Moon Lake (VI)
There was a lulling moment in-between the head falling down onto the ground and the body following, where nobody present uttered a sound, much less a word. It felt as though everyone was collectively trying to truly understand what had just transpired in the span of the blink of an eye. No, even less than that.
Wei himself was in utter shock, having never, not even for a second, considered that any of the kids could do... well, anything. Certainly nothing like that.
"W-W-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!! WHO IS THERE?!! REVEAL YOURSELF AT ONCE! M-M-MY NAME IS JIN LEI, AND I'M THE FIRST SON OF THE ELDER LUANG OF THE HUNDRED FLOWERS SECT! I-I-IF YOU KILL ME, THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH YOU WILL NEVER SURVIVE!!"
"..."
The desperate, almost maniacal threat was met with utter silence as the kids' expressions shifted from those of anger to those of... bemusement. They were looking at Jin Lei rather... funnily, one might say.
"Is he stupid?" one of the young girls finally voiced out.
"He looks like he'd be stupid," the youngest girl said.
"Light! We don't judge people based on their looks," the boy who'd just attacked said.
"Oh."
"He sounds like he'd be stupid, though," the same boy said as everyone burst into laughter. Even the old man's lips were twitching, as though he was barely holding back.
"Y-you dare laugh at me?!! Vermin like you?!! KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!! SKIN THEM ALIVE FOR ME!!!"
"AAAGHHH!!!"
The roars exploded as Wei watched the collective might of Jin Lei's group descend upon the old man and the kids. Just as he was about to step forward, he found himself frozen, almost shaking in fear--his gaze met that of the young boy, perhaps fifteen at most, who had stayed at the back of the group.
It was as though those were instead eyes of the void itself, and they were telling him to not move an inch... and if he did, he would not survive it.
His friends must have felt the same, as they all stood rooted in place, their expressions identical--fear and confusion mixed, mostly--all while what they expected to happen... never did.
Though that strike was magnificent beyond reproach, they all thought it took the boy everything, perhaps even tapping into Life Qi within his heart, to execute it, and he did so because he felt enraged on behalf of his Master--wasn't he their father?!
Discarding the white lie told, Wei was certain that the boy was spent... but that wasn't the case.
Four people didn't even step forward to fight--the old man Lu, his 'brother' Lao, the kid that gave Wei the feeling of dread that even the Sect Master never could, and the youngest boy who observed it all with great curiosity.
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Others stepped forward fearlessly, and Wei quickly learned there was a reason for it.
The first one to shock him was the boy who struck with the sword--not only was he not spent, but Wei feared he barely used any Qi, as he stepped forward through the shadows and drew his sword once again.
Wei felt resonant Sword Qi alight his own view of it--he'd seen swordsmen wielding Sword Qi before, but it was never quite so... odd. The boy's attack seemed to both accelerate and stop all at the same time, yet before he could wrap his head around it, another head flew in a shower of blood.
Right by his side, a girl that seemed his age, donning a pair of strange-seeming gauntlets, stepped past his shadow and welcomed the attacker on his flank. She ducked underneath the slash of the blade and stirred her fist upward toward the man's jaw.
Wei watched in horror as the skin around the neck was pulled apart and the entire head was heaved so far back that it had lined up with the back. The neck was shattered, and the man was instantly killed.
Just over to her side was a slightly older boy who tore up a piece of paper that Wei first thought was a talisman--but it wasn't.
For that boy wasn't a cultivator but rather a Shaman.
Glistening, coral-colored flames erupted from a halo above him and rained down fire that seemed almost impossible to beat out. It pushed back the four that were to strike him and even set one on fire, slowly killing him.
The young girl--or, perhaps, woman--on the far left struck the last, and by far the most brutally. She didn't bother dodging or deflecting; she took on four attacks that would have rendered even Wei bedridden for a few weeks, shrugged them off, and brutally beat two people to death with just her fists.
And yet, the most horrifying was none of them--but rather the youngest girl that was centered behind them all. Whenever she'd gently lift her finger, a tendril of shadows would erupt and coil itself around the person, and they would scream until their lungs were torn as the tendril dug into their flesh like thousands of needles, tearing them from outside in.
It was brutal in ways that seemed to defy everything Wei had ever learned--and watching it all unfold left him both in awe and desperately hopeless.
He was, at the very least, twice the age of the oldest one among them--and even if there were a hundred of him, he felt, all of those kids could very easily beat him up.
He came to his senses rather abruptly; Jin Lei must have realized that they stood no chance and turned heel to run, but before Wei could even warn the group, that boy from the back appeared in front of Jin Lei, yanked him by the hair, kicked him behind the knee, and dragged him kneeling toward the old man Lu.
As he pushed the decrepit and shaking--though still alive--body of Jin Lei, Wei realized that everyone else... had died.
Thirty seconds.
It took just shy of thirty seconds to solve what had been haunting him and his friends for months.
And it wasn't as though it seemed to take any effort. Rather, most of the kids seemed utterly bored at the prospect of what they'd just done, as though it were the most common thing in the world.
... who the hell were these people?! There was simply no way they were some backwater family travelling to the Moon Lake for 'opportunities'. But he didn't recognize any of the arts they executed, and they didn't seem to have any unifying aspects about them. Rather, it felt like they were all central prodigies of completely different sects, and they've come together for some reason.
Except... that wasn't the case.
They all seemed to worship that man called Lu Qi, as the very first thing that they all did upon finishing the battle was walk up to him--
--no, wait, what are they doing? Wei pondered.
"Feng'er, didn't we tell you to cover Master's eyes?!" That was the oldest woman among them.
"A-ah! I'm so sorry, Senior Sister! Feng forgot!" the young boy spat out apologetically.
"You mustn't forget! Master has a very weak stomach, and even the sight of blood makes him queasy! It's our job as Disciples to take perfect care of him, understand?!"
"Y-yes, Senior Sister! Feng will make sure to always cover Master's eyes from now on!"
At the same time, he watched Lu Qi's expression turn dark as his eyebrows twitched repeatedly.
Wei held back, using almost three decades of his life's experiences to summon every ounce of strength that he had... just to not laugh.
Because he really, truly, unquestionably... wanted to laugh.
Laugh, you bastard! If you wanna laugh so badly, then just laugh!
You and those friends of yours!
That damned chatterbox looked like he was about to lose it--not unlike Long Tao and Lao Shun, who bothered even less to pretend--all while Xing Feng kept looking at me with this renewed sense of purpose.
... it's not that bad anymore, you guys! Honestly! I mean, yes, the strong stench can still make me queasy, and an occasional extra-disemboweled body does make me wince, but I'm perfectly capable of watching an assortment of kids kill an assortment of adults well at ease!
Wait.
Maybe I shouldn't be? Ugh, whatever.
I'm angry.
No, seriously.
I'm so angry right now.
I expected the kids to struggle a bit, even proudly proclaimed that they needed whetstones, but what the hell was this? They beat them in literally 30 seconds. I never beat it in freakin' 30 seconds!
Hmm.
Moving on.
The only target that I can lash out on is this whimpering, sniveling bastard, who is still talking about his daddy as a threat, who seemed really assured just a minute ago that he was gonna kick ass and take names, and who was sure as hell taking his sweet time chewing this scenery.
I'm always kind of delighted when I meet what (in my head at least) are 'classic' cultivators: the pompous, arrogant, self-centered assholes that can't see an inch past their own stench. It's like restoring a balance to a world that only really exists in my head.
