Wang Bugui walked forward and absorbed Hanae Chiou's soul carefully into his body. He kept the soul of the beautiful woman in his heart as a reminder that he had to work hard on becoming stronger. He then transformed her weapons into energy and stored them in his left arm before walking up to Druid and Merutia.
"Thank you for your concern before. I have to return to my clan to settle something and can't accompany both of you back." Wang Bugui said.
"Bugui, I..." Druid did not know what to say. After all, all of his people had perished on the battlefield, and he alone was left.
"Bugui, why don't you come with us. You are rather talented in every way, I believe Clara will tutor you in magic. Who knows, you can be the next Wisdom. Or, you could go to the Sanctuary Knighthood Hall. With your talent, I believe you can definitely become the strongest Seraph Knight. I believe both factions will agree to take you in; the Blood Hunter Clan has sacrificed far too much today." Merutia tried to advise Wang Bugui, in the hopes that he would not continue to remain alone— the loss of all his people in one night was far too traumatic.
"Thank you, I'll find my own path. I promise I'll be fine." Wang Bugui said as he forced a smile, before turning to leave. Druid and Merutia tried calling after him, in the hope of counseling him, but he waved to them and did not stop.
Halfway along his journey, he met Clara and the remnants of the human army. A tinge of sadness appeared in Clara's eyes as she sighed, "I've already requested for people to send the remains of the Blood Hunter Clan back to your land and erect tombs for your dead."
"I understand, thanks..." Wang Bugui offered his thanks unemotionally and continued walking past them without stopping.
"Sigh, I'm grateful for the selflessness of the Blood Hunter Clan from the bottom of my heart."
"Thank you, Blood Hunter Clan. Without you people, there would have been no hope for us humans."
"The people of the Blood Hunter Clan are the heroes of humanity and we offer them our utmost respect!"
"Sorry, we're too weak now. When you are able to bear the name of the Blood Hunter Clan, we'll come to your aid. This is the responsibility of everyone present here today."
"Wang Xuanming, the true God of War from the East! Alice, the arrow of hope of all humanity! I'll forever remember their names."
"When you've become really strong, I swear to follow you on my life!"
The survivors took the initiative to create a path for Wang Bugui; they were all truly grateful for the selflessness of the entire Blood Hunter Clan. No one blocked his passage or did not lower his or her head to mourn for the Blood Hunters, and even the wizards willingly offered to help him. They were proud people and would never offer their help to anyone, and the Paladins drew their swords and saluted the dead of the Blood Hunter Clan. Some of them even swore to follow them on their lives when Wang Bugui had become truly strong.
Wang Bugui looked at them and walked past them silently. He passed through the path of respect made out of the intertwining staffs of the wizards, the path of salutation formed by the criss-crossing swords of the Dragon Slaughter Knights, and the path of thanks formed by the Seraph Knights kneeling on one knee in an orderly fashion.
Even Clara led Herty and Stephanie to face Wang Bugui and they bowed in thanks to Wang Bugui. All surviving humans should be thankful for the Blood Hunter Clan. If it was not for the selfless sacrifice of its people, Dracula would not have been re-sealed, and if Wang Xuanming had not held the vampire and the other Infantes back, the sealing would not have been successful. If Alice had not infused her last arrow with her remaining life force, they would not have escaped.
Everyone kneeled silently as they watched Wang Bugui leave, and they only got up to continue their journey when they saw his thin lonely figure disappear into the horizon. Wang Bugui sprinted back to the land of his people, and nobody was in the large manor, and it looked extremely desolate.
He walked into the manor, slowly going past every corner of it. This was his parents' home and where all of the elders and high-ranking leaders of his clan resided in. Normally, when a meeting was called, Blood Hunters from all over the world would gather over here, but there was no one in the empty mansion now. Even the rooms where the children stayed in were uninhabited.
He walked into the woods behind the manor, and there was a cliff past that. This used to be a place of relaxation and enjoyment for his clan, but tomb after tomb was erected here now, from the wood all the way back to the cliff.
