Chương 42: Tianhu's decision III

Tianhu and Xiaoshi continued their conversation, talking for several hours straight. Tianhu tried his hardest to remember some of the stories his father had told him, and Xiaoshi seemed to find great enjoyment in finding the loopholes and condemning the illogical actions of the characters, after which Tianhu would change the story to suit Xiaoshi's taste.

"How did he get his hand on all those pieces? I don't believe it. How could he be sure that he got every single nail? That's impossible. And it's obviously not Qingxiao's ship, it's-""Alright, alright. It's time to eat," Shen Ye interrupted his daughter. Tianhu looked up and saw Shen Ye looking at him with a small frown, while Old Mo was grinning at him.

"Okay," Xiaoshi said, taking off her pack to get out some food.

'It's already time to eat?' Tianhu thought to himself, looking up at the sun, now high in the sky.

"You're really not afraid of anything," Old Mo said with a chuckle as Tianhu sat down next to him to help prepare the food.

"I'm scared of plenty of things. If you're not scared, it means you have nothing to lose. That doesn't seem like a nice life to lead," Tianhu answered, still feeling talkative after his long conversation with Xiaoshi.

"Are you trying to make this about swords? Let me tell you that it's not that simple. An unfettered sword is not one that doesn't care about anything. It just doesn't let those things weigh it down," Old Mo started lecturing. He seemed to really disagree with Tianhu's and Shen Ye's way of swordsmanship.

"Well-" Tianhu was about to answer when a loud noise sounded in the distance.

'What is that?' Tianhu thought and jumped to his feet. Old Mo had a grave look on his face as he turned to Shen Ye.

"Does that sound familiar to you, too?"

"It sounds like a Saint Beast battling against a large number of frantic opponents," Shen Ye answered, "I've only heard it once, but I won't forget it. It's a lot closer this time, too."

"A Saint Beast? Is it the Black Beast?" Shen Long asked.

"It should be. We need to hurry away from here," Shen Ye said, hurriedly packing his things again.

"I guess we should," Old Mo agreed. But just then, the sound in the distance came to an abrupt stop.

"It's over? Already?" Old Mo asked, looking up to where the sound came from.

"They might have actually defeated it," Shen Ye said.

"I guess it's not surprising. It's reaching the end of its lifespan, and the people hunting it should have been more prepared than last time," Old Mo said. He turned to Tianhu and, after hesitating for a second, told him, "Let's go over and take a look."

"Are you serious?" Shen Ye turned around and asked.

"Let's go too, Dad," Shen Long encouraged.

"We shouldn't get involved," Shen Ye said, "A lot of powerful people have their eyes on that Saint Beast."

"But…You're so strong, Dad. Maybe we have a chance of taking the body for ourselves. Those people over there might just have gotten lucky. There might not even be any Masters there."

"Either way, I'm just an Innate warrior. No one should view me as a threat," Old Mo said, "I'll head over and see if anyone from the Sword School has gotten injured." Old Mo turned around and headed off. Tianhu followed, feeling a little reluctant.

'Are we going our separate ways from now on?' But just then, Xiaoshi spoke up, "Dad. We are strong enough to keep ourselves safe. Even if there are Grandmasters there, they wouldn't be stupid enough to get into a fight with us if we make it clear we don't have our eyes set on the Saint Beast. No one would risk their life to fight a Master for no reason." Shen Ye hesitated for a moment before nodding, "You're right. Let's go take a look then."

And so, the group stayed together and headed in the direction from which they heard the loud noises. It didn't take long, as they were pretty close. In just a few minutes, they arrived at the scene. Old Mo came to an abrupt stop, and the others gathered around him. Tianhu looked out over the small grove where the body of not one, but two black foxes lay dead on the ground. On either side, two large groups of powerful martial artists were facing off against each other.

"Looks like a fight is about to break out," Shen Ye said with a frown.

