Chapter 60: White Fiend And Black Fiend
Intelligent people talk less and listen more. Zen smiled knowingly as he listened to Roger.
Sun had no idea what they were talking about. He wanted to ask, but he didn't think it would be appropriate to interrupt their conversation. So he kept silent.
“After I return to Cloud Sect, I will stay secluded and cultivate myself. If you want to see me, Zen, come to the Daylily Peak,” said Roger.
The Daylily Peak ranked fourth among the thirty-three peaks at Cloud Sect. Due to its leading position, most children of the Meng Clan studied there.
“So you are a disciple of the Daylily Peak. When I return to Cloud Sect, I will visit you,” replied Zen.
Zen didn't think it was necessary to follow noble clans. In his opinion, a man had to strike out for himself if he wanted to get ahead. He didn't think it was suitable to rely on other people's power.
Having spent some time with the young master of the Meng Clan, Zen found that he would like to be friends with Roger.
After saying goodbye, Roger and Sun embarked the giant flying chariot to return to Cloud Sect.
On the way back from the main camp, Martin didn't speak a word.
Martin was grateful for Roger and Zen's help as they had risked their lives to save his.
But he was in a bad mood because of the death of his subordinates. As a battle-hardened soldier in the Imperial Army, Martin had seen many soldiers come and go. Over time, he had become accustomed to death. He had never been this sad, not even when he had seen his biological brother die on the battlefield.
But this time, things were different. He knew that Randall had deliberately framed the soldiers of the Green Haze Group.
With growing resentment, he vowed that he would avenge their deaths.
“Let's grab a few drinks!” Zen invited Martin. He knew that Martin needed to vent.
At the tavern, Martin gulped down more than a dozen jars of wine. As long as they did not want to get drunk, people who were at Martin's cultivation level were able to stay sober.
“I'm so sorry, Martin. You may not know that this happened because of me. I killed your brothers,” Zen raised his cup of wine and apologized.
Martin had not figured out why Randall wanted to harm him. After hearing Zen's apology, Martin asked with wonder, “It's obvious that Randall wanted to hurt me. Why are you apologizing?”
“Actually, they didn't want to harm the Green Haze Group. Their real target was me. Some people want me to die. They instructed Randall to change the marching route to place the Green Haze Group near the queen blade locust,” explained Zen. His voice conveyed the regret he was feeling.
Zen was remorseful that the Green Haze Group lost nearly half its soldiers because of him.
Martin clenched his fists when he finally realized why Randall who had no enmity with him had harmed the Green Haze Group unexpectedly. He glared at Zen for a while, then gradually calmed down and said with a sigh, “Zen, don't feel guilty. Even if what you say is true, Randall is still the villain. Not you! He violated the rules of the military and changed the marching route slyly. Of course, I'm going to hold him responsible.”
“We must get revenge! It's one of the reasons I decided to stay here. On the one hand, I will earn points by killing the blade locusts, while on the other hand, I will be able to find a chance to get even,” Zen said before gulping down his cup of wine.
“Do you have any ideas, Zen?” Martin's eyes twinkled with hope.
Although Martin hated Randall, it was impossible for him to fight Randall alone for many reasons. First, Randall was his immediate superior, and he had no evidence of Randall's crime. Second, Randall was at the fourth grade of the nature refining level. Therefore, Martin was no match for a man with such power.
Zen replied with a smile, “There must be a way. It's best if we wait for an opportunity. I know the tenacity of these people. They won't give up as long as I'm here. They are digging their graves. I'll kill them all!”
Martin felt a chill travel through him when he saw Zen's determination.
Roger was not like Zen. Because Roger was born in a noble clan, he had to consider many alternatives and weigh their merits and consequences.
Zen was a civilian without any significant background. And so, he could do things without having to consider interests.
Though they had been together for a few days, Zen understood who was worthy for him to make friends with.
Zen swore to fight those behind the conspiracy despite the risks. He would do this for Martin, Tank, and all the other victims.
Over the next five days, Martin reorganized the Green Haze Group and resumed their task of hunting blade locusts.
As per the regulations of the Imperial Army, soldiers were required to hand in half of the crystal cores of blade locusts hunted by them. But, it was up to Martin to decide the quantity of crystal cores that the Green Haze Group had collected. So Martin donated nearly ninety percent of their crystal cores to Zen as gratitude.
Martin and his soldiers were well experienced at hunting blade locusts. Zen contributed to their efforts as well by using his broken flying knife. It was because of Zen that the whole hunting process was smoother and more fruitful.
During these five days, Zen had acquired quite an abundant harvest.
Along with his previous collection, Zen had accumulated about four thousand crystal cores of common blade locusts and more than two hundred cores of their officers. He earned the equivalent of five hundred points in total.
If he counted the crystal core of the queen blade locust, Zen would be able to exchange all the cores for one thousand and five hundred points.
As a new disciple who had joined Cloud Sect less than a month ago, Zen had accumulated one thousand five hundred points through his effort. If the other disciples knew about this, they would sigh at the injustice of fate.
