67: Chapter 66: A Bloody Lesson 67: Chapter 66: A Bloody Lesson A hundred paces away in the treetops, two figures flickered in and out of sight, one a human, the other with the head of a tiger and the body of a human.

The one with the tiger head, shivering in pain, said, “Just to eradicate the remnant of your humans, nearly all the spirit-communicating creatures of Poplar Forest have been lost!

If you want to be ruthless, yet fear public scorn, are you making us from the Poplar Demon Clan take the fall as scapegoats?

You clearly have countless methods to deal with them, so why did you drag them here?

Why are there two cultivators among them!”

The human, unmoved, replied, “This is no superfluous act!

All who have betrayed Shan Country must die!

How foolish would we have to be to allow them to flee to another country, to continue their carefree lives?

And then, once they’re well-fed and clothed, remember who forced them into this situation?

And then have some more whelps with the lifelong goal of annihilating Shan Country, annihilating the Quanzhen Sect?

Poplar Forest is the best burial ground; nobody knows, nobody cares… Hmm, I will admit, there was a slight mishap.

These two minor cultivators are very persistent and capable fighters.

I thought they’d turn and leave as soon as they saw things were amiss.

Two fools… Signal the end; too many lives have been lost, and I am starting to feel a pang of conscience.”

The tiger-headed figure erupted in fury, “Since so many have already died, then we should just let them die out completely!

Why spare these two humans?

They must pay the price!

I lay my words here today; even if Li Chuping himself comes, my stance remains the same!”

The human cultivator sighed, “Are you sure?”

The tiger-headed figure stood his ground, “I am sure!”

A mysterious force suddenly burst forth, and in the next instant, the tiger head reverted to its full form; a majestic spotted tiger lay prostrate on the ground, pinned by a single hand of the human cultivator and unable to move!

A hint of a smile appeared on the edge of the cultivator’s mouth, “Why?

I’ll tell you why—because humans are more noble than demons!

To exchange the lives of the Poplar Forest Demon Clan for those of a few dozen humans, what more could you be dissatisfied with?

You still want the life of a human cultivator?

Tiger head, all these years down the line, have you started to forget who you are?

Yet you dare bring up the Capital Commandant; just for that alone, you must die!”

The tiger-headed figure struggled vehemently, “So it turns out, the Quanzhen Sect had long harbored intentions to exterminate my Poplar Forest Demon Clan…”

The human cultivator chuckled dismissively, “When man is about to die, his words are kind; you are a tiger about to die, yet your words are clear!

Indeed, there are some changes that will occur between Shan Country and Anhe, rendering the Poplar Forest Demon Clan superfluous.

It intersects trade routes, disrupts commerce…

Originally, there was no rush for this, but why did you press me?

To pressure a power capable of controlling your life and death, what were you thinking?”

With a forceful expulsion of energy, the tiger’s head turned into that of a dog.

The cultivator cast one last glance at the distant battlefield and murmured, “This has not gone according to script at all… Two fools!”

……

Hou Niao continued to swing his sword, relying solely on instinct, solely on muscular strength; he could not possibly last half an hour in such a fight,

Dizzy, weak, his consciousness blurred, bloodied… Swinging his sword, he felt something was amiss—why hadn’t the anticipated bite from a beast come?

He stopped his blade and slumped against the sledge like a young boy, trying hard to focus his blurry eyes.

To his shock, he discovered that the strange creatures had disappeared without trace.

He didn’t even have the strength to ponder why this was the case.

The only thing he could do was to try to channel the Heaven and Earth Spirit Mechanism, infusing the parched meridians with a life source.

Around him was a deathly silence; blood had soaked inches into the fallen leaves.

Even the usually blood-thirsty demons were frightened by the carnage and kept their distance, with none daring to look back.

An hour later, spiritual power was once again coursing through his meridians as if long-awaited rain had fallen on parched earth; he did not make any rash moves.

At such a time, refraining from using even an ounce of spiritual power was another sliver of hope for survival.

He could feel that the young man was also trying hard to recover, but the speed of his recovery was hardly commendable.

It was only at this moment that he could spare a glance at the surrounding situation…

Describing it as a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood was not an exaggeration at all; animal carcasses and human bodies were intermingled, indistinguishable from each other.

A wave of sadness arose in his heart.

Although he still had not figured out why this had happened, he was very clear that all of this was far from simple.

He was just a small, insignificant piece in the game.

This should not have happened, or at least, it should not have happened in this way; he did not like this Quanzhen Sect, not because it was a Demon Sect, but because it lacked the exhilaration of the Demon Sect.

Instead, it was full of petty intrigue and calculations behind the scenes.

What the truth was didn’t matter anymore.

What mattered was that he realized the responsibility on his shoulders, and he hoped that by keeping a low profile, he could bring about change to the Cultivation World.

At this moment, he felt the urge to meet Chong Ling for the first time.

An hour later, the young man had recovered, his eyes dazed, “We failed!

The escorts are still alive, but the person they were protecting is dead…”

Hou Niao had no words to reply, stood up, and searched around futilely.

Suddenly, he took a few steps, turned over the carcass of a roaring bear.

Under the wide paw of the roaring bear, a woman had lost half of her head.

Yet in the woman’s arms, she still tightly hugged a four or five-year-old girl!

The child was very well-behaved, not crying or making noise, just quietly looking at him,

“We haven’t failed, at least we saved one!”

The two of them didn’t worry about whether the Beast Tide would come again; things were already like this, and life seemed so insignificant.

They searched around carefully, but regrettably, apart from this girl, there were no other survivors.

Out of thirty-seven people, only three survived!

Dragging their weary steps, the two walked out of the Poplar Forest.

When they reemerged into the daylight, they didn’t feel the slightest sense of relief, only an endless heaviness.

Too tired, they pitched a camp by a small river at the edge of the forest, sitting in silence; Hou Niao had nothing to say, as the instigator of this mission, he had to take responsibility for this utter failure.

The young man remained silent.

He rarely did good deeds, and he never imagined that doing it this once would result in such an outcome?

The little girl seemed to be mute, eating when given food, but not answering when asked questions.

It seemed the shock was too great, and her young mind couldn’t bear it.

This could only be left to time, or maybe a good environment?

A night passed, and all three knew that none of them had truly slept, but they all pretended to have slept well.

The young man went up to him, “I have to go back to learn swordsmanship, I want to learn your style of swordsmanship.”

Hou Niao was speechless, knowing this was the young man’s pride talking, “Staying in Anhe wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

The Daoist Sect here would welcome a brave young man like you, and you’re not that old yet.”

The young man shook his head stubbornly, “No, I can’t learn swordsmanship here.

To learn swordsmanship, I can only go back and join the Quanzhen Sect.

Don’t worry, I will come looking for you in the Sect in a year!”

Hou Niao didn’t know how to persuade him; nothing seemed appropriate?

“It’s up to you, by the way, you still haven’t told me your name.

Are you still unwilling to tell me now?”

The young man lowered his head, seeming to struggle, but still kept his promise, “My name is Fang Second Baby…”

Hou Niao held back a laugh; it was typical for kids from small places, it was already good that he had such a formal name.

“So, are we friends now?

That’s your nickname, right?

Second Baby means the second child.

Yazi, is your full name Fang Yazi?”

The young man lifted his head, revealing a trace of a smile, “Yes, my name is Fang Yazi!”