Chapter 15 - Awakening

Hei got up from the ground after recovering a bit from the two previous fights. Although he felt pain in his arms, it was still at a bearable level, and it didn’t prevent him from moving and fighting.

Before continuing, he began to rummage the body of the second man. On this one, he found other knives that he put together with those he found on the first corpse.

These were small knives, used mainly to be thrown out quickly as a diversion or to catch the opponent by surprise. To help the throwing, they were attached to a leather belt on the waist so that the user could stretch their arms and throw them immediately.

Hei, therefore, took one of these belts, and, as he felt uncomfortable with this on his waist, he fixed it on the upper part of his body with the knives positioned diagonally on his chest. There are a total of 7 knives, which Hei hoped could prove themselves useful.

In addition to the knives, he changed his sword with the other one used by the second man, as the first one he had taken was now about to split. After this, he set off again. Fortunately, he didn’t encounter other enemies along the way, and he arrived at his destination.

Once he arrived, he hid in a corner. From there, he could see the surviving inhabitants sitting on the ground, huddled towards the village chief's house and the square. The stage and the various tables for the festival had been destroyed to have more space.

Around them, there were lots of men dressed in dark clothes with weapons of various types in their hands. Approximately there are only a hundred of them on the square, but it was likely that their number was higher since they could rapidly subdue the village.

The villagers amounted to about a thousand people, but considering that most of them consisted of women, children, and the elderly, their fighting strength was far less. Moreover, not all the men were fighters, and most of them would find it hard to stand up due to alcohol.

There was a high risk of sending all the helpless to their deaths. Besides, they weren’t in conditions to fight and didn’t have weapons with them. So, in the end, they couldn’t do anything but accept for the moment such a situation. This was also because the assailants appeared not to have the intention of exterminating them at the moment.

The only thing they could hope for was that someone traveling there would see the smoke and alert the Leaf City so that they could send a rescue team. Alternatively, that an expert would come to save them, but they didn't hope too much for this as it is unthinkable for them that someone able to kill all these bandits would walk around nearby at this moment.

Yes, these men were bandits. They were part of a group called Blades of Slaughter. It was a group founded long ago that had acquired more and more power during the last decade.

You have to know that the Rainbow Island was divided into three kingdoms: Lake Kingdom, Mountain Kingdom, and the Forest Kingdom. Leaf City and Leaf Village were located in the Leaf Region, one of the regions that composed the Forest Kingdom.

The Blades of Slaughter’s leader was called Little Blade and was the younger brother of the bandit chief who had assaulted a group of merchants twelve years ago but ended as a victim of a spirit beast that took a baby unbeknownst to anyone.

Overwhelmed by the pain of the loss, he began to look for clues on the incident, only to discover there wasn’t an actual culprit. Instead, the local authorities declared that the culprit for that incident was a spirit beast.

However, since the creature's carcass had never been shown in the city, it was difficult to believe it. Moreover, even the possibility that it had been a traveling expert was hardly credible; after all, if he had really been a human, he would alert the authorities or at least burn or bury the bodies.

Meanwhile, the then Leaf City Lord was about to retire. Since the Forest Kingdom King was the one who chose the Leaf City Lord among the city's most influential families, there were several power games during that time.

So, Little Blade came to the conclusion that his brother had been killed in that way to make it pass like a severe accident caused by a spirit beast and thus shaking the reputation of the family in charge of the city, Or, perhaps, the same family in charge had orchestrated it to prove they were still able to fix the problems and protect the territory assigned to them by the king.

Infuriated that his brother had died from others’ power games, Little Blade decided he would get revenge. Thus in 12 years, he incorporated the various scattered groups of bandits, forming an actual military force of 500 men. His goal was to take revenge on the real perpetrators, but since 500 men were still too few to directly assault a city, he decided to use the Leaf Village as an exchange pawn with the Leaf City.

Regardless of whether they would accept his requests, the prominent families in the city would suffer a severe blow in their power and prestige.

For this reason, he had expressly ordered not to kill the inhabitants for the time being. Except for the first who had fallen during the attack, serving as an example in case the villagers wanted to rebel.

