Premeditated

Xue Chang had decided he would allow Lou Lan and Lou Ning to for into seclusion for a while with the earth fire.

After making the deal and obtaining the jade, it seemed almost as if Yong Heng had fell into a deep slumber once again.

No matter what happened, he wouldn't speak to Xue Chang. And as such he had no idea what to do with the jade, so he just left it in his room and waited in his villa patiently.

Tian Kai stood beside him with his half lidded eyes fluttering slowly.

"Ugh! I'm so bored!"

"Calm down Tian Kai, you know your brother better than I do. So you should know it won't be long now before he..."

And just as Xue Chang was about to finish his words, the front door of the villa opened and just as expected Tian Hai stood there calmly.

Although he didn't look worn out or tired, the two of them could tell that his breathing was heavier than usual.

"What happened?"

"She escaped from my sights."

Tian Hai's words surprised them. Tian Hai was very good at tracking and sneaking, but his speed wasn't something to laugh at.

"She knew she was being followed and covered her tracks thoroughly, I never expected it."

Xue Chang nodded as he tossed some medicinal herbs he got from his mission with the guild over to Tian Hai.

Eat this, while it won't replenish your lost energy it'll help improve your stamina a bit.

Usually they would need to refine this type of herb to fully absorb its medicinal properties, but they had no time for that at the moment.

Tian Hai just took a bite out of the leave and chewed a bit before spitting out the rest.

"Okay, I'm ready now."

Xue Chang nodded and looked over at Tian Kai who tossed over a large sack to his older brother.

"Ready yourselves, we are going back to that village!"

________

While it took them a while to travel to the area the first time, this time was different. Not only had Tian Hai and Tian Kai improved their strength by several times over, but this time Xue Chang had chosen to remove his robe directly.

Now he was wearing just wearing a normal linens robe made out of common materials. But his speed and strength were now at their peak due to the loss of the extra weight.

It only took them half a day to return back to site if the battle they had with the beasts weeks ago. Memories of their past skirmishes rose up within their minds as they passed by the area.

Back then they never imagined that they'd be returning to this place.

They believed it was just a normal village at first. A place they'd only need to visit once, but now it was clear that they were wrong.

As they approached near where the village was, all three of them slowed their steps as a strange scent wafted into the air.

It was wet rancid, metallic scent. Coupled with a faint rotting smell.

Looking at each other, the three of them approached the village from the trees and paused when the clearing came in sight.

What they expected to find was a village, but what they discovered instead was a horror show.

The village had been decimated. The houses and inns had been shattered and broken while shops had been trampled and crushed.

Bodies littered the ground while blood was splattered everywhere covering the streets and walls.

The villagers all had expressions of shock and misgivings as bite and claw marks covered their bodies.

Even the severed heads of children and women could be seen rolling around as an expression of fear was permanently left on their faces.

And a short distance away, a pile of bodies, which had been mauled until they became an unrecognizable lump of flesh, sat out in the open field. Fly and maggots crawled through the rotting flesh as the process of decomposition had already begun overtaking them.

A sick feeling welled up in Xue Chang's chest as he forced himself to calm down.

Meanwhile Tian Hai stood frozen, face pale white from all of his blood draining away as he stared at what was before him.

Tian Kai had the worse reaction as vomit and bile that built up in his mouth. And when one of the corpses, which had been smashed into a nearby wall, detached from it and fell right before his feet, he couldn't hold it back anymore.

He ran off to the side and began to cough his guts out due to the excessive gruesomeness of the scene.

Xue Chang wasn't new to such gruesome sights. He himself had mutilated himself to such extents before, but even so this was too much.

An entire village, not even filled with cultivators but mortals instead, had been massacred.

They were left here with no way to call for help, like lambs left to the slaughter.

Xue Chang stood forward and immediately began to investigate the area. His jovial and curious mood had been long extinguished and all that was currently left of him was the desire to figure out what happened here.

Walking around and inspecting the injuries of the corpses, he took note of the markings and scratches left in their bodies.

It looked like a large beast had attacked these people, but he couldn't imagine a beast that could slaughter a village so cleanly. Leaving not even a single survivor left behind.

As he continued his search, he began to gather together the corpses and place them all into one area. As more and more bodies were eventually gathered into one place, he was able to clearly inspect the villagers as a whole.

Scratches and bites marked the limbs and torsos of many people, along with the blood and hair patches stuck to the buildings showed signs of several beasts invading the village. But he couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something.

He got Tian Hai to help him gather the corpses together and as the number of bodies increased, he finally figured out why something felt so wrong.

No no matter what he did, nor how long it took, he was able to piece together every single corpse perfectly. Not a single lump of flesh was missing, the beasts did not devour the people.

Even Tian Hai had taken notice of this.

"The corpses..."

"Yeah, they were killed. But it wasn't for food, this was a murder not a pillage."

While both would end in death, there was a severe difference between the two. One was caused due to hunger and desperation, while the other was premeditated. Someone, or something, had specifically planned to destroy this village.

Not only that but no news of such events had reached the guilds ears. Yet that woman from the village was there in the city!

"Tian Hai..."

"I know young master, it seems there really is a group who is raising beasts. But for what purpose?"

the two of them he couldn't find an answer to this question no matter how long they thought of it. But suddenly Tian Kai, who had just finished a vomiting fest, stepped up to them on shaky legs.

"I found something!"

The three of them traveled together as they reached the place Tian Kai spoke about.

"After I finish... my deeds, I felt a little dehydrated so I went to search for a nearby stream. But after I moved a few kilometers away, I saw something. It was an area covered unnaturally with foliage. While I usually wouldn't notice this, the nearby ground was sopping wet and trampled thanks to the stream and animals crossing nearby but this place was completely smooth and undisturbed. I thought it was a little strange so I began to dig down and then I found..."

Once he finished his story, the three of them all reached the place he was speaking of. It was a square opening built into the ground with a stone staircase leading into the darkness below.

An ominous sensation surged from the entrance and Xue Chang could feel some sort of pressure press down on top of him.

Looking over at his friends, he questions, "So shall we head down?"

He didn't even need an answer as the two of them pulled out their weapons and gripped them tightly.

"Then lets go."