"That, Bing Wan, is why we had to leave."Gong San and Bing Wan were standing atop a mountain a fair distance away from the sect. From their vantage point, they could see that the entire area that should have been the mountain the sect was built under was now all but flat. The guardian formation was in shambles, only fragments of it remained. It was as if an eraser had been used to rub the sect out of existence.
Bing Wan stared with wide eyes at the scene.
"Well d.a.m.n. It"s a good thing we got the heck out of there."
"You got that right." Gong San turned away. "Come. We"re still a bit too close for comfort if you ask me."
"I"ll say. The further we are the better." Bing Wan followed suit. "But there"s one thing I"m curious about."
Gong San gave him a glance as they continued on their way. "What is it?"
"You knew this was going to happen, right?"
"Yeah."
"Which means you came into contact with one of the intruders, right?"
"Yeah."
"Right…" "So, how did you get away?"
"What do you mean? I just got away."
"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Bing Wan pointed back to the mess that was once a sect. "The people who did that couldn"t catch you?"
"Is it so hard to believe? I specialise in wind element techniques, you know. I don"t mean to brag, but there probably aren"t many in the same realm who can match my speed."
"That may be so, but…" Bing Wan pointed again. "Didn"t we just narrowly escape encirclement?"
"Uh…"
"And it took them less minutes than I have fingers on my hands to do this."
"Okay. I"ll admit it. The guy I encountered let me go."
"He let you go?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Gong San sighed. "I think I"ve gotten myself wrapped up in some troublesome matters."
"What do you mean?"
"It"s a long story."
"I"ve got time."
"Okay. So, I was heading back to the cells after confirming that the intruders were coming for the yin physiques, but on my way, I was intercepted by this little fellow. He was dressed all in black and was wearing a metal mask. My spiritual perception was useless against it, and even the open holes where the eyes were only showed blackness. The guy was completely unreadable." "He asked me where the yin physiques were, and I refused to tell him because I knew you were there guarding them and the fact that this guy was able to catch me means he would probably wipe the floor with you." "No offence."
"I would say none taken, but that would be a lie."
"Since when have you been concerned about lying?" "Anyway, the guy became violent when I refused to give him answers, and to be honest, I wasn"t all that convinced that he would be able to beat me one-on-one. At the very least, it wouldn"t be an easy victory. So I went all out against him and launched the first attack."
"And then?"
"20 exchanges later and I was lying on the ground."
"Just 20 exchanges?"
"Yeah. And 19 of them were me on the offensive."
"He beat you with one move?"
Gong San sighed. "Yeah." "And the worst part is, it felt like I was nothing in his eyes. Like he was facing a baby who still smelt of milk. It even felt as if he was getting stronger as time went by. Also, there was something about that guy"s aura. Something cold. Something… evil."
"Evil? Coming from a demonic cultivator? That"s weak sauce Gong San."
"Laugh all you want, but that guy isn"t someone I want to be involved with. Something"s just not right about him."
"I never knew you were a gla.s.s cannon, dude. Maybe I could beat you if I landed a good hit. Put some fear of Bing Wan in you." Bing Wan playfully punched Gong San"s shoulder.
"Overconfidence will be your downfall, Bing Wan."
"Okay, okay. Continue. How did you manage to get out of it?"
"That"s the weird part. He said something like "Yuwarun" then stopped."
"Yuwarun? Is that some kind of curse?"
"No idea. But after a while, he made me an offer I couldn"t refuse."
"What was that?"
"He said I have two options. One was to abandon my cultivation and live the rest of my life according to certain principles."
"What was the other one?"
"I die."
"… I see why you couldn"t refuse."
"Right?"
"So, what are these principles?"
"It involves switching to a different cultivation method, then only using my cultivation in ways that don"t harm others unless in the case of protecting myself or others. Other than that, I"m apparently free to do as I please."
"That"s why you"re going on the orthodox path."
"Pretty much."
"So, question."
"What?"
"Why? Did you ask him why he didn"t just kill you on the spot? Our kind aren"t exactly the first in line to receive mercy."
"I did ask."
"What did he say?"
"Apparently, he doesn"t care about people"s pasts. Paraphrasing here, he basically said that as far as he"s concerned, a person"s life begins the moment he meets them. Anything they did before then is of no importance. Essentially, to him, you and I have done nothing wrong."