On seeing this scene, Hei's heart was calm. He remained in his hiding place to carefully observe to formulate an action plan. During his hunting training, Hei had learned how to be patient and analyze the situation, waiting for the prey to make a false step before jumping against it.

After all, charge directly against so many enemies would be stupid. Moreover, he knew the limits of his abilities, and he would never do such a thing unless he was confident in his means or had been forced to act accordingly.

Unfortunately, the situation didn’t develop the way he wanted. Soon, he could hear the cries of a woman being dragged along on the ground with the cries of various children. When he saw who it was, Hei's blood froze completely.

Lei Lei was being pulled by the hair by one of the bandits while trying to free herself from the grip. Blood was coming out of her mouth, a sign that she had been hit, and her new dress had become completely dirty. Even the children who were with her were being dragged in the same way by the other bandits.

"Lei! Bastards! What the f*ck did you do to her?! I'll kill you!!! "

A man rose from the village people sitting on the ground. It was Lei Bai, Lei Lei’s father. He had kept his cool at first because he knew his daughter was outside the village with Hei and must have escaped the danger. However, seeing her wounded and treated that way, his blood boiled. At the same time, a murderous fury began to form against those who had harmed his daughter.

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He headed towards Lei Lei’s position with a sprint as he charged against the man pulling her hair. But, after doing a few meters, he felt something mighty hit his side, sending him flying several meters while he landed sprawled on the ground.

"Dad!! No! Please, answer- " She began to scream. However, she received a punch in her face from the man who was carrying her, fainting due to the blow.

"Pieces of sh*t, didn't I tell you to stand guard?! Why the f*ck could he run there? If you don't want to be beaten to death, do as I tell you." A man with an imposing appearance said.

He was six feet tall with short black hair. His eyes were small, but they still contained a sharpness that seemed to be able to peer into people. From the other bandits' attitude towards him, it appeared that he was the elusive leader who had brought them together.

Turning to the man carrying Lei Lei, he said while pointing at Lei Bai, "Take that man over there and put him together with the others." Turning then to ask another of his subordinates, "There is no news from the troops outside yet, right? Remember to report if there is any news immediately."

To avoid being caught off guard, he had sent most of his men out of the village. In that way, they could report if there were any movements nearby. But since they didn't cover the entire village yet, Hei and Lei Lei could enter without being seen.

After witnessing all this, Hei could no longer hold his heart in turmoil. Although he was very calm and rational, he became very passionate and emotional when it came to people dear to him. Lei Lei and Lei Bai had become part of those people. Seeing them treated that way, a rage that had never existed before exploded in his heart.

With determination, he removed his belt of knives and threw away the sword. He took only a single knife that he hid on the sleeve of his robe. Then he stepped out of his hiding place into the square, towards the man approaching Lei Bai's body as he was carrying Lei Lei.

The sound of footsteps immediately alerted the approaching bandit as well as his companions. Seeing that it was just an unarmed young man, his heart relaxed. "Brat, where did you hide all this time? I advise you not to make a wrong move if you don't want to be hurt."

Then, he approached Hei to take him and bring him along with the others. But it was at this moment, while the bandit took him by the shoulder to pull him, that Hei quickly brought his left hand to the throat of the bandit and stuck the blade of the knife into the flesh. Then with a horizontal movement, he widened the wound inflicted while the bandit slumped to the ground.

However, Hei hadn’t yet calmed his anger; with extreme readiness, he pulled the sword tied to the waist of the bandit, and with that, he stabbed him in the chest seven times.

All this happened under the stunned gazes of the other bandits. They were incredulous that something like this had happened before their eyes. Shortly after that, they came to their senses and unsheathed their weapons. They wanted to tear that little boy who had dared to do such an insult to them. But they were suddenly blocked by the leader.

"Everyone stop. You have your orders to execute, don't forget. I'll take care of that kid." Then turning to Hei, he said, "I don't know where you came out shitty brat, but you have really f*cked yourself up. If you think you can run away after taking out one of my men, you're very wrong. But don't even expect it to end soon. This will be slow torture, and when I finish, I will expose your corpse so that those as*holes in Leaf CIty can understand what it means to go against me."

