"I'm not sure if it's a good idea to send her out there alone. We don't know how strong their leader is," the middle-aged man said as they walked through the bushes. Kasuur turned his head and looked suspiciously into his eyes. There was slight anger and hesitation in them.
"Why did you send her if you weren't sure of her abilities? Surely you had a more powerful expert."
The middle-aged man only frowned at these words. He said nothing and continued walking through the bushes. Mais kept his expression, too. Kasuur had nothing to say in this situation. Although the silence made him tense, he realized it was making the middle-aged man more and more angry.
"I have a plan. When we get there, stay behind and kill anyone who tries to escape. I will take care of the rest."
At the sudden sound of Mais' voice, everyone turned in his direction, but Mais was no longer there. The middle-aged man gripped his weapon, feeling uncomfortable. Such imperious and reckless behavior from an eight-year-old boy would drive anyone mad with rage.
Mais waved his staff through the bushes and finally reached the clearing. He had moved about 100 meters. The others hadn't even realized they had a target that far away. But Mais did. The two-meter-tall middle-aged giant found this strange.
After all, Mais was blind. It was unusual for a blind person to have such perception. Still, his hearing and sense of smell were Mais' advantages over other cultivators in the same realm. The energy that should have gone to his eyes while he was cultivating was now distributed to his other organs. This is why all the cultivation he had done since reaching the 10th stage of the Beginning Realm had made his ears better than those of other cultivators at the same level. Apart from this, his sense of smell was highly specialized, enabling him to identify ingredients like an alchemist. He could distinguish the sounds of the party in the village ahead from other sounds in the forest.
The village was located on a wide plain. The town leader had decided there was plenty of space here, so he chose to build the village here. Who knew that the village would end up so close to the barbarians' home?
There were many bearded, dirty barbarians. Bloody bodies were tossed this way and that. The most striking feature of this bloody area was the 80-meter-deep cliff. Not even a Foundation Establishment Realm expert would have survived a fall there. This was the town leader's biggest hesitation. Building a village next to a cliff could be problematic. He was not a high-ranking person to begin with and was looking for opportunities to move to the city. Such a mistake could have cost him his entire life there.
However, the cliff had not harmed the villagers. The barbarians killed all of them. Just as they had done in Hokka.
"Hmmm? What's that?"
Seeing the approaching figure, the barbarians suddenly decided to gather. Within seconds, each of them picked up their weapons. There were many cultivators among them. Some of them were very strong.
"Child, what are you doing here—are you blind?"
The barbarians who were preparing to kill the boy were relieved when they realized that he was blind. But not all of them were. The presence of a blind boy in the middle of the forest was highly suspicious. Some of the more cautious barbarians stayed a little further back. Yet, their worries might have been unfounded. The boy hadn't seen them. He was a bit scary, but he couldn't escape their grasp. With his gray eyes, he might even fall off the cliff.
With dull eyes, Mais held out his hand to the barbarian at the front. A slight glow appeared between his fingers.
"What is this?" Or..."
"Excuse me, I'm lost. I was looking for strong arms to take me home. Can you help me?"
Mais' words were not ordinary at that moment. They were not spoken in an ordinary tone of voice. He spoke them in a voice that showed he was weak and powerless. Such games were ordinary for him. Not only now, but in the past as well, even in the palace, he was ready to play such games. Even though he knew his brother had no claim to the throne, Mais had to be prepared for anything and exploit his weakness. This was one of the first things Reter taught him.
Do not show your strength and make your enemy underestimate you.
There were dozens of cultivator barbarians. It was quite dangerous. The only reason Mais kept going despite all this danger was because he couldn't fully sense it. In the uncertainty, it was easier than ever to take risks.
It was certainly careless, but what could he do? Mais was only eight years old.
The irrationality of the situation seemed to confuse the barbarians.
Mais looked like a blind peasant using a staff as a cane and carrying a very expensive-looking ring on his right hand. These stupid barbarians reached out to him, thinking he had more than gold and wanting to take the ring, not realizing at that moment that he came from a family rich enough to give them gold.
But their hands never reached Mais.
Mais's back stiffened as he looked at the man in front of him, a Foundation Establishment Realm Level 10. His eyes were soulless and frightening.
"What you are holding is not a gold coin."
In just one second, the man disappeared before Mais had a chance to fight back. Just like that. Poof! A sudden disappearance. The others didn't understand what had happened either. A friend they had just seen disappeared. If they hadn't heard Mais' words, it might have taken them even longer to wake up.
At that moment, they saw an ice-blue water pistol appear in Mais' hand. Mais held it out towards them. It was the last thing most of them saw. Mais fired.
In the Sword Emperor's treasury, there was a holy fire weapon. Likewise, in the imperial palace, there was a sacred ice weapon. Mais was more proficient in controlling this weapon than anyone else because of his understanding of the Tao of cold.
FUUUUU...!!!!
In just a few seconds, they all turned into ice sculptures. About 40 cultivators had gathered there to take the provisions they had stolen from the village to their shelters when Mais turned them into ice. Mais didn't even know how many of them there were. When he no longer heard breathing, he relaxed and lowered his gun.
"Looks like they're done—"
BOOM!
Suddenly, a hard, calloused fist connected with Mais' small cheek. Adrenaline pumped through his body as pain took over. Before the blind boy could register what had happened, he was blown into the air, losing his grip on his ice gun and staff. He tumbled toward the cliff but did not stop himself. The howling wind made him realize the danger, and he grabbed the ground as hard as he could with his fingers.
His fingernails broke, leaving wounds on his delicate hands. The prince's fingers were bruised. An expression of fear and pain appeared on his face.
FIUUUVV...!!!
Suddenly, the wind shifted again, and Mais ducked. A kick passed over him, and he felt someone breathing on him. His feet touched the ground. He heard vibrations and footsteps on the ground. It was obvious who they were.
He swung his fist in the direction of the sound but missed. How could he not miss? He was blind. The barbarians he had just killed had been struck by fixed targets and sudden blows. It was impossible for him to survive a long fight. He shouted,
"Kasuur! Help! They betrayed us!"