Chapter 133: Massacre
Beginning their trip, Cao Cao shrunk back to his original size so he could once more attach himself to Xu Min's neck just like old times.
This way it seemed as if Xu Min only had one beast with him, and Ye Ling also shrunk his size slightly, making himself seem less massive and frightening.
Xu Min wore an oversized black cloak which hid his face. Even though the weather was hot, he decided that his safety was more important than having issues with the heat. He could not be careful enough considering what he had done. He could not relax until he had left the Ruins of the Immortals behind.
Everywhere he went on the main roads he would find caravans traveling back and forth, getting ready to sell their items in various cities.
Apart from caravans, there were also mercenaries and rogue cultivators moving from city to city.
At first, Xu Min did all he could to avoid these people. As time went on, however, he soon found that they did not bother with him. Yes, they would look at him curiously. Nevertheless, upon feeling the powerful power ripples that emanated from his body, no one wished to get closer. If he hid his face, he was perhaps just a very eccentric person.
As time went by, Xu Min did everything he could to avoid the major cities. He knew it was possible to be on the roads without being noticed, however, it would be hard to hide the fact that he had a Golden-Furred Blood Lion as his companion.
Everyone with a bit of knowledge about beasts understood that these beasts only existed within the Immortal Valley. As well, anybody who paid attention to recent events, knew also that Xu Min had tamed one during the Immortal Valley Rankings. If a black cloaked person suddenly appeared with a Golden-Furred Blood Lion by his side, one could slightly conclude that the person present was Xu Min. He was public enemy number one of all the noble families within the Ruins of the Immortals.
There were some families from the Ruins of the Immortals that had not lost people within the Immortal Valley, but Xu Min knew these people owed him nothing and they were unlikely to stand up for him. If anything, they would hand him over to his enemies for the sake of the rewards that had been promised upon his capture.
On the trip, Xu Min had seen bodies lying on the ground due to broken out fights; he even saw destroyed caravans.
As to whether or not these were done by bandits, Xu Min did not know. He understood though the Ruins of the Immortals was far from as safe as he had first assumed. Cultivators, mercenaries, and petty bandits did not attack or rob only because he did not hide his strength.
As Xu Min avoided all the major cities, he still entered the smaller ones to purchase food for himself and his companions and hear the recent gossip. He was curious to hear if anyone had noticed him yet or if there were any rumors about Xu Min's bounty. As it was now, he knew nothing. However, he dared not ask questions either. So far he had not overheard anything specific.
Xu Min was almost towards the end of the Ruins of the Immortals. He had come half way already, but Xu Min would still not let up on his vigilance. He was worried sick about the possibilities of being noticed. Unfortunately, just as he entered a small city, he found that it was filled with mercenaries.
All of them looked at him strangely, and their eyes followed Xu Min’s every movement. He knew he was a little paranoid, butt something was wrong.
Walking to a small inn, Xu Min entered. As soon as he did, the voices he had heard from outside all stilled and they all stared at him, no one said anything.
Xu Min understood that something was very wrong. He instantly turned to leave, only to find that the entire city's mercenaries had appeared in front of him, standing around in a circle.
"What is the meaning of this?" Xu Min asked as his eyes narrowed and turned dark. He had not masked his cultivation base. Even the strongest expert in front of him was only at the sixth-star rank.
They all felt the pressure bearing down on them. The closest experts stepped backward a few steps, and most of them were unable to breathe for a bit.
"We heard about the esteemed expert traveling through the Ruins of the Immortals and were all wondering what exactly this esteemed expert looks like."
"You see, not long ago there was a youth in the Immortal Valley Rankings who made enemies with almost everyone in the Ruins of the Immortal Valley."
"He happened to have a Golden-Furred Blood Lion by his side. Now an expert of unknown origin with a Golden-Furred Blood Lion has appeared within the borders of the Ruins of the Immortal Valleys."
"You see, his enemies offered a large bounty to capture him. Well, we would just like to ensure that it is not you,"
The one who spoke was a sixth-star Warrior. He had been nervous at first. After seeing that he was supported by close to two hundred experts, he gathered courage. Although Xu Min was an eight-star Warrior, he was after all alone. Was he that much stronger than them?