"Everyone, shut up!" As Dai Xiu kept 'instructing' Xing Feng over my malaise, and as that thing on the floor kept begging / threatening, and as Long Tao started snickering, I growled out rather loudly, seeming to startle them. Guilt stormed through me for a moment, but I endured it. "Alright. Somebody go clean up the bodies."
"Ah! Master, we are so sorry! We got completely sidetracked!" Hm? Hey. I feel a misunderstanding arising here. "Quick, clean up the mess! Master will pass out!"
... damn you, Dai Xiu! Damn your good intentions!!!
The kids quickly scattered out to clean, including Rayce and Xing Feng, leaving behind Long Tao, Lao Shun, me, and those three--no, wait, those three bastards are helping clean up as well!
Goddammit.
"Y-You will pay--"
"--oh, for the love of God, shut the hell up already," I interrupted. "Pay this, pay that. Did you ever learn another damn word or what? Is the only sound your head makes that of howling as the wind screeches through the empty space between your ears, huh? Can you not even remotely comprehend your current situation? All your companions--or, well, whatever they were to you--they are dead. Slaughtered. Do we look even remotely like we know who the hell you or your daddy are? Noooooo. So why, please tell me, why on earth would you threaten us with something we don't even know about?"
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"..."
"Thank you for shutting up, at least." I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose while Long Tao and Lao Shun looked at me rather strangely. "You, the smirking cauldron licker. Do you know who he is?"
"I've never licked cauldrons--no, wait, I did, once. But it was to impress this lovely young maiden that I had tenderly fallen in love with... and you don't seem to particularly care. Yes, I know who he is."
"... and?"
"He's the first son of the Elder Luang of the Hundred Flowers Sect. He told us." Wow. What a shit-stained grin of pride.
"Right. He indeed is. Haah. I'll go get some rest. Just... sort this out, please."
I retreated, wondering what kind of a hornet's nest we have kicked up this time around. I mean, I know that 'Hundred Flowers Sect' sounds gentle, but it's likely just some ultra-high-end poison sect that has a billion different ways to kill you painfully. And, whether we let that thing over there live or if we kill it, they'll be coming after us.
But at the same time... I was also kind of expectant of it. I mean, the kids really did steamroll them, didn't they? And judging from Wei's expression, it was likely something he'd never experienced before in his life.
While the forest challenged them, the truth was that it challenged them in not exactly the most conducive way; it forced them to fight while spent and to fight while hurt, and while those lessons were absolutely necessary, they were lessons in survival more so than they were in fighting.
Most competitions and fights between cultivators, as far as I understand it, at least, happened in a more 'official' setting, where both parties were at the peak of their strength. And it was kind of difficult to find 'perfect' opponents for the kids.
They're far too strong for their peers, it feels, but also still far too weak for more experienced cultivators.
Haah.
It's quite a headache, really.
"Lu, I found something," Lao's voice dragged me back from my brief rest--and was it ever brief, as it didn't even last a full minute.
"What?" I walked over, feeling rather grumpy.
"This guy gave me a map of some treasures nearby to spare his life."
"Hm."
"..."
"He's dead, though." I pointed at the very much not alive body of what's-his-face.
"Oh. Oops. I thought I handed him a healing pill... I must have given him the wrong one. Oh, the heavens! This is truly awful!"
"... aren't you an Alchemist?"
"Of course."
"An Alchemist who mistook a healing pill for a pill that kills somebody?"
"... it happens."
"..."
Wow.
They're all nuts.
Absolutely, unequivocally, nuts.
"E-eh? What's happening to him?!" I asked as I watched the body slowly melt and meld into the dirt, disappearing at a terrifying pace.
"Oh my!" Oh God, no. "I must have accidentally fed him the pill that breaks down the body to its tiniest aspects and completely assimilates it with its surroundings, thus leaving no trace behind whatsoever. What a mistake I made; now his loved ones will never know what happened to him."
The worst part?
He was saying all this crap with a straight face. Honestly, with those rugged, handsome looks, he could have made it as a movie star. Not a good one, mind you, but a 'star' of those C-level action flicks where the point is that the main guy wins everything and looks cool doing it.
Awful, awful actor, obviously. But he's got the stupid voice down pat, I must say.
"... whatever," I shrugged. What else was I to do? Pry open the truth that he did it deliberately? Of course he did it deliberately!! I'm pretty sure the very dirt that guy became assimilated into knew that he did it deliberately, and the dirt isn't even sentient, for crying out loud! Whatever. "Map of treasures, you said? What kind of treasures?"
"Ho ho ho," he laughed, stroking his chin as he pulled up the piece of paper. "Really bad ones, which makes me wonder whether this guy even knew what the word 'treasure' meant."
... I should retire.
Somewhere up in the mountains.
Live among the wolves and such.
It'd probably be less of a pain in the ass, I swear.
By the time kids were done, the area looked... pristine.
Honestly, scarily so.
For a moment, I doubted my own memory of there being quite a few dismembered corpses decorating the landscape just a little while ago. Now? Now there was only nature, golden and glimmering.
Why are they so good at this? No, scratch that: how are they so good at this? Did Long Tao teach them?
... he did, didn't he?
The awkward bit now was Wei and his friends, who were firmly planted on their knees as acts of begging--per their own words--to let them live. They'd sworn an oath not to divulge what happened here, and they'd done it precisely nineteen times now.
Is it sort of like interest? Where oaths compound? Ah, who cares?
Though I tried to reason with them the first few times, recognizing they were a lost cause, I just left them alone, as I had a feeling my head would explode from trying to deal with them.
There was some good news, however--we, and by we I mean the kids, managed to snag all the spatial rings, and, well, there were quite a few things in them. But, most importantly, there were Spirit Stones--lots and lots of Spirit Stones.
I haven't asked Lao Shun for any, as I didn't want to fall into the bastard's debt, and the kids didn't ask any of me--despite the fact I knew they needed them--but now, I was finally out of the red. I had some wealth to my name.
And before distributing it all, I wanted to do something.
Something I'd been wanting to do for a while but never had the opportunity to.
I wanna ride the chariot.
God, I wanna say it out loud so bad, but I just know these guys would make fun of me. In their heads, yes, but still... I would know.
"For a change of pace," I took out the small box from one of the rings and injected it with a bit of Qi before tossing it at the open space. It practically flickered into existence, turning into a wood-laden construct with four golden wheels. It was long and curved, with windows peeking inside without any curtains. There were no horses or any other beasts at the front, but there was a rather visible, sputtering array of light laid beneath it.
It encompassed the size of the entire thing--which was about the size of a van, give or take, and which made me worry we'd have to all squeeze in there like rats.
"W-what is this, Master?!" Dai Xiu and Xi Zhao were the first to walk up and investigate, while the others could scarcely hide their shock. Chiefly our three new friends, who looked so pale I was confident they did it on purpose--taking out a handful of white powder from somewhere and slobbering it over their faces.
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"It's a flying chariot," I explained, turning toward Lao Shun, who also seems to have powdered his face. Huh. Maybe it's the fashion. "I forgot I had it up until now."
"... you, you forgot having this?" Lao Shun asked with a rather dry voice.
"Wouldn't have mattered even if I remembered," I said. "This thing sucks up Spirit Stones, and, well, I didn't have enough to make it run. We still don't, truthfully, but we deserve a bit of a rest, so we'll take it for bits of the journey."
Without waiting any longer, the kids yanked open the doors and climbed inside, inspecting it. Even Xing Feng joined them, with only Long Tao and Rayce holding back, as Wan Lan went inside posing as a 'babysitter', though her excited face betrayed her intentions.
"... you three, if you keep kneeling like that, I'll run you over with the chariot." I said to the still-kneeling trio, yanking them from their daze.