"That"s an interesting perspective. Everyone gets a clean slate, huh?" Bing Wan scratched his head. "But then, how do you explain that?" He pointed to the ruins again.
"That"s the way he operates, but the same can"t be said for his allies. I told you already that Evil Slaying has returned."
"Ah. They"re demon slayers. Makes sense."
"Is that all?"
"Actually, I have another question."
"Shoot."
"You got away. Why do you have to comply?"
"Hehe…"Gong San chuckled and looked back to Bing Wan with a strained smile on his face. "I"m afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"That guy. That… thing. He"ll find-" He shook his head. "It"s just not worth it, man."
Bing Wan could see that Gong San was truly terrified of that fellow. His usual laid-back demeanour was nowhere to be seen at the moment. He could only look at the back of Gong San"s figure and utter a single word.
"d.a.m.n..."
***
"Well, that"s the last of them." Su Yuying sat on her bed with an empty bowl between her crossed legs. She had just finished her snacks and was staring at the emptiness in front of her.
"What happened?" Ever since her business partner went into the Crimson Moon Sect, the video stream she was watching disappeared. There wasn"t even the projection of a black screen to signify a lack of light, nor were there any sounds of footsteps or chatter. There was simply nothing.
Needless to say, her boredom had returned with a vengeance. She had hoped that the picture would have been restored shortly, but it had stayed off. Even when she tried to reestablish a communication channel, there was no response from the other side.
"Is it out of range, or is there interference?" These were the kinds of things she thought of. They were important details for the second iteration of the product that would be released to the market.
Honestly speaking, she was already very impressed by the distance the prototype was able to cover. It had to be known that even the Zhu Clan was a fair distance from her current location, and she couldn"t notice any degradation in the signal quality. Even its low-light performance was on par with some of the best camera jades available on the market.
"It"s really fortunate that we met." She had found herself a golden opportunity. There was no doubt that her father would be proud of the results once she had gotten the business off of the ground.
"Not to mention that cultivation technique." After a series of disappointments, the answer to her problems seemed to fall from the sky. And the cost was as little as an awkward situation.
"Jeez. I wonder if he even noticed that I"m gone." For some reason, she was fairly confident that he hadn"t noticed at all.
"Well, might as well clean the bowl." Yuying got up from her bed and took the bowl with her over to the kitchen, where she turned on the water and prepared to wash the bowl.
"That"s unbefitting someone of your station, Young Miss. Allow me." Seemingly out of nowhere, a butler appeared who bowed and attempted to take the bowl from Yuying.
"That won"t be necessary." She moved the bowl towards the stream of water. "Besides, I have nothing better to do."
"Nonsense." The butler managed to swipe the bowl out of Yuying"s hand before it could touch water. He ignored her puffed out cheeks and while cleaning the bowl with a sponge and some soap, he spoke. "I heard from your father that you"ve finally managed to break through to the externalisation realm. This is truly a cause for celebration."
Yuying waved her hands. "There"s no need to make a fuss about it."
"How could we allow that? I"ve already written up a list of young merchants sons and daughters to invite over." From his pocket flew a note, written on which was the names of her acquaintances.
"No!" Yuying caught herself and took a breath before continuing. "We can"t act as if this is something special. Do you know how embarra.s.sed I"ll be when they realise that I"ve only just now broken through? They"re all probably in the transcendent realm or higher. I"ll be the centre of all of the jokes whenever we gather from then on."
"Oh?"
Yuying heard a crack and when she looked to the butler"s hands, she saw the source of it.
"Oh my. It seems my hand slipped. How shameful." The butler walked over to a bin and used the foot pedal to open the lid. "Pardon my presumptuousness, Young Miss." He was still holding the now-broken bowl in his hand as he spoke. "But if any of those little brats dare to laugh at you," The bowl in his hand crumbled into pieces, each of which fell neatly into the bin. "I"m afraid I"ll have to show them the door."
"… The door to the next life?"
"But of course."
"You"re doing it again." Yuying took a few steps away from the butler who was now emanating a thick aura of blood l.u.s.t. She held her nose to block out the nauseating smell that accompanied it.
"I beg your pardon." The butler reigned in his aura and walked over to a cupboard. He retrieved an identical bowl to the one he had broken and placed it in the cupboard with the others, then turned to Yuying. "Now, shall we send out the invitations?"
"Not happening."
"Very well." With that, the butler bowed then disappeared.
