Taking Butcher along for revenge

"Why were you in such a hurry to find me just now?" Butcher asked, recalling how Yang Xiao had looked before coming through the door.

Clenching his fists, Yang Xiao told him what had happened at Gu Chen's house.

"Come on. I'll take you to get revenge," Butcher said, leading the way.

Following behind him, Yang Xiao was about to ask whether he knew the way, but after stepping outside, Butcher briefly closed his eyes. When he opened them, he headed straight toward Gu Chen's house.

Yang Xiao followed. Although he had no idea what method Butcher had used, it must have been some special means available to cultivators.

The two arrived at Gu Chen's house. The gate Yang Xiao had kicked apart that morning still had not been repaired. He spotted Gu Chen in the courtyard, and Gu Chen spotted him too, sneering, "Yang Xiao, you've actually got the nerve to come back."

Yang Xiao sneered, strode forward, hauled him up, and punched him to the ground.

"Yang Xiao, you dare lay a hand on me?" Gu Chen rose from the ground, covering his left eye.

Yang Xiao's fist answered him. Gu Chen had barely stood up before he fell again. This time, he did not dare get up, both eyes bruised black like a panda's.

The commotion in the courtyard alerted those inside. Gu Tianheng came out with City Lord Lin. Seeing what had happened, Gu Tianheng roared, "Yang Xiao, you dared hit my son! Today, I'll drive both you and Yang Zhan out of Ancient Sand Town!"

Yang Xiao eyed him coldly. "Anyone who does wrong must face the consequences. I don't care whose son Gu Chen is. Today, I will kill him."

He kicked toward Gu Chen's heart. If that kick landed, Gu Chen would surely die.

"Insolence!" The armored general drew his sword and slashed at him.

"You're the insolent one!" Butcher said coldly. A mighty pressure erupted from him. The armored general felt an enormous force strike his chest and went flying backward into the main hall.

With Butcher protecting him, Yang Xiao drove his foot into Gu Chen's chest. Gu Chen's eyes widened, and bloody froth spilled from his mouth.

"My son!" Gu Tianheng wailed. He rushed to Gu Chen and checked his breathing, then let out a miserable cry. Turning around, he bowed and pleaded, "City Lord Lin, please avenge my son!"

City Lord Lin's pupils contracted. He kicked Gu Tianheng aside, stepped forward, and bowed. "Your subordinate, Lin Wei, pays his respects to the marquis."

"You know me?" Butcher regarded Lin Wei coldly.

"My lord, Slaughter Heaven City sent a letter ten days ago, ordering me to come here and respectfully welcome you back to the city." Lin Wei pressed his forehead against the ground, his back drenched in cold sweat. Inwardly, he had already cursed Gu Chen half to death. Given the chance, he would kill Gu Chen himself. Who could have known that offending a mortal would involve someone as lofty as the Sky Marquis?

Butcher snorted, turned, and left the courtyard. Yang Xiao hurried after him.

Inside the courtyard, Lin Wei did not dare rise from the ground. Only after Butcher had gone far away did he slowly stand.

Glancing at Gu Tianheng, he said, "Kill him. Make sure you clean everything up."

The armored general beside him dragged Gu Tianheng into the main hall. A moment later, a scream rang out from within, and the general emerged without any expression.

"Bring the army in. We're going to welcome the Sky Marquis," Gu Tianheng said with his back to the armored general.

The general gripped the sword at his waist and flew out of town.

In an alley, Yang Xiao turned toward Butcher and parted his lips.

"If you have something to ask, go ahead." Butcher smiled at his expression.

"What's the Sky Marquis? And what's Great Zhou?" Yang Xiao asked in quick succession.

Butcher pondered for a moment, then said, "He actually told you nothing. You already have half a foot on the path of cultivation, so there are things you ought to know.

"The world beneath our feet is called the Star River Continent, and the Great Zhou Dynasty lies at its center."

"Great Zhou is divided into nine regions: the Imperial Capital in the middle, and the eight domains of Heaven, Earth, Profound, Yellow, Cosmos, Universe, Vastness, and Wilderness. I am the Heaven Domain Lord, with the title of Sky Marquis, and I govern its one hundred and eight cities."

