Suwan lets out a long sigh as she looks at the unconscious captive in front of her. When one imagines the leader of a hidden demonic cult the image that pops up is that of a withered old man with a long scraggly beard, crooked nose and missing teeth. This man is about as far from that description as the ground is from the moon.
Honestly, she wonders how Zhi even overpowered him. Well, she would wonder if it wasn’t for the large dent on the back of his head. She’s fairly confident it was more luck than intent that she just barely didn’t punch his skull in. Then again…
Despite all his peculiarities the cult leader is quite fragile. A handsome man in his early twenties with short cropped black hair, he could be mistaken for some clan’s young master were it not for his sunken cheeks and the bags beneath his eyes. His breath comes out raspy, throat clearly ruined from whatever demonic rituals he’s partaken in.
With her spiritual sense spread completely throughout him there isn’t a single thing he can hide from her, inside or out. His body tells a tale without his mouth ever having to say a single word.
Beneath leathery skin lies a powerful musculature, the kind one can only get by having it reinforced by all manner of costly elixirs from youth. His bones tell a different story. Slightly crooked and still bearing old cracks they have clearly been broken in many places and healed without proper care. Deeper within a shattered dantian explains the reason why that is so and myriad whip marks on his back similarly give a hint as to what led to it in the first place. As if all that wasn’t enough a dormant power lies sealed within him.
All of it combined tells quite a story. A shame for him that Suwan doesn’t give a rat’s ass about it.
“Hey, hey, wake up.” She says as she slaps his face several times. The cultist wakes with a start, his motions radiating violence and readiness to kill. Said motions are aborted a second later when Suwan makes a single golden flame appear atop her finger right in front of his face. She can practically see the deep fear it compels permeating him. Not simply his own fear, no, it is the thing swimming behind his eyes that recoils in fear. The swirling darkness within the depths of his pupils roiling in pain, screaming into an abyss deeper than itself, frantically trying to tear its existence further away from the small candlelight. As if in a trance the cultist stares into the flame for several long seconds before he masters himself and bites down on the inside of his cheek, his features twisting into a mix of defiance and hate.
“Who dares capture this sovereign?”
Suwan snorts in reply.
“Sovereign? I don’t even know who you are, you worm. Now speak. What’s this place for?”
“This sovereign was once known as Tie Xiu S-”
“Didn’t ask, get to the point or I'll fry you.”
While it’s clear the man himself would prefer to call her bluff he winces as the entity inside his head claws at his sensibilities to the point that he too begins to fear the flickering golden light. With defiance quite literally warring with fear in his eyes he continues to meet Suwan’s gaze.
“What do you want?”
“Hells, you’re deaf too? Just my luck. What. Is. This. Place. For?”
“This place…” He replies working the word over in his mouth, clearly appalled at the way she would reduce his facility to such a simple term. “...is a new future for mankind. One unburdened by the shackles of the sects and their hubris and cruelty.”
“Get to the point already.”
“Demonification. With the power of demons under our control mankind will not have to fear the wrath of those oh so noble cultivators up on their gilded mountains.”
“So you’re helping mankind, ey?” Suwan cuts in coldly. “Those people inside, they don’t count as mankind to you?”
“How many mortals have your kind massacred in the pursuit of just a little more power? You dare criticize me for so much less? You know nothing, pawn of the sects!”
He shouts in a blind rage, spittle flying all over as he works himself in a blind frenzy. Suwan grabs his throat and smashes him into a wall, the back of his head impacting it with a crack that makes his eyes swim.
“You seem to be underestimating me.” She hisses back and flares her aura, the full weight of a Nascent Soul cultivator’s attention crashing down upon his mortal form. “I am no one’s pawn.”
He doesn’t even last for a second before his consciousness leaves him. Reining her qi back in Suwan lets out a sigh.
“Great, now I'll have to do this all over again.”
-----
The man wakes up once more to a hand slapping his face. This time his leap into action aborts by itself when he comes face to face with the blonde. Fear dominates every other emotion, only caution managing to peek through the heavy haze. His head still swims from the impacts it has taken, mind cloudy and thoughts moving like sludge.
He squints to regain focus. A second face comes into view, further back than the first and far less remarkable. Smaller too, clearly just a child. A face so unremarkable it almost becomes remarkable. He focuses on that, his wariness instantly going through the roof.
“Wha-” A coughing fit interrupts his question. He strains to master himself before the fearsome cultivator in front of him takes offense. “...do you want?”
“Oh, here we go again.”
“Wait!” He raspily says in between coughs. “I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you!”
“Well?”
“Our group will use the power of demons to overthrow the yoke of the sects.”
“Sigh. So like, you’re gonna toss demons at them until you win? How’s that working out for you?”
“No.” He replies with a wicked grin. “Nothing so quaint. We shall subjugate demons and twist them to suit our purposes!”
“Master Suwan, they intend to merge with demons to make use of their powers without following the ‘traditional demonic cultivation path’” An adds without breaking eye contact with the man.
