A Rank 1 Beast?

In the bustling market of South Autumn Leaf, there is a boy selling his catch to a merchant.

Due to the busy market, information spread wildly, the hard factor is, how will one differentiate the truth from the lies.

Near the boy and the merchant, there are two people, sitting down on the bench drinking their booze, both wearing leather armors, having their spear lay in front of them. Clearly, they were the village patrol guys.

"Hey, Sun?!" Said the other

"Hmm?" Replied Sun

"Have you heard about the rumor on the Southside of the forest?" He asked.

"No, what is it?" Tickled with curiosity Sun replied.

"I heard there is a ranked 1 demonic beast in the area," The guy said quietly.

"What!" Eyes widened Sun exclaimed.

"Yes! I heard our head captain talking about it, they are planning in forming an extermination team the day after tomorrow." The guy continued "They say that whomsoever killed the beast will be rewarded heavily" He grinned, raising his eyebrows, forming a money sign in his hand.

Unknown to them, when they began speaking, a curious young boy perked his ears up and listened attentively. Fortunate for him, his hearing has now left the realm of a regular human being without him realizing it.

-----

In the afternoon,

When the boy returned home, he saw his mother tending the garden.

"Mom, let me help you" he picked a hoe and started shoveling the ground.

"Oh dear, thank you" his mom smiled.

"Dear?" she asked his son

"Yes mom?" he replied

"When I looked at the mirror I noticed that my face is more.. attractive than normal" she continued "Why is it that your face is normal?" she said, confused by the thought that her face is different from his son.

When the boy heard this, sweat began to form on his forehead, trembling inside he answered "Mom, no matter what I look like, I will always be your son" he replied gently, continuing his work.

After the mother heard this, she remained silent, thinking 'hoo, forming secrets now huh?' she smiled, "Okay, I know, Just asking" She replied.

The two continued to tend the garden...

Unknown to her, the facial faculties of his son was altered by himself, because when he was young, at 1 year old, every time he wandered around the city, all women would come close to him screaming "You're so cute!, What's your name?" then they would play with his cheeks, his hair and even shout, "Cute" moaningly, while looking at him with those heart-shaped eyes.

Annoyed by this event every day, the 1-year-old him at that time, tried altering his face, through the control of his qi, and amazingly, he succeeded, and he can only revert back to his original face when he is unconscious and asleep.

After that day, the once cute and charming boys' face turned into ordinary, and because of that, many were disappointed...mostly women.

----

At night after dinner

"Mom, Can I hunt the whole day tomorrow?" he asked his mother like how one would ask on going on a sleepover.

"Whole day?" slowly, his mother's atmosphere that was once gentle, turned sharp.

Seeing this, the boy became nervous.

After a minute of contemplating, the mother agreed to the request of his son, albeit unwillingly, for she is afraid that something might happen to his son.

Seeing this, his son comforted her "Mom, don't worry, nothing will happen to me, I'm strong now, Uncle Yan said so right?" hearing this her mother does not have a choice.

"It's true, *sigh, be careful okay?" his mother asked worriedly while caressing his face.

He smiled, showing his pearly white teeth, then answered confidently "I will".

----

After dinner, they both went into their own rooms and sleep. Except the son was not asleep and cultivated instead.

'Wow, this Basic Qi Refining Technique really is wonderful' he smiled thinking that this is the best refining technique in the world.

Oh, how wrong he was.

----

When the roosters crowed, and the sun woke up.

In the South Autumn Village

In a neat and sturdy house, one could see a mother and son, saying goodbyes to each other.

The mother still worried, affectionately reminded his son about every single thing, down the tiniest detail.

The boy kept nodding his head, then hugged his mother then took his leave.

His mother watched as his only son, the remaining evidence of his husband, disappeared into the south gate of their village.

"He's grown up now, after all" she mumbled to herself, returning inside the house.

Unknown to everyone, this will be their last meeting for a very long long time.