"M-Master Lu, you, you won't kill us?" I noticed something funny--the way people call me has this mean tendency to evolve. Not an hour ago, I was a Fellow Daoist to him, and he probably even looked down on me a little bit. Now, he was avoiding my eyesight and treating me with more fear than he probably treats his own Master.
"... why me?" I asked, turning toward Lao Shun and Long Tao. "I didn't kill anyone, did I? So, why is he asking me?"
"You have the face of a mean killer, Master," Rayce said with a faint smile. "It's only natural they should fear you."
"Not just the face, but the voice too." Oi, old-ass alchemist, why are you joining this crap?! "The kind that would haunt one's nightmares, even."
"If you say a word, Long Tao," I said. "I will immediately forget my entire parental lineage."
"..." My preemptive strike left him a bit peeved, but he stayed his tongue, and I was happy. Well, as happy as can be with these gremlins trying to get a rise out of me.
'cause that's what they're doing. They figured it was easy enough to get 'funny reactions' out of me, so they try. Oh boy, do they ever try.
"You're still kneeling."
"A-ah, sorry. We're up, we're up," they finally stood up, dusting off their dirtied knees and curiously glancing over at the chariot.
"Get inside. We'll set off soon."
"Y-yes!"
"Are you sure about letting them live?" Lao Shun asked as they entered the chariot. It looks like it behaved similarly to the tent--in that there's far more space inside than the outside would indicate. "Though oaths are a powerful thing, a mind can always be scryed."
"You're asking me to kill three kids who were about to put their lives on the line for us?" I glanced over at him for a moment before looking away.
"... kindness is beautiful, Lu," he said. "But it's like a sheet of paper. Whatever's written on it matters only so long as we make it matter."
"Fitting, then. Because it matters to me."
"... fair enough," he chuckled. "You really are an odd specimen."
"Do you regret coming along?" I asked.
"Oh, every day," he smiled. "But--"
"--you would have come along a thousand out of a thousand times."
"Am I that predictable?"
"No, you're just that stupid, like the rest of them."
"I know hundreds of men who would kill to have their Disciples respect them as much as yours respect you," he said. "It's not stupidity, Lu. It's something you earn."
"..." I fell silent as he went over and boarded as well, with Rayce stealthily following along, leaving behind only Long Tao and me. I already knew he had something to say, as he would have otherwise been the first one to enter the chariot just to find the best spot in it. "Do you think we should kill them, too?"
"We?"
"... you."
"Heh," he chuckled, stopping by my side. He was growing up--stupendously quickly, actually. When I met him, he was a scrawny, five-foot-and-a-change little kid, but in just over a year, he was almost six feet tall and filling out. Ugh. Filling out. Such a weird way to put it. "I also think you should stop being as kind, though for entirely different reasons."
"And what's that?"
"If you don't, soon there will be hundreds of Disciples swarming you, and even if we rob the heavens and the earth, there will not be enough Spirit Stones for us all."
... hey.
Did he just say something nice?
Oh my God, he just said something nice! He immediately walked away, effectively ending the conversation, but... he said something nice to me again! Entirely unprompted, too!
... at least I think it was nice. No, no, no room for doubts--it was nice, and that's that.
Whatever.
Let's see what flying in a freakin' chariot feels like.
Moon Lake (IX)
It's... beautiful.
Okay, I'm puffing it up a bit, but it's legitimately far better than I expected. I'd entirely thought it'd be some old-looking crapshoot reminiscent of, like, a Plymouth Fury from the 60s. But no, there isn't a whole lotta chrome-plated garbage trying to look extremely futuristic, not realizing it's dating itself... wildly.
There were two long benches, each large enough to fit about ten people all by themselves, pressed against the wooden wall. They were decently wide and, most importantly, were also cushioned. There was about four feet of space between the two benches, and on the far end, opposite of the doors, was a small sofa, maroon-red like the cushions.
I don't quite get the magic of it, though the folds of space certainly make for marvelous engineering. As everyone settled down, I grabbed a handful of mid-grade Spirit Stones and tossed it over to the 'maw' of the array--it was positioned above the sofa, shaped like a dragon's head. As soon as the stones flew in, the eyes of the statue lit up in bright crimson, and the entire chariot shook for a moment.
The knowledge of how to fly it was already ingrained in my head--and, in extension, I could fly it just with my head.
Imagining it ascending, it began to move. Despite seeming to rock and rumble outwardly, there wasn't a whole lot of turbulence on the inside. A bit of shaking, perhaps, but it was extremely stable as it began to levitate. One foot, and soon ten, and before long we were about four hundred feet off the ground, looking down upon the world that seemed eerily small.
The kids had pressed their heads against the window, oo-ing and aa-ing, while I did my best to endure splitting my lips into the biggest, dumbest smile imaginable.
Because, by God, this was amazing. If I had known how it'd feel, I would have flown the damn thing immediately upon getting it, even if it would have made us go broke.
As I poured more stones into it, it started to speed up.
And then it really started to speed up. Before long, we were traveling at around 60 miles an hour--a relatively 'unimpressive' number, as I'd once gone up to nearly 140 miles trying to impress Yas, but for here?
We were whizzing through like a streak of lightning!
The world slowly shifted into a bit of a blur as the kids chattered about. Even Lao Shun got up at one point and walked over to the window, glancing down.
The only unmoving ones were Long Tao--as I imagine he'd flown at this speed when he was my age, without the need for a chariot--and the three statues that were pressed into the corner of the bench, unmoving. Honestly, if they didn't blink once or twice, one might legitimately mistake them for statues.
"Hey," I called out to Wei, snapping him out.
"Y-yes, Master Lu? How can I help?"
"Tell me about the Moon Lake."
"A-ah?"
"I wasn't lying when I said that we were just coming out to explore the world."
"Ah, of course! Yes, the Moon Lake!" he said. "Legends have it that, a long, long time ago, it was a vast, endless desert. One that couldn't even be crossed at night, as it would get as cold as it was hot during the day. On the opposite ends of the desert were two mighty Sects, and they would occasionally fight over who 'owned' the desert. During one of those skirmishes, two disciples fell in love--both the direct Disciples of their respective Sect Masters. Their affair continued in private until they both ascended to the Seat of the Sect Master, whereupon they revealed their relationship to the world.
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"As a means of unifying the two sects into one, greater power, they looked to create a safe passage through the desert--in the process, however, they discovered a massive, underground lake spanning thousands of miles. They then combined the might of both sects, using every disciple and elder they had, and pushed the water to the surface. It is said that the formation of the Moon Lake, as it is today, took over a hundred years."
A legend? A slightly modified truth? I honestly can't even tell. If it'd been a story back on Earth, it would have been easy--here, though? It literally may all be true, word for word.
"What's it like today?" I asked.
"Hmm, mostly a normal lake, I suppose," Wei said. "There are a few low-level clans that occupy its banks, and one Ancient Clan that hosts the annual gatherings. Though we all gather to 'find the dragon's corpse', everyone is very aware, including the Ancient Clan, that we're there for the sunken treasures. The idea is that the guests spend a lot of Spirit Stones while there, which more than makes up for the lost treasures. But the truth is, calling them 'treasures' is a bit generous. Most of us go there simply to compare notes with our peers--not, not that your disciples have peers! In their age group, they are absolutely unrivaled! And you, of course, as their Master--"
"--yeah, yeah, why do you say calling them 'treasures' is a bit generous?"That's not how Lao Shun presented it, at least.
