When a man dwells on the pleasure of sense, the attraction for them arises in him, From attraction arises desire, the lust of possession, and this leads to passion, to anger, and from anger to destruction.
Perhaps there were no better words than these to describe the entire ordeal of the Darati City. Although the plan was laid down years ago, it was Yang Che who worked as the catalyst. His attraction toward the woman ultimately led to his father's death, and in the end, he himself was not spared.
It wasn't until a few days later that the world was shaken by the news of the death of an elder from Xuanwu Academy and the destruction of Darati City.
No one knew who the culprits were, but one thing was clear; Xuanwu Academy was not going to let this matter rest that easily. And sure enough, a decree from the Xuanwu Academy was passed down to every single village, town, and city within a radius of two thousand miles.
The decree read as follows:
"In light of the recent events, we have decided to impose a complete restriction. Every town and city will have someone from Xuanwu Academy taking control. Any information about the culprits will be rewarded with direct admission to the Xuanwu Academy."
The decree was short, but the words written on it were enough to show their intentions.
As soon as the decree was posted, it caused a sensation throughout every place. Just the lucrative reward of a direct admission was enough for the big martial families to put aside their differences and work together.
While the cities were buzzing with commotion, another piece of news was slowly circulating everywhere.
"Have you heard?"
"Yes, I have read the decree.."
"No... No, I am not talking about the decree, but about something else."
"What is it?"
"It's the Darati city... I heard the entire city was destroyed overnight. No one survived."
"OH!? Well, whatever... Do you think I can be the one to get the direct admission?"
"Hahahahaha, dream on."
Conversations like this were common everywhere. If the destruction of the Darati city would have happened at some other time, people could have talked about it, but right now no one was interested in this news. The focus of everyone was the Xuanwu Academy's decree.
Though there weren't many people who cared about Darati City, there were still some. These were the people who had their friends and families in Darati City. The people who had their business in that city. To them, the news of the disappearance of the darati city was like a bolt out of the blue for them.
Inside the Yang Family in Yuyang City, the atmosphere was filled with gloom. On the head seat, the figure of Yang Yuanzhen was sitting with his eyes closed. Though he appeared to be calm, the constant frown on his face was enough to tell anyone about his constantly changing mood.
"Did you find anything?"
Opening his mouth, he spoke in a hoarse voice, it was as if he hasn't spoken for a long time.
"No, patriarch."
The first elder of the family was shaking his head with a bitter smile. He looked at Yang Yuanzhen and hesitated for a moment before giving out a sigh.
"I am afraid, the second young master is more unfortunate than fortunate. The battle between two innates flattened the entire city. I am afraid there isn't a single soul that survived this tribulation."
After the news about the Darati City being destroyed began to circulate, the first elder himself made his way to the place. Just after taking a single glance, his legs went weak. The scene in front of him made him aware of how the city actually got destroyed.
The sheer destruction wasn't something a Qi guiding expert could do. Perhaps there was a fight between the innates from the Xuanwu Academy and the mysterious black figures.
No matter who they were, the Yang family couldn't dare to offend them. Even if the second young master of the family died there, they still have no thoughts to seek justice. Not to mention any one of the Innate could just wipe out their entire family with a flick of their hands. And demanding answers from such powerful figures just for the sake of the waste Second Young master was nothing but foolishness.
"You should think about it, Patriarch." This time it was the third elder that stood up and said in a grim tone.
"It pains for me to say this, but it is better if we just forget about this incident. Also, let's not forget that the second Young Master married the Cang Family, so he is now a member of the Cang Family, not ours."
"He might have been our young master in the past, but his current identity is of the son-in-law of the Cang Family."
"Yes."
"Yeah."
"The third elder is right."
"We need to take care of ourselves first."
As soon as the third elder finished speaking, the rest of the family members sitting there started shouting in agreement.
"Sigh." Yang Yuanzhen nodded his head before speaking further.
"What about those black people? Do we have any information on them? Any name or identity?"
"Unfortunately no." The third elder shook his head in exhaustion. "I have searched for any seeming small clues that one might have missed, but still; nothing."
"Keep looking."