Yang Xiao sucked in a breath of cold air. He had never even been to Duskwater City, much less the one hundred and eight cities of Heaven Domain.

"Uncle Butcher, how strong are you?" Yang Xiao could not help recalling what had just happened. The city lord of Duskwater City was already immensely powerful in his eyes, yet all Butcher had done was reveal his identity, and the man had abandoned any thought of resisting.

"Don't think so much." Butcher clapped him on the shoulder. "Once your cultivation reaches that level, you'll naturally know how strong I am."

The two returned home. A beautiful woman stood outside the gate, holding two bowls of noodles.

"Aunt Lü." Yang Xiao went up to take the noodles. Judging by her appearance, she must have been waiting a long time.

"Xiao." Aunt Lü stroked his head.

Yang Xiao ducked his head. Aunt Lü still treated him like a child, and with Butcher standing beside him, it was rather embarrassing.

He opened the gate and let them both inside.

Aunt Lü headed toward the house, calling as she went, "Old Master Yang, come out and eat!"

Yang Xiao had just set down the noodles when he froze. The old man was gone. How was he supposed to tell Aunt Lü? Would she be heartbroken?

Aunt Lü looked around inside but did not find the person she wanted to see. Turning back, she asked, "Xiao, where's the old man? Has he gone out again?"

Yang Xiao sat down and cast a pleading look at Butcher, who turned to look elsewhere. Having lived so long, how could Butcher fail to recognize what was going on?

"Who is this?" Aunt Lü asked Yang Xiao.

"This is Butcher, a friend of the old man's," Yang Xiao answered hastily. Butcher had temporarily drawn Aunt Lü's attention, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Hello." Aunt Lü nodded in greeting, and Butcher responded.

Suddenly, Aunt Lü asked again, "Where's the old man?"

Yang Xiao paused, then sighed. In the end, there was no avoiding it.

He led Aunt Lü to the armchair and sat her down. Holding her shoulders with both hands, he said, "The old man has left."

Aunt Lü murmured in acknowledgment. "I know he goes out often. I'm asking when he'll be back."

Yang Xiao fell silent for a moment. "I'm leaving too."

He looked at Butcher. Although Butcher had not said so, he knew the man would take him away to cultivate. With towering mountains and distant rivers between them, he might struggle to return for the rest of his life.

Aunt Lü froze, then forced a smile. "Then when will you two be back?"

Yang Xiao fell silent.

Aunt Lü smiled. "I understand."

She rose from the armchair and headed outside, her body swaying. Yang Xiao was about to step forward to support her when she cried, "Don't! You're an ungrateful little wolf, and your grandfather is an ungrateful old wolf.

"Go, then. Never come back."

He watched Aunt Lü run out through the gate, leaving two teardrops in the air.

Yang Xiao's heart clenched painfully. So intent on cultivation, he had forgotten Aunt Lü.

She was alone. Before, at least she had him for company, and she would occasionally come over to chat with the old man.

Once he and the old man left, Aunt Lü would be all alone. How hard would the days ahead be for her?

At some point, Butcher had returned to his room. He was staying in the old man's room.

Yang Xiao approached the door and was about to knock when a voice came from inside. "This is a problem every cultivator encounters. You must work through it yourself.

"A cultivator's life isn't as wonderful as you imagine. Once you reach a certain realm, you'll watch your loved ones die, one after another, while you remain untouched by age or death."

Yang Xiao returned to his room. The Dragon Horn on his bed was miraculous. In Severed Dragon Valley, it had warmed its surroundings. Now that he was back in Ancient Sand Town, it kept his room cool instead.

Sitting by the bed, he replayed the scene in his mind. Aunt Lü's tears had made him hesitate. On one side lay the Great Dao; on the other, his loved ones.

He thought for a long time before slowly drifting off to sleep.

When he woke again, it was already the next day.

