Tainted Blood

by Tinalynge

  Instead, he came to the most important question he had wanted to ask for a long time. “Where is Uncle Lei currently?”

  “Xiao Lei made a deal with the Primordial Beast’s Council of Elders,” Lan began explaining. “To be allowed five years together with you, he had to give up his freedom and be a captive of the Elders for the next hundred years. If he tries to escape, they will let Chu Huiyin do what she pleases with both you and your uncle, and she will definitely sacrifice his blood to the Elders.”

  “Where is he held captive?” Xue Wei’s eyes flashed dangerously. He knew that he was too weak to charge into the Council of Elder’s territory to free his uncle as he was right now, but he was not going to let him suffer for a hundred years just because they had spent five years together. Furthermore, he really needed to know why Xiao Lei had killed his father.

  “I should have answered enough questions for now,” Lan said, smiled, and then turned to look straight into Xue Wei’s azure eyes. “Do not forget the Thunder Flame Crown. I want it as a token of your appreciation. Now go rest for today. Tomorrow, I will see you off to Heping Kingdom, and from there I will help you make a trans-dimensional tunnel towards the Demon Phoenix Continent. I can not have you getting lost on the way.”

  “As for how you will return to the continent of Chang’an, well, how you do that is something you’ll just have to figure out by yourself.”

  Having said what he wanted to say, Lan clasped his hands behind his back and casually exited the room, leaving Xue Wei, Lin Xiao, Hei Gou and Bai Tianyi alone in the room.

  It was not before now that Xue Wei saw Lin Xiao’s expression of utter disbelief as he stared at him.

  It was clear as day what he was thinking. It almost seemed as if someone had taken a brush and written ‘you are a mix between a human and a Sovereign Beast?’ on his forehead.

  It took some time for Lin Xiao to realize that the other three were staring at him. He coughed slightly before he flushed slightly red. “Well, I guess I made the right decision in following you,” he said, coughing again. “It is definitely not going to be boring with the three of you around me.” He grinned. Never once did it cross his mind to try and tame Xue Wei; he had already approved of these three as his friends and as individuals whom he respected, especially Xue Wei who had gone so far as to dress up as a woman just to get the answers he needed.

  “We have until tomorrow to relax and prepare,” Xue Wei finally said. “Set your minds at ease. We are going to return to the Kingdom of Heping to pay our respect to my late brother Tie Haolong. After we have done that, our objective is to paint the entire kingdom red in blood! It is time to get revenge for the time they forced us to flee!”

  None of the other three had ever met Tie Haolong, but both Bai Tianyi and Hei Gou had heard about him before. Lin Xiao, however, was completely clueless, so the next long time was spent with Xue Wei narrating his experiences in the Kingdom of Heping when he was still very young.

  Although the Kingdom of Heping had ultimately been correct and that he was indeed somewhat of a beast, he was not going to let them off easily. They had killed his brother and he was going to let the blood flow freely!

  Xue Wei was not some righteous person. He did not care about right or wrong, all he cared about was to protect the ones he was close to. Those who he deemed friends were people he would die protecting, while everyone else could go do whatever they wished for all he cared.

  “What do you think the Demon Phoenix Continent is like?” Hei Gou asked with longing in his voice. He caused Xue Wei and the others to pause.

  “I don’t know,” Xue Wei shook his head. “I hope it is different from here. But from what I could understand from Lan’s words, it should be.”

  “Still, strength is all that matters,” Bai Tianyi cut in, “and our strength can be considered mediocre as we are. Although we are not Saints or even Sky Knights, we do have an Earth Knight in our midst.”

  The others nodded their heads in agreement, all eyes turning to Lin Xiao. Xue Wei stood up and patted his shoulder. “In the future, we will rely on you the most,” he said seriously. Lin Xiao grimaced. He was fully aware that these experts, despite being weaker than him on paper, had a lot of aces up their sleeves that he could not easily handle.

  The rest of the day quickly passed with the four friends discussing what the Demon Phoenix Continent would be like. They were all extremely eager to go there. They had never before set foot outside of Chang’an, so it was without a doubt the most exciting journey they were about to embark upon. Although they were forced to leave their continent of birth, they did not feel too much regret. They all knew that they would return one day, stronger than ever before.

  Chapter 32 - Returning to Lingyun Town

  Lan appeared in front of the four friends the following morning as he had said he would. He quickly looked over them and noticed that they were all in peak condition. Nodding his head, he knew that they had spent the night cultivating and relaxing.

  “Follow me,” he said casually and led them through his mansion. They walked through corridors and halls before reaching the lake side. Shockingly, Xue Wei found that the center of the mansion belonging to Prophet Lan was actually a small hut that seemed to be thousands of years old.

  It was a hut that was worn down and seemed as if it could collapse at any moment. This hut was only large enough to house a single person.