After giving out orders, he stood up and walked out of the hall. As soon as he left, the members gathered among themselves to discuss any potential clues that they might have overlooked.
While the majority of the family members were discussing, on the corner of the hall was the figure of a young boy in his sixteen looking around with a clenched fist. From his occasional trembling body and his gritting teeth, one could feel the anger that he was trying to suppress.
"Fuck this."
Cursing in a low voice, Yang Deyi stormed his way out of the hall.
"Aaah. Fuck it."
As soon as he reached home, he punched the ground as hard as he could.
"Fuck."
"Fuck."
"Why!?"
'BOOM.'
"Why did you have to die?"
"God damn it."
After punching for an hour straight, Yang Deyi stood up and walked back inside the room. At this moment, he seemed to age considerably. The death of Yang Ze was something he never expected.
Though he never liked this second young master, in his worst time, it was him who came and showed him the way. It was him who guided him from utter desperation to hope. But now, this same person, a person who was filled with hopes and dreams suddenly died.
For a moment, Yang Deyi believed he was dreaming. How can fate be so cruel? How much a person has to suffer? Not only was his life a joke, but even his death was also unsightly.
Clenching his fist, Yang Deyi closed his eyes. He wanted to take revenge, he wanted to give justice to his cousin, to his brother, whom he never once talked to with love or affection.
"I should have asked him for forgiveness." Two streams of tears roll down his cheek. In his mind, the figure of a young man seemed to appear who was constantly being shunned, frowned upon, and bullied, yet always had that gentle smile on his face.
Opening his eyes, he walked to his bed and sat down. Just when he was thinking about his future course of action, he saw a piece of paper lying quietly on the table in front of him.
"This???" Yang Deyi didn't remember putting any paper there. With a trace of doubt in his eyes, he stepped forward before picking it up.
"THIS... THIS... THIS...."
The more he read, the more his voice trembled, and by the time he reached the end, his entire body was shaking.
"Brother Yang Ze..."
It was the first time for him to be calling Yang Ze his brother.
"You can rest in peace now."
Gripping the piece of paper, he took a step forward.
"I took your house, your resources, now it is time I take upon your regrets and injustice too."
"I Yang Deyi, make a promise to you. No matter who they are, I will find them and I will make them pay. Brother Yang Ze, you can rest now. You have already gone through enough in this life, now let this younger brother of yours carry the burden."
With each sentence that he spoke, the lights in his eyes grew deeper. At this moment, his entire body seemed to be filled with newfound energy and hope.
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In the Xuanwu Academy, inside a cave adobe, the figure of Cang Yue trembled for a moment before stabilizing.
"Sigh."
Taking a deep breath, she swiped her and the letter in her hand shattered into dust.
"Go and tell the master that I will be mourning my dead husband. From now on till my death, he will be my only husband."
"As you wish mistress." The servant in front of her smiled before making her way out.
Cang Yue who was sitting there suddenly smiled.
"Well, even though you were completely useless alive, at least you are useful after your death."
..........
On the other side of the Xuanwu Academy, Yang Hai looked at the news of his brother's death for a moment before throwing the letter out.
"Good Riddance."
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While the entire world was going through turmoil, a figure cladded in black was silently standing in front of the stone that was erected in Darati city.
Behind that figure, more than twenty people wearing black robes were kneeling respectfully.
"Go."
A hoarse voice echoed through the entire city.
"Go and find the one responsible for the death of Elder Fang, and bring its head to me."
"AS YOU COMMAND."
With a loud shout, the figures kneeling on the ground disappeared.
"Let's see how far can you run. You want death!? I shall give you a fate worse than death. Let's see whether you lament over the death of your family or not."
With these final words, the figure cladded in black disappeared from there too. It was as if everything before was an illusion.
...
In the ruins of Darati City, at the top of the mountain that has only its lower half remaining, one could see a stone erected in the middle of the ground.
With the rays of the setting sun, the stone made a long shadow in the distance. The setting glow of the sun seemed to give life to the words that were etched on it.
'Death is certain for one who has been born, and rebirth is inevitable for one who has died. Therefore, you should not lament over the inevitable.'
'May you all find peace.'
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[VOLUME -1 THE TRAVELLER ]
------------Fin-------------