Cao Yun was hunting for other 1-core demonic beasts. A typical 1-core demonic beast could threaten a 3rd-grade Mortal but with the 'Dance of Slaughter' and his fighting abilities, Cao Yun was not afraid at all. A Crimson lion-stag was a rather average demonic beast and judging by his fights with them, he estimated that he could take on any 1-core demonic beast. He was a little worried about a pack of them though, so he did not let go of his caution. What was more worrisome was the prospect of a 2-core demonic beast. According to what his father had told him about these mountains, they should be very rare and they mostly inhabited the higher areas. Nonetheless, from time to time, they could get down to hunt weaker beasts than them.
Another thought Cao Yun had was concerning the hunters. He had not return to the city so that no one would recognize him and he did not want to meet hunters who would recognize him in these woods either. These last few days, he had tried to get the farthest away from the city and the Cao family estate as possible, without entering any dangerous area. To do so, he had circled around some peaks and gotten deep in the forest.
A week had passed.
He had killed several 1-core demonic beasts, Gray-beak storm eagles, Carnivorous hammer-gorilla, Purple rotten keelback snake, and so on. He had gathered several cores of different sizes and densities. He had almost twenty of them and they would last him for a month.
In the same time, he kept on training diligently. The more time passed the more often he thought about his family. When it had occurred, the shock had made him numb, but he was beginning to fully realize what really happened. And he felt more and more guilty about his enjoyment in these woods. Because he was sincerely enjoying himself. He always loved cultivating and learning martial arts. Of course, he trained to please his father and gain more power, but also due to his real inclination toward it. He could keep practicing days and days without thinking about anything else.
He also loved reading about new martial arts and profound systems of cultivation to then try them on himself. That was precisely what he was doing with the knowledge imparted to him by his Master Cleansed Asura.
And this life of surviving in the forest was absolutely new to him. This feeling of adventure to a 15-year-old boy was exhilarating.
Hence, he felt guilty. When he ran, he had to leave the corpses of his kin to the wild. Yes, his parents had asked him to live and to not throw away his life. But they had also asked him to protect his little sister. Was she dead? Was she alive? Maybe the assassin had taken her alive and then killed her while Cao Yun was adventuring in the woods.
Cao Yun reasoned himself. He needed power to potentially save his sister. And even if he had power, he also needed clues to find the culprits. He could not get it out of his head that he was just trying to make up excuses for his cowardice.
These thoughts were beginning to poison his cultivation. He even had to stop several times because of this. After these almost two months in the wild, the solitude was exacting a toll on him.
It happened again and to clear his head, Cao Yun decided to go hunting, passing his frustration on a demonic beast was great to keep his calm.
-
A woman was running like a madman through the woods. She was wearing a blue robe covered in mud and twigs that masked some golden embroidery of average quality. Her hair was unkempt. Fiery strands were fluttering in the wind. Her face was pale and full of fatigue with two heavy bags under her eyes similar to a panda. Her breath was short and panicky. Nonetheless, she clearly knew her way around a forest and even being this obviously tired, she avoided every obstacle on her way and ran like hell.
Very soon, the reason of her state became apparent. Five men were running after her. They were wearing dull black cloaks with hoods that had long slipped from their heads. On their faces, the fatigue was even more clear than on the girl, and one of them even tripped on a root before getting up and resuming the pursuit. The men were in their teens, between 16 and 18 at most. The swords hanging on their waist were slowing them down but they were still faster than the girl. Any cultivator would have known: they were 2nd-grade Mortal at least and the girl was only 1st-grade.
No matter her resistance, they would end up catching her.
One of the men was close enough. He pounced on her. She tried to dodge. The man was still able to catch her ankle and threw her on the ground. She hit her head against a tree and was shocked an instant. It was sufficient for the other four men to reach them and surround her.
Terror filled her eyes when she came to.
"Please, Huang Lixin, I have no such thing." She begged, tears swelling up in her eyes. "If I had, I would not throw away my life. I swear! This rumor is false. You have to believe me, please."
