Chapter 4: The First Experiment
Wan'er wept, her voice hoarse and broken, her trembling fingers desperately trying to hold them together, as if sheer willpower alone could mend the deep, lethal slashes that marred their bodies.
Before he could call out, before he could reach for her—
He saw a flash of silver and heard the whisper of a blade slicing through the air, then heard a sickening thud.
Wan'er's delicate neck severed, her body toppling forward like a string-cut puppet, landing in the pool of her parents' blood.
Yao Zi's heart stopped. His mind went blank. For a moment, reality ceased to exist.
" Noooo!" Then a monstrous roar tore from his throat.
His feet moved before his mind caught up. He lunged forward, grabbing her limp body, his trembling hands desperately trying to put her head back where it belonged, as if that could undo what had just happened.
" Hahahaha, this is hilarious."
A low chuckle broke through his anguish.
Yao Zi's head snapped up, his gaze locking onto a gruff, bearded man.
Jiang Shu. One of the outer clan elders of the Jiang Clan.
Draped in the purple martial robes of the Jiang family, he stood there, admiring his bloody handiwork. The saber in his grasp still dripped with Wan'er's lifeblood.
Rage flared in Yao Zi's chest, his voice cracking with fury. "WHY?! WHY DID YOU KILL HER?!"
Jiang Shu smirked, then donned a mockingly righteous expression.
" What a sight! For the Jiang Clans Genius hound to lose all reason. These useless mortals must've been really dear to you." The gruff bearded man's mentality wasn't strange because it wasn't weird for martial artist to look down on those who couldn't cultivate or as they referred to them, mortals.
Being as weak as they were, Those who couldn't cultivate could only be of use when helping martial artists with simple tasks like farming, construction and the likes while the martial artists were the ones tasked with the responsibly of protecting mortals from other cultivators or martial beasts who sought to harm them. Indirectly placing them several times higher than non cultivators.
Even if there were laws against unjustly taking innocent life's, when it was a mortals, the most they would demand was simple compensation, at times they would even ignore it completely.
" Hahahaha, today must be my lucky day!"
" Jiang Shu!" Yao Zi's eyes stared daggers at Jiang Shu, throbbing veins of rage emerging all over his body.
" Still as frightening as ever! Aren't you Yao Zi! " Jiang Shu didn't feel frightened, instead, an amused smile bloomed on his face as he revelled in Yao Zi's anguish.
" Since you can't hold back your urges,I'll tell you why we're here..."
"These three lowly beings dared to commit treason," he said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "For stealing the young miss's prized hairpin."
" Hairpin?" Yao Zi's body froze.
' That hairpin?…'
The delicate jade hairpin that Jiang Xue never let out of her sight, the very same one he had gifted her last year during the new years festival.
But that was impossible, there was no way Wan'er would do such a thing and even if she wanted to, he couldn't imagine Jiang Xue letting her do so....if that was the case.
'Could it be?...'
A cold shiver ran down his spine.
' No!... that's Impossible, she wouldn't!.'
His trembling lips parted. "You're lying."
The smirk on Jiang Shu's lips deepened." Believe what you must, I have no reason to care, my job here's done already."
From inside the house, several more men dressed in Jiang family robes stepped out, one of them holding up the very hairpin in question.
Yao Zi's pupils shrank.
' How—?!'
" Finally found the blasted thing? Good! Now we can get out of this shit hole!"
Jiang Shu reached out to take the hairpin, his calloused fingers hovering just over it.
' I can't just let them leave like this!'
' Now's my chance!' A snarl ripped through Yao Zi's throat.
River Beast claw technique!
Third form!
Rapid slash!
Like a beast unchained, he lashed out, his fingers curling into a clawed strike aimed at Jiang Shu's throat.
But before his attack could land—
BAM!
"Euuk!"
Yao Zi coughed out some saliva when a brutal kick slammed into his face.
The impact sent him flying, his vision spinning as he crashed into the dirt. A dull ringing echoed in his skull, pain bursting along his cheekbone.
When he got his bearings back, he saw a shadow loom over him.
Jiang Shen, another of the Jiang family's martial artists, lowered his foot with a smirk.
" You demonic wretch!" Jiang Shu became livid after the unsuccessful sneak attack.
"Enough..." Jiang Shen said coolly.
Jiang Shu, still seething from Yao Zi's attempted strike, clenched his saber, murder flashing in his eyes. But before he could move, Jiang Shen's voice rang out again.
" Elder Shu...."
"The young miss ordered us not to harm a single hair on his head."
" Best not to forget your place and put your life at risk..."
Jiang Shu's fingers twitched. " Tsk... damnit, he's right." He muttered begrudgingly while clenching his teeth in anger, his eyes glaring at Yao Zi.
A long, tense silence stretched between them, before, with an irritated scoff, Jiang Shu sheathed his blade and turned away.
" For a damned orphan, you're lucky the young miss values you so highly!"
" One of these days your luck will run out and when that happens, you can be damned sure I'll be there waiting."
Without another word, they left. Leaving Yao Zi to drown in his grief.
Yao Zi's eyes turned misty after recalling that brutal memory. His body trembled from the force of his rage, his teeth grinding so hard they almost cracked due to frustration. Yet the next moment, his jaw relaxed and his lips pressed thin.
"Jiang Xue…" Yao Zi's eyes were filled with conflicting emotions as he muttered her name.
All this happened because of she framed Wan'er.
At first he didn't want to believe it, but when he confronted her directly, She admitted to it without any sense of remorse!