Lust, like Vengeance, Demands Red 111 When Despair Suits Your Face.

'They might not believe in my words now, but slowly, I'll dismantle those beliefs and replace it with my own, a person who was raised into a belief and has that taken away from them will crave and follow another with even more fervor.'

Zhi Rui thought as she stood in front of everyone. Her eyes portraying immense fatigue, she slightly limped, She was wearing a thin black sleeping robe that was on the carriage.

The people immediately turned to look at her. The carriage was big, like a common house from the empire so they had to look up. Zhi Rui seeing the people under her looking with delight and worry, straightened her back, looking like a sick person who didn't want to lose face.

Soon a person clapped and the whole tribe followed even the ones who just lost the war and joined were clapping. In the barbarian lands, the strong are respected, Zhi Rui won, therefore, everything is hers. War is not personal. it's survival. You work with what you got.

But even so, Zhi Rui saw some reluctant, and others filled with resentment joining the applause.

The clapping died down as Zhi Rui kept a stern expression.

She didn't saw Blue-amethyst or Sandworm. So she turned to the handsome middle-aged men holding Blue-amethyst's daughter,

"Why did we stop?"

Her voice was soft, but the solemn tone forced the surroundings into a restless silence.

"A group that seemed to be from the other side of the barbarian lands was waiting here with some warriors wearing matching armors, they said they needed a report of what had happened, Sandworm and my daughter went with them for the talk."

Zhi Rui's frown relaxed, only the be replaced by a cold smile.

She looked at an odd warrior mounted on a tall bull in front of their place.

"You told me where they are, but you didn't answer my question," Sha said, her eyes never leaving the warrior up front.

"I'll ask again, why have we stopped?"

"You're staying here because you were commanded to do so!"

The warrior atop the muscular bull said with utmost authority. Leaving no time to Blue-amethyst's father to speak.

With a mesmerizing cold smile, Zhi Rui turned her eyes to the middle-aged man.

"When they left. This one stayed to keep us in check he also asked about the blonde siblings."

His words barely ended and the mounted warrior screamed from across the terrain.
"What gal! to refer the royal siblings like that! even if you're an elder I'll cut your tongue off!!"

The bull came charging in.

Zhi Rui smiled and made a hope rock fluctuate beside her.

He charged and smashed through the tired warriors, killing one and sending the rest around.

"Stop, or I'll have your head." Zhi Rui said lightly.

The bull killed two more warriors that couldn't get out of the way on time. The man on the bull seemed to not even register her words.

Her eyes shone with a red glow. The man felt something and turned to her. but Zhi Rui was already above him.

thump!

Zhi Rui's whole weight pushed the man out of his mount and they both fell down.

The bull tried to turn in their direction. The man got up first, he was a good two meters tall and he swung his thick arm at Zhi Rui's head. It was so near her face that Zhi Rui could see the crevices on the armored glove.

There wasn't much to do, Instead of pulling her hammer back for a swing, Zhi Rui used the bottom of the one-meter long warhammer's handle.

She put it in front of her face, the fist smashed into it. Zhi Rui used the weight of the attack to turn her body to the side and guided the fist to the side.

It was a long swing, Zhi Rui used the rest of the energy from the first to sping in place. The man did the same, he turned and threw another punch.

When they were face to face again. The man didn't know how, but Zhi Rui was a half step away from the reach of his punch. To his dismay, Zhi Rui was holding on the very end of the warhmmer's handle maximizing the reach.

He didn't have anymore thouhts as it smashed into his temple.

His helmet flew away with the impact, and due to the Warhammer's attack weight, it slipped from Zhi Rui's hand and fall on the ground.

The people were in silence as a warrior from the rich and powerful side of the barbarian lands were casually killed in their midst. God knows the consequences that will befall them.

Zhi Rui took a deep breath, just now she went halfheartedly to the fight, and almost died, the man had activated his core abilities, it wasn' visible by the armor, but on the limbs he used to punch, Zhi Rui felt an unusual hardness to them. So instead of taking it head on Zhi Rui chose to deflect.

'A casual level two is so strong here, body cultivators are truly scary. Fortunately, I landed one heavy hit.' Zhi Rui thought.

Zhi Rui looked at the tall bull that stopped the moment he turned around.

"What a big boy you are." Zhi Rui went on to caress his ribs. The bull snorted but Zhi Rui chuckled.

She mounted the tall and muscular animal.

"Bring me his body." Zhi Rui said.

Three men picked up the corpse and raised it to Zhi Rui, She pulled it and laid it in front of her.

