Jin Huang took another step, the shattered stone beneath his feet groaning. He vanished.
Mars' grin faltered.
Steel screamed as Jin Huang's fist crashed against Mars' sword, the impact detonating a shockwave through the valley. Tomb dust rained from the ancient walls.
Mars skidded backward, reeling in shock. "Fast! Too fast!"
Jin Huang was already there again, a fist hammering into Mars' ribs before the knight could stabilize himself.
CRACK.
Mars coughed violently, armor denting inward as he flew across the stone steps. For the first time since the battle began, genuine surprise flashed across his face.
Jin Huang did not pursue elegantly. There was no rhythm to his movements now. No restraint or measured martial artistry.
There was only killing intent.
Golden spiritual energy erupted around him, but it had changed somehow. Dark strands threaded through the radiant gold like oil paint bleeding into sunlight, twisting violently around his body.
It brought with it an intense cold that everyone could feel.
Even the surrounding combat slowed as the others instinctively retreated from the pressure flooding the valley.
Mars steadied himself, wiping blood from his mouth. "You were holding back ..."
He raised his sword again.
The sword aura surrounding the blade sharpened, splitting the stone beneath him into thin lines.
"Well so was I."
Jin Huang said nothing. His eyes no longer resembled a young man's. They looked like a beast's.
Mars lunged, his sword flashing in a precise arc aimed directly for Jin Huang's throat.
A perfect strike.
Jin Huang caught the blade barehanded as blood sprayed from his palm.
Mars' eyes widened; Jin Huang twisted violently.
KRRRK!
The sword tore free from Mars' grip. Before he could react, Jin Huang drove his forehead directly into his face.
CRACK!
Mars staggered backward, nose broken instantly.
Jin Huang grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the ground hard enough to crater the ancient stone.
BOOM!
The valley shook.
"Mars!" Several of his accomplices tried to rush forward.
Jin Huang turned, and the pressure that exploded from him made all of them freeze mid-step.
His voice came out low and distorted as he stared at their frozen figures. "You coming ...or not?"
Nobody moved. Not because they were unwilling, but because their instincts screamed at them not to.
Mars coughed blood and shoved Jin Huang away with a burst of sword qi, scrambling backward before immediately slashing outward.
Silver sword-light flooded the valley.
A dozen razor-sharp arcs screamed toward Jin Huang from every direction, yet Jin Huang walked through them.
One sliced his arm, another tore across his chest, a third cut his cheek. He ignored all of them.
Mars' breathing hitched. "What the hell are you...!?"
Jin Huang appeared before him again, his fist already descending.
Mars barely crossed his arms in time.
BOOM!
The impact blasted him through one of the stone tombs lining the valley, sending ancient rubble exploding outward.
Mars crashed through two walls before finally stopping.
Silence fell for half a heartbeat.
Then, Jin Huang stepped through the dust cloud.
Slowly. Every subtle movement was deliberate.
The darkened gold aura around him churned like smoke.
Mars stared at him. And for the first time, real fear surfaced on his face- all smugness gone.
"You..." Mars coughed. "Impossible."
Jin Huang stopped several paces away.
"Boff trusted you."
Mars froze.
"He laughed with you."
Jin Huang took another step.
"He shared food with you. And you murdered him because he was inconvenient."
Mars grit his teeth and forced himself upright.
"The weak die. That's all there is to-"
Jin Huang was suddenly in front of him, his hand closed around Mars' throat.
The stone beneath them shattered as Jin Huang drove him downward. Mars clawed at Jin Huang's wrist, veins bulging as he tried to free himself.
Jin Huang tightened his grip and Mars' face reddened.
The dark-gold aura around Jin Huang twisted harder now, pulsing violently with every second.
Hei Shisan sighed, "This is bad, isn't it?"
Shen Wuyou's expression lost its usual laziness, and he looked down at his dice.
Two ones.
Qin Shuyue stared silently at Jin Huang's eyes. There was no hesitation in them anymore. Not even grief.
Only hatred. Pure and absolute.
Mars struggled harder, sword aura exploding wildly around him as panic finally overtook arrogance.
"You think killing me changes anything?!" he rasped.
Jin Huang's fingers tightened further.
CRK.
Mars screamed. Still, Jin Huang did not stop.
Farther away, Lu Chen watched quietly. Beside him, Cho Yanshi narrowed her eyes.
Their voices sounded only within each other's minds.
'He's giving in to emotion,' Cho Yanshi observed.
Lu Chen's gaze remained calm. 'Yes. He is.'
