Stealing The Heavens
chapter-8

Standing in front of the wooden house and looking into the distance, one could see a river with billowing waves a few miles from there.

The river was almost a hundred meters wide, and there was a bridge floating on top of the river. On the other side of the bridge was a dirt path leading to an unknown destination in the deep forest. On this side of the bridge were a few archer towers made from wood and dirt, standing solidly. The bridge that was dozens of meters away from the riverbank had two leather straps on it; this was a suspension bridge.

On the other side of the bridge was a green mountain that resembled a natural barrier. Two mountain ridges extended like two long arms, gently hugging on a flat land spanning dozens of miles. The mountain landscape was cliffy, and underneath the gigantic trees was fully-grown wild grass with poison sticks. Even a mouse could not get past this unharmed.

A natural green river was in front, and behind there was a huge green mountain. This small piece of land had fertile soil with both grass and trees growing prosperously. Two small streams flowed across the land; this was indeed a rich land suitable for homes. Not far away from the wooden house where Wu Qi had slept were a few hundred loosely built wooden houses, both big and small, surrounded by trees. In between these houses were farmlands spread evenly. A few dogs were playfully chasing the deer-like animal with a single horn on its head.

The man who delivered food and clothes to Wu Qi was squatting in front of a red flower bush not far from the house, digging a white tree root while puffing hard. When he heard the sound Wu Qi made coming out from the house, the man hastily put the tree root into the beast skin bag tied onto his waist, turned around and smiled at Wu Qi.

"Red Flower Cane, it is used specifically to cure all kinds of internal wounds, and it helps women who have lost too much blood. Hehe, looks like brother won’t need this."

Wu Qi nodded his head thankfully and then asked, "What is little brother’s great name? Wu Qi wishes to thank you for saving my life."

The burly man was startled for a moment, then suddenly smiled, "Wu Qi? That name sure is weird. Great name? You are ruining my appetite by speaking like a book. My name is Doggie. Great name, I do not have a great name yet. When I become an adult at sixteen, I’ll let the elder give me a name!"

Walking towards Wu Qi, he slapped him with some force, and then dragged him to the front of the village, towards the direction of the suspension bridge.

While Doggie was walking, he kept boasting about the night before yesterday and the miraculous effect of the illuminate tiger’s blood that his dad had fed Wu Qi. According to his words, the blood of the illuminate tiger could bring the dead back to life; it could cure all kinds of diseases and wound. It was simply an almighty medicine.

Wu Qi just smiled while listening to Doggie’s boasting. He looked up and down at the surrounding scenery while making some judgments in his mind quietly.

The level of productivity here was not high; it could even be described as low. However, all the men here were full of strength. He saw a few women who went to carry water from the river; the buckets they carried had a diameter of more than one meter, and it was the size of about two small water urns.

Every family here was equipped with all sorts of weapons, blades, spears, bows and arrows. A group of kids was practicing skills on a small piece of flat land in the middle of the village. The weapons in their hands were real and sharp. Looking at the size of the blades and spears, they seemed to weigh at least twenty to thirty kilograms, and this group of kids who were only about seven to eight years old, could swing these weapons as if they were nothing.

After some quick thinking, Wu Qi quietly circulated a skill found within the ‘Chapter Source of Water’, and then injected the Innate Water Energy into his eyes. A thin layer of blue amber immediately covered both his eyes. Looking at those kids who were practicing with spears and blades once again, to Wu Qi’s surprise, their bodies were filled with abundant Qi and blood, as well as some pretty strong internal energy that was circulating within their bodies.

These kids were in theory able compare with the elite members of the Underhand Sect’s Greedy Wolf Group. The internal energy within their body is worth at least three to five years of hard practice.

Wu Qi suddenly drew in a sharp breath; he discovered that the thickness of the natural energies contained within the air was incredible.

The ‘Scroll of Stealing’ covered almost everything. Within it was an endless amount of profound content. There was also a section about natural energies highlighted within the ‘Scroll of Stealing’. Natural energy was the foundation for all cultivators; the higher level its thickness, the more benefits for the cultivator.

The natural energies on Earth were long gone because of the modern industries’ mass productions of items. Earth was just like a wasteland of natural energies.

As for this little mountain village, the thickness of the natural energies within this small piece of land was almost at the same level as those marvelous realms described in the ‘Scroll of Stealing’. No wonder all the kids here possessed so much internal energy, and no wonder why Doggie standing beside him could have such a muscular body and grow so ripped.

A land where the natural energies were rich, even a piece of potato would grow bigger and sweeter than other places, same went for humans!

Along the way, it seemed as if Doggie was famous within the village, with many villagers waving and greeting him.

Those who were older than him would just call him Doggie while those who were the same age as him would call him brother Doggie. Those who were young would just call him uncle Doggie with respect. Wu Qi saw a few teenage girls who were quite pretty, who shyly greeted Doggie with blushed faces.

The land was fertile, the natural energies were rich, and the landscape was amazing. This really was a perfect place to live. Although the men who lived here were tall and ripped like Doggie, those teenage girls were all gentle and pretty. It almost seemed like one could squeeze water out from their faces.

Wu Qi stared at those teenage girls and could not help but melt away a little. This kind of charm and elegant natural beauty was something he had never seen before.

Retracting the Innate Water Energy from his eyes, Wu Qi shook his head. Now was not the time to concern about the beautiful teenage girls. It was time to find out where he was right now.

Following Doggie and walking all the way to the village entrance that was located at the end of the suspension bridge, Wu Qi saw a few old men carrying sticks in their hands and leading a group of men while scolding and beating those who were rolling on the ground.

