"Huff..... Huff...."
Breathing heavily, Yang Che was standing on top of his father's body. The blood that was slowly spreading on the floor soon drenched his feet red.
Yang Che felt his mind go blank. From his father entering the room to him lying dead there; everything felt like a nightmare.
"What... What have I done!?" Yang Che still couldn't believe the outcome in front of him. One day ago, both the father and the son were drinking peacefully, discussing the future plan, and the very next day, he killed his own father.
"You did nothing wrong Che'er."
The beautiful woman slowly came behind him before embracing him from the back. Caressing his chest gently, she rested her head on his shoulder before whispering softly.
"He would have killed us if you didn't take the action. You did absolutely right."
"Ye...Yes....."
Yang Che needed some reason to desperately believe in. Something to hold his sanity, and not be burdened by the guilt and remorse that he was feeling.
"This is justice Che'er... Your mother can finally rest in peace... This type of man... After killing your mother, he was going to kill us too..."
Her words were like the last straw that was holding him from getting drowned.
"Yes... YES... THIS IS FOR MY MOTHER... THIS IS FOR OUR FUTURE... I DID NOTHING WRONG... HAHA... HAHAHAHA..... HAHAHAHAHAHA..."
"Yes, good... My che'er, you don't need to worry about anything. Just leave it to me..."
In a daze, Yang Che walked out of the room naked. In front of him was the figure of a young servant trembling in fear. After hearing all those loud voices, she was the one to investigate and make sure the lord didn't need any service. Yet who would have thought, the moment she came here, she witnessed the scene of their lord getting murdered by his own son?
"Young... Young Master... I... I didn't see it... I didn't see anything."
It took her great courage to even utter those words. The person in front of her could even kill his father, there was no need to mention what he would do to her.
"Swishhhhh..."
Before Yang Che could say a word or do anything, a knife flashed past him before plunging into the heart of the servant.
"Che'er... No one should know about this... This is for the best of us... It was her bad luck that she arrived at the bad moment... I had no choice."
Yang Che who was still standing with a dazed face looked at the corpse of the servant and nodded heavily as if agreeing to the reasoning given by the woman.
"Che'er... Go... You don't need to burden yourself with this... Let me carry your sins. Let me carry your burdens..."
"Umm..."
Before Yang Che could process anything further, a loud knock sounded on the main door of the manor. And with the loud knock, the familiar voice of Yang Ze sounded.
"Oie... Yang Che. Where are you?"
Yang Che who wasn't in the position to think for himself made his way towards the main door with eyes that seemed to be lost. After reaching the door, he pulled it open.
...
The entire journey back to the city of Darati took less than two hours for Yang Ze. If it were not for walking the entire way, he would have reached here in less than an hour. With his speed, he was many times faster than the horse, so it wasn't a difficult task for him to traverse long distances in a short amount of time.
Reaching the city of Darati, the first thing Yang Ze did was look for Yang Che. After all, he could be said to be his only friend, even if that friendship wasn't very long or sincere.
After knocking on the door, he waited for a while before the door opened.
The moment the door opened, Yang Ze's eyes became grim. With his powerful senses, he could already smell blood. And sure enough, the first thing that greeted his sight was the completely naked figure of Yang Che who seemed to be in a daze. Other than his stark naked body, the most noticeable thing about him right now was his feet which were covered in blood.
"Is it a bad time?"
Yang Ze had no intention of poking his nose into others' business. Even less when there seemed to be a murder.
"Umm." It was at this moment, that a hint of clarity surfaced on Yang Che's face.
The moment he gained some clarity, he was started by the figure of Yang Ze standing at the door. Yang Che didn't know what to do. Just now they had to kill a servant who witnessed the murder, they wouldn't have to do the same to Yang Ze too right?
While Yang Che was going through a dilemma, Yang Ze shook his head before speaking.
"Well, I guess you are busy... Meet me later when you have free time."
Without staying there for an extra second, Yang Ze took his leave. For him, it was better to ignore some things rather than scratching the itch to know everything.
Looking at the disappearing figure of Yang Ze, Yang Che took a deep breath before closing the door. After making sure it was locked, he made his way toward the bathroom to wash away all the blood.
In his stupor, he didn't even notice the figure of the woman standing at the corner silently, looking at the distance where Yang Ze left.
