Bloodline Tree – [Clan Building]

“Someone is watching us,” Tianhu suddenly said. 

Shu Yang hurriedly looked around them, seeing if he could spot something. 

Shen Ye and Xiaoshi also looked around. Xiaoshi looked especially frightened by Tianhu’s words, her hands shaking as she clutched her sword.

“Just one?” Shu Yang asked.

“I don’t know,” Tianhu answered.

“A cultivator?” Shu Yang asked.

“I don’t know,” Tianhu answered once again. 

‘Maybe we shouldn’t have headed into an area with this much foliage.’ Shu Yang thought to himself. It gave them cover from the Lishen Empire’s people, but it also made it difficult for them to see them in turn. 

If they were still in the northern plains, Shu Yang would have been able to make out anyone watching them straight away, invisible or not. But with so many trees in the way, his Piercing Gaze was pretty much useless.

It had been three weeks since Shu Yang reunited with his son, and just as they had suspected, the Luo Kingdom was pretty much done for. The few towns they had approached along the way had all been occupied by the Empire’s people. 

Fortunately, there weren’t many of their soldiers left behind, and Shu Yang and his group had been able to travel south fairly smoothly. 

It wasn’t until they got close to the border of the Yan Kingdom that the situation changed. Here, the war was at its most intense. They had to circumvent a lot of legions, and even spotted a few battles between the Luo Kingdom and the Empire. 

From a few scattered soldiers of the Luo Kingdom they had run into, they learned that only three cities were left standing. The rest of the Luo Kingdom had fallen. Reinforcements from both the Yan Kingdom and Wen Kingdom had made them able to hold on to their position, but the situation wasn’t looking bright. Masters were falling like flies, and not many dared to show themselves on the battlefield anymore. Morale was low, and deserters from the lowest martial warriors to the highest Grandmasters were increasing every day, as the war looked more and more unwinnable. 

Neither Shu Yang nor Shen Ye had any intention of trying to turn the situation around. They just wanted to return to the Yan Kingdom as quickly as possible and escape with their families. 

They were close to crossing the border now. Shu Yang had basically thought they had made it to safety already. But it looks like someone had spotted their group.

‘As long as it isn’t a Saint or one of those Elders, it should be alright.’

“Can you at least tell the direction?” Shen Ye asked.

“It should be from that side,” Tianhu said, gesturing with his head, “But if it’s a cultivator, they move around quickly, we should be ready for them to come from any direction.”

Shu Yang glanced at Xiaorong on his shoulder. While perhaps not as good as Tianhu at feeling when someone is staring at her, she was better at sensing people’s presence than Shu Yang. And she should also be able to see through their invisibility.

Xiaorong glanced back at him, and Shu Yang gestured for her to get off. 

Xiaorong jumped off his shoulder and climbed a nearby tree. Shu Yang watched her carefully, but it didn’t seem like she had noticed anyone from up there either. 

Shu Yang still hadn’t revealed Xiaorong’s existence to anyone, but in the current situation, he didn’t care if she was noticed. 

“It’s…gone,” Tianhu said.

“Gone?” Xiaoshi asked.

“Then we really need to hurry,” Shen Ye said, “They should be on the lookout for you two, especially Tianhu. Our reaction pretty much gave away that we knew we were being watched. Whoever watched us might be retreating temporarily to get more people.”

‘Damn! That’s awful. If they are prepared, can we deal with them? Can we outrun them?’ 

“Wait,” Shu Yang said, holding his hand up to stop them from running. He was confident enough to fight a cultivator if he had Xiaorong and Tianhu there, but an ‘Elder’ sounded like something out of his league. 

Weighing his options, he felt it was better to try to catch up with this one rather than make a run for it. 

“Tianhu. If you really had to guess, which direction was he in?” Shu Yang asked.

“That way,” Tianhu answered, pointing it out with his sword. 

“I’m afraid we won’t be able to escape if that man calls for these ‘Elders’ to hunt us down. I’m going to try to stop him,” Shu Yang said and ran off in the direction Tianhu pointed. With a look from Shu Yang, Xiaorong once again jumped down onto his shoulders.

