The previous arrogance and nonchalance instantly disappeared from Finlay’s face as soon as he took a look at the opponent's strength.
Identity :
Meng Peng
20 yrs old
Male
Rival of the leader
Character type :
Chaotic neutral
Mortality :
Sura (Mortal)
Job :
NA
Titles :
Old Candidate - True Sky Immortal Sect
Cultivation Talent
Qi Cultivation : Poor
Body : Poor
Constitution : Earth
Cultivation :
Body Transformation level - 8
Normally, he would not be too flustered at encountering a late stage body transformation opponent as he had already cultivated to its completion in one of the attributes, but the situation is different right now. Not only does he have a weaker person to protect, he also would need to hide his identity as ‘Senior Black mask’. Besides, if he had to say, he wasn’t even sure about beating the opponent in a straight fight considering that he is a 4 year senior at the very least and also has an earth element type body constitution.
Finlay had too many questions like why is he an Earth element body type? And why is he still not at completion after 4-5 years as an important member of such a criminal gang? More importantly, why is the character of such a bad ‘villain’ shown as Chaotic neutral??
‘No those are not important right now! Let’s shelve them for later and focus on the task at hand. If he is actually chaotic neutral, maybe I can make use of that information I acquired to emotionally manipulate him.’
“You! Why aren’t you showing your respects to Big brother Meng Peng? Come quickly!”
Finlay fell into contemplation on whether he should do such a tasteless thing. If he asked himself if he was good at talking to people, he would have to admit that normally, he wasn’t and even have always dealt with some amount of social anxiety, but Xinn, the god of speechcraft and social relationships, had dedicated a lot of effort to cover up his flaws and trained him to even have some tools to use speech and emotional manipulation to attain his goals in a pinch.
“Ye-Yes big brother Meng Peng, this Junior Lu Bao greets you.”
Lu Bao quickly showed his respects and tried to secretly indicate to Finlay that he should do the same. Meng Feng just stared at FInlay without much emotion but the other ‘senior’ beside him was clearly getting impatient at Finlay.
“You-”
“BIG BRO!! Big Bro…. No…That isn’t right.”
“*sniffle* It can’t be Big Bro. Big bro passed away…Please overlook this junior's misspoken words just now.”
Finlay’s sudden outburst caught all of them by surprise and as they were trying to process what happened, he even started to ‘sniffle’. The second ‘senior’ was quick to recover.
“What nonsense are you low life spouting? Why don’t yo-”
“Senior Brother, you look just like my late Big bro.”
Finlay said with trembling lips and slightly moist eyes since that was the best he could do at quick notice, even with the help of his water elemental Qi.
“I can even tell that you’re even kind hearted just like him *sniffle*....Can I call you Big bro..Just one?”
Even Finlay wasn’t feeling very good about his poor acting skills but he had already bet everything on it and used all the information he had obtained previously. He could only see it through one way or another now.
Even Lu Bao’s expression slowly went from surprise to one of pure panic and incomprehension towards Finlay.
‘What in the name of Goddesses hairy balls is the Senior brother even spouting? That terrible acting on top of it…Doomed! We’re doomed today. I just hope they don’t beat us up too badly.’
The second ‘senior’ sneered at Finlay as he said his thoughts.
“I don’t know what kind of stupid drama company the sect bought you from but-”
The words fell out of his mouth half way through as he turned around and was shocked by the sight of his vice leader.
The vice leader Meng peng had a trembling face and swollen red eyes and a single big drop of tear was rolling down his right cheek.
It wasn’t clear what the confused ‘senior’ assumed but he furiously turned around as he walked towards Finlay.
“You dare make Big Brother cry?! Today you’re dead meat-”
* Phaaaaaat!!....*
There was a loud noise as a hand hit the back of the head, halting its furious shouting. Clearly, Meng Peng hadn’t held back much as the receiver of said head pat almost tumbled forward and is currently furiously rubbing his head. Before he could question back, the silent Meng Peng finally spoke.
“You return first. I will deal with this matter myself and meet you later.”
“But Big Brother- “
“Enough! Leave us!”
After the three were left alone, the gaze of Meng Peng slowly turned towards Finlay and there was a kindness in the gaze. Finlay couldn’t help but have a shiver run down his back, but he suppressed it from affection.
“This Little brother, I don’t know what he is called…”
“How rude of me. Little Ming pay’s his respects to Big bro…It’s okay to call you that right?”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Again, there was a moment where Meng Peng let his emotions surface onto his face.
