(29) We must be equally as vicious as the world, to survive in it.
Looking at Mangrel's face, which gave goosebumps to anyone, Mars gulped involuntarily. He moved to pick up the dagger that was stuck in the exterior of a house.
It was a foreign emotion, it felt like Mangrel was not a human. The air around him gave a feeling of unreachability.
"I will speak! I will speak! So, please stop the pain!" The man, who was convulsing on the ground, screamed with all his might.
There was no perfect loyalty in this world, there was always a chance of being betrayed — until one relies on the powers of others. Mangrel had seen the betrayal of even the most loyal retainer and experienced it himself too.
The pressure from Mangrel's leg increased, as he spat out coldly: "Spew it out. The faster you tell the whereabouts of your leader, the sooner you can become free from suffering. Tell me your name along with it."
At this instant, Mangrel's voice was really like a demon, whispering sweet temptation into others' ears, thought both the man and Mars.
"At the left at the end of this street, ugh! There is a house visibly larger than the cough! Other houses! And my name is Gurvelt..." The man showed a face full of hope, the moment he finished speaking.
Finding the man to have spoken the truth, Mangrel walked past him and reached Mars, taking the dagger from him.
"Psssh!" The man breathed in deeply looking at Mangrel's action, screaming with agitation: "What are...."
Suddenly, the man felt the control of his mouth vanish. He couldn't control his mouth or voice, no matter what he did.
Mangrel replied deducing the question: "I am, of course, fulfilling the deal we just made. I am freeing you from the suffering."
'I would have liked to ask more questions, but this poison is not something I can control. The person affected by it loses control over the body, within a minute.' Mangrel sighed at this point of the poison.
The reason a person tries not to move when affected by the blood algaeist flower's poison was simple.
The more they move, the faster the poison spreads, along with the crippling pain.
Mangrel had finely grinded half of the blood algaeist flower into the corpse's blood.
Stabbing the dagger right into the neck of the man, blood gushed out unstably, causing Mangrel's hand to be covered in blood instantly.
Taking out the dagger, Mangrel silently looked at its dull shine, ' The durability of this dagger won't last for long, I guess. It lasted this long, so it's a miracle in itself. This dagger is probably made of a rank zero cultivation material for such performance.'
Mangrel was curious as to whom this dagger belonged to but didn't bother thinking deeper into it, wasting his precious time.
Mangrel and Mars moved to the place, specified by the man in the street, not bothering to dispose the body. It was unlikely for anyone to care about the body of a stranger, that was the reality.
No one would move out of their way to get tangled up in a stranger's mess, only idiots would do it. That was the cold-hearted truth of the people, who lived in this poverty-stricken area or anywhere.
As the saying goes, Goodwill is only directed at oneself, when no personal loss has been caused to others.
Strictly speaking, humans are a self-centred race. Nevertheless, they were known as being with the highest potential in cultivation.
It wasn't because they had the strongest talent, it was all because they could gather below a single banner when the time of crisis arrived. Allowing them to fight against any other races in the cultivation world.
'Even in the mainland in the higher realm, humans were in the majority.' Mangrel never cared about his race from the beginning.
If turning into another race would make him stronger, then why not?
The body is nothing but a vessel that carries the spirit of every cultivator.
It was up to the person to molt the body the way they wanted.
Reaching the end of the street, Mangrel stopped and warily looked at the larger house, from a distance. Two guards stood at the entrance, guarding with slightly sleepy faces.
"Don't be nervous and follow the instructions I gave. Have you collected a stone just in case?" Mangrel turned to face Mars.
"Yes, I took one up before beginning to move here," Mars answered with a hardened face.
Seeing Mars's reaction, Mangrel seriously spoke: "You must be ruthless to survive in this world of deceit and viciousness. Hesitating even for a second means certain death."
"So, don't hesitate. Move forwards, fight the world with the method equally vicious. We can only steal from the world if we want to live happily." Mangrel's cold and cynical voice turned into a spear, piercing Mars's heart.
Mangrel used the good old method of brainwashing.
It's not your fault, the world was at fault — Mangrel's words conveyed.
"Yes..." Mars answered with a calm expression. He remembered all the unfortunate things that happened to him from childhood.
The world made him suffer, in every node of his life. It was like he could never live free of suffering.
If the world could do such a ruthless thing, then why did he have to hold back?
Mars's opinion shifted to what Mangrel said.
'That's right, to achieve something, we must take away the things from this world. Ruthlessness and kindness would just be rubbish, without the backing of strength.' Mangrel felt satisfied with Mars's reaction.
As long as a person holds power, they can do whatever they want. Something that would never change in the world of cultivation.
Mangrel and Mars moved to the entrance, belonging to the leader of the criminal gang.
The two guards noticed their presence at once, returning to their alertness. The appearance of the two kids, made them involuntarily relax the next moment though.
Both of the guards felt displeasure, hence they asked: "Stop, what are you doing in this area, in the middle of the night?"
The bad intention behind their eyes was not hidden in the slightest.
Mangrel nervously took a step back, before speaking with shaking eyes: "Sir Gurvelt told me to report to the boss..."
Hearing one of their friends' names, the guards looked at each other.
"...Hey, I will keep an eye on both of them, so you go and ask the boss whether we should let them in."
"Like hell! the boss would beat the shit out of me, if I disturbed him at this time of the night!"
"No, it should be alright, Herlky, went inside a while ago you know." The left guard tried persuading the other guard.
Bang! Break!
Hearing the subtle sound of glass breaking, within the house, both the guards turned back at once.
"The boss is awake....ack..."
Not missing the chance, both Mangrel and Mars thrust their weapon into the guard's body tacitly, aiming for the knees.
"What...." The guard who opened his mouth to scream, had another wooden shaft pierced into his neck cervical cord, as he knelt.
While the other guard had a piece of cloth covering his mouth, stopping any sound from leaking out, held tightly by Mars.
Mangrel pulled out the dagger he used to pierce the guard's knee.
'It went smoother than I thought. Mars was able to stay more composed because of the speech I gave.' Mangrel signaled Mars to move behind the house.
Mangrel's order was simple, it was to throw the rock at the window, which showed the reaction of going to be opened first. If it was open, it made things even easier.
While Mars moved through the gap between the houses, Mangrel pulled the paralyzed body of the guard before him.
...
This was the set of events that led to what was happening, right at the moment.
Jwarlen lay on the ground, with a wooden shaft stuck to his back, while he turned to look at Mangrel, Mars made his way to Jwarlen and stabbed him with it. His movements were not noticed by anyone, excluding Mangrel.
Mars had of course jumped in from the window.
Jwarlen stared with large eyes, 'In other words, he predicted all of my movement from the beginning?'
Escaping without hesitation, showed Jwarlen's resolute temperament, but that too was predicted by the enemy. It sent chills through his body.
'Just how could a person predict this... it's almost like he saw the future.' Jwarlen felt cold sweat gathering around his body. The pain made it even harder for him to think.
"Tell me all the locations of the wealth you have and I will give you the antidote to the poison. You have to be fast now, within 45 seconds, you will lose all the ability to control your body." Mangrel's demonic voice reached Jwarlen.