Chapter 299

Chapter 299: Chapter 298: The Thirteen Heavenly Kings had only just formed, and their loyalties had not fully consolidated when, after two great battles, Ye Tianchen was severely wounded, his life hanging in the balance, and had not returned. Some members had already started to feel resentful, believing that Ye Tianchen was surely dead and would not return, and that the Thirteen Heavenly Kings would disband. They wanted severance pay.

Zhang Lei and his twin brother Zhang Da naturally stood together and were among the ringleaders of the unrest. Their strength was formidable; if the two brothers joined forces, Wuxue and Wang Jie would find it very difficult to take them down on their own, and doing so wouldn’t be advisable. Infighting would only convince others that the end of the Thirteen Heavenly Kings was indeed imminent.

Wang Jie was hot-headed by nature. After being defeated by Ye Tianchen, he had loyally followed him. Now, seeing Zhang Lei and Zhang Da stirring up trouble and causing unease among the other members of the Thirteen Heavenly Kings, he was instantly infuriated. Clenching his fists, he was ready to teach the brothers a lesson.

"Hey, thinking about making a move without a reason, huh? Do you really think our brothers are afraid of you?" Zhang Lei also clenched his fists and spoke defiantly to Wang Jie.

"Hmph, even if our brothers join forces, you might not be able to beat us!" Zhang Da stood out immediately, ready to fight, clearly indicating that if Wang Jie made a move, the brothers would not hold back.

"Fine, today I’ll stand in for big brother and teach you a lesson, and clean house!" Wang Jie said with a severe frown, unable to contain his anger.

Just as Wang Jie was about to strike, Wuxue grabbed him and shook his head. Wang Jie paused, glaring fiercely at the Zhang brothers, but held back.

Wuxue’s intentions were clear to Wang Jie. Though Wang Jie was more impulsive and not as steady as Wuxue, this didn’t mean he was foolish. He understood that fighting the Zhang brothers, regardless of victory or defeat, would adversely affect the entire Thirteen Heavenly Kings. Civil strife was secondary; the true hazard was the potential further dissolution of their unity, which was already hard to maintain.

But Zhang Lei and Zhang Da had truly gone too far, instigating unrest from the start. And now, they had audaciously spoken about disbanding. How could anyone not feel provoked?

Wuxue stepped forward, glancing at the Zhang brothers and the rest of the members. He knew their unrest stemmed from one concern: that Ye Tianchen was dead, that the Thirteen Heavenly Kings were finished, and the chance they had found to prove themselves was slipping away, eroding their confidence.

"I know what everyone is thinking, but I can assure you, big brother will return. He’s already awakened—though I won’t hide from you that he was gravely injured this time, which prevents him from returning promptly. I hope you all can touch your conscience and think about why we came here to follow big brother in the first place. How has big brother treated all of us?" Wuxue appealed to their emotions and reason.

"Indeed, would big brother have clashed with the Taie Sword while carrying such severe injuries if it weren’t to save us? He risked his life to fight because he wanted to rescue us. Is this how we repay him?" Lin Duan also stood up and spoke out loud.

"No matter what, I’ll follow big brother. I believe he will return soon!" Hu Long also stood up, siding with Wuxue, Wang Jie, and Lin Duan.

"I feel the same!" Bao Tianglong also came forward.

"This man won’t die; I believe he can come back!" Xiao Qing said with a charming smile as she too took her stand.

Wuxue, Wang Jie, Lin Duan, Hu Long, Bao Tianglong, and Xiao Qing—six people in total—were utterly loyal to Ye Tianchen. The remaining six, not to say they were disloyal, were simply wavering. Especially Zhang Lei and Zhang Da, who had instigated trouble from the start. As for Deng Shuang and Zhang Wuquan, who had previously followed Wang Jie, they were also indecisive. Wang Jie did not force the matter. After all, everyone has their own aspirations, and pressuring them to choose was not desirable.

"Hmph, whether he’s dead or not, we brothers don’t want to do this anymore!" Zhang Lei, seeing Wuxue and several others firmly take the opposite stance—though six others remained uncommitted—still spoke without declaring their position.

"Right, I can’t wait for such days!" Zhang Da chimed in in agreement.

"If you two brothers want to leave, then go. We’re not stopping you!" Wuxue said indifferently.

"You... it won’t be so easy for just the two of us to leave. Pay up!" Zhang Lei was stunned for a moment before he demanded sharply.

"That’s right, we’ve eradicated the Xuanyuan family and the Ouyang family, and we’ve made contributions. You think you can just let us brothers walk away without paying? No way!" Zhang Da put on a brazen front, refusing to leave without payment.

