As it turned out, the compound he found himself in was owned by the sect master and the two men that had stopped him were elders of the Azure Sky Sect. It explained why the two had seemed familiar to him. Chao Hengs’ memories had some vague recollection about the two elders being present for the entrance ceremony.

As soon as the two elders had declared him as a guest, the blue-haired woman had left after throwing a last angry glance at him. Joseph didn’t know what her problem was, but he was happy to be out of her focus.

The short one with a sense of humor introduced himself as Te Hao, elder of commerce. He led Joseph to the compound where his uncle was staying at. On the way, they had a small chat.

“So I heard your uncle threw you into the crater he made. Did you have fun?” the elder asked.

“His crater, senior? I thought it was a natural formation.” Or a meteorite impact, thought Joseph.

“Ahh, no. We had a fight with another sect a few years ago. I wasn’t there, but apparently your uncle missed a punch. The crater was just the collateral.”

Joseph gulped. He swore to never anger his uncle.

“It was a very educational experience, elder. I had some minor luck and could aspect my meridians.”

“Oh, you managed to find some essence in that hole? Did some spirit beast wander in?”

“Yes, elder. This lowly one managed to kill a spirit beast snake.” Well, technically, it was a snake.

“Poison essence is a wise choice.”

Since Joseph didn’t want to be found out, he didn’t refute the elder. After all, being too talented would put him into the limelight.

“Have you thought about learning a corresponding trade? Poison essence is especially suited for alchemy. You seem to have some knowledge about ingredients at least, based on your luggage.”

The older cultivator inspected his large backpack appreciatively.

“Technically, those plants are guild property. But don’t worry, I’ll still give you a fair price for them.”

Joseph sighed. It was no wonder that Te Hao was the elder of commerce if he even scammed the lowest of scet members.

“I’ll be in your care, senior.” Joseph bowed slightly into the elders’ direction.

The old man waved his hand. A small silver ring glinted on his middle finger for a moment, and then Joseph’s backpack disappeared.

The elder stroked his chin. “Hmm, that’s around 740 contribution points.”

Joseph rolled his eyes. The man didn’t even pay him in any actual currency.

“Well, that’s all from me. Your uncle is inside.”

The elder vanished in an instant. It wasn’t like someone moving fast, which left a gust of wind or a similar sign. No, without a sound. One moment he was and the next he wasn’t. He wondered what kind of cultivation rank was needed for such a feat.

He entered the house in front of him, but no one was inside the entrance hall. Joseph looked around. The hall was mostly empty, besides a few art sculptures and other assorted items that were supposed to show off the owner’s power and influence.

“Yo.”

Joseph jumped in surprise. He looked up and found his uncle casually sitting on a ceiling joist like a barn cat.

“Had a fun holiday?” The older man let himself fall from his lookout and landed in front of him.

He looked the same as before, a broad-shouldered mountain of flesh, partly unclothed. His hair was dark with a reddish tint, cut short and standing up like tiny curling flames of darkness.

There was a certain type of irony that he met his uncle whenever he hadn’t been able to take a bath. Joseph was still in his tattered pajamas.

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“I heard you found some essence for yourself? Poison? That must be a poor joke.” He spat on the floor. “Why would you get something with such a terrible fit for the family arts?”

Joseph was still somewhat in shock, so he stammered, “It’s not poison. It’s dragon.”

He had little choice. While he might be able to hide some things from the sect, his uncle was a different beast.

The older man clapped him on the back. “That’s my Bao-zi! Slaying a dragon his first trip into the wilderness.”

“Well, I had some help...”

The two headed deeper into the compound while Joseph recounted the story. He exaggerated some parts and under-reported his reliance on alchemy, making the whole thing sound like a martial feat instead of a fight won through cunning and tactics.

“So you started a clan of spear wielding squirrels.” The uncle laughed. “I need to visit those little critters. After all, they are technically a neighboring sect now...

“Anyway, I didn’t put you there randomly. Some things happened and a few heads rolled, so now you are going to have to marry the clan head’s daughter.”

Joseph did a double take. “Can you elaborate?”

