XIAO SHUXIANG'S
289 - Semilir Air Village
In the Middle Sky Empire, many villages were remote and far from the hustle of the city. One of them was the village that Xiao Shuxiang and his friends had headed to, Semilir Air Village.
At first the village was calm and beautiful, but all changed when a band of robbers came and ravaged the village.
They killed every man and child, took livestock and valuables, abused women and killed them, then destroyed every house.
It took only three days, the beautiful village had turned into a dead village and was filled with corpses and the smell of blood.
Xiao Shuxiang and his companions who were still within 10 meters of Semilir Water Village gasped when they smelled a familiar smell to their noses. Soon Xiao Shuxiang and Hu Li were racing their horses faster.
Xiao Qing Yan also sensed it, he was on one horse with Xiao Shuxiang. He felt that he would soon encounter something unexpected again.
In addition to the heartbeat of this long-haired young man, Xiao Qing Yan also heard a voice from the clattering of horse legs. It didn't take long until he and his friends entered Semilir Air Village, the sky back then had been filled with thousands of stars and illuminated by moonlight.
!!
"Young Master Xiao.." Hu Li was shocked to see the condition of the village being badly damaged. On a cold enough night, not even the sound of insects was heard by him, this village was clearly a dead village.
"Come, Hu Li. We're gonna find a way out,"
The horse that Xiao Shuxiang was riding slowly, he also felt surprised to see the condition of the village he entered.. But he could not do anything, because from what was seen, there were no more humans living in this place.
"Young Master Xiao, we better bury their corpses. These humans will become evil spirits if not properly buried" Hu Li advised. He said for Xiao Shuxiang to follow the Heaven Sword Sect Rules that Lan Guan Zhi had painstakingly written.
"Hu Li, we don't have time to take care of these bodies. Besides I'm not a good person either, burying them is of no use to me,"
"Young Master, don't you want to change for good? It's also a form of kindness, sir."
Xiao Shuxiang still refused, compared to burying.. He preferred to burn all the bodies along with the rubble of the building with his blue fire, but Hu Li did not allow it.
As he was continuing on his way, Hu Li and Xiao Shuxiang faintly heard moans. They stopped immediately to focus their hearing.
Xiao Qing Yan flinched when his horse suddenly stopped, he then turned his head and looked at Xiao Shuxiang who was expressing so seriously.
!!
"Young Master Xiao?"
"I heard it too Hu Li. Looks like there are still humans living in this village,"
Xiao Shuxiang immediately descended from his horse, followed by Xiao Qing Yan. Hu Li also did the same, he still appeared to be holding O Zhan in his left hand.
"Young Master, we'd better split up to find the origin of the sound,"
"Mn, okay. You and the Black Cat go together, I'll walk alone. The horses leave it here, they won't run,"
?!
Xiao Qing Yan gasped at Xiao Shuxiang's remark, he snorted and then protested for being instead called 'Black Cat'. "I have a name tofu..!"
"Whatever, I don't care.."
Xiao Shuxiang stepped away without feeling guilty at all, Elder Da Lin's descendant clenched his hand tightly while cursing at the red-clothed youth who had already gone away.
He then invited Hu Li who had just finished tying the rope on their horse, "I was very upset with him. He's a shitty guy,"
Hu Li smiled faintly, "My master is indeed like that, but he is actually a good young man. Just sometimes he's a little naughty,"
Xiao Qing Yan shook his head slowly, himself walking with Hu Li and inspecting the buildings that had become rubble one by one, hoping that they would find someone still alive in this place.
Although the moon seems to shine, but tonight is not a full moon. Hence Xiao Qing Yan still needed the light, thank God Hu Li's Fox Fire was reliable.
Elsewhere, Xiao Shuxiang also took out his little Blue Flame as a path light. He occasionally called the residents of Semilir Air Village, if there are still survivors.. They will make any sound so they can be found.
