Caught in the Darkness

Huan Manchu's furious attack was aimed directly at Huan Chao. The other youths hesitated, but Huan Wei prepared. He held his sword with both hands. Huan Manchu had changed. The young man could see that what he was facing was no ordinary human being.

Huan Chao thrust his fist forward once more. "Ghost Fist!"

Huan Manchu crossed his arms in front of himself. This time, instead of being thrown back, he was only dragged a little. Then he continued running as if nothing had happened.

When he jumped towards Huan Chao, Huan Wei slashed him in the stomach as well. At least his flesh hadn't hardened even more. It had even softened.

His strength, however, was very different. Huan Manchu hit Huan Chao so hard that the pot-bellied man was thrown back meters. His arm, where he had taken the blow, was red. The bone was probably cracked.

The other youths were afraid to attack him. So they stood back, even though they had drawn their weapons. Only Huan Wei was in front. Huan Manchu didn't care about him. Huan Chao was the target of all the hatred and fury.

As Huan Wei was about to attack him once more, he suddenly leapt and appeared in front of the drunken man. He grabbed Huan Chao before he could get up and threw him meters away into another tree. Huan Chao hit a thick branch of the tree and fell to the ground, breaking it too.

Blood was already coming from Huan Manchu's left eye. He turned his head and saw one of the young men. When the boy started to walk backwards in fear, he rushed forward, grabbed him and punched him in the stomach. He threw the young man into the air with his fist and young man vomited blood. When he fell to the ground, after shaking a few times, he remained motionless. When the others saw this, they ran away without looking back.

Huan Manchu's eyes locked on Huan Wei. Alarmed by the power he saw, the young man gripped his sword tightly. Huan Manchu rushed at him and swung his fist at his face.

As Huan Wei pulled his head back, he felt the punch he had dodged almost brush past his face. Everything seemed to slow down for a moment. His life flashed before his eyes.

He immediately ducked down and went behind Huan Manchu's back, cutting a deep gash with the sword he held against his torso. The frenzied man took a few steps back in pain and pressed his hands over the wound. His eyes, full of rage, were locked on the young man.

"I will crush your corpse so that it will never be recognized! Only a pile of flesh will be left of you! Even the animals won't want to eat it!"

As he was about to lunge once more, arms wrapped around his torso from behind, lifting Huan Manchu and slamming him hard to the ground. After Huan Chao put him down, he lifted his foot and with all his strength stomped on the wound in his stomach. Huan Manchu let out a pained moan.

The drunkard raised both hands and struck his chest with all his strength. The sound of bones breaking reached Huan Wei. Huan Chao was strong, but there was something strange about this man.

Path of the Blood seemed to give people great powers. But what was this? Huan Manchu was like a wild animal. Or a demon... He was unconsciously attacking his surroundings. Even if he had Body Tempering at the Stonebody tier, Huan Wei could still cut him right now. It was as if his strength and bloodlust had increased while his body had weakened.

Huan Chao raised his foot to crush his head. Just as he was about to crush it, Huan Manchu grabbed his foot and pushed him, knocking him to the ground. Not caring about his broken ribs, he got up and sat on the potbellied man.

Once he punched Huan Chao, Huan Wei was sure that his father's jaw was broken. He rushed over and stabbed his sword with both hands.

When Huan Manchu, the tip of the sword sticking out of his chest, cried out in pain and turned around, Huan Wei was unable to remove his sword.

The crazed man rushed at him. As Huan Wei drew his dagger, he tripped and sat down hard. His spine ached. Still, he wasted no time and grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at the man's face.

The dirt that filled his eyes interrupted Huan Manchu's attack. Rubbing his bloodshot eyes, he took a few steps back, cursing. "I'll rip your head off with my bare hands!"

As he shouted in rage, Huan Chao lifted a large boulder with both hands and smashed it over Huan Manchu's head. The man, covered in blood, was knocked over by the blow to his head. Huan Chao did not wait, he crouched down and grabbed him by the head. He lifted him up and hit his head on the stone pieces. He hit him again and again. Huan Wei, meanwhile, had drawn his dagger. His sword was still in the man's body.

"Why doesn't this asshole die!?" he shouted at his father. He was coming to stab him in the head with his dagger. He raised the weapon and brought it down with all his strength, but Huan Manchu grabbed his wrist.

