Xiao LingYue kept himself hidden from the eyes of the humans as he hid his fae-like features. His pointed ears, his red eyes, his claws and teeth were all hidden beneath his robes and hood.
Luckily for him, he didn't have any extreme distinguishing features like a tail or ears above his head; aside from a few features, he looked mostly human which worked in his favour.
Currently, his face was bandaged as he disguised himself as a new human miner named Yi Yun, who had been disfigured and he shaved his claw-like nails down against the rocky walls of the mine.
He continued like this once he was within sight of other humans but while out of sight he either practised throwing his Jadeite Thorns or aimed to increase his familiarity with the rough dagger fashioned from Jadeite Iron.
The Jadeite Thorns were the needle-like pieces of Jadeite he had found on the young man a while back and they were quite useful so he made a few more.
Today was the end of the month when the humans would be able to exchange their Jadeite Iron for things like hard bread and small pieces of meat.
Most people in the mine were malnourished due to the almost starving conditions, so the end of the month times was the most dangerous but LingYue never exchanged for any meat, only small pieces of bread before he returned from whence he came.
Today as he walked into the exchange point, he noticed that everyone was watching him carefully, which raised his cautiousness.
*Pssht*
Alarms went off in his head as he dived to the left and rolled in the dust and dirt to save himself.
A short blade landed right in the area where he was, in the distance he saw the maimed Kong Xiaobo as well as Song Shan trying to curry favour with a Blood Gate Cult outer disciple.
"Another outer disciple" He spat from between his teeth, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly as he bit his lip and lowered his head; this wasn't the first occurrence of something like this happening.
Due to the fact he still stood out, he was constantly picked on and attacked, but it wasn't to the point of suspecting him.
He remembered the words of Xiaofan and bided his time; 1 year had passed and he was now 11.
This year he trained his body relentlessly as a way to be able to distract his mind as well as a way of being able to protect himself.
As his eyes, looked at the floor he got up and bowed slightly before aiming to leave.
"Hey, ya little shit! who told you that you could leave?!"
LingYue said nothing as he stared at the outer disciple in silence before turning to leave.
This outer disciple was Fang Buhei, a young man around the age of 20. He had a nasty personality since he was one of the lowest-ranked disciples and would normally come to the mine to take it out on unsuspecting miners or slaves.
He moved like a tiger as he leapt towards LingYue, his arm outstretched in a clawed grasping motion.
LingYue turned as he threw some Jadeite Thorns behind him before rolling to the side.
*Twing*
*Twing*
"Ha! You think a piece of trash can.." *Spluurtt* "Arghhhhh! My eye!" He bellowed.
LingYue had thrown two Jadeite Thorns before throwing a third in the shadow of the second, maiming the man's left eye as he dashed into the tunnels.
Fang Buhei gripped his face as he tore the needle out of his eye, blood gushing between his fingers.
"I want him dead! DEAD!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Anyone who can bring me his head, will be rewarded!!"He continued to shout.
The men surrounding the area began to chase behind LingYue as they dashed through the darkened tunnels.
LingYue were used to the dark as he bobbed and weaved through the shadows; with the men soon losing his trail, he hid in the darkened areas as he stalked anyone who separated from the group.
Soon he found his first prey, a man who had his back to the wall as he searched high and low for the one who assailed the outer sect young man.
"That damned bastard, he injured Master Fang, but i wonder what the reward will be, heh heh. If I find him imma break both his damned legs!" he muttered while he licked his lips while thinking about the riches he might acquire.
What he didn't know was that they were a red pair of eyes watching him from the shadows, and as he took a step back, two hands slowly reached out before. . .
*PSShhhhhh!!*
A hand had clasped his mouth while another stabbed something into the side of his neck, his right shoulder soon wet and warm.
He could feel his strength slipping away from him as his body went cold and his vision began to blur.
He tried to bey for his life but all he could do was murmur with some gurgled, guttural noises.
As he fell to his knees, he looked above him to what looked like the devil. A pair of sharp blood-red eyes that seemed to have an eerie glow stared back into his eyes; not a shred of emotion could be seen aside from a small trace of delight. . .
Blood sprayed as the man slipped into unconsciousness and slumped to the hardened rocky floor with a thump. . .
"One down, many more to go," said LingYue as he trekked into the darkness that was the mine...