Chao's Son

Huan Wei watched through the trees. A few more people had arrived. When he counted them all, there were eight in all. Huan Manchu was with them.

The seven young men with him split up and started searching. They were trying to find a trail. Huan Wei waited quietly as they moved farther and farther apart. He had chosen a specially high tree. That way it would be harder to seen.

He caught sight of Huan Manchu. He was quite well built. He was tall. His hair was tied tightly. He had a dirty look on his face. Huan Wei felt something bad emanating from him. It wasn't just menace. There was something else bad about this man. Huan Wei again felt as if he already knew what it was.

Soon people split up in different directions. Huan Manchu was the first to go even deeper into the forest. The young people kept some distance from him. They could probably all sense something ominous emanating from him.

Huan Wei waited quietly for a few minutes. There was only one person left in this area. Unfortunately, he was also some distance away from the tree he was on.

Huan Wei looked at that young man. He recognized him. "Huan Nianzu..." he thought. This man used to intercept him and take away the animals he hunted. Once Huan Wei reported him to the guards and he let him go. "I hope the others are people I know, like you."

Slowly, he reached out his hand and broke one of the tree branches. He moved as quietly and slowly as he could. No cracking sounds were supposed to be heard.

He broke off a small piece of the branch and threw it in the direction where Huan Nianzu could hear it. He wanted to draw the young man a little closer. He had no intention of engaging in a long battle.

The piece of branch first hit a tree and then fell on the leaves. Huan Wei had succeeded. Huan Nianzu drew his weapon and approached the spot where the branch had fallen.

At one point he felt like opening his mouth and shouting, but he decided against it. He was probably afraid of what would happen if he called Huan Manchu in vain. Huan Wei felt happy to see that he was scared too. After all, he shouldn't have been the only one.

Huan Nianzu came to the spot where the branch had fallen and raised his head to look at the tree. Apparently he suspected that he was climbing trees. He didn't realize he was looking at the wrong tree.

Huan Wei moved slowly through the branches. The daggers were in his hand. He held them upside down and jumped towards Huan Nianzu with all his strength.

Realizing her in mid-air, he tried to dodge, but it was too late. Huan Wei fell on top of him and plunged his daggers into his face, killing him. Huan Nianzu couldn't even make a sound.

But that was not enough.

Huan Wei stabbed him several more times until he lost his temper. The young man's face was riddled with holes. One of his eyes was out of its socket, dangling from the tip of the dagger. Huan Wei kept stabbing.

When he finally stopped, he cleaned the daggers off the body and dragged him behind the tree. After kicking him once, he threw a few twigs on him.

Then he turned and looked back. The road to town was open. If he wanted, he could run away and go to town. Then he could have continued his miserable life.

But he didn't want that. In a person's life, there are only a few moments of important decisions. Huan Wei didn't want to live in fear. He knew he was more than everyone thought he was. Still, he had to prove it to himself.

So he put the daggers back on his belt and started to go after them.

He was leaving Huan Manchu for last. He did not know the man's power. It was also clear that he was no pushover. His body had gotten stronger after spending years in prison. Instead of fighting face to face, he should have finished him in one blow with a sneak attack.

He chose one of the directions the youths had gone and headed in that direction. It didn't take him long to see them. There were two of them. One of them was cutting the grass in front of them with his sword.

"We shouldn't have came this far, it's not worth dying for a few pieces of silver," said the one with the sword. He continued to cut the grass.

"It's not about the money," said the other. "I don't want Huan Quon to be my enemy, and Huan Manchu is dangerous. Once this is over, I hope we will never meet him again."

Huan Wei was hiding behind the trees. He had heard the conversation. The youth had been forced to come by Huan Quon. The young man's hatred for him grew. He wished he was in this forest too. It would have been nice to rip the smile off his calm face by cutting his lips, yet apparently he was not here.

Huan Wei didn't know the direction they were going. He had no knowledge of this part of the forest. It was not a place he usually frequented. He wasn't even sure if there would be natural monsters. He might die trying to kill them himself.

As he passed a pile of leaves, he unwittingly stepped on a dry twig. Hearing the sound, the young people stopped. Huan Wei reflexively threw himself into the pile of leaves. He covered himself well.

