Liang Chen swept through all of Eternal Stream city once, checking for anyone that might have survived the attack. But it was all for naught, he was the last living thing in the city, everything else belonged to the dead. He gave the bodies of Lei Qiang and his family a proper burial, closing his eyes and offering the departed a moment of silence before opening his eyes again and starting his journey towards what he remembered to be the closest city.
He followed the ruined streets out of the city and stepped onto the path that would lead him to Wind's Whisper city, which was not only the closest city, but also the first city Liang Chen had visited after he was forced to flee from his home.
The path was quite familiar to him at this point, but this was the first time he ever took it and wasn't attacked by bandits. If even the bandits were in hiding, one could only guess how bad the state of the rest of the planet was. Liang Chen was far faster than the caravans he took in the past, they required 13 days to travel from Wind's Whisper to Eternal Stream, but he only required two days of running, a drastic cut in traveling time.
When he first got a bit further away from Eternal Stream city, there were no more corpses scattered around on the ground, but there still weren't any bandits in the area, they had probably seen what happened to Eternal Stream and then quickly fled. But thanks to this, Liang Chen managed to enter Wind's Whisper city without having to make any stops or having to bother with any bandits.
The city was just like he remembered it, sprawling and busy, the scent of dirt and food from various vendors mixing together. Liang Chen didn't know if the people here knew what had happened on the rest of the planet, but looking at the slightly tense atmosphere in the city, it seemed like they at least knew that things weren't like normal.
Liang Chen put on the Heaven Altering Mask before entering the city, changing his appearance so that he wouldn't be recognized if the people he was looking for truly were here. He spent a bit of time walking through the city, checking for any news that might contain some of the information that he was looking for. But as he gathered more and more pieces of news while eavesdropping and spreading out his senses, he quickly realized that the people in this city, at least the normal citizens, didn't seem to know what happened on the rest of the planet.
Some of the cultivators knew that cities had been attacked, and that some cities could no longer be contacted, but they didn't seem to know the full extent of the damage. It was clear that someone was doing their best to hide the information from the normal populus, but Liang Chen had no idea why they would bother doing that, especially considering that they had already wiped out 17 entire cities.
Liang Chen continued to move through the city in secrecy, spreading out his poison and his senses as far as he could to pick up any piece of information that he could. But even after spending an entire day searching, he hadn't found anything that would be useful to him, only a few scattered rumors of cities or friends that could no longer be contacted.
But then, in the afternoon of the second day, a change happened that drew Liang Chen's attention. The sky lit up with a peach-colored light that formed a large screen that showed a golden-eyed and orange-haired man. The man stood on a scaffolding that was very familiar to Liang Chen, it was where his parents had been executed in the past. Two people clad in black executioner robes and hoods stood behind the man, each one holding an axe that was as long as them. The man, Yu Jiang looked directly at the screen, his voice booming out and reaching every living being in the area.
"Liang Chen, I am Yu Jiang, hear me! Tomorrow at dusk, here in the center of Green Rivers city, we will execute your sister! Her life will set with the sun, so if you wish to say your farewell, I suggest you rush here as quickly as you can!"
Yu Jiang stepped to the side, revealing a pale Tian Chun kneeling behind him. Metal chains wrapped around her body and secured her to the scaffolding in a kneeling position, her sole remaining arm allowed to hang somewhat loosely in front of her. Her skin was pale, her lips were cracked and split, her robes were tattered and torn, and her right arm was completely gone, she made for a pitiful sight.
The peach-colored screen didn't vanish after showing off Tian Chun, the image pulled slightly back so that the entire scaffolding could be seen, it seemed like Yu Jiang planned on showing the execution to the entire planet. Liang Chen stood completely still in the street, his eyes trembling and his fists clenching so hard that his nails dug into his palms as he looked at the floating screen.
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More and more people moved out onto the street, but none of them registered in Liang Chen's mind, he didn't even notice when a man brushed up against his body and tried to pick his pockets, only to end up disappointed as Liang Chen didn't carry a pouch for his coins. Liang Chen's attention was fully focused on that screen, his heart thumping so loudly that it drowned out all sound.
