Chapter 12: Brotherhood and a Man’s Tears

As soon as Chu Feng shouted, faint footsteps could indeed be heard behind the giant boulder.

Then, a very young girl’s voice called out, “Uncle, don’t be hasty! I’m coming out right away—just don’t attack me!”

Chu Feng was startled—this voice was so familiar.

With a brief recollection, he realized it was the voice of the young girl who’d sold him beast meat at the market just a few days before.

From behind the rock emerged a slender, petite girl, peeking out cautiously like a little thief from the mountains and forests. She was indeed the very same girl from the market.

“It’s you?” Chu Feng eyed her up and down, demanding, “What are you sneaking around here for?”

“Uncle, don’t misunderstand! I didn’t mean to hide here. I was resting behind that rock before you arrived and must have dozed off. The sounds of fighting woke me, and when I saw how fiercely you were battling, how could I dare make a sound?”

As she spoke, memories of Chu Feng’s ruthless, ferocious methods made her heart pound in terror. “Uncle, you have my word—I saw, but I won’t breathe a word of it! Those brats from the Xiong family of Terror Gate always bully and oppress people around here. The more of them gone, the better!”

“Ah, you’re perceptive—you recognized those were Terror Gate’s Xiong family brats.”

Chu Feng nodded but said nothing more. He slung his knife over his back, ready to leave at once.

As for her assurance that she’d “never say a word,” Chu Feng wasn’t worried. He knew that once Ah Huai returned to Terror Gate, he’d spread word of how Chu Feng had slaughtered Xiong Gang and Xiong Meng.

“Uncle, are you leaving?” The girl trotted after him, chatting as she went. “By the way, weren’t you only at the first stage of Body Tempering a few days ago? It’s only been two days and your strength has soared—could it be that the beast meat I sold you was just that good, and eating it unlocked your martial potential?”

She continued, “Also, what about that fox-headed eagle you killed? Are you just leaving it there? That’s at least ten pounds of meat! If you don’t want it, could I have it?”

“Take it. If my strength has improved, I suppose I do owe it partly to the beast meat you sold me. Consider the fox-headed eagle’s carcass a small token of thanks.”

Chu Feng nodded, then said in a low voice, “Stop following me now. If you don’t want me to hurt you by mistake, stay here.”

“Ah? But—Uncle, I mean no harm! At least let me say one last thing?”

Seeing Chu Feng turn to leave, the girl dared not follow, but hurried to call out, “The Mu family of Heaven’s Secret is collecting Purple Crystal Flowers from warriors across the Eighteen Ridges. Fifty silver for one flower—the same as five pounds of beast meat! The more you bring, the higher the price they’ll pay! Once you’ve settled your companion, how about we team up and gather some Purple Crystal Flowers together?”

“Not interested,” Chu Feng replied, not breaking his stride or looking back.

“Fine then!” the girl stamped her foot in disappointment and called after him, “Uncle, you don’t seem like an ordinary warrior. I bet you’ll become strong soon! Since we’ve met, remember to look after me when you’re powerful—and if you’ll take me as your disciple, all the better! Oh, right, my name is Xiao Li…”

By the time Xiao Li finished speaking, Chu Feng had vanished from her sight.

“Who knows where that girl’s from,” Chu Feng mused as he strode into the thick forest. “I haven’t even managed to look after my own sister—how could I spare the energy for her? Still, I wish her good fortune.”

After quickly passing through the dense woods, the air grew noticeably damp, and in the distance, the surging, roaring Tianlang River came into view.

On its bank stood a dock established by the Mu family. Boats of all sizes were moored there, and warriors from all over could board here—traveling upstream to places like Wind and Thunder Martial Hall or Nine Mysteries Sect, or downstream to reach the outer settlements of Hengshan Town.

Of course, it cost money to buy a ticket for these boats, but Chu Feng lacked for nothing in that regard.

Tickets were divided into three classes based on speed. Chu Feng bought two of the fastest and most comfortable, each with a private sleeping cabin. He wanted Little Dao to have a chance to recover properly.

This area was on the periphery of the Eighteen Ridges, and Hengshan Town was the nearest power center. Yet the Eighteen Ridges were so vast that even by boat, it would take three days and nights to leave them behind and reach the outskirts of Hengshan. The slowest boats would take a full month to make the journey.

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The great boat drifted downstream. Night fell, and the moon rose high in the sky.

