Munch!
The charred outer layer of the meat made a light crunching sound from the bite. As the crisp outer was eaten, it exposed the tender red meat underneath.
A cloud of white smoke carrying a salivating smell and spiritual energy touched the nose of Damian inducing a bout of hunger in him.
Under his hungry chewing, the meat didn't last long; leaving behind a forty centimetre (around sixteen inches) long white bone.
Crack!
Slightly breaking the bone, he exposed the marrow within and started to suck it.
Under no time, the bone was rid of all marrow. Had the bone been nutritious, he would have finished it too.
After eating all this meat, he wanted something to drink.
Fortunately, the soup was still there.
Standing up, he went near the fireplace. There was a big black pot with lots of strange runes on it.
He removed the lid and took some of the bubbling dark red soup in his bowl.
Slurp!
He closed his eyes in euphoria as the iron taste and the spiritual energy filled his mouth.
It reminded him of his late teacher's cooking.
Although the taste had an obvious difference, there was still some similarity.
'How long has it been?' He inwardly thought.
After finishing his dinner in silent reminiscence, he saw that it was already time for work.
Standing in front of the mirror, he saw his curled white hair that looked like puffed cotton if left unattended. Donning a clean white Daoist robe, he strode out of the room.
The pathway was dark and cold.
A perfect representation of the mentality of the tenants living here.
"Hehe, speak of the devil. We were just talking about brother Zhan. Seriously, your punctuality never stops to amaze me." The sound of laughter drifted from the distance and broke his thoughts.
Reaching the end of his path, he flashed an amiable smile and cupped his hands towards the two men sitting on the platform.
Jumping down from the platform, one of them returned his greetings and flashed a brilliant smile.
"Since elder Zhan has already arrived here, we'll leave this place in your care. There were quite a few people who reserved the pond. So you might want to check the record."
With that, the two men started walking away.
Old Zhan soon stood on top of the platform and silently checked the records.
"Creep!"
It was the distant voice of the other man. Combined with the silence of this place and his sharp senses, old Zhan was able to hear it from the distance.
"Hisss…. Are you looking to die? Don't you know what fate awaits them who offend old Zhan?"
"Did I spoke wrongly? That man is basically a beast in human's clothing yet tries to keep an amiable appearance. If that isn't creepy, I don't know what is." He spat on the ground.
"Would you lower voice? Don't drag me in your mess. I have no interest in becoming his breakfast of Man-eater Damian."
"Tch! Coward!"
Old Zhan listened to all this with an expressionless face. He had already forgotten his old title. Nowadays, only a few knew the amiable looking old man was once the Man-eater Damian that terrified both the corrupt and righteous paths.
His master was a ruthless devil cultivator who practised cultivation by cannibalising and devouring other's cultivation base.
During one of his hunts, he killed a female Qi condensation realm expert. He was attracted by her plumpness and he thought she would taste great.
However, to his surprise, he saw an unborn baby inside of her after slicing her open.
Despite being a cruel devil, he had a rule that he always followed. He would never kill a mortal or a child person.
The infant satisfied both criteria and thus he couldn't kill it. In the end, he felt responsible for the child and ended up taking care of it as his own son.
Thinking back, it was already twenty-five years since they were chased by a righteous sect. They had killed one of the geniuses of the sect.
After chasing them for seven days and night, the sect elders mortally wounded both of them, destroyed their cultivation and cut off their tongues as a form of revenge.
What they didn't know was that old Zhan still had some lifeforce left in him. Somehow, he managed to devour his dying master and come back to life.
He could still see the smiling face of his master that he also considered as master as he ate him.
The thought of revenge never came to his mind. It was him and his master that first provoked them, so it was only natural for them to respond as such.
And even if he did feel like taking revenge, the thought would die out. The sect was too powerful and he wasn't who he once was. His meridians were heavily injured in that fight.
Even after he joined the bandits, people avoided him like a plague. It didn't matter if it was someone with high cultivation, no one wanted to have anything to do with him.
Only Li Cai or drunken Li as they called him, treated him normally.
The two might've become good friends if not for the continuous drunken state and nonsense spouted by the latter.
He finished checking the logs about all the people who were in the caves. Closing his eyes, he started cultivating.
The sound of footsteps broke his concentration. It wasn't drunken Li but rather someone else.
Wrapped in a black cloak, the person was completely covered from head to toe. There was a scarf of the same material that covered the face. This kind of clothing was very popular among the people who didn't want others to know of their identity.
Judging by the proportions of the body, he assumed the person to be a male.
Old Zhan calmly swept his spirit sense over him. Seeing that the person was only at the third level Qi condensation cultivation base, he relaxed.
He assumed that the man had come here to cultivate and sure enough, he handed over a token to him.
Unfortunately, Li Cai was not here and he couldn't just leave the place unattended. Considering that it was past midnight, this person had truly come at an odd hour.
As minutes passed by, the two continued to wait. He could see impatience building upon the man.
"What happened? Why are we just sitting here?" the man asked in an irritated tone.
Unfortunately, old Zhan wasn't able to answer him. His severed tongue had taken away his ability to speak. Only reaching Jade core realm or refining a third revolution Flesh regeneration pill could cure that.
He contemplated for a few moments and finally decided to just take him there. It would just take a few minutes anyway.
So, with a somewhat fast pace, he took him to the end of the path and approached a chamber. While walking, old Zhan could feel a sense of familiarity from the person.
Screech!
Before the doors could even open properly, the man impatiently took the jade slip and went inside the cave.
He touched the door with the jade slip again and without sparing old Zhan a second glance went towards the pond.
Old Zhan kept looking at him until the doors were about to close. He assumed that he might have seen the person without the cloak before.
Seeing that the man was already walking towards the pond, he paid no attention and quickly turned around to leave.
Just as the doors were about to close, the cloaked man who was going towards the pool stopped in his tracks.
With lightning speed, he condensed a massive amount of spiritual energy in his hand and made a violent grabbing motion towards the departing old Zhan. A small vortex formed in his palms from which a strong suction force shot out.
Before old Zhan could even react, he was already sucked inside the room from the small opening of the door.
Thump!
By the time he stabilised himself, the door was already closed.
Turning around, he quickly distanced himself and looked at the man with a cold gaze.
Hundreds of thoughts flashed through his mind in seconds as he tried to analyze the situation.
How could he still not understand that the man wanted to kill him here?
The strange sense of familiarity, the odd timing of his arrival, all indicated that the person had planned this for a long time.
However, he felt confused about why someone would dare to fight him inside the bandit's base.
Was there a bone-deep enmity with him that forced him to do so?
Maybe one of his loved ones had become his food ...or maybe it was some entirely different reason.
Anyway, it didn't matter, with his meagre third level Qi condensation realm cultivation base, the man could only dream of hurting him.
Before his cultivation base was destroyed, old Zhan was incredibly close to achieving Yin Yang cleansing.
So even if he was merely at the fifth level of Qi condensation, he could sweep the floor with anyone below the seventh level.
He looked at the man with a cruel look in his eyes and licked his lips.
He had found his next prey!