Chương 20: The first kill.
After Liang Chen entered the wagon and waited for a short while, there was a loud shout from the front, the wagons starting to move right after the shout sounded. Sitting in the rearmost wagon, Liang Chen chatted slightly with Yi Huang and Old Fen. He would be hitching a ride with this caravan for a little over a week, so he would have a bit of time to get better acquainted with the other guards.
Old Fen had already done as ordered and handed Liang Chen a sword. The sword was a standard Jian that one could find anywhere, it was a bit too long for the current Liang Chen, but it would not be too hard to wield it. Liang Chen quickly found out that sitting in the wagon for the entire trip was not something he wanted to do, as the road was rather bumpy, resulting in his rear hurting after sitting for only two hours.
Every three hours, two guards would be switched out, allowing them to get some rest and relaxation. Liang Chen would chat with the guards that came to rest, learning about their past in the army, their past as mercenaries, or just how they had lived their lives before becoming guards. He was quite surprised to find that most of the people had been guards or mercenaries for many years already, some started working as guards when they were about his age, while others were already married when they were his age.
While Liang Chen was surprised at the past of the guards, they were surprised at how little Liang Chen actually knew about the world. When the caravan stopped for the first night, Yi Huang and another guard, a slightly younger man named Xie Gong, taught Liang Chen about the basics of using a sword, lest he hurt himself if he ever had to use it.
Since Liang Chen had only been sitting in the wagon the entire day, he was given the duty of helping the slaves that were making the food, as well as helping the slaves that made sure the wagons were kept in decent shape. Liang Chen had no complaints about this, as he was already bored of simply doing nothing.
After everyone ate, half the guards went to sleep, while the other half stayed up to keep watch. Liang Chen sat down at the side of the wagon, closing his eyes in quiet cultivation as he waited for dawn to arrive. Halfway through the night, the guards switched, making sure that all the guards got at least a little bit of sleep. Once the night had peacefully passed, the caravan continued on it's journey.
But despite the first day passing in peace, the journey was not destined to be a peaceful one, something that quickly became apparent. As the evening of the second day arrived, the caravan was forced to stop in its track, a large tree blocking their path. The road they were on now was quite narrow, a dense forest to their right, and a steep hill to their left. With the thick tree laying down directly in the road, they would have to remove the tree before they could continue their journey.
Liang Chen was rather surprised that a tree had managed to fall directly in their path but seeing how on edge the guards had become, it was clear that the tree had most likely not fallen down randomly. Liang Chen quickly raised his own vigilance, sweeping the surroundings with his eyes, his Qi slowly moving around in his veins.
A tense silence fell upon the people of the caravan, Du Gengxin ordering a few slaves to remove the tree. The slaves were unwilling, but because of the contract inflicted on their soul, they were forced to listen to his orders, no matter how unwilling they were. The slaves slowly made their way towards the overturned tree, but the moment they got within a few feet of the tree, arrows shot out from the dense forest, piercing through the slaves and killing them almost instantly.
The expressions of the guards immediately turned grim, everyone pulling out their weapons. The wagon that Du Gengxin was sitting in lit up with a faint light, runes appearing on the outside of the wagon. Realizing that the situation took a turn for the worse, Du Gengxin had activated the defensive formation of his wagon.
Yi Huang's eyes were sharp, his body starting to release a strong heat that distorted the air around him. He did not even shout or give a warning, his body immediately moving into action and attacking. He raised his left arm, a thick stream of fire shooting out from his hand and heading towards the forest to their right. The trees instantly lit ablaze, the fire quickly spreading from tree to tree.
Shortly after the fire started spreading through the forest, people clad in brown leather started swarming out from the forest and down from the top of the steep hill, having hidden on the other side of it. The people hid their faces using black cloth, and each of them carried a weapon that was slightly rusty, they were clearly bandits who had come to rob them. The bandits did not say anything, by Yi Huang let out a loud shout.
"I will deal with the leader, you guys handle everyone else! Don't let them get to the wares or to the boss!"