"What was that?"

"It must have been an animal or something."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, let's keep going."

"Okay."

They continued on their way as the young man's excitement grew. Huan Wei also quietly stepped out of the leaves.

"Damn it," he thought to himself. "They almost saw me."

Huan Wei thought of a way to separate them. The way these two were moving, they weren't planning to stop anywhere. They were going to walk all the time. So it was difficult to kill them.

Hiding behind the trees, he examined the surroundings as he continued his pursuit. This was a long way from the cliff. Still, he could see plenty of distractions.

He picked up a few stones from the ground and threw one at a tree near them. The sound of the stone hitting stopped them both.

"What was that?"

"Just relax. We are in the forest. There must be dozens of animals around."

"Do you think they'd notice if we went back to town?"

"They will."

As they continued walking, Huan Wei threw another stone at the same tree. This time they both pointed their weapons at it.

"It's not an animal. Go check it out," said the one with the sword. The other had a thick machete.

"Why am I going?"

"I'm right behind you, just go. If it's him, we can't lose him."

The one with the machete began to move slowly forward. At the same time, Huan Wei was approaching the one behind. He was careful to take his steps at the same time as the young man. So that the sound of the leaves mingled with the sounds he was making.

He had his dagger in his hand. As the one with the machete walked away, he approached the one with the sword and hid behind a nearby tree. He poked his head over the edge and looked at them. They were both silent. Huan Wei waited for the right moment. He was clenching the dagger in his hand.

When the distance between the two youths was a little longer, he suddenly came out and covered the youth's mouth with one hand and slit his throat with the dagger.

At first the youth tried to make a sound, but when his throat was cut, he fell silent. Huan Wei immediately started dragging his corpse and took him behind the tree. He deliberately stretched out the man's leg so that it was visible. Immediately afterwards, he climbed up the tree. He was waiting for his next target.

Soon the youth with the machete returned. "It was nothing. I guess it really was an animal." he said, but he couldn't see his friend. "Huan Duyi? Where did you go?"

He looked around a bit. It didn't take him long to see the drag marks and the young man's leg. "Huan Duyi!"

Huan Wei was about to go crazy on the tree. The idiot had shouted! He was going to lure everyone here!

As soon as the machete-wielding youth reached the base of the tree, Huan Wei jumped on him without waiting. When they both fell to the ground, he thrust his dagger into his chest.

"I've had enough of you."

He stabbed him again and again. At first the young man tried to fight back with his arms, but after a few attacks his arms fell to his side and he died.

Huan Wei immediately searched him. He hoped to find something he could use, yet he had nothing but his weapon.

It was too late when he heard voices coming from the forest. "There he is!"

The young people had assembled. Huan Manchu was not with them. When the four youths ran towards him, Huan Wei ran away without looking back. This was not the battle he had planned. There was no way he could win against four people.

He was moving through the trees. He jumped from time to time to avoid tripping over roots. The others were chasing him with their weapons drawn. One of them was faster than the others. He was closing the distance. Huan Wei was also aware of him.

He tried to pick up the pace a little more, but he couldn't go any faster to avoid tripping.

After a few minutes of running, he could see the end of the road. The cliff was in front of him again. Why did all the roads lead to the cliff? Was this a sign from fate?

The youth who approached him stretched out his hand to catch Huan Wei. He stopped abruptly and thrust his dagger backwards. Not expecting this, the youth could not react and collapsed with the dagger in his throat. Huan Wei immediately took out the dagger and kept running. The others were stunned by this scene.

The loser Huan Wei had killed one of them without hesitation. He didn't even look back.

As they stood where they were, Huan Manchu appeared. When he rushed past them, the wind whipped their hair into waves.

Huan Manchu suddenly caught up with Huan Wei and grabbed and threw him to the ground. He wasn't using any technique. How was he so fast?

Huan Wei rolled to a stop on the ground. When he recovered, he immediately got up and put his back to a tree. The remaining three young men surrounded him. Huan Manchu was walking towards him. The ominous feeling surrounded Huan Wei again.

"Son of a bitch Chao's son..." Huan Manchu said. Huan Wei saw hatred and fury in his eyes. This man didn't seem like he would let him die easily.