Lu Mingfei, who had read Dragon Clan before slaying the dragon

"That's a bird in a novel by contemporary Australian writer Colleen McCullough. It sings only once in its life and soars through the sky all its life without landing. The meaning of its life is to search for a thorn tree. When it finds the longest and sharpest thorn, it will use it to pierce its own throat, completing its only swan song in its lifetime." Ange's voice was deep and deep. "Aha, the first time I saw you, I felt that you were a child born in a thorn bush. Your life is full of thorns. Remember? Your two sisters..."

When Ange mentioned the word "sister", a flash of surprise and fear flashed across Inuyama He's eyes, and his body trembled instinctively, but when he looked into Ange's eyes, he suddenly calmed down.

Ange's voice, full of vicissitudes of life, was like the disk in an old phonograph, bringing Inuyama He back from his hazy memories to the scene of their first meeting sixty-five years ago.

Before World War II, the Inuyama family was not as powerful as it is now. At that time, the underworld contempt chain was serious. The Inuyama family, which made its fortune by the flesh trade, was at the bottom of the contempt chain of the Eight Snake Families. The head of the Inuyama family at that time, Inuyama He's father, was unwilling to be looked down upon by other family heads, so he resolutely led the entire family to participate in the war of aggression and mingled with the pro-war faction.

Later, the war failed and the emperor announced his surrender. The condemnation from the eight Yagi families poured out towards the Inuyama family, which was the weakest at the time. The head of the Inuyama family, who became the target of public criticism, could not bear the humiliation and committed suicide by seppuku at home.

The power and business of the Inuyama family were divided up, and gangs of all sizes wanted a piece of the pie. Inuyama He's eldest sister Inuyama Yuki fought hard for the family's last territory, fought with vicious dogs, and died at the door of her house.

Before the war, Inuyama He had a falling out with his father over their stance and left home in anger. When he returned home, he found only the body of his eldest sister lying at the door. Inuyama He staggered upstairs, suppressing his grief. However, the scene at home made him collapse on the spot. The scene he saw that day was a shadow that would linger in his life.

In the Inuyama family's patriarch's room, before his father's memorial tablet and portrait, the setting sun's afterglow shone on a woman's distorted face and exposed body. It was her second sister. Her kimono, painted with cranes and red demons, was torn to shreds. Her body was bound with thick hemp ropes, her mouth tightly gagged with a cloth. The woman curled up on the tatami in an obscene position, whimpering helplessly. An American Navy captain held one end of the rope, a shameless, evil grin on his face...

In order to protect the Inuyama family and the only remaining man in the family, Inuyama He, the second sister dedicated herself to the US Navy, guarding the ruined family with dignity and innocence.

Inuyama He rushed out of the door as if escaping, stepped over his elder sister's rotten body, ran desperately on the street, crying and shouting like crazy, as if he instinctively wanted to stay away from this terrible home.

He fell into a mud pit, the mixture of dirty water and tears blurred his vision, his stomach churning and vomiting uncontrollably. He hadn't eaten for two days, but he was still vomiting acid, as if he wanted to vomit out his stomach and his entire esophagus... The scene just now seemed to be branded in his mind, and he couldn't get rid of it, making his soul tremble.

He swore to kill that American naval captain! He must make the evil people who forced his eldest sister to death pay the price!

Since then, Inuyama He never returned to that home, but he still stubbornly guarded the family's custom business. Even though he didn't know any high-class women at all, he was very nice to those women of average looks. Every woman he introduced to the US Navy was regarded as a woman of the Inuyama family.

In order to help these poor women gain a few more yen, Inuyama He was often beaten for contradicting the soldiers.

In his eyes, every tortured woman is his second sister who has no choice, and every American soldier is the devilish American colonel. He has no ability to punish the colonel and these soldiers, nor does he have the ability to protect his second sister and these women. He can only use his thin body to rush forward and take the punches and kicks for them when they suffer unbearable bullying.

Endless insults and beatings were like sharp thorns that covered Inuyama He's youth.

"Aha, in my impression, you are always as dirty as when we first met. You wear a tattered kimono and do dirty business, but your eyes are bright."

Ange's voice rang out, awakening Inuyama He from his unbearable memories.

"That light is the stubbornness in your bones. You fight tenaciously against the thorns in life. Sadness and anger will become your strength, pushing you forward on the road to becoming a man... But if sadness and anger are too strong, they will drown you."

"So I solved the Inuyama family's predicament for you and cleared the thorns in your life, but I can't let you stop there, because it's not enough. Your life shouldn't stop at the age of eighteen, otherwise I would be harming you."

