The Howl of the Red Wolf
Ling Yun's gaze fell upon the vast heavens high above.
From what he could see , the sun wouldn't rise fully for another hour and the stars were still visible.
After spending years viewing the same sky, he knew all five thousand of them by name but Lang Xing , the Wolf star was his favourite.
It was bright red, a bloodshot eye peering through the black velvet curtain that the Lord of Night had cast over the sky.
Long ago , in a time before his old bones had started to weaken and his spine had began to bend , the sight of the star had been regarded by him as an omen to let loose the reaper once more .
After so long , the same crimson light shined upon him once more.
He drew a long breath , inhaling the clear night wind , chasing away the last remaining traces of the fatigue that had assailed him moments prior.
He calmed down his body and began to quietly circulate qi.
Even as he recovered he observed his surroundings once more.
Apart from the few that had managed to get to their feet , the rest of the youths were still on all fours retching and spewing the remnants of their last meals into the verdant forest floor painting it in the colours of the rainbow.
A while later , however all of the colors will be superseded by the crimson that flowed inside their veins.
A pity then , that he wouldn't be there to witness that.
Sometimes the call of the stars had to be heeded at a later time , especially when the long haul was in consideration.
His body flickered like a wraith and stepped out into space.
The ground sped by in a blur beneath his legs.
He needed to cover some distance by the time the first carnage ends.
Not a time too soon.
Even as the world disappeared rapidly , the loud screams had already started to appear in his ears.
He sighed in response .
He stopped a moment later and assessed his current situation . Finding it to his satisfaction he climbed thorough a cleft , high in the trunk of an old gnarled tree beside his path.
It would do for now .
He figured that a couple of leagues had been covered at least , even so the screams reached his ears albeit in a distorted fashion akin to the wail of a spectre haunting the night.
He couldn't help but smile at his observation.
Perhaps those to whom the screams belonged to might very well end up as bonafide spectres , their howls resonating through the silent night.
If so , good luck to them then.
As fellow ghosts he only wished the best for them .
He felt that sometimes he was too kind for his own good.
From what he expected at least half or more of the examinees who were the weakest of the bunch would be wiped out by those who belonged to the powerful family clans.
Like tigers let into a herd of sheep , the massacre would be short , brutal and effective.
Which is why he had to get out , although an opportunity to slaughter was always welcome to warm his tired bones , his current identity ended up making things troublesome.
He would be unintentionally caught in the crossfire and would be forced to exert some effort .
The gains in such a scenario would be unable to overcome the losses.
It was better then to wait it out and preserve some strength.
After the bloodbath would get over , only the members of the reputed family clans should remain by the site of the teleportation formation.
Most likely they had already allied prior to entering the examination which meant that no further conflict would take place.
In that case , what they shall do is simple.
A party or two shall head onto the forest to search for badges , the rest shall remain by the site of the formation.
How brilliant.
Regardless of who possessed a badge , the only way to leave was through the formation unless the person involved wished to walk on a long and arduous track encountering hazards at every turn.
He would most likely end up being torn apart by the claws and teeth of a Demonic Beast.
Although Ling Yun couldn't tell for sure , the region that they had been sent to certainly belonged to one of three choices that he had shortlisted mainly based on the sight and position of the stars and the map that had already been memorised thoroughly by him.
Based on what he knew regarding the territories involved , the only viable way out was through the formation .
He was sure his less enlightened 'colleagues' had already came to that conclusion as well.
Which meant that regardless what happened the 'nobility' shall stay put , waiting to reap the rewards that shall come along.
Akin to a pride of lions waiting for deer to leap straight into their mouth except this time the lions shall probably succeed in their endeavour.
Ling Yun stared at the indigo sky in insouciance as the first traces of light gingerly peeked above the horizon.
From what he could tell , he had a minimum of a couple of hours on his side.
Better to take some rest then.
He coiled his body into a fetal position and let the branch shaking gently in the wind rock him to sleep.
Fang Xingchen walked elegantly , his adroitness all too apparent.
His blood-stained feet , naked , bereft of any footwear , stepped down on the only holds that they could get in a field drowned in viscous , red liquid.
Over the corpses of course.
He settled himself down , leaning gently against an empty stump.
The sun had already risen in the distant horizon , its crimson rays shining an eerie brilliance on the clearing below that wouldn't be out of place in a nightmare or a wet-dream of a Devil.
