Cunning

Deep in the night, all was silent. Beneath the moonlight, the ruins of the Sima Family estate looked especially desolate.

The once-glorious residence had become a wasteland of broken walls, as though recounting its former splendor and the ravages of time.

In one corner of the ruins, a shattered rockery stood alone.

Suddenly, a faint creak broke the night's stillness. The sound seemed to come from deep within the rockery.

Then a narrow crack slowly opened in the rockery, as though an invisible hand had gently pushed it apart.

Through that narrow opening, several pairs of dark eyes could be seen cautiously peering around.

Their owners were clearly wary of their surroundings, seemingly checking for any lurking danger.

After a tense survey, they seemed satisfied that there was no danger nearby.

The concealed door within the rockery slowly opened, and five or six boys of twelve or thirteen emerged first.

Their steps were light and cautious, as though they feared waking the deathly silence of the ruins.

After leaving the rockery, the boys did not immediately depart. Instead, they looked around again, carefully confirming that nothing was amiss before breathing sighs of relief.

Next, a dozen or so children of six or seven filed out of the rockery. Young as they were, every one of them looked exceptionally sharp.

Their eyes revealed a maturity beyond their years. Clearly, they were all unusually gifted.

Yet when the children saw the scene before them, disbelief spread across their faces.

Their once-resplendent home had become a field of ruins, littered with the bodies of their clansmen.

Those familiar faces were now pale and twisted, too terrible to look upon.

Their fathers, their mothers... the children's closest loved ones had all fallen alongside their clansmen.

Sobs...

Faced with this sudden catastrophe, the children could no longer contain their grief. They huddled together and began to wail.

Their cries echoed through the ruins, lamenting and pleading, as though they would drown the entire place.

Their tears poured out like floodwaters bursting through a dam, and mucus streamed uncontrollably from their noses. How could the word "tragic" alone describe such a scene?

Fortunately, the Sima Family estate covered a vast area. Otherwise, those miserable cries would surely have alerted the Guard Army outside long ago.

The children wept for a long time. Only when their throats had grown hoarse and their tears had run dry did their sobbing gradually cease.

Moments later, all manner of bitter oaths spilled from their mouths.

"Father, Mother, bear witness from heaven! Once I have achieved success in cultivation, I will slaughter every last member of our enemies' households. I will spare no one..."

"We will engrave today's massacre in our hearts. When we..."

"If I fail to avenge this blood debt, I swear I am unworthy of being human..."

Suddenly, Ying Ming Hao and the others, who had been concealed in the void, appeared right before them.

Several of the older boys instantly recovered their senses and shielded their younger clansmen, demanding in low voices:

"Who are you?"

The corners of Ming Hao's mouth lifted into an icy smile. "You only just swore those bitter oaths, and you've already cast your ocean-deep blood feud to the back of your minds?!"

At those words, the boy facing him instantly flushed red-eyed and roared:

"Were you the one who killed our parents and destroyed our Sima Family?"

"So what if I was?!"

"You murderous villain, I'll take your life!"

It happened in the blink of an eye.

How could these young boys and children stand idle with the enemy who had slaughtered their entire families within arm's reach?!

The children rushed forward with their bare fists, vowing to tear the man before them into ten thousand pieces and avenge their ocean-deep blood feud!

Seeing this, Wang Yong and the other guards immediately moved to intervene, but Ming Hao raised a hand to stop them.

As the Sima Family's last surviving bloodline charged up to him, Ying Ming Hao showed no mercy.

His strikes flashed like lightning, knocking the children down one after another. One child with each hand, one boy with each kick-in less than a minute, they all lay motionless, without the faintest sound!

Qing Ying took out a handkerchief and stepped forward to wipe Ming Hao's slightly soiled hands!

Wang Yong and the others quickly searched for Storage Rings, not even overlooking the opening inside the rockery.

Before long, they found fifty or sixty Storage Rings and handed them to Ming Hao.

He opened them for a look. Good heavens! There were only slightly fewer resources than Qian Da and the others had looted. All manner of spirit stones, heavenly treasures, cultivation methods, and martial manuals were piled like mountains!

Ming Hao absolutely refused to believe this had come solely from the Sima Family's several thousand years of accumulation.

Who knew how much fat and marrow the Sima Family had squeezed from the people to amass such immense wealth, or how many ordinary lives and happy households they had destroyed!

Looking at the mountain of wealth before him, Ming Hao could not help feeling a surge of emotion.

Ming Hao looked at the Storage Rings in his hand, thought briefly, and said:

"All of you were selected through layer upon layer of trials. With your talents, when you enter the Misty Sect three days from now, sect elders, protectors, instructors, and the like will surely take you as disciples. You won't need to stay at my side all the time then!"

"These resources will help you grow into formidable experts more quickly, so you can serve me better. Take them all!"

With that, Ming Hao waved his hand, giving each of his twelve attendants five Storage Rings.

Qing Yun, Wang Yong, and the others had already dropped to their knees. With resolute expressions, they said:

"We have sworn to follow you, young master. We will go nowhere else."

"This is an order. You have no right to argue!"

"Even if it means disobeying your orders, we will not hesitate."

"You have no say in this. Anyone who refuses can get the hell out immediately."

A trace of helplessness appeared on Ying Ming Hao's face. Traveling with twelve attendants, every one of them a heaven-favored prodigy, was worlds apart from traveling alone!

With the former, it was impossible not to attract attention. Besides, Ming Hao had long felt that having a group following him everywhere left him with no freedom at all. With someone taking care of everything, he never got to experience anything himself.

Like phantoms, Ming Hao and the others vanished from the Sima Family estate in an instant, as though they had never appeared.

Yet in a dark corner no one noticed, their figures emerged again like ghosts.

They had silently doubled back, as imperceptible as spirits concealed in the void.

Time slipped by unnoticed, and an hour passed in a flash. The rockery had already been searched several times.

Yet just then, a little boy of five or six carefully crawled out of a hidden spot in the rockery like a ghost.

His movements were somewhat clumsy but exceedingly cautious, as though he dreaded being discovered.

At last, he reached the children's bodies, his small frame trembling slightly in the cold wind.

Though his face still bore traces of childish innocence, his eyes revealed a maturity utterly at odds with his age. He gazed at his dead companions, his lips trembling faintly as though he wanted to say something.

"I told you, but you wouldn't listen. You just had to rush out. Look what happened. Now I'm the only one left."

There was a hint of tears in the little boy's voice, but far more anger and resentment.

"I will never forget today's ocean-deep blood feud!"

His words echoed through the still air, like an oath to those who had already died.

Then he slowly stood up, his small figure looking frail in the cold wind.

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west! Never scorn a boy for being poor!"

The little boy's voice suddenly grew firm. He clenched his fists, his eyes blazing like torches. "When I grow up, I'll make you pay!"

Just then, a gust of cold wind swept over him, making him shiver. With difficulty, he turned his head and looked at Ming Hao and the others a short distance behind him.

Their figures flickered in and out of view in the darkness. They watched the little boy coldly, as though he were nothing more than an insignificant ant.

The little boy's throat was dry. He swallowed with difficulty and said in a slightly trembling voice:

"You won't even spare a child? Aren't you afraid of heaven's punishment? If you've got the guts, wait until I grow up..."

Before he could finish, an incomparably sharp sword pierced his heart with a thud.

Sima Nan Feng's face filled with terror.

"You, you..." Before he could get the words out, he toppled stiffly to the ground.

Ming Hao murmured, "Interesting."

He turned and left openly once again!

As though they had never been there...