Wasted Potential

The squealing/ screeching was getting a bit louder now and it sounded way creepier compared to before. Splattered blood decorated the area where I was walking, adding to the feeling of fright that my body felt. Get it together, Yongrui!

Kuwiieehk~!

My body impulsively ducked down as the sound encompassed the place. I knew that it was just a few feet from me and I didn't want to attract its attention. Hence, I was kneeling behind a shrub before I even realized that my body had already succumbed to the fright.

That's when I saw it,

A screecher, barely a foot tall, burying its head on the stomach of a cow. For a moment, I thought it was the screecher releasing the screeching sound but as it turned out, it was the cow, trying to warn its kin that it was being hunted. From all directions, there were other cows but this one was the unlucky cow out of the bunch. After all, there was only one screecher in sight and this cow was the one who was caught.

I sighed in relief as I sneaked behind the screecher. I wanted to get rid of it so the other cows wouldn't fall into danger and at the same time, hopefully, get some more experience points so I could level up quickly. But what I didn't take into account was the fact that the screecher was barely a foot tall.

Sensing my presence, the screecher screeched towards me and I immediately 'yeet-ed' the rusty old sword towards it. Before it hit, however, I realized that I made the wrong choice and decided to stop the sword from hitting the baby screecher.

That's right, it was a baby...

I don't know how it came to but according to the others, screechers were supposed to be rabid humans that underwent a mutation. And it was common knowledge that the more Qi a person has, the quicker the virus could mutate since it relies on nutrients to evolve. And well, Qi is basically life energy so it's safe to say that someone with a huge amount of Qi has more life than others.

And here it was, a baby rabid human. A baby rabid human underwent a mutation! If a rabid human with a high level of cultivation (back when they were humans, of course) would take days or weeks before the virus could mutate inside their bodies, then this baby would've been a prodigy if it were given the chance to grow as a human.

A split second ago, I was filled with fright when I heard the intense screeching/squealing. But now, upon seeing the source of it, I was filled with pity and dejection.

The baby screecher didn't even try to attack me even though I hit its body with my rusty old sword. It just kept on screeching as it tried to hug the cow as if it was his most prized possession.

The desperate look and pudgy hands of the baby screecher were enough for manly tears to escape from my eyes. As I knelt down and raised my hands to prove to the baby screecher that I meant no harm, it quieted down and decided to ignore me as it continued eating the cow in front of it.

"Come here, kid." I cooed, gesturing for the baby screeched to come towards me. I didn't know why I did it but for some reason, I felt some sort of connection with the baby. It was probably due to the fact that I experienced being a rabid human before.

Kurururuur...

After glancing twice towards my direction, the screecher baby decided to come towards me. Due to its large head, it wobbled a little bit as it crawled on all fours.

But before it reached me, the baby fell down face first as it ceased to exist. There was a low growling sound emanating from its throat before it breathed his final breath. That's when I realized that the sword I 'yeet-ed' towards it had buried itself through its stomach and punctured it. Although the sword didn't damage the head, it damaged a part of the spine so the virus, which controlled the majority of the brain, was rendered useless. In short, the screecher baby died.

I couldn't help but bite my lip as I stared at the screecher baby who was just trying to hunt for a living. It had been through tough times, becoming a rabid human although it was just a baby and all.

It pains me to think that someone, or a group of someone, thought of instigating this hellish event. There was a part of me that didn't want to admit it but after remembering the words of Yu Sying and Yu Yan back at the mall before, all I could think was someone really did instigate this whole thing. Moreover, it targeted all of the large sects all throughout the country.

And if such was the case, then that means... they were the reason why countless people had to die, including this baby right in front of me. If this virus didn't exist, then this baby might've been a prodigy that would rock the heaven and the earth. I could confidently say that this screecher baby had more potential than I did. I mean, that doesn't get rid of the fact that I was the one who accidentally killed it but... just as one of my disciples used to say...

It's dead anyway, and so will I be if I get bitten by one of them again.

"I swear, whoever did this to me and my Sect, as well as to every person in this country, I will make them pay. Even if they have the most powerful cultivators in the world... I will make them pay twofold... no, I will make them pay a hundredfold after everything they've done. Their actions deserve a thousand deaths and I will gladly serve it to them."

When I glanced towards the screecher baby a second time, a prompt appeared in front of me and the same old lady-like voice of the System rang inside my head once again.