Two days after shamefully crying like a child.
As the sun sets, I squat at the edge of a hill, looking below into a compound with wooden sticks for fence.
In the compound was a little girl around the age of eleven playing around.
The mother of this child was inside the building and had been silently mourning since the day before yesterday.
She tries to put up a facade that everything was fine before her daughter but I could see it was only a matter of time before she breaks down before that same daughter.
I brought this upon this family.
This is a family I have ruined.
This was the family of the guard I had killed who told me he had a family.
I have made this woman a widow and the daughter without a father.
How would she feel when she eventually finds out that her father whom she has been looking up to was never going to come back home.
But why should I care? they went against me and I did what had to be done.
But just as I love my little sister, there are people who love the ones I kill.
Just as I crave vengeance upon those that killed my sister, wouldn’t it be the same for those who care about the ones I kill?
But mine is different right? they decided to go against me, I didn’t do anything wrong...right?
I heave a long sigh as I smack my face.
This is not the time for such thoughts David.
Focus! you have a goal, and to attain that goal there would be an endless trail of bodies.
So all you have to do is step upon them and keep moving.
You’ve done it before, now is no different.
I woke up to the entire clan in complete chaos.
Someone had assassinated the second young master of the clan, Ximen Lao.
And not just a simple assassination, a lot of guards were killed.
The Ximen Clan was one of the well known Clan of the Unorthodox Faction.
And that Clan was invaded in the night and had their second young master along with his guards killed.
To top it off, the Clan Head was missing.
It was known that he had come to the scene to save his son but now, he is nowhere to be seen.
Of course no one would believe that he is dead so everyone is just waiting for him to return.
The Grand Elder of the Clan has been the acting head for the past two days.
The Clan became under tight security.
I woke up the morning after crying like a child.
I tried going about my usual day but my mind was disturbed.
I tried ignoring it but I couldn’t.
Eventually, I went to get more information about the guard I had killed.
I found his family and I’ve been coming here ever since.
I also want to know why.
"This is not something I should be letting hold me down" I say to myself as I rise up.
I turn my back and leave.
As I turned my back the child in the compound notices me leaving but I didn’t know.
I go to my room and try practicing Ki circulation.
At this time I had successfully sent out Soso.
She was accepted by the Golden Palace Manor.
It is a Merchant union in Sichuan, one of the best in the Orthodox Faction and a notable one in the entire Murim.
I practice for a few minutes before I am interrupted by someone kicking open the gate of my courtyard wide open.
I go outside to check out the situation and there I see two guards and behind them stood Ximen Jong, the First Young Master of the Ximen Clan.
What does this one want now.
"Dont you know it’s rude to barge into someone’s courtyard without invitation?" I say to him with an annoyed tone as he keeps walking towards me.
"Would you look at that, the little child of a whore is barking at me." He says as he begins laughing, his guards laugh alongside him.
What is this children play going on here.
I’m supposed to be at least a father and maybe a grand father by now, not here playing around with this kids and old men who feed their egos.
It seems to have annoyed Ximen Jong that I wasn’t bothered by his statement.
First Son of Ximen Hong.
Black hair and black eyes.
Tall, a little muscular.
He just stepped into the First Rate Realm.
He’s talent isn’t all that poor.
Not everyone can read the cultivation level of individuals if that said individual doesn’t release their aura.
Your insight must be very high or that individual’s level is weaker than yours, or you could faintly judge if the individual is around the same level as you.
For me, due to my deep insight I can judge a Martial Artist up to the Martial Master Realm.
The Martial Grandmaster Realm is too high for me to be able to judge right now as an Early Peak.
I would need to be at least a Late Peak Martial Expert to be able to even feel that this person is beyond the Martial Master Realm if he doesn’t emit his aura.
And I’ll be able to properly judge when I enter the Martial Master Realm.
Any other person would probably have to be in the same realm as the person or superior in level.
"Can you tell me what you want? I’m quite busy you see." I say to him.
His smile fades as he begins to frown.
"I know you are the one who killed Ximen Lao." He says looking me straight in the eye.
"Hmmm? me? how?" I feign ignorance as I giggle a bit.
"I have had a spy on you for a long time now." He says.
I see, so he was the one.
"And I know you have opened your dantian.
The spy described it as you breaking directly into the First Rate Realm." He says as he looks at me from head to toe.
"And with what happened between you and Ximen Lao, you probably killed him for revenge." He says.
"Hmmm smart, but dumb." I say to myself.
"So how do you suppose I did that? how do you suppose I got past his his guards?" I ask him with a smile.
I was getting interested in seeing how this will play out.