บท 11: Leaving
บรรณาธิการ: EndlessFantasy Translation
Losing his arms, eyes, and hearing, Longhe was a headless chicken. He ran aimlessly toward the back of the mountain. Although he had no Essence energy to protect his body, each time he hit a tree in his path, the tree would snap and fall while rocks would shatter.
He looked like a mad cow, running in a frenzy with a loud rumble. The earth cracked open and mud was splattered meters high. Far away, frightened birds and beasts were fleeing in all directions.
Taking a deep breath, Wutian held his wounded arm and watched on like an unconcerned passerby. He did not stop nor pursue Longhe, just letting him run into the forest. He knew that Longhe was a helpless sheep now, destined to become some monster beast's dinner. Longhe deserved it, and that was going to be his final resting place.
The rain had washed away the burnt ashes but left behind the broken bones strewn around the place. It was a hard-to-ignore scene that told the world, not long ago, a tragic incident had happened there.
Little Tian rested on his shoulder and licked his cheek with its wet, long tongue, trying to comfort him.
"A heart in bondage is the prison of the mind. Without desires, one will be able to find heaven," Wutian mumbled to himself.
He had probably figured out why Longhe did what he did. Longhe had followed his desires. Instead of getting what he desired, though, he became heartless, unjust, disloyal, and unfilial. It was greed that had caused all of this. Curses were like young chickens; they always came home to roost.
The storm continued.
Wutian knelt in front of the village entrance, his hands glowing with light as he dug the earth. Three hours later, a fifteen-feet-across pit finally appeared. It was a grave he had dug with his hands to bury the dead of the village.
Tears flowed down his face uncontrollably, and his hair was unkempt. Wutian collected the skeletons, hand and leg bones, as well as the white and gruesome skulls. They seemed to tell of the villagers' grievances, and he placed them in the pit.
He hobbled around, searching every corner for even the bone scraps, and put them into the pit.
He did not segregate them by gender or identity. They were all from the same village, a family. Burying them together was beyond reproach. He did not have to differentiate who was who.
At last, he gingerly placed the intact skeleton into the pit with a heavy heart. He could not his tears from flowing as he could not bear to lose his grandfather and the villagers, whom he had lived with for sixteen years. For they were dust, and to dust they shall return. He mourned his loss.
Meanwhile, behind the mountain, the sounds of roaring beasts echoed. The ancient trees in the forest shook while earth and rock crumbled, causing dust to rise into the air.
Amid the chaos, dozens of hideous monster beasts surrounded Longhe. The fangs in their open mouths glinted menacingly as they attempted to rip apart his body and eat his flesh.
Boom!
One of the monster beasts was crushed to death as blood mist flew everywhere, but there were just too many of them. They lunged at him at once and overwhelmed him, hence struggling was futile.
A thousand miles away, a Flamingo was flying at high speed. Huoshi and Liuyan were standing on the bird's back, their clothes fluttering in the wind as they overlooked the boundless earth down below.
Huoshi's face suddenly turned pale as a streak of blood oozed out of the corner of his mouth. His expression quickly darkened.
"What's going on, Brother Huoshi?" asked Liuyan.
Huoshi said nothing. He just looked into the distance, where a peak stood thousands of feet tall. The cliff at the magnificent peak was so steep that it looked as if someone had chopped off a portion of the mountain and smoothened it out. From afar, it looked like a giant sword protruding into the clouds.
At the highest point of the peak was a complex with splendid temples and palaces. The fact that they had been built on the mountain's wall was outstanding.
White fog and defused light shrouded the place along with strong Essence energy. It simply looked like a mountain of the gods, a pure land on Earth.
"Now is not the time to investigate Longhe's death. The emblem has appeared. Therefore, we need to inform Father and let him take charge." Huoshi's face was grave. He kicked the Flamingo lightly, and it picked up speed, turning into a beam of fire as it flew toward the mountain peak.
"Everyone in the village is dead, Grandpa. Longhe is also dead; he was eaten by the monster beasts. He deserved it, and it will be the real culprit's turn soon."
Wutian then covered the bones and pit with the earth. His hands trembled. He could not let go and still had many things to say, but the words were stuck in his throat. He could only use his tears of blood to express his sorrow.
Once he placed the final handful of earth, the bones were completely buried. The living were no more, and the dead had returned to the dirt. He kowtowed before the grave three times, praying for the souls of those who had been killed.
"I vow that I will bring back the heads of Huoshi and Liuyan on a plate and offer them as a sacrifice to your souls. Please, rest in peace!" Wutian clenched his fists, and his knuckles cracked loudly. By then, there were no more tears because he had run out of them.
Finally, he rose to his feet and left, bringing endless grief with him as he disappeared into the mountain.
He had suffered severe injury during the battle, sustaining fractured bones and internal wounds. Additionally, he had exhausted his Essence energy. Hence, he needed to recuperate in the mountains.
He quickly found a cave, which was home to an ape. Seeing a human come to take its lair, the ape charged at Wutian. However, Little Tian killed the ape, puncturing its throat with a bite.
Wutian stayed in the cave for several days, sitting with his legs crossed. During this period, Little Tian would go out to hunt for food and refined Essence from it to treat Wutian's injury.
Little Tian might have been small, but its combat strength was unproportionate to its size. No monster beast in the mountains was its match.
With the tiny killer's presence, life in the mountains for the monster beasts was difficult. The weaker ones had since fled the mountain. The stronger ones were indignant at first, but after they got a taste of how powerful Little Tian was, they finally flinched and retreated from their territory, escaping into the depths of the forest.
