Chapter 91
The number of dead demon beast sent chills down the spine of every person in the group of 20 people. From where they stood they saw three figures squatting down the ground turned their gazes towards them. The eyes of the three figures are like glowing lights menacingly piercing through their souls. The bloodthirst exuding from the bodies of the three people are like invisible pressure pushing the 20 people to take a step backward.
"This… How… how can this be?" One of the people suddenly blurted out with a hint of fear clearly visible in his voice.
The 20 young people are composed of 7 young masters of the clan and their servants. The leader which looks like a burly young man in his 20's stood rooted on the ground. Most of the young masters in his group belong to the extended families of the Nian clan which holds no real power within it. They wanted to grab this opportunity to be noticed by the eldest young master and future clan head Wei Qi Nian so that they can be his subordinates.
Now they didn't expect to see this hair rising situation where only 3 people were able to kill this many demon beasts. From the looks of it, the three people seem to be not injured severely except for one of them who has his servant robe in tatters and looking a little bloody, but this added to the ferocity of this appearance.
"I think they are already weak, kill them!" the burly young man shouted.
Although he is afraid, he didn't want to miss the opportunity presented right in front of his eyes. Gritting his teeth he commanded the rest to charge. The shout was able to wake the rest of the group from their stupor and unconsciously charges forward wanting to take the initiative to attack. Their courage grew from seeing the gentle appearance of Zen Nian. They suddenly remember that Zen Nian is a weak young master of the clan and is easily bullied by them in the past. So with that their determination to eliminate him grew along with their courage.
They didn't believe that Zen Nian could defeat them and seeing his appearance deduced that he is hiding behind the back of his two servants. So it means that the two servants are strong but their master, of course, is weak.
"You are all courting death!" Rat Ling suddenly shouted as he saw the group of despicable people charging towards his young master.
But before he could react a burly young man suddenly stood on his path. The young man is holding a huge ax on both of his hands, judging from the way he held it; the ax seems to be heavy.
"Rat Ling, I remember you… the runt that the weak young master picked up. It seems that your skills have grown, let me compare some note with you then." The young man said as he suddenly lifted the ax and swings it towards Rat Ling aiming to bisect his body.
Seeing this Rat Ling's expression turns grave. He could not believe that he would encounter someone as strong as this. He is only in the middle stages of the spirit refining realm and his enemy is already a first stage core-forming realm cultivator. If they fight normally he is surely to face utter defeat as the gap between spirit refining realm and core-forming realm is too huge.
Right now Rat Ling is not showing any fear in his eyes, but instead, an angry and ferocious expression is donned on his face which greatly confuses the young man who is waving a huge ax.
As the ax swiftly drew towards Rat Ling's body, a smirk appear on the burly young man's mouth. He can now see the desperate expression of Rat Ling as he would find out that the rune on his robe will fail from saving his life. Upon thinking the bloody scene that would appear before him a sinister smile emerges on the burly young man's face.
Swoosh!!!
Boom!
The wind carried by the large ax covered in Qi blew the place where Rat Ling stood, and then a sound of an explosion followed after. It is clear that the strength exerted by the burly young man is truly terrifying.
"Hehe… Stupid servant, let's see if they can find your remains with that." The burly youth muttered as a sinister grin appears on his face.
Before the dust died down, he suddenly felt a hint of killing intent which envelopes his whole body. And then before he could react he found his vision blacks out and before he knew it the scenery in front of him changes and he found himself already outside the forest.
The rune on the youth's clothing determines that the strike from Rat Ling would surely take his life. Hence the burly youth's life was spared because of it, but a stinging pain can still be felt coming from the back of his head.
Rat Ling was dumbfounded upon seeing his target suddenly disappear a hair's breadth away from his hand. That strike he just did was a blade attack using the back of his hand. What dumbfounded Rat Ling is that it was actually powerful enough to kill a first stage core-forming realm. Of course, this is because the burly youth looks down on Rat Ling's ability and cultivation level, or else the Qi field around the body of a core-forming realm cultivator is enough to stop that attack.
Meanwhile, on Zen Nian side he is now facing multiple enemies on all sides. Though his evasion skill is great and his mastery is above average, he was still unable to evade all the attacks sent to him. Now his cultivator's robe has a lot of tears on it and shallow wounds can be seen on some parts of his exposed skin.
"Hehehe, young master Nian, give up now. You can't beat any of us… you're just trash." A young man said with a wicked smile on his face.
"Thrash? Say the people who can't even defeat me even after ganging up together. Who's trash now?" Zen Nian replied with a provocative smile on his face.
The sneer on Zen Nian face and his confident demeanor sent the young men surrounding him feeling at lost. They now realized that the person in front of them has defended and evaded each of their attacks successfully. Now that this situation has occurred, each of them was dumbfounded and a tinge of a shame actually overcame them. Seeing this situation, Zen Nian grabs the opportunity and retaliates.
"You tried to kill me, and each of your attacks is pointed in my vital points. Plus with the danger I have already faced, the rune would have already activated." Zen Nian thought.
"But it seems that this is the trap they had for me, I guess they can't wait to dispose of me then. I will show you all that I am not the same as my old weak self." Zen Nian muttered to himself as he suddenly rushed towards the closest person.
His speed was terrifyingly fast that an afterimage was left from where he stood. The people surrounding him only found that he has disappeared as the after image suddenly faded. But before they can react, Zen Nian's sword has already inserted itself to a youth's chest.
Then that young man suddenly vanished, but the trace of blood can still be seen on Zen Nian's sword.