A small part of him was overjoyed that Tian Chun was still alive and that he could see her again, but the rest of him was seething with anger. How could he not know all the torment she had gone through to end up like that? She had clearly suffered greatly, all because of him. Liang Chen took a deep breath, the dense sea of people around him feeling an unearthly chill and fear wash over their bodies.
Liang Chen made his way through the crowd, his expression so dark that the people around him instinctively moved aside and made a path for him. How could he not know that this was a trap, nothing but a ploy to lure him out? But that was still his sister there, if he didn't go to save her then he wouldn't be Liang Chen any longer.
He sped up the moment he left the city, his body turning into a blur as he raced towards Green Rivers city, the familiar mountain in the distance growing larger and larger as he got closer to what was once his home. A mere half a day later, he once again set foot in Green Rivers city, his steps slow and heavy as he walked through the streets, gray clouds covering the sky above the city.
He walked past the scorched ruins that remained of his house, the wooden fence carved with 'Lest we forget the sin' was still standing around the plot of land. He only cast a short glance at the remains, he had already moved past them, now they were nothing but more fuel to his determination, the tree growing within his interspatial ring the only remaining connection he had to this old home of his.
He swiftly reached the center of the city, which was packed with people looking at the scaffolding, waiting eagerly for the execution. The scene reminded Liang Chen of when his parents were executed. Once again someone close to him was executed for no good reason, and once again the common populace was eagerly spectating. He couldn't even really blame them for their actions, in a world like this, they had to grasp onto any straw of excitement that they could get. And few things were more exciting to them than watching the execution of someone wholly unrelated to them.
Liang Chen's gaze drifted to the scaffolding, Yu Jiang and Tian Chun were both present atop it, one standing and the other kneeling. Now that he saw Yu Jiang from this close, he could tell that he seemed to have reached the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, not a realm where Liang Chen was helpless against him. As for the two executioners standing behind Yu Jiang, they were only in the earlier stages of the Ascended Tower realm, practically only normal people. So no matter how much this reminded Liang Chen of his parents' execution, he was not as helpless and weak as he was back then, this time he could change things.
Yu Jiang swept his gaze over the crowd of people that had gathered, pulling out an eye-shaped pendant from his interspatial ring after doing so. One of his eyebrows ticked up after he checked the pendant, his gaze returning to the crowd and drifting over them, eventually settling on Liang Chen. He checked the pendant again, his gaze moving between Liang Chen and the pendant for a short second before he put the pendant away and flashed a smile.
"Pendant's not picking you up, that means you're not marked by the array. You should be Liang Chen, no? You got here quite a bit faster than I thought, saves me the trouble of standing here for too long. You two, start the execution."
The two executioners nodded and changed their positions slightly, taking a few steps away from the kneeling Tian Chun. They didn't immediately raise their axes, they pulled whetstones out of their robes and started to sharpen their axes, their moves slow and deliberate. Liang Chen's expression sank and he took off the Heaven Altering Mask, the crowd around him quickly pulling away from him. Tian Chun's gaze landed on Liang Chen, her eyes trembling as she looked at him.
"Little Chen... is it really you? Little Chen, please...run, just leave me here!"
Tian Chun's voice was shaky as she begged him, her eyes turning red. Liang Chen's gaze was steely as he looked at her, he could see several scars on her tongue as she talked. She seemed to have tried biting off her tongue and choking on it, but they must have healed her before she could succeed. And looking at the number of scars, she must have tried it several times already. He took a deep breath, his expression softening as he flashed her a quick gentle smile, just like he did back when he still lived here.
"Don't worry, Big Sister Chun, I'll rescue you in a jiffy and escape from here. There are some people that I want to introduce you to, so you just look forward to that. As for you, I hope you're ready to die."
Liang Chen's gaze drifted over to Yu Jiang as he ended his sentence, his expression sinking and becoming cold again. Yu Jiang simply stepped forward to the edge of the scaffolding, placing his arms in front of his chest and using his chin to taunt Liang Chen.
"I'm a cultivator, I'm always ready to die. But it won't be here, and it won't be by your hands."