Nothing remained of the once glorious Cloud sect. All I could see were the smoking remains of burnt plazas and buildings. Caves that were no longer occupiable, and the sect master's palace that seemed to have been rooted out of its place. And was no longer there.
What the hell had happened in here? I fumbled to find an appropriate answer, but nothing came to me. I slowly began by walking towards the sect, only to be assaulted by the rotting stench of burnt corpses. People had died here and their bodies have already been assaulted and infested with maggots and worms. People I saw before and was familiar with, people I had contact with, and some I saw regularly whenever I went to elder Yun for a game of Go.
The majority of the dead people were outer sect disciples because they all seemed too weak to defend themselves from whatever killed them. And what killed them wasn't gentle. Every one of the outer sect cultivators that had been laying on the ground had their bodies chopped up. As if they were sliced through with sharp swords.
I don't have the vaguest clue on who could be responsible for this. This could be the assault of one powerful figure or another sect.
Yet I only know of the existence of two other sects. The first being the Xuan Fu sect, which ranked eight, and this one was where the former owner of this body of mine, the kid that had died due to cultivation deviation and gave me the chance to live incarnated in this body.
The second sect I know of was the Spirit Sword Sect, where I met two of its disciples a few months ago in the Demon Mountain forest. but even if they were hostile to each other, a massacre of this caliber shouldn't be possible. The difference is not that high in the level of the two sects. Both of them are of the ninth level, and the sect master had already told me that even if the Purple Cloud is only a ninth level sect, its true core power is equivalent to that of a level four.
I kept racking my brain trying to find out why the whole sect had gotten eradicated overnight and for whatever reason, it happened, but always came up short, without any information I could never deduce a proper answer.
I kept on walking through the sect, trying to see if I could find any survivors. But that was nigh impossible, for whoever came here made sure that nothing would survive. They burnt the fields and poured salt into them. There was no tree standing, no house kept whole, no life walked the sect.
The birds were silent, mourning the passing of so many children, only the sound of birds of prey resounded over the sect.
After hours of pointless search, I couldn't find anything. Not even the pavilion was where I left it. It seemed as if it was taken whole from its place.
The cultivation caves were all empty, their doorways ripped out of their hinges, and the kids inside them brutally murdered.
"Who could do such a thing," I said lamenting.
"It was an unknown force," said someone behind me. And immediately, I felt as if my soul was about to leave my body.
I turned to see Meng Hao, standing, the bruises over his body were no longer visible and he looked to be in better shape than before.
"You managed to survive."
"Yeah, thanks to that beating actually."
"How come?" I asked.
"I was sent to the infirmary for treatment, and when I heard the ruckus, I hid there. When those cultivators came, they couldn't find me and left…"
'the kid is lying, there is no way for those cultivators to be so thorough in killing everyone and forgetting him. Hiding, I could believe that, but a divine sense could easily locate him. He probably has a treasure on him that is protecting him and keeping him under the radar. No wonder I couldn't even sense him when he came from behind me.'
"Right, good for you. Still, do you have any idea on who attacked the sect?" I asked.
The boy shook his head and said, "The only things I heard were the cultivators that were killing our own were talking about was the fact that this sect was supposed to be much stronger than this, and that they brought a cannon to kill a fly and stuff like that. They were overestimating us so much, and from the look of it, they were right, we couldn't hold for more than an hour before everyone was brutally murdered."
"Shit, and just when I started learning, stuff like this happens," I mumbled to myself.
"Old man, I'll be off," said Meng Hao.
"Where to?" I asked.
"I have no idea, but it beats staying here in this destroyed sect. I could probably head to the Spirit Sword Sect, they'll take me in if I prove myself."
'Oh, that's the sect where those two cultivators from the forest came from.'
"I wish you all the best then," I said to the child.
"What about you?"
"I still have much to learn, I'm still too weak to wander the world with my Qi condensation stage, I'll be able to move once I'm powerful enough, and I'll probably see you at the Spirit Sword Sect."
"Right then," said the kid and turned to leave.
I didn't give up the search, I kept on looking around, hoping to find someone to give me more information.
As I continued looking around, I saw a familiar face. Elder Hu Tian, was on the ground with his back supported by a fallen building beam. He had a large gash on his chest, the sword that sliced through him was vicious as it had borne through the bones of his chest with ease.
"Even you didn't make it," I sighed. As I was about to leave, I noticed that something was peaking out of elder Hu's hand.
I approached the elder crouched down and with difficulty, pried his hand open, there was a piece of fabric in his hand and in that piece was a sect symbol. It was a three-legged black raven. With a mountain behind it. I didn't know which sect this was, but I kept the fabric piece on me.
"I'm not a fan of killing, in fact since I had gotten to this world, the times I had to dirty my hands with the blood of my enemies were rare. Mostly because when I was a city lord, I had a lot of opposition and a lot of people after my neck." I stood up.
"But, this sect gave me a lot. And never have I thought that I will find people as friendly as you in such a world. Where the jungle rules are always in play, the purple cloud sect had been a great spot for me to begin my journey. And like the Poison God had mentioned in his book, never let yourself feel regret. I'll pay you back your benevolence, with the blood of those who wronged you, and this is a vow I give." I said the dead old man and everyone in this sect.
Suddenly, my back shuddered as I felt a strong shiver running down my spine. It seems that giving vows is not something one can back out of, but I'm not going to back off. Even for a small period, this cloud sect actually was helpful to me and was akin to family. Family unlike the one that kicked me down the mountain, but a family that helps you grow, reward your effort, and punish those who wronged you. I'm indebted to the Purple Cloud sect, even if it was for a short while, debts must be repaid.
I walked away from the destroyed sect. I needed power, a lot of it, and staying here, isn't going to give me anything. Meng Hao was right, joining the Spirit Sword Sect was good for him, but I can't, especially with those two knowing me, the moment I step foot in that sect, all I'll ever bring to myself is nothing but trouble.
I'll need to forge my own path, alone. Even if I have to remain a rogue cultivator. But first, I need to somehow pack the library gifted by the sect master, and then completely leave this is. I don't want to be here when one of the nearby sects comes and investigates the disappearance of the Purple Cloud sect.
***
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