Her hands were still trembling, so he walked over to her, patting her head.
He didn't know how to comfort someone who had killed someone.
But since it was his sister, and this was the first of many kills to come, he'd simply be there for her.
She stood around in silence, with the only sound being Xuan's hands brushing her hair.
Finally, she took a deep breath and sheathed her sword, making all the women ahead flinch.
"Fear not... we didn't come here to harm you," Yuelan assured. "You can go now. Back to your families, or wherever you wish, the tyrant is dead now."
One of the women stood up, wobbling over. "T-Tyrant? That man saved us! We had nothing left, and he took us in! B-But you killed him!"
"Huh...?"
The woman continued with clenched fists. "What are we s-supposed to do now? Head down there and ask for work!? All those people see us as nothing but prostitutes!"
Xuan shook his head.
She grumbled, turning back to the woman.
"Look... why don't you aim to maintain this jade palace for the next one who comes and takes over?"
"Hah... no. There's nothing left for us here," the woman replied longingly as she walked back to the others.
She took out a small knife from the cushions below, and with a swift slash, she slit her neck.
The other women sent the two siblings one last gaze, and followed after the first woman.
A few seconds later, not even a single one remained.
Yet as Xuan thought all the surprises were over, the attendants off to the sides suddenly fell to the ground, bleeding from their necks.
And that was when the entire inner jade palace fell silent.
Xuan stared at the sight speechlessly. "I guess... yeah. I don't really know what to say."
"..." Yuelan's knees trembled to the point where she nearly fell, but once she took a glance over at Xuan, she swiftly composed herself.
Then silently, the two exited the jade palace, arriving before the giant staircase again.
The atmosphere was still as lively as ever, but now a certain darkness lingered behind them, and especially, behind the 'innocent' Yuelan.
"Since you suggested we come here, anything else you want to check out before we move on?" Xuan asked.
"Mmm... no... I think I want to leave t-this place," Yuelan replied with a stammer, meeting his gaze. "B-Brother, let's go complete the requirements and reach the next realm, okay?"
She's trying to put the problem aside, huh? Xuan mused. That's only going to get her so far... but I remember how I dealt with my guilty conscience back then.
Xuan was pretty young at the time, so when he killed someone, to cope with it, he broke into his local bar and drank every single bottle he could find.
Safe to say, he found himself in another country the following day.
Still, he managed to get over it, and he just hoped he could help Yuelan do the same... by not following what he did, of course.
They descended the stairs and passed by the lively people before finally exiting the barrier.
He noticed the woman from earlier, as well as her goons, were following them, so he put that aside as he weaved into a nearby alleyway.
At the same time, he went ahead and checked out his current progress.
—
Kill 10 Spirit Warrior monsters of any level. (0 / 10)
Reach the next level of your physique (Void Qi: 12 / 5,000)
Reach Mastery Level 2 in at least 3 techniques. (2 / 3)
—
Hmm... I could reach Level 2 mastery for Swift Step maybe. I just need to use it a bit more often. As for the others... Xuan scratched his cheek. It's going to be very annoying to get 5,000 Void Qi...
He turned a corner, then another until eventually, they found themselves in a closed-off alley.
Moments later, the woman and her gang of 8 people approached.
Each seemed menacing at a glance, but they were very weak—laughably so.
Still...
"Hah... you walked right into a dead end, serves you right," the woman cackled, a sadistic smile forming on her face. "I promise to spare you two if you kowtow and apologize."
She took another step forward, taking a dagger out of her pocket.
"But one of you will need to pierce a dagger through their leg. It's only fair, right?"
Xuan let out a sigh.
"If my tits were half the size of yours, I'd be running my mouth too," he remarked, narrowing his eyes. "But for one to run their mouth, they must know how to back it up."
With those words, Xuan used Swift Step, appearing in front of the woman and throwing a punch.
To his surprise, one of the goons beside her managed to step in and block Xuan's fist with his body.
Faint blue Qi surrounded his chest, and Xuan already knew how this was going to go.
"Hahaha... you think you'd be able to shatter my Defensive Qi Barrier skill with a mere fist? No wonder Yena told us you were a joke."
Xuan let out a sigh, then raised his arms into the sky.
They thought he was giving up, but what he was actually aiming for was the sword Yuelan had thrown his way.
He caught it in his grasp, and with a wide smirk, used his Basic Sword Slash skill.
A swift slash with over 50,000 Qi worth of energy flew out toward the confident man.
The man's body was covered in a thin Qi barrier, but Xuan's slash cut through it like butter as the man was severed in half.
<+6 Void Qi | 18 / 5,000>
The goons and the woman looked on in horror as Xuan swiped the blood off his sword and glanced at them with a cold gaze.
"I don't really like using the sword, but it seems like I'll have to use it this time," he said, narrowing his eyes.
"You will all die here today."