Pursuit of the Truth 103 Shan Hen

Su Ming stood at the ruined tribe and looked at the weeping man. He did not get an answer to his question.
That man was Shan Hen. He was crying as he knelt at the center of the tribe. His face was filled with pain, but there was also indecision, regret, and sorrow.
Su Ming was silent. He did not make a move, as if waiting for Shan Hen's answer.
After a long while, through which the cold wind continued blowing across the land and lifting the debris on the ground to turn in circles, Shan Hen stopped crying and slowly stood up before turning and looking at Su Ming.
Those eyes were bloodshot and tired.
Those familiar eyes now seemed like stranger's eyes. This person, whom Su Ming was well acquainted with, was now Dark Mountain Tribe's traitor. If it weren't for him, the number of deaths in the tribe would have definitely not been so devastating.
"You told Black Mountain Tribe the route we would take for our migration."
Su Ming looked at Shan Hen as he walked towards him with grief on his face.
"When I came back, you were all getting rid of the scouts from Black Mountain Tribe. At that time, all of you worked separately, so no one noticed where you went. You did not kill those from Black Mountain Tribe in your area. You told them where we were going instead."
He continued walking forward.
Shan Hen's face was pale. He laughed brokenly and staggered backwards, as if he could not withstand Su Ming's accusations.
"Lots of our tribe members died in that trap…
"After that, you bore through it patiently until the most important moment arrived. When only Lei Chen, Grandpa Nan Song, you, and I stayed back, you badly injured Grandpa Nan Song, turning the tides of the battle…
"Do you really want to see Black Mountain Tribe chase us down and massacre our people..?" Su Ming asked in a hoarse voice as he came closer.
The pain on Shan Hen's face grew even stronger, and he took a couple more steps back.
"I have two things I don't understand. One, why did you betray the tribe? Two, why did you not let Bei Ling and his father stay? Was it because you had no confidence whether those two could be taken down by Black Mountain Tribe after you injured Grandpa Nan Song, or was it because you had a sudden bout of guilty conscience?"
With a swift move, Su Ming suddenly closed in until he was 200 feet away from Shan Hen.
"Tell me, why?!"
"Say no more!"
Shan Hen's face was pale and desolate as he suddenly shouted in a loud voice. His pain and sadness erupted forth at that moment as well. He took a few steps back, staring at Su Ming.
"Say… no more! There is no reason, none!"
Tears fell from Shan Hen's eyes. He raised his right hand, and immediately blood-red light flashed in his hand. The red light surrounded his arm, and he pointed a finger at Su Ming.
"I don't care whether you're Su Ming or Mo Su! Get out of here. I can't die yet. Give me another ten years. Once ten years have passed, I will kill myself here.
"If you continue bothering me, then don't blame me for not showing you the mercy of a fellow tribe member!"
The indifferent look on Shan Hen's face was gone. At that moment, he was like a roaring wild beast. He took a leap back, as if he was about to leave the tribe.
"If you can even betray the tribe, then don't talk about showing me the mercy of a fellow tribe member! When you injured Grandpa Nan Song, did you think about what would happen if we died and those pursuers caught up with our tribe? Did you think about the fate that would fall on their heads!"
Su Ming gritted his teeth, and with Blood Scales in his right hand, he rushed towards Shan Hen.
Su Ming turned into a long red arc, countless moonlight threads floating behind his back. In the blink of an eye, he closed in on Shan Hen. Crashing sounds erupted in the once beautiful tribe.
As they erupted, Shan Hen roared, and a blood red blade materialized in his right hand, clashing with the long spear and causing wind to roll out from around them like waves.
"Dark Blood Dust!"
Shan Hen retreated a few steps. He coughed out blood, and his face turned pale. The blood turned into a cloud of blood mist midair and charged towards Su Ming.
Shan Hen's power was great, and his Dark Blood Dust was not something Su Ming could compare to. The moment the Art was cast, it spread hundreds of feet around them. If the mist landed on Su Ming, it would pierce through his body, as if it was made up of sharp arrows.
Yet the moment the blood mist with the penetrating ability charged towards him, covering the sky, Su Ming's eyes filled with the shadow of the moon and flashed brilliantly. Tonight was the night of the full moon!
The fine threads made of moonlight floating behind him tumbled forward in an instant. The moment the blood mist closed in, the moonlight threads swiftly gathered before Su Ming, turning into a screen of light, and clashed with the blood mist.
After a loud crash, Su Ming trembled. The threads of moonlight started cracking inch by inch, but the blood mist also dispersed as if blown away by a huge gust of wind.
At the same time, as blood trickled out of the corners of Shan Hen's mouth, he staggered back a few dozens of feet. Then he turned and ran. He did not move to fight but to leave the place as soon as possible.
There was no way Su Ming would let him leave. He dashed after the man, but the moment he got closer, Shan Hen turned around abruptly. There was pain in his eyes, but there was also killing intent.
"Su Ming, you forced me to do this!"
Shan Hen let out a roar, and he lifted the blood-red blade in his hands. In the blink of an eye, a Berserker Mark in the shape of a blade appeared on his face. It was his Berserker Mark!
