Darkness of a Soul (Open)

[Kang Ren]

Gan Ning slowly descended the mountains. With each passing step he grew angrier. With each step, his fury burned more. Ever since his meeting with Nohime and the death of his piracy. He vowed to take Tsi Hao's life.

Since then, word spread around that Gan Ning wasn't killed on the ship. Tsi Hao brushed it off at first. But then he heard some disturbing rumors about Gan Ning. His fury was said to have had no bounds. He was an extremely vengeful man and would stop at nothing to have one that wronged him dead.

Tsi Hao ran. He ran from Chai Sang and headed south to Wu Ling. He believed he was safe. But he was wrong. Gan Ning now stood outside Hao's home, a shortsword in his hand. His eyes were bloodshot, the circles around his eyes dark. His hair was ruffled, he looked like a wild man. He wore no shirt. His skin was covered in dirt. His fire of vengeance burned dark.

The house itself was along a little known road right outside Wu Ling. The house itself was pretty simple, a small wooden structure with three rooms. He studied his prey for one week. Today, he was going to strike.

The moon was hidden behind black clouds, only a few rays shown through. The look on Gan Ning's face was murderous. Blood would be spilt tonight. Nothing was going to stop him. His mind had one word repeating over and over again. Only one. [glow=red,2,300][shadow=red,left,300]Murder...[/shadow][/glow]

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Wu Ling.

Now Jiang Dong was somewhere that he wouldn't visit, even during his travels, due to it being so far south and quite away from his usual interests in a journey. But then, sometimes just his curiosity gets the better of him. Pirates... There were pirates in the south. Pirates that he would crush upon encounter, pirates that he would slaughter and capture and punish them for their sins if they ever did run into their unfortunate fate at the hands of Ma Chao the Splendid. Well, he was quite a merciful man. If the bandits or the pirates surrendered themselves, well... they met their lucky day to reform. Of course, coming alone was a bit... risky. So he was quite heavily guarded by one man, his cousin Ma Dai.

The loyal cousin, the loyal follower, and the loyal comrade. Loyalty would never waver in Ma Dai; it was quite obvious to all. Family above all else, it was basically what the people of Xi Liang lived on. After all, their half-Qiang blood gave them the trait of tending to stay collected with what surviving family they have. Unfortunately, the only remaining family was... Ma Dai, on Ma Chao's part. Both on horseback, one with sword and one with spear, watching each other's backs, it was how they had survived thus far.

It was a very small village. Rather, the outskirts of it, small houses scattered here and there at large intervals. Maybe a place to stay, an inn possibly? It was getting quite dark by now, and who knew what time it was? He wasn't really tired from casual riding, but still, sleep was necessary sometime during the week. And then, he spotted the man. Even the silhouette cast over the man by the reflecting light of the moon was enough to tell that his shape was like none other. His hair gone wild, his face covered in... dirt?

Slowly approaching the lone man standing in front of the house, Ma Chao now knew upon closer investigation that even his face was quite... crazy. And the sword. He had a sword. A shortsword, but still a sword.

"..."

"..."

The man would be an idiot to not know of his presence.

[Kang Ren]

Gan Ning noticed the man approached but ignored him. He pulled out his dagger, and stepped forward. The hatred burned bright with in him. The anger and hatred poured from every crevice of his body. He would kill Tsi Hao. No one was going to stop him.

With each step closer he got, more anger pulse through his veins. It was unhealthy, he knew that, but to take away a man's way of life... He stepped to the door and noticed the man still watching him. He hoped he would leave or he would have to kill him too.

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"...You there."

Of course, the man was deliberately ignoring him. He had been stepping up to him via horseback and staring at him for the past few minutes, and it was quite impossible to not notice. Even the deaf would have felt his approach. Gripping his spear tightly, Ma Chao slid down from his horse, Ma Dai following suit and backing him up, sword in hand. Maybe the scene wasn't quite what he expected after all, but at the moment, all that Ma Chao could assume was a scene of either robbery or unnecessary murder.

Either way, it wasn't good. Nor was it suitable in the terms of justice.

"Stop right where you are."

The voices would possibly startle the man within the house, but just possibly. If the owner was a total idiot, then well.

[Kang Ren]

Tsi Hao jumped out of bed and opened the door. However, this was a bad decision. As soon as the door open Gan Ning's sword plummeted into the man's chest. He pulled it out again and stabbed him repeatedly saying, "You thought you could escape unpunished. You were sadly mistaken..." He said stabbing and stabbing.

The man dropped to the ground dead, with many stab wounds inside him. His throat was cut and blood seeped out of his body. Gan Ning was now covered in blood. He then turned to Ma Chao and Ma Dai. He stared at them with bloodlust in his eyes and hatred in his soul. In a dark throaty low voice he said, "Stay out of this... if you value your life."

