Bai Ze had only revealed her identity at the town's gates, having her aura retracted and wearing a concealing cloak while inside. Adding that Bai Qi, even while not expecting trouble, had chosen for them to enter [Heibei] separately, the beast girl could not be traced to Bai Qi's group, at least presently.
The [Road of the Sea] of the sea was hardly well protected, only counting a few low-quality privacy formations. But He Delan had preferred to spend nearly a third of her reserves and close to an hour to prepare the best [Void Passage] she could, and they left the restaurant without being noticed.
Fan Jia would stay in the private room, tasked with making an act of presence and controlling an illusion created with talismans, enough to mislead the Spirit and Soul realms restaurant personnel. All for the sake that if questions arose, Bai Qi, Chun Hua, He Delan, or their cloaked friend had not left the room.
And while any experienced cultivator would say that a perfect plan is more of a myth than reality, He Delan's one, along with a few suggestions from Bai Qi, was not far from being so. Even if it all had gone far bloodier than expected, the plan to avoid being involved had worked out nonetheless.
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[Heibei] Town's manor, inside the guard's commander's office. Two hours after an incident concerning a burned-down estate in the town's waterside neighborhood.
A tall man with a barrel-like figure and sparse hair turned toward a middle-aged, weary-looking man and asked, "Is that all you saw?"
"Yes, I am sure, m' honor's on it." The man, dressed in a cheapish martial attire with a few signs of mending, nodded several times as he confirmed.
"You are free to go then." The man shooed him away and turned towards a young man with a bizarre head of intermixed black and white hair, "Is what he, and the previous two, spoke true?"
"Mmm, it is so indeed." The young man showed none of the man's nervousness and merely shrugged as he confirmed the previously heard testimony.
"I see, then the report is concluded." The man coldly said before touching the [Memory holding orb] on a table near him. After the recording stopped, he added, suppressing a grin, "If the [Shimmering Earth] wants to pick a bone with something, then it's their problem to find the Saint Beast and accomplices."
"Mmm, though it may be hard for them to do so, Commander Deng." The young man flashed a quick smile as he slightly bowed and asked, "Then, I take that my companions and I can leave?"
"Indeed you can, and actually... I recommend you do so right away. The details of the incident were confirmed, so there is no need to stay here until the elders from the [Sea Forest Palace] arrive, is there?" This time the man, the guard commander of [Heibei], smiled openly.
"I will follow the commander's words." The young man saluted and then turned around, quickly leaving the room.
Only after he left did Deng Luo allow himself to mutter, "Good luck, and let's hope it remains a secret. And, perhaps I should have said thanks for dealing with that trash to both of you."
Deng Luo indeed had no doubts about who had been the ones to destroy the [Shimmering Earth] courtyard, but as he said before himself, the report was complete. Bai Qi and He Delan had considered mere witnesses, as from the waitress's words, they spent all of the time drinking in [The Road of the Sea].
***
"So, how did it go?" He Delan, questioned similarly just before, asked.
"Well, Commander Deng Luo considers the incident has been analyzed enough for the expected report. I am sure he will keep everyone's names out of the matter, but even if he does not, you saw how the [Shimmering Earth] Sect is. I doubt that Head Kongbai or Vicehead Tao will not agree with your actions if they find out someday." Bai Qi shrugged as he motioned for Chun Hua and Fan Jia to follow him out of [Heibei] town's manor.
"Hah, I don't doubt that. Still, my name isn't the one that worries me, but yours." He Delan laughed at first, but she got more serious as she nodded toward Bai Qi. Her meaning wasn't hard to guess. After all, Bai Qi was the only one without a backing, and he would not always be under enough protection.
"Don't worry about that. We only spoke about what we saw, so I'm probably safe. And if their allies find out something, well, it will just mean another enemy on my path." Bai Qi shrugged again, leaving the matter at that.
A few breaths later, exiting the manor's grounds and confirming they weren't being observed or tailed, He Delan and Chun Hua opened a [Void Passage]. And using the latter, the four left the town altogether, towards the outskirts where the Bai sisters had been keeping an eye on the asleep Ma Su.
Bai Qi thought as he explained to his reunited group about moving out as soon as possible, in this case, as soon as Ma Su awoke.
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Bai Rui had only been restrained, with no one daring to touch her. Or to torture her as they had done to Ma Su. Now, along with Bai Ze, she took the chance to distract herself by hunting a beast and proceeding to cook it. She did not talk about what happened, and Bai Ze remained silent about it as well, but their thoughts were surprisingly similar,
Neither Chun Hua nor Fan Jia had participated in the fight itself, with the latter not even being present in the courtyard at any point. But, while Chun Hua simply shrugged all of the matter, considering that whatever Bai Qi did was the right thing, Fan Jia was shocked when she found out all that transpired during the investigation and from her companions' words.