After he shouted out, Yi Huang dashed towards one of the bandits. The bandit he dashed towards was a bit fatter than the others, his head covered in a bright red cloth. His entire body radiated a frightening pressure, the earth around him sinking down slightly. He carried a large two-handed axe that was a little over two meters long. The only part of his face that wasn't covered by red cloth were his eyes, which carried a chilling light as they glared at Yi Huang.
While Yi Huang charged towards the fat man, the other 15 guards took up positions around the wagons. Some picked up crossbows and climbed onto the wagons, while others picked up spears and swords, engaging the bandits in melee combat, screams of pain and the sound of flesh being cut quickly sounding out. The bandits outnumbered the guards, but the guards were clearly more experienced and even somewhat stronger.
Liang Chen still stood at the very rear of the caravan, his mind so calm that it even surprised him. None of the bandits focused their eyes on him, as they only saw him as a beggar child that had tagged along. The scent of blood filled the air, Liang Chen's blood starting to boil as his vision was slowly starting to dye red. His mind started to fill with aggression, excitement, bloodlust, all sorts of emotions a Demonic beast would fill when faced with a bloody battle.
But Liang Chen could not let the instincts control him. He bit down on his tongue so hard that the taste of blood filled his mouth. With the taste of blood fresh in his mouth, he let out a loud and determined shout inside his own mind, his eyes cold and hard.
"I am Liang Chen, and this is my body. Since you have already become a part of me, you will listen to me! I will not follow your whims, you will follow mine! So just sit back down and be quiet!"
It felt strange to shout at his own instincts, but Liang Chen refused to let himself be controlled by the instincts that were born when he was invaded by the aggressive Qi of the Demonic beast blood. Since it had already become a part of him, it would have to be obedient and allow him to use it as he wished. Surprisingly enough, his vision quickly returned to normal, the emotions that filled his mind receding. The only thing that remained was his boiling blood and ice-cold mind. It happened so easily that Liang Chen could not help but be suspicious, his eyes somewhat narrowed as he once more spoke out within his own mind.
"I don't know what you are planning, but I will not let things go as you wish."
Every other time the aggression had almost overcome Liang Chen, it had completely receded once he regained his mind, but now after he yelled at it, only the parts that were beneficial to him remind. Facing such a situation, he would obviously be somewhat suspicious. But right now, it was beneficial to him, and he also had enough confidence in himself that he would be able to retain himself, no matter what his new instincts tried.
Liang Chen's vision turned towards the battle taking place not too far from him, the grip on his sword tightening. When he first received the sword, it felt so heavy in his hand, but now it felt like it was right at home, like it was a part of his body, his claws. The foul stench of blood that filled the air only served to strengthen the seething of his blood, his Qi moving faster and faster.
Just by looking at the bandits, he was able to somewhat tell their strength, whether or not they were stronger than him, whether or not they were prey. Liang Chen's eyes landed on a somewhat short bandit that was locked in battle with the Xie Gong, the young guard who helped teach Liang Chen the basics of the sword. The cultivation of this bandit was the same as his, having just entered the early stage of the Mortal Tower realm.
Liang Chen stepped forward, the sound in the surroundings vanishing, his own beating heart the only sound remaining. The bandit never even noticed Liang Chen, his attention fully focused on Xie Gong. Liang Chen didn't know any fancy moves with the sword, so he could only send out a simple stab. Golden arcs of lightning danced around the arm that held the sword, increasing the speed at which he stabbed, as well as coating the blade in lightning.
The sword stabbed into the back of the bandit, severing his spine and scorching his flesh and organs. A foul stench filled the air as the man's eyes started to sizzle and melt, lightning charring his insides. Xie Gong looked at the spectacle, his eyes filled with pleasant surprise. He sent a short nod at Liang Chen, and then rushed at another bandit.