"Little Yingyue, I do not know whether the rumor is false or not, but your death is certain." The man called Huang Lixin answered with a serious look on his face. "Do not think that I like it, but you are an interference with our business. We did try the civil way but you are just too stubborn. It is really a pity that such a beautiful and talented woman must die. You should have sold your shop when it was time."
"Hey, what about we play with her a little, huh?" One of the other men exclaimed.
Huang Lixin turned toward him and instantly slapped his face. The slap was so harsh that the man coughed up blood. This Lixin was probably a 3rd-grade Mortal. He had no peculiarity apart from pure white hair. Even though he was around 16, his head was as white as pure snow, and his eyes were a mix between gray and very light blue.
"We are not animals." Huang Lixin yelled, staring at the man he just slapped. "You should not enjoy killing anyone, and you should not want to 'play' with a girl. If you want to 'play', go to a brothel. That's the only way you'll get a woman given your face. Or maybe you want me to make it better with a few slaps."
"Sorry, sorry, my Lord, I lost myself. I beg your forgiveness."
The man literally groveled on the ground as his companions were laughing at his misadventure. They knew that their lord was very strict and hated this kind of shady business. If his father had not insisted, he would never have agreed to this assassination.
"Little Yingyue, do you have any last wish for me to fulfill?" The girl shook her head no and closed her eyes, resigning herself to death. "Then, please hear mine: do not hate me in your next life, and do not be too stubborn."
He took out his sword and sliced toward her neck, trying to behead her in one swift move.
His arm stopped midair. Around his arm, a hand had appeared and he felt a grip that was almost breaking his bones. Huang Lixin jumped backwards as a cat whose tail had been trampled upon. The grip let go and let him take some distance. The man who had just stopped this lethal blow was none other than Cao Yun.
He had been observing the scene since he heard the commotion of their pursuit through the woods. At first, he was hesitant to react, mulling over his ideas about not being recognized by anyone. But in the end he could not stay still when a beautiful young woman, who was clearly innocent given what he heard, was killed. Cao Yun gazed at the 'little Yingyue' and found no injury at all, only fatigue. As she opened her eyes, she saw the back of the man who just saved her and then heard his voice.
"Five men against a woman, and two grades beneath you. What kind of scum are you? Do you dare to call yourselves humans?" He was directly speaking to Huang Lixin, the leader. "You think your words are honorable. You're no more than a beast disguising itself virtuous. If you were a real man, and you were sincere, you would just stay your hand and spare her life."
"You... You know nothing, you!"
Huang Lixin was clearly flustered. Essentially because he knew Cao Yun's words to be true. Since he had gotten the order to kill this woman, he was trying to convince himself that was necessary and that if someone else did it, they would torture her. At least, she would die quickly with him. He really tried to convince himself.
He had already killed people before, but that was always after a fair fight and his life was at risk. That was his first cold-blooded murder and deep down Huang Lixin hated it. He was enraged against himself and transferred this rage unto Cao Yun who was unknowingly speaking his own thoughts.
In his rage, Huang Lixin attacked instinctively. He had sensed the strength of his opponent when he grabbed his arm. The would-be hero was a 3rd-grade Mortal and so was he.
"Leave him to me. Do not touch Feng Yingyue, just stop her from running again, if need be."
He yelled at his men and dashed toward Cao Yun, trying to pierce him with his sword.
Cao Yun waited until the very last moment to dodge by a hair's breadth. He then hit the blade with his palm and a vibration cursed through the metal into the hands of Huang Lixin. He felt as if his small bones were breaking apart and he lost control over his weapon for an instant.
Cao Yun used this opportunity to send a palm strike directly in his chest. Huang Lixin was sent flying and coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.
"You... You..."
Huang Lixin's eyes cleared a little and a sudden realization washed over him. The same realization struck Cao Yun. He had a strange feeling and now he understood it.
There was a Huang family residing near the family Cao estate. It was a prominent family in Baziyun City and two years ago they held a tournament amongst their descendants, from the main branch and all the side branches. It was the first event Cao Yun went out to see with his father. And he had indeed met this Huang Lixin there. They even had a chat and were very friendly back then. Huang Lixin was from a small side branch of the Huang family and lived in an another city Cao Yun failed to remember.
"I remember you, you are..."