It took quite a while to search, but Xiao Shuxiang only found human corpses that were in a miserable condition. "Is that voice just my feeling? But Hu Li also heard it, aiih.. How's this.."
Xiao Shuxiang took a deep breath and then exhaled. He resumed his steps and occasionally lifted the rubble of the building.
"Excuse me..! Is there anyone here..?!"
There was no answer from Xiao Shuxiang's call. He shook his head while clucking softly, he then noticed a human corpse whose body and face were dark purple, the corpse gave off a foul scent and looked long dead.
Increasingly, he found the body of a woman whose face condition had been shrouded by caterpillars. One blink of an eye, the little Blue Flame hovering beside Xiao Shuxiang immediately shot up and burned the corpse.
In just seven breaths, the woman's corpse had become ashes. The Blue Flame of Xiao Shuxiang returned to be the light of his path.
"From what I've seen, this village is nothing like being attacked by wild animals. Even as if this place had been attacked by a group of people. Perhaps a cultivator of the Black Stream, what do you think?"
His little Blue Fire seemed to be floating up and down, as if it was answering his question just now.
"Mn, it's also possible that pirates. Let's go over there, we'll be gone when we don't find anything."
The little Blue Flame Xiao Shuxiang was back drifting up and down, he clearly understood the intent of this Master.
When noted more clearly, Blue Fire Xiao Shuxiang has a shape like a ball the size of a fist of a 2-year-old child, has four tongues of fire with two of them are larger, a little like a pair of horns.
Of the ten flames belonging to Xiao Shuxiang, one of them had purple lightning, and the other one was golden yellow. While others are as blue as the sky, and sometimes turn as blue as the sea.
More accurately, there was a white core of fire. The core is shaped like a small ghost with a head, two hands without fingers, and a body without a pair of legs, it does not look creepy at all. This is because the core does not have a face and is just a white color.
["Tabulous.."]
!!
"Little friend, did you hear that?"
Xiao Shuxiang's blue flames floated up and down as a signal that he also heard it. He then darted quickly towards the sound followed by Xiao Shuxiang.
["Tabulous.."]
The sound that is heard is becoming clearer. Xiao Shuxiang saw his blue flame enter a house whose roof had a large hole, but still stood firm.
!!
He gasped when he saw a woman dressed in blackish brown who was lying on the ground with blood flowing on her forehead.
The most jolted was the woman in front of him was in a condition of pregnancy, and the estimated content was eight months.
"Mistress,"
["Please.."]
The woman's voice was very weak, she spewed blood on her mouth, her gaze blurry but she could hear the voice of a young man.
Xiao Shuxiang slowly examined the condition of this woman, he was surprised to learn that the entire bone of the woman before him had been shattered.
This woman should have died, yet she seemed to have a high life desire. The dark red-haired madam before him used the rest of his strength to stay afloat.
["Se.. Salvage.. My baby.."]
Xiao Shuxiang frowned, "I don't understand your language, Madam. Try to breathe carefully,"
["Save.. My babies.. Please.."]
The woman held onto Xiao Shuxiang's right hand, she then pointed the hand of the young man whose face was not clearly visible towards her stomach. At the same time as his last words.. He also took lives.
!!
Xiao Shuxiang was surprised that this woman could move her hands even though her bones had been shattered. Her own little blue flame was unable to save the woman's life because her condition was already too severe.
It was impossible for Xiao Shuxiang to wear the Dragon Breath Pill because while examining the body of the woman before him, and when she heard this woman's voice.. He discovered that the dark red-haired woman's breath was no longer there.
The only thing that kept this long haired woman talking was because of her Soul Fire and her strong desire to stay afloat for her baby savior to come.
"Young Master Xiao? Did you find it?!"
!!
Xiao Shuxiang was shocked when he heard the exclamation from Hu Li, his companion came along with Xiao Qing Yan.
"I found her, but this woman just died.." Xiao Shuxiang exhaled softly, he noticed Xiao Qing Yan and Hu Li who seemed to be jolted at the condition of the woman who had lost her life.
