"Just so you're aware, I will still be heading to Roaring Valley, with or without you. What will you do?"
Mei Kongxu brought up their supposed next destination as the two got up from the dirt, Li Yang needing some assistance thanks to the greatly increased gravity that affected him. They had found the truth behind Li Yang's visions and auditory hallucinations in the first ruin they searched, but the best they had about Mei Kongxu's visions were guesses they could form with the information they already had. Just guesses weren't enough for her, she wanted confirmation, concrete proof she could trust so that she could lay it all to rest.
"Hah?! Me, leaving my dear wifey so shortly after our wedding? Or... are you trying to divorce me?! Am I not good enough for you?!"
Li Yang's response was a simple and over the top display of theatrics, his expression distorting grimly as he clutched onto Mei Kongxu's sleeves. She could only sigh at his horrible acting, shaking her head without noticing that the very corners of her lips turned up ever so slightly.
"Should have known that you wouldn't give a serious answer, don't even know what I expected."
"Exactly, so don't ask any more stupid questions."
Li Yang let go of her sleeves as he spoke, his distorted expression returning to normal so quickly that the earlier display felt like nothing more than a momentary hallucination. He placed his hands behind his head to look casual as he started his trek back to their wagon, but there was sadly one thing that ruined it all.
"You have no idea how dumb you look right now, it's laughable."
The corners of Mei Kongxu's mouth twitched quietly as she followed Li Yang, maintaining a speed that couldn't even be called a snail's pace. Yes, Li Yang had increased the gravity around himself to such a degree that he needed half a minute for each step, every move was so slow and measured that his casual attitude just looked ridiculous.
"And yet you ain't laughing. Bit of a waste then, eh?"
Li Yang simply shrugged his shoulders, or at least tried to, when Mei Kongxu pointed out his pitiful state. If it was laughable then she should just laugh, if she didn't then it meant that it wasn't laughable enough to mention. Mei Kongxu glanced at him from the side, at his slowly moving shoulders, a very soft sigh escaping her.
"If only you could always indulge in that pride you sometimes show, I dare say that your popularity would skyrocket greatly, you'd probably even manage to avoid a fair share of the troubles you've encountered up to now."
For better or for worse, she was his wife so she had spent a fair bit of time with him. As such, she had gotten to see sides of him few others ever got to see, they didn't mesh with the persona he went with after all. And she still vividly remembered whenever he displayed his pride, when he straightened his back and smirked at the world.
The one she remembered most vividly was still his utter display of arrogance when he declared that he was the only one who could humiliate or tarnish the pride of the Deepsea King sect. The sheer brutality he then showed as he beat down the one that dared to insult his sect was also splendid, at that moment he had been sharp and dignified, a man higher than the heavens.
And then he went ahead and ruined it by acting as he did, she wasn't even sure if she should sigh at what he could be or laugh at his antics. Both were enticing options, but the fact that Li Yang obviously sought the latter made her a touch unwilling to go with it. As usual, Li Yang's response to her statement left many questions regarding just how serious it might be.
"Ah, but if I always acted so uptight then I would never have gotten to marry my dear wifey, now would I? I mean, can you imagine the Deepsea King sect marrying off their prided inheritor to a mere haunted youngster? Now obviously, I'm a genius who can see the future so I carefully chose my actions to ensure that we ended up marrying, can't hand over a hidden gem like you to anyone else after all."
It wasn't entirely coincidental that Mei Kongxu and Li Yang were chosen to be wed, with how many children the two elders had there were more than enough prospects they could pick from. But both of them heard voices, both of them were haunted by something, and their personalities also ensured that they were somewhat distanced from the rest of the sect members. And thus the two were chosen for each other.
The wagon the two had bought waited for them a short distance away from the forest that housed Dead-Branch Ruin, the Wild-Wanderer Horses still showing small signs of unease at the location. They were Demonic beast crossbreeds so they may be particularly sensitive towards the remnants that remained of the Pristine Tyrant's energy.
"We got here faster than expected so I believe we can assume that the same will hold true for our second target. If we maintain our speed and keep our resting at a minimal level then we should be able to reach Roaring Valley in about four weeks, perhaps five. But I imagine you don't need me to tell you that getting to the valley and actually entering it are two different things?"
