I only have a few days before the Captains will be expecting some kind of improvement in my cultivation...if with even 6 leaves I don't come close to the Soul condensing stage, then the other Captains will begin suspecting me

Xing Kai thought to himself quietly as he followed the little girl. They used paths which were at least not completely muddy and walked across the dark slums with only Xiao Lan's humming filling the silence.

"Have you only just become homeless or have you been wandering around for a while now?" she asked.

Kai was taken aback and stilled.

Xiao Lan continued walking for a while before she noticed his absence. She turned around to find Kai paused in thought and only needed to wait for a brief moment before Kai grabbed a stick and began writing in the dirt.

"Some weeks? Your obviously quite experienced living like this then, so I won't have to teach you the basics" she said in relief. She turned about on the spot and continued walking while humming to herself.

Kai watched her skipping over broken plates, in a daze.

The pair soon reached what would have been the centre of the old town and was the current centre of the slums; a small square. Fortunately the square was composed of compacted dry dirt, and not the thick mud found everywhere else. There were trees dotted around the square and even some grass, but it was trampled on and very pale. The square had several huts lining the sides, and several stone circles where fires could be seen burning slowly. The ground was otherwise covered in odd broken items and what appeared to be food.

And there were a lot of people here.

To Xing Kai's amazement the number of people seemed to be over a hundred and there was no lacking age group from babies swaddled in cloth to old men with frail legs. The majority seemed to be young girls and boys, older then Kai, but still not adults. It was not the empty, lonely place he thought it would be.

This is basically a village

Xing Kai looked about and felt increasingly disturbed. The uneven huts were made from burnt wood, there was a meagre amount of food being cooked over the fires and nobody appeared to have much strength left in them. Most disturbingly Xing Kai noticed that nobody seemed to speak much, not even the babies cried.

Why are these people living out here?

"I'll show you to my home, come on. If my brother agrees you can even stay with us for a while ok?" Xiao Lan hopped along around the square and towards a small stone building. It appeared to have been made out of many rough packed stones jointed with clay, around a wooden frame...there was even a window which had survived the years and had been placed into the wall, providing light to the little home.

Xing Kai stepped hesitantly inside after Xiao Lan and looked about. There was only a single room which had a ring of stones and a wooden frame for spit roasting food...and Xing Kai noticed there was plenty of meat. In the back of the home, by the window, there was a few animal skins, in excellent condition, arranged to form a comfortable bed. There didn't seem to be any other place to sleep, as there were scraps of metal and odd shiny items all over the place, but otherwise the home was excellent compared to all the others.

"My brother made this bed. He worked really hard to get these animal skins; they're pretty right?" said Xiao Lan happily. She patted her little bed, indicating for Kai to sit down next to her. "These things I gathered all by myself from the outer fringes, to make toys from. Some of the children here like them, and plus I can sell them sometimes to people at the market. "

Xiao Lan eagerly showed Xing Kai the things she had gathered, carefully explaining each item's charms and selling points.

You already have things to do Kai...don't sit here for another second or else

Xing Kai's inner voice continued trying to budge him from the small heap of animal skins he was sitting on, but Xing Kai couldn't move. He wouldn't.

"This one I found with some friends. We're working on making it look like a godly beast roaring over a cliff...do you think that would be good?" she said with a critical expression. Her brown eyes stared back expectantly at Kai.

I think I've seen enough

Xing Kai suddenly got up and left Xiao Lan behind.

I already have too many things to take care of...if I lose focus I might lose my chances at revenge

Xing Kai stamped out and avoided walking through the square and it's destitute residents. His heart clenched, and faintly Kai could feel his eyes becoming warm.

"Hey wait, I haven't even taught you all the secrets to surviving the slums, where are you going?" Xiao Lan came running from behind and grabbed his arm with both of hers. "Plus it's too dangerous. Even my brother doesn't like running into the bad people, you should stay. It's safe here, we can take care of you, promise." Her little face began scrunching up.

Xing Kai looked down at the little girl clinging onto his arm. He scowled and looked away but refusing to look at the square also.

Damn it

Xing Kai yanked his arm away but before Xiao Lan could grab onto him again, he began pulling out the parchment and pencil again. Xiao Lan immediately became quiet and eagerly peered at this hands as he was writing. Xiao Lan's strange behaviour and Kai's appearance had gathered plenty of attention by now, so some of the children came over to them both.

Why do you stay here?

Xing Kai himself felt like it was probably a stupid question but he needed some kind of an answer.

However as soon as he passed the note to Xiao Lan her expression turned nervous.

"That's what I was trying to tell you. It's dangerous being on your own in the streets" she said desperately. "People used to disappear all the time, so everyone kind of ended up here in the slums...but even here people disappear. Only when we gathered together did people stop disappearing."

Xing Kai's eyes widened.

What did the militia say?

This time the group of children crowding around also looked at the note. All of them collectively scowled and some of them even cursed shockingly.

"Silly, the disappearances isn't only among the homeless. Even normal people in the town are disappearing but nobody can stop it, what could the militia do for us?

What? Nobody at the militia ever mentioned something like this happening?

Another voice interrupted Kai's thoughts before he could ask anything further.

