The village chief stood before a middle aged man with a deeply respectful posture. The man wore ash colored attire proof that he was a Civil Guard stationed to protect the surrounding villages. Every three days, he visited each village under his jurisdiction. There were five villages in total, and today was Village 321's turn.
As usual, he had come to inspect the village and prepare his report. However, an unexpected request from the village chief placed him in a dilemma.
"Sir," the village chief began hesitantly, "Qin Hao was a bright and talented child. He showed outstanding ability in hunting from a young age. I don't know what went wrong this time. During the competition, he entered the forest and never returned. It has been nearly two days now. I fear something may have happened to him."
The chief paused, then lowered his head slightly.
"If possible… could you see whether something can be done to search for him?"
The guard fell into deep thought, weighing the pros and cons. In truth, he had always held Qin Hao in high regard and had even planned to recommend him to the Civil Guard Commander. Yet, fate had taken an unexpected turn.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"I understand your worries, Chief. But you must also understand once someone goes missing in the forest, especially for this long, the chances of survival are slim."
The village chief let out a heavy sigh. Suddenly, the door burst open, and a woman rushed inside.
"Qin Yun! I told you to stay outside!" the village chief scolded with a frown.
Qin Yun was Qin Hao's mother. For the past two days, she had done nothing but weep. Upon seeing the arrival of the Civil Guard, a faint spark of hope ignited in her heart. She had urged the chief to bring up her son's disappearance, clinging to the possibility of a miracle.
Still fearing rejection, she could no longer restrain herself.
Qin Yun prostrated on the ground and cried out. "Sir, plase save my son! I will forever be grateful. Pleasee sir…" Seeing her begging like this, the guard's heart softened. He remembered a certain even in his life which made him change his mind.
He sighed and helped her up.
"I will see what I can do," he said slowly. "But don't hold too much hope."
Qin Yun thanked him repeatedly as the village chief called for his wife to escort her away.
"I apologize for the inconvenience, sir," the village chief said apologetically.
The Civil Guard waved his hand.
"Don't worry. That boy was to my liking. I'll search the perimeter of the red zone. Beyond that… it exceeds my capabilities."
"I understand. Thank you, sir," the village chief replied gratefully.
Soon after, the Civil Guard left the village to search for Qin Hao.
After some time, he halted and crouched down. Activating a special technique, he examined the marks left behind by hunters. Most were old, dating back weeks, but a few were fresh, only days old. Following their direction, he advanced.
"This is…!" His expression turned grim as he took in the devastation before him.
A vast area had been completely razed. Towering trees were uprooted or shattered, and clear signs of fierce combat were etched into the land.
"Judging by the residual energy, two powerful Qi practitioners fought here," he muttered. "But who? I haven't received any notice from the barracks."
Shaking off the confusion, he refocused. His primary objective was still rescue.
Soon, he discovered the cave Qin Hao had once sheltered in. Using mystical tracking arts, he followed the trail, only to see that it crossed the red line.
Beyond that boundary lay forbidden territory, where powerful beasts and unknown entities roamed freely. Even Civil Guards relied on carefully mapped safe routes to move between villages.
"This brat…" the guard sighed. "How dare he cross the red line. It seems the inevitable has happened."
He dared not venture further. Turning around, he prepared to leave and continue his patrol.
Just then, a thin streak of light shot toward him from afar. The token in his breast pocket trembled violently.
"Hm? It's been a while since I received a message from the superiors during patrol."
The light revealed itself to be a scroll with message written in it. The guard grabbed the scroll and read it as his face grew serious once more. Finished reading it, he ignited the scroll with fire, burning to ashes. With a stomp, he dashed into the forest, leaving after images.
Not long after the civil guard left Qin Hao's tattered figure emerged crossing the red line. He was panting heavily while lying down and also being injured in several places.
"That damned snake… why is it so huge!? I almost couldn't make it." He cursed in frustration.
While navigating through the forest, he was activating divine sense frequently to avoid dangerous beasts. Because of this he was able to avoid many troubles. But, there were some powerful monster like beasts which detected him from almost fifty metere away while his range of divine sense was thirty meters. Thus, many times he was ambushed and fell into precarious position.
"Fortunately i have the memories, experience and knowledge of that worm." Qin Hao silently thanked the dead worm. Because of its knowledge he was able to escape without being eaten alive.
