Chapter 26 Knowledge is Power
The clouds started to cover the moon which made the night darker that brought an eerie feeling. Beasts were howling non-stop as if agitated by something and started to follow the scent of blood.
Bob was walking leisurely towards the tent where the shout came from while the other two started to loot.
“Hey, kid, shut the fuck up or I’ll skin you alive,”
He threatened while slashing the front of the tent and exposing Eznho who was mumbling while still trying to force the medicines to Minchin.
“What’s this? How pitiful,” He smirked and wanted to poke Eznho’s head with his dagger.
“I said shut up kid! Or I’ll...”
His dagger was about reach when Eznho suddenly turned around showing a frightening face. It was not the face of a boy, what he saw was the twisted face of hatred and self-loathing which was even complimented by the darkness of the night making it look more sinister. The most frightening part was the pair of eyes, the way Eznho looked at him made him feel like he was going to be sucked deep into the abyss and wander for eternity in the dark.
Despite his experiences that was filled with killings, the face he saw tonight was the most frightening one and he could not deny the fact that it gave him chills.
Ssshhh!
Before he could regain his composure, a soft slashing sound was heard accompanied by a small white arc.
“You...Gluurrgghh!”
Blood gushed out from his neck and mouth before he could even say the second word. His eyes became wide, he could not believe that the boy in front of him could attack him that quick. Feeling the life flowing out of him, he dropped his dagger and used both of his hands to cover his neck then started to walk backward trying to call the attention of his companions.
“Hmmm?”
Agila was the first one to notice something, he could see Bob walking backward awkwardly who looked towards their direction while reaching out his hand. He narrowed his eyes trying to focus then his eyes were filled shock when Bob fell down with a thud.
The sound of someone falling also caught the attention of their team leader. At the same time, the clouds parted and the moon illuminated the place showing Bob dying the snow red with his own blood.
“What?” Both of them were stunned, never could have they anticipated of such a scenario happening.
Was someone else hiding inside?
This question popped into their heads, but before they could act, the boy they were expecting to be killed came out of slowly from the tent. Both of them raised their guard and prepared for a fight.
The boy’s head and shoulder were down like he had no energy at all, both of his hands were holding a dagger. One of which was Bob’s. He slowly turned his head looking at their direction, under the moonlights illumination, his face now was much calmer but his eyes had a cold look which was slowly filling up with killing intent. He put on a creepy smile then heavenly energy filled his left hand and both feet.
Woossshh!
Without any warning, he threw the dagger aiming for Kelly, the team leader, and immediately dashed after it.
“Hmph!”
Kelly smirked and circulated his energy towards his fist which was covered with an elementary grade glove artifact.
“Ha!”
He shouted then met the incoming dagger with a punch.
Crack!
The dagger actually cracked and broke into several pieces, but before he could make another attack a shadow passed by him going straight for the wounded Agila who was rushing to reload his crossbow.
They did not expect the boy’s speed to be this fast, Agila finished reloading and aimed for the boy but to his surprise, the boy was already in front of him and actually grabbed the front of the crossbow making the bolt’s protruding tip pierce his palm through and through.
“Are you mad?” He could not help but exclaim with shock.
He wanted to pull the trigger but a cold glint was actually coming fast towards him aiming for his neck giving him no choice but to leap backward. Without any pause, Eznho pulled out the crossbow stuck on his hand and turned around to Kelly who was preparing to attack him and aimed the crossbow.
Whoosh!
Kelly’s pupil shrank and his spine tingled.
Shit!
He knew how deadly and fast these crossbows were, before Eznho could pull the trigger, he immediately leaned to his right making the shot miss his heart and hit his shoulder joint instead, making his left hand immobile which was a good trade instead of his life. Lucky for him the speed of the crossbow was reduced due to the absence of the spirit stone.
“Bastard!” He was really furious, the situation was going from worse to worst.
Ezhno ignored him and went after the wounded Agila who was frantically trying to get away as far as possible but was being slowed by his wounds. After all, he was not suited for close combat, his job was to scout and attack from a distance with the crossbow, without it he was like a tiger with no teeth.
Eznho was emotionless while in pursuit and threw his other dagger aiming for the leg.
Swoosh!
“Ahhh!” It came too sudden and Agila could not evade in time, making him roll over the snow a few times.
