46

Chapter 46: Choosing Death over Dishonor

Xu Zuye kicked over the table and chairs with a sudden, violent thud. "Cao Hong, you betrayed your master for personal glory and colluded with the Qin family. Your crimes are too numerous to record. Today, I, Xu Zuye, completely sever all ties with you. We are strangers from this moment on!"

Veins bulged on Cao Hong’s face as he clenched his fists tightly. "Fine, very well! Since that is your choice, don't blame me for being ruthless!" With these words, Cao Hong smashed his wine cup to the ground.

With a sharp crash, the men of the Yangwei Escort Agency pulled out their weapons from beneath the tables. Instantly, the cold glare of blades filled the air, blindingly bright.

Seven members of the Twelve Zodiacs were present at this moment: Fang the Rat, Zeng the Ox, He the Tiger, Zhao the Dragon, Yu the Snake, Zhang the Monkey, and Kong the Dog.

Following Xu Zuye's previous identification, Duan Mingyu had deeply engraved their appearances into his mind.

Duan Mingyu swept his gaze slightly across these men. Fang the Rat, Zhang the Monkey, and Kong the Dog possessed very little combat capability, meaning only four of their opponents posed a true threat in battle. Among them, Zhao the Dragon and Yu the Snake were the most dangerous. Duan Mingyu mentally prepared himself for the impending clash.

Gripping his flying dagger tightly, he could only wait—waiting for the absolute best moment to strike.

Cao Hong waved his hand grandly. "Do it!"

At that exact instant, Duan Mingyu flicked his wrist. *Zhang the Monkey, today I shall take your life.*

No one expected Duan Mingyu to target Zhang the Monkey first, not even Xu Zuye, who assumed the initial target would be Cao Hong or the more dangerous Zhao the Dragon and Yu the Snake.

Duan Mingyu, however, harbored different thoughts. The greatest strength of any team did not lie solely in physical prowess, but in whose schemes were the most ruthless. Clearly, Zhang the Monkey possessed that dangerous trait.

Zhang the Monkey felt this blade arrive with breathtaking suddenness, so swift that it caught him entirely off guard.

"Ah!"

The complexions of everyone present paled instantly. What terrifyingly precise throwing knife skills! The blade plunged straight into Zhang the Monkey's throat. Before his death cry could even finish echoing, he collapsed rigidly to the floor, his eyes wide with unfulfilled resentment, dying with everlasting regret.

He the Tiger's eyes split with fury, capillaries bursting across his vision. "Seventh Brother!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Duan Mingyu gripped another flying dagger. He noticed that after Zhang the Monkey's death, certain individuals—such as Fang the Rat and Yu the Snake—did not display the same grief as He the Tiger.

It seemed Cao Hong had not fully won their unwavering loyalty; the Twelve Zodiacs were far from a monolith.

Seeing that both sides had officially clashed, Xu Zuye immediately stepped in front of Duan Mingyu and ordered a dozen of his subordinates, "Quickly, escort the young master down to the first floor!"

He the Tiger lowered Zhang the Monkey's corpse. "Duan Mingyu, I will hack you into ten thousand pieces!"

Instantly grabbing a saber, he charged forward along with the others. The dozen guards protecting Duan Mingyu each wielded a wooden bench, bringing them down in ferocious, sweeping strikes against the oncoming escort guards.

Blood splattered across five paces. Duan Mingyu sighed inwardly. *I was careless. Forgetting to equip my men with a large number of weapons is my greatest mistake.*

Because of this error, many of his brothers might very well lose their lives here today, and perhaps he would perish alongside them.

Duan Mingyu and Xu Zuye exchanged a deep, lingering look. Their eyes were filled with unyielding resolve and the heroic spirit of those ready to face death without fear.

Following the initial clash, two of Duan Mingyu's guards had already fallen, while ten men from the Yangwei Escort Agency lay dead with shattered skulls, bearing witness to the brutal lethality of the guards' counterattacks.

Duan Mingyu’s eyes were bloodshot as he locked his gaze firmly onto Yu the Snake and Zhao the Dragon.

"Kill!"

The mass of escort guards charged once more. By now, Duan Mingyu's men had seized the opportunity to pick up long sabers from fallen corpses, truly initiating close-quarters combat.