"Most people get a few medicinal herbs or maybe a piece of precious ore to craft a weapon, but it's not as though you cannot find those things elsewhere. There are treasures, but it's the Holy Lands that always take them--even if they are not the ones who found them."
"Oh? So they steal the treasures? No, no, wait--they strongly imply that it would be safest with them."
"Hm. Something like that," Wei smiled helplessly. I mean, it didn't matter to me too much. But this trip to the lake... I've started having a bad feeling or two about it. Something wasn't adding up.
And I didn't really know what--that's just sort of how my brain sometimes worked. Well, not my--it's not that my brain is special; I'm pretty sure that's how all, or most of, the brains work.
The idea is that something in the details I've learned up 'till now wasn't solidly adding up, or it was adding up, but the details were reminiscent, in some way, of a bad experience.
... or, it really just might be my paranoia again.
"Ah, but if I may..."
"..."
"..."
"Yes, you may." He really was asking for my permission. Oh my God, these people will really give me a stroke.
"You shouldn't fly in with the chariot; n-not that you need to be afraid of anyone or anything, of course! You are grand, and your disciples--"
"--just shut up, please."
"Y-yes! I'm so sorry! Please don't kill me!"
"..."
Honestly, I'm probably better off getting used to this treatment. But, if I'm being even more honest... I'd rather people treat me like dirt.
Being treated that way? I have experience. I have plenty of experience with people coming in and seeing just something they could demean. I'm oddly content being insulted and shat on, which probably says more about me than it should. Regardless, being treated like this... it was uncomfortable. Really, really uncomfortable.
"Of course we're not going to land there in this," I said, sighing and ignoring his deep bow. "Believe it or not, I'm a man opposed to violence."
"Yes, Master hates violence!" Hm? When did the kids come back here?
"I once saw him shed a tear while two people were merely yelling at each other!" Eh? Dai Xiu? You did? How come I don't remember that?
"Yes, yes," Xi Zhao followed along. "Master is a kind, pacifist soul who would always rather solve conflict with words than fists! You must be careful around him, or he might pass out!"
"If you see anyone fight in Master's sight," Wan Lan said. "Hurry up and cover his eyes. I once saw him fall to his knees and openly weep at the sight of a dead man he didn't even know--he sat kneeling for two days and praying over the man's body!"
... hey.
Who the hell is this guy you keep talking about?!!
When have I ever kneeled for two days?! You think I can kneel for that long?!!
No, no, don't give in--don't show any reaction! That's what they want!
... aah, screw them.
"Indeed, I am opposed to violence," I said, my lips twitching. "But if you keep yapping like that, I'll have Long Tao increase the intensity of sparring tenfold. No, scratch that, I'll have him actually use a sword. But a dull one that can't cut anything. Yet, it will feel like it's cutting. Like it's severing all your tendons and digging into your flesh, displacing your organs in a whirlwind of horrors--hmm. Maybe I'm not too opposed to violence?"
"Pfft, ha ha ha..."
Alright, laughter I can take. With me, or at my expense--it doesn't matter. A morbid thought came up to me as I listened to the kids laugh: I wouldn't mind, truly, if their laughter became my epitaph.
Shockingly, this was actually better than airplane travel back on Earth.
No, seriously.
I mean, there wasn't a guy or a gal coming up and down the aisle every once in a while asking me if I needed nuts, cashews, or almonds (they were making fun of me 'cause I didn't know the difference), or an assortment of wildly cheap alcoholic drinks, but I also had legroom for days--so much so I could lie down and just fall asleep while not bothering anyone--and, strangely, it seems that the chariot has some kind of an air filtration system.
We've been travelling close to an hour, and despite how 'clean' cultivators tended to present themselves, and despite me teaching the kids the Art of Survival more so as a utility tool rather than an enhancement to their cultivation, I can attest to the fact that if we're stuck together in an enclosed space... they kind of do stink it up. A bit.
And yet, the air was as fresh as it was the moment we entered.
I'm kind of glad I whipped it out, to be honest, as for the tens of miles that we've travelled so far, the terrain hasn't changed in the slightest--or, well, almost imperceptibly. It was just grassy hills rolling out and on, with occasional clusters of trees too small to be classified as a forest, and an occasional stream seeming to cut the monotone spread a bit.
I don't know quite what to make of it--perhaps it's the same on Earth (I mean, I know it can be the same, having driven through the Midwest twice; it was literal nothingness for tens of miles), though it might just be my distorted perception of the world. To this day, I don't actually know what any of the 'dividing classifications' mean. I don't know if different layers of heavens mean just different continents or are more literal in that there are worlds existing up there in the clouds or even more literal in the astral sense.
Beyond that, even if this one world is just one planet, I don't know even the remotely approximate size of it. Most of the maps that I've seen in my life here, even those that tried to loosely detail things clearly beyond their grasp, never seemed to make it past this sort of a central 'gorge', as it were.
Even then, I don't really know the exact size of the gorge. I don't think it's monstrously big, as I've already covered a few distances that the books kind of lied about, so it's entirely possible that this entire region is no larger than an average European country. Or it could be the size of a Euro-Asia.
Who's to say? Certainly not the historians.
Regardless of which it was, the samey terrain very much felt like being at home. All good things must come to an end, however, and after an hour of burning through mid-grade Spirit Stones, I finally, and as slowly and gently as I could, landed us just by the somewhat narrow stream of water.
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Though flying was quite pleasant, it still felt good to stretch legs, even if it was mostly ritualistic.
Most of the kids immediately jumped into the stream, though it wasn't exactly swimming weather. Even if it was sunny, the wind was fast and cold, and the temperature was closer to freezing than pleasant.
I pitched the tent and packed the chariot back into the toy, tossing it into the spatial ring, which was when I also noticed another, similar toy resting in one of them: the 'warship' that what's-his-face and his 'buddies' chased Wei on.
Honestly, I had half a mind to just toss it away; it was clear that flying artifacts were relatively unique, at least in this corner of the world, and each was likely heavily associated with one power or another. I'd rather not have a clear indicator we killed somebody sitting in my ring, but, at the same time...
... that thing was worth a lot of Spirit Stones. Like, a lot. Ah. Greed always wins, doesn't it?
"Last year," as soon as the campfire roared, Wei resumed his chattering--I'd grilled him a bit more about the lake, and he seems to have finally relaxed somewhat, excited to share every rumor he ever heard about the place. "A disciple of the Soul Sanctuary Sect is said to have found a piece of Meteorite Ore the size of a fist!" Hm? Soul Sanctuary? Why does that name feel familiar?
... oh, right! Old Zemin and that weird girl that I refused to spend 100 points on to see her status window! Right! Maybe this kid can clue me in a bit more into the politics of the sects?
"Forget the lake," I interrupted. "Tell me about that Soul Sanctuary place."
"Hm? Ah, yes, of course. Hmm, let me think. Not much is actually known about them--of all the Holy Lands, they are by far the most reclusive one. Their Disciples rarely venture out with sect robes, they don't compete in tournaments frequently, and I'm fairly certain only the select few leaders of other Holy Lands even know who their Sect Master is. They are, however, quite feared; not necessarily because they're the strongest, but because they practice the Soul Arts almost in equal measure to cultivation.
"Rumors have it that their Sect Master can overpower the soul of another person to the point of outright possession!"
"Didn't you say nobody even knows the Sect Master's identity?"
"Yes."
"So, how would anyone know what they're capable of?"
"It's just a rumor, Master Lu." Wei smiled sheepishly.
"Hm. Hey, I heard a rumor, too."
"Oh? Really? What is it?"
