A Sea of People

The dragon vanished, the wind died, and the leaves in the forest fell in utter silence. Chu Xiaotian stood there quietly, leaning on his spear to keep from collapsing. Across from him, Huang Xiang remained standing as well, his eyes flashing with unwillingness, anger, and pain. Then he fell backward, staring up at the sky.

A bowl-sized hole gaped in his chest. Blood poured out without stopping, taking with it the last of his life.

Chu Xiaotian dropped to the ground, baring his teeth as he gasped in great, cold breaths. A flash of light appeared in his hand, and a small porcelain bottle materialized. His hand trembled as he pried off the cap. Without even checking how many pills were inside, he struggled to raise the bottle and poured them all into his mouth. That single movement turned the front of his clothes crimson. Dozens of foot-long slashes marred the fabric. Through the tears, one could see dozens of crisscrossing wounds across his chest. Each one was half an inch deep and a foot long, leaving not a single patch of uninjured flesh.

That was the price he had paid to kill Huang Xiang. If his weapon hadn't been long enough, if his body hadn't been nimble enough, if the layer of purple fur hadn't provided such terrifying defense, and if the Yin-cold energy inside him hadn't staunched most of the bleeding, Chu Xiaotian would likely have been breathing out his last, with no breath left to draw in. After taking a bottle of Recovery Pills Xia Xue had given him, he sat there meditating, doing his best to heal his injuries.

About half an hour later, Chu Xiaotian slowly opened his eyes. Using his spear as a cane, he struggled to his feet. Half an hour wasn't enough to heal his wounds, but with the Heavenly Corpse Art freezing them shut, he could at least move around. He had to get back now so Xia Xue wouldn't worry. Of course, before leaving, there were a few things he needed to take with him. He put away ten Qiankun Bags and a Qiankun Bracelet, then leaned on his spear and made his way toward the valley where they were staying, drawing a sharp breath with every step.

As for burying the corpses, Chu Xiaotian had no intention of doing that. For one thing, he was badly injured and didn't have the strength to dig graves. And for another, he had no desire to give people who had tried to kill him a proper burial. If he were the one lying on the ground, they would probably have hacked him a few more times for good measure.

This time, he walked very carefully, afraid that another Huang Family expert might spring out at him. He walked for a full hour without encountering a single living person and made it safely back to the valley.

"Brother Xiaotian, what happened to you? Quick, come inside. I'll put some medicine on your wounds." Xia Xue had finished refining pills long ago and was waiting for Chu Xiaotian in the valley. When she saw him in such a wretched state, she immediately rushed over, her face full of worry, and helped him toward her room.

"I'm fine. I just ran into a few Huang Family scumbags and got into a fight with them." Chu Xiaotian forced a smile and waved a hand at Xia Xue. The movement tugged at his chest wounds, making him suck in a sharp breath.

"Don't talk. This is all my fault. I made you get hurt." Seeing his pained expression, Xia Xue spoke with guilt written all over her face. In her eyes, Chu Xiaotian had run afoul of the Huang Family because of her. If she had left the Ba Dao Martial Hall with him back then, he wouldn't have had to face the Huang Family at all.

"Silly girl, what are you talking about? Who wouldn't want to deal with those scumbags? Besides, the Huang Family is gone, and I'm still alive, aren't I? From now on, anyone who dares to get any ideas about you will pay for it. You're my precious girl, and mine alone." Chu Xiaotian reached out to stroke Xia Xue's hair. Looking into her eyes, he spoke softly. As he spoke, a powerful aura burst from him. Having killed more than a dozen Huang Family experts, Chu Xiaotian had gained even more confidence in his own strength.

At Chu Xiaotian's final words, Xia Xue's pretty face flushed scarlet. Yet she didn't contradict him. Meeting his gaze, she gave a soft nod. After spending so much time together, Chu Xiaotian had already taken root in her heart; there was no way she could uproot him now. Hearing his rather domineering declaration made her shy, but her heart brimmed with sweetness.

"Brother Xiaotian, this is a second-tier Yuqing Pill. It'll help your wounds heal faster." After helping Chu Xiaotian sit on her bed, Xia Xue took out a porcelain bottle and poured two red pills into her palm. She brought them to his lips and spoke with concern. The Yuqing Pill had the same effect as the Recovery Pill, but was much stronger. Chu Xiaotian had obtained it from Huang Nian and the others, then handed all the pills over to Xia Xue to sort through.

Chu Xiaotian opened his mouth and let Xia Xue feed him the pills. At the same time, he couldn't help stealing a little kiss from her slender fingers with his tongue. Xia Xue's face turned red, and she couldn't help shooting him a mildly reproachful look. Her charming expression made Chu Xiaotian grin mischievously.

"Hmph, I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm going to make us something to eat." Xia Xue pretended to be angry and hurried out to prepare dinner. Chu Xiaotian grinned, knowing she was just embarrassed, then continued sitting cross-legged and refining the Yuqing Pills without a care. Second-tier pills were indeed much more potent than first-tier ones. Once the Yuqing Pills had been refined, a warm current gathered in Chu Xiaotian's chest. He could feel his wounds healing at a rapid pace, and even hear the faint hiss of flesh growing back together.