"Shit! What happened? How… how did that happen?" one of the youth shouted as it was his brother that was impaled by Zen Nian.
Then from the looks of it, before that person was teleported he has already lost his life. The rune was a second too late from saving that young man's life. Though the rune on their robes can save their lives, however, if the attacker is fast enough to deliver a fatal blow they would still die or receive wounds. Hence outside the Dark Forest, many healers are on standby.
Seeing that one of them has disappeared, the people surrounding Zen Nian began to step away from him. They readied themselves and went on a defensive stance as they could not follow the speed of Zen Nian's attack.
"How could he become so strong all of a sudden? This is bullshit! Since you've hurt my brother, I will kill you!" the youth shouted as he brandished his sword and rushed madly at Zen Nian.
But before he can arrive on Zen Nian's location, a figure suddenly appears on his side and he found his consciousness fading. Zen Nian sword has actually already impaled his head before he disappears.
"What the heck! This impossible! Why is the rune not working?"
"We have to escape! He... He's a monster!"
The young men began to panic as they finally realized their predicament. Zen Nian didn't pay any head of their actions as he just stood there and is in deep thinking. Right now he has gained some epiphany from those two moves he just did. As the people around him scattered, his gaze turns to one of them, and with a shadow step, suddenly appear in front of that person.
Then he casually sent a very fast attack using the butt of his sword towards that person's face. And with that speed and force, that person was sent flying before he disappears. Seeing this, the other people were terrified as they forced themselves to run away. But Zen Nian didn't let them get away using Shadow Steps and fast strikes. Out of all the people that Zen Nian attacked, 5 were killed while the other received grievous wounds. With this, he can now gauge his current level of strength and skill.
After the fight, Zen Nian felt empty, right now his mind is really confused as he tried to come into terms of his own actions. He is trying to justify himself for killing those people as he already knows that they are trying to kill him and it was all self-defense. But Zen Nian is a very kind person, to begin with so he is having a hard time accepting this fact.
When Shin Jiao saw the guilt in Zen Nian's eyes, he shook his head. He knows that if Zen Nian can't overcome his timid personality, no matter how hard Shin Jiao teaches him, he would always be pressured mentally afterward. This would be detrimental to his cultivation and progress, and would, in the end, cause him to develop an inner demon.
"Young master, if I may say something?" Shin Jiao said as he walks besides Zen Nian.
"There is a thin line between bravery and foolishness, and there is a thin line between wanton killing and self-defense. So, if you truly care and value your life, you have to fight for it… At all cost." Shin Jiao said as he looks at his death filled surroundings.
"Our world is filled with people who would wantonly kill just to get what they wanted. They would not care about human lives as long as their greed is satisfied, and they would trample on others… Young master… Are you one of them?" Shin Jiao continued as he asked with a serious tone.
Upon hearing this, Zen Nian shook his head unconsciously.
"Good!... I have lived my life at the tip of the blade before. I have gone through hell and back, but I have not lost my humanity and became like a beast. That is because I keep on saying to myself that there would always be a better life as long as I hold on to my humanity and beliefs." Shin Jiao said with a hint of melancholy in his voice.
He then remembers the time when he was a spy, working for the government and stealing other people's stuff. Unlike those spies in the movies that would go out in a blaze of glory, Shin Jiao was a true spy. A spy is someone who hides and strikes in the shadows, good in disguising, master of lies, and sometimes a perfect killing machine.
But when he had a chance to live a normal life, he immediately grabs it and turns away from those things he did before and began anew. But that didn't mean that he forgot his old-self, it's still there, and in this world, he was forced to use it once again as he tried to find his own place and happiness.
Upon hearing Shin Jiao's words and seem to feel his pain, Zen Nian was a little confused. But since he heard that Shin Jiao also felt this way before, he was assured that he is not the only one having this kind of ordeal.
After that, the three collected everything on the ground and they continue on walking towards the exit of the Dark Forest. The thing that they needed to do now is to get out of the middle part of the forest as the sun is already starting to set.
"Master, we have to find a place to hide before nightfall. I heard that it is dangerous at night as many demon beasts are roaming around and hunting." Rat Ling suddenly said with an alarmed tone.
"Okay… we have to be careful; I also discovered that the runes on our robes are not working." Zen Nian said.
"Hmmm… alright, let's find a place to hide first then we will plan what to do next." Shin Jiao said after an idea suddenly enters his mind.
After some time as the three travels, they saw a huge tree stump. Under that stump is a small cave-like hole. The tree, which seems to have fallen because of some powerful demon beast, is really huge as it would take around thirty people to hug it.
"Master I can't see any living creatures under there." Rat Ling said after he used his spiritual sense to scan the hollow cave-like hole.
They then walk closer to investigate, they found that cave under the stump is a natural cave made due to the growth of the tree. Upon seeing this Shin Jiao felt amazed and began to write some rune inscription on its protruded roots.
"Shin Jiao, you are proficient in array formation?" Zen Nian suddenly asks with a bewildered look on his face.
He could not fathom how deep is Shin Jiao's knowledge and attainments. Then upon remembering that Shin Jiao is a wasted cultivator, he felt a little pity for him.
But right now Zen Nian and Rat Ling are pleased to find a friend that has changed their lives.
Shin Jiao wrote a simple defensive and concealment array formation just to hide the entrance of the cave. After they enter it he activated the formation and now it looks like thick roots are covering the entrance.
After doing that they carefully enter the cave and explore it, they made torches from dried wood as they slowly walk deeper inside. They discovered that the cave under the tree stump is actually spiraling down and it seems that their first conjecture that it was simple hole underneath the tree stump is wrong.