Volume 3 Chapter 2 – Trouble (3)

“Vice-Sect Leader Moonlight!”

Junior Cloud’s voice startled me. “Y-yes?” I turned my head, taking my gaze off the golden buddha in the sky.

Junior Cloud was gripping his sword, staring at me with fiery eyes. “Are you hesitating because of us?” he asked. “Forget bearing the weight of our deaths. We of the Shadow Devil Sect have resolved to follow Sect Leader Fluffytail—even down a road to hell!”

The sect members behind him nodded their heads, voicing their agreement. Even Junior Mist was looking at me with a stern expression. Right, didn’t we resolve to follow Lucia to the end? What kind of sorry joke would the Shadow Devil Sect be if we abandoned our sect leader because of the threat of death? We might be corrupt cultivators in the eyes of others, but that doesn’t mean we’re ungrateful and disloyal! Lucia helped the Shadow Devil Sect greatly; how shameless would we be if we reaped the benefits without shouldering any of the risk?

“Wait a minute, I didn’t sign up for that.”

I turned towards the person who spoke, but before I could say anything, he was surrounded and pummeled to the ground.

“You ungrateful wretch!”

“When the sect’s doing fine, you’re happy flaunting your status, but in a time of crisis, you want to leave?”

“Beat this bastard!”

This…, I’m not sure how to feel about that. Grateful? Relieved? But certainly, now that my fellow sect members have expressed their feelings, I know what decision I have to make.

The leader of the monks’ gaze hardened. “I see resolution in your eyes. Have you decided to join our Righteous Buddha Sect to repent for your sinful ways?”

I took in a deep breath and circulated my qi. My body felt like it was on the verge of bursting after ingesting Lucia’s impurities. “Yes. I’ll repent. Can you put away the golden buddha? There’s no need to resort to threats.”

“What!?”

“Vice-Sect Leader!”

“You guys beat me up when I want to surrender, but you don’t beat her!?”

The three monks in the sky exchanged glances with each other, almost as if they couldn’t believe my decision. After a short pause, the golden buddha closed its eyes and faded out of existence. The three monks’ faces grew even paler than before, but they made up for their weakness with stern expressions. “You made the right choice, Vice-Sect Leader Moonlight,” the leader of the monks said. “A wise ruler knows when to yield; there’s no shame in surrendering to a superior power.”

“It’s a shame our sect leader is anything but wise!” Qi flooded my body as I channeled my strongest offensive technique. “Devouring Snake of Bondage!” Its name is a bit … questionable, but its strength is undeniable. I lashed out with my whip, and a black snake made of heart devil worms infused with Lucia’s impurities surged out of the tip with a booming sound. It roared and surged through the air, appearing before the three monks in an instant. Its jaws stretched open as if to devour the sky, and it chomped down on the three monks who were trying to escape. They let out screams, but those were cut short as the snake closed its mouth and shrank in size, the impurity-filled worms squirming their way inside the three monks through all of their orifices.

“That…. Vice-Sect Leader?”

“Yes?”

“Wasn’t that a little despicable?”

“So what? They’re the ones who ganged up on me first!” Even if the world condemns me, I’ll do anything for Lucia. What gives them the right to block Lucia’s passage home to the Shadow Devil Sect? “Besides, since we’re the only witnesses, we can make up a story and say I won fair and square.”

“As expected of the Vice-Sect Leader!”

“Quick! While they’re struggling, let’s beat them up!” Junior Cloud shouted and waved his sword in the air. “We might not be able to fight a sky-realm expert fairly even if there’s a hundred of us earth-realm experts, but the Vice-Sect Leader disabled them for us! Now’s our chance!”

“Everyone, attack! Saint-realm experts too!”

The air around me turned black as everyone unleashed their attacks on the helpless blob made up of the three monks and Lucia’s impurities. The blob squirmed and struggled, but no sounds came out as waves upon waves of heart devil worms in all different shapes and sizes struck the black surface. I took out another vial of Lucia’s impurities, keeping it close to my mouth just in case I needed to replenish my qi. I only had four vials left, and I didn’t want to use them if I didn’t have to. Thankfully, it didn’t seem necessary. The three lumps inside the blob, which were the monks, stopped struggling, either unconscious or dead.

“Keep attacking! Sky-realm experts are sturdy bastards!” Junior Cloud shouted, and another wave of attacks began.

Beside me, Junior Mist exhaled and swung her whip while laughing. “This feels so good! They chased us for a whole month with conceited expressions but look at them now! I bet they didn’t think this would ever happen to them.” She stopped laughing and took in a deep breath. Then she swung her whip, and a giant fist made of heart devil worms materialized above the unmoving blob ahead. “This is for my mother!” The fist slammed down, cracking the ground, and dispersed into hundreds of worms that squirmed into the blob. Another fist formed in the air. “This is for my father!” The fist punched the blob and exploded. “And this is for my broken defensive treasures!” Another hand appeared, but in the shape of an open palm this time. It slapped down and smeared the blob against the ground. Junior Mist exhaled and turned to look at me, her face pale. “You’re not going to hit them for your grandfather?”

My chest heated up, and my neck grew itchy. “Thanks for the reminder, Junior Mist.” When the monks invaded our sect, the elders were the first to step up and defend. Needless to say, they suffered a crushing defeat. Earth-realm experts can’t compete with sky-realm experts; the difference in strength is too vast. Not many elders survived, and those that did were severely injured. My grandfather’s still bedridden! I didn’t have any qi to spare, so I whipped the three monks without using any. Fancy techniques aren’t necessary to beat a dog.