Ange's tone was extremely serious.

"Aha, I can't turn you into a useless person who depends on your teacher. The beatings and kicks of the US Navy won't fall on you anymore, so let me do it. The other families don't dare to insult you, so I will give you double the insults and ridicule. You always shout that you are the last man in the Inuyama family, but the road to becoming a man is a journey of ups and downs...Aha, I must become the new thorn in your life."

"Today you finally overcame the thorny obstacle of your teacher. At the ninth level, you left your determination on my chest. I saw it clearly." Ange rubbed the part of his chest where Inuyama He had chopped him, and smiled with satisfaction. "Congratulations, Ahe, you have become an upright man of the Inuyama family."

Looking at Ange's relieved smile, Inuyama He was stunned. He suddenly remembered that this hateful and abominable tyrant-like man in front of him seemed to have smiled at him before.

"Remember what happened when we met when I first came to Japan?"

Inuyama He remembered the question Ange had just asked him. Those memories that he had deliberately buried deep in his heart... also hid the memories of how he and Ange really met.

"Since you think you can represent the Inuyama family, then take me to your Inuyama family's territory, and I will negotiate with you there." Ange bent down and looked directly at Inuyama He and said.

Inuyama He hesitated because he had not been back to that house for a long time. He was not sure whether the naval captain had left or was still bullying his sister in his house. He did not want to see that nightmarish scene again.

"Why, you keep saying you're the last man of the Inuyama family, but you don't even have the guts to invite me to your territory?" Ange straightened his back and put on his white military cap. "Since you don't have a say, then go find someone in the Snake Eight Clan who can speak, and bring me to a place where I have enough weight to negotiate with you."

"Who said I don't have a say!" Inuyama He stubbornly stood up, wiped the mud off his body, and revealed the tattoo that was the pride of the Inuyama family, "Come with me!"

Inuyama He brought Ange to the ancestral home of the Inuyama family. In front of the door where his eldest sister had died tragically, he hesitated again. He admitted that there was something in the house that he was afraid to face due to cowardice. He stopped in front of the door, listening for any movement coming from the house to decide whether to go in.

While he was still hesitating, Ange had already stepped into the house. He climbed up the wooden stairs, and the old wooden boards made a creaking sound. Inuyama He took a deep breath and trotted after Ange.

When they reached the door of the master's room, Ange suddenly stopped and looked ahead with a frown. Inuyama He behind him turned his head and looked into the house from beside Ange.

The moment he saw the scene inside the house clearly, Inuyama He's eyes widened suddenly, and all the blood in his body seemed to rush to his mind in an instant. He felt that he had never been so angry, as if his nerves were about to explode.

In the room, a naked woman was lying on the tatami, her eyes were empty and lifeless, and she looked like she was mentally ill. She was as thin as a skeleton. In his impression, his second sister was obviously a beautiful woman, but now she had disheveled hair and looked like a malnourished female ghost.

What made Inuyama He even more furious was that the American colonel was sitting on the table where his father's spirit tablet was placed, watching two fat, pig-like naval officers on the tatami committing indecent acts against his second sister. The scene was obscene, and the colonel was whistling while watching and tossing the silver coins he had earned.

Inuyama He let out a heart-wrenching roar, and rushed into the house like a madman, pushing away the two fat men who were pressing on his second sister. The colonel recognized Inuyama He, pulled out a belt from his waist, and while insulting him, he whipped the belt on Inuyama He's cheeks and back like a whip.

Inuyama He wanted to curl up in pain, but he held on, holding his second sister tightly in his arms, shouting incoherent words wildly.

"I will definitely kill you! I will definitely kill you fat pigs!"

"Get out of the Inuyama family! You will pay with blood for what you did to my second sister! I swear!"

He regretted it so much and realized that he should have gone home earlier, even at the cost of his life, he should not have let his second sister become like this. His second sister became like this because of him. He was not a man of the Inuyama family at all. He was a coward who could not even protect the women in his family... Inuyama He opened his mouth, revealing his blood-soaked teeth, and bit hard on the wrist of the naval captain who was beating him with a belt.

The colonel screamed and his belt fell to the ground. He kicked Inuyama He's stomach and crotch with his leather boots. The other two soldiers rushed up and hit Inuyama He's head, trying to pry open his teeth.

Blood flowed from his forehead, blurring his vision. Inuyama He felt that his consciousness was becoming weaker... Maybe this was the end of his life. At least he would die in front of his father's spirit tablet as a man of the Inuyama family. Before he died, he would not be satisfied until he bit off a piece of flesh from these dead pigs!

