Inwardly astounded, he thought, “They’re watching me?” The youth narrowed his eyes. He decided to ask Jian Gong. “Oi, why didn’t you tell me they’d be watching?”

Jian Gong replied without missing a beat, “I mean you should’ve known about it since it was one of the first pieces of information you received from the Monarchs.”

“Wait, does that mean they have even seen our interactions as well!?”

“Ahaha, no! They can’t directly watch you since doing that requires probing Spiritual Haven’s barrier. They can do it but that would take too much energy. At best, they just read what you’re doing like a light novel. And before you ask, our interactions are hidden from them.”

The youth heaved a sigh of relief. However, another thought popped into his mind. “Usually, people hide their systems because if it was revealed what they could, the owner would be in deep peril. But what does my system do? Doesn’t it just do what I can already do but in a more convenient way?”

“I have a feeling you just thought of something incredibly rude,” Jian Gong’s suspecting tone filled his mind.

“You didn’t hear what I just thought of?”

“Well, I can only hear your thoughts when they directly address me. I can initiate conversation but not actively hear your thoughts.”

“Well, that’s good!” he nodded in satisfaction.

Meanwhile, the village chief and his daughter kept mum as they watched the youth fall into deep thought. However, unable to bear the silence, the village chief spoke up, “Uh, what do we do then? If our home truly is unsafe, where can we go?”

The youth was shaken from his thoughts and looked at the two, “Uh? Oh yeah, you can head downstream for about 15 kilometers and start heading left from there. Huangye Town is right over there.”

“Then, are you from this Huangye Town?” the woman asked.

He paused slightly before shaking his head, “No way! I’m just a nomad.”

“A-Ah, I see.”

“Actually, I have a request.”

“And that is?”

“Can I have a set of new clothes?” he tugged at his tattered clothes with an embarrassed expression. “They’re kind of rags right now.”

The village chief nodded, “Just that? Sure.” He then turned towards his daughter, “Can you take this lad to Old Tian’s house? His grandson should be about his age. So, the clothes will fit.” His gaze shifted towards her two sons, “You can leave little Momo and Hao`er with me.”

“Okay,” his daughter gestured for her two sons to go with their grandfather, and then she took the youth with her to a dilapidated house.

As they closed in on the house, the youth stood in front of her and stopped her, “Don’t go any further?”

“Why?” she frowned.

He smiled wryly, “I can’t guarantee you’ll like what you’ll see in there.”

Realization dawned on her and she lowered her head in sorrow. She muttered in a quiet voice, “…I understand.”

He didn’t say anything further and walked inside the house. He blocked his nose and stepped over the mushy piles of meat that used to be human. He found the presumed grandson’s room and took some clothes from his drawer. Wearing his new clothes, he came outside but not before wrapping his face with a cloth.

After coming out, he saw the woman look taken aback before narrowing her eyes at him.

He gestured to his new black robes, “Looks better, no?”

“Why’d you cover your face?” the woman asked.

“My face…causes problems.”

She chuckled, “Bragging about your handsome face, are you?”

“Well, yes but actually no.”

The two walked back as they bantered. Suddenly, the woman asked, “Do you think we can survive through this?”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“If you leave early, your chances will be better.” The youth did not dare say anything concrete since no one can know what the future holds.

“Do we really have to leave?” she looked quite downcast and pitiful asking.

However, he was tired of answering the same question, “I think you know the answer to that question better than me.”

The woman did not say anything further and the two walked back to where the village chief was in silence.

Once there they saw the village chief standing in front of a crowd. There were about 15 people there including the siblings the youth had saved.

“Do we really have to leave!?” someone from the crowd asked worriedly.

“This is our home! How can we leave it so easily!?”

“Exactly! How do we face our ancestors?”

In the face of the noisy crowd, the village chief kept a hardened face. At the peak of the noisiness, he uttered only a single word, “Silence!”

Like magic, the crowd quietened down. The village chief sighed, “Look, I have the same gripes as you. I’m the Village Chief; I thought I won’t be able to face the previous Chiefs if I just left the place our ancestors have inhabited for centuries. But then someone told me and I felt enlightened- that the village, this place isn’t our home! Wherever we live, if we live together, it will become our home!” By the end, the Chief was practically roaring. The youth saw the villagers' blood boil and their eyes brighten from his passionate speech.

