Upon hearing the mention of their eldest brother their expressions showed reverence as well as absolute dread.
“But why would eldest brother say something like that, what’s so special about that village?”
That disciple was the one who was battling Fei Yin. They all knew of the close relationship between Gu Mo and their eldest brother so they weren’t surprised he would reveal the location of such a precious treasure trove. But they were puzzled by his request to not hurt the village.
As they moved through the forest Gu Mo said, “This is the village our great elder brother grew up in, and this is where his family lives.”
“...??!!!”
The three demonic disciples went wide-eyed when they heard that.
“So it was true, our eldest brother was found by our Clan Leader in the mortal world. To think we actually get to visit the place he once called home.’ That male disciple then turned to the pale face female disciple and said, “You better pray eldest brother doesn’t find out you had wanted to destroy his former home, you’ll die a dog's death.”
That male disciple then snickered in amusement.
But Gu Mo suddenly turn to look that disciple in the eyes and said, “The person who you instructed me to kill, he’s the younger brother of our eldest brother.”
That male disciple’s body immediately stiffen, and his eyes went wide while his expression switched from shock, horror, and then finally complete and utter fear. Fear that went all the way down to his bones and caused his body to tremble uncontrollably.
Thinking about how frightening their eldest brother is, and was even given the title “Red Demon of the Yellow Spring Demon Grotto,” that male disciple almost soiled himself.
The other demonic disciples weren’t better off, and they were cursing in their hearts as to why Gu Mo didn’t tell them such information beforehand. From the fact that he instructed him not to harm the village, their eldest brother still had some attachments to it.
Gu Mo then spoke up again and said, “That isn’t all either, the second prince was there as well.”
“What?!!”
The three demonic disciples exclaimed in shock.
“Keep your voices down. If we had stayed and come into conflict with him, he might have used his family's influence to seek out our Yellow Spring Demon Grotto. We are merely a branch sect of the Demonic Cult so if the Li Royal Family were to focus all their attention on us we would be doomed.”
“Wait, if the second prince was there, then couldn’t we have been killed by his Dao Protector?!! I heard the Li Royal Family and some of the other major clans assign Dao Protectors to their descendants!”
Gu Mo thought back on his encounter with Xi Shen in the volcano, and then shook his head before saying “I don’t think there was a Dao Protector watching over him.”
“Huh? Isn’t that strange? The second prince of the Maple Continent is walking around unprotected, isn’t he afraid he’ll get himself killed or something?”
This was said by the male disciple being carried by the female demonic disciple, but as soon as he said that the female disciple responded, “With his father and mother's status, who on the Maple Continent would try to assassinate him? He could walk around the entire continent and everyone would fear laying a finger on him due to his family’s influence. The only threat would be outsiders from another Continent.”
“But isn’t there the Ming Clan? There are talks in the sect about them creating an Academy to teach disciples their new cultivation system in the Four Physical Realms, surely a power like them would find it troublesome to live under someone else's rule.”
“And? Why would they be interested in assassinating a trashy prince? What benefit would that bring other than needlessly provoking the Li Royal Family?”
Hearing that, Gu Mo’s eye’s narrowed. He was thinking to himself that everyone was overlooking Xi Shen’s power. If anyone had seen what he saw, they would realize their image of him was completely flawed.
No one would believe that in such a short amount of time the infamous trashy second prince was strong enough to battle Late Stage Foundation Realm cultivators with Soul Arts.
Thinking about his loss, burning anger rose in Gu Mo's heart and he gritted his teeth.
“Enough talking about those pointless matters. Because of them, we of the Demonic Cult Faction have to live in hiding. But one day, there will come a time when we take over this continent.”
“Harrumph!!”
Gu Mo’s expression changed dramatically when heard he that snort. His entire body went rigid and he looked around him to see his companion's body bursting into a bloody mess of flesh and bones.
Gu Mo paused his movement on a tree branch, and while scanning the dark forest he bellowed out, “Who is it?!!”
His echo lasted for a while but only the voice of an old man could be heard saying in mockery.