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Ma Chao could do nothing but watch as in only a matter of two seconds, the owner of the house was stabbed repeatedly, murdered on the spot by the madman, as he had decided to assume. Whether it was just or not, murder was murder, and Ma Chao wouldn¡¯t let this incident go by unnoticed. Threatened as he was for his life, unwavering, Ma Chao lifted his long spear and set the blade before the murderer¡¯s throat as he opened his mouth to interrogate, while Ma Dai stepped behind the murderer to prevent escape.

"What was the reason of this murder? Why did you spill the blood of this man? Give me an acceptable reason, and persuade me that it was an acceptable cause, and I shall let you go. I cannot just let this... murder pass by. It would be a wrongdoing on my part if I do."

[Kang Ren]

Gan Ning was not surprised nor did he flinch. He stared Ma Chao into the eyes with hate and disgust, "He murdered 50 of my closest friends and burned my home to the ground. Is that enough for you?" Gan Ning stared him deeply in the eyes. He then spit on Tsi Hao's head body. "Remove this spear from my throat. I only came to seek redemption and vengeance for my honor and pride."

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Vengeance...

Wasn't that what Ma Chao was seeking? Wasn't it vengeance that he wanted to have on Cao Cao, to kill the vile man and destroy the villain once and for all? His family slaughtered, his closest people gone. Maybe the man had a point. Maybe the murderer had a just cause. And maybe, after all, it was a form of justice, as Ma Chao had been doing all his life. Death was the punishment that the owner of the house had received. And by how the murderer was speaking, Ma Chao knew that it was the truth he spoke.

Lowering his spear slowly from the man's throat while Ma Dai still continued to stand without lowering his guard, Ma Chao asked:

"May I know your name? I am Ma Chao, styled Mengqi, of Xi Liang, and I too seek vengeance on Cao Cao for the death of my entire clan."

[Kang Ren]

Gan Ning nodded, "We have something in common then. I am Gan Ning. I am from Lin Jiang." He said, his face still dark with hatred. He looked once more at Tsi Hao's corpse and smiled grimly, "That is why when you kill one, you must kill all. They will never stop. They will never rest. They will live on. And the blood of vengence shall boil."

He turned to Ma Chao and said, "My work is done. Now the darkness of my soul can rest. Tell me, why is Cao Cao on you list of vengeance?"

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"Cao Cao has slaughtered all of my clan save me and my cousin here, Ma Dai. We do not know the fate of my father Ma Teng, but for sure, my brothers, elders, all the rest of the clansmen are dead because of Cao Cao's vile decision."

Gan Ning... Where had he heard that name before? It was a commonly spoken name among many rumors and words spoken by the people. Yet Ma Chao could not quite recall who or what Gan Ning was. Was he a tribal leader who had just lost his men as he had said? Or was he some sort of... bandit? No... or yes, anything was possible...

[Kang Ren]

Gan Ning nodded, "Cao Cao is a vile man. I'm going back to Wu now that I have finished what a wanted. I must say, thank you for helping me. It might have been much harder without your help." Gan Ning said. He smiled grimly and began to leave, "Would you like something to drink? There is a tavern nearby." Gan Ning said. He walked over to a bush and pulled out two shirts. One he wiped off the blood and the other he put on.

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"I am on a journey, and a rest at the tavern would be nice, thank you." Seeing as they were already within the village boundaries, Ma Chao and Ma Dai grabbed the reins on their horses after putting away their weapons by strapping them on their backs, and signaled to Gan Ning to lead the way. "I must ask, though," Chao said. "I have heard of your name before, but I¡¯m not sure where or how. What did you do before the tragic incident that occurred to you?"

[Kang Ren]

Gan Ning led the men into the city and ignored the question. He wasn't ready to bring it up. The tavern itself was a little shabby, but once inside the atmosphere changed. It smelled of food and good wine, with people in good spirits. Gan Ning found a table and sat down. He looked up at Ma Chao and Ma Dai and asked, "Anything you want. Its on me."

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Had he asked a question that was quite uncomfortable for Gan Ning? Ma Chao thought as the man refused to answer to his interrogating sentence. Very well, he would figure it out eventually if he had to. For now, he only knew that he had sympathized with Gan Ning over the murder, and that he didn¡¯t feel ashamed or bad about that either. Tying their horses up outside the tavern door, Ma Chao and Ma Dai followed Gan Ning into the tavern and sat down at a table. "Two cups of warm wine will do for us, thanks.

"So by the looks of your various weapons there, I am assuming you do know how to fight with the blade?"

[Kang Ren]

Gan Ning nodded at his question and smiled, "I am an expert with a scimitar and my daggers. I am good in a lot of others. So, Ma Chao, what do you do?" He said still trying to avoid questions about himself. He wasn't ready to open up the wound of the loss. Ever since he parted from Nohime his mind just grew darker and darker. Now he hoped that it would brighten, but it has done very little. He shook his head to get her out of his mind. He smiled slightly, "About your last question... My name is Gan Ning. I was nicknamed the Menace of the Seas. I am... I was a pirate..." Gan Ning said quietly.