Most people would spend a bit of time before their missions on preparing, purchasing anything they might need or just some safeguards that might end up saving their lives. But Huang Ying had an interspatial ring filled to the brim with the loot he had snatched off of the people he killed recently so he didn't need to buy anything and instead chose to waste his time on lazing around and sleeping.
He was so carefree that it looked more like he was preparing to meet a friend rather than head out on a mission where he had greater chances of dying than living. Hong Yi joined him in his lazy manner, resting on his chest with her wings sprawled out whenever he was sleeping. Hei Ya was a bit more serious than the two of them, the black wolf constantly prowling around the building and doing his best to stop others from approaching.
The morning of the third day quickly arrived, Huang Ying rising from the bed and stretching his body in a somewhat lazy manner. He hopped into the bathroom and took a quick shower, changing into a fresh blue robe after he dried himself. He swiped his interspatial ring and took out the white orb that served as a communication treasure, responding to a message he had gotten from Xun Zhi.
It had been a bit of time since he split up with them after they managed to escape from Cloud Reacher forest, but they still stayed in contact thanks to the orb they had given him. As for the message she sent him, it informed him of a rather amusing event that would take place soon, it would serve as a sort of prelude to their journey into the Forge of Heroes. But that would be something he could look forward to in the future, there was something else he had to take care of first.
"Alright you two, let's go shepherd the sheep into the pen."
Hong Yi immediately hopped onto Hei Ya's head as Huang Ying called out to them, excitedly hopping around while Hei Ya stuck close to Huang Ying's side. He had told them about his plans and where they were heading, even giving them the choice when it came to following him into the danger. But he had become Hei Ya's new alpha and brought both him and Hong Yi up from the mud, so how could either of them possibly choose to not follow him?
Li Jun kept an eye on the surroundings for Huang Ying so he knew that Shue Yong's men were still hiding in the area, keeping an eye on him and making sure that he actually left the academy like he said he would. He ignored them completely as he left his cabin, his gaze landing on the three people that were waiting for him a few metres away.
"So, I take it that all three of you are either suicidal or completely shot in the head?"
The people waiting for him weren't unfamiliar, they were Song Yi, Chen Hong, and Ying Feixu. For Song Yi and Chen Hong to wait for him wasn't entirely unexpected for him, but seeing Ying Feixu stand there and stare at him apathetically with her crimson eyes wasn't something he expected. The three people didn't take his words to heart, two of them shrugging their shoulders while the third one simply snorted coldly.
"You created a fair bit of chaos last time we let you out of our sights, I'll be damned if I'm not around to see what you'll pull this time. And hey, with us present, your 30% should raise at least a little."
"Bah, who asked us to become friends and for you to save us from that Dragonfire Eagle? I was unable to act back then due to the shitty rain, but I'll be damned if I let something like that repeat itself."
"Your life is mine, only I get to take it. So you can forget about dying over there."
Their reasons might be different, but they still ended up gathering all three of them around him. Of course, the reasons could also be considered quite nonsensical, one just wanted to see what sort of chaos he'd cause while another one refused to let him die to someone else. Out of the three of them, only Chen Hong's reason could be considered something proper, but Huang Ying had already experienced his reaction to water so he couldn't help but shake his head at them.
"Broken things, there really are only broken things around me, I must attract them."
Song Yi and Chen Hong with their traumas, Ying Feixu who wanted nothing more than to kill him, Hong Yi and Hei Ya who he had picked up while they were what could be considered worthless Demonic beasts. All of the beings around him could truly be considered broken things, even he would fall into that category, but that was probably exactly why he could hold them close.
Broken things that had been abandoned yet stubbornly kept moving forward to survive, stubbornly refused to kneel and accept the circumstances. Was it not exactly because they were like this that he picked up Hong Yi and Hei Ya, why he chose to train Ying Feixu despite her intent to kill him? Of course, his ability to gather up such beings was also quite spectacular, especially the fact that so many of them chose to stay around him.
He swiped his interspatial ring and pulled out the metal chariot that he had been gifted by Xun Zhi and the others, his gaze moving between the three other people and his chariot. Chen Hong seemed to immediately understand what he was thinking, swiping his interspatial ring and bringing out a slightly larger chariot.
"Don't worry, I've got one of my own so we've got enough space."
Huang Ying's chariot was after all one that he had been hurriedly gifted by disciples who couldn't be said to have tremendously grand status in their respective academies, it could at best fit two people. If Chen Hong didn't have another chariot then it would have been inevitable that they would need to walk or use wagons, which would certainly be slower.
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Huang Ying stepped onto his wagon, Hei Ya squeezing himself up against Huang Ying and leaving just enough space for one more person. He turned his gaze towards the others, but Ying Feixu had already stepped onto the chariot by the time he finished turning his head. Hei Ya stood between her and Huang Ying, baring his teeth in silence while Hong Yi chirped competitively, neither of them planning on giving her a chance to act against Huang Ying.
