Chapter 46 Is Hate Born Of Love?

Another hour passed and the sun had already set, the last recruit to try and hit the dummy actually passed making him the fifteenth person to join the group who passed the first test. With the conclusion of the test, the muscular man stood in front of them with a satisfied face.

“Not bad, for fifteen people to pass today, this is quite a good harvest, good job everyone. I hope you pass your second and final test tomorrow. Who knows maybe in the future we can work together. As for the details of the next test, I will announce it tomorrow morning. That’s it for today, dismissed!”

He did not wait for the new recruits to react and immediately made his way towards the branch head’s office. The new recruits did not dilly dally and separated without talking to each other. Enzho was curious about the others but after observing that everyone ignored each other, he let go of the idea of making acquaintance and went home.

.....

The branch head’s office was located at the top of the building, it was just a simple room filled with books, scrolls and random stuff. Aside from that, the strong smell of alcohol filled the air. A small balcony was built overlooking the training grounds that was lit up by torches. A few people were still training producing elongated shadows.

Two people were at the balcony sharing a flagon of alcohol, the muscular man who tested the new recruits and the other one was the lazy looking guy who stood in front of the building that was met by Eznho earlier that day.

“How're the new recruits? Anything interesting? This stupid punishment is really annoying,” the lazy looking guy asked with irritation while sipping alcohol.

“Well, you pissed the old man, let’s just treat this as a vacation, haha. He even personally sent us here,” The muscular man teased.

“Hmph! Well it’s not my fault now, is it? The daughter of the target was really hot you know.”

Jackie answered while grumbling.

“Hahaha, well because of what you did, we nearly failed the mission,” Mike slapped his thigh while laughing heartily.

“Hmph! We accomplished our mission in the end, didn’t we?” Mike retorted.

“Hahahaha, can’t argue with that, enough about that, a total of fifteen passed, all average except for three people, can you believe that Jackie?” the muscular man answered enthusiastically.

“Really now? That’s quite a lot Mike,” Jackie raised his eyebrow showing a look of suspicion.

“It was really unexpected, the first one is actually someone similar to me who is a body enhancer, albeit not as good looking as me, haha. The second one is actually the youngest son of the axe gang leader.” Mike grinned and drank a mouthful.

“How amusing, that ambitious old man actually wants to have a connection with the guild. Well, if I were him, I’ll probably do the same especially now that his oldest son is a member of the Blood Tavern. A branch member to be exact, the more connections he has, the more power he holds. Not bad actually,” Jackie praised while savoring the smell of his alcohol.

“That’s true, but he will never be able to surpass the Eastwood Gang,” Mike debated.

“I agree with you on that brother, anyway, who’s the third?” Jackie asked curiously.

“Ow, the last one is a dark horse alright, take a look at this,”

Mike waved his hand and the wooden dummy that Eznho punched floated in front of Jackie. He scanned the puppet with his soul sense and was surprised. The other recruits could not see it but the insides of the dummy were mangled and its back had cracks. This result could only be achieved by having an almost perfect control of your power.

“Now that’s interesting, for a kid to be able to do this, he has quite the potential and the foundation, who is he?”

“Haha, that’s what I thought too. His name is Eznho but his name doesn’t ring a bell. Want me to investigate?” Mike answered teasingly.

“Bah, let him grow first. Let us talk after he forms his halo, you wanna bet how many halos he can form?” Jackie waved his hand in reject and while showing a competitive look.

“Okay you're on, my bet is that he will form two,” Mike answered without hesitation.

“Hahaha, that was fast, okay I’ll give this one a blind shot. I think he can make it to three,”

Jackie laughed with delight and drank another cup.

“Three? Even the guild does not have that many people who were able to pull that off. Besides, I don’t think he has the resources to make three halos,” Mike answered with skepticism.

“Well, you gave me no choice, who knows maybe he really is a dark horse, haha,” Jackie answered mysteriously while gazing at the starry sky.

“Alright, let’s make things a little more interesting then,” Mike spoke with a mischievous look.

.....

It was already dark when Eznho made it back, everyone congratulated him when he told them the good news. Because of that, Miss Minchin and little Aiza cooked enthusiastically which produced an aromatic smell that made Eznho and Budoy drool.

“Congratulations!” The trio shouted and all four of them gobbled up all the food served on the table.

After dinner, Eznho and Budoy talked when the two women went to their own respective rooms.

