Equally

The remaining villagers saw a chance to escape when they noticed his momentary shock. Their hurried footsteps echoed on the ground.

Fang Xuan watched them go, his eyes narrowing at their attempt . 

He couldn't allow them to spread word of his power in the village, not when he had just lost his mother and was on the verge of being wrongly accused of her murder.

'I might be stronger now, but I still can't compete with an actual cultivator,' he thought, admitting that he lacked the necessary skills to fully utilize his enhanced body. 

He sprinted after them, his legs moving faster than last night. 

The wind whipped at his clothes as he pursued the villagers, his mind racing with thoughts of what Dong Huiqing had done to his mother. 

'My mother was killed because they kept praising him, and he grew arrogant,' he thought, now also blaming the villagers for everything that had unfolded.

Anger bubbled up inside him. All he could think about was killing.

When he reached the closest villager, he grabbed his collar and delivered a punch to the head. Despite his sloppy form, the sheer force of the blow snapped the neck. 

"I'm not done yet! This isn't enough," he clicked his tongue in annoyance, his eyes tearing up with blood from overwhelming emotions. 

His rage burned hotter with each step he took, his mind clouded by thoughts of vengeance. 

As he chased down the survivors, they scattered in fear, some tripping over themselves in a desperate attempt to escape his wrath. 

Unfortunately, this place was far from the village, making it difficult for them to escape from someone, who was much faster than them. 

One middle age man, his hands trembling, fell to his knees after being pushed. "Please, spare me! I had nothing to do with it," he pleaded, tears streaming down his wrinkled cheeks. 

Fang Xuan's eyes narrowed, his voice cold and unforgiving. 

"Did you spare my mother?" he demanded, his tone cutting through the air like a blade. 

"I... I didn't know... about... any... of that..." The man felt his heart sink; he was being punished for a crime he did not commit.

"I don't care," Fang Xuan spat out, delivering a deadly punch to the head, killing him instantly.

When Fang Xuan got up, he saw the remaining villagers scrambling away in panic. 

They were so scared that they tripped over , struggling to keep moving forward. 

One young man, his hair disheveled and eyes wide with terror, stumbled over a fallen branch, his foot catching in the underbrush. 

Fang Xuan's shadow drew near, causing the young man to tremble in fear. 

"I didn't know! Please, I swear I didn't know!" he cried, tears streaking down his dirt-streaked face. 

Fang Xuan's response was cold and uncompromising. "Ignorance does not absolve guilt," he retorted, his voice low and filled with anger. 

He reached out, his fingers closing tightly around the young man's neck with a strength that made him gasp for breath. 

Under the sun, his eyes widened in terror as the grip tightened, lifting him off the ground with a force that made him feel completely helpless. 

CRACK!

With a brutal twist, the young man's head snapped sideways, his neck broken like a twig. 

THUD!

Fang Xuan threw the dead body aside as if it were nothing but a piece of trash.

Meanwhile, further ahead, an elderly man slowed down, his breath ragged as he struggled due to lacked of stamina. 

Fang Xuan's footsteps echoed behind him, the sound ringing in his ears like death had finally come to claim his life. 

"Please, have mercy! I have grandchildren to take care of, I beg of you!" the old man pleaded, his voice cracking with desperation. 

Fang Xuan's heart was filled with pain and anger, ignoring pleas for mercy. He walked up to the old man with a cold and intense stare, recalling the memory of his mother's tragic fate.

"I'll make sure you all reunite in the afterlife," he whispered into the old man's ear before delivering a crushing blow to the back of his neck, breaking it completely. 

"Just one more," he muttered, continuing his manhunt. 

Eventually, he caught up to the final villager, who trembled beneath him. He pinned the terrified man to the ground with a firm hold, his knee pressing down heavily.

"P— Please no…" The villager pleaded. 

"Start praying to your gods," he spat out as he controlled his strength and started punching the villager's face, over and over again. 

With each brutal strike, bones shattered and blood splattered, disfiguring the man's features beyond recognition. 

His screams faded into thin air after his face became a pulp of blood and broken bone.