After resting briefly, he ran toward the village.
From afar, he saw black smoke rising.
"Are they still celebrating the hunting competition?" he muttered.
As he drew closer, his brows furrowed into a knot. "Somethings not right…"
"Indeed, there's a fire in the village." A second voice rang in his mind.
"Fire? Might be an accident." Qin Hao said.
"I hope so." The second consciousness was solemn.
When he reached the village, what greeted him was a sea of flames. The entire settlement was ablaze. Villagers ran blindly in agony, their bodies engulfed in fire.
Qin Hao's eyes widened as his heart shook violently. Ignoring the scorching heat, he charged forward like a madman.
"Mother!!"
He burst into a wooden hut, searching desperately.
His hair burned, his skin blistered and melted, flesh falling onto the floor. The pain became so intense that he temporarily lost all sensation.
"She's not here…" Staggering outside, his breathing grew labored.
At that moment, eerie black smoke rose from his chest, instantly enveloping his body.
"Sigh, you are such a nuisance. What can you do without me." The second consciousness's voice rang out as if sighing. "Though i don't blame you this time."
A cool sensation spread throughout his body as his wounds rapidly healed. Without hesitation, Qin Hao rushed back into the inferno.
The extreme light emanating from the fire, ashes and smoke made it difficult to see. Qin Hao's eyes continued to release eerie black smoke, seemed extremely devilish which allowed him to see everything untethered.
His eyes caught sight of familiar person. The village chief.
The village chief's body was leaning against a tree, body on fire but barely alive. Sizzling sounds echoing continuously. His eyelids were gone so he couldn't close his eyes even he wants to.
Suddenly he saw something extremely strange and couldn't look away. A man covered in black smoke walked amidst the sea of fire, approaching him. It was as if the scorching fire was harmless.
The man looked more like a ghost. As the figure drew close, village chief stared unblinkingly.
The black smoke on the figure's face receded, revealing a young man's face. It was Qin Hao.
As soon as the chief saw Qin Hao, he became agitated. He wanted to move his body but couldn't. "Qin…hao…ish dath…yoouu.." he uttered with much difficulty.
"It's me, chief." Qin Hao crouched down pressing his hand against his forehead. The fire instantly died down.
Since the chief was near death, he couldn't think properly. He didn't understand what was happening either.
"Chief, where is my mother?" Qin Hao asked.
"Yoour….motherr waass taakee…aawayyy…" the chief replied.
"By whom? Who did this?!" Qin Hao's eyes turned murderous. The black smoke around him became chaotic and violent.
The village chief couldn't speak anymore, only raised his one finger upward.
"The sky? Above?" Before Qin Hao could ask anything his breathing stopped.
Qin Hao suddenly remembered a gentle and beautiful face. The person he had always admired. He dashed into the chiefs house.
His eyes caught sight of a charred black corpse. The plain ring on her hand was still there. Qin Hao's hands trembled, a wave of pain surged in his heart. Kneeling down in front of the dead figure, Qin Hao uttered in a low voice. "Ning'er, can you forgive me? I couldn't keep my promise to you." As he spoke his voice grew louder.
"We both swore to stay together but….you left so early. You must've suffered a lot." As he said this, the pain in Qin Hao's heart intensified. It was so intense that he felt nauseous. He touched her forehead, as tears fell down unceasingly.
"Ning'er, don't worry. The one who did this, i will pay back the pain a thousand fold. I will erase their existence." The black smoke around his was chaotic to the extreme. It almost seemed like a fiendgods descent into the mortal world.
"Revenge!"
"You can't live your entire life with just thirst for vengeance." The first consciousness shook his head.
"You want me to forget it?" The second consciousness glared at it.
"No, i want revenge too. But not the way you see it. I want to kill those who deserve to be killed." First consciousness replied.
"How laughable! Unfortunately, i want to bury the entire world with her." The second consciousness gave a menacing laughter, evil smoke rising from it. "You are nothing without me!" He scoffed.
"You and i are both same, remember? You said it yourself." The first consciousness spoke gently.
The smoke around Qin Hao's body died down, only a small portion remained to keep him safe.
Grief stricken, Qin Hao walked out of the village gate as the place he grew up burned brighter than ever. He sat down beneath a pine tree, staring at the fire unblinkingly.