Watching the tragedy below, Qi Manyao stopped struggling, staring blankly, just staring.
She felt she had erred, felt wrong, yet did not know where.
She had been trying her best, so why, why had it turned out this way?
The battle began quickly and ended just as swiftly. Those weaklings only bullied those even weaker. Faced with a raised butcher's knife, they could only cry out, forgetting that they, too, held blades in their hands.
"If Wan Lei were here, what would he do?"
Qi Manyao lowered her head, letting the rain wash over her, as if it could cleanse the supposed sins she carried.
"If it were him, these people would have long been slaughtered by his own hand. No, he wouldn't even let such a situation arise.
With his personality, he'd probably be living quite comfortably now."
Wan Liuchuan glanced at Qi Manyao. At this moment, she was pitiable, helpless, and lost. He felt a pang of sympathy and wanted to comfort her, but in the end, he could only sigh, rise, and fly down.
Qi Manyao's disposition was ultimately too pure and kind. Such a person was not suited for survival in the cultivation world.
No, to be precise, she would not fit into any social environment, be it a prosperous era or the apocalypse; she would only bring harm to herself.
Let her learn a lesson. Let her change her personality, learn to be ruthless, ruthless to others, and also ruthless to herself. Most importantly, be ruthless to Wan Lei, and perhaps she would spare herself so much torment.
Wan Liuchuan's gaze swept indifferently over the ground. Suddenly, a woman's scream echoed from afar.
He furrowed his brow slightly and, in an instant, arrived at the scene.
A man from their own tribe was on top of a woman, violently tearing at her clothes.
The woman was terrified, scared, and crying out.
The man on her had a glint of lust in his eyes, but more so, a hint of panic.
He desperately tried to cover the woman's mouth, to silence her cries, his blade already at her throat.
Wan Liuchuan kicked the man away, then severed the woman's throat with a single strike.
"I'm sorry, leader, I know I was wrong. I won't dare again. I… I've just been too pent up lately, and I lost my mind and couldn't resist. Leader, spare my life, spare me…"
"Aren't you tired?"
Wan Liuchuan's eyes were as still as an ancient well, devoid of anger, contempt, or pity. He looked at the man calmly.
"Huh?"
The man looked up, uncomprehending.
"We've walked for so long, fought for so long. Every drop of spiritual energy, every wisp of stamina, we have to be meticulous. And you still want to waste it on such matters.
This is the apocalypse. What do you think this is? A place for you to burn, kill, loot, and enjoy? Everything we do has only one purpose: to survive.
Everyone speaks little normally, precisely to conserve stamina. Everyone knows that wasting stamina is tantamount to suicide.
Since you are so unwilling to live, then die."
"No, leader, spare me…"
Boom!!!
A bolt of lightning struck, reducing the man to ashes.
Those around looked at Wan Liuchuan in terror and quickly lowered their heads, accelerating their tasks.
Qi Manyao stared blankly at Wan Liuchuan. When she witnessed that scene, she knew Wan Liuchuan would kill that man. But she never expected that his reason for killing wasn't the man's burning, killing, looting, or his assault on the woman, but rather that he had wasted stamina.
"This is the last time I will speak so much to you all. Anyone who disobeys orders, I will kill directly.
At worst, once I've killed you all, I'll find another tribe. This land is not short of tribes like you."
The tribesmen quickly tidied their belongings, brought their sacred beasts and newly subdued ones, and without asking Wan Liuchuan for further instructions, headed directly south.
They had done such things too many times to need further explanation.
"Aren't you coming?"
Seeing Qi Manyao still standing there in a daze, Wan Liuchuan couldn't help but frown.
"Huh? Go… go where?"
"To find Wan Lei."
"Why find Wan Lei?"
Seeing her slow, dazed state, Wan Liuchuan was so angry he wanted to pry open her head to see what was inside.
"If you don't find Wan Lei, what else can you do? Do you have a tribe now? Or do you think that with your strength, you can kill your way to the Great Wall, maneuver among so many powerful individuals and great tribes, and successfully kill a Mahayana stage cultivator, taking his head?
Can you do it? Can I? If you can't, then come with me to find Wan Lei. He has everything. Following him is the only sliver of hope!"
"Leave me alone. You don't need to take me. I don't want to find Wan Lei. Just let me stay quiet for a while."
Wan Liuchuan took a deep breath, the cool air dissipating some of his anger.
"Do you know how vast this land is? Do you know how many people who want to kill you you'll encounter? Do you still have spirit stones and elixirs in your storage bag?
There's no spiritual energy in the world. Even if no one kills you, what will you use to fly to the Great Wall?"
"Just let me die here. Don't bother with me. I'm just a good-for-nothing, I can't do anything right."
"What nonsense are you spouting?!"
Wan Liuchuan gritted his teeth, walked up to Qi Manyao, and glared at her fiercely.
"If it weren't for the fact that you're from my hometown, if it weren't for Wan Lei, and if it weren't for us both being Heavenly Tribulation Sufferers, I wouldn't care if you lived or died!
Don't you know in your heart that going to find Wan Lei now is the only way to live?"
"How could I not know? But… but my strength is too weak. What good will it do if I go? I'll just be a burden to him like before. He'll have to spare his attention to protect me. I'm just useless, everything… Ah!"
Before she could finish speaking, Qi Manyao was grabbed by the neck by Wan Liuchuan and dragged forward.
"Let go of me."
"He already has plenty of burdens around him. One more or one less won't make a difference. Once you're there, when he's fighting enemies, at least you can help a little. It's as simple as that."
"Ah, stop bullying me, let me go."
Poor Qi Manyao, held by the neck by the ruffian Wan Liuchuan, was forcibly inducted into the group and marched towards the distance.
The purple rain continued to fall, and the surroundings were silent. This group walking on the ground resembled a brushstroke of discordant ink appearing in a landscape painting, solitary and out of place.
"Halt!"
Wan Liuchuan, walking at the front, suddenly raised his hand.
"What is it?"
"I sense… dense killing intent."
A wisp of black energy appeared in Wan Liuchuan's palm.
Ahead, on the slope, hundreds of figures appeared.
The person leading them,
Jian Xunhuan!!!
The four directions were silent, filled with murderous intent.