"I actually wanted some more snacks…" Yuying walked over to the cupboard and got another bowl. As she placed a few snacks in, she heard a voice from the shadows.
"You may want to watch your figure, Young Miss."
Those words triggered recollection of a comment about a certain portly donkey.
Before she could scold her butler for being insensitive, Yuying heard faint whispers in the wind. She turned her head to listen closer, and she surmised that it was likely coming from the jade she had left in her room.
"Is the picture back?" She hurried over, and when she got back in her room, she could see a projection in front of her. It was two people standing in a gra.s.sy field surrounded by white flowers under a starlit sky. There was a slight breeze and a dim glow from a broken formation illuminated the scene along with the cool blue light of the moon.
"Hm?" Yuying laid on her bed to watch the scene unfold. She realised that she recognised the people on screen. One was obviously her business partner, but the other was also someone she recognised. Matriarch Radiant Jade, the leader of a local third-grade sect.
"What"s happening here?" She watched to try to understand the context, but the words she heard had far more implications than she expected.
"I"m sorry, Miss Matriarch. I don"t feel the same way."
"What?!?!?!" Yuying"s eyes opened wide and she muted her side of the communication so that her verbal exclamation wouldn"t interrupt the scene which was unfolding. She hadn"t been this engaged with the movie up until this point.
"It was an earnest love confession from a beautiful older woman and our heartless protagonist turned her down cold! No one has ever heard of this! It"s going to be major!"
Yuying could just imagine the audience reactions in the theatres.
"But now I really want to know what led up to this." Yuying watched intently as the matriarch seemed to have her heart broken right then and there. Her smile was so pitiful that Yuying could feel her pain.
"Oh… Okay. I… I understand."
Just then, a strong gust of wind blew and petals from the flowers danced around in the air, adorning the sad scene with an extra layer of symbolism.
"Just as love blooms, so does it wilt." Yuying had tears in her eyes as she watched things unfold. She could almost hear music playing in the background.
"Wait…" She perked her ears up and realised that there actually was music. But it wasn"t coming from the movie jade. Someone was humming a tune.
"Daddy, no." Who could it be if not her father? "You couldn"t have chosen another time to come home?" Yuying rolled out of bed. She always greeted her father first thing when he got home, and today wasn"t going to be an exception. Fortunately, she could always watch the scene back when she got the master recording from her partner.
Yuying ran down the hall and down the stairs all the way to the front door where her father was hanging his coat.
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"Welcome home, Father."
Her father turned to her and stroked her head.
"And how is my little princess today?"
"Not bad."
"Oh? Tell me about it."
"But, isn"t there something you want to give me first?"
Noticing where her gaze was directed, her father chuckled.
"You"re looking for a gift?"
"Mm."
"Today, I thought I would gift you some good news."
"Good news?"
"Mm. It"s time for us to go back home."
"Really?"
"Mm. My business is all done. We can head back any time."
"That"s great!" Yuying was excited to hear this. Frankly speaking, she was getting tired of the lower eastern continent. There was nothing good here and all of her friends were back home on the middle continent.
"Wait…" Yuying suddenly remembered a little masked fellow.
"What is it?"
"My business partner. We still haven"t finalised the designs for the communication jades. It"ll be impossible for us to communicate once we"re back home."
"Hmm. Is it that important to you? You know you don"t need to do this. We have plenty of wealth. You won"t have to work a day in your life."
"That"s not it. I really want to see this through."
Looking into his daughter"s eyes, he found it hard to tell her no.
"Alright. How long will it take?"
"He said it wouldn"t be too long. I can go ask him for a new estimate."
"While you"re at it, why don"t you invite him over? Let me take a look at this fellow."
"Like I haven"t already tried…"
"What was that?"
"Nothing. I"ll ask him." Yuying ran off back to her room.
"Ying"er."
Yuying turned around and in her line of sight was a sparkling bag which she caught. She smiled and thanked her father before continuing on her way.
After she left, the butler appeared kneeling in front of her father.
"Sir."
"What have you got for me?"
"I"m afraid the young miss seems to be quite enthralled by this fellow." "Perhaps it"s best if I-"
"You"re doing it again."
"My apologies." The butler suppressed his aura and stood straight.
Yuying"s father placed his fingers on his forehead and took in a deep breath. "This whole thing is giving me a headache. What to do, what to do." He tapped his foot on the ground repeatedly. "For now, let"s see if he"ll agree to a meeting. We"ll see how things progress from there."