".. This lady had said something to me, but I didn't understand the language she used.."
Xiao Shuxiang's right hand was still in the belly of the dark red-haired woman's corpse, the next second Xiao Shuxiang's eyes rounded when he felt something move in the belly of the corpse in front of him.
!!
"Don't mean this Mistress...?!"
"This lady held my hand and pointed it at the abdomen. Not wrong, she asked me to save the baby.."
Xiao Shuxiang was flowing Qi on his two fingers. The blue Qi flow seemed to sharpen, carefully the two fingers began to split the belly of the female corpse in front of him.
!!
Xiao Qing Yan was surprised instead of playing when he saw that there was a moving creature inside the belly of the female corpse that Xiao Shuxiang had cut open. "He's alive?!"
!!
Hu Li was shocked to hear the 10-year-old boy's cry beside her. The expression on the face of this child looks pale and very clear his body looks trembling.
After cutting the baby's umbilical cord.. Xiao Shuxiang started to raise it slowly and then turned around as he had heard the cry of Elder Da Lin's descendant.
"W-how can there be a ma-living thing in her stomach?!"
!!
Xiao Shuxiang blinked a few times before starting to realize the condition that had happened to Xiao Qing Yan. Elder Da Lin's descendant did have a good memory, but it seemed like this child had forgotten that he himself had once been inside a woman's stomach.
"Well, of course you can. Just so you know, these creatures only live in the bodies of women.."
Xiao Shuxiang's voice sounded frightening, and it seemed like it worked on Xiao Qing Yan. The child's face was paler than usual.
"Young Master Xiao, you don't scare him,"
"Hu Li, what I said is true. When girls grow up.. This thing's gonna live in his stomach,"
Xiao Qing Yan had an older age than he looked, but his knowledge of the world was still too minimal.
"That means.."
"Right, you're a girl, right? Someday, this thing's gonna live in your stomach,"
!!
Hu Li flinched, she immediately reprimanded her Young Master and gave a warning so that her Master could keep a good say.
Xiao Qing Yan had trouble swallowing saliva, he rubbed the sweat point on his forehead while thinking about how a living thing could grow inside a female stomach.
Xiao Shuxiang realized what the child in front of him was thinking, he then smiled strangely and then spoke again.
"Do you want to know how a creature like this exists in a woman's body?
!
Hu Li's feeling became uneasy upon hearing Xiao Shuxiang's remark, he was about to give his Master a warning, but it was too late. Xiao Shuxiang could not be stopped.
".. When I was little, an Old Bangka once told me that if a man and a woman held hands, then the woman would give birth to a creature like this,"
!!
Xiao Qing Yan immediately looked at both of his hands, he responded to the remark of the red-clothed young man in front of him seriously.
"I've held a lot of men's hands all this time, am I going to.."
"Miss Qing Yan, that's all not true. Holding hands will not make you contain living beings. Young Master Xiao lied to you,"
Xiao Shuxiang snorted, "I'm not lying at all. I was told that when I was a kid. Starting from holding hands, then penetrating to 'rounding', then ending with-"
"Young Master Xiao, this is not a good time to discuss that. Don't pollute Miss Qing Yan's mind with your story,"
Xiao Shuxiang started walking out and said that it was precisely because Xiao Qing Yan was an innocent child that he should know about it. This is to prevent himself from being used by men.
Xiao Shuxiang's little blue flame burned the corpse of the red-haired woman who had asked Xiao Shuxiang for help earlier. After the body turned to ashes.. The blue flame caught up with its Master.
The baby held by Xiao Shuxiang had never cried even as she cleaned the baby in the nearby river.
Xiao Qing Yan was still curious as to why Xiao Shuxiang had even cleaned up the creature that he believed had killed the woman earlier.
"Why do you still let the creature live? He should be finished off,"
Xiao Qing Yan could not bear to see it, to be honest he was horrified. Worry if the creature attacks suddenly.
