Chapter 57: Origins?

“Something’s wrong!” the gray-robed Meteor Knight exclaimed as he saw the young man hurling out the scroll, gripped by an inexplicable fear.

Yet the youth fixed his gaze upon him, clearly making the knight the primary target of this powerful spell.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, massive streaks of azure lightning tore through the sky, striking the earth like colossal trees! Amidst this dense barrage of lightning… no fewer than eight bolts twisted through the air and struck the Meteor Knight simultaneously. The gray-cloaked knight had no chance to dodge. Amidst the deafening roar, his entire body was instantly reduced to charred remains.

A mighty fifth-tier lightning spell, even for a Silver Moon Archmage to cast, would require chanting incantations for quite some time. Its destructive power was beyond imagination.

“No!” The young man in white robes at the rear, holding a shield, stared wide-eyed in terror, “I—”

Boom!

His entire body exploded into nothingness in an instant! His power was too weak to withstand even a fragment of the spell.

These enormous streaks of azure lightning, crashing down like trees, numbered no more than ninety-nine in total—it was the fifth-tier spell, “Lightning Grove!”

Under Qing Shi’s guidance, the power could barely be concentrated upon the Meteor Knight. As for the other lightning trees… he could no longer precisely control them. He could only do his best to redirect them away, trying not to harm the soldiers of Xueying Domain. Thus, one of the lightning trees happened to strike the triangular-eyed youth in white robes. Truly, the young man had suffered a most unfortunate fate.

“Aaaaaaah!” Many of the soldiers clad in dark red armor were caught in the blast as well. Being struck by a fifth-tier spell meant instant death.

The soldiers of Xueying Domain had been spread out to begin with, and their numbers were few. Qing Shi, while manipulating the “Lightning Grove,” did his best to steer the lightning away from them. Thus, not a single one of them was struck.

“Run!”

“Quickly, run!”

The more than twenty soldiers who had narrowly escaped the “Lightning Grove” were terrified. All of them quickly mounted their steeds and fled into the distance.

“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”

The soldiers of Xueying Domain immediately retaliated with star-piercing crossbows.

“Are you alright?” Qing Shi quickly took his girlfriend’s hand.

“I-I…” Ji Rong was still shaken, “That was too close… we almost died. Thank goodness you had that powerful spell scroll.”

“It was a life-saving item given to me by my brother,” Qing Shi replied, not elaborating further, as Dongbo Xueying had strictly forbidden revealing its existence. He had no choice but to use it today because they had been pushed to the brink.

Soon, the pursuing soldiers of Xueying Domain returned.

“Master Qing Shi, quite a few of the enemy soldiers escaped. Reloading the star-piercing crossbows was cumbersome. In the end, sixteen of them managed to flee,” the squad leader quickly reported.

“Clean up the area. We’re returning to Xueshi Castle,” Qing Shi said, somewhat uneasy.

…

At dusk.

At the castle gates, Dongbo Xueying, Zong Ling, Tong San, and others had gathered upon receiving the servant’s message. The drawbridge was slowly lowered, and the gates began to open.

Outside the gates were Qing Shi and his group, returning with some of the fallen.

“I’ll head back to the Mage Tower first,” Ji Rong whispered.

“Alright,” Qing Shi nodded.

The gates opened.

Qing Shi approached Dongbo Xueying and bowed his head, “Brother.”

“Rest first. We’ll talk more tonight,” Dongbo Xueying did not scold him, as he could see his younger brother was still shaken. Qing Shi nodded slightly and hurried into the castle.

“You come with me,” Dongbo Xueying then glanced at the squad leader.

The squad leader immediately followed respectfully.

As the group walked through the castle grounds.

“What exactly happened?” Dongbo Xueying asked. Zong Ling and Tong San listened closely.

“Reporting to the Domain Lord, today, as usual, we were escorting the young master and Miss Ji Rong to Yishui City,” the squad leader, Captain Wu, began recounting the entire incident in detail. He sighed at the end, “Thankfully, Master Qing Shi used his spell, or else we would have lost far more than just two of our brothers.”

The gray-robed knight had been too fast. Before the “Lightning Grove” spell struck, he had already slain two soldiers of Xueying Domain.

Dongbo Xueying nodded, “Double the compensation for the fallen soldiers! Their families will continue to be supported by the castle. Each surviving soldier will receive ten silver coins.”

“Thank you, my Lord,” Captain Wu expressed his gratitude.

“Did you recognize who that young noble in white was?” Dongbo Xueying asked.

“No, and from the way he spoke, he didn’t seem to be from Yishui City either,” Captain Wu replied.

Dongbo Xueying frowned.

This could be a problem.

His younger brother had killed the son of a noble family. While legally, it could be considered self-defense since the other party had attacked first, if the youth belonged to a powerful noble family, the matter might not be so easily resolved. There could be complications.

“Xueying, if he’s not from Yishui City, it’ll be difficult to identify him. The entire Qinghe Prefecture is vast, with so many noble families. Who knows which one he belonged to?” Zong Ling was also troubled.

“Do we have any bodies?” Dongbo Xueying asked.

“Yes, we brought them back. Unfortunately, the young noble in white was completely obliterated by the lightning, while the Meteor Knight’s body remains, though it’s charred beyond recognition due to the multiple lightning strikes,” Captain Wu explained.

