59 Chapter 58: Rescue (1/2)

The first thing I did after draining Ba Yun of his qi was to head straight to the cafeteria.

The fucking bastard had kept me starving, depriving me of food and feeding me only enough water for me to survive. The only reason why I managed to beat him was because I drew upon the qi from the Parasitic Wasp larvae to nourish and sustain myself. But qi was no substitute for food. I could rely on qi to keep me strong and alive for a week, maybe two, but once my body ran out of nutrients, carbohydrates and protein, no amount of qi was going to keep me alive.

Leaving Ba Yun's dried, desiccated husk of a corpse in his torture room, I went down the corridor in search of a cafeteria. Surprisingly, the corridors were deserted, with no guards or members of the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect patrolling about. Stopping and listening to the distant sounds of battle, I figured that they were too busily defending their base from invaders to patrol and roam about the interior of their base.

Good. I was free to go wherever I wanted. I was too hungry and thirsty to fight right now, anyway. I need to replenish my strength in that area.

Where's the infirmary?

Now that I was exploring the area, I realized I had no idea what the layout of the warehouse was. It was only natural – I had spent practically the entire two weeks locked inside the basement that was converted into a torture room. This was my first time setting foot out of that hellish space in about fifteen days.

Fortunately, I found the infirmary easily enough. Just like the corridors and other abandoned rooms in the warehouse, the infirmary was empty, save for scattered chairs and broken tables. Passing by the wrecked furniture, I headed into the kitchen and rummaged the place for food. Fortunately, there were refrigerators stocked with some food. Not caring if they had rotted or spoiled, I took some meat and vegetables, cooked them in the frying pans I found, and then sat down to eat. Turning around, I poured myself a glass of water and gulped it down.

”Ah…I'm revived.”

After filling my stomach, I leaned against the damp, moldy wall and rested for a few moments. Closing my eyes, I took a short nap, but as usual the place wasn't conducive for sleeping. Still, that short period of recuperation allowed me to digest my food.

”?!”

I woke up suddenly as something crashed in the distance. Apparently there was violent fighting somewhere outside the infirmary, probably between the orthodox martial artists from the Alliance and the rogue criminals from the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect. some were drawing closer, some were getting further away, and some remained where they were.

Oh…interesting…

After resting, I felt as if my qi senses had sharpened. Just by closing my eyes and zoning out the outside world, I could extend my senses and detect the qi presences of everybody in the vicinity. I could roughly guess – from the spikes of their qi – what they were doing, how they were going to move, and where they proceeded toward.

Eh? This group…

And just like that, I detected a small cluster of faint, weak qi, all huddling together. It seemed that warriors and martial artists weren't the only ones who were inside the warehouse.

Could these people be…?

Only one way to find out. I picked myself up and began heading in the direction where I sensed their presences. As I suspected, the corridors and warehouse remained unguarded and I encountered no opposition as I neared my destination.

However, I could sense the large-scale conflicts raging outside the warehouse. Ducking my head below a window as a flare of qi explosion surged toward the heavens, I quietly made my way toward what seemed like another chamber.

”…”

I heard mumbling as I descended the stairs. Despite the majority of the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect having mobilized to combat the Martial Arts Alliance's Imperial Guard, they weren't careless enough to leave their spoils of war unprotected. Even from this distance, I could detect the presence of two sentries outside the door.

”Whoa, that's mental.”

”They're really going at it out there, aren't they?”

Despite not possessing qi senses as sharp as mine, the sentries could still hear the thunderous noises of conflict even in the basement. As another detonation vibrated through the thick walls of the warehouse, they looked up nervously.

”Do you think we'll be able to win?”

”Of course. Vice Sect Leader Tuo Ta La is leading the resistance, after all.”

”Where's the leader?”

”In seclusion somewhere. I don't know. You know that they don't tell us grunts anything. Apparently he locked himself in isolation after absorbing a few hundred commoners' essence. He'll need a few months to assimilate such a massive amount of qi.”

