Killing and Reflection

"Ugh..." Huo Hai's stomach churned, and a violent bout of retching made him vomit up everything he had eaten that day. It was his first time killing someone—indeed, his first time even facing a corpse—and one so revolting at that. It would have been strange if he had felt nothing at all. After all, Huo Hai had not grown up on this continent; he could not treat killing as an everyday matter.

Although Huo Hai had not done it himself, he had commanded the Star Gu to do it. The man had died so miserably, then been gnawed clean by insects. After vomiting, Huo Hai felt dizzy and utterly miserable.

Several shadows flitted around Huo Hai. He turned to look, his eyes widening. Were those not his own Star Gu? They had just eaten a person, and even Huo Hai himself felt a chill in his heart when facing them now.

No matter whether he had created these things himself, no matter how powerful they were, his ideas had ultimately been nothing more than ideas. Only when he truly used them could he feel their terror. Huo Hai took a step back, then stopped. At that moment, the Star Gu were already sending him aggrieved thoughts.

"Hey, don't be upset. I gave the order, and I made you too. I... I'm just not used to it yet." Huo Hai spoke to the Star Gu, though it was little different from talking to himself.

Feeling Huo Hai's comfort, the Star Gu excitedly traced incomprehensible paths through the air, expressing their delight. Perhaps the Star Gu could not understand Huo Hai's thoughts, but they could sense his intention to comfort them.

When he looked back again, the dead body had vanished. Not only the corpse—even everything on it, including hair and metal objects, had all been eaten. As Gu Insects, the Star Gu did not fear poison; they would eat it all the same. Who could have imagined that a person had just died here, and died such a miserable death?

After vomiting, Huo Hai began to reflect. When he had encountered danger earlier, his entire body had stiffened, leaving him unable to move.

If the Star Gu had not automatically protected their master, he would already have been killed by that arrow. Later, the other party had mistaken the Star Gu for a peculiar kind of pure spiritual energy. Rather than leaving, he had launched another attack. This time, he had actually used a Spirit-Breaking Arrow.

Thinking about it now, he had absolutely intended to kill Huo Hai. His movements had been so natural that he had clearly killed far more than one or two people. Huo Hai really had been blinded by rage then, ordering every Star Gu to attack without leaving any behind to protect himself. Fortunately, the Star Gu had moved quickly. Otherwise, if the opponent had launched another attack, they would have perished together.

On the other hand, after the man had been injured by the Star Gu, his screams had actually stirred pity in Huo Hai's heart. In that instant, Huo Hai had even felt the urge to spare him. Had the Star Gu not acted too quickly, he might have ordered them to stop.

"Ah, I really am useless. How am I supposed to be a villain like this? Forget being a villain—surviving in this world would be difficult enough." Back in the Lineage, he had been the Huo Family's eldest young master. No one had dared do anything to him.

Yet he had barely left the Lineage and had not even gone far from Western Frontier City before someone had attacked him, trying to put him to death. Was his cultivation inferior to his opponent's? No. Both were in the Spirit Blood Realm. Huo Hai's body refinement was nearly perfect, and his cultivation definitely surpassed the other man's. Arrows were fast, but Huo Hai himself was faster.

If he could not dodge the arrow, he could have dodged the motion of drawing and firing it. Yet the opponent had attacked twice. The first time, Huo Hai had possessed no awareness of danger at all. The second time, he had not even thought to evade. All his combat techniques had vanished from his mind in an instant.

Thinking of it now, Huo Hai blushed at his own performance. If he could fully bring out the combat techniques he had cultivated, he might well have dodged the attack, closed in, and killed the opponent himself.

Thinking was easy, but why was doing it so difficult? After a long while, Huo Hai muttered to himself, "That's right. My experience and worldly knowledge are far too lacking. I do not even dare kill people—what can I accomplish just by talking big?" Huo Hai finally realized that what one imagined and reality were ultimately not the same thing. To gain a foothold in this world, one needed sufficient strength.

Not only did one need enough strength, one also had to wipe out every enemy. Only when every enemy was dead could one truly be safe. At that moment, a subtle change took place in Huo Hai's heart. No one but Huo Hai himself knew of it.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps drifted over from afar. The distant Star Gu had heard them. Huo Hai narrowed his eyes. "The commotion from the battle here must have been heard. I can't stay here." He turned and prepared to leave.

But just as he took a step, Huo Hai suddenly stopped. "No. Why should I run when I encounter people? I did not come here to flee. I came for points. That man was right: only by killing those who seize points can I obtain more points myself." Huo Hai gritted his teeth. Since he was no longer running away, then he would face it.

Of course, facing it did not mean meeting force with force. Huo Hai carefully concealed himself, then sent out part of the Star Gu to observe the surroundings. Before long, two figures walked over from the distance.

"Big Brother, what are we doing here? Wasn't Little Fish supposed to be setting traps over here and killing people from the great Lineages?" A young man suddenly spoke. During the test, there were only young people in Southern Mountain.

The more mature man beside him said with displeasure, "I told you to use your brain. Why can't you ever do that? When has Little Fish ever made such a huge commotion while killing someone? We could hear it from so far away. He must have run into someone troublesome. If we don't come and that person escapes, the three of us will have no way to live."

That made sense. The first man said nothing for a moment, but soon could not help asking again, "Big Brother, where did Little Fish go? Why is no one here? There isn't even an arrow on the ground. Seriously, what is he doing?"

Huo Hai, hidden in the shadows, felt a chill run through his heart. So that's how it is. A team of three. One person lies in ambush here to attack the children of great Lineages, while the other two collect the cards. The card from earlier was your doing too, wasn't it?

From their words, the one called Little Fish should have been the archer who had attacked him. And his presence here had not been accidental; he had been setting a trap. What trap? Simple—the card Huo Hai had discovered earlier.

When people had just entered this place and found a card, they would naturally be delighted. The instant they picked it up was also when their vigilance dropped to its lowest point. At that moment, Little Fish, lying in ambush nearby, would strike.

This had been a premeditated murder. Huo Hai finally understood what he was facing. After entering Southern Mountain, he was facing not a mere contest, but a bloody slaughter. All that nonsense about friendship first and competition second was complete bullshit. Only obtaining enough point cards, only living long enough to kill one's opponents, was the entirety of this trial.

This was both the hardest part of the trial and the simplest part. "Heh, wasn't it the same on Earth? It was simply more direct and obvious here." Huo Hai gave a bitter laugh. It was his own mindset that had failed to keep up.

"Hmph. Since you are all together, then go down below and meet him." Uprooting the grass and pulling out the roots was a fine quality a villain ought to possess. Even if they did not know it, since they harbored such intentions, Huo Hai would not let them go.

With a thought, Huo Hai calmly controlled the Star Gu this time. Only several beetles launched the attack, flashing through the air like bullets. They did not even stir the slightest sound of tearing wind. The beetles instantly pierced the two men's throats. These two, merely in the Spirit Blood Realm, had not even reacted before they felt pain in their throats.

By the time the agonizing pain arrived, they could only clutch their throats desperately and collapse unwillingly.

"Eat the corpses and their clothes. Leave the belongings for me." Huo Hai issued another command in his heart. The Star Gu rushed forward and began devouring them. Huo Hai turned his head away, unwilling to hear the sound of chewing.

But the sounds still burrowed into his ears, and Huo Hai felt his stomach begin to riot again. Helplessly, he bent over and dry-heaved. Whether he could reason it out or not, no one could defy instinctive reactions.

Fortunately, there was nothing left in his stomach. Huo Hai only spat out some gastric fluid, but at least his head was no longer spinning so badly.

"Damn it. I need to get used to this quickly. Otherwise, if I freeze whenever I see a dead person in the future, wouldn't I be dead for sure?" Huo Hai fiercely slapped his chest, desperately warning himself that he had to adapt to this environment as soon as possible.

After a long while, sensing that the Star Gu had finished eating, Huo Hai finally stepped forward to inspect his spoils. On the ground lay a saber and a fork, presumably the two men's weapons. There was also a backpack containing some dry rations, items specifically used for hunting and setting traps, and several packets that were probably poison.

Huo Hai could not tell that those things were poison, but Gu Insects were extremely sensitive to toxins. There was nothing particularly valuable here. They had only just entered the forest, so there was not even any need for a map. Shaking his head, Huo Hai began issuing orders in his heart.

"Little Gold, eat these poisons. Let the Star Gu eat everything else." At Huo Hai's command, Little Gold turned into a streak of golden light, darted out, hugged the poison powder, and began eating it with great relish. The Star Gu refused to be outdone, devouring all the remaining items without leaving a single scrap. After eating so much, the Star Gu's overall strength seemed to have increased somewhat.

After cleaning everything up, Huo Hai rose and headed deeper inside. "I can't stay here any longer, or who knows how many people will discover me." Huo Hai sent out part of the Star Gu to watch the surroundings while keeping more than half of them at his side to protect himself.