Feng Yu, as well as everyone else, looked back at Long Di with a mixture of shock, confusion, and shame. "Come again?"
****
Countless lanterns and lamps lit the streets as night covered the land to close the curtain of day.
The activity in the streets below was much more bustling than what was seen in Blackstone City.
Here, there were many cultivators of varying strengths walking around. A stark contrast to the city that Long Di and company were used to.
Near the centre of this lively city was a large and luxurious hotel. A figure could be seen looking out the window with a complicated expression. The figure's chin rested in her hand as she stared at the ongoings within the city.
Vendors were selling their wares to those who were interested enough to stop and look.
Other stalls had food of all kinds being displayed. The steam rose into the air and carried with it the aroma to stir the appetite of any passerby.
"Sigh…"
The figure that was at the window issued a sigh that culminated in a hazy fog before her. The coldness of night caused her dark purple skin to be a few shades lighter.
Of course, she was a cultivator as well, however; she didn't erect any defences against the cold, wanting to feel its chilling embrace.
Whether it was to feel something apart from what plagued her mind, or if it was something else, this was something that not even she herself really knew.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock came at the door, rousing her from her rumination.
"Who could that be?" Her brows furrowed in confusion, as she wasn't expecting anyone to know where she was, much less visit her.
Plus, this was a hotel, so that means whoever it was that was coming came for her specifically.
She warily approached the door. A weapon suddenly materialised in her hand, which she brandished and had at the ready. She wasn't paranoid, she simply knew who she herself was and that, as much as she hated it, it brought about a lot of trouble.
"Uhm, miss? Are you there?"
"Hm?" The girl recognised the voice. It was one of the workers here.
Her guard fell a bit, but she didn't put away her weapon. She slowly opened the door to reveal what appeared to be dirt in the form of a human. This was a clay demon, and also the one the girl met in the lobby earlier when she just arrived.
"What are you—"
She was just about to ask him what he wanted when she realised two other characters were behind him. There were two demons behind the clay demon.
One was just past middle age, and the other was much more advanced in age.
"You…!"
"Young miss, please return with us!"
"He is right, young miss! This habit of yours places you in great danger!"
Slam!
Without giving them a chance to speak further, the girl shut the door in their faces.
"Ugh! How did they find me so fast!? Dang it!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Young miss, please don't be unreasonable!"
She knew their nature. Ignore them long enough and they'll leave. Of course, this also meant that she would have to deal with them watching over her with all the hair-raising intensity of an S-Class Stalker.
Sure enough, after a while, no more noises came about. The peace and silence were what she really sought. In any case, at least she didn't have to deal with them quite literally breathing down her neck… those were strange days.
"Now I can-"
Knock, knock, knock.
"What the…!?"
She flew into a rage when she came back to her senses and rushed to the door in that same fit of anger.
She opened the door in a huff. "I will legitimately stick my sword so far up your aaaaaaand who are you!?"
Standing before her were not the two old men she expected, but a girl. A girl with a petite figure whose grey curly hair reminded her of the stormy clouds of yesteryear. She exuded an otherworldly aura as if she was a banished immortal of sorts.
'Hold on, where are the two old geezers? Knowing those two, they would never allow someone they don't know to approach me like this.'
This thought immediately raised a red flag in her mind and triggered a need to erect her defences, or at least that would have been the outcome until the new arrival opened her mouth.
"Hello, my name is Mina. I am a goddess, an actual one too. If my memory serves me right, your name is Yaomu Shou, right? Now, forgive my bluntness, but where is the sentient cancerous tumour known as Long Di right now?"
…
"Achoo!"
"Gesundheit!"
Long Di looked at Feng Yu in surprise. "Did you just speak German?"
"What are you talking about?" Feng Yu looked completely confused, "I-I just sneezed after you did."
"That's a very cultured and articulate sneeze you got there. I mean, when you sneezed, it actually sounded like a… you know what? Forget it. Let's get back to what we were discussing."
Long Di, Feng Yu and the others were huddled around a campfire and were discussing the cultivational future of the young disciples.
"Alright, so you guys need to get much stronger. Now I got a lot of stuff from the not-relic but the problem is that you guys are not strong enough to use any of these treasures, and the ones that are safe enough to use will be wasted on you as is, so hear me out." Long Di paused for a moment while he figured out what to say.
"Yeah, if I could get you guys to destroy your own cultivation bases real quick, that would be grea—"
"Done!" Before anyone could react, Lang Tie was about to cripple himself.
Smack!
"Ow!"
"Are you braindead, you fool!?" Feng Yu slapped the young demon in the back of the head to stop him from continuing.
Her back was drenched with cold sweat at not only Long Di's brazen request but also Tie Lang's decisiveness.
He was just about to abolish years' worth of cultivation after just a word from Long Di. How in the world would she explain this when they got back?
"Long Di, don't you think you owe us some sort of explanation?" She turned back to Long Di with a serious gaze. "Don't you think we need to hear some sort of explanation for why you would even think to ask us such an unreasonable request?"
"I don't! Again!" Tie Lang bellowed before picking up from where he left off.
