Heaven Destroyer

Ayaan turned and looked at the shivering people in front of him. When they saw his gaze, their faces turned even paler. They felt as if a God of Death was staring at them. 

Looking at their terrorised faces, Ayaan shook his head and looked at Leafwhisk. "Release them," he said.

The lady smiled and a first tree that formed which devoured father-daughter pair before, and revealed two figures, standing there with dumbstruck expressions. They looked round the place and saw skeletons lying all about and scared faces of the citizens while no bandit was present. 

Then they saw the head of the bandit leader, as it laid in the puddle of blood. Confused. Shocked. Thrilled. Scared. All kinds of emotions made their way into their heart as they watched the scene.

The Mayor looked at Ayaan and fell on his knees, wet eyes, and face filled with gratitude. In the end he kowtowed and the girl who had previously filled with anger and hatred towards Ayaan, also kowtowed. The citizens saw such a scene taking place and their eyes widened. 

They thought their Mayor died, but he was well and alive. If they couldn't understand the situation now, they would be morons, and for sure, they weren't morons or idiots. And so they followed behind their Mayor and also kowtowed towards Ayaan.

As they were kowtowing towards Ayaan, something happened, something out of expectation, something thriller, something exciting. Ayaan felt a strange energy pouring inside his body from every man or woman in the city. And the energy increased his cultivation, and he felt as if he would break through to the next stage at any moment.

He looked in front of him and saw white energy coming out of every kowtowing man on the ground, and it entered his body, filling him with power and comfortable feeling, and he felt as if his every pour became alive.

Ding: The host did a good deed and received gratitude and Goodwill Energy from the people.

Ayaan's eyes widened when he heard the announcement. Goodwill Energy? What shit is that? He didn't know. Whatever it was, it was good for him, and he could increase his cultivation with this energy, just like after refining the evil ghosts. One more way to cultivate!

Though for getting this Goodwill Energy, he needed to help others, and he felt a headache when he thought about it. Does this mean the World of Life and Death wants him to become a good man and help others? Whatever the reason is, I will see it later. He shoved the idea out of his head and looked in front of him.

"Alright, you don't need to kowtow to me," said Ayaan, and pointed at three ladies. "It was them who asked me to not hurt any of you, or your condition might have not been better than those skeletons on the ground, if it was only me."

As soon as he said those words, Ayaan regretted, because the Goodwill Energy stopped coming out of their bodies. All of them turned towards the three ladies and once more kowtowed, not bothering with Ayaan anymore. That made three girls chuckle amusingly.

After expressing their gratitude, the people stood. The Mayor looked at Ayaan and three ladies and asked, "Sir, if you were here to help us, then why did you pretend to kill me and my daughter."

Ayaan snorted. "Don't flatter yourself. I killed those people because I found them displeasing to look at, not because of you. As for pretending to kill you. It was their idea," he gazed at three beauties, "to give bandits the wrong impression that we are also here to rob and plunder, so they won't take your useless life as hostages." He was speaking the truth, though his words were harsh. Girls looked at him amusingly.

"Of course, of course, thank you very much, sir," said the Mayor at a loss for words. He thought for some more words to say but failed. Therefore he bowed again and said, "thank you very much." he looked awkward, then he turned towards Rebecca, Leafwhisk and Isobel and kowtowed, "thank you for your kindness."

The three girls waved their hands, showing that it wasn't worth mentioning. The Mayor's daughter and other people also bowed in gratitude. Ayaan looked at them and felt a pity. Though they were saying pleasant words by their mouths, he didn't receive any Goodwill Energy. It was evident that his previous words had given them a terrible impression of him while their Goodwill Energy went to the three girls, but they didn't have any use of that energy. Such a pity, such a waste. 

Ayaan wanted to scream, you damn lowly people, send me your damn Goodwill. Don't waste it! But in the end, he swallowed his words. 

"We are on a long journey," Ayaan said. "And we came here to get some provisions. That's why we encounter bandits." 

The Mayor heard his words and understood his clear underlying meaning. "Don't worry, sir, we will provide you with anything you want." Then he hesitated for a second and said, "can't you stay a little longer, sir?"

Ayaan looked at him and shook his head. "If it was me at your place, I wouldn't act so leisurely. You know someone wants you as his slaves? And you are still in the mood to act so leisurely and want me to stay here so you can suck up to me. You better get lost from this city as soon as possible if you want to live free lives."

Hearing Ayaan's words, the Mayor fell silent and remembered the word of the Bandit Leader and a shudder ran through his body. He looked at Ayaan and nodded, "yes, sir, thank you very much for the reminder."

Ayaan looked at the Mayor and narrowed his eyes. "You know who the culprit is?"

The man looked at him in astonishment. He thought the boy already knew who the man was behind this incident. However, it seemed he was completely oblivious of the danger. As the Mayor was about to speak, he glanced around him and saw that everyone was looking towards him and hearing his conversation with Ayaan and shut his mouth. 

Ayaan snorted at his act and said in a disdainful voice. "You still want to hide the truth from them. Their lives are in danger, the enemy was plotting against them, and you still want to hide the truth from them. What a good Mayor you are." 

The Mayor knew he could not hide such a big thing from his people for too long, sooner or later they will know who the villain is behind the tragedies in their lives. He took a deep breath and looked at his people. "My people, I am ashamed to say that I am weak and I may not be able to protect you in the future."

There was a sudden uproar in the crowd when they heard his words. They didn't know why their Mayor was talking like this. The bandits were dead and Ayaan had no intention to kill them; they were completely safe, so why would the Mayor say such heartbreaking words. Unease spread like the plague in the crowd.

Mayor waited for them to calm down. "The thing that I am going to say is enormous, and you have to steel your heart before hearing it." he paused for a second, taking a deep breath. "The empire has abandoned us. They want us to make their slaves, and that is why they have sent those bandits to capture us."

"Boom!"

The news boomed in the crowd like a bomb, and people turned pale as the sheet of paper. They were having a hard time believing those shocking words. They could not find an explanation of why the empire would want to make them slaves. 

"How… how could this be?" Mayor's daughter stammered in disbelief. "Why would the empire do such a thing?" her voice was heartbroken. Her father gave his life for the betterment of the Odoport City and worked day and night to make it a place worth living. He was proud to be the citizen of the August Empire; and so does she, and everyone else. 

"What should we do?" one of the men asked in a gruff voice. His hands trembled with nervousness.

"I don't want to become a slave." Another person said, and it was the woman's voice.

"Mayor we should leave as soon as possible." 

"Hey hey, stop this nonsense," as the people panicked, Ayaan shouted. "I don't care where you go, first give me my provisions. I am going to the August Capital."

When people heard his first sentence, they had the urge to curse and beat this bastard, but the last sentence made them flinch back to their senses.

The Mayor looked at Ayaan and asked, "aren't you afraid that the Emperor would kill you for helping us."

Ayaan looked at the man and chuckled as if mocking him and the Empire and the Emperor at the same time. "Why would I fear someone who is about to die?" 

"What?" nor Mayor neither anyone else understood Ayaan's meaning. However, he didn't explain any further and said, "prepare my provisions, or prepare to die."

"..."

People felt speechless at him. What kind of man he was, in every sentence he would talk about killing and slaughtering. Only the Mayor looked at Ayaan deeply, as if he understood Ayaan's meaning, but had a hard time believing it.

"Give anything our guests want." The Mayor shouted. He looked at Ayaan and his companion and bowed once more. "Thank you very much."

'Who the fuck care about your 'thank you very much' without Goodwill Energy?' he thought and turned away.