He pushed Huan Chao off of him and threw his son after him. Father and son tumbled several rounds as they crashed into each other. Huan Wei's chest was bleeding.

Huan Manchu staggered to his feet. A gash in his head caught his eye. The man's brains were showing. Why wasn't he dead yet?

Huan Manchu took deep breaths as they stood up. His pupils began to glow red. He coughed several times and vomited blood. His whole body was twitching. When he looked up at the two, there was a blank look in his eyes. He didn't seem to recognize them. The ominous feeling emanating from him grew stronger. It was as if the wind was carrying it farther and farther away.

His eyebrows furrowed and an untargeted anger came over him towards the two of them. Huan Wei's sword was still in his chest when he started running towards them.

Huan Chao stepped forward and picked up a stone to hit him. Huan Manchu saw this but did not seem to realize it. As he reached out his hands to Huan Chao to catch him, the stone hit him in the face and he staggered to the side.

Meanwhile, Huan Wei came up behind him and pull his sword back. The pain of this made the mad man groan. When he turned back to attack, Huan Chao wrapped his hands around his neck and tried to break it. It was another battle of strength between the two.

Huan Wei swung his sword and made a large gash in the man's abdomen. Huan Manchu's intestines were hanging from the wound, but he was not weakened.

In an instant he grabbed Huan Chao, lifted him over his shoulder and slammed him to the ground. This time the drunken man groaned in pain. Then, with incredible speed, he grabbed Huan Wei by the face and smashed his head against a tree.

The young man's world turned pale. The strength in his legs disappeared. He slipped and sat on the ground. His eyes were out of his control, looking in random places. He could not hear a sound. All he heard was a continuous ringing. His body was not moving.

At that moment Huan Chao thrust his hand into the wound in Huan Manchu's skull and pulled out a large piece of bone. The bloodied man stopped moving and fell to his knees and died. The red glow in his eyes had disappeared.

Huan Wei could feel his left hand hurting despite all the numbness. As his eyes darted in that direction, he saw the mark on his palm. There was something black in his hand. It was taking up more and more space.

The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was Huan Chao going through Huan Manchu's pockets. Then he was lost in darkness.

---

"You'll come back here every time. You cannot escape from here. You belong here. You belong to us. You are one of us. Let your soul come to us."

---

When Huan Wei opened his eyes, he was in his room. He was lying on the blanket. The pains in his body were gone. Even his head didn't hurt.

He slowly moved his hand to the back of his head and checked. There was no wound. He also looked at his chest. There was no wound there either.

He slowly sat up. It was night time. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious. How his wounds were healed too... Had his father brought him home?

He rubbed his eyes. As he stood up, he felt like he was losing his balance, but he managed to stand.

He remembered the blackness in his hand. He slowly lifted his hand and looked at his palm, yet he couldn't see anything. "I must have hit my head too hard."

He threw the hair that had fallen in his face behind his head. He had survived. He wasn't dead this time either. Despite everything, he was still alive. He could still defy his fate.

He slowly left the room and went to the kitchen. He saw Huan Chao. His father was not drinking this time. He was just staring silently at a picture frame in front of him. He didn't even notice his son had arrived. And he didn't look like he was wounded.

Huan Wei did not know what to say to him. He didn't know how to feel towards this man. He had saved his life once again. He didn't know why he did it. He didn't know what the picture in the frame was. He didn't even know they had a picture frame in their house.

"You saved me," he said in a voice only he could hear.

Huan Chao looked up and they looked at each other in silence. Neither of them spoke. Then the pot-bellied man looked at the picture again.

"Go to your room, Wei."

Huan Wei was about to say something else, but this time he didn't open his mouth. He quietly turned around and started walking towards his room. Before he left the kitchen, a voice stopped him.

"Wei..."

He turned his head and looked at his father. He was still looking at the picture. "You didn't look like a loser today."

Huan Wei's heartbeat quickened. There was something in his stomach that he had never felt before. He didn't want to stay still. His lips curled up a little against his will. Goosebumps stood on his skin. Even if he opened his mouth, he couldn't speak. For the first time in his life... His father had said something good to him... Huan Wei was glad his father wasn't looking at him at that moment. Because his eyes filled with tears.

Huan Wei went to the bathroom while Huan Chao continued to look at the picture. He had to wash his face and hands. Although he didn't realize it at the time, he would always remember this moment for the rest of his life. The first appreciation of a child who grew up without love was unforgettable.