  “This is?” Xue Wei asked, puzzled. Why had Lan brought them here? Lan noticed Xue Wei’s expression and smiled sadly. “This is the greatest treasure in the entire universe,” he said seriously.

  Xue Wei could see multiple emotions swirl in Lan’s eyes, and his smile seemed to carry a profound sadness within it. It was clear that this was a treasure to Lan because of the memories it held.

  The four said nothing, but none of them had disdainful expressions either. They all understood the sentimental value this hut held to Lan even if they were not aware of the story behind it.

  Still, the emotions that Lan had for it could be sensed through the air and all of them felt veneration towards this house that, after the passing of thousands of years, still stood there as a part of his memories. No one knew exactly how long it had stood there. In fact, this hut was more than fifteen thousand years old. It had seen the rise and fall of empires, the rise and fall of continents, and everything that had happened to this world.

  Lan did not stop there. He led them down to the water and stepped into the lake that was bordering the hut. “Follow me,” he said. The others stepped into the lake without any hesitation.

  As the water soaked their boots, they felt the coolness wash over them, before they suddenly felt space warp around them: everything turned black, and when they returned to reality, they stood in another lake.

  This lake was much smaller than Baixing Lake. The water was much colder too, and there was no doubt that this was a completely different area. They had teleported!

  Xue Wei knew that the strongest of experts were capable of manipulating space itself to teleport from one point to another, but he had never expected that it was possible to bring others along with you.

  Only now did he realize that Lan was much stronger than he had ever expected. Of all those he had either met or come to know about, he had never encountered anyone as strong as Lan.

  “Okay, you guys, go do your thing. We are very close to Lingyun town now,” Lan said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

  “You have one month. After a month, I will have finished the trans-dimensional tunnel to the Demon Phoenix Continent.”

  Xue Wei nodded his head. “In that case we will get going now. We will return as soon as we have washed this place with blood!” he said with cold eyes.

  “Where do we go first?” Bai Tianyi asked. Hei Gou snickered. “We go to Lingyun Town,” he said with certainty.

  “Back in the day, that was where they ambushed. I am sure that some of their Primordial Beast Hunters will be waiting for us there.”

 
Xue Wei nodded his head and smiled, but the smile was not a gentle one. It was a smile that was filled with dense killing intent.

  “Back then they really forced us into a terrible situation. We were fighting for our lives every day, we were chased through half of the continent, and we were never at peace. Now it is time to return the pain! Now it is time to gain vengeance for Tie Haolong!” Xue Wei said. With an overwhelming momentum, he started moving towards Lingyun town, moving so fast that only afterimages remained where he had stood moments before.

  Lin Xiao, Bai Tianyi and Hei Gou could sense his anger and rage that was sparked every time he thought about the past. They hurried after him.

  Snow was blanketing the ground. The temperature was low and the wind was strong, but these four experts advanced with complete disregard for the weather.

  It only took them an hour to reach Lingyun Town. The town was as eerily quiet as it had been the last time Xue Wei had visited it. The entire village was in ruins.

  Some had already collapsed, the snow falling through the broken roofs and walls into what used to be the homes of people.

  Some of the walls that had no snow on them had old traces of blood from when Chu Huiyin had caused every person in the city to implode with her pressure alone.

  The city seemed deserted, but Xue Wei did not believe it was completely without people as they knew he would return at some point, He spread out his spiritual energy, scanning the surroundings.

  Exactly as he had predicted, he found traces of life within the house that used to belong to the village head. This was one of the few buildings in the entire village that had not collapsed.

  Xue Wei landed on the soft snow and started walking towards it. He had sensed that there were four experts within, with all four being Heavenly Warriors.

  Bai Tianyi, Hei Gou and Lin Xiao all descended behind him and followed him closely. They did not know what exactly he had in mind—was he going to straight out execute those four Heavenly Warriors, or did he have something else planned?

  Xue Wei knew that this place would not be pleasurable. Frankly, killing these people would only result in negative karma, but he also understood that showing mercy here would likely form a knot in his heart that had the potential to grow into a heart demon that would implicate him severely later down the road.

  Xue Wei went to the house and knocked on the door. His entire body was taut, his eyes vigilant.

  “Who is it?” A sour voice came from inside. Xue Wei did not answer, he just knocked again.

  “Dammit, why is it this daddy’s turn to look after this godforsaken town?” a voice grumbled inside the house, but the voice was coming closer and closer towards the door.

  Shortly after, the door opened and the face of a man around the age of thirty looked out. His eyes were filled with hostility and arrogance.

  “Why are you here?” he asked sourly. He did not even think of checking out their cultivation bases. In fact, he did not care. He was an illustrious Heavenly Warrior, the highest rank amongst every cultivator within the Heping Kingdom.

  “I have come to settle a score,” Xue Wei said casually and stepped past the expert into the house. The expert looked perplexedly at him, as if trying to understand what he meant, but although he had never seen this young man before, he was aware that settling a score never was a good thing, so his eyes darkened and his facial expression hardened.