Early on the sixth day, Zen prepared to hunt with the Green Haze Group.
They went into the jungle and killed two flocks of blade locusts. While the soldiers were stripping the corpses off their crystal cores, Martin asked Zen, “You said that as long as you stay here, the conspirators will plan another attack on you. But nothing has happened in the past few days. What happened to them?”
Since Zen had promised to help Martin get his revenge, Martin hadn't reported Randall to the main camp. Martin knew that his complaint would backfire as he had no evidence and his superiors at the main camp wouldn't believe him.
Zen had reassured Martin that they would take action again, but it had been several days, and no one had come for Zen. Martin was understandably anxious.
“I didn't expect these guys to be so patient. Don't worry. We will kill our blade locusts and wait,” said Zen. He pulled out the crystal core of a leader of the blade locust and stuffed it into his space ring.
Sensing tension in the air, Zen looked up and said, “I've just praised the conspirators for their patience. But it seems that they can no longer wait.”
Zen was more acute than the average people. He was able to feel a person's intent to kill from far away.
After a while, three men came out of the jungle.
Liam of Drizzle Peak led the way. Behind him walked two men. One was dark-skinned, and the other was white-skinned. Zen had seen them in the military camp's yard before. He had been deeply impressed by their contrasting skin colors.
Liam came closer and sneered, “You know we want to kill you, but you still stay in the Dragon Fort. You are bold enough to step out of town and hunt blade locusts. Are you confident or are you stupid?”
During these six days, they had many chances to kill Zen, but they had waited patiently.
They needed to study the relationship between Roger and Zen before making their move. They wondered why a young master of a noble clan would help a humble civilian like Zen.
Since this matter involved two noble clans, the Meng Clan and the Zhuge Clan, the three conspirators knew they needed to handle the issue with caution. Otherwise, they would face the wrath of both noble clans.
After six days of observation and gathering intelligence, they had reached a conclusion.
Roger and Zen had met by chance and adventured along with the Green Haze Group. In fact, their friendship was not deep.
Zen persuaded Roger to intervene and save Martin's life. Roger just did Zen this favor, nothing special
Now that they were sure that Zen and Roger were not friends, their concerns about the Meng Clan getting involved were gone, and they could proceed boldly.
Zen narrowed his eyes and pointed at Liam. “You followed me all the way from Cloud Sect to kill me. I haven't settled this matter with you. How can I leave? It has been six days since your last attempt. Since then, you have not dared to come out. I overestimated you,” Zen sighed and shook his head.
Despite facing strong enemies, Zen did not show any traces of timidity.
He had been refined by the fire of the earth's core and stepped into the rank of spiritual weapon a few days ago. Now, he wanted to see how much his strength had improved.
Liam and his two co-conspirators were just practice targets for Zen.
Liam's heartbeat quickened when he saw the confidence in Zen's eyes. He didn't understand why he felt afraid when he faced Zen, a person who was only at the marrow refining level. 'He must be putting on a show of confidence. He's not that strong.' Liam reassured himself. He didn't want to be known that he was afraid.
“Really? Since you can't wait to end your life, then we will help you,” said Liam with feigned placidity. Liam waved his hand toward his companions and said, “Black Fiend and White Fiend, my friends. Kill him now!” Liam grinned at Zen and retreated.
White Fiend and Black Fiend had been restless all this while. They had stayed at the Dragon Fort for many days. Killing Zen should have been a short day's work. However, this assignment had stretched to well over a week. So they were very displeased.
A fierce fight was about to begin. Soon a constant flow of life vitality was running through White Fiend and Black Fiend's bodies.
The two Fiends slowly approached Zen. A cold smile danced on their faces as they imagined the pain they would mete out to Zen. Zen could feel the pressure in the air that only those at the nature refining level possessed.
“Green Haze Group, get ready to fight!” shouted Martin.
As soon as the soldiers heard Martin's order, they wielded their weapons and rushed into battle formation.
However, Zen waved his hand to stop Martin. He quickly explained, “You don't have to get involved in this. They came for me, and I have to deal with them myself.”
Zen stepped forward to prepare for the battle. The Green Haze Group had lost so many soldiers because of Zen. He didn't want to involve them any more.
Black Fiend and White Fiend emitted strange laughter when they heard Zen.
“Not only will you die today, but the whole Green Haze Group will also die with you.”
“If I were you, I would kneel and kill myself at once. Now fall into our hands, you will die miserably.”
After saying that, White Fiend and Black Fiend mutated their life vitality into black and white smog. In the next instant, the smog turned into two pythons and swept along the ground toward Zen.
'They are releasing their life vitality, ' thought Zen while dodging two Fiends' attacks.
Although Zen was confident of his body, which had become a spiritual weapon, he still needed to be cautious. After all, this was the first time he was facing cultivators at the nature refining level. What made the fight even more challenging was that he was fighting two people at the same time.