"Huh?" I blurted out, so totally not expecting that. The newcomer merely gestured at me impatiently, nervously glancing at the damaged building across the courtyard.
"That won't keep him down for long. He'll be up before long. We have to leave…now!"
I decided not to argue. After all, I had literally witnessed the bastard kill over a dozen of my schoolmates, using techniques that I could only describe as magic. It was very likely that he had survived the newcomer's kick.
And I didn't want to be around when he returned.
So I began running, following the newcomer. I didn't know where he was going, but anywhere was better than here. I wasn't sure I could trust him, but as I said, if he wanted me dead, I would have been dead already. Therefore it made no sense to suspect him of leading me into a trap.
"Thank you for saving me," I told him breathlessly. I realized that he was slowing down his pace to allow me to keep up. He wasn't perspiring, nor was his breathing as ragged as mine. The young man merely smiled.
"It's my job."
Now that I had a good look at him, I could see that he was relatively handsome, with piercing blue eyes and dirty blond hair. His attire looked a little immature for someone of his age, as if he was borrowing a teenager's clothes.
Still, his answer surprised me. I blinked for a moment.
"Your job?"
"Ah, yeah. Sect leader still doesn't know what's going on yet. I'm sorry. I'll explain everything to you later. For now, we'll have to keep running." He paused and then smiled sheepishly. "Oh, right. I'm Kai Li Si."
I realized that he was giving me his name in an attempt to earn my trust, and also to alleviate some of my confusion. I nodded in thanks.
"Wait, did you just call me sect leader? Uh, is there some kind of mistake?"
"It's no mistake," Kai Li Si assured me. "You're definitely the sect leader of our sect. Just not now."
"Huh? Not now?"
"You're probably very confused right now, but what you have to know right now is that the man back there is a demonic cultivator. He has been sent to this world, this time period to kill you, before you take over the Heaven and Earth Sect." he held up a hand to forestall my questions. "As I said, I'll explain everything to you later, when we're safe, but for now you must understand that the demonic cultivator in question will not stop until you're dead."
"If his goal is to kill me, he's not doing a good job of it," I muttered, remembering how he screwed up earlier. If the idiot didn't waste his time showing off and massacring my schoolmates while delivering the cliché villain speech, he would have killed me long ago.
Then again, it made sense that these arrogant assholes needed to satisfy their supermassive ego by gloating and showing off. I suddenly recalled Qi Fu Ren and his gang of bullies. They were so insecure that they needed to oppress others in order to feel powerful. The sensation of toying with someone, to get drunk on your own strength and confidence…to them, it was intoxicating.
I personally never understood it. What was so good about bullying other people? So what if you were powerful? How did that justify your arrogance? Because nobody could do anything to you, so you could do whatever you want, including flaunting your power in their faces? Pissing people off and looking down on them felt good?
Whatever. I didn't want to understand.
Kai Li Si didn't seem to know what I was talking about, and he continued impassively.
"Don't underestimate him. Even though his cultivation realm has dropped significantly after he was transported here through the Nine Heavens Temporal Tribulation, he is still a dangerous foe. Unfortunately, the same applies for me. Most of my strength is gone after I traveled through worlds and back through time."
"You're going to have to explain all that to me later," I said. He nodded.
"Yeah. But the point is that he's capable of…uh, I don't know how to describe it in your world. What was the term you used back then? Magic, I think? Fantasy?"
"I know what you mean."
I nodded in understanding. Certainly, the demonic cultivator used skills that were right out of a fantasy Xuan Huan novel or a cultivation novel. That was the best way to explain what I had just witnessed.
"He uses qi to execute techniques that would otherwise be impossible in this world."
"Yeah." Kai Li Si looked around sourly. "The qi in this world is too thin. I believe there are several hidden cultivators here, but they will be nothing compared to the cultivators in the Celestial Realm. Ah, I'll tell you more about that later."
"Got it. So in other words, this dude can use demonic techniques that people in this world can't use and he won't stop until he kills me. And you're the only one who can fight against him."
"That's right." Kai Li Si then displayed an embarrassed expression. "Uh, actually…I'm not sure I can defeat Ba Bai. Ah, Ba Bai is the name of the demonic cultivator. He's infamous for leading the Dark Carnage Sect, and has killed over ten thousand cultivators throughout his lifetime. A relentless, remorseless killer who won't let anyone stand in the way of his mission. Even though I managed to fight evenly against him earlier, I only took him by surprise. His cultivation realm is higher than mine. It's unfortunate, but I don't have the means to kill him."
Huh? But I thought he overwhelmed the demonic dude earlier. He even sent the idiot flying with a single kick…
…no.
Now that I thought about it, Kai Li Si had been completely on the defensive. While trading blows with the demonic dude, he had been parrying, deflecting and redirecting the guy's attacks. He was rarely on the offense. Not to mention, with the exception of that last kick, he didn't land a single attack on the demonic guy.