Wang Bugui plucked some white roses and laid one before each tomb. There were more than 300 of them, and these were the lucky ones with some part of their body remaining behind. There were tombs that were placed over the deceased belongings, like the hunting knife of some elder, the spear of an older man, or the sword of a elder female child...
There was a huge tombstone erected at the cliff, and the images of two people were carved on the black headstone. The carvings were life-like and showed the powerful figure of Wang Xuanming and the amazingly beautiful Alice above the skies, the former's fist shattering the skies while the latter's arrow piercing through both worlds.
They had forced a path out for the others, and suddenly Wang Bugui re-collected the tragic scene of his parent's death again. He left two white roses at their headstone and sat there to observe the sun rise slowly from the coast of the sea.
"How can I become stronger? Who can teach me how to do that?" Wang Bugui muttered as he stared blankly at the blue crystal pendant his father left him. He had only learned some basic skills from his father, and a few moves of Blood Attacking Art.
No matter what, nobody was left to mentor him, and upon realizing this, Wang Bugui clenched his fists tightly.
"Buzz!"
All of a sudden, the blue crystal pendant gave off a dazzling blue glow as he held it tightly in his fist, and the image of a figure was projected from it.
"Father!" Exclaimed Wang Bugui. It was the image of his father. He wanted to hold his hands, but his own hands passed through the holographic image. It was just a remnant of his father's thoughts.
"Sorry, Bugui. I've already died by the time you've seen this image of me. Perhaps, I'm not a good father, but I can't leave the others behind. It's my responsibility." Wang Xuanming's image sighed.
"Father..." Wang Bugui's eyes grew moist.
"Bugui, if you want to go on the path of training, I hope you can bring this pendant to a man called Yun Jinghong in the Kunlun Mountain of China. Show him this pendant and beg him to teach you how to cultivate your skills."
"I'm sorry that I can't follow you along this path. It'll be tough, but I hope you can persevere, overcome all obstacles and reach the zenith of the training which I could never receive. Become the strongest being of this plane, and even become an immortal after breaking through its boundaries!"
"Remember, Bugui. Humans will forever be as strong as any other race, and you have to trust the faith you have cultivated since a young age that humans can dictate their own fate. Alice, come over to say a few words, our child should want to hear from you too." Wang Xuanming told his wife after he had finished.
Alice's surviving image appeared. She was still as beautiful as ever, but her eyes were filled with tears.
"Listen to your father, Bugui. Don't forget to take good care of yourself, and remember to follow your basic nature whatever you do in this life. Don't do anything that you'll regret. Value all the important people around you, and don't mourn their loss only when they're gone. I... I'm sorry, we've not really fulfilled our duties as your parents..."
Alice sobbed as she spoke, her eyes swollen and red. She wanted to continue but was unable to. At this moment, she was a mother who missed her child terribly.
Wang Bugui took it all in. "So, mum and dad were already heart broken but couldn't reveal their feelings on the battlefield. They went to battle for themselves and Human Race, knowing that they could very well perish. But who knew they had concerns that made them wish that they could survive?" He thought.
Wang Xuanming comforted Alice as they left. He told Wang Bugui to take care and reminded him to work hard on getting stronger. He then informed his son that there were certain traditions from the East that still existed, and that they could become a huge aid to him if he managed to obtain their power.
Their lingering thoughts then vanished after Wang Xuanming finished speaking, and this was the last goodbye Wang Bugui's parents would ever give him. He sat below their headstone and pondered over their words, getting up only when the sun had completely pierced through all the darkness and was hanging over his head.
"Dad, mum and all of the other clanspeople. I'll bear the weight of the this clan on my shoulders, and when I return, I'll already have turned into an expert capable to stand on his own two feet. I'll continue to grow stronger until I've become the strongest being on this plane." "I'll remove all of our enemies from existence, and I'll rewrite the entire world's fate!"
Wang Bugui swore before all the other tombs as he stood underneath his parent's headstone. His voice, which usually sounded a little childish, was incredibly serious and commanding now. He then turned to leave his home, and the departing figure of the boy looked extremely pitiful and sorrowful. He was bearing an incredibly huge burden on his shoulders.