The group quickly and stealthily left the area, Lei Qiang and Sun Xia using their attunement to earth and stone to look for any locations that could serve as their base for the night. After spending a little over two hours, Sun Xia found a large boulder that was mostly hollow on the inside, quickly carving an opening into it.
The hollow inside of the boulder was quite rounded, so Lei Qiang brought in some earth from the outside to fill up the bottom, creating a somewhat flat surface they could sit on. The boulder was tens of meters tall and wide, so there was more than enough space inside it for everyone to lie down and still have space left.
Sun Xia closed up most of the opening, leaving a few gaps for fresh air to flow into the makeshift cave. After the group settled in the cave, Sun Xia brought out a large pot and started working on setting up a fire, while Lei Qiang started working on dividing the spoils of the previous battle. Tang Chao sat down behind Liang Chen, taking out a vial filled with a thick blue paste that released a bitter and somewhat pungent scent. He opened the bottle and poured some of the medicine into his palm, giving Liang Chen a quick warning.
"I'll start the regrowing process now, let me know if the pain becomes too much."
Liang Chen had lost quite a bit of flesh when the scorpion gouged open his left shoulder, so normal medicine was not quite enough to heal it, it would require some stronger medicine that could accelerate the healing speed of his flesh. Tang Chao started to apply the medicine, which caused a wriggling and burning sensation to spread through Liang Chen's shoulder. The two sat pretty close to where Sun Xia was working on making dinner, so she quickly waved them away with her hands.
"Shoo, Shoo! Do it a bit further away, I don't want to get any blood into the food."
Tang Chao gave a slight click of his tongue, but he still did as Sun Xia asked, bringing Liang Chen and moving closer to the entrance of the cave. Once he had covered the entire wound with the pungent paste, he took out a few six-pronged leaves that were a murky green in color, placing them over the paste and covering the entire thing with bandages.
He pat Liang Chen's right shoulder to let him know that he was done, for now, letting him put on a new robe. He was actually rather surprised at how hardy Liang Chen was, he had not made a single sound as Tang Chao applied the medicine. The food was also done not long after Tang Chao finished applying the medicine, so they joined the two others, quickly scarfing down the simple stew that Sun Xia had made. While eating, Tang Chao could not stop himself from commenting on the food.
"I gotta say, I was kinda skeptical when you said to leave the food to you, but it actually did end up good."
The three of them had been together for two days before Liang Chen joined the group, but they had spent the time looking for other party members, so there had not been any time to taste Sun Xia's cooking during that time. Sun Xia quickly let out a pretentious snort, raising her nose high.
"You doubted the prowess of someone magnificent like me? You better prostrate yourself in apology."
Seeing Sun Xia put on such an exaggerated show of pretentiousness, Tang Chao almost could not stop himself from bursting into laughter. He quickly forced down the laughter, putting on a despairing face as he threw up his hands, joining Sun Xia in her little joke.
"Ai, I bow down in the face of your greatness, can you ever forgive a sinner like me?!"
Lei Qiang and Liang Chen simply sat at the side, eating the stew and enjoying the show that the two others put on. The life of a cultivator was often stressful and hard, so they would take any chance they could get to unwind. Sun Xia raised her nose even more, bending her head backward as she pointed at the bowl of food in Tang Chao's hand.
"This goddess shall forgive you only if you provide her with an offering of succulent meat!"
Tang Chao quickly threw his gaze onto the bowl of stew he was holding, his face quickly turning downcast as he held it out for Sun Xia.
"What a shame that this pious believer only has this dry meat here, will it suffice?"
Sun Xia let out an involuntary snort of laughter, quickly snagging the bowl of stew. She placed the bowl at her side and leaned forward, chopping Tang Chao on the head with the side of her hand. After watching Sun Xia pretend to beat up Tang Chao for a bit, Lei Qiang let out a light chuckle and interrupted them.
"Alright you two, finish your food and prepare to sleep. I and Chen will take the first watch, so the goddess and her pious believer can get some rest first."
Having all of them sleeping at the same time would put them at risk of getting ambushed, so they had decided to split the night in half, two people keeping watch at all times. The two quickly nodded their heads, finishing off the rest of their food and putting away the bowls and pot. Before laying down on the ground to rest, Tang Chao gave Liang Chen a quick reminded, pointing at the bandages.
"Keep this on through the night, it will keep out dirt and prevent the healing process from getting interrupted."
Liang Chen gave a quick nod to show that he understood, to which Tang Chao gave a quick nod in return. Tang Chao and Sun Xia laid down on the ground at the back of the cave, a few meters away from the fire, leaving only Liang Chen and Lei Qiang sitting at the fire, occasionally poking it and throwing in more pieces of dried wood. After a few minutes, Lei Qiang cast a glance at Sun Xia and Tang Chao, making sure that they were sleeping before he started chatting with Liang Chen.