Mei Kongxu calculated the length of their trip as she helped Li Yang onto the wagon, they had splurged on the horses so they were able to greatly reduce the time it would normally take them to reach their targets. Li Yang sat down in the coachman's seat and grabbed the reins, remaining casual as Mei Kongxu got into the back of the wagon.
"It's fine, the Stargazers are preparing for the competition so they should have already opened the valley to attract new disciples, we'll just mix in with them."
Star's Gaze Temple, the sect ranked 93rd, was the organization that was in control of the area that the Roaring Valley occupied. Normally this location would be sealed off so that only sect members could enter it, but the time before the Stars Ascension Competition was a good time for them to recruit loose martial artists looking to make a name for themselves so they temporarily opened it. Obviously, the fact that they were allowing outsiders to enter it meant that the things you could find there couldn't be counted as extravagant, but it was enough to attract most of the unaffiliated martial artists in the area.
"Good, you have actually thought about it. But if the valley is still locked off due to any reason then I'll proceed with my own plan, you can decide at that time if you're still going to follow along."
The way Mei Kongxu phrased it tipped Li Yang off to the fact that the plan she had cooked up probably wasn't entirely legal, at least not if they went by the laws of the Star's Gaze Temple. But he still maintained his usual demeanour, flicking the reins to spur the horses onward.
"Hai, hai, of course, I'll listen to whatever my dear wifey says, happy wife happy life you know."
Legality? If he spent too much time worrying about something like that then he would miss out on a majority of the fun things in the world, he'd be just as boring as the rest. But then again, he didn't think that they would have to rely on whatever plan she had come up with, there was no way the stargazers would miss out on this chance to draw in wandering martial artists.
The horses were spurred into action and were more than happy to finally leave the vicinity of the forest, quickly picking up the pace as they carried the duo away. Li Yang had mostly memorized the path so he didn't need to really bring out the map to check their position, giving him the leisure to focus on his training. And naturally, since they had a wagon, Mei Kongxu could do what she did best.
"Wake me if you get tired, I'll take over control of the wagon while you sleep."
Her voice came from within the wagon a few hours after they took off, Li Yang smirking slightly. The way she slept really was exaggerated, she seemed to be more sloth than human. But that was just how it was, he had no plans on saying anything on it now and just bid her a good night.
And so, the two continued their journey, only stopping the wagon when they had to restock, let the horses rest, or take care of their personal business. Time could be said to pass quickly in this manner, but it could also be considered slow if you were quick to bore.
But they luckily had cultivation that they could focus on when there was nothing else, time was a hazy concept whenever you started cultivating after all. The only issue was the lack of stimulation, humans were beings that grew when they were tested and strained, suffering was a key factor to improvement. And with a journey as peaceful and uneventful as this, there was a certain something missing from their cultivation, something to facilitate growth.
But whether they had that suffering or not, time would pass anyway, it was after all a cold thing that cared not for those trapped in its flow. And so, the days passed, the weeks passed. It continued on until one day when Li Yang felt a slight rocking that awoke him from his sleep.
"Hnn?"
The wagon had jolted slightly, knocking Li Yang's head against one of the water barrels they kept around. He sat up somewhat groggily and rubbed his eyes to chase away the drowsy haze, peering out the front of the wagon to see what Mei Kongxu had done now.
She had stopped the wagon, that was why it jolted. He saw a bit over ten people gathered in front of their wagons, clutching weapons as they approached. Four arrows had pierced into the wagon, only a few centimetres away from Mei Kongxu, she had probably deflected them just before they hit her. He watched her stand up, her Qi quietly starting to seethe as she hopped down from the coachman's seat. He didn't get up to help her, simply waving his hand somewhat lazily to remind her of something.
"Ah, attackers, that explains why you stopped. I don't think I need to say it bu..."
"Yeah yeah, I will keep one alive, I'm not an idiot."
She didn't need him to tell her, she already knew how strange this scene was so she would obviously try to gather information. Li Yang stretched his body lazily as Mei Kongxu unleashed herself upon the attackers, he had judged the strength of the attackers and thus knew that he didn't even have to leave the wagon.
And indeed, what followed couldn't even be called a fight, it was a massacre. Flesh rotted away, bones and skin were twisted and tore themselves away from the rest of the body, it was a macabre scene. This was what happened when a cultivator fought normal people, it was nothing but a tragedy. It could only be said that the attackers had terrible luck. After all, how many cultivators would leisurely travel with a wagon like this, especially at a time like this?
But, that was just how life rolled sometimes. You rolled a poor number on the die and lost. Sometimes you got through it and could roll again, sometimes it would be your last roll, it was all about how you handled things at that moment. As for these people, this roll would be their last, at least for most of them.
"It's not my first time seeing it, but you and your laws really are pointlessly violent. I mean, yeesh."
Li Yang had moved over to the coachman's seat and commented as Mei Kongxu finished up the attackers. Her law of twisting was exceptionally brutal when used on a person, and the act of rotting away while alive was far from pleasant, she was practically a walking scourge. Mei Kongxu's ears perked up slightly when Li Yang spoke, her gaze shifting slightly towards him.
"Says the one who... Nevermind."
She shook her head before she finished her sentence, she had the feeling he would just tease her if she actually tried to mention that he still beat her despite her apparent skill with violence. She simply grabbed the last remaining attacker, a rather rotund man with messy brown hair and slightly sunken in blue eyes.
"So, I take it you know why you were spared?"
"...I won't say anything, never."
The man indeed knew why he alone had been spared, at least so far. This area was already within the territory of the Star's Gaze Temple so the temple should have the responsibility of stopping all bandits so that the inhabitants could live safely. All the sects took this responsibility extremely seriously, no sect could survive if their inhabitants and subjects left because they felt unsafe.
And yet these people, despite being so pathetically weak, had dared to act as bandits. They had even attacked quite confidently so it seemed unlikely that it was their first raid, making it all the more strange that they hadn't been caught yet. Mei Kongxu was not shocked by the man's strong, albeit somewhat faltering, response, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Yes, I had the feeling you would say that. But you will speak."
She spoke, she thought, and her Qi moved to turn those thoughts, those words, into reality. Flesh twisted, blood turned rotten, bones splintered and fell apart. Screams tore through the air as she worked to break down the man, bit by bit, chunk of flesh after chunk of flesh. But he did nothing but scream, not once did he ask for mercy or give up. In the end, Li Yang could do nothing but sigh and hop down from the wagon.
"Oh for pete's sake... Step aside, you'll never get anything done like that."
Li Yang tapped Mei Kongxu on the shoulder and tagged her out, slumping down heavily in front of the man, whose screams had silenced until they were nothing more than heavy breathing. He swiped his interspatial ring and took out some of the more potent medicine he had on him, haphazardly smearing it onto the man's wounds to at least stop his bleeding.
"Hello, good...afternoon it seems. Sorry, I slept a bit so I'm not sure what time it is, I've learned from my dear wifey here and just sleep like a log, it's crazy."
He raised his head slightly to look at the sky, gauging the time. He really had taken slightly after Mei Kongxu recently, no longer paying attention to exactly when he went to bed. If he was tired and she was awake then he would sleep, that was how simple it was, it was rather refreshing actually. The man didn't respond to Li Yang, his bloodshot eyes locked on him in a wary manner.
"You don't look to be in the best of shapes. Ah, I don't mean your wounds, I mean your delightfully round gut and those jiggly thighs, you probably don't train too much, do you? A bit lazy maybe?"
Li Yang poked the man's stomach and wounds as he spoke, not bothered by the small yelps the man let out whenever Li Yang's finger dug into one of the wounds that had just barely started to close up. Li Yang swept his interspatial ring again and brought out a dagger, bringing it down to the man's legs and cutting open his pants, revealing his thighs and underwear.
"Inside of your thigh looks quite neat, if a bit dirty. You know, when people ride horses, their thighs grind against the saddle quite a bit, it can hurt like a motherfucker. So newbies constantly have these painful red marks on their thighs, just a little prod makes them yelp all cutely. More experienced riders on the other hand have hardened skin that can take the strain, their body alters and adapts to the stress, it's quite marvellous."
The tip of the dagger rested against the man's skin as Li Yang spoke, the sharp tip gently tracing the insides of his thighs, only a minor exertion of strength away from drawing blood. And indeed, other than a bit of dirt, the man's fat thighs were neat and clean, unblemished.
"Now, these luscious thighs clearly haven't been through the stress of horseriding, no no, they're far too pretty for that, I could just take a bite out of them. There also isn't any wood or straw stuck to your clothes, no small strands of cloth either so it doesn't seem like you've been hitching a ride on a wagon either. Do you get what I'm trying to say here?"
Li Yang pulled back the dagger as he questioned, allowing the man to heave a stealthy sigh of relief. He had nothing to say to the question, be it because he didn't understand it or because he didn't want to answer. Mei Kongxu also had no answer, leaving Li Yang with no recourse but to shake his head.
"Haah, surrounded by idiots... Ah, not you of course wifey, you're so clever that I just wanna rub your head."
Li Yang quickly altered his statement and grinned at Mei Kongxu, stretching out his arm so that he could see her quickly evade his hand. He chuckled lightly at the sight and then turned back to the man, slowly driving nail after nail into the coffin, each word another blow of the hammer, each sentence another shovel of dirt thrown onto the coffin.
"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that you didn't ride here, nor did you use a wagon to get here. In that case, how will you bring things back to your base? How will you get supplies from there? It's not guaranteed, but your base is probably quite close, no? And again, you're quite out of shape, aren't you? Not like a bandit at all, more like a villager, possibly an innkeeper, don't gotta move much for that."
Simple theories drawn from what he could see, wild guesses based on barely any fact, Li Yang weaved them all together into a single narrative as he spoke, his lopsided and cocky grin slowly morphing, distorting in the eyes of the man. Li Yang didn't need to bring out the map and just turned his head slightly, he had mostly memorized their path after all.
"Let's see... the closest city, was it... Seven-Pointed Hill? A touch small to be called a city, more like a large village really, but it does fit the bill."
He couldn't see it from their current position, but he knew that there was a drop pretty close to the horizon, and at the bottom of that drop was a large village. Not so close that it could be reached within the hour, but close enough that you wouldn't need a horse to get back and forth within a day.
"Ah, you twitched, that's not a good move."
The man flinched slightly when Li Yang spoke again. Had he really twitched and made it that obvious? He didn't know, the slight thumping of his chest occupied his thoughts so he had no way of knowing. But he quickly realized that he made a mistake, flinching in response to Li Yang's statement meant that it didn't matter if he really had twitched, he had already given it away.
"How's your family there doing? A wife maybe? Children? Or are you a lonely man who only has his parents and friends left? Either way, for you to be willing to resort to robbing like this, there must surely be someone in that village that you care about and want to take care of."
Li Yang simply maintain his smirk as he looked at the man, who rapidly paled. His back was against the wall, his everything was being dug out by that cocky smile. Would the torture have been better, would an execution have been better? Probably, it was preferable to the option presented by the youth at least. Li Yang knew this as well, he could see it in the man's eyes. Mei Kongxu's Qi had moved to turn her thoughts into reality, but Li Yang spoke to make the man's fears into reality, to seal his coffin.
"Now, you see, my dear wifey here? Yeah, she's the daughter of the World-Rending Behemoth sect's Second Elder. And I'm the son of the Deepsea King sect's Third Elder, we're spoiled brats, spoiled rotten even. The Stargazers may have loosened their watch so much that they're willing to turn a blind eye to you, but if we go to them and tell them that you guys attacked us in their territory, they'll be forced to move to maintain relations with our sects. They'll dig out the truth from your village, and they'll do anything in their power to make sure that we're placated and happy. Tell me, tubby little man, how many heads do you think will roll at that point? Do you really think it will end with just yours?"
If Li Yang and Mei Kongxu just died then it wouldn't be too big of a deal, that could be blamed on any number of things. But if they brought bandits and had them confess that the Star's Gaze Temple hadn't done a proper job of safekeeping their territory then it would be a heavy blow to their reputation. The sects would definitely take advantage of it and the inhabitants would suddenly feel unsafe and might leave, it was a horrible position for the temple. So they would indeed to everything they could to please Li Yang and Mei Kongxu, even if that meant making a village disappear from the map.
"Wh...What do you want to know?"
The man spoke powerlessly, his limps hanging powerlessly while his eyes were empty. He could endure any kind of torture as long as he suffered it alone, but once those he wanted to protect were brought into it then he could do nothing but fold and bend. Li Yang still maintained his cocky smirk, but to the man it looked like the claw of the devil, a twisted curve that spoke of damnation.
"Ah, I love it when people make things easy. Well, how about we start with why the Stargazers have loosened their guard to the point that you guys are willing to try your hand at thieving, as well as who exactly told you that their guard has loosened up. Those sound like neat and easy questions, you'll indulge us, won't you?"