She was now watching over the drugged Ma Su sent into a recuperative sleep thanks to a [Shedding Cicada Pill]. And observing the signs of nothing else than torture, Fan Jia decided that whoever had dared to do such things, and attempt even worse deeds, definitively deserved the worst of deaths.
Bai Qi himself sat just a bit away from the others. It wasn't that he avoided anyone, but he felt the need to reflect on his actions and orders, especially now that he had the time. He did not, and would not doubt either, but there was something else,
Similarly, He Delan took the chance to think about the events of the last hours. She was sure that no one of them doubted that the actions taken were the right ones. Still, she could not help but feel something she had thought lost and forgotten, the sticky and disgusting feeling of fear.
And feeling fear because of something she considered correct made He Delan furious with herself.
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While they would never speak of it, it was true that each of the three, then four individuals that took action in the [Shimmering Earth] courtyard events would never forget it.
Thirtytwo disciples, between the peak Sage and peak Warrior Lord realms;
Two elders, one a 5th level Warrior King, another a 3rd level one;
Four rogue cultivators that served as guards between the 1st and 2nd level of the Warrior King realm;
And... the bastard who had started all of it, a 5th level Warrior Lord;
Every single person in the courtyard's territory, a total of 39, was killed by Bai Qi and his companions. Most of them had attempted to surrender. After all, except for the 5th level Warrior Lord High Elder, no one had a chance against, or even escape, He Delan or the Bai sisters. But none were spared.
But, what happened? To make every one of them think about it so much?
Emotions were intrinsically linked to one's soul, and as a well-controlled fury could strengthen a cultivator, losing oneself to emotions could weaken or even make one lose the ability to control aura. At least, it was so for the average cultivator. As for beasts and... demons, they were exceptions to that, able to trade a lack of control for strength when angered.
Bai Qi was a human, a follower of the normal path. Or he was so, before. His soul, now a mix between his original one, the owner of the body, and a demonic being, made him just too special of a case.
And so, when he heard Wan Dong's words, Bai Qi nearly was overcome by fury and just a single hair from actually losing control. His aura flared, breaking him out of the concealment, and he felt how his qi grew extremely agitated, his body assuming a nearly beast-like stance while his hands formed claws, demonic essence surging and the scale on his chest throbbing.
"Who?! I said that no one can disturb me!" The naked man shouted in a mix of nervousness and anger as he turned around.
Wan Dong had expected to see someone from the sect or one of his guards, but he saw a totally unknown man, "Who're you!!" he yelled as he jumped back, feeling extreme danger from the aura in front. He wasn't even sure why, as the man in front was just a 3rd level Warrior Lord.
In truth, anyone who would have seen Bai Qi at that moment probably would have recoiled. The cloak's hood had been drawn back by the aura surge, revealing a face crossed by a pale face, dark-flames-filled eyes, and a half-open mouth, from where two nearly beast fangs poked. Lowered into a strange stance, with the arms almost reaching the ground and releasing aura in chaotic bursts, it was no welcome sight indeed.
Wan Dong panicked and started calling for his guards, forgetting that he himself had sent them away or that the room was isolated by several privacy talismans, "Dai Tong, Len Dao, where the fuck are you?! Come!"
It was at that moment two figures, or three counting a body held like a sack by one of the former, appeared in the room, but they were not the ones that Wan Tong called for.
"Bai Qi?!" He Delan and Bai Ze exclaimed, the former throwing down the nearly unconscious high elder. But as their gaze landed on Ma Su, seeing all of her wounds, and sensing that she was unconscious, they understood all.
"Bai Ze, your sister is three doors from here, using the corridor towards the north. Free her." Bai Qi had yet to return entirely, but his mind was clear as never.
"And him?" Bai Ze nearly started off but stopped while pointing at the shuddering Wan Dong. But how could he not shudder when both new arrivals had Warrior King auras?! And that the strongest [Shimmering Earth] member present, High Elder Zan Xi, was lying at their feet as a beaten dog?!
"I'll compensate him for all of the good treatment." Bai Qi needed to channel his fury somewhere, and as he pronounced these words, his aura suddenly increased in strength, his usual one. Still, the words were accompanied by such a killing intent that even Bai Ze found herself jerking back instinctively.
"The others?" A breath later, He Delan asked.
"Kill every one of them. We can not allow anyone to escape, not after we have already killed." Bai Qi answered in the same manner as before...
A massacre, a true bloodbath, no other words could describe two 4th level Saint Beasts and a 7th level Warrior King running amok, without anyone who could even touch them.
And when it was done, they had returned to Bai Qi's side to find a scene even bloodier than outside, even though there was only a single corpse, if a few pieces could be treated as one.
"Burn everything." Bai Qi had said with no emotion before picking up Ma Su, who he had just fed a few pills, and leaving without even looking at the results of his actions and orders...