"Is that so? In the battle against the Xuanyuan family, your brothers indeed contributed, which I won’t deny. But in the battle against the Ouyang family, only the Thirteen Leopard Kings were slain by us. Your brothers didn’t kill many. Moreover, the fall of the Ouyang family wasn’t our doing; it was the state that took action, which seems to have nothing to do with you, right?" Wuxue said with an amused smile.

"Every member of the Thirteen Heavenly Kings receives equal treatment. For your contributions in the battle against the Xuanyuan family, we will pay you an extra month’s salary, but forget about anything more. Get lost!" Wang Jie said irritably.

At this stage, with all pretenses dropped, both Wuxue and Wang Jie were ready to talk business with the Zhang brothers straightforwardly. To them, such persons were no longer considered brothers.

"You guys..."

Zhang Lei and Zhang Da’s faces turned green with fury, having not expected Wuxue and Wang Jie to be formidable opponents, who, after a complete fallout, were not to be trifed with.

"The two of you leading the charge in causing trouble has already violated our Thirteen Heavenly Kings Organization’s principle of unity. So, it’s not a matter of you guys wanting to leave, but us expelling you two brothers. With our big brother absent, Wang Jie and I, as the two Vice Kings, have discussed and concluded—it’s time for you to go!" Wuxue said decisively.

Nobody had expected that Wuxue and Wang Jie, who had initially been polite and seemed reluctant to escalate the situation, would suddenly become so resolute and forceful, resulting in the expulsion of Zhang Lei and Zhang Da from the Thirteen Heavenly Kings Organization.

Bang!

Just then, a loud explosion erupted from the large swimming pool behind the Thirteen Heavenly Kings, sending water spraying everywhere. A figure in a black coat, with their entire body shrouded, save for their eyes, stared at the Thirteen Heavenly Kings with a sinister gaze that carried an ominous killing intent palpable to everyone present.

The person in the black coat, whose stature wasn’t imposing, being roughly 1.6 meters tall, stood next to the swimming pool. The loud noise had been caused by them, yet they hadn’t directed their attack towards any members of the Thirteen Heavenly Kings. It seemed their intention was simply to show that they had arrived, displaying an arrogance and brashness that could even be described as unrivaled.

"Thirteen Heavenly Kings? How come one is missing? If that’s the case, won’t I only be able to take back twelve heads?" the person in the black coat asked with an icy voice, chilling everyone with their laugh.

"Who are you?" Wuxue asked, frowning.

"You don’t need to know too much, just understand that all twelve of your heads are going to be chopped off!" the person in the black coat replied coldly.

Whoosh!

Bao Tianglong was the first to charge forward. It was clear that the adversary had come to kill them and was extremely confident and arrogant. So what else was there to say? Naturally, they had to take action and finish him off.

Bang!

With one punch colliding against another in the blink of an eye, Bao Tianglong had already rushed to the person in the black coat, launching a fierce blow. The person in the black coat, surprise in their eyes, did not dodge and countered with a punch, meeting the attack head-on.

After their fists met, both the person in the black coat and Bao Tianglong each took two steps back, watching each other icily.

The members of the Thirteen Heavenly Kings were astounded to see Bao Tianglong, who they knew was once a warrior of the Heavenly Gang Level, take action and yet not immediately kill the person in the black coat. Instead, the two traded a punch for a punch, each retreating two steps and ending up in a draw. It was incredibly surprising; after all, everyone knew how powerful Bao Tianglong was at full strength, a match for Wuxue and Wang Jie. That the smaller assassin in the black coat could withstand his punch without being flung away was beyond belief.

"Not bad at all; having someone worthy of fighting saves us from a boring massacre!" the short person in the black coat said with a sinister chuckle.

"If you don’t start telling the truth, you won’t have another chance!" Wuxue said, furrowing his brows as he eyed the short person in the black coat.

"Really? Well, I’d like to see you try!" the short person in black replied, his arrogance showing no sign of waning in the face of the Thirteen Heavenly Kings.

Without saying anything further, Wuxue signaled to Lin Duan with his eyes. Lin Duan understood perfectly; at times like this, when someone caused trouble, they would become the target of combined wrath, and not killing them would not quell the rage.

Lin Duan, too, rushed over. With both him and Bao Tianglong joining forces, the short person in black couldn’t withstand their attacks and was soon beaten into coughing up blood, several times barely escaping being killed on the spot.

Bang, bang!

With a punch and a kick, the short person in black was sent flying, landing hard on the ground, spewing blood. Gone was his previosuly untouchable arrogance, his gaze now filled with shock and fury. He probably hadn’t expected that the Thirteen Heavenly Kings, created by Ye Tianchen, weren’t just ordinary bodyguards; within their ranks were indeed some top-notch experts. Chopping off the heads of these twelve people wouldn’t be as easy as he had thought. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)