The silence in the wake of Ying Long's arrival was oppressive. Xu Jian swallowed.

“For what reason...for what reason have you come here!” The old sect leader demanded.

“Why, your sect boasts far and wide about 'the Golden Star of Wendian’! How could I not come see his talent for myself! I've lost count of how many times others have told me how he was a splendid man who fought on the level of a demon.”

Many of the disciples were white-faced. The crowd had begun murmuring among themselves in a panic. No one dared move a muscle, though.

Ying Long tilted his head at Xu Jian's peeking face. He took a step forward, but the sect leader drew his sword, looking enraged beyond reasoning.

No matter what Xu Jian thought of him, Liu Tiesheng had spent this long and arduous month coming to terms with what his sworn brother's son had become, and found that he preferred a disgraced invalid Xu Jian to a tortured or dead Xu Jian. He wouldn't give him up for anything.

He could not allow some demonic brute touch his child. He had been a terrible shifu, a worse godparent, and a pathetic sect leader, but he was willing to fight for what little he had left.

However, the original Xu Jian had surpassed him long ago, and not even Xu Jian could survive against Ying Long. It was a mantis standing tall against a chariot.

Ying Long didn't even need to hit him with his blade; with a sweep of a hand radiating spiritual energy, he effortlessly smacked Liu Tiesheng out of the way. The sect leader collided with the courtyard's wall hard enough to leave a crater. Xu Jian's stomach constricted at the sight.

A massive hand eased down and hoisted Xu Jian up by the arm. Xu Jian tried his best to remain limp, so Ying Long could observe him properly.

There were conspicuous rope burns around his wrists and arms, and even a day of healing couldn't hide them. A dark, awful-looking bruise was  forming over the firm muscles of his stomach. He was covered in scratches and bruises, both from being beaten and the rough tumble from escaping the rapids. Of course, he was also trembling in a way that couldn't be faked.

Thee fact he had been abused was obvious.

Ying Long observed his pitiful body, and turned to look over the humans around him.

“To think a beautiful place like this could be filled with people who would stoop so low. How laughable. Tell me, is this the actions of those who 'observe heaven'?”

No one could reply.

“Of course not.” He chuckled darkly to himself and hoisted Xu Jian higher, like showing off a lost jacket. “Such a striking appearance this man has! Can anyone tell me who this person is? Or perhaps none of you care?”

Xu Jian suddenly became nervous. He realized that the reputation of the original goods could affect Ying Long's judgement. He began clawing at the hand holding him. Ahh so pitiful, so sad, look how helpless he is under Ying Long's majesty, something something domination…

A man - one of Xu Jian’s harassers - finally stepped forward. “It's... that's…he recently suffered Qi deviation, my lord. He's gone mad... he's a different...person…”

Xu Jian continued making vague motions towards escape, but he gave the man a dirty look. A different person? While that’s literally true, if he were a different person, then no one could justify their petty harassment. And yet, if the sect leader wasn’t around, they’d crush him. These people didn't want him to work towards anything and entertained themselves with his suffering, yet when an outsider made note of his state, it was all tears?

Xu Jian sucked up a fat hogey and spat at the man. He wasn't sure if that contributed or detracted from the act, but it felt good.

“What is his name,” Ying Long boomed. He looked bored.

Finally, small, quaking, and quiet, a woman spoke up.

“It's Xu Jinyue.”

Xu Jian turned to look, and cold sweat beaded on his skin when he saw a familiar face; the woman who had treated his feet. He almost thought she might not recognize him, but with growing trepidition, he realized that she was looking at the makeshift socks he was wearing. She had to have recognized him, and must know for a fact how lucid he was.

He went limp. Oh, such a pitiful story, oh, such a brave warrior is now so much weaker than you, oh woe, oh woe, hurry now…

Ying Long laughed. It was sharp and loud and sudden enough that Xu Jian flinched. He was hoisted even higher, making his stomach hurt even more.

“The great monster, the golden star, Xu Jinyue. This is what Qi deviation does to you, such a brutal creature?” His vivid red eyes inspected Xu Jian's blank face with interest.

Well, that should be enough work. A crowd's a crowd.

“When I was seventeen I hunted down a demon encampment and set fire to the walls. In the ensuing chaos I kidnapped a young demon woman for my own fancy, because I had some unresolved issues with women. I kept her captive just so I could play with her mind, seeing if I could force a demon into Qi Deviation, then when I was bored and decided it probably wouldn't work, I let her leave to find her home burnt to the ground. We had killed her mother, father, and older brother. My friends and I made an outing out of watching her cry.”

