As Ku Lo rushed towards his room someone shouted at him; however, both the person's face and what they said passed his attention completely. In the end, he didn’t even respond, too focused on his aim to see whether the letter had arrived. 

Please be here.

After having flung the door shut behind him, Ku Lo’s attention moved to the floor as there was still no furniture. There!

A few more strides and a bow later, he had a letter in his hand. Please be good news. Please be good news.

He tore open the top of the letter and scrambled to open the folded-paper inside.

[Per orders of Sect Master Rin, I, Rin Lin have travelled to the Mahran Village to see a bedridden child named Ku Xie. Now, setting aside, why? I have as ordered made a diagnosis on the girl’s condition and attempted to verify the illness.] Ku Lo halted his reading.

He went over the minor details such as her name [Ku Xie] and his village [Mahran Village] once more. Also, creating a note to thank the person named Rin Lin, even if she or he wasn’t exactly happy about undertaking this task.

Then he braced himself for what was to come.

[The girl’s sickness is a mystery] Rin Lin continued in the letter, making Ku Lo feel his stomach twist. [So mysterious that even after returning to the sect and seeking my master — Praise be his name — for help, we could not pinpoint the disease scratching away at her soul. The girl named Ku Xie won’t live long]

Seems like I can’t make it up to you, this world’s Ku Lo. The hand holding the letter dropped to his side. 

Overcome by sudden exhaustion, he slumped against the wall. “Fuck, what do I do?”‘

Knock Knock Knock

“Ku Lo…?” Feng Huling opened the door and peeked inside.

From the corner of his eyes, he stared back at her.

“I-I’ll come later,” she said, beginning to close the door.

“Fairy Feng, don’t go.” Ku Lo said, not knowing why though.

She took a step forward, entering the room. “What happened? Are you still angry? hurt?”

“Sad, I’m sad.” By now, Ku Lo had taken his light-blue eyes off her. He stared at the opposite wall with no aim.

Still, he could hear her take more steps, and how behind her another, much larger person did the same.

“Bo, come inside,” she spoke the exact opposite of what Ku Lo had imagined. However, he didn’t care to shoo a friend away, let alone his only male friend in this world.

Bo entered a few steps behind Feng Huling, without saying a word.

“Something to do with the letter?” she asked, continuing to come closer. Then again, as the room was so small she needed just four steps to reach him slouching on the floor.

At this point, Ku Lo had stopped to wonder why he let Feng Huling enter.

“Yeah,” Ku Lo sighed. “Bad news from home.”

“I see. May I sit?”

He nodded, though didn’t look at her.

There was a moment of silence.

It was broken by Bo. “Ku Lo, you know life isn’t so bad even at the darkest of hours.”

I need to go home, Ku Lo thought of travelling to see Ku Xie. That’s the least I can do… I’ll act like her old big brother and…

“I was in a similar situation during my childhood, as you are now.” In the background, Bo continued to tell his story despite Ku Lo showing zero interest in listening. “My father couldn’t get over my mother’s death during my childbirth and refused to seek a new dual cultivation partner. He turned into a night fiend two years later.”

Bo’s story gained interest from Ku Lo when the words ‘night fiend’ were spoken.

“I remember little about that time and thank the gods for it, for what I remember is more than enough. My father whipped me with a ‘Demoness's Lash’ amongst other things.” Ku Lo shivered when hearing him out, but it wasn’t over yet. “You know what a Yin Qi induced lash does to a young boy’s psyche?”

“No? I don’t,” Ku Lo answered.

“The reason I train Yin Qi arts instead of Yang Qi is a side effect of my father whipping me with the Demoness's Lash.”

Now Bo had his undivided attention. That’s fucked up. He stared at Bo with a different expression.

“That is a side effect,” Bo added.

“How… How did you live? Why do you live?” Bo's past was straight from a horror story. Then what's the real effect? Are there other side effects? Is he in pain?

“I live on the mercy of the Feng Family.” 

“My father killed his father, yet spared the child. Or what was left of a child turned monstrosity,” Feng Huling added in a solemn tone. “But look at him now, he's the same as us.”

Other than the scars, he does seem fine, and there’s no indication of brain damage either, he concluded before taking a long break to think about things alone. 

Feng Huling and Bo waited. 

Ku Lo started with a deep exhale. “My little sister has an illness. An apprentice healer of our sect had gone to my village, but could not cure her.” It was knowing Bo's story that made him decide to tell them. “Now I don't know what to do anymore.” He shook his head. “I joined the Yin and Yang Sect to save her, not to hear she would die.” Of course, this was all lies; however, what would he do if Ku Xie died? The reason he placed this matter into his heart was to push himself to become stronger by any means and have a goal to which he could strive for. Why would’ve he whored his body to Dai Meifen if he could become strong through more prideful and ethical ways? 

“My condolences,” Feng Huling said. “That’s terrible.”

“You don't know what to do?” Bo had something else to say. The giant rose to his feet, towering over Ku Lo. “Find a cure, you...” He began pointing a shaking index finger at him. “You idiot!” he exclaimed, storming out of the room. “As long as you have the gift of life, you need to use it!” 

Ku Lo's eyes widened in shock as Bo's footsteps faded in the distance. “Wait!”

“He's right,” Feng Huling said. “The fight isn't over yet.” 

“It is, the apprentice healer had even worked with his master to find the illness’s name and they couldn't find it.” Ku Lo saw Bo's point, but he was one man in a foreign land.

“The world is bigger than our sect.”

For the first time since Feng Huling had entered, Ku Lo looked at her. “The disease is a mystery, even to the master… so how could I find anything?”

“Some third rate master in a fourth rate sect,” she corrected him. “You come from a small village where you were, most likely, the only cultivator. Ku Lo, You have unique, clever quirks and so does your village. So does our sect, and our sect is still a small pawn in the grand scene.”

“Am I a frog in the bottom of a well?” 

“When it comes to cultivators, yes, you are at the absolute bottom.”

“On what rank is our sect master?” He knew the eight ranks by names and the basics of them; however, he didn't know anyone else's rank. So far he had imagined the sect master to be around the top, maybe below some old guard. 

“The peak of Spirit Bloom Rank.”

“Huh?” Ku Lo frowned, eyes starting to open wide. “Spirit Foundation, Spirit Base, and then Spirit Bloom... Sect Master Rin is at the third rank?” That's low, weak. My sect is a weakling! he cried inside his mind when learning that his sect might be destroyed by some random young master! 

Feng Huling hummed. “That ‘wise master’ you spoke of might be at the top of Spirit Base.” 

Ku Lo's light-blue eyes were lit with fire. “So there's a large chance someone, somewhere, knows how to cure my little sister!” He jumped to his feet. 

“Hold it.” 

He did. 

“How are you going to achieve this?” she asked with a wide smile, her upper body leaning towards him.

“I know!” Ku Lo rushed back outside, the letter in hand. “Thank you, Fairy Feng. You are a true fairy above others!” His destination was clear, and so he didn't need to stop to think as the new matter seized hold of all thought. 

I need to dual cultivate!