Those men all had bodies similar to Doggie. They were men with shoulders strong enough to carry horses, and beating and scolding people was normal for them. Those old men who were carrying sticks in their hands were so old that their bodies were bending like bows, but they were still as nimble as squirrels. They used the sticks which were full of barbs to beat the men lying on the ground, and scolding like mad men; a very astonishing sight.

Wu Qi and Doggie walked close to these people. As if they had just finished releasing their anger, an old man coughed and struck the ground forcefully with his stick once again and then he roared out a few words a high-pitched voice.

A few ripped men swiftly dragged the men from the ground up and used a dagger in their hands to cut the throats of these men in a neat manner.

Blood splashed out as a few of the men were trembling and making awful sounds. The villagers pitched in and grabbed some ropes, and then they hanged these men who were still bleeding out from their necks high up on the archery tower in front of the bridge.

Aside from these few men who were still screaming and bleeding, underneath the archery tower were over thirty corpses that were still hanging.

Among these corpses, some had not been dead for more than a few days, and some of these corpses were already mummified. Their clothes disappeared from their bodies, exposing their darkened skin and the colorful tattoos on their skin. These tattoos looked ferocious and mysterious; some were wild beasts, some were poisonous bugs, and there were even some strange flower and grass tattoos.

Staring at those men who were still struggling and twisting on the rope, the old men and all the villagers started laughing. However, one could not feel any malevolence in their laughter, only a weird feeling of relaxation and satisfaction.

Wu Qi looked at this scene staggeringly, and suddenly heard Doggie shout out happily, "These barbarians were seeking death in our village once again. Isn’t this just giving us credit out of nothing?"

Dozens of men on the bridgehead looked towards this direction, especially the old men who were carrying sticks. They all had their attention on Wu Qi.

Wu Qi bent his body and bowed with delicacy towards these few old men, he cupped his fist and bowed deeply.

"Little man Wu Qi, together with teacher and fellow disciples experienced a tragic incident. Luckily, you elders saved me! Little man is deeply grateful for this!"

Never allowing the old men the chance to speak, Wu Qi kneeled down on the ground and kowtowed three times respectively to the old men.

Grateful for saving his life, kowtowing three times was still too light. Wu Qi genuinely felt grateful to the villagers who had saved his life. They had saved his life, and because of that, he had a slight chance of avenging Wu Wang and Le Xiaobai. How could he not be grateful to them?

If it were not for the fact that he had lost everything, including his own clothes that were shattered in the Great Universal Dimensional Portal, Wu Qi would surely reward them handsomely.

Among these old men, the one with the oldest look, a mere bag of bones and a face full of age-marks, smiled. He shakily walked to Wu Qi and pulled him up from the ground.

"We’re all people of Dayan, what’s the point of so much bullshit? Hmm, little brother, you are a rogue barbarian hunter?"

Wu Qi followed along the story and continued. He stood up and nodded his head in respect, then aid, "Elder truly has perfect judgment, I am."

The men behind the old man became agitated. They muttered in soft voices, as if they were cursing those damn barbarians who had created another debt only payable with blood.

Having absorbed Le Xiaobai’s freakishly amazing comprehension and intelligence, Wu Qi quickly analyzed the situation and made some conclusions for himself. He continued the story while grinding his teeth, "Little man’s teacher and fellow disciples were all killed by them! This regret shall last for eternity! After little man goes back this time, little man will surely cultivate and practice with all efforts! In coming days, little man will kill all enemies and avenge my teacher and fellow disciples!"

These men were referring to those barbarians from unknown origins, but in Wu Qi’s vow, he was referring to Miao Yuan’s clan and the Green Mountain Sect.

However, since both of their words matched perfectly, these few old men nodded their heads in approval. While praising him they said, "That’s what a good man should be like! You are a rogue barbarian hunter who will travel around and hunt these barbarians! If you don’t avenge your own fellow disciples, it would truly be a big disgrace!"

The old man who had just pulled Wu Qi up from the ground patted Wu Qi’s chest forcefully. He shook his head and said, "But, little brother Wu Qi, your body is just too weak. With this, you won’t be a match for those barbarians."

Clicking his tongue and letting out a sigh, the old man said with great hospitality, "In our Meng village, there are secret formulae passed down from our ancestors. Mixing beast tendons and beast bones with dozens of herbs is the best way to grow taller and get strong bones. Before you leave, old man will give you one hundred packets of medicine, guaranteed to double your size!"

Listening to what the old man said; Wu Qi felt both joy and annoyance.

His body shape was perfect on Earth. Although he was a little bit slim, he was not weak. His muscles actually carried their own strength.

After inheriting the ‘Scroll of Stealing’, he knew that the strength of a person had nothing to do with the size of muscles. Nevertheless, this old man had enough kindness to help, so Wu Qi could only bend his body deep down again and thank the elders of the village for their kindness.

Making a vow in his mind, Wu Qi promised that if he in the future reached great heights, he would come back to this village and pay back all the kindness they had given him.

Just when he made this decision in his mind, within the forest on the other side of the river, a fist-sized ball of green flame suddenly shot out and hit right onto one of the ripped men who stood on the bridgehead.

A horrifying scream was heard as the ripped man instantly covered in green flames. He was only able to roll a few times on the ground before he was burned completely into ashes.

A few of the elders were stunned. The villager who was standing guard on top of the archery tower shouted out loudly, "The barbarians are attacking us, there are many of them!"

The ear-splitting horn sounded out across the whole village. A large group of barbarians dressed in beast skin and covered in tattoos suddenly emerged from the forest on the other side of the river.

The leader of the barbarians had a thick black gas hovering around him and a fist sized dark green skull immersed within the black gas.

Pointing at the village ferociously, the leader of the barbarians roared wildly.

"Men, kill them all! Women, rob them all! Kids, eat them all! My children, march!"