Chương 177: Eternal Lament (III)

Long Tao stepped out and blended into the castle's drab gray colors, vanishing as though he were never there. The sky above couldn't even really be seen, as there was still about two thousand feet or so of the mountain, and they were directly in the haze of the clouds. As such, though the air was clearer, it was also slightly harder to breathe--not by much; perhaps to the kids not even a noticeable amount, but to him, every change was... visible.

As soon as he entered the tiny little castle, he felt it--the energy of blood. Somebody within the walls was using Life Qi to fuel themselves. No, that was the wrong way of putting it--they weren't using Life Qi, as this wasn't a cultivator. They were using blood itself as a fuel. The difference, really, was merely in semantics--both sought the same thing, just in slightly different ways.

None of the people they met so far, unfortunately, fit the bill; the closest was the man called 'Captain', but he was merely a ghoulish husk under someone else's commands. Though perhaps a rather odd and rare thing to see here, in the higher heavens, it was extremely commonplace. One of the reasons why the practice of soul-suicides was practically beaten into every child from the cradle was that, if they don't, their husks would be captured and they'd be enslaved for all eternity.

The slightly frustrating part was that the scent of blood was scattered--whether it was done deliberately or not, he couldn't tell, but it was making it far harder to locate its source than it otherwise would have been. While Shamans being here wouldn't have caused any undue worry, that was only if they were 'ordinary' Shamans. As cultivators had special bloodlines and physiques, Shamans themselves had unique inclinations--and one of the rarest, undoubtedly, was that of blood.

He headed to the barracks, as he wanted to take a closer look at the newcomer--he sensed something when she entered the castle, as he'd set up alarms through tiny motes of Qi practically everywhere--but he couldn't discern anything from that far away. They were all happily chattering at the main table, gathered around a slender and rather beautiful woman.... but it wasn't her.

Well, she wasn't an ordinary woman, by any means--she looked to be a Shaman herself, and a rather experienced one at that, but she wasn't the one oozing the scent of blood. In a way, though, she may be even more dangerous as her gaze drifted from those at the table and found him. She smiled invisibly, and he merely nodded sideways to the small alley behind the building, walking over casually. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Even if he wasn't utilizing cloaking art itself and just its principles through basic use of Qi, it was the first time it had failed to conceal him from someone. He only had to wait a few moments before she emerged from the shadows, her voice still audibly heard coming from the barracks.

"Fancy trick," Long Tao said as she smiled.

"You're one of the kids lads mentioned came with Lu."

"And observant."

"Calling you a kid, though, might be pushing it," she chuckled, leaning into the side of the wall.

"So, why are you here? Really? You're a cultivator, and I never knew your sort to fancy desolate places like this."

"We really are just passing through," Long Tao shrugged.

"A better question is, why are you here?"

"A girl's gotta keep some mystery about herself, don't you think?"

"... if you don't stop," Long Tao smiled gently.

"I will rip out your spine and use it to skin you alive."

"..." she visibly shuddered as the strange energy that had turned toward him began to vanish. At the same time, her relaxed pose and demeanor were gone, and she seemed on full alert.

"Ever the violent sort."

"Are you hunting whatever's giving off this dreaded stench of blood?" Long Tao asked, raising his arm and weaving his fingers inexplicably for a moment. Thin tendrils of red suddenly appeared and coalesced above them, like wriggling worms trying to escape.

"You can see it?!" she exclaimed, her eyes staring at the trails of energy.

"H-how, how can you see it?! Even I can't see it! Even Old Zhu can't!"

"I'm not surprised," he shrugged yet again, dissipating it.

"I wouldn't either, if the blood wasn't so thick it's practically corrupted all Qi on the mountain by now."

"... do you know who it is?" she asked, her tone turning cold.

"No," he replied honestly.

"Thought it was you for a moment."

"Hah." she sneered.

"That may yet be the most insulting thing anyone has ever said to me."

"Sounds like you know who it is. Well, not who who, but..."

"Blood Fiend, we call him," she said.

"Used to be part of our Order, before... well, before going mad."

"People don't go mad, I've found," Long Tao said.

"They always were, to some degree."

"Regardless," she said.

"He sacrificed twelve Brothers and Sisters before we even realized what was happening. By then... he was gone, and ever since, we've been hunting him down."

"You don't seem to be very good at it."

"He can take on anyone's appearance! Man, woman, child--it doesn't matter! The only reason we even managed to track him here was because this is one of our old outposts, and his use of mana got registered. If you can help us track him down..."

"Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why would we help you?"

"Are you asking for a reward?"

"I'm asking for a reason."

"Because... because he's a monster? Because, if he isn't stopped, he'll continue killing? Because it's the right thing to do?"

".... hm. Not good enough," Long Tao said.

"There are literal millions of monsters out there, many of them far worse than he is. If we stopped what we were doing to help with each one of them, we'd never get to live our lives."

"Hah. Of course. Leave it to the cultivator to be as apathetic as possible. Fine. Just tell me what you want."

"Three Words."

"... I might risk it, just on the off chance I can blind you." She growled, seeming less angered by the request and more so tired.

"If you had asked for one, then maybe, if we worked tirelessly for a month, we could give it to you. But three? Do you think inscribing is a joke? Something we do for fun?"

"I don't believe for a second you don't have some pre-prepared," Long Tao shrugged.

"Our price is three, if you want the help. Talk it through. You know where to find us."