Understanding that there was something strange about the piece of paper, he didn't want to let the other man take a look. Moreover, now that this ice-cold man who was very intimidating spoke Jing wasn't going to offend him by withholding his words. He stealthily put the piece of paper in a small front pocket in his robe and said, "Oh, yes indeed."

The two entered the stables by then surrounded by monsters everywhere and an intense staunch of urine when Xu Fufu smiled and said, "I knew your father. He was quite a character."

"What do you mean?" Jing asked.

"You didn't know him did you?" Xu Fufu returned with a question of his own. Noting the boy's head shaking in refusal he chuckled and said, "He was the perfect demonic cultivator, all of us youngsters in the sect used to look up at him. He was ruthless, smart, charming, but he had a vice, a vice that eventually spilled his doom too."

"What was that?"

As if finding tremendous amusement in all of it, he answered with his eyes finally showing a glimmer of emotion. "He was overflowing with both pride and lust. He had maybe hundreds of bastards all around the southern continent, so I am curious as to why they brought you in specifically."

"He had?" Xie asked with a stupefied tone. The reason behind his astonishment was that that man had left for the original Jing a box filled with cultivation resources, and so he was finding it difficult that he would have done the same hundreds of times. But then again he was maybe underestimating the wealth of that man who he had no memories of. The integration of the original Xie Jing's had already reached a strong 89% and he still hadn't learned of anything valuable.

"He had indeed," Xu Fufu snorted in amusement after he opened a wide stall door. "Here, bring the other two inside."

Jing was slightly concerned he might get kicked by one of the horses due to how tight the space inside was for the three of them, but he composed himself and guided the two horses inside.

When he was coming back for Xu Fufu's horse, the man shook his head and said, "I still need mine. But will you be leaving the horses like that?"

Glancing at the horses, he didn't understand at first, but he quickly noticed how their bridle was still on them. "I honestly don't know how to take it off," He turned around and said with a shrug. Sighing to himself, the man went inside as Jing exited, and finished the job.

When he was still working, Jing had his back to him as he observed the variety of monsters that freely roamed around the paddocks against the closed stables. He was slightly nervous from their big size and fearsome appearance, afraid that they might viciously lunge at him.

There was a stable boy around his age who was dutifully tending to them, but the boy's eyes quickly glanced at Jing and they paused. Suddenly, he began running wildly in his direction his eyes widened in shock before he screamed, "Get doown!!"

Jing who was already alarmed by how strange the boy's reactions were, immediately listened and ducked down. The moment he did, a reddish sword light passed above his head.

In shock, he turned to see Xu Fufu's previously animated persona that sprung out of nowhere had already evaporated and in its place was the cold hard look he had first witnessed the moment he met him.

Jing who had already gone through a bit of hardships in his time here, and who already was slightly wary, stood upright and ran with everything that he had in the opposite direction.

Just seconds later, he heard a wretched scream behind him prompting him to turn around and look. The boy who was standing by the paddock's wooden edges had his throat slit open and the perpetrator was running in his direction at lightning speed.

His heart wildly beat inside of his chest, and seemingly every drop of adrenaline was coursing through his body as a deafening silence descended upon him that was only interrupted by his loudly running steps and his drum of a heartbeat.

The stable's exit was but a few steps away, but they proved to be too elusive for his grasp. A dagger passed out of nowhere and made a clean cut on his windpipe.

Jing's eyes widened in sheer terror, and a force behind him pushed him forward, the thick layer of monster feces kissing his face. Both his heart and mind were taken over by fear, and his hands clumsily clutched his throat in a fruitless attempt to stop the bleeding.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

His breaths came in ragged gasps, each one a struggle as blood seeped into his airway, choking him. A forceful blow to his side sent him sprawling onto his back, further obstructing his already labored breathing.

With the same unfazed, cold, and emotionless stare, Xu Fufu slowly approached him, licking the blood out of his dagger, and his eyes glowed with a reddish hue as a result.

"Though only 9th Body Tempering, I suppose even a mosquito has meat." His right arm suddenly began to morph into a grotesque black claw with long, thin, but razor-sharp nails. He gently crouched down beside Jing, aiming for his heart when the latter sent a kick in his direction. He easily deflected Jing's attack and was about to stab those nails deep into the still-bleeding boy's heart when a chance occurred.

