"It is I."
The two short words rang out like a muffled peal of thunder, echoing in the ears of everyone in the venue. Their minds went blank; they were utterly paralyzed.
Even Xiao Zhan, standing on the auction stage, was momentarily stunned. As a deputy commander of the Western Territory Army who had been through countless battles and fought across the country alongside Prince Xiaoyao, he was nonetheless caught off guard by the roar of Jiang Chen’s voice, failing to react for a fleeting second.
By the time he did, he saw a man walking in.
The man wore a black ghost mask, and an icy aura radiated from him. This chill seemed to drop the temperature of the entire venue by several degrees.
"It’s him?"
"The ghost-masked man who killed Xiao Biehe!"
Many of the socialites in the room reacted, their faces turning deathly pale as they gazed at the approaching Jiang Chen. Memories of half a month ago flashed before them: Xiao Bin’s arm twisted and broken, and Xiao Biehe’s head severed, his body collapsing into a pool of blood.
"It’s you?" Xiao Zhan’s expression darkened. He had seen this ghost-masked man in the Xiao family's surveillance footage; this was the man who had killed his father.
"The remnant of the Jiang family?" Xiao Zhan stared intently at Jiang Chen. Though a battle-hardened deputy commander of the Western Territory Army, he sensed a terrifying, solemn killing intent emanating from this man.
Jiang Chen wore the black ghost mask, but his eyes were visible—and they were blood-red.
Behind him, Xiao Hei followed. When he saw Tang Chuchu lying on the auction stage, covered in blood and barely clinging to life, his heart skipped a beat. He knew that today, this place would run red with blood. He had followed Jiang Chen for many years and knew his temper all too well.
Jiang Chen cared most about the brothers who had braved life and death with him. Beyond that, he cherished the savior he could never forget—the young girl who had pulled him from a sea of fire. For Tang Chuchu, he had forsaken supreme glory. Had he not, his prestige would have surely made him the leader of the Five Great Commanders.
And now, Xiao Zhan had dared to do this to her.
A dragon has a reverse scale; touch it, and you die. Tang Chuchu was Jiang Chen’s reverse scale. Xiao Zhan was a dead man—no one could save him. Even if Prince Xiaoyao himself were to descend and try to intervene, he too would die.
The massive venue was deathly silent. Jiang Chen and Xiao Zhan locked eyes. Under the terrifying pressure, Xiao Zhan, a veteran of countless wars, felt a tremor of fear. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead involuntarily.
Jiang Chen reached behind his waist and produced a thin wire. Clutching the thread—fashioned from silver needles—he walked toward the auction stage, step by step, under the gaze of many.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The rhythmic sound of his heavy boots hitting the floor echoed through the hall. With every step he took, the hearts of the spectators trembled. By the end, the very tables and chairs began to vibrate, as if in the grip of an earthquake.
"Bla... Black..."
Xiao Zhan saw the thin wire made of silver needles in Jiang Chen’s hand, and his face filled with terror. He remembered someone. In all the world, there was only one person who used silver needles fashioned into a steel wire as a weapon!
*Whoosh!*
Jiang Chen moved. The wire in his hand instantly split, transforming into a barrage of silver needles that shot out with deadly precision, piercing directly into the center of Xiao Zhan's brow. The needles then flew back, converging once more into a thin strand of wire, now stained with droplets of blood.
Xiao Zhan had managed only that single word: "Black." He died before he could utter the second. But in his final moment, he was filled with regret. He had seen the wire in the surveillance footage, but the distance had been too great; he hadn't seen it clearly. Had he known, he wouldn't have dared to trouble Tang Chuchu, even if he were given ten times the courage!
This was the Black Dragon! The Black Dragon, renowned across the Southern Wasteland, one of the Five Great Commanders—equal in rank to his own superior! But Xiao Zhan knew that even if ten Prince Xiaoyaos were added together, they would be no match for a single Black Dragon.
Under the horrified gaze of the crowd, Xiao Zhan slowly toppled over without a sound of pain.
Tang Chuchu lay on the auction stage. In her daze, she caught a glimpse of a face wearing a ghost mask. She tried to see it clearly, to memorize the mask, but having lost too much blood, she felt her mind swim, and she drifted into unconsciousness. Before she lost total awareness, she felt a pair of strong, steady hands lift her up.
"Leave not a single member of the Western Territory Army alive. Do not touch the Xiao family members—I want them to know what despair is. I want them to die in the depths of despair."
Jiang Chen carried the unconscious Tang Chuchu and walked toward the exit, his cold, ruthless voice resounding through the hall. The heavily armed soldiers standing on either side of the stage saw their deputy commander lying in a pool of blood and were frozen in terror, their bodies trembling.
Following Jiang Chen’s command, Xiao Hei strode forward. As his trench coat billowed, he reached to his waist, and a series of throwing knives appeared in his hands.
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*
The knives flew in constant succession. Two Western Territory soldiers collapsed into the blood. Xiao Hei moved toward the back of the venue; every soldier he encountered fell to the ground instantly, without even a chance to resist.
The massive venue fell into absolute silence. The Jiangzhong socialites covered their heads with their hands and huddled on the ground, not daring to move a muscle.
Ten minutes or so passed before someone finally mustered the courage to stand. When they saw Xiao Zhan and the soldiers of the Western Territory Army lying dead in pools of blood, they all gasped in horror. The remaining members of the Xiao family were too terrified to utter a single word.
They were consumed by fear. The words "Do not kill the Xiao family, I want them to know what despair is, to die in the depths of despair" echoed in their minds.
Someone finally reacted and quickly called the police. Soon, the police arrived, rescued the trapped Tang family, and cordoned off the scene to begin their investigation and take statements.