What a mess.
He slowly brought out his sword and gently caressed it with his fingers . The qi on his hand causing it to glow brightly as the dark clods of phlegm and blood that covered it began to dislodge slowly from the surface.
He stared down at the glassy eyes devoid of life of the man who had been his last victim. For a rogue cultivator he had been good , his attacks vicious ; his movements nimble.
Unfortunately he didn't realize that he was outclassed , his inability dawning upon him just as his body gave a final shudder as a prelude to the impending silence.
It was nothing personal really , at a different time and place , he would have loved to recruit him for his own personal use.
What a pity.
His gaze changed as he saw the surface of the corpse began to undulate. Suddenly a hole tore out of the skin as a white insect akin to a beetle emerged out into the world. Its legs shaking in delight as the sunlight grazed upon it.
Fang Xingchen picked up the insect , the faint connection he felt with it told him exactly ,what it was.
He gently placed it inside his robes , it would be safe there.
Although his victim had been good in his own right , there was no way that he was a expert trained in the ways of the WuLin .
He was too inept for that.
Which meant that Old Lao had been duped.
He would have to speak with him later regarding that.
Still from what he knew about that cultivator , if old Lao's information was correct, he should still be alive , having escaped a long while earlier.
In that case , the little one would prove to be useful for some more time.
He didn't need to retire it just yet.
His companions from the three other major clans , the Meng , the Song and the Ji clans had already got to work , removing the pile of corpses in order to clear the way to the teleportation formation.
Others , those who were too exhausted to work , were recovering their spirits and vitality already , the expensive rejuvenation pills coming in handy.
The last few were on patrol ready to catch the unlucky staggerer who should know better than to tarry at a battlefield or the unsuspecting jungle fowl which would wander straight into the lion's den.
To them it did not matter which .
Either would be cut down in an instant anyway.
Though only one could be used for the purpose of eating.
Although he detested the other clans with a passion which the elders of his clan would approve , they were still allies on this business after all.
As per the usual terms the fifty tokens would be divided equally among the twenty-five of them .
Why take fifty when they only needed twenty-five ?
The answer was simple , the more the tokens that one possessed the higher their 'result' was considered. As a result if one wished to be distinguished from the other common folk from the start then having more than one badge was absolutely necessary.
As members of prestigious clans how could the people here, be resigned to being treated like common folk ?
Thus the collection of all tokens was mandatory ; an alliance had been arranged beforehand as always to take care of that.
Even so if a certain clan didn't contribute as much the others would simply turn on that clan.
That was an unwritten rule that had been strictly followed.
He didn't want to end up being pounced upon by the pack of jackals.
A pointed glare from his eyes was enough to get all of the members of the Fang clan going as well.
All except a certain person seated on a log ,who was even now busy whistling away in abandon as his feet dangled in the pool of blood that had formed under the leg.
His cousin Fang Guichen.
To be more precise , the person who was masquerading his cousin Fang Guichen and had done a fine job at it too.
His brows bent into a frown at the sight of the person who was even now playing around in a manner that would be befitting of a toddler from the countryside.
The others ignored of course , after all Fang Guichen had been regarded as hopeless from the beginning.
Unfortunately he couldn't ignore the sight.
The very fact that that person had managed to get inside despite the strict surveillance provided some credibility to what he had been told earlier.
In that case..
He walked up to the log and struck up a conversation
"Enjoying yourself , I see ."
The smiling face of Fang Guichen turned towards him , after noting his presence he went back to drawing circles on the blood with his toes.
"Not as much as I would have liked to . It got over so ..fast."
Fang Xingchen sighed, leaning his back against another stump located nearby.
"Sadly with this lot , that's the best you would get. Still there were some fish that slipped through the net , they might able to give you some fun and if you're too bored the Meng , the Song and the Ji clans are anyways available , The Fang clan would be glad to provide some assistance in that regard."
"Forget it . I'm not interested in playing with little fish. But there's still one tiny little thing that I want you to do for me."
"What ? "
"When you collect the stray fish would you mind bringing the lot to me . There is this new means of amusement I learnt just recently and I am so , so desperate to try it out . I just can't wait !!!"
"I don't see why not ."
"Great ! You're the best !"
Fang Guichen leapt and hugged Fang Xingchen tightly eliciting weird stares from the crowd.
