Page 48: Cleaning was the Hardest

Days left before the sect's martial and alchemy competition: 154/153days

Back at the main camp, Long Bai settled down to watch the ongoing fight between Elder Yang and the Big Boss after picking up Zhu Guozhi. Both were fighting with a different style, one was erratic, ferocious in a way while the other was calm and defensive. Elder Yang was on the defensive since he was taking hits consecutively. Every attack from the Big Boss packs a heavy damage to the surrounding area. The houses that was originally upright and firm are now pieces of chunks of wood that lays on the ground. The base camp was wide, around 800 meters in diameter, good enough space for a population of not less than 50. However, due to the siege from the sides, and the collateral damage from the two strongest cultivators there, the place have now resembled an area that was supposed to be hit by a massive tornado.

As the fight is on going, disciples who took the rule of attacking from the sides went on a killing spree. Since it was a barbarian's camp, there were no family, instead, they found women who were captured and used for their games such as basketball* and billiards**. Except the ones who surrendered, everyone who resisted eventually die. On the other hand, no disciple died but there were those who suffered from serious injuries. Since they have brought with them pills that can heal their wounds, they were able to save themselves from death's claws.

BAAM! There was a huge explosion and everyone felt the ground shake. Around the leader's house, a 5 meter crater with a depth of around 30 cm was made. That was the product of the Big Boss's martial skill, White Tiger's Pounce. Elder Yang who was near the crater was still standing but has incurred some flesh injury. His left arm was dripping with blood while parts of his robe has been tattered. During the explosion, his left arm was caught in the attack causing the bones to be shattered. .

"Haha! See old man? Although we have the same strength, I can still break your bones!"

Elder Yang checked his status. After trying to determine the degree of injury, he took out a replenishing pill and swallowed it in front of the Big Boss.

"AHH! Shameless! How can you be so shameless? You sect people really are sissies. Hypocrites! You can't even fight fairly!"

The Big Boss was totally angered by the actions of the elder. His eyes were red and veins are showing all around his body. However, his time is almost up. The effect of the life expending pill is starting to take effect. Right now the Big Boss is experiencing an excruciating pain all over his body.

"Haa. Look at yourself. You see, since the beginning of this venture, there was no fairness in it. You say I'm shameless? But who's acting si shameful right now? This was never a tournament for you to ask a fair fight. In the first place, who among us first took a pill? Isn't that you? Right now, all these words you say are just nothing since in the end, you are going to die."

"Ahhh! I'll bring you with me to hell!!!"

The Big Boss made his last attempt and grab into the elder's left arm. Without hesitation, he used the remaining inner essence to detonate himself. Long Bai who was watching from afar was also alerted by the system.

[System alert: Overly condensed essence is detected near your vicinity. An explosion is imminent. Brace for incoming shockwaves.]

BOOM!!

Elder's Body was sent flying by the shockwaves and crashed into one of the broken houses. The first one to come into his rescue was Yang Kai who was the closest to the impact. Upon checking his grandfather, the left arm became blobbed since all of the left hand's long bones were shattered. Elder Yang was in pain while Yang Kai was in panic. Before Yang Kai could do something, he was instead told to check on the last opponent. Long Bai on the other hand looked at the site of explosion and saw bits of flesh scattered all around the area. Due to the strong explosion, the flesh which supposed to be in chunks was even turned into smaller bits, like a ground pork. That time, Zhu Guozhi who was unconscious woke up due to the explosion.

"What happened? Ouch! Are you alright, Long Bai?"

Long Bai can't stop making a chuckle at his companion's question.

"I should be the one asking you that question. Can you stand?"

Zhu Guozhi slowly rose to his feet as Bai assists him from the back and looked at the surroundings. "What did I miss?"

"What was the last thing you remember?"

"Uhm, I was sent flying?" Zhu Guozhi answered the question shyly.

"Alright. Then this is what happened next. Remember that after you were punched, you saw East Tiger escaping towards the woods. You don't know the reason why but you noticed that she was scared when she saw elder Yang fighting the big boss. Did you get all that?"

Zhu Guozhi was still a bit disoriented so all he could do was to agree to what Long Bai said. A few seconds later, Yang Kai came rushing with heavy breaths.

"Zhu Guozhi! What happened to East Tiger? Where is he?"

Zhu Guozhi, who was still trying to recover from being disoriented felt rushed and has no choice but to rephrase what Long Bai said.

"After I was punched and sent flying by the East Tiger, I saw her escaping towards the woods! I don't know why she ran but I noticed that she was scared after she saw the elder fighting the big boss! That's all I've got!"

Long Bai almost laughed. Good thing he was standing behind Zhu Guozhi or else Yang Kai would have seen the stifled expression he made upon hearing the words his companion shouted. Yang Kai, did not wait anymore longer after hearing the report and dashed quickly back to elder Yang. Long Bai tapped Zhu Guozhi's shoulder and told him to stay relieved.

"Hey, he's gone. You may relax now. That was a good job you did. Really nice. Pfftt"

"Hey man, is that what really happened?"

"Oh.. Yes, yes. If she didn't, would the both of us survive a fight against a bone tempering layer? You tell me." Long Bai gave a toothy smile. Zhu Guozhi can't really tell what's true but seeing that they are both alive, it was the best testament for such argument.

After the death of the Big Boss, everyone who was still retaliating immediately surrendered. All who surrendered were locked in a single house while the rest of the disciples were checking for loots. Since they were big shot bandits, there are bound to be some items they can collect but after searching, they only found some cheap weapons and some few grade 1 and 2 items. Most of the item must have been with the leaders but the biggest leader have just detonated himself so the pouch and its contents were also destroyed. The dead bodies were collected and were piled for burning. After everyone was done, the elder called for everyone.

Elder Yang had his left arm wrapped in a cloth and is now securely dangling on his chest cavity. With his robe tattered, everyone tried not to look on the parts being shown. On his face, everyone can see that he's in a bad mood. From the results of the raid, everyone can tell why he's acting as such. He's injured and at the same time, there were no loots. Aside from that, one leader has escaped. There were no personal gain, instead, it was a disaster.

"We will stay the night here and depart early in the morning. Find some good place to rest. The two of you who let the other escape, you'll be on the watch. No arguments."

While everyone's eyes were looking at Bai and Zhu Guozhi with pity, Yang Kai's eyes were raging. Having his grandfather injured and in addition of the escapee, Yang Kai must be thinking of putting the two into trouble later. Although they shouldn't be blamed, Yang Kai has no other outlet for the rage and self- disappointment he feels.

"Uhm, elder, how about the prisoners?" One brave soul asked the question.

Before elder Yang can reply, Yang Kai answered the question with a short response.

"I'll deal with them."

Upon hearing his words, Elder Yang knows what he was trying to do. Since he was looking for an outlet, elder Yang did not go against it. This is better than him taking his anger on a fellow disciple of the sect.

Early morning, everyone woke up with drowsy eyes. Most of them were not able to sleep due to the screams they heard from the prisoner's hut. Since they were already moving, no one dared to look into the inside of that hut where the prisoners were held. Anyway, anyone would be able to guess what happened to the prisoners. What they don't know and won't want to know is the state of the bodies after being killed. If one may witness, a weak minded person may go crazy.