“Haha! That’s fine. You can call me Big brother.”
“Now why don’t you tell the story of your Big brother to me? Only if you are comfortable in sharing of course.”
“Se-Senior, if it isn’t too much, why don’t we go inside and I’ll make tea and a set of dishes?”
“Ah where are my manners? It is rude of me to ask such a personal matter out here in public. Let’s head inside then.”
After they entered inside, Finlay of course told the story he had prepared beforehand of a Brother he had that was like his sibling who passed away at the orphanage when Finlay was still young from a lack of simple cold medication and how he dearly missed him. The story was partially true in that there existed such an event at his orphanage when he was young but ‘Little Ming’ never actually had much of a relationship with the dead boy.
“*sigh* such is fate, such is fate. It cruelly tramples on innocent, beautiful lives and we can only find our happiness and purpose in the leftover broken bits.”
Even Finlay was starting to feel very bad for the vice leader of a borderline criminal gang.
“Anyways, from today onwards, I’m your big brother here. You don’t have to worry about the gang members harassing you anymore. Before I leave though, are you in any way related to that masked fellow?”
Hearing the question, Finlay and Lu Bao couldn’t help but turn silent and subtly even avoid eye contact.
“It doesn't matter even if you are. Just tell him to not mess with our members too much. It’s not like he made any big enmity with us. I will talk to the gang and drop that matter. My guys will also not bother you 2 when they see you outside as well. Although, we’re not the only gang active in this valley currently. You better guard against strangers.”
“We thank Big brother for his kindness.”
Meng Peng just waved his hand to state it wasn’t a big deal and stood up to take his leave.
“Alright, I’ve spent too long here. I will take my leave. Be sure to contact this Big brother if you need any help in the future and take these. I have noticed your body constitution is definitely not ordinary little brother. Use these pills will and cultivate diligently. I will send over 5 pills every month. Take care!”
Finlay and Lu Bao were both stunned at the big heart of Meng Peng. They hurriedly bowed to express their gratitude.
“We once again thank Big brother for his generosity.”
After sending him off and locking the door, Finlay slowly made it back to a chair and plopped down in it with a big sigh of relief. This time, he had truly set his nerves on fire from the tension he experienced throughout.
Lu Bao on the other hand kept staring at the door in a standing position for a while in a daze. Eventually he broke his gaze away and turned towards Finlay quickly and exclaimed his thoughts loudly.
“Senior Brother! This time, You have truly opened the blind eyes of Lu Bao! I have never in my life seen such an incredulous event! How did you do it? How did you know? What was that about-”
Lu Bao excitedly ratted off numerous questions as FInlay could only smile bitterly.
“Brother Bao, I even had my heart pounding, almost at my throat at one point. As for the story behind it, it’s like this…”
Finlay didn’t hide too much of what happened. After all, Lu Bao had already proved his loyalty. Meng Peng was originally an orphan but he had a little brother who he had to abandon when he ran away from the orphanage at a young age. By the time he was 13 years old, he was already a big gang leader in the region and came back to take back his brother with him to live in luxury but unfortunately his little brother had passed away 2 years earlier from an unknown disease. He turned much more ruthless after that and oneday, was chosen by a cultivator for his tenacity and young age.
The story of the little brother wasn’t well known to most gang members but the one from the forest had known such an important secret. Finlay was sure there was an interesting story behind it but he didn’t much care back then and didn’t bother asking for it.
“Oh that’s how it is then. No wonder! No wonder! But Senior brother you truly are dashing to have been doing all those things when you went out the past month. You’ve only been here for a month at this point, yet you beat up so many seniors.”
Lu Bao’s eyes were practically shining as he looked at Finlay.
“But Senior Brother, I still have a doubt. How were you so sure that you would convince him with your…Your not so… I mean…..”
“*chuckle* No need to sugar coat it. With my terrible acting skills is what you meant to say wasn’t it? The truth is, I wasn't, I just gave it a try and gambled based on the information I had.”
“Uff….Goddesses hairy tits, I nearly fainted when I saw your fake sniffle.”
“Goddesses…hairy…tits?!”
Finlay couldn’t help but mutter the honestly ludicrous curse word, at least that is what he guessed it to be.
“..what? Is Senior brother joking?? You…by chance, do you not know cussing well enough? What kind of purse, otherworldly orphanage did you live in?”
