“You are dead,” Youjin Chao said warily. He did not have good memories of this person. “Why are you here?”
What luck. Youjin Fuqiang thought. To find such a beautiful vessel. His spectre stroked his wiry beard, “It would take more than a simple trap to kill me, Young Chao. Or do you perhaps mean why this ghost has appeared in your Sea of Consciousness?”
Youjin Chao was still on guard. He did not retort to the rhetorical question and asked, “Trap? And that is Su Nanya’s missing Occultic Foxball. Why do you have it?”
“Because of fate,” Youjin Fuqiang said with a sign. Fate of the Lord that led you to me in my time of need. “With my newly ascended power as a Core Formation cultivator, I was lucky enough to escape to this cave as. It is here that I discovered this treasured orb.” His voice had an undertone of both sadness and joy. Quickly though, both those emotions changed to anger. “As for the matter of the treachery I have so unjustly suffered, have the outside world not figured it out yet? It was the Duan clan who wished to take over our city! I trusted them, and they poisoned me ruthlessly. The Baishui, their slaves, should be making waves. What has happened in the time that I was gone?”
Youjin Chao’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “I see. So it really was the Duan clan.” Memories of Youjin Chun flashed before him after who knows how many weeks. The entire ordeal still left a distaste in his mouth. So she really was tricked. But what does that have to do with me?
Chao did not know that whatever strange art Youjin Fuqiang was using to converse with him could also glean parts of his thoughts. Heart Qi had mysterious abilities.
The old patriarch smiled kindly as he made note of those this teen had grudges against, “They tried their hardest, this old fool was certainly tricked. It was lucky that I was able to transfer my soul away with a secret technique. The residual power of this Occultic Foxball had sustained me until now. But alas,” he pointed at his spectre. The lower part of his body was fracturing away like crumbling glass. He did not need to fake it. Whatever that accursed grandson of Old Bao and the Su Princess did, it would leave its mark. “This foxball seems to favour heart qi. I cannot assimilate it.”
That was partially true. He could only use it as a crux, but not as an artificial spirit root.
All the more reason he needed to find a vessel to take over.
And what a vessel Youjin Chao was!
Dual awakening of Origin and Spirit Qi. If he assimilated the substituted occultic foxball that was now Youjin Fuqiang’s crux, Heart Qi awakening would be a done deal too.
Of course, Youjin Fuqiang would assimilate Chao’s body back whilst the teen was none the wiser, and usurp his identity to walk amongst the living once more.
The lord always shows a way!
Youjin Chao asked more questions, trying to gauge the the old man in various ways. His questions were pointed, but no longer loaded. He was yet suspicious that Youjin Fuqiang in the body of that foxmoth had not purposefully barred his way. But as more details and ‘truths’ came out, Chao significantly lowered his guard.
After all, they had the common ground of being screwed over by the Duan clan.
Outside, Chao’s body continued to refine and be refined. There was a strange equilibrium right now, and Chao had regained enough control over his nerves to shut out a lot of the pain. The itch was gone, but a numbness remained.
What he could not unfeel the most was the aching rhythm to his spirit.
This conversation was a nice distraction from it.
The old man continued, “Not long do I have in this world. Youjin Chao, it is such a shame that we have not spent much time with each other. I must admit, I and the clan have neglected you. Would it be too much to ask of you a dying request?”
“I can promise nothing, but I’ll hear you out,” Youjin Chao replied. He would not be so careless to completely lower his guard, as Youjin Fuqiang, at the end of the day, was an intruder to his Sea of Consciousness.
But he would give the man an ear.
“Hahaha, it is good to be careful. Don’t worry, you need not promise anything. I only wish for you to hear me out. If the task turns out to be too difficult for you, you may forget about it.” Youjin Fuqiang said.
Youjin Chao’s ears perked up. He did not like being underestimated.
