"That must be the Royal Palace in the center. Sigh, it wouldâve been so much better if it was night right now. I would have made it inside the place much easier with Shadow Transformation; unfortunately, thatâs only effective at night," Long Chen said as he looked in the direction of the Royal Palace.
"You can wait for the night," Xun told Long Chen.
"Yeah, the man would be inside the Palace at night. I canât say the same for the day. Whatever, Iâll try to be as fast as I can. It shouldnât be that difficult in day either," Shaking his head, Long Chen muttered.
"Donât be in a hurry. The Sword of Time wonât run away in a few hours. Have patience," Xun told Long Chen as she patted her hand.
"Hey, Iâm not a kid, you know," Long Chen said as he took her hand off of his head with a wry smile on his face.
"Sure, sure. Youâre definitely not a kid. I trust you, honestly," Xun said with a tinge of sarcasm.
" Xun, can I ask you something?" Long Chen asked suddenly.
"Sure. What is it now?" Xun inquired in confusion as she allowed Long Chen to ask what he wanted.
" How did it happen?" Long Chen asked suddenly.
"How did what happen?" Asked Xun, not understanding what he was talking about.
"I always wonder how I got here. Some years ago, even the thought of killing someone was a sin, and now I can cut people like theyâre vegetables without feeling any remorse. I was too lazy to even go out of the house, and now Iâm going all around the world without getting a moment of rest. I used to think that Iâd make only my girlfriend, my wife, but now I have so many wives. Iâm grateful, but itâs all so incredible," Long Chen said as he sighed.
" Sometimes I canât help but think that this is just a dream and Iâll wake up from it, but even that thought scares. If I wake up from this dream, Iâll lose all of you. Iâll lose the family I created. But if itâs not a dream, doesnât that mean I already lost the real me? The Real me who didnât want any of this? Am I even myself anymore? Or am I just a shell of my past? I have been going with the flow, now knowing why. Why did I even leave my home in the first place? This Bloodline and everything else, who desires it. I know I chose it myself, but sometimes I feel like itâs not what I wanted at all, but itâs something else, making me do all things through some strange means," Long Chen said as he sighed.
"Are you trying to say that Iâve been indirectly influencing you to do all this for myself? You do know that you want the strength. You need the strength so you can live in the future," Xun said as she gazed into Long Chenâs eyes.
"No, Iâm not saying that you influenced me. Iâm sure it only has my good in your hand. Itâs just that, the stuff about the future. Most of the things I did at the start was to gain strength so I can survive whatever dangers you talked about the future, along the way losing myself. Or is it that the past me wasnât me at all, and the current me is exactly how I was supposed to be? Am I not losing myself but regaining the real me? Man, sometimes I feel like my mind is filled with so many strange, useless thoughts. What do you think?" Long Chen inquired.
"As I said before, donât think about useless stuff. Youâre doing everything right. Keep getting stronger and leave everything else to me. Iâll make sure that things end exactly how theyâre supposed to," Xun told Long Chen with an innocent smile on her face.
"Now, place all your focus on getting the Sword of time and enjoy the life. Donât think about the past but think about the future. Youâre so strong already that you can finish all your enemies with ease. Itâs not a bad thing, but a good thing. With strength, youâll gain everything else. Just bear with it for a little longer. Before you know it, everything will be over. Youâll get eternal peace; I promise that," she continued.
"Yeah, thatâs right. Whatâs past is past. The current me is the real me. The bloody killer who will kill everyone to get to his destination. Itâs time I acknowledge that wholeheartedly and leave the humanity behind," Long Chen muttered as he nodded his head.
The Spirit Eagle flew and reached the entrance of the city, surprisingly though, no one stopped him to ask anything. The Royal Cities of the previous kingdoms seemed to have a better security.
"They have such a lax security. Is this because theyâre a weak kingdom and donât think an enemy would even bother about them?" Long Chem muttered as he frowned.
There were no air guards at the entrance. There were only two guests on the ground near the entrance who didnât even stand up as they saw Long Chen entering the city through air.
Long Chen made the Spirit Eagle land on an empty street of the city before telling the Spirit Eagle to leave like last time. He believed that he was going to stay here for at least a day.
He walked towards the royal palace on foot.
As he was walking on the street, he noticed a middle-aged man in an empty alley. There was a body of a woman lying in front of the man. She wasnât moving, and the clothes seemed to be torn at places. It was unclear if she was dead or just unconscious, but Long Chen had a feeling that she was dead.
" I was just wondering which insect I would be crushing to get some answers. It looks like I found my insect," Long Chen muttered as he glanced at the man who seemed to be smoking right beside that womanâs body.
He started walking towards the man.
Just as he entered the alley, the man glanced at him.
"Get the hell out of here, kid. You can use the girl after I leave. Wait outside until I finish my smoke," the man said to Long Chen as he gestured for him to leave.
Long Chen, however, didnât listen and continued walking towards him.
"Hey, man. I told you to leave. If you donât stop, not only will you not be able to use the girl, but you will also be lying dead beside her. You can choose now," the man said as he glared at Long Chen.
Long Chen still didnât stop.
"You bastard, looks like you really want to die," the man muttered as he put the smoke down on the ground and crushed it under his feet as he started walking towards Long Chen. The Shadow of a Crow appeared behind the man.
"Oh, so youâre a Spirit Warrior. No wonder you got such a free reign here. Spirit Warriors have a special place, after all, not to mention in such a weak kingdom," Long Chen muttered as he gazed at the shadow of the crow, but without letting the man have a chance to attack, he disappeared.
The man was confused as to where Long Chen went when he felt a hand gripping the back of his neck.
Before he could react, he felt his body being raised in the air.
He was smashed on the ground on his face. The Shadow of the Crow that was behind him disappeared.
"W-who are you?! Free me!" the man groaned in pain after struggling to free himself and failing.
"Iâm someone who owns your life and someone whoâs going to get all honest answers," Long Chen said in a grim tone.