“Well, you see, the backlash after you killed that guy was a little more than expected. Those Chao rats were out for your head. If you hadn’t gone into seclusion straight away after that fight, you’d probably be dead right now. Then, I put you into the pit since it’s close to the sect master’s residence, so it was reasonably safe for you while I cleaned house.”

“I went a bit overboard and killed the heir of the clan's head by accident. And most of his relatives. You know how it is.” He inspected his fingernails.

“That boy was supposed to marry the sect master’s daughter. I’ve spent the last few days smoothing things over, but in the end, my good buddy wants a new match for the kid.”

It was somewhat telling that his uncle called the sect master ‘good buddy’’ and probably the only reason his uncle’s head wasn’t on a pike.

“Well, since I caused all that chaos, I was forced to offer you up. I know it’s not the best, but you have to live with the consequences of your actions.”

Joseph raged internally. What did the old fool mean by he had to live with the consequences? Instead of solving the issue, his uncle had created more problems for him and was now pushing the responsibility away. But he couldn’t show any of that.

He sighed. “When’s the wedding?”

“It needs to be a quick affair, so it’ll be in a few months. I’ll introduce you to your fiancee tomorrow.”

---

Half an hour later, Joseph could finally take a bath.

He started by washing his body with a rag, creating streams of bloody brown water on the floor. When he was somewhat clean, he let his tired and scratched up body slink into the warm water of the bath and he couldn’t stop himself from groaning in pleasure.

The talk with his uncle had created a host of additional problems. Getting married to some high-profile girl would be dangerous. So far he had escaped closer scrutiny by simply staying away from day-to-day sect life, but if he got pushed into the center of attention, it was only a matter of time until he slipped up and was identified as some kind of demonic cultivator.

It made him angry that he had gotten so little choice. He wished to start fresh without all these complex webs of interpersonal relationships he needed to navigate without any idea of what was actually happening.

Mo Li Beis’ idea of pretending to have an epiphany hadn’t even been relevant so far. His uncle so far seemed to be helpful if slightly chaotic and self absorbed, and the guy had said nothing about his change in behavior. Joseph didn’t even know if the two had been close before, but so far, it felt like he’d gotten away with it.

The next few days would prove to be difficult. He’d meet a lot of new people, including his future wife. If someone from Jing Baos’ old life was mixed in between, he’d be screwed.

His musings got interrupted by a system message.

New quest generated: Steal 1 object each from:

0/1 Uncle Jing Do,

0/1 Elder Te Hao,

0/1 Su Li An

Reward: 10 BLP

Finally, he had gotten a new quest. The last name was unknown to him, but he bet it was someone close by that he’d meet soon. The quest seemed to be very much themed around the bloodline, which was somewhat surprising, considering the last quest had been so generic. But the last quest had been transferred from the snake, who seemed to have had a dragon bloodline instead. It still made him wonder what the connection between dragons and nuts was exactly.

On the other hand, if he finished the quest, he’d be able to reach the next bloodline rank. He checked his status, to be sure.

Status:

Zodiac Sign: Rat

Bloodline: Lineage of the Celestial Masked Bandit - Rank 1

Skills: Wash Shinies

90/100 BLP to next rank

Next Skill: Domino of the Night Sky

With a new rank, he’d get a new skill.

Domino of the Night Sky: Wear the night as your mask.

While having the Domino of the Night sky equipped, be exempt from all forms of identification and tracking, fully hiding the identity of the wearer.

Joseph submerged his head under water. The skill would give him the anonymity he wanted. If it truly hid his identity, he wouldn’t be unidentifiable by any of the people he spent so much time worrying about. If only he could drop his current life and leave.

But his uncle was a bit too protective. If Jing Bao vanished, he was sure that the man would comb the earth until he’d found his nephew again. There was no way that he could just walk out of the gates and never look back.

He’d need to find a way to make his absence seem plausible. If he could use the domino to hide his tracks even from the highest rank cultivators, he would only need to create a situation so his uncle would, without a doubt, not search for him.

He would need to fake his own death.