Survival Instinct

"So… He left? Just like that?" Edrick was lavishly sitting on his residence's only couch with Fanqia pressed up against him, casually fondling one of her bosoms whilst speaking.

Linmin had already informed him of last night's intrusion, and it seemed pretty evident that Xiao was part of the whole ordeal in some way, Edrick had purposefully antagonised him and stolen his precious sword to get him to come back on his own…

"According to what I could gather, he just walked through the tunnel through the mountain, probably heading directly to the Myriad-Arm Sect" reported Linmin, the servant had also been suspecting the guy his lord had beaten up some time before the intrusion, so he had asked about Xiao's whereabouts first thing first.

'Mmh… He's got a better head on his shoulders than I expected… That's better' Anoteros was happy that the guy supposed to be his nemesis wasn't a bumbling idiot, but he had certainly given up incredibly quickly, Edrick had wanted to rough him up a bit more, and so many other punishments had been in stock! He had expected a bit more ferocity from the one he had disfigured, humiliated, robbed and script-wise, cucked.

Who would have thought that he would actually recognise his weakness and decide to leave and come back later?

"I got a few townspeople to look out for him if he actually faked it… I think I discovered who is accomplice was, though" Linmin had been the only one to hear anything, and was thus, the only one that could claim that there was more than one person that night, but Edrick trusted in his judgement and besides, enacting justice based on an evidence that doesn't exist wasn't something that bothered Anoteros.

"Do speak" the lord beckoned his servant closer, pulling Linmin against the unoccupied side of his body, instantly taking a firm hold of the foppoof's posterior.

Struggling to remain focused, Linmin spoke as he was ordered : 

"Ah… Xiao was taken in by one of Lady Fanqia's brothers after you knocked him out yesterday… Nong according to the witnesses… It is- Mmmh… Probable that it was with him that he broke into the residence…" squirming and getting all excited from simply being groped a little bit, the crest was really showing its worth more and more, the slightest of physical interactions was enough to get both of his lovely wives yearning for more, not that they didn't crave him at all times, but they wouldn't be capable of hiding it at all when he got touchy.

"Urgh… That fool was cradled next to a wall, he is stupid enough to actually break in" Fanqia snarled "Lord Anoteros, if I may speak… Would you deal with my family once and for all? I am certain they'll keep on causing you trouble" 

Looking up to him with puppy eyes, Edrick wanted to laugh aloud, she really was just straight up asking him to slaughter the rest of her family for good.

"That's what I like to hear, you don't need them anymore after all, do you know why?"

"Because you are the only family I need!" she replied enthusiastically.

"That's right…" rising up from the couch, carrying both of his wives with him like they weighed nothing, he kissed them both on the top of their head before lowering them down.

"I made a very important decision, using the authority of my family, I'll be getting us a residence at the Myriad-Arm Sect, to celebrate this, I'll go deal with the rats that are Fanqia's old relatives… Prepare a big bath Linmin, I'll need to unwind much steam with you both when I am back" clapping his hands, both wives nodded and went to prepare as Edrick picked up a big stick, which was once supposed to help Zixuan Elt move around as Linmin had feared that former lord's large body but skinny physique would lead him to struggle to move around.

Edrick Lucien Anoteros had no need for a walking cane, but it just so happened to be the only thing that fitted comfortably in his hand and that could be easily used as a weapon, his servant-wife had been diligent when making it, being robust and perfectly adapted to the intended user.

Resting it against his shoulder, he went through the front, casually walked down the mountain path whilst humming an uplifting melody, and headed straight for the targeted household, taking the liberty to smash the face of someone completely unrelated, just feeling like it right now.

"Oh hey, if it isn't my best friend! I hope that daughter of yours is already impregnated!"

Spinning the cane around as warmed up, he walked up to the front door and leisurely knocked against it, the rickety thing falling off despite his best efforts to not break it.

"Hello there, may I speak to the entire family? Well, what's left of it" his comment visibly irked the men inside, but they still followed the lord's will and all grouped up.

Although Edrick couldn't be bothered to remember any of their names or faces, he had memorised the amount of them, cracking his neck, he asked : 

"Is the one that's missing called Nong?"

"Lord Anoteros… There is no Nong here-" with the same expression of casual curiosity, Edrick snapped one of the father's legs, the bones joining up at the knees were absolutely busted.

He ignored the screams of pain and asked the same question again, another tried to respond in the father's place, and got one of his own legs bent the wrong way for it.

"I wasn't talking to you"

Pointing the cane as Fanqia's dad, he let out a suppressed chuckle.

"I had a hard time believing that a wretched creature like you could spawn a fine receptacle for my meat like Fanqia, but I understood when I bedded her mom, let me ask you, how did you even earn yourself that whore? She lasted surprisingly long before breaking, you know? Her daughter was very proud that she could please me for so long-"

"Edrick! Shut the vile trap that you use as a mouth and fight me like a man!" lazily turning his head to the side, Anoteros spotted a young man holding a knife.

"First of all, don't interrupt me while I am monologuing, I was going to go on and describe each of the women's performance in details, and then class them from best to worst- Secondly, don't announce your arrival and just stab me on the back like a coward" rising one foot, he stepped against the father's skull pressing it against the rough dirt road.

"If you want to fight 'like a man', then don't stand here with trembling legs and come fight me, I only have time to waste to speak and torture, not to wait for you to grow a pair… I need to go and pump your sister's every orifices full soon"

"By the way, I didn't have the occasion to do that with the rest of your female relatives, too fragile to handle my affection… That other sister of yours thought that she could get off easy by using her mouth, well, you could say that she tried to eat more than she could swallow- She turned all blue in under a minute!"

"Shut up!" Nong tried to rush him down, whilst the rest weren't even trying to run, frozen in place.

Edrick didn't even swing his cane and just grabbed the young man's arms as he attempted to drive his knife into Anoteros's guts, they were like two twigs, both in appearance and in durability, snapping without resistance as the peasant was flung above his lord's head, thrown to the ground.

Now resembling more a ragdoll than a person, this was to be expected, he was so malnourished that even his bones were weak.

He sighed at ease.

Smiling as he looked down upon the father, whomst he was still stepping upon.

"You can thank your dear daughter, she's the one who wanted you all gone, isn't she adorable? You can be happy that she'll bear my children, in a sense, your bloodline will live on, better than it ever was"

"You… You are… You're nothing but an animal!"

"Think what you want, but to be stepped on by an animal… How degrading" shrugging, Edrick applied a bit more force, propelling the content of the old man's skull upon the ground.

Looking around at the rest, he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"You people deeply lack survival instincts, just because I'll catch up doesn't mean that you shouldn't run, you know?"