A Chaotic World

Chapter 16: Familiar Faces

The South Gate opened ever so slightly, allowing a horse carriage to exit silently while illuminating the path ahead with burning torches. Upon the well-lit road, the horse carriage was able to quickly advance through the forest, speeding away from Ivory Rock City.

But at the same time, these torches also served as a signalling beacon, making the horse carriage all that much easier to spot in the dark forest.

In the wilds, this was actually quite a dangerous course of action.

However, they had no better option.

One way or another, they had to get to the rendezvous point to hand over the sacrifice. If there was something of consolation, it would be that the prescribed route had been proven to be relatively safe from dangerous beasts.

Relatively safe did not mean that they would never suffer any attacks from wild beasts, but of course they would prefer not to think along those lines.

Not wanting to share the main trail with the horse carriage lest he was discovered, Lu Tianzi shuttled through the trees as he stealthily followed along.

As an Advanced Essence Building realm martial artist, he was already more than capable of matching the speed of an ordinary horse carriage.

As time passed, Lu Tianzi began to feel thankful that up till now, everything was happening just as he had expected. The horse carriage had exited from the South Gate which he was watching over, and it was also heading straight towards the previous spot where his cage had been abandoned.

Sweeping his perception over the carriage, Lu Tianzi's expression turned cold. Seated at the front were two familiar faces. They were the same two servants from the City Hall Manor who had been driving his carriage just around a week ago.

One of them was a non martial artist, while the other was at the Primary Essence Building realm. As servants of the City Lord Manor, their cultivation realms were truly nothing to be proud of.

As expected, Yan Bingren was lying motionlessly in the wooden cage that was being driven by the horses. The wooden cage was intact though, proving that it was not the same one that Lu Tianzi had cut open previously.

Just how many of these cages were those despicable people keeping within the City Lord Manor?

Now was not time to think about such matters, so Lu Tianzi quickly pushed that thought to the back of his head.

The best case scenario would be that just like in his case, the servants would leave the cage alone for a while before the demons arrived. If that were to really happen, with his prior experience, Lu Tianzi was confident that he would be able to rescue Yan Bingren within a matter of seconds.

Wait! Just wait a damn minute!

A sudden thought of realisation dawned upon Lu Tianzi which made him slap his own forehead in disbelief.

What was he thinking?

Why did he have to wait for the servants to reach the spot before rescuing Yan Bingren?

They were a mere non martial artist and Primary Essence Building realm martial artist pair!

As long as the horse carriage had gotten far enough from the Ivory Rock City, he could just directly get rid of the servants and rescue Yan Bingren!

This way, the defenceless Yan Bingren would not be exposed to the dangers posed by the demons. At the same time, he could even take his revenge on those two bastards who had been personally delivering sacrifices to the demons!

Lu Tianzi turned to look behind him.

Through the thick canopy, he was finally no longer able to see the light from Ivory Rock City.

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It was time!

Lu Tianzi immediately charged out of the trees. With a powerful leap, he landed heavily on the top of the wooden cage, looking down at the two servants in disdain.

The two servants were not deaf.

In the silent forest, every single sound would be amplified, not to mention the deliberate hard landing onto the wooden cage right behind them!

The two of them immediately jumped up in fright, turning around simultaneously to check out what was going on.

When they caught sight of the figure above the wooden cage, both of them felt their minds went blank. It was as though the heavens had come crashing down!

"Y-you!"

"This iswhatimpossible!"

Lu Tianzi had finally removed the cloth that had been wrapped tightly around his head to cover one of his eyes, and his face was now on full display. The burning torches were strong enough to light up the path before the carriage, so at the same time, they were naturally sufficient to clearly illuminate Lu Tianzi's face.

His every feature, from his arching eyebrows to his cold eyes, all of it was clearly exhibited under the bright light.

"Looks like you remember me!" Lu Tianzi snorted. "That is a surprise, considering that you two already managed to forget what it is like to be human!"

Hearing his voice was like the final nail in the coffin for the two servants, whose knees immediately buckled in fear. Both of them fell weakly into their carriage seats, their eyes still in disbelief.

"How? How can you be here?"

"Dead men need no answers," Lu Tianzi brandished his sword immediately.

"Wait! Lu Tianzi, no, Sir Lu! Don't kill us! We are innocent!"

"Innocent?" Lu Tianzi scoffed. "At this juncture, you still dare to tell me that you two are innocent?"

"It's true! City Lord Hu has-"

"City Lord Hu?" Lu Tianzi interrupted him with a frown.

"No, no, I mean Hu Yuanbo! Hu Yuanbo has been threatening us with the lives of our families! If we do not listen to his orders, then he will kill them all!" the servant continued to plead.

"Even if he did, so what? Are your family members worth that much more than the talents of the Ivory Rock Martial Academy? Are your family members worth that much more than me?!" Lu Tianzi's rage could be heard from his tone.

At this point, the two servants really felt like dying!

When the demons sent a message claiming that they had not received the sacrifice, and even their men were missing, City Lord Hu had doubted the authenticity of their words.

There was definitely the possibility that a powerful wild beast had come by and killed off the demons, but what were the chances?

City Lord Hu had no doubt that it was just trickery of the greedy demons, trying to receive a second sacrifice.

However, he had no choice but to relent, quickly deciding on a second sacrifice.

After all, things would not end well if they angered the demon leader.

