Chapter 15: The Dangers of Travel
Needles of unease pricked the back of Shao Ling's neck, and he put down the bamboo scroll he had been studying.
A month had passed since Shao Ling began his journey to Liu Provincial City, and there was still a month and a half to go before he would reach it. The monotony of traveling by ox-drawn carriage for seemingly endless weeks made even the scenic forests, rice paddies, and occasional mountain grow tiresome, and Shao Ling found himself wishing for the convenience of automobile-travel he had enjoyed in his past life. The driver and the two guards were courteous, but acted with stiff formality that made Shao Ling miss the cheekiness of Shao Yun and the stern but sincere attitude of Yao Hu. Although Shao Ling lacked camping experience in this life or his previous one on Earth, other than the summer heat and the occasional rain that turned the dirt road into mud which clung to the wheels of the cart, the journey had been fairly smooth.
At least until Shao Ling felt a primal sensation of danger, much like an antelope can pick up on the presence of a predator, and the oxen began bellowing moments before one of the guards shouted a warning.
"Hazard Beast!"
A chill ran down Shao Ling's spine. The fear was clear in the guard's high-pitched shout.
Two unnerving howls filled Shao Ling's ears, one after the other, and the carriage abruptly ground to a halt as the animals pulling it became paralyzed with fear.
"Dammit, move! Move!" the driver shouted as he savagely lashed the beasts in a panic, to no avail.
Shao Ling pulled back the curtain dividing the interior from the drivers seat, and saw the guard's desperately trying to regain control of their maddened horses with a monstrosity standing in the middle of the road.
The Hazard Beast was a two-headed wolf the size on an ox. It's fur was as black as coal, and its eyes were like yellow flames scorching everything they fell upon. Viscous saliva dribbled from wide mouths filled dagger-like teeth.
[How... How can such a thing exist?]
Shao Ling had seen cultivators that trascended the limits of humankind and eaten meat and a bone from a Hazard Boar, but he had never witnessed the truly terrifying beings known as Hazard Beasts which had preyed upon the people of this world since the dawn of humanity.
The creature took a few slow steps before working up to a charge. Its speed was even greater than that of a normal wolf despite its large size, and the guards drew their swords while still struggling to control their horses. Almost as if taking flight, the Hazard Beast leapt at the nearest guard. Its cruel claws effortlessly tore through the horse's chest, and one of its mouths caught the guard's sword between its teeth as the other head enveloped the man's head in its mouth. A sickening crunch could be heard as the monster ripped off the man's head and stood atop the soon-to-be corpse of the weakly whining horse.
The other guard made the split-second decision to get off his horse, which at this point had become frozen with fear. He wore lamellar armor of interconnected plates and his hair was tied into a bun, and he had a small moustache that he was rather proud of. He gripped an iron short sword in rough hands calloused by practice.
"Young Master Shao, get out of here!" he shouted in a voice choked with fear and stiff with determination.
His name was Chen Gu. The man who had been causally slaughtered before Shao Ling's eyes was Ling Dao. Both men were trusted guards of the Shao Clan for for as long as Shao Ling could remember. Shao Ling had never interacted with them much save for a few sparring matches due to his focus on training with Yao Hu, and later his studying of the civil service examination. He knew that they were probably among the camp which supported Shao Zhi in the succession of the Shao Clan family head, but they were still willing to give up their lives for him.
Shao Ling flung open the door of the carriage and leapt outside. He drew the sabre at his side and ran towards the Hazard Beast.
[Like hell I'm going to run! What's the point in going down the going down the martial path if you buy your life with the lives of others?]
"Young master, don't!" The driver shouted in a panicked voice.
"Don't be an idiot, if our lives can be exchanged for yours, then we've done our duty!"
Chen Gu shouted as he saw Shao Ling running towards him out of the corner of his eye.
"With the two of us, there's a chance of beating the monster instead of being cut down while fleeing!"
"... I suppose so," Chen Gu acknowledged with a grim smile.
