Aftereffects

A moment later, a group of mercenaries and adventurers, unable to offer even the slightest resistance, had been slaughtered to the last by Huo Hai. Huo Hai was covered in blood, his eyes red, like a wild beast.

"Huo Hai, Huo Hai, wake up! If this continues, you'll become a madman. Wake up!" When Huo Hai had completely wiped out the enemies, Ji Mu finally snapped out of it. She shouted as she ran toward him.

Huo Hai turned around, and the killing intent in his eyes sent a chill through Ji Mu's heart. Her body even stiffened for a moment, yet she still walked to his side. Gently taking his hand, she slowly said, "Huo Hai, this isn't the real you. Wake up. If this continues, you'll be doomed beyond redemption." A trace of worry flashed through Ji Mu's eyes.

For some reason, Huo Hai's heart began to stir. The instant he saw Ji Mu, his instincts had urged him to attack. Yet it seemed this person could not be killed. So Huo Hai stopped, remaining still until she took hold of him.

Now, feeling Ji Mu's emotions and seeing the expression on her face as she was about to cry, the red in Huo Hai's eyes gradually began to fade. Their original color slowly emerged, while the killing intent around him unknowingly diminished considerably.

"I... what happened to me? Why was I like that? Blech..." Huo Hai finally regained his senses. He had not forgotten what had just happened. Even he did not know why he had lost control and done such things. He had killed all those people just now. Several of them had even died by his own hand.

If Ji Mu had not stopped him at the end, Huo Hai might have already rushed toward the other teams. Thinking back on it, he had actually killed people with his own hands. Even though Huo Hai had adapted somewhat already, he still felt sick.

Leaning against an uncle, he vomited. Ji Mu felt relieved; Huo Hai had finally recovered. Let him vomit. It would be fine once he got it out. Ji Mu stepped forward and carefully patted Huo Hai's back, letting him feel a little more comfortable.

After a long while, Huo Hai had vomited everything in his stomach. He had not eaten a proper meal these past few days anyway, and now he had thrown it all up. After vomiting, Huo Hai felt wave after wave of weakness. It was not merely physical weakness—the greater cause was mental exhaustion. What had happened just now? Why had he been so excited?

"Ji Mu, do you know what exactly happened to me just now? I... I never wanted to kill them all." Thinking of that scene, Huo Hai's heart began to tremble. Why had his desire to kill been so intense?

Could this be his true nature? Huo Hai began to let his thoughts run wild, and his face grew even paler.

Ji Mu knew what was wrong with Huo Hai and hurriedly said, "You don't need to worry. This is very normal. If your family had taken you out to kill people when you were young, you wouldn't feel this way. Children adapt the best. You've probably forgotten, so this was your first time killing people—and you killed so many that your eyes turned red. That's perfectly normal."

Huo Hai nodded. He knew this was Killing Syndrome. On Earth, this kind of symptom had long been widely known. Especially among soldiers who spent years on the battlefield—after returning to normal society, how many of them could truly adapt?

This was Killing Syndrome. He had just killed a large number of people, and it had been the kind where every slash drew blood. Such symptoms were entirely normal. But why had he been unable to control himself? Could Killing Syndrome really be this severe?

Ji Mu did not notice Huo Hai's expression and continued, "You're currently in the Spirit Blood Realm. The Spirit Blood Realm tempers all the blood in the body, and your blood can easily be stirred to a boil by outside influences. If you kill too much at this time, it is also easy for your eyes to turn red. The two conditions overlapped in you just now, which is why you became like that. This is not who you truly are."

This situation was truly rare. Who had not begun coming into contact with killing while still very young? Even if they had never killed a person, they had killed poultry or livestock, or seen dead people. Children adapted very well, so when they grew up, it all felt natural.

Besides, most people knew that upon reaching the Spirit Blood Realm, they had to be careful not to kill too freely or excessively, lest it affect their true heart. But Huo Hai happened to be someone with amnesia, and he had forgotten all such things from before.

This time, no one had paid attention, and even Ji Mu had not anticipated it, which was why things had turned out this way. Fortunately, there were not too many people here. Otherwise, if Huo Hai had continued slaughtering for a while longer, he might truly have been unable to pull himself out.

There had been quite a few people like this in the past. Because of such circumstances, they had become murderous lunatics or suffered warped personalities. Even if they recovered in the future, they would become extremely bloodthirsty. For some reason, Ji Mu did not want Huo Hai to become like that at all. She had to properly guide him and absolutely could not allow such a thing to happen to him.

"Then what should I do now? In my current state, does that mean I can't even kill enemies anymore?" Huo Hai's voice was somewhat hoarse. If he could not kill enemies, it would be difficult to obtain point cards and complete his mission.

The Huo Family did not possess a commercial system as vast and deeply rooted as the Ji Family's, nor did it have so many resources to exchange for academy points. Once he entered the academy, if he could not raise his cultivation quickly, earning points would not be easy.

Only then, when he thought of the cards, did Huo Hai realize that Star Gu had devoured those people he had killed, leaving behind quite a few cards. They had been a large group, though they did not have as many cards as he did. Over the past few days, the cards on them had accumulated to nearly two hundred. Huo Hai endured his discomfort and gathered them up.

Ji Mu shook her head. "You don't need to worry too much. Just remember that while you're in the Spirit Blood Realm, you must not kill excessively, especially people. Come on, let's rest for two days first. Don't kill carelessly during these two days."

Huo Hai nodded. He knew there was something seriously wrong with his current state. It would be bad if he carelessly left behind any aftereffects. Physical aftereffects might still be treatable, but there would be no cure for mental aftereffects.

Just then, Huo Hai's gaze suddenly turned cold. Killing intent throughout his body began to boil once more, and his eyes showed signs of reddening again as he stared toward a distant direction. Ji Mu's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly grabbed Huo Hai. His condition was even more serious than she had imagined. How could this be? People like this, with such a constitution, should be very rare, right?

In the end, such people generally either became incomparably good people or villains who committed every evil under the sun. Ji Mu truly did not want Huo Hai to become a bad person, though Huo Hai himself seemed like one.

Huo Hai himself did not know that this was a consequence of Perfect Body Tempering. Perfect Body Tempering brought a perfect foundation and stimulated one's own blood energy more thoroughly. Thus, after reaching the Blood Refining Realm, his blood was more easily brought to a boil than that of others.

This boiling could even easily affect his mind. If Huo Hai's spiritual power had not far surpassed that of an ordinary person, he might already have lost himself in that slaughter. But this was not good either; he would need a long time to recuperate. Unless he broke through in cultivation, he could forget about recovering. How could Huo Hai have known? He had been feeling his way through cultivation on his own.

If disciples of large Sects cultivated using the Perfect Foundation Establishment method, then for a period afterward, they would not even be allowed to see a corpse, precisely out of fear that this situation might arise. Only after making a breakthrough would they be permitted to go out.

After a long while, Huo Hai closed his eyes, and his killing intent began to dissipate. When he opened them again, the red within them had vanished. Huo Hai knew that his condition was already very serious. No matter what, he could not kill during these next two days.

"Another team is coming this way. We need to leave quickly. I don't want to come face-to-face with them." Huo Hai simply could not control his killing intent now. Especially when faced with people hostile toward him, he might very well charge forward without a care and wipe them out. Even when the Gu Insects sensed them, Huo Hai had nearly failed to suppress the urge to go find them.

If he truly saw them, who knew whether he could still control himself? Huo Hai began reciting the half-baked Diamond Sutra in his heart, unsure whether it would be of any use. Still, reciting it a few more times ought to help.

"Mm, let's go quickly. Ignore these people for now. Once you've recovered, we'll definitely make these bastards pay." Ji Mu did not have the slightest favorable impression of the people who had turned Huo Hai into this state.

Ji Mu herself did not realize how differently she treated this person she had only recently met. With all her thoughts focused on Huo Hai, the only thing Ji Mu cared about now was his physical condition. Nothing else mattered.

Guided by the Gu Insects, Huo Hai quickly found a direction with no one there. Fixing on that direction, the two rapidly departed. At this point, they no longer cared about settling grudges with swift satisfaction or pressing onward with indomitable courage. They had to resolve their own problem first. Otherwise, when things finally spiraled out of control, no one would end well. First, they needed to think of how to delay things until they joined Imperial City Academy.

The two hurried all the way, avoiding everyone they encountered. Even beasts were directly driven away by Ji Mu rather than being dealt with by Huo Hai. Huo Hai had already ordered all the Star Gu not to attack anyone.

After the corpses on the ground had been completely devoured by the Star Gu, they flew back to Huo Hai once more. No one knew how long they traveled, but the two had already moved far away from the encirclement. Only then did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Let's find somewhere to rest first. There's a cave over there." Huo Hai let out a breath. He was not particularly physically tired, but mentally, he felt utterly exhausted. Excessive excitement always left people weary. If things went wrong, it was even possible to injure one's mind. What Huo Hai needed now was a good rest.