Yun Xie racked his brain, trying to think of something to alleviate the awkwardness. He wasn’t exactly a fan of situations like this. Where everyone just stood there still as statues, waiting for someone else to say something 

 

In a display of coincidental irony, the sounds of crickets outside seemed to louden by the second. A chilly breeze blew through Yun Xie’s hair as he scratched the back of his neck.

 

Bing Yuxia smiled charmingly, also somewhat unsure.

 

Finally, after another few more unbearable seconds, Yun Xie spoke.

 

“Um. Just screw it.”

 

He raised his outstretched palm, and before anyone could react, an unbearable force exploded outward.

 

<Shinra Tensei: Almighty Push>

 

*WHAFOOM!!!!*

 

The customers widened their eyes in terror as a torretal gust of air ripped through the tavern’s stone tiles, plucking them out as they shredded away into fragments, a giant blast lashing towards them.

 

===============

 

“Run for the hills! We’ve committed a crime! What jo- Tragedy~” 

 

Yun Xie sprinted through the grassy plains, a giant mountainous ploom of dirt and smoke rising up into the air behind him. Each bound of his powerful legs accelerated his speed even further, launching through the Hundred Cities Region.

 

The devastation of the ruin could probably be seen for miles to come, and it was no doubt that some Sect or cultivators would come to investigate. 

 

The customers were probably still alive. He’d committed the attack somewhat half-heartedly so they’d probably be in great pain for about five months or so, but otherwise, fine.

 

So, why did he go through the trouble to deep-cook them alive, heal them, and blow them away? It was rather simple. Yun Xie was somewhat of an improvising troll. He was overpowered and he knew it, so it didn’t seem conventional to follow in the footsteps of all the rest of those transmigrated losers. He was a different breed (of stupidity) all together.

 

There was no fun in simply going in, killing everyone, and acting cool. That would just get old over time. 

 

His chaotic unplanned strategies not only worked his brain, but they also… Simply worked. And they also sometimes looked kinda cool which was a positive, for sure.

 

“If we don’t know what we are doing, the enemy certainly can’t anticipate our future actions!”

 

Following behind the cackling Yun Xie, were three figures. Bing Yuxia, He Gengxin, and He Shuren, all of which seemed extremely confused. A normal occurrence for everyone who met Yun Xie.

 

Why were all of them following him? For the two individuals from the He Clan, it was a matter of instinct. Yun Xie saved their life… And it would be best to stay with him, who was strong enough to kill a Heaven’s Primal cultivator with relative ease. 

 

Not to mention the “Powerful Senior” would probably want something from them. That was how it was like in the Cultivation World. Lest they be your kin, comrade or lover, they would always want something from you.

 

Bing Yuxia saw the”Powerful Senior” in a different light. She’d had a tad bit more contact with him, and she could tell he was no arrogant imperious old cultivator. Quite the opposite. A laidback and strange figure that magnetically drew people in.

 

Still, a very confusing person at that.

 

And then, he abruptly stopped, sandals smashing into the fragile earth below, causing it to crack. Bing Yuxia and the remnants of the He Clan stopped too, landing gracefully upon the dirt below them.

 

The four stared at each other for a moment, before the mammoth in the room spoke, his tone rather disgruntled:

 

“I’m feeling a pattern here. So, where the hell are we going?”

 

Yun Xie was somewhat lost at the moment. He’d made the grand escape after temporarily disposing of most of the witnesses in the first direction he could think of, the other people joining him in their sprint, East. 

 

Main point was that he'd decided to go East because… He felt like it. There was no destination, just East.

 

Bing Yuxia was the first to regain her composure as she gave him a smile.

 

“At times, we cultivators travel the lands with no purpose in mind. Sometimes it is best to leave things up for fate to decide.” Her voice was the low brisk cry of a morning lark as she winked at He Shuren flirtatiously.

 

“But… It seems you two have a destination in mind.” 

 

Bing Yuxia was as diplomatic and alluring as ever as she gave Shuren a soul-seducing grin, causing the tough girl to blush red. 

 

At this point, Yun Xie finally took the time to observe the two from the He Clan. They were a rather contrasting duo with rather different aura’s. 

 

Gengxin was a short teen underneath his cloak, with small hands and a doll-like face. 

 

His long black hair was braided up along his scalp, with two long bangs trailing down to his lower cheeks. 

 

Those baby-blue eyes of his gave off a sense of tiredness and despair, while his mouth was open just an inch.

 

He Shuren on the other hand, was a completely different story. Compared to the bundle of depression that was her little cousin, there was a blazing fire within her. She was taller than average, long legs and rough contours. 

 

Her face was sharp and beautiful, eyes a glassy-amber that gave off determination, a tall nose, and perched lips like that of a morning rose. 

 

Her shimmering black hair was tied back in a two-pronged ponytail, falling down along her waist.

 

She pursed her lips, a little flustered as she spoke.

 

“My name is He Shuren, and that is my cousin, He Gengxin. We are the last of our family, who were slaughtered by the Heartless Gu Cult.”

 

“Heartless Gu Cult?” Bing Yuxia fell deep into thought, thinking of those times she’d pooled through the Ice Feather Palace’s extensive list of groups and sects. 

 

Yun Xie shrugged, pondering. Gu were those parasitic creatures often found in Evil Sects. They were used to manipulate people or boost one's power at the cost of their sanity and whatnot. He was forgetting something….

 

=============================

 

Gu Yitang felt his body burn in an indefinite utter hellscape of pain as his eyes melted in their sockets and his arms burnt away. 

 

His body wasn’t exactly suited to withstand the recoil of the Nelson Whatever Super Special-Beam Attack, so he was dying slowly and painfully. 

 

The Heart-Eating Blood Gu within him, part of his lifeline and power, had been incinerated in the face of the attack….

 

He’d snapped out of the Brainwashing just a moment after the “Beam attack” dissipated and was on his last legs. It seemed…. That this was it. In a moment of tortuous clarity, Yitang gave his last wretched scream in pain.

 

After killing and slaughtering so many with that deranged haunting laugh, it seemed he had received some karma. But the worst thought was the fact that…. The man who’d manipulated him and ended all of his comrades…. Seemed to have forgotten about him?

 

True despair.

 

---

 

(A/N: That's it for this week.)