying his wine, he heard voices from the front courtyard, followed by screams. He couldn't help but curse, "This Lord is eating! Keep it down, or I'll kill you!"
After that, the sounds ceased.
A few breaths later, he felt something was wrong. He heard footsteps, very steady and rhythmic. He turned around and saw a sword-bearing youth carrying a wine jug approaching. He immediately shouted, "Who are you? How did you get in?"
The youth was naturally Qin An Yu. He said indifferently, "I'm here to ask you a few questions."
The middle-aged man immediately jumped up, pointed at him, and said, "You're Qin An Yu!"
Qin An Yu's steps didn't falter as he replied, "That's me. I have a few questions for you. Answer them, and I might not kill you."
The middle-aged man laughed heartily. "This Lord knows what you want to ask, and I can tell you." He drew a sword. "If you've come here to die, then this Lord will make you a ghost that knows what happened."
This fellow also had a spatial ring. Was it that this organization gives spatial rings to all their mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators?
Qin An Yu took a sip of wine and chuckled, "Then enlighten me, make me understand?"
He swung his sword and angrily shouted, "This Lord has changed his mind now. I've decided not to tell you. I want you to be a confused ghost!"
This personality, acting as he pleased, with unpredictable moods, he was not a good person.
Qin An Yu took off his Clumsy Sword, took two big gulps of wine, then tossed the wine jug away... It flew onto a stone table and landed steadily.