Suddenly, screams rang in Inuyama He's ears, the sound of the belt cutting through the air was as crisp as firecrackers, and the fists hitting him suddenly stopped.

Inuyama He wiped the blood from his eyes and looked around. The man named Ange had come into the house at some point. He picked up the navy colonel's belt and swung it like a whip. Every swing drew a sharp arc, made a crackling sound, and hit the colonel and two soldiers hard.

The arrogant and domineering sailors fled in panic under the man's long whip, begging for mercy again and again, but Ange seemed to be unable to hear their cries for mercy, and just kept whipping the man with an expressionless face... until the three men were beaten covered in blood and there was not a single piece of good flesh on their bodies. The three men fainted from the pain.

Under Inuyama He's dull gaze, Ange took off his military jacket and placed it on his second sister's thigh on the ground, then took off his military cap and placed it in front of the woman's chest. He walked to the window, pushed it open, and the setting sun slanted in through the window.

Ange stood in the sun, looking at Inuyama He, and lit a cigar: "Inuyama He, right? You look like a brave kid. I recognize you. You can negotiate with me on behalf of the Inuyama family."

After finishing a whole cigarette, Ange took the colonel's unfinished wine from the table and poured it on Inuyama He. When he grinned, Ange put his hands on his shoulders, holding down his tossing body, and said something vaguely.

"From today on, you are my student. You will hate me. Risk your life to defeat me and grow into a real man."

Just as he remembered, the day they parted.

Before leaving, Ange had beaten Inuyama He until he was bruised and swollen, and in the same way, he poured wine on his wounds, listened to his grimaces, and put his hands on his shoulders to steady his struggling body. At the departure port, an officer from the General Staff happened to pass by and teased, "You couldn't bear to leave your three years in Japan, so you adopted him as your godson?"

Ange just smiled and said nothing.

The officer took a photo of them. In front of the mountain-like warship, Ange kept his hands on Inuyama He's shoulders... That photo was placed in the house of Inuyama He's ancestral home, and it is still displayed together with his photos.

Inuyama He vaguely remembered that at the moment the shutter was pressed, the father-like man behind him seemed to say something.

"Farewell, Aha. Don't forget to hate me. Risk your life to defeat me... The day you truly defeat me, you will have defeated yourself and become a true man."

In the photo, the bruised Inuyama He was grinning, and Ange was also smiling. Behind them was the skyscraper-like "Iowa", and cherry blossoms were falling from the washed sky.

Chapter 268 Lu Mingfei and Ange's Countermeasures

Tamamonomae Club, dance floor on the first floor.

"Teacher, I finally understand now what you once told me." Inuyama He lay on the ground, looking up at the roof of Tamamonomae and called softly.

"Baka." Ange said with a chuckle.

"I've scolded you many times." Inuyama He smiled bitterly, "Teacher, I really want to tell you..."

"Stop, Aha. We're both very old now. If you suddenly thank me now, it would make me sick." Ange waved his hand. "It's true that I insulted you before, and I've done a lot of bad things. I used you to control the Japanese branch and the Snake Eight Clan, and used your 'Setsuna' to refine my 'Time Zero'. In the final analysis, Aha, you don't actually owe me anything."

"Is there really no room for negotiation between the teacher and the family?" Inuyama He asked unwillingly.

"You are the descendants of the White King, and you've kept this secret from the world for thousands of years, but I'm not picking on you for this," Ange said gravely. "Ah, you should know me. I won't let go of anything related to the Dragon King. Sending all dragons to the execution ground is the only reason I'm still alive. I'm angry at the Sheqi Eight Clans because you've kept the news about 'God' to yourself.' This is a major event regarding the Dragon King's revival. Do you think you can handle it?"

"Yes, teacher, it's precisely because you are an Avenger that your hatred is overflowing from your bones. You are willing to do anything to eradicate dragons, so everyone in the family is afraid of you." Inuyama He sighed, "It's not that the family doesn't want to cooperate with you, but they dare not cooperate with you!"

"Cooperation?" Ange shook his head. "I've never thought of cooperating with you. Cooperation is based on trust. To be honest, you're not a trustworthy group. I'm not here to negotiate with you, nor am I looking for cooperation. Ah He, you probably don't know the Eight Snake Clans well enough."

Inuyama He was stunned: "Then why did you accept our invitation and come to Tamamo-no-Mae?"

"It's not you, it's you. I just came to see an old friend and my stupid student." Ange said in a dark tone, "We are all very old now. Meetings between old people should be less frequent."

