Chapter Ninety-One: Counterattack, Part Four

The brothers had already vanished into the seal, and the younger one could only gaze down from the sky at his elder sibling below.

Fury blazing in his eyes, he glared at the young man, who merely lifted a hand in a vulgar gesture. Yet there was nothing he could do. He knew that alone, he could not defeat the four men beneath him.

“Listen well,” he shouted, pointing at the young man. “Touch even a single hair on my brother’s head, and I will hunt you across all twelve provinces and flay you to the bone!”

With that, he turned and left.

When the others saw the shadow retreat into the distance, one of them murmured, “He just left like that?”

A cold smile touched the young man’s lips. “Even if he stayed, he still couldn’t beat us. Come, take the elder brother away. The younger one won’t give up so easily. He’ll likely be following us in secret, waiting for a chance to rescue him.”

The monk hoisted the bound captive onto his shoulder, and the four of them rose into the air.

“Where are we going next?” asked one of them.

“Follow me. I know a place.”

One of the others scratched his head. “Something’s off. I feel like I forgot something.”

The young man turned. “What is it?”

He smacked his forehead. “Forgot it. Ah, never mind. Let’s get moving first.”

A short while later, they arrived at a cliff face, where a huge cave yawned open above them.

It was the cave where the young man and the girl had once stumbled upon the white-tiger beast, and where he had obtained the Thousand-Edge Shield.

The four entered the cave, and the monk set the captive down.

They removed the seal from him, leaving only the binding rope.

The young man stepped before the prisoner and looked at him with a smile.

The captive glared back in fury. “Brat, today I was careless, you—”

Before he could finish, the young man’s hand snapped into a claw. Thunder crackled as he drove it straight into the man’s chest.

With a wet sound, the heart was torn free in an instant.

“You...!”

Terror widened the captive’s eyes. He had never imagined the young man would not even give him a chance to speak, striking without a word!

The other three were equally stunned. None of them expected him to kill so abruptly, without even a question.

The monk pressed his palms together. “Amitabha.”

The others frowned.

The captive’s eyes remained wide as life slowly drained from them, swallowed by disbelief and unwillingness.

The young man tossed the heart aside and snarled at the corpse, “You took my powers; I took your heart. Fair enough! I don’t play at empty talk. Striking first is better than anything else!”

He raised his arm and wiped the blood from his face.

Then, all at once, he dropped to the ground with a thud.

“Hey!”

The others cried out and hurried to help him.

The monk stepped forward as well. Chanting softly, he said, “Amitabha. Fellow Daoist, your heart is too steeped in slaughter, and your spirit is unstable. You urgently need to calm yourself.”

The other two looked at him.

He sat there, empty-eyed, staring straight ahead.

After a long moment, he finally recovered. Shaking his head, he said quietly, “I’m fine... I was too enraged just now. Once I relaxed, my body stopped obeying me.”

One of them said, “Brother, your current condition is not good.”

He nodded. “I know.”

He lifted his right hand and stared at the blood staining his palms, shaking his head.

“I’ve become... a little unlike myself.”

The monk folded his hands again. “Amitabha. Let Fellow Daoist calm himself for a while. Consider this a trial of the heart.”

The other two nodded and quietly withdrew.

He remained seated in a daze. The last time he had been in such a state was when he had slain the old beggar at the tea stall.

Back then, too, he had been unable to control his thoughts, only feeling fury surge through him until everything went blank.

Today was much the same, except that this time he was conscious. He knew exactly what he had done.

Looking at his hands, a word suddenly rose in his mind.

Demonic nature.

Was this his beastly nature?

As a half-beast, he had always thought of himself as no different from an ordinary human, or an ordinary cultivator. Aside from the inner core and the pair of wings on his back, he had always felt he was no different from any human.

Now it seemed he had been childish.

How could a half-beast and a human truly be the same?

He was not without blood on his hands; he had killed men and beasts before. Yet only when his rage reached its peak did he become unlike everyone else.

He gave a bitter laugh. He did not even know what kind of beast he was.

He remembered what his master, Master White Crane, had said: his wings were not of the flying wing-clans of the Southern Sea or the Eastern Sea.

Then the most likely possibilities were the northern lands of extreme cold, or the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

It seemed he would have to seek out those perilous places in the future and uncover the secret of his origins.

He exhaled a long, muddy breath and slowly stood. Only then did he realize he was covered in blood, the stench of it sharp and nauseating.

Hastily, he summoned an ice wall to block his body, then called forth water to wash himself clean before changing into fresh clothes from his pouch.

After straightening his hair, he dispelled the ice wall and walked out toward the other three.

The monk said, “Amitabha. Fellow Daoist, you recovered more quickly than I expected.”

