by Tinalynge
At the same time, he unleashed a Windwolf Sword Slash with the Qi sword. The slash was fast, precise and sharp. Both the fist attack and the sword attack came raining down on the same person; a person who was rather weak amongst the opponents as he was merely a third layer Earth Warrior—a rank equal to Xue Wei, so there was no way he would be able to protect himself.
First, the fist attack landed, sending him reeling backward, blood flowing from his mouth. Afterward, the sword slash landed on his chest, slicing open his garments and gouging a deep wound in his chest, which immediately started spewing blood.
“Aren’t you being too violent?!” the person in charge of the Baili group yelled, as his eyes widened in surprise and horror upon seeing Xue Wei’s unbridled attack. It was as if they did not care about the consequences at all!
“Use your brain,” Xue Wei snickered as he ran forward and released another Windwolf Sword Slash, beheading the person who he had injured before. “We are already like oil and water with the Baili family. Why allow them even more people to chase us?”
Hearing Xue Wei speak so casually while killing a person sent shivers down the back of everyone present.
Yan Dalu was a calm continent. It was a place where, although ten people vanished a day, there were very rarely any murder, bandits, or blood spilled. Even when there were schemes against the different families, they rarely resorted to killing one another, even when they devolved into fights.
Yet now they had seen someone being killed right in front of them, and so casually as well. It was as if life was completely meaningless in Xue Wei’s eyes. Even as he killed, he did not blink; blood sprayed from the executed man’s severed neck, yet Xue Wei still held a grin on his face.
Not only the Baili family but everyone present suddenly felt a cold shiver run down their spine, and their eyes widened in horror.
The display of callousness was something they had never seen before, and the majority of the students had not even seen someone being killed; only those who had been out on missions like the bandit attack knew what it would be like to kill someone, or see someone being killed in front of them.
These Baili family minions had no idea of what it meant to kill. They had never truly thought about it, but now when they stood in a fight that was either kill or be killed, they suddenly felt their knees grow weak and horror filling their hearts.
“You cannot kill us!” the leader exclaimed, his voice rising a few octaves and breaking as his horror and disbelief got the better of him. He failed to sound very authoritative when his voice remained high as he continued to plead, “We are from the Baili family! Killing us is a crime against humanity; we are the protectors of Yan Dalu!”
“We are foreigners,” Xue Wei reminded him. “No one has taught us what it means to be a protector of Yan Dalu, and is there really a law that states that you cannot kill someone when it comes to legal self-defense? Look how many you are; look how few we are. It is logical that we are frightened silly, and that we have no other option than to retaliate.”
The man was tongue-tied. He had never expected that Xue Wei would give a reasonable response while being shrouded in such a dense murderous aura.
There was, in fact, a law that stated that you could not kill in Yan Dalu. However, the law did not count if the act was in self-defense.
Right now it could be argued, if one was very thick-skinned, that the Baili family had brought a mob to cause problems, making it so the attack was in self-defense, yet everyone who was watching the scene felt that this was not self-defense at all, instead, it was clearly murder.
Xue Wei was not the only one being brutal; the others had also acted similarly. Bai Tianyi had not been holding back at all. He had formed thousands of swords around him from his spiritual energy and thrust them relentlessly towards his foes. Many of them were easily blocked, but the sheer number was enough to overwhelm multiple experts at once.
Lin Xiao was also facing against two at the same time. “I am sorry, I am a monk, and I should not be beating people,” he said with a sigh as if to excuse himself. “But then again, I am no longer much of a monk, and you guys are seriously an eyesore, so saving everyone else from having to look at you could also be considered a good deed,” he mused to himself. His words caused his opponents to feel so livid with anger that they almost coughed up more blood than they already had after being beaten black and blue by his staff.
On the other hand, Hei Gou was not speaking a word to his foes. He felt that these people were not worthy of his words, and instead, he had transformed his black wings and used them to swoop like a breeze through the experts, the claws never resting as they cut through one after the other.
In less than a minute, the entire group had fallen into a perilous situation, and they were all feeling dread towards Xue Wei and his friends, causing them to start panicking.
More and more of them were being killed; they dropped to the ground as soon as the pressure got to them, and they no longer had the chance to protect themselves.
In fact, although this was a life and death battle, Xue Wei and the others were not taking it too seriously. None of them had fully transformed, nor they had not used their strongest abilities either; they were more like a bunch of cats toying with a handful of mice.
They purposefully avoided the leader, leaving him unscathed. He was rushing forth and back in an attempt to attack in a pair with some of the others, and then tried to launch sneak attacks in an attempt to disrupt the group of people who were now bathed in blood, but he met with no success.
The only thing he noticed was that his heart was growing more and more uncomfortable. He was fearing for his own life, but he was unwilling to leave his comrades. He understood that the Baili family had looked after him, and if he betrayed them, he would be worse than a dog.