"As for the secrets of your family, I will dig them out myself, and I will also bury your god with my own hands." Angé said firmly.

"Destroying God is also the family's goal, teacher. At least we have never thought of becoming your enemy." Inuyama He said hoarsely.

"That's just your opinion, Haha. It seems you're not really mature in this regard. Only children would think they understand others and impose their own ideas on everyone." Ange leaned over and whispered in Inuyama Ha's ear, "Have you ever heard the saying, Haha, you can know a person's face but not his heart."

"Ah, do you really know every member of your family? Do you know who is truly loyal and who harbors demons? What if someone among you colluded with the demons? Would you kill your relatives for the sake of justice? If the thing you believed in suddenly collapsed one day, would you collapse with it?"

Ange's questions were like a barrage of cannonballs, bombarding Inuyama He's heart one after another.

Inuyama He was stunned for a long time, looking at Ange's familiar yet gentle face, and suddenly asked: "The next time we meet, we might be enemies... Teacher, can I hug you?"

"Of course, no problem." Ange smiled, bent down, hugged Inuyama He, and patted his back gently.

"Teacher, the family has launched a war against the demons and the godslayers. The flames of war will spread to all of Japan. Peace and tranquility will soon be gone, and a storm is coming." Inuyama He whispered in Ange's ear, almost in a whisper, "The Snake Eight Clan today is completely different from what it was sixty years ago. There is no one in the family you can trust anymore. They don't trust you... but that man is still alive. If there is anything you want to know, go find him."

It turned out that from the very beginning, Inuyama He sent people to pick up Ange and bring him to Tamamonomae not to negotiate with him. He only wanted to do two things from beginning to end. The first was to duel with Ange to cut off his resentment towards this tyrannical man for the past 62 years and say goodbye to his unbearable past.

The second thing was to remind his teacher that the Sheqi Eight Clan was no longer the same Sheqi Eight Clan as before. Everyone in the Sheqi Eight Clan now had their own ulterior motives and no one was trustworthy. Even he, as the head of the Inuyama family, could not explore the deep water situation. He always regarded Ange as his mentor, and he did not want Ange to get involved in this muddy water without any preparation and encounter an accident.

Ange glanced at Inuyama He's profile in surprise: "Hmm...is there anything else you want to remind me of?"

"There is another... ghost." Inuyama He said.

"Ghost?" Ange frowned slightly.

"A man disappeared from the Yakihachi clan fifteen years ago. The family records say he's dead, but neither the Yakihachi clan nor the Oni-shu, or even the entire country of Japan, have lost any trace of him. Before he disappeared, he took my sword, the famous Kanze Masamune," Inuyama He said. "I have a feeling he's already arrived in Japan. Something terrible is about to happen. A huge storm is brewing, and those who have been hiding in plain sight will gradually reappear."

The famous Kanze Masamune...Ange glanced at "Sakurano" obscurely, with a strange look on his face.

"Okay, I understand." Angre nodded, "Ah He, now listen to me. No matter what happens later, don't be impulsive."

"What do you mean?" Inuyama He was stunned and frowned slightly.

"You are already an old man, so don't frown all the time. You look like an uncivilized antique. Sometimes being too stubborn is not a good thing, Aha." Ange did not answer Inuyama He's question, but put his hand on his brow, as if to smooth out the wrinkles between his brows.

Ange stood up, put on his suit jacket, picked up his suitcase, and walked towards Tamamonomae's door.

The sound of metal colliding suddenly rang out overhead. The sound was very faint, but it seemed very abrupt in the silent Tamamonomae.

What followed was a burst of murderous intent. Everyone looked up at the same time, but saw nothing. The dome of Tamamonomae was empty, and no one knew where the voice and the source of the murderous intent came from.

When everyone's attention was diverted, no one noticed that Sakurano had disappeared from the dance floor at some point.

Before anyone could react, Ange hurled the suitcase towards the door. Ichimonji Norimune and Hongxue Samamonji spread out beside him like a pair of wings, one long and one short. He squatted slightly, and the powerful strength instantly accumulated in his legs. The glass floor was cracked into spider-web-like cracks by the heels of his leather shoes. In an instant, Ange turned into a cheetah with muscles taut, ready to go.

Inuyama Heya endured the dizziness and severe pain and stood up bravely. Onimaru Kunitsuna was dancing with a cold light in his hand, and "Setsuna" was on the verge of opening.

At this moment, a hand pressed down Inuyama He's shoulder from behind. Inuyama He turned around suddenly, but before he could see who was coming, he only saw the broken long hair falling on his face, blocking his vision.