The moment the mark appeared, the space behind Shan Hen started twisting. A giant red blade materialized and swung down. It passed through Shan Hen's body and went for Su Ming's head with tremendous killing intent.
That blade was stunning. It was Shan Hen's, who was the chief of the hunters in Dark Mountain Tribe, strongest move! The number of people and beasts that had died under that blade was far too great!
A lot of moonlight instantly turned into fine threads that surrounded the blade swinging down at Su Ming. Yet the moment they touched the sword, they were all torn apart.
The blade was about to touch Su Ming.
His eyes blazed, and fire started spreading through them, like his pupils had just been lit on fire. The moment the flames appeared, Su Ming immediately felt that his Qi was burning, as if there was a fire that could burn heaven and earth within him!
The strength of the fire under the full moon was greater than on any other day. Su Ming did not howl. Instead, he raised his right hand as his eyes burned and pressed his palm against the blood blade coming towards him.
Flames erupted forth from his body at that instant and enveloped him within them, turning him into a gigantic man of fire. The fire giant looked like it took in a breath as it looked at the full moon in the sky. At that moment, it was as if the moonlight from the entire world was sucked towards it, causing the area to become darker.
"Fire!" Su Ming whispered.
While chasing after Shan Hen, he had already felt the fire building up in his body under the full moon. It was as if he just needed a thought, and the flames would burst forth from his body.
The fire giant slammed its head against the blood blade as Su Ming pressed his right palm forward. When it rushed towards the blade, it no longer looked like a person, but turned into a sea of fire and burned the blade.
Booming sounds shook the sky and earth at that instant. The sea of fire and the blood blade crumbled apart at the same time. Disbelief appeared on Shan Hen's face, and he coughed out blood. He was already gravely wounded to begin with and could not withstand the attack. As his body tumbled backwards, he coughed out blood once again in midair. He staggered to regain his footing before retreating.
Blood trickled down Su Ming's mouth. The blood fell on the snow below, and a lot of snow melted instantly as if burned away. When Su Ming saw that Shan Hen was about to run, he took a huge step forward and ruthlessly threw Blood Scales.
Whistling sound echoed through the air. Blood Scales turned into a giant blood-red eagle and fell before Shan Hen, who was trying to escape. It crashed heavily, stirring up a wall of snow that made Shan Hen flinch.
At the same moment, Su Ming stomped on the ground once, and by his side, a stone knife left behind by one of his people as they left jumped up from the patch of snow. He caught it in his hand and closed in on Shan Hen in the blink of an eye, thrusting the knife forward.
"I can't die!"
Shan Hen's face was vicious. The moment Su Ming thrust the knife towards him, a weak red light flashed on Shan Hen's right hand's fingers, and they turned into a red blade.
The two thrust their blades into each other's bodies almost at the same time.
"Give me ten years! Just ten years!" Shan Hen roared, panting harshly, his body filled with pain.
"When I was young, you were an adult I respected. I knew that you had to force yourself to be indifferent because your responsibilities were great. You had to protect the tribe. The tribe needed the friendliness of the Head of the Guards, but it also needed someone who was aloof. That was why you chose to be aloof… I'll let you stab me as thanks for protecting the tribe in the past.
"But I absolutely won't forgive you. Our people who died because of your betrayal also won't forgive you!"
Blood flowed down the corners of Su Ming's mouth. He pressed against Shan Hen's body and took out the stone knife, then stabbed once again.
"This is from all the elderly folk in the tribe who had died.
"This is from all the people who weren't useless and died for the tribe leader," Su Ming whispered in Shan Hen's ear and stabbed him once again.
"This is from Wu La.
"This is from Liu Di."
Tears fell from Su Ming's eyes as he continued stabbing Shan Hen, lost in his sadness. With each stab, Shan Hen's body would tremble, pressed against Su Ming. Blood continued flowing from his mouth. He was also crying in pain and in sorrow.
"This is from Grandpa Nan Song."
Su Ming looked at the ruins of the tribe. He supported Shan Hen so that he would not fall and pushed his body back, stabbing him once again with the knife in his right hand.
As he kept pushing Shan Hen back, a long, terrifying line of blood trailed down after them through the snow until the hunter's back hit a giant fence that wasn't too damaged surrounding the tribe
With a bang the fence shook as Su Ming stabbed again.
"This is from the elder.
"This is from me," he said in a low tone and sank the stone knife in his hands deeply into Shan Hen's heart.
The head of the hunters fell on him and convulsed repeatedly, the light in his eyes gradually becoming dimmer.
It was quiet around them.
They were the only two people in the tribe, and looked as if they were hugging each other.
Su Ming closed his eyes. After a long while, he took a few gentle steps back, and Shan Hen's body fell to the side. There was no longer any light in his eyes. It was as if he could no longer see Su Ming, struggling to lift his trembling right hand and bring out a small piece of bone from his bosom.
It was a very tiny bone, and it looked like the leg bone of a baby. As he held that tiny piece of bone, tears fell from Shan Hen's blank eyes.
Crying, his breathing faded away, and so did his life.