Inside the small private cabin, Little Dao lay quietly on a narrow bed. Chu Feng sat at his side, his heart full of emotion.

Chu Feng already had a sense of the torture Little Dao had endured.

Four of the boy’s teeth had been knocked out, and his chest was a mess of wounds—if it wasn’t the seared marks of a branding iron, it was the weals of the whip. Scars crisscrossed his battered body, leaving not an inch unharmed.

Worse still, Little Dao’s gaunt face was scorched and blackened.

At first, Chu Feng thought it was just dirt, but after a closer look, he realized someone had burned the boy’s face with fire.

“Brother Feng…” Little Dao’s voice was weak as he woke, his body still terribly frail.

“Little Dao, drink this medicine first.”

As soon as they’d boarded, Chu Feng had bought some healing herbs from the boatman and brewed them into a decoction, waiting for Little Dao to awaken.

After drinking the medicine, some color returned to Little Dao’s cheeks. “Brother Feng, where are we? And… what about the Xiong brothers?”

“I killed Xiong Gang and Xiong Meng. Now, I’m taking you to the outer town at Hengshan, where you’ll be safe. Tell me, Little Dao—what happened to you these past ten days?”

Little Dao caught his breath before speaking. “That night, the village caught fire. Terror Gate sent people to fight the blaze and hunt you down. A lot of beasts died in the fire, but you escaped. When they realized the fire started in two places, they suspected I’d helped you set it.

“Xiong Wei, the eldest young master, beat me brutally and tried to bribe and threaten me. He said if I could lure you out, he’d pardon my crime and even reward me with three thousand silver. Of course, I refused. Then Xiong Wu, the second master, tortured me. He branded my body with hot irons, burned my face with torches—said that for every day they didn’t catch you, they’d torture me another day. If a year passed, they’d torture me for a year. And once they caught you, they’d feed me to the man-bears as a snack…”

As he spoke, Little Dao’s teeth chattered uncontrollably. He’d braced himself through the ordeal in Terror Gate, but recalling it now, he couldn’t help but shiver with dread.

“Xiong Wu… Xiong Wu! The Xiong family of Terror Gate!” Chu Feng clenched his fists, his teeth grinding audibly. “Little Dao, from this day forward, no one on earth will dare harm a single hair on your head. I swear it to you!”

“Brother Feng, what’s past is past. I’m still here, able to talk and laugh, aren’t I? As long as you’re safe, it’s all worth it.”

Little Dao could contain himself no longer; tears he’d held back burst forth, and he buried his face in Chu Feng’s arms, sobbing aloud.

Chu Feng’s eyes brimmed with hot tears.

Little Dao was only fifteen—a year younger than Chu Feng—and yet he’d endured so much pain and torment for Chu Feng’s sake, both in body and spirit, at the hands of the Xiong family.

Chu Feng’s heart was torn as if by knives, his tears flowing unchecked.

The night Chu Feng escaped Terror Gate, a landslide had struck in the mountains. He’d been buried and swept dozens of feet by the mud, crawling out battered and caked in earth. Even in that struggle against death, he hadn’t shed a single tear.

But now, at the sight of this frail, powerless boy, Chu Feng wept as though rain fell from his eyes.

He’d spent six years in Terror Gate, suffering alongside countless laborers, but Little Dao was the only true brother he’d found.

Three years ago, when Little Dao first came to work as a drudge at Terror Gate, his mother had died, and it was Chu Feng who paid for her coffin. Half a year later, while delivering weapons to another village, Little Dao slipped and fell from a cliff; only Chu Feng’s desperate grip on a jagged rock saved him from death, though it left Chu Feng’s hands torn and useless for weeks.

In return, when Little Dao learned Chu Feng planned to escape with his sister, he helped by starting a fire at the same time, creating enough chaos for their escape.

Chu Feng had urged Little Dao to run with them, but the boy insisted that no one would suspect him. In truth, he worried that his escape would only hinder Chu Feng and his sister, so he stayed, prepared to tell whatever lies were needed to buy them more time.

The price for this was steep—but Little Dao paid it. Even under the Xiong family’s brutal torture, he did not betray Chu Feng.

“By the way!” Little Dao suddenly exclaimed. “Brother Feng, where’s Sister Xinlian? I haven’t seen her… Don’t tell me, has she already fallen to her death?”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Little Dao hastily covered his lips, cursing himself for his careless tongue.