Huan's PoV
I don’t remember much. At one moment, I was there. Trying to get free from the rope that bound my arms together. And next, I’m somewhere else. An unknown ceiling above me, not the crude and dull looking bricks of my cell. No. But a carefully crafted and decorated redwood one, adorned with images of majestic beasts and other creatures: large golden tigers facing teal scaled Longs on top of a mountain scenery. The air had this herbal scent, almost like an incense was burning somewhere close. I wanted to move, but I realised that whatever I stood on was soft. Far too soft than it had any right to be, but also warm. Almost cosy.
This is something that pulled me out of this haze, cosy wasn’t the place I know I am in. The Blood Demon cult is all but a cosy, warm and soft place. Struggling, I push myself to sit up only for someone’s hand to press me back down on the bed.
“Careful there, little one. Your wounds are barely closed. It would be a shame to stain this clean bed you’re in, wouldn’t it?” A voice came from my right, soft and gentle. Soothing even. Just like big sis Yanmei’s…
I feel my cheeks heating up as my sight turns hazy, my mind returning to her. To my big sis who took care of me, to the state I found her in…
“Oh my. What’s wrong little one? Does your body still hurt? It was quite the impressive show of force you did there. I guess you were really scared back then, weren’t you?” The woman’s starts rubbing my head, gentle and soft as I try to keep steady. To not break, to not show any weakness.
Turning my head to the side, I see her. The woman that was comforting me. She was a teen, somewhere around 15 years old If I had to guess. Black hair, white jade like skin and red eyes. Her black lips were tugged upward, a small mole on the bottom left side of her lips was the third most striking part of her face, as the rest was a flawless display of beauty and femininity.
“But it is alright now. You’ve taken care of the evil men and you are safe and healed. That’s quite the resilient physique you have there, a lesser practitioner would have died long ago from the wound you had.” Her smile deepened as the corners of her eyes creased up as well. Showing her pearly white teeth.
I didn’t know what to do or say as she pulled her hand away, tears no longer welling in my eyes.
“What’s your name, little one?” I don’t know if I can trust her. She is one of them, she has to be. Nobody could ever sneak in here, and nobody would care to save someone like me. I…
“Oh. It’s alright. Take your time, I can understand that you are pretty shocked by what happened to you. My name is Wu Chang. Young lady Wu Chang, heir to elder Wu’s teaching. I’ve heard that you were part of master Black latest and most successful experiment, which earned you your freedom. I would have congratulated you at first, yet you took the lives of two inner disciples the very next day.” Her red eyes peered into mine. I didn’t know when I started to tremble. Her face, demeanour and words were contradicting each other. Not knowing what is going on, or what is going to happen is making it worse.
Yet, after a few more breaths she laughs: ”This calls for celebration! Not only were they the advanced realm of the Ki gathering stage. There were two of them while you were bound, drugged and barely setting a foot in the same stage as them. By the first law of the Cult, that makes you an inner disciple by right of might. And the cult owes you adequate compensation for having culled them, after all: there is no place for the weak and other parasites in the Blood Demon cult.” Her gentle face turned manic for a moment, her eyes glowing with zeal. Before she returned to how she was before.
“And that’s why you are here, little one. I decided to take you as my own. And while you will not inherit my master’s techniques, you will be able to ask both him and I for pointers and advice. Know that from now on, you are under my protection.” She smiled again. I am confused, by her, by what happened. And most of all by what she means.
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It took a while for me to get used to my new circumstances. Young lady Wu was… bizarre. She was kind, most of the time. Sometimes she was kind, and the next she was harsh and mean. Yet she still helped me. Giving me clothes and food, alongside a room in her Master’s pavilion. Speaking of her master, Elder Wu never exited his chamber so i’ve never met him. According to the young lady, he was trying to break past a bottleneck of the fourth stage. Whatever that was.
When I asked her what that meant, it was as if she just saw an ox asking for directions.
“What do you mean, you do not know what the fourth stage is? Didn’t your parents tell you about that?” was her response.
