Huang Ying's hands rested behind his head as he sauntered away from the lodging area, humming a quiet tune. Hong Yi and Hei Ya were following at his side, Hei Ya sticking close to his side as a guard while Hong Yi hopped around on his shoulder and chirped excitedly. The few students he spotted as he walked made sure to give him wide berth so he seemed to be all alone, but whether or not that was true was a different question altogether. Luckily, Huang Ying had a portable radar on him that he could force to work for him.

"Say, Li Jun, has he sent some people to spy on us? His little junior should be pretty squished right now so I doubt he's able to stalk me on his own just yet."

Just remembering it was enough to make Huang Ying smirk, Xing Shue Yong had been so arrogant that he didn't even bother to keep any defences up when he confronted him. And how could Huang Ying not take advantage of such a situation, especially with Shue Yong cursing at someone that Huang Ying considered a friend?

It was truly amusing to see him crumple like that after he made himself look so grand and dignified. Of course, doing that had probably only served to further anger Shue Yong and heighten his desire for Huang Ying's demise, a fact that Li Jun swiftly confirmed for him.

"Yes, other than the girlie skipping over, there are also four other people following you at a slight distance. As for him, he's still crumpled up and clutching his crotch, it seems like your aim was quite vicious."

The corners of Huang Ying's lips pulled up slightly when Li Jun gave his report, Shue Yong certainly seemed to have a fair few followers in this academy. But that was good, he might as well catch all the fish from this particular net all at once, plucking them out of the water one by one would simply be far too dull.

He halted his steps and turned his body slightly, glancing back through the rain. Just like Li Jun said, Song Yi was currently heading for him with rather excited steps, her raven black hair sticking to her body thanks to the rain. He waited for her to catch up before he started to walk again, smirking somewhat amusedly as he allowed his gaze to sweep through the surroundings.

"Heh, to think you'd actually go out of your way to rush after me, that's a quick way to land yourself on a fair few shitlists nowadays."

Huang Ying had offended both of the student factions in this academy, there was also at least one teacher that had helped the factions in trying to kill him. At this point, it would be far simpler to count the people here who weren't looking to take his head, interacting with him was tantamount to gambling with your own life. But Song Yi simply rolled her eyes somewhat exasperatedly, her differently coloured pupils sweeping over him in amusement.

"And? Am I supposed to just say 'Nah, no idea who he is'? We're already crewmates on the same boat, everyone knows that already, so we might as well take it all the way. Besides, between following a man who seems to be condensed from pure chaos or following people content with the usual status quo, it's not exactly a hard choice."

Song Yi and Chen Hong had interacted with Huang Ying ever since the entrance test and had stuck together ever since, there really was no way for any of them to jump off this ship at this point. Of course, whether or not either of them would actually choose to jump off the ship given the chance was something only the two of them knew.

Song Yi's answer was mostly within Huang Ying's expectations, she hadn't exactly been shy about showing her personality so far after all. But it still made him smirk somewhat, especially when he kept Chen Hong in mind as well.

"Heh, you really are as messed up in the head as me, I truly wonder how so many damaged people ended up here at once."

Song Yi, Chen Hong, and he had all entered the academy at the same time, each one as messed up in the mind as the other. And those were only the three that Huang Ying knew of, there were probably more like them in the academy that he had yet to meet. It really seemed as if all the damaged people had just come out of the woodworks all at once. Of course, Huang Ying seeing it in one way didn't mean that Song Yi saw it the same way.

"I wouldn't say that my mind's as screwed as yours, I at least wouldn't train an enemy, someone who was trying to kill me."

Huang Ying knew a bit about Song Yi's past thanks to what she had told him, and there certainly wasn't any chance for her to train one of her enemies, death was the only thing she would give them. Of course, the difference might be that Huang Ying simply didn't see Ying Feixu as an enemy, she was just a future sparring partner that would give him a fun fight.

He couldn't really say anything about it, his decision to train Ying Feixu was definitely one that 99% of people would find extremely strange. Song Yi also didn't pursue that particular topic as there was no point in discussing it, instead choosing to move on to a topic that was a bit more relative right now.

"So, what sort of devilish scheme have you come up with to take out Shue Yong and his men? You've got me jumping in anticipation."

Song Yi still remembered when Huang Ying first returned to the academy after getting separated from them in Cloud Reacher Forest, how he had baited Qing Moyun into attacking him with killing intent so that he could kill her without repercussions. He was clearly someone who didn't do things without any type of plan so she was looking forward to seeing what he had planned to take out someone of a much higher cultivation realm. Sadly for her, Huang Ying shrugged his shoulders and gave a far too casual answer, Song Yi unconsciously stuttering out a response.

