The revelation had been astounding to all of them, but what astounded them even more was the following chain of events.
Two unfamiliar men shoved their way forward from within the crowd. Those who noticed them crinkled their brows in confusion.
"And who might you two be?" Han Xuhan said in a surprised tone, although he had already guessed their identities.
Zhang Shi removed the artificial hair, beard, and skin patches he had been wearing on his face. His companion, who Han Xuhan assumed was Supervisor Lang, followed.
Under the faint light of the sunset, Han Xuhan finally recognized both men. And so did their peers.
A collective gasp rose from behind. Whispers, hisses, and aggrieved shouts heated up the atmosphere. It seemed that their fellow workers and associates in this caravan hadn't known the depth of their plans either. Almost everyone had been kept in the dark.
The brawny guy named Wang jeered from the top of the rock.
"Rushing to stop an entire caravan when you haven't even begun cultivating? Boy, you sure are a gutsy one! Did you think we're so dumb that we wouldn't recognize the honorary expulsion medallion? Hahahaha!"
"Xiao Wang, keep your mouth shut!" Supervisor Lang growled.
Zhang Shi, on the other hand, was still focused on the medallion Han Xuhan was clutching. He sighed in relief as if he had just confirmed that Xiao Wang had spoken the truth.
"Young friend, we have no enmity between us. The only reason we haven't sent you back with a few broken limbs is because of the reverence and respect we have for the Crimson Snow sect. Even if you're an expelled disciple, we're still showing you some face and letting you leave unscathed. Don't waste the opportunity...or the consequences will be painful."
Zhang Shi appeared quite articulate for someone so nervous and fidgety.
Han Xuhan nodded solemnly.
"Oh I'm all too ready to leave! But I still haven't gotten the payment that I was here for. I'll leave the moment you hand it over."
Zhang Shi's countenance turned doubtful. Turning towards supervisor Lang, he said what everyone in the vicinity was thinking.
"Is this kid an idiot?"
Supervisor Lang shrugged. "Maybe that's why he got expelled. He's too retarded to cultivate..."
"Well, that sounds like a tragedy I could go without hearing. Look, kid, you're a nobody. And I'm not paying a single spirit stone now that we've left the main territory of the sect-"
"Leader Shi, wouldn't this anger the sect? How could you take such a decision all by yourself?" Shouted the woman who had been incriminated by the mob just a while ago.
"Yeah! We got our safety to consider here! How could you just take all the profit and betray the agreements? Not to mention, you've even hidden the spirit stones we've earned this time!"
Voices of support came from amidst the crowd. But faster came the slash of a knife, drawing the blood of the woman like a gushing, vibrant spring.
She fell to the ground with a scream, writhing in pain.
Xiao Wang sauntered over past her crumpled body. Those near him rushed away in horror and panic as shrieks accompanying the woman's cries rose in the air.
Han Xuhan felt his heart twitch at the sight. His toes dug into the hard soil of the mountainside.
Things were getting out of his hand...
The crowd was silenced upon being made to witness one of them screaming.
"Too violent, tcheh!" Supervisor Lang made a sour expression.
Zhang Shi's countenance remained the same.
"If you don't want to be next in line to follow her, better scamper off here," he said to Xuhan in a grave tone.
Han Xuhan watched the woman sit up, still shaking from the shock of the injury. She'd probably not die from that slash on her back. But she needed medical attention fast.
Face turning sombre, Han Xuhan loudly, slowly, cleared his throat. And then he said in the exact same tone as Zhang Shi, "if you three don't want to be next in line to follow her, better pay my money and scamper off here."
"Kill him." Zhang Shi ordered immediately, his expression blank.
"No, wait," Han Xuhan spoke before Xiao Wang could take a step forward, stopping him halfway.
"You should add an apology letter as well, alongside the money. Your conducts and ethics truly deserve the heaviest criticism. How can you expect to do business in future if you ruin the reputation of your association like this?"
"...." Zhang Shi cast another blank look at Xiao Wang, who rolled his eyes and sprinted towards Han Xuhan like a hungry predator.
"Kid, when you visit the afterlife, you can boast about dying a hero's death at the hand of a superior cultivator!" Xiao Wang shouted as his knife whistled through the air, driving towards Han Xuhan's left shoulder in an arc beyond Han Xuhan's reach, in a speed beyond his reflexes.
Intense fear gripped his heart as he forced himself to stand still. There was no point in resisting or fighting back. Xiao Wang had to be a rogue cultivator at the middle levels of Physique Transformation realm. He could barely track this man's movement.
The knife halted to stop three inches above his exposed neck.
Xiao Wang's entire body had gone rigid.
A gush of blood sprayed Han Xuhan's clean robe. A thick branch of a tree was poking out from the center of Xiao Wang's chest.
Eyes closed, Han Xuhan sighed.
"I told you lot, we could do this the easy way, or the queasy way. You should have understood the implications when I never bothered to explain what the latter method meant for you."
Shivering uncontrollably, Xiao Wang's body fell down like a log. Han Xuhan bent his body sideways to let the body crash into the hard soil.
Watching life leave someone's eyes was perhaps a harrowing experience for someone unaccustomed to such scenes. So Han Xuhan appreciated the fact that Xiao Wang had fallen face first. It spared his delicate heart a few nights of traumatized dreams.
Zhang Shi and supervisor Lang had frozen in the middle of their motions, eyes wide and face bloodless.
Without emitting a sound, both of them crumpled down on the ground, their eyeballs jerking up, down, and sideways as if they had gone haywire.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The sound of a walking stick hitting rocky soil came from a direction nobody had been looking at till now.
Elder Shen walked out of the dark valley with a gloomy expression.
Han Xuhan had to force himself to swallow a victorious laugh.