"Supposedly, there's this know-it-all who believes it's his duty to spread every rumor from every source, even if that source is literally a homeless man lying in the pool of his own piss. The rumor has it, if he doesn't stop, a certain man might slap him across the back of his head until all the stupidity falls out of his skull."
"..."
"...."
"H-Holy Son Bao!"
"Hm?"
"Holy Son Bao of the Soul Sanctuary!" Wei quickly said. "I heard from a very reliable person that he will attend this year's gathering at the lake! In fact, one of my Seniors in the Sect told me he saw Holy Son Bao fighting before--he said that the man never even moved! He just stood in place, arms behind his back, while his opponent flailed about crazily on their own before completely running out of Qi and surrendering!"
"Oh?" Bao... Bao... Bao... why does that name sound familiar? I don't recall meeting anyone by that name, yet, it's itching my brain a bit. Ugh. I thought that my memory was supposed to become photographic now that I'm a cultivator? How come it seems to be getting worse?
"On the ranking of Holy Sons and Daughters, he ranks in the top five!"
... haah.
Of course there's a ranking. And of course I've now summoned the gods of jinxes, and of course I'll be forced to interact with every single one of those kids, whether I want to or not.
Of. Fucking. Course.
Was I getting a rundown of the 'top ten known prodigies'? Of course I was.
"There was actually the change in the tenth ranking just recently, when Shi Fen managed to defeat..."
It was a long hour, suffice to say.
Of the 'top ten' kiddos battling away for the ranking, only one didn't belong to any of the Holy Lands: number 2, Xiong De, a vagrant cultivator who is rumored to have inherited some or another ancient art in some or another ancient tomb.
All other members belonged to the Holy Lands.
Do I truly think that these are the actual top strongest kids in their age range? Doubtful. Though, the way Wei talked about the number one sounded like he really might be the strongest, as his stories reminded me a lot of protagonist aura.
Nobody knows his name, just that he appeared out of nowhere under the banner of Buddhism and has not lost a single duel since then. Not just against his generation, but even some of the more senior cultivators of the world.
The story went that the Eastern Monks found the boy as a babe, wrapped in a tattered yet beautiful blanket. When they picked up the child, the heavens rumbled and a streak of rainbow lights appeared above them, bathing the world in glamor.
The kid went on to begin cultivating at the mere age of two, reaching Foundation Establishment by nine. He was fourteen when he supposedly broke into the Spirit Manifestation Realm. And now, a decade on, he was in his mid-twenties and in the same realm as I, the Revolving Core Realm.
It had all the hallmarks of a protagonist but also the stepping stone of one--I mean, his story sounded less like a story of struggle and fighting against the current and more like he was just... given everything and did the best of it.
But, honestly, how much of Wei's words can I even trust?
One of the first things he yapped about was how there were rumors that the sixth-ranked Liao Yan and the eighth-ranked Long Mu were star-crossed lovers whose sects had been warring for centuries. Proof of that?
There was none.
He just 'heard it' someplace.
Which meant literally nothing.
It was slightly interesting, however, to take a glimpse of a world beyond my little sanctuary. Though I've wandered and seen quite a few things by now, I was still wholly ignorant of the world at large, truth be told. I don't even know precisely how many Holy Lands there are, but that's not on me; it seems that not even the world itself knows just how many there are.
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At least five seem to be in everyone's lists: Heavenly Star Sect, Soul Sanctuary, Immortal Spear Sect, Immortal Sword Haven Sect, and Void Ascension Sect.
But there's also like eight others that dip in and out of people's rankings, so... ugh, whatever. Let them sort it out--it has nothing to do with me.
As we continued eastward on foot, the terrain finally started to change. Rolling hillsides began to grow taller and sharper, with more jagged edges, and before long we were adrift amongst a rather spectacular set of gorges and canyons, occasionally trekking the uppermost edges and occasionally traversing the maws.
The utter shock came when we chanced upon a legitimate five-mile drop--it was a gash spanning about four hundred yards across and at least a dozen miles onwards, almost as though it had been cut by a sword. Honestly, it's kind of amazing that's where my mind first went, though a singular glance inside dispelled that notion.
There were far too many jagged protrusions jutting out every which way, and an entire ecosystem existing within it. Four-winged, white-feathered owls seemed to occupy the cluster of red-soaked trees curving out of the side of the cliff, with six-tailed red monkeys chartering their neighborhood, where the trees were more sharp, though still equally red.
The scale was astronomical, once again reiterating just how inconsequential and small I still am--if I slipped and fell from the edge, no matter my cultivation, I would splatter and die just like any mortal.
"There's a legend about this place," Wei said.
"One immortal or another attacked with a sword and left it like this?" I interrupted.
"Oh? You've heard of it too, Master Lu?"
I nearly rolled my eyes but held back. I'd begun noticing this pattern a while back, in that this world, too, had the tendency to assign banal acts of nature to some mythological force.
Was it possible that some cultivator did carve this place up? I mean, sure. But it was equally likely that it's the result of millions of years of erosion and natural phenomena.
"Let's go." We continued walking, making sure to stay the safe distance from the edge, as there were quite a few 'loose' points where we saw chunks of dirt roll and tumble into the abyss below.
At our pace, we went past the gash in just shy of two hours, though its sheer scale, I feel, is kind of permanently seared in my brain.
It also marked the distinct and complete change of terrain--the hills and the grassland were completely gone, replaced by serpent peaks of the mountains to the south and desolate dirt, sand, and cliffs elsewhere.
There were still some trees to the north, decorating the horizon, though they were growing thinner in number by each mile.
It was about four days into our journey by foot, during which nothing really happened, that I saw it in the distance--the shoreline.
It seemed massive, spanning miles on either side.
But then, we kept getting closer... and the shoreline kept extending. And kept extending.
And it just went on.
By the time we braced the sandy shore, I literally couldn't see the ends of anything--not of the shore, not of the water itself, nothing. It was as though it all stretched into infinity.
... speaking of water.
It certainly was unlike any other lake I've ever seen in my life--though the depths of water seemed to appear almost icy blue, the surface was riddled with stranger and stranger phenomena. It was as though the entire top surface of the lake had experienced an oil spill, causing the colors to shift and swirl and for it to appear toxically magical.
But, it wasn't oil--it was just the way that the light itself seemed to interact with the body of water.
It had a prism-like effect, but pushed to an extreme; as light touched its surface, particles seemed to disperse on impact, finding their way into the water independently, causing remarkably odd clusters of colors to appear everywhere, in all manner of shapes.
And this was just at night--I truly wonder, come morning, what the hell this place will turn into.
Regardless, we've finally come to our destination!
... so, where the hell is everyone?!!
We spent the night camping under the stars--and boy, were there plenty. The entire sky was littered with them, organized in all manner of shapes, with the most lustrous star almost seeming like a slightly distant moon.
The most unique thing, aside from the colors, was just how quiet it was. I couldn't hear a peep throughout the entire night--not the flap of some fish coming up for fun, not a song of any bird, and certainly no people.
I also learned why it was called Moon Lake come dawn--my expectations were kind of snuffed out as the lake, during the day, looked like... well, a lake. A big one, sure (a really big one), but 'just' a lake.
The water was dirty-blue; there were no fancy shapes or colors dithering across its surface, no fascinating show of fantastical beauty... just a dull, slightly dirty lake that looked like it straight up belonged in the list of America's Great Lakes and such.
I also saw the first sign of human life early in the morning when a small group of people flew right past us, moving north. I felt the scan of Qi wash over us, and though the kids looked fairly ready to go raise hell, I held them back; I understand that unprompted and unconsented scans like these are very much a grave offense for most cultivators, but I don't really mind them.
