'It seems that they have left the Valley Town after creating a stir, ' Lanny thought.
He ordered his men to expand the scope of their search to the regions around Valley Town.
But the town was true to its name. In other words, it really was a valley and around it was nothing but
continuous high mountains surrounded by dense jungles. It wasn't easy to find a dozen people there.
The second day, news came that the people who had been sent out were dead. A bamboo slip had
been stuck in every dead person's body. There was a number on every one of those slips.
The largest number on the bamboo slips was 95.
Apparently, one bamboo slip meant that one person was killed. So within two days, 95 members of the
family had been killed. Ninety six if one counted Benson.
Seeing so many cadavers lying around in the ancestral hall of the Li Family, the members were
extremely alarmed. It seemed that a shadow of death was covering their family these days.
From that day onwards, not one member of the Family dared to go out alone. Some of those who were
yellow-bellied didn't even dare to step out of their houses.
Austin, Mindy, and the others were lying down and resting in the open space of a grove.
The grove was ten miles away from Valley Town and therefore, safe.
Along with Mindy and Austin, there were about a dozen people of the Zhang Family there too. They
were all looking pretty excited. For the last several days, each one of them had killed several members
of the Li Family. Whereas for the last seven years, they had been forced to suppress their hatred. But
now, they had finally gotten a chance to take revenge, releasing all their pent-up hatred.
There were nine men of middle age surrounding Mindy and Austin.
In the past few days, the Li Family's members, whose cultivation base of vital energy was said to be
quite powerful and high, had been punched to death by Austin in one go. His fighting capacity was
obviously superior to Mindy's.
Seeing how powerful he was, the people of the Zhang Family admired him a lot. Besides, in their eyes,
there was no doubt that Austin was going to get married to Mindy. That was to say, he was also going
to become a member of the Zhang Family one day. Austin's joining made Zhang Family's prosperity
seem just around the corner.
"Mindy, we have killed 95 people of the Zhang Family in the last few days. When will we have a head-
on fight with Li Family in daylight?"
One of the men asked.
"There's no hurry. The Family still has hundreds of members at the moment. We should first depopulate
them and weaken their fighting will. That way, we will be in a dominant position once we finally attack.
In addition, I believe the whole Li Family is getting into a panic now. I would like them to suffer a bit
longer."
Mindy replied calmly.
On the third day, another crop of more than forty men of the Li Family were killed, including Logan,
Lanny's second son!
A bamboo slip with a number was stuck in each of their body.
For the next ten days, several members of the family were killed one by one, with about five to ten at
the very least every day. The coffin-shops in Valley Town didn't even get enough time to make some
coffins for the dead, so the Family had to go to nearby towns and buy more coffins. When people
asked them why so many people were dying in the family, they would always respond with the excuse
that it was because they had offended the God of plague, which resulted in a pestilence on their house.
However, bad news traveled on wings, and it was hard to keep the truth contained. Soon, almost all the
people in Valley Town knew that it was the Zhang Family coming to take revenge.
Everyone in the Li Family was jittery now. Guards were positioned on patrol day and night in the family
house. All the warriors of the Family participated in this task. Women and children were gathered in the
central room of the mansion, with no one daring to let his wife or children go out for the fear of death.
Anyone who dared to go out alone was sure to be dead when people next saw him.
On the seventh day, the last surviving son of Lanny, his first son, Ellison, was cut into pieces. Less than
half of his body was discovered.
To everyone's surprise, he was killed right at the corner, only about 600 meters way from the Li
Family's house.
According to some witnesses, Ellison had just walked around that corner with four of his family
members when suddenly two figures emerged from the shadows.
Judging from their backs, it looked like they were a pair of young man and woman.
In a very short while, the four people accompanying Ellison were killed. And then Ellison was punched
into pieces, with more than half of his body so smashed that it could not be recovered.
On the eighth day, inside Lanny's study, two men were seen discussing something secretively.
One was Lanny, and the other one was an old man clad in black.
"Uncle Wang, it looks like our Li Family is facing a deep crisis. I want you to go to the Black Mountain
Fortress and find my brother there. You need to ask him to help me. Only with his help, can we deal
with this disaster. Uncle Wang, you are the person I trust the most. And I believe that only you can fulfill
this task."
"My lord, don't worry too much. The chief of Black Mountain Fortress is one of us. Now, when our own
family is in trouble, he will surely spare no effort to help us."
"That's all well and good. But uncle, remember to be careful and shelter yourself well. Keep it a secret
that the chief of Black Mountain Fortress is my brother, or else we will be in an unfavorable position."
"Believe me, my lord. I will be careful."
"OK, then you should leave at once. You can pretend to be a servant of the Li Family. Keep to yourself
and if people ask, then say that you are leaving the Family because you are frightened. I think you'll be
able to leave safely that way. On observing for several days, I have found that the remaining people of
the Zhang Family only kill the clansmen of our Li Family. They haven't harmed anyone else."
"Don't worry, my lord. I will handle it."
Uncle Wang said. Then he set out on his mission.
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