The translucent ball was the size of a human head. It glowed a soft yellow that dyed his palm in warm colors.
Qinghe thought he could use this to practice by punching or kicking it, improving the accuracy of his hits. But it was honestly just an excuse. What he wanted to use it for the most was stress relief.
Lightly throwing it up in the air, Qinghe waited until it fell almost to the ground before aiming a vicious kick at it. The ball flew and forcefully hit a rock with a thud and rebounded. When it got near, Qinghe landed another brutal kick and it impacted again with a thud.
"Fuck! How hard is it to give me a break?!"
Thud.
"Is it that difficult to let me be?!"
Thud.
"What is with you all lining up to give me trouble?"
Thud.
"Why do I always have to get babysitting duty!"
Thud. Crack!
The rock he was bouncing the ball against shattered with a loud sound.
"Ahhhh! Screw this!"
Qinghe was finally letting out his pent-up frustration. He didn't dare scream loudly to vent his anger but he cursed low and harsh without pausing for breath.
After he was finally done, he heard a small chuckle off to the side. He whipped his head to the shadow of a nearby tree and narrowed his eyes dangerously. He was still pissed as hell!
If the whole courtyard hadn't been so thoroughly saturated with his wind-based spiritual energy, he might have not noticed that low vibration of amusement. But he already knew who it was from. It was that dratted shadow who had been following him since before the Behemoth!
Yes, Qinghe had noticed the existence of his stalkers from before, he just didn't care. He had also noticed that one of them had left while he and the twins were flying back to the sect.
And the remaining one apparently thought his anger was funny. Qinghe was furious!
He kicked the ball that had been rolling near his feet and it accurately landed on the shadowed tree trunk. The person hiding in the shadow almost flinched. If his body hadn't been completely immersed in the shadow realm, his head would've been cracked open.
With a disdainful 'hmph!' and a muttered 'rude bastard!', Qinghe spun on his heel and turned away, his hair and clothes twirling in a graceful arc as he returned to his room.
The shadow stood stunned.
Not only had the person he was observing manage to guess his presence, he was also able to accurately land a hit on his head. It was clear that he and his companion had sorely underestimated this existence called Feng Qinghe.
From the shadow cast on the tree trunk, thick dark smoke was emitted, taking the shape of a black-clad young man. He bent down and lightly grasped the softly glowing ball, lifting it up to take a look.
Since Qinghe had been barefoot all this time while kicking the ball, there were clear dusty imprints of his toes on its surface. With a smile that he himself didn't notice he was wearing, the young man brushed his fingertips gently across the marks, disturbing the dust.
His eyes that sparkled sharply with amusement and the anticipatory curl of his lips gave him the air of a wild and wicked tempter.
Unaware of the beast he had enticed, Qinghe had cleaned himself up and laid down to sleep. He didn't bother to worry about the person who had been following him, he had already guessed their identity.
It must be a Sentinel.
A few years after the Great War between the righteous and demonic factions, a deity descended from the heavenly realm while searching for something. Witnessing the lawlessness and depravity of the people in this realm, he had decided to set up the Order of Sentinels. Each Sentinel enlisted in the Order was morally upright and outstandingly powerful.
While journeying, the deity found three children to take in as his direct disciples. These children had grown into fine successors and basically found recruits and managed the Order while the deity roamed the land in search of whatever he had lost, only returning occasionally to stay for short periods of time.
Though the structure of the Order was much like that of a sect, it was more of a professional institution where law enforcers were trained and deployed to maintain peace and punish troublemakers. They even had a justice court where hearings took place, along with the underground prison made entirely with spirit-suppressing materials.
The Sentinels were somewhat like bogeymen, a distant mysterious force that was known to be scarily powerful. But they were not just punishers but also protectors.
When the disciples were sent into the hidden realm, the Sentinels must have been secretly dispatched by their leader, the descended deity, to keep them safe. Seeing that the Behemoth had headed their way, two of the Sentinels must have come to see if their group needed to be rescued. Since they had handled it on their own, the Sentinels hadn't shown themselves.
A less known fact was that the Sentinels were also trained in espionage. Qualified personnel were taught how to merge with shadows, leaving their physical bodies is a place called the 'shadow realm' which was connected to the real world through the surface of shadows. It needed mastery of a highly complicated technique to access the shadow realm, so all those who knew it were certain to be at the top among all Sentinels.
In other words, they could completely 'dissolve' into the shadows cast by people or things and use this technique to spy or assassinate. Not only would they be very difficult to harm, most wouldn't even know of their existence.
