Stars are Falling Read online

  Chapter 97: Condemning the Heavens

  The sun shone brightly in the sky above. The sound of animals was ever present in the forest.

  Mortal birds were chirping, and a mortal deer fearful y advanced through the dense thicket in

  fear of arousing the attention of a Fierce Beast or a human.

  Suddenly, this lively forest turned deadly silent. The birds dared not chirp, and the deer dared

  not move.

  It was as if a predator had started to move within the ecosystem; the entire area was silent, yet

  the animals stil dared not move.

  Final y, the sound of rustling appeared, after which a young man stepped out from behind a

  dense cluster of branches and bushes.

  This young man was wearing tattered red clothes that had seen better days. Although his

  clothes were made from Fierce Beast silk, they were clearly worn down from extensive travel

  through desolate and difficult areas.

  He had worn his clothes when the beast horde attacked back in the Kingdom of Heping's

  capital. They had been worn when the Ice Harpy had dragged him away, which left behind

  gaping holes by his shoulders.

  These clothes had been worn when he was in prison and later on when he was escaping. He

  had worn them when he went to save Tie Haolong and when he later fled the battle. He had

  even worn those same clothes while cremating Tie Haolong.

  Xue Wei had long since wanted to change them, but he knew that it was too risky for him to

  enter a vil age or city. He was simply too easy to recognize, and he knew that there would be

  someone chasing him.

  Because of this, he had traveled in deserted areas. In places fil ed with beasts and no humans.

  Along the way, he found out that the beasts went silent and tried to hide their presence

  whenever he came by; even the Fierce Beasts tried to dig themselves into a hole, so although

  Xue Wei was traveling through extremely dangerous areas, he did not encounter any difficulties

  in the form of having to fight beasts.

  As he came out of the forest, he found that a smal vil age was present in front of him.

  Contemplating for some time, Xue Wei wondered what his plans were.

  "I wish to visit Lingyun Town," Xue Wei pondered. "I know that it wil be incredibly dangerous

  and also a little stupid to go since I am likely to be chased and captured. Stil , something is

  cal ing for me. If I do not go, this unrest wil never leave my body."

  "As to what I can do after visiting Lingyun town, I guess I wil decide by then."

  "I guess one option is to enter the center of the continent and visit Lan... but at the same time,

  this seems rather risky too. I have no intention to fol ow Lan, which means his incentive to assist

  me wil drop drastical y. At the same time, everyone in the Kingdom of Heping knows about my

  relationship with Lan; if they can't find me any other way, then they wil move towards the center

  of the continent. I highly doubt that they wil let me be."

  "In that case, finding him might be as dangerous as going towards Lingyun town. Also, I cannot

  forget that I am currently marked as a criminal, someone who is col uding with Primordial

  Beasts."

  "Although Lan is strong, and although he has a group of supporters, the truth is that every

  strong man wil have strong opposition. If rumors come out about Lan supporting someone who

  might be a Primordial Beast, he wil be put in a tough spot. He wil be forced to deliver me to the

  government."

  Xue Wei pondered deeply, and then he sighed. "I want to kil Chu Huiyin. She has caused much

  trouble for me; she has framed me and taken everything I wanted away from me. It is only fair

  that I return the favor, but to do so I need to be incredibly strong."

  "But Chu Huiyin is not the only thing I care about," Xue Wei said, his eyes turning serious and

  his lips tightening to a straight line. "I need to avenge Tie Haolong. I cannot accept that he

  sacrificed himself for me so that I could escape, only to be left unavenged."

  "Until I get revenge for Tie Haolong – and revenge for myself – I wil not al ow anyone to stop or

  capture me."

  Xue Wei was chatting to himself, his eyes which had been slightly lost were now focused. His

  determination was strong. They wanted to destroy his life? They wil see how he takes his

  revenge on them, see how he kil s them al !

  They wanted to condemn him? See how he condemns the world. See how he condemns the

  heavens!

  A slow fire started burning inside Xue Wei. He felt energized – he felt strong enough to be able

  to stand against the entire world if need be.

  Xue Wei once more glanced at the vil age in front of him before he merged back into the forest.

  He waited for the night to fal .

  These citizens were al farmers. Although they had previously been cultivators, none of them

  had been talented. They were very wel aware of the fact that if they went to do work as

  mercenaries or soldiers, they would die.

  Instead, they had settled as farmers. Some grew medicinal herbs, while others grew more

  mundane crops necessary for their livelihood.

  Xue Wei watched as the men and women returned from their fields once it was dusk and

  entered their smal homes.

  Clothes were washed and hung outside to dry in the gentle summer breeze, and Xue Wei

  waited until al lights were turned off and al of the vil agers had gone to sleep.

  It was at this time that he snuck into the vil age and swiped some clothes that he could fit in.

  Although these clothes were made of ordinary beast fabrics rather than the Fierce Beast silk his

  own were made of, they were clean and soft on the skin.

  They also made it possible for Xue Wei to almost blend in as a commoner.

  Al men his age were in the army, even the ones a year younger than him had just entered the

  recruitment camp, so seeing a young man travel the roads usual y meant he was a deserter or

  on a mission.

  In such a situation, Xue Wei would stil stick out like a sore thumb when he was traveling in the

  crowded areas, and he understood that it was better to avoid them as much as possible.

  Unfortunately, as he traveled further and further north, it was impossible to completely avoid

  areas inhabited by humans, and Xue Wei, who thought that he could never be too cautious,

  created a bamboo hat he wore on his head.

  His sleeves were long and reached past to cover his hands. The bamboo hat cast an obscuring

  shade over his face, and he was tal enough to seem like an average adult despite having yet to

  finish his growth spurt.

  He was lean of build, and although he had some muscles, one could see that it belonged to a

  youth. Fortunately for Xue Wei, his baggy robes were more than enough to hide that.

  Xue Wei could feel his heart hammering away in his chest as he reached the end of the animal

  trail he had been traversing.

  This trail ended as it connected to a road that crossed through the forest. Although the road

  seemed somewhat empty at the moment, Xue Wei could sense and see on the many trails that

  were evident on the road itself that it was wel used.

  Taking this path would make it possible for Xue Wei to reach the Northern Territory sooner than

  if he continued to travel through the wildlands, but he also understood that with this speedy

  travel came more dangers in the form of random encounters, possibly with hostile forces.

  If it were just normal soldiers that were after Xue Wei, he did not fear them too much. However,

  if they were Primordial Beast Hunters, then he was in for a lot of trouble.

  Xue Wei understood that he had played it safe for around two weeks now, traveling in areas

  vacant of human presence. And although he had avoided danger by doing so, he had also lost a

  lot of information about what had been going on in the rest of the kingdom.

  Xue Wei was torn, but then he shook his head, and his eyes turned ruthless. "I won't gain

  anything if I do not risk something as wel ," he mumbled to himself with conviction evident in

  every single word.

  "I wil avoid the bigger cities, but the smal er ones I can enter," he decided.

  "I have no money... they took al my items when I was captured, but I can stil listen to

  conversations from the shadows."

  Xue Wei had made a decision, and he saw no reason to waste any time. He was close to the

  Northern Territory by now, and he could feel the excitement grow with each step he took.

  The road towards a smal vil age meant that Xue Wei once more had to enter the world of

  humans once more.

  As he did, his worry about being penniless was quickly addressed. He had to walk through a

  smal canyon. This canyon looked peaceful and average from the outside, yet when Xue Wei

  entered he soon found that it was anything but that.

  Here, he encount
ered more than one life-and-death situation. He was forced to flee at times,

  and forced to rely on his bloodlust at other times.

  Final y, when he came out on the other side, he had gained the possessions of three bandits.

  Although it had not made him rich, he had earned enough money to be able to enter an inn and

  ask for a simple meal once in a while. This would make information gathering much simpler.

  He had also managed to get a few different sets of clothes that he changed into. And although

  his bamboo hat had been damaged, he quickly made a new one.

  The canyon had taught Xue Wei to always be on guard. While the canyon itself gave off a

  simple and beautiful image, danger had lurked around every corner, and it was only now that he

  understood just how threatening the outside world was. And he’d only begun exploring the

  depths of the Kingdom of Heping, a backend kingdom that others looked down upon for simply

  being too weak.

  Xue Wei walked down a dusty road. His black clothes had long since been covered with a whole

  layer of dust, and his hair swayed like tight ropes every time the wind passed by due to the dust

  that had settled in the long black strands of hair that could be seen beneath the bamboo hat.

  Xue Wei wore simple black shoes with nearly worn-down heels, and he could feel that he had

  walked for a long time before a smal vil age final y came into sight in the distance.

  Xue Wei had always lived in major cities such as Tiankong City and the capital, so when he saw

  the smal town he was heading into, he looked around curiously before he got a grip on himself

  and slowly headed straight for the middle of town where the inn was located.

  The town was big enough to have an inn, and it also had various shops, but it was not big

  enough to be considered a city.

  Xue Wei walked straight into the inn where he found a table in the back. The lighting there was

  dim as it sat in the shadows and not many would notice it.

  It was early morning, and Xue Wei ordered some breakfast, paid for it together with a room, and

  leaned back, ready to listen in on the conversations of both patrons that frequented this inn and

  other travelers. He knew that it would take quite a long time before such visitors appeared, but

  he was hungry and wished to sit down for a bit.

  Despite being an inn in a smal town, the staff were al experienced. Although the seat he had

  picked was inconspicuous and many would expect that it was an error, the truth was that it was

  there especial y for those seeking information. Only those who wished not to be noticed and stil

  gather information would sit in such a place.

  Because of this, they did not even blink an eye when Xue Wei stayed seated even after finishing

  his meal.

  Chapter 98: Seed of Doubt

  The morning was slow in the smal town. Some caravans and travelers passed through, but

  none of them stopped. It was clear that al of them wished to travel without rest until evening.

  Xue Wei was not in a rush. He ordered a few more dishes, paid with the smal amounts of

  money that he had, and then slowly ate it. The food tasted great. For a long time, Xue Wei had

  been on the run and lived off whatever he had been able to acquire in the forests and on the

  ground. He had not even been able to eat meat as the beasts had avoided him like the plague.

  This had caused Xue Wei to starve. He had been eating root vegetables and other plants. He

  had eaten berries and fruits. Fortunately, it was in the middle of summer, so the wild was fil ed

  with these plants.

  Xue Wei was now eating meat for the first time in around a month. This was something he

  wished to savor, and he enjoyed eating it slowly without hurrying. Although he was on the run,

  he felt like a new person.

  He was silent while eating, but his mind was fil ed with thoughts of what he wanted to do, his

  eyes set with determination. The food kept invigorating him the more he ate.

  Although he was a wanted person, he stopped paying attention to anything and al owed for his

  mind to wander. Suddenly a light shone in his eyes. He started to feel that he had never felt this

  much alive before. He was right on the edge of life and death with every move he made.

  Deep in thought, the day turned to evening. More and more people fil ed up the inn, and many

  came from caravans that were transporting goods. Some were travelers traveling on their own,

  while the rest were mercenaries that were in smal er groups on their way to the dangerous

  regions to earn some money.

  These people loved gossiping, and many of them started talking with people from other groups

  in the hope of finding more information.

  "Have you heard about the hunting squad that the royal family has sent after the criminal?"

  someone suddenly asked, but the others scoffed at him. "Even the animals know about that.

  What about it?"

  "Wel , we met the hunting squad!" the person who had spoken chortled, clearly very pleased

  with himself. "The hunting squad is specifical y picked by His Highness the King to hunt down

  the criminal. As you know, most information about them has been quite lacking, but if someone

  offers to buy me some wine, I wil gladly tel you al I know!"

  Xue Wei was about to jump in and offer him some wine when he realized that it would seem

  strange to do that. He forced himself to calm down and instead prayed that someone else would

  step in.

  Fortunately for Xue Wei, everyone was eager to hear these rumors. After a moment, three cups

  of wine had been placed in front of the loud-mouthed caravan guard.

  "Wel , how to begin," the man took a deep gulp of the cup of wine and looked around with glistening eyes, clearly eager to tel what he knew.

  "The king himself found a hundred experts and asked them al to hunt down the criminal. These

  experts are eighty Sky Warriors and twenty Earth Warriors."

  "The captain is a Sky Warrior of the ninth layer. He is not to be underestimated."

  "We met them around two weeks ago. They were heading the same way as us in the beginning,

  so we traveled together, but suddenly they changed their direction."

  "They tried to locate the criminal in every vil age and city we went through, but no one had seen

  him. I guess they assumed that he had stayed away from the main roads, and traveled in the

  wilderness al the way."

  "The captain is very wel -known in the army; his name is Captain Yuan Chao. I got to know a

  little from him," the man continued to speak, and more and more cups of wine appeared on his

  table, al of the people wishing to hear him speak more. Even the inn itself offered a cup of wine

  on the house.

  Xue Wei listened intently as wel . He could not help but grimace underneath the bamboo hat. He

  was being chased by eighty Sky Warriors, and the leader was a ninth layer Sky Warrior? Wasn't

  that almost the same as sending a Heavenly Warrior after him?

  At least from what he had understood, no one had been able to find his trail and fol ow him. Xue

  Wei understood on the other hand that this could also prove to be a dangerous thing for him. If