Since this was the case, his only option was to fight it out. In the beginning, he had arrived with great hopes of capturing Xue Wei and his friends. Afterward, he had been hoping that they could kill Xue Wei and his friends. Then he had hoped that they could just kill one of Xue Wei’s entourage, but by now, he was just hoping to draw a drop of blood so that their death would not be totally in vain.
“You are quite loyal,” Xue Wei said with admiration as he set his sights on the leader, who by now, was the only man standing. He lifted his head and looked at Xue Wei with hatred burning in his eyes.
“The Baili family will get what they want,” he said with determination. “Even if you have the backing of the Gu and Yuan families, even if you have the abilities of fearsome Qi cultivators, none of it matters,” he began laughing hysterically.
“The Baili family has always been superior, not just because of their family’s overwhelming power, but also because they have recruited many geniuses.
“The Baili family is not as simple as you might think!” The leader was proud to be a member of the Baili family, despite feeling that Xue Wei was looking down upon them. If he could trade his life for respect, then it would be worth it.
“So you're telling me that the Baili family not only consists of the Baili family but that they also have hired hidden experts? That is great information, thank you,” Xue Wei grinned.
He knew a bit about the Baili family, but all his information came from the Gu and Yuan families, so hearing about them straight from the horse’s mouth was much more informative.
“Well, you are actually the kind of person I respect,” Xue Wei said as he looked at the person in front of him before continuing, “but you came to capture me, perhaps even kill me, so I cannot let you go. Why don’t I allow you to commit suicide to correct your wrongs?”
The man was stumped when he heard Xue Wei’s words. At first, he had a growing hope that he might survive, but when he heard his only alternative, he could not help but laugh helplessly.
“I do not have the courage,” the man said honestly. “Death is a scary thing to me, and I have never encountered someone as ruthless as you or who can kill as easily as you do
.
“In fact, I doubt that creatures like you even exist here on Yan Dalu. Bloodthirsty fiends, who kill without blinking. It would be best if you never appeared on our peaceful continent.”
“Don’t be too sure,” Xue Wei answered, not taking his words too seriously. “Where do you think the ten missing people go?” he asked, “they don’t just leave the continent, so someone is as murderous as I am—in fact much more, as I might kill, but I don’t go after innocent citizens. I only aim for those that cross my path.”
Chapter 32 - The Baili Family’s Meeting
The leader of the Baili group sighed. He understood what Xue Wei meant, but he had a hard time accepting it as the truth.
“Well, that’s that,” the man resided, smiling sadly. When he had awoken this morning, he would never have expected that today would be his final day of life, and even less would he have expected this task to end like this.
Now, however, it seemed that it was his final moments, and although he felt some sour feelings in his heart, he was able to accept this ending.
He was proud of his life as a member of the Baili family. He had not let anyone down and even in death; he believed that he would be a ghost of the Baili family.
Such a person was impossible to hate, and he was someone who deserved respect. However, Xue Wei also understood that a person like this would be too dangerous to be left alive.
He simply could not afford to let the man go, and thus he lifted the Qi sword and gave it a firm swing, beheading the leader and giving him a quick, painless death.
There was no bloodlust or murderous aura at this moment; all that was left was a group of experts saying their final goodbye to a man that had garnered some respect.
Even Bai Tianyi took a pause before absorbing the soul power that was released after his death.
After killing the last of them, Xue Wei did not even glance at the corpses that were littered in the streets of the academy; instead, they just continued towards the restaurant.
“Were you scared?” Xue Wei asked Luoluo as he, once more, took her into his arms and carried her.
“Not scared,” Luoluo shook her head with a sweet smile on her face. “Big Brother and Uncle Lin Xiao will protect Luoluo, Luoluo is not at all scared when Big Brother and Uncle Lin Xiao are around.”
Xue Wei laughed when he noticed how she completely ignored ‘doggie’ Hei Gou and ‘brat’ Bai Tianyi.
On the other hand, the two ignored experts did not have any wish to draw attention to themselves.
Bai Tianyi was in a relatively great mood. He had just consumed the soul power of the entire group, and he could already feel how it was increasing his cultivation base slowly but surely.
Hei Gou was also quite happy after having sparred against Xue Wei in the morning, and now having fought a battle against a group of experts, even if it was more one-sided.
He had felt thrilled and excited, so he did not mind forgiving Luoluo for once. After all, Xue Wei really doted on the child, so even if he found her annoying, he had to cope with it.
The spectators were completely silent before a person suddenly started vomiting.
It was clear that these students had never before seen such a macabre scene as the one in front of them. Seeing these people with decapitated heads, amputated limbs, disemboweled intestines—everything they saw was just so gruesome that the sight of the bloodbathed corpses and fresh scent of death saturating the air was simply too much for some of them to stomach.
Rumors were spread through the academy within moments. They used their telepathy to converse with their friends and tell them everything they had just witnessed before their friends spread the news on further. Soon, a few turned to many, many quickly turned to hundreds, and hundreds spread to thousands within the city.
The Baili family were also amongst the first to be informed about the loss of their minions, and the domineering actions of Xue Wei’s group.