Eznho caught up with him immediately and pulled out the dagger while twisting it making Agila scream in agony.
“Stop!” Kelly shouted who was still seconds far from them, he could not reload his crossbow now that his left hand was useless.
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
Eznho did not care and without further ado, he stabbed Agila multiple times making blood and flesh splatter all over him making him scream again and again until his voice became hoarse. Agila’s body was now mangled so bad, it looked like a beast had mauled him. Despair and agony was still painted on his face when he daparted for the yellow springs.
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Kelly stopped on his track after seeing such a scene.
“Monster!”
He blurted out with fear, the boy in front of him was like a demon spawn from hell. Aside from the indifferent cold eyes, the boy even looked like a devil with blood and flesh all over him.
Run!
His primal instinct to survive started to scream inside his mind.
“Fuck it!”
The most important thing, for now, was to survive, punishment for his mission’s failure was light compared to dying. He started to back up and planned to dash away.
Swoosh!
Before he could start his escape another dagger came flying towards him.
Damn it!
He cursed and stepped sideways then formed a chopping motion using his palm and slashed it diagonally cutting the dagger in two. Without any hesitation, he started to run for his dear life without looking back. Eznho on the other just stood there with no intention to pursue. He stood there like a statue for a while and slowly walked back towards the tent.
Halfway through, he stepped on the dagger that was given to him by Martin, he picked it up but half of the blade was missing. His eyes did not show any emotion and continued on his way and entered the tent.
.....
A few moments after Kelly’s group was dashing towards the campsite to ambush the caravan, a flying vessel with the shape of a wooden boat was flying by above the clouds with a man sitting on it.
“Hmmm?”
His senses were sharp and immediately stopped his vessel and looked down below.
“Interesting, let’s watch a show for a bit.”
Out of boredom because of traveling for days, he wanted to entertain himself and descended a hundred meters above the ground. But nobody could see him due to his vessel’s concealment formation.
“Hmmm?”
He was about to leave when a dense killing intent full of hatred rose from the boy inside the tent. With his cultivation, he could see everything that happened but he did not care, such events were normal for him, it was the law of the jungle.
“What do we have here?”
His interest was suddenly stoked when the boy took action, every detail was watched by him until the time Kelly dashed away.
“Well done kid, although it was done without your awareness.”
He stored his flying vessel and descended on his own.
The ability to fly!
If Kelly or Dugsol saw this scene they would be scared out of their wits. The ability to walk on air will only be possible at the Dao Formation Stage.
Dao Formation stage, within the kingdom, there were less than a hundred of them, maybe not even fifty. They were revered by many cultivators, Dao Formation Stage cultivators have already started to form their own path. Only a few people can achieve such feats after proving their dao by surviving the first tribulation from the heavens.
He softly landed on the snow-filled ground and slowly walked towards the tent where Eznho was. Due to the cut Bob made earlier, he could see Eznho still trying to force medicines on Minchin and shook his head.
“Tsk, what a stubborn and stupid kid,”
“Hey, kid! Stop it or you’ll kill her with overdose,” he spoke with a masculine voice but it landed on deaf ears.
He walked and got closer to Eznho and wanted to pat Eznho’s shoulder but was met with an attack just like Bob.
“Easy boy, why so serious?”
He easily dodged and leaped backward effortlessly.
Eznho coldly looked at him and immediately launched a forward attack but when he was about a meter from the man he suddenly stopped mid-air, the space around him froze. He desperately struggled but it was futile, which made him more berserk making his eyes turn red.
“Wake up!” The man spoke with irritation and slapped the boy hard.
Pak!
A resounding slap was heard and Eznho was sent tumbling and rolled on the ground that made snow fly around.
“Ugh!” Eznho slowly stood up and blood trickled from his mouth while his cheek was burning red.
He suddenly felt dizzy and swayed for a bit before regaining balance. His eyes started to have clarity unlike before, what he saw when his vision cleared up were dead bodies with different facial expressions and some even were not intact.
“Ah?” Memories suddenly came flooding back to him but the last thing he remembered was him trying to save his aunt Minchin.
Aunt!
He suddenly remembered and even did not even notice the man standing a distance away from him and rushed towards the tent.
“Aunt!” He exclaimed with worry and tried to hold her.
