Shao Hui
"What the fuck?" Yue Hua gasp when she heard of the bombing news.
...
The patriarch of the blood sect stares at the disciple who announced the news in the dark red room. "Understood, you may leave."
Afraid of the consequences, the disciple immediately left.
Yue Hua lays back on the chair and stares at the ceiling.
The patriarch sighs. Although the Blood sect is being taken advantage of, their goal aligns with the one who stole the bombs.
"The leader of the Zhou family is still alive but in exchange, many lives were lost in three other locations..." The patriarch mumbles. Is this a good trade? Many people have started a truce and hunt down the Blood sect, almost every eye in Tiansu is peeled for intruders. The number of experts patrolling every street at night doubled and the extent of their routine becomes increasingly complex to the point blood sect disciples had trouble hiding their identity.
"Yue Hua, answer me."
"Answer what?" Yue Hua says as she stretches her arm.
"You know something about this." The patriarch releases a powerful aura that breaks the entire structure around Yue Hua.
"Yes, I do. Why?" She says, smirking.
The patriarch clicks his tongue and grabs Yue Hua's collar. "You are nothing but an insignificant ant to me! I can simply crush you and replace you! Wipe that smug off your mouth."
"Do it then. What's wrong big guy? Too scared?" says Yue Hua.
!!
He throws Yue Hua to the ground and kicks her to the nearest pillar.
"ACK!"
She lands while grasping her stomach.
"Listen carefully! Bring the person who stole our bombs here! I want to speak to that person!" The patriarch of the Blood sect says.
"Ugh...Fuck...Fine..." Yue Hua limps out of the room.
"Remember bitch, your life is in my hands."
...
"Tch, unreasonable piece of shit." Yue Hua mumbles.
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A carriage is rushing towards Heng Mi at high speed. Heng Mi, once a happy peaceful town is now a barren wasteland of ruins.
The carriage abruptly comes to a stop and a boy jumps out from the carriage.
"Min Hao! Luo Yi! Everyone!!" Shao Hui shouts.
Shao Hui runs across the charred "graveyard" to a specific cabin.
...
The building he went to has a huge hole in it at the back, many burnt bodies were found under the rubble.
"No uh...ha...ughh..."
Shao Hui drops to his knees. "I..."
His thoughts went back to an event one week ago. Before he left Heng Mi to sign a contract with his business, the merchant family was having dinner.
Shao Hui, too driven by his greed, refused to have dinner with them and went on about his work. He didn't think that was the last time he could ever meet them. Truth be told, an excuse shadowed his greed and pushed Shao Hui forward.
"What I'm doing is for the group, not a single second must be wasted." he thought previously. Shao Hui was an orphan, picked up by the merchant group and raised by them. He owes them his life.
"..."
Something awoke in the silent boy. He clenches his fist in rage.
"Sir Shao Hui..." the driver of the carriage says.
Shao Hui isn't the only one. Women, men, child, are all mourning the death of their families. Several cultivators walk past them and approach Shao Hui.
A shadow is cast on Shao Hui. "Move." The cultivators say.
...
"Sir..." The driver pulls Shao Hui to the side.
The cultivators rummage through the cabin. "Shit, I thought the Golden Steal merchant was loaded with money. How is there almost nothing valuable here."
!!
"What the fuck are you doing?" Shao Hui says.
"Huh?" The cultivators smirk. One of them walks up to Shao Hui. "What's wrong? You have a problem?" he pushes Shao Hui to the floor and spits on him. "Heh."
They walk away, each laughing at Shao Hui who continues to glare at the floor.
"Cultivators... It's always cultivators. Fucking bastards that think they are superior because they got lucky in life. If I could cultivate..." Shao Hui mumbles.
It was obvious. The explosions were caused by cultivators.
Before Shao Hui's enlightenment, the Golden Steal merchants were facing bankruptcy all because they refuse to stand by the corrupt side. They are kind, all of them. They do not deserve to die like this.
Everything was caused by cultivators.