Inside the Baili family mansion, the elders gathered together.
“Do you think that this Xue Wei is so much stronger than others at the same rank, or is it true that spiritual energy cultivators are weak compared to the Qi cultivators?” one of the elders asked with a pondering expression on his face.
“I do not believe that Qi cultivators are more powerful in battle,” another said with disdain in his voice. “If they were, would the Primordial Beasts not be much more prominent and dangerous in a fight?”
“So this Xue Wei and his friends are special?” the first person asked with unconcealed uncertainty in his voice.
“They managed to wipe out eleven experts while only being four. It shows that their battle prowess is outstanding, and their ruthlessness cannot be matched by anyone in Yan Dalu.”
“They are too cocky,” an aged voice suddenly sounded. “They killed our men in front of so many witnesses—it is showing contempt for Yan Dalu’s law, and we can charge them with the crime of murdering citizens of our continent.”
“That will not work.” The speaker who responded was also an old man but who was seated in the most prominent position within the hall, and when he spoke, the rest listened with reverence.
“The witnesses saw that the Baili men were the ones who were aggressive and looking for trouble. If we truly drag them to court, we will not win as they will be seen as fighting in the name of self-defense.”
“We can bribe the jury and the judges.” The man who had spoken before was not willing to give up, and he tried to convince them that it was a possibility.
“No, we cannot allow for him to be taken away,” a fourth elder suddenly spoke up. “He comes from another continent, and he is filled with treasures. Just look how strong he has made the Yuan and the Gu families in such a short amount of time. We need to capture him and force out his secrets, make him submit to our family, and work for us.”
“Can we control him though?” The elder who wanted to put him behind bars was still not convinced, “He has already killed so many of our men and even a direct descendant of our Baili family! This is unacceptable!”
“Well, we will obviously have to punish him for what he did, but he will be a great benefit to our family if we capture him. Our family needs to remain the strongest amongst them all.”
“How are we going to capture him, now that it is proven that we cannot use students of the Earth rank? We need to at least use Sky Knight-ranked experts to deal with them,” the elder whom they all respected spoke up.
One of the elders who had been silent so far finally had something to add, “My son, Baili Guan is a brilliant young man. He has reached the second layer of the Sky Knight rank and should be capable of leading a group to bring the criminal back to our family so that we can slowly convince him that working with us is much better than working with the Gu and Yuan families.”
While the Baili family were busy discussing how best to apprehend and capture Xue Wei, the man in question was at the restaurant eating happily with his friends.
“Eat slower, it isn’t going anywhere,” Xue Wei laughed when he saw how Luoluo was gobbling up the food on her plate so fast as if she feared that it would spontaneously vanish at any moment.
“It tastes so good!” Luoluo grinned and stuffed another piece of braised Mirror Boar meat into her mouth, and immediately following it up by reaching and grabbing her favorite—the Ice Lotus Shrimp wontons.
Xue Wei smiled as he saw how messy she was when eating, reminding him of his own childhood from before his father died. He too had been a very active and positive child until the day he realized that he could not cultivate.
He found a napkin and gently wiped her mouth, but it only took a short while before the mouth was caked in grease again, and he could only shake his head in defeat.
As they finished eating—although, in Luoluo’s case, it was better described as a ruthless oral assault with no survivors—they returned to their house. On the way, they found that the area where they had fought earlier was closed off, and a lot of acad
emy staff were going around cleaning the ground and disposing of the bodies.
“They will not give up just like that,” Xue Wei suddenly said as they regrouped at home, and once more waited for Gu Bing’er and Yuan Bailong to arrive.
As they arrived, the look on their faces were grim, they clearly knew about Xue Wei having killed the Baili family’s men, and the fact that they killed with no hesitation made both of the two citizens of Yan Dalu uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Xue Wei was a comrade of theirs, but they could not help but wonder what would have happened if they had been on the opposing side of Xue Wei and his friends. Would they have been mercilessly slaughtered too?
Gu Bing’er was the first to realize that they would have been fine as long as they had not caused problems for him. Xue Wei had not been antagonistic towards the Baili family before they started to try and force him to fight against the Gu and Yuan families, and side with the Baili family.
So since this was the case, then she could accept it. As long as he did not kill for pleasure and forget his humanity, she was able to understand and admonish actions.
Gu Bing’er was also much calmer than Yuan Bailong. She was also much more mature and ruthless when it came to scheming, so she understood things like this, which Yuan Bailong had a hard time accepting.
Yet after listening to his fiancé explaining her thoughts telepathically, Yuan Bailong was also feeling better, and his face softened, regaining a bit of its color.
Xue Wei could guess their thoughts from reading their expressions. Killing was something he too, had frowned upon back when he began his journey, but now that he had grown accustomed to it as time went by, he had learned that either he killed his enemies or his enemies killed him.
“So the Baili family are not likely to let us go. Before, they would probably not have left us be, and now they’re definitely coming for us,” Xue Wei began talking with unusual solemnity.