A white sword light cruised through the air from the outside world, with Xu Fufu's head as its target. The demonic assailant's hands were swiftly brandished in front of him to protect himself, but they proved to be too weak.

The sword light cleanly sliced both arms from the elbow down, and the remaining energy sent him flying backward with an impressive speed before he landed on a nearby paddock, scaring the nearby monsters.

Jing watched everything unfold with a shocked expression, and yet as astonishing as it was, his bleed was continuously gushing out, and his consciousness seemed on the verge of completely releasing its grip and evaporating.

An old man with a thin cane that had a sharp sword at the bottom walked inside, behind him ran a chubby boy around Xie Jing's age wearing a yellow attire with blue embroidery. The old man steadily walked in Xu Fufu's direction with a deep frown and a vicious glint flashing across his eyes.

The teen on the other hand ran toward Jing, his rich cheeks and belly raising up and down, a contrast to his serious and tense expression. He kneeled beside Jing and said, "Here, take this."

Jing who had already been suffocating for the last minute or so as his eyes bulged and his face flushed crimson red didn't hesitate and ate the pill the boy had given him.

The moment the pill made contact with the overflowing blood from his mouth, it dissolved into a pure form of energy as an intense smell of medicinal herbs emanated from it. The taste was even more intense as he felt his throat burning as if a fire was lit inside, and that energy gradually moved down his throat, and like a miraculous hand of god, it healed everything it made contact with.

Jing's eyes widened in both joy and relief, but he still could hardly breathe as his windpipes were packed to the brim with blood. Suddenly, he kneeled down beside the boy and started throwing buckets of blood into the horseshit-filled grounds.

Only after a few throw up did he suck in a deep revitalizing breath that revived his body and soothed his wildly breathing heart. His hands were still on the ground as he continued to greedily absorb every oxygen particle he could find in the air, he mumbled between breaths, "Thank you, Thank you."

Overwhelmed with emotion, he swiftly stood up and hugged the plump boy who was feeling slightly awkward. "Thank you for saving my life." He said.

Scratching his head, the boy protested with an awkward smile, "Ah, well, it wasn't me, it's Elder Zheng."

By then the old man had already come back. His previously valiant demeanor was nowhere to be found, and all that stood before Jing was an innocent hunched-back old man who studied him with a scrutinizing look.

Jing reached the old man's hand for a handshake, "Thank you, Elder Zheng. You saved my life."

"Do not mention it," The elder cooly said, and after he shook the boy's hands, couldn't help but ask with a confused expression. "Why was a demonic cultivator trying to kill you?"

Jing feigned some shock as his face paused, "A demonic cultivator? How could you tell?"

"They reek." The old man said with a disgusted expression. "Their Qi is tainted, impure, and revolting. You youngsters might not understand it because you're still at the Body Tempering, but as you go further in your cultivation path, your Qi will grow to reflect both your cultivation path and who you are as people too. Demonic cultivators' Qi reeks of ruthlessness, and bloodlust, and doesn't have a unique quality to it because they use other people's blood as tonics for their cultivation."

"I see," Jing had a sincere serious expression as he listened to the elder's word. "I don't know why he followed after me," He finally said, "He said something about although I am only at the Body Tempering, mosquito meat is still meat or something strange like that."

Remembering the boy who had also played a vital part in saving him, he quickly brushed against the two and walked back deep into the stables. At the very corner of the path that laid out before him, he saw Xu Fufu's terrified head a small distance from the rest of his body that rested in a pool of blood.

However, his eyes were quickly locked on the boy inside of the paddocks to his left. He had a pitiful look on his face as he lay there deathly still, and his bloody hands falling weakly to the sides.

"He's dead," The old man who had arrived at some point said. "You need to go with me," He continued, looking at Jing, "We need to inform the city guards because demonic cultivators have been causing a lot of issues as of late."

Though Jing felt slightly startled when he heard that he obliged. The old man had informed some people who were also responsible for the stables about what happened and went to retrieve the boy's corpse, and finally, they made their way to the guards' office.

Along the way, Jing finally opened the piece of paper that Zho Tu had given him.

"The man with you will try to kill you."

'What in the world?!' He exclaimed in shock. Initially, he believed that the man wanted to kill him because he was following Peak Master Zho Gen's orders. As far as he knew, he only had two enemies. The Master of The Blazing Tiger's Peak, and the other players.

'But why would his son tell me that?' He deeply pondered, unable to connect the dots. Mind deep in thought, he continued following after the two.