Red Talon Piercing The Darkness

The tavern had gone silent as Hong Zhao took the gourds of serpent's fire and put it in his storage ring. If any of them were thinking about anything else than robbing him, they would wonder how a normal human would be able to use a storage ring, yet no one questioned it except for the barkeep which began to break out in a sweat. Hong Zhao paid no attention to the men in the tavern, and the man could tell exactly why. This child must be some sort of extreme expert from the Obopin Continent.

"Th-the tavern you are looking for is the boar's hide." The barkeep stuttered out as he looked at the child with new eyes. "That's the only other tavern in this city, but you have to have a high background to get in." Now that he got the ten gold coins, he wanted nothing more than this monster to get out of his tavern. As he looked at the many men looking to follow the kid out, he sent a warning glance to them.

Hong Zhao's face lit up at the news. It would take a lot less time to scout out if there was only one left. He cupped a fist in his hand and bowed to the barkeep. "This one thanks you for your assistance." Turning around and heading towards the exit, he left a dumbfounded bartender staring after him.

As the man looked on, he saw three men get up from their seat and followed him out the door. He shook his head with eyes wide. "They are as good as dead." He said glumly. Then he stood silently as if having a silent vigil for three departing souls from this world.

Hong Zhao left the tavern in a great mood. He still had a little more than an hour before Xuan Hua checked back up on him, and he already had a lead to find the drunkard alchemist. His spirits were high as he went back to the alleyway he had come from. The barkeep had given him detailed directions to get to the tavern, if nothing happened, it would only take a few minutes before he stood at the entrance. He was told that it would take a significant backing to get into the tavern, which wouldn't be much of a problem since he had standing with the city lord.

"Hey kid." A gruff voice called from behind him.

"And here's what will slow me down." Hong Zhao sighed in defeat. Of course he knew of the three men following him. It was impossible to escape completely unnoticed when he brought out his gold. He would have been surprised if he wasn't followed out.

"Hey, we're talking to you!" Another man called out as they blocked the exit to the alleyway. He made sure to point out that there was more than one of them, in case he didn't know.

Hong Zhao shook his head and turned around. His eyes showed defeat within as he looked at the three men. "Can I help you?" His attitude fit perfectly with the situation, yet not for the same reasons the men thought.

"We won't hurt you, so don't worry." One man placated him. "All we want is your gold and five gourds of your serpent's fire. I'm sure your master will be fine with the loss, right?"

Hong Zhao shook his head again. "I can't believe this is happening." He said under his breath.

"At least you'll have your life, right?" one of the men sympathized. He wouldn't want this to happen to him either.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Hong Zhao looked at the three with a gleam in his eye before turning and running further into the alleyway.

"He's making a break for it!" The least drunk man roared as he chased Hong Zhao. This kid had to be scared silly. They weren't going to kill him or anything, he just wanted the supplies he had purchased.

"There's no exit from this alleyway!" Hong Zhao heard one man yell as they went deeper into the darkness. Sighing, he stopped in his tracks and looked back at the approaching men.

"I didn't want to kill anyone tonight." Hong Zhao complained as he looked at the men helplessly. "But I can't let scum who would steal from children breath another breath."

"We were going to go easy on you!" One man said as he activated a fist technique. "Howling wolf fist!" He cried out and faint qi surrounded his fist as he ran to close the distance between them.

Hong Zhao sighed and watched the man as if he were moving in slow motion. Before the fist landed on him, three pure white lines appeared on his neck, separating it from his body in three pieces of meat. Blood sprayed everywhere as the body collapsed into a heap. The blood rained down on Hong Zhao, giving him the guise of a demon as his devouring qi claws turned slightly red. "Let's go then." His voice was barely loud enough for the two to hear. He didn't say it for their benefit anyway, who would talk to the dead?

The other men's faces changed between red and pale as the small demon closed the distance between them. Both of them sobered up slightly as they looked at him. With a nod between the two, they drew their own weapons from their rings and charged the boy.

"Idiots." Hong Zhao spat as he activated vortex thrust. He ran from the ground onto the wall of the building to his right. Running up, he found a small foothold on a windowsill to press down on as he used his movement ability to its max, launching himself at intense speeds towards the men. Before they even notice, both had lost their heads. As the blood sprayed out, the red demon between them sighed as he looked up, blood splashing on his cheeks. His clothes weighed him down slightly with the amount of blood that drenched them. He looked down and saw that the golden lions were now crimson.

Hong Zhao sighed once more in defeat as he used his qi to lift the men's storage rings and weapons, sucking them into his own storage ring. "I really wanted to find Feng Yeng tonight." He complained as he looked down at the three men, as if to argue with the corpses. How dare they slow him down? He took one last look at the men with disgust before launching himself upward once more to the rooftops. The heavy coppery scent of blood bathed the alleyway. He could see the many confused faces on the streets as they wondered where it was coming from. He also saw a group of guards making their way through the various alleyways to locate it. He would only have about two minutes before they found the men, though by that time, he would already be back within the city lord's estate. "At least I have the location now." He gave himself a self assured smile as he made his way back.

In the midst of the chaos, no one thought to look up to the rooftops. Why would they, this world where the strongest survived was ill equipped to deal with the life of an assassin.