After who know how much time the carving stopped and Li Wei was finally released from the spirit hold. He gasped for breath, his chest moving up and down as if he had run for hours on end.
Shi came from behind him and grabbed his shackled arms, tugging him out the door and through the stone passage way and into another passage way before abandoning him before a door. Taking off the shackles from his hands and feet Shi said,
"If you survive congratulations, the way out is there. No one will attempt an attack if you leave now."
After Li Wei pushed the door open and stumbled outside he was met with the cold night air and countless stars. It was summer, and the night was warm. It was probably a couple hours past the time when the other deciples left. When he was observing earlier he saw that they all still had there weapons so flying back to the cult wouldn't be a issue.
"Sighhhhh, i need to do something about my back....I'm going to bleed out in this pace."
As he walked further into the forest he realized that despite the warm air he was shivering. His head was stuffy and the world felt blurred.
"..Sick?"
'Wow ever since i came here i've never gotten sick, must be have been a perk of a cultivator.'
Lifting one of his hand he disregarded the ache that came with every movement and began to slowly unlock what spiritual points that he could. He was an illusionist which ment that he was skilled with acupuncture so doing something like this was wouldn't be a problem.
As his power slowly flowed back into his veins he was able to detect a subtle power that tied him to the contract that he made. While many things in the book he had written had changed for the better there was still some things that haven't changed.
'Wether this is a good or bad thing, we'll have to see...It would be bad if the protagonist kills me, or my reputation gets ruined, but it'd be a good thing if the book stayed the same in some places because this means that i'll find the tiger seal.'
The tiger seal was something that many search for every time the Golden Gate opens, which only happens every 10 years. This means that for maybe 100 or more years or so every time 10 years past countless martial artists entered and searched for this treasure and failed. The odds were horrible, this was the type of gamble he liked the most though.
'This... isn't going to be easy. Even after i have the artifact someone might steal it, or after i hand it over the contract won't cancel and i'll get some sort of backlash. Or perhaps me giving it my aunt the tiger seal will change something in the story for the worse.'
As thoughts like these whirled in his head Li Wei finally stoped at the bank of a river, exhausted. He had passed the Shi mountain range, and used his spiritual power back he stoped the bleeding on his back. But after several hours of haveing his fleshed carved on and dealing with something like a fever he wanted to sleep no matter how hungry or cold he felt.
Looking up at the countless stars in the sky Li Wei sighed, a single thought lingering in his head.
'Will the tattoo still be those roses?'
—The next day—
When Li Wei opened his eyes it was nearing mid-day. His stomach woke him. While he had his spiritual power after spending 2 days or however many days he spent underground locked up without foot or water without his spiritual power his stomach was hurting.
Shakily standing he hobbled over towards the calm area of the river slowly taking off his boots trying not to move his back too much, for fear of breaking the slowly healing scabs. Wading into the cool water he watched as blood stuck to his cloths slowly dyed the water red. It seemed that he had bleed a lot. It made him wonder how deep the cuts were. And what his tattoo looked like.
Taking off his top robe all the way he was left in only his white under pants. Looking at the gaping hole in his torn bloody shirt as well and the bloody sleeves he made a simple and accurate and quick decision.
-A little while later-
"Rippppppppp"
Tearing the remaining clean-ish cloth that he had just washed and dryed he tactically began to bandage his body. While in the water he had walked in up to at least his shoulders, letting the water wash off at least some of the dryed blood.
Slowly scrubbing off what blood he could see of the rest of his body he was able to tell that the tattoo didnt cover his whole back and only the sides on his upper back on the back on what some people back in his old world called the backs wings. The washing didn't help much with all the dried blood as there was a limit to what he could do on his own.
He'd just have to stick it out until it healed by itself.
He managed to cover both his shoulders in strips of cloths.
The issues laid with the fact that he only had his pants and boots on him now. His saber and knives were still in his court yard, by his bed.
His only hope was that the deciples didn't make a mess of the sect and go report something along the lines of, 'Senior brother made a deal with a evil lady who's from the Shi mountain bandits!'
Agilely hoping up into the trees he began to move two the west. Ignoring the sharp stabbing from his ferric movements. Following the river, he hoped to find town and get figures out his location and how far he was from the sect. While he knew where the Shi mountains were he didn't know where on the mountains he was.
Soon, he came across a road, sooner than he thought too. As he was walking he came across a topples cart, it lay a little ways off the road, weeds growing on it. Inside the cart were what was left of what seemed to be a traveling merchant. There we're traces of food and some random box's were laying around empty. It had already been searched.
The wagon had 2 broken weeks and there were signs of a fight. Using some cloth that was ripped and rather dirty he covered his upper body with the cloth wearing it like a cloak.
The bottom was ragged and torn but he looked horrible already. Not minding his tangled hair that was in the process of drying that still held dried blood in it he walked down the road till he heard the sounds of a town. As he walked further into town he came across a sleeping man, smoothly swiping off the mans bamboo hat he placed it on his own head pulling it down so the shadow a hid his face.
Earlier when his aunt mentioned his face he was reminded of his mother in this world. His mother here was very beautiful, and he was also very beautiful, but also handsome something he got from his father.
A perfect mix of both. If someone saw a face like this in a small town like here it would cause a commotion, and not a good one.