A Father's Hate

Huan Wei walked around the marketplace for a long time. He watched how people spent the money they had saved all this time. Many people in the town were queuing up at the alchemy stall. They were all buying various medicines to help their cultivation. Not everyone lived in the same house as someone like Huan Chao, so it wasn't too difficult for them to save money. Huan Wei spent a few hours watching them. At the same time, he thought about what he could do to get a pill from here. His plan had to be perfect. It had to leave no place for doubt. In particular, he would prefer not to attract people's attention. It would take time to figure out how to do that. Unfortunately, he didn't have much time.

Huan Wei thought. "If I try anything, the merchants will surely want the criminal. Huan Fu won't let this go. He can't afford to be humiliated in the eyes of the merchants. So he will need a criminal."

Huan Wei continued to wander around the market. He was looking at the swords displayed on a weapons merchant's stall. He didn't queue because he had no money. He would just watch from a distance. The weapon merchant was introducing the spear he was selling to one of the customers.

"Piercing a rock is nothing for this spear," he said. He showed the pointed end of the spear to the customer. "Even if you smash rock after rock, you won't see dulling. Runes were used to make sure it never dulls. This spear is meant to last a lifetime after you buy it."

The customer examined the weapon closely. He seemed satisfied. It was one of the best weapons you could buy in Bitter Sea Town. If he finished the first realm and chose a path, he could also access technique manuals on the spear from the Manual Pavilion. "How much does it cost?"

The merchant smiled as he rubbed his hands together. "Only ten gold coins."

The customer's face paled. "Ten gold coins?" he said, looking at the spear sadly. You could spend a month in Bitter Sea Town for 5 silver coins, but 1 gold coin was 100 silver coins. So with 1 gold coin you could live here for 20 months, and with the price of this spear you could live here for years. The young man sadly put down the spear and started looking for other weapons. The people waiting in the queue were annoyed by his slowness.

"Hurry up a bit! We've got our own things to buy!"

Huan Wei walked away. "Money is not that important to everyone," he said to himself. "These merchants must make hundreds of gold coins every month." The pill was becoming less and less valuable in his eyes. 30 silver pieces was a very small amount of money, but he needed to raise his cultivation level to earn more. Things would have been easier if he had entered the Traveler stage. He would be more sensitive to energy fields. Maybe he could even go deeper into the forest and look for them. Of course, he would also need to get himself a sword. His father had taken it away from him. Huan Wei had already forgotten that sword. Huan Chao had probably sold his sword and bought alcohol with the money.

Huan Wei spent most of the day at the market. He didn't want to waste time hunting while the caravan was here. Besides, even if he looted other corpses, he wouldn't be able to sell to Huan Zhong in this crowd. So he walked around and studied the guards guarding the stalls. The guards seemed to care about their work. They scrutinized everyone who approached the merchants' goods. Huan Fu had probably given them strict instructions.

He also saw Huan Quon. Because the young man was rich, he could buy almost anything he wanted at the marketplace. Huan Hong was walking around next to him. Perhaps they still hadn't noticed Huan Liwei's absence?

Huan Wei looked at them. Life was going so easily for them. They had almost no worries. They could do whatever they wanted. No one interfered with them. They lived their youth in peace. They had no responsibilities. Huan Wei felt jealous of them inwardly. If he had the opportunities Huan Quon had, things would have been different. He might even have chosen a path, but life was not fair. It would never be fair. Some people got what they wanted easily while others had to work hard. If the gods were fair, there would be no need for that.

"You are the target, Huan Hong," he thought to himself. "That pill will come to me and you will be declared guilty."

He had decided on the criminal to give to Huan Fu. He would blame all his dirty deeds on Huan Hong. Huan Hong's family was not influential. They weren't poor, either. They were just a middle class family. Huan Fu would rather punish Huan Hong than fall out of favor with the merchants. Anyway, the criminal would have to be punished before the caravan left. The devil is in the business of rushing things.

Huan Wei hid in the crowd and chased after the two of them. He hadn't completely decided what to do yet. The silver piece Huan Hong used to tie his hair into a horse tail caught his attention. Huan Wei was furious. These young people could spend their money on such things. His resentment towards Huan Hong grew even more.

As he followed the two, he thought. The marketplace was crowded. People had come from all over the town. Not everyone knew each other. So he had to do it in a spot where people would not recognize him. If he was going to steal, the guards would have to leave the stall or be completely distracted, but how would he manage to pin this on Huan Hong? Those who saw what he did would describe his appearance. It was impossible for no one to see it.

