Ling Tian saw the familiar surroundings of the forest near Dark Demon city. He followed the path he remembered toward the city. He was prepared to teach the wolfs a lesson if they came, his eyes searched around coldly beneath his bamboo hat.
The wolfs didn't make an appearance as he neared the city, the faint scent of blood entered his nose as he frowned and increased his pace. Lian Qiu knew he was here for some bloody business so he kept his distance and followed behind. He rejoiced in the fact that he could finally return to his sect and with Ling Tian following him, he didn't have to face punishment. 'It's finally over!'
soon, they reached the gate of the city, they stopped as they saw something unexpected. Ling Tian was especially surprised, Many heads on spikes were visible. Ling Tian focused and he recognized three of them as the Beggars he had stolen from. When he looked at the others he figured they all must have been beggars. 'A message for me?'
He felt a little guilty but he steeled his heart and entered the city. He wanted to investigate but he was already half-way convinced to kill them all. These beggars were innocents but they were still killed.
The city was unusually quiet, just as he wondered why; The ground trembled slightly and he felt a massive fluctuation of Qi, it was from very far away but he still could feel the shockwaves. 'Just how powerful must it have been? I feel it all the way here!'
He turned to look in its direction, unfortunately, the dark clouds obscured what was happening in the sky of the horizon.
He ignored it and continued. Gradually the sound of chatter and cheers entered his ears. He followed them to the center of the city. Almost all the population of the city had gathered there.
He thought it was a festival of sorts but the smell of blood made him suspicious. The two of them stopped at the edge of the big crowd and observed from afar.
A bulky and tall man with many scars on his face ascended atop a stage of sorts. He began giving some sort of speech...
"Fellow brothers and sisters, We are here because of the Empress's mercy! All of us had done some form of grave sin, whether raping someone or murder. But the empress did not take our life and instead banished us here. We have created a perfect living place for ourselves here, the greatest of us forming clans and me, a cultivator at the Inner Heaven realm, became the city lord so that there be order in the city.
I am proud to be among you, the previous emperor would have executed us all but the empress's grace saved us. So we must be loyal to the empress. She is our leader and savior! A few days ago, the Empress banished these traitors here, how could we let them live with us? We accept murderers and rapists and even cannibals, but traitors to the Empress? that we can't endure!"
The crowd cheered and clapped their hands. Ling Tian frowned...
"So I am proud to announce we will be executing them today after many tortures they have rightfully received. Bring them!"
Several guards carried a big cage on the stage and put it there. Dozens of people, men, and women, who were either naked or wore such thin rags that they could be considered naked were in there. The scent of blood originated from them, they had a lot of whip marks and from their appearance, it was obvious they had been tortured without mercy.
Ling Tian's face turned cold but he didn't step forth to do anything. He recognized none of them but the way they looked made him grow disgusted. 'This city was not normal from the beginning, now I understand why...'
The city lord approached the cage and brandished a sword, he opened the cage as he dragged a man out. The man had hollow eyes filled with despair like the rest, he didn't resist at all.
"I will now execute these traitors! Long Live the Empress!"
He beheaded the man and proceeded to do the same with the others. Ling Tian looked on coldly while Lian Qiu flinched, he was feeling very uncomfortable...
Ling Tian decided to leave but then, one of the seeming traitors who was the last resisted the city lord. "Please, I am pregnant! Show Mercy for my child, do what you wish with me but let my child live!"
The city lord looked at the woman coldly, "So what? Your traitorous child would feel vengeful if he learned the truth and might become a threat to the Empress. We have no mercy!"
He brutally tore the woman's stomach with his sword and the baby fetus fell out. The woman screamed in pain, sorrow, and despair; It all happened so fast that Ling Tian was stunned by the brutality shown, he hadn't expected the city lord to be so merciless. Lian Qiu couldn't hold it in anymore and threw up on the spot.
The woman was still alive as she bled profusely; she weekly crawled to the fetus and said weekly, Ling Tian managed to hear her voice with his enhanced hearing. "My poor child, let us join your father... did I tell you? he was a handsome prince and we can finally be with him..." she died and Ling Tian froze in shock as her voice triggered the foggy memories.
He remembered that Wenhao had an affair with one of his maids a few months before his father died. The emperor was furious and he wanted to kill the maid but the empress intervened and she was spared but thrown out of the palace. This was the same maid and Ling Tian realized she must have gotten pregnant. This meant that the child was actually Wenhao's and the empress had banished her here, looking at the state of the city, the empress was sure they would kill them in her place, perhaps she didn't want their blood on her hands. She also hadn't directly killed Wenhao for some reason...
Ling Tian's fist clenched so hard that his knuckles turned white and he began lightly trembling. That baby may not have been his child but since he had this body now, it could be considered his own; If he were to get children in the future, they would be from this body so this baby was no different; genetically speaking, that dead baby was tied to his bloodline which made it related to him.
He felt unimaginable fury and loss, a strange feeling he had never felt before...
Lian Qiu's hair stood on end as he felt a terrifying aura from Ling Tian. He noticed Ling Tian reaching for his sword so he grasped his hand and whispered, "I know they are a bunch of animals but we can't fight so many with just the two of us!"
Ling Tian glanced at him sideways, his eyes were not the usual dark, they were a blood-red color. Lian Qiu was frightened when he looked at his eyes, "Lian Qiu, escape or I won't be able to stop myself from killing you along with them..."
Ling Tian felt his heart had turned into an erupting volcano that was encased in an ocean of Ice. He was going mad with killing intent, his state of mind was in a mess and only chaotic killing intent remained there. He was going insane from anger and killing intent. His Qi responded to his state of mind in kind and became a bloody-red color which changed his eye color.
He slowly walked forward and ignored Lian Qiu who seemed frozen in place and drew his sword out of its scabbard. His Qi moved on its own as it extended to his sword and formed a strange and terrifyingly sharp aura around his sword. He was channeling his state of mind unconsciously which affected his Qi.
His heart desired blood and slaughter, he wanted to cut them all into a thousand pieces, his reason was still there but the desire had overcome it so it was pushed to the back of his head. A red Whip-shape tendril of Qi extended from his back and stabbed through several people, it looked like a whip made of blood; It was a bloody sword river.
His sudden move attracted everyone in the surrounding; Before they could react, a few dozen sword rivers appeared behind him extending for a dozen meters. He took a step forward and casually sliced to his left and a Qi wave left his sword and cut a few people in half. The crowd screamed in terror and began dispersing, the city lord's expression turned grim.
How could Ling Tian let anyone escape? The Sword rivers moved around him in a frenzied and chaotic manner, when the sword rivers attacked like whips they cut everything in half on their way. When they thrust forward, they tore through everything like the tip of a sword, drilling forward. Many people who were still near him, were cut into dozens of pieces as their blood splattered on the ground.
The city lord attacked and instantly appeared near him. When his sword was just about to reach Ling Tian's throat, Ling Tian casually sidestepped. The city lord was surprised but he wasn't an amateur so he instantly jumped back barely evading Ling Tian's sword that had moved to claim his head.
The city lord's face turned ugly, 'He is a mere Xiantian realm cultivator, how can he dodge me?'
Ling Tian didn't remain passive, his face was concealed but if the city lord had seen it, he would have been shocked to see such hatred and coldness on his expression. He dashed with extreme speed, having already activated the boot's ability to enhance his movement speed.
He appeared in front of the city lord, his sword ready to be swung from above, the latter getting ready to dodge. "I am going to massacre this city..." he said evilly as he attacked.