This wasn't good.
"Then what are we supposed to do?" I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. "Keep running?"
Kai Li Si gave me a sad look. "I'm afraid so. That's all we can do…for now."
"What about my parents? My family?" I couldn't suppress the fear and worry in my voice. "What if he attacks them?"
"The good news is that Ba Bai doesn't know who your family is. He doesn't even know where you live. That's why he attacked your school instead of going straight to your home. As long as you don't go home, you wouldn't lead him right to your parents."
"Why does he know my school then?"
"…because when you first came to the Celestial Realm, you were wearing this uniform." Kai Li Si pointed at the uniform I was wearing. "He probably looked for the place where most of the people wearing this attire had gathered."
"Huh? But I've never been to the Celestial Realm before."
"No…not yet." Kai Li Si sighed and clutched his head. "As I said, I'll explain later. For now, keep running."
He glanced over his shoulder and grimaced.
"He has finally gotten back on his feet."
We kept running, but eventually we ducked into a train station underground and boarded a train that headed west. I paid for Kai Li Si's fare, and we could finally take a breather. As the train lurched away, I couldn't help but glance back, half-expecting Ba Bai to pop up.
I quickly pulled out my smartphone and called my parents, assuring them that I was fine. But I also had to inform them that I wouldn't be home for a while.
"Are you all right?" Dad asked worriedly. "We heard from the police that there's some maniac after you. Your mom's hysterical right now."
"Yeah, I am. I'm with a…specialist, right now. Special Forces, some kind of elite agent. He was sent to protect me, but apparently we have to go into hiding until we deal with the killer. I won't be able to come home until then."
"What's going on?"
"Honestly, I have no idea either. But I'm okay. I promise I'll come back once all this is over. We'll figure it out."
I heard the silence on the other end as Dad processed everything. I wondered if he could tell that I was making stuff up, that half of the things I told him were lies. Special Forces, my foot. Well, at least the other half was true. And they said the most believable lies were those with a kernel of truth in them.
"All right." I heard Dad exhale audibly on the other end of the smartphone. He probably realized that I couldn't tell him anything else. "Stay safe, Cong. Don't be reckless. Your mother and I will be waiting at home for you."
"Yeah. I'll be back as soon as I can." I then hung up and glanced at Kai Li Si, pushing my glasses up my nose. There was so many questions I wanted to ask, but not on the train. Not here, in public. The last thing I wanted was drawing attention to us, with people staring at us while we talked about cultivation and nonsense.
To be fair, most of the commuters would think we were talking about a cultivation novel or some kind of game, but…
"Are you okay?"
I noticed that Kai Li Si looked uneasy. He forced a smile before glancing around him.
"Uh, yeah. This is the first time I'm riding on a…a…"
"A train. The subway."
"Yeah, that's right." Kai Li Si looked uncomfortable. I was reminded again that he was from another world. One without any technological advancements. I guessed they used flying swords or spirit beasts for transport over there. I mean, if cultivators could fly around at high speeds, why would they need to invent planes and cars?
Realizing that he was too distracted to answer any of my questions, I stayed silent and allowed him to acclimatize to his new environment. Earlier, when we boarded the train, Kai Li Si had suggested that we leave the urban area and hide out in the wilderness instead. A forest, or the mountains, some place we could camp out quietly.
"There will be less chance of innocent people getting involved if we are forced to fight," he had explained. I nodded, having thought that my first priority was to ensure minimal casualties.
My schoolmates were right, in a fashion. I shouldn't be dragging uninvolved people into this mess and causing them to get hurt because of me.
The train sped through several stops until the one I wanted, and I tugged on a dazed Kai Li Si's sleeve to signal to him that we alight. He nodded and followed suit, and we exited the station to emerge in a rural town.
"Long Fu Town," I introduced him. "An agricultural village. There's lot of forests nearby. We should be able to hide here…for now."
"Ba Bai will find us eventually," Kai Li Si told me grimly. He pondered for a moment, his fingers on his chin, and then he broke into a smile. "But he'll take some time to track us down. We might have a week or two."
"Right." I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. The two of us trekked across the village, heading toward the forest. As we proceeded, I suddenly realized something.
��Damn…I completely forgot about supplies. If we're going in there, we'll need food, water and other necessities. Maybe clothes…"
"Forget about that." Kai Li Si raised his hand. He then grinned. "Don't worry, I'll teach you how to survive in the wild."
I groaned, but didn't protest. With a demonic killer hot on my heels, I didn't have much of a choice but to learn how to survive.
"Cheer up," Kai Li Si said with a smile. "I won't just teach you jungle survival. One of the reasons why I've been sent back in time and to this world is also to train you to be a cultivator."