“Men- Slaughter them all!” Hanzo ordered.
The Bandits all roared, then swiftly galloped forward in a frenzy, chopping, thrusting and slashing away. This was a village of only, at most 500 people. If you don’t include the children, roughly 300 people including women.
Hanzo only chose to spare the children’s lives. They were taken prisoner, while everyone else had been butchered. Wang Jun was no exception. He was taken along with the other children, and the village was set on fire.
Fresh blood was essential for the growth of any organization. In time, these children will learn to obey the Bandit King Jerome. They would not forget, but they would be powerless to oppose.
“I will kill you all, and burn this place to the ground!” One kid cried as he was dragged down from horseback, where both his hands and legs had been tied together like a wild animal, and thrown into a cage along with the rest of the children.
“In this world, only strength prevails. You want revenge? Get stronger. Heaven shows no mercy!” The Bandit laughed as he slammed the door shut, leaving the children in darkness. Some cried, and others cursed while all of them were terrified, angry and without hope.
“Get stronger. Heaven shows no mercy!” Wang Jun cried out loud. His parents had been slaughtered right in front of his eyes. Afterwards, he had tried to fight them, but they were too strong.
--
“Master….your servant seeks apology. I was not able to find the treasure in the village!” Hanzo bowed down before Jerome.
“And you brought me a useless bunch of worms.” Jerome was clearly annoyed.
“If we can spend some resources on them, then, in the future, it will be extremely beneficial to us!” Hanzo said.
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“I don’t have a mountain of cultivation resources! Give them only basic training. If they manage to reach Peak Foundation rank within 5 years, then you can spend my resources on them.” Jerome said. He had looted quite a few Spirit Grass and Low Grade Herbs on various trips he made to the outside world. These were extremely useful for anyone wishing to breakthrough to Heaven rank 1. He himself had long ago reached Peak Heaven rank (rank 9) and was unable to breakthrough. He was only 30 this year, and as a Heaven ranked expert, he was capable of living for 500 years. In his opinion, he had plenty of time to breakthrough to Sky Origin realm. And while he did not really need those resources, it still wasn’t something he would casually give out. Because he spent a good deal of effort to get them to start with.
Hanzo nodded, overjoyed in his heart. Five years? That was more than enough time to turn these children into weapons.
--
“I will kill them all!” One of the kids was still crying out in rage.
“Conserve your energy…” Compared to him, Wang Jun was now much calmer. The Pendant within his Dantian gave him an unexplainable feeling. A feeling like ‘no one will be able to stop him’. Only when you are strong enough, can you oppose the heavens! He most certainly did not forget his parent’s hopelessness as they were killed, and their corpses burned.
Early the next morning, it was only 3 AM, when bandits marched into the cage and dragged out the children. A head count revealed there were close to 200 in them, boys and girls. They were taken into a pit, with 200 meter high walls, and the only way out was either climbing the walls or through a single entrance.
“Untie them!” Hanzo stood on the walls above the pit, looking down. His figure was barely visible to the children, but his voice was loud and clear.
Immediately, 10 or so burly men went around, untying the lot of children. Of course some tried to run, and some even tried to attack the men, but these children only met the wrong end of a sword. These children were then taken out of the pit. Only pools of blood remained.
“You are welcome to oppose me,” Hanzo said, laughing out loud, “And they will meet with but one end; death! And this I promise.”
Hanzo went on to explain what he was really after.
“I want to turn you lot of useless maggots into something that I can use in the future- beneficial to this entire Mountain! Maggots like you might one day be able to serve Master Jerome, in his conquest over this territory!”
Wang Jun looked at his fellow villagers. There was one kid in particular, he nodded, “We are willing!” They both said in unison.