Hei remained silent all the time, giving just a brief look at Lei Lei to see how she was. He then prepared for the upcoming fight. His whole body was giving him signals that this man was dangerous and that he had to flee, but he couldn’t do such a thing. He couldn’t abandon Lei and Lei Bai.

Ignoring the warnings from his instinct, he charged towards the bandit chief while trying a lunge to the chest. Little Blade parried it, deflecting Hei's blade with ease, and replied with the same move, but Hei had already moved with a somersault on the ground. While performing this move, his right hand picked up a handful of soil in his palm, and he threw it to the bandit's face.

Little Blade, irritated by this move, used his free hand to cover his eyes. But in that way, he exposed an opening that Hei used to strike again. However, his blade didn't hit the mark.

A few centimeters from the flesh, a stronger aura than the one used by the other bandits before had formed around the chief’s body, and this aura blocked the blade of Hei’s sword. To this, the bandit chief smiled, and with a movement of his leg, he kicked Hei's stomach, causing him to fly a few meters. Hei spat blood as he collapsed on the floor, gasping. The kick was powerful; if it weren't for the protection offered by his mother's resistant silk, his ribs would no doubt have been broken.

"Uhmm... you're stronger than it looks. Not bad, it's a shame to kill you. Someone like you would have been handy. "

Seeing him approaching, Xing and Ye came out of Hei's body. Suddenly they began to emit loud noises, and their bodies began to glow slightly. Then they charged at full speed against the enemy. The bandit leader was a little struck that a spider and a snake had come out of the body of the boy he had just laid down, but he quickly recomposed himself. Then, with a few quick fists, he sent Xing and Ye flying toward Hei.

The blow they received was violent: Xing's exoskeleton was cracked while Ye lost part of her scales. Witnessing his two little sisters being brutally beaten that way, Hei lost his mind.

Again in the throes of a murderous impetus, regardless of his condition, he stood up from the ground. His body began to emit a slight aura that amazed the enemy.

"Spirit power awakening?! You seem to be 14-15 years old from your appearance. How is it possible that you awakened it so early? "

Astonishment was evident in Little Blade’s eyes. This was because, on Rainbow Island, those with an average talent awakened their spirit power between the ages of 18-20. Only the big sects possessed geniuses capable of awakening it at 14-15 years.

‘If he has that age, then does he belong to some big set? And if so, does he have an escort of some kind nearby?’

Such were the thoughts that were going through Little Blade’s mind. After all, geniuses of that caliber weren’t left unattended, but they were bred with care and often had an escort with them.

However, Little Blade didn't have too much time to think about it. Hei pounced on him without worrying about the consequences, concentrating only on tearing the piece of sh*t that had hurt his two little sisters.

Since Hei was arriving toward him, Little Blade dodged the attack moving sideways, but he didn’t proceed to attack. He was still on alert in case anyone arrived. But this hypothetical escort had yet to appear. This left Little Blade perplexed because he didn’t understand why he hadn’t shown himself.

Finally, he decided to stop thinking about it. It didn't matter if the boy was part of some big sect or if someone would arrive, once he killed all the witnesses, what should he have to fear? So, with his sword ready, he prepared to receive Hei's charge and cut his head in two.

***

Outskirts of the Multicolored Leaf Forest

Bao Bei woke up suddenly as she looked around, disoriented.

"How many hours have passed? Damn it; lately, my life energy is decreasing more and more. I struggle to stay awake for long periods and my periods of sleep get longer and longer. I don’t have much time left. "

Although her lethargy had slowed her metabolisms, making her capable of living until today, that mechanism didn’t stop the time, and her body would age anyway. As a result, she had aged a great deal during her hibernation period, and when she resumed her functions actively, the effects of this aging became more evident.

It was also for this reason that she had allowed to reduce the training of her children and let them go to the village more often. She didn't want to be seen in that state by them and make them worry.

As she moved her legs a little to wake up, Bao Bei used her spirit power to monitor the area and control the situation with Hei, Ye, and Xing.

What she discovered made her blood run cold. She realized that there were hundreds of foreign presences outside the village and a smell of blood and smoke. She also discovered the presence of her children. But they had something different; all three of them had awakened their spirit power.

Noticing this, a mad fear gripped her heart. Then Bao Bei left the forest without hesitation to head to the village to see how her children were.