Chapter 11: Your Place

Bandit’s Home, Jade Empire

They met up with Jennifer and carried on with the rest of their day. The only difference was their amount of effort. Sabotaged by the wolf the previous day, they had to contribute double the effort to make up for missing work.

While working, Kai discovered his Qi and Ki flowed out from the center of his body and merged with the rest of his body. It flowed into his muscles, his tendons and his bones, strengthening them as he transported the firewood. Pleased with the sudden development, he increased his speed and worked even harder.

Days passed and soon an entire week flew by. During this time, Kai maintained his sleepless schedule, doing nothing but cultivate, train, eat and work. He concluded that he was correct in assuming cultivating replaced his need for sleep. His minor headaches eventually faded away as well.

He invited Teresa to join him in his nocturnal cultivation but she explained she once attempted to do the same but failed miserably. Shocked, he mentioned it to the rest of the children to confirm if the issue only pertained to her. He discovered they were even worse. They persevered with him for several hours but eventually became tired and fell asleep.

Unable to clarify his miraculous ability of forgoing sleep, he set aside the mystery and continued to cultivate on his own. At the end of the week, he felt it. The illusionary wall reached a point where he could almost feel it against his face. He grew more certain, with each passing day, that if he broke the wall, he would become a Novice!

While he grew obsessed with cultivating, he was not complacent. Having the entire night and morning to train, he made sure to find time to master Silent Steps. He quickly learned that mastering Silent Steps was coefficient with cultivating. As he physically trained his body, the Qi and Ki spread throughout his body and merged at an even faster rate than working. As the Qi and Ki strengthened his body, it made it easier to master Silent Steps.

 It’s almost too coincidental that something I developed in my past life can benefit me so much in my new life. At this rate I can take Silent Steps to new heights in this lifetime!

The calming days ended one morning.

Kai returned from the forest, with Teresa by his side. She timely retrieved him every morning and they would head back to the house together. They entered their house and ate their food as the adults went off to work. The children would normally meet them a little while later.

As they stepped out of the house to join them in the forest, three unrecognizable children stepped through the boundary between the bandits and slaves. Kai instantly determined they had unfavorable intentions and tried to walk away with the others.

“Wait!”, one of the three commanded and stepped up. He appeared to be older than Teresa, Robert, and Ben, while the other two were about the same age. 

 He should be the one leading them.

He had messy black hair and sharp black eyes. He wore comfortable clothing, typical bandit boots, and a noticeably fashionable brown robe. One of the boys besides him had a crooked nose and the other had terrible buck-teeth but they had similar black hair and eyes, wearing the same comfortable clothing.

Kai stopped and slowly turned around. The leading boy wore a smug smile on his face. 

“My name is Austin and I am your master”, he sneered.

“Heh, I see some girls”, the boy with the crooked nose creepily smiled.

“Keep your lower body in check Creek, we’re here to train”, Austin lightly scolded. His smug smile persisted, clearly finding his companion’s lechery amusing.

“My bad”, Creek continued to smile and stare.

Seeing the intentions behind Creek’s eyes, Kai felt a surge of fiery anger erupting from the depths of his being. It was the first time he felt such anger and while it surprised him, but he allowed the dormant emotion to consume him. Unconsciously, a portion of his killing intent seeped out of him.

The atmosphere instantly chilled. Goosebumps surfaced the arms of the present and they found it hard to breath. Kai disregarded their reactions and instead, thought of every possible way to kill the boys. In his mind he was slicing their throats, piercing their hearts or torturing them. As his thoughts grew more wild, the killing intent focused on the boys. They frowned and started to helplessly shiver.

“W-what’s going o-on”, Creek stuttered, his teeth chattering.

Teresa and the rest were unable to comprehend the situation and stared in confusion. They suddenly grew cold but the feeling dissipated as soon as it came. Now they saw the three boys shivering while they were completely fine. Their confusion clouded their vision and they failed to see Kai’s troubled expression.

 Wait!... This… isn’t me anymore! Even if the my former killing intent reincarnated with me, I will not kill! Ever again…

Kai struggled to rein in his killing intent. Finally swallowing his anger and regaining control of his thoughts, the atmosphere returned to it’s previous warm temperature. The boys regained control of their bodies and their eyes wandered in fear. Unable to pinpoint any potential dangers, they recomposed themselves and acted as if the last minute did not exist.

“We’ve become bored and require people to be our target practices”, Austin explained, reforming his smug smile.

“That’s where you slaves come in”, buck-teeth boy cackled.

Teresa and the other’s faces turned grim as they clenched their hands.

“What if we refuse”, Teresa countered with a glaring expression.

“Hm?”, Austin chuckled. “You think you guys have a choice?”

“Let me go first”, buck-teeth boy requested.

Austin nodded. “You’ve just reached the initial Novice level so that’s appropriate.”

“Heh, thanks.”

He arrogantly walked towards Teresa. Robert and Ben attempted to step in front but Austin intervened.

“If anyone else moves I’ll personally get the Watchers to come”, he threatened.

They were about to ignore his threat when Teresa stuck her arms out, blocked both of them.

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“I can do this”, she reassured.

