"Yes." Zhang Ming nodded. "I won't kill the innocent indiscriminately."
Hearing this, everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Consequently, they were no longer in any rush to flee.
Only Xiang Ya felt deeply unsettled, unlike the guests who could simply remain out of it.
As a subordinate of the Marquis of the Northwest, he knew all too well how crucial it was to protect his superior's face.
Xiang Ya could never tolerate anyone moving against the Jiang Family on his turf; not only would it make the Imperial Capital Villa look incompetent, but it would also damage the villa's prestige. Yet, facing someone as unreasonable as Zhang Ming, the situation was terribly difficult to handle. What a headache!
With no other choice, Xiang Ya gritted his teeth and decided to throw caution to the wind. For the dignity of the Marquis of the Northwest, a man would die for one who truly understood him!
"Boy, come and pay with your life!" he roared, hurling himself at Zhang Ming's face with hands shaped like eagle claws.
Seeing this, Zhang Ming's eyes instantly sharpened. He had originally had no intention of fighting, but circumstances forced his hand, leaving him no choice but to step forward.
With a light sigh, the fingernails on his right hand instantly grew wildly, and right after that, a massive, giant-like palm print condensed in the air, striking out toward Xiang Ya without a moment's hesitation.
"Bang." The palm print hit its target fiercely. The guests present stared in utter astonishment at the sight.
They remembered that not long ago, Wu Xieting had been reduced to nothingness by that very power.
Yet Xiang Ya was still standing tall, staring fearlessly at Zhang Ming, before finally managing to force out with difficulty after a long moment: "Could you... could you possibly be in the Martial Realm..." Before he could finish his sentence, he crashed heavily to the ground.
The heavy aura of fading life filled the air!
Exclamations immediately erupted from the crowd!
The onlookers simply couldn't believe their eyes, too shocked to utter a single word.
At that moment, Zhang Ming's ferocity and ruthlessness were deeply carved into the bottom of everyone's heart.
In stark contrast, the faces of the Jiang Family members were painted with despair.
Zhang Ming's gaze swept over those despairing faces one by one, his fists tightening further.
"Now, there are no more obstacles on the road of vengeance," he said coldly.
"No! I beg you, don't do this."
Many members of the Jiang Family began to weep bitterly, begging Zhang Ming to show mercy. But Zhang Ming's heart was as hard as stone, completely unmoved.
"Spare you?"
"Then who is going to save my parents and my younger sister?"
"An eye for an eye is only right and proper." Zhang Ming finished through gritted teeth, then suddenly extended his right hand and grabbed Jiang Yanyao.
Jiang Yanyao immediately let out a piercing scream, rolling on the ground in agony.
"What I am able to give, you have no right to demand," Zhang Ming said expressionlessly, slowly raising his right hand as if gripping something invisible.
"Look," someone cried out in alarm.
They saw that the spine at Jiang Yanyao's waist was actually bulging grotesquely.
"Snap." With a crisp sound, her spine broke in two, and a section of the spine—fixed with steel nails—pierced through her skin, exposed to the air! Jiang Yanyao's miserable screams cut off abruptly.
The once breathtaking beauty was now a bloody mess, devoid of breath.
Good god!
Everyone stared at Zhang Ming with terror in their eyes.
"He's simply a living King of Hell, the kind who comes to the mortal world to collect debts," someone lowered their voice and said tremulously.
Though the surrounding crowd remained silent, they silently nodded in their hearts, agreeing with this statement.
"Zhang Linxu," Jiang Linxu's eyes bulged as if they might pop out, and he roared furiously, "You..."
Before he could finish, Zhang Ming appeared before the Jiang father and son like a ghost.
Immediately following that, two heads were hoisted high into the air, tracing a heart-stopping arc through the sky.
With a loud bang, accompanied by the horrific scene of flying blood and flesh, the lives of the Jiang father and son came to an abrupt end.
