Chapter 11: To Kill or Not to Kill

As I stepped outside the ancient castle, the sky was dark and overcast. Fortunately, a few streaks of aurora shimmered on the horizon, making it possible to discern the shapes of things around us. After searching for a while, the boy suddenly called out, “Big brother, look! There are footprints here.” Sure enough, several sets of footprints could be seen.

“They actually went into the desert!” The boy’s face was pale with terror.

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

“The desert is forbidden territory—ordinary people would never dare venture in,” he replied gravely.

He explained that the outskirts of the desert belonged to the territory of low-tier centipedes. Deeper in, there were giant lizards, bloodthirsty ants, armored beasts—and yet further, even more dangerous creatures of higher order. High-tier creatures? Along our way, I hadn’t seen so much as an ant.

“Let’s hurry and look for them as we walk,” I urged him.

Following the footprints, we hadn’t gone far when we came upon the corpse of a black centipede, three meters long. I found myself wondering if all the creatures in this world were so enormous. Faintly, I heard sounds of fighting ahead. Pulling the boy with me, we hurried forward and saw a lizard, some three or four meters long, attacking a burly man wielding a huge blade. Behind him stood two more robust, middle-aged men.

“Brother, you go on ahead, I’ll hold it off!” one man with a hooked nose shouted.

“Alright, you hold it, I’ll get help!” the man with the blade replied.

Just as the swordsman was about to abandon his companion and flee, another giant lizard appeared. The three men stood back-to-back, bracing for the attack. Not far away, a woman lay on the ground, her body tightly bound with ropes. The boy ran to her side and gently shook her. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

“Little Tian, why are you here? You must run! Don’t worry about me,” she said anxiously.

“I won’t leave you behind, sister. I brought help,” the boy declared.

I nodded to the woman, untying her ropes as I did so. At that moment, the three bandits noticed us. The leader called out, “Hey, friend! Come help us! Otherwise, we’ll all die here together!”

I smiled faintly. “Is that so? And why should I help you?”

“As long as you get us out alive, you can have all the silver you want,” the swordsman offered.

“I prefer women to silver,” I said with a wicked grin, glancing at the boy’s sister.

“No problem! If that’s what you want, she’s yours. We were planning to sell her anyway,” the swordsman replied.

“Very well, it’s a deal.” With that, I charged forward, channeling my true energy into my right fist, and struck the lizard’s head. To my astonishment, my punch sent the massive beast flying. Seizing the leader’s blade, I leaped and in a flash, severed the head of the lizard from its body. Without pausing, I swung the blade at the other lizard. I thought this blow would finish it, but the blade barely sank in before getting stuck—its defense was unbelievably strong! I was certain that such a strike could reduce concrete and steel to rubble, yet here it barely scratched the lizard. The beast, enraged by the blow, let out a piercing roar and charged at me, its tail sweeping one of the bandits off his feet as it turned.

Confronted by this tank-like giant, I found myself at a loss. I had never truly survived alone in the wild; the fight scenes I’d seen in movies seemed so simple, yet now I found myself unable to execute even the most basic moves. I had brute strength but lacked skill. I had no choice but to fight head-on. I threw down the sword and faced the creature directly. Before it could reach me, I lunged forward, punching it square in the face. The punch seemed to do little more than momentarily slow its advance.

Since my battle with the Wolf King, I’d begun to realize that in a direct confrontation, I couldn’t afford to let the opponent have any chance to counter. I had to press every advantage. I struck the lizard’s face again, this time with all my strength. Still, it only caused its head to tilt slightly. Two blows in, and the beast was thoroughly enraged. It lunged forward, aiming the horn on its head straight at my abdomen. If I didn’t dodge, I’d be run through! I pressed both hands against its horn and leaped, landing on its back. But the beast bucked violently, tossing me off almost immediately.

“Big brother, look out!” the boy shouted.

But I had no time to react. Suddenly, a searing pain tore through my abdomen as I was lifted high into the air, the beast’s horn protruding from my belly. It all happened so quickly—I never thought I would die. I’d never known what death felt like, but now I did—it hurt, unbearably so. With a violent shake of its head, the beast flung me into the air, and I crashed to the ground.

“Big brother, get up! You can’t die!” the boy’s voice grew faint.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. The pain was gone. I sat up and saw that my wound had vanished. Not only that, but my whole body seemed to be brimming with energy.

“Big brother, you’re alive! Thank goodness!” the boy exclaimed with excitement.

“To survive even that… We’d better run while we can,” the bandit leader said. The giant lizard turned to look at me. Although it was impossible to read its expression, I could sense puzzlement in its gaze. I clenched my fist and struck out. I could clearly see my fist enveloped in a silvery glow, which shot toward the beast at lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, it struck the lizard from three meters away. Before I could pull my fist back, the beast was already lying on the ground, a gaping hole in its face and one eye dangling out. It was a gruesome sight. I stared at my fist in disbelief.

“Big brother, I thought you were dead!” The boy ran over to me.

“Thank you for saving us, sir,” the young woman said gratefully.

“No need for thanks. It was nothing,” I replied, trying to sound profound.

At that moment, the three bandits approached. “Remarkable! Young man, your skills are extraordinary. You must be at least a high-level warrior. Such talent is rare indeed!”

The bandit clutching a dagger added, “Truly, the younger generation surpasses the old! Just now, I saw you wounded by the beast, and yet moments later you were unharmed. How is that possible?”

I couldn’t be bothered to explain. I despised these bandits and thieves who, despite having hands and feet, chose a life of crime. I called the boy over. “What do you want to do with them?”

“Kill them,” the boy replied coldly, his face expressionless.

I hadn’t expected a child’s heart to be so icy. Perhaps I was simply too soft-hearted.

“Please, little brother, don’t kill us! We only turned to robbery because we had no other choice,” the bandit leader pleaded, falling to his knees before me.

Should I kill them? Though they were bandits, perhaps they could change for the better. As I hesitated, the bandit leader suddenly pulled a dagger from his belt and stabbed at my abdomen. I managed to step back, but not quickly enough to avoid being wounded. Now I was truly furious. Perhaps the ancients were right: a dog can never change its ways. I kicked him in the face with all my strength, the full force of my rage—and, aided by the lingering soul of that heavenly martial artist, the kick was powerful enough to pierce steel. The bandit’s head flew off, his kneeling body still gushing blood. I glanced coldly at the remaining two bandits, a cruel smile playing on my lips as I approached them.