Bloodline Tree – [Clan Building]

‘That place should be big enough to find some information.’ Shu Yang thought as he spotted a fairly large town in the distance. 

‘Let’s just hope people are a little bit more civil here, and that man was just a rare bad apple.’

It had been a few hours since Shu Yang encountered the scene of the woman being chased. He gave her a Qi Nourishing Pill and made sure she wasn’t going to die before leaving. 

Perhaps he should have made sure she got home safely, but he really didn’t have time for that, and he didn’t want to get involved more than necessary. There were bound to be similar scenes taking place all over this place, and Shu Yang couldn’t take care of it all. 

He thought about killing the man, but in the end he just crippled him, tied him up, and left for the woman to deal with as she chose. 

However, he took the man’s backpack with him, and found a few poisons and some sort of killing art. Shu Yang planned to bring those back with him and show them to Bian Fenglin. 

This place wasn’t actually the Evil West; it was part of the province the Sword Sect controlled. It might be south of the Desolate Mountains, and rarely thought of, but Shu Yang figured that the Sword Sect wouldn’t be too happy if they knew that the Evil West’s influence had taken hold in any part of their territory.

‘I might not be able to do anything, but the Sword Sect should be more than capable of eradicating the forces of evil in these parts.’

Shu Yang entered the town without issue, but he noticed that quite a few people were staring at him as he made his way down the street.

‘Damn. I forgot about my charm. This is a bit annoying.’

His ‘Charming’ trait had just advanced from a mundane trait not long ago, so it wasn’t really effective for middle- or high-level Qi Refiners, but among common people, his appearance would always attract attention.

‘I’ll just have a meal and see if I can find out anything. If not, I’ll just leave again.’

He really wasn’t as dependent on information now as when he was looking for Tianyi. He just wanted to have some sense of what kind of place this was. As for everything else, he could just ask Tianxu about it when he found him.

Shu Yang noticed a tavern up ahead that seemed pretty lively. He could hear a bunch of voices even from down the street. 

He entered the tavern and was blasted with a cacophony of voices.

“What does the mayor say?”

“Have they caught the culprit?”

“They said it was solved last time. Did they lie?”

“Maybe this was someone else?”

Shu Yang raised his brows slightly. ‘What’s going on? Is this about the man and woman I encountered?’

Shu Yang stepped up to the bar and ordered a meal and a beer, handing over a few coins that he had taken from a wealthy-looking man with women on both arms without anyone noticing.

“I’ll get it ready for you in just a moment, sir,” The young woman behind the bar said, but she lagged behind slightly, staring at Shu Yang’s face.

‘This is ridiculous.’

“By the way, what’s all the commotion about?” Shu Yang took the opportunity to ask.

“You haven’t heard? Everyone in Hulei Village was killed last night. Not a single survivor,” The woman answered.

“What? How?” Shu Yang asked.

“Who knows,” The woman said with a sigh. “Anyway, I’ll go get your food.”

Shu Yang was left slightly stumped as the woman walked away.

‘I thought people were being noisy, but now I feel like there isn’t enough commotion. A whole village is murdered, and this is the reaction people have?’

Shu Yang got his food and started eating while listening in on the conversations around him. From what he heard, a massacre like this wasn’t uncommon. The last time it happened was just a few months ago. 

Shu Yang really couldn’t understand how people were still out drinking and eating while living with that knowledge. 

‘Shouldn’t they be hiding in their homes? Move around cautiously, not trusting strangers?’

Shu Yang shook his head, feeling that this wasn’t a place to stay long. He couldn’t understand how his son had been here for so many years.

After eating, he left without asking anyone any questions. He felt exhausted just listening to it all. Too much suffering was mentioned in casual conversation, as if they were talking about the weather. 

‘I’ll just find Tianxu and get out of here. I don’t want to get wrapped up in anything else. I can’t risk missing Bian Fenglin.’

“Let’s go, Xiaorong,” Shu Yang said as he exited the town once again. 

She landed on his shoulder, and Shu Yang took off running. 

‘Maybe I’ve just changed. Before, when I was weak, I could hear about these things, and all I had to worry about was protecting my family.’

‘But now…I could really do something about it. I have the strength.’

Shu Yang knew he couldn’t save everyone, but he could certainly catch the one who had massacred the village if he put some effort into it. He didn’t have to fear retribution, or having someone come after his family. He was completely free to help as little or as much as he wanted. 

The only thing it would cost him was time.

‘My time, exchanged for human life…It seems pretty immoral not to do anything.’

‘But what then? Do I spend my entire life saving people?’

Shu Yang definitely wouldn’t do that; he wasn’t that good a person. But he also liked to believe he wasn’t an evil person either.

He took a deep breath and calmed his thoughts.

‘Let’s not lose focus.’

‘I should get stronger. I should take care of my family, and make sure they live good lives. Anything else comes second.’

‘If one day, I’m the most powerful person in the world, I can focus on improving the world around me.

…

Shu Yang kept traveling west for a few days, until one day, he used his Bloodline Ability and noticed that Tianxu wasn’t in that direction anymore.

‘North? Northwest?’

Shu Yang turned his head and finally saw his son in front of him. But the scene he saw shocked him.

Tianxu was stabbing a man in the chest over and over, blood spurting onto his face.

Shu Yang usually only took a quick glance to determine he had the right direction. But the scene of Tianxu killing someone was too vivid to pull his eyes away.

Tianxu stabbed over and over, long after the man was dead. And then, he looked up at the sky, tears streaming down his face.

Shu Yang pulled his gaze away, his face solemn.

‘Tianxu…’

Shu Yang had seen a scene of Tianxu killing before, but this time was different. It felt like he was killing out of revenge. His tears felt like they were out of grief.

‘What has that kid been through over the years?’

‘Hadn’t it been better to just come back home?’

…

Another day passed, and Shu Yang once again used his Bloodline Ability to determine the right direction. 

This time, Tianxu was drinking in some tavern by himself, looking completely desolate.

‘Just what has gotten this kid so down?’

Shu Yang shook his head; he didn’t know what the matter was, but hopefully reuniting with his family would cheer him up. A fresh start with everyone over in the Sword Sect might be just what he needed.

‘Maybe he doesn’t even know he has a daughter.’

Shu Yang actually thought that was pretty likely, based on what he had seen.

‘Hopefully that fact will cheer him up, then.’

Shu Yang came to a stop, suddenly thinking of something. If his son didn’t know he had a daughter, they would have to find her together.

He tried focusing on the vague connection to his granddaughter through the Bloodline Tree. He actually found it hard using Piercing Gaze to see her, despite them being related. He assumed it was because they had never met. The ones he was able to see using his Bloodline Ability, despite not being related, were the ones he was very close to, like Qianyue and Xiaorong. 

Still, she carried his bloodline, so after a small struggle, he managed to catch a glimpse of her. She was just a baby, so not much could be read from her expression, but she seemed to be at peace. She was held in the arms of someone whom he assumed was her mother. 

Shu Yang stopped using his Bloodline Ability after making sure everything was fine. He didn’t look more closely at the surroundings for the moment, as he would have to get his son back first, and didn’t want to waste his power. 

‘Looks like she’s healthy, at least.’

Tianxu’s daughter was actually pretty talented; she had good body cultivation aptitude and a Bloodline Power that should peak at the Mortal-Middle level once she grew up. It didn’t have much of an effect on Shu Yang at this point, but it should make Tianxu happy that his daughter was even more talented than he was. 

‘Let’s try to get everyone together as soon as possible.’ Shu Yang thought, excited to finally have the family gathered again and then start a new chapter at the Sword Sect.