Year 258 of Taiping, Reign of Empress Cao Ming Yung

‘So much for a peaceful trip.’ thought Jianyu to himself as he observed the bandits swiftly approaching them through Energy Vision. He could only hope they wouldn’t obstruct them too much. While he could easily beat them himself, even as injured as he was, he couldn’t afford to allow news of a cultivator to spread, whether through the merchant or the surviving bandits.

On the other hand, Tang Bai was not so calm. He was sweating buckets, and the cart hadn’t even reached the highwaymen.

As the cart slowed to a halt, Jianyu continued playing the role of the blind beggar, spinning in confusion and asking the merchant why they had stopped.

“Ah, unfortunately it appears we have happened upon a group of thieves,” Tang Bai replied.

Just from his aura, Jianyu could tell that the man was stressed. Untrained cultivators naturally gave off small amounts of qi, although a true aura, or domain, was only attained in the Immortal Realms. In particular, Tang Bai’s aura lacked the water element, showing he was not adaptable enough to respond to such a situation.

The bandits themselves were also untrained, giving off tendrils of fire and metal qi. Their mortal weapons had begun the path of cultivation themselves, having steeped themselves in the blood of hundreds. One in particular, however, seemed to be the leader, stepping forward to address the mortal and the cripple.

“Greetings, honorable merchant. Could you spare some food for myself and my brother?”

This was clearly deceptive; several of the bandits were overweight, showing that their highway robbery had been lucrative. In the Hong Kingdom, only the wealthy could afford gluttony.

“Apologies, strangers, but after last season’s drought, I have nothing to spare. One must feed their family.”

Tang Bai clearly had some skill as a merchant; despite the terror evident in his aura, he managed to stoically deal with the threat.

“Anything would help us. Could you even spare some food,” the leader replied, despite possessing a rotund appearance.

But Jianyu knew this was deceptive; the malicious intent in their auras alone was enough for him to conclude as such, but the sound of weapons being drawn alerted him further.

In light of the deteriorating situation, Tang Bai panicked. He attempted to force his oxen to continue forward, but faced with hard steel and humans, they refused, bellowing lowly.

Within his own mind, Jianyu heard voices urging him to act, but he silenced them with an effort of will. ‘I must survive and stay hidden, no matter what.’

“Honorable merchant, we cannot afford to take no for an answer,” said the bandit leader, signaling to his underlings to move forth.

“Wha- what are you doing??” said a terrified Tang Bai, as the bandits grabbed him from the cart and threw him to the ground. “Please, don’t kill me! I have a wife and children.”

At this, the bandit leader spat. “You deserve to crawl the lands like a worm, filthy coward. You dare use women and children for your defense? After you wouldn’t help ours?” He turned his head away, furrowing his brow before glancing over his shoulder. “Gut him like the fish he is.”

While this was happening, Jianyu was also transported to the ground, although mostly under his own power. As the bandits knew, it incurred bad karma to mistreat those less fortunate than oneself. Some of the bandits seemed incredulous at his condition, waving their swords in front of him to see if he’d react. Of course, he knew they were doing so, but Jianyu had enough self control to refrain from reacting, and he remained silent through it all.

And then, the bandits began to prove exactly why Tang Bai had been terrified of him. Although Jianyu couldn’t tell exactly where they were cutting him, he was able to read the aura signature of the merchant to discover which internal organs were being ruptured or punctured.

They started with his appendix, making the merchant scream out in pain, begging them to stop. Then, they moved sliced open his liver, spelling his certain death. Between the wailing and the sobbing, all Jianyu felt was… annoyance. Why couldn’t this merchant face death with dignity? It truly was not so difficult. After the bandits cut open Tang Bai’s stomach, Jianyu stopped paying attention. He couldn’t survive any of the wounds he’d sustained.

“Jiang Tao, what about the beggar? If we leave him, he’ll die,” inquired one of the bandits who’d tried to get a rise out of Jianyu.

“You’re right, he’ll die if we just leave him. Nor can we afford to take him with us. It would be… a mercy to expedite the process.”

Until this point, Jianyu hadn’t acted. Even as the bandits sliced open Tang Bai, he’d done nothing. After all, he’d tried to save others before, and that was exactly why he was crippled.

But for the first time in weeks, his own life was being threatened. Even though the bandits posed no threat to him, paltry practitioners that they were, he had to act. ‘I suppose I can use this opportunity to maintain my skills,’ he thought to himself.

Clearing his throat, he addressed the bandits as they stood over the fresh corpse of the merchant. “No witnesses?”

Jianyu could feel the confusion in their auras. It was clear that they hadn’t expected such a frail beggar to speak with such vigor, nor had they expected his fearlessness.

He smiled viciously, his blind eyes flying open as he prepared for an excitement he hadn’t experienced in ages.

“Good.”

***

After dispatching the bandits, Jianyu continued on. Thankfully, they hadn’t harmed the oxen, and so he was able to continue on his journey. They hadn’t been anything close to a challenge, even though he’d restricted himself to unarmed combat. After all, when your fists were harder than steel, not much could stand up to you.

The worst part of all was the lack of a bathhouse. Dirt crusted under his fingers after days of travel combined with the blood and gore of his… assailants? Victims? The fight had been so one-sided that he wasn’t sure how to describe it.

‘And yet, you weren’t merciful. You slaughtered them like… animals,’ said the voice in his head. It almost sounded like his brother… even its sense of morality was the same.

It’s not like they deserved mercy anyways. They killed Tang Bai, he justified to himself.

‘And yet, you didn't save him, even when you had the opportunity.’

After everything that had happened, Jianyu was at the end of his rope. And these voices had the audacity to question him?

I may not have saved him, but at least I am alive. Unlike you.

His biting reply seemed to offer him a respite from the voice. It had been constant in the days since the merchant’s death.

As much as he hated to admit it, Tang Bai had been proficient at staving off the inanity of travel. Now, his only companions were the wolf pups, who had continued to fend for themselves in the wild. Considering that they were wild demons, this was to be expected; being coddled and cared for would lead them nowhere.

Although, I suppose they aren’t pups anymore, he thought to himself. They’d grown significantly in the short time they’d lived. Already, they were nearly waist height, and according to his Energy Vision, their cores were already at the Count level, equivalent to early Foundation Establishment.

Granted, he could still easily fend them off on his own, but he was no soft target either. Their claws and teeth weren’t as developed as his own physique, painstakingly advanced through the years.

And so the days continued, his aura warding off any weak demons, and the wolves handling the rest. Although he would have preferred to travel by foot, without a supply of qi to replenish his body, he was forced to rely on mortal food, of which Tang Bai had held in abundance.

His body had stopped healing itself as a result, evidence that advanced resources were necessary to progress. Damn it all, he thought. It wasn’t enough for the gods to take his brother, no. They had to cripple him too. Even if it doomed his soul for several lifetimes, he refused to bow to the heavens.