Tragic past leaves lasting marks, sorrows that haunt the dark and turn food stark;
Beauty’s fragrance trapped in oil, drops of golden foil, the heart they warm and coil.
Hung Yun Zak’s mood would worsen whenever he remembered his past—was it wrong to like perfume? Why did all those useless elders always called him a failure?
Violence and murder. His hands were stained with blood, to begin with, but what was the point of all that killing? If he had to kill anyway, he would rather walk down the path of fragrance. He would pursue a singular goal with his entire life. Only that one goal can give him the motivation to keep going, to keep climbing up.
He liked to watch watch as the perfume he made slowly distilled, drop by drop, like heaven’s nectar. The fragrance always felt like a warm and familiar dream he could never wake up from. People hunt goats, kill tigers, butcher cows and slaughter pigs just to fill their bellies. He kidnapped young women and extracted their fragrance with oil just to fill his soul.
What was the difference between these things?
Even the sages and kings of the world are hypocrites.
However, Hung Yun Zak’s power as a Martial General was not enough if he wanted to continue kidnapping young women of all sorts. Moreover, he was the mayor of Green Sea Town. If anyone were to find a clue regarding the missing women, it would most definitely end up involving the Hung Clan. When that happened, his reputation would be destroyed and the origin house would also move to investigate him. That was why Hung Yun Zak needed somebody to do the dirty work for him.
That was how the Green Wolf Gang came to be.
Hung Yun Zak found a talented criminal and secretly supported him behind the scenes. He helped him grow stronger and gave him cultivation mantras to teach his followers. He gave him resources and manpower to grow the organization. After a dozen years, the Green Wolf Gang he had founded was finally powerful enough to do his bidding.
Ever since then, Hung Yun Zak had all sorts of young women to choose from for his collection and could switch up his perfume whenever he liked. He even discovered the art of brewing invigorating tea using the bodies of young women!
“You’re quite smart,” said Hung Yun Zak when he heard ‘Wun Fan’’s question. He couldn’t help but clap. He didn’t seem bothered about admitting to his wrongdoings. However, frustration suddenly flickered across his face. He stared at ‘Wun Fan’ and said, “Speaking of that, you must be the one who killed several dozen people from my Green Wolf Gang, aren’t you, Mr. Spirit?”
“I have no intention of fighting to the death here with you,” said Old Lei. It wasn’t that he was scared of Hung Yun Zak. He just didn’t want to waste too much of his mental energy and affect the Spiritstartler Ring, as this would hinder Wun Fan’s cultivation progress. At this moment, everything was secondary to Wun Fan’s growth. There was no exception.
Moreover, Old Lei knew that there were far too many unjust things happening in the world every single day. He did not have the energy nor the strength to deal with every single one of them.
“Honestly, I don’t want to kill a prodigy either, especially one who was stuck at the Martial Disciple realm for several years, only to become an intermediate Martial Vassal in a single month. Your progress is shocking,” said Hung Yun Zak with an expression of awe. He thought for a moment and said, “Why don’t we make a deal?”
“Speak,” said Old Lei. He was very interested in finding out what Hung Yun Zak had to say. A truce would serve them both well right now. Time was on their side. Once Wun Fan grew strong enough, he could come back at any time to take revenge on Hung Yun Zak.
“You know my secret now, so I cannot let you go,” said Hung Yun Zak. He furrowed his brows and thought for a moment. Suddenly, he slapped his leg and said, “That said, it’s a different story if you marry into our clan.”
“Dream on!” shouted Wun Fan, snatching control back from Old Lei once again. He was only eleven years old and they were trying to have a child marriage? What was wrong with these people?
“Spare us the nonsense,” said Old Lei. He didn’t believe this to be a good solution either. He could tell Wun Fan had no interest in Hung Yu Fei at all. His tone changed and killing intent radiated from ‘Wun Fan’ as he said, “If you have no intention to negotiate seriously, then I don’t intend to waste any more time. If a fight is what you want, then let us fight to the death!”
His tone was firm and unflinching. There was no room for discussion.
“I hate people and spirits like you two. Why do you guys always resort to violence?” said Hung Yun Zak as he shook his head. He continued, “How about this, we both swear a martial soul oath. I will not pursue the issue of the Green Wolf Gang any further. The Gang will stop hunting for you. Moreover, they will treat you as an important guest and allow you access to their legendary Wolf’s Bride Pavilion. That is a place full of beautiful women. In exchange, you keep my secret for me. Is that good enough for you?”
“Impossible,” said Old Lei. There was no way he would agree to those conditions. He shook his head and countered, “You have no means of getting back at us for the Green Wolf Gang incident to begin with. You have no leverage. Moreover, going to that place you talked about is like walking into a lion’s den. Yet, you dare ask us to swear on our martial souls? If you ever want to kill us for another reason, we won’t be able to retaliate by exposing your secret. These terms are hardly fair. I would rather we fight to death.”
Wun Fan was confused when he heard about martial soul oaths. He immediately asked in his mind, “Old Lei, what are marital soul oaths?”
Old Lei was a little annoyed by the question, but he knew that Wun Fan had zero practical knowledge when it came to martial arts, even though he was a very good tactician and fighter.
The world of martial artists was a bloody and deadly one. Schemes and plots are constantly being hatched against enemies and allies alike. As such, martial soul oaths were developed to guarantee that people kept their word. A person who has sworn a martial soul oath will suffer terrible consequences if they break the oath. They will be met with devastating backlash when ascending to a higher realm.