Suwan lets out a thoughtful hum at that. She wasn’t sure An would be able to get anything from him, both because he doesn’t quite have qi himself and because she still can’t figure out how she does whatever it is that she does.
“Merge? That’s dumb.”
“Dumb, you dare?!” He shouts before his eyes widen and he backpedals. Suwan gestures for him to continue. “The current demonhosts are flawed, I’m sure you can see that too. The moment the demon is unleashed man perishes and an otherworldly creature takes its place. I will be the one to change this. We shall create the perfect demonhosts. This is the future for mankind!”
“Master, they intend to boost their demonic cultivation through, uhm, unlocking demonization without requiring demonic lineage?” An continues with a hint of a frown, able to vocalize the words but utterly oblivious as to their meaning.
“Hah, for all your talk of getting rid of the sects it sure looks to me like you’re just trying to replace them.”
“No.” He replies with a shake of his head. “Demons can be dominated through pure willpower without the need for qi. There shall be no discrimination because of things like talent or birth. All who try hard enough will be able to attain power!”
“Funny then that no one other than you has managed to ‘merge’ as you call it despite that, ey?”
“All progress takes time.” He waves her off. As he talks a zealous fervor starts to overtake his fear. Like a demagogue speaking to a convert his voice gains volume and his posture radiates power. “This plane cultivators call their home is limited. Our method allows one to unlock otherworldly abilities not normally available. Believe me, it is possible. That a demon can not be controlled is a myth, a lie! The right host can control the right demon, all that is needed is to improve their compatibility and strength of form. I am the first example of this and I shall not be the last.”
“Hmm.”
“We are so close. The demons we can summon without the hosts expiring in the attempt are ever more powerful. Soon none will be able to stand against us.” He laughs. “The sects will fall. Those fools cast me into the depths so that is where I’ll trawl!”
Suwan exchanges a quick glance with An. The shadow cultivator shakes her head, unable to pick up anything coherent. With a pat to the head and a whispered ‘good job’ Suwan gestures for her to leave the room before turning back to her captive.
“You don’t find it strange no one other than you managed to stay sane after you put a demon inside them? Ever thought of what makes you different?”
“I am chosen.” He replies with awe shining through, “I shall lead the way to progress.”
“Chosen?” She snorts. “Yeah, by whatever old fossil decided to hitch a ride on your lineage.”
“What?”
“Congratulations though.” She continues while letting her soulfire flicker out. “You get to reincarnate.”
Before he can utter another word his head is separated from his shoulders.
-----
Staring into the flames of the burning inn Suwan takes a moment to catch her breath and let her companions do the same. Yating and An pulled through when it came to finding stuff, a veritable pile of all things valuable or demonic now safely stashed away in her spatial ring for later review. Some of the contents of the pile sickened her nearly as much as it did An, the girl visibly restraining her desire to get out of that accursed hideout the entire time they were there. Quite the feat with how expressionless she tends to be.
She subtly observes Zhi and Mu through her spiritual sense. There seems to be an awkward distance between them. She shrugs. They’ll have to figure that out themselves. Additionally, she thinks with a smile, they’ll have to figure out what to do about the ratty man still quietly standing behind them. The blonde wonders if they’ve even noticed him yet.
Her eye twitches, just a moment of not having to deal with bullshit is all she’s asking for but no, of course not. From the corner of her eye she can see the city gates opening and a squad of armed guards passing through. If that were all she wouldn’t care, guards responding to a burning building is normal after all and none of them would dare hinder a cultivator. What annoys her is the fact that they all form into two neat lines to let a single figure pass in between.
With a sigh she turns to face him. The man is barely halfway through the Foundation Establishment realm despite already beginning to bald, his mediocre skill clearly compensated for with artifacts slung all over his paunchy body.
“Venerable visitor, I am Magistrate Shi. Might I ask for what reason you have caused such unrest within our Shi clan’s territory?”
He spreads his pudgy arms wide, the seven golden rings on his hands gleaming under the flickering firelight. The warm smile on his face does not quite hide the calculating look in his eyes. Cautious but not hostile.
“Song Suwan.” She greets in reply. “You want the reason? Go check the basement once the fire dies down. Your city had a full blown cult on its hands.”
His eyes widen in fear when she announces her name and his face twists into a disgusted snarl when she reveals her reasons.
“A cult? In my city?!”
He huffs in outrage before taking a deep breath. Suwan cuts him off before he can prattle on. He’s too thrown off to notice her spiritual sense scrutinizing him and clearly not good enough of an actor to feign his emotions. The fool’s ignorant to this entire business going on under his nose.
“Don’t care what you’ve got to say. We’re leaving, don’t stop us.”
He almost visibly brightens at that.
“This lowly one would not dare.” The magistrate replies with a deep bow. “This humble magistrate would invite you to his mansion but would not wish to delay you. A thousand blessings, Venerable Song.”
EntonaVZ· Dec 5, 2022
