With long eyelashes, a sharp chin and blood red lips, quite an appearance. This was the first time Gu Taixu saw a person bearing such prominent features even as a male. He was quite disillusioned for a moment. He looked like a 15 year old by Gu Taixu knew looks could deceive. He blinked furiously at Gu Taixu before he said,
"That Wu Chou cultivates a martial skill that gives him thunderous brute energy so at the Lower tier he can easily defeat those at the Upper tier," he said with a smirk, "But he has no chance against me." He said as he sheathed his sword.
"Be careful next time, newbie. No one might be there to save you next time you provoke someone stronger than you."
"I did not provoke him, though."Gu Taixu replied indifferently.
"Wu Chou is a bully. You just need to avoid his presence because his victims always fare badly. At the least, the weaker ones might be heavily injured."
"So how about the academy's rules and regulations."
"Which rules?" Fu Jian said, faking a feigned expression.
"The rules... eh... the rules against each other within the residence areas?" He answered in a quivering tone.
"Those laws are not so strict. It's only in the serious cases like death, crippling of cultivation and so on." Gu Taixu gasped a cold breath as Fu Jian chuckled as he asked carefreely,
"So what is your level?"
Gu Taixu thought. Is he reliable? His eye did not give him a danger signal.
"Level 1 lower tier. I'm just a beginner here." Gu Taixu said shrugging.
"Level 1 Upper tier, you mean," Fu Jian corrected, "it is difficult to conceal your cultivation level from those that are at least one level higher than you."
Gu Taixu gasped in a cold breath.
"Well, that is until you learn a cultivation level concealing technique, anyways I'm Fu Jian by the way. As Wu Chou has said, I'm a Level 3 Peak tier martial artist."
"The technique that you are talking about," Gu Taixu said, "is it rare or difficult to find?"
"Yeah, for outer disciples like us, you've got to be a inner disciple at least and be a Level 5." He said lowering his head.
Turning as he was about to leave, Fu Jian said, raising his head,
"You should be on your way now. Take care not to get into trouble."
"Hey, you don't know me? Why did you help me?" Gu Taixu queried.
"I was once like you, you see," he heard echoing in the wind.
"Um..." Gu Taixu mouthed as he was in thought as he walked towards his residence.
Gu Zhong arrives at the Gu Clan and from afar, he senses that something is off. The patrolling soldiers are not on duty but he dismisses it at once. They must be tired, he thought. At twilight, they will patrol again. Entering in he notices that despite the darkness, the fire lamps are not put on.
"Wu An!! Wu An!!" He calls out.
"Wu Ai!! Wu Ai!!" He calls out again and his voice echoes in reply.
"Where are they?" He murmurs in extreme displeasure. Feeling distraught, he switches on the lamps himself. By morning, he thinks, he would call them together to address these issues. It's approaching dusk and he heads to his room to have a good night's rest. Through his window, he stares into the starless night sky, he still ponders on the weird events upon his return.
An owl hoots loudly, echoing throughout the area. Gu Zhong is startled wide awake. An uneasy feeling had surfaced at the back of his mind ever since he made an entrance to his home and the events surrounding him made it worse. Something was not right. Secretly he made offensive preparations.
Without warning, the glass window beside him shattered. Noticing this he craned his eyes to meet the supposed intruder, but no matter how he squinted, he would never notice Gu Tian's presence as he used Shadowless Spectral Steps technique. After about five minutes of waiting, Gu Zhong grew apprehensive. Was it just my over-thinking? He thought. Immediately as if in response to his thoughts, a sharp wind sliced through the air towards his back. Reacting quickly, though not quick enough, he spun sideways. He received a deep cut on his side. While in mid air a strong hand, as though waiting, gripped his neck and slammed him into the earth. With spinning eyes and head, he chinned up to face the intruder. Masked, arrayed in a black robe and cloak to camouflage the night, the figure looked more evil than Gu Zhong's imagination.
"Impotent bastard, I don't know what charm you used on the Family Head to appoint you in his place but all that will end now," the figure said grimly. Recognizing Gu Tian's voice despite his trying to conceal it, Gu Zhong croaked through his clenched throat.
"Please, brother, please, just spare my life. Please, just this once, I will hand the position over to you. It was not even my intention to..."
"Shut up, bloody fool. You think I'm a fool. You want me to leave you here so you can alert the Family Head. You think you are smart. Sorry for you." He said with his teeth gleaming in the dark. He brought out a shining dagger from his robes and prepared to slaughter Gu Zhong. Gu Zhong, red-faced which could even be noticed in the dark, kicked repeatedly.
"A struggling ant. I guess to strangle you to your death." He said, tightening his clutch. Hardly finishing his sentence, he heard a sound of a object dropping on the floor. Turning to look, he saw two barely visible objects shaped like heads of roosters. Just one word came to his mind. Talismans. Before he could turn to a smiling Gu Zhong, there was a massive explosion. The explosion was so great, it tore both of them apart, slamming them to opposite sides of the room. Flopping about three times on the floor, Gu Zhong, severely injured but alive stumbled to his feet. Immediately, he made up his mind to escape the Gu fortress and seek refuge. For all he knew, this fortress had been broken up. He tried to think of the perpetrators of this nearly successful assassination. He realizes he has been living in a den of wolves all this while. They seemed subservient but they were vessels of expressed anger and wrath. He fled towards the entrance. From a distance, he could hear Gu Tian's angry shouts of madness. He ought to be mad at himself though. Just if he had not put the talismans in his robe, he would have been dead cold by now.
Meanwhile, Gu Tian was yelling curses at Gu Zhong who was absent at the moment. He was blown away with a heavy momentum as he received the direct impact. He had been smashed into many rocks and hard places which got him moderately injured. Dizzy- eyed, Gu Tian cursed through the fire which currently engulfed the mansion,
"Eff you Gu Zhong, Eff your ancestors to the 18th generation, stupid egg, go to hell."
Servants were alarmed as well as other members of the family. They beheld the huge flames in utter amazement. Before they could react, they heard shrill cries here and there. Some people clothed in black were moving around rapidly, slaughtering anyone they found. The residents tried to resist the incoming flood of wild serial killers but they were too weak to do so. They were killed like chickens. Chaos was everywhere.
Somewhere not far, Gu Zhong trudged on. He could now see his exit, about twenty yards away. Just a few meters to the gates, he saw a figure sitting beside the gate. He was clothed in black and had a white cloak on. He had a fair countenance and an arrogant smile, somewhat predatory. He seemed to have been waiting for a while. Arched on the fence like an owl, he looked down on the proposed prey. Unsheathing his long sword, he pointed it at Gu Zhong.
"I knew you'd come here."