“Big Brother,” Xu Liang said, his voice thick with emotion. “We’re sorry for leaving the inn. It’s just that-”

  Yue Xing cut him off with a gesture.

  “Not now,” he said in a firm tone. “We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to escape.” His heart softened at Xu Liang’s tear-streaked face. “All that matters is that you’re unharmed.”

  Yue Xing crouched down.

  “Now,” he said. “If we’re going to escape, I need you three to be brave. You can’t cry or make a sound. I know it’ll be difficult, but I believe in you.”

  It was difficult enough to hide from Li Zhanhao’s soul sense. If the children cried or made a sound, then that increased their chances of getting caught. Fighting their way out of the Blood Wolf Gang’s hideout was suicide, so he wanted to avoid that if possible.

  The children nodded, trying to hold back their sobs and tears. Xu Liang and Xu Shu managed it with great difficulty. Xu Zhen, on the other hand, kept crying. Yue Xing felt frustrated, but he couldn’t blame the child for crying in a scary situation. He pulled Xu Zhen into his arms.

  “Shh,” he said in a soothing tone. “Everything is going to be alright. Big Brother is here.”

  Yue Xing spent the next few moments coaxing and comforting the crying child. It worked. After a while, Xu Zhen stopped crying and looked at Yue Xing, before burying his face into Yue Xing’s chest. It appeared that Yue Xing wouldn’t be able to put the little boy down.

  In fact, perhaps it was for the best if he carried all of the children. They could move faster that way. Yue Xing placed barrier talismans on all four of them, as well as a Swift Wind movement talisman on himself, marking all five with his soul sense. That way, he could activate them with a thought. Afterwards, he placed Xu Liang on his shoulders and held Xu Shu in his other arm.

  With the children in hand, Yue Xing left the bedroom. They had lingered here long enough. The longer they stayed, the higher their chances of discovery. Not only did they have to worry about members of the Blood Wolf Gang showing up, but they also had to worry about Li Zhanhao.

  Right now, the man was celebrating in the main hall’s central room. However, if he searched his bedroom with his soul sense, he’d noticed his dead subordinates right away.

  Yue Xing wrapped himself and the children with his soul sense, before hurrying away. While he still stuck to the shadows to avoid detection, he moved faster than before. Speed took priority.

  A few minutes later, Yue Xing escaped the main hall with the children in tow, his heart in his throat the entire time. There had been a few close calls, but their luck held. Thankfully, with the celebration going on, the Blood Wolf Gang were less vigilant. Otherwise, he feared they would’ve been caught already.

  Unfortunately, their luck failed just as Yue Xing and the children reached the crumbling wall of the ruined estate.

  “What kind of rat dares to sneak into my home and kill my people?!” Li Zhanhao roared, his voice as loud as thunder.

  Without hesitation, Yue Xing activated the explosive talismans he had planted earlier. A series of explosions rang out, destroying the main hall and setting it ablaze. The Blood Wolf Gang, caught off guard, failed to react.

  Yue Xing took advantage of this and fled from the ruined estate. He activated the Swift Wind talisman to give himself a boost in speed, as well as the barrier talismans.

  Chaos reigned for the next several moments as the Blood Wolf Gang ran around like a flock of headless chickens. Some fled from the now-destroyed main hall, while others rushed in to try and put out the blaze. A few drew their weapons.

  “What’s going on?!”

  “We’re under attack!”

  “Where are the enemies?”

  Yue Xing made it a fair distance away from the ruined estate, weaving his way through the small forest that filled the valley. However, it wasn’t long before he felt Li Zhanhao soul sense search the entire valley, before focusing on him and the children.

  The pressure from an early Foundation Establishment cultivator bore down on him, causing him to stumble. Somehow he remained on his feet.

  Yue Xing grimaced. His distraction had failed. Li Zhanhao had found them.

  “There you are, you little rat!”

  Yue Xing used his own soul sense to protect himself and the children from Li Zhanhao’s pressure, forsaking stealth for defense. It worked. The pressure eased, allowing him to keep fleeing.

  “You have some skill after all, rat! However, it’s not enough!”

  Li Zhanhao’s presence drew closer as he flew towards them. Without hesitation, Yue Xing put down Xu Shu and Xu Zhen, before turning to face their foe. The man reached them within seconds. Yue Xing took every single attack talisman in his storage pouch and launched them.

  “Prepare to-” Li Zhanhao started to say, before Yue Xing’s barrage interrupted him.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Fireballs, Ice Spikes, Wind Blades, Earth Bullets, etc. All these attacks and more slammed into Li Zhanhao. Individually, none of these counted for much. However, together they managed to overwhelm Li Zhanhao, at least for now. The barrage sent the man flying backwards. Cracking sounds filled the air as Li Zhanhao crashed through dozens of trees.

  Yue Xing picked up the children and continued fleeing. He didn’t know how long it would take Li Zhanhao to recover. However, he needed to reach the trap he set before then. Otherwise, he would die and the children would be sent off to the Blood Lotus Cult.

  Yue Xing refused to let that happen.

  And so, Yue Xing continued to flee from the ruined estate. By some miracle, he managed to reach the edge of the formation surrounding the valley. It was designed to keep people out, not in, so he and the children passed through without issue. They left the warm and verdant valley, and returned to the cold and snow.

  Yue Xing fled towards the small and secluded forest that contained his trap. However, to his dismay, he felt Li Zhanhao heading towards them before he could reach it.

  “I’ll kill you!” the gang leader shouted, his voice reaching the sky.

  Yue Xing placed the children down.

  “Run!” he shouted.

  The children didn’t run, refusing to abandon him.

  “I said run!”

  Yue Xing pushed them away with his spiritual energy, before he turned to run towards his trap. Moments later, Li Zhanhao arrived. He rode atop a flying sword, looking worse for wear. The gang leader formed a series of hand seals and cast a spell.

  A blood-chilling howl rang out as a massive crimson wolf-head formed in the air in front of Li Zhanhao and rushed toward Yue Xing. It opened its mouth wide, as if to engulf him whole.

  Yue Xing took out every remaining barrier talisman in his possession and slapped them on his body, before activating every single one. He also activated the barrier from his defensive artifact. The crimson wolf-head swallowed him whole, snapping its jaws shut. Its teeth pierced through almost every single barrier, until only a few remained.

  The crimson wolf-head opened its mouth to bite again. Yue Xing took advantage of this to escape. Thanks to the speed granted to him by the Swift Wind talisman, he managed to reach his trap before the crimson wolf-head could reach him again.

  Yue Xing activated both the Tortoise Shell formation and the Slaughtering Sword formation. Brown tortoise shells sprang into existence, shielding him from all sides. At the same time, dozens of yellow swords emerged and attacked the crimson wolf-head, shredding it to pieces. The attack also destroyed all of the nearby trees, leaving only stumps.

  After destroying Li Zhanhao’s spell, Yue Xing directed the yellow swords towards the gang leader himself. His only chance of surviving and rescuing the children hinged on him killing Li Zhanhao.

  For a time, it worked. The yellow swords pushed Li Zhanhao back, forcing him to evade them.

  “What a clever little rat!” the gang leader shouted. “However, it won’t be enough! None of your tricks mean anything in the face of absolute power!”

  With that, Li Zhanhao flew right towards Yue Xing, ignoring the yellow swords. They pierced through the gang leader’s defenses. However, the damage they inflicted wasn’t enough to slow him down.

  Li Zhanhao reached the edge of the Tortoise Shell formation and punched it. The formation cracked. Driven by desperation, Yue Xing attacked Li Zhanhao with the Slaughtering Sword Formation.

  It wasn’t enough.

  Li Zhanhao ignored the yellow swords and punched the Tortoise Shell Formation a second time. It held for a less than a second, before shattering. Yue Xing threw up a mouthful of blood as the backlash hit him. The taste of copper and salt coated his tongue.

  Despite the immense pain wracking his body, Yue Xing remained clearheaded. Maybe it was because of his body cultivation, maybe it was his soul cultivation, or maybe it was a combination of both. Regardless, he drew his sword and prepared to face Li Zhanhao.

  The gang leader laughed, before he rushed forward and punched once more, aiming for Yue Xing’s abdomen. His fist shattered Yue Xing’s remaining barriers, including the one from the defensive artifact, and pierced through Yue Xing’s body. Yue Xing’s vision went dark, though he held onto consciousness through sheer grit.

  Unconsciousness meant death. Death meant failing the children. Failing the children meant them falling into the Blood Lotus Cult’s hands.

  No.

  “A brave attempt-” Li Zhanhao started to say, before Yue Xing attacked him once more with the Slaughtering Sword Formation, using the last of the formation’s power.

  All of the yellow swords stabbed into the gang leader, some of them piercing into Yue Xing’s flesh. Li Zhanhao let out a roar of pain. Yue Xing stabbed his own sword into the gang leader’s chest, aiming for the man’s heart.

  For a moment, everything went still. It was as if the world was holding its breath.

  Li Zhanhao stared at Yue Xing in shock, as if he couldn’t believe that a mere Qi Refining weakling managed to push him to this degree. Yue Xing ignored that look and twisted his sword. Li Zhanhao twitched once, before his expression went slack. He slumped forward, leaning against Yue Xing, and fell still.

  He was dead.

  Yue Xing had done it. He had killed the leader of the Blood Wolf Gang.

  Yue Xing stood there for a few moments, with Li Zhanhao’s corpse leaning against him. His vision darkened as unconsciousness threatened to swallow him. With a reserve of strength he didn’t know he had, Yue Xing pushed the dead gang leader off of him.

  This also pulled Li Zhanhao’s fist out of his abdomen. Pain overwhelmed Yue Xing’s mind, pushing out every other thought. For a long time, he knew nothing but pain. After a while, it faded away.

  When Yue Xing came to, he found himself on his knees. Some of his internal organs spilled out from the wound in his abdomen. Blood covered most of his body. Most of it his, some of it Li Zhanhao’s.

  By rights, he should be dead. The only reason he was still alive was because of the Verdant Spring Art. It allowed him to survive what should’ve been a fatal wound. Yue Xing thanked his mother’s foresight.

  Despite this, Yue Xing knew he wasn’t in good condition. His strength was spent, leaving him vulnerable. If the remaining members of the Blood Wolf Gang arrived to avenge their dead leader, he wouldn’t be able to resist them. He needed to get out of here with the children.

  Yue Xing took a bottle of Bodily Restoration Pills and swallowed several of them. The Verdant Spring Art would heal him completely, given enough time. However, time was the one thing he lacked.

  Afterwards, Yue Xing shoved his internal organs back into body, almost passing out from the pain, before forcing himself to his feet. He used his sword as a crutch.

  Find the children and escape.

  Those were his only thoughts.

  Find the children and escape.

  However, before he took more than a few steps, something smashed into the ground nearby. It hit like a meteor slamming into the earth, throwing a cloud of dust into the air. Yue Xing, his mind muddled by pain, hadn’t noticed its approach.

  A voice emerged from the dust cloud.

  “Well, well. What’s this?”

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