Chen Fan walked back to the eaves of the corridor.
Xu Xilou was still sitting, his face pale from excessive bleeding.
Chen Fan looked at him and reached out his hand.
"You... have cultivated to which step?"
Xu Xilou spoke, his voice deep and weak.
Chen Fan paused for a moment before saying, "Above Hua Jin!"
Xu Xilou's eyes widened, filled with shock.
"Martial arts grandmaster? I... I have met many famous martial artists, at most... Hua Jin."
"I... am not wronged in dying!"
Chen Fan's expression was calm as he said, "Does the Xu family have another Dragon Rune Compass?"
"Once..."
Xu Xilou said with difficulty, "It was given to the thousand-year-old... Feng family!"
A thousand-year-old family?
Chen Fan was not surprised. He nodded and raised his hand, extending a finger.
"Please, leave a sliver of... opportunity, the continuation of the Xu family's lineage..."
Chen Fan said faintly, "That depends on the Xu family themselves!"
With that, he pointed a finger at Xu Xilou's brow.
Xu Xilou's body trembled, then suddenly relaxed. He remained seated on the steps, but his breath had ceased.
Chen Fan turned and looked at Chen Xing'er, who had followed him.
"You've killed a lot of people."
Chen Xing'er asked with a hint of accusation in her voice.
"They deserved to die!"
He looked around the entire Yishui Mountain Villa; there was not a single living person left.
From Xu Donglai downwards, all were dead.
Most had died at Chen Fan's hands, and many had been killed by the Prophet and his group.
Especially the Xu family experts at the main gate and outer perimeter of the villa, all of whom had been silently eliminated by the Prophet and his team.
"You came to save me, didn't you?"
Chen Xing'er looked at the corpses littering the ground, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, but unlike Shi Wenyan, her face was not pale and she didn't feel like vomiting.
Chen Fan did not answer.
Chen Xing'er continued, "Is this what it looks like when the army goes to battle?"
"Such a small scene cannot compare to the battlefield," Chen Fan said casually. "Let's go!"
"What about the cleanup?" Chen Xing'er asked curiously.
"Relevant departments will naturally handle it!" Chen Fan replied indifferently.
"Chen Tianjiao!" Chen Xing'er pressed, "What have you been through all these years?"
Chen Fan glanced at Chen Xing'er and said faintly, "I am no longer that Tianjiao. My name is Chen Fan now."
Chen Xing'er was speechless. "Alright, I just want to know what you've been through and what you've done all these years. You must have encountered a lot of danger, right?"
Chen Fan did not answer, and even quickened his pace.
Chen Xing'er hurried to catch up.
It wasn't until they were outside the main gate of the villa that Chen Fan said, "You should return to the capital!"
Chen Xing'er immediately shook her head. "I'm not going back unless you go back with me."
Chen Fan frowned and turned to look at Chen Xing'er sternly, scolding, "Chen Xing'er, your status as the eldest daughter of the Chen family cannot guarantee your safety completely. You must go back now!"
"Why are you yelling at me?"
Chen Xing'er blinked her eyes, pouted her lips, and said with tears welling up, "You haven't visited home in so many years, and now that you've finally found me, you're sending me away? Is this how a brother should be? Do you know how much I've missed you all these years?"
Chen Fan was speechless.
Knowing Chen Xing'er as he did, he knew she was feigning this demeanor.
But even knowing this, he still softened a little.
Chen Fan took a deep breath and said with a stern voice, "During this period, due to the fragments of the Dragon Rune Compass, many forces have come to Hangjiang, including sinister ones. They are not like the Xu family, who might have some reservations about your identity, so you must go back."
Chen Xing'er's expression changed immediately, and she said with a grin, "You still care about me quite a bit. Alright, I'll go back in a couple of days!"
"No, by tomorrow at the latest!"
Chen Fan shook his head, his tone extremely firm.
Chen Xing'er immediately became indignant. "You were missing for ten years, and now you're trying to control me? What right do you have to control me!"
Chen Fan couldn't refute her for a moment, so he simply ignored her and got into the car.
Chen Xing'er, not trusting Shi Wenyan to drive, returned to her own car and drove away.
In the car, Chen Fan dialed a number.
The call was connected quickly, and a deep voice of a middle-aged man came through, "Dark Night?"
"Yishui Mountain Villa in the southern suburbs of Hangjiang City. Send someone to handle it. Those who are dead are all from the Western Ridge Xu family!"
The other end was suddenly speechless, his breathing becoming rapid.
A few seconds later, he said with considerable dissatisfaction, "A century-old distinguished family, you've really gotten me into trouble!"
"You know my way of doing things!"
Chen Fan replied simply and hung up.
The person on the other end of the line was the supreme commander of the special department.
As the Lord of Dark Night, Chen Fan naturally had connections with the relevant departments. He had provided a lot of valuable information back to the country and had done many things that would never be made public.
There were too many deaths in Yishui Mountain Villa. If word spread in society, the impact would be too severe. It was necessary to inform the special department to handle the aftermath.
As for the Xu family, Chen Fan was not concerned.
...
Outside Xiangshan Tanfu, a white Volkswagen was parked on the street.
In the car, a man and a woman, both Caucasians, were staring at the entrance to the residential complex.
The one speaking was a tall, cold-faced man with black hair.
However, his eyes showed a hint of annoyance.
"We lost him."
"He was originally heading back to this complex, but he suddenly turned around as if he encountered something urgent. I think we might have missed some important intelligence!"
The woman in the passenger seat had a charming and striking appearance.
"Can you contact others? Did Akatsuki of the Bloody Church or Black Robe of the Crimson Wings manage to keep track of that guy?"
The man said.
"Okay!"
The woman nodded, took out her phone, and sent a message.
Less than half a minute later, she saw the reply and looked up, saying, "They lost him too!"
The man said, "It seems no one got ahead of us."
"But, I feel uneasy!"
The charming woman said, "An ordinary person couldn't shake us off so easily!"
The man's brows furrowed.
"Moreover, the intelligence report indicates that this person has a Mr. Long behind him, a business magnate in Great Xia."
"Just a businessman!"
"But a businessman has money. Are there things in this world that money can't achieve?" the woman said.
The man showed a hint of impatience. "Snow Knight, what are your thoughts?"
"I think we can't keep this stalemate going."
Snow Knight said, "This mission gives me a constant sense of foreboding."
"The item in question, the employer has paid a hefty price, we must get it!"
"There are far more people eyeing that item than we anticipated... Wait, he's back!"
Snow Knight said, letting out a soft gasp.
A Range Rover drove over and entered the complex.
The driver's side window rolled down, revealing Chen Fan.
His expression was calm, no different from his usual appearance.
But Snow Knight, looking at the face that quickly disappeared into the entrance of the complex, felt her unease grow stronger.
She was a person who ranked among the hidden lists in the underground world and had a keen intuition for danger.
For a moment, she couldn't help but frown.
At the same time, on top of a tall building, behind the scope of a sniper rifle, a face was raised.
An unremarkable East Asian face was fully revealed.
But soon, the muzzle lowered, and it was aimed at the white Volkswagen.
Akatsuki's lips twitched, and the muzzle moved, locking onto a man in a trench coat sitting by the window on the second floor of a coffee shop.
"Still not making a move, you're all sensing the unease too, aren't you?"
"This is precisely why I dare not act rashly anymore!"
Having learned from the lessons of two previous failures, he was now exceptionally patient and had already spotted others with the same objective as him.
*Ding*, his phone suddenly emitted a notification sound.
He picked it up and his expression became somewhat peculiar.