“How is it going Budoy?” Eznho asked with a smile while sipping his tea.

“All is good big brother, actually I have decided to join in the information business,” Budoy answered with determination in his eyes.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Eznho was a bit uneasy about this. Selling information can fetch quite a sum if you have the right one but it can also lead to endless troubles if one is careless.

“Don’t worry big brother, I will be careful, besides it can also benefit you, you know,” Budoy grinned while trying to justify himself.

“I have no doubt about that, have you told aunt and little Aiza?” Eznho looked at him seriously.

“Well, yeah, aunt agreed and reminded me repeatedly to be careful. As for little Aiza, well, it took me quite a while to convince her but I got her to agree,” Budoy answered with a wry smile.

“That’s good then, I have no qualms about you joining that line of work,” Eznho spoke while gazing at the moon.

“Budoy, both of the path we are pursuing has a lot of dangers, I only ask two things from you. That is to always be careful, there will always be hope as long we are alive so don’t go risking your life for no reason at all. As for the second thing, it is related with aunt and little Aiza, both of us may have our own ways to survive but they don’t have that kind of luxury. They are too vulnerable and to be honest, there are only a handful of people I care about in this world. Do you understand?”

Eznho spoke with great emotions, this reminder came from the bottom of his heart and it was not only for Budoy but also for himself. That is the main reason why he tries to avoid offending other people and get into conflict with them. After all, you will never know what your enemies will do just to get back to you. This was especially implanted on him when he encountered what happened to Blue. Innocent and powerless people are often the victims.

“I understand big brother, don't worry I will die first before bringing a calamity to aunt and little Aiza,”

Budoy was moved by Eznho’s speech and spoke from the bottom of his heart. He looked at Eznho with reverence and respect, he truly felt how Eznho cared for him and his little sister.

“Good,” Eznho grinned and the duo spoke a little more before calling it a day.

.....

It was the middle of the night when the feast finished at the River Clan’s territory. By now, most of the heavyweights in the middle district and some from the inner district have observed Wilad’s cultivation advancement making the clan’s status more stable. They would have to think twice before clashing with them. After everything has settled down, three people were having a meeting at the main hall of the River Clan. It was Wilad, Zander and Killboy,

“What are the results of your investigation?” Wilad spoke with an unhurried tone.

“Reporting to grandfather, after investigating non-stop, it is our belief that the killing is related to Batista and his comrades,” Killboy answered with a serious tone.

“As expected,” Wilad commented with certainty.

“We have another suspect as well, it was a person who disguised as a merchant and sold a girl to Alibaba before he went to Butchog’s residence to offer his goods. We tried to find traces of him and the girl but it led us to nothing. As for the other girls, we found some but unfortunately, they remember nothing at all. It was as if they never entered little brother’s residence,”

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Killboy felt a little apprehension when he found out about it, erasing the memory of a mortal is not an easy task.

“Their memory has been erased eh? Well, that doesn’t sound good. He would have to be at least a Dao Formation expert but even then, it won’t be that easy. Even I would have to be extra careful when doing such a thing.”

Wilad furrowed his brows while thinking of something.

“There is something else, there were rumors circulating in the underground market that a member of the Dark Crows has been here in the city for the past month,”

Killboy shivered a little when he blurted the name, of course, this was normal. Any person with a sane mind would feel fear towards people who are experts in the killing business.

“How reliable is the information?” Wilad’s pupil shrunk when he heard the name.

“It is eighty percent sure grandfather,” Killboy answered honestly.

After that, Killboy reported everything he discovered and did not leave out anything. Silence gathered around the hall for awhile.

“Sigh, with this information you collected, it could be concluded that Batista and his comrades had somehow hired someone highly skilled to assassinate Butchog and Taba. And this particular assassin had sent a trainee of some sort to execute the mission, hence the wounds. The killer is still a novice who cannot control his or her emotions.”

With his vast experience, Wilad could already fit most if not all of the puzzle pieces. It was even possible that they disguised their gender so it was not that easy to identify them with accuracy.

“Should we pursue them? They are still inside the city,” Killboy exuded an intent to battle and was ready to fight anytime.

“No, let us just let these matters go, let’s say it was Batista who did it, could you blame him? If you were him, would you do the same?”

“This...” Killboy and Zander were speechless, deep inside they know what the old man said was true.