He wrapped the Dragon Horn in cloth and strapped it to his back, took the Corpse-Binding Rope from the wall and hung it at his waist, then stepped outside. The sun overhead was as dazzling as ever.

"Have you figured it out?" Butcher sat in the courtyard, apparently waiting all along for him to decide.

Yang Xiao nodded. "I've heard that once your cultivation reaches a certain realm, you can resurrect the dead and grant them eternal life.

"So I've decided to enter the cultivation world. I want the people around me to live forever."

Butcher looked at him in surprise. After a long while, he said, "Someone's lied to you."

Yang Xiao smiled. He had read those words in books before, though not in this world, but in his previous life.

Still, he believed that once someone became powerful enough, they could surely accomplish it.

"Let's go." Butcher stood and headed toward the gate.

Yang Xiao followed him, locked the gate, and placed the key beneath the third stone brick outside. If the old man returned, he would find it.

Yet once he was done, he found it amusing. The old man was someone even Butcher treated with respect. If he returned, he would have no need to use the gate.

As they passed the noodle shop, Yang Xiao looked over. Its doors were locked.

"Wait for me," Yang Xiao said. Butcher stopped ahead of him.

He walked to the doors and knocked, but there was no response from inside.

Yang Xiao's expression dimmed. A moment later, he called, "Aunt Lü, I'm going away to cultivate. I... I'll come back to see you."

No answer came from the noodle shop. Perhaps she really was not there, or perhaps she did not want to see him.

"Let's go." Yang Xiao returned to Butcher's side. Butcher glanced at the noodle shop, then headed out of town.

Not long after they left, Aunt Lü emerged with tear tracks covering her face and gazed into the distance in the direction Yang Xiao had gone.

"Can't you fly? Why are we walking?" Yang Xiao asked. They had yet to leave town.

"You'll know in a moment." Butcher gave a mysterious smile.

When they reached the outskirts, Butcher stopped and looked into the distance.

Yang Xiao looked over curiously. Apart from weeds by the roadside, there was not a soul in sight.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. A white horse ran toward them. Behind it, he saw City Lord Lin, the armored general, and a hundred soldiers.

"We pay our respects to the Sky Marquis!" City Lord Lin dismounted and knelt, and the armored cavalry behind him followed suit.

Yang Xiao's gaze settled on the white horse. It was a peculiar creature, with a dragonlike head but no Dragon Horn. Its limbs ended not in hooves, but in what looked like claws. A name surfaced in his mind—Dragon Horse—and he murmured it aloud.

"You actually know what a Dragon Horse is?" Butcher asked in surprise.

"I heard the old man mention it." Of course, he had never seen a Dragon Horse, but he had seen so many dragons in books in his previous life that he could make a guess.

"Sky Marquis, please." City Lord Lin personally led the Dragon Horse before Butcher, who waved his hand. "I need a carriage."

City Lord Lin froze briefly, then turned and shouted, "Didn't you hear? The Sky Marquis needs a carriage! Hurry up and prepare one!"

The soldiers bustled about for quite some time before finally borrowing a carriage from the town mayor's household. They replaced its horse with the Dragon Horse, and the two climbed aboard.

Inside the carriage, Butcher asked, "Why haven't you started cultivating yet?"

Yang Xiao gave a bitter smile. "Last night, my mind was full of Aunt Lü. I didn't get around to cultivating."

Butcher said, "Since I have some time, I'll explain cultivation to you. The first realm is called the Qi Gathering Realm. In this realm, you must first sense your Qi Sea, then absorb spiritual energy into your body. Once you fill your Qi Sea, you'll have reached the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm. When your spiritual energy turns to liquid, you'll enter the second realm of cultivation, the Sea Condensation Realm."

"Everyone's Qi Sea is different. Its size determines a person's aptitude for cultivation."

"Those with a Qi Sea a hundred li across are considered ordinary cultivators. They are also the most common."

"A thousand li across indicates considerable talent.

"Ten thousand li across is exceedingly rare.

"A hundred thousand li across earns someone the title of peerless genius in our cultivation world.

"Take out the Great Martial Canon. It contains a method for sensing your Qi Sea."