As midday approached, Ji Tianwei took shelter from his fierce battle against Yi Feng. The surrounding landscape was bleak: hot steam scattered by the wind, smoke from fires burning the trees, and many fallen trunks.
"Bastard!" he muttered. Hot blood trickled from his mouth. His body and stomach were covered in burns, but the most severe was the scorched wound on his abdomen. He covered it with his hand, feeling the hot blood seep out.
If I hadn't used my shadow physique, I would have been scattered into a million pieces, I thought. This physique is starting to fade and return to its original form, but my calculations weren't a complete failure. I've already obtained this artifact, and my wound is beginning to heal because of that pill.
Ugh! I wiped the blood from my mouth. My wound was already getting better, but I began to worry again. This phenomenon of a battle might attract the attention of other cultivators, or even the Blue Lotus Sect itself.
Hehe, it's time to try this artifact, I whispered to myself. A faint smile spread across my face, hidden by the cloth.
I meditated to calm my anxious mind. With all my calculations in place, I put on the mask artifact. I focused on my seven meridian points, feeling the power flow from the mask, enveloping my face. Then, I tried to imagine the face of someone I had seen in the center of the village.
After a few minutes, I felt a change in the shape of my face. The mask seemed to fuse with me, tearing at the bones of my skull. Creak! My facial bones ground together. I opened my eyes.
I rose from my meditation and walked toward a puddle of boiling water in a crater left by Yi Feng's techniques. I saw my face, now completely changed in the reflection. When I touched it, it felt no different from my original face. I now had thick, arched eyebrows like a crescent moon, and a face that looked like an imbecile. I smiled. The wheel on my head began to spin, causing my eyes to narrow.
I walked to the spot where I had been thrown by the explosion. I curled up and waited for someone to arrive. I closed my eyes, thinking once more: Once this plan succeeds, I'll go back to the alley in the center of the village to get the clothes and supplies I left hidden.
...
Soon after, a cultivator flew overhead on his sword. He seemed to be observing what had happened. He spotted me, curled up in the crater, then landed and walked towards me.
He asked, "Boy, what happened? Were you beaten by someone? Where is the culprit?"
His voice sounded like a man's. I moaned in pain, clutching my abdomen which was still under the pill's healing effects.
He reached for me, trying to wake me. "Boy, tell me what happened. Drink this healing pill," he said, taking a pill from his pouch and putting it into my mouth.
I swallowed. "Thank you, Uncle," my voice was faint as I slowly opened my eyes. I looked at him.
He seemed like a young cultivator, maybe in his twenties. He wore a white robe and inner clothes, with sharp, sword-like eyebrows and clear skin. Several accessories adorned his hair. He didn't look like he was from the Blue Lotus Sect, but rather a master of sword cultivation.
Just as I was about to continue speaking, he cut me off. "Let's go under the shady tree first, then you can tell me what happened," he said, his eyes pointing to the tree where I had taken shelter.
He thought to himself, Why can't I sense any cultivation energy in him, and why is he wearing these clothes and a mask? What has he done? But with my cultivation, how could I doubt a boy with no cultivation?
He picked me up and walked towards the tree. At that moment, I smiled to myself, maintaining my pained expression. He then lowered me and propped me up against the tree trunk.
He spoke again, "What's your name, boy?" He sat in front of me, looking at me as if in an interrogation.
At that moment, I thought hard. It's better to use an alias, I decided. I remembered something from when I watched the disciple recruitment event. There was a young man with the surname Chen. My mind decided to use that surname and add the name Mo after it.
I answered his question, "My name is Chen Mo. I'm from the Chen clan. If you're wondering why I'm wearing these clothes, it's because I wanted to sneak out to watch the event. But then, someone sent by my parents, who hate me, kidnapped me and brought me here, then beat me. He thought I was dead and left me here alone," I said in a sad tone I had fabricated. I slowly uncovered my face, which now looked like an idiot's.
He listened to my story and his eyes showed pity. "I'm sorry, boy, if I was suspicious of you earlier. Your life sounds terrible. I don't want to meddle in your affairs; if this happened a long time ago, he must have already fled. There is one thing I want to ask: why can't I sense any cultivation energy from you?"