"Why you little!"
Bam! Smack! Bang! Boom! Pa!
"Sorry about that," Feng Yu quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe her hands before carrying on. "Now, about that explanation."
Long Di's expressionless eyes shifted to the bruised, unconscious and maybe comatose body of Tie Lang, then back to Feng Yu who apparently adopted a habit of his.
"Did you get less ugly? Because you are—"
"Long Di." Feng Yu called out as Shen Ling giggled beside her.
"Alright, all jokes aside, I'm not going to be staying here with you guys… unless I've gotten attached to you. Regardless, I've got places to go and a friend and an animal to meet. Pebbles is the friend and the one you guys heard me talking about before, so I need to make sure he's safe. Regardless, even though I will be leaving, I will need allies in the future, I think, and you guys, well, you're not terrible at being people, so you're good enough candidates."
"Oh wow, your standards are at being people, and our current rank is that we are not terrible at it. You're making me feel really proud over here," Feng Yu said in a voice that oozed sarcasm, which forced Long Di to wonder if she picked it up from him or if this thing existed since words were a thing.
"Well, don't go overboard. I'm not gonna always praise you guys like this. Anyway, here's the thing, I am going to be doing some big things in the future and though I will not be asking you to keep up with me in all that, I do need you guys to be the best versions of yourselves. This is also to make sure you are able to protect yourself when the time comes," explained Long Di.
Feng Yu frowned upon hearing this. "Isn't it a bit too selfish to impose your needs onto us? Don't get me wrong, while I am thankful for the things we've experienced because of you, I don't think it's fair for us to unconditionally listen to you for what you consider a better cultivation opportunity just so that you can use us at your whim later on. We may not be so-called geniuses, but we still have our pride!"
Long Di's expression didn't change at all even when Feng Yu's voice rose. He simply listened to her till she was done. He only decided to calmly reason with her.
"Do you remember earlier today when that old man brought up something called clan extermination, even though I was the sole one that did anything?"
"But you are not a part of our cla—"
"You're too naïve." Long Di shook his head. "They don't care about that. The purpose of clan extermination is to set an example so that even if others don't care about their own life, they will have to think about the lives of their loved ones."
His words caused whatever reasons she wanted to bring up to be caught in her throat.
Long Di didn't end it here, he went on. "Heed my warning when I say that you guys are implicated by virtue of association. I wouldn't be doing such a thing if I didn't have to. You all shouldn't have to suffer because of me, and whilst I do need allies in the future I have no intention to force you guys to help me. However, you are in danger because of me, and my actions in the future, and your refusal to cooperate in this will be detrimental to your survival."
Drops of tears appeared in the wells of Feng Yu's eyes, "Y-You did this on purpose! You planned to use us all alon—"
"Enough!"
A shout from the side ended Feng Yu's accusations before they went too far.
"B-But junior apprentice-sister Ling, he—"
"We need Long Di, I know this. If he didn't come here, we would drown in negativity till we're no more." Her cute face was puffed up in anger.
Feng Yu was shocked that Shen Ling would defend someone else like this.
Even Shen Ling was surprised at herself. When she saw everyone staring at her, her cheeks reddened and she looked away in shame.
"Listen." Long Di intervened. He liked the awkward atmosphere sure, but time was becoming a rare commodity, and fast. "I don't do well with people and don't know how to say things that will get you to like me or trust me."
This was the first time that Feng Yu heard such a solemn tone from Long Di ever since he arrived.
"However, I want you guys to live, because you deserve to. I will need your help in the future to drown my enemies in blood so that you don't have to."
When Feng Yu heard Long Di, she descended into silence. A short moment later, she felt a soft hand take hers into a gentle squeeze.
She looked to the side to where her junior sister sat. Shen Ling looked back at her with concern.
Jia Yan looked at her as well, to let her know he would follow her lead on this matter. However, it was like he was also telling her that it was good to listen to Long Di… or at the very least to hear him out.
"We need him, senior sister," Shen Ling said. "And considering all that he achieved, I don't think we have any reason to distrust him."
"Sighs…"
Under the onslaught of Jia Yan and Shen Ling's gaze and Tie Lang's limp body, Feng Yu eventually relented on her earlier stance, and she had to admit that what Long Di said made sense.
"Fine, we'll listen to what you have to say. However, if we don't wish to do something because we think it'll cause more harm than good, you can't force us. Deal?"
"Sure, deal."
"So, what are you gonna want us to do?" Feng Yu asked.
"Well, destroying your current cultivation is only one aspect," said Long Di. "I'm also going to need to take a look at your current cultivation method so I can improve it."
"You can do that?" This time, it was Jia Yan who spoke in surprise. This was the first time since nightfall that he opened his mouth.
"I can… well, should be able to," Long Di shrugged.
"How are you going to help them get a better foundation?" Shen Ling's soft voice came through.
"Oh, that's easy."
Krssh!
Grey tribulation lightning danced around Long Di's arms, causing a feeling of dread to well up within the hearts of every conscious person present.
"So I'm going to shock you guys until you get… y'kno, better."