Especially considering that we've all gotten into the habit of hiding our realms--in fact, I even passed the method onto Lao Shun, and now he looked like an ordinary man at the peak stages of the Spirit Manifestation Realm.
"Those were members of the Immortal Spear Sect," Wei gave us the rundown. "I didn't know they'd come. They never showed up here before."
"Oh?" That was a bit interesting since I think it indicated there'd be more people and groups this year than expected.
I was already sort of dreading going someplace this public, but that bad feeling has already started feeling worse.
While I have no doubt that, before long, everyone and their mother will know who these kids are, I was hoping to delay that until they are a bit stronger. But with the Silvercrest City, and now this whole ordeal, won't literally everyone know who they are by the time we get to that hidden realm thingamabob? And won't that put a target on their back, as everyone will know they don't belong to any major power?
No.
We're here to seek treasures, not to fight.
So long as we don't piss anyone off--yeah, nah, even the most optimistic voice inside of me just gagged a bit at that thought.
"Master, I broke through!" Xing Feng proudly announced as he came out of his little corner, showing off the fifth stage of the Qi Condensation Realm.
"Ho ho, good job, Feng'er," I said, patting the top of his head. "You're becoming stronger and stronger."
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"He he~" His speed was neither quick nor slow, just about average compared to the others. As they all congratulated him one by one, another group flew past us--aboard a small ship this time around. Though, at least, this one didn't scan us, just glancing our way curiously for a moment before speeding along.
"Let's go," Lao Shun said rather abruptly. "Or we might not find a single room to stay."
We headed northward along the shore, crossing rather jagged edges of the lake that pulled out and in so frequently they looked like zig-zag lines.
It was also along the way that more and more people started showing up, and before long my face had dropped a bit; practically everyone was flying willy-nilly with the ships and boats and flowers, and there was even one group that flew inside a green apple, and yet here we are, walking like peasants.
Like, okay, they probably have the pedigree of backing to do so, but still... it's kind of unjust, isn't it?
"Just how big is this lake?" Dai Xiu asked the very question I wanted to ask.
"It's about two thousand miles long," Lao Shun replied. "And about two-thirds that tall."
... nah. Forget it. I'm not gonna even bother doing mental math--I'll just shave off one number from the end there and retain a peaceful state of mind.
"Waaah! It's so big!"
"Ho ho, indeed," Lao Shun said. "However, compared to the Heavenly Star Lake, it's merely a drop."
"Heavenly Star Lake? What's that?" Xi Zhao asked.
"It's a lake larger than a sea, separating the western and eastern parts of the continent. It's so large, in fact, that at any given time, all seasons are occurring simultaneously on it. Legend has it that a meteor made fully of ice crashed from the cosmos eons ago and both formed and filled the lake all at the same time. To this day, in fact, most of its contents beneath the surface remain completely unknown to us, as even cultivators struggle to survive past a certain depth."
Heavenly Star Lake... that's where the Nirvana Frontier Island is, the best I can remember. Why do I have a feeling that, before long, that old monster over there will tell me his twice-removed cousin left some thingamabob there and that we have to go?
"Have you ever been, Master Lao?" Wan Lan asked.
"Hm," Lao Shun nodded. "Alchemy Tower, after all, overlooks its western shores. Or, well, tiny parts of it, at least."
Hm?
What just hit me?
I look down and... there's nothing. Just some odd-looking piece of wood that seems to have washed ashore at some point. Did I imagine it? Or maybe, somehow, stumbled upon the wood? Or am I losing my mind?
"Once every thousand years or so, the lake's water level dips ever so slightly, and you can visit ruins of an ancient city said to have been the very first city ever built on the continent. Marble-cast walls still stand, though weathered and aged, and the grandeur is still very much evident."
Hm?
Something hit me again!
Okay, I'm not imagining it!
"What's wrong, Master?" Light noticed and asked, though I didn't really have an answer for her. From the looks of it, nobody else seems to be reacting or noticing it, so it was just me.
... am I being haunted by some ghost already?! I didn't even do anything that evil yet, come on!
But, again, there's really nothing else besides my feet--just some random clutter of weeds and the unmoving pebbles.
"Nothing," I said. "Just lost in thought, is all."
"Hm."
"We must go to visit the ancient city at least once!" Xi Zhao said. "I've read in books that they sometimes find secret tomes hidden in the walls, and maybe some other treasures, too!"
"You're dreaming, kiddo," Lao Shun scoffed. "If there ever was anything of the sort, it was taken long before your entire lineage was born."
... again!
Something hit me again!
This time, I was ready--I immediately looked down, used Qi, and activated the system! And, what do you know, there is something!
[--Creator's Eyes Used]
[Target: Unknown]
[...]
[Host is not strong enough to grasp the information]
[Spend 1,000,000,000 Creation Points to partially view target's information?]
.... hm?
Hmmmm?
Did, did, did the system just ask me for one billion points just to partially view information?
WHAT IN GOD'S NAME AM I BEING HUNTED BY?! And more importantly...
WHY?!!
Nope.
No, no, no, no.
I'm seeing things.
I must have eaten some bad mushrooms in my sleep and entirely hallucinated that thing just now.
Yup.
How else, pray tell, would there be a thing costing one billion points? No way. It's too early, and it's some haggard corner of the world where nothing of import ever happens. So, there's no way an entity so massively strong could exist here.
Nope.
Recalibrating my mind, I focused back on the journey--as we slowly made our way across the barren dirt, and as more and more people flew past us aboard one vessel or another, my resentment of this place just continued to grow. I mean, I've felt the effects of slightly opaque discrimination (as well as a pretty transparent one) from the day I arrived here, but the more I live, the more I realize that, most of the time at least, it's not so much 'climbing against the heavens' as it is 'navigating very manufactured and discriminatory rivers put in place to keep the divide between the poor and privileged very much there'.
As the night fell, we decided to camp yet again--and I watched as the lake underwent its transformation. The dull, still waters began to silently churn beneath the surface, and with the first sign of moonlight, colors erupted like fireworks and began to spread out across the water as though it were a canvas.
It started with the forming of the concentric rings, but with the few cries of the wind, they'd been broken up, colors fanning out into shapeless forms across the lake's surface.
It was beautiful and transfixing in more ways than one, as my eyes remained glued to the lake over the sky awash with glistening stars.
... I never much believed in the spirituality of nature, truth be told. I always figured that, if it were so magical, we wouldn't have spent tens of thousands of years figuring out how to get away from it. And, in some ways, I still don't much believe in it--but there are these moments when I feel a hammer taken to the back of my knees by the sheer beauty of something, and I find myself, if momentarily, wondering if I'm wrong.
As the spastic light danced across its surface, I saw something shift in the water--luckily, it was just a loose piece of rope, and it floated onwards, undisturbed.
"Here," Long Tao appeared at my side, startling life out of me for a moment, handing me a small parchment. Holding back a yelp, I furrowed my brows as I took it.
"What is it?"
"The list of things we need to find in the lake."
"..." Reading through it, it really was just that--a list of... things. Some were herbs, some were ores, and some were just random words whose meaning eluded me. "What for?" I asked further.
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"My grandfather's recipe," he said. "For an array that can cloak that flying artifact of yours."
Hm? Isn't that, like, really good?
"Your grandfather was a wise man!" I quickly exclaimed, pinning the parchment close to my chest, hiding it.
Long Tao sighed and silently rolled his eyes before walking away; whatever, I don't even care. One issue of riding that thing now has a solution--the second one, the abject lack of Spirit Stones, though... well, I'll figure something out.