*Slash!* Every time a blade pierced flesh, it was accompanied by the fall of one or even multiple lives.

Duan Mingyu glanced back at the staircase, which was just within arm's reach. Only five men remained on his side. If they tried to cross the stairs in an orderly fashion, they would inevitably be trapped at the bottleneck, caught in a devastating pincer attack between the front and rear.

Duan Mingyu took a deep breath, hoisted a heavy table, and shouted, "Jump down quickly!"

The guards following Duan Mingyu always treated obedience to orders as their sacred duty. The moment Duan Mingyu finished speaking, the five men shielded Xu Zuye and resolutely leapt from the four-to-five-meter-high second floor.

Duan Mingyu heaved the table forward, hurling it directly into the charging guards.

"Agh!" A massive wave of the oncoming guards tumbled backward, momentarily halting their advance.

After throwing the table, Duan Mingyu swiftly leapt down himself, only to suddenly feel a chill across his back—someone had attacked.

"Weight-Drop technique!" Duan Mingyu roared internally, his body plunging downward at high speed. A blade suddenly materialized from behind. What blindingly fast swordplay! Even though Duan Mingyu employed the weight-dropping footwork to accelerate his descent, a long slash was still carved across his back, and warm blood instantly soaked his garments.

In mid-air, Duan Mingyu violently spun around. The assailant was none other than Zhao the Dragon.

Duan Mingyu’s flying dagger flashed once more. Seeing Duan Mingyu’s right hand move, Zhao the Dragon sensed mortal peril and violently jerked his head to the side. The throwing knife grazed Zhao the Dragon’s cheek, kicking up a spray of blood.

Failing to land a fatal blow, Duan Mingyu let out a soft sigh. "This man is a formidable adversary!"

Upon landing on the ground, the surrounding guards quickly converged, forming a tight defensive circle around him.

The escort guards on the first floor watched Duan Mingyu leap down, drawing their long sabers in preparation for a massacre, when they suddenly heard heart-rending screams erupting from among their companions behind them.

The guards brought by Wang Aiqing had long since eliminated the escorts in the courtyard and lay in wait on the first floor. He, too, was waiting for the right moment—the optimal opportunity to deal a crippling blow to the enemy.

The instant the first-floor guards had their attention completely captured by Duan Mingyu, Wang Aiqing immediately signaled his men to move.

Screams echoed continuously. Although they only wielded daggers, every strike targeted lethal pressure points.

The first floor, which had been packed with people just moments before, was suddenly strewn with fallen bodies.

Wang Aiqing picked up a dropped long saber from the floor. "Brothers, the time to repay the young master's loyalty has come! We are not cowards, we are not freeloaders—charge!"

"Kill!"

More than forty guards had reddened eyes. Had it not been for Young Master Duan's compassion, they would have long since starved to death on the streets or left their corpses rotting in the wilderness. Therefore, from the very day they chose to follow Duan Mingyu, they had already embraced the certainty of death.

And today, dying meant achieving ultimate honor.

Duan Mingyu drew his long saber. "Kill! Avenge our fallen brothers!"

Fear gripped the hearts of the escort guards. The battlefield was utter chaos as bodies continually fell. Wang Aiqing led his men in a desperate push toward Duan Mingyu. After paying the price of twenty lives, Wang Aiqing finally fought his way to Duan Mingyu's side.

Looking at the meager twenty-some men remaining around him, a wave of desolate emotion welled up in Duan Mingyu's chest. "My brothers, I, Duan Mingyu, have failed you all!"

Wang Aiqing was covered in mottled blood, bearing no less than a dozen wounds across his body. "Young Master, no more words are needed. For the brothers to die for the Young Master is a death well-earned, a death with a peaceful mind. Not a single one of them is a coward."

"That's right, not a single one is a coward!" The surrounding guards burned with righteous anger, feeling an unprecedented sense of pride for their fallen brothers.

Duan Mingyu looked up at Cao Hong on the second floor, who remained completely unstained by blood. "Cao Hong, you cannot keep me here today."

Cao Hong's cheek twitched violently. Over eighty of his escort guards had perished, alongside one of his primary chieftains, Zhang the Monkey. The losses this time were catastrophic!