Before Huang Lixin could end his sentence, 'Dance of Slaughter', seventh movement, 'Cutting the Retreat'. All of a sudden Cao Yun was holding him by the neck. No one was able to follow his movement and they could not react when he squeezed and a crack echoed from the young man's throat. Cao Yun let his limp body fall down onto the ground and turned his eyes toward the other men.
His eyes were filled with hate. Cao Yun was as possessed.
He took the sword of Huang Ling and threw it in the head of the man farther from him. It penetrated his skull and killed him before he touched the floor. The other three finally regained their senses and took out their weapons. But Cao Yun was already in front of one of them, the one with the imprint of a slap on the cheek. He sent a palm to Cao Yun's chest who did not bother to dodge. 'Dance of Slaughter', third movement, 'Forging the Fort'. The man felt as if his palm had hit an iron wall and then a strange vibration reverberated in his arm. Before he had time to scream, a palm went to his throat and crushed it.
The last two men watched each other and prepared a combined attack. Cao Yun just disappeared from their field of vision. A thud was heard when the body of one of them hit the ground. The last survivor lost all composure and tried to run. He felt his legs break. Looking down, he saw that Cao Yun was kicking him and destroying his legs. Cao Yun then crushed his back with a trampling kick.
Witnessing this scene, the woman called Feng Yingyue was utterly speechless. This man was so strong. He was obviously no more than 16, maybe even only 15. Already being a 3rd-grade Mortal was impressive, but this fighting prowess was beyond her understanding. She was a little scared, and quickly got her ideas in order: this boy came here specifically to save her, she could not be this ingrate. These men would have killed her, and some were even willing to abuse her body beforehand.
Cao Yun regained his calm and looked upon his handiwork. He did not initially mean to kill these men, at most, he wanted to rough them up and send them packing. But when Huang Lixin recognized him, it was as if a switch was flipped. He was overwhelmed by fear, the fear that the assassins would find him, that his family would never be avenged and his sister never rescued. This fear was then overtaken by wrath and he felt the Drop of Wrath react.
He understood that he was in a kind of trance. That was really frightening for Cao Yun. He was still controlling his body but he felt as if he was a different person doing it. It was the first time he had ever killed anyone, and it was someone he knew, even if for a short moment.
Filled with emotions, he had a hard time to process everything.
He had to kill them, but...
"Young master?" The sweet voice of Feng Yingyue woke him up. "Thank you for your help young master, I thought I was dead for sure. Please accept my sincere thanks."
She bowed on the ground. Cao Yun put his mind in order. If he had not killed these men, this woman would have been killed, his identity revealed and then who knows what could have happened.
Yes, Cao Yun did not like the feeling of losing the control of his emotions and he would need to dedicate some work to it. But in the end, he understood that killing them was the right decision. Maybe he could have reasoned with Huang Lixin but he did not know him enough to trust him and a small misstep would mean the end for him, and maybe the definite end of the Cao family.
Cao Yun looked over Feng Yingyue.
"If I heard right, your name is Feng Yingyue. My name is... Chen Guo. I accept your thanks. In exchange, I have only two things to ask of you. The second one will be to answer my questions, but the first is to help me bury these men. I do not know what they are to you, but I do not want to leave them exposed to the wildlife. So please, help me honor their bodies even though they meant to murder you."
Feng Yingyue was surprised. This boy was thinking of honoring their corpses just after killing them. After thinking about it, she thought it was the proper way to handle it. After all, she even knew Huang Lixin and she knew he had no malicious intent against her. She knew precisely who had ordered him to perform such a villainous task and she also knew why he could not refuse.
"Yes, Young Master Chen. You are very generous. I will help you."
Cao Yun wanted to offer them a proper burial to alleviate his conscious but also because he could not stop thinking about the bodies of his family. Surely, the assassins had not the same scruples. By now, they were probably entirely eaten by different beasts and totally desecrated. And Cao Yun could not bear to inflict this on someone else.
If killing was necessary, more barbarism was not.
Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue took their time and after an hour of work, the five men were properly buried. Feng Yingyue even added some words for Huang Lixin so that he may find peace in his next life, freed from such crimes forced upon him.