Ying Long's smug expression dropped off his face.

[1000 POINTS]

[500 POINTS]

[200 POINTS]

[200 POINTS]

[200 POINTS]...

The reward roll was so intense he couldn't hear himself think.

And what was that? That second reward was pretty impressive! Well, the thing he was admitting to was horrible and begging for repercussions, which is the point of the rewards system, so maybe that affected the return?

If he heard someone else admit to such a thing, he'd probably feel nauseous. He’d certainly admitted to worse, but the cruelty seemed of a different flavour. The death, of course, and perhaps how much more brutal Xu Jian was to outsiders.

Xu Jian felt...uneasy, somehow.

“You see?” Someone shouted. “He's unrepentant even like this! He hasn’t once shown remorse!”

Ying Long stared at the man he was holding. The tremble was so convenient, so convenient… “I'm familiar with that story.”

Xu Jian isn't sure where to put his eyes. They land vaguely around Ying Long's exposed chest.

“Why would you admit to the deed in the face of a demon?” Ying Long continued.

“Because he can't help it.”

The crowd murmured as the sect leader hobbled forward from the crater. Everyone knew the power of a Mountain demon, and were horrified at the sect leader’s persistence. Ying Long eyed him from the corner of his eye, seemingly daring him to keep talking.

The sect leader looked up at Xu Jian with a devastated expression, then averted his gaze, as if he couldn't bear to see him in this state. Xu Jian wished they'd speed this up. His whole body hurt.

“Since the deviation began...he can only tell the truth. I believe...guilt may have been the cause. It’s out of control.”

Ying Long looked at Xu Jian with a new spark of interest.

Got him.

“The woman. Why didn't you assault her, if you captured her for the sake of torment?” Ying Long asked.

“I thought it made me chivalrous and heroic to not lay my hands on women. I didn't want to admit that a failed assault attempt in my youth made me uncomfortable with further attempts.”

A wave of [20 POINTS] hit his brain.

“What do you think of your past actions now?”

Xu Jian blinked, surprised. It was the first time he'd ever been asked that. He didn't think it mattered.

“...No good person would ever commit such acts.”

“Could you bear to even try?” Ying Long prodded.

“No, my lord.” He looked out over the sea of faces, willfully ignoring the sect leader. “I deserve my punishment.”

Ying Long stared at his face long and hard, then nodded once.

“Indeed. It seems guilt was the cause of his deviation. How sad, for the legacy of Xu Jinyue to end like this.”

“My name is Xu Jian,” Xu Jian said politely. He couldn’t draw the sword, so it felt awkward to keep the courtesy name.

Ying Long quirked a smile, and slung him over his shoulder.

“A-Jian!” The sect leader screamed.

Seriously, why was he still acting like Xu Jian's father? It was a significant character point that he did no fathering! Xu Jian wouldn't have forgotten that!

Ying Long patted Xu Jian on the back, ignoring the old bastard. “No point languishing in a town where no one knows to appreciate you, yes? Come, I'll show you how our group treats its honest members.”

“Thank you,” Xu Jian said softly, instead of ‘ow, my stomach is too bruised to lie on your shoulder, let me go, you are also a bastard’.

Of course, even if he complained, he would only be praised for it. Such was the nature of Ying Long's trauma.

Ying Long, the Mountain demon who had conquered a powerful martial sect simply to have a nice house in a good location. Proud, self-assured, but slow to trust. In Black Path of the Proud Immortal, he would crash a cultivator tournament because he was intrigued by the conventions. He had been humiliated when Lai Mingliao defeated him in a match, and became frenzied as a result, hunting for a way to make himself stronger until he borrowed the power of the demonic sect's patriarch and became a creature of pure bloodlust.

Well, none of that really mattered to Xu Jian. If Ying Long became troublesome, he could orchestrate his death or something. The important bit was 'slow to trust’. The man had a deep appreciation for honesty, and while he was insufferable enough about his power that he kept weaklings close at hand to compliment him, he wasn't a tyrant, and usually just ignored them when they weren’t worshiping him. When he was insulted by these weaklings, he would only send them away. He couldn't be lowered into anger by mere rabble. It was an important part of his character that he was so easy-going, because when he turned into a monster later, it was more dramatic and high-impact.

So to be introduced to Xu Jian, a pitiful, helpless man who could only tell the truth, hated by everyone he knew? The temptation would be too great. Even knowing the dark history of ‘Xu Jinyue’ wouldn't be enough to discourage him.

Ying Long would take him away from this place.