Chapter 74: Chapter 73 – Shadows of the Heart

As I sense the unconscious bodies of the family moving farther away underground, I feel my hands shaking. Clenched and in pain.

I’m not shaking out of fear.

If I’m being honest with myself… I’m completely livid.

 

The way that man happily murdered that little girl makes every hair on my body stand up.

Before this, it sounded like he was already torturing demi-humans.

 

Wait a second. Could this have been that sound we heard, as we were heading to the street, for the first time? The screams?

Using my scan, I can feel the answer come up. The cries and screams from the little girl match what I heard earlier.

 

They didn’t have to be hurt like this. I could have stopped it then.

 

No. I can’t think that.

Especially for that time. We didn’t have Big Sister Crane officially on our side. We still were learning about the area. And it would likely have hurt the situation, if I had jumped in to do something.

I was neither mentally prepared nor ready for such a fight.

 

… But does that mean I shouldn’t have stepped in?

 

I’ll think about that more later.

For now, I’m going to do something about it.

 

The cultivator is going to be killing many more demi-humans.

And there will probably be no one to stop him.

If he views even demi-human children as vermin, then it’s easy to imagine that he will go on a killing spree.

Extending my scan out, in the direction I believe many of the demi-humans escaped to, I can hear, “Quickly, this way!” and “No, that’s a dead end, head into the sewers!”

 

My scan reaches the man.

He’s casually looking around, nonchalantly. When he glimpses a demi-human, he walks in their direction.

 

It looks like most demi-humans can get away.

However. There are many injured and weak ones.

This can only go for so long before he catches someone.

 

 I don’t think I’ve ever purposefully wanted to hurt someone like this.

Well, with the planned intentions to actually kill them.

To see the pain in their face as they die a miserable death. The same type that he’s caused in others.

 

…

I meant to just take Old Rong down with some injuries, but that turned into killing him.

The man who I killed with the bugs… he was a panic and survival killing.

 

This guy, though?

No. I refuse to allow him to live much longer.

 

A thought crosses my mind. “But what if he has children? A family? Or even just for my self-interest, if he has major backing?”

 

This makes me hesitate.

Making me wonder if it would really be right to kill him.

Even after all he’s done.

 

Gong. I should ask Gong about this guy. To make sure what I do here doesn’t affect the ones around me too much.

Then, I’ll make my decision.

 

 

… No.

I already know my decision. Regardless of what she tells me, I need to stop him. And since he’s a cultivator and clearly stronger than me, there’s only one way that I have available to do that.

 

I’ll have to kill him.

To throw everything I have at him.

 

I don’t want to use the spiders for this, as it might implicate Gong further. I’ll see if there’s another way to do this. To fight him in a way that won’t get me killed.

Even so. I’ll do whatever’s necessary to end his killing spree.

 

With my intent solidified, I send a ping out to Gong. With the image of the guy from before.

What he’s planning on doing. And a feeling that I’m going to kill him before he goes further. And that I don’t want to implicate her in this, so I will be leaving the spiders behind.

Asking for her thoughts. But making my stance clear.

 

There is a pause. A pulse in the man’s direction shows that he is getting closer to catching the weaker ones, who weren’t able to make travel in a sewer.

The closest one is an old man. A demi-human and human are helping him to get away.

 

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… Still silence from Gong.

 

 

There’s another pause, before she sends another thought. To use spiders during the attack, as a way to connect it to our group.

And finally culminating in three words, with the feeling of intense anger.

Go Fuckin Wild.

 

 

Huh, I wasn’t expecting that. Guess I can’t let her down, then.

 

Wait a second. Why would she redirect it to the group? By using the spiders, it directly connects her to the action. Regardless of what I do.

 

From what I can tell, the man is not part of a local gang. He had no colors on him, which every member of their groups has had. Whether it was an item or a tattoo. Even for the spies, they had small tattoos or items proving their identity.

This guy had nothing.

However, he seemed to take orders from someone. Someone who is okay with his views regarding hurting, keeping down, and now killing demi-humans.

 

My best guess, after pulling everything together, is that this guy might be a loose thug for the Vermillion Stripes.

My reasoning?

They are partially discriminatory against demi-humans; primarily male; and have cultivators in their group.

I feel that he is weaker than the other cultivators I saw, though. Based on what Gong told me, about how comparatively weak those guys are to cultivators with a normal cultivation base, maybe he didn’t make the cut.

 

If I were to make a comparison: if a normal 1^st level Qi Condensation cultivator has the strength of 10 men, an average Vermillion Stripe cultivator of the same level would be 6 men. 

With that said, I would say based on the strength I saw and how large the man was, he is likely about 3 to 4 men worth.

 

Gong must think this might be a good time to take him out, because he isn’t formally part of the group. With the group having lost many members, there’s a possibility they could take him on after ‘proving’ himself. Which may be why they are letting him loose.

 

Of course, this is mostly extrapolation. Though, my intuitive scan is active right now, so it could be true.

Hmm, this might be a blind spot. Just because I come up with something while the intuition is active, might not always mean it is 100% correct. I’ll have to test this later.

 

Nonetheless, I begin heading in the man’s direction.

I gather all the remaining spiders around me and begin having them surge over the buildings. The spies begin immediately fleeing the area, still mostly hidden from my sight.

If I didn’t know they are there, I wouldn’t have noticed.

 

Continuing on, I throw a pulse in the general direction I last saw the large man. What I find stops me in my tracks.

The old man is dead. The two kids hide in the sewers below.

The man has continued on, blood caked onto his hands and feet. He seems in an even better mood. Practically whistling.

 

My pace quickens into his direction. My anger is rising. Flowing through me like a river against a dam.

The spiders, following my mood, begin to narrow. Before they flowed like water from a spill. Now they move like a wave behind me.

Still smaller than Gong’s, but just as fierce.

 

I find myself blocking his way, on the opposite side of an alleyway.

All thoughts of ambush escaped my mind at the sight of the old man’s body. He’s already dead.

 

The broken windows of nearby buildings are quickly covered. The people inside hiding themselves away.

He glances at me, then looks at the surrounding buildings.

“Huh, so that’s where they went. I’ll have to root out the infestation after this.”

 

He turns to me. His gigantic frame casting an immense shadow upon the ground towards me.

This is a cultivator.

 

… I can do this…

 

A shiver runs through me from his incoming words, interrupting my thoughts.

“So… It looks like you are part of the bitch Gong’s group, huh?

“I should have known, when I found you wandering around like some kind a fuckin’ idiot. Just like these other fools, who don’t realize the vermin they stay around.”

 

Spitting on the ground towards me, he shakes his head.

 

“She should have told you to not mess with me, though. Even she didn’t dare to attack me. She knows who supports me. And don’t think that your parlor tricks will scare me. There’s no way that the stories could be true about the spiders.”

 

While he rambles on, I stay silent. I find my eyes looking at his mostly dried, bloody hands. The thought of how, as he squeezed, the brain and eyes poured out of the facial…

 

I see movement. He’s heading to me.

Looks like he is done talking.

 

 

I will get this done quickly.

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