Finally, Zhang Ming's gaze fell upon Jiang Huonian.
Although the old man was breathing heavily, his complexion was unusually flushed, and he shouted defiantly, "You little bastard, come on, kill me."
To his surprise, Zhang Ming actually chuckled. "Heh."
"Old man, you want to die a quick and easy death? No way." His smile vanished instantly, replaced by ruthless coldness. "I am going to keep you alive, and make it worse than death."
"You." Jiang Huonian was so enraged that he vomited blood, spraying it all over the ground.
Seeing this, a disdainful smirk curved the corner of Zhang Ming's mouth, and then he leapt up as lightly as a bird: "If you want revenge, come find me at Yuhu Bay. I'll be waiting for you." His voice echoed in the air, but he had already vanished without a trace.
Had he really left? The servants of the Jiang Family snapped back to their senses as if waking from a dream, and rushed over to Jiang Huonian's side.
"Master!" they called out anxiously.
Trembling all over, Jiang Huonian said with bitter hatred, "Quickly send word to the Marquis of the Northwest. Tell him that after causing a disturbance at the Imperial Capital Villa, Zhang Ming is hiding in the Zhang Family's ancestral residence waiting for him—let's see if he dares to come. Also, everyone else should leave this place for now and return after the storm in Wancheng passes."
"Understood," everyone replied in unison.
Before long, the events at the Imperial Capital Villa were the talk of the town in Wancheng.
This was hardly surprising, given just how many guests had been present that day!
On top of that, Zhang Ming had intentionally spared their lives.
How could a matter like this possibly be kept under wraps?
For a time, the affairs of the Jiang Family became the talk of everybody on the street.
Though the revenge was over, this was only the first step of his plan.
As for the Jiang Family, he would never let the matter rest here.
He swore to make the members of the Jiang Family live in constant terror for the rest of their days!
...
The night grew deeper, and suddenly a fierce wind began to howl.
Yet these changes seemed nonexistent to Zhang Ming. Lost in his own thoughts, he recounted every single detail of the past eight years, a gentle smile even lingering on his face.
Right at that moment!
A deafening roar shattered the silence of the night.
The gates of the Zhang Family—having weathered eight years of wind and rain—crashed down in the cold wind, and the moonlight took the opportunity to spill all over the room.
Immediately afterward, two tall figures slowly stepped inside.
"Kid, you've got a lot of nerve. Causing trouble on the turf of the Marquis of the Northwest wasn't enough, and you actually dare not to run away? Truly impressive," a seductive voice with a hint of wickedness drifted through the night.
Another man's voice followed closely behind:
"Those two good-for-nothings Wu Xieting and Xiang Ya couldn't even handle a brat, bringing shame upon our Marquis. They really deserve a thorough thrashing."
Zhang Ming turned a deaf ear to the chatter around him, remaining alert as he sensed that apart from the two figures lurking in secret, even more people were quietly closing in.
The footsteps grew closer, and Zhang Ming lowered his voice: "It's the subordinates of the Marquis of the Northwest." He remained kneeling, his back to the main gates.
"Little brother, knowing there are tigers in the mountains, you still choose to walk into the tiger's mountain—you certainly have some nerve," the woman's voice carried a hint of mockery; even without seeing her, one could sense her audacity.
"The Marquis of the Northwest doesn't dare show his face, so he just sends you small fries to throw your lives away?" Zhang Ming sneered.
"With skills like yours, are you even worthy of our Marquis making a move? If you commit suicide today, you can at least keep your corpse intact." The man replied with utter disdain.
These two were elite experts under the Marquis of the Northwest, holding a status far surpassing that of Xiang Ya, whom Zhang Ming had previously defeated.
They looked down on Zhang Ming, assuming he had merely stumbled into a victory over a weakling.
Before the echoes of their voices faded, the two of them, leading three hundred garrison guards, had tightly surrounded the courtyard, sealing off Zhang Ming's room completely.