“They’re too strange; only Tianhu can sense them!” Xiaoshi yelled out after him. 

But both Shen Ye and Tianhu were quiet, perhaps feeling that Shu Yang would have a way.

As Shu Yang weaved through the trees, he still couldn’t make out anyone else in the distance. But he wasn’t without hope. He hadn’t used his new ability since the day they found Tianhu, and it had been fully charged for over a week now. 

Even though he still couldn’t control it, his ability seemed to automatically improve his sight and increase his speed. It should be helpful even without much effort from Shu Yang.

With a thought, he activated the power in his bloodline. Every sense amplified, and almost on instinct, Shu Yang turned his head to the left. There, in the far distance, he could see a long-haired man weaving through the trees, his movements as if he were one with the wind. 

Shu Yang gathered his qi in his legs and stamped off the ground, taking chase.

Even if the cultivator moved on light feet, he couldn’t outrun a Master at full speed. Especially now that Shu Yang had activated the power in his bloodline. 

Running through the thick foliage was suddenly very easy; Shu Yang wove through the trees almost the same way as the cultivator in front of him, not a movement wasted. 

The cultivator seemed to notice that Shu Yang was coming after him and changed direction. 

When he noticed Shu Yang was still after him, he changed direction again. But no matter what he did, Shu Yang followed with ease. 

When Shu Yang was just a few hundred feet away, his special ability ran out of power, and everything returned to normal once again. But it was almost a blessing for Shu Yang, as he still couldn’t really think straight while in that state.

‘He might have used his invisibility and thinks I shouldn’t be able to see him. I guess it’s even more important to catch him now, or my ability to see through them will just make our group more desirable to catch.’

‘The only thing to worry about is that strange talisman that makes my body freeze.’

‘Well, even if he manages to catch me. I have a way.’

“Don’t kill him if you can. Just cripple him and get his storage pouch,” Shu Yang told Xiaorong as he came up on the cultivator.

The cultivator seemed to give up on running away and turned to face Shu Yang. His face was grave, and Shu Yang noticed a few papers clutched in his left hand. 

‘Tianhu’s sword intent would be really useful in a moment like this.’ Shu Yang thought. 

He really couldn’t do anything from a distance, so he was at a big disadvantage while the two were separated. Shu Yang still had the talismans he got from the cultivator he had killed, but he had no idea how to use them, and he felt now wasn’t the time for experimentation.

Shu Yang leaped forward, trying to reach the cultivator before he could use some strange magic. But before he knew it, the paper in the cultivator’s hand turned to dust, and Shu Yang fell to the ground. 

His body couldn’t move, and his qi couldn’t circulate. An all too familiar feeling.

‘Damn! How are you supposed to do anything against these people? If I didn’t have Xiaorong, I’d be dead.’

“How can you see me? And how did you notice me?” The cultivator asked.

Shu Yang, of course, couldn’t answer even if he had wanted to. 

Everything was silent for a few seconds.

“Whatever,” The cultivator muttered, and Shu Yang could hear him start to move away again. Probably decided on bringing reinforcements before dealing with him. 

‘If he dares leave me alive, he should still have plenty of those talismans on him.’

“Argh! What the- Ah!” The cultivator let out a few screams of pain, and Shu Yang knew Xiaorong had gotten to him. 

“What’s happening? What did you do? Ah, it hurts. Are you crazy? You destroyed my dantian! You’ll be killed for this!” The man kept speaking. 

Soon, Shu Yang felt Xiaorong nudge his head with her paw. Unfortunately, he couldn’t move. 

“A…beast? Isn’t this a Shadow Fox? It’s alive? How?” The cultivator asked.

‘Seems like Xiaorong has been spotted…’

A minute passed, and Shu Yang could feel his body slowly returning to his control. He carefully rose to his feet and looked at the cultivator on the ground. 

The man had both his hands and feet cut off and seemed to have suffered a wound to his stomach. He was staring at Shu Yang with both anger and fear. 

Shu Yang looked over at Xiaorong and couldn’t help but take a deep breath. 

‘It’s good that she’s not merciful. We can’t take any chances.’

And while it might be cruel, this man was never going to leave here alive anyway. 

Shu Yang stepped forward to the man and looked down on him.