Her cold eyes surveyed the surroundings

"Forward." She said and the bull strolled ahead, with the tribe following behind.

They slowly walked for twenty minutes.

Zhi Rui saw from atop the bull right before the lizard tribe's entrance. Sandworm and Blue-amethyst were in the middle of five warriors mounted on bulls. Three men and two women.

Sandworm and blue amethyst's lizard mounts were to the side, but the warriors were mounted and looking with hostility to them.

Zhi Rui squinted and saw in front of them an old man sitting on a slightly more robust bull. He was wearing silver robes. beside him, a tall and handsome man stood on the ground with his bull beside him.

Sandworm and Blue-amethyst were standing still showing not even a tremble but Zhi Rui could already feel their rage form the distance.

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"Talk! how dare you disobey!?" screamed a woman atop the bull.

Blue-Amethyst didn't spare her a glance, she looked at the old man on the strongest bull. "I'm a lot of things, but in the end my dominant nature is barbaric, I won't ever allow an old man to talk from above. regardless of strength and tribe name, I won't ever stand for being disrespected like this."

The tall handsome men on foot sighed and looked up at the old man. "See I told you, people are different and more traditional in this side of the land. They don't respond to stories or status, only strength."

"Humpf, that just means they haven't evolved. Strength is relative, If I order, they'll die by the hands of these warriors, if they don't recognize that strength then they're worthless."

The tall men sighed looking apologetic at blue-amethyst.

Sandworm chuckled, attracting the eyes to him.

He did s sping in place examining each mounted individual.

"Refusing to greet a brethen with the feet on the sand, ignoring the teachings of even-numbered combat when not at war and using five mounted warrior to encroach on two people with a sheathed weapon."

Sandworm turned back to the old man.

"Look at this, your exchanges with the longtime enemy had been happening so casually and for so long, that their culture is slowling erasing and replacing our own. You're killing your people." Sandworm said.

For a second a flicker flashed across the mounted warriors.

The old man laughed loudly holding his belly.

"Really an ignorant person, speaking words that could get him in a grave so casually. The accusation of dealings with the enemy is to grave for somebody like you to say. Do you have something to back it up?"

The man said, as if proud that even if it's in everybody's face they can't do anything about it.

Blue-amethyst tried to speak, but Sandworm chuckled again.

"You asked why we don't perceive people like you as strong? It's because when an individual shows strength, it shows his character is tough and trustworthy. He had the will and ability to struggle and build his own strength. That's why the strong are revered. They have the drive produce and protect.

And on the opposite side is people like you. Preying on people's hunger and despair, always leeching and consuming, never producing or building."

The old man's face went red, and Blue-amethyst's chest was shaking in awe. She didn't expect that from someone like sandworm that was always cautious.

Sandworm looked a the man deeply in the eye "You're a spreading disease. whereas the strong individual inspires health and improvement."

"Good! Good! Good!" The man laughed with a blood-colored face.

"You, the slut. Cut his fucking head off!"

The stern mounted woman didn't mind the cussing. She merely looked at the tall handsome man for permission, he nodded with a sigh. She grabbed a whip from her waist and threw it behind her for impulse. Sandworm didn't unsheathe his sword, he only smiled. blue-amethyst was ready to counter-attack.

The whip came, a cracking sound of the whip sounded. A dull thud. But nobody screamed, the woman looked down on the ground.

A corpse wearing the same armor as herself was sprawled on the ground with a deep whip gash wound that left the arm hanging by some skin.

Her eyes widened. the others around her did the same. Even thouhgt his temple were caved in, and he was bleeding from his six holes they could all recognize the corpse

The tall and handsome man give an "oh?" face and looked behind the group. They followed his line of sight.

Zhi Rui was lazily mounted on the slowly walking bull.

Blue-amethyst looked at Sandworm.

"Did you two planned this?" she asked.

He laughed.

"I knew it was a power play from their part, that's why I said that our alpha couldn't be bothered from her sleep to meet these people. And yes, I also knew she is the impatient type. Randomly stopping the carriage and not giving her any notice or reason would bring her out of it on a blink."

Blue-amethyst was speechless.
"You bet our lives on that!?"

"HAHA," He laughed as if a boulder left his shoulder "She came, so it's okay."

Then he turned his eyes to the corpse on the ground and felt the cold killing intent on the old man's face. And for the first time ever the tall handsome man had a stern serious expression.

Sandworm understood that these mounted warriors were elite level, two front line soldiers. It suddenly dawned on him the gravity of what Zhi Rui just did.

His face turned white and he looked at Blue-amethyst.

She laughed

"This is more like you."

Chapter end