This method was commonly used among martial artists. Talentless scoundrels also use it as a means of tricking others, knowing that they have no hope of ascending in the future. That is because swearing an oath with all of one’s power and potential on the line is a very good way of winning someone’s trust. As a result of these scoundrels running scams and tricks on people, many even started to believe that martial soul oaths were only a rumor.
However, Old Lei knew that martial soul oaths were very real. If a martial artist breaks his oath, they would be met with terrible backlash. It could be the arrival of heavenly tribulation or even the disintegration of one’s martial soul. It was no joke.
“State your conditions. If we can come to an agreement, it’s a truce; if we cannot, it will be a fight,” said Hung Yun Zak with a smile. He knew they would not agree to his terms. He just wanted to test the waters. Now that they had rejected the offer, he might as well give them the initiative.
“I don’t want to fight to the death, but I am not afraid to do so. I have absolute confidence in killing you if we were to fight to the death right now. Therefore, you should be the one trying to survive. You should be the one to come up with a reasonable price for your own life, something that will actually convince me,” said Old Lei.
“Otherwise, we might as well just fight,” he said with a shrug. Green flames appeared in his hands once more as he used Aether Forging and made a fishing rod once more.
He was certain whatever final trick that Hung Yun Zak had hidden up his sleeve was something that would cost him dearly. That was what Old Lei was betting on. He bet that Hung Yun Zak did not want a fight either!
Hung Yun Zak stared at ‘Wun Fan’ and saw how calm he looked. He had a hard time making a decision. Just as ‘Wun Fan’ said, he didn’t want to die here. However, he did not like being threatened like this. It was a horrible feeling, like having a bone stuck in his throat.
However, his opponent was clearly not afraid to fight him. Moreover, even if they continued the fight, he had no advantage to speak of. His life was worth more than Wun Fan’s life. Trading one for one was not a good deal, so he had no choice but to put htat idea out of his mind. He then said, “Very well, I can promise you that I will not lift a finger toward the Wun Clan. In exchange, you must treat today’s incident as if nothing happened at all. You saw nothing and you will speak of nothing.”
However, Hung Yun Zak made no mention of a martial soul oath at all.
‘Wun Fan’ smiled as well. Naturally, he knew what Hung Yun Zak was thinking about. Wun Fan then took back control of his body and added a stipulation, “You may not lift a finger toward the Chan Clan either. I have no problems with those terms either once you agree to this.”
“Very well, you’re happy and I’m happy,” said Hung Yun Zak. He didn’t want to drag things out any further. He had no intentions of making enemies out of the Chan Clan anyway. After all, in truth, he was much more intimidated by the Chan Clan than the Wun Clan.
The information network and wealth of the Chan Clan were far more difficult to deal with compared to the martial power of the Wun Clan.
“Answer one last question of mine and we are done here,” said Old Lei. He never figured out why Hung Yun Zak was able to detect his presence. He wasn’t being arrogant. A mere intermediate Martial General should not have been able to see through his stealth.
“It’s about how I found you, isn’t it? I can tell you. It’s blood,” said Hung Yun Zak. He could tell that ‘Wun Fan’ was still hung up on this question, so he decided to show some sincerity. He explained, “Your stealth technique was impeccable. I could never have detected your presence. However, I came into contact with Wun Fan’s blood back at the Wun Mansion. My martial soul Roseblood Cherry Blossoms can remember the smell of all the blood it has come into contact with. It allowed me to sense your presence the moment you approached regardless of the conditions.”
“I see,” said Old Lei, relieved to find out the truth. He reminded himself to be more careful in the future. At the same time, he was thinking about how to solve this problem and how to safeguard against similar martial souls in the future. It was true that the world was far too large. There were far too many martial souls out there, all with their own unique abilities.
He had never heard of this Roseblood Cherry Blossoms.
“Alright then. Hopefully we won’t have to see each other again,” said Wun Fan as he turned and walked away. He didn’t want to have to look at that man again. It was a pity about that young girl. They couldn’t even take her body with them. The regret weighed heavy on his heart, but Wun Fan had felt this weight plenty of times in his previous life.
The regret of killing an innocent civilian in his past life felt just as heavy.
“Hey, if you don’t want to work so hard any longer, why not marry our Yu Fei? Marrying the daughter of the head of the Hung Clan is a golden ticket right to the top. You will get all the resources you ever need!” shouted Hung Yun Zak after Wun Fan. He was quite sincerely thinking about the benefit of his dear niece.
He could take the life of any person without a second thought, but he still felt a bond with the people of the Hung Clan.
“I don’t want anything to do with the Hung Clan,” said Wun Fan as he stopped in his tracks. He then quickly walked away.
Wun Fan didn’t feel any particular way about Hung Yu Fei. He just couldn’t help criticizing her whenever she showed her spoiled and unreasonable side. He didn’t hate her. If anything, he thought she was kind of cute.
In fact, setting aside her actions, most people would probably find her cute.
However, after this incident, Wun Fan’s impression of the Hung Clan had been sullied. He couldn’t help but associate Hung Yu Fei with that impression. He had a hard time believing that someone coming from a clan like that could be good.
The skies dimmed. It was almost sunset.
Wun Fan looked up at the sky as he walked. He sighed as he thought to himself, “One innocent life, one agreement, one moment of peace.”
He felt a tremendous burden on his shoulders, so heavy he found it hard to breathe.
Since when did he become a part of this world that treated human life like dirt?
Wun Fan finally returned to the Wun Mansion. He saw a tiny white silhouette pacing about the gates, waiting for him. He felt his heart warm as he muttered to himself, “That stupid girl.”71Please respect copyright.PENANAd8phl1qVC9