An Annoyance Removed

"Did you see the look on their faces?" Huang Yi laughed while patting Fu Jianhong on the back. "They will think twice before serving those rats from the Li family now!" His laughter caught in his throat as a sneer took its place. The moment I get back to Yuan City, I will ensure that the City Lord knows exactly what kind of people such establishments serve." His voice betrayed the anger he felt towards his grandfather. "When I am the new Village Elder, the first thing I will do is put the Li family back in their place!" A smile crept onto the young boy's face. "All except two heirs of course."

"Hmm." A thoughtful hum came from a shadowed portion of the luxurious room.

"Got something to say over there?" Huang Yi sneered to the corner where an all to familiar girl resided on a plain chair flipped backwards, her arms resting on the back rest. "You didn't join in the festivities with the rest of us," He tried again to get her to talk. "Makes me wonder why I keep you around."

Ren Cai chuckled lightly before looking Huang Yi in the eyes. "The reason why I didn't join your little 'festivities," She made air quotes that Hong Zhao was all too familiar with. "Is because they reminded me of a child having a tantrum for not receiving his favorite toy." She rolled her eyes at him. "As for why I'm here, I think you know exactly why that is."

"The City Lord leased you out to me." Huang Yi shrugged and smirked at Fu Jianhong. "Said you were the best in your class, but I think he's mistaken. If it were true, you would be doing as I say, wouldn't you?"

"He sent me to ensure your cute little head doesn't get separated from your neck," Ren Cai said in a mocking tone, "Not to play thug with your little children friends."

Ren Cai got up from her seat and moved to the door. "Now if you don't mind, I'm hungry." She took one last look at Huang Yi, smiling slightly before leaving.

"What I wouldn't do for ten minutes alone with that girl." Fu Jianhong said with a wistful smile.

"You don't even know what to do with a girl yet." Huang Yi elbowed his friend in the chest.

Hong Zhao couldn't wait for Ren Cai to come back. He would need to take care of her after the rest of them. He knew his window was closing and soon the Village Elder's grandson would be back on the street harassing the businesses he had not had the chance to visit yet. He didn't want them to have another night to chance that the Li family might get hurt. Though Li Wen was now a disciple ranked cultivator, Hong Zhao knew that customs would keep the father of his friends from doing what needed to be done.

As the four friends shared a laugh, Hong Zhao silently removed the vent cover and stored in his storage ring. He silently praised whatever higher deity that created such artifacts and wished he had them in his life as Jason Slate. He then formed two Qi Explosion Balls and launched them to the two girls.

Before the girls could understand what was happening, Hong Zhao detonated his ability, sending bone and blood in every direction. Taking less than a second to exit the vent, he activated Devouring Qi Claws and swiftly decapitated Fu Jianhong before the boy could raise a hand in defense.

Huang Yi had only the time to drop his smile before all of his friends were dead. Hong Zhao chuckled lightly. "She did say to keep your head attached," He sent the claw into the boy's chest. "Right?"

Huang Yi's eyes went wide as he tried to take in another breath. Instead, he choked on his own blood. The claw punctured a lung, just as Hong Zhao wanted. He removed the blood stained black mask and smiled at the former young master. He smiled as the boy recognized him. "You should have left Li Wei out of this." He twisted his claw and opened the wound even more, shredding the lung completely. Letting the ability dissipate, Hong Zhao left the crumpled mess of the young master bleed out on the floor.

"Tsk tsk." Hong Zhao heard over his shoulder. "You at least let me do my job." Ren Cai said as she looked at Huang Yi. "You kept his head on for me."

Hong Zhao put his mask back on and activated his Devouring Qi Claws once more. There was only once pace between him and the girl. He could get to her before she activated any of her abilities. Swinging around, he reached his arm out, ready to strike.

"Mongoose!" She said with a smile right at the last second. The Qi Claw came up short and Hong Zhao immediately knew who this girl was.

Ren Cai smiled once more and left through the door.

Hong Zhao's window was slowly closing. He had four dead bodies to deal with and not much time to figure out what to do. Though one mystery was now revealed, he didn't have much time to dwell on it. One by one, Hong Zhao took each body into his storage ring. Since there was no longer life within the bodies, he had no trouble storing them. He then took a basin of water which was set on a tabletop and began washing the blood and gore from the room.

Rolling each rug which was smeared with blood up, he stored them in his ring as well. By the time he was finished with his work, the room no longer looked like a murder scene. It instead just looked like someone pillaged the room, which was something Hong Zhao suspected Huang Ji would expect from his grandson.

Activated Vortex Thrust, Hong Zhao leaped through the open vent, placing the cover back on and made his way back towards the hidden entrance of the estate. After covering some distance, Hong Zhao came to the cave where he had found his fortune and set the corpses on the ground. Activating his movement ability once more, he looked back to see the only annoyance he had ever known in Rantori Village, being eaten face first by a large snake.

Making his way to a familiar clearing, Hong Zhao stopped and stored his tactical gear back within his storage ring, replacing the clothing with his black and gold embroidered robe he had gotten when he first entered the village.

He then sat in the lotus position and began cultivating the Qi he had received from killing both Fu Jianhong and Huang Yi. Though it was very daunting after having to dispose of the bodies, he didn't want to have wild Qi within his dantian when he entered the village once again. The less that Huang Ji could link back to him, the better. He knew that the Village Elder wouldn't do anything to harm him, yet if the old man couldn't figure it out, neither would anyone else.

Hong Zhao used a Qi Stone as well as a Qi Absorption Pill as he cultivated well on through the night and into the day time. He couldn't remember a night within this new life which lasted as long as this. Having finally rid himself of the annoyance that Huang Yi represented, he finally had some time to clear his head.

Though he knew now that Ren Cai was truly someone from his past, he didn't quite know if he could trust her. As far as he knew, the City Lord had sent her to be Huang Yi's babysitter, yet she did nothing as he killed the boy right in front of her. She had said 'Mongoose' right before he could decapitate her. The code word was to point out a team mate in duress. He only knew one woman in his old company who used needles as weapons, subtly placing needles in her victim's bodies and paralyzing them. Though, in the world of espionage, one rarely gave a name. He knew her simply as Meridian.

To have a woman like this in his new world bode ill for Hong Zhao. Even though she seemed to be playing her own game, he wondered how long it would take her to weasel her way into his life once more. And even more concerning, if she were here now, who else was? Who else on earth could have been reincarnated early into this life?

Such thoughts made Hong Zhao's meditation sluggish, so he put everything behind him and focused on the task at hand. He could feel the Qi within him expanding, the Qi Spiral within his dantian felt full to the brim, yet it kept growing, ignoring the tightness and continued. Hong Zhao could feel that he would soon break through into the Seventh Star Student Rank. And it seemed as though he no longer had a tournament to worry about. He allowed himself one smile at the thought before putting even that aside and allowed himself to drift off into his cultivation.