I stepped out of the main hall, letting out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, I did not have to do anything that would put me at immediate risk, I was happy for that. Bleak Town was safe than ever, due to all the guards and stuff that were stationed there. Li Mei would have been appreciated regardless, though. I couldn’t help but wonder that as I saw her getting out and walking up to me.

“I didn’t mean anything by not coming to Bleak Town, brother Wu. You know that, right?” She asked.

I raised an eyebrow. I could care less, honestly. “Yes, I know that. It’s alright.”

“Good to know,” she said with a smile. “Anyway! How are your disciples?”

“They’re doing good, what about Disciple Huang Jingyi?” I asked.

Li Mei raised an eyebrow. “She is alright. Why the interest, Brother Wu?”

Huh, you literally asked about my disciples…

I shook my head. “Yeah, nothing much. Renji talked about her once.” I chuckled, making her lips curl up into a smile as she walked beside me. I was headed for the old healer’s house. She had raised me—Ryujin—from what I knew, so I had some questions in mind for her.

“Ah, young love, is it?” Li Mei asked with a gentle smile.

“Seems like it,” I said with a shrug.

“Have you ever fallen in love, brother Wu?”

“Hmm.” Had I? Ryujin, no. But what about me? “No, never,” I said to her.

“I see.”

A loner in both lives, nice.

I chuckled. “If you don’t mind me asking,” I said, trying to change the topic. “How is your skin, well, green? No offense, of course, I’m genuinely curious. And how can you change your color? We met in that town, too. I must say, I’m not aware of that persona of yours, so I stayed out of weather you were up to, but I am curious.”

She chewed on her lip for a moment. “I wonder how?” She asked and giggled. “Anyhow. I need to go! Duty calls, brother Wu!”

She stormed off, leaving me a little baffled. What the fuck was that about? If she didn’t want to answer, just say so. I shook my head. Regardless, this trip had been worth it. I had survived, that was more than enough. My happiness knew no bounds. I had somehow escaped being drafted into this war that had nothing to do with me.

I reached the old woman’s cottage and knocked. However, no one came outside. After a while, I had no option but to barge in, but even then, I saw no one. Where could she have gone? I wondered. I searched for her some more, but didn’t find her. Had she left? But where, then? I sighed. I would have to delay meeting with her, there was no other choice. I turn on my heels and start moving back towards the hall. During my walk, however, I heard a sudden noise in my head, prompting me to look over at the system screen appearing out of thin air. It flickered into my vision akin to thunder, and I was no longer surprised by its existence.

A Quest Has Been Generated.

It said. Not a surprise, really. I had been expecting a quest. It… had been a while since something had happened. Although I cursed, I looked at the contents of the quest regardless.

Survive the War.

Status: Issued

You are an elder of the Crimson Mist Sect, and as such, you will have a hand in this war one way or another. The narrative will not let you off the hook easily. Survive. Good luck; you need that.

Success: System Unlock.

Failure: Death.

“…Wow,” I said with a blink, flabbergasted.

Trouble just came looking for me, again, didn’t it? I sat down for a moment and stopped walking, propping my hand up to my head and massaging my temples. I took a few deep breaths and decided to go back to Bleak Town as fast as I could.

I ran back to the main hall and ordered the closest servant to look for Jin Ruo.

The servant bowed. “Yes, Elder Wu!”

I nodded at him and sat on a chair, waiting for Jin Ruo to arrive so that I could leave for Bleak Town as soon as possible. I had no clue how I’d be involved in the war, but I was sure that I would be. Jin Ruo arrived after a few minutes of waiting patiently.

“Yes, Elder Wu,” he said, bowing.

“We must go back, now.”

He looked at me and nodded, and we were off. The whole journey was rather uneventful and nothing much happened.

As we neared the town, though, Jin Ruo decided to strike up a conversation.

“Um, Elder Wu?” he asked.

“Hmm?”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” he said, “could you tell me about my Master?”

“What do you mean?”

He took a deep breath. “He died because he tried defying the heavens, that’s what everyone tells me.”

“Yes,” I said, “that is correct.”

“I want to ask, how?” he asked. “How can one defy the heavens so much that they kill you?”

“A little correction, Disciple Jin,” I said with a bored tone. “They do not kill, for killing is not of interest to them. Xianlong merely crossed borders he should have not, and he was punished for it. Think of the Heaven’s Will as a watcher of sorts, they watch—over everything. They listen, they calculate. They do not act unless need be, to enforce order, or cause chaos. Why do they do it? No one really knows. It is, however, theorized that they do it for the world’s—the universe’s, perhaps—balance.”

“I… I see,” Jin Ruo said, slowing down the speed at which we were traveling.