In any case, there were quite a few martial artists within the city who were at Intermediate Essence Building realm. Finding one to convert into a 'Holy Guardian' would not be too difficult a task. On the contrary, they would be vying for the opportunity to sacrifice for the city!

After receiving their instructions, the servants had agreed with City Lord Hu's reasoning as well. However, from the looks of things, the demons were actually being honest!

They truly did not receive the sacrifice!

This Lu Tianzi actually managed to escape, accomplishing what everyone else considered as impossible!

"This is the first time we did such a thing! We are only here again because the demons demanded a replacement for Sir Lu!"

"That's right! Before this, we knew nothing of this matter!"

"Are you speaking the truth?" Lu Tianzi asked frowned.

"Yes, yes! We dare not lie to Sir Lu!"

"He is right! It is all Hu Yuanbo's fault!"

"Then other than having the demons not attack Ivory Rock City, what else does Hu Yuanbo get out of this deal?" Lu Tianzi questioned.

Seeing that Lu Tianzi seemed to be beginning to soften his stance, the two servants dared not do anything that would jeopardise their chances of survival.

Since both of them had a lower cultivation realm than Lu Tianzi, they were unable to see through his current cultivation realm. Therefore, they still believe that Lu Tianzi was still at the Intermediate Essence Building realm.

But even so, both of them working together would definitely not be his match!

Since that was the case, they might as well tell him whatever he needed to know. After all, their lives were more important than anything else!

As long as they managed to safely return to Ivory Rock City, they could immediately report this matter to City Lord Hu. With City Lord Hu's overwhelming strength, not to mention one Lu Tianzi, even taking care of ten Lu Tianzis would be as easy as crushing an ant!

"On top of that, the demons would also provide an Essence Stone in exchange!"

"They will even provide an Essence Stone in exchange?" Lu Tianzi was astonished.

Then again, even though Essences Stones were extremely precious to human martial artists, their value would drop considerably in the hands of the demons. After all, demons could not rely on Essence Stones for cultivation.

So it was not surprising that the demons did not care much about giving away these Essence Stones. That also explained why one of the demons he killed before was holding onto an Essence Stone when it did not benefit demons much.

So it was part of the deal.

However, the demons must have known that Essence Stones could help the humans nurture future martial artists, so why would they risk such a thing?

Were they not afraid that the humans in Ivory Rock City would grow stronger than them?

No, it was because the Essence Stones could help Ivory Rock City nurture future martial artists that the demons were willing to provide the Essence Stones!

So that Ivory Rock City could continue to provide a steady supply of martial artists as sacrifices!

"That's right. These Essence Stones are the same as the ones in Ivory Rock Martial Academy. I am sure Sir Lu has seen one before!" the servant explained.

"I know what it is! Other than you two and Hu Yuanbo, who else knows about this?" Lu Tianzi demanded once again.

"Nobody! There is nobody who knows! Not even Hu Yuanbo's son does!" the servant denied vehemently.

"Don't lie to me!" Lu Tianzi pointed his sword tip straight to his forehead.

"It is true! It really is true! Or at least we don't know who actually knows! We are just servants so Hu Yuanbo does not tell us everything!" the other servant quickly intervened.

"One last thing then, are you heading to the same spot that you dropped me off previously?" Lu Tianzi asked.

"Sir Lu is wise! We are indeed going to the exact same point!"

"Well then, keep your eyes on the road and bring me there!" Lu Tianzi instructed.

"What? Sir Lu still wants to go?" the servant was stumped for a moment.

Throughout this whole conversation, the horses had never stopped. One of the reasons why they had tried to go through with this conversation instead of just denying everything was also to buy time.

Once the horse carriage arrived at its destination, then the demons could get to them at any time. The servants believed that when the demons arrived, even Lu Tianzi with his cultivation at Intermediate Essence Building realm would not have the strength to resist!

For Lu Tianzi, going to the meeting point right now was nothing but suicidal!

They did not know what was going through his head, but of course they would not care so much about that. Even though the other party was strong, he was after all just a 15 year old kid.

Were they even capable of logical thinking at that age?

"Just go when I tell you to. Don't ask so many questions!" Lu Tianzi demanded.

"Yes! We will get to it!" the servants quickly settled back in their seats

They immediately started to whip the horses, wanting to gain as much speed as possible. Their eyes shone with a bright luster at this moment.

This light in their eyes was one that came from hope!

When Lu Tianzi arrived, they were sure that they had come to the end of their lives. But now, they could finally see the light at the end of dark tunnel!

Even though this light would come from the demons that they had always despised, it was currently their only lifeline.

Having no other choice, they would naturally look forward to it!

The carriage rocked heavily as the speed of the horse carriage increased. These servants who had their eyes glued onto the road ahead felt their entire body bob violently as the carriage sped across the uneven trail.

But was it just their imagination?

Why did the rocking of the carriage seem to have stopped?

Had the ground always seemed this far away?

Why were their visions turning towards the ground?

Wait, were those not their own bodies?

Why was there nothing attached to their necks?

Even at their last moments, the two servants were unable to register what had truly happened.

Lu Tianzi's blade was simply too fast, too silent, and having come from their defenceless backs, too unnoticeable.

With a single swing of his sword, Lu Tianzi had decapitated both of them so swiftly that they were unable to even feel the pain set in before they entered eternal sleep.