“N-no, my mother didn’t get to teach me cultivation before the raid happened. What little I know is thanks to master Black. I-I am really sorry, I don-” I was already bowing when I felt her hand resting on my shoulder.
“That’s fine little Yan-Yan.” She patted my head. In the end I didn’t think it would have been a good idea to tell her my name, so I took big sis Yanmei’s. And with the two disciples I killed having scrubbed my names of any records, I could make sure nobody would link me to the people back home…
“I will teach you everything myself. You only need to show me your dedication and work hard. And because you’ve passed master Black’s gruelling experiment, I am sure you will not disappoint. Right little Yan-Yan?” Was what she had told me then. Giving me one manual after another, teaching me the finer details I didn’t grasp. All she asked in return was to work hard, and from time to time, take one of her tasks.
They ranged from serving her tea in the afternoon, to cleaning the pavilion. Or fetching her jade slips from the library. It is easy and simple. I like easy and simple.
But right now, it is all but simple and easy.
“Come on, ten more rotations. You’ve opened your meridians, but now you need to nurture them accordingly. And since you have that weird trigram on you, you have no reason to stop unlike everybody else.” She said, sitting in front of me in the same way I am. Our legs crossed in lotus positions as our hands met each other at our navel. We were in her own training chambers beneath the pavilion, wide walls of carved stone where large vases filled with Grain Balls and jars containing drinking water stood. In the middle was a large open arena made of sand. That was where we were sitting.
“9. Good, keep the flow of ki tamed, do not let it rampage against your will. 8, yes keep going. 7 left.” Young lady Wu coached me, encouraged me to keep the energy slow and steady. It didn’t want to, but I had no choice but to force it. The moment I let my control over it slip, it would destroy my meridians. And I just healed from having done exactly that back then when those two did that to my soul.
I grit my teeth harder. I didn’t need a cultivation technique for this, according to the young lady. It would be useless when put next to the self-harvesting triagram. And would waste my time, or so she says.
“3, try to keep your mind focused, you nearly let it slip there.” She reprimands.
Right.
“2.” I grunt as I feel my body burning hotter. The Ki I’m circulating is seeping into my flesh from my meridians, it was like having thick burning wax being pumped into my veins. And I didn’t like that. But it did get easier the more I did it.
“Last one.” I began to waver, my arms and legs trembling from the burden of forcing the energy through my still damaged meridians. A strong taste in the back of my throat was coming up as I finished. Blocking my airways as I retch blood.
“Congratulations little Yanmei, you’ve now firmly set foot as a lower realm Ki gathering cultivator. Your meridians will slowly heal over the next few days.” She handed me a pill as she smiled, proud of what I did.
I took the pill she offered, popping it in my mouth before swallowing. She looked at me a bit amazed before shaking her head.
“That was a body mending pill. It will help deal with the strain your body went through. For now you can rest. Take a seat by the edge while I cultivate.” I nodded, tired but content. The pill she gave me is already working as I feel the soreness in my limbs washing away with every heartbeat.
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Wu Chang’s PoV
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It’s been one year since I took that girl under my wing. Master didn’t like that at first. But when I told him what I knew of her, he quickly changed his tune.
“You’ve grabbed a fine one, my dear apprentice. But you’ll have to mould her accordingly. She is young, but so are you. If you let her act up too much, you’ll never be able to truly have her loyalty. Do not pamper her too much, and use the stick when needed, but you’ll have to make use of it nonetheless. Lest she forgets that it is only by your will that she is here. I trust that you’ll be able to make the right choice at the opportune moment.” He told me when the girl was still recovering. He had checked her body himself, and was quite happy with her potential and talent.
According to him, she has the best potential to be a stout protector and fierce guardian. I only need to capture her loyalty in the right way.
Yet the more time I spent with the girl, the more infuriating I found her. So stupid and naive, so… Kind. I didn’t know what master wanted more from me, the girl was already eating from my hand. She didn’t have any suspicion or second guess toward me. I could have poisoned her with that pill. Yet, she didn’t have the shadow of a doubt on her face. She never did towards me.