“For disciples of the Demonic Cult to come so close to our Bai Clan’s territory, you must be seeking death. You brat should be lucky I overheard your conversation and deduced you were a Chosen, or else I would have killed you along with your friends.”
Gu Mo’s body trembled, as he realized this person’s cultivation was not something he could fathom.
“Why is someone like you here from the Bai Clan, aren’t the experts in the Nascent Soul supposed to be in seclusion? Not going around murdering disciples of our Demonic Cult.”
“As the Dao Protector of my young master, I have a right to kill you demonic disciple for putting him in danger."
Gu Mo upon hearing that, thought back on the person who was next to Xi Shen and finally figured out why he looked familiar as well. He was the second son of the Bai Clan patriarch, and this person was his Dao Protector. Gu Mo cursed in his heart.
The old man then spoke again, "Humph!! But to think a disciple from the Demonic Cult wants to complain about murder. You people slaughter countless women and children each year to practice your Demonic Arts, all of you should be killed on sight.”
Gu Mo’s eyes became bloodshot before he bellowed out once more, “Don’t think I don’t know about the agreement between the Unorthodox and Orthodox Faction!! Senior members of each side are not to target younger disciples!! If I were to let my sect know of what you did here a war would start between our Factions, and the first thing we would do is assassinate the young geniuses of your Faction!! Is that what you want?!!”
Silence reigned in the forest as Gu Mo’s last words echoed ceaselessly.
The old man’s voice then spoke up again, “That’s all you bastards know how to do to survive, threaten us with assassinations. If the Dark Moon Assassins Guild wasn’t a part of your Demonic Cult, we wouldn’t have even made the agreement in the first place and instead pull you up from the roots, riding our continent from you vile creatures. Go ahead and try telling your sect, do you think the top Demonic Sects would start a war over three insignificant disciples from your branch sect? Laughable!”
Gu Mo stared off into the dark forest and his voice went low as he said, “You say it’s laughable but how come you dare not kill me? I’m a Chosen of the Demonic Cult, my status is higher than that of an ordinary demonic disciple. If you kill me it would definitely draw the attention of the top Demonic Sects, aren’t you scared of our retaliation against your Bai Clan then? We are in the shadows while you righteous bigots from the Orthodox Faction are in the light, which one is really afraid of who?”
“Get out of our Bai Clan territory, immediately!!”
Gu Mo smirked a wicked and amused smile when heard that. He then turned and dashed off into the woods, but before he left he had used his Soul Sense to pick up his dead companion's storage bags.
A hmphed filled with disgust echoed from the void before an old man appeared near the bodies of the dead demonic disciples.
Despite his old age, his muscles were robust which one would suspect from someone of the Bai Clan.
The old man then pushed his palm toward the corpses causing his power to erase their remains from existence.
The old man then frowned, and mumbled under his breath, “I acted carelessly by going after them, I should have stuck by the young master's side.”
The old man then turned in the direction of the village and with narrowed eyes, he thought in his heart, ‘Who was it that caused that Heavenly Tribulation? Its power wasn’t great of strength to be the legendary Heavenly Palace Realm Tribulation. I heard if one goes through it, heavenly phenomenons will occur across the entire continent, and even experts on the Star Bound Continent could sense it.’
The old man despite being in the Nascent Soul Realm, could not see through the tribulation’s power to find out who had gone through it.
'And it seemed as if the person had succeeded. Could there be another top Chosen here? They are the ones said to be so talented that when breaking through the Lower Realms, the Heavens are forced to send a Heavenly Tribulation in order to curb their heaven-defying talents. But aside from the Crown Prince, and those outstanding youths from the Celestial Academy and the Divine Star Academy, as well as those four from the Demonic Cult. No one else has managed to call upon a Heavenly Tribulation of this magnitude in the lower realms.”
The old man's frown deepen as he said, “I hope this person is from our Orthodox Faction, those Demonic Cult vermins are showing more activity on our Continent due to those four talents.”
The old man spat to the side in disgust before his body disappeared, to quickly returned to his young master’s side in the village. His Clan Leader had tasked him to protect his son when outside of the Celestial Academy, so that’s what he should be doing.
*******
Word Count: 1720
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