I replied with tears welling in my eyes, "Uncle, have you ever experienced a fate like mine? I was born without cultivation. My parents hate me and constantly compare me to my older brother, who has cultivation. I get bullied by his friends every day. I can only cry every night, and my grandparents look at me as if I'm a cursed child. I've never felt happiness. I planned to run away from home and wanted to see this disciple recruitment. My only reason was to experience joy like other people do. I just hoped that fate might still have something for me, maybe I would meet someone who would adopt me willingly. I'd be willing to do anything if someone adopted me. I can't stand my family, I hate them, but I can't do anything about it. Do you understand how I feel, Uncle? Sob, sob, sob..." I said this with a completely emotional performance based on my fabricated story.
He listened and watched me, then looked up at the sky, and tears rolled down his cheeks. He seemed to believe my lie. I laughed heartily to myself. This is his weakness, even if I don't have cultivation like him.
He wiped his tears and said to me, "Don't call me Uncle, just call me Lin Dong. I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm truly touched by your story. I can only help you this far; my junior is still behind me. I'm a disciple of the Sword Peak Sect, and I came to see my friend's event. I happened to meet you here. If you want to see the event, maybe I can take you with me. What do you say?"
When I heard Lin Dong's words, my heart said, Perfect. I continued, "Brother Lin Dong, I accept your offer. Please take me with you," I pleaded with a pitiful expression.
He nodded and smiled, then picked me up. Just as he was about to summon his flying sword, I gave a terrifying smirk from my idiotic face, and he froze, sensing an extremely sharp killing intent. I hugged him tightly, with all my might.
He said, "W-what are you doing, you bastard!" he screamed in his mind, Damn it, I've been tricked, you bastard! His face looked panicked as he tried to loosen my grip from his back.
Lin Dong's eyes, which had been full of pity while staring at the sky, now lost all their light. He realized he had fallen into a trap set by a devil in a boy's form.
I yelled, "'Life Devouring Technique!' Hahaha! How stupid are you, you bastard! You're too arrogant just because you have cultivation. Why were you so careless? Did you not think I had an artifact, you idiot?"
ARGHHHHHHH!
A loud groan came from him. He fell to the ground, writhing and yelling, "Damn you, boy! Damn it, damn it!" His groans made my ears ache.
I clasped my hands and feet tightly around him, falling to the ground and writhing with him. I yelled angrily, "Shut up, you arrogant cultivator! Die for me, hahaha!" The loud laugh was enough to let his friend hear what was happening.
I absorbed his life with my technique, looking around. My guess was right; my instincts told me someone was watching from a distance. This was very good. Why? Because after this incident, the Blue Lotus Sect and other sects would patrol strictly, looking for a suspicious person like me. And for the next two years, I could relax until I reached the age of eight, with no one trailing me like Yi Feng and Su Changqing's other subordinates.
"Help! Help me! Anyone nearby!" Lin Dong groaned.
His body was now covered in a black mist that flowed from my body, enveloping him. He writhed with me as if being burned alive. "Die! Die you!" I yelled to break the mentality of his friend, who was holding his breath behind a tree. By listening to me, his friend's mental fortitude would crumble first, and he wouldn't come to help. Because every human wants to live. Even if he has high cultivation, when he sees a power he has never seen, what will happen? That's right, he'll be afraid.
Lin Dong yelled non-stop and I answered with my cry of 'Die!' Why didn't I just absorb him quickly? I wanted to torture him first. His friend would see and leave him behind to report back to the sect. This was my plan. Once I had absorbed his body and soul, I could use the shadow step technique to escape.
After half an hour, the scorching sun shone on me and Lin Dong's dry body, which was now dead. I had absorbed him until no remains were left. I stood up, looked at the sky, and then saw his friend hiding behind the tree. I smiled, a murderous aura aimed at him. He quickly left on his flying sword, heading towards the Blue Lotus Sect's disciple recruitment.
Now alone, I took off my mask and used the Shadow Step technique. I ran from the shadows cast by the sun, Whoosh! Whoosh!
After a few minutes, I was back where I started, in a dark alley in the center of the village to change my clothes and get my supplies. I then began to walk normally toward the disciple recruitment event. I said to myself, With this, it's perfect. Hehehehaha.