The Hazard Beast leisurely approached the two swordsmen, who wordlessly began walking to a different side of the monster in order to divert its attention- of course the fact that the Hazard Beast had two heads meant that this tactic's effectiveness would be reduced, but it was more effective to attack the creature simultaneously than to face it one-on-one successively.
Shao Ling has already unsheathed his sabre, so he moved his blade into the ending position of Tiger Unsheathes Claws, with a low stance and the sabre held out to menace the Hazard Beast. The monster snarled, sounding like a angry demon, and Chen Gu and Shao Ling attacked it simultaneously.
Two blades came arcing down to open the monster's throats on both sides of it, just beyond the effective range of its paws. In that moment the Hazard Beast made the split-second choice to defend against what it perceived as the greater threat rather than trying to fend off both attacks at once. It defended against Chen Gu- the obvious warrior- by swiping at his sword arm with knife-like claws, shredding through his leather bracer and nearly tearing the skin beneath it, and ripping apart his hand as its claws continued their trajectory.
Chen Gu howled in agony as he dropped his sword and stumbled back while clutching his mangled hand, which was split open like an crimson unfolding fan.
[Dammit!] Shao Ling cursed internally at the maiming of his clan retainer and brought the sabre down in Tiger Descends Mountain. The very air seemed to be cut by the sabre as it descended like a ferocious tiger, biting into the Hazard Beast's left hind leg. The sabre strike carried a profound aura even though Shao Ling's cultivation had been ruined. A spurt of blood splattered Shao Ling's white robe as he severed the creature's tendons.
The Hazard Beast howled in anger and pain. This was a young Twin-Headed Hazard Wolf; it had the potential to become a Great Twin-Headed Hazard Wolf King if given enough time and cultivation resources, and it was shocked and enraged that mere human had managed to injure it.
Without wasting a second, Shao Ling flowed into the next move of the Demon Tiger Sabre technique; it seemed to the carriage driver watching the battle with racing heart that Shao Ling floated over to the to the monster's other hind leg and a sliced through its tendons like a demonic tiger mutilating its prey with savage but graceful claws.
Shao Ling leapt back after crippling the Hazard Beast as it quickly- and awkwardly- turned around to face him with eyes glazed over with madness and rage at the injuries that the pale youth inflicted upon it. The blood in Shao Ling's veins burned with excitement as hot blood and adrenaline coursed through his body. It felt like he had been cultivating Heaven and Earth Qi as he fought the Hazard Beast.
Shao Ling gracefully retreated back a few paces using Tiger Avoiding Rain Steps in order to evaluate the beast's condition and plan his next move. His sabre remained pointed at the Hazard Beast's eye level in order to keep presenting a threat.
[It's a good thing I kept practicing the Demon Tiger Sabre Technique, or there's no way I would be able to mutilate a Hazard Beast.]
While the Shao residence guards were excessively easy opponents after facing off against Yao Hu for four years, both sparring and going through the moves alone kept both his body, mind, and blade honed.
Both of the creatures mouths snarled and frothed with agony and fury at being crippled by some random traveling scholar.
[Even with keeping up with sabre practice I feel like it should've been more difficult to wound a Hazard Beast. Is it possible that...]
Shao Ling didn't dare to continue the thought, lest his hopes rise for nought. He took a few more steps back and closed his eyes. The Hazard Wolf howled in rage, taking the gesture to be contemptuousness. It hobbled towards Shao Ling as swiftly as it could on its two front legs, dragging its wounded rear legs behind it. Both heads thought of nothing but tearing the hated human apart.
Shao Ling turned his awareness within himself, and focused on his meridians. The Heaven and Earth Qi that naturally flowed within them escaped like water from a strainer. A knife of disappointment pierced his heart, but he kept searching his body for any oddities. When Shao Ling brought his awareness to his blood vessels, he almost fell over in astonishment.
In addition to blood cells carrying oxygen and nutrients, Shao Ling sensed a sliver of extremely pure Heaven and Earth Qi.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone