Chương 437: Tales of Blood (II)

Rayce sighed. Not only was he stranded in a rather dark and damp swamp, with visibility so bad he couldn't see a damn thing past a few feet and insects swarming in every direction, but it just so happened to be that he was not alone: little Feng and Light were with him, the two youngest. Though he was on friendly terms with all of Master's disciples, he was far closer to Wan Lan and Xi Zhao, and even Dai Xiu at that, than he was with these two, and for a simple reason: they were children.

Xing Feng was doted on by everyone, but he was the closest with Master. On the other hand, Light was... well, though he would never say it out loud, Light absolutely creeped the hell out of him and had done so since the day they met. On the surface, she was oddly unassuming if weird; silver-spangled hair wasn't exactly common, but it was her rather apathetic, un-childlike expression that she bore every hour of every day that truly made her stand apart.

All that aside, the mere thought of what she was capable of--and how she understood the world--made him shiver. The only two people that could 'restrain' her in any capacity were Master, whom she obeyed like a little lamb, and Senior Brother Tao, whom she seemed to fear a great deal. And now, he was tasked with somehow surviving with these two, finding a way north, and reuniting with everyone else.

"Light, Light, look at this!" little Feng called out rather loudly, startling Rayce out of his thoughts.

"What is it?" the young girl replied.

"This bug! Its wings are glowing!"

"Hm. It's cute."

"What do you think it's called?"

"Glowing bug?"

"No, no, its name can't be just the thing it is," little Feng said, humming for a moment.

"Yes, maybe... big, big--brother Rayce, what is another word for glowing?"

"... uh, luminous?"

"Yes, big luminous pretty bug!" he announced.

"What do you think?"

"Uh, yes, it's... good," Rayce said.

"What? No it's not," Light said.

"It's clearly a lustrous shimmering bug!"

"Ooh!" little Feng exclaimed.

"Yes, that's much better! He he~, Light is really smart. What about this one then? Eww, it has eyes on its legs!"

"Don't pick it up, then!!" Light exclaimed, her cold tone finally changing as a pace of panic suffused it.

"It's so slimy! Feel it, feel it!"

"Get that thing away from me!! Aah, big brother Rayce, help!" Rayce stood in stunned silence as Light wrapped herself around him and climbed on top of his back while little Feng chased her with a strange bug.

"Little Feng, that's enough," he relented with a sigh, in the end.

"We need to slowly leave this place. I'm, uh, I'm not that good with directions, though. Either one of you know where is north?"

"That way," both Light and little Feng pointed in the same direction almost immediately, leaving him flushed red with shame. These two kids knew how to orient themselves in absolute darkness, yet he was ignorant of it.

"Khm. Alright. We'll slowly move in that direction. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for anything."

"Anything?" Light announced from his shoulder.

"Then, should I say that there is an evil cultivator coming our way?"

"E-eh? How do you know they're evil?" Rayce asked.

"I just... do," the little girl replied rather vaguely, but Rayce wasn't in the position to press any further. Evil or not, he really did not want to come across cultivators. He himself wasn't particularly strong as most of his Words were supportive--not to mention that he had handed over half of them to the others--and little Feng, though talented, was still just in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. That left Light.

Rayce wasn't quite sure how strong the girl was, but regardless of where she landed, she alone was not enough to contend against what were likely far stronger figures.

"And they're coming directly to us?"

"Hm. She knows we are here."

"How strong is she?" Rayce asked.

"Weaker than big sis Lan," Light said.

"Stronger than you."

"... most everyone is stronger than me."

"That's not true," a word of encouragement from Light? Rayce never thought he'd live to see the day.

"Everyone in this realm is stronger than you."

"..." it was his fault for getting his hopes up.

"Don't worry, Brother Rayce. I'll protect you!" Little Feng puffed out his chest and took out the strange ruler that he carried with him, while Rayce recognized that it was too late to run as even he picked up on the strange fluctuations coming from his right. The figure stopped rather abruptly at around forty yards from them, cloaking further into the shadows until she vanished from Rayce's perception.

He panicked, though noting that Light was still calm and that even little Feng was arching, he carefully grabbed a few words from his robes and prepared to rip them. By the time he felt the gust of wind slice behind his ear, it was too late; he expected his head to fly, so he immediately reached for Light to throw her away, but the girl was not there--and his head still remained atop the neck.

"H-huh?"

"Eww, what's wrong with her face?!!" Little Feng's voice calmed Rayce's heart as he spun around and saw the two corral a figure bound by strange, whip-like tentacles formed wholly of shadows. She was writhing and trying to free herself but to no avail. He walked up and nearly vomited when he saw her face--both her cheeks had holes torn open, maggots crawling around the edges with rotting teeth visible within. The eyes, too, appeared black and unfocused, with slithering worms curling around the edges.

Her skin was ashen gray, stretched and ripped like badly prepared dough.

"... this is odd," Rayce spoke rather abruptly, having overcome the initial reaction.

"What is, big brother?" little Feng asked.

"I remember everyone near that portal," he said.

"And she was not one of them."

"Hm. Are you sure?" little Feng asked.

"She must have covered her face."

"No, I would have noticed her, regardless."

"He's right," Light said.

"She was not near the portal."

"Oh. Her Qi is really weird," little Feng said.

"It's... like she's part of these trees? Or is a tree?"

"What are you talking about, stupid Feng?" Light said.

"How can she be a tree when she's just some ugly woman?"

"Humph, I'm telling you that her Qi is weird!"

"Could it be because she's not from the outside at all?" Rayce supposed.

"And that she's been living in this place for so long that her Qi got naturally attuned to it?"

"Yes! That's right, big brother!" little Feng exclaimed.

"Hah, what did I say?! I was right!"

"H-humph," Light pouted, though didn't reject the notion.

"You... you got lucky."

"He he~, being lucky is very important part of being a cultivator! That's what Master always says."

"What should we do with her?" Rayce mumbled.

"Kill her," Light said.

"She's been trying to call for help all this time."

"Oh. Alright," he nodded.

"Let's kill her and get the hell out of this place. We must meet Master as soon as possible and inform him of this."

"Yes, big brother!"

"... inform Master, yes."