She frowned, 'Shouldn't we stop him?'
A brief silence.
'I ... don't know.' Lu Chen admitted.
Cho Yanshi frowned slightly. 'This isn't the same as a person losing their temper. Jin Huang doesn't possess a dao-heart like other people. He is a Dao.'
Lu Chen watched the blackened gold aura swirling around Jin Huang. His mental voice remained steady.
'Hatred, grief, rage, despair. Every path tests whether one's Dao-heart bends or breaks beneath emotion,' Cho Yanshi continued.
'However, I fear that allowing him to give in to human emotion will cloud his judgement further, and take him further from his own Dao.'
Mars slammed both hands against Jin Huang's arm desperately. His movements were weakening.
Ly Chen's eyes sharpened. 'You could be wrong. Sparing him could be the thing that makes him lose his way instead.'
Cho Yanshi briefly directed his attention to the darkness intermixed in Jin Huang's golden aura. A darkness that had never been there before.
'I don't think that's an indication of anything good.'
Lu Chen's gaze cleared, and he nodded, preparing to transfer his thoughts to the others.
Back near the crater, Mars' struggles were becoming sluggish. Jin Huang lifted him slightly higher.
Mars' feet kicked weakly above the shattered ground.
"Jin Huang!" Hei Shisan moved as soon as he heard Lu Chen's explanation.
A massive wave of black spiritual energy crashed into Jin Huang from the side, trying desperately to separate him from Mars.
Jin Huang didn't budge.
Shen Wuyou appeared behind him instantly, locking both arms around Jin Huang's shoulders.
"Enough, Jin Huang!"
Qin Shuyue stepped forward, taking hold of Jin Huang's arm as she stared into his eyes.
The combined force finally disrupted his grip. Mars collapsed onto the ground, coughing violently.
Jin Huang immediately stepped forward again, but Hei Shisan blocked him.
"Move." The single word carried terrifying pressure.
Hei Shisan's jaw tightened. "No."
Jin Huang's aura surged violently once again. "Shisan. Move."
Shen Wuyou tightened his hold. "You're not thinking straight."
Jin Huang shook his head. "I am. I'll kill him."
The words were simple. Certain.
Qin Shuyue spoke softly. "You can't. You don't know what harm you'll do to yourself if you give in to this... To this rage.
Jin Huang didn't answer- didn't even try to think about what her words might mean. He didn't want to think of anything else.
His chest heaved violently, the darkened gold aura lashed around him like a living thing.
Mars coughed from the ground, still trying to breathe.
Jin Huang stared at him.
One more step. That was all it would take. One more step and Mars would die.
Lu Chen finally moved. He walked calmly across the ruined battlefield until he stood beside Jin Huang.
The older cultivator looked at Mars once, then at Jin Huang, and said, "You are grieving. There is nothing wrong with that."
Jin Huang's fists trembled. "He deserves to die."
"Perhaps." Lu Chen's voice remained even, "but if you kill him like this... then this moment will no longer belong to the dead."
Jin Huang's breathing faltered.
Lu Chen continued quietly. "Do not dishonor yourself in a flawed attempt to honor the dead. You'll only lose your way ...and lose their respect."
The valley remained silent.
"Lay them to rest properly. Allow them to pass on with a spirit of peace, not vengeance."
The words struck harder than any blow. Boff's face surfaced in Jin Huang's mind.
Laughing. Complaining. Stuffing his face during their brief campfire meals. Trusting people too easily.
Alive. Then dead.
Something inside Jin Huang shook violently.
The dark strands within his aura flickered unstably. His posture shifted, his breathing becoming ragged, and suddenly...
Exhaustion crashed into him all at once, the fury draining from his body and leaving only grief behind.
Jin Huang staggered; Hei Shisan caught his shoulder immediately.
For several long moments, nobody spoke.
Mars remained on the ground gasping for air, staring at Jin Huang like he had just glimpsed a monster wearing human skin.
Jin Huang never looked at him again. Turning away, his voice came out hoarse.
"I'm burying them all. I don't want to see him and his friends ever again."
The others went with Jin Huang to tend to the bodies. Lu Chen was the only one left with Mars and his last remaining allies.
His hand reached into the void, and returned holding a long, black-gold spear. Its sinister aura spelled nothing but doom.
Mars yelped, "You- I thought- !"
"Thought we were going to spare you? No." Lu Chen grinned wickedly.
"I cannot allow Jin Huang to jeopardize himself. I'm simply going to kill you all myself."
Lu Chen's spear moved along with him, reaping lives.