Revenge

Leaving the burning prison behind him, he followed the carriage tracks.

During which he pushed his way through some reinforcements which were storming towards the prison in a formation, though the ranks that were in front of the boy all dropped dead in their tracks, making many of the squads frightened.

But as the prisoners inside the prison were already escaping through some hole in the main gate, they didn't have time to investigate their comrades' deaths. Also, they preferred not to since they were smart enough to let the thing continue whatever it was doing in peace.

Thanks to being left alone, the boy quickly enough came in front of the house where the carriage had stopped for a moment before continuing with less weight pressing it down. And as the officer had said the Baron did live on the upper areas of the city, in a fancy mansion no less.

Enough sightseeing done, and now that he was here, he needed to be polite towards the Baron, and so he announced his welcome by gently knocking on the door. He did it gently, but it was enough to send the gate which was securing the front entrance crash all the way to the inner courtyard.

¨Now that I have made myself known I should go and meet him¨ And so he walked the path he had made for himself. Soon he was about to sit down and wait inside the garden for the Baron, yet a second before he was to sit down, he heard that he had been heard well enough.

For the Baron burst through the front door, screaming from the top of his lungs. ¨Who dares to break into my courtyard? I'll show you how I, Pan Qiao, deals with people like you!¨

'Pan Qiao, huh?' He thought about his target for a moment before announcing himself.

¨I, Xiao Fan, have come to settle something¨ The boy retorted, and got standing again from a position that was about to sit down.

Pan Qiao was shocked when he saw Xiao Fan ¨What, it's you? You think just because you escaped prison, you can come here to take revenge? Didn't I tell you that because I'm stronger I beat you?¨ In Pan Qiao's mind, there was only confusion, no fear, and for a good reason as why should he fear the boy?

¨I have learned that well Pan Qiao. Trust me, you will not survive the night¨ The boy smiled at the man, not caring to answer his questions.

¨You are just a beginner in the road of cultivation, boy. Although I'm no master, I can best hundreds of people like you at once¨

¨Then try me¨ The boy chuckled.

Pan Qiao didn't respond; instead, he simply charged the boy, aiming his fist at the boy's head, hoping that one punch would be enough to end this kid.

Yet as his fist connected with the boy's head, the man didn't fall dead to the ground like everyone else, for just before the hit had connected Xiao Fan had thought about something 'Don't let him die' He had screamed to the person he knew was still here, creeping around him.

And the person he was communicating with had complied. However, that didn't, of course, help Pan Qiao at all. Pan Qiao had been sure that after hitting him, the boy's head would have been turned into a fine mush that would then water his plants, but right in front of him Xiao Fan, the target of his fist hadn't moved an inch, and add into it he was still smiling behind his fist.

¨Well, what do you think? Who is the stronger one now?¨ The boy spoke, his voice carrying a hint of madness.

¨What! Why aren't you dead?¨ Pan Qiao pulled his fist back while his other hand jabbed the boys head in turn. This punching then continued for tens of punches, but still even after that Pan Qiao could see that he was having no effect. His target only kept laughing while his punches kept meeting a wall that didn't give in.

When Xiao Fan finally stopped laughing, he raised one of his hands and a flash later, both of Pan Qiao's hands were locked in his own. This time it would be Pan Qiao who would be screaming as the two of them fought. And what a relieving sound it was to hear for Xiao Fan, he had waited long to hear Pan Qiao howl in agony and now got it when Pan Qiao saw Xiao Fan's fingers impale his hands.

Pan Qiao could see how Xiao Fan's middle and index finger were sticking out from the other side of his wrists ¨How can you be this strong!¨ Pan Qiao screamed while at the same time trying to pull his hands out of Xiao Fan's grasp.

But Xiao Fan's fingers were now curled over his wrist, keeping his hands locked in place.

Xiao Fan, in turn, shrugged his shoulders and spoke the line that had been exchanged between the two many times before

¨Tough luck I guess¨

Having said that Xiao Fan kept the hand on Pan Qiao's hands and impaled his stomach with the other, ripping his intestines out every time his hand came out of him.

To this Pan Qiao didn't have time to react, however, for his pain was multiplied time and time again as Xiao Fan's hand went in and out from his body, making his stomach resemble a holey cheese.

Xiao Fan was making sure that before killing off Pan Qiao, he would inflict as much pain as possible, so not before when Pan Qiao's heart and lungs were exposed in his chest, and one could see them beat heavily did he stop.