He had thought it would take ten days to half a month to recover, but after experiencing the Yuqing Pills' effects, Chu Xiaotian felt he would be fully healed in four or five days at most.

Still, he had underestimated how tough his body was. His injuries were completely healed in just three days. During those three days, he hadn't neglected his cultivation while tending to his wounds. He had also sorted through the Qiankun Bags, Qiankun Bracelet, and other items he had taken from Huang Xiang and his group. From them, he obtained three thousand low-grade Spirit Stones, twenty mid-grade Spirit Stones, twenty-three bottles of second-tier pills, thirty-five spirit herbs used to refine high-tier pills, two human-grade cultivation manuals he had no interest in, a human-grade battle art, five stones of different colors, and five blank jade slips.

Chu Xiaotian didn't think he had much use for the Spirit Stones, so he gave them all to Xia Xue to spend as she pleased on spirit herbs for pill refining. The pills and herbs also went to Xia Xue. After sorting everything, she gave him five bottles of Yuqing Pills for healing and five bottles of Wind Spirit Pills, each of which could restore all the spiritual energy of a Pi-Hai Realm expert in one dose. Chu Xiaotian also let Xia Xue look through the manuals and battle art. She said they were no use to her, so he put them away, intending to give them to Ba Dao later. After all, Ba Dao had treated him pretty well, and he couldn't forget him when handing out the spoils. As for the differently colored stones, they were ores used to forge weapons, so Chu Xiaotian kept them for himself.

Apart from one Qiankun Bag each for himself and Xia Xue, Chu Xiaotian put the rest of the ten-odd Qiankun Bags into the Qiankun Bracelet he had taken from Huang Nian. Spatial items had one peculiarity: they couldn't hold anything with a larger storage space than their own. The two conspicuous Qiankun Bracelets were too large to fit inside the Qiankun Bags, so Chu Xiaotian had to sew a pocket inside his clothes and keep them close to his body.

With his injuries healed and half a day of practicing the Electric Dragon Spear behind him, Chu Xiaotian decided to go to Greenwood Town with Xia Xue. First, he wanted to see what the Huang Family was up to. Second, he wanted to find out whether the Hundred Herb Pavilion had any of the herbs he needed. He wanted to make some talisman paper and further increase his strength, but not just any paper would do for drawing talismans. It had to be made from special spirit herbs. Of course, whether such herbs existed in this world was another matter.

Xia Xue was also planning to deliver the pills she had on hand to the Mad Blade Martial Hall and the Hundred Herb Pavilion, so of course she was happy to go. After packing up, the two left the valley and headed straight for Greenwood Town.

If the road hadn't been so familiar and the scenery hadn't stayed more or less the same, Chu Xiaotian and Xia Xue would have suspected they had taken a wrong turn.

Before, one could see from one end of Greenwood Town's main street to the other without spotting more than a few people. Now, the street was packed with cultivators in fitted clothes and weapons at their sides. They hurried about, looking excited as they chatted in small groups. Every one of them was strong; the weakest had reached the late Tongmai Realm. A few were even stronger than Huang Xiang, seemingly experts of the Huayuan Realm.

When Chu Xiaotian first saw the scene, he felt a little uneasy, thinking the Huang Family had sent all these people to investigate the deaths of their clan members. He almost turned around and fled with Xia Xue. Fortunately, when he noticed how happy everyone looked, he relaxed. If these people were investigating the deaths of the clan members and were still so cheerful, they would probably be dealt with in secret. So they definitely weren't from the Huang Family. As for who they were and why they had come, he had no idea.

Ignoring the admiring looks people gave Xia Xue, Chu Xiaotian and Xia Xue hurried toward the Mad Blade Martial Hall. If they wanted to find out what was going on, asking Ba Dao was the right move.

"Lord Chu, Miss Xia, you're here! Please, come right in." When the two gate guards at the Mad Blade Martial Hall spotted them, they hurried over from a distance and ushered them inside. Huang Nian's group had humiliated them the last time they came, and this young master in his teens had been the one to wash that shame away. They admired Chu Xiaotian immensely now.

"Ba Dao Hall Master, what's going on out there? Has the Huang Family been up to anything lately?" As soon as he entered Ba Dao's room, Chu Xiaotian got straight to the point and asked what was puzzling him.

"Young brother, I heard that the people the Huang Family sent to investigate a few days ago are all dead too. Was that your doing?" Ba Dao didn't answer Chu Xiaotian's question. Instead, he asked one of his own.

Chu Xiaotian paused, but nodded soon after and gave a bitter smile. "Yeah. I nearly died at their hands this time. I was laid up in bed for three days before I could get back up." He had no intention of hiding it from Ba Dao. They were all involved in this matter, and if any of them exposed it, none of them would come to a good end.