“Stop it, kid, do you want her to die?” a voice suddenly came from behind.
“Ah?” Ezhno was surprised and turned around.
“Who are you mister? What happened?” He asked curiously but was on guard, he was unfamiliar with this man.
“Stop wasting my time kid, your aunt is barely clinging on to her life.” The man replied with indifference.
“What?” Eznho became more anxious and tried again to touch Minchin.
“Are you really dumb? Ah! Whatever, good luck kid,” He was irritated and started to walk away.
“Wait!” Eznho called out and rushed in front of the man.
“Can you please help my aunt?” He pleaded.
“What’s in it for me?” The man replied with a crafty tone.
“I’ll do anything,”
“What can you do? You’re so weak.” The man spoke in a mocking tone.
Eznho started to get anxious and thought of something then dashed to his tent and came back with the jar of blood in tow.
“I can trade you for this if it is not enough I can pay you in the future.”
Eznho was desperate and would even tell about the gray flame he found if he had a way to show it but sadly it suddenly disappeared without a trace.
“And here,” He showed the golden ring from his father and the pouch from the old even though he had no idea what they are worth, he did not care. What was more important was his aunt. Only her and Martin were the two people dearest to him aside from his mother, no treasure can exceed their value.
“Hmmm? Interesting,” The man was actually surprised by the things the boy showed him and showed a mysterious smile.
“Okay kid, I don’t want those but what I need from you is information.”
“Sure, I’ll tell you anything.” Eznho hurriedly replied, what’s the value of information compared to his aunt.
“Where did the ring, the spacial pouch and the blood came from?” The man asked.
Eznho was surprised because the man knew what was inside the jar before he even showed it but he immediately composed himself.
Spatial Pouch?
It was his first time hearing such a term but he did not linger on it.
“The ring was left behind by my father and the pouch and blood came from a smelly old man, I met him...”
He summarized his encounter with the old man.
“Hahaha, how amusing,” The man laughed with delight, one of his mission was actually related to the rumored golden serpent. This information was quite valuable and was most likely related to it.
“Okay, who taught you cultivation?”
“Uhmmm, old man Dan gave me some pointers but...” he hesitated for a moment and was about to continue when he was interrupted.
“That’s your own destiny kid, no need to inform me.” The man spoke with dignity and went inside the tent.
“Tsk, what kind of ignorance is this,” He mocked and circulated his energy onto his palm and placed it on top of the wound.
The wound was visibly closing and Minchin was stabilizing, after that, he brought out a liquid medicine then gently poured it into her mouth and guided it going inside with his energy.
“Okay, all done all she needs is to rest for at least two weeks. Next time, don’t force medicine to people who do not cultivate, their bodies are far weaker than us.” He stood up and walked and was ready to depart.
“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you, mister, may I know your name? So I can repay you in the future.”
Eznho bowed and asked.
“My name? You are not yet qualified to know it. If you want to get stronger and know my name, find me at Red Sparrow City. I’ll wait for a month, find me at the Batawa restaurant if you are interested. I am not forcing you kid, this is just an appetizer if you want to continue cultivating. I’ll give you an advice kid, never let your emotion control you, you are lucky your enemies this time were weak. Who knows, maybe next time you would not be. One more thing, I suggest you don’t go back to Sin city, chaos is descending there.”
The man spoke seriously, but what he said was true, if his enemies were stronger and smarter, they could have easily killed Eznho. Lucky for him, they were exhausted from their previous battle.
As he was about to leave, beastly growls were heard and countless pairs of eyes were staring at them from the dark.
“Hmph! A bunch of mice trying to intimidate a lion?” He snorted and let out a suffocating aura that even made Eznho suffocate. Beast cries that sounded like puppies being bullied were heard and all the eyes disappeared. Every living creature within a kilometer fled in terror.
Such Strength!
Eznho exclaimed inside then clenched his fist and his eyes started to fill with determination.
The mysterios man waved his hand and the boat appeared then stepped on it.
“See you kid,” A bottle of medicine came out of nowhere and was tossed towards Eznho.
Eznho caught it out of reflex and raised his head as the mysterious man disappeared in the night sky. He calmed down after a while and looked towards the direction of Sin City and could not help but worry.
“Stay safe big brother,” He muttered and went inside the tent.