Chapter 147: Evil witch.

"What is that!?" The man with the curse placed on him shouted out in confusion as he watched on from behind the rock. Seeing the golden flames wrap around Haru's body frightened him for a moment before he had to look away because the brightness of the fire was blinding.

Haru ignored him even though he had heard the question and then stepped foot back inside the compound. As he entered he felt the presence of dozens of people surrounding him. But none of them had the strength to make him feel the slightest threat.

He had left his sword stuck in the corpse of the man outside which would have been a fatal mistake if not for his training in unarmed combat being a lot greater than his training with the sword. His ability to use Qi to form techniques were on another level than that of regular cultivators.

Most of them used their Qi internally to make themselves stronger. But Haru on the other hand used his Qi externally much like he used magic in the past. But that was down to the cultivation technique he was practising. It caused the flow of Qi to be circling his body constantly so he barely had to reinforce his body.

He stood still in the middle of the street for a few minutes and felt as the people slowly began to approach him, hidden within the shadows of the many dark alleyways between the buildings. They practised a technique to camouflage themselves in plain sight. It seemed to be the most effective thing for their usual method of killing people.

But Haru could sense their every position as they came ever so closer toward him. He took a deep breath before gathering Qi into his fist.

A hot breeze made it's way into the compound as Haru's clenched fist began to open slowly, revealing a bright golden flame. The flame shot up high into the air like water running from a faucet. and then spread out across the sky. It stayed there for a few moments before raining back down on to the sect members that were still planning their attack.

Screams echoed out from around the whole compound as the flames stuck to them like napalm.

There was nothing that could be done for them anymore. The flames had already begun devouring their bodies. It was only a matter of time before they would turn to nothing but dust. The screams died down after a few minutes as the flesh from their necks were burned to cinders. They couldn't cry out even if they wanted to.

The only thing that was left for them was accepting that they were going to die and there was no one out there that could save them.

As soon as he felt the flames burn out completely, he continued on his way further into the compound. He was met with very little resistance from the weaker sect members as he walked throughout the streets, looking for more people to slaughter. And by the time he had made his way to the centre of the compound, he had already killed more than fifty people.

He didn't expect there would be so many people within the walls of this place from the outside. But the longer he stayed there the more sect members he would come across. It was like they were all brainwashed. Not a single one of them felt fear as they stood against him apart from the first people he had killed.

It was almost like they were being manipulated by someone. The strangeness of their actions was also accompanied by bizarre almost robotic movements. As he arrived in the centre of the compound a large building stood out from the rest. The wood seemed older than any other material they had used to build the other structures. But yet somehow it gave off Qi. It was like the wood used to build the walls were still alive.

It was just as he began to think about the strangeness of the building when a voice called out from within.

"Are you the one who has been slaughtering my disciples? You seem rather young and I don't seem to recognise you. May I ask what kind of grievances we have?" And old woman's voice whispered out from the old wooden building.

Haru smiled as he heard her voice. 'So this is the witch I have heard so much about?' He thought to himself.

He didn't know how to respond to the question. He did expect an evil witch to try to reason with his actions so it took him by surprise.

"Does it matter why I have come here? Will it make a difference?" Haru asked out loud, assuming the woman could hear him. His guess seemed to be correct as she responded right away.

"Not really... You have already come so far and killed so many of my people. I have no choice but to kill you and then use your corpse to make up for what you have done.

Don't worry too much though. After you are dead, you will no longer feel any pain so you will be able to control much more power without it taking a toll on you.

You seem quite strong already so I can't help but wonder what kind of power you will wild when the ritual is over." She began to talk to herself and describe what she wanted to do to exact her revenge. She seemed so crazed with the idea of killing him that she didn't feel like it would be a tricky task.

Haru said nothing in response to the ramblings of the old woman and he remained where he stood. A creek screamed out from an old decrepit door as it opened on its rusted hinges. Out stepped an old woman small in stature. Her face was wrinkled with age and her eyes were pushed into her head as the skin folded around them.

She walked forward with her wooden cane clacking against the stone floor with each step as she helped herself balance. Her back was hunched and long grey matted hair draped down in every direction in a similar way to the bird's nest of hair on top of her head.

The clack of her cane seemed to produce a slight amount of Qi with each stepped and she smiled sinisterly as she approached Haru.

A poisonous Qi emerged from the very tip of her cane and drifted toward him. It was similar to the demon Qi that he absorbed in the soul tempering grounds and figured it would be negated the same way.

He began to absorb the poisonous Qi, It seemed strong so he didn't want to let go of the chance of purifying the Qi. He reached out with his spiritual sense and directed all of the Qi directly toward his dantian. It resisted at first but with a bit of influence from his own Qi, he began to draw it toward himself.

"You see them right? These are the souls of all of the people I have tortured. They follow me around like this, Begging to be at my mercy even after death. You will soon be one of them." She began to laugh psychotically as she thought her illusion array was working.

Haru remained still and didn't say anything. She seemed strong and he couldn't quite estimate her strength at all. Which meant her cultivation was at least one level higher than his own. He thought it would be smart to look for an opening to attack, And it seemed like she was so confident that she left many of them open.

"Look at them, They are calling out for you to join them. I bet you are too scared to even move… Who am I kidding? You can't move, My poisonous Qi made sure of that. It has probably entered your body right now and is going to eat away at your heart until nothing is left.

He continued to absorb the Qi without her realising. The poisonous Qi seemed to have no end to it but somehow it was stored within the cane. He was tempted to take it from her to get a better look but he didn't feel like he could confidently beat her as he did to the other sect members.

She walked around him in circles. And then suddenly stopped.

"Hmm… It's almost like he…"

Crack.

A large crack formed in her wooden cane and shot up toward the handle and then split in two as it fell to the ground. Before she had time to react she felt something tighten around her neck. She then looked up seeing Haru stood with his arm outstretched.

He began to squeeze his hand tighter and tighter around her neck and she began to gasp for air. She tried to grab at his hand to make him loosen his grip with desperation but nothing she did seemed to work. She even tried to attack him with brute force but her body was frail and old even if she did reinforce it with Qi.

"You t-tricked me! How dare you!" She croaked out as her life force was being drained from her body. The force around her neck only got stronger as she began to speak.

'I wonder if I squeeze a bit harder?' Haru thought as he clamped down as hard as he could. A loud cracking sound rung out as his hand crushed through her vertebrae. Followed by a squelch as blood ran down his hand. Her body went stiff for a second and then he dropped her to the floor.