The revelation had been astounding to all of them, but what astounded them even more was the following chain of events.
Two unfamiliar men shoved their way forward from within the crowd. Those who noticed them crinkled their brows in confusion.
"And who might you two be?" Han Xuhan said in a surprised tone, although he had already guessed their identities.
Zhang Shi removed the artificial hair, beard, and skin patches he had been wearing on his face. His companion, who Han Xuhan assumed was Supervisor Lang, followed.
Under the faint light of the sunset, Han Xuhan finally recognized both men. And so did their peers.
A collective gasp rose from behind. Whispers, hisses, and aggrieved shouts heated up the atmosphere. It seemed that their fellow workers and associates in this caravan hadn't known the depth of their plans either. Almost everyone had been kept in the dark.
The brawny guy named Wang jeered from the top of the rock.
"Rushing to stop an entire caravan when you haven't even begun cultivating? Boy, you sure are a gutsy one! Did you think we're so dumb that we wouldn't recognize the honorary expulsion medallion? Hahahaha!"
"Xiao Wang, keep your mouth shut!" Supervisor Lang growled.
Zhang Shi, on the other hand, was still focused on the medallion Han Xuhan was clutching. He sighed in relief as if he had just confirmed that Xiao Wang had spoken the truth.
"Young friend, we have no enmity between us. The only reason we haven't sent you back with a few broken limbs is because of the reverence and respect we have for the Crimson Snow sect. Even if you're an expelled disciple, we're still showing you some face and letting you leave unscathed. Don't waste the opportunity...or the consequences will be painful."
Zhang Shi appeared quite articulate for someone so nervous and fidgety.
Han Xuhan nodded solemnly.
"Oh I'm all too ready to leave! But I still haven't gotten the payment that I was here for. I'll leave the moment you hand it over."
Zhang Shi's countenance turned doubtful. Turning towards supervisor Lang, he said what everyone in the vicinity was thinking.
"Is this kid an idiot?"
Supervisor Lang shrugged. "Maybe that's why he got expelled. He's too retarded to cultivate..."
"Well, that sounds like a tragedy I could go without hearing. Look, kid, you're a nobody. And I'm not paying a single spirit stone now that we've left the main territory of the sect-"
"Leader Shi, wouldn't this anger the sect? How could you take such a decision all by yourself?" Shouted the woman who had been incriminated by the mob just a while ago.
"Yeah! We got our safety to consider here! How could you just take all the profit and betray the agreements? Not to mention, you've even hidden the spirit stones we've earned this time!"
Voices of support came from amidst the crowd. But faster came the slash of a knife, drawing the blood of the woman like a gushing, vibrant spring.
She fell to the ground with a scream, writhing in pain.
Xiao Wang sauntered over past her crumpled body. Those near him rushed away in horror and panic as shrieks accompanying the woman's cries rose in the air.
Han Xuhan felt his heart twitch at the sight. His toes dug into the hard soil of the mountainside.
Things were getting out of his hand...
The crowd was silenced upon being made to witness one of them screaming.
"Too violent, tcheh!" Supervisor Lang made a sour expression.
Zhang Shi's countenance remained the same.
"If you don't want to be next in line to follow her, better scamper off here," he said to Xuhan in a grave tone.
Han Xuhan watched the woman sit up, still shaking from the shock of the injury. She'd probably not die from that slash on her back. But she needed medical attention fast.
Face turning sombre, Han Xuhan loudly, slowly, cleared his throat. And then he said in the exact same tone as Zhang Shi, "if you three don't want to be next in line to follow her, better pay my money and scamper off here."
"Kill him." Zhang Shi ordered immediately, his expression blank.
"No, wait," Han Xuhan spoke before Xiao Wang could take a step forward, stopping him halfway.
"You should add an apology letter as well, alongside the money. Your conducts and ethics truly deserve the heaviest criticism. How can you expect to do business in future if you ruin the reputation of your association like this?"
"...." Zhang Shi cast another blank look at Xiao Wang, who rolled his eyes and sprinted towards Han Xuhan like a hungry predator.
"Kid, when you visit the afterlife, you can boast about dying a hero's death at the hand of a superior cultivator!" Xiao Wang shouted as his knife whistled through the air, driving towards Han Xuhan's left shoulder in an arc beyond Han Xuhan's reach, in a speed beyond his reflexes.
Intense fear gripped his heart as he forced himself to stand still. There was no point in resisting or fighting back. Xiao Wang had to be a rogue cultivator at the middle levels of Physique Transformation realm. He could barely track this man's movement.
The knife halted to stop three inches above his exposed neck.
Xiao Wang's entire body had gone rigid.
A gush of blood sprayed Han Xuhan's clean robe. A thick branch of a tree was poking out from the center of Xiao Wang's chest.
Eyes closed, Han Xuhan sighed.
"I told you lot, we could do this the easy way, or the queasy way. You should have understood the implications when I never bothered to explain what the latter method meant for you."
Shivering uncontrollably, Xiao Wang's body fell down like a log. Han Xuhan bent his body sideways to let the body crash into the hard soil.
Watching life leave someone's eyes was perhaps a harrowing experience for someone unaccustomed to such scenes. So Han Xuhan appreciated the fact that Xiao Wang had fallen face first. It spared his delicate heart a few nights of traumatized dreams.
Zhang Shi and supervisor Lang had frozen in the middle of their motions, eyes wide and face bloodless.
Without emitting a sound, both of them crumpled down on the ground, their eyeballs jerking up, down, and sideways as if they had gone haywire.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The sound of a walking stick hitting rocky soil came from a direction nobody had been looking at till now.
Elder Shen walked out of the dark valley with a gloomy expression.
Han Xuhan had to force himself to swallow a victorious laugh.