“Even if we do pursue, they would have the moral high ground. Do you want another scandal to spread that would destroy our reputation? That’s not even the worst part, the worst result that could happen is that we would be on the military’s bad side. You can only imagine the consequences, I still have connections but times have changed and we have to adapt,”

Wilad spoke seriously with a stern voice.

“I am pretty sure Batista will not spread the matter about his daughter, what’s done is done. I just hope he does not point his hate towards us, after all, we both obtained losses regarding this matter. As for the Taba and Butchog, we will announce their death in a few days and perform a proper burial for them. Try to suppress the reason for their death as much as possible, make the arrangements.”

“I only have at least a hundred years to live more and will not be able to make another breakthrough. You should focus your thoughts on breaking through the Dao Formation as soon as possible Zander. Both of you are the future pillars that would hold our foundation, don’t let this matter be the reason for your downfall.”

Wilad stood up and walked towards his residence, his back looked lonely as the moon shone on him.

“Yes, Father,”

“Yes, Grandfather,”

Zander and Killboy acknowledged with complicated looks on their faces. They had to stabilize everything before Wilad’s time runs out. As much as they loved Butchog and Taba, the future of the clan comes first. They could only put the matter in the back of their mind and wish that their souls find peace.

.....

Batista and the group had been staying at the middle district the whole time. There were two reasons for their action, first, Blue is currently stable but she is still unconscious which made Batista worry, the second was they were waiting for any news about Butchog and his son, Taba. According to their informants, the father and son had not been seen ever since Blue was retrieved from their grasp. They had their own speculations but they were still waiting for confirmation.

“What do you think brother?” Wilky asked Batista while they were sharing a flagon of wine. Wilfred had returned to Sin City to watch over it temporarily, leaving the duo to further investigate.

“I am not too sure either, information about those bastards had been kept tight. But not being seen for days is really suspicious, let’s just keep waiting while waiting for little Blue to wake up.”

Batista answered with hatred in his eyes. He will never let go of this feeling for the rest of his life. Just thinking about his daughter’s hardships made him want to charge and do a massacre. The only thing that keeps him at bay is the fact that his daughter is still alive.

.....

The next day, Eznho and the other new recruits assembled early in the morning at the training ground. Everyone was serious and at the same time excited, this would be the last test and if they are able to pass, they would have the chance to make a name for themselves. Every wandering cultivator had to scour resources on their own and one of their main sources of living was accomplishing missions for the Mercenary Guild or other organizations and obtaining resources by completing them.

“Alright, the last test you would be performing is actually very simple. You just need to complete at least one Rank E mission.”

Mike announced with high spirits while looking at the reaction of the recruits. Everyone was shocked, the second test usually consists of sparring with each other.

“Complete a mission? Isn’t that too early for us?” one of the new recruits asked nervously.

“You’ll do missions one way or the other, so why not now? If you have any problems, you can just come back next year after I’m gone.”

Mike answered nonchalantly making the recruit shut himself up.

“Any more questions?” Mike asked with a glare that resulted in silence.

“Good, within three months, you have to at least complete one Rank E mission. Failing this mission means you cannot retake the recruitment test for one year. But of course, because this test is a bit different, there will be rewards which will personally come from me in the form of spirit stones. You only have three chances, failing three times would result in disqualification. With hardships comes rewards so the more missions you accomplish the more rewards you gain with a maximum of three successful missions. One last thing, accomplish this mission with your own effort or else,”

He gave everyone a sharp gaze that contained a deadly warning making everyone shudder in fear. Seeing the recruit’s frightened faces, Mike was pleased with himself and turned around to leave.

“See you in three months,”

“I wonder how many spirit stones will he be giving out?” One of the new recruits blurted out with excitement.

“Tsk, poor peasants, talk about rewards after you accomplish your mission, hmph!”

Paul harrumph with disdain while showing a provocative stance.

“What did you say?” A well-built boy questioned with hostility.

“You heard what I said, got a problem with that?”

Paul sneered as he looked at the boy then left with his buddies not bothering to wait for his answer.

“You-!” the boy was about to retaliate but stopped himself from doing so due to the strict rules set in place and thought of something.

“Tsk, all bark no bite, why don’t we enter the arena and see what you got?”

“Hahaha, what an idiot!” Paul laughed with mockery as if he was hearing the joke of the day but did not stop or turn around and just left with his companions. This made the boy even more humiliated but there was nothing he could but endure.