"Chen, what was life like in Green Rivers City? I heard that it is directly controlled by the Qing clan, so I assume that your parents work for them?"
Now that they finally had a chance to take a breath, Lei Qiang thought that it was a good time to maybe get to know a little bit more about his companions. Liang Chen's eyes turned a bit distant, as if he had returned back to the days before his parents were executed. He took in a quick breath, telling a mixture of truth and lie.
"Yes, they are accountants. They keep a tab on the herbal inventory, making sure that nothing gets stolen. As for how life was, it was rather dull. What about life in Eternal Stream City?"
His parents had indeed been accountants, it was the job they had been assigned after they gave up their traveling and settled down. Liang Chen had already gotten quite adept at lying, so Lei Qiang did not notice anything off about his answer, his face quickly blooming into a wide grin as he excitedly talked about his hometown.
"It is quite wonderful! Thanks to the popularity of the military academy, the people of the city are all very responsible and just, crime nearly nonexistent! Living at the academy involves a lot of tough training, but the men of my family have gone to that academy for many generations, each one serving the king, there was no way I would end that tradition."
Lei Qiang puffed out his chest as he spoke, his voice tinged with heavy pride and respect. But upon hearing his answer, Liang Chen could not help but raise an eyebrow, asking out in confusion.
"You serve the king, not the Qing clan?"
Liang Chen had thought that the people of the military academy served the Qing clan, as this part of the continent was controlled by the Qing clan. Since it was controlled by the Qing clan, why would there be a need for a king? Lei Qiang sucked on his teeth for a bit, seemingly struggling with finding the words to properly explain it.
"Both yes and no. Those who graduate from the military academy join the army of the Blazing Clouds nation, serving the king for the rest of their lives. Most of the time we fight against the other nations that have strength similar to Blazing Clouds, but all the surrounding nations are ultimately ruled by the Qing clan, so if they face a crisis, we must fight for them. So while we serve the king most of the time, in times of emergency we serve the Qing clan."
It was much like how a country was built up of several smaller cities. Each city had their own ruler, but the country still ruled all the cities. The country controlled several cities, the Qing clan controlled several countries, and the Nightshield Sect controlled several clans like the Qing clan. Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head in understanding, having a somewhat clearer picture now. Lei Qiang sent another glance at the sleeping Sun Xia, leaning in closer to Liang Chen as he spoke in a low whisper.
"So tell me, Chen, what about Xia is it that attracts you?"
Liang Chen was so caught off-guard by Lei Qiang's question that he was unable to properly respond, his head tilting and his eyes narrowing in confusion.
"What?"
They had only spent a bit over one day together, so what could possibly have given Lei Qiang the idea that he had any romantic interest in Sun Xia? He did not mind admitting that she was an attractive girl, but that did not mean that he felt anything romantic towards her. Lei Qiang let out a low chuckle, looking at Liang Chen with suggestive eyes.
"No need to play dumb, I have seen the way you glance at her. There is no need to be ashamed of it, you are at that age after all. I was even younger than you when I met my wife and lost my virginity to her. A piece of advice, just go for it. There is no telling how long we will be able to live, so there is no shame in acting as you please."
It immediately became clear to Liang Chen where the confusion had spawned. He sent a glance at Sun Xia but quickly turned back to Lei Qiang, shaking his head.
"Trust me, there is nothing like that going on here."
There was no way he could tell Lei Qiang the truth, no way he could tell him that the reason he had glanced at Sun Xia several times was that the sight of her soft skin caused his instincts to almost go haywire. Her clean skin, her soft flesh, his bestial instincts screamed at him to bite into it and tear out bloody chunks that he could feast on. Lei Qiang let out another chuckle, shrugging his shoulders and winking at Liang Chen with an understanding smile.
"Whatever you say. Just make sure you keep my advice in mind. Waste too much time and you will only be able to watch the opportunity slip through your fingers."
The two continued to casually chat about how life had been in their hometowns, telling each other about their families. Liang Chen could only do his best to come up with some lies on the spot, being as vague about his parents as possible.
After a few hours, they woke up Tang Chao and Sun Xia, having the two of them taking over the guard so that they could get some sleep before dawn. Liang Chen laid down, but he did not go to sleep, only pretending. He still did not like sleeping, as he would only relieve the past over and over again if he did. And it was because he did not go to sleep that he quickly reacted when Tang Chao nudged his body, whispering quietly.
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"Don't make any noise, the place is surrounded."