Finlay had to let out a couple embarrassing coughs.
“*cough* It’s not like that. It's a bit of a complicated story.”
“Haha! This is not a big matter at all. This junior brother will teach you 101 of curse words, this side of the Pen Lai mountains!”
Lu Bao enthusiastically slapped his chest and started teaching him the various creative wordplay in the local language for cursing.
----------------------------------------
In the next week, Finlay kept cultivating in his room with the abundant pills in his possession. Lu Bao on the other hand had been very enthusiastic about visiting the Central Market area frequently after his freedom was returned and he no longer had to worry about the normal gang members chasing and looting him. On one such fine morning, he was walking in the busy streets with a spring in his step when suddenly, he heard a voice right behind him.
“Ohh it seems little guy, you are having a rather good time here during your test. Haha!”
After nearly jumping away in fright, Lu Bao was stunned upon seeing the person in question. He quickly recovered from the shock and paid his respects.
“Elder Peng! Junior Lu Bao pay’s his respects to the senior.”
“Haha! I’m just here to inquire about your situation. Let’s go to a more private place to talk.”
Lu Bao immediately followed behind the Elder as they entered a well furnished private room in the Administrative building. Everyone they came across was extremely respectful to the Elder as it is rare for an Elder to directly visit the valley.
“No need to be nervous, first tell me your story of the past month and later, if you have any cultivation problems, I’m happy to clear your doubts in the end as well.”
Lu Bao did not dare to lie and told the overall story in as few words and quickly as possible. He did not know what exactly had prompted a respectful Elder such as this to personally visit to show such care towards a nobody like him and so, he omitted mentioning too many details about Finlay’s connection with the Masked man.
“I see. Interesting.”
Elder Peng An silently mulled over something for a minute before asking another question.
“You’ve lived close to Ming for a month. Did you observe anything…odd about his behaviour?”
Lu Bao couldn’t help raise his eyebrows at the weird question. He decided to probe a little to see what this was about.
“Well, now that you mention it, he would sometimes say some weird things…”
“Ohh that’s interesting. What else did you observe? Go on.”
Lu Bao gave a few vague examples in response.
“Hmm…Did it ever occur to you that he may not be right in the head? Like he was actually a stupid person?”
Lu Bao was stunned at the truly odd question but he quickly affirmed that that is very likely the case and that it explained a lot of weird moments.
“Hmm I see. I understand. You can leave now and make sure you keep this in between us. It seems like that kid is doing well in his diligent cultivation. No need to disturb him with distracting things at this time.”
Lu Bao quickly saluted and left the place and went back to his place right away to inform Finlay.
Once Finlay heard the situation, he was stunned. It seemed clear to him that Peng An hadn’t yet completely given up his thoughts. He was furious at his naivety to think he let the matter drop so easily, but that was for later. He didn’t forget to notice how Lu Bao risked a lot just to keep him out of trouble just in case there might be more to it than he knew.
“Brother Bao, you have my sincere gratitude. Thank you very much for having my back this time. I will definitely not forget this kindness in the future.”
Finlay gave a quick salute and a bow to him.
“Senior brother! What is this? Please don’t be like this. You can’t bow to someone like me.”
Lu Bao quickly brought him up and explained some of the more details he noticed about Elder Peng An and his speculations. As the two were discussing and brainstorming about the situation at hand, there was soon a knock on the door.
“Please open the door. You have been summoned by the Internal Affairs Teachings Hall.”
Finlay and Lu Bao were shocked at the sudden invite to such an important department as the Teachings Hall. Finlay realised whatever Peng An had planned, it had to be related to this summon. He didn’t dare delay though. He quickly followed the sect disciple, waiting outside to the Teachings Hall located outside the valley.
After nearly an hour of jogging, Finlay was brought to the Teachings hall. He entered into a room after waiting for another half hour, upon which he saw a regal looking youngster and a much older Elder Peng An, respectfully standing on the side. Finlay instantly became alert at his sight but tried not to show his reaction as he approached the seated youngster.
“This little MIng greets Senior Elder Kang and Elder Peng!”
Identity :
Kang ???
61 yrs old
Male
???
Character type :
neutral good
Mortality :
Sura (Mortal)
Job :
NA
Titles :
Senior Elder - True Sky Immortal Sect
Cultivation Talent
Qi Cultivation : Low
Body : Low
Constitution : Yang
Cultivation :
(Spiritual)
Foundation establishment level - 7
To be continued.