The sounds of horse neighing kept rising without end, and as the horse bandits died, their mounts scattered in disarray, bolting away and kicking up rolling clouds of dust that enveloped Qin Yu at the center of the battlefield.
The surviving villagers were all shocked as they watched the indistinct figure of Qin Yu in the midst of the dust. In their eyes, Qin Yu was just a kind and polite young man. Who could have imagined that this very youth would slaughter all of the terrifylingly brutal horse bandits in mere moments, the bandits not even having the slightest chance to fight back.
All eyes were fixed on Qin Yu, but at that moment, he was looking down, panting.
No one knew what Qin Yu was thinking. As he stood there, head bowed and panting, nobody could see his expression or begin to imagine the turmoil in his heart. Even though he had been resolute while killing, this was, after all, the first time he had taken a life.
The first time!
Qin Yu was always sincere in his dealings with others, it was hard for him to harbor the intent to kill. It was only after seeing the lovely Little Lu's arm being severed and dozens of simple villagers murdered that his desire to kill surged. In a fit of rage, he had completely annihilated everyone.
"Did I do the right thing?" Qin Yu felt a bit apprehensive in his heart.
Although he was strong-willed, he was, after all, just a thirteen-year-old boy. Just a boy. When a young man who was ordinarily sincere and kind suddenly killed fifty people, even with an unyielding spirit, he couldn't help but feel shaken.
Involuntarily, Qin Yu's body started to tremble.
"Little Yu," Tie Shan stepped forward, placing his hand on Qin Yu's shoulder. Qin Yu lifted his head, his eyes filled with traces of hesitation.
"Little Yu, I know what you're feeling, because I too have killed for the first time. But you must understand, they were demons, they deserved to die. If you hadn't killed them, all the people in our village would have perished. To kill one evil person and save a hundred, such evil ones deserve to be killed, severely so!" Tie Shan stared at Qin Yu, his heart still seething with hatred for the death of his father, his sister's severed arm, all of which intensified his rage against the horse bandits.
Qin Yu's body jolted slightly.
"To kill one evil person and save a hundred," Qin Yu murmured to himself, still looking down.
Unable to see the expression on the bowed head of Qin Yu, Tie Shan did not know exactly what Qin Yu was thinking at that moment. After a while, Qin Yu finally raised his head, his eyes alight with a burning brightness as he said to the neighboring Tie Shan, "Thank you, Da Shan. I think... I understand now."
Suddenly, a faint smile appeared on Qin Yu's face: "Da Shan, you aren't rushing to help save people."
"Ah, right." Tie Shan had also been completely muddled by rage, and following Qin Yu's reminder, he immediately began to help the other villagers attend to some of the seriously injured.
At Little Lu's home.
Little Lu lay on the bed, her face deathly pale. Qin Yu sat beside her, silently watching over her, his expression extremely complex: "Little Lu, I'm sorry, I was late, I'm truly sorry." Qin Yu had carried the Xuantie Battle Saber and a doll, and had taken a good stroll around Yan Capital City before returning.
If he had been a bit faster, maybe Little Lu wouldn't have had her arm chopped off.
"I'm sorry." As soon as Qin Yu recalled the scene of Little Lu offering him tea with a bowl that morning, his heart ached with sorrow, his eyes brimming with grief.
Suddenly—
Qin Yu stood up, his eyes bursting with a terrifying cold light as he stared outside the window. His resolute face glowed with an inexplicable brilliance, "Father, Big Brother, Second Brother, they were right, the Hidden Dragon Continent is home to countless people, all kinds, and we cannot abuse our kindness towards anyone. It is good to be sincere, but those with evil intentions should be killed, cleanly wiped out!!!"
A flame burned in Qin Yu's eyes.
Qin Zheng, Qin Feng, and Prince Zhen Dong Qin De were all worried about Qin Yu because they knew his heart was too kind. Such a mindset would be a great disadvantage in the Hidden Dragon Continent where the strong are revered. However, they also believed that Qin Yu would come to understand how to conduct himself in the world. No one as kind-hearted as Qin Yu had ever emerged in the history of the Qin Family, for deep within their bloodline was a thirst for blood and iron.
"However... that battle just now was really exhilarating." Qin Yu's eyes flickered with light, his mind replaying every scene of the fight—using the least amount of force, attacking the most vital parts, making every bit of strength explode with the greatest attack power, and with the fastest speed, directly ending lives.
In close combat, life and death were decided in an instant.
"Those people were only a bit challenging because of that one-eyed man; the rest were too weak. Only by fighting experts on the same level can one experience the passion of battle, exploding with the strongest combat power at the brink of life and death, burning with the passion for life... just like a shooting star." Qin Yu recalled the sight of a meteor shower.
At that moment, Tie Shan entered the room, walked directly beside Little Lu, and then looked at her small face. Their mother had died in childbirth when Little Lu was born, and now their father had died too, leaving Tie Shan with only one family member, Little Lu.
"Little Lu, I'm sorry, Big Brother has let you down." Tie Shan caressed Little Lu's face, his eyes filled with sorrow.
"Da Shan." Qin Yu walked over to Tie Shan's side and comfortingly patted Da Shan's shoulder. The two gazed affectionately at the still unconscious Little Lu, unable to imagine how she would come to terms with everything upon waking.
The Black Wind Bandits were currently resting not far from the village on Luoting Mountain.
"Big Brother, something doesn't seem right. Why hasn't Bai San come yet? It's been quite a long time." A middle-aged man wrapped in a black robe approached the barbaric behemoth with furrowed brows. This man was none other than Jia Ming, the Black Wind Horse Thief Gang's second-in-command, with profound Inner Strength, said to have reached the Late Postnatal Stage, far surpassing the Gang's Old San.
Despite his daunting physique and extremely well-developed muscles, suggesting someone who might be all brawn and no brains, even Jia Ming, the Gang's number two, held immense fear towards this boss—not just for his strength, but also for his ruthlessness.
The leader of the Black Wind Bandits—Wu Tuan—possessed strength that had reached the Postnatal Extreme, with Inner Strength so terrifying that even Old San, Bai San, couldn't withstand a single move from him.
"Hmph!" Wu Tuan snorted coldly as he stood up and fiercely slapped a boulder next to him. The boulder trembled and then shattered with a "boom," scattering countless fragments on the ground. Wu Tuan's power was incomparably greater than the eight Outer Strength Experts Qin Yu had selected before, far beyond the current Qin Yu. The reputation of the Black Wind Bandits had largely been forged single-handedly by Wu Tuan.
The Black Wind shone in the eyes of Wu Tuan, hidden under the black robe.
"Trash, that useless Bai San actually wasted so much time. Everyone come with me and let's see what's happened!" Wu Tuan, clad in black, mounted his horse and issued a chilling command. A hundred horse bandits, including Jia Ming, promptly obeyed and mounted their horses.
"Go!"
At Wu Tuan's command, the hundred horse bandits instantly spurred their horses into a gallop, racing towards the recently devastated village…