Killing for the first time

Wang Yu stood facing the group of hunters, his piercing gaze fixed on them as they shivered under his scrutiny. The group consisted of four people: a young man in a dark cloak, a young lady, and two muscular youths at the peak of the bronze tier. The young man in the dark cloak seemed to be the leader, and he spoke up, trying to calm the situation. "Senior, we mean no harm. We were just passing by."

However, Wang Yu remained silent, his eyes scanning the surroundings to ensure that they were alone. Finally, he let out a sigh and rushed towards the group, causing the youth in the dark cloak to shout out a command. "What are you waiting for? Shoot him down!" One of the muscular youths took out his bow and started shooting arrows at Wang Yu, who nimbly avoided them.

"Useless," the youth in the dark cloak muttered before taking out a dark ball from his pouch. "You have brought this upon yourself," he shouted before throwing the ball at Wang Yu, who was now only five meters away. Wang Yu had a foreboding feeling and tried to jump to the right, but he was too late. The fire flame from the ball touched his left arm, causing it to start burning.

"You're dead for trying to kill me. It's a shame that I've wasted the flame bead. But I may get a reward if I tell the sect about a blood-sucking monster like you," the youth sneered. The young lady looked at Wang Yu with pity, while the muscular youths were relieved to have survived the encounter with the "monster."

Grimacing in pain, Wang Yu gritted his teeth as he charged towards the youth in the dark cloak, the one who had nearly killed him with the dark ball. Unsheathing his sword as he approached, Wang Yu swung it with all his might, determined to take revenge on the person who had caused him so much pain. The youth, realizing the danger he was in cried out while trying to defend himself with his own sword

"Maniac, don't kill me! My brother is an immortal! I'll keep what happened today a secret," the youth pleaded, his face contorted with fear.

but it seems as if Wang Yu didn't hear. The youth was no match for Wang Yu's rage-fueled attack. With one swift slash, Wang Yu cut down the youth, watching as he fell to the ground with a pained cry.

The young lady in the group looked on in horror as Wang Yu dispatched her comrades one by one. The two muscular youths tried to run, but Wang Yu was too fast for them. He caught up to them easily, cutting them down with ease.

"Forgive me," Wang Yu muttered as he thrust his sword into the girl's heart, killing her instantly.

As he stood over the bodies of the four people he had just killed, Wang Yu couldn't help but feel a sense of regret wash over him. He had never wanted to kill anyone before, and the fact that he had just taken the lives of four people weighed heavily on his mind.

Wang Yu looked down at his severely burnt and nearly broken left arm, the bones visible through the charred flesh. Strangely, he didn't feel any pain or hatred towards the youth who had nearly killed him. Only regret for having to kill someone who didn't bear a grudge against him.

Initially, Wang Yu had planned to just bury the bodies and leave, but after remembering the youth's last words, he decided against it. Instead, he left the bodies for the beasts that were sure to come after sensing the smell of blood, this way no one should recognize that they were killed by a human.

Wang Yu didn't leave far, but instead stayed near to make sure that no other hunters approached the bodies before the beasts. As he waited, he heard the sound of hyenas approaching. He watched as the pack of hyenas descended upon the bodies, tearing into the flesh and leaving nothing but some of their tattered clothes and weapons behind.

Feeling a sense of guilt and shame wash over him, Wang Yu carefully hid his footprints and made sure to leave no evidence of his involvement. He then returned to his base, hunting some beasts along the way to restore his lost vitality. Despite his efforts, he still felt an overwhelming sense of weakness and exhaustion.

As he lay down to sleep, Wang Yu couldn't shake the memories of what he had done. He had killed four people, all because he was afraid they might expose his secret. And to make matters worse, he had left their bodies to be eaten by beasts. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the images, but they were etched into his mind. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, Wang Yu made the decision to enter the Dream World in an effort to escape the reality of what had happened. He continued to read the scrolls, hoping to forget about the events.

...

Two days later, in a place that looked like a paradise with beautiful pagodas, a young man was meditating quietly when the door to his room was knocked on.

