Crash

A blurred figure hurled through the air, crashing into several trees before limping onto the ground.

“You despicable coward, I regret ever saving you all those years ago!” A mature looking woman yelled at the man who was sent flying through the air. Her face was flushed red and her veins were visibly throbbing by her neck.

“Master… I…” The man attempted to speak but was cut off by the woman.

“You dare still see me as your master?” She pointed her finger towards the man and sent out the pressure of her cultivation.

The man felt as if a mountain was sitting on his back, crushing him. He let out a cough of blood before completely going motionless.

His body slowly sunk into the ground as she continued to apply pressure. However, just as the woman was about to finish off the man, a handsome youth who was previously standing behind the woman reached for her hand to stop her from continuing.

“Master, what’s done is done. Killing him will not undo anything which has already happened.” The handsome youth said softly.

“No, he ignored my order and chose to selfishly keep his life instead of giving it for the sect. He must die!” She retorted.

“He was your first disciple. I’m afraid once master kills him, it will develop a shadow in your heart and affect your progression in cultivation.”

The woman thought for a moment before finally calming down and smiled.

“Good disciple, I’m so happy to have found someone as talented and thoughtful as you.” Her countenance turned a full 180 degree, and her face now showed a cold ravishing beauty. “You are right, this scum would indeed have a negative effect on me, but he had disobeyed my orders and must be punished.”

“If disciple may suggest, why not take back everything you have given him?” The implications of the handsome youth were clear. He was telling her to destroy the man’s cultivation, making him a cripple.

“Mn, I will do exactly that.” She nodded in agreement

She went up to the collapsed man and kicked him in the stomach with her foot. The kick did not send him flying but a deep reverberating sound was heard from his abdominal area. The man spat out a chunk of blood and began to age at a visible rate.

“You are no longer my disciple, and from this day forth, you are kicked out of the Thunder storm sect.” She spoke with a calm voice, but anyone who heard it would hear an underlying murderous intent from it.

The man continued to lie in his own pool of blood without replying or moving a muscle.

Just as she was about to stand up, her eyes landed on the spatial ring on his finger. With a wave of her hand, his finger which wore the spatial ring snapped off his hand and flew towards her hand.

“With this, you no longer have any relations to our sect; never show your face in front of me again.”

She walked towards the handsome youth and together they flew off into the sky.

Night came and went; the first crack of light began to light up the horizon.

Clop, Clop, Clop

The sound of horses pulling a carriage sounded from the distance.

“Daddy, why are we going to the capital sooooooo eaaaaarrrrlllly, I need sleep to keep up my beauty!” a 12 year old girl was pouting to the side of the window inside the carriage.

“Hahaha, you are becoming more like your mother every day.” A scholarly looking man was sitting opposite of the little girl and laughing heartily at his daughter’s banter. “Now, now, you know the king of this country had begged me for months to take a look at his son’s condition and I’ve already promised I would. It would be inappropriate for me to delay any longer in seeing his son’s condition. ”

“Mn, I know, I just wish he would have brought his son to us instead of us going….to….him….” the little girl dozed off as she finished off her sentence.

“Careful!” the carriage driver suddenly shouted.

The carriage came to an abrupt stop and the little girl flew towards her dad.

Thump

Two heads bumped in a full on collision.

The disoriented girl got up, patted the dust off her clothes, and sat back down while looking away from her father. It was evident from the water in her eyes that she was trying to hold back her tears. The little bump on her head didn’t help mask the situation though.

The man could only give a light laugh seeing his cute daughter attempt to save face.

“What happened?” He asked the driver as he rubbed the new lump on his head.

“Apologies, there is a dead body in front of us and I was unable to see it until I got too close. Please hold on one second while I clear it from the road.” The driver answered as if it was normal to see dead bodies on the road.

“En, alright”

The driver went towards the body which was lying in a pool of blood. Just as he was about to touch the body, the seemingly dead body coughed out a puddle of blood.

“What the F*ck!” the driver jumped in fright. The body he saw was completely soaked in blood and the face on the man was death white. If he wasn’t dead didn’t that mean he was an undead?

“What’s wrong?” The man had gotten out of the carriage with the little girl following right behind.

“S-s-sir, t-this dead body has just r-r-risen from the dead, we must leave!” The driver spoke franticly as he tried to make his way back to the carriage.

“Hold, this man is not dead.” He was able to tell from just a glance. “However, it seems like someone has left him for dead.”

The little girl was visibly shaking as she asked her dad, “I-is he alright?” If any regular person lost this amount of blood, it would be nothing short of a miracle if they survived.

As if hearing her voice, the man who was still lying in a pool of his own blood began to move. He got up and looked at the little girl with his soulless eyes.

The girl trembled at the sight and the father moved in front of his daughter as if to shield her from the scene that was currently happening.

He was just about to ask the dead looking man a question when suddenly the man kowtowed towards him and his daughter.

This man then began to speak weakly, “M-Master, this disciple has failed you and lost you face at the competition.”

He pathetically crawled to the shoes of the old man and held on tight to his ankle as if he was afraid the person he was holding would disappear. “It was selfish of me to deny your order and I take full responsibility for it. I was just scared about leaving master. “

Clouds began to draw near and a light drizzle poured down on the people below. “To die for master would be my greatest honour but to die for the sake of the sect, I would never do. My life is only for you, I will not die for anyone else! ” His voice, though weak, jolted everyone at the scene awake.

Tears were flowing down the man’s face. Ordinary people may not be able to see, but the scholarly man was able to differentiate the bloodied man’s tears from the water of the rain. Those tears carried deep emotion and sadness.

“I will receive any punishment… but…. please…. master… don’t abandon me. I can’t live without… you….” With that final sentence, the man once more collapsed, showing no further movement.

Everyone was shocked by the statements made by this man. Especially the last one, it was as if a child speaking to a parent who was about to abandon him.

The only sound remaining came from the rain as it hit the ground. The silence lasted a good while until a small whimper was heard.

“Daaaad, this is so sad, who would do such a thing to this person.” The girl had broken the long silence as she could not bottle up the feelings she was feeling towards the pitiful man.

The girl’s father was a traveling doctor who was hailed as a genius doctor, capable of healing anyone. Of course this was not the case and he had to reject his fair share of incurable people. Everyone had their own stories on how they got injured or sick and the little girl would listen to those stories to broaden her horizons.

The saddest of those stories were ones given by those who were eventually rejected by her father for being ‘untreatable’. However, over time, she had grown accustomed to sad stories and rarely did she ever show emotions when listening to them. Thus, it was truly rare for her to shed a tear for this stranger she had just met.

“You’ll help this man, right?” the girl asked teary eyed

“Yes, it is my duty as a doctor to help those in need.” He replied sternly.

The old man picked up the bloody man and returned to the carriage with his daughter. “Please continue the trip.”

“Yes sir.” With a ‘hiyaa’ the carriage continued on its way to the capital of Wayward Country.