Chapter 23: Dreams
Xue Wei was incredibly overbearing, and everyone was surprised when they saw his carefree att.i.tude. Had it not been for Shen Mu and the witnesses who could say that these three girls had indeed been mistreated by Li Jian and his friends, then today"s matter would not have ended in as peaceful a way.
This kingdom heavily relied on the power of their geniuses to stand against the Primordial and Fierce Beasts. To walk around killing or even crippling geniuses who had still not served in the military was simply akin to sentencing oneself to the same fate, yet Xue Wei had emerged unscathed from it.
Xue Wei had a cold smile on his lips as he looked at Li Jian. The only thing he regretted was that the one he had crippled was not Li Jian but only the young masters of the He and Jia families.
"You won"t get through it so easily next time!" Li Jian sneered at Xue Wei as the Li family got ready to leave the Xiao Lei mansion. They simply dared not stay for long as they had already lost enough face.
Li Fang had not come, he was just too important a figure; and just as Shen Bingwen did not come either but sent his son, Li Fang had also sent guards and two Elders from the Li family.
The Elders were deeply embarra.s.sed and wished that they could hide themselves underneath a rock. They had come in flair to get vengeance for their supporters’ sons, only to find that the whole incident had been started by an order given by their descendant.
He was the one who had ordered his followers to stop these three girls, and he had tried to gain them against their will. They were aware that this was something he had done before, but usually, the commoners would never rise against the n.o.ble houses, especially not against a n.o.ble with a Heavenly Warrior in their household.
Unfortunately, these witnesses had gained the protection of Shen Bingwen, and with him s.h.i.+elding them, they dared tell the truth.
Usually, murder would not cause too much of a problem. As long as the family was compensated with some silver or even gold, then they would be able to accept their loss. However, it was different when it came to the geniuses of the younger generation. Every single action they made affected the situation between the Li and then Shen family, who were both fighting tooth and claw to extinguish the other while keeping to the law that had been placed by the Kingdom of Heping.
If one of the members did something inappropriate, then the other side would blame them, and the worse their actions the better it was for the opposition. Because of this, the Shen family was secretly gloating now that they had the witnesses in their hands.
They had taken a small victory against the Li family, and they secretly celebrated for Xue Wei crippling two of their geniuses as the fewer they had, the less of a threat they would become in the later generations.
Xue Wei had no actual reason to place himself in the midst of this battle for power. He was initially on the neutral side as his uncle was not interested in becoming the next City Lord of Tiankong City, but because Xiao Lei was a friend of Shen Bingwen, and because of the apparent hostility that Li Jian felt towards Xue Wei, he had been pushed towards the Shen family’s camp
Slowly, everyone who had gathered in front of the mansion scattered. Some were feeling excited and happy, others dejected and angry.
Especially the He and Jia families had a belly full of anger but nowhere to vent it. They knew that if they were to do something to Xue Wei now, they would get blamed for it, whether or not there was any evidence, and thus they could not risk taking vengeance just yet.
"Just you wait until you enter the army," He Tong sneered sinisterly. "My other sons are still in the army, and they have managed to make a name for themselves. I will have them ensure that you do not return home, and this way your uncle can never blame it on us!"
Having reached this conclusion He Tong grinned to himself with a manic expression on his face. His other sons had done well in the army, and although they had not managed to become generals or anything too outstanding, they were still capable of making a new green member of the army encounter quite some troubles.
The leader of the Jia family was thinking the same thing. He did not have as many sons as the He family, but he still had a few, and these sons were capable of causing enough problems for Xue Wei.
These two men were both of the Sky Warrior ranks. They had a lifespan of five hundred years and had only lived around two hundred and fifty of it each. They were from the same generation, and they had taken many wives throughout their lifetime, producing multiple sons and daughters.
But the ones who had been following Li Jian had been some of the more accomplished ones, and seeing them suddenly turned to trash was a slap in their faces.
The moment the last people vanished, Xue Wei also returned to the back of the mansion where he continued to train. He was not going to waste his time sleeping, and although it was already dark, he ended up training the full night.
Xue Wei stood up as the sun sent its first rays of sunlight down from the sky and stretched his body. He had entirely emptied himself of Qi earlier and had just finished absorbing and refining enough Qi to fill once more the Pearl-like dantian that he had.
He quickly went to wash before dressing and rus.h.i.+ng into the central marketplace where the Wayfarers had parked their caravan.
Xue Wei saw how the city was waking up. Shops were opening, and people were going about doing their morning business. Some were out buying food; others were out delivering messages. Everyone was busy, and the morning air was alive with the hustle and bustle of the city.
