Bab 19: Chapter 19: Dao

"F… fuck," Yun Hao's fists were trembling, slightly covering his mouth that was also releasing a burst of stuttered breaths. The skin on his left knuckles were almost completely grated, but the blood that was running on his arms was not his. In fact, if it weren't for the blood covering both his hands, he would probably be completely covering his mouth, trying his best not to let out the frenzied breaths that wanted to burst out from him.

He was sitting on the ground, his back leaned on a scrapped car beside his house. His previously groomed hair was now once again disheveled and the bag of clothes he just bought was carelessly laid on the ground.

His eyes wandered everywhere. Everywhere except on the body that was sprawled in front of his house, as every time he accidentally looked at it, his whole body felt like it was crumbling into dust.

And once again, with the thought of it, his hands and legs trembled even stronger than before. He couldn't control the shivering of his own body as the sound of his teeth chattering silenced everything.

He just killed a person. It was slowly sinking into his mind that the man lying in front of his house was dead. Perhaps it was because it was now dark, or perhaps because it was too sudden, but he still could not believe that there was a dead body near him.

What should he do now? Yun Hao thought. It had felt like he had been sitting here for almost a day, but in truth, not even 5 minutes had gone by since he stopped hitting the man. The man, he kept calling him by that-- he doesn't even know his name.

This man probably had a family of his own, and Yun Hao just killed him. Perhaps… he should surrender himself to the police? As soon as he thought of that, Yun Hao reached into his pocket, but his trembling hand was not able to even keep a hold of his phone as it dropped to the ground. Yun Hao quickly picked it up, but alas, he could not unlock his phone due to the dirt and blood that was on his hands.

"Fuck!"

After a few more tries, Yun Hao screamed in frustration as he violently threw his almost brand new phone away. Surrender to the police? After all the effort he had done to distribute the coins after he had gained this godly power, he would surrender to the police?

Will this even matter once he becomes a Cultivator? Right? Don't Cultivators get away with murder everyda--

Before Yun Hao could even complete his thoughts, the mangled face of the man once again resurfaced in his mind, causing a warm feeling to suddenly climb up from his stomach, quickly crawling through his throat.

"!!!"

The sound of Yun Hao retching whispered into the air. "F… fuck," he whispered as he wiped the puke sticking on his lips. Perhaps because of the violent feeling that crawled through him, his breathing slightly became sedated.

But then, after the calm, he once again turned his head towards the body. And suddenly, out of nowhere, like his own body ordered him to do so-- he screamed. He screamed enough that his voice cracked as the tears and snot finally burst from his face.

Yun Hao also finally covered his face as he tried to suppress the wailing scream that was demanding itself to be let out. The blood, tears, snot, and vomit mixed on his face as his muffled screams continued to seep from the gaps in between his fingers.

He curled his body, rocking it back and forth as if it was the only thing it could do. The visions and memories of him hitting the man replayed over and over in his mind. He had hit a lot of people in his life, but this… this was different.

He knew what he was doing.

He did not stop even as the man begged him to.

He did not stop even as he heard a crack snapping in the air.

He did not stop even as the man's face caved in.

He killed him. He killed him in cold blood.

There were probably lots of things he could have done instead, but he chose the easiest path he could think of at the moment. Suddenly, Yun Hao started hitting himself on the leg; biting his lip until it bled profusely. He then started hitting his head, cursing himself incessantly.

Perhaps…

...Perhaps he should just kill himself. With the long-lost thought once again whispering into his mind, Yun Hao quickly stopped hitting himself.

There was that option, wasn't--

"...brother Bai went in this direction."

"Are you sure? Isn't this the way to that dude's house?"

"Yun Hao?"

"Yeah, that dude the young master told us to ignore."

"!!!"

Yun Hao quickly stood up as he heard two voices slowly approaching from the distance. His breath once again started to turn erratic as the panic crawled all over him. He then looked towards the corpse near him.

"Fuck… fuck!" Yun Hao's eyes quickly wandered around the area as the chaos inside his mind turned full circle. He then rushed towards the corpse, tapping it a few times before lifting it from its shoulders.

"!!!" Yun Hao was going to put the man's body into his house, but then his eyes caught the two people. If he were to pull the man's body towards his house, the two will definitely see him from their peripheral.

But alas, it was too late, the two men stepped inside the clearing where his house was.

"Damn…"

"I told you he's not here. Let's go, this place gives me the creeps."

"Wait!" One of the men was about to turn around, but his friend suddenly raised his hand.

"What is it!?"

"The dude's door is open."

"So? Let's go, man. The young master told us not to bother with him and just let him be. I don't want to get in trouble."

"..." The man stared at Yun Hao's house for a second… before turning around and walking away.

Yun Hao… Suddenly, Yun Hao was nowhere to be found.

"..."

"F… fuck."

But then, suddenly, at a certain hole a few meters away from Yun Hao's house, a whisper could be heard. It was the hole that Yun Hao painstakingly dug to hide his coins, only to find out that it couldn't even fit half of it.

Luckily, as soon as the two men stepped inside the vicinity of his house, he accidentally fell on the hole, with the man's body still on top of him. Yun Hao quickly pushed the man to the side, quickly patting himself clean of all the things that stuck on him before jumping out from the hole.

He then looked at the hole he made, as well as the body of the man that seemed to fit awfully well in it.

Just a few days ago, he was deciding whether or not to throw some coins here and cover it. Perhaps this was the real reason why he chose not to do so. If there was some kind of celestial being out there somewhere, maybe it was trying to tell Yun Hao something, he thought.

But after a few seconds, a wry chuckle came out from him. He just killed a person, and now he was starting to believe in a higher power.

There was no higher power, this was all on him.

He killed the man because he was selfish.

He killed the man because he would be in big trouble if he didn't.

Perhaps this was who he truly was-- a violent person. But it doesn't matter…

...none of those matter right now.

Yun Hao picked up a clump of dirt on the ground, hovering it above the hole as he slightly opened his hand. The clump of dirt slowly flowed from his hand, raining down on the man's body.

1 second.

5 seconds.

10 seconds.

His hand was still above the pit, and the dirt that was coming out of it continued to flow endlessly.

30 seconds.

A minute.

Two.

His nose started to bleed as the dirt burst forth from his hand like a dam. Until finally, the pit was no more. With the dirt and his own blood the last thing touching his face, Yun Hao then turned his head to the heavens. Closing his eyes before taking a deep and weighty breath.

He was sure of it; this won't be the last time he would kill someone.

Cultivation was different from boxing. There may be rules, but there weren't any bells to stop him anymore. His Dao will truly be a mountain of corpses, perhaps maybe even more than the coins he has summoned.

For that…

...is the only way to become the Champion of the Cultivation world.