The man opened his eyes and, with a motion of his hand, the door swung open. To the shock of the middle-aged man standing outside, the youth hadn't even touched the door or stood up from his meditative position.

"What is so important that you were willing to break my seclusion, despite my earlier orders?" the youth asked, his voice dripping with irritation.

"Master, I'm sorry, it's just that your brother, he..." the middle-aged man stuttered, his voice shaking with fear.

"What has my useless brother done? Did he use the toys I left him to hurt a fellow disciple?" the youth demanded, his gaze made the middle aged man shiver.

"No he didn't, he had disappeared for two days and I've tried everything to contact him but I couldn't, he's no more inside the sect nor at the periphery of the Darkness Forest."

"What do you mean he has disappeared?" the youth asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"We don't know, Master. He and his hunting group went into the forest two days ago, and they haven't returned yet. No news from that day." the middle-aged man replied, his voice quivering with fear.

The youth's face remained impassive as the middle-aged man nervously reported the disappearance of the youth's brother and his hunting group. "What a useless fellow," the youth sneered. "Did he have a dispute with someone or was he just eaten by beasts?"

"There is no evidence of anyone killing them. It seems more likely that they were attacked by beasts," the middle-aged man replied, his voice shaking.

"Even more useless then," the youth spat. "Still, you should make an investigation. Offer one thousand sect coins as a reward to anyone who brings back proof of what happened to my brother and his group. That's the maximum amount allowed by the sect's rules."

With a flick of his wrist, the youth tossed a lustrous stone to the middle-aged man. "Go to the hunter association and tell them of my request," he commanded.

As he walked down the hall, the middle aged man couldn't help but feel a sense of unease wash over him. There was something about the youth's nonchalant attitude towards his brother's disappearance that made him feel uneasy.

But he didn't dare to question his master's orders, and quickly made his way to the hunter association's basement inside the outer sect to ask them to spread the news of the reward.

....

Wang Yu didn't know much about the youth who had nearly killed him, but the thought of him caused a sense of unease to settle in Wang Yu's stomach. As a result, he decided to return to the sect after making sure that no one would be able to find his base.

The servant district didn't seem to have changed much since the youth's disappearance, except for the hunter association. They had a mission with a reward of one thousand sect coins, which sent the hunters into a frenzy. The mission was to investigate the youth's disappearance and find out the cause of his death. The request didn't ask for anyone to take action, just for proof of his cause of death.

Wang Yu felt uneasy seeing the faces of the hunters who would gladly turn him in if they found out that he was the one who killed the youth.

"What are you thinking about?" Wang Yu was startled out of his thoughts by a sudden pat on the back.

Turning around, Wang Yu was about to remove the hand from his back, but stopped and gave a slight smile when he saw who it was. "Oh, nothing much, Senior Fuigui. I was just thinking about how handsome the rewards are."

"Well, you're not wrong to be surprised. I had the same reaction at first. But when I found out about his background, I started to understand," said Fuigui, who was one of the few people that Wang Yu had a relationship with.

"His brother is an inner sect disciple, but the sect is very strict. Unless he has an order, he can't leave the outer parts of the forest," Fuigui explained, as one of the seniors, he had more access to information than Wang Yu, who was still a young junior.

"I'm going to take this mission. Are you going to come with us?" Fuigui asked.

"Thank you senior, I prefer going solo," Wang Yu said as he made up his mind to take the mission. Even though he felt guilty about killing the group and taking the rewards, he knew that if he continued at his current pace, it would take a very long time to progress.

As Wang Yu walked away from the group, a woman from Fuigui's team turned to him and remarked, "So this is the legendary kid. His gaze is very determined, unlike someone his age. He really lives up to his reputation."

Fuigui nodded in agreement, a nostalgic expression on his face. "Yes, he has come a long way. Two years ago, when I first brought him to the forest, he was weak and naive. But now, after that incident, he has become the best candidate for an outer sect disciple." He sighed, shaking his head at the unpredictable nature of life. "It's really hard to predict the future."