The youth and his group inched closer to the exit as they stealthily avoided fights. Very soon, the group’s eyes lit up. The exit was in sight. They held their breath as they tried not to scream in joy. As they came closer, the youth raised his hands and everyone stopped.

Qing Ai asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Wait,” the youth reached into his quiver and took out an arrow with a serrated tip. He grabbed a pouch from his belt and threw it towards the exit. As it was over the gate, the youth released the arrow. Just like that time with the Long-Tongued Baboons, the arrow shred the pouch and released its contents onto the ground.

“What’s this?” they heard a faint voice beyond the gate as the powder made contact. Instantly, they flopped to the ground as their mouths frothed. The youth cautiously walked over to the gate and saw four people lying unconscious behind the walls.

He heaved a sigh of relief. His guess was right. They indeed hid people behind the gates to ambush the escapees. Only, it seemed that they were regular soldiers and he accidentally used a stronger dosage as he thought they were cultivators.

He put his fingers on their necks and shook his head. Dead. He let go of useless thoughts and signaled the others to come. Qing Ai and the others walked forward. Their expressions fell as they saw the dead people.

Before they could ask what happened, the youth smiled and said, “Run away from this place. Find an Eagle and ask them to protect you. Unfortunately, I won’t be accompanying you.”

The others hesitated and looked at each other. Finally, one of the more timid girls took a step forward and bowed 90°, “Thank you!”

The others followed suit and bowed. The youth shook his head, “Show your appreciation after you survive. You guys aren’t out of the woods yet!” He looked at them with firm eyes and ordered, “Leave now!”

Qing Ai and the others stood straight again and ran away with all their might. They looked back. But the youth wasn’t there anymore.

The youth came back to the side door of the dining hall. Unlike before where he was advancing at a snail’s pace, he was advancing a lot faster albeit still cautiously.

Outside the side exit were bodies. They were on the ground and didn’t seem to have any intention of getting up. The youth looked at the door. Sure enough, it was opened and the pouches burst open. He went next to the bodies and flipped them over.

They were the servants; their horrified expressions still etched on their bodies. The trail of bodies went further into the hall. He followed the bodies as they kept increasing. The youth scratched his neck frantically. No matter how he consoled himself, seeing mass deaths was never relieving.

Soon, the cause of death changed from poisoning to blade wounds as he went inside the inn.

“Are we the bad guys?” he heard a shaky voice. He instantly ducked behind the kitchen counter and poked his head to see what was happening. Amidst all the tables and benches where the servants used to eat, stood two young men who looked like they were in their late 20s. They had devastated expressions on their faces as they saw the massacre around them.

The younger-looking man grabbed the shoulders of the older one as he, “Don’t think about it, San! Empty your mind! We’re not doing this out of choice. Just do as you’re told. You want still want to marry Chu Hua, don’t you? Didn’t you want children? Don’t think about what you’re doing right now; think about your future!”

“But what of their futures, Ling?” the man named San screamed. “Why are we rebelling? Was it necessary to threaten me with Huahua?”

“We’re all getting threatened,” Ling shook his head bitterly. “It’s either us or them.” His eyes became firm as he checked the bodies.

“What are the higher-ups thinking?” San shed tears but still did his job; as he was about to check another body, “You guys are absolutely the bad guys.”

“Wha-?” both of them turned their heads towards the owner of the voice and got arrows planted in their heads. The youth hopped from behind the counter. He walked to them and retrieved the arrows from their heads. Grey matter and blood splashed onto his robes.

“Regardless of whether you were threatened or not, it’s never okay to take the lives of innocents,” the youth quietly muttered to himself. Consolation didn’t work. Reassurance didn’t do anything.

The youth maneuvered through the piles and piles of corpses as he walked outside the main door. He looked outside. The fighting was still going on vigorously. Swords clashed, arrows flew, daggers danced and blood flowed. To him, it looked like hell on Earth.

He looked back at the two people he just killed. Will I ever be able to understand them? Killing for your loved ones; could he ever justify killing them? No. The real question is, can their actions be justified? I killed them in self-defense.

…that’s all there is to it.

He shook all useless thoughts and headed towards his destination. The fight between the Elders was probably going on in the Patriarch’s house. That’s where all of the Clan’s important documents and Patriarch’s vast wealth were.

This time, he threw caution to the wind and started running. As he dashed, he saw noticed something. Some of the clansmen would have a red mark on their foreheads.

This wasn’t something exclusive to the two guys at the inn. He noticed this mark on the two he killed in the inn as well. Did the others I kill, also have this mark? He tried to recall but he was too on edge and can’t seem to remember. He concluded.

He took out an arrow and aimed at the red-marked clansman in front of him. He was fighting with another clansman who did not have a mark. He released the arrow as he ran towards their fight. The arrow struck the target as the other clansman jumped back in shock.

The youth who was still running came forward and took the arrow from the red-marked clansman’s head. He looked towards the other man and asked, “Was he a rebel?”

The man composed himself and said, “Yes, he was.”

The youth nodded in satisfaction. His guess was right. The rebels have red marks on their forehead. That answered the question of how they’d differentiate. He looked at the clansman and said, “All the rebels have red marks.”

“Understood!” the clansman nodded solemnly. The youth took off running again.

At times like this, he’d curse the size of the Li Clan Estate. Even though he was running with the speed of a Qi Refinement Cultivator, he still hadn’t reached the Patriarch’s House. Like before, if he’d see any rebel fighting in his path, he would kill them.

After 2 or 3 minutes, he finally arrived in front of the Patriarch’s courtyard. As he tried to catch his breath, he heard a loud explosion. It caused tremors and rattled his bones.

After the ringing in his ears stopped, he heard Li Wanyu’s scream, “LI GANG, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND!?”

“What the…?” the youth hesitated. He was finally about to head in when he heard a mocking voice behind him, “Well, look who it is?”

The youth’s eyes widened as he looked back. There was a group of 11 or 12 people behind him. And in the center of them stood-

“Young Master Murong,” the youth smiled. “I wonder what made you visit us today?”

“I was in the neighborhood and decided to drop in!” Murong Fang frivolously replied with a smirk.

“Well, it seems we have some technical difficulties, so we might not be able to attend to you.”

5

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. I was looking for you!” he waved his hands as though he didn’t want to cause a misunderstanding.

“Looking for me? May I ask why you are looking for me and who those men behind you are?” The youth looked behind Murong Fang and at the group of battle-hardened men. QI Refinement experts and oh, there’s a Blood Condensation expert as well!

“Them?” Murong Fang looked at the men behind him who smiled devilishly. “These are my friends!”

“And may I ask why they’ve come?”

4

“Well, they wanted to see the Li Mistress’s Butler!”

“I did not think that my fame spreads that wide!” The youth pretended to gasp in shock.

3

“Oh, of course!” Murong Fang looked at him with furious eyes, “After all, it’s the guy who ruined my years of planning!”

2

Murong Fang took a deep breath and commanded, “Get him!”

1

Battle Begin!

The youth ran away in the opposite direction.