Chapter 50 Bloodshed in the Mountain Village

After bidding farewell to Li Da and the others, Lin Xing did not leave directly. Instead, he lingered in the southern city for a while, taking in the scenery of this southern land.

In truth, Lin Xing was not a particularly great person. Hearing of Bage Country's despicable acts, although furious, he did not immediately think of taking action. It was impossible—Lin Xing alone could not stop them!

Even if Lin Xing wanted to wipe out the people of this country, he could not prevent them from going out to commit evil. There were just too many of them, and Lin Xing was just one person. Unless Lin Xing were a god! But Lin Xing was not a god; he was merely human.

Bage Country was located southeast of the Huaxia Empire. It lay directly on the way to the Monster Forest, so Lin Xing planned to see what this so-called country was like. If he found it displeasing, he would not mind unleashing a slaughter.

A few days later...

Lin Xing was in no hurry to travel. He journeyed by day and rested in towns at night. Besides, he was only heading to the Monster Forest; there was no rush. Spending more time on the road also allowed him to better understand the state of the continent.

On this day, as evening fell, Lin Xing was still on the road.

Looking at the sky, Lin Xing couldn't help but feel frustrated: "I must have missed the last town. With no village ahead and no inn behind, will I have to sleep in the wilderness?" Distracted by the scenery along the way, Lin Xing had missed the city.

Then, he smiled self-deprecatingly: "Sleeping in the wilderness—it wasn't like he hadn't done it before in his past life. Now..." Lin Xing felt a bit self-mocking; he had grown too soft in these peaceful times.

After walking for a while, Lin Xing saw what seemed to be a village in the distance. However, it was already evening, and there was no cooking smoke. Lin Xing sensed something was wrong!

The closer he got, the more uneasy Lin Xing felt. This small mountain village was too quiet—there was no sign of life at all. Yes, there was no vitality, only a deathly silence! Could they all be asleep? That was impossible.

A light wind carried a faint scent of blood to Lin Xing. If not for his keen sense of smell, he might not have noticed it.

Lin Xing knew something was wrong and quickened his pace toward the village.

The closer he got, the stronger the smell of blood became. It reeked of massacre!

Finally, he arrived at the entrance of the village. His eyes met several corpses on the road. Lin Xing's bad feeling was confirmed. Had the whole village...? Lin Xing didn't dare to imagine further.

Lin Xing rushed to check the bodies. He saw that they had all been killed with a single, fatal slash, mostly across the throat—a clean, efficient kill.

Lin Xing guessed the killers were professional, clearly well-trained. Could they be from the military? Lin Xing frowned.

Looking at the dead, their faces were frozen in anger. Some clutched their throats, eyes wide open, faces filled with rage, resentment, and... hatred. They had died with their eyes open.

It seemed they'd been cut down without a chance to resist.

A wave of sorrow washed over Lin Xing. These villagers were clearly people who knew no magic or Battle Qi. Their weapons told the story—most were farming tools, with only a few being crude greatswords.

Unable to suppress his anger, Lin Xing hurried into the village, hoping to find someone alive to tell him what had happened and who had committed this massacre.

The village was eerily quiet, utterly devoid of life.

Corpses were scattered everywhere on the streets, just like the ones outside—all killed by slashed throats, their expressions uniformly filled with anger and resentment.

What angered Lin Xing even more was that the women had clearly been violated before being killed!

Alongside his rage, Lin Xing felt a pang of grief. These villagers had been living peaceful, happy lives. Who could be so cruel? Lin Xing's killing intent surged, and the surrounding objects were destroyed under his murderous aura.

Furious as he was, Lin Xing kept his head. The first priority was to find survivors and ask what had happened!

The village wasn't large, and soon Lin Xing had searched every house. Unfortunately, there were no survivors in the entire village. This left Lin Xing frustrated. Without survivors, there was no way to know who had committed this bloodshed. Without clues, Lin Xing was powerless.

In the silent village, Lin Xing stood at the center, surrounded by corpses that had been dead for some time. All that remained in his heart was anger—anger toward the beasts who had carried out the massacre—and regret. Regret that if he had arrived earlier, perhaps this scene would not have happened, and he might have saved the entire village.

Lin Xing threw his head back and let out a roar of pain, grief, and fury. After venting for a while, he decided it was time to leave this place. However, before leaving, he had to take care of the bodies. He couldn't bury each one individually, so he decided to cremate them collectively. Otherwise, they would only become food for wild beasts.

Lin Xing began moving the more than one hundred corpses to the center of the village for collective cremation. While moving the bodies, he was pleasantly surprised to detect signs of life beneath a pile of corpses.

Heart leaping, Lin Xing hastily shifted the bodies on top and finally discovered a life beneath them. It was a woman. Her throat had been slashed, and she had been stabbed in the left chest. Yet, miraculously, she was still breathing, though her breaths were very faint. She could die at any moment.

Lin Xing carefully turned the woman over and found that she was holding a three- or four-year-old child in her arms. However, the child had long since stopped breathing, with a stab wound piercing through the right chest. The blade had likely pierced the mother first before running through the child. It was clear that the killers were highly skilled.

Lin Xing tried to pry open the woman's tightly clasped hands, but he couldn't. She was holding on too tightly.

Lin Xing couldn't help but imagine the scene: this woman, even as her throat was slashed, had tried to protect her child. But the executioners had not spared the mother and child, killing them both with a single strike.

The bodies piled on top of them were likely those of people killed later.

Seeing that he couldn't pry open the mother's hands, Lin Xing gave up. He extended his hand and transferred some Nine Yang Zhen Qi into the woman. Under its influence, the woman slowly regained consciousness.

"My child, my child," the woman murmured as she woke, clutching the lifeless child in her arms. Looking at the dead child, the woman showed no anger, not even sorrow. She just stared at Lin Xing with an expressionless face and vacant eyes.

Looking into those lifeless eyes, Lin Xing couldn't help but ask, "Madam, what happened here? Who was so cruel?"

The woman did not answer. Instead, she said, "The children were taken. We refused, so they killed us. We resisted, so they killed us. The children, all our children were taken. They are beasts."

As she spoke, the light in her eyes gradually faded. Seeing this, Lin Xing quickly transferred more Zhen Qi into her. Under the influence of the Nine Yang Zhen Qi, the woman regained some energy.

"Madam, who was so cruel? Who took the children and slaughtered you?" Lin Xing couldn't help but connect this to what Li Da had said. Could it be them?

"Dead, all dead. Our children were all taken," the woman replied, not answering Lin Xing's question but speaking to herself.

Suddenly, she became more alert: "There were so many of them! All dressed in black clothes, carrying strange knives. We resisted, so they killed us. We couldn't fight back, so they killed us all."

"Do you know who they were?" Lin Xing asked urgently.

The woman shook her head slightly, her eyes growing dimmer. "The village chief said they were from the Bage Country!" Her voice grew softer and softer until it finally fell silent.

If not for Lin Xing's keen hearing, he might not have heard what she said.

"The Bage Country!" Lin Xing grew furious again. "The Divine Wind Sect—yes, it must be the Divine Wind Sect! Only they would take children!"

Lin Xing set the woman down gently and rose to his feet. "Divine Wind Sect, I, Lin Xing, swear to eradicate you beasts!"

Looking at the raging flames behind him, Lin Xing remained silent. He turned and headed south.