Volume 3 Chapter 2 – Trouble (4)

Durandal’s acting strange…. Ever since Ilya gave him that piece of paper ten minutes ago, he’s been different. I knew it: nothing good ever comes from reading. Then again, ten years passed while I was cultivating. People change in ten years; that could be it, right? Nah. It’s definitely reading’s fault! When I become the ruler of the world, I’ll ban all books! Wait a minute…, I already am an empress of this pocket realm! “Ilya! I’m banning all words!”

“What?”

Don’t look at me like that. “Words. They’re banned now. Imperial decree. Mhm.”

“But you just spoke.”

“Oh.” Words can be spoken too, huh? “I meant written ones. No writing words! Only pictures.”

“Um, sure, okay. Ignoring that for now, what about Softie?” Ilya pointed at the lantern on the table. “It dimmed again. Maybe she got into another fight?”

“Ah!” That’s right. Durandal and his strangeness distracted me just now. We have to go beat up Softie’s bullies! Mm. Durandal already read the letter and became strange; it’s too late to help him. But it’s not too late to help Softie! How dare people bully her? Only I’m allowed to do that! “Let’s go!” Wait. We were already going, but Ilya had to do something…. “You’re done packing, right?”

“Yes,” Ilya said and sighed. “I just have a question though.”

“Hmm?” Ilya has a question? That’s impossible! She knows everything. “What…, what is it?”

Ilya’s expression hardened. It must be something serious! Something that Ilya can’t solve…. If she can’t solve it, I can’t even think up what it is! Ilya took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Why … do I have to go with you to the Immortal Continent?”

…Huh? “What do you mean why do you have to go with me to the Immortal Continent?” Does Ilya not want to go? But why not? Could it be…? “You’re married!?”

“What? No!” Ilya rubbed her forehead with her hand. “I really wonder what goes on inside your head sometimes. After ten years, I almost forgot how … disorienting … it is to talk to you.”

If it’s not a husband…. Hmm. “You don’t want to go back to the Immortal Continent because….”

“It’s not that I don’t want to go back, it’s that, uh, you know, I don’t really … want to go back with … you…?”

…

“Lucia?”

…

“Um, are you listening?”

“Hmm? Did you say something?” I thought I heard Ilya say she wanted to go back to the Immortal Continent, just not with me. Whew, this is what happens when you get old. You start hearing things. Also, ten years of built-up earwax probably doesn’t help either.

Ilya took in a deep breath. “I don’t wish to travel around with you anymore, Lucia.” Her eyes widened, and she raised her arms. “Please! Put away your hammer, and let me explain myself, alright?”

That’s odd. When did my hammer appear in my hands? What was Ilya saying? Mm. My hammer helps me hear better. “I’m not putting it away!”

Ilya chewed her lower lip. “Alright,” she said and took a step back after I coincidentally took a step forward. “It’s things you do like this”—she gestured towards me—“that make me not want to travel with you. You don’t listen to reason, and when things don’t go your way, you always resort to violence.”

“That’s not true! Sometimes I make Durandal do the violence instead!”

“That’s the same thing!” Ilya glared at me. She’s a lot more imposing than before since she’s taller now. But it’s not just her height that changed; it’s her whole attitude. Can people really change that much in ten years? “Wherever you go, you bring problems with you because you don’t use reason! It’s always violence with you. Even when people aren’t bothering you, you antagonize them because you want their stuff. You’re like a big bully, and I don’t want to be there when you get your comeuppance. There’s so many people that want revenge against you, and you refuse to even acknowledge that you’re at fault. Do you really think anyone will listen when you say, ‘Teehee, I forgot so it didn’t happen’? No, they won’t!”

“But you robbed them with me!” I’m the bad person here!? “You’re the one who makes jelly out of people’s corpses!”

“That’s different!” Ilya retreated three steps back when I advanced three steps forward. “They’re already dead, so it’d be a waste to let their corpses rot! Besides, you’re the one who kills them in the first place. And, for the record, I don’t make jellies out of people’s corpses anymore—I make weapons.”

“As if that’s any better!” And I don’t kill people. I’m not a murderer. I only beat people up on occasion, okay? “So, what? Are you afraid of people coming to attack you? I can protect you just fine.”

“There are immortals chasing after you, Lucia. Remember that guy from the war, the one who killed twenty sky-realm experts with basically a shout and a fart?” Ilya bumped against her table. With that, she has no more space to retreat! “I sincerely believe I’ll die if I follow you. In fact, I came close to death so many times back then that I can’t even recall how many instances there were.”

…Close to death doesn’t meant death, right? It’s no big deal! “Aren’t you overexaggerating?”

“No. I’m probably underexaggerating how terrible it is to follow you around.”

My chest feels weird. And my nose feels a little sour. Can noses feel sour? Maybe I’m smelling something sour. “Do you really think that?”

“Absolutely. If I follow you around, it’ll be the death of me. And I don’t want to die just yet.” Ilya swallowed and lowered her eyes … towards my hammer. “So, please don’t hit me with that because it’ll really kill me.”

“I’d never hit you with the hammer, stupid.” Does she really think I will? I might not be as smart as her, but I’m not dumb. I know she’ll die if I hit her with my hammer. “You really don’t want to come with me…?”

Ilya furrowed her brow and took in a deep breath. “I—”

I didn’t have to hear her answer to know it. “Well, that’s fine too. I didn’t want you to come with me anyway!” My chest really hurts, and my eyes sting. Where’s that dumb orb that I break to leave the pocket realm? Here it is.

“Lucia, wait.”

It’s too late to wait. I grabbed Durandal, crushed the orb. And everything went black.