Even though he had been just farming with his bare hands no less than a day ago as he had all his life, the young hero Ying Jie felt alienated and estranged from his own body, as if he were an observer glimpsing at himself from a few meters away like a spirit. The simple, peasant lifestyle he was so accustomed to and of which the villagers of Spring Ox Wind village lived daily below the mountain seemed wildly distanced from him not just physically but time-wise, as if he were a farmer only in the past life and not the present one.
Song Ying Jie felt his head splitting apart. His simple-minded, agrarian values were contradicting directly with Yin Na’s horrible demand for him to kill Doctor Guo. In a miraculous moment, like a child shedding his innocence, Ying Jie felt horror from sudden awareness of how eager he was to rush into the cave and break Doctor Guo’s neck.
“He kowtowed to us, begging to be our student! How improper is it for a student to rebel against his superiors by threatening to kill us?!” Yin Na spoke harshly, the words drilling into Song Ying Jie’s skull like hammers. “He is indirectly asking for us to put him out of his misery!”
“What’s wrong with me?” Song Ying Jie thought, before asking, “Crow Bro…this doesn’t seem right.”
“Ying Jie!” Yin Na snapped, not letting up. “Are you disobeying me? Doctor Guo is being hostile and showing signs of turning on us, we must kill him now with a preemptive strike!”
But even as he attempted to pressure his companion, Yin Na could see that Song Ying Jie had matured both mentally and emotionally. Ultimately, the diet of crushed ether grass and emerald orb spider abdomens had conditioned Song Ying Jie deeply to protect and obey Yin Na, but not to the point where he would follow demonic commands such as to murder another martial artist blindly.
Within the cave, Doctor Guo had heard Yin Na’s cold delivery of such a cruel command, and it mitigated his killing intent for a few breaths. However, this quickly gave way to rising rage.
“You…you’ve taken your use from me, and now you’ll just throw me away like that?!”
Even though it was of his own volition, he put the blame on Wayseeker Crow Bro for having lead him around like an ass with a carrot for the past couple of days, lured by the promise of further riches and the ultimate treasure of all: Immortality. For Yin Na to just so casually dismiss the notion of Yao Guai, the thing Doctor Guo was looking forward to at the end of this journey to confirm his wishes and lifelong fantasy, it made him want to hurl blood!
Even though he was livid with rage, Doctor Guo comprehended the finality and cruelty of Yin Na’s intent in ordering his companion to kill him. He was just so shocked at how open and carefree the villain was in saying so!
“Even though I’ve offered training advice and kung fu secrets to these two the past week,” he thought. “I still don’t know the extent of their actual strength.”
To engage an enemy without gauging the size of their army was courting death.
“That Wayseeker Crow’s depravity and deviousness knows no bounds, but it is that companion (or disciple?) of his that harbors hidden strength and massive potential. In a way, he conceals his strength as the false Daoist conceals his humanity, I honestly may be rushing to my death fighting him.”
Both eyes were on Song Ying Jie, whose expression was unreadable after fighting an internal battle within his mind. Finally, to the mounting excitement of Yin Na and the sinking fear of Doctor Guo, Song Ying Jie’s bare feet took heavy steps towards Doctor Guo, which sounded like bells of death within the reverberation of the cave.
Beneath his clothes, Doctor Guo sunk into a stealthy coiling stance, desperately relying on a sneak attack that would garner any bit of advantage against this stupid strong youth.
“Doctor Guo,” Song Ying Jie spoke, clasping his hands. “Please forgive us for having made you feel like you wasted your time. You are my senior, and since you call yourself a student of Wayseeker Brow, that makes you my brother.”
Both Yin Na and Doctor Guo’s eyes dilated in shock. Both did a quick mental recovery, as Yin Na was shaking his head internally, while Doctor Guo felt an odd mixture of gratitude and butt-clenching fear of what could easily have transpired instead!
“This boy,” thought Doctor Guo. “He might be a natural Righteous martial artist. How did he allow himself to get into the hands of this evil, fake Daoist?”
The old man’s killing intent dissipated.
“This brat,” thought Yin Na. “Well, I guess it was too much to hope for mortal brainwashing methods. I’d need to rely on magic to truly influence the will of individuals. Or maybe this Ying Jie is truly special, someone who was born to be a Righteous martial artist and who rescues the poor and unfortunate while refusing self-gain and wanton murder like the folk heroes among mortals.”
“Hahaha!” Yin Na laughed ostentatiously. “Very good, Ying Jie!”
He clapped on his shoulder theatrically with his one left arm as he joined Song Ying Jie by his side.
“By demonstrating benevolence, you’ve won Doctor Guo over and successfully de-escalated the situation. Mercy can be stronger than the most obscure of martial arts. Perhaps when the moment comes, you’ll demonstrate mercy again in the face of your grandmother’s murderers.”
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Ying Jie showed no signs of comprehending Yin Na’s implicating words, having realized and was grateful that he simply won the approval of both Wayseeker Crow and senior Doctor Guo.
Yin Na mentally clicked his tongue, thinking, “Tch, Ying Jie, you really are a simpleton! You live for the present.”
“Hmph,” Yin Na flicked his wrist at Doctor Guo. “Are you clear-headed now, Doctor Guo? Why haven’t you fallen in line with brother Ying Jie here?”
Doctor Guo’s heart pounded and face flushed with shame but mostly dread. Now that his emotions were quelled, he realized how close he was to ending his Jiang Hu journey with a gristly death! Even though it was insulting for Yin Na to refer to him openly as a “student” and wave just one arm in his face after ordering his death, he could endure any insult for the time being.
