Intruder

Throughout the next three months, Xue Chang had plenty of time to practice his unique force.

When they revealed their discovery to the guild, a large uproar occurred. The thought of such a huge event happening right under their noses completely enraged the hunters and the guild.

A city wide search for the woman and possible accomplices was made as now this affair was too big for only Xue Chang to be investigating by himself.

And later when the beasts in the edge of the nearby forest began to go wild, he was quickly dispatched along with the other cultivators of the guild to settle the issue.

Which is where he spent the next few months, endlessly training and gaining battle experience all throughout.

And in current day time, Xue Chang was finally able to get a complete grasp on his own powers.

Although he wasn't sure about the full extent of his abilities, he could tell he was much stronger than in the past.

"Tian Hai, how many days until we can finally return?"

Tian Hai looked down at a letter they had just received from a messenger.

Reading it quietly to himself, he nodded, "It looks like we can finally return tomorrow."

Tian Kai leaned back languidly while flipping his spear around within his hand.

"Finally we can go back, the last time I was able to sleep in my own bed was a month ago. It's so annoying that all of these beasts keep running wild for no reason at all."

Xue Chang nodded, "It is a little concerning, I feel like this might have something to do with the 'incident' but I still don't know what."

Xue Chang had been much more depressed as of late. He was no longer into committing his usual antics and pranks and usually stayed with a passive expression most of the time.

Tian Hai worried about his friend's condition and tried to console him whenever possible.

"You're still hung up on that? Xue Chang, you couldn't do anything about it, the deaths of all those people weren't your fault, how could you have known some bastard would do that? Besides what are the chances this is really something that has to do with what happened back then?"

"You're right, I don't know if the two events are connected, but can I take the risk of just ignoring it? I didn't know about the massacre then, but I now know that same bastard is running around killing more people right at this moment. Yet here I'm still not doing anything to stop him. If I had noticed something the first time we were at the village, maybe things would've been different!"

Xue Chang snapped quickly and got up from his seated position. Turning around, he stomped off in a random direction, clearly planning to vent out his frustration on some nearby wild beasts.

Tian Hai had given a similar speech many times before. And each time he was met with a similar result.

He understood that seeing all of those people die was something that Xue Chang wasn't used to, but he felt as if he shouldn't beat himself over on it too much.

When he first became a hunter, he had once seen a man get ripped to shreds, leaving only shards of bones left behind.

And back then, he too thought that if he had done something then that man might've survived. It took a lot of time and effort for him to get out of his rut.

But he eventually got out of it.

He was just worried that Xue Chang was beating himself over this problem too much.

"Despite being the eldest, you're pretty stupid sometimes",

Tian Kai released a light chuckle as he turned to face his older brother,

"You need to remember that Xue Chang has experienced more suffering and pain than we could ever imagine. I will probably say that a single serious fight for him probably brings him more agony than anything we have experienced in our entire lives. But in the end he is still inexperienced. Compared to us, he really is sheltered."

Tian Hai nodded while looking up toward the hazy blue skies above, "I just don't get it though, why is he still so hung up on this one thing? If it was me, I'd do everything in my power to strengthen myself and protect my home city instead of worrying over those small villages in the skirmishes. You and I saw that horrible scene as well! Yet our reactions are vastly different from him."

"And that's the problem. I think that you and I are be the odd ones. Xue Chang's reaction is appropriate for this scenario, why are we so calm?"

Picking up spear and stabbing it into a nearby beast corpse, an unblinking gaze fell upon Tian Hai.

"We have seen too many deaths and cruel acts. That's what I like about Xue Chang. He brings a sort of innocence to the group that we have lost. Maybe it is time for us to also think of others instead of only ourselves. Because in the end, we are young. And Xue Chang, is still so much younger. His age mentally is still only fifteen. Maybe we lose track of that because of his odd appearance yet semi-mature mindset."

And with a slight tug, a pop sound came out as the spear tip pulled out a pearly white core from the beast's body.

"We need to start taking into account that everything he has told us shows just how much he trusts us. And all we can do in return is support him, so that whenever he falls off from the right path, we can be there to drag him back. He needs us to be there bedside him right now, not lecture him constantly from behind. In his story, we need to be the supporting cast, because HE is the main character."

________

A day had passed in the blink of an eye. Finally everyone was able to return back to their home after a long month of fighting.

"Hey Tian Kai, how's your cultivation going?" Xue Chang asked this question as they were making their way back to the villa.

Within the past three months, Tian Kai had also broken through the first level of Qi refinement and was building his way up to the second level.

This speed of cultivation was unheard of and even Tian Hai was only able to surpass him due to the incident where he absorbed the spiritual force from Xue Chang.

"My strength has completely consolidated and I even feel like it won't be long before I'll be breaking through to the second level. These beast cores are definitely good supplements, but it is undoubtedly your technique that is the main cause of my performance."

Tian Kai had admitted that he was a little prideful of his own speed. But he believed that it was the strange cultivation method that Xue Chang gave him that made him this way.

But to his surprise, Xue Chang shook his head.

"A cultivation method is only a gateway into a maze. But it is still up to you to find your way through it. Take pride in yourself, you're quite the talent."

A light blush from embarrassment could be seen on Tian Kai's face as he shrugged his shoulders.

And just as they were about to continue their talks, cries of anger could be heard coming from their front gate.

The three of them arrived to find Lou Lan on the ground wounded grievously, while Lou Ning held up her blade toward an unknown opponent.

Arriving just on time, they saw the state of their house.

The gate had collapsed while the windows and walls were broken and shattered.

Slash marks could be see all over the floor and the furniture they had bought months prior were all a mess:

More so, looking over at the wounds on Lou Lan's body, it was clear that he was struck down by a surprise attack.

And Lou Ning was also heavily injured and visibly exhausted from what he could only assume to be an awful fight.

"What's going on here!?"

Xue Chang stepped forward and angrily shouted toward the mysterious figure before them.

The mysterious man turned around to face the new group of people. But they couldn't see who he was due to the hood over his head.

Lou Lan coughed out a mouthful of blood as he sputtered, "Th- they stole it..."

"What did they do?"

"I didn't expect anyone to break into the house while I was in seclusion, when they did they stole it! The jade and my water essence!"

Hearing this, Xue Chang quickly pieces the puzzle together. Remembering the events of the auction, he figured out the only person who could've discovered their identity at the time.

"Wang Dong!"

Spatting out the name to himself, he turned to look at Tian Hai behind and said, "Deal with our guest!"

Tian Hai nodded and stepped forward, but before he could do anything, Lou Lan grabbed his leg stopping him.

"Don't! That bastard is within the second level of Qi refinement. Me and Lou Ning together couldn't even make him break a sweat."

Tian Hai just smiled as he lightly removed Lou Lan's grasp from his leg.

"That's why I'm going."

Finally, Tian Hai could test his progress in cultivation.

Pulling out a bright white blade from the sheath at his side. Tian Hai quietly whispered, "Let's begin."