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044 - The Advent of a Bloody Path
🕑 Added 2024-07-25 15:04:04 +0000 UTCQin Yun's joy at this unexpected encounter soon faded, replaced by his usual apathy. While he briefly felt alive, the feeling was fleeting, and all that remained was boredom. This victory had been far from difficult to achieve. In fact, Qin Yun regretted ending it so soon.
While killing one’s enemies was the norm in this world, he mostly saw no reason to do so. Besides, he was much too sick of blood. Qin Yun couldn’t help but shake his head at how twisted his thought process was.
On the one hand, he wished to feel the blaze of youth, which he could only feel from the edge of death. Yet, he felt battles were tedious and repetitive, with mostly nothing to gain from it except the satisfaction of prevailing against your opponent.
As for feeling sorry for the corpse before his eyes, Qin Yun couldn't care less. Once someone had raised his blade against another, one must be ready to die to it. At least, that was the philosophy he adhered to, but he couldn't expect others to be as reasonable as he was.
“What’s happening down there?”
Qin Yun recognized the voice that pierced through the storm overhead. He could feel the worry in Lian Huiling's voice, and it made him feel slightly warm even when pitted against the cold rain that drenched his body. Honestly, there wasn't anything more precious to him than human interactions. Knowing that someone cared made all the difference. All this time, it had prevented Qin Yun from devolving into an uncaring machine.
“I’m fine,” he replied, yet his voice betrayed the uneasiness in his heart.
For too long, he had gone along with the flow of time, rolling with the waves, uninterested in braving the storm. But now, once again, he had things he wished to protect. Remaining passive would only give those who wished him harm the opportunity to act against him. This whole situation stemmed from his own inactivity.
Still, years of passivity wasn't something Qin Yun could change with just a passing thought. Habits were extremely hard to change. Even this situation wouldn't be enough to truly make him change. Still, it was a start. Qin Yun found a flaw in his attitude and decided to take steps to change it.
In fact, Qin Yun never claimed to be perfect or all-powerful. All he had were his fleeting desires. This was the only thing he could rely on. But even they were flaky at best in the long flow of time. The fear of losing those desires was the only thing that prompted him to carry on.
The sound of Lian Huiling rushing down the hole brought Qin Yun out of his own thoughts. Once again, he had ignored the outside world, preferring to wander on this inward journey. While introspection was good and all, Qin Yun knew he needed to cultivate an interest in his surroundings, yet this was one of the hardest things for him to do.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look right. Are you injured?” Lian Huiling asked as she examined Qin Yun’s condition.
“I'm fine, really. Thank you for worrying about me," Qin Yun replied, showing her a gentle smile.
Lian Huiling couldn’t help but be stunned. She hardly recognized this man. All the time she had known him, he seemed like an enigma, as if he didn’t belong in this world. This was the first time she had felt genuine emotions coming from him.
As a merchant, Lian Huiling was used to interacting with others, seeing through the facade they displayed for the world. Even she wasn't exempt from this. She had learned early on to beware those who faked their kindness and sincerity.
To her, Qin Yun had always seemed to be such a man. A man who could spout bullshit with a straight face as if he didn't believe in his own words. While he always kept the promises he made, this wasn't about sincerity, but only as a matter of course. But now, she felt that something had changed in him, yet it was much too subdued for her to put it into words.
“Who's this?" she asked as she finally noticed the corpse lying at their feet in a puddle of rainwater and mud.
“Let’s find out.”
While Qin Yun's last strike had been overbearing, the corpse was surprisingly intact. In fact, the only wound he could see was a long gash that ran diagonally from the corpse's shoulder through his opposite side. While it was deep enough to be fatal, Qin Yun was surprised that it was still in one piece.
Parting the black cloth that covered the wound, Qin Yun saw a deep blue armour hidden beneath. The armour irregularly pulsed with light as if fighting not to take its dying breath. Lian Huiling couldn't help but be stunned. While she had seen many artifacts in her work, none came close to how beautiful this armour was.
The light emitted from it made Qin Yun ponder; it seemed alive for some reason, yet it was on the verge of collapse. It wasn’t a surprise as Qin Yun’s strike had destroyed most of the runes on its surface. It only maintained its shape due to the lingering Qi flowing within. Still, even that would dissipate in time. Soon enough, it would become nothing more than a chunk of metal.
While Qin Yun was interested in that armour's origin, he opted to find out who exactly wished him dead. He carefully removed the black cloth that masked the corpse's facial features, yet what he saw left him slightly puzzled.
Lying in the mud was the corpse of someone he had recently encountered... Ma Zhiqiang. While Qin Yun could reason that the man wanted him dead, why would he take the risk to do it himself? Besides, as far as he knew, Ma Zhiqiang should have been at the Peak of the Void Core Realm, yet Qin Yun didn’t notice him showing his lotus.