They were reluctant but after seeing the determination on her face, they nodded and backed off. Without warning, the buck-teeth boy jumped at her. She was startled by the sudden attack but promptly recovered and bent her knees, lowering her body stance. When the buck-teeth boy neared, she dropped low and executed a leg sweep.

The buck-teeth boy was taken by surprise at her competent response and cleanly knocked off his feet, falling face forward onto the dirt.

“Go Teresa!”, Jennifer cheered.

“What’re you doing Bak? You lost an exchange to a slave.”

Austin and Creek laughed, amused at their companions failure. Bak stood up with a red face, his embarrassment rising above his anger. He stuck his fists out and fixed his posture.

 Oh? That’s not good, he was merely lax before. His current stance proves that he has combat experience.

Kai examined and concluded that Teresa was outmatched. Bak lunged at Teresa at that moment. Inexperienced, she expected the same result and performed another leg sweep. Scoffing at her lack of variation, he immediately leaped forward and dodged. He bent his leg in the air, perfectly connecting his knee on her face.

Teresa slightly flew back from the impact and roughly landed against the dirt. Without waiting for her to recover, Bak comboed a drop kick at her defenseless fallen body.

Robert, Ben, Mark and Jennifer yelled, outraged at his shameless act and ran to her assistance. They quickly recognized that they lacked the speed to arrive in time and could only helplessly watch as the foot reached her side.

Just as the kick was about to fall from the air, it was immediately grabbed! Kai’s hand firmly gripped Bak’s shin. He predicted Bak’s strike before he executed it and acted before the rest of his companions. While using Silent Steps, he stealthily dashed towards her, unnoticed until he caught Bak’s shin. 

“What-”, Robert spoke first.

They were all stunned but Bak, adrenaline coursing through him from the fight, was the first to snap out of his shock and attempted to free his leg. His action proved futile and comical as Kai continued to calmly grip his shin.

 I can’t cause too much trouble… Ah, I’ll do that.

Due to Teresa’s injury, Kai was angry enough to break his leg on the spot but he maintained a clear mind and thoroughly thought of a more optimal option. He pulled Bak’s leg to him, sending his body reeling forward, and with the fastest speed he could procure, he pressed a pressure point on his shoulder.

From his past life’s experiences, he knew every exact location of a human body’s weakness. The moment he pressed the pressure point, he released Bak’s leg and sidestepped to the left. From a spectator’s view, Kai merely pulled Bak forward and moved out of his way. His body fell straight onto the dirt once more.

“Hahaha! How could you fall again? You should be ashamed Bak”, Creek laughed.

Austin chuckled but soon realized something was wrong. Bak remained motionless, unresponsive to the otherwise embarrassing remarks.  

“Bak?”, he called.

Kai knelt down and examined Bak. 

“He’s unconscious. Maybe he landed improperly when he fell. You two should help him and we should get to work. Was nice meeting you.”

Kai spoke quickly, hoping to take advantage of their confusion, and turned to lead the others into the forest. On the way, he hastily helped Teresa stand as she and the others stared stupidly at him. He continued to push them and they  headed straight for the forest.

Austin and Creek also regained their thoughts and rushed to the unconscious Bak. Creek saw that he was undamaged but nodded to Austin, confirming that he was out cold. 

“Wait!”, Austin roared with an ugly expression.

Kai’s indifferent attitude towards him infuriated him. Kai turned around and saw him fuming and let out a heavy sigh.

 Guess I wasn’t fast enough.

“You think you can leave after this? Know. Your. Place!”

Austin emphasized the last three words, consecutively raising his voice for each. He charged at Kai the moment he finished berating him, emitting white strands of Ki along the way.

 So he’s a Taoist. He’s not as strong as Joran or Adam but he’s definitely stronger than the boy I put to sleep.

Kai casually rushed forward, wanting to keep the others out of the fight. By the time Teresa and the others turned to notice his actions, it was too late to stop him. Austin threw a variation of punches and kicks but he easily weaved and dodged every attack.

“How…”, Teresa muttered in disbelief. She and the others could hardly believe what unfolded before their eyes. 

Austin was soon short on breath. He refused to believe it. A slave, who seemed to be less than half his age, was able to evade him without even using Qi or Ki. Anger prolonging his stamina and he continued to assault Kai. With his breathing and mind in disarray, Kai found it easier to read and dodge his sloppy attacks.

Creek could no longer watch and joined Austin in the fight. Normally Austin's pride would refuse such interference but he was thoroughly annoyed and enraged by Kai. Wordlessly accepting the assistance, he and Creek mercilessly ganged up on him.

“Despicable!”, Teresa cried out, running to lend her own assistance.

“Stay back!”, Kai reassured.

His serious tone and expression halted Teresa in her steps. She gritted her teeth and ultimately chose to believe him. The fight ensued but to Austin and Creek’s dismay, he was still avoiding each strike with consistent ease.

 I was hoping they would just tire out and leave us alone but they refuse to give up! If I waste too much time we’ll have to explain this to the adults.

Kai’s calm and carefree attitude slowly transitioned to utter annoyance.

“So this is frustration… good. Now I’ll show you. Your. Place!”, he fiercely muttered in a volume only audible Austin and Creek’s ears.