”I wish we had access to some of that qi.”

”Heh. If things don't go well for them upstairs, we might get our chance. There's nobody to keep an eye on us, after all.”

”You mean…?”

”Yeah. You take the first watch. I might as well absorb the qi from some of the people here. No one's going to notice if a few of the sacrifices die, right? And besides, the sect leader already absorbed hundreds of villagers' qi. He won't miss a few dozen.”

”Heh…fine. But once you're done, it'll be your turn to guard.”

I vaguely wondered how coincidental it was that I just happened to stumble upon the sentries at the exact moment they decided to feast on the abducted villagers. It was almost as if the plot dictated that I happened upon this very instance right after defeating an enemy. Of course, the fact that the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect was embroiled in a major conflict right now probably contributed that, but I was amazed I didn't stumble upon them several seconds before or after they had this conversation. It was almost as if they were speaking for an audience beyond the fourth wall to listen to, you know, to emphasize just how villainous and despicable they were, and to justify my killing of them later.

Or maybe I was just overthinking things.

I descended the stairs stealthily, not making a single sound with Shadow Steps. Neither of the sentries, even the one who had taken the first watch, noticed me. Silently rounding around the stairs, I crept out of the shadows and materialized behind the sentry. It was pretty easy, given how he was facing the door instead of keeping a proper lookout. Entirely distracted by the screams of the sacrifices within the room as his comrade set himself upon them, he leaned closer to press his ear closely to the door, as if he could see through the thick material.

I didn't blame him. If I was in his position, I would never have thought there would be an enemy lurking so close. I would have assumed that because of the ferocious combat upstairs, everyone else would be too busily fighting for their lives to come down here. This was probably the last place to be in the middle of an invasion.

Assuming that no one could hear the racket the abducted victims and the other sentry were making, of course.

”NOOO!!!”

”AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

”SAVE ME!”

”Ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

Even behind the closed doors, I could hear the screams of the dying and the laughter of their tormentor. I had to hurry or there wouldn't be anyone left to save. Okay, perhaps that was an exaggeration, but I would rather save more people than less.

”Bastard…he's enjoying himself, isn't he? I should have asked him to let me go first. Wait, will he really leave some for me?”

Nope. Even if he did, it would be pointless, because I killed the guy with an ice sword the next instant. The poor sentry didn't even know what killed him. One moment he was leaning against the door and trying to eavesdrop, and the next, his heart was run through. He gurgled, blood dribbling from his lips, and crumpled to the floor.

I caught him before his ground could hit the floor, and placed him down as soundlessly as I could. I needn't had bothered. The people inside the room were making too much noise to hear what was transpiring outside.

Shaking my head, I quietly pushed the door open and slipped inside. Peering around the door, I saw the second sentry gripping a poor lady by the throat and draining her qi. Veins bulged on her head as she gasped, turning pale and pallid as her life essence left her body. Similarly, veins bulged in the guy's hand as he attempted to suck her dry.

Judging from the lack of corpses lying around, it seemed that I wasn't too late. That made sense. Sucking someone's essence wasn't an instantaneous process, but one that took quite a bit of time. Unfortunately, if I didn't hurry, the poor lady would expire and the sentry would turn his greedy attention to the other cowering occupants in the room.

”?!”

Several of the abductees were taken aback by my sudden appearance, but I shook my head and gestured for them to remain silent. Creeping behind the busy sentry, I abruptly lashed out and took his head off his shoulders.

”!!”

The lady dropped from the headless sentry's grip, coughing and gagging. The villain stayed standing for a few more moments before his beheaded body realized that it was dead and consented to toppling over.

”T…thank you,” the lady gasped. I shook my head again.

”Don't thank me just yet. Wait until I actually get you guys out of here.”

