I didn't join the charge. Not because I was a coward, but because I had no reason to fight the feral wolves and Cyclops. I was a demonic cultivator, so they were more of my allies than my enemies. I also had no reason to help the orthodox cultivators. They were the enemy, to be honest.
As long as the feral wolves and Cyclops didn't attack me or Lan Bei Er, I would leave them alone. However, as with all demonic cultivators and tribes, they would normally attack each other anyway, so just because they weren't my enemies didn't mean they were my friends. Even if they recognized me, they would probably still attack me anyway…simply because I looked different from them.
Fortunately, Lan Bei Er stayed back. She did the same when in Long Ao Tian's party, not because she was a coward, but because her role was healing and support. She would conjure barriers to protect her allies when a Cyclops swung its claws or a feral wolf snapped its slavering jaws at them, causing the demonic beasts to bounce off a shimmering wall of white qi. I stayed close to her, not moving an inch or attacking.
Of course, this drew glares from the rest of the party. Not that they cared – Bai Ning Shuang literally told me not to get in their way, so they were actually more relieved that I didn't do anything stupid. They assumed that I was weak, believing Jian Shen's claims that I was trash. I had no obligation to prove them wrong.
"Whoa!"
One of the feral wolves pounced on Lan Bei Er, realizing that she was the main person obstructing their attacks with her barriers. I quickly grabbed hold of her and disappeared into the shadows. We emerged several meters away, with Lan Bei Er looking stunned over what had just happened.
"What did you just do?"
"Save you," I replied before pulling her into the shadows once more so that we wouldn't get pulverized by a roaring Cyclops. Its claws hit the dirt where we occupied, sinking deeply into the shadows that we vanished into.
"That move…!" Jian Shen caught sight of what I did. He scowled. "You're from the Black Shadow Sect?"
"Something like that," I replied. That was my disguise, after all. To my surprise, Jian Shen burst out laughing, even as he traded blows with a Cyclops, his sword clashing against its claws in a shower of sparks.
"Ha ha ha! I knew it! You're trash! Of course you would be from a trash sect!"
"That's right!" One of his friends agreed, probably one of those fair-weather friends who intended to suck up to him. "The Black Shadow Sect is a third rate sect, if not fourth! It's trash!"
"Wasn't the Black Shadow Sect destroyed by a demonic cultivator from the Heaven and Earth Sect many years ago?" Bai Ning Shuang asked with a puzzled frown, freezing a feral wolf with her ice techniques. No one was able to answer.
"N…nonetheless! It doesn't change the fact that he's trash from a trash sect!" Jian Shen insisted stubbornly, slashing at his opponent. The Cyclops bellowed and retaliated, forcing him to retreat. "He can't do anything but run around!"
He was correct in a way. For now, I held onto Lan Bei Er and evaded the feral wolves and Cyclops, moving from shadow to shadow.
"We can't keep running forever," Lan Bei Er told me as we emerged. "I need to support my teammates!"
She didn't need to, but I guess she felt obliged to. Since this was the request of my future wife, I couldn't deny her, so I acquiesced for now. I brought her to a safe distance, far from the feral wolves and Cyclops. And to ensure that none got to her, I put myself between them, distracting them away.
One of the feral wolves leaped at me, its jaws wide open. I twisted around, allowing it to brush past me, and then I hammered its midriff with Shadow Strike. The blow sent it sprawling on the ground, but it was up on its feet within the next second, growling in fury.
Whoa…I didn't expect Shadow Strike to be so weak. It was an inefficient technique that didn't allow me to make use of my huge amount of qi. Also, I didn't want to reveal the tremendous quantity of qi that I possessed, but even then I was sure I had released enough qi to kill the feral wolf in one strike. Unfortunately, the inefficiency and flaws of Shadow Strike restricted the overall power of my attack.
No wonder they made fun of the Black Shadow Sect for being a third rate sect.
I then disappeared into the shadows before the feral wolf could clamp its jaws around my neck, appearing behind it and delivering another Shadow Strike. It didn't seem to have much of an effect other than eliciting an outraged yelp from the demonic beast.
"Hah! I knew it! You're only good at running away, trash! You can't fight at all!"
Jian Shen was laughing at me, even as he finally cut down the Cyclops with several flying swords. They pierced the growling beast in several area, penetrating its thick armored hide and sinking deeply into its vitals. I couldn't refute his point, not with my current pathetic display.
Should I use Heaven and Earth Strike then? No…with this many orthodox cultivators, I would be blowing my cover. Then the masters would come and I would be forcibly separated from Lan Bei Er. The whole idea of disguising myself was so that I could accompany her, follow her, travel alongside her and maybe stalk her if necessary (author's note: readers, please do not follow the protagonist's example – he's a villain, stalking is a crime in real life). If I was going to expose myself by using my so-called demonic techniques, then I wouldn't have bothered with the disguise in the first place. I would have wasted that whole month learning the Black Shadow Sect's techniques.
Then again, why should I care if they think I was trash? Lan Bei Er knew the truth. Hers was the only opinion that mattered to me.
