A skinny youngster ran through a cold forest as a group of men wielding spears and swords rode horses in his pursuit. A path of blood formed upon the snow as he dashed between dry trees trying to avoid his pursuers. His vision was already going dark from the extreme loss of blood when he spotted a secluded stone cave about fifteen meters away.As so, confirming the distance between himself and the other party, he quickly took off his outer soldier vest soaked in blood and hang it at a tree branch in the opposite direction of the cave. Then he hastily ran into the small cave entrance, hiding from the coming soldiers.
Upon entering, he tried to a.n.a.lyze his surroundings. However, before familiarizing himself with the darkness, he fainted from blood loss.
The night pa.s.sed slowly as the group of pursuers failed to find their targets and decided to go back to the camp.
At the mourning, the weak sunlight invaded the cave, reflecting on the youngster"s face. Before long, signs of consciousness once more appeared on his face as his eyes slowly opened.
A spark of happiness flashed through his heart as he celebrated the successful escape. However, the wound on his chest was not giving off a good feeling. Although it was not infected, it would leave a lasting scar on his body.
At this time, hatred was flowing inside his mind. He hated himself for being weak and having slacked off in training his skills. He hated his enemies who attacked his country. And he hated his father"s action of sending him to the borders as punishment for being a silkpants.
Deep in his heart, he promised himself with the Heavens as a witness to never again negligence his training, since only with strength one could survive in this world and achieve greatness. Of course, he would not abandon completely his good life of before, but would just dedicate more to the art of war.
Getting up from the ground, his gaze swept through the cave and curiosity took his heart. The cave was big in the inner part, with a long pa.s.sage made out of stone. Going down the path, there seemed to be something at the end.
Upon arriving, the youngster realized it was a grave. The moment he read the slab, he immediately gave a full bow filled with respect. It was the lost grave of one of his family"s ancestors, the Great General Bao Ling. He was one of the founders of the kingdom and a big friend of the first king. It was based on his great achievements that the current Bao Clan build their power and influence in the kingdom.
And there was the lost tomb of his great ancestor, the origin of his proud lineage. Below the small stone slab rested a long katana with a dark red scabbard. Slowly getting closer, he carefully picked the sword.
A sharp light flashed from the black blade as the youngster took the scabbard off. This was one of the nationally treasured blades of that era, cutting down lots of foes who opposed the kingdom"s will.
" From now on you shall be stained in glory once more by me, your rightful owner by blood, Bao Qiang! "
Paying respect one last time to his deceased ancestor, Bao Qiang fearlessly left the cave filled with determination. With the aid of this sword and the built determination in his heart, he was confident in facing any enemy.
As he walked through the tres once more, all the brief moments he trained the way of the sword flashed through his mind. Although the blade was a bit heavy for his untrained body, Bao Qiang was determined to cross the grove and get to safety, even if heads had to roll for such.
He carefully sneaked throughout the trees, taking a step at a time and being cautious in not leaving any traces behind.
The retreat went well and the ally hill was already in his sight when sounds of speeding horse soared for behind. Quickly look back, Bao Qiang saw three enemy soldiers catching up with fierce gazes.
However, this time he did not choose to flee. Maintaining a steady footing, Bao Qiang awaited his foes with a concentrated mind. The sounds got louder and louder. Then, the man in front suddenly launched a spear in Bao"s direction.
It came flying at an outstanding speed. But went it was about to pierce through Bao"s head, his body dodged at the last second out of instinct. Upon failing to kill him, the man on the horse did not have time to react as Bao Qiang skillfully drew the peerless blade in a flash.
It was a clean cut and the man"s head flew in a dazing manner through the air.
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His companions were astounded for a second but rapidly abandoned their horses in a jump, striking toward Bao Qiang from both sides.
Blocking the sword from the left, Bao unexpectedly used the dark red scabbard to defend against the other one. Then, in the split second between the next attack, he abruptly turned his blade.
As such, the attacker from the left lost his balance and was met with a sword in his heart. Now it was one on one.
Bao and the last man exchanged dozens of blows and the former was aware he could not hold on for much longer. Things needed to finish fast.
For such, when the man performed his next attack, Bao opened his guard, being pierced by the incoming attack. However, in the man"s surprise about Bao"s sudden ruthless action, he was pierced in the neck by a cold blade.
After the life or death battle, Bao breathed heavily as he got up and leaned on trees, slowly walking in the ally hill"s directions. Then, at the borders of the gove, he fell to the ground.
His mind was dull, but he knew that is he pa.s.sed out now, only death awaited him.
Gathering his last strengths, Bao crawled up the hill. His face contorted as he thought about all the beautiful women he left behind at the capital"s brothel, so he definitely had to make it out alive.
Then, at the peak of the green hill, he stabbed the sword in the ground and fell above it. However, he was now visible to the large camp below.
Sometime later, soldiers from his division finally spotted a strange silhouette on the top of the hill and a group came to his rescue. Later on, after he was directed to the medical tent, a small escort team was sent to the gove, following the line of blood, only to find three dead men.