It was past midnight when Qin Meng spotted some light in the distance. He traded looks with his companions and rushed towards the village. However, soon they discovered that the light was not coming from lanterns, instead houses were engulfed in flames and the screams for help filled with misery were echoing in the vast sky. Someone had set the entire village on fire.
Qin Meng's group rushed towards the village. When they arrived in front of the burning wooden houses, they found two groups fighting against each other. One of them was of devil's and the other group was from the academy. They wore the dress and insignia of the academy. Though Qin Meng failed to recognize any of them. He had never met—or seen—them.
After looking at them for a minute he realized that they were terrifyingly strong. Devils stood no chance against them. They butchered the creatures like cows and pigs.
"Fourth-year students," said Yao Ying from beside Qin Meng. "This is the group of Fu Renshi. His grandfather is a Purple Sun Mentor, Fu Qi. " She leaned towards Qin Meng and whispered, "He is also one of the admirers of Yueyan, so be careful around him. He is not very good-tempered."
Then she pointed towards a boy fighting against the devils. He wielded a saber, swinging the weapon and cutting the creatures of Otherside like vegetables, with an emotionless face. The blood spattered and painted his face and clothes; then he moved to kill another monster. Not once his expression changed.
Qin Meng couldn't help but crease his brows when he saw that emotionless face. How could he remain cold and expressionless, knowing once these people were also human? Although it was important to purge the devils as they would do only harm, Qin Meng felt that one doesn't need to seal his emotions; the humans still lived somewhere behind the twisted minds of the devils.
The battle ended, and everyone gathered in a single place. There were some villagers still alive, thanking Renshi and his companions without end. Their eyes were filled with tears, bodies trembling in sheer terror of surviving the impossible. One could see how grateful they were in their eyes. Their faces, however, were filled with pain and misery and loss. They had lost too much: friends, family, loved ones, and home. They had lost almost everything.
Renshi paid no heed to the villagers; he turned around and walked towards Qin Meng's group. It was the first time smile appeared on his deadpan face. "Did you come here to help?" he asked Yueyan, nodding slightly towards the princess. Other than that he didn't give a slight glance to others as if it was beneath him.
Yueyan nodded. "Yes. Now that you have saved the villagers and killed the devils, we will take our leave." Yueyan turned and started to walk away, her teammates following closely from behind her.
"You must be tired," said Renshi, hurriedly catching up to her. Meng could see how forced his smile had become. "Why don't you stay with our group? It is already around two in the morning. You have to find a place to rest eventually, anyway."
Qin Meng narrowed his eyes. Renshi didn't look eloquent, but he rather knew his way around the words. Pretty persuasive, indeed. The natural and indifferent smile reappeared on his face. Too confident. Qin Meng hated that smile.
"Sorry," said Yueyan. "We need to rush to another village. The people are dying while we are wasting our time, resting. We need to go. See you later."
"You know what," said Renshi. "I think you are right. Why don't we travel together then? It would be safer that way. We can help each other."
"If you have enough time to travel with us, why don't you go to another village? That way we can save more people. Don't you agree?"
"…"
"Let's go," said Yeuyan and walked away, leaving Renshi standing still, gritting his teeth indignantly.
"Bitch!" Renshi cursed, eyeing the fading figures of Yueyan and her group. "Just you wait. One day I will let you moan under me." He licked his lips before curling them into a perverted smile. "Sooner or later, you will grovel under me, begging for more."
***
"Wow, I never knew you were so good with words, Yueyan," said princess Zhong Liqiu, looking at Yueyan with a pleasant smile.
"Well," said Yueyan. "When you have flies all about you, the skill to wave them away comes naturally."
Leng Yueyan turned towards Qin Meng who was silent all this time. "What happened to you?"
"I don't like him," he said.
"What?"
"That Renshi guy. I don't like him."
"Of course you won't like him," Qian Jie chimed in, grinning from ear to ear. "After all, he is eyeing your sweet sweet Yeuayan. No one would like such a thing. I don't blame you. It is natural to hate your love rival." She stuck her tongue out when Yueyan glared at her but shut her mouth.
Qin Meng rolled his eyes at Jie but no longer continued the topic. He couldn't explain why but he knew the matter was not that simple. There was something evil about Renshi. Something… something similar to Mentor Su Zian.
[Author Note: Su Zian was the first Purple Sun Mentor to offer his mentorship to Qin Meng, only to be refused by him.]
"Are we really going to another village?" asked Yao Ying.
"Are you stupid?" said Yueyan. "Of course we are going to find a nice place to rest. We would be able to fight only when we are healthy and strong. Otherwise we would become food for those creatures instead."
Everyone nodded. The weather had turned rather frigid. They set a campfire, as soon as they found a decent place to spend a night. After that, everyone took a turn to guard while the rest of the group slept.
However, when it was around something between three and four o'clock in the morning, a few crimson eyes glittered inside the thickets. Yao Ying screamed to wake everyone up.