55 On the matter of war (1/2)

Liu Qian was sweating buckets, but at least it was hidden by the heavy rain. He had already lost his cart and along with it all his fake wares. On the bright side, he now had a real story to tell anyone he came across. He was exhausted. But hope was reignited when he found a small group of travelers that seemed to be heading in the same direction as he.

”I'm lost,” he told them with a pathetic voice, ”and I'm cold. I just want to get to the city, please…!”

They were kind people, a group of travelers that were traveling to the city for the coming New Year. The leader was a wheel maker and his wife, a tea connoisseur. Or so she claimed to be even though she's only ever had the chance to savor three different types of leaves in her entire life. They were just ordinary people, unaware of the drama of the cultivation world and were only preoccupied with the economy of their respective villages and which family member married who, where, and when. But they were familiar with the muddy roads and the rainy climate of Muguan Province, unlike Liu Qian.

They allowed him to hitch a ride on the cart and even shared a steamed bun with him.

But Liu Qian was wrong to feel relieved.

It happened too quickly for him to react but he was sure that if he did, he would have been dead like the others.

The talisman under his breast saved him, offering just enough protection to allow Liu Qian to keep his life when a rain of black arrows descended from the skies.

When he came to, he was stuck beneath the cart and the old wheel maker who had fallen on top of him, dead.

”Why…did you kill them?” A lazy voice dawdled beyond them the shower of pitter-pattering rain.

There was a sharp pain shooting up from Liu Qian's waist but he muffled his own voice, trying as he could to peer at the two killers from beneath the wheel maker's arm. He could only really make out their feet, shuffling around in the mud.

The voice that replied to the first was much lower, ”The Eternal Devil Blood Seal feasts upon blood and souls. So I'm getting blood and souls. What were you expecting?” He was grumbling and moving around, prodding the corpses. Liu Quian saw that he was wearing black.

The first voice sighed. The bottom of his robes was orange with red accents. Liu Qian recognized the style of Seven Moons garments. He kept still. ”You killed a grand total of six people…does that…even amount to anything?”

The black-robed man groaned and walked towards Liu Qian. The young cultivator's chest sped up and thundered against his chest. If they found that he was still alive. he'd definitely be promptly killed. ”Every little bit counts. Didn't your lover tell you?”

”Hui-ge…” the Seven Moon's cultivator sighed again, ”How many times did I tell you… He isn't my lover.”

”And I'm not your ge.”

Liu Qian's heart leaped into his throat. Hui was the name of the Demon King's Clan…! And this demon was right in front of him, reaching down to pull aside the wheel maker's corpse!

Liu Qian's fingers slowly curled around the hilt of a dagger, even though he knew it could be futile.

But fate had different plans.

”Wait,” the Seven Moons cultivator spoke up and stopped the demon in his tracks, ”we need to go back. Now.” There was an urgency in his voice that contrasted the languid tone he was using earlier.

”What? Why?” Liu Qian kept his eyes closed but he could hear the scowl in the demon's voice.

”I forgot to put Xiao Pangqiu back in his cage!”

”What!?” The demon roared and dropped the wheel maker's body back onto Liu Qian.

”Oof!” The air was knocked out of his chest and Liu Qian was late with masking his reaction but the two villains were no longer interested in the bloody carnage.

”Why the heck did you forget!? Are you retarded?” The demon roared.

The man whined, ”Ah, but I always forget…the truth is, I always forget…”