The village was now completely surrounded by hundreds of elite, armored guards. Sharp arrows were pointed at the villagers, Xiao Hua amongst them. Their faces were pale with fright.
There were already three people lying on the ground with arrows stuck in them, their blood dyeing the ground beneath them.
“Speak, have you seen this person?” One of the middle-aged soldiers in golden armor shouted coldly, showing off a piece of paper with a drawing of a handsome youth with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes. Who else could it be but Long Chen?
“We’ve already said, we’ve never seen anyone called Long Chen and we don’t know what you’re talking about. Why did you have to recklessly kill our villagers?” Xiao Hua’s face was deathly pale as she retorted angrily.
They had no idea where this group of men had come from. But they had immediately surrounded the village, and the three hunters which had just gone out were directly shot to death.
This both shocked and infuriated them. But in front of hundreds of pointed arrows, they didn’t dare make any reckless moves. Some of them were grinding their teeth, wishing to charge forward.
“Hmph, looks like you won’t cry until you see your coffins. Go slaughter those children first. Let me see if they’ll tell the truth.” That middle-aged man snorted and ordered some of his subordinates forward. They immediately pointed their arrows at the dozen children.
“Bastards, do you dare?” The village chief roared angrily and threw those children behind him.
“Kill them.” That middle-aged man’s expression was icy cold, and he didn’t even bat his eye at the elder. In his eyes, these villagers were just a bunch of weeds.
“Fine, kill us! We’re not afraid! Brother Long Chen will definitely come to kill you as revenge for us!” One of the children suddenly struggled free from one of the adults’ guard and angrily pointed at that man.
“Little kid, what nonsense are you saying?!” The village chief hastily shouted at the child to stop, but it was already too late.
That middle-aged man’s eyes brightened and he coldly sneered, “As expected, Long Chen really did come here. Kill them all. We’ll keep searching; he can’t have run far.”
Receiving that order, those troops all emotionlessly released their arrows, shooting out a rain of arrows at the villagers.
“Fuck off!”
A harsh shout suddenly shook their eardrums and a figure rushed over like a wild gale, arriving in front of Xiao Hua and the others. With a shake of his sword, a terrifying Sword Qi ferociously fell.
The majority of those arrows were all shaken away by Long Chen. But there were still around a dozen of them that managed to slip through and hit the villagers. Pained cries rang out intermingled with the weeping of the children.
Looking at Long Chen who had suddenly descended from the sky, those elite guards were all stupefied. Even the middle-aged commander was greatly shocked.
“Zhou Weiqing, you damn bastard, all of you can go to hell!”
Long Chen’s killing intent overflowed. He recognized that middle-aged man as Zhou Weiqing, the Savage Marquis!
That bastard actually wanted to kill unarmed villagers, including the children. He was truly a bastard amongst bastards, especially in the eyes of Long Chen who had been saved by these villagers.
“Parting Wind Slice!” Long Chen’s broadsword cut across the air in front of him, and a Sword Qi invisible to the naked eye shot out like a crescent moon, immediately cutting through those stupefied troops.
That ferocious Sword Qi surged over before those troops had even reacted, immediately cutting them into pieces. Blood filled the air.
Hundreds of elite troops were killed with a single slash of Long Chen’s sword. The current Long Chen truly was just like a death god. Unending killing intent overflowed from his body.
Only the Savage Marquis managed to escape that calamity. As soon as he had seen an uninjured Long Chen appear, he knew the situation had turned sour.
The reports had stated that Long Chen was already on his last breaths. Even if he had managed to survive, he should still be heavily injured to the point where he might die at any time.
But the fourth prince had stated that if he was dead, then he wanted to see his corpse, and if he was alive, then he wanted him captured. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to set his heart at ease. He had sent warriors accustomed to pursuing and tracking as well as hunting dogs. After half a month’s chase, they had finally found this village.
They were certain Long Chen had either passed through here or was currently hiding within the village, recuperating from his wounds. So the Savage Marquis had wanted to directly kill these villagers who were hiding his existence.
And he had truly guessed right. Long Chen had shown himself. But unfortunately, the result was not what he had presumed. When a perfectly healthy Long Chen had appeared, the Savage Marquis had been scared witless.
Even back then during the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival, Long Chen had still managed to kill Huang Chang, his name shaking the empire. On the other hand, the Savage Marquis was only at the early stage of Blood Condensation. How could he possibly be a match for Long Chen?
He had thought he would be able to capture a tiger on its deathbed, but he had miscalculated. The instant he had seen Long Chen strike, he had quickly retreated without even thinking about it. At the same time, he also took out a shield to protect himself.
By the time Long Chen’s Sword Qi had reached him, he had already fled to the edge of the attack. But even so, the shield in his hand was still broken and he spat out blood.
However, the Savage Marquis truly was an expert. He was someone who had already seen blood before. Resisting the intense pain from his stomach, he used his full strength to flee deep into the forest.
“You want to run?”
A sinister ruthlessness appeared on Long Chen’s face. Kicking up an arrow from the ground, he flung it forward.
The arrow shot through the air like lightning. The Savage Marquis, who was fleeing for his life, didn’t realize that an arrow which could take his life was right behind him.
The arrow pierced right through his armor. The great force behind it had been so great that the golden armor was unable to pose even the slightest bit of resistance.
The Savage Marquis’s body was shaken by that force, and he was sent tumbling through the air into a huge tree dozens of meters away.
He violently spat out blood. That arrow had violently shaken his inner organs.
“Don’t kill him, Little Snow!” Long Chen suddenly noticed a white light dash towards Zhou Weiqing and hastily shouted out. He was leaving Zhou Weiqing alive because he still had some use for him.