"Here's no good either, there is no evidence of any unnatural Qi or demonic Qi. How did the explosion even happen anyway? It happened to Fei Quan and one other city as well."A few men in white robes say, they are from the Murim alliance discussing the incident.
"F-Fei Quan too?!" Shao Hui jolts up and runs to them. "A bombing happened in Fei Quan?!"
"Huh? Who is this brat?" The cultivator says.
"Yeah, casualties were as high as 89 percent for mortals."
"T-Then, is anybody from the Golden Steal merchant group safe?" Shao Hui asks.
"Ah. The Golden Steal merchants? Eh... I don't think so. The terrorism occurred directly beside their headquarters, all of them were poisoned and killed within a minute due to the poison concentration."
"Ah...no...no..."
Shao Hui backs off and stares into space with his mouth wide open.
"S-Sir Shao Hui-"
Shao Hui runs off, abandoning everything.
He doesn't know where he should run to but he just wants to run away from all these. Merchants of Golden Steal were gathered at Fei Quan to celebrate the newfound success brought by Shao Hui.
Why? He kept asking himself.
Everything was going well. It was supposed to be well. What went wrong? WHY DID THINGS COME OUT THIS WAY? WHY?!
Rivers of tears flow down his cheek and drip from his chin.
His legs gave out and he falls face into the muddy ground.
...
Shao Hui grabs onto a log nearby and pulls himself up. The sky is getting dark.
"Ah...haha..."
The memories he made with the group, it is all coming back bit by bit. Shao Hui wanted to change the situation for the better, he wanted to fulfil the chief's dream of mortals standing on equal footing with cultivators. It is unrealistic. He knows. But even so, he wants to help the man who saved him from the depth of hell.
However, how is this any different from the hell he experienced before meeting the chief. No, It is even worse than the previous hell where he had no one to care about.
"Sir..." The driver from the carriage found Shao Hui deep in the forest, carrying a torch.
...
The driver gives Shao Hui a necklace.
"Seems like those cultivators missed this."
Shao Hui takes it and his eyes widen.
...
"I'm fine. *sniff* The chief wouldn't want to see me like this." Shao Hui says as he wipes the tears and mucus off his face.
The necklace belonged to the chief, Shao Hui's "Father".
Shao Hui grips the necklace tightly.
"I'm fine now...Let's go back to Qiang Jin, I want to meet Mou Wei." Says Shao Hui.
"Yes, let's." the driver replies and they both walk to the carriage.
Shao Hui made up his mind. The chief wouldn't want him to tread down such a path but he must...
---------------
"I've brought him, Sir Mou Wei." The driver says as he bows to a man in a luxurious yellow-brown smooth robe.
Shao Hui walks into the room to greet a Mou Wei staring out of the window.
"Greetings."
...
Mou Wei turns around and stares at Shao Hui in pity. "I've heard of the devastating news, I'm sorry for your loss."
"There's no need for compassion, I need your help." Says Shao Hui.
Mou Wei glanced at a document on the table behind the window. He hands it to Shao Hui as if he knows what Shao Hui wants.
"The culprit is a cultivator named Xie Mo. He had a really bad reputation lately and it became worse after the loss against the new patriarch of the Heavenly Divine Dragon sect." Says Mou Wei.
"There are two witnesses, both are loggers from Heng Mi who spot Xie Mo on the way back from work." Mou Wei adds.
Shao Hui glares at the picture of Xie Mo's face.
...
"Shao Hui, do you want to lead a small merchant group that I am in charge of? The leader recently died of a disease. With your talent, the merchant will surely rise. In return, you can claim full ownership of the group and use them for your revenge."
Shao Hui widens his eye. "I...accept. Thank you, elder Mou Wei. I will return this favour."
"No need. You've done me a favour and I should return it." Says Mou Wei. Mou Wei hands a golden plate to Shao Hui with "Leader" words carved into it.
Shao Hui grips it tightly. "Thank you!" And he takes his leave.
...
"Master, it is done." Says Mou Wei.
Wang Ji reveals himself from the shadow in the corner and smiles. "Good Work."