Chapter 545: Boy in the Forest
Chapter 545: Boy in the Forest
"Disciple Xun Wei... or should I call you Ghost Blade Wei."
Xun Wei paused slightly at the name.
It had been a long time since she had heard that title—back when she was still in the Inner Court of the Divine Sword Sect.
Slowly, she turned around.
Her gaze fell on the Elder’s robes, clearly marked with the insignia of the Divine Sword Sect. For a brief moment, she seemed to hesitate before answering.
"...That’s me."
The Elder studied her carefully.
"Would you mind explaining what happened here?"
"I killed them," Xun Wei replied plainly. "All of them. They’re casualties of war."
The Elder’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"War?" he repeated. "Are you saying they were connected to the Chaos Sect?"
His tone sharpened.
"Even if that were the case, we are currently under a temporary ceasefire. Killing even a single Chaos Sect member would be punishable by death."
As he spoke, he slowly drew his sword. The faint sound of steel sliding free echoed through the silent city.
The moment the blade was revealed, Xun Wei felt it—a sharp, suffocating presence that seemed to cut through the air itself. It wasn’t overwhelming in the same way raw cultivation pressure was, but it carried a depth that only came from countless battles.
He was a true seasoned Divine Swordsman.
Xun Wei glanced briefly at the blade, then lifted her eyes to meet his.
Her expression remained calm and completely unbothered.
"I don’t know if the Chaos Sect is involved," she said. "I’m simply participating in a war against the clan that annihilated my own when I was a child."
The Elder held her gaze for a moment longer.
Then, without warning, he lowered his sword and sheathed it.
"I see."
There was a brief pause before he continued.
"Even so... you are still in a difficult position."
He gestured slightly to the ruined city around them.
"This is within the QiGon Province. Once the Heavenly Fate Sect learns that you participated in a war outside the jurisdiction of the Divine Sword Sect, the consequences will be severe."
His voice grew heavier.
"You will likely be imprisoned for a very long time."
Xun Wei remained silent.
She was already aware of the rule forbidding disciples from engaging in conflicts beyond their province, but she had never been told what the punishment would be.
The Elder’s expression hardened slightly.
"To avoid implicating the Divine Sword Sect with your actions... from this moment forward, you are no longer permitted to return to the sect."
Xun Wei’s gaze did not waver.
"...Understood."
—
Not long after the horn was blown, the Song reinforcements had arrived. The city was quiet. What should’ve been lively and active with tens of thousands of people was as silent as death.
"Were we too late?"
The words slipped out quietly, almost unconsciously.
No one answered.
"There should be survivors," one of the captains muttered, stepping over a fallen guard. "Even after a siege like this, there should be someone left."
"Spread out," the leading commander ordered. "Search every district. I want a full report—what happened here, who attacked, and where they went."
"Yes, sir!"
The soldiers quickly dispersed, their armor clinking softly as they moved through the wreckage. But the deeper they went into the city, the stranger they felt.
"Captain..."
A voice called out from further ahead.
The commander approached, his expression already tense. "What is it?"
The soldier didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stepped aside, revealing the street behind him.
The commander’s pupils shrank.
Bodies. Hundreds of them. And this wasn’t the only street.
As his gaze lifted and swept across the surrounding area, the truth became clear. Several more streets stretched into the distance, each one just like this—littered with corpses. The scene was horrific, but what unsettled him most was the lack of chaos. There were no signs of prolonged battle, no scattered formations or desperate last stands. Every body lay where it fell, each death clean and deliberate.
"This..." one of the captains muttered, his voice unsteady.
"We were too late," another said quietly.
At the same time, deeper within the city, the heavy doors of an underground bunker creaked open. This was where the nobles and wealthy had taken refuge—the last place that should have held survivors. The commander stepped inside, his steps echoing faintly against the stone walls.
The interior was dim, unnaturally still.
Then he saw them.
Bodies. Dozens of them, collapsed in place. Some near the entrance, others further inside, a few still clutching defensive artifacts that had never been activated. There were no signs of resistance, no indication that they had even managed to fight back.
The commander’s jaw tightened. "No survivors," he said under his breath.
Not even one.
Whoever had done this had erased the city with precision. No witnesses. No escape. No struggle. Only silence.
After receiving his captains’ reports, the Commander fists clenched in fury.
"Those Li scum. How could they stoop so low. We will make them pay!"
"Commander, should we—"
"Gather the troops. We’re going back."
Atop a building, Xun Wei and Xiao Hei remained hidden in stealth.
{"They’re going back."}
"Li Ping and his army isn’t in position yet. Let’s move," Xun Wei said.
—
Meanwhile, at the northern edge of the city, the Divine Sword Elder returned to his disciples. They had remained where he left them, but the unease in their expressions was obvious.
"Elder," one of them said, stepping forward, "was it really her?"
The Elder paused briefly, then gave a small nod. "Mn, it is."
The disciples exchanged uneasy looks.
"Elder... should we report this to the sect?" one of them asked carefully.
The Elder gave a slight nod. "We’ll return first."
As they made their way back through the forest, the gruesome scene came into view once more. However, this time, something caught their attention—something they had missed before.
"Elder... this boy is still alive."
Another disciple stepped closer, crouching beside him. "He’s breathing. It seems he’s only unconscious."
"He’s within our territory," a third said. "Should we help him?"
The Elder remained silent for a moment, his gaze settling on the boy. Even in his unconscious state, the child’s hand was tightly wrapped around the hilt of his sword, his grip unyielding.
A faint shift passed through the Elder’s expression. Not because of the young boy’s courage, but because of something else.
’This boy... has awakened his special body?’
Special bodies were extremely rare in the cultivation world. Even in the Divine Sword Sect there were only a handful of them.
However, having a special body was one thing, but awakening it was something no child this young should’ve been able to achieve.
"Bring him," the Elder said at last. "We’ll take him with us."
There were many talented swordsmen in the world—especially within the Divine Sword Sect—but hunger and resolve like this were rare. The Elder only needed a single glance to be certain.
’This boy will become a fine swordsman.’
At that moment, distant screams and battle cries erupted from the direction of the Song Clan’s city.
Xun Wei had already engaged the army alone.
The Elder couldn’t help but shake his head.
’Foolish girl,’ he thought.
Against an army of that size, even he would have no confidence in surviving. From the looks of it, Ghost Blade Wei had chosen a path that could only end in death.
Little did he know, Xun Wei had no intention of dying that day.
As the army closed in around Xun Wei, the commander’s eyes locked onto her, recognition flashing across his face.
"It’s her... she did this!"
His voice rang out across the entire reinforcement force as he raised his hand and gave the order.
"Capture that girl!"
Several captain level threats along with their subordinates were already on Xun Wei, but now that the entire reinforcement army was alerted of her presence, things were going to get bad for her really quickly.
{"Wei, we should leave."} Xiao Hei suggested.
"Yeah, let’s go. I’m counting on you." Xun Wei said while being tightly mounted onto Xiao Hei’s back.