Just you wait, pray that we don’t meet outside or else, hmph!

Eznho and the others just watched from the side and did not intend to interfere, some were even disappointed when the fight did not occur. After everyone lost interest, they dispersed and went their separate ways.

.....

Eznho went inside the building and headed straight to the mission listings. There were multiple small cubicles that could only fit one person, this was the place where you could choose your mission. After a brief period of waiting in line, Eznho had his turn. There was a small screen inside made of formation which contained a lot of information. He was amazed by it and wondered how these things were made.

He touched his finger on the “Rank E list” and a countless number of missions popped up on the screen. He took his time to pick and chose a plant collection mission which was relatively safe. It was his first mission so he had to be careful and use it to test the waters first. He memorized the mission number and went to another queue where they issued the mission details.

“Mission number 05679E,” Eznho spoke clearly towards the middle-aged female inside the counter.

“Give me your badge,” the woman ordered blandly.

Eznho gave him the wooden badge that was given to him the other day which gave the woman a surprise and looked at Eznho with pity.

“Here you go, this is your mission details,”

She handed back the badge after registering together with a scroll. Eznho opened the scroll to make a quick check and after confirming it was the mission he picked, he gave his thanks and went out of the building.

.....

Eznho went home and studied the mission details, he needed to collect five stalks of Star Orchid which mostly grows on stone cracks, particularly on cliffs – that was the danger he had to face. This kind of danger was relatively negligible as long as he was careful. He practiced cultivation again and called it a day. This mission had an unlimited time, so he was not worried about any time limit.

The next day, he went out to buy the things he needed and went to scout for information such as maps and common location of Star Orchids. He also went to the library to gain more knowledge. This preparation lasted for a week before he was confident that he was ready to start the mission.

That night, the family had a sumptuous dinner, Eznho estimated that the mission would take at least two weeks to a month so they cherished the time they had with each other before Eznho will leave for the mission. Minchin decided to work at a restaurant and little Aiza would go to school to learn about things which Eznho gladly agreed to.

.....

That week, the news of the death of Butchog and Taba River had been announced by the River Clan which spread like wildfire. As for the details of their death, nobody was entirely sure and different rumors have spread, some even speculated that the heavens have been enraged and sent down its punishment.

People showed sympathy but it was only a pretense to show good faith with the clan. Most if not all were cheering inside, the father and son did not have a good reputation around the city after all.

As for Batista and Wilky, they triple checked the information and was sure that the father and son duo were really dead. Although it was not in his hands, Batista’s ill feelings were a little bit uplifted. As for revenge? He was well aware that it would just lead to his destruction, besides, it would be pointless because the culprits are now dead.

He had no choice but to focus his attention on his daughter instead. There was no point staying in the city now, so without waiting for his daughter to wake up, they slowly made their journey back to Sin City. This city had terrible memories for his daughter, so he wanted her to wake up in a place where she feels secure.

As for Eznho, he heard about the news through Budoy but was nonchalant about it as if he had nothing to do with their death. Bringing all his needed equipment, he left early and did not plan to wake up everyone, their goodbyes have already been said and no need to do it all over again. However, Budoy was waiting for him at the door,

“Let me escort you to the gates, big brother,” He offered.

“Okay, sure, let’s go, time waits for no one,” Eznho grinned in response.

It took them a while to reach the Eastern Gate, Eznho, together with Budoy had a healthy horse in tow with them. Eznho bought it the other day, for him to have a smoother journey. They both stopped at the gate and gazed at the horizon where the sun was starting to rise carrying with it bright rays that illuminated the world.

“See you soon, brother,” Eznho spoke with a bright smile.

“Take care, big brother, we’ll be waiting,” Budoy looked at him with moist eyes but was holding himself back.

The two hugged each other tightly and Eznho started to walk towards the exit without another word. Budoy watched as his big brother’s silhouette disappeared in the distance.

Come back safely, big brother.

As for Eznho, he rode his horse which galloped at full speed towards the west leaving dust on its trail.

Adventure, here I come!

.....

Note: This is the last chapter of Book 1, I would like to say thank you to everyone who gave my novel a chance. All I can say is, THANK YOU AGAIN! I plan to continue on writing but the releases would be sporadic as I only do it during my free time. I hope you would still find time to continue reading and enjoying my novel. Cheers!