Sun Niu knelt beside the Sabertongue corpse, scowling down at the gaping wound that nearly ripped the creature wide open. Worms wriggled between the squirming flesh, spreading a nasty stench that made him nearly vomit on the spot. He raised a hand over his mouth as he stepped back while another beast poked the dead one with its nose.
Being honest, clawed wide open or not, it was already hard to tell if these creatures were really alive. Their once-slick fur was now dotted with sickly yellowish spots, saliva dripping down their mouths and hissing once it touched the soil. And their eyes… That was the worst part. A pair of green beads cocked deep into their sockets, looking poisonous and deathly, always staring, always watching as if on high alert.
“This is the third one,” came a voice from his back, a deep voice that rattled its way through the throat. “A cultivator and a clawed beast. Dangerous.”
“Dangerous, you’ve said, Elder Brother Jian?” Sun Niu tilted his head to glance at the owner of the voice, a tall man looming right behind him, fingers of his right hand curled painfully tight around a silver blade. “We have a dozen brothers hot on their tail. I say they’re some dead folk walking.”
Elder Brother Jian smiled slightly. “I can respect a man even if he is talentless, but a fool is another story. So tell me, are you a fool, Junior Brother Niu?”
“Err—“ Sun Niu gulped nervously when those black eyes peered down at him as if he were an ant crawling by the toes of a giant. A single step would be enough to crush him. “I’m a fool, Elder Brother Jian. A talentless, worthless fool.”
“Good,” the man growled. He pointed a finger at the footprints near the beast, indicating a clear path through the bushes and out toward the mountain. “Now a fool you may be, but I reckon even you can see those prints. Look how strong and steady they are. Our foes were surefooted after they dealt with this foul beast and left not a single stain of blood around here. They handled this one with the ease of a hunter.”
Sun Niu frowned deeply at the words, his heart pounding in his chest. Jiangzhen didn’t have any strong hunters. The cultivators who lived there were false and weak, an incapable bunch standing high on the shoulders of their Governor. It was that man who shackled them close to his feet, made slaves out of them using means of his illustrious backing. But even he wouldn’t have dared to step into the Darkloom Forest. Not when he knew what kind of horrors were lurking here.
“Strangers,” he said with confidence, then a lump stuck round his throat when a certain possibility dawned on him. “You don’t think they are Skyguards, do you, Elder Brother? Jiangzhen is a mortal city—“
“Skyguards? No, not a chance,” Elder Brother Jian snorted with disdain. “A Skyguard would’ve claimed our souls without us noticing.”
“Then who can it be?”
Elder Brother Jian frowned when the Sabertongue bit off a chunk from its dead companion, bones creaking, blood dripping down its chin. His disgust was unmasked. Sun Niu felt just the same. These beasts were of a wicked origin.
“A cook and a woman,” Elder Brother Jian said, eyes glinting sharp. “It’s probably that cook who handled you like a snotty child. You’ve said he had a fleshy friend, as well, have you not? Those two must be together, then, but this is that woman’s work. She could even be a Qi Condensation Stage expert.”
Sun Niu’s lips twitched, a sudden cold crawling down his spine. A Qi Condensation expert could speak the tongue of the world, influence the spiritual energy with a flick of their finger. The difference between a Body Tempering Stage cultivator and a Qi Condensation Stage expert was like the one between heavens and earth.
“We should tell Elder Huang about this matter,” Sun Niu said, sucking in a cold breath. “If this is a Qi Condensation Stage expert we’re dealing with, then—“
“A fool and an oak.” Elder Brother Jian shook his head at him. “That thick head of yours can’t quite understand what I’m saying, can it? I’ve said she could be one. We can’t disturb Elder Huang without solid proof.”
“Then what should we do?”
“I shall test this woman myself,” Elder Brother Jian said, his long, dark hair dancing in the wind. He sheathed his sword, a golden locket flashing from its handle, and blew out a whistle. The foul Sabertongue devouring its kin suddenly stopped. “Time for us to move,” he finished as the creature trudged on all fours toward the mountain.
Sun Niu nodded sheepishly, following them. He cursed himself for perhaps the thousandth time that day that he’d chosen to be their handyman in the city. It was life-changing indeed, just not the way he thought it’d be.
I can’t go back now. I’ve already come too far.
It’d been this stoic Elder Brother Jian who first proposed the deal to their group. A simple rat job, nothing too risky. Sun Niu would work around the city and bribe some guards from the station, telling them he’d pay richly if they’d be his ears in the Governor’s Office. Nothing too risky indeed, except the Emperor’s Own decided to send an Auditor to the damned city.
That man was old, almost ancient, Sun Niu thought when he first saw him. He had a relaxed air about him, cheerful and happy to be served by the Governor’s Office. He’d whored, feasted, and toured the city, clicking his tongue at the novelty of the place. Even the so-called cultivator attack hadn’t been enough to get his attention, as he passed off on it, saying that they would send some help.
