Chapter 6: Give it back, please.
Reborn as a God a Devil King
On a bed of flowers, a small child with silver hair can be seen floating in the air. The child's skin was as soft as porcelain, you can almost see its reflection in it. There was a warm aura surrounding the child.
Even with all the peculiar things around the child, it was not until he opened his eyes that one could actually see his most original trait- darker pupils than the evening itself, almost as if he wanted to suck it.
The child always liked being away from the city, the reason being that when he was only 3 years old, he could hear the noise and the voices of the people of the city, even though his house was half a kilometer away. He could hear every laugh, the deafening sermons of the slave owners, and the casual laughter of each and every people as if they were right in front of him.
This led him to find solace in places far from the busy city.
Although he learned to control his hearing over time, Zane still had a habit of going to this place. Originally, this place was barren and only had grass leaves growing on it, but after Zane made this place his hideout, the most beautiful of flowers suddenly decided to grow here as they wanted to show Zane how beautiful they are.
"ZANE! Where the hell did that brat go again?! ZANE!" an old man's voice resounded in the child's ears. Zane laughed and covered his mouth like he was afraid someone would hear him laugh.
He looked in the direