Soul of the Revered Banner
Chapter 52: Repaid

The thick scent of medicinal herbs filled the air.

Wen Yue lay simply on a stretcher carried by two people, with his attendant Chu Jiu accompanying him at his side.

He had cried out loudly.

At that shout, Xiang Hu’s blade paused.

His wrist trembled, but he did not turn around.

Instead, he resolutely raised the long saber of the Embroidered Guards in his hand.

“You dare!”

The disheveled-haired woman screamed sharply.

One strike and off came the beautiful head.

The lovely head flew high.

“Mother!”

A young man, hair bound and crowned, shouted and struggled to rush forward.

The taste of blood, the swell of fury, his chest was filled with them.

Pain and grief exploded in his mind, like a volcano erupting.

His eyes were full of hatred.

Did he regret it?

Yes, he did.

He regretted not acting sooner. That cripple should’ve died. Those who followed the cripple should’ve died too.

They all should’ve died.

But Xiang Hu gave him no chance for repentance.

Another strike.

The blade flashed.

The second branch’s young master was decapitated.

The second son of the Marquis household’s head separated from his neck, the hatred and frustration in his gaze still not gone.

And a trace of stunned disbelief.

The head tumbled to the ground.

Like a burst watermelon.

Covered in blood, smeared with dirt and grass.

There was no difference between noble sons and commoners.

Blood dripped from the blade’s edge.

Falling on the ground.

Xiang Hu stood where he was.

Vengeance was taken.

So satisfying!

This was the blood-debt revenge he once dreamed of but could never attain.

No army could stop him from avenging himself.

And yet it was also sorrowful.

All because of the whims of the high and mighty, others could be casually humiliated.

Crippled, buried in filth.

A human life was so worthless.

So this is the glorious Liang City?

What kind of world is this?

Xiang Hu threw back his head and howled at the sky.

His surging spiritual power rippled outward.

A roar of fury and grief.

Though he had avenged himself, there was still gratitude left unpaid.

“Bold criminal!”

A thunderous shout infused with spiritual power rang out like a deafening thunderclap.

Within Liang City, aside from the goateed Zhou Liang, the remaining five Immortal Masters had all gathered at the Jing’an Marquis estate.

Hiding among the Embroidered Guards, the plump Qianhu Commander Wang Zhi perked up instantly.

As if he had found his backbone, he leapt out in a hurry, ignoring his disheveled state, shouting loudly: “Immortal Master! Please cut down this villain!”

Old Xiang swept his gaze around, finally settling on Wen Yue lying on the stretcher, and spoke:

“My lord.”

“Ten years ago, after the defeat at Mount Nanyue, Northern Wei advanced and seized our lands.”

“I fled with my wife and children as refugees to this place. We had not a coin to our name, starving, and my son gravely ill, waiting to die under a bridge. It was thanks to your kindness that we survived.”

“You saved my whole family’s lives.”

Wen Yue opened his mouth to speak. In truth, he had long forgotten. He had helped so many before, it was hard to remember them all.

The others seemed equally shocked that such a thing had ever happened.

The plump Wang Zhi pointed at Xiang Hu, screeching: “You ungrateful dog! The young master saved your entire family, and this is how you repay him?”

“Xiang Hu, you’re a disgrace to your parents!”

“Still not surrendering?”

But Old Daoist Lu noticed something odd. Xiang Hu had clearly become a cultivator and a powerful one.

The other loose cultivators exchanged looks. They too could tell this person was a cultivator.

Xiang Hu ignored the clown and instead raised his waist saber, standing tall and proud as he declared:

“Today, I return the young master’s kindness.”

Shing.

The blade slashed across his own neck.

Blood gushed and sprayed.

“Baihu Xiang!”

Wen Yue struggled, falling off the stretcher.

Chu Jiu quickly caught him but could feel Wen Yue’s strength.

He was trying to crawl over.

His cracked voice was silenced.

Wen Yue suddenly felt overwhelmed with sorrow.

Strangely, it wasn’t because the second branch had died.

It was because of that man.

Silence.

Everyone was stunned, Xiang Hu was truly so fierce and resolute.

Even more shocking was that a founder-level Innate expert had just slit his own throat in front of everyone.

The impact on their hearts was overwhelming.

The loose cultivators serving in Liang City Offering Pavilion couldn’t understand it.

Because this wasn’t just any Innate martial expert, this was a cultivator.

A cultivator could live past a hundred even in old age.

He still had half his life ahead of him, and he just threw it away like this?

It made no sense.

But, was the debt repaid?

It was.

More than repaid!

Wen Yue looked at Xiang Hu’s corpse, soulless.

He would rather Xiang Hu hadn’t repaid him.

It was only a small kindness in the past. With his current strength as an Innate warrior, Xiang Hu could’ve repaid him tenfold, a hundredfold.

Why repay it with his life?

He didn’t want Xiang Hu’s life.

He touched his cheek.

Tears had somehow fallen without him realizing.

Wen Yue had always wondered why Xiang Hu was so close to him, why he supported him so fervently.

It was thanks to support from men like Xiang Hu, Captains of the Embroidered Guards, that he had been able to stand firm as Deputy Commander of the Military Affairs Office and even contend with the commander.

He had asked once, but Xiang Hu had only smiled and said nothing.

Now, the answer was clear.

But the man called Old Xiang no longer existed in this world.

Wen Yue pounded his own legs with regret.

Why had he been so useless?

If he had been unharmed, none of this would’ve happened.

He hated himself for being greedy for merit, for going after the ghosts with too few men.

Why had he been so reckless and arrogant?

“Young master.”

Chu Jiu grabbed Wen Yue’s hand, his voice choked with tears: “Young master, the whole household is still waiting for you to take charge.”

That sentence woke Wen Yue up.

Yes.

The second branch was gone.

The other brothers were still young.

Now, his father the old Marquis was still unconscious.

The entire Marquis household was counting on him now.

He couldn’t fall apart. Couldn’t collapse.

If he crumbled, how could he face those who had sacrificed for him?

Wen Yue composed himself, climbed back onto the stretcher, and with much of his former bearing restored, said loudly:

“This matter will not be reported to the authorities.”

“All of you, please leave!”

His voice was firm, full of authority.

Wang Zhi, the plump commander, felt as if the old Deputy Commander of the Military Affairs Office had returned.

He instinctively felt fear.

But his eyes darted, and after a pause, he finally said: “This... doesn’t follow protocol, does it?”

Wen Yue snorted coldly: “The Marquis household still stands!”

After being intimidated, Wang Zhi wanted to say something to save face but found he couldn’t utter a word.

He could only slink away with the Embroidered Guards.

“Move out!”

They hastily gathered their troops and left, some supporting one another.

With the Embroidered Guards gone, the Marquis estate suddenly felt empty.

The remaining five Immortal Masters didn’t know what to do.

They looked at each other, awkward. But they could only pretend to be aloof, as if untouched by worldly matters.

As calm as the clouds and wind.

Lu Chengyi cupped his hands and asked, “Young master, the corpse of this man...?”

“Immortal Master, I will see to a proper burial for him,” Wen Yue said, covering his face with tears, blocking all of Lu Chengyi’s follow-up words.

Lu Chengyi and the other Immortal Masters exchanged glances. None of them wanted to give up just yet.

The dead one was a cultivator, he must have had cultivation techniques or scriptures on his body.

They needed those.

Also, a cultivator’s blood held spiritual essence. While not as potent as beast blood, it still increased the success rate for drawing talismans.

A body full of precious blood, it would be a waste.

The body could also be used to nourish malevolent energy, possibly spawning minor ghosts.

Tendons, bones, skin, flesh all were excellent materials.

...

Plop.

A jade box opened, letting in light.

A large hand reached in and took something out.

“Xiang Hu… is dead.”

Tu Shanjun sighed deeply.

A trace of sentiment flickered in his eyes. As melancholy rose, old memories returned.

Just moments ago, a third-layer Qi Refining soul had appeared in the soul banner.

It was Xiang Hu.

Xiang Hu had long harbored thoughts of death.

With his wife and children gone, he had followed them.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen this time to take revenge.

Even less likely would he have gone without the soul banner.

He understood the Ghost-Faced Divine Banner’s power and could roughly gauge Tu Shanjun’s strength.

But he had locked the banner away in a cabinet and hadn’t brought it.

No one knew exactly how Xiang Hu died.

Tu Shanjun suspected he was likely besieged by Liang City’s loose cultivators.

He recognized the one who had taken the banner.

It was Xiang Hu’s hot-tempered little follower, Shizhu.

When the Embroidered Guards were deployed, Shizhu had found an opportunity to come.

If Tu Shanjun could see that Xiang Hu intended to die, how could Shizhu not see it?

Before arranging burial matters, he had hurried to Xiang Hu’s home.

Only to prevent anything Xiang Hu left behind from being seized by the guards.

He didn’t recognize what the item was, a long palm-sized rod wrapped in a long strip of banner cloth, encasing the entire shaft.

It looked just like a cloth-wrapped stick.

It felt like jade and cool to the touch, calming half his inner restlessness.

The embroidered pouch simply said to retrieve the item and deliver it to the Marquis’s heir, Wen Yue.

Still puzzled, Shizhu stuffed it into his clothes and walked toward the door.

“You there, soldier. Hold on a moment.”

Just as Shizhu was about to leave Xiang Hu’s home, a voice called out to stop him.

(Chapter End)