“The heavens have blessed me!” Hodong said aloud, holding the fretful demoness child in his arms. The Hollow Mountain Village chief placed Li'er on the ground, then fished into his sleeve and clumsily pulled a jar of wine free.
He twirled the jar around his fingertips smiling devilishly and poured a thimble worth of wine on his index fingertip, then dipped the finger into Li’er’s mouth. “An old wife’s trick to keep you silent!”
Hodong was never fond of children, despite having two sons. He also never understood why they sought him out when they had their mother.
In his eyes, they were just ways for him to pass on his seed. If one died, the other would do, if that one died too, well. He’ll have Xiabo Ling for that. “Finally” He grumbled, picking the child up. “Silence.”
Hodong turned back, looking at Purple Mist Village in the background. The sounds of clashing swords and deathly cries had subsided somewhat which meant that the battle was short-lived. Now for Kai Chen to deliver on my demands!
“I can finally leave this backwater village and return to civilisation with a beautiful wife. Once I take this demoness North, the number of gold taels I’ll get would set me for life!”
Gold and Silver Taels appeared in Hodong’s eyes as she smiled happily, feeling the anxiety that once pulsed within his heart dissipate in an instant.
When he first came to Purple Mist Valley, he had no idea what to expect. He never thought of becoming a village chief, but was elected as so, thanks to his contributions to the Hollow Mountain Village.
Medicine and Commerce, are things the Hollow Mountain Village lacked compared to the Purple Mist Village.
As the village chief, things changed, they increased their wheat production, but it was still not comparable to that of the Purple Mist Village, something that made him bitter.
In the end, it all came down to the land you occupied, the land around the Hollow Mountain Village wasn’t as accommodating, but it was good enough for a decent crop.
Hodong didn’t know when he started hating the Jiang Clan, but once he realised he hated them, he let that feeling rot within his mind. He didn’t have a clear reason to hate the clan, but he found a way to fuel that hatred within his heart, which he used as motivation!
Why should the Jiang Clan have such economic influence over the three villages? It made little to no sense to Hodong…but it reminded him of Xia Clan, which made him furious!
After decades of planning, he finally made the first step. He approached Old Fu, but the bastard was against his plan. He even warned him against such foolishness.
At the time, he didn’t understand why he was scared, but after watching Old Jun decimate the men of the Stone Bear Band, it was pretty evident why he Lim Fu was against affirmative action.
I just need Kai Chen to get rid of demoness care-taker and kill Old Man Jun, then Ling’er would see me as the hero I am…once I poison the water within the Stone Bear Band well!
His plan may have been risky, but he knew it would work, after all, everyone here was nothing but a country bumpkin that smelled of wheat and sweat…completely deplorable, especially for a city man such as himself.
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The Demoness child shook in his arm as if trying to wake itself up, but after a half second, she turned in and fell back to sleep. “Good. The Wine’s working!”
Hodong continued on the trek, making his way through the forest, keeping himself close to the path, but not where he could be seen.
He just needed his firstborn to be there to keep the child whilst he makes his way up the mountain to rescue the girls!
An hour passed and Hodong had finally made his way back to the cart. The cart was a redwood tree, The horses were strapped against the tree walking back and forth, whilst the cart was hidden in a patch of bush, just as he had instructed Zihan.
Hodong placed the child on the ground and began pulling the branches and dead leaves from off the cart. Some had even dropped on the demon child, but he ignored it, not caring a world. The child flinched, but before she could fret she fell asleep again.
Once Hodong pulled the branches and dead leaves free, scuttled to the horses and unstrapped them from the tree, trying his best to keep his anger in check.
The horses neighed defiantly, but he held a firm bringing the animal under control. “Behave! I know you hate standing still but we’re leaving soon!” He grunted.
Hodong pulled the first horse up to the cart, straining himself as he did so. It was an uphill battle as both of them moved lethargically as if they were tired.
As he began to pull the second horse, his skin began to ripple with goosebumps, and a chilling sensation pulsed into his heart, which skipped five beats in a row. What’s this feeling? Hodong thought, is someone watching me?
“ZIHAN, COME HERE BOY! STOP WATCHING AND COME AND HELP YOUR FATHER!” He shouted. A twig snapped behind Hodong, and like any father, he painted his anger across his face turning ready to strike the boy, but when he laid his upon who it was that was standing behind him, the only thing he knew was fear, true fear.
“Zihan isn’t here, Chief Hodong…Just me.” Xing said coldly. His eyes drifted to Li’er, who had three twigs on her as she slept on the ground.
The killing aura that was already oozing from him, felt like ice as Hodong tried to warm himself, but with anger written across Xing’s face. He stepped forward, and Hodong dropped to his knees, kowtowing like a servant.
“I was trying to save the child, Master Xing!”
Li’er cried out and Xing dashed towards her, flicking the twigs off of her. He turned to Hodong who was still kowtowing.
Xing nestled Li’er in his arms, embracing her as if he hadn’t seen her in forever. The tears that formed down his eyes, were like watching a stream forming into a pond. He held the child for a full minute, listening to the Silence of Tears.
“Why did you take her?” Xing asked softly. “She’s just a child. She’s done nothing to draw your err. Why did you take her?”
The agony in Xing’s voice sounded like nails scratching against a zither. If anyone could hear him they would think he was on his last breath!
Hodong raised his head feeling Xing’s killing aura slap him in the face, and stealing what little resolve he had left. He looked around, hunting for help but deep down he knew he wouldn’t get it, not now, not EVER.
“Doesn’t she deserve a normal life?” Xing continued. “Playing with children, running around feeling as though the sky could be hers? DOESN’T SHE DESERVE THAT!”
“YES OF COURSE THAT’S WHY I TOOK HER!” Hodong pleaded. “Master Jun asked me to! I found her body on the ground next to a maid! PLEASE! BELIEVE! ME!”
Xing shook his head, then laughed dryly whilst he shook his head. Even with death right before him…he still won’t be honest.
“Liar,” Xing said softly. “Fine. Lie all the way to your death, but I’ll tell you one thing before you go. I know about your betrayal of the villages. You see. When a man feels pain, pain that he’d never felt before…he’ll say anything.”
Xing dashed towards Hodong, Li’er in his hand. He struck five acupoints across his head, increasing the pain receptors in his body, then buried his fist into his knee, shattering his kneecap.
He spooled a handful of Qi into his hand, then struck the bastard three times in the chest, enough to start internal damage, but not enough to kill him. Then, he crushed his throat with a kick, watching him flail on the ground.
The pain from the blows resonated within his eyes within a few seconds and the old bastard began groaning from his mouth, but it came out as croaks. “Die a slow and painful death…you bastard.”
Xing turned and shot through the air, hitting the trees with his feet and Li’er in his hands. He didn’t feel a thing after what he had just done, he just felt bitter that Li’er had to go through such a thing once more.
All this did was strengthen his resolve to ensure she’d have a peaceful life. A life where Kai Chen, the Red Lantern Tavern or Hodong couldn’t do her anything, just like the scum-rats they were.