The beautiful carriage stopped in front of them as both the guards got off their horses and gazed at the gruesome scene ahead.
The doors of the beautiful carriage opened as a graceful girl, dressed in green stepped out of the carriage.
"What's happening? Why did we stop?" She asked as she gazed at the guards standing in front of her.
"Miss Ruo, there a troublesome matter. There are many dead bodies ahead of us. From their clothes, I think they are the City guards of the Moonsilver city." One of the Qin Clan's guards told her with a respectful demeanor.
"Hmm?" She muttered as she started walking ahead. She looked at the gruesome scene ahead with her own eyes which made her frown. She could see many bodies lying on the ground, most of them missing a part of their body. She soon looked at the body lying closest to the entrance as her attention was attracted by something lying near the body. She walked ahead followed behind by her guards.
She stepped towards the entrance of the city as she walked through the field of dead bodies. She reached near the object that attracted her attention and picked it up.
"It's ... Long Clan" She muttered as she looked at the Golden Medallion with a thoughtful expression. She grabbed the medallion tightly in her hands as she walked back to her carriage.
"Move the bodies blocking our path. Let's enter the city. We need to at least inform them about their guards dying " She ordered just as she reached near the carriage. She took one last look at the field with a thoughtful look on her face before she entered her carriage and closed the door.
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Long Chen stayed sitting as his back rested on a tree. He looked ahead with a blank expression on his face as he thought about everything he did today. He remembered every person he killed today, including the guards who arrived later and just followed orders.
"I killed innocent people under the influence of this thing inside me. I should feel sad, feel disgusted at murdering people yet... I feel nothing. I feel no remorse. Am I still who I'm supposed to be? Is this what my life is supposed to be? Killing people like a demon who's unable to control himself? I... I can't even control my emotions. I feel like I am losing myself" Long Chen muttered as he held his head.
Xun appeared near him as she sat on the ground right beside Long Chen.
"I... lost. I lost to my anger. I can't control my heart demon" Long Chen looked at Xun as he said with a melancholic smile.
" I can understand what you might be feeling as I've seen a different yet similar scene a long time ago. But you don't need to feel bad about it. A Cultivator's path is often filled with bloodshed since the moment he decides to walk on the path of greatness. Some people have destinies greater than themselves. They must kill everyone who stands in their path to reach their destination... to reach where they are supposed to be." Xun said with a smile as she looked in Long Chen's eyes.
" Even if they decide to give up on their journey, their lives will only get worse as they are again dragged into this vicious cycle of bloodshed by circumstances. " She said softly as she looked towards the sky with a reminiscent expression on her face.
" If you hadn't gotten this legacy, you might have had a chance to live a comparatively normal life. You might have been mocked by the clan for being a fallen genius but your life would have been free of bloodshed, until the moment a catastrophe fell on your clan. You would have watched them get killed as you cursed your weakness. But you aren't normal! You are someone who's destined to stand above the heavens. Bloodshed had been written in your destiny since the moment you found this ring" Xun continued as she looked at the ring in Long Chen's hand.
"So I need to become a killer? become a demon? that's my destiny?" Long Chen asked as he gazed into her eyes.
"I am not saying that you need to become a demon standing against the whole world. I am not saying that you need to slaughter the whole world. But... you must become a demon for your enemies and the ones who block your path. You must slaughter the ones obstructing your path to greatness. You must kill the ones who stand between you and your goal. It is a brutal world. You need to kill if you don't want to die " Xun said with her eyes full of determination.
"You have seen the evil of the human heart, but they are not the only ones. No one in this world is good or bad, it's all about self-interest. When people try to hurt you or your family, it's all for their self-interest. Will you stand still and watch them take everything from you? or will you pick up your weapon and slaughter every last one of them? " Xun said as the intensity of her voice increased.
"I'll kill them all" Long Chen replied as he gazed at Xun.
"That's right! Killing to protect one is not bad... killing those who try to hurt you, whether physically or through other means, is not bad either. Those people were in the wrong. All you wanted was to gain entry, yet their judgment, their greed and desire to suck up to Long Clan made them attack you. I am glad you killed them all, or you wouldn't be worthy of master's inheritance!!! You wouldn't be worthy of being Junior Martial Brother of Tian Shen!!! And not importantly, You wouldn't be able to live in this cruel world for long if you kept controlling yourself from killing and kept such a weak mindset" Xun continued as she looked at Long Chen.
"Although you think that you went overboard by killing all the guards when you were under the influence of your heart demon, but it was a necessity. I would say that the heart demon did you a favor as you can't leave your enemies alive even if they were just following orders. Without becoming brutal, without creating fear, you can't gain strength to protect all that you hold dear" Xun said with a gentle smile as she gazed in Long Chen's eyes.
Long Chen gazed at her face as he couldn't help but smile slightly. He felt like his heart had become lighter. He reached his hand out towards Xun's face but his hand went through as he touched nothing.
"You can't touch me in the real world. I am not a real person" Xun said with a smile yet little sadness could be seen in her eyes.
"Not yet..." Long Chen muttered.
"Hey, are you going to stay here all day long? Don't we have a destination to reach? We don't have all day to waste by sitting here" Xun chuckled as she said.