Chen Shi wiped the blood off his small knife onto his sleeve, looking at the scattered bodies in the camp with a calm expression.
"Confucius said, 'Since you have come, you might as well settle.' Since your duty was to protect my enemies, your deaths aren't in vain."
He walked towards Li Xiaoding.
Li Xiaoding could kill him with a single spell, but Chen Shi wasn't afraid. Somehow, he had this newfound confidence, believing he could take out Li Xiaoding before he could cast any spell.
Oddly enough, it was his first time killing someone, yet he felt no fear. The moment he gripped the knife, all he thought about was how to quickly eliminate his opponent.
Heiguo was still crouched by the table, staring blankly at the bodies lying all over, unable to associate this decisive killer with its young master.
Chen Shi used to be a mischievous, carefree boy, but now he seemed like a god of death.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
Chen Shi punched again and again, each blow carrying immense force, shattering the golden bell talisman as he stepped towards Li Xiaoding.
He was much shorter than Li Xiaoding, only reaching his chest, but Li Xiaoding seemed overwhelmed by his presence, stumbling back and falling to the ground, supporting himself with his hands as he looked at Chen Shi in fear.
"Brother, please, don't..."
Chen Shi grabbed his collar, trying to lift him, but whether it was because Li Xiaoding was too heavy or Chen Shi was exhausted from the fight, he couldn't lift him.
After all, it was his first time killing, and though he had wiped out his enemies, he now felt a wave of weakness.
Chen Shi felt his hands trembling and sore. He took a deep breath and used the Three Lights True Qi Technique, which made him feel a bit better.
The battle seemed swift and clean, but it had drained him, leaving him hungry and craving food.
"Don't kill me!"
Li Xiaoding cried, his pants wet.
His level was higher than Chen Shi's, his True Qi far more powerful, and he had various protective talismans, but he was terrified and had lost all will to fight.
He was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered as Chen Shi lifted him.
"You took my Divine Fetus and still want to live?"
Chen Shi gritted his teeth, saying fiercely, "You had experts crack open my head to take my Divine Fetus. You didn't expect me to survive, did you? You should have smashed my brain to pulp! You left me with a breath, and now I'm here for revenge!"
Li Xiaoding was limp and pale.
He wasn't very talented, and he spent his days indulging in pleasures, rarely practicing. He couldn't cultivate a Divine Fetus; even his scholar status was bought by his family.
But his family didn't mind, letting him enjoy life. Until one day, his uncle brought a fresh Divine Fetus, telling him that if he transplanted it into his Divine Altar, he'd immediately become a Divine Fetus Stage cultivator, pass exams, and achieve greater success.
He asked his uncle where it came from, but his uncle just assured him it was taken care of, so he transplanted it without worry.
He passed the exams, gained fame as a genius, and even attracted attention from noble families.
But unexpectedly, his uncle didn't clean up well, and the aggrieved party survived, learned strange skills, killed his guards, and sought revenge!
"Do you know what I've been through these two years?"
Chen Shi said angrily, "The hardships, the humiliation..."
Li Xiaoding suddenly shivered, a glimmer of hope in his eyes, stammering, "Wait, hero..."
He felt awkward calling this young boy a hero but continued, "Wait, hero, you lost your Divine Fetus two years ago? But I only transplanted one last year! Hero!"
He cautiously but boldly said, "Did you kill the wrong person?"
Chen Shi was about to speak but paused, his murderous intent fading a bit, suspiciously asking, "You mean you only transplanted one last year?"
Li Xiaoding nodded quickly, half-smiling, half-crying, "I transplanted it last year, then took the provincial exam and became a scholar. It's all verifiable if you ask around!"
Chen Shi was stunned, releasing Li Xiaoding.
Li Xiaoding sat on the ground, ignoring the pain, continuing, "If you lost your Divine Fetus the year before last, the one who took it wasn't me or my family. A Divine Fetus can't last a year outside the body!"
"Is that true?"
Chen Shi was flustered, mumbling, "You mean you didn't take my Divine Fetus, and I killed the wrong person?"
Li Xiaoding was exasperated, "Not only the wrong person! You killed seven of my guards and almost killed me! You even killed Lady Zi'e from the Ding family!"