"Where might that happen. The baby won't be able to attack you,"
Hu Li was forced to explain what he knew about how living things were inside the woman's stomach, of course there were some things he had to keep secret.
Xiao Shuxiang himself seemed to stumble over a smile and asked several questions that made Hu Li flabby.
He then went back to seriously cleaning the baby in his cradle and enveloped the baby with a cloth that he took out from inside his Semestal Bracelet.
"Hu Li, hold this. I need to clean up, too,"
Hu Li put O Zhan on his head, he then carried the baby that his Young Master Xiao had given him.
He then took Xiao Qing Yan to the place where their horse was, himself feeling puzzled because the baby she was carrying was completely quiet.
It took him fifteen minutes until Xiao Shuxiang came in a dry and clean red outfit. In that long time.. The baby Hu Li held had not cried yet.
"Young Master Xiao, this seems bad. I checked the baby's internal organs and found nothing strange, but he didn't want to cry at all,"
Xiao Shuxiang frowned, he then watched closely the baby face Hu Li held in his arms.
The baby is male, he looks closed his eyes and appears to be asleep. His thin hair was a blackish red, and there was a birthmark on his left neck.
"Let's mess up his blood flow, maybe he could cry,"
Hu Li nodded, then passed her Qi on the baby's body. Her Young Master could not do this because the baby's body was too span and would likely even explode if it was fed with her Master's Qi.
!!
Hu Li flinched when suddenly the look on the baby's face began to pale with lips that began to turn blue. He retracted his Qi and immediately explained that the baby he was carrying was in a critical condition.
".. He was okay before. Young Master, how is this?"
Xiao Shuxiang also gasped, "This baby was born prematurely. She was just like the woman earlier, having a great desire to live,"
Xiao Shuxiang let out a single flame that turned out to be his golden-yellow Fire. His little friend immediately entered the body of the unnamed baby and lay right in his stomach.
"Let's continue the journey. Wait, where's the Black Cat?"
"Miss Qing Yan was here, where did she go?"
"Dare to call me that again, I'll cut your 'digest',"
!!
Xiao Shuxiang turned to one of the houses whose roof had suffered a lot of damage. He found Elder Da Lin's descendant standing on the roof of the house with a cold gaze towards him.
"What are you doing up there? Let's get down, we gotta get going."
Xiao Qing Yan jumped down from the roof, he was seen putting on a dislike expression on Xiao Shuxiang. He climbed on the back of one of the horses.
"I don't want to ride a horse with you. Hu Li, you come with me,"
Xiao Shuxiang snorted, "Don't tell me you're afraid of me for hearing Hu Li's story? It's up to you, I don't want to argue. But you need to know, Hu Li is also a man like me,"
Xiao Shuxiang took over the baby Hu Li was carrying, jumped up and landed gracefully on the back of one of the horses.
He and his friends went back on their way, this time at a slightly slower pace. The horse they ride is the best horse and can go all day.
In about half an hour, Xiao Shuxiang and his companions had entered the Forest of Silent Land, this was because the forest was indeed not far from Semilir Air Village.
Just like the name suggests, there is no sound in this forest. Xiao Shuxiang did not even hear the sound of the wind or the insects of the night, not even the roar of his horse made any sound like before.
"Now that I understand the intent of the word 'Silent Land'," Xiao Shuxiang muttered, he asked Hu Li and Xiao Qing Yan to be careful and always vigilant. "A forest like this is very suitable for criminals,"
Hu Li nodded in agreement, he had actually started to feel strange upon entering this forest. "In addition to the fact that no sound was heard, the Qi in this place also did not exist,"
"There really is, Hu Li. It was just that the Qi in this place could not be absorbed directly. Lord Kong Wu said the conditions of the Central Continent are very favorable for warriors who are unable to cultivate, obviously we will be harmed in this place.."
The horse carrying Xiao Shuxiang and his companions continued walking. They seemed to be unconsciously being watched by some people who were dressed all in black.
***