These experts were all mercenaries. They had not seen Xu Min battle a hundred experts in the Immortal Valley by himself when he was the same strength as them. Unfortunately for them, fighting two hundred experts that were below him in strength was no problem. Nonetheless, having killed so many this time, Xu Min knew that more would just come the next time, and then more and more. They would be stronger and stronger, and eventually, he would be at a loss on what to do.
Ye Ling was his companion, and as long as this Golden-Furred Blood Lion was by his side, it would be possible to track him down just by finding this beast as it was simply too rare in the outside world.
"I guess we need to speed up our travels," Xu Min sighed. He turned to leave, completely ignoring the many experts that had gathered around him.
At first, they all felt insulted by his complete disregard for them. However as Xu Min’s pressure appeared it was so great they could not even walk close to Xu Min. They finally understood that perhaps this young master was merciful. Something they had never expected this mass murderer from the Immortal Valley.
Although they were all filled with mixed emotions, when Xu Min turned to leave, no one stepped forward to stop him. All of them felt as if they had been kissed by death and just barely escaped. Even if they had all thrown themselves at him, they would not be able to reach him.
They realized now that an eight-star Warrior was more outstanding than they had ever expected! They were even more powerful than a full army of six-star warriors.
Since none of them were capable of capturing Xu Min, everyone thought similarly. If they could not get the bounty for handing over his head, they could at least get some of it by telling about his whereabouts and his strength, The group of mercenaries then rushed out from the small city towards the major ones to send information to the major families, informing them what they knew.
Just as they left the city, they saw Xu Min sitting on a stone. His face was hidden beneath the cloak; the lion by his side was suddenly many times more ferocious looking than it had been before.
"I had hoped that you would all just ignore the fact that you saw me," he sighed, "but seeing that you all want to sell out my information, I have no other choice than to exterminate you all. That can give me just a little bit more time." he coldly explained. Suddenly a massive jade-like snake appeared out of nowhere.
While Xu Min stayed at this entrance to the city, the snake slithered to the other end. Whereas, Ye Ling slowly moved to the third and final gate to the small city. Now every entrance was guarded. Anyone who wished to exit had to go through either Xu Min or the beasts.
Xu Min's eyes flashed with coldness. He had killed before, and he would kill again. He would kill anyone who stood in the way of him gaining revenge. Thus he felt no pity for these mercenaries who had not accepted the offer of survival that he had given them.
Moving like the wind, Xu Min did not wait for them to move. He lifted his arm, and raw Qi poured out. This was no fancy stance, nor was it through the use of spiritual energy or elemental energy, it was just pure Qi that moved like a wave. Everywhere it moved, it caused devastation. Bodies were crushed, and the ground ruptured. Everyone attacked by the Qi instantly perished.
It took him a mere few minutes to kill everyone at his gate. He slowly moved into the city again.
Xu Min did not touch any of the citizens of the city, but he killed every single mercenary he saw. Soon the city was painted red with blood. Corpses littered the streets, the inn was filled to the brim with the dead. He moved towards the other two entrances to aid Cao Cao and Ye Ling, and many of the mercenaries started begging for forgiveness, but it was already too late. Xu Min had already made his decision! Anyone in front of him would die. Anyone who knew of him or about his current level of strength would be slaughtered mercilessly!
The massacre lasted half an hour. In that time, around three hundred experts were killed. The two hundred who had cornered him earlier and another hundred he found hiding within the city.
Xu Min was never careless. He quickly left the city, leaving behind a village filled with petrified citizens. Even if someone had planned to give information about Xu Min, after seeing how ruthless he was no one dared to do so anymore. All of them feared that he would return and wipe out the entire city if it was found out.
Vanishing into the distance, Xu Min no longer walked on the main roads but stuck to the wilderness. He no longer went anywhere where other humans were living and found all his food within the forests.
During the battle, he had understood he was able to deal with the majority of the experts which might come after him. Notwithstanding, the major families were a different story. They were major families for a reason.
They too had eight-star Warriors and even Immortals. If any of them came after Xu Min, it would prove to be troublesome. Thus he had no other option than to be extra careful.
They sped up and walked almost every day, only taking two breaks during the day to eat. Any other time they would be making their way through the wilderness.
Because of this new route, it took them longer to reach the end of the Ruins of the Immortals. They managed to avoid running into another group of experts that were on the lookout for him.