I didn't go back to the tent, spending the rest of the night silently cultivating by the shore. With Enduring Eternity, I've found that my speed was neither quick nor slow--the limiting factor, however, was the number of cycles I could do before the friction would simply cause too much pain in my meridians to continue.
I'd initially thought that meridians were sort of like veins or arteries, just for Qi instead of blood, but they really didn't have many similarities past just having a similar, broader function. Meridians weren't so much natural pathways for Qi to move at will as they were barriers that prevented it from seeping out--for instance, if I tried to pull 50% of all my Qi reserves into a singular attack, I'm pretty sure they'd burst and cripple me.
It also sort of explained why even someone like Long Tao, body's talent notwithstanding, couldn't just shoot for the stars immediately--body needed time to rest.
Two more groups of people sped past us during the night, one of them inspecting us with their Divine Sense. This was a reality of appearances--we looked like beggars (in more ways than one), and we were treated as such.
Perhaps my relatively positive experiences with more senior cultivators of the world have painted my expectations slightly, but I have a feeling that this little trip might undo all of it.
We departed after a quick breakfast--plain rice and some week-old bread--hurrying a bit as Lao Shun said we were just a few hours from the city.
The terrain began to shift slightly toward the outskirts, growing a bit hillier, but past that it all really looked the same.
About an hour past midday, I spotted the buildings coming up in the distance--a thin veil of fog and haze covered them, but they were still there, almost like beacons for the weary travelers.
The sounds of the whizzing warships and flying boats grew louder and more numerous as we continued approaching, with Divine Senses sweeping over us from every which direction. Honestly, even I was getting pissed off at this point, yet we endured; if we stirred shit before even entering the damn city, we may as well just pack our bags and go elsewhere.
Speaking of the city, as more of it came into view, the sheer scale began to reveal itself a bit more--it was actually larger than Silvercrest City, though not by much. What made it unique was the sheer absurdity of the design; there were literal hundreds of piers jutting out from the land and over the water, each stretching for at least a couple of hundred feet into the lake, and, far more magically, each having wooden shacks lining their sides, floating above water.
Back on the land, the view was dominated by precisely four towers jutting out higher than everything else--they seemed to be made of sandstone, unlike the rest of the city, which seemed to be a mix of fieldstone and granite. Mottled stone of the latter was visible on the taller buildings, while the normal dwellings seemed to be largely made from the fieldstone, with occasional wooden shacks.
It wasn't long before the trekked, dirt road became paved--with limestone, no less. They really decided to use every which stone they had access to.
It was a beautiful city from the outside, with the almost gold-touched four towers looming over the rustic and almost weathered stones of the common dwellings, with the solid, mottled granite forming the bridge between the two.
I couldn't much enjoy the view, however, as a window appeared next to me that made me almost sigh audibly.
[--emergency quest detected]
[Quest: Quiet Drain]
[Difficulty: Legendary]
[Context: the depths of the Moon Lake, as well as parts of Moonlake City, exhibit signs of Qi drainage that is unnatural. Discover the root cause of the ploy and liberate the inhabitants from the seeming curse that has been haunting them for a long while]
[Reward: 1x 'Breath of a God']
[Breath of a God (???) -- used automatically upon obtaining; all your Disciples will advance by 1 minor realm. They cannot achieve a breakthrough this way. Instead, those at the peak of their Realm will gain a guaranteed upgrade to the nature of their breakthrough when they do undergo it]
Moonlake City (II)
... right.
The system indeed spawns the most insane shit ever, doesn't it? But it also meant that the task itself would be proportionally difficult.
As far as my immediate reaction, it was quite obvious: there's something sapping Life Qi of everyone here, stealthily, without any notice. There's really just one answer, isn't there?
But also, how?
It's one thing to plant some vines in the middle-of-nowhere village where nobody can truly source an answer to the misery, but this was a heavily trekked area--far more so than even Silvercrest City, with an abundance of strong cultivators coming and going on a yearly basis--and, yet, it still somehow remains undetected.
I glanced over at the still waters, wondering just what lay beneath that calm surface; was it vines again? Or maybe something else?
The closer we got to the city, the more excited the kids got, happily chattering away about what they wanted to do. It's been a while since we've had any of the luxuries that a civilized place offers, and it was clear they were yearning for them.
"Hot, freshly baked bread," Xi Zhao declared. "With a spoonful of strawberry jam!"
"Corn," Wan Lan said. "I'll buy some flamed corn."
"A full chicken!" Dai Xiu said. "I'll buy the whole chicken and eat it all by myself, without any of your dirty paws touching it! Humph!"
"Ale," Rayce said. "I really want to drink some ale."
"What does ale taste like, Junior Brother?" Dai Xiu asked, and Rayce, as though finally recognizing he'd let something slip he shouldn't have, quickly responded.
"Utterly bitter," he said. "It coats your mouth, and it stings like someone stuck a thousand needles in there."
"A-ah! Why would you drink something so horrible?! Never! I will never drink ale!"
At some point, Lao Shun took the front, as he was the only one who had ever been to this place, though there wasn't much point to 'leading' just yet, as it was just a long, curving limestone path that paralleled the shore's shape.
Surprisingly, there were no city walls or gates, as there were no guards 'checking' people in, but I did notice slight vibrations in space any time somebody would move into the city, so there was likely an array doing that work. Even so, we had to line up--considerably--behind about two hundred people walking on foot, just like us. And, just like us, their clothes looked like they'd seen better days.
All the while, any time a flying chariot or another would appear, they would gently descend and land at the central square before the group disembarked.
Though the city had a certain design to it, it still felt very much like an organic sprawl--there wasn't much rhyme or reason to the way structures were organized, though there at least seemed to be a concept of districts present.
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I was most interested in the piers and the houses floating at their sides--if it magically remained dry, it was actually kind of my dream home. I'd always had this fantasy that Yas used to laugh at, where we bought one of those bungalows with a hatch leading to the sea below, where I'd be able to wake up in the morning, put on a pot of water for coffee on a stove, and while waiting for it to boil, dip through the hatch and have a morning swim.
Considering we could barely afford that thing we called an apartment with our jobs, it was a distant dream, at best.
"I feel it here, too," Lao Shun spoke up rather suddenly as we inched closer to the 'entrance'.
"Feel what?" I asked.
"Thin strands of energy trying to tap into my Life Qi reserves." Oh? Despite everything else about him, I suppose, he is an experienced Alchemist who managed to catch onto what the Sages are doing all by himself. "They're not trying to sap me, though I suppose that would come later. Is it possible that their tendrils extend this far out, too?"
"Isn't it more shocking that nobody else noticed?" I asked right back. "Silvercrest City is one thing; you could say that it's a low-level city with scant few experienced cultivators, but isn't this place sort of a hub?"
"... are you suggesting there's somebody in the city deliberately working to mask it?"
"Or that they bothered masking it themselves here, unlike elsewhere."
"Oh."
"We'll look into it," I said. "But we need to be careful. There are far too many eyes and ears here."
"Hm. Once we find a place to stay, I'll quickly concoct some Life-Bearing Pills. If we don't stay for too long, they should keep us safe from any attempts to sap our Life Qi."
As there were no guards 'checking' people individually, our turn came rather quickly, and we simply walked through; I felt strange energy zap through me momentarily and try to invade my dantian--which was when it was directly destroyed. I panicked for a moment, thinking it would ring some alarms, but nothing happened.
"You're meant to destroy it," Lao Shun smirked at my confused expression. "It is simply there to store an individual's unique Qi signatures so that, in case of a crime, they would know who it is. That's the official reason, anyway."