Teenagers, so simple. That Ziyou Yung was the weird one! Youjin Fuqiang hid his disdain well. “What I seek, is revenge!” He spoke the last word so hard that spectral spit flew out of his mouth.
Chao sat straighter. “Against the Duan?”
“Them, yes, but also those who doomed me to this fate!” Youjian Fuqiang said, “I was on the verge of breaking through. I had gotten a wondrous technique from my trusted retainer. Yet it turns out to be a sinister trap. Did you know? I was told that I would share the life force of the Foxmoths, not draining then like some devilish art! Yet still…” He sighed, “I cannot change the past now. But I will not forget it either! Before the Duan, housecleaning is in order. Youjin Chao, I know you do not have much attachment to the clan, but can you really be so cruel to deny your patriarchal blood?”
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The patriarch was right. Youjin Chao only felt a slight kinship, perhaps because they shared a name.
But that was it.
Yet at the end of the day, they did share a name.
“I am leaving for the Twilight Blood Palace after getting out of here.” There was also Chiri, “I cannot waste time on wild goose chases.”
“But it shall not be wild, and certainly not a chase, for I have figured out the mastermind. The previous years, being stuck in the body of a Foxmoth, all I had was plenty of time to ponder,” Youjin Fuqiang said. “Do you know of Youjin Bao?”
Youjin Chao’s gaze stilled, as did the slow droplets of golden True Qi falling into the barren lake of his Sea of Consciousness. “I do. He was in charge of the Jade Slip Store previously. He has passed.”
Youjin Fuqiang grinned inwardly. Outwardly, he showed a twisted face of hatred, “A death too good for a void cultist! If only I had figured it out sooner, I would have had his head rather than merely exiling him to mind the Jade Slip Store!”
“What does Youjin Bao have to do with anything? And you said Void cultists?”
“Everything, young man! Why do you think the caverns here teem with Voidfiends so much? It is the void cultists who are making a move. And Youjin Bao, he was the mastermind who controlled the strings before this! Not only did he collude with the Duan clan, the Malignant Moon Sword Sect, and some of my trusted retainers, he was the one who ordered that accursed technique to be brought to me in my time of need,” Youjin Fuqiang claimed. He was still stroking his beard, but Chao could see clearly how hard the old man was trying to keep his hand steady even as the hatred threatened to overflow and his spectral body crumbled bit by bit.
“Those are bold claims to make,” Youjin Chao said. There was a storm going on inside of him now. Does that mean, even Brother Yung? No! I must not fall for such evidenceless accusations.
“Indeed... these are claims now. I have no proof other than my memories. But Youjin Chao, know this. There is a great evil lurking in my Dim Gold City. Youjin Bao may have passed, but his Grandson still lives.”
“You mean Ziyou Yung? What about him?” The rhythm of Chao’s heart stayed the same, but the speed at which his Temple Palace and Navel Palace Dantians refined the blood and Qi almost doubled in that one moment.
“He is the son of a dark mother. Do you know what they are?” The old man asked.
Chao did.
Hegemonic Powers on the Violet Horn continent also had to deal with the pest-like cultists constantly. There were mentions of them in the Xuehou clan scrolls, “Women whose organs are slowly replaced by powerful voidfiend grafts. They are like cultivation cauldrons, but rather than being refined to increase someone’s cultivation like a pill, they are refined to breed… Apostles of the Void.”
“Youjin Bao’s daughter was a Dark Mother. I should have noticed it sooner. Only when I had lost my physical eyes did I gain the sight to see the truth,” Youjin Fuqiang held up the projection of the Occultic Foxball. “It is the luck of the heavens that I have found this treasure in this cave. The residual Heart Qi, although I could not directly assimilate it, my soul was strong enough to use part of it to trigger a miracle. In that moment, everything had become clear: the past, present, and the future. Alas, I cannot leave this place to stop whatever diabolical plans Ziyou Yung, the Apostle of the Void, has. But,” Youjin Fuqiang extended the foxball towards Youjin Chao, “If it is you, it should be easy. Take this treasure, awaken your Heart Palace Dantian. Become a supreme cultivator of all three paths, and as payment, help me take my revenge!”
