A God in a Xianxia world

Chapter 67 - Duncan (2)

[And they weren't his friends... AND THEY WEREN'T HIS FRIENDS!]

Thought Finley in recognition, the importance of these oh so simple words not lost on him as they now reverberated through his head and kicked his brain into overdrive once more.

Thoughts of betrayal and treachery raced through Finley's mind as he thought of the one who had led them here, the independent cultivator who claimed to have witnessed Howling Sword Duncan murdering his friends from afar before running to get help.

Looking to him now in that split second after Duncan's words landed, Finley was shocked to realise that the man was no longer where he thought he was. In fact, he was shocked to realise that he'd actually overlooked him for some time and hadn't even registered him while assessing the strength of their party.

Realising the danger this could mean for them all despite the advantages they still held and despite the fact that the others would no doubt come to the same conclusion as him mere moments later, Finley decided to shout out a warning lest any of the others were slow on the uptake. However, just as he began to open his mouth to shout out a warning, he finally saw the rogue cultivator out of the corner of his eye and knew it was too late.

No one was quite sure when he did it, but during that short exchange of words just now, that rogue cultivator that had led them here in chasing after Duncan had managed to soundlessly and inconspicuously move towards two of the others, aptly positioning himself to strike whilst leaving his first opponent at least, completely helpless.

That was why in that split second after Duncan had spoken, when all those thoughts had rushed through Finley's mind as he processed the situation, it was already too late.

It was why when Finley finally caught sight of him again after the mere fraction of a second that had passed as all this took place, he had already managed to thrust his sword through the side of one of the two hired hands of the Fischer clansman with everyone else caught unawares and unprepared.

Shock. That was only thing that could describe how Finley felt as he went wide eyed at the sight of this scene. Shock at having been taken unawares. Shock at having lost one of their group before any of them were able to even react. Shock at the realisation that he must have struck before Duncan said his last words, given that he had not only completed his thrust but was actually already withdrawing his turquoise clad blade, and shock at the situational awareness that Duncan possessed given that the rogue cultivator in collusion with him wasn't even within his line of sight.

All of these thoughts raced through Finley's mind in a split second of pure shock that left him momentarily stunned.

[Shit!] he thought, drawing his eyes away from the rogue cultivator just in time to see a flash of blue accompanied by a loud screech as Duncan drew his sword.

.........................................................

Looking at Duncan's back, John couldn't help but think of the bodies he had found not long ago, lying dead beside the remains of a dead qi beast and yet clearly not killed by it. Instead the wounds on their bodies, a mix of cuts, stab wounds and other injuries of indeterminate qi arts clearly showed that they were made by a human cultivator or cultivators.

There was no doubt about it. The killer, or killers, had struck again.

It was a story he had grown used to in recent months. Parties of cultivators going missing while out on hunts, men found dead by the sword instead of beast and personal harvests disappearing from peoples abodes in Forestview. There were even some of his fellow disciples who were currently missing that were thought to have been killed by this infamous but as yet unknown murderer and thief. No one even knew if it was the work of one or of many. The only thing people knew was that too many had died in suspicious yet similar circumstances for it to be a coincidence or merely a bit of bad luck during this hunting season.