Qinghe had long armed himself against this. His spirit sensing ability was very perceptive and powerful, able to sense everything about his surroundings to the slightest detail. It could also be exhausting, so Qinghe didn't use it at its full power most of the time.
No matter for what reason this Sentinel had followed him here, Qinghe knew that he wouldn't hurt him unless he deemed him to be a threat or a criminal, either of which required proof before arrest. Qinghe didn't think his behavior or any of his secrets would be of interest to someone as lofty as a Sentinel who must have tangled with more twisted and difficult personalities than his.
In short, Qinghe felt he had absolutely nothing to fear.
Thus reassured that a Sentinel was keeping watch over the area, Qinghe quickly dozed off until the next day.
...
The soft morning light tickled his eyelashes, awakening him.
Qinghe sat up and yawned. After a thorough stretch, he slowly got up and headed towards the stream for his morning ablutions.
His unbound hair fell straight to his hips and swayed seductively as he walked barefoot. His eyes were still half-lidded and misty from sleep, his lips slightly parted. He had an adorably dazed look as he stepped into the water while still in his thin shift.
Even yesterday, he had washed up in the robe, feeling like he shouldn't blind the poor Sentinel keeping watch on him by unnecessarily flashing him his naked butt. But thankfully, it had been a foggy evening, so it wasn't like the Sentinel would've been able to see much.
He found the depression under the water where he usually sat, the water reaching to just below his chest, and rested his feet in the soft green moss that covered most of the shallow stream bed. The water currents seemed to playfully pull at his clothes, loosening them until the robe seemed on the verge of slipping off his shoulders. The thin white material was soaked to translucency by the water, revealing teasing glimpses of the flesh underneath.
Qinghe dived beneath the water level to drench himself completely before sitting back up. Slightly more awake now, he started scooping up handfuls of water and started meticulously cleaning each part of his body.
Trickles of water slicked down his jade-white skin temptingly, his hair sticking to his skin like glistening streams of spilled ink. He lifted his hands and wrapped his slender fingers around his long hair, squeezing out the excess water, the stark contrast of black against white pleasing to the eye.
The action exposed the back of his neck and drops of water slowly slid down from his hair, drawing a damp line as it dripped down his nape and along the length of his spine.
The muscles in his exposed chest and collarbones visibly flexed as his raised hands worked on his hair. The delicate buds on his chest had pebbled due to the cold morning air brushing over his damp skin, slightly chilling him.
Once he was done, he leaned back, resting his elbow on the bank while supporting his head on his palm. The smooth and slender fingers of his free hand played with his hair. He looked as if from a beautiful and decadent painting, leisurely and relaxed.
Qinghe was completely oblivious to what a tempting figure he was cutting.
The dark-clothed Sentinel in the shadow swallowed, suddenly feeling very thirsty. The person in front of him could be described with one word: alluring.
It was a type of allure that transcended all boundaries of age, race, and gender, and not just in a sexual way. There was something bright and pure, light and graceful, in even the simplest of his actions, like the crystalline brilliance of a cut and polished diamond.
It was breathtaking and captivating to behold.
Continuing his unintentional seduction, Qinghe slowly rose from the stream after having enough fun. He liked this part of his day the most, just relaxing in the stream and letting his mind wander while submerged in the soothingly cool water.
The drenched robe stuck to his skin, leaving almost nothing to the imagination. The image of the white robe against the slightly warmer-toned skin looked particularly delectable.
Choosing a flat rock, Qinghe sat down in lotus position with his legs crossed. Wind suddenly blew around him, answering his call and quickly drying all moisture. Slightly shivering in the resulting coldness, Qinghe casually pulled the edges of his robe back together.
The Sentinel in the shadow wanted to sigh in disappointment. If it were anyone else, he'd be sure that they were purposely teasing him. But with Qinghe, he wasn't so sure, especially since the younger man was wearing such an absentminded expression all this time.
On the rock, Qinghe began to meditate. He didn't feel stable enough to start cultivating to fix the problem of the restrictions just yet. He wanted to first meditate to stabilize the state of his mind before trying cultivating on the Starry Mountain Peak a few days later.
As he was distractedly planning while trying to focus enough to meditate, the collars of the robe that he had just carelessly pulled together fell open again, this time the edges sliding right off his shoulders to completely expose his upper half.
In the shadows, the Sentinel felt like he had reached his limit. He silently fled through the shadows, plotting his own plans.
Noticing the Sentinel's sudden departure as he fled as if his tail was on fire, Qinghe tilted his head in confusion. Wasn't he supposed to stay and keep an eye on him? Why was he running away?
Shaking his head, Qinghe thought to himself: What a strange stalker…