Liang Chen quickly sat up, his vigilance rising to the peak. He checked the lightning in the surroundings and could just vaguely make out that there were indeed some living presences around them, but because there was so much lightning in the surroundings, it was still impossible for him to make out anything specific. Sun Xia had her hand on the wall of the cave, her eyes closed as she used the stone on the outside to scout the enemies.
"They are weaker than us, but they have more people, so we can't underestimate them."
Lei Qiang was also quickly woken up, his expression turning solemn as he pulled out his halberd, holding it ready. Tang Chao glanced at Liang Chen's bandaged left shoulder, nodding towards it as he spoke.
"How is the shoulder?"
Liang Chen was the group's main attacker, so if the wound weakened him too much, they would have to come up with a new strategy. Liang Chen rolled the shoulder slightly, his brows furrowing slightly as he examined it and gave his judgment.
"At about 50% strength. But since it's not my main arm, there won't be too much difficulty in fighting."
Tang Chao gave a short nod, his eyes turning towards Lei Qiang. Lei Qiang placed his palm on the ground, stretching his concentration to the max to join Sun Xia in scouting the enemies that surrounded them. After spending a short moment scouting, he opened his eyes and quietly spat out a few orders.
"About ten people, covering every possible escape path. Chao, you focus on ranged attacks and support. Xia, protect Chao and make sure that no one reaches our backs. Chen, you and I will take the front. Try to take them down as quickly as possible so that we don't get completely swarmed."
The rest of the group nodded and prepared their weapons, gathering up by the entrance. Sun Xia matched eyes with them, using her fingers to count down from three. Once the countdown reached zero, she placed her palm on the sealed up entrance, the stone shattering and launching at the enemies outside.
With the entrance open, the scene outside was fully revealed to Liang Chen. It was currently raining, bolts of azure lightning crashing down and striking the stones, charging them full of energy. There were 12 people gathered up outside the boulder, slowly making their way closer. They were clad in rather shoddy leather armor, the armor of most of them poorly patched together. Just like Sun Xia had said, none of them had a cultivation higher than them, the strongest merely having reached the late stage of the Mortal Tower realm. Had it not been for the fact that they had three times the people of Liang Chen's group, as well as the fact that they thought they managed to ambush them, it was likely that they would not dare attempt to attack them.
The group was made up of a variety of people, both men and women, some older and some younger. There was one that caught Liang Chen's eye, a young boy who seemed to be about the same age as Liang Chen. His hands were tied together with an arm-length piece of rope, his shaky hands holding a short dagger, his entire face pale as he trembled from fear.
Tang Chao, Lei Qiang, and Liang Chen took advantage of the confusion that the rain of stone produced, dashing out and launching their attacks. Tang Chao launched two arrows, one that pierced through the skull of one bandit, and one that pierced into the waist of a second bandit.
Lei Qiang matched eyes with Liang Chen, giving a short nod as the two ran out side by side. The moment they stepped out of the cave, the earth beneath them wriggled, two pillars rising up beneath their feet and launching them at the enemies.
Liang Chen kicked off the pillar, dashing forward like a golden blur, arcs of lightning coiling around him. Liang Chen took advantage of the rain and the lightning, connecting his golden lightning with the azure lightning, redirecting it towards two of the enemies. The azure lightning struck the two men, their insides roasting from the sheer heat it released. While he redirected the lightning, he also slashed out with his sword, slicing through the throat of a third bandit.
Lei Qiang, on the other hand, targeted the wounded bandit as well as one other. The earth beneath the wounded bandit turned soft, his feet sinking into the ground and preventing him from moving. A layer of solid earth coated his halberd, turning it into a long sledgehammer. He swung the weapon with both hands, smashing it sideways into the head of the wounded bandit, completely crushing it.
He used the counterforce from crushing the head to spin his halberd to the other side, raising it high in the process. Once the halberd reached its highest point, he swung it down at full force, smashing it down onto the head of another bandit, her body smashed into the ground.
Only a few seconds had passed since Sun Xia opened the cave and they burst out, but half the bandits had already been killed. This was the difference in strength that was brought about by a difference in cultivation. In most situations, there was little that people with weaker cultivation could do against those stronger than them, they were like sheep facing a ferocious tiger.
Yet despite half their group dying, the bandits did not retreat, growing even more ferocious as they launched their own attacks to retaliate. There were two bandits close to Liang Chen who launched attacks at him, but one of them was the young child, who ended up being too scared to actually attack him with the dagger he held. The other bandit held an axe, dashing at Liang Chen and raising it high to cleave him in half.