Time flew.
Wutian had been staying in the cave for half a month now.
In the span of his stay, the number of monster beasts on the mountain greatly declined. Most of them fled while some of them were killed. So, Little Tian became the de facto lord in that part of the world.
After consuming the Essences that Little Tian refined, Wutian had basically recovered. He just felt a persistent itch in his arm, where the fracture had occurred. But that was a sign of the bone healing. At least, he could move his arm freely now.
Wutian returned to the village to visit the grave. Half a month after the fire, the village had seemingly renewed itself. Sprouts had appeared from the ground above the grave, while flowers and grass were gradually reclaiming the land. Life had returned, and the plants were growing vibrantly. No one could have guessed that a tragic massacre had once transpired there.
Huoshi, whom Wutian was worried about, never returned. It appeared that Huoshi did not link him to Longhe's death.
Even so, Wutian did not stay too long there. After some prayers at the grave, he brought Little Tian along and left.
According to the record on his parchment, the Fire Cloud Clan was not the only clan in the Redsun Mountains. Ten thousand miles away, there was the Yan Clan, which was neck and neck with the Fire Cloud Clan. They were overlords, each occupying one end of the mountain range and never interfering in one another's affair.
Wutian's current destination was the Yan Clan. He knew he could no longer go to the Fire Cloud Clan. If he wanted revenge, the only way forward was to join the Yan Clan and study their secret books to increase his strength.
Ten thousand miles was an arduous distance to cover for a rookie cultivator, but Wutian did not bat an eyelid. He headed toward his destination on foot.
The Redsun Mountains were vast and filled with countless dangers. Monster beasts abounded, each occupying a distinct territory. They would not hesitate to pounce on intruders and kill them.
During his journey, Wutian faced many dangers. He had unknowingly encroached into the territories of the monster beasts and gotten pursued by them. He would have died long ago if it were not thanks to Little Tian's hyper-sensitive premonition abilities.
Yet, brutal fighting was still inevitable. Whenever he finally got away, he would have injuries all over his body, his clothes drenched with blood. Even after the blood dried, the crimson bloodstains still emanated a pungent smell.
On another occasion, Wutian came to a canyon. While he was drinking water on the edge of a lake, a colorful giant fish jumped out of the water. It measured at five meters long and had a row of five-inch-long sharp teeth in its mouth. It was incredibly horrifying.
The giant fish was an abomination. It stirred up a thirty-feet wave, which pulled Wutian into the lake. Wutian fought with the fish, but unfortunately, humans were not as agile as fish in the water. As a result, the fish swallowed Wutian.
Gastric acid poured down on Wutian like rain to rapidly dissolve his body and turn it into nutrients. He passed out from the pain. In the end, only Little Tian could fight back as it was immune to the gastric acid. Using its white steel teeth, it bit a hole in the fish's belly, and they finally got away.
Wutian suffered from an unprecedented injury this time, and it took him two months to recover. Nevertheless, with the help of a massive amount of the Essence, his attainment in cultivation also gradually increased.
Not willing to accept defeat, Wutian later joined hands with Little Tian, and they lured the giant fish out of the water. After a long battle, they finally slaughtered it. Credit went to Little Tian as its teeth were sharp, enabling it to bite into anything and everything.
The record on the parchment told them that the giant colorful fish may look beautiful, but it was ruthless. The gastric acid in its stomach could dissolve iron, its meat was extremely nutritious, and its Essence was concentrated. Cultivators could consume them to boost their cultivation and stamina.
They turned the fish into a feast, and its meat was tender, melting in the mouth before turning into Essence energy to nourish the body.
They nearly polished off the fish, leaving only a tenth of it. Wutian's stomach started to bloat as the Essence energy surged inside. His body heated up, and his face reddened as his nostrils billowed with smoke.
Little Tian ate the most. The colorful fish was nourishing with high Essence content, and the Gobbler was overwhelmed when its belly bloated in the same manner as a balloon. It rolled and groaned on the ground before it followed Wutian, jumping into the lake. Only after soaking in the water did they manage to digest the food.
After that, they stayed in the canyon for a dozen days, determined to finish eating the fish. Wutian's attainment in cultivation was growing by the day. The Essence energy in his Sea of Qi was so concentrated that it started to turn sticky and was about to transform into an elixir.
The Essence energy was undulating in his Sea of Qi. All he needed to do was turn it into liquid form, then he would reach the Reborn Beta stage.
Little Tian was a big eater, and it lived up to its reputation. It appeared normal on the outside with a sticky and slippery body. But deep inside, its strength had increased tremendously. The other monster beasts in the canyon had initially aimed to make the two strangers their dinner.
These monster beasts were ferocious. Among them were the three-legged Human Bears, Fire Mammoths with wings, three-headed Giant Snakes, and three-feet-long Poisonous Scorpions. Each was a rare beast and overlord in the canyon, extremely terrifying and hideous.
At first, Little Tian consciously avoided them, but after a few days, it started to pick a fight with one of them and rose victorious. Little Tian was not satisfied, however. Today, it traveled to the territory of the Human Bears and the lair of the giant snakes, determined to kill them all as well as refine them into Essence elixirs.
Those savage beasts were transcended beings that were as intelligent as humans. They had not appeared for some time, so the bored Little Tian had gone to destroy their lairs to pass its time. Once it was done, it hurried Wutian to leave because it was eyeing its next target.
Only after Wutian and Little Tian left did those savage beasts come out of hiding. They watched the tiny killer from afar, their eyes still filled with fear.
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