Bleak Town was below us, so he started lowering down slowly but surely.

“What I can say, though,” I said, “Is that he tried to merge Qi and Gu, to create a specimen—himself—capable of far more than this world could possibly handle.”

Jin Ruo stiffened, taking everything in.

Even I had been surprised when I’d come to know what had actually happened. Oh, well, Xianlong was a dumb kid at best, and crazy at worst. How could one even combine opposite forces?

I shook my head. “Thank you for escorting me, Disciple Jin Ruo.”

“It is of my utmost honor, Elder Wu!” Jin Ruo said with a bow.

“Yeah, whatever.”

Jin Ruo left.

I turned and looked walked into my mansion. He had landed on top of the mansion, so getting in was rather easy. All I had to do was walk through and go down the stairs. My steps thumped heavily against the floor until I reached the backyard. Once there, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I quickly made my way to my disciples. They had been there in the back of the mansion, meditating rigorously. I was happy that they were. I needed Renji and Kai to hit that one hundred percent. My life literally depended on it.

Renji and Kai—[Identify] revealed that they were nearing the end. Renji was at eighty-nine percent purity whereas Kai was at ninety-six percent.

Relief washed over me.

“Meow…” Biscuit came running up to me and jumped on my shoulder, rubbing herself against me. I caught her and snuggled against her, rubbing her head and scratching under her chin.

“How’ve you been?” I asked.

“Meow,” she said.

“I see.”

“Meow.”

“Oh, really?”

“Meow!”

“That’s good to hear.”

I smiled at her telling me stuff. I had no clue what she was talking about, of course, but I played the part because she finally seemed happy a little. She didn’t seem down like last time—and that was a big deal for me.

A quick [Identify] later, I found out that she was still at Awakened Realm, and her monstrous rate had slowed down, too. Seventy-one percent. Last I’d seen she’d been nearing seventy, so her speed of cultivation had slowed down. Or, could it be that she was busy with something? What could that be, though? Last I checked she was a cat and nothing more, yet. So, I had no clue if she’d become something more or not. I couldn’t really say.

“What have you been up to, huh?” I asked.

“M-meow!” Biscuit mewed and looked away, jumping off my shoulder and then beckoning me to follow her and talk to my other disciples. Yeah, something definitely happened…

“What did you do? What have you been up to?” I asked, again.

She mewled, eyes wandering, again.

“Huh.”

I followed her up to Renji and Kai. They had opened their eyes listening to the raucous.

“Master, you’ve returned!” Renji and Kai intoned.

“Yes, yes,” I said, “where’s Noodles—”

The moment I said that, I felt something slither up my legs. Startled, I looked down, and sure enough—Noodles was climbing up my leg, her form coiled around the fabric of my clothes. I stared at her as she climbed up. She hissed slightly, facing me, and then she bopped her nose against mine and then swirled around my neck, settling in her rightful place. Biscuit scowled but remained in her place. Noodles, to my surprise, seemed almost haughty that I let her coil around my neck. What happened? Something ought to have happened. Biscuit was way too calmer, and Noodles was way too haughty—and intelligent—than she should be. I was, once more today, flabbergasted.

“Anyways,” I said. “Renji, I see that your disease still hasn’t fully recovered despite the medicine I’d given you.”

“Yes, Master,” he replied. “Although I have recovered much, it does not seem to be a full recovery. I even ate all the medicine you gave me. I do not know what to do about it now.”

“You dumb little boy,” I said and he winced. “You just had to take more medicine. It isn’t even a medicine. A herb, at best—could just ask a servant and they’d get you one. A few more and you’d have healed completely.”

Renji’s shoulders deflated and he looked down. “I apologize, Master.”

“No need,” I said with a sigh. “Go get more of it, and heal quickly. A war is on the horizon, we must be prepared for it.”

“Yes, Master!” Renji said, and stormed out of the room, likely looking for a servant so he could get the herb.

His “sickness” was a rather simple one for this world. It could be said that he had more Yin than Yang, and that had fucked up his “inner world” or something horseshit like that. All he needed was a Yang-heavy herb—of course, it wasn’t cheap, but I didn’t give a fuck as long as he could recover. I’d given him four of them, thinking it would be enough, but I was wrong apparently. My estimation was wrong.

As he got out, Wang Kai finally decided to speak. “Um, Master, someone has been waiting for your return.”

“Huh?”

“Yes, they’re staying in the inn,” he said.

“I see,” I said with a frown. Who could it be?

“Should I bring them?” he asked.

“Yeah, go ahead.” I nodded.

Now, who could this person be?

I didn’t have to wait for long, though—and when Kai returned with the man in tow, I paled.

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