Hard to believe he was a Core Formation expert, a two-hundred-year-old monster hiding under that wrinkled flesh. The Governor knew him from way back. Supposedly, he was a good friend of his grandfather. No wonder the Quan family kept the city in their palm all these years.
The good thing was, the Governor was too busy spoiling this officer of the court to pay Sun Niu any heed. He’d planted all the bugs without anyone noticing. The mission done, they were about to go back to Darkloom Forest when Sun Niu saw that cook and the kids. Thought he’d get himself some money and offer a bunch of kids to the Master. He didn’t know what they were doing with the kids, but Elder Huang had once told him that they were open to any talent. It was always a mystery how these demonic cultivators did their business. Sun Niu had just thought that it could be his chance this time.
He knew the Master had more than a few Root Growing Pills, and he was ready to do everything for a pill.
Becoming a cultivator could change everything. He could earn imperial gold working in Lanzhou, just carrying the heavy loads. But it took strength to serve the cultivator clans. They wouldn’t just pay anyone lightly. Or he could join a sect, become someone important, and make people tremble at the sight of his face. There was not a single thing in this world that couldn’t be solved by strength.
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But they didn’t expect the cook and his friend to be this strong. They got handled like a bunch of stray dogs, bashed, and beaten in mere seconds. At least those two were fool enough to hand them to the guards. That was lucky, Sun Niu had thought. His bribes had gotten him enough leverage to pull off some favors.
It was just his luck that the Auditor had brought his new disciple with him, a young man who had eyes for detail. Sharp as a hawk, that bloody bastard was, and he’d ordered the hanging of Sun Niu’s brother even when the Auditor himself couldn’t care less for a bunch of thugs. Idealistic and young. Sun Niu heard these were the most dangerous kind.
But even that young fool of an officer couldn’t have guessed that Sun Niu would find his way. It had to be fate after getting scolded by Elder Meng that he came across those two kids. Seemed like Lady Luck had decided to show him a little smile.
Who could’ve thought that cook would come searching for the kids? And now he might have had a Qi Condensation Stage expert working with him. How? Why?
His head hurt from how he kept asking the same questions over and over again.
A pair of rotten beasts had joined them on the way, trudging out into the front. They kept sniffing around, eating berries, tearing the barks of the Darkloom trees here and there. Their stench made Sun Niu’s skin crawl.
He couldn’t wait for all this to end.
But he kept his focus on the mission, as Elder Brother Jian trailed after the beasts with a solemn gaze, blowing a whistle or two now and then to communicate with others. There had to be more than twenty beasts out searching for those fools, and some twenty more waiting inside the mountain.
A single Qi Condensation Stage expert can’t do anything against us.
Sun Niu clutched the golden locket hanging from his neck. The only thing that saved him from being devoured by these beasts was this locket given to him by Elder Huang. It carried the scent of the beasts, making it so that they wouldn’t attack him. To these beasts, Sun Niu smelled like one of them.
Disgusting.
Sun Nui bit his lower lip. Once he became a cultivator, he swore he would never come back to this place.
………
It started slow, barely a sting, right around the nape of his neck. He massaged his temples and waited for it to pass. It didn’t. The sting started gnawing at his brain, making his thoughts messy and his vision blurry. He wanted to lay there resting, but his boys were waiting for him.
“Keep your chin high,” Fatty Lou said, brows knitted with concern as he looked at him. “We’re close.”
Lei nodded tiredly, giving him a slight smile. The pain meant that their plan was working. Somewhere in the forest, beyond the bushes, those beasts were eating the dumplings. From how the pain kept growing, it seemed his assumptions were correct. The energy spilling from the food was somehow finding its way back to his core.
But this energy refused to listen to his commands. Like an unruly child, it kept poking at his innards, slithering down his legs and making them tremble. Still, Lei kept a smile on his lips. He couldn’t wait to see the effects of his new invention.
“Say, Sister Luli,” he said, deciding he could use some distraction, “why did you travel all across the continent? I get that you’re strong and you have Little Yao with you, but I can’t help but feel it’s just a bit careless of you. Look at us here. Even in Jiangzhen, we’re caught up with a bunch of demonic bastards. I can’t imagine what kind of horrors must be lurking in other places.”
“I’ve had a feeling,” Zhu Luli said, her eyes glinting deeply. “A feeling that told me if I were to stay rooted in my place, I would regret it my whole life. I had to take my chances, even though I knew it’d be foolish of me to wander around as a mere Body Tempering Stage cultivator.”
“Takes a certain strength to make such a decision,” Fatty Lou remarked with admiration. “I’m afraid not all of us have the courage to be free of our shackles.”