What was worse was that she was good. Really good. No, to say she was good would be a lie. She wasn’t, yet she is at the same time. I barely needed to teach her, only point the right direction or bring whatever parcel of knowledge she lacked. Yet she couldn’t admit that she needed help, or that she misunderstood something.
It was aggravating seeing her break her body times and times again, having the control of her ki slip at the worst times possible. Yet, despite the pain and failures, she endured, corrected the course of the wild flow and kept on going.
All thanks to that botched trigram on her soul. It filled her body with such a pure Ki, purer even than those of the righteous factions according to Master. And because of that, and the over abundance of it, her body healed back any damage she caused herself. While also giving her more Ki to work with.
It is far too late for me to lay the trigram on my soul. My own Ki would repel any attempts of doing so. Those two idiots Canlan and Quan, whichever is the one that did it, was a stroke of pure genius. The type that couldn’t have been intentional, whatever change they did to that demonic harvest formation, only Master knew because of his nascent soul stage’s senses. He had laughed, saying something about uncontested genius under the heavens being fools one and all.
When I asked him, he told me that It was a peerless formation that was so utterly foolish and shameful that nobody would want to inflict it on their pupils.
“Nobody cultivates with the goal of being someone's training dummy. Unlike any other technique, it will only truly shine bright in the worst of moments, and for the shortest amounts of time. And while it will make you superior in any encounter with a peer where you have to put your life on the line; we are demonic cultivators, such things are unbecoming of us, we aren’t simpletons like those so called righteous bastards. Your cunning mind and underhanded mindset are tools that will always lead you through a crutch like this.” Master laughed and bellowed like never before, a rare amused smile on his face as he passed me a jade slip containing the trigram.
Just remembering it is a nightmare, how could an inner disciple botch a simple demonic harvest formation? Plus, it is not like he just made a simple mistake here or there, but somehow translated the base meaning of each demonic seal within the formation to create a completely different array using the 8 trigrams.
A work of art, for sure. Yet one only Master and I could observe as Yanmei reaped the benefits of it without even realising the depth of it.
Yet, the girl proved the two of us wrong; using her dedication and focus to keep learning, to keep practicing.
That’s what led us to this moment, exactly one year after I took her in. The Greater Demon of Flesh, Lord Black Alchemist and a true master of his craft stood beside my master and I. The two men drinking the tea I poured them as we sat in the private viewing booth of Lord Black above the arena. That was where the Junior tournament of the Blood Demon cult took place, this was the occasion for every disciple of the cult to shine. To prove themselves worthy amongst others in the same stage and age range as them.
Down in the pit is my protegee, my Yanmei, facing cultivators 4 years her seniors with a spear. The choice of weapon was strange; while spears are considered ‘The king of all weapons’ by many, that only applied for mortals. What is the use of reach when faced with overwhelming speed and Ki projections exist? Yet, as always, my girl proved me wrong. She didn’t use it like one would a spear, but more like a bladed staff.
Between sweeping strikes aimed at the head and lunges aimed at the center of mass. When she missed, to which she did more than she should have. She greeted her enemies with a strike of the spiked end to the groin.
“Quite a vicious fighter, using her small stature and juvenile face to make them underestimate her. Her feints still need to be worked on, but for someone at her level, they are adequate.” Lord Black commented as Yanmei dodged as a sword sliced the air where she stood.
“My thanks, Lord Black. While she is talented with all of the more straightforward ways of battle and techniques. Those requiring subtlety are part of what she trains the most. I will be sure to convey your compliment to her.” I cup my hand and bow to him. The man was an enigma and a half. The oldest demon working for the Cult Leader, yet his craft and wings were openly disregarded.
He batted his hand in the air. The remnant of his face twisting in an annoyed scowl.
“What is the use of subtlety in the face of overwhelming power? Just look.” he pointed with his chin as Yanmei took a stance I recognised. Low and poised, taut and ready to strike. Her left hand stretched open.
The remaining two contestants before her shared a look. She had dispatched most of the competition on her own, even when they teamed up against her.
I could see doubt and reluctance on their faces as they nodded at each other. They raised their guards, going around her reach, forcing her to move to not be caught with her flank and back open.