Song Yi and Chen Hong smirked amusedly at the scene, the two of them truly were a strange pair of enemies, it was almost a shame that they were doomed to have a battle to the death in the end. But this battle was what both of them desired for themselves so there wasn't really anything Song Yi or Chen Hong could say to them. As such, they just stepped onto the other chariot and inserted some Spirit Stones into the array that powered it, the two chariots shooting into the sky with Huang Ying taking the lead.
Their target, Scarlet Heart Forest, was named as such thanks to the active volcano situated at the centre of the forest. The lava streaming down its side rendered the area around it a scorched wasteland, but it also contained so many nutrients that eventually sank into the earth that a sprawling forest had sprouted around it. As for where the forest was located, it was a place that Huang Ying had truly not expected.
The place where he had been raised, Green Willows village, had two forests around it, one to the north and one to the south. It was in the forest to the south that Huang Ying had first died and awakened his law of devouring, leaving a permanent hole in the forest where the mountains he swallowed back then used to be.
Scarlet Heart Forest was located a bit beyond the forest to the north of the village, only a bit over 5000 kilometres from the village itself. In truth, they could get to the forest without ever moving close to Green Willows village, the distance between the two was more than vast enough to allow that.
But Huang Ying still planned their route so that they would pass through an area quite close to the village, diverting their course so much that it was actually a detour. And when they passed through that particular area a day after leaving the academy, Huang Ying's gaze was focused on the distant village.
The village was just as he remembered it from when he last saw it, only a few of the buildings destroyed after the bandits charged through the streets. He couldn't see any living beings moving through the streets so it seemed like the city had yet to be reclaimed by either beast or man, it just stood there empty as a reminder of the past.
Ying Feixu was the only one present who knew the truth about this city, having read about it while Huang Ying wrote the letter he sent to Xing Tang. But there was no way she would offer him any words of comfort or the like, she simply found it amusing that a beast like him came from such a small and inconsequential place.
He kept his eyes on the village, but he didn't slow his speed or linger in the area, the two chariots continuing forward without halt. The village grew smaller and smaller until it eventually vanished from sight, its existence was already in the past, and Huang Ying only really had two more ties to it.
One was his sister, who had left the village long ago to join an academy of her own, and the other was the person who ordered the attack on the village in the first place. But that person was located beyond the Endless Wilds that separated this small empire from the rest of this grand continent, getting to him would take a while.
Huang Ying's gaze turned away when the village vanished from his sight, his eyes once again turning to the front. The chariots didn't move as fast as the academy's airships, but they were still so fast that it only took the group three more days before they could see the mountain that served as the centre of the forest that was their target.
The map provided with the mission clearly marked where the bandits that were the subjugation target lived, a one-kilometre tall mountain located only a few hundred metres into the forest. Huang Ying and the others approached from the air so they weren't detected by the bandits as they got close, giving them ample time to observe the two people who stood guard in front of the large cave that served as the entrance to their hideout.
The details of the mission specified that the leader of the bandits was a man at the 2nd Stair of Ascension, so the overall strength of this bandit group wasn't terribly high. The only reason they could still exist was that the various academies and organizations kept them around to serve as a grinding stone for their disciples, it was just a shame that the rewards they offered for the mission were so low that most people who were at the Stairs of Ascension realm wouldn't be bothered to accept it.
Huang Ying made sure to constantly ask Li Jun about their surroundings, so the corners of his lips turned up slightly as he stood atop the chariot. All the players were moving into their positions, a small spark would be all it took to start a grand inferno of chaos. The chariots quietly lowered their altitude above the entrance, Huang Ying glancing at Song Yi and Chen Hong.
"I'll be going ahead, you guys can just wait here."
Huang Ying raised his foot and stepped off of the chariot, plummeting down towards the base of the mountain. The wind around him started to blow in a strange manner, slowing his descent enough to at least prevent him from getting injured as he landed. And the place he landed was directly in front of the two guards, who were startled at his sudden appearance but didn't forget to immediately draw their weapons. But Huang Ying maintained his carefree demeanour as the two people drew their weapons, his lips turning up a bit further as he nodded at them.
"Good morning, and goodbye."
The earth beneath Huang Ying moved in response to his words, four pillars as thick as a man's fist shooting up in a diagonal manner. The pillars crashed into the knees of the two guards, shattering their bones and bending their knees back in an unnatural manner.
Their knees were bent back but their bodies fell forward, screeches of pain sounding out from both of them. But those screeches were quickly silenced as Huang Ying's hands shot forward, his index and middle fingers piercing into their eyes with a sickly squelching sound.
He stepped forward while his hands shot out, stepping past the two guards just as his fingers pierced into their eyes and dug into their skulls. He could already see the second pair of guards hidden a bit deeper into the cave, the two men looking at him with wide eyes and trembling pupils.
Huang Ying continued to move forward and yanked his hands back to his side, the necks of the two men unable to withstand the strain. Their bodies continued to fall forward, but their heads followed along with Huang Ying's hands, mud-like darkness covered with minuscule eyes and maws bubbling out from their pierced eyes and open mouths.
And while the other pair of guards were still reeling from the shock at what they were seeing, the heard what they could easily claim as the creepiest voice they had ever heard.
"Good morning, and goodbye."