He smiled. “Thank you for your concern. I am fine.”

One of them said, “With that path of corpses behind us, and the disciples of the Starpoint Manor scattered and fleeing, the manor is truly gone from the Twelve Provinces now.”

Another nodded. “One of the sun-and-moon brothers has fallen as well. Only the younger one escaped.”

The monk said, “Amitabha. Such hypocrites in righteous clothing, and those underground assassins who break the rules of cultivation, should have been punished long ago.”

While they were talking, a child suddenly emerged from the ground in front of them.

It was the little one.

At the sight of him, one of them slapped his forehead and laughed in realization. “Ah, now I remember what I forgot. I forgot about this kid!”

The young man smiled at the child. “Little fellow, where did you disappear to during the chaos just now?”

Eyes brimming with tears, the child cried, “You still ask? You all promised to protect me, and the moment the fighting started, you vanished without a trace! Luckily I’m clever. I dove underground in an instant, or if I’d been caught with this tiny body of mine, I’d have been ground to dust in no time!”

One of them slapped his thigh. “My fault, my fault. I knew I’d forgotten something.”

Then he blinked in sudden confusion. “Wait... why did you even follow us? Weren’t you afraid we’d kill you to silence you?”

Hearing this, the child did not cry at all. Instead, he gave a disdainful laugh.

“Ha! Who are you trying to scare? Do I look like a three-year-old? I may be small, but I’m not stupid. You’re all righteous people. You follow rules. You’re not like those scheming villains. Dealing with them is far too costly!”

The young man smiled. “Then why did you follow us? Why not return to your sect?”

The child said, “What’s so interesting about going back to the sect? It’s stifling to death. Unless my master sends for me with a task, I hardly ever return. Most of the time I’m out on my own.”

He went on, “Hey, esteemed Daoists, why don’t I tag along with you? I’m extremely capable. Infiltration, tracking, all that stuff—I can handle it with ease.”

“We don’t have any work like that for you,” the young man said.

Then the other suddenly spoke up. “Why don’t you follow me instead? I, the Fortuneteller, could also use talent like yours.”

The child nodded repeatedly, then seemed to remember something and hurriedly said, “Fine, but first things first: I charge a fee!”

The other laughed helplessly. “All right, all right.”

The child looked up and suddenly spotted the corpse not far away. Startled, he then burst with wild delight.

He hopped in place and shouted, “You people! What a waste! Such prodigality!”

With that, he darted straight toward the corpse.

The four of them stared, utterly baffled.

The child rummaged over the body for a few moments, then bounced back and threw a storage ring onto the ground.

“With all the belongings this man had, and you lot didn’t even split the spoils—what a pity!” he said triumphantly.

Then he sent his spiritual energy into the ring and began tossing things out one after another: a sword, a teapot, a shield, a straw figure, a golden hairpin, an iron chain...

The young man and one of the others crouched down to inspect the pile.

The remaining one hesitated at the side, wondering whether he should crouch too. Watching the three of them examine the loot from left to right, he found the scene rather unsightly.

But if he did not join in, perhaps there would be nothing for him. Still, he was no bandit. He was a true disciple of the righteous Clear Cloud Sect, a man of standing.

“Ahem. Is this really appropriate?” he said, raising his voice.

The one crouching nearby looked up and smiled. “Old Sun, you’re usually so rigid. These treasures aren’t harmful. It’s the people who use them who can be harmful. We’re not like those evil hands that kill and loot for gain. We’re ridding the world of a menace. Besides, we even get rewards for completing Human Alliance tasks. Killing a villain and dividing the spoils—what’s wrong with that? We’re using magic treasures to do good.”

The young man echoed him. “Exactly. If these treasures fell into the hands of villains again, wouldn’t more good people suffer?”

“Mm... that makes sense.”

So the man also crouched down beside the others.

Only the monk remained standing, shaking his head and chanting, “Amitabha.”

He was a man of the Buddhist path and absolutely could not do such a thing... though if they were to give him something useful later, he might consider it. After all, if it served to do good, surely even the Buddha would approve.

The child stared at the treasures scattered all over the ground, drooling in anticipation.

There were six treasures in all. Before being refined, no one could know their true functions; they could only guess.

The young man looked at the crouching scholar and said, “Old Sun, you’re the most upright among us. You decide how these should be divided.”

Seeing him hesitate, the other said, “Old Sun, I told the young man before that when we travel together, we shouldn’t fuss over all those false courtesies. There’ll definitely be more situations like this in the future. We trust each other, so just say what you think! Be frank!”

He nodded. “Then I’ll speak plainly. Ahem. This time we’re helping the young man, so this opportunity rightly belongs to him. The one who killed the man was also the young man, so he should choose first!”