Noah Spencer's fury had to be vented; his hatred for his father could only be deeply buried in his heart, not even daring to speak a word in defense. The escaped youth was not present at this moment, so the only targets for his rage were the dozens of assassins and swordsmen under his command.

The assassins were the elite of Golden Roc Fort, while the swordsmen were its hired mercenaries. In front of the young master, they had all publicly sworn never to betray him.

Noah Spencer drew his blade with his left hand, a bit clumsily, which only fueled his anger further.

The assassins and swordsmen had already heard about what happened in the main hall. Now, like lambs awaiting slaughter, they watched in terror as the young master, pale-faced, stormed into the room.

Blade rose, blade fell, again and again—there was no escape, and no one dared to try. One palm after another dropped like leaves in the frost, rustling to the ground. No one uttered a sound. From the moment these men were assigned to Noah Spencer, it was already fated that they would give everything, including their lives.

Noah Spencer lost count of how many wrists he had severed before finally calming his mind. These were his own subordinates; crippling their martial arts would only further weaken his own strength.

"Go kill! Get out there and fucking kill for me! Except for the heads, don't leave a single intact corpse!"

Chapter 0001: Leaving the Manor

A wild beast always goes through an awkward period: it is already strong enough to survive on its own, yet still craves its mother's care and milk, naively believing that life should always be this way. So it spends its excess energy rolling around and playing with insects. Sometimes, an amusing scene unfolds: a young leopard, already larger than its mother, lazily lies in the grass basking in the sun, patiently waiting for lunch to arrive at its mouth, never imagining that these blissful days will soon, inevitably, come to an end. Once the mother is ready to mate again, the favored child is instantly turned into a forsaken orphan, forced to wander the world alone. With every difficult hunt, a bit more of its former innocence is worn away. In the end, it either dies miserably or grows into a cold-blooded killer.

At fourteen, Samuel Cooper was in a similar stage. His name sounded a bit old-fashioned, but he still retained much of a child's mischief and innocence. His parents and older brothers were all a bit anxious about this, but he had his own plans: he would only "officially" grow up after his sister got married.

There were still three months until that day, but his carefully planned life was interrupted by an accident.

One noon, a servant who had gone to the back hills to herd livestock brought back strange news: a knight had stopped on the opposite hillside, watching the manor from afar.

Master Logan Cooper personally went to the back hills to investigate, but the knight was already gone. He rode around the area but found nothing.

The The Cooper Family had only moved from the Central Plains to the Western Regions two years ago. The manor was located in an oasis at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, surrounded for a hundred miles by desolate desert and barren land. Only at the foot of the mountain was there a small village with a dozen tenant families; strangers were rare, so it was no wonder the master found the news surprising.

Logan Cooper, once a military officer, was highly vigilant. He questioned the herding servant in detail about the knight's appearance and behavior, then quietly arranged for the manor guards to increase their vigilance.

Samuel Cooper's two older brothers thought their father was making a fuss over nothing. The knight was probably just a herdsman looking for water and grass, who left upon seeing the manor.

Samuel Cooper, always one to stir up trouble even when there was none, took the situation as "seriously" as his father. He rode his pony around the manor, patrolling everywhere, galloping over at the slightest disturbance to make sure it was just a rabbit or a bird.

But in the days that followed, no more strangers were seen spying on the manor. Everything was calm again, and life seemed ready to return to normal. The dozens of members of the The Cooper Family busied themselves preparing the young lady's dowry. The journey from the Western Regions to the Central Plains was thousands of miles, and there was much to prepare in advance.

Everyone had their own tasks. The young master's job was to run into his sister Cuilan's boudoir every day, acting spoiled and silly, breaking her heart. She hadn't even left home yet, but her tears had already soaked several dresses.

Samuel Cooper had his own thoughts: the Central Plains and the Western Regions were like two different worlds. After this parting, who knew when they would meet again? He wanted to use these seemingly childish antics to make sure his sister would remember him.

The peaceful days were only temporary. On the tenth night after the stranger's appearance, several masked intruders snuck into the manor, causing quite a commotion.

Whatever their purpose in breaking in, it seemed they failed. Master Logan Cooper remained calm on the surface but was highly alert, continuing to have the guards patrol at night. The vigilant old servant Henry Clark was the first to discover the intruders.

In the chaos, several skirmishes broke out in different places, but each was brief. The young master Samuel Cooper was groggily awakened from his sleep, not even understanding what had happened before the masked men quickly fled.

No one was hurt.

The whole manor was awake. A dozen guards excitedly recounted how they had repelled the masked men. From their stories, it sounded as if there had been over a hundred intruders, but the old servant Henry Clark was certain there had been no more than five.