The Following

The day had been tragic for the family, the young talent Huang Zhilan had been killed during a duel. Huang Yang had pierced him with his sword, letting the life in him escape.

Who could blame the boy? Huang Zhilan had become nothing more than a demon at the end, even trying to kill other family members.

His father, Huang Lang, however, had a hard time accepting this, swearing on his life, that there was still sanity within the eyes of his son before that outsider struck him down in cold blood.

The patriarch and others, denied this, as they had personally seen the evil demon emerging from the body of Huang Zhilan that day. He had tried to kill the daughter of Huang Hao, and little Mei still felt the trauma from it.

The family had begun splitting up. Two factions had been formed, each with their own beliefs. The first faction held with Huang Yang, saying that his decision was correct, as more could have died had it not been for him ending it.

They were the families of the patriarch and his sister, due to their relationship with the boy. They had seen him grow and knew, that Huang Yang would never have done what he did out of cold blood.

The other faction was ruled by Huang Hong, clearly bearing resentment over what happened to his grandchild. His daughter Rou and granddaughter Yao had of course also joined this faction, wanting to support their closest family members.

Some distance from the Huang estate, was a city, filled with mortals and hired soldiers who typically worked for the Huang family. Bright City.

Somehow, news began to spread about the incident, allowing the affairs of immortals to enter the ears of mortals. Fear and mistrust began to form in their hearts as they looked towards the Huang family estate, at the foot of their mountain.

In their eyes, they hardly cared about the split of the family, all that mattered was that they had allowed a demon to infiltrate their home. How could they protect them, when they couldn't even protect themselves?

Huang Yang had no idea of this, of course, he had never even left the family estate. He spent days training, trying to calm his mind. After that day he felt sorrow, he had killed a member of the family.

It may have been the correct choice, yet the pain in his heart didn't subside. He was a child, not a trained killer or a veteran soldier. Blood was still new to him.

While he knew that the sword would strike down Huang Zhilan, he didn't think about what death actually was. Huang Zhilan would never walk into his parents' embrace, never again make them proud, and never be a parent himself.

His family had tried to console him, hoping that this would not leave a scar in his heart. Even Huang Mei, who was still suffering from trauma had come to talk to him, trying to say her thanks. He did save her life.

Huang Yang still had a cold attitude, he honestly didn't want to talk about it. The heart of a child can be changed, yet not always fixed. He hadn't lived long enough for him to understand what a heart meant for a cultivator.

Luckily it appeared as though, the sadness in his heart didn't stop him from advancing. He even began training harder than before.

When fighting his eyes seemed to be more focused, while he even displayed a more ruthless attitude towards himself.

He had begun bleeding one day due to a training accident. His mother rushed over to check on him, but he hardly looked at her, before picking up his sword and charging back into his training.

When his close family came to visit, he would answer their questions, before giving a quick bow and leaving. His mind seemed to hold only one thing. Training.

His brother would often come to find him, asking if he had time to play, but every time his answer would be, "I have to train, so another time...". He then walked off, gently patting his brother on the top of his head.

Pen Min kept on training the little monster, yet he never made jokes anymore, as Huang Yang would hardly ever smile, no matter what he said to him.

At night when Xiao Shu saw the back of his son walking into his small room. Tears would fall. Some nights they never stopped, as they continued to land on the chest of her husband who tried to comfort her.

Huang Shi and his father Canfeng felt pain whenever the sad face of their Yang'er would walk by them. They often thought about, how things would have turned out if they had taken action sooner.

If they had killed Huang Zhilan, would Huang Yang still have been able to smile as he was sent flying by his master? Or laugh when he was playing with his brother in the forest?

The other faction felt an intense amount of hate. They, however, had far less power and men. Huang Hong had desperately tried to advance in cultivation, while Huang Lang followed him.

Most days, however, Huang Lang could be found drinking, while his wife had become cold and silent. After the death of her son, she had tried to contact her family. They had the same standing as the Huang family.

Huang Canfeng had found out about it and easily stopped her. A fight broke out between him and his brother, which was easily won by him. Huang Lang's wife was named Da Juan and was from the Da family.

Should they attack the Huang family now, they would have a chance of winning, since two factions had been formed. If the family fought each other, while another part came to join, the Huang estate would easily fall.

A temporary truth had been formed between the two factions. They might hate each other at the moment, yet who would want to see their homes destroyed due to infighting.

There were, however, two who had yet to take a stand with a faction. Huang Qiang and his son were simply observing, for now at least.

.....

Months of intense training had passed by, and Huang Yang was once again lying injured in his bed, before going to sleep. Today was like most nights, as he would constantly wake up from a nightmare.

In reality, Huang Yang didn't feel as much hate towards himself, as his family thought. The problem lay in a whole other area of his mind.

He would not see himself kill Huang Zhilan at night all that much. He would see himself frozen by fear, as the green snakes emerged from his now-dead cousin.

Every night these snakes would grow from blood, slowly circling his precious family, as they desperately tried to survive. In his mind, he would see Huang Mei crying, while loudly screaming for Huang Yang to help her.

But every single night would end with him watching the death of his family, without even having the courage to move. He would wake up and feel like a failer. He couldn't even look at his parents, simple out of shame for what happened in his dreams.

This night he once again had a nightmare. He took a look around his room, only to see his sword, clothes, and a sleeping crow, who also seemed to be having a dream.

He began to drive his qi within his body. Due to the passing of too many months, he will soon be seven years old. The surprise, however, came from his abundant qi.

His family feared that the trauma of killing one of his family members would be a roadblock for him. Causing him to slow his advancement, maybe even bringing him to a full stop.

The reality turned out to be far different, as Huang Yang had become far more determined to never be lacking strength. He wanted to have the power and courage to protect his family within his dream and in reality.

It was now this love for his family and fear of losing them that drove him to seek out more strength. He would train himself harder every day, even going so far as to beat himself, if it meant that he would possess more power.

He had found it hard to understand, why people only looked at others' power while ignoring the things he thought mattered. Now, however, it all seemed to be clear for him.

This was a dangerous world, where a person could only protect those he cared about, through his own power.

In some ways, Huang Yang had always hated his talent from birth. In the beginning, it had brought him the disdain of his family members as he wasn't related to them by blood, yet he had also gained more attention from his loved ones.

"I want to see who can stop me when I advance!", he said with tightened fists under the covers, as he drove his qi around. The qi of a level six opening realm martial artist.