Chapter 40: MingHao's Decision
But they couldn't fight back since the chains binding them were made with a special formation that prevented them from using any Qi.
MingHao started walking slowly toward them; when he got close, he froze again.
Seeing his cousins' expressions filled with fear, tears, and snot, his heart began to falter.
They started begging him to spare them.
"Don't kill us, please. No matter what, we are still family."
"Yeah, we will sign a slave contract. Just spare us."
"We will be more useful to you if you let us live."
MingHao turned his gaze to his sister, but MingYue didn't move, only sternly glaring at him.
He sighed, knowing that meant his sister wouldn't compromise.
In MingYue's eyes, they were just useless; they had too much ego, to the point they couldn't even use their brains correctly.
Even with a slave contract, the normal commoner was more useful than they were.
Their best use now was to give her little brother real-life experience.
Seeing MingHao still hesitate, MingYue spoke again with a stern tone, "MingHao!"
MingHao's body shook again; he then looked at the surroundings. ZanLu just nodded, giving some encouragement to go for it, but the rest of the commoners only watched with glee, as if they were watching a show.
Some even looked at his cousin with hatred. He could see no one would ask to spare his cousin.
"MingHao, do you forget we played together before? Spare me!"
"If you let me live, I could warm your bed at night; we are far cousins, so that should be alright," said one of the attractive women in the group.
The memories of the past started surfacing in his mind; in the past, although they hadn't played often, he had a good relationship with them since they always praised him to the sky.
But after his mother's actions, everything changed.
They always bullied him every chance they got. Remembering the cursing words made his grip on the sword tighten.
The words that hurt him the most were how they cursed his family. And now that their lives were in his hands, they started begging like crazy.
MingHao then realized how ugly their hearts were.
Then a melodious voice reached his ear, "Brat, not everyone is like that. There are many types of people in this world; some are trash like them, and some aren't.
But that's not really important.
Are you a saint? You're a cultivator.
I'm not telling you to kill everyone on your path, but those that pose a threat, kill them without mercy."
MingHao knew his sister was right; the path of cultivation was harsh. His uncle had also told him this many times before.
MingHao closed his eyes and moved his qi to shut his ears.
But another voice carried by Qi reached his ears, "Do that, then this is pointless. You might as well spare them and stay here.
You can treat them however you like then. I won't judge you."
He opened his eyes again; this time, his amber eyes flickered with determination.
Staying here and lazing around with his cousin as his slave?
That might sound appealing to some people, but not for MingHao.
He wanted to get stronger and help his sister and family.
When they had attacked the mansion before, they had searched every room, even the basement, but his father was nowhere to be seen, not even the corpse.
MingHao understood that something serious must have happened for them to take such drastic action, even drawing ire from their own daughter.
SLASH!
The sword in his hand moved through the air, cutting one of his cousin's necks. Blood spurted out, turning the other cousins crazy.
Some begged even more, saying nonsensical stuff that MingHao turned a deaf ear to.
Others started cursing at him, but MingHao didn't stop for a moment.
Slash! SLASH! SLASH!
Blood poured like rain while a feeling of repulsion started gnawing at his heart.
MingHao did his best to hold everything in. He knew if he didn't, MingYue would berate him.
The screams, pleas, and curses turned silent, but they were soon replaced by cheers and claps, which made MingHao's repulsion grow even more.
Seeing MingHao's pale face, MingYue walked toward him and ruffled his hair. "You did good. Go take a break."
MingHao nodded and quickly escaped, leaving the area.
He returned to the mansion, reaching the garden behind his old place.
Under a tree he used to play in the past, MingHao started throwing up, and tears flowed down his cheeks.
The faces of the people he had just killed kept appearing in his mind. This made him throw up even more.
Meanwhile, MingYue was now touching the protection array as Vesa analyzed it.
'MingYue, is it wise to leave MingHao alone? He is still a child,' FengXue communicated in her mind.
'For a ghost that wants to take over my body, you are quite a worrywart,' MingYue replied.
'That's different. You came for my treasure; you were prepared for the risks. But MingHao is just a child.'
'A child, a teenager, an adult, do you think that matters in the cultivation world?
He chose this path; there's no turning back.
And you should know this better than anyone else. Aren't you just left with only your soul now?'
FengXue became silent for a few breaths, then asked, 'When can you get a body for me?'
'You should know I've already prepared a good one for you. Just wait.' MingYue's lips curled into a cold smile.
[Queen, it's done. You should be able to enter now. But there is no one inside here.]
"Tch, I knew it," MingYue clicked her tongue in annoyance.
She then turned her gaze to ZanLu. "Keep the city on lockdown, then prepare the people to go with us."
"Yes, miss. Anything else?" ZanLu asked.
"How about the one I asked you to prepare? Is it ready?"
ZanLu nodded. "Everything is prepared; we are just waiting for your order."