Chapter 1: The God of Slaughter Returns to Embrace His Wife

“Li Yuyan, marry me, or I’ll kill you.”

At the foot of the verdant hills on the outskirts of River City, a young man with a battered backpack stood, his eyes frosted with cold, staring icily at Li Yuyan.

Li Yuyan’s delicate brows quivered at his words, her astonished eyes shrinking to pinpricks.

She had heard of proposals before.

But never one like this.

Most bewildering of all, she could not remember ever having met this man.

He wanted to marry her upon their first encounter? Wasn’t this preposterous?

Gazing at the stranger before her—handsome, plainly dressed, and colder than a glacier—Li Yuyan found herself at a loss for how to respond.

But soon, her brows knit with anxiety, a flush crept across her cheeks, and her legs gave way beneath her. Her body toppled forward, beyond her control.

“No… The drug is taking effect.” She felt her whole body go limp, as if sinking into a mire, her vision blurring.

Fortunately, the young man caught her, holding her in his arms.

“My name is Guan Sheng.”

“From now on, I’ll be your husband.”

Li Yuyan wanted to refuse, but the haze of the drug left her unable to utter a single word.

Husband?

Ha!

That would be only if she made it off this mountain alive today. Who could have foreseen that, on a visit to pay respects to her late grandfather, she would encounter a band of ruthless criminals?

In this desolate mountain wilderness, there were only the two of them. Could they possibly escape?

When Guan Sheng heard no response from Li Yuyan, he looked down to find her unconscious.

“I thought you’d agreed,” he muttered. “Turns out you’ve been poisoned.”

His fingers pressed lightly to Li Yuyan’s pulse, probing carefully.

“A sedative? Someone wants you dead!”

Having completed countless assassination missions, Guan Sheng immediately sensed the whiff of danger.

“Good thing I arrived in time.”

“Well, I’ll wait until you wake up, and then we’ll go get our marriage certificate.”

He was the infamous Killing Blade—a lone assassin capable of crushing mercenary armies thousands strong, a match even for the world’s ten greatest war gods, whom he had bested one by one.

But his cold-blooded ruthlessness, his utter disregard for comrades, his concern for none but himself, had led his master—who had raised and taught him—to banish him from the City of Assassins.

His master had handed him a photograph, instructing him to return to Dragon Country and marry Li Yuyan.

His master had said: Only when his frozen heart had fully thawed, only when he learned to cherish the people beside him, would he be allowed to return to the City of Assassins, reclaim his place at the top, and command the world’s strongest.

Remembering his master’s words, Guan Sheng gazed at Li Yuyan with a trace of unwillingness.

“Since childhood, my life has been one of dancing on the edge of a blade, wielding my sword three thousand times a day, my heart frozen to the marrow.”

“Master said you could change me. I’m truly curious to see what makes you so extraordinary.”

Murmuring thus, Guan Sheng lifted Li Yuyan into his arms and turned to leave.

But at that very moment—

Three sharp arrows whistled through the air from behind, slicing through leaves and bamboo, aimed at Guan Sheng’s throat.

In the blink of an eye, he merely tilted his head. A cold gleam flashed, and the three arrows shattered into six fragments, scattering left and right.

A half-arm-length blade appeared in his calloused right hand.

“Who’s there?” His gaze was chilling.

Ten masked men, murderous intent in their eyes, appeared on the mountain path.

One of them nocked a poisoned arrow, aiming for Guan Sheng’s head.

The leader, a man with a scar across his forehead, snarled, “Where did this brat come from, trying to snatch our prize?”

“Look at yourself—think you’re worthy of stealing our woman?”

“Put Li Yuyan down and get lost, or you’ll lose your life.”

Guan Sheng replied in a somber voice, “She is my woman.”

At this, the men burst into raucous laughter. “Your woman? Do you even know who she is?”

Guan Sheng answered, “The heiress of the Li family in River City.”

The man’s laughter faded. He drew a long blade from his waist. “Wrong, wrong, wrong. She is the woman wanted by the Black Eagle Lord, the underground king of Jiangnan Province.”

“The Black Eagle Lord has offered a billion for her. Kid, be smart and scram.”

Underground king? Black Eagle Lord?

Hearing these names, Guan Sheng searched his memory.

Ah…

Why did that name sound so familiar? Then it came to him—five years ago, that man was nothing but a lowlife pimp in the red-light district of England.

By chance, Guan Sheng had killed hundreds of his thugs during a mission.

So it was him, and he hadn’t died of fright after all.

Guan Sheng said, “Go back and tell your Black Eagle Lord—Li Yuyan belongs to me, Guan Sheng.”

The moment these words left his lips, the ten men narrowed their eyes.

“If you won’t drink the toast, then you’ll drink the penalty. Kill him.”

At the order, the ten men moved like the wind, appearing around Guan Sheng in the blink of an eye.

Their speed was far beyond the limits of ordinary men.

The machetes in their hands cleaved the air with thunderous force.

But—

They had no inkling of whom they were facing.

Another flash of cold light!

With three explosive sounds, Guan Sheng swung his blade—his technique seemingly simple, yet in an instant, nine men were sliced in half at the waist.

With a sickening crack—

Nine fell dead at once.

The last man was hurled backward, blood spurting from his mouth. Though the blade had not touched him, the force of its aura shattered his internal organs.

Now, only a single breath remained in his body.

He trembled violently, his face contorted with terror, all his earlier arrogance gone.

“This… this can’t be!”

“What incredible swordsmanship…”

“Who… who are you?”

Guan Sheng slid his blade back into his sleeve and strode away, leaving four words behind.

“Crawl back and tell your Black Eagle Lord my name.”

“Then you’ll know who I am.”

“Remember—Li Yuyan is my woman.”

“Come after her again, and you die.”

…

Half an hour later, inside the Li family’s luxurious villa in River City.

Li Yuyan’s father, Li Feng, looked at Guan Sheng in bewilderment. Exchanging a glance with his wife, Xu Hong, he frowned.

“Who… who are you?”

“How did you come back carrying my Yuyan?”

Guan Sheng laid Li Yuyan gently on the sofa, covered her with a blanket, and sat in the grand armchair of the living room.

The aura he radiated was so oppressive that Li Feng and Xu Hong felt as though they were facing the family’s battle-hardened patriarch.

For one so young to possess such a presence—just who was he?

Guan Sheng answered coldly, “I am Li Yuyan’s husband.”

“What?” Li Feng’s eyes widened.

His daughter had gone to pay respects to her grandfather and returned with a husband?

He was just about to fly into a rage when Xu Hong suddenly pulled him aside.

“Why are you stopping me? There’s no way this kid is Yuyan’s husband—he’s a lunatic.”

Xu Hong pinched his waist and whispered, “Have you forgotten? Three years ago, the young prodigy of the Qi family in River City sent word to us that, upon descending the mountain, he would marry Yuyan.”

Li Feng’s eyes lit up. “You mean, he’s that young master from the Qi family?”

Guan Sheng: “I’m thirsty.”

Li Feng hurried over, face creased with a fawning smile.

“Certainly, son-in-law.”

“I’ll pour you some water!”