"Can you make out their strength?" Old Mo asked in a low voice. Shen Ye looked out over the people gathered and answered, "I can tell that there are at least ten Grandmasters on either side, and no less than a hundred Masters in total." Old Mo took a sharp breath.

"Maybe we should back off. I don't see any people from my Sword School. We don't want to end up in the middle of this." Shen Ye didn't argue against it, and even Shen Long kept his mouth shut. But just as they started backing away, several sharp eyes turned in their direction. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Friends. Since you're here, stick around for a while longer. Perhaps we need your help in solving this dispute," A voice sounded. Tianhu saw that it came from a man who looked to be in his early thirties. He didn't look very strong, but he was dressed in luxurious clothing, completely spotless, and the people around him all seemed to defer to him.

"Yes. Stay," Another, older man said. He seemed to be the leader of the other group. The man looked to be in his fifties or sixties, and unlike the young man on the opposite side, he only wore a pair of casual pants, his upper body completely bare, showing off his muscular physique.

"You lot, too," The man said, turning his head to address another group of people who had just arrived. Everything turned quiet for a while before the man in luxurious clothes spoke up with a smile, "Emperor Lishen, no one will gain anything from a fight. What do you say we make a deal? I have an important use for these Saint Beasts. What do you want in exchange for letting me have them?"

'Emperor? That guy is the Emperor of the Lishen Empire? He actually came here himself?'

"Saint…" Shen Ye whispered to himself, his face turning pale.

"Hah!" Emperor Lishen laughed mockingly, "You managed to pay one of my people off, and just because of that, you want not only a piece of the prize, but all of it? Forget it! I don't believe I can't kill you, even with your strange magic. I've been looking forward to this day for a long time. You and your family will die to soothe my ancestors' anger in the afterlife."

"Still upset about those things," The young man said, shaking his head, "Who can really be blamed for your elders' untimely death except these two dead beasts? Why blame my family?"

"You're not talking your way out of this," Emperor Lishen said with a cruel smile.

"You might like to act like it, but you're no fool," The young man said with a confident smile, "You're still wary of my family's power. And rightfully so. Otherwise, you would have already attacked. But you must know how important these beasts are to my family. If you take them away, even if you manage to stop me, can you stop my family elders?"

"They're long gone," Emperor Lishen snorted, "And with these beasts, my family can raise at least two new Saints. I don't have to fear them then."

"Haha," The young man laughed, "You don't actually believe that. Are you trying to bargain for some benefits by acting fearless? Fine, I have no reason to make things difficult for you. Even if I have already sent word back, and the elders should arrive soon, why make them go through the effort of paying you a visit? Tell you what, isn't your goal to rebuild the Shen Empire? My family has no interest in these lands. If you let me have the beasts, I'll give the order to launch an attack on the Lan Kingdom.

I'll make my way through the Ji Kingdom and the Fang Kingdom as well. When I leave this place with my elders, you'll have all the land my Qing Empire has conquered to take for your own, without any unnecessary war efforts. I'm sure it won't be long before your family sees another Saint after gaining control of so much land."

'What's…going on? The Qing Empire? Can that man give it away? Is he the Qing Emperor?' Emperor Lishen didn't show any reaction to the offer. But he turned quiet, seemingly pondering it.

"Very well," Emperor Lishen finally said, "Just keep your word and stay out of my Lishen Empire in the future."

"Believe me. No one wants to leave more than me," Emperor Qing said with a smile.

"It's a deal then," Emperor Lishen snorted, his face looking grim, "Let's go. Deal with the outsiders. I don't want this to spread."

"Shit!" Shen Ye immediately reacted. He pulled out his sword and turned around to his children.

"Run!"

"Dad, I can-" Xiaoshi began, but was interrupted by Shen Ye's furious roar.

"Run! Now!" Tianhu didn't need to be told twice. Grandmasters were rushing toward him, and he understood he didn't stand a chance.

"Teacher," Tianhu called out as he started running away with Shen Long and Xiaoshi.