Something didn’t seem right. There was too much Qin Yun couldn’t make sense of. Besides, this armour was much too high-grade to be in the possession of a mere Void Core Cultivator. Qin Yun speculated this armour was how Ma Zhiqiang had been able to hide in the rain. Still, it was too much of a coincidence that there was rain to hide in to begin with. What would he have done without Lian Qian being present?
Qin Yun had many questions that needed to be answered, yet so few clues to draw answers from. He turned to Lian Huiling, hoping she could shed some light on some of them, yet her current expression showed disbelief. Still, beneath all the confusion, Qin Yun noticed a glint of realization.
“What have you seen?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said sheepishly, yet she couldn’t hide her shock.
While Qin Yun didn't wish to push her to reveal something, she was unwilling; this involved more than himself. He couldn't allow someone unknown to threaten his home like Ma Zhiqiang did. If someone possessed similar artifacts and could infiltrate his house, the consequences could be disastrous. Especially since the formation surrounding his residence was now irreparably broken.
“His hair... is white," Lian Huiling finally said. She couldn't forget the sight of her own lover as he tried to take her life. This white hair reminded her of him, especially since Ma Zhiqiang's hair used to be black just a few days ago. Something was afoot, yet she hadn't uncovered anything.
Qin Yun had been too absorbed in observing the broken armour to notice this detail. He lifted the cloth that partially covered the man's hair, only to reveal that it had become blinding white.
Qin Yun's eyes narrowed. While this change was strange, there were countless reasons as to how it might have happened; this wasn't enough to pinpoint it to a single cause. Still, this was a cause for concern. Something had happened to him between the incident with the black token and now, something that had changed him substantially.
While Qin Yun was unfamiliar with Ma Zhiqiang’s personality, he knew the Ma Clan. They weren’t the type to go for a sneak attack, much less doing so personally. If anything, they would do as Ma Yongzheng did and simply rally their troops for a frontal assault, using overwhelming might.
No, this behaviour reminded Qin Yun of his previous clan; only the Qins were adept at gathering information and assassination. Still, would a Ma let themselves be used by the Qin Clan? Something didn't add up. There were too many unknowns for Qin Yun to reach a conclusion. The only thing he knew for sure was that Ma Zhiqiang was now dead at his hand, and this wasn't something he could hide, especially not from those above.
A large explosion occurred above his head, yet it was mostly muffled by the heavy rain. While the blue Qi overhead was calm and constant, the green Qi became erratic, fluctuating wildly as if driven by emotion.
Qin Yun could feel an intense pressure envelope him; it seemed filled with killing intent. Up to now, in this world at least, this was the first time Qin Yun had felt such a strong urge to kill. Qin Yun knew the reason for this sentiment, yet he could do nothing about it, not against someone at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. He could only hope that Lian Qian would prevail in this conflict.
Even if Qin Yun was the victim of Ma Zhiqiang's assault, would the Ma Clan Care? Of course, they wouldn't. Ma Zhiqiang was a promising junior poised to enter the Golden Core Realm in a year or two. While his loss wouldn't mean much to the overall strength of the clan, his fall would spell tragedy for the clan's reputation, especially since he fell to Qin Yun.
While the incident with the black token might be why Ma Zhiqiang sought his life, Qin Yun couldn't help but think it was unrelated. No, his instincts told him he was just a pawn used by someone else. Qin Yun's first clue was this assassination attempt itself. In his opinion, it was much too rushed and sloppy. What would he have done if Qin Yun had remained on the top of that hill?
Next was the armour. If the Ma Clan had possessed such a thing, they wouldn't have given it to Ma Zhiqiang, and much less let it be used in a plot against a small character like Qin Yun. Qin Yun couldn't help but think someone was targeting him personally, but for what reason?
Either way, this plan for getting rid of him was pretty thorough. Either he died at Ma Zhiqiang's hand, or he prevailed, and the man died. Killing Ma Zhiqiang in front of the Ma Clan was nothing more than a slap in the face of the whole clan. They would stop at nothing to make his life hell, even if he had the Lian Clan's support. Qin Yun couldn't help but applaud the one who had engineered this situation. Yet again, one question remained: why go through all that trouble?
With a heavy heart full of apprehension for what was to come, Qin Yun looked overhead, feeling the heavy rain crash on his face as he waited for the conclusion of the struggle between the two Nascent Soul Cultivators. Either he would be able to struggle another day or be forced to contend against a wild beast at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm.
Either way, his days of peace with his wife would be scarce from now on. Still, Qin Yun smiled slightly, which prompted a confused look from Lian Huiling. While the days ahead would be harsh, Qin Yun saw no reason to despair. This struggle would be the leading factor in helping him change his mentality.
While Qin Yun accepted the events that had unfolded, he couldn't help but feel sorry for his wife. She had only regained some sort of peace and normalcy, but now she would have to walk this bloody path alongside him.