I worried a bit, especially for Wan Lan; though nobody--not even Lao Shun, from what I can tell--saw through her and realized she was using Demonic Qi, it's one of those things where I feel you're safe until that one time you're not, and that one time is plenty enough.
However, my suspicion seemed unfounded, as nobody stopped us or attacked us or yelled at us; we merely joined the continuous stream of people going into the city, dispersing amongst its many streets.
It was immediately there that the vendors of dreams, as I liked to call them, began to hoot and holler at all of us, offering 'precious treasures mined from the lake's depths' and the ilk that could 'upend one's fate and rewrite their history overnight!'.
I casually inspected some of the things, and they really just looked like some random trinkets you could pick from any body of water: slightly oddly shaped stones, weathered algae with a bit of strange hue, a piece of wood shaped somewhat like a blade...
"This way," Lao Shun led us as though he'd been here a thousand times--the way streets were layered was quite odd, with countless intersections of smaller alleyways jutting into central roads whose sides looked like they'd been slowly encroached by stalls and buildings over the course of decades, if not centuries.
It was crowded, so much so that our pace slowed down to a crawl before he took us through one of those alleyways. I fell back to the rear, ensuring that all the kids were in front of me, and followed.
Despite the seeming chaos, there were no fights breaking out, even when people would bump into each other and words were exchanged. It seems that whoever ruled this place had an iron grip on it, for better or worse.
"We're here," Lao Shun said as we stopped in front of a small, limestone-built shack shorn of windows, with a slanted, slightly cracked roof through which smoke was slowly billowing out.
... I wasn't expecting a Plaza or anything, but it looks like we'd be at more comfort literally pitching our tent in the middle of the street.
And yet, despite seeing our expression, that dolt was grinning, probably because, somehow, he was about to prove us wrong...
Though the exterior reminded me of a post-war building left alone to serve as a grim reminder of what had taken place there, the building's interior was... surprisingly pleasant. There was a rustic, almost artisan feel to it, as all furniture was covered with pink satin, with the walls themselves being home to over a dozen paintings--some in watercolor, some in oil, and some with graphite.
Only Lao Shun and I entered while the kids stayed outside; there was a set of dividing walls both to our left and right, and from the space between them soon came out a rather old woman, hunched and short, draped in a loose, white, cotton shirt and a long, dark skirt. She had a colorful bandana-like scarf wrapped around her head, though streaks of white and gray hair fell from the gaps.
She eyed both of us rather suspiciously for a moment before Lao Shun opened his mouth and spoke... a language I've never heard of before.
It was a bit of a whiplash, to be honest, despite the fact it shouldn't have been. I mean, of course there are other languages besides the one I was speaking at the moment; it should be more of a shock that I hadn't encountered one before today.
It sounded, very broadly, like a mix of a random East Asian and sub-Saharan set of languages, though that's only loosely, at best.
The woman's expression seemed to relax slightly as I glanced back and saw kids peeking in from the doorframe, their expressions coated with curiosity. I also heard Dai Xiu ask what language it was, and Wan Lan actually answer.
"It sounds like L'tish," she said. "Madame mentioned it once or twice when she was teaching me history. Supposedly, most of the Ancient Clanfolk speak it, as it was once considered the common tongue."
"Ooh! Why isn't it anymore?" Dai Xiu pressed.
"I'm not sure," Wan Lan said, sighing. "Madame never said."
"For the same reason most tongues fade," Long Tao commented. "There was a war. And then another. And then a hundred more. And, before long, speaking L'tish was a symbol of oppression--only those from Noble Clans would use it, while the common folk used Anvali. And then, in due time, the same thing happened to Anvali."
As the kids ruminated on Long Tao's words, the old alchemist reached over and hugged the woman as she laughed, glancing over at me and then toward the kids, waving her arm as though inviting us in.
"The Madame will take us in," Lao Shun said. "But..."
"... what?"
"I promised you'd bathe her late at night, under the full moon."
"Alright," knowing full well he was yanking me, I agreed with a shrug. "Won't be the first time I have to bathe an elderly woman to have a place to sleep."
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"... what?" His jaw turned agape, though mine did too, almost, as I didn't realize the kids had come in already and heard me say those words. Comically, Wan Lan reached out and covered Light's ears while Xi Zhao covered Xing Feng's. And Dai Xiu... she covered her own.
And yet, they didn't look at me with disgust--no. Before I could even begin to offer an explanation, pity swelled in the form of tears, and as they looked at me with such sympathy, I felt my heart bleed.
"Master... has suffered... so much..." Dai Xiu said.
"And to think he is willing to suffer yet again, just so we have a place to sleep! No, Master! We are fine sleeping under the stars! Please don't sacrifice yourself any more!" Xi Zhao said.
"Master, Xing Feng will bathe the woman! I have bathed Grandpa before, so I can do it!"
... Long Tao was on the verge of laughing, and even Lao Shun went from slack-jawed to teary-eyed (though for a very different reason than the kids), and I? Well... I could only sigh, rub my temples, and meditate on the reality that I really cannot say anything remotely out of pocket, as it always comes back to bite me in the ass.
As the old woman ushered us into our rooms--one for me, one for Lao Shun, and one for all the kids—the old alchemist told me that the meal would be ready in about two hours and that he'd actually made the payment already in the form of a pill. What pill? Just a pill, as he was quite elusive about specifications.
... not that I pressed particularly hard, as it had nothing to do with me, ultimately. So long as we had secure lodging, I was a happy guy.
But the prospect of a meal... it, it was calling out to me. I mean, I've had okay meals before, but I've mostly been eating plain rice and whatever monstrosity Long Tao cooked up that day for months now, it feels like. Well, there was that brief period where we stayed in Silvercrest City, where I did eat a meal or two that were fine, but aside from that...
And I've always been the proponent of 'You'll never eat a meal as hearty as one made by a random grandma that you've never seen before or will ever see again in your life'.
I spent the two hours until the meal unwinding, pretty much, and sort of mapping out what our lives for the next few weeks will be like. Truth be told, I'm not even quite sure exactly how we'll be treasure hunting. Do we just go to the ends of those piers and then jump off the ledge, dive down, and... I don't know, rummage?
That can't be it, right?
But I also can't figure out what else it would be.
Regardless, as it turns out, I didn't have all that much to map or plan out--not that it had ever done me any good in this world, as plans have this remedial tendency to fall apart around Long Tao and the assortment of main characters that are accompanying me.
I'm fairly certain it won't be much different here--at some point, something will stir a chaotic scenario, and the kids will somehow be at the epicenter of it.
It was about an hour and a half in that my nostrils began to itch, picking up on something. As I opened the doors of my very simple room--a singular bed lodged in the corner against a small window darkened by a curtain and an even smaller nightstand on the other side--the scent became stronger.
The doors opposite of mine parted, and Dai Xiu peeked out, grinning when she saw me.
"Master! You smelled it too?"
"I did," I nodded.
"It smells so much better than when Senior Brother Tao cooks!" Oh, I can only imagine the twitching of those annoying eyebrows...
But... it did.
In fact, it was eerily nostalgic. Reminded me of late shifts on Friday nights, when I'd come back home beaten and bruised, with Yas having cooked a meal for me.
It was always something simple, as she wasn't exactly a good cook, but it was one of my favorite moments in life, walking through those doors and having a scent of homemade food just blast me like air from a furnace.
... I thought, back on Earth, that I'd likely never quite move on for the rest of my life, but here... I don't have a choice, do I?
Haah.
Immortality, even if false, warps the sense of everything. More than I could have ever imagined.