“You either let them suck all the life out of you, or you learn to live without them,” Zhu Luli said solemnly. “That’s why they say the most dangerous thing to a cultivator is comfort. It makes you loose and relaxed.”
“Senseless,” Lei said, shaking his head. He blinked through the pain and set his jaw tight. “There’s a whole wide world outside, all the possibilities you can explore with that power. Why bother turning it into a race? And what does the winner take in the end?”
“There’s always a bigger mountain to climb,” Zhu Luli said. “But you’re right, Brother Lei. Emperor Xia himself once said that we’re all locked up in a cage of our making, too busy staring at the next mountain to see the bright skies beyond.”
“A wise man,” Lei said, sighing. “But even he couldn’t change the world, could he? Made it more livable, though, so there’s that.”
“He tried,” Zhu Luli said. “But if you’d ask me, there’s a fundamental problem in our way of thinking. Nobody wants to change. There are enough people in this world who are happy with the way things are.”
“A pity.” Lei rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was taken aback when his thoughts strayed toward the kids, and he started imagining their future. He hadn’t been a selfless man in his previous life. Not selfish, but certainly not the most thoughtful, either. Probably why he was alone most of the time. Or it could be that he’d never found someone dear to care for.
But here, things were different. When he found out that the kids were kidnapped, he felt as though a knife was stuck hard in his stomach. He’d braved on and tried to keep himself straight, but he just couldn’t shake that feeling away. It was there, inside his heart, still bleeding.
“Once we save those boys,” Lei said, clenching his teeth, “I’ll make sure they can stand on that peak on their own. I’ll see to it myself that they conquer the demons around them.”
He paused when his [Spiritual Sensitivity] skill sent a bolt of pain up his head. He whisked around and peered back the way they came from. Silver glinted under a tall Darkloom Tree as a man strode out from between the bushes, holding a sword in his right hand. Adorned with a golden locket that had been fixed into the handle, the weapon looked dangerously sharp. But it was the man’s hard eyes that got Lei’s attention. They were staring into his soul.
“Careful,” came Zhu Luli’s voice as rotten beasts came into view all around them. A look over his shoulder showed Lei that there were at least four beasts here, all looking stronger than the ones they’d dealt with.
The man weighed them with a pair of hawkish eyes, his face oddly pale. Unlike the sword, he was clad in simple robes, clean and spotless. “A bunch of rats and a squirrel, eh?” the man said as the tension in his face gave way to an amused smile. He glanced back. “Come here, Junior Brother Niu. I think we’ve found the troublemakers.”
Blood pounded in his ears as Lei tried to keep his vision straight. Another man hopped into the clearing from behind the first one. He looked tattered and slimy, like a worm slithering about the forest. Lei clasped the ladle with all his strength when he saw those bushy eyebrows and slanted eyes.
“You…” he said even as the world spun around him. He felt a strong hand grab his arm, trying to pull him back. His brother-in-arms shook his head when Lei glared at him. “That same bastard!”
“We’re surrounded,” Zhu Luli said, her eyes darting back and forth. Little Yao had reared back like a cat, hissing at the rotten beasts circling their group. “I’ve counted at least four beasts. There could be more.”
“Shit.” Fatty Lou raised the meat cleaver in his hand. “I thought we were making good progress.”
“Elder Brother Jian, these are the ones I told you about!” Bushy said, jabbing one thick finger into the air. “Let’s kill them right away. Don’t let them escape!”
Elder Brother Jian tapped a finger against the golden locket on his sword, producing a ringing sound that echoed across the clearing. The rotten beasts paused in their steps. They shook their heads as if confused, growling at each other.
Lei was clenching his jaw when suddenly the pain left him. Breathing in deep, he blinked at the beasts and saw them staring strangely at the black-robed man.
“What’s happening?” Bushy said as he took a step back, confused. “Why are they not attacking?”
“Odd,” Elder Brother Jian muttered, clearly taken aback.
Instead of lunging at them, the four rotten beasts slowly made their way toward the black-robed man. They started sniffing him as if he were some sort of delicacy, and before long they circled Bushy as well, poking him with their noses.
“Uh, Elder Brother…” Bushy said, trying to reach for the sword dangling from his belt. A Corrupted Sabertongue nudged the sheath away, one of its claws brushing over the man’s robe curiously. Another one was behind his back, sniffing near his buttocks. “What is happening?”
“I don’t know.” Elder Brother Jian frowned deeply as he pushed a beast back with the pommel of his sword. “What are you doing, you brainless beasts! Attack them!”
“Oh, I think it’s happening,” Fatty Lou murmured.
“This… I’m not sure I can watch,” Zhu Luli said.
“Best we give them some space,” Lei smiled when he saw the glint in those beasts’ eyes. “Things are about to get really strange.”
………..