"Go. I hope you make it out," Old Mo said with a sigh, not turning around to look at him.

"I'm sorry for bringing you here. I'll do my best to hold them back."

'But… You're just an Innate warrior.' Tianhu didn't say it out loud, though. There wasn't time to argue. Xiaoshi and Shen Long were both much faster than he was, so he would be the first one the enemy would catch up with. Thankfully, there were more groups than them around, all fleeing in opposite directions. Running for his life, Tianhu glanced over his shoulder to see the situation behind him. Shen Ye was managing to hold on, fighting alone against three other people. But Old Mo was too weak.

In the brief second Tianhu turned around, he could see how three men in uniform gathered around him, and one of their punches landed on his head. The power of that fist was too strong. A burst of blood could be seen, and then Old Mo fell dead to the ground.

"Ah…" Tianhu almost stumbled.

'Is he…dead?' Tianhu became dazed for a moment. He couldn't accept it. His teacher, the one who had looked after him for the past four years, teaching him his sword art, always trying to make him angry, was gone. A sharp drop came up ahead, snapping Tianhu out of his daze. He stopped briefly and saw that Shen Long and Xiaoshi had managed to get down to the valley below and were running in opposite directions.

'Can I make it?' Tianhu thought. But the sound of chaos behind him reminded him that there were powerful enemies there who would soon catch up to him. The cliff wasn't a straight drop, but it was too steep to run down. Tianhu lost his footing immediately and tumbled down into the valley below.

"Ah!" Tianhu yelled out in pain as he crashed to the ground. He was sure a few bones had broken. But he didn't have time to think about the injuries. He pushed himself off the ground and looked ahead. He saw Xiaoshi's back in the distance and took several stumbling steps after her. But just a few seconds later, three figures came crashing down from the side. Right where Xiaoshi was. Tianhu knew he should turn around and escape in the direction Shen Long had gone.

But he also knew that there was no way he would get away. After they were done with Xiaoshi, they would catch up to him in just a few seconds. So he kept going toward her, feeling he might at least make a last effort before he died.

'Die…I'm going to die?' Tianhu thought to himself. His mind grew hazy as he kept moving forward.

'Mom and Dad will be so sad. Tianren, Tianan, Tianyue, Tianxu, and Tianzheng, too. What will Tianxu do? I never got to teach him what I've learned here.'

'I never got to protect them. I never got to do anything for anyone.' Tianhu came closer and closer to the fight up ahead. One of the men landed a punch on Xiaoshi's shoulder, and she went flying.

'Xiaoshi is going to die too…I really don't want that.'

'No…I can't let that happen. I can't die. I can't die.'

'I absolutely can't die! And I'm really stubborn once I've made a decision. I refuse to change it!' Tianhu unsheathed his sword, looking up ahead to the three people he assumed were Grandmasters, still about 50-60 feet away from him, they barely spared him a glance as he approached.

'In order not to die, they have to die.' Tianhu clenched the hilt of his sword tightly. He discarded his sword art from his mind. That couldn't help him now. He was too weak. He just needed to…he didn't know. He just knew that he absolutely had to cut through them. Time seemed to slow down as Tianhu swung his sword. The three men and Xiaoshi all snapped their attention to him, looking shocked and confused.

'The sword doesn't matter. Your opponents don't matter. What matters is how you swing your sword.' A bright light flashed as Tianhu's sword cleaved through the air. His opponents were still some distance away from him. But that didn't matter.

'So that's how it is.' Tianhu thought, breathing heavily, looking down at his shaking hand still clutching the hilt of his sword. Three distinct sounds followed. Tianhu looked up and saw that the three men's heads had all fallen to the ground. He wasn't surprised; it was like he knew it would happen as soon as he swung his sword. Xiaoshi stared at Tianhu with her mouth open, and Tianhu stared back.

"How…how did you do that?" Xiaoshi asked.

"I decided to kill them," Tianhu answered, "And I'm very stubborn."