His mother brought Zhang Hao to the Hillfar village when he was a baby. When he turned three, his mother passed away soon after that. Since then, he was raised by Grandma and Grandpa Zhao, two village elders. Shortly after Zhang Hao turned seven, he fell off a cliff. The villagers thought he was a goner. There was no way he could’ve survived such a fall. However, a few days later, Zhang Hao returned to the village all in one piece. The villagers were both shocked and relieved. Who knew Zhang Hao could survive such a fall. Zhang Hao lied and said that after he fell down the cliff, he got lost in the wilderness, where he had been the last few days.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, when Zhang Hao fell down the cliff, the next thing he knew, he found himself in a cave. The cave had a bloody pond in which Zhang Hao drank out of. After that, he fainted. After waking up, he discovered that the only way out of the cave was by climbing out. Which was what Zhang Hao did.

When Zhang Hao returned to the village, Grandpa and Grandma Hao were overjoyed to see that their grandson was back. However, during a foraging trek up the mountain, Grandpa Hao was mauled to death by a wolf. During this time, Zhang Hao also awakened a system that he calls Black Hou Beast from drinking the bloody pond. With it, Zhang Hao uses it to navigate his way to the wolf who had killed his grandfather. After a deadly battle leading them to Red Maple Stronghold of Conriston, Zhang Hao kills the wolf and brings it home. Seeing how well Zhang Hao fought off the wolf, the people of Red Maple Stronghold were impressed and went to Hillfar to recruit Zhang Hao to join their stronghold. Grandma agrees to let him go for 100 gold coins. Zhang Hao soon embarks with the others to Red Maple Stronghold.

Shortly after he is there, he finds out the entire village of Hillfar was massacred by the Red Maple Stronghold. When he goes to investigate and finds out that, indeed, all his loved ones were killed, Zhang Hao’s fury grows uncontrollable. The Red Maple Stronghold is in for it now that Zhang Hao found out they were behind his village’s demise. But will Zhang Hao regret destroying his new home now that he has nowhere else to go? Will this even quench his thirst for revenge from now on?

C25 They Dared to Retaliate