Youjin Chao’s blood boiled at each of those words spoken. Brother Yung, an Apostle of the Void?
It… makes a strange sort of sense. Chao thought. His eyes were moving left and right, his physical brain and spiritual soul working overtime to deduce his future path based on the information Youjin Fuqiang had given him. He is wise beyond his years. Is that his knowledge? Or was it given by some otherworldly god? Why would a boy with no experience in love be so knowledgeable about it?
There were more anomalies. His strange Numinous Arts that not even Imperfect Heaven 3rd Order fiends could see through. The almost one-sided Soul Contract with the Dim Gold Foxmoth Yaoguai. And most of all,
Su Nanya is in danger! If there was even the slightest chance that Ziyou Yung was an apostle, then what motive does he have to try and seduce the Su Princess other than to cause as much damage as possible to the Void Connecting Land Bridge? If so, his ultimate plan must be to topple the Fox Clan and turn the landbridge into a second Continent of Madness. Making it a literal bridge for the Void’s invasion into the rest of the mortal plane!
Youjin Chao clenched his metaphysical fist. I cannot jump to conclusions. Brother Yung has been nothing but kind to me! Even though Chao detested Ziyou Yung’s cowardly philosophy and his closeness to Su Nanya—and all that public flirting certainly did not help—but that was merely Chao projecting his own feelings, not facts.
He did not want to admit it, but he could not deny it.
Youjin Chao, now a bona fide one in a billion genius, was supremely jealous of the inept coward that was Ziyou Yung.
But what if… What if Ziyou Yung wasn’t inept? And he was not a coward. What if he was a scheming rat, working on the agenda of his otherworldly masters?
Void Cultists are usually either peasants, or madlanders, or both. It was the same everywhere. And what was Ziyou Yung’s creed?
He wanted a better life for madlanders. That in itself was no sin.
Yet, if that better life came at the expense of the life of native ren?
The boy’s influence in the city, and the slums, was unparalleled. Perhaps even Youjin Liu and Ziyou Maque could not compare with him.
And if Yung got even closer to Su Nanya, his influence on the whole landbridge, let alone the puny Warring Twilight Region, would only be matched by a few others.
If he truly was an Apostle of the Void, then the damage he could inflict would be unimaginable.
If… Youjin Chao had calmed down as he worked through his feelings. If Youjin Fuqiang really is telling the truth. If Youjin Bao was some sort of mastermind. Then I must confirm it.
It would be a lie to say that Youjin Chao had no selfish motivations. He could honestly care less about what would happen to the ordinary folks and even other cultivators in the event of a Void attack.
But he did care about Uncle Maque, Uncle Liu, and Aunt Jiashui. His feelings for Ling were complicated. But he loved her in all meanings of the word.
Youjin Chao did not want a repeat of what happened with the Xuehou Clan. He refused to be weak. So he needed to be strong.
Strong enough to verify whether Brother Yung really was an inept coward, or a scheming rat.
“I understand,” Youjin Chao said. “I will help you. In return, you will give me the Occultic Foxball to activate my Heart Palace Dantian.”
For only a slight second, he felt guilty. This was stealing, in a sense, from the woman he loved with all his heart, his soulmate Su Nanya.
But this was also to protect her, in case Ziyou Yung really turned out to be an Apostle of the Void.
“Thank you,” Youjin Fuqiang said. He extended his illusory hand, Occultic Foxball in his grip.
Youjin Chao touched the orb.
His Sea of Consciousness quaked.
Youjin Fuqiang grinned. A breath later, his grin turned into panic.
As a third, far stronger presence in the form of a spatial crack appeared in Youjin Chao’s Sea of Consciousness.