Yunchen looked around. One of the guards that surrounded him was in easy reach. He kept laughing as he lunged forward and grabbed the helpless man by the throat. He ignored the stab of pain in his own body while he listened to his screams of pain and watched him struggle while being also engulfed in flames. But as opposed to him, the guard was not spared, the flames burning him completely. Soon, the ashes that used to be a human being flowed through his fingers.
He raised his head and looked around into the horrified eyes of the others. He grinned while wiping the remains of ashes on his chest, never interrupting the eye contact.
"Well now, wasn't this a bit too quick?" Yunchen shook his head in mock contemplation. "I guess I'll have to try again. Maybe it will take a while longer until turning into ashes."
He turned his head to the left and waved at a terrified guard.
"You! Come here. I want to see if you can be luckier than the previous ones."
The man shook his head while turning around to flee. Yunchen looked at him and turned to Dongyi who was standing there rooted in place, his brain short-circuited.
"Wow, look at that one running. I guess when it's their lives on the line, some men just aren't that loyal and willing to be the ones dying when the time comes. And I think I heard him profess his loyalty to the Wei family one of these past days. Meh! So Dongyi, who do you think should be the one dying next. I'm trying to be a good guy here and let you choose. But remember! The one named will get to choose another one before dying. A sort of a dead man's last wish. And your choice must be among the four available ones: Wei Dongyi, Wei Yance, Shang Yunfei and Wei Danxuan. These are the only ones I'm interested in. Well, which is your wish? And I will make it happen!"
Dongyi looked at him in a daze. His trembling hands raised to wipe his forehead, he croaked.
"What kind of demon are you? That is just unnatural. You must have jumped at least four entire cultivation ranks in a couple of days. You were not even able to be counted among the Adept rank a couple of days ago. And now you're at least peak Grandmaster. And by the way you use that fire you've already passed the threshold into Venerable rank already. That's just not possible."
Dongyi stared at him like he was some kind of monster. Which maybe he was, but not in the horned stuff of nightmares kind of monster. More like the type smiling and joking while taking you apart a piece at a time sort of way.
Yunchen shrugged.
"Don't know and you shouldn't care. All that matters is that Wei family is on the brink of death and I can make it happen. I guess my father's plea for help is going to become reality after all. Just not in the way he imagined it."
He laughed while clapping his hands.
"Congratulations father. You're a prophet. The Wei family falls tonight and I'm the culprit. And soon, you'll also become a martyr for your own little religious cult if there will be someone willing to follow your teachings. But enough talking. I'm being sidetracked here. Which among you is the first to go?"
His mother stepped forward and raised her hand to slap him again. He dodged it giggling.
"Be careful, mother. Your name hasn't been spoken yet. If you get ahead of yourself, Dongyi here loses his chance at a name. And that wouldn't be that much fun. So please be patient until your name is spoken."
"You filthy monster! I don't know who you are anymore! Where is my sweet child from before? You've lost your minds completely. Why the need for all these poses? If you must kill, just get on with it!"
Yunchen's joyful face slipped away in an instant. His eyes narrowed while looking at her. Then he simply nodded.
"Very well! Your wish is my command. You'll be the last one in line, just so you know."
He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to listen intently for his first intended target, but his concentration was interrupted at that moment by a whoosh of air. He smiled hearing him approach while waving his spear through the air. He opened his eyes continuing to smile.
"Danxuan, just the one I was thinking about! Say goodbye to your father. You're the lucky number one!"
Danxuan waved his spear, making the air separate with a sharp cry.
"You damned cripple, I'll show you what the difference between me and you really is. I've beaten you a couple of days ago and I'm going to do it once again."
Yunchen smiled and turned to Dongyi.
"There's a good son over there. Look at him long and hard because soon he'll be no more!"
Dongyi tried to step in his way, but the flames kept him at bay.
"You little bastard, I will kill you with my own hands! Don't you dare hurt him!"
Yunchen shrugged as he started walking towards Danxuan, his flames growing and burning with a growing fury. He embraced the pain.
Danxuan made the first move by trying to hook his knee with the butt of his spear. Yunchen saw his confident smile vanishing quickly, being replaced with worry when he saw his spear shaft being engulfed in flames. He dropped it when they reached his hands. He waved them through the air to extinguish them, but the flames kept going unperturbed. His cry was mirrored from Danxuan's back. Yunchen looked and saw Taotao standing there. For a moment he hesitated, but shoved any other thought except the death of those four.
He extended his hand, grabbing Danxuan by the throat, lifting him up in the air while growling from deep within his chest. He tried to intensify the flames, but he realized something was off. The flames flickered and died down. He heard a soft voice while he felt his body being trapped in an invisible cage that was constricting his movements.
"Boy, you're really good! But unfortunately, the one you intended to kill is my disciple. Now let him go."
Yunchen turned his head and saw an old man leaning on a cane, his long white hair floating into the breeze. Even though the old man was smiling, Yunchen felt a bit off-balance. The flicker in the old man's eyes made him think he wasn't among the good people if you pissed him off. In fact a thing Yunchen was currently considering of exactly doing.
"Oh? Is he now? And what is going to happen if I don't let him go?"
The old man simply shook his head.
"I think that I would be forced to take action against you. But I think you're a smart enough young man to realize that would be a very bad thing for you. So just let him go and we'll end it at that. Nobody is hurt yet, not someone important anyway."
Danxuan struggled to croak.
"What about me, teacher? My hands were burned..."
The old man looked at him for a moment and waved his hand.
"That's to be expected when you are playing with fire. That should be a lesson for you in the future. And now, you should shut up while I'm talking."
He turned his attention back to Yunchen.
"Now, what do you say about that, young man? Will you release him?"
Yunchen pursed his lips for a moment, looking thoughtful. Then shook his head.
"Nope. I don't think I will do that. I promised four names to be erased from history tonight and I intend to do just that. This one is one of those four. You're a senior. Why do you want to interfere in something that doesn't involve your person. You can always find another disciple, a better one. Just let him die on my hands and we'll call it even. Otherwise I might do something really stupid when the opportunity comes."
"Oh? And what do you have in mind of doing? Fighting me? Do you know I can squash you like a bug with a snap of my fingers?"
Yunchen shrugged.
"Didn't think that far ahead. My only concern is to see him dead. Anyone else that interferes with it becoming reality has to be prepared to pay a sort of price. Don't know what it will be yet, but it will come."
The old man squinted his eyes.
"Well, how about this? We'll make a deal. You'll release him. For now. I'll take him back to my sect for training. After an agreed upon period of time, you'll be free to settle it as you see fit. But right now, he's too weak to stand a chance against you. Don't you want to have the satisfaction of defeating a stronger opponent?"
Yunchen looked at the old man standing there, still leaning in the cane.
"I might consider it if I knew who you are."
"How rude of me. I'm the great elder of the Five Culminations sect, Zhen Ming. Now, what do you say?"
Yunchen smiled while shrugging.
"Nothing. Can't say I've heard those names before, but I'll keep them in mind."
The man nodded, smiling.
"So? Will you let him go?"
Yunchen grinned.
"Don't mind if I do."
The old man's content smile vanished hearing Danxuan's windpipe being crushed between his fingers and Dongyi's scream was followed immediately by Taotao's as he let Danxuan's body go. It slumped slowly to the side, eyes wide open.