“Who are you people? Where are you from? What do you want?” Shu Yang asked as he searched through the man’s clothing. The man didn’t resist, and Shu Yang got his hands on his storage pouch. 

“Well?” Shu Yang asked.

“I’m not telling you anything,” The man said, gritting his teeth in pain. 

Shu Yang felt a bit lost.

‘Do I really have to torture him?’

Shu Yang really didn’t feel like doing something like that. He didn’t feel much killing an enemy anymore, but torture was a bit much for him. 

He didn’t even know how he would go about it.

“Do you really need to resist? You’re going to die either way; might as well make it so you don’t have to suffer unnecessarily,” Shu Yang said.

Surprisingly, the man showed some hesitation on his face. 

“What is this?” Shu Yang decided to ask another question, pulling out the book he had found in the other cultivator’s storage pouch. He had read through it whenever he had some time alone these past weeks, but he couldn’t make much sense of it. It seemed like it was some kind of cultivation technique, but Shu Yang couldn’t understand it very well. He hadn’t managed to follow the instructions at all.

The cultivator didn’t answer Shu Yang’s question.

Shu Yang sighed and pulled out a dagger.

That seemed to do the trick, as the cultivator flinched and answered reluctantly, “It’s our Qing family cultivation technique.”

“Why can’t I use it?” Shu Yang asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? You need spiritual qi and spiritual roots,” The man said, “You have neither, so just give up.”

“What about these talismans?” Shu Yang asked, pulling them out and showing the man, “How do you use them, and what does each of them do?”

“You can’t use them,” The man answered, “It’s better to-”

Before the man could finish, Shu Yang heard someone approach. He turned around and noticed it was Shen Ye, Xiaoshi, and Tianhu.

‘Well, it might be better to have some help. It will make it impossible to keep some of my secrets, but I don’t think that’s necessary anymore.’

‘Besides, Shen Ye can tell if the man is lying or not. I really shouldn’t just take his words for granted.’

“So this is a cultivator,” Shen Ye said, curiously looking over the man with long hair on the ground.

“You actually caught him? Wasn’t he invisible?” Xiaoshi asked.

“I had some help,” Shu Yang said. The best way to explain himself was to reveal Xiaorong. Besides, the cultivator had already seen her. Better to take the initiative himself. He patted Xiaorong, who had jumped back onto his shoulder, and told her, “Show yourself.”

Xiaorong obeyed Shu Yang’s words and stopped using that special ability that made her invisible to most people. As she came into view, Shen Ye, Xiaoshi, and Tianhu all opened their mouths in shock.

“What’s-” Xiaoshi took a big step backward, looking at Xiaorong with surprise.

“A…A Black Beast? There was another one? A child?” Shen Ye asked, equally surprised. 

“Has it been at our home in Fugu City this whole time?” Tianhu asked.

Shu Yang looked at Tianhu curiously and answered him first, “Yeah. How did you know?”

“Just felt a bit familiar,” Tianhu said.

“Did you find it when you came to the Black Beast Mountains?” Shen Ye asked. 

“Yeah,” Shu Yang nodded, “She actually had a big part in saving you back then. Without her taking out one of the guards, I might not have dared to attack them myself.”

Shen Ye looked at Xioarong for a moment before nodding, “Thank you.”

“You can ask me your questions later,” Shu Yang said and gestured to the cultivator on the ground, “Let’s ask him some questions first.”

“Are we sure he still can’t use magic? Even without his hands and feet?” Xiaoshi questioned.

‘That’s true.’

‘But he doesn’t seem like he has the ability, or he wouldn’t have allowed me to take his talismans from him.’

“It should be fine,” Shu Yang answered, “I have his talismans, and he couldn’t resist me just now.”

“Who are you people? Why have you come here? Where are you from? Why are you helping the Lishen Empire?” Shen Ye asked.

“I’m from the Qing family. We come from the desert in the south and we- Argh!” The cultivator couldn’t finish before a sword was stabbed into his thigh. 

“I should have made it clear earlier. I can tell when people lie. A trait. So no more of that,” Shen Ye said.

‘Yeah. It’s probably for the best to have Shen Ye here.’