I thought I was going to die. I only absorbed a small portion of Lucia’s impurities, but that was enough to force me to the edge of death. But at the same time, the gains were proportionate to the risk. The short time that I spent purifying Lucia’s impurities was equivalent to cultivating for two years. I almost lost my sense of self and entered a near-death state, but I think it was worth it. The only problem is … I’m not sure what I woke up to. Why is everyone crying?

Everyone’s on the boat’s deck, bawling their eyes out. Even Brother Claw, who laughs when he beheads people, has tears streaming down his cheeks. And Ilya too! Ilya never cries despite the unending abuse she suffers at Lucia’s hands. Just what happened to make everyone so sad? The only person who isn’t crying is Lucia. Did, did something terrible happen? Was our Shadow Devil Sect wiped off the face of the Immortal Continent? I have a feeling Lucia wouldn’t shed a tear if that happened. But Durandal is crying too. This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. “Lucia, why is everyone like this?”

“Softie! You’re alright! Quick, help me comfort these people. Their sobs are making my skin crawl,” Lucia said and shuddered. But she didn’t answer my question…. I suppose I’ll help regardless.

The person closest to me is Ilya. It’s a smart choice to fix her first because she’d be able to explain the situation much more clearly than Lucia. “Ilya, is everything okay? Why are you crying?”

“W-when I was four, my father took me to the market to, to buy things. And I was little so I was curious, and when, when I looked away for a second, he disappeared! I was so scared! I thought he abandoned me like my mom!”

…How am I supposed to comfort her? “B-but you found him, right?”

“No! I, I tried looking for him, but then I got lost, and no one found me until the next day!” Ilya sniffled and wiped at her eyes with the backs of her hands, but the tears didn’t stop flowing. Her mouth opened wide as her wails rang through the air, causing goosebumps to run down my arms.

“Then you haven’t seen your father since you were four?” I can relate to that. I don’t remember much about my parents.

“No! He, he found me the next day! W-weren’t you listening?”

“…Then why are you crying?”

“Because I’m sad, dummy! Idiot! Why are you so inconsiderate!? Y-you can’t just ask someone why they’re crying!”

…Tournaments to determine rankings in the sect are very common. People strive for higher rankings for a better standing in the sect, which leads to more resources and a better life for their kin. But for one person to improve in ranking, another person has to decrease. Though I haven’t personally experienced that struggle, I’ve seen the losers of the tournaments while walking around the sect. They’d cry and let out their grievances and swear to do better next time, but sometimes, some people were inconsolable like Ilya is now. However, there was always one thing that would stop their crying: cold-water therapy. I’ll take this barrel of ice cold water out of my interspacial ring and hold it over Ilya’s head. I’ll give her a chance to stop sobbing…, which she’s not going to take. Okay. Don’t hate me for this, Ilya; this is for your own good.

“Wuah!? Softie! What the hell!?”

“Are you back to normal now?” I wasn’t expecting that to be satisfying, yet it was. I hope she’s still sad so I can do it again.

Ilya glared at me. “I don’t know if soaking wet and shivering is what you’d define as normal. Why did you…? Huh. Alright, what happened? I was down in my room making some pills, but the sunlight suddenly disappeared. The next thing I know, I’m freezing because someone dumped cold water on me. This is Lucia’s fault, isn’t it? Seeing as she’s the only one not crying.” Ilya looked around before nodding at me. “Well, you’re not crying either, but you’re kind of useless and unable to do something like this, so it can’t be your fault.”

…I think I should be feeling indignant at that, shouldn’t I? “At least I’m not the one who cried at a market because I got lost when I was four!”

Ilya’s eyes widened. She coughed and cleared her throat, her expression returning back to normal. “That’s an oddly specific scenario you picked out. It hasn’t happened to me either. What’s with the accusing tone?”

“Okay, forget I said anything. Help me wake these people up by pouring cold water on them.” I’ll move onto someone else, like Brother Claw. What could he possibly be crying about? “Brother Claw, what’s wrong?”

“If that immortal didn’t interfere, I could’ve killed twenty sky-realm experts. I could be a sky-realm expert now. What a shame. What a shame. This loss is unbearable. I only killed three thousand earth-realm experts.”

I think I’ll let Ilya wake Brother Claw up…. Who knows if he’ll lash out and kill the person dumping cold water on him? Moving on, who’s this? Brother Cloud. “Is everything alright?”

“My Wife Moonlight was violated in front of my very eyes by Chosen Lucia…. But I can’t do anything about it! Even today, this morning…, Chosen Lucia and Wife Moonlight were in bed together, k-kissing. My heart’s broken!”

I finally found the culprit who keeps calling me Wife Moonlight. I … want to throw him overboard. No one will know, right? W-what am I thinking!? Those are thoughts Lucia would have! Her impurities haven’t corrupted my mind, have they? No, that’s impossible. I’ll wake Brother Cloud up before anything can happen.

“Hah!? Wi-Sister Moonlight!”

“Help comfort people by dumping cold water on them.”

“Yes, Sister Moonlight! I won’t fail you.”

It’s odd how he didn’t even question his circumstances, but I suppose that doesn’t matter. The next closest person is Durandal, who’s crying into Lucia’s chest. Get away from there! “Lucia. If you dump cold water on Durandal, he’ll turn back to normal.”

“Huh? Cold water? What are you doing with that bucket, Softie!? Get away!” Lucia practically disappeared as she scrambled backwards at a breakneck speed, dragging Durandal with her. “Don’t you dare pour cold water on Durandal!”

“But this is the easiest way to wake him up….” Am I wrong for suggesting such a thing? No, I don’t believe I am. Why didn’t Lucia—

“If you turn him back to normal, I’ll go through hell again! I’m keeping him like this because he can’t resist.” Lucia’s eyes lit up. “Right! He can’t resist! And it’s nighttime! You wake these people up while I go do stuff with Durandal!”

…And Lucia vanished. By stuff, did she mean…? But isn’t it immoral if one party is crying during the act…?