Of course, Xiao Fan didn't stop entirely, he only stopped to switch his target again. Back to the hands, it was as Xiao Fan ripped the wrists off Pan Qiao's hands by pulling his two fingers that were still impaling them back. From there he moved on by removing both forearms and one arm by ripping them from both sides only using brute force.

At this point, Pan Qiao was only a screaming mess. He couldn't respond to anything anymore, as by now, the only thing he could do anymore was to feel pain. Still, Xiao Fan could see that the man was near death, so he let him rest for a minute or so. Currently, it would be too soon for him to go.

While Pan Qiao ¨rested¨, Xiao Fan used the time to look for the wrist, he had thrown somewhere around the courtyard.

Pan Qiao seeing Xiao Fan leaving him alone for a moment thought that he had been spared or something. Only to moments later realise that was only a fantasy of his since he now felt how his own hands were now hitting him. It would seem to him that Xiao Fan had gone looking for the wrist that he had then joined back together with the hands by force, and was now using them as canes.

¨Why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself?¨ Xiao Fan also taunted.

It was utterly humiliating. And there was no aid coming for Pan Qiao. No matter how much he cried or was he angry, for the city was having a much bigger problem.

Soon, as Pan Qiao had done so many times before, Xiao Fan was getting slightly bored and decided to do something else. After all, it was no fun to torture one for too long with the same thing, especially when you had multiple time limits on the operation. Thinking about the next move, he also clapped with the hands a little in front of Pan Qiao's face playfully.

All the while, Pan Qiao himself was screaming from the pain as he slowly descended into madness. His physical body was taking this much better than his psychological side, as any mortal would have been dead by now, but someone at Pan Qiao's cultivation level wouldn't die instantly from such wounds. His vital organs were still there, and the bloodloss? Well, his heart was strong enough to pump out enough blood for ten or so minutes more.

Xiao Fan was betting on him not dying, for his revenge was not yet complete.

When his thinking was done, Xiao Fan kicked Pan Qiao's left knee, making it bend towards his backside in an unnatural way. From the hit, Pan Qiao fell forwards, but before he could fall to the ground, Xiao Fan crushed his right knee as well, but to the other direction. Crushing the second one also had an added benefit of making Pan Qiao balance nicely.

Still, the end was near. Pan Qiao's head was now on the level of Xiao Fan's waist, giving the boy a good look at Pan Qiao's head. Xiao Fan then used his fingernails as a cutting tool on his hair. It wouldn't be a finale if he didn't do anything to his face. Of course, during the cutting, there were a few slips which ended up taking the skin on Pan Qiao's head with it, exposing his skull beneath.

Nevertheless, everything was going except the patient was screaming too much, so he nicely asked him to stop ¨Can you be quiet for a moment I need to focus, or I might cut too deep¨ Xiao fan spoke in a happy tone.

However, for some reason, the patient didn't comply, nor did he even reply back to him with an understandable voice. Understanding that his patient couldn't be reasoned with anymore, he took matters to his own hands by putting one of his hands to block the mouth of Pan Qiao while also holding him in place. And now having a much more co-operative patient he continued his sculpting.

During this time even Xiao Fan, who had seen enough torture for a few lifetimes, was beginning to become a little sick, but his rage towards the man before him was enough to keep him from stopping. He was also running out of powers that he had been given by the being, so he couldn't stop before the work was finished.

When bartering, he had been told that his body couldn't handle all the power within him. The being had said to him ¨When your body can't handle the power anymore I'll start to lessen it accordingly¨ Knowing this, he had no time to stop to think about anything. He wanted to make his masterpiece be final and not a thing that he needed to come back to later.

His extra powers faded just as he was putting the man's now deformed lip into place, but by then the patient was quiet, and that was because he couldn't physically make any noise, it was because Xiao Fan had given Pan Qiao a new face, or more accurately, moved the place and positions of his face.

It was a face, yet the lips didn't touch; they were next to each other. The eyes and nose had been turned and twisted, and sometime during the process, Pan Qiao had died.

With one last laugh, Xiao Fan spoke to the voice ¨Thank you for helping me with this. Now shall we move to the real thing?¨ Xiao Fan didn't hear a response to his, yet he did see something. He wasn't sure what it was at first, but then he saw that it seemed like a door.

Realising this Xiao Fan took steps towards it and once inside he disappeared from the courtyard, leaving Pan Qiao, and his revenge behind him.