"I've got nothing."

"...Pardon?"

She was so dumbfounded by his carefree response that she missed her step and stumbled slightly, quickly straightening up again and catching up. She almost thought she had heard wrong, but Huang Ying shrugged his shoulders again and proved that she hadn't heard wrong.

"I've got nothing, no grand scheme or devilish plot to deal with him or the people he'll send after me. What I have can at best be considered a small guess, it might as well not exist."

Huang Ying wasn't lying, he really didn't have a concrete plan in place to deal with Xing Shue Yong and his men. He had some inklings of a plan, but none that were certain to work, it all depended a bit on his luck. Song Yi truly understood that he was serious and didn't actually have a proper plan in place, her mouth hanging open as she wasn't even quite certain how to respond.

"And you still antagonized him that heavily and even told him that you'd be leaving soon. I was halfway joking earlier, but you really are an embodiment of chaos. Are you not worried that you'll die?"

Doing something like this to Xing Dong was one thing, doing it to Shue Yong was something else entirely. Shue Yong was a third-year student who had spent a fair bit of time in the Stairs of Ascension realm, his strength couldn't be compared to the people they had fought so far. But faced with her almost unconscious question, Huang Ying once again delivered a casual response that left her so dumbfounded that she answered without meaning to.

"No, why should I be?"

"Because you can't keep living if you die?"

She couldn't help but look at Huang Ying as if he was an idiot, an expression she hadn't shown for many years already. This wasn't some small thing, this was his own life on the line, so how could he just act so casually as he bet it? Huang Ying rolled his eyes at Song Yi's obvious statement, tilting his head slightly as he looked at her.

"Now that's just obvious, but does that mean I should fear death?"

Song Yi didn't respond to Huang Ying's question, or rather, she couldn't. She wasn't able to understand that train of thought, couldn't understand why someone wouldn't fear death. Death was the end, nothing would matter after that point since it would all end, everything would vanish and it was one of the world's greatest and cruellest tragedies. Huang Ying saw that she was still too dumbfounded to respond, shrugging his shoulders once again and explaining it a bit more in detail.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not actively seeking my death. If I can live, then I'll live my life to its fullest. But if I should be faced with my death even after giving it my all then that just means I've reached the end of my road, that will be as far as my determination can carry me. I'll face that death with the same amusement and excitement that I've faced everything else in this new life, I'll be damned if I face it with bent knees and a pleading tone."

Huang Ying had already faced his first death, he had felt what it was like and how scarily warm and comfortable it felt. And he had faced that death while standing on his own feet, with his back as straight as he could make it. He had made a vowed to live like that in this new life of his, and he was certainly going to face death in the same manner should he end up facing it again.

Song Yi seemed to be thinking about his words for a bit but didn't choose to comment on them, instead choosing to question Huang Ying on a different topic, receiving a swift response thanks to Huang Ying's earlier calculations.

"...Then what do you think your odds of winning are, should your guess end up being wrong?"

"Probably a 30% chance to kill him, suffering near-fatal wounds in the process. But if I change the goal to just injuring him until he flees then I have a 50% chance to succeed, 100% chance to succeed if I'm willing to lay down my life to grievously injure him."

The odds truly weren't all that great, but that was only to be expected with how great the difference in strength between them was. Shue Yong was nearly a full cultivation realm above Huang Ying, already having spent almost three months in the 6th Stair of Ascension. Song Yi seemed to accept his thoughts, sighing and shaking her head while responding, eliciting a smirk from Huang Ying.

"I'd ask which option you plan on picking, but that would just be a dumb question, wouldn't it?"

"Pretty dumb, yeah. I mean, I killed the little kid and the big brother came out, so I'm already guessing that the dad will come out after I kill the big brother. After that the grandpa will come along, after that I'll have to beat up the skeleton of the great-grandfather, and after that I'll have to re-scatter the ashes of their great ancestor. Just killing one has practically ensured that they'll come after me until I'm dead so I might as well just tear down as many at a time as I can, at least that way the next wave will be a bit smaller."

The people of the Xing clan were truly family-oriented, just killing one was enough to earn you the ire of the entire clan. After all, killing one of them meant that you were 'trampling all over their face', a truly idiotic notion that only a petty clan would care about. But such was the case right now so Huang Ying had to be ready for it.