Chen Shi's expression was uncertain.
He had heard from Miss Zhao and others about Li Xiaoding's impressive exam results, and they suspected he took Chen Shi's Divine Fetus, making Chen Shi see him as a mortal enemy.
But now, thinking back, it was just a guess.
"So, I did kill the wrong person..." Chen Shi mumbled.
"You did kill the wrong person!"
Li Xiaoding was also angry, complaining, "Why didn't you ask first..."
"Shh—"
A cold light flashed across his neck, and Li Xiaoding was stunned, clutching his throat, making gurgling sounds, unable to speak, as blood poured out.
Blood filled his lungs, causing him to cough, bubbles forming at his throat and mouth.
Chen Shi wiped the blood off his knife onto his sleeve, glancing at the struggling Li Xiaoding.
"But I didn't kill the wrong person. You may not have taken my Divine Fetus, but you still took someone else's. The genius you took it from wasn't as lucky as me. I survived, but he didn't. People like you deserve to die!"
Chen Shi turned to the table, placing the knife in his book box, gathering his writing tools, and slinging the box over his shoulder, muttering, "I avenged him. It's a shame I can't wipe out all those who steal the futures and lives of the poor."
He slung the book box on his back, feeling weak with hunger.
At that moment, the aroma of food reached him. Following the scent, he found a big pot of stew by a yurt. Li Xiaoding and his group had caught some wild animal, cooked it, and now it was ready.
Chen Shi lifted the lid, seeing meat, both fatty and lean, with bones, bubbling in the pot.
He should have left this place to avoid trouble, but he was too hungry to move, so he tossed the lid aside, grabbed the pot's handles, and carried it to the table.
"Thud!"
He set the pot down, sat on his book box, and started eating, ignoring the heat, stripping the meat from the bones with his tongue and spitting out the bones.
Heiguo, now recovered from the battle, was still trembling but couldn't resist the bones on the ground and hurried to pick them up.
"Useless."
Chen Shi chuckled, pouring half the meat onto the ground, "Eat up, eat fast, fill up for the road."
Heiguo shivered, wondering if "the road" meant something ominous, but concluded it wasn't the case, as it couldn't take the blame, and started eating.
Man and dog, one on the table, one below, feasted heartily.
Soon, they were full. Chen Shi slung the book box on his back, glanced around, surprised not to see the ghosts of Li Xiaoding and the others.
"Could grandpa be right, that there's a force pulling ghosts to the underworld? But why didn't Scholar Zhu and the three water ghosts get pulled in?"
He called Heiguo and prepared to leave the camp.
Feeling thirsty after eating so much meat, he noticed a basket of fruit brought by Lady Zi'e, with a large melon still intact. He picked it up, smashed it open with a punch, and ate it as he left the camp with Heiguo, disappearing into the forest.
"By nightfall, when the moon rises and evil things emerge, these bodies will be gone. No one will trace it back to me!"
Soon, Chen Shi emerged from the forest, seeing a wooden cart by the roadside, with his grandpa sitting nearby, as if expecting him.
Chen Shi paused, then approached.
Grandpa tossed him some clothes, saying, "Change, there's blood on them, you'll be tracked."
Chen Shi obediently changed, wondering what to do with the bloody clothes when they suddenly burst into flames, quickly turning to ash.
Knowing it was his grandpa's doing, he thought, "Confucius said not to look at improper things. If no one sees, it's not a crime. Grandpa's thorough, must've done plenty of bad things back in the day!"
But he couldn't tell if grandpa used magic or something else.
The two sat on the cart, the talismans on the wheels glowing as it rolled towards Yellow Slope Village.
"Did you get paid for being a talisman master?"
"I did."
"How much did the aggrieved party pay you?"
"Fifty taels of silver, a big ingot."
"Give it to me, I'll save it for you."
"Grandpa, I want to save it myself."
"Kids can't save money. When you close your fingers, doesn't it slip through? Grandpa's hands don't leak. Give it to grandpa, he'll save it for when you grow up and get married. Would grandpa cheat you?"
"No."
Chen Shi handed over the silver, dreaming of a happy future with a wife.
—Thanks to the leader of the Mountain Sun Flute for the reward~