As Xue Wei reached the Wayfarer"s caravan, he saw that they too had awakened and were starting to open up their shops. The group of seniors was sitting and eating soup that had been brought to them by smaller children, while they were busy chatting with one another.
The older children were setting up their stalls and preparing to sell their goods, and the teenagers were running around doing whatever they felt like doing. There was no one to supervise them.
Xue Wei walked around the caravan, and although many looked at him curiously, no one tried to stop him. The seniors had long since noticed him, and since they approved of his presence, then no one would question their judgement. No one knew exactly how old or strong these seniors were, but if the caravan were truly in danger, or about to be in trouble, they would explode with power and any young man would be killed on the spot.
Xue Wei had one aim in entering the Wayfarer caravan, and that was to find w.a.n.g Xiaoyun. When he saw the seniors, he cupped his hands and bowed to them from a distance, causing the old woman who had taken the most significant liking to him to smile widely and wave back at him. The rest just smiled gently.
Xue Wei wandered past caravan after caravan until his eyes found w.a.n.g Xiaoyun and his face, which usually never displayed much emotion, suddenly lit up with a great smile.
However, the smile on his face quickly froze when he saw that w.a.n.g Xiaoyun was not alone. With her was a young man, who seemed to be around seventeen years old.
This young man was holding her hand, and they were talking about something in a heated manner. It seemed as if w.a.n.g Xiaoyun wanted to leave but the man would not let her, and it was clear that their discussion was getting more and more intense by the minute.
"You have no right to tell me what to do! Even grandma Meng has given me her permission!" w.a.n.g Xiaoyun"s voice ricocheted through the caravans as she pulled her hand free and turned around.
When she saw Xue Wei, tears were falling from her eyes, and she ran to him, took his hand and dragged him with her away from the young man who looked as if he was billowing with anger and ready to explode at any moment.
Xue Wei could not sense the cultivation base of this expert, and as a result, did not dare to stay behind in case he became the target for the latter"s anger.
"Do not leave!" the man yelled, but by then Xue Wei and w.a.n.g Xiaoyun had already gotten quite far away, and w.a.n.g Xiaoyun showed no signs of stopping. Her hand was gripping Xue Wei"s so hard that her skin had turned completely white, all blood had been forced out of her hand.
"Sorry that you had to see that," w.a.n.g Xiaoyun said with sadness in her voice as she finally stopped running when they reached a park in Tiankong City.
"Did you get some breakfast?" Xue Wei asked, and w.a.n.g Xiaoyun shook her head. Buying some food at a stall, the two ventured into the park and found a beautiful tree to sit beneath where they could eat their breakfast together.
At first, neither spoke, they just ate their food, but as time went on and as the food was eaten, they started talking.
"What is your goal in life?" w.a.n.g Xiaoyun suddenly asked randomly, and Xue Wei was a little taken aback. "I want to regain my memories," he sighed.
"I remember this small town in the Northern Taiga. I do not remember anything about it apart from its appearance. I do not even remember the faces of the people who lived there."
"When I was ten years old, I lived in that town, but a Primordial Beast decimated the entire population apart from me. I know nothing about the town apart from that."
"Oh," w.a.n.g Xiaoyun was quiet for some time, but then her eyes widened.
"Five years ago? It is Lingyun Town!" she said excitedly, and Xue Wei, who was listening to her frowned. The name sounded familiar, but he could not place where he had heard about it before.
"Five years ago the Ice Harpy appeared in a town called Lingyun, and she killed every single person. Lingyun Town is located in the Northern Taiga, and I am quite sure it is the only one that fits the description. It has long since become a land of the dead," w.a.n.g Xiaoyun sighed.
Xue Wei was lost in his thoughts. Ice Harpy. The name itself described what kind of Primordial Beast she was. He knew that this was the beast that the Wayfarers were after, but how strong she was, he had no idea.
"So I come from Lingyun Town?" Xue Wei suddenly felt something within him, as if he had found a valuable piece of information, but he was not sure of what it meant just yet.
"So when you get your memory back, what do you want to do?" w.a.n.g Xiaoyun continued to ask, and Xue Wei pondered for a moment before a great smile spread on his face, "I want to hunt Primordial Beasts with my uncle."
"I do not need riches or fame, I just want my memories back and to make my uncle proud. If I can have these two things, then I will live a happy life," Xue Wei said as he sighed and laid back on the gra.s.s looking up at the blue cotton clouds that were drifting by.
"What about you?" he turned to lay on the side and looked at w.a.n.g Xiaoyun. "What do you want with your life?"