Of course, that didn't mean that he regretted his actions, regrets were one of the things he had chosen to avoid in this new life. Given the choice to go back while knowing the possible outcome, he would still do exactly what he did, simply because he wanted to do it. Song Yi could only look at his smirk, which didn't show a shred of fear or worry, the corners of her lips actually turning up slightly as she shook her head once more.

"Yup, chaos incarnate, I really wonder how much of the Xing clan will be left standing by the time you leave this city."

The odds of death were much greater than the odds of life, but she had seen Huang Ying return from even direr straits. And just looking at the way he carried himself instilled one with the feeling that everything would be alright in the end so she simply found herself unable to entertain the thought that the Xing clan would be able to take him down. But while she was unable to muster up that thought, there was one other thought that had popped up in her head after she heard how he thought about his life and death.

"But I've gotta ask, for you to be able to treat your own life so carefreely, even content with facing death should you feel that you've given it your all, don't you have any goals to accomplish? I can't think of a single person who would feel content facing death as long as they still have unfinished goals."

No one wanted to die with unfulfilled desires, it was a regretful thing that would make even the staunchest man shed a tear. But it didn't seem to apply to Huang Ying, so she couldn't help but be curious about exactly what sort of goals he had. What was it that drove this incarnation of chaos forward, what did he seek at the end of his path? Huang Ying tilted his head slightly, eventually giving a light shake of his head.

"Hmm, not really? The best I have is showing both the distant gods and my parents that I don't need them, I can move forward and accomplish great things even without them. But even if I should fail in that then I'll show them that I can live and die as I please, my life and path will be my own and not theirs."

In the past, Huang Ying had just been fully focused on surviving, bending his waist and knees whenever he had to. Now he had gotten a second chance at life, losing practically everything in the process. The only things he really had left right now were his sister and the few friends he had managed to pick up.

He was, of course, interested in showing the parents and gods that abandoned him that he didn't need them, but that couldn't really be counted as a goal, and it certainly wouldn't be the end of his path. So he shook his head, because he truly didn't have any grand ambitions or goals that drove him forward, he just wanted to live his life exactly as he pleased. And to a goal like that, Song Yi only had a single thing to say.

"That just sounds like a tragedy."

Huang Ying wasn't offended by her statement, a life without a goal could indeed be called something like a tragedy, a hollow existence that would just fizzle out and fade before long. He simply shrugged his shoulders with a faint and carefree smile, turning his gaze towards the crimson pagoda that was coming into view.

"Tragedy, comedy, life is both, you just gotta choose which one you want to see your own life as. And you don't see me crying, so you can guess what I've chosen to see mine as."

Song Yi didn't comment on his decision, but her lips were twisted slightly so it was clear that she didn't quite agree with how he saw it. But she didn't know what she could possibly say to convince him otherwise so silence was her only option, the two people and two beasts quickly reaching the five-storied pagoda and entering it.

The inside of the pagoda was a fairly simple hall, a large crystal pillar rising up from the centre of the room and piercing through the ceiling as it travelled to the other floors. A spiralling staircase stood next to the pillar, a few wooden counters spread out along the wall of the room, each one with a different sign hanging above it. Huang Ying locked onto his target and sauntered over, the young woman behind the counter smiling softly as she greeted him.

"Good morning, do you have any specific missions you want to look at?"

The particular booth he stopped in front of had the sign 'Human extermination' hanging above it, meaning that it focused entirely on missions that required you to kill certain people. Huang Ying already knew which mission he wanted thanks to Xing Dong's memories so he didn't bother beating around the bush or even pretend to look at the other missions.

"The bandit subjugation mission on the borders of the Scarlet Heart Forest, the one with the Twin-Link Ore as the reward, I'll accept it. I also want a map of the Scarlet Heart Forest, one that shows even the burrows of the sub-terranean Demonic beasts."

The woman behind the counter continued to smile charmingly as she handed over a jade slip and activated a small array carved directly in the counter. A small light lit up and rose up from the array, sinking into Huang Ying's head and transmitting him the information about the mission he had accepted.

He thanked the woman and started to walk away, sinking part of his mind into the jade slip to check the map. The map showed a fairly large portion of the forest, mainly due to the fact that the academy wasn't completely certain how far into the forest the bandit's hideout truly went.

But Huang Ying didn't check the map because he wanted to see where the bandit's hideout was located, he was looking for something else entirely. And when he found what he was looking for, the corners of his lips turned up into an excited grin that Song Yi couldn't help but comment on, Huang Ying tossing her the jade slip as he responded.

"That grin definitely isn't the harbinger of good tidings, what have you found?"

"A graveyard for some, a hunting ground for others, I'm quite looking forward to seeing which one it'll be."