Chapter 80

"…No, what is this…"

When they first discovered the broken carriage, Jeliang, Xunma, and even Zhang Jian did not realize that the scattered pieces of flesh around it were human.

However, as they approached, the shapes of the flesh became clearer, and it was impossible not to understand the situation.

"…Oh my, ugh!"

Jeliang, who had been looking at the pieces of corpses, turned away with a pale face, tightly closing his eyes. Xunma hesitated, unable to enter the chaotic scene. Only Zhang Jian dismounted from Zaozao and carefully stepped into the scene, avoiding the flesh and pieces of the carriage.

It was a horrific scene. The carriage looked as if a giant had smashed it with a club of its own size; the wheels were crushed, and the carriage was in pieces. Around it, human flesh, shattered as if by the same force, was scattered.

Zhang Jian carefully examined the area, being careful not to step on the flesh or pieces of the carriage. In the center of the scene, he found a cluster of heads, like a ball. He squatted down and examined the faces of the dead. There were six heads in total.

Each face was etched with terrible pain, fear, and despair. As Zhang Jian looked at these faces, he turned his head to check the surroundings again. He stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then stood up and left the scene. Xunma, who looked quite disturbed, though not as much as Jeliang, asked him.

"…Do you have any idea what happened here?"

"The bodies were torn apart after they were already dead. Of course, they were subjected to terrible acts while alive, but this chaos seems to be an expression of anger."

Xunma's face showed bewilderment.

"Anger? So this was out of revenge?"

Xunma forced himself to look around the chaotic scene again. It seemed unlikely that he could learn anything more from it. Zhang Jian scratched his neck with his left hand and said,

"I'm not sure exactly what it is. When I looked at the faces of the dead, there was nothing particularly distinctive. There were women and old people. From that alone, they look like a typical settler family."

"Ordinary people… But they ended up in such a terrible state for reasons we can't understand…"

Zhang Jian's left hand, which had been scratching his neck, naturally dropped to grip his sword.

"What's certain is that this isn't something ordinary bandits would do. At least, from what I've seen, it looks like a demon."

At that moment, Jeliang, who had been retching behind the carriage, approached, trembling.

"Everyone, let's, let's move on quickly. I can't stay here any longer… quickly…"

Xunma nodded and helped Jeliang into the carriage. Watching this, Zhang Jian looked up at the sky. The blue sky was filled with clouds. It was a beautiful scene, but Zhang Jian felt a sense of strangeness.

Judging from the state of the bodies, this chaos had occurred at least a day ago. It was a gruesome thought, but if bodies were left on the plain like this, various scavengers should have already flown in and cleaned up the flesh, leaving only bones. However, there was not a single flying creature in the sky.

Zhang Jian, who had been looking up at the sky, turned to Zaozao, who was snorting and foaming at the mouth. Whether the one who caused this chaos was a demon from the Demon Palace or just a mad bandit, Zhang Jian had a premonition that he would eventually face this entity.

Zhang Jian mounted Zaozao, and Jeliang and Xunma got into the carriage. They left the horrific and strange massacre scene and began to ride north again.

Jeliang looked quite shaken, as if he had received a significant shock. It was understandable, given that he had seen a scene where people were torn apart like pieces of paper. Even Zhang Jian felt queasy.

After seeing the dead, they rode in silence without any conversation. It was ironic, considering they had originally planned to pass the time with trivial talk. Of course, none of the three were in a mood to laugh.

Skipping lunch, they continued to move and eventually stopped in the afternoon. Zaozao seemed to be doing well, but the two horses pulling the carriage were quite exhausted. Xunma, who had been sitting in the driver's seat, also felt the need to rest.

They stopped the horses, and Xunma and Jeliang got out of the carriage and stretched their backs. Jeliang, looking at Zhang Jian and Zaozao, who seemed unaffected, said,

"Aren't you tired? You've been riding all day, yet you look fine."

"A wanderer must get used to such journeys."

Zhang Jian smiled faintly, and Jeliang's expression brightened slightly. He patted his back and said,

"Ha… Once we get out of here, we should head to the nearest branch of the Martial Arts Alliance. From what I saw, it seems like a situation that warrants sending a strike team."

"Whether it's a strike team or a patrol, someone should come. People died in such a terrible way."

"Really, I have no idea what happened. Could it really be a demon? Or could it be them?"

"Them?"

In response to Zhang Jian's question, Jeliang continued with a serious face.

"Them. The ones who carry on the legacy of the old Overlord of the Bandits. They have never been completely eradicated over a thousand years. Moreover, I've heard that their roots have extended to this new continent. It sounds a bit far-fetched, but there are stories that they have built their own kingdom far to the east, beyond the reach of the empire's influence…"

Suddenly, Zaozao neighed loudly and lifted her front hooves. Although the sudden movement was unexpected, Zhang Jian did not panic and grabbed the reins. Before he could scold her for causing a commotion, he saw something standing on a distant hill to the east.

Zhang Jian involuntarily held his breath and focused on the figure. Soon, his inner energy swirled in his eyes, making his vision clear. On the hill, there was a large black horse enveloped in black smoke and a figure mounted on it.

The figure had a body as black as charcoal and a face as red as blood, with a hat adorned with black feathers like its body. As a result, the figure looked like a monster with a completely black body and a red mouth. To Zhang Jian, the hat looked like the feathered headdress commonly worn by high-ranking individuals of the native people of the new continent.

At that moment, their eyes met.

[Zhongyuan person!]

A thunderclap echoed in his mind, and for a moment, his vision blurred. At the same time, the red-faced figure, as if in a single motion, quickly drew an arrow, pulled the bowstring, and released it.

Zhang Jian had been practicing martial arts for over twenty years. He had been deeply involved in the world of real martial arts since he was young, and his family's expectations for him were not unfounded.

As a result, his body had developed an instinctive level of sensitivity in terms of attack, defense, counterattack, and re-counterattack. Because of this, he instinctively drew his sword and dodged the arrow aimed at his head.

A high, clear sound rang out, and the arrow that was deflected flew into the top of the carriage, destroying it as if it were a cannonball.

With a loud bang, Xunma and Jeliang crouched down, stunned. However, it was an instinctive reaction, and neither of them understood the situation.

Zhang Jian, with a ringing head and a buzzing sword, staggered. His wrist trembled from the immense force he had just felt. It was fortunate that the sword did not break. He forced his blurry vision to focus and looked ahead. He saw the black horse and its rider charging like a beast from the distant hill, leaving a trail of black smoke behind them.

Despite his dizziness, Zhang Jian managed to say,

"Get in the carriage…!"

"What, what? Zhang Warrior?"

He fully awakened his inner energy and let it flow through his entire body, then shouted,

"Get in the carriage and go! Now!"

Jeliang, still dazed, was fortunately pulled by Xunma, who had regained his senses. Xunma threw him into the remaining part of the carriage and climbed into the driver's seat, whipping the horses, which were already startled by the sudden noise. The horses, already frightened, bolted forward.

Feeling the inner energy coursing through his body, Zhang Jian suddenly looked up. The sky had darkened. Gray clouds covered the sun and the blue sky, creating a suffocating ceiling. The black smoke monster charging from below combined with the darkness, creating a suffocating pressure.

"…A demon appearing in broad daylight. Impressive."

Shaking off the shock from the mental scream, Zhang Jian first checked his sword. He saw that one tooth was missing from the blade. It was not in bad condition considering it had deflected a cannonball disguised as an arrow. His eyes focused on the approaching red face.

The red face, now closer, was more clearly visible. Inside the bright red face were two eyes with only white irises, a mouth opened wide like an animal's, and a black shadow writhing inside it, indicating that this was not a human disguised with paint. It might even be a real demon.

At that moment, thunder roared in Zhang Jian's mind again.

[Zhongyuan person! I will kill you! I will kill all of you!]

However, with his inner energy already awakened, Zhang Jian did not feel the same intense shock as before. He was able to dodge the arrow that came again more easily and smoothly. This time, the blade did not even chip.

The arrow that flew to the ground made a loud thud, flipping a mound of earth. Zhang Jian, almost laughing at the absurd power, looked at the red face again and gently tugged the reins.

"Let's go."

Zaozao, as if turning into a wolf, raised her head and howled before charging like an arrow released from a bow.

Both the black horse enveloped in black smoke and Zaozao seemed to have been born to run, shaking the ground with a rumbling sound as they charged. The distance between them seemed to shrink as if the ground was folding.

Zhang Jian held the reins with his left hand, his sword horizontally with his right, and his eyes fixed on the demon without wavering. On the opposite side, the red-faced figure dropped the bow and grabbed the black smoke swirling around. The dropped bow disintegrated into black smoke, and the smoke in his hand coalesced into a short sword.

Zhang Jian's calm eyebrows slightly furrowed. Ignoring the unbelievable scene, the closer he got to the figure, the more incomprehensible screams echoed in his mind.

[I will take revenge! I will kill all Zhongyuan people! Ah! Mother! No! Don't! Take revenge! Kill! Father, run! Everything is burning… I shouldn't have trusted them! No, he's just a child! Don't… Ah, spirits, Mother Earth…! Monsters, how could they… This can't end like this… I will take revenge on the Zhongyuan people… Take revenge! Take revenge! Take revenge-!]

The screams of the dying, the shouts of the killers, the sound of blades slicing flesh, the collapse of burning pillars, and the monstrous cries rising from the entrance to hell.

The closer Zhang Jian got to the figure, the more his ears felt like they were being torn apart. Despite the inner energy flowing through his body, the incomprehensible screams seemed to want to crush his mind. They made it impossible to focus on the approaching short sword and the rider.

So, Zhang Jian raised his sword, which had been held horizontally, and let out a lion's roar like thunder.

"Get-! Lost-!"

At the same time, lightning struck as if following the thunder. The flashing blade split the black smoke. The black horse and the red-faced rider seemed to disappear into the mist, as if they had never existed. Zhang Jian and Zaozao's bodies continued to move forward for a while after passing through the smoke.

Zhang Jian quickly grabbed Zaozao's reins to stop her and turned around. He saw that the rider and the black horse had dispersed before the blade could reach them. He felt no sensation in his right hand holding the sword.

[I will kill all Zhongyuan people-! All Zhongyuan people-!]

At that moment, the scream echoed again from a distance. Zhang Jian saw that the black horse and the red-faced rider were riding away, their backs to him, far away. In front of them, the carriage with Xunma and Jeliang was racing madly.

"Are you saying you won't let even one of them escape?"

Zhang Jian muttered with a stern face and poked Zaozao's side. The creature, with eyes glowing fiercely, exhaled deeply and began to chase the black horse. The sound of the strong wind roared in Zhang Jian's ears.

His eyes and the blade glinted coldly.