Jumping from shadows to shadows, I lured the feral wolves and Cyclops away from Lan Bei Er. She didn't have to use her barriers to protect me or cast healing techniques on me – my attempts helped her focus on her teammates. As for me, I was simply a distraction, a nuisance that stung and pricked at the flanks with my pathetic Shadow Strike. It wasn't enough to kill them, but it was enough to distract them.
"Over here!" I called out to a feral wolf. It whirled around and pounced, but I was already vanishing into the shadows. I didn't need to. Before I could evade fully, I caught sight of the feral wolf being engulfed by a freezing blast and turned into an ice sculpture.
"Weak." Bai Ning Shuang stared contemptuously at me. I shrugged, not at all bothered. Why would a great villain like me be affected by the insults of worms and insects? An eagle didn't bother himself with the incessant chirping of sparrows. They simply had too narrow a worldview. They were to be a source of pity, not anger.
The rest of the party were scoffing and sneering at me. Apparently, I wasn't just "trash" now. I was also a coward, a leech that hung onto the underbelly of the party and sucked off their achievements like a parasite.
"You can keep your credit and achievements," I said out loud. "Or rewards or whatever. I'm only here to follow Lan Bei Er."
"Hey! Please stop it!" Lan Bei Er was looking very uncomfortable.
"You madman!" Jian Shen snarled at me, but he was forced away when a Cyclops tried to pound him to the ground. "Stop stalking her! Get away from her!"
"You shut up!" Lan Bei Er yelled at him. "You're in no position to tell other people off about that!"
Whoa…from Lan Bei Er's repressed anger, it appeared that Jian Shen had been stalking her or harassing her. I had better learn from his mistakes and not do the same thing.
"Can we just focus on the mission for now?" Bai Ning Shuang said with a heavy sigh, even as she swung her sword and cut a Cyclops apart. Both halves fell in opposite directions, a rim of frost expanding rapidly over them.
I had to infuse more qi into Shadow Strike. Being careful not to use too much, I finally calculated enough to kill a single feral wolf with the stupid technique. Black blades hammered through the feral wolf's back, sending a spray of blood. It writhed for a moment before slumping. Finally getting the hang of it, I turned around to practice it several more times…
…only to see that I was too late. Jian Shen hacked a Cyclops apart with his many swords while Bai Ning Shuang froze another couple of feral wolves. The rest of the team had spread out, looking out for more enemies, but the Cyclops and feral wolves were all dead.
Oh, well…that was fine. It wasn't as if I wanted to kill the poor demonic beasts. In fact, I felt a little sorry for them. Under different circumstances, we might even have been allies. That was unlikely, given that they would demand that I prove myself worthy of leading them, and that would involve at least killing a few of them, but…yeah.
"Why are you trash even here?!" Jian Shen yelled at me, stomping over to seize the front of my shirt. "You didn't even do a single thing! You're so weak! All you did was run away!"
"My only task was to keep Lan Bei Er safe."
"Well, you did accomplish that job magnificently," Bai Ning Shuang said sarcastically, glancing over at Lan Bei Er, who maintained a distance from her. "Not a single scratch on her. In fact, that was all you did. Protecting her."
This time, she directed her words to Lan Bei Er.
"Must be nice to have your own personal bodyguard, huh? Flirting around during a mission?"
"We didn't flirt!" Lan Bei Er's face turned red.
"I'm sure," Bai Ning Shuang said dryly. She turned to me, her eyes cold. "While I'm 'grateful' that you kept our healer safe, you could have at least assisted the rest of us."
"Why should I?" I asked, cocking my head. "I'm not obligated to do so."
"You…!" Jian Shen tried to punch me, but I dodged his fist. I was about to retaliate, but Lan Bei Er caught my arm and dragged me away.
"That's enough!" She pleaded. She turned to Bai Ning Shuang. "We should return to the guild and report the success of the mission."
"Right." Bai Ning Shuang studied me. "And what do we do about your little boy toy?"
"He's not my boy toy! And what's that supposed to mean?"
"He didn't contribute much to the mission. How are we supposed to report him or split the rewards?"
"I already said it earlier, didn't I?" I pointed out, folding my arms. "Don't report me. I'm not here for the credits or rewards. I don't need anything."
"So all you need is to follow Junior Bei Er around." Bai Ning Shuang's lip curled. "Fine. You'll have to sacrifice yourself then, Junior Bei Er."
"I won't accept this!" Jian Shen hollered. "I say we kill this fucker!"
The rest of the party exchanged uncomfortable looks. "We don't have to go as far as murder, do we?" One of them muttered.
"Yeah, let's just leave him be."
"I feel sorry for Junior Lan, but it's not as if he's doing anything to harm her. And she seems to be okay with it…"
"What did you say?" Jian Shen stormed at them. "How dare you…?"
Lan Bei Er cleared her throat. "I am okay with it. Brother Hei is a friend. I'll be taking him home after this anyway, so he can follow me."
"What…you…no…impossible…" Jian Shen spluttered, his fingers dancing wildly in the air while he tried to make sense of what his crush had just said. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him. I wasn't a child.
"It's settled then," Bai Ning Shuang declared, her voice filled with both amusement and scorn. She ignored Jian Shen's incoherent outrage. "Let's return to Dragon Gate City."