“Any survivors?” Dongbo Xueying asked.

“At the time, the brothers were all enraged and showed no mercy. Almost all of them were killed instantly by the star-piercing crossbows. Even the two severely injured were killed by our enraged men,” Captain Wu said helplessly, “No survivors.”

A trace of cold fury flickered across Dongbo Xueying’s face.

Identifying the enemy’s identity would prove challenging.

But he didn’t care!

Throughout the entire Qinghe Prefecture, if they came openly, his brother’s actions were clearly self-defense. If they came in secret! Even the most powerful figures in Qinghe Prefecture, like Si Lianghong or the terrifying Xiang Pangyun… Dongbo Xueying feared none of them. Moreover, he believed that the slain noble’s background probably wasn’t as formidable as it might seem.

“Find out,” Dongbo Xueying ordered, “Investigate their belongings from the corpses. See if you can find any clues to identify them.”

“I’ll take care of it right away,” Zong Ling said, being meticulous and reliable, “Three hours will be enough.”

“If we can’t find anything, we’ll have to ask Longshan Pavilion to investigate,” Dongbo Xueying said.

…

The Third Division, stationed at the edge of the Desolate Mountains within Qinghe Prefecture.

Typically, the city guards and local forces throughout Qinghe Prefecture were controlled by the Si Clan. However, the military forces stationed around the Desolate Mountains were directly under the Empire’s command. These imperial troops were far more powerful and mysterious. The Si Clan could only exert limited influence through connections within their territory but could not truly control them.

Moreover, the imperial army had immense backing. During major incursions into the Desolate Mountains, there were even supernatural beings providing support!

Inside a rather spacious room of the Third Division.

“Second Master.”

“The young master is dead.”

A group of disheveled soldiers stood before him.

Seated was a one-eyed officer. His face was dark with fury, his expression so grim it seemed to drip with water. He gritted his teeth, “The young master is dead? You useless, pathetic fools! My elder brother will go mad, absolutely mad! Tell me, who did this? How in the world could he die?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” the soldiers hurriedly began recounting everything.

The one-eyed officer’s face twitched as he listened.

He had only managed to secure a position as a logistics officer in the Third Division thanks to his elder brother’s vast expenditure of money and connections. His elder brother was known throughout Qinghe Prefecture as a madman, a loyal hound of the Si Clan! And the reason people used the word “hound” to describe him was precisely because his elder brother was utterly deranged, often doing insane things.

And the deceased young master, Cui Hu, was his elder brother’s only son!

“Xueying Domain? Dongbo Xueying’s younger brother? Dongbo Qing Shi?” The one-eyed officer clenched his teeth, “What audacity! Daring to kill a member of the Cui family! Dongbo Qing Shi must die! His older brother must die too! The entire Xueying Domain must perish alongside them!”

The soldiers had only known their attackers belonged to Xueying Domain, but it was only when Ji Rong shouted out that it was Dongbo Qing Shi, Dongbo Xueying’s younger brother, that they realized the attackers’ exact identities. Naturally, the common soldiers now knew their enemies’ full identities.

“I must send word to my elder brother as quickly as possible,” the one-eyed officer wasted no time and immediately rose to use the imperial army’s communication system to send a message to Qinghe Prefecture’s capital. As a logistics officer, contacting his family was a simple matter.

…

On a high mountain about ten miles from the Third Division.

A small wolf, white all over except for its pitch-black hooves, stood gazing at the distant military encampment of the Third Division. Dark energy faintly surrounded its body, giving it a strangely adorable aura. The small wolf appeared to be only a few months old, still very young, yet its eyes held sorrow, grief, and boundless hatred.

Not long after it was born, its mother had been hunted and killed by humans.

And just now,

its father had also been killed, dragged to that encampment by the soldiers. Using its innate abilities, it had stealthily followed all the way here, but now it dared not go any further. Ahead lay the human military encampment.

“My child,” a gentle voice spoke. Dark energy gathered beside the wolf, soon condensing into the form of an elderly man clad in black robes with white hair. His eyes held a tender warmth, “Do you hate humans?”

The young wolf gazed at the old man and felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. It let out a low growl.

Hate.

Of course, it hated them!

“Your parents were merely ordinary magical beasts, but you possess extraordinary power. However, you must fully control this power before you can ever hope to take revenge on the humans,” the old man in black robes extended his hand, revealing a strange bone staff, “I will give you this chance.”

Vroom—

A crimson stream of energy emanated from the bone staff, enveloping the young wolf. Under the crimson glow, the wolf’s body began to change. Gradually, it stood upright. Its fur receded, its hooves transformed into limbs, and its head reshaped into a human face.

In just a short while, a seemingly five or six-year-old naked human child stood before him.

“This is your human form, a true human body. No human will ever detect any flaw in it,” the old man in black robes said, “Only by truly integrating into the human world can you better prepare for your revenge in the future. Come, for the next ten years, you will follow me. You may call me… Father!”

“Yes, F-father!” The human child stammered slightly as he spoke, but his words were clear.

“Truly remarkable! You can already speak even as a newly transformed human,” the old man in black robes smiled slightly, “Come.”

Darkness enveloped the old man and the child.

And then, they vanished into thin air.