The villagers' eyes widened and they stared at me in wonder. For the first time in weeks, it seemed that they had recovered just a bit of hope of leaving this place alive. Having experienced hell in the last fortnight, I knew fully well the kind of despair that they had sunk into. But even I had managed to crawl out of that dark abyss and turn the tables on my opponent.

Power comes with responsibility. I am not these bastards from the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect. just because I'm strong doesn't mean I can do whatever I want and kill whoever I like. I'm different from these bastards.

Like Master said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be a hero and saving people. What's wrong is trying to save people when I'm weak and shamefully failing at that, thus becoming a burden and causing my family and friends to worry.

But now…I had attained the strength necessary. Or so I hoped. Even if I didn't, I knew better than to let myself get caught alive again. At worst, I could just escape first and then return later with reinforcements. That was better than everyone dying together.

”Is everyone all right?”

The abductees nodded, still unable to believe that their chance to escape had finally dawned on them. They traded wary, cautious looks, but aware that they had no other choice or opportunity, rallied around me.

”Follow me.”

I could hardly care less if they trusted me or not. I wasn't a god. I couldn't save everybody. That painful realization had weighed heavily down on me over the past two weeks. The number of people I could save was limited to the level of ability I possessed. Sometimes I had to make a few tough sacrifices in order to save at least a few, or everyone would get wiped out together. The world wasn't ideal, and sometimes difficult choices were forced upon me.

If they wanted to stay behind instead of trusting me, that was their prerogative. As long as they didn't drag us down, as long as they didn't get in my way, I didn't care what they did. My responsibility was only to those who decided to follow me.

”Stay close,” I told them curtly as I led the way out into the corridor. A few of the abductees glanced at the corpse of the first sentry, but didn't say anything. They probably were hardened after witnessing unspeakable acts of brutality and violence during their few weeks of captivity here, or they just didn't care anymore. It didn't matter. I was only going to take care of their physical wellbeing, not their psychological conditions. ”The Martial Arts Alliance's Imperial Guard has come for us. I'll lead you guys to them.”

”The Imperial Guard!”

”The Alliance!”

”Finally!”

The abductees finally saw a huge ray of hope, and their pace quickened. I had to get them to slow down in order to inject them with some caution. It would be extremely frustrating for us to get so close to freedom, only to fall at the final hurdle.

”Whoa!”

”What's going on?”

”!!!”

As expected, the route outside wasn't entirely smooth. As we neared the exit, we came across reserves of demonic martial artists, warriors who were hiding in the shallow interior of the warehouse and awaiting their chance to enter the fray.

Fortunately, we were coming from the direction they least expected, and most of their attention was riveted on the battle outside, or they would have seen the whole crowd stampeding toward the exit. Even with my techniques, I couldn't possibly conceal over a hundred untrained civilians who had lived in a village their whole lives without ever experiencing combat.

”You are…?!”

”Aren't those the sacrifices?”

”We can't let them get away! Otherwise the sect leader will…!”

”Your sect leader will die,” I coldly corrected them, landing on the first one and pulverizing him with a Seismic Step before they could react. As the bloody pulp of flesh that barely resembled a corpse toppled over, I landed in their midst and lashed out with two ice swords, cutting them apart before they even realized what was going on.

These henchmen…they're too weak. They're nothing compared to Ba Yun. I guess that's why he was one of the higher-ranking leaders in this sect.

”You…”

The villagers stared at me blankly after I finished the remaining dudes off, almost awestruck by the carnage. One of them widened her eyes.

”You...aren't you the kid? The kid who came to our village last year? The one who Lu Shun saved by the riverside?!”

I turned back to her, but didn't recognize her. Nonetheless, if she knew who I was, then she must be…

”You're from Chun Xiang Village?”

”Yes, that's right. I saw you last year, when you helped to haul back the Wild Boar meat.”

I nodded, half-distracted. ”I'm sorry about what happened to your village.”

”Oh, no! What happened wasn't your fault! I'm just grateful that you came to save us, but…”