While Xie Gong rushed at another bandit, Liang Chen looked at the spot where his sword was pierced into the bandit's back. It felt so soft and easy, as if he had simply stabbed his blade into a piece of butter. There was no blood coming from the wound, the blood evaporating because of the heat from the lightning. Liang Chen easily pulled out his weapon, the man collapsing to the ground, a red foam spilling out from his mouth.
Liang Chen could not help but tilt his head, surprised at how easy it had been. When he was faced with the thought that he almost killed Qing Youyan or that beggar in Wind's Whisper City, his entire body trembled slightly, fear filling his mind. But the moment he designated this bandit as an enemy he had to kill to survive, it became so easy to kill him, so easy to sever his life and render all his past actions void. But even if Liang Chen ignored all that, he was both surprised and somewhat frightened at how empowering it felt to kill him, to feel like he held life and death within his grasp.
Liang Chen threw the thoughts aside, they were in the midst of battle, he could not afford to be lost in his own thoughts. The fact that it came so easy to him was something useful to him now, so he would not care too much about it, he would simply use it.
Liang Chen felt someone move closer to him, the electricity within that person's body calling out to him, resonating with him. His body instinctively took a step backward, a glint of steel flashing past his face as he took a step backward, the ground in front of him cracking as an axe crashed into it. To his left stood a tall bandit, his muscles bulging as he had exerted all his strength in his swing.
Liang Chen's eyes were calm as his left hand reached out, grasping onto the man's throat fast as lightning. The man who had attacked him was even weaker than the man he had just killed, not even having reached the early stage of the Mortal Tower realm. It seemed like the group of bandit was a rather ragtag group that accepted almost anyone.
His parents had taught him that cultivators must not kill normal people, but this person was a bandit who had tried to kill him, he had likely also killed others before, so surely it was okay to kill him, right? The answer came quickly to Liang Chen, his hand releasing a faint green light that sank into the man's throat.
After the light sank into the man's throat, it seemed like he was trying to gasp for breath, but all that came out from his mouth was a light red foam. The skin on his neck was quickly melting, the melting quickly spreading down to his chest. Acting on his instincts, Liang Chen did not hold back his poison this time, resulting in the skin of the man rapidly melting, blood dyeing his body. After only a short half minute, half the flesh on his neck and chest had melted, his bones and organs fully visible.
Liang Chen let go of the man's neck, his body crumpling together. Liang Chen looked at his left hand, which was covered in blood and a faint green light. Once again, it was so easy, so simple, so empowering. He could easily guess that the aggressive Qi that had invaded him was still subtly and slowly acting on him, making it easier for him to kill others. But right now, that was exactly what he needed to survive, so he embraced it. No matter how much it tried to influence him, he would stay as Liang Chen, he would hold onto his principles and the teachings of his parent's.
Liang Chen turned his head away from the half-molten corpse, his eyes sweeping the battlefield for more bandits that were weak enough to be considered prey. But while he was searching for prey, it seemed like the leader of the bandits had realized that things were not going well.
The bandit leader was confident that they would be able to take away at least one or two wagons if they kept fighting, but he also had to think about the future of his group. If he lost too many men here, they would be forced to rob smaller caravans in the future, meaning that they would earn less. Earning less meant that there would be less for his men to eat, so while he disliked leaving empty-handed, he decided to let out a loud shout.
"Retreat! We are returning home, let's live to fight another day!"
The shout worked like magic, the bandits engaged in battle immediately turning around and fleeing into the burning forest. They surrounded themselves with Qi to resist the heat, those that had some Qi to spare helping those that had yet to cultivate their own Qi. They left as quickly as they came, the bandit leader the last one to flee into the forest, making sure that all his remaining men managed to make it out.
With the bandit leader fleeing, Yi Huang completely unable to stop him, Liang Chen felt sound return to the world, his seething blood calming down as his instincts retreated. The battle had only lasted a few minutes, but the bandits had lost 11 men, while 3 of the guards had died, laying down their lives to protect one of the wagons filled with wares. And so, the sun set on the second day of Liang Chen's journey towards the Mystic's Hidden Realm.
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