Fang Xingchen hurriedly shook himself free from the embrace in response , dislodging the remaining dust from his body.
"You're free to do whatever you want , just please don't go after my remaining clansmen. "
"Okey-dokey !"
Fang Guichen yawned and then sat back on the log returning back to drawing circles on the blood-stained earth.
Fang Xingchen shook his head at the sight.
The feeble light from the sun had strengthened to the point that the shapes of the clouds were visible in the backdrop of the sky. Nevertheless , the stars didn't vanish from the sky entirely.
One particular star got his attention , it shone a vivid crimson , the bright red light shimmer in the middle of the horizon was all too apparent.
It was time to leave , the sooner everything was over , the better it was for him.
Meanwhile at the other end of the teleportation formation , five men were standing and drinking tea from their cups leisurely.
"How many this time ?" , one of them asked the others.
"Should be about a hundred at least , can't say for sure without taking a look personally."
"Those kids from the clans really know how to do things , huh , In our day...."
"We would have done the same ," , a hitherto silent man among the five interrupted the the man who had been speaking just then.
"True" , the former man acknowledged with a sigh .
All of them simultaneously turned their heads toward the skies pondering thoughts that were known only to them. Their reverie didn't last too long however for it was interrupted by a sudden shout.
All of the five men turned their heads and frowned at the person who had just awakened them so rudely.
However their expressions changed rapidly on the sight of the robes the gasping person was wearing.
A messenger from the Watch tower ; What could possibly be the reason that one would come and intrude their sects' entrance examinations ?
Looking at his current state he had clearly rushed as soon as he could to reach them in ZiLin City .
What matter could be so urgent that they had to send a messenger in person when a scroll would do as well ?
The men exchanged glances with each other . On realizing that the others were just as clueless as he was , one of the men began to address the messenger.
"What is the reason for your presence , messenger ? Has some unforeseen emergency occurred ?"
"'Here" , the still gasping messenger on being prompted reached out and handed a tightly sealed cylinder to him .
The man easily unscrewed the lid of the container and poured out a piece of paper made of fine and delicate skin , when he unravelled the scroll , what he saw caused his face to pale and he nearly dropped the scroll.
Without a word , he handed it to his companions, whose faces changed colour just as his had .One of them couldn't help but let out a curse in rage.
The man who had received the message first , did his best to calm down his tempestuous heart. After he had succeeded partly he issued instructions to the others , " Someone take the messenger and give him some proper rest also we must get this scroll to Uncle Master Jin at once ".
"Understood".
Watching the other men leave , the man couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. He had been holding his emotions in so far so that the others would gain some heart from his confidence.
Even though what he had seen deflated his spirit entirely as if all of the air he breathed had been let out of him.
The Crimson Wolf Star shined in the sky ever so brightly mocking him for his weakness .
He closed his eyes but he still couldn't remove the image from his mind.
An empty and desolate field save for a pile of characters that had been inscribed on it .
The characters were made from loose body parts strung together , with blood still dripping from them , the bone peeking in some places , the bite marks on the flesh were all too apparent.
Even in his long years he hadn't seen anything like it .
From what he could make of the sight , each part seemed to came from a separate person with numbers marked on them sequentially .
The numbers went from one to two-hundred seventy four.
Moreover from the fact that the flesh still remained fresh it was easy to see that they had been killed recently , the traces of spiritual artifacts left on their parsons it was easy to identify their status as cultivators.
What was worse that they were Immortal Foundation cultivators since only they would possess the spiritual treasures that would leave certain tell-tale signs on usage which could be clearly seen in the image.
His companions couldn't tell since they were not artificers but he happened to be one and was pretty good at his work as well.
How he wished he wasn't .
Truly , ignorance was bliss.
The fact that so many Immortal Foundation cultivators some of them even more powerful than he was had perished in such a horrific manner was bloodcurdling in itself but the final nail in the coffin came from the message the characters formed.
"I didn't enjoy the snack at all !
Is this the famed hospitality of the five sects ?
I hope to be treated better next time !
Signing off.
Your friendly neighbour
The Amazing Mr Snake
(PS : For those who don't know it is me Jiao Shun
Demon Extraordinaire at your service !!!)
He couldn't help but wonder what sort of a monster had the howling wolf unleashed this time on the world below.