Chương 279: Moon Lake (V)

Wei chose to humor the old man, though he stealthily signaled to his friends that they should be ready to execute the plan immediately. Even if he appreciated the gesture, he knew well enough that not even the old man, who seemed to be in the middle stages of Spirit Manifestation Realm, could do much against their pursuers, let alone the kids, none of whom seemed to even be twenty yet.

The chances were that, as soon as their pursuers showed up, the kids would turn fearful and the man would awkwardly ask them to help. Perhaps a bit annoying, but not much else. He felt a bit guilty as this wasn't truly the intended plan; he'd wanted to shelter himself and his friends with the group and sneak into the Moon Lake as part of their entourage but didn't expect that they'd be tracked down so quickly. And he was certain he'd erased their traces perfectly.

In his defense, this was his first time being so openly pursued by somebody, as it was his first time running away so desperately; it was a miracle, in a way, that they'd been on a run for almost two months without getting caught. Though they still had a few trump cards... it wasn't enough; the best he could do was buy some time while Cai escorted the old man and the kids far away enough. He still had a way to slip away, but... it was the last resort, and he loathed the thought of losing it.

Especially on those guys. He sighed inwardly and bit his lower lip, his eyes staring at the point in the sky like a hawk--it was about five minutes later that the space distorted as figures began to emerge. There were twelve of them, down from the seventeen that they had started with. Wei had managed to kill two, as had Cai, while Min killed one. It didn't matter much, as those five were the weakest of them all.

Their emerald-green robes fluttered in the wind as they descended from the mini warship that they used to travel. Considering that their strongest member was in the middle of the Revolving Core Realm, the ship wasn't theirs but likely on a loan from their Elders.

They landed one by one, their leader--a man Wei's age who managed to actually receive a title, Quiet Blade, due to how impossibly silent his strikes were, even if executed in plain sight--stepping forward rather casually, not even tossing a glance to the old man and the kids, thankfully, and focusing entirely on Wei.

"Little rats have managed to hide and flee for so long; I'm embarrassed," he said, his voice rather high-pitched. Wei tensed, reaching for the scabbard slowly.

"You didn't have to chase us, Jin Lei," Wei said. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Then you shouldn't have touched that which belonged to me."

"Hah. Are you really saying that any stone just lying under the sky is yours?"

"More mine than yours," he said, grinning.

"Why haven't you run off like you've been doing all this while? I've started enjoying running you down, you pathetic vermin. Oh? Did you worry I might torture where you went off to out of them? Ha ha ha. Quite amusing." Wei gnashed his teeth yet couldn't make the first move. Any second they bought was a second longer that they could restore their Qi, so if he wanted to yap on... he wasn't going to stop.

"The only amusing thing is you hunting us down with five times our numbers and laughing about it. If I were you, I'd have crawled back into some hole far away and prayed the world forgets this ever happened," Wei said. Just then, someone whistled--he snapped his head to the side where he saw the old man had done it, looking back at him with rather wide eyes and a look of surprise.

"Feisty words for a little kitten that is about to die." Luckily, Jin ignored the whistle, as though he hadn't heard it, and continued smirking.

"Why should I be embarrassed, though? A man's strength is in how many soldiers he can summon to his cause, in addition to his own. Don't blame me that you only have two."

"The only reason they follow you is your father."

"Indeed," he chuckled.

"But isn't the crown of birthright, too, a man's strength? I was born into a superior bloodline to yours--were you wiser, you'd have offered that rock the moment you saw me and elected to join my cause. Alas, the world is spattered with stupid, and you just one among them."

"Tsk, I've never heard another soul so shamelessly brag about something that most of the cultivators alive would hide in the depths of their soul." Wei said, yet felt a twinge of jealousy arise in his heart. Indeed, if he were born to a pair of Elders in his sect, would his circumstances not be vastly better than they are right now?

"Heh. The only ones who say that are those who have none of it. But... I will give you an opportunity. If you kill all these peasants, I shall give you two days of head start."

"... what?" Wei gritted his teeth, his sight darkening.

"You may mock me as much as you'd like, but to sully my Heart like that? Fine. Even if I have to die today, I'll take at least one of your arms, you unrepentant scum."

"Hah! You choose something stupid like that instead of just killing some random, pathetic rats?" It wasn't Jin that spoke up this time around, but one of his henchmen. Just then, a growl broke out, one inundated with anger and hatred bordering on psychotic.

"You dare call Master a rat?" It was almost as soon as the last letter came out that the world ceased to move. Wei caught a tiny flicker of light as it sheared through the fabric of reality itself; the next thing he knew, there was a head adrift of its neck flying upward as a spray of blood heaved up, spattering everywhere. And behind it, the flicker of light tore open a gash in dirt that went on for half a mile, ripping up trees and hills in its path.

The wind began to rage as though nature itself was angered by the display, while Wei could only whimper in silence, his jaw agape--not unlike practically everyone's. His eyes darted over to the old man's side, where he barely caught the glimpse of the young, teenage boy drawing back the sword into the scabbard. There was a look of abject disgust and utter loathing as he watched the head slowly fall down and roll against the ground.

None of the other kids reacted much, though they, too, held the fading looks of anger. That was all unimportant, however. That attack, Wei knew from the bottom of his heart, would kill him even if he used every single thing he ever used in his life. It would tear through all his defenses, annihilate all his trump cards, and leave him just as headless as that poor sod lying over there. Which begged just the one question in his head. Hey. WHAT THE FUCK?!!