Liang Chen stepped toward the bandit, taking half a step to the left once he swung down the axe. The axe nearly grazed his body as it passed by him, but it failed to make contact in the end. He raised his right arm, his sword slicing upwards. The blade passed through the bandit's wrists, separating his hands from his arms. The weapon continued unabated, passing through the throat of the man and separating his head from his body.
The edge of the blade coursed with lightning, so its slicing force was greatly increased. Liang Chen heard a thud coming from behind him, quickly turning his body around. A wall of stone had risen up behind him, blocking an arrow that had been heading for the back of his neck.
His eyes landed on Sun Xia, who stood by the entrance of the cave and sent him a smile and a nod. He nodded back at her, his eyes landing on the young boy who was frozen in fear not far from him. He started walking towards the boy, who closed his eyes in resignation as he waited for the strike that would end his life. But the attack never arrived so he could not help but open his eyes and look at Liang Chen, who was standing right in front of him. Since the expected attack hadn't arrived, he could not help but utter a confused question.
"Wha..."
Before the boy got to finish his question, Liang Chen raised his sword and cut the rope that tied the boy's hands together. He pointed towards the direction that led out of the forest, waving the boy away.
"Leave, and don't get caught by people like them again."
It was easy to see that the boy was just an innocent bystander who had been captured by the bandits and forced along. The bandits had come with the intent to kill, so Liang Chen was fine with killing them, as they were scum. But the boy was innocent, it would not be right to kill him. If Liang Chen killed him, he would be just as bad as those he had sworn to kill, those who deserved the heaven's wrath.
The boy quickly nodded his head, giving Liang Chen a deep bow before he turned towards the direction Liang Chen had pointed, dashing away. There were not a lot of Demonic beasts in these outskirts, so even if the boy was on his own, it would not be hard to flee.
Liang Chen turned around to inspect the rest of the battle, but it had already been finished, Lei Qiang and Tang Chao having dealt with the last bandits. But as his eyes landed on the others he saw that Tang Chao was drawing his bow, aiming an arrow at the boy Liang Chen had just let go. As Tang Chao drew the arrow back, Liang Chen quickly let out a thunderous shout.
"No!"
His body blurred as he dashed forward like a furious bolt of lightning, almost immediately arriving in front of Tang Chao. His position was not perfect, so he could only reach out with his left arm, ignoring the pain as he grabbed onto the head of the arrow, pushing the entire bow down and preventing Tang Chao from shooting. Being interrupted so suddenly, Tang Chao could not help but glare at Liang Chen.
"Chen, what are you doing?! Why would you save him, he tried to kill us!"
The way Tang Chao saw it, the boy was just another member of the bandit group that had come to kill them, showing mercy to him was nothing but foolishness. But faced with his glare, Liang Chen simply swept out with his right arm, pointing at the 11 corpses around them.
"They were the ones that tried to kill us, he was simply someone they forced to tag along! Killing him would be wrong."
No matter how much he wanted revenge, no matter how much the bestial instincts invaded him, Liang Chen still had principles that he would stand by and refuse to give up. And one of those principles was to not kill innocent people, or let them be killed in his presence. If he broke that principle, he would no longer be the Liang Chen that his parents and Qing Chun wanted him to be, he would be a mere beast, he would be just as bad as Qing Lan Yong. Tang Chao opened his mouth to protest but ended up shrugging his shoulders in defeat after seeing the determined expression on Liang Chen's face.
"But...Fine, fine. We'll let the kid go."
Tang Chao loosened the arrow he had prepared, causing it to turn into loose drops of water that fell to the ground. Liang Chen pulled back his arm, which had turned bloody from holding onto the arrow. Tang Chao furrowed his brows slightly, his eyes landing on Liang Chen's left shoulder.
"You used the wrong arm to stop me, you tore open the wound again."
Tang Chao put away his bow, forcing Liang Chen to turn around so he could check out his shoulder. He removed the bloody bandages and gave the wound a quick inspection, letting out a short sigh as he turned towards Lei Qiang and Sun Xia.
"You didn't tear it up too badly, so the time needed to heal it luckily hasn't gone up by too much. Qiang, I am going to take him back to the cave and get started on the healing, can I leave the cleanup to you and Xia?"
The scent of blood from the bodies would attract Demonic beasts if they left them here for too long, so they had to be moved to a different place as fast as possible. Luckily, it was raining heavily right now so the smell of blood was washed away quickly. Lei Qiang glanced at Liang Chen's bloody shoulder, giving a slight nod.
"No problem, just get Chen back to full capacity as quickly as possible. Once you've done that, we can start looking for some of the rarer treasures."
They were still in the outskirts of the stone forest so the number of rare treasures they could find was very limited. To find the better stuff, they would have to head deeper into the stone forest. And to do that, the entire group had to be at full strength.