The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

"Huh?" Xiaochu exclaimed in surprise, "There are more than a dozen of those bad guys. Isn't it dangerous for you to go find them alone?"

"Hmph, in my life, Su Qi only seeks to achieve my goals. A dozen or so bandits are nothing to me, like chickens and dogs..." Su Qi said confidently, then turned to look at the little chick, "By the way, your mother might still be alive. Don't you want me to rescue her?"

Chapter Six: The Reincarnation of a Holy Monk (Fog)

"Mom?" Little Chu was slightly taken aback, and quickly asked, "Is my mom still alive?"

"It's not certain yet." Su Qi took a few steps to the left and right, feeling the armor on his chest pressing against him, and couldn't help but frown. "It depends on luck, and whether your mother is pretty enough."

“Of course! My mother is the most beautiful woman in the village…” At this point, Xiaochu suddenly realized something, and her face turned very pale. “Wait a minute, you mean…”

Su Yan didn't answer, but instead removed his armor as he said, "Perhaps being alive isn't always a good thing, but I do believe that as long as you're alive, there's hope, and... you need a mother too."

Clearly, the armor was far too cramped for him, but he wasn't planning on confronting the bandits head-on, so whether he had armor or not wasn't important; it might even make things easier.

"Those bastards..." Little Chu lowered her head, her face buried in the shadows, her fists clenched, and said in a barely audible but hate-filled voice, "...I'm going to kill them!"

Su Qi turned around, silently picked up the katana from the ground, gently sheathed it, and gazed at the crescent moon obscured by dark clouds in the night sky. After a long while, he asked softly, "Do you want to go save her?"

Behind her, the little chick's petite body trembled slightly, but she remained silent.

"Do you want to save her?" Su Qi asked again after a moment of silence.

“But…you will die,” Xiaochu whispered, her voice filled with suppressed longing, resentment, and fear.

"I only asked if you wanted it, not if you wanted it."

She remained silent, her small hands clenching even tighter, her nails almost digging into her flesh, but finally she said in a trembling voice, "No... I don't want you to go and die, even if it's for Mom's sake..."

After saying that, she silently said "I'm sorry" in her heart, and tears slid down her cheeks and fell to the ground without a sound.

"Don't worry, as long as I don't want to die, no one can kill me. Don't let my appearance fool you, I used to be a great hero who saved humanity, resisted the Honkai, killed Apostles on the Arad Continent, and defeated the great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei in the Heian period..."

As Su Qi spoke, he couldn't help but touch his hair, silently adding in his mind... "It's all just in the game."

The young girl remained silent, clearly not believing that someone who had just been evenly matched with a bandit could be some kind of great hero. Although what that guy said did sound quite convincing, leaving one feeling both confused and impressed.

However, Su Qi ignored him and said to himself, "Very well, then it's decided. Let's hide outside the village for a while, and then go to scout out the enemy situation later."

"Wait, I haven't agreed yet..."

"My actions don't require your approval." He turned and chuckled. "You should wipe your tears off first."

"I...I didn't cry!" Little Chu said, quickly wiping her face with her sleeve. Immediately, large wet patches spread out, and her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Anyway, it's decided then. First of all, this place is still a bit too close to the village. We need to find a temporary base with a good view, where we can monitor the bandits' movements..."

After saying this, Su Qi looked around, waved his hand holding the knife, and said, "Let's go!"

He then stood tall and strode away, heading out on his own.

Little Chu had no choice but to trot along to catch up, but... she felt a strange sense of relief. If she could, who would want to watch their mother die?

……

On the other side, after quite a while, the bandits realized that one of their men seemed to be missing.

"Hey, Sanlang's gone missing. What should we do? Should we tell the boss?"

"Of course, you go."

"Wait, why me? You go if you want to!"

"I'm not going! What if I get killed?"

"Then what should we do? Should we just not tell them?"

"Idiot! Do you want to get killed by that Red Oni guy?"

"So what do you suggest we do?"

……

The robbers argued over who should report the incident.

The bandits' leader called himself the Red Demon. He was bloodthirsty, murderous, and capricious. Sometimes, when he got angry, he would even kill his own men. So none of them wanted to report this bad news to him. But if they deliberately deceived him, they would be dead if they were discovered. So they dared not do that either.

So, in the end, the unlucky guy who lost the rock-paper-scissors game took on the job.

After burning the last few men alive, the bandits split into two groups under the Red Demon's orders. One group, consisting of the stronger men who had contributed more during the attack on the village, escorted the women back to the village chief's house to drink and make merry; the other group stayed behind to dispose of the corpses to avoid attracting the demon.

Saburo and the others who discovered his disappearance were, of course, the weak ones who were ordered to stay behind. So the messenger had to walk a distance to the center of the village, to the mansion that belonged to the village chief.

To the average peasant, the house was indeed elegant and grand, something to be envied, but in reality, it was nothing special. It consisted of a central hall, surrounded by several rooms separated by paper doors, with a wooden veranda encircling the outside, and decorated with lawns, ponds, and stones. It had a front yard and a back yard, and was enclosed by a bamboo fence.

Because of the Japanese garden style of creating a sense of spaciousness within a small space, although it may appear to have mountains, rocks, water plants, and rich scenery, it actually only takes a few minutes to walk straight from one end to the other.

The bandit who was pushed out to deliver the message was called Ci Nan, and he was also a genuine peasant.

Before stepping through the gate, he looked at the mansion with envy, thinking to himself, "It's so beautiful. If I could have a mansion like this, I would be content even if I died."

After a while, he reluctantly entered the room and headed towards the brightly lit main hall.