That was when she lunged, her spear held at a high angle as she soared through the air. The man behind her was already on her heel as her target parried her jab. Yet she didn’t care as she followed through, crashing her open palm on the man’s solar plexus with a crackle of red energy.
The man screamed as the other shoved his blade through Yanmei’s exposed back. A grave mistake, not yet realising that this only made her stronger. She let out an anger filled battle cry as her elbow crashed into the man’s nose, making him drop his weapon. To which she spun around when she felt the blade rest loose in her torso.
What welcomed the last man standing wasn’t the gentle and peaceful face of Yanmei, but a savage snarl and another Corrupted palm of earthly desire straight to the face. The asura palm technique, formerly the Buddhist subduing evil palm, rumbled through the man’s minds and spirit as he fell to the ground, his eyes blank and glowing.
“That girl is the closest incarnation of the cult’s principle. Might above all, no pain is too big to endure. What can stand in the face of someone brutal and relentless like her? Brute force fails only when there isn’t enough of it.” He nodded to himself, sipping more tea from his cup.
“I still can’t believe you’ve given her that technique.” My master said, looking bewildered at my protegee as she lifted her spear above her head, looking at me with her eyes gleaming with joy and expectation. I nodded at her, feeling proud of her. This feeling has been alien to me once. But now I revel in it whenever it appears.
“Go join her, and use this opportunity well.” My master says, urging me to leave. And I do so, happily? It is all so weird, yet I am already moving, jumping over the railing and making my way down as healers approach the contestant.
There was that infuriating glint in her eyes as she looked at me.
“Young lady!” She welcomed me, wrapping her arms around me as she pushed her bloodied body against my clean robes. What once would have sparked anger and annoyance now didn’t even register as I hugged her back.
“You did well, my protegee. I am proud of you.” The healer made a sign for us to leave the arena through a side gate, to which we did. They all buzzed around us for a while, tending to her wounds as she spoke and told me about her fight. How she tried to uses my teaching of feints and images. She spoke with so much exhilaration that she got reprimanded by the healers to stop bouncing and keep still.
Despite struggling to smile and exhibit her emotions, she was transparent like the water of a scrying bowl.
Once the healers and physicians were done, they left us alone.
“I am proud of you, little Yan-yan.” I pulled her on my lap, and she immediately proceeded to hug me.
“There there, good girl. You did well.” The more I tried to force myself to bring the stick like Master said, the more I struggled to do it. The moments I knew nobody was around, I allowed myself to let down my guard. To truly be the kind young lady Yan-Yan saw me as.
“Contestant Yanmei, pl-” A servant came into the room without knocking. But I won’t have my time with my little Yan-Yan be disturbed by a mere servant. My eyes crossed those of the servant, and it was enough to enter their mind.
[FORGET WHAT YOU SAW AND RETURN IN FIVE MINUTES.] The mortal man’s mind was like soft clay a potter would use to craft, yet this one won’t end as like some fine glazed vase. His body tensed as he started foaming at the mouth, my anger hampered the finer controls of the technique, but I don’t care. No one will take my time with my Yan-Yan away from me, especially not some mortal servant.
My protegee paused and looked at the now closed door. “Wasn’t there someone at the door just now?” she looked back at me, the questioning look in her eyes made my stress spike as I reply.
“No, there wasn't anyone. You must be still hurt if you start hearing things, you did take the blow to the head at the beginning.” I smile as I take her attention away from the rude servant.
“But I feel fine though?”
“I am not really sure. Let’s ask a physician for a deeper look at your head. And a good night's sleep afterwards would do you a lot of good too. But for now, you can take a nap here if you want. I will wake you up if something happens.” I say, pulling a blanket from my space-ring and wrapping it around her before hugging her tighter. To which she started to yawn.
“ I think you’re right, young lady Wu. Then, if you don’t mind, I will take you up on your offer.” She says, snuggling closer to me before slowly falling asleep as I pat her back.
‘Sleep well my Yan-Yan, I will care for you. Always.’