...
"Oh great. More trouble."
Yang Ze who was now sitting in the garden outside his adobe was shaking his head. Taking a deep breath, he looked at the Darati city below the mountain that was slightly covered in mist.
...
While Yang Ze and Yang Che, were busy with their own train of thought, Yuyang City was in turmoil.
The centre of Yuyang City seemed to be swept by the storm. The middle of the city, which previously had buildings, was now filled with rubble.
The entire ground was covered with broken bricks, wood, and stones. Other than these, one could still see the corpses of the unfortunate people who were unable to escape on time.
Right now, in the middle of the city, a group of people was surrounded by figures completely covered in black.
"Why!? Do you really want to make the entire Xuanwu Academy your enemy?"
Sitting on the ground was the figure of the elder of Xuanwu Academy. Right now, his clothes were in tatters and there were numerous wounds all over his body. The blood that dyed his previously white clothes red, was slowly seeping onto the ground.
Behind him were the other people from Xuanwu Academy along with the newly selected candidates.
"THIS IS A WAR." Replying to him was a hoarse eerie voice.
"Xiao De... On my signal, take all these people and run. I will hold them for as long as possible."
Whispering to the nearest person, the elder took a deep breath before raising his hands.
The moment he raised his both hands, the rubble that filled the ground suddenly started floating in the air before rotating at a fast speed. The sheer wind pressure was enough to blow away ordinary people.
"Haaaaaaaaahhhhhh.." With a loud shout, he clasped his hands together.
As soon his hands touched, the rubble that was rotating suddenly converged into a thick ball before blasting towards the black-clothed people.
Before the rubble could even reach them, one of the black-clothed men lowered his hand before suddenly raising it. As soon as he did that, the ground seemed to come alive. A large piece of land was uprooted before standing in front of them.
"Boom, Crash..."
The rubble that seemed to be an endless tide, was stopped by this seemingly large piece of land.
"Ugh..." Coughing up blood the elder tried his best to continue raining the rubbles on them.
"ELDER."
"MASTER."
Looking at the old man coughing blood, the people behind him wanted to rush out to him. It was at this moment, that the old man roared at the top of his lungs.
"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU ALL NOT RUNNING AWAY?"
Startled by this sudden outburst, many clenched their fists before running away.
"GET ON THE BOAT." The middle-aged man Xiao De shouted before jumping himself in front of the boat. With him in the lead, the rest of the people followed too.
Stepping on the boat, Xiao De rushed towards the steering before injecting a white stone inside it.
In the relieved eyes of the old elder of Xuanwu Academy, the boat lifted into the air before disappearing into the horizon.
As soon as the boat left, the old man seemed to be running out of fuel. Panting, he looked at the black figures in front of him with eyes that were filled with hate.
"I have to admit, I was careless."
With great difficulty, the old man took a deep breath.
"If not for the poison, the outcome would have been different."
At this moment, the old man seemed to be the only person on the field. The figures surrounding him didn't speak or reply. They just stood there, looking at him without any expressions.
"Since you have already waged a war against us, be prepared to face the wrath of our Sect's leader."
With a smile, he looked at the figure in front of him one last time.
"I will wait for you in hell."
As soon as he said those words, his figure immediately swelled like a balloon before bursting out.
"Don't."
"No..."
"You dare?"
"BOOOOOOOOOOOM"
Under the surprised and enraged voices of the black figures, a massive explosion erupted.
The entire Yuyang City trembled for a moment before a big cloud of dust raised up.
.
.
.
.
By the time the dust settled, half of the Yuyang city was gone, replaced by a large crater that was now rapidly filling with water.
Outside the city, the figure of an old man was lying on the ground withering in pain. His entire body seemed to be burnt. Other than that, his left hand and left leg were also missing. If not for his occasional breathing, people would have assumed him dead.
At this moment, a black figure slowly came near the old man before covering him with a black cloth.
"Ugh... That bastard... Who... Who would have thought... That... That he would... Blow himself up..."
"Uuugh.."
"How... How is the situation... In Darati!?"
With great difficulty, he was able to speak.
"The preparations are complete. It will be done tonight." The figure replied to him calmly.
"Good.... Good..... It is about time..."
With these final words, the man closed his eyes before falling asleep forever.