Chapter 311: No Second Choice
The figure pulled back his dark hood, revealing sharp features and twin pools of burning, hellish crimson eyes.
Peng Kai’s blood-stained face instantly relaxed, a weak, feverish smile tugging at his lips. "Brother Ni!"
Before he could offer a proper greeting, Shen Yu stepped forward. Without a word of sympathy, he raised his heavy boot and slammed it squarely onto Peng Kai’s shattered chest!
CRACK—!
"ARGHHHHH!"
Peng Kai screamed in sheer, visceral agony as his broken ribs creaked and shifted under the crushing weight.
Fresh blood gushed from his lips, staining the forest floor as he thrashed helplessly beneath Shen Yu’s heel.
Shen Yu leaned down, looking directly into the former Patriarch’s trembling, terrified eyes.
Pure, bone-chilling killing intent radiated from his gaze, freezing the blood in Peng Kai’s veins.
"You are a member of the Black Blooded Demons," Shen Yu purred softly, his voice dropping into a dangerous, abyssal register.
"You are a servant of the Master. Who do you think you are talking about, planning your own little wars? Your life belongs entirely to the Master’s hands."
He pressed his boot slightly harder, making Peng Kai choke on his own breath.
"He gave you what he promised, your vengeance upon the Golden Cauldron Merchant Union, solely because you behaved, practiced the demonic arts he bestowed, and did not dare step beyond the Mist Cloud Forest without orders," Shen Yu spat coldly.
"Every single breath you draw, every action you execute, is decided by the Master. Do you understand me?"
A violent shudder wracked Peng Kai’s frame.
The manic arrogance of his Nascent Soul breakthrough vanished completely, replaced by a primal, suffocating fear of the entity standing above him.
"Y-Yes... I understand! I understand!" Peng Kai gasped out, his voice shaking.
Shen Yu slowly lifted his boot and stepped back.
He turned around and casually sat down on a nearby mossy tree trunk directly in front of the bleeding berserker.
Reaching into his robes, he pulled out a small crystal vial and tossed it onto Peng Kai’s chest.
"Drink it," Shen Yu commanded.
With trembling, blood-soaked fingers, Peng Kai unstoppered the vial and gulped down the glowing liquid inside.
The moment it dissolved in his throat, a soothing, lukewarm current began slowly knitting his cracked ribs and suppressing the fiery agony in his meridians.
Uncorking his jade wine gourd, Shen Yu took a long, relaxed gulp, wiping his lips with the back of his hand as he stared down the injured cultivator.
"You still don’t understand what we, or rather, what you, have just done today," Shen Yu said, his tone turning dry and analytical.
"You didn’t just strike a major merchant organization in one of the primary metropolitan hubs of the Crimson Lotus Empire as a hunted demonic cultivator. You did so while an Imperial Herald was actively present within the city gates."
He took another slow sip of wine, his crimson eyes gleaming softly in the moonlight.
"So tell me, Peng Kai... what would happen next?"
Peng Kai, his mind finally clearing as the healing liquid took effect, processed the cold reality of his situation. His face drained of all color, and a fresh cold sweat broke out across his neck.
"The... the elite imperial enforcers..." Peng Kai stammered, looking up in dread.
"The imperial court will mobilize its elite execution squads. They will hunt me down endlessly."
Shen Yu let out a dark, amused chuckle. "Bingo."
Setting his wine gourd aside, Shen Yu rested his elbows on his knees.
"So, to ensure you don’t get captured like a foolish dog and cause Master a major loss..."
Shen Yu paused, his gaze locking onto Peng Kai.
"...you will be heading straight toward the Dark Moon Empire."
Peng Kai’s eyes widened in sheer shock.
"What?!"
"Yes," Shen Yu said smoothly.
"You will cross the border into the Dark Moon Empire, lay low in their lawless territories, and quietly rebuild your strength. I don’t know how many years it will take, but when the time is right, you will eventually receive a summons from Master."
Shen Yu leaned in closer, his voice dropping into an intoxicating, lethal whisper.
"And at that exact moment... You will be granted the authority to march back and utterly erase the Tang Clan from existence."
Shen Yu tilted his head slightly, a mocking smirk on his lips.
"What do you think?"
"Yes! Yes, I will do it! I will head to the Dark Moon Empire immediately!" Peng Kai blurted out desperately, nodding his heavy head like a frantic dog.
Shen Yu threw his head back and laughed aloud, a sound filled with cold, dark humor.
"Hahaha! I was merely asking out of formality, since you don’t actually have a second choice to begin with. But since you are so willing, it makes things much easier."
Reaching into his spatial storage ring, Shen Yu drew out a thick, black leather-bound manual and tossed it into the dirt beside Peng Kai.
"Take this. It is the second volume of the demonic arts Master previously bestowed upon you. It contains the complete cultivation methodology required to push your strength all the way to the peak of the Nascent Soul realm."
He then pulled out a detailed, sheepskin map annotated with secret border passages and threw it on top of the manual.
"Do not linger here like a corpse," Shen Yu instructed, rising to his feet as a dark, shifting mist began to envelop his frame.
"Heal your injuries quickly, get moving, and keep to the shadows."
Before activating his Phantom Steps to vanish into the night, Shen Yu paused.
He turned his head slightly, his hellish red eyes flashing through the gloom with absolute, commanding authority.
"And remember, Peng Kai... do not tarnish the name of the Black Blooded Demons."
With those final, chilling words ringing in the damp night air, Shen Yu’s shadow dissolved into thin air, leaving Peng Kai alone in the quiet forest to clutch his newly acquired manual and plot his long, shadowy journey into the dark unknown.
-x-
A/N:
Weekly PS: 52 / 80
Monthly GT: 24 / 30