(28) The man in the street

Impulsiveness was expected from a 12-year-old kid. Mars did not have enough experience or an exceptionally cautious mind, like Mangrel. 

Mars was many times more mature than his age, thanks to the harsh environment around him.

Despite this, he had very little experience with other humans. 

Mars sat on the other side of the corpse and looked at the red flower that Mangrel placed beside himself.

'What exactly is that...? For some reason, I get a strange feeling whenever I see it.' Mars couldn't help but stare at the Algaeist flower, near Mangrel's tow.

Looking at this action, Mangrel glanced at Mars for a second, before taking out the dagger.

Mangrel thought coldly: 'Does he have a natural affinity for poison?' 

There are people like this, who have a talent for certain elements, but they are rare. Cultivators can choose whatever path they want to walk on. There are only a few rare cases where a person could only choose one path too.

Only while ascending to rank six, one has to choose the path they want to walk their whole life. 

Deciding to think later, Mangrel slowly brought the dagger to the corpse's back. 

Pierce.

The dagger tip entered the skin, not going deeper. Mangrel sliced the skin to the waist, forming a perfect line, with no tremors on his hands. With no blood circulation, it took a few seconds for blood to spill from the cut skin. 

Taking the dagger off the skin, Mangrel walked to the other side of the corpse. He placed the dagger at the tip of the cut, making another long horizontal cut on the corpse. 

Doing the same on the upper side of the corpse's back, Mangrel connected all the cuts, by making another vertical cut. 

Mangrel took out the dagger from the skin. 

Looking from above, a rectangular cut was clearly visible on the corpse's back. 

Pulling out the corner of the cut skin, Mangrel cut the connective tissues, which caused the skin to stick to the muscles. As a result of not rushing, he was able to separate the back skin and body perfectly. 

The whole process took around ten minutes. 

Looking at the skin, Mangrel's eyes shone with a peculiar light: 'Once a person dies, their body is nothing but a useless shell, that is either eaten by an animal or rots and becomes ash, fusing with the earth.'

The human body was worth just this much. At one point, everyone reached the limit of their lifespan, dying without regard for their intentions. 

In this sense, living was the most meaningful thing. Until you were alive, there was always hope.

'To attain my goal, I will have to surpass death. It might be one of the toughest hurdles, in the future.' Torn skin was laid on the ground by Mangrel. 

"Take this body and make it hang upside down, from the first floor and slit its neck using the dagger before that." Mangrel tossed the human skin to Mars, causing him to stare at it in confusion, deep within his eyes.

Mangrel added: "Collect the blood in it and give me back the dagger after you cut its neck." 

The order left Mangrel's mouth without hesitation as he had already planned what to say beforehand. 

Seeing Mars heading off, Mangrel walked to the dismantled wood staircase. As he glanced at the wood blocks, he noticed that multiple pointy nails were sticking out of them. Then, after taking a moment to think, he began to remove the nails from the wood. 

Looking at the nails, disappointment flashed through Mangrel's face. 'As I thought, the edges have been blunted. It would take the strength of at least an adult to pierce this into a human body.' 

Mangrel threw the nails aside, not taking another glance at them. 

After nearly a minute, Mars returned and gave back the dagger to Mangrel. 

With no further ado, Mangrel began cutting and shaping the wood to the sharpest he could. 

Looking at his hand, which moved skillfully to sharpen the edge of the long wood, A smile made its way onto Mangrel'a face. It was a very old memory, but he remembered it like was just yesterday. 

Roaming around as a merchant at one point, Mangrel had to learn craftsmanship too. Many materials and professions required exceptional skills in crafting. 

'I wonder if the last work, which I left at the sect, is doing fine work.' Mangrel remembered the last gift he granted, the demonic cultivator of the sect he created. 

Exploring the memory of his craftsman's life, Mangrel finished shaping all the wooden blocks, the shape he visualized. 

They were all turned into a sharp squarish shaft. With its durability and sharpness, it could only be used once, but the quantity made up for it. 

'Let's begin, delaying anymore is a waste of time.' Mangrel got up and took the Algaeist flower.  

.....

In the shades of the building, where darkness was the most prominent. Two figures could be seen running through the layers of darkness, appearing extremely inconspicuous. 

The sight of the full moon hung in the sky, dimly lighting up the area. 

Finding a person walking in an empty street, both of their figures stopped in their tracks. Looking at the man, who carelessly walked on the street with eyes that of a predator. 

'It's one of the two people who stood beside the leader of that criminal gang.' Having a rich memory, Mangrel noticed immediately.

Mangrel stood in the shade of the alleyway, which would be visible once the man walked a little further. His eyes shone with a cold and ruthless light, noticing this fact. 

'I didn't want to do it open in the street, but I have no choice. If he can escape after noticing our existence, it would be quite troublesome.' Mangrel gripped the dagger on his new clothes that he borrowed from a corpse. 

Now that Mangrel was taking a huge risk, where certain death awaited for failure, he decided to take up measures to increase his chances of success. 

Taking out a small pouch made of human skin, Mangrel let it spread open on his palm. Within it, deep red blood, with a shiny lustre was exposed. Smearing the dagger with the blood, he placed it back into his pocket carefully. 

Even if by the slightest carelessness, the dagger were to pierce Mangrel's skin, death was all that awaited him. It was not possible to concoct a cure for this poison, with the amount of resources available with him. 

"Hmm?" The man noticed the presence of two kids, hiding in the shades of a house at last. At the same moment, he saw one of them throwing a dagger at him, with a murderous glare, not fitting a kid's image at all. 

Knowing beforehand the direction of the attack, the man dodged the dagger, aiming for his chest. 

"Kuuh...!" The man grunted, feeling the dagger slightly glaze him, near the shoulder. Feeling his heart that jumped a second ago calm down, the man shifted his angry gaze to the two kids. 

Walking out of the shade leisurely, Mangrel looked around his surroundings carefully. 

There was no one present till the end of his sight. It was already deep in the night, and not many would be willing to walk in such a dangerous area at this time.

Looking at Mangrel's blatant, yet arrogant attitude, the man felt fury rise to his head. It was like a miniature volcano was going to form within him, he felt his body heating up extremely quickly. Little did he know that the poison had already started affecting him. 

"You have a death wish..." Just as the man tried roaring, he felt a wave of pain travel through his body. 

'Wh-what is happening?! Pain! Pain! It hurts! Please stop! Stop!' The man screamed in his head while clutching his mouth the hardest he could. 

At that instant, a leg embedded itself upon the writhing man's head. 

"Tell me your leader's whereabouts, and I will give you the antidote to the poison." Mangrel's voice without a shred of emotion in it, reached the man.