The bloodstains inside the house were still wet, and traces of fighting and dragging corpses were visible everywhere. At the entrance to the main room, several blood-stained katana, spears, naginata, and other weapons were piled up on the ground like trash.

The second son was used to such scenes and stepped up the stairs as if he hadn't seen anything. He entered the hall and saw candles lit in the four corners, food and drink laid out on the tatami mats, and several bandits embracing women and indulging in lewd acts.

In the corner, several women huddled together, their faces filled with terror, while the leader, Red Demon, had removed his helmet, revealing a head of red hair, and sat imposingly at the head of the table, having a woman pour him wine.

He swallowed hard, about to step forward to deliver the message, when suddenly he heard a cracking sound as the wine bottle shattered on the ground.

Suddenly, the entire hall seemed to be frozen solid, everyone froze, all sounds ceased, and a deathly silence descended.

The second man's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly stopped. He saw the Red Demon suddenly stand up, draw his sword, and with a flash of light, carve the head off the woman who was pouring the wine. A spray of hot blood splattered, leaving a shocking bloodstain on the screen.

With a bang, the headless corpse fell to the ground, and the woman's scream, like a silver bottle shattering, instantly filled the entire hall.

"If you keep making noise, I'll chop you up!"

The Red Demon turned and roared angrily, his voice like thunder, silencing all the screams and leaving the hall deathly silent once more.

"Pah, you good-for-nothing! You can't even pour wine properly, and your smile is uglier than a grimace!"

He spat on the corpse, turned around, picked up the blood-dripping knife, walked to the group of women in the corner, pointed the knife at one of them at random, and sneered, "You, come here and give me a smile!"

The thing I regret most in my life is that I impulsively spent money on a three-wheeled vehicle, breaking my free-to-play status (smoke).

Chapter Seven introduces brand-new techniques you've never seen before.

Pointed at by the gleaming blade, the woman's face turned deathly pale, her expression filled with terror. She trembled and was too frightened to utter a single word.

"waste."

With a flash of light, another corpse collapsed to the ground. Blood gushed from the gash in its neck, soaking the tatami mats and the floor.

"You come here!"

The blade, now stained with fresh blood, was raised once more. This time, the target forced a smile despite his fear, but... the blade flashed, and yet another person was felled to the ground.

Clearly, her smile did not satisfy him. But how could their smiles possibly satisfy this monstrous being who had just slaughtered her husband and children?

"Again!"

The knife, a symbol of death, is once again pointed at other women.

Just as someone was about to die by the blade, a clear, cold voice suddenly rang out, "Please let me do it."

The woman who was speaking was surrounded by others. She was dressed in unremarkable farm clothes, her long hair was tied up with straw rope, her face was smeared with black ash, but her bright eyes were sharp and piercing.

As soon as she finished speaking, she gently pushed away the person next to her and started to walk out.

"Luhua, what are you doing? Come back here!"

The others' expressions changed slightly, and they tried to pull her back, but after being glared at by the Red Demon, they dared not move and could only watch helplessly as she walked up to the Red Demon.

Lu Hua sized up the villain before her. He was burly, with a fleshy face, a prominent forehead, and messy red hair. Coupled with his cold, sharp eyes like knives, and the murderous aura and bloodlust emanating from him, he truly resembled a demon that had just crawled out of hell, ready to devour anyone who might harm him.

"Was it you who said you wanted to replace her?"

The Red Demon looked down at them, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Lu Hua lowered her eyelids slightly and calmly said, "Yes."

"Look at you now?"

Without a word, she turned and left, grabbed a bottle of wine, poured some out, and used her hands to wipe her face, revealing a delicate and beautiful face. "Is this alright?"

The Red Demon remained expressionless and said in a deep voice, "Show me a smile."

Lu Hua looked directly into his eyes without fear, a slight smile playing on her lips. Her smile was pure and innocent, making the hearts of the bandits nearby flutter, their mouths dry, wishing they could pounce on her immediately and pin this beauty down.

A red demon's heart stirred, and the image of a certain woman appeared in his mind.

Then, he carefully examined Lu Hua's face and said coldly, "Your eyes aren't smiling."

As he spoke, he reached out to touch her face, but she dodged away.

"You dare to hide?" Red Demon narrowed his eyes, his face radiating murderous intent.

Lu Hua, however, did not back down. She met his gaze calmly and said, "Only one person can touch my body, and that person was killed by you not long ago."

"Then I'll kill them all!"

The Red Demon raised his sword again, pointing it at the timid women cowering in the corner. They were terrified, and upon hearing his words, many looked at Lu Hua with pleading and hopeful eyes.

Lu Hua remained silent for a moment, then stepped forward and stood in front of Chi Gui, her face cold as she said, "Since you want this body, then take it."

"Heh..." the latter sneered, "You just stepped forward to save them, and now they want you to sacrifice your body to save their own lives... Is it worth it?"

"They are not the ones who are wrong."

Is it me?

The reeds remained silent, while the Red Demon laughed heartily, sheathed his sword, and turned to walk back to his original seat, saying, "Come and pour me some wine."

Lu Hua glanced at the women and followed them at a leisurely pace.

On the other side, seeing that his boss's mood had improved, the second son, who was about to report the news, breathed a sigh of relief and finally found an opportunity to step forward and said cautiously, "Um... Boss, Sanlang said he was going to take a piss in the woods, but he hasn't come back yet. I'm afraid something has happened to him."

Red Demon held a wine cup in his hand, letting Reed Flower pour the wine while turning his head to look at the scene, casually saying, "Sanlang? Who is that? Do we have such a person around here?"

……

As night deepened, in a simple house in the village that had not been burned down.