"Didn't the principal just tell you? No matter what happens, don't be impulsive," the man said quickly. "If you can't trust me, you should at least trust your teacher. Come with me!"

The man dragged Inuyama He into a Japanese-style room on the first floor.

Suddenly, there was a loud gunshot, rang out above Tamamonomae, deafening the ears.

A dense barrage of bullets surrounded Angers from overhead. Each bullet was specially made and loaded into a large-caliber anti-aircraft machine gun. After being accelerated by the barrel, the speed could exceed twice the speed of sound in an instant. It was definitely a deadly weapon.

The machine guns were hidden behind the eaves and ridge beasts of the roof, located at the north and south ends. The muzzles protruded from the mouths of the ridge beasts and were started and moved by remote control. There were also pinhole cameras installed on them. Both machine guns were twin-mounted, with a total of four muzzles. The dark muzzles roared and spewed out bright flames. The barrage of bullets almost blocked all of Angers' retreat routes.

There is no doubt that this was a premeditated assassination.

Before the banquet, the assassin knew that Inuyama He was going to entertain Ange here, so he hid the two deadly weapons here in advance without anyone noticing. When Ange and Inuyama He finished their battle and reminisced about the past, and their combat readiness had been lifted and their bodies and minds were relaxed, he dealt a fatal and painful blow to the strongest dragon slayer in the world.

But this thoughtful man never expected the existence of Lu Mingfei, an outlier. He disguised himself as Sakurano from the beginning and sneaked into Tamamonomae's banquet in order to inform Ange about the assassination.

Few people can assassinate the owner of "Time Zero", let alone this person is Ange.

Ange brandished the Ichimonji Norimune and the Benyuki Samamonji, and never put down the two swords, just to prepare for this sudden sneak attack.

The blades on both sides drew pale arcs in the air, as graceful as a girl's eyebrows. "Time Zero" was instantly turned on at full power. The sword shadows and bullet screens intertwined, creating one bright spark after another, as dazzling as a sky full of stars.

This is the real extreme speed. Compared with Ange's movements, Inuyama He's ninth-level "Instant" speed slash can only be regarded as a moment of glory at most.

Ange deliberately stayed at the door of Tamamonomae, because there was no fainted dancer here, so as not to accidentally hurt an innocent girl. The barrage swept down with huge impact force, and the dance floor around Ange exploded. Countless glass exploded into tiny fragments and surged up like waves, submerging Ange's figure.

The girls on the third floor were not affected, but the noise was so strong that they had to huddle in the corner and cover their ears with their hands, otherwise their eardrums would be ruptured by the noise.

Miyamoto Shio and Ryoma Genichirō looked at each other, and both saw surprise in each other's eyes. Before the banquet, no one carried weapons to show sincerity, and it was obvious that this sneak attack and assassination was also beyond their expectations.

Thousands of bullets had already hit Angers, like a waterfall of steel falling from the sky. After nearly half a minute of fire suppression, two knives flew out from the Japanese-style room on the first floor and simultaneously shattered the ridge beasts on the north and south eaves.

It was Kanze Masamune and Onimaru Kuninaga. They directly split the machine gun hidden behind the eaves into two, and the torrential rain of fire finally stopped.

The diffuse dust gradually dissipated, revealing the figure of Ange. He held Ichimonji Norimune in his right hand and Kougeki Samamonji in his left hand. Countless black bullet holes and scattered shell casings were densely distributed around him. His head was filled with misty steam, and his chest rose and fell rapidly as he gasped for breath, like a runner who had just run a full marathon.

Although the physical exertion was extremely severe, there were almost no visible injuries on Ange's body. Apart from the scratches on his arm caused by rebounding shrapnel, the scratches between his eyebrows caused by glass, and a few buttons on his suit being broken, he was unharmed.

He took off his coat and threw it aside. Miwako was the first to react and quickly got a brand new suit for Ange.

"Principal..." Miyamoto Shio and Ryoma Genichirō came forward, as if they wanted to say something.

Ange waved his hand to signal them to shut up. He put on the suit handed to him by Miwako, walked to the door, picked up the suitcase in the corner, and left Tamamonomae as if nothing had happened.

……

A fleet of imposing Mercedes-Benz cars surrounded a black Rolls-Royce sedan and stopped at an intersection one street away from Tamamonomae. The xenon lights on the front of the car illuminated a black figure on the side of the road, and the figure, who looked like a traveler carrying a suitcase, stopped.

The man turned around, looked in the direction of the Rolls-Royce car in the direction of the light, and then walked straight to the center of the convoy.