An idea popped into his mind. Somehow he could make people who saw him think he was Huan Hong. He would only need a few things. One by one, the steps of the plan were falling into place, but first he needed some more money. Maybe he couldn't sell the things he collected from the corpses, but he could still sell the hunting animals. So he left the marketplace and went into the forest, hoping that something else had been caught in the traps. He ran, careful not to trip on tree branches. It was almost evening already.

As the evening wind shook the leaves of the trees, he checked the traps one by one, but he had no luck. All the traps were empty. "Damn it," he said to himself. He had nothing to sell, but he needed a few more coppers. He had to find some. So he wandered around in the woods for a while. He searched until it got dark, but after that he decided he would find nothing and set off for home.

With every step he took, his dwindling time bothered him. When he entered the town, he saw that the marketplace was still open. It would be open all night long, but there was nothing left for him to do today. So he made his way home. Tomorrow morning he would go to the traps again. He hoped to find something then.

When he entered the street of his house, he saw that no one was there. There was almost no light in any house. The only light was coming from his house. Everyone else must have been at the marketplace. Ignoring this, he entered his house. The usual smell was still there. Huan Chao was at the table with several new bottles in front of him. He was waiting with a frown. "How many times have I told you to be home before dark?"

Without answering him, Huan Wei went to the bathroom and washed his swollen face. His father was shouting from inside. "Either you come here or I come there! The choice is yours."

Huan Wei looked at himself in the mirror and took a deep breath. After waiting a few seconds, he came out of the bathroom and went to the man. "What do you want?"

"Cook some food. I'm starving."

"I hope so one day." Huan Wei went to the dirty stove. When he took out the last of the rice to cook, he noticed the bottles in front of his father. "I didn't give you any money. How did you get these?"

"None of your business."

Huan Wei felt a momentary thrill of excitement. "Do you still have the money you stole? Give me some copper."

Huan Chao turned his head and looked at him. The look in his eyes was worth a thousand curses. "You? You want money from me?"

"I need it for something more important than you think. Be human for once and give me some money." He put the rice in the pan. He took a match from the counter and lit the stove. "Can you at least do this?"

"If you want money, work harder."

Huan Wei was getting angry. "All the money you spend is my money! Give me a few coppers. Do whatever you do with the rest."

"I'm not giving you anything. Is there anything you can do about it?" Huan Chao opened a bottle and drank half of it. His son was preparing the food with an ugly expression on his face.

"If I had started this life without my father instead of my mother, everything would have been much easier." All the noises stopped. The only sound in the room was the rice in the pan. Huan Chao stood up. His son turned toward him. He thought the man was going to attack him, but instead, his father threw the bottle at him.

Huan Wei stepped aside. The bottle shattered against the wall. Shards of glass and alcohol flew everywhere. For a moment, the alcohol on the stove caused the fever to rise sharply. Huan Wei moved away from the stove, shielding his face with his arm. At that moment, Huan Chao grabbed him by his clothes and pulled him hard, throwing him backwards. When the young man fell to the ground, his father pointed a finger at him.

"It disgusts me that you even open your mouth, child. If you ever say anything about her again, I will make you regret it." For the first time in a long time, Huan Wei saw his father holding back despite his anger. Huan Chao had an expression as if he would kill his son if he didn't control himself. They looked at each other for a few seconds. Then the man turned his back on his child on the floor. "Go to your room. No food for you tonight."

Huan Wei got up from the floor and went to his room. He found a place next to his shattered belongings. He spread his blanket and sat on it. Huan Chao couldn't stand the boy talking about his mother. Huan Wei's mother had died giving birth to him. He knew they had lived a happy life before he was born. His father was also a hunter, but with his power, he could go deeper and hunt bigger things. Huan Wei came into the world like a catastrophe to this family. His mother had died and his father had become an alcoholic. Maybe that's why his father hated him. Even the house they live in now was the house his father bought with his mother. They were well off at the time, so they used to have a lot of things in the house. Huan Chao gradually sold them all and bought liquor with the money.

Huan Wei sat back and waited in silence. He had cleared his mind. He wanted to know his mother. Growing up being blamed for a murder he did not voluntarily commit had made him hate his father. There was still darkness in his heart as his eyes slowly closed.