Chapter: The Crimson HarvestThe afternoon sun hung low over the village, casting long, peaceful shadows across the marketplace. Among the locals were six outsiders—friends of Xioneya who had come to visit the countryside. Among them were three young men and three young women, led by a bright-eyed girl named Shi.
As they admired the local crafts, a small village boy approached them, tugging on Shi's sleeve. "Big sister," the boy whispered, his eyes wide with wonder, "Are you... are you cultivators?"
Shi knelt down with a warm smile. "Yes, we are," she replied softly.
The boy's face lit up. "Then, if things get scary or difficult, you'll protect us, right? That's what cultivators do?"
"Of course," Shi said, patting his head. "Our duty is to save the innocent. But don't worry, little one. Why would you even ask that?"
"No reason," the boy chirped, running off to play.
As the group continued shopping, the conversation turned to their absent friend. "Xioneya should have come with us," one of the boys remarked, sighing.
"She couldn't," another replied with a bitter smirk. "Her husband would never let her. That man... he spends every night indulging in his own pleasures with her. Xioneya's life has become a gilded cage. It's a tragedy, really."
The Arrival of the Hollow ManTheir gossip was cut short by a sudden chill in the air. A figure emerged from the village entrance. It was Sai.
"Look! It's Sai!" one of the friends shouted, waving. Shi froze. She remembered Sai as a kind, perhaps misguided, soul. "Sai? What are you doing here?" she called out, stepping forward.
But as the group drew closer, the smiles died on their faces. Sai's face was unrecognizable. The youthfulness was gone, replaced by a sunken, shriveled visage that looked like a corpse's mask. His eyes were devoid of light, reflecting only a bottomless hunger.
The little boy from earlier ran up to him, recognizing the robes of a cultivator. "Brother! Are you a cultivator too? Will you—"
The boy didn't finish his sentence. With a movement so fast the eye couldn't track it, Sai's hand went to his hilt. A flash of cold steel hissed through the air. The boy's head rolled onto the dirt, his expression frozen in mid-question.
The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the sound of blood hitting the ground.
The Massacre of Innocence"Sai! What have you done?!" Shi screamed, her voice cracking.
Sai didn't answer. He raised his hand, and the sky darkened. Summoning: Thousand Swords. A thousand blades materialized in the air, humming with a Level 1 Low-Stage lethality. With a flick of his finger, the blades rained down. It wasn't a fight; it was a harvest. In a single second, the laughter of the village was replaced by the wet thud of steel meeting flesh. The bustling market became a lake of crimson.
Shi, blinded by rage and grief, lunged at Sai. "You monster!"
Sai didn't even look at her. His sword danced, a blurred arc of silver. With two sickening clangs, he severed Shi's hand and leg in one fluid motion. She collapsed into the mud, shrieking in agony.
Her friends rushed to her side, desperately trying to use healing techniques to stem the bleeding. One of the boys stood up, trembling. "Sai! How dare you! Do you have any idea what you've done? We were your friends! We knew you!"
Sai appeared in front of the boy instantly. Before the youth could blink, Sai's blade passed through his throat. The boy fell, clutching his neck as life faded from his eyes.
"I'm giving you a chance to enjoy the show," Sai said, his voice grating like sandpaper. "He annoyed me, so he died. If the rest of you keep making noise, you'll join him."
Shi looked at the carnage, the bodies of the villagers, and her fallen friend. "You... you've become a demon, Sai. They were innocent! Why?"
"Why?" Sai tilted his head, a grotesque, withered smile forming on his lips. "For the pleasure of it. And for the power. Every scream feeds the root."
The Living GraveNews of the massacre reached Xioneya like a thunderclap. She refused to believe it—the Sai she knew couldn't be this butcher. But her husband stepped forward, his face grim. "Don't worry, my love. We will capture him and make him pay for his sins."
He dispatched a squad of his strongest elites to intercept Sai. When they found him, they surrounded him with righteous fury. "Sai! Today you die for your crimes!"
Sai didn't even draw his sword at first. With a single burst of Evil Qi, he shattered their formations, leaving them broken and gasping on the ground. He didn't kill them immediately. Instead, he dug a massive pit in the center of the road.
He dragged the elites, still screaming, into the pit. As they begged for mercy, he set them ablaze with his Fire Manipulation. He watched with detached fascination as their bodies charred and hardened. He wasn't just killing them; he was turning them into a "pill" of concentrated agony.
As he consumed the essence of their suffering, he felt his power surge. The Level 6 Mid-Stage energy stabilized, becoming even more potent.
Standing amidst the smoke and the smell of burnt flesh, Sai closed his eyes. He reached out through the void, connecting to the Master via telepathy.
"Master," Sai's voice echoed in the MC's mind. "Should I return now? Should I come and finish everything?"
The MC's voice responded, cold and indifferent: "Yes. It is time. Come back."