"Normal people don't disappear. My mom and dad were poor and only just survived in the town" said a quiet voice. It was a little girl about 9 years old. "They disappeared. It's never the big rich families that have been attacked. Only the little families which barely anybody knows."

There were many heads that nodded sadly.

All these people...are orphaned because people, no whole families, are disappearing?

Xing Kai looked about with his mouth slightly hanging open. He looked around at the square and felt his chest squeeze painfully again.

My village...it's revenge won't be affected. I can help them a little bit, it won't cost me much

Xing Kai's eyes became determined again with a firm light appearing in them.

And these disappearances...might be linked in some way to the attack on my village

Xing Kai looked back at Xiao Lan and smiled faintly.

I'll be back in no time ok?

Seeing his note Xiao Lan became excited and lively again, even asking to come along with him. However Xing Kai refused her with a command that she needed sleep since she spent the entire night awake. With a deflated little girl back in bed and a crowd of children also returning to their shelters, Kai left the slums.

.....

My advance should be enough to get myself a proper weapon

Xing Kai stood outside the militia headquarters with a note in his hand. It had the Zhou brother's signature on it.

If the advance isn't enough, then I'll just have to make a bow for myself

He knocked and entered. Passing the note to one of the officers, who was also one of the 300 elite, Kai received a small pre-packaged envelope of money.

Feels a little light...perhaps 30 blood coins?

Xing Kai thought back to how long and hard he had to work in the village before he had to earn this much, as he walked out of the solid building.

Then again, I wasn't at risk of dying while moving potatoes, so 30 is a little...

Xing Kai began to feel a little disappointed, so he decided to count his actual earnings without bothering to conceal it. Standing in the sandy training grounds with faint rays of sunlight appearing above the camp, Xing Kai studied the coins in his hand.

1 coin...3...5 coins in total.

5 single mark blood coins.

That's 50 blood coins all together.

Xing Kai was pleasantly surprised.

Wait...this coins a double mark?

Xing Kai's jaw dropped.

This is a double marked coin!

Xing Kai couldn't control the smile that appeared on his face.

I have 140 coins?

Xing Kai almost cheered out loud when suddenly he froze.

Another...there are 2 more double mark blood coins...

Xing Kai's expression became comically blank.

320...I earned 320 blood coins...

He blinked a few times and peered closely at the coins, making sure that there were definitely 2 ridges on the front of the small red coloured coins. He flipped the coins over in a flurry of motion and checked the authentication.

The coins were real. There was still a faint glow of the many tiny blood drops imprinted onto the back of the coins.

320 coins is more than mom and dad's whole savings

Xing Kai felt a tight stab in the chest but wrestled past it as he stared at the money in his palms. Suddenly he noticed his strange behaviour and glanced around guardedly. There was nobody around.

I'll definitely have enough for a good bow and even some quality arrows

Xing Kai felt grateful for a moment towards the 2 swordsmen, the Zhou brothers. He dashed off to wash, get a hefty meal as usual and gather all the clothes and money the sisters had given him. He spent only a couple minutes grabbing a sword from the warehouse and then left the camp again.

Perhaps I can afford a good sword too

.....

The sun was visible even from the town square as Xing Kai stood and look up. There was normally a huge number of people wandering through the streets, transporting goods or conducting business of some kind or another. Xing Kai had, however, arrived at the town square well before the streets were bustling. And also before the businesses were even open.

Until the businesses would be open Xing Kai walked around. He soon noticed the faint cloud-coloured stones and the dark lead jointing which formed the town square. The cloudy stone didn’t seem to have a speck of dirt on it, and considering so many people walked over it daily, this was quite an achievement.

I guess I didn't really pay proper attention when I was here for the militia entrance test

He knelt down and rubbed his knuckles against the cool ground.

A smooth, glossy pebble...almost like glass.

I think...I found one of these before

Xing Kai recalled finding such a smooth and cool pebble in the village, but it was quite dark and murky in comparison. In fact comparing against the large meter long, weighty-looking stone slabs which paved the square, he thought his own stone was laughable.

What really drew Xing Kai's attention was the lead jointing used to join the stones. It was truly wasteful. Lead was harmful yes, but had some great qualities that were useful for other purposes. For it to be spent on making roads was almost hilarious to Xing Kai.

Dad spent months gathering enough lead, just make alloyed shears for the sheep...not that we had the sheep for long, since Gang Wei-

Xing Kai tightly shut his eyes until his heart settled. He returned to his attention back to the square.

A square like this would probably take our whole village 3 generations to make

Xing Kai looked around at the buildings marking the outline of the square. They were made of thick ancient-looking wood and brightly coloured stones of similar quality to the cloudy stones used in the square.

I wonder how much it would cost to buy one of these buildings...

Xing Kai smiled bitterly.

I doubt I will ever have a place like this

The appearance was grand indeed, but Xing Kai instead became drawn to all the features of the architecture that could serve as hand holds...and as he expected, they were all just beyond his jumping height.

Flat roofs with large guttering to act as a shield...

Stone buildings...stone ground...

Xing Kai shook his head.

Hopefully for the town's sake it won't be pushed to that extent...