  “Young man, don’t throw your life away,” he warned him sternly. “There are only Primordial Beast Hunters here. All of us are Heavenly Warriors. It is simply impossible for you to settle a score in this place.”

  Xue Wei just snorted and continued deeper into the house. Although it was the town head’s house, it was rather small, but it made sense given the scale.

  Still, there were multiple rooms, and Xue Wei walked straight towards one of these rooms. He had recognized the face that was resting within. It was one of the Primordial Beast Hunters that had participated in the hunt of him and Tie Haolong. He had to die as soon as possible.

  The killing intent slowly started seeping out from Xue Wei’s body. As a veteran killer, the Primordial Beast Hunter that was in the way instantly sensed it. His face turned rigid, and he summoned his weapon from his storage ring with anxious haste.

  “Listen youngsters, I do not know where you came from, but you can’t run wild in the Heping Kingdom. Why don’t we sit down and talk things over?” The expert that had opened the door asked slowly. He was starting to sense that this group was extraordinary.

  Since they entered the house until now, the only thing they had said was that they were there to settle some scores, nothing in detail. They did not even respond to the Primordial Beast Hunter who was trying to talk to them.

  “Who are you?” he finally muttered, but no one paid attention to him. Even if he went all out, he would only be able to produce superficial wounds on the bodies of Ordinary and Earth Knights.

  Not everyone was a monster that could jump realms and injure higher ranked cultivators. In fact, those who could do this were the very few experts from the continent’s center, not some random Primordial Beast Hunters from Heping Kingdom.

  Xue Wei entered into the room where the person was resting. The moment he opened the door, the Primordial Beast Hunter in the room lifted his head, an annoyed expression on his face, yet the annoyance quickly turned into puzzlement when he saw Xue Wei, and this puzzlement shifted from excitement to fear in mere moments.

  At first, he had been annoyed about someone bursting into his room. Then he had been puzzled because he had recognized the person, followed by excitement because he realized that it was Xue Wei, the reason they were here. Unfortunately, he was not dumb. He understood that the fact that Xue Wei had come here meant that he had the strength to take vengeance.

  Xue Wei did not waste any time. His arm transformed into a draconic hand which shot forward and grasped the head of the Primordial Beast Hunter that he had recognized.

  This hand clenched slightly and then the head emitted cracking sounds. In seconds, the skull collapsed. Brain and blood splattered to the ground. The dense scent of blood permeated through the air, dense enough to make one feel nauseous.

  Xue Wei did not stop there, however. He turned towards the other Primordial Beast Hunter and reached out with his hand at lightning speed. This time, it impaled the other Primordial Beast Hunter’s chest. When he withdrew it, he held the still beating heart within his palm.

  The man who had lost his heart managed to see it being ripped out of his chest before he drew his last breath. Blood sprayed everywhere and the body collapsed.

  In only a short while, two Primordial Beast Hunters had died. There were another two within the house, and when they smelled the blood they exited their rooms, only to be met with a gruesome sight.

  Their faces paled. “Kill them,” Xue Wei said casually and Hei Gou rushed towards the one who was the furthest away. He had already put on his metal claws. With a casual swipe, he beheaded the expert.

  The final Primordial Beast Hunter was trembling. He could no longer stand on his legs as they collapsed under him and he tried to frantically retreat.

  Unfortunately, Xue Wei had no intention of letting him go. He held out his hand and a long beam of Qi shot forward. There was no special technique behind this attack, just pure Qi, but it still managed to kill the Heavenly Warrior on the ground.

  In a moment, all the intruders in Lingyun Town had been killed.

  Chapter 33 - Returning to the Capital

  Having finished his business in Lingyun Town, Xue Wei did not stop to take in the scenery and instead stepped into the air and started flying towards the capital.

  A Sky Warrior could fly for a short amount of time and at a slow speed, but the higher your rank, the better you were at flying. Still, even though Xue Wei was an Ordinary Knight and capable of flying through air rather well, the speed with which he flew was far from as fast as when he was transformed.

  But Xue Wei did not tran
sform. Lan had given them a full month to sort their issues with the Kingdom of Heping. With that much time, they could afford to take it easy.

  Most Primordial Beast Hunters in Heping Kingdom had residence in the capital of the city. They would only leave when it was time for them to go hunting, and most went hunting once a year or once every second year.

  A Primordial Beast’s corpse was worth a fortune, even in a place like the Heping Kingdom. If they successfully hunted a Primordial Beast, they would earn enough money to live up to five years in the capital if they were just slightly frugal with their money.

  Of course many of the Primordial Beast Hunters were bad at saving money and were talented at spending all the money they had when they had it, which was why many had to go every second year to go hunting.

  Xue Wei knew this, so he did not expect to encounter a lot of beasts hunters in the wild. Those who were out hunting were perhaps fortunate to be able to survive after Xue Wei is done trouncing the country.