Little Snow stopped when he heard Long Chen’s call. He had already arrived right at that huge tree and was motionlessly staring at the Savage Marquis.
Seeing that the Savage Marquis was under control, Long Chen quickly ran over to the villagers, bending over to examine their arrow wounds. There were three people who had been struck through the vitals and had already died. Amongst them was even a seven-year-old child.
This made Long Chen feel as though it was his own heart that was being pierced. This had been brought on by him. He was filled with hate; however, he didn’t know whether that hatred was for Marquis Ying, the fourth prince, Zhou Weiqing, or himself.
He quickly gave the injured people some medicinal pills. As long as they hadn’t died immediately, Long Chen’s medicinal pills would ensure that they would completely recover.
The other villagers also rushed to help the wounded. They also gathered up their dead, and the entire village mourned.
“I’m sorry, village chief.” Seeing the old man’s tears streaming down his face, Long Chen was filled with regret. This was his own mistake.
“Child, this isn’t your fault. Don’t feel guilty.” The old man shook his head.
But the more he was like this, the worse Long Chen felt. If it hadn’t been for him, such a calamity would definitely not have befallen the village.
“Long Chen, your heart is something we all understand. We’re all a family, so don’t be like this.” Xiao Hua’s comforting voice came from the side.
Long Chen took a deep breath and said to her, “Xiao Hua, I’m about to leave.”
Her body shook and she was overwhelmed with shock. “You… you want to leave us?”
Looking at her desolate expression and her uncontrollable tears, Long Chen could only quietly reply, “I’m sorry, but I must leave. You’ve also seen that I have enemies. If I don’t leave, a huge disaster will befall the village.” Brushing back her hair lightly, he gently continued, “The village has already paid too high a price for me. I don’t dare to stay with you. I hope… I hope you can forgive me.”
Xiao Hua hit away Long Chen’s hand and miserably cursed, “You bastard, you liar, I hate you!”
After saying that, she ran off to her own room and slammed the door shut.
Long Chen sighed. Looking at that tightly closed door, he didn’t say anymore. Thinking back to when he had just awoken, he recalled Xiao Hua’s sweet and satisfied smile when she said he was her man.
“Child, don’t feel too bad. If you want to leave, then leave. Remember, if you don’t like the outside world, you can always return. This place is also your home,” said the old man sincerely as he patted Long Chen’s shoulders.
“Thank you, village chief.” The village chief’s approval did make him feel a bit better.
“As for Xiao Hua, I’ll console her. Don’t worry, she is a sensible child. She’ll slowly come to understand this.”
Long Chen nodded. He took out a few medicinal pills from his spatial ring. These medicinal pills were varied in quality, but even the worst ones would still be miraculous medicines in the eyes of these hunters.
Now that the forest god had left, the village no longer had her support. They would only be able to rely on themselves in the future. Long Chen left behind large quantities of healing medicines as well as a recipe for a medicinal liquid that they could make on their own.
The village already had a couple of such recipes, but they were incomparable to Long Chen’s. Other than medicinal pills, Long Chen also wrote several experiences and insights that pertained to the Qi Condensation realm’s cultivation. He also left behind the Breaking Wind Fist, Windchasing Steps, and other techniques of that level for them.
That was in the hopes that the village would be able to nurture some experts. If the village had a couple of Blood Condensation experts, they would definitely be much safer.
He also left behind a dozen Blood Breaking Pills. As long as someone advanced to the ninth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation, they would immediately advance to Blood Condensation after taking one of them.
Using a medicinal pill to break through was likely to cause your foundation to be flawed. But even so, to these people, that was not something to complain about. Without Long Chen’s assistance, most of them would be unable to step into Blood Condensation in their whole life.
Only by doing all of these could he feel at ease. Long Chen trusted that from today onwards, the village would only continue growing stronger.
Now they had medicinal pills, Battle Skills, and weapons. In the future, even if they didn’t have the forest god, they would still be able to survive very well.
When they arrived at the village gate to send him off, the entire village gathered over to reluctantly say goodbye to Long Chen. There were even some children who tightly hugged his leg, not letting him leave.
This scene truly did cause Long Chen to feel sad inside, but he had to leave. The only thing he regretted was that Xiao Hua continued to stay locked in her room. It seemed she really did hate him now.
After saying goodbye, Long Chen was just about to leave.
“Wait!”
Long Chen paused and slowly turned back. Xiao Hua opened her door and ran right up next to him.
Her originally bright eyes were now red and filled with pain.
“Long Chen, I know I can’t keep you. I made this just now. I hope you can forever wear it on your body.”
After saying that, Xiao Hua took out a necklace that was made from some multi-colored rocks.
“Haha, perhaps this gift is too poor and will be laughed at.” Xiao Hua laughed mockingly at herself. But although she smiled, tears kept falling from her eyes.
“I’ll properly keep it in my care. But how about you come with me?” Long Chen couldn’t help but feel his heart ache when he looked at Xiao Hua.
Her eyes brightened for a moment, but they quickly dulled again. She shook her head, “We are people who live in different worlds. I can’t leave my family. I just hope that when you look upon this necklace in the future, you’ll remember that there was once a girl… whose heart… yearned to go hunting with you… and make babies.”
Towards the end, Xiao Hua’s voice ended up becoming choked with emotion. After forcing out those last words, she fell into Long Chen’s embrace and began to weep and bawl.
Long Chen didn’t know how he managed to leave in the end. He felt his own heart shattering. This was the first time he experienced being so helpless. This was a helplessness that a higher cultivation base could not resolve.
Dragging the half-dead Savage Marquis, Long Chen disappeared into the depths of the forest.
Xiao Hua’s tears continued to flow as she watched that figure disappear from her view. A light breeze blew by, bringing with it the tumbling of dried leaves. The autumn wind was cold.
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