After all, all he wanted now was to distance himself from these two crazy men. He wanted to erase himself from memories of the stupid, easily-influenced hick boy and his psycho Daoist companion as far as possible!
But all he could do now was kowtow to Yin Na in total subjugation.
“Y-yes,” he stammered as he pounded his old, weathered forehead onto the cavern floor. “This was clearly a misunderstanding. Forgive me Wayseeker Crow, I was rash and unreasonable!”
The young hero Ying Jie, seeing blood fly from an old man’s forehead, was moved to sympathy.
“‘Rash’ is putting it softly,” continued Yin Na. “I ought to whip you 100 times, but your old frame wouldn’t be able to take it!”
“Let me bear his punishment, Bro Crow!” Song Ying Jie offered with dumb good-natured intent, immediately bowing before Yin Na, placing himself between Yin Na and Doctor Guo.
Yin Na snorted loudly and ignored them both as he left the cave. Both Song Ying Jie and Doctor Guo scrambled after him.
“So what now?” Yin Na asked himself immediately. “The bear Yao Guai is not here, most likely killed and looted, and neither is my cat Yao Guai Mao Shiqi. The biggest problem is I don’t have a financial base without the Yao Guai’s treasure and my void ring in the hands of the Heavenly Sword sect.”
In addition, he had hoped to be brandishing her Foundation Establishment cultivation as an easy threat towards other martial artists in the Jiang Hu, ensuring his safety and easy progression. With the absence of Mao Shiqi, Yin Na’s fighting power was going to have to rely mostly on himself and Song Ying Jie’s.
“It looks like in the end one can only rely on himself,” Yin Na thought sardonically.
“Hey Crow Bro, slow down for Doctor Guo!” Ying Jie was shouting behind him.
“Hmm, I should turn my attention to the individuals present,” thought Yin Na. “That Doctor Guo isn’t going to stick around much longer; I could just let him go. But I’d rather keep him as our prisoner-companion against his will; I still have potential uses for him. I could take my anger and frustration out on his flesh, but what good could that do?”
Yin Na quickly underwent a mortal mental technique: strategic positive thinking!
“Father used to teach me in his lessons after suffering a devastating loss of benefits, whether it be from robbery or a loss in investments to always be immediately grateful for what one still has: if he can still think straight and has qi circulating within him, he will be able to climb back up to where he began so long as he does not give up!
“So what if Mao Shiqi escaped my reach for now? She’s only temporarily evading my wrath. Hehehe. If she’s smart, which my rebellious little pupil is, she’ll have taken care of the Spicy Oil Boar properly, who’ll be waiting for my return.
“So far, I have learned and gained understanding of mortal practices such as farming, herbology, cooking, and physical martial art training and secrets. How many cultivators live pampered and sheltered by their sects without knowledge of what it’s like to start from the dirt and toil his way ground-up? All these seemingly insignificant motions of weeding plants and chopping staple crops will benefit my cultivator journey immensely once I reach the Qi Condensation stage again. Understanding of mortal healing methods is contributing to my combat intelligence as well, as I am now a little more enlightened on the fragility of individual organs, as well as the locations of mortal acupressure points.
“But arguably most important is my newfound appreciation of mortals. We cultivators have always looked down upon them for their crude way of life and perceived lack of intelligence, but the time I’ve spent among them taught me that although they misinterpret many of the methods of the Immortals above, that mortal subterfuge, arts of war and politics are no different from ours.”
Yin Na turned his attention to the present, and studied Song Ying Jie, who looked at him blankly.
“Yes, and it is in the mortal realm where some are destined to climb upwards to Immortality through their virtue and luck alone, such as this ruffian in front of me. People like Ying Jie become the heroes of their own tales, requiring a strong advisor like the famous immortal Zhuge Liang or by constantly learning from a teacher-companion such as myself. Ying Jie is thoroughly righteous to his core, once his view of the world expands and he eventually forms a brain he will find his Dao to be incompatible with my Dao of Benefits. How long can I prolong my demonic guidance of him? Do I apologize for my cruel command for the boy to kill Doctor Guo earlier? Do I ignore it like it never happened?”
An arrogant sneer spread across his lips beneath his face mask.
He would do neither!
“Very good, Ying Jie,” said Yin Na. “You passed my test. A man who is not easily led by temptation and his baser emotions may become a Daoist himself in the future!
“One must kill with a clear conscience. I’ve taken my fair share of lives, as have you, when you slaughtered with a conscience as straight as diamonds back at your home village, and just now, you felt conflicted because you felt that Doctor Guo did not deserve death despite threatening ours. This is called ‘benevolence,’ your acquiescence was an emulation of acts of mercy worthy of the antiquated kings of Immortals!”
Yin Na’s infectious energy as a result of his positive thinking passed onto Song Ying Jie, who did not understand what Yin Na was saying, but felt happiness as well as a feeling of uneasiness for the first time regarding his companion that he looked up to.
“Wow, I’m glad I passed a virtue test for Daoists! I feel like Crow Bro is a person of much excitement; if I keep following him even after I avenge my grandmothers’ murderers I’ll get to experience more adventures and excitement after! But… I feel like something isn’t right. Can we really just let Doctor Guo accompany us after we threatened death to each other?”
As quickly as the thought formulated in his head did it disappear.
“Grandma, I hope you’re watching me in Heaven. You were wrong to suspect him, this Wayseeker Crow was a good guy after all, he will help me avenge your death soon!”