“Damn, I never thought I’d see a movie moment here!” Jian Gong’s tone suggested he was dumbstruck.

“Yeah, tell me about it!” The youth nodded absentmindedly.

The village chief continued, “The Beasts have not left. They will come back! Pack your bags, bring food and other necessities we leave in an hour!”

“But where do we go, Old Huo?” an elderly woman asked him.

“We go downstream, there’s a town over there. We’ll take refuge there and if possible, build our new lives there.”

“How do you know this?” someone else asked.

“That’s because-” his reply was cut short as his two grandsons left his son.

“Mama!” they ran as fast as their little legs could carry them and hugged their mother’s legs. In an instant, everyone’s eyes locked onto the woman and the youth who was by her side.

The woman ruffled her sons’ hair while the other villagers looked at him with suspecting eyes.

“Who are you!?” a young man in his 20s barked at him. “Huo Lan, move away from him!”

“So, the woman’s name was Huo Lan. Oh, the Village Chief is not her father-in-law but her biological father?” The youth paid no heed to the young man.

“Y-You! Are you ignoring me?” a vein popped on his forehead.

“Shut it!” The Village Chief raised a hand. “He was the one who told us that the Beasts will come back.”

“How can we trust an outsider like him?” the same young man asked. The others had the same question but none wanted to step out.

“Well-” the Village Chief then proceeded to explain everything to the villagers as the youth told him.

Meanwhile, the youth stared at the dense shrubbery nearby. With constricted pupils, it looked as though he was scanning for something.

“You feel that?” Jian Gong asked.

“Two, no, three people. All Qi Refinement experts like this Village Chief except one who’s a bit stronger. About 60 meters away and approaching fast.”

“Still weaker than you. Head-on approach?”

“No, let’s not take any risks.”

“Ugh, fine. What’re you going to do?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” the youth scratched his head and looked around. He saw the still smoldering wood from a destroyed house and his eyes lit up. “Right, that could work!”

“What are you going to do?” Jian Gong watched.

“Just watch!”

The youth bolted off as fast as he could and entered one of the houses.

“What are you do-” the Village Chief heard the bushes nearby rustling. He turned his head and saw three figures appearing from the forest. His pupils constricted as he knew who they were.

“Huo Long,” the elderly-looking man out of the three, spoke and laughed, “What happened to Huo Village?”

“S-Shui Nan!” the Village Chief felt his throat go dry. “Why did these fuckers come now?”

“Glad you recognize me, old friend. Though can’t say, I recognize the village anymore!” The other two with Shui Nan laughed uproariously.

“Bastard, are you just here to gloat!?” Huo Long, the Village Chief exploded in fury.

“Partly, yes. But mostly to wipe Huo Village off the face of the world!”

Huo Long sneered, “Isn’t the Shui Village in a similar state?”

“It would’ve been if not for my grandson,” he gestured at the young man next to him and the latter stepped forward with his chest puffed up.

“Truthfully, we raised him as a Beast Tamer so he could run a Beast Tide through your village but it seems like someone beat us to the punch! At least, he could take advantage of their herd mentality and guide the Beasts away from our village!”

Huo Long gulped down a mouthful of saliva. He had already gone pale. He could handle Shui Nan if the latter was alone but now that was impossible. If only his son-in-law was alive, it would’ve been manageable.

“Before I kill you-” Shui Nan looked away from Huo Long and towards the surviving villagers, “-if you want, you people can come with us back to Shui Village. No use following a dead old man!”

Without hesitation, the young man from before stepped out of the crowd. “Fuck you, old codger!” he yelled like a mad dog, “Fuck you and your lying ass!”

Shui Nan’s face instantly darkened. He looked at the young man coldly and said, “Change of plans. I’ll start with you first!” He looked at his companions and ordered, “Kill him!”

His companions took a step when they heard whistling towards them. They turned around and saw a jute sack flying towards them.

“Heh!” Shui Nan’s grandson smirked contemptuously and hurled a fist toward the sack. The sack exploded when it came into contact with his fist and scattered a thick white cloud of powder on them.

“Kheuk! Kheuk! What the-kheuk is this!” Shui Nan coughed frantically like his companions.

From the same direction, something yellow and glowing was thrown. It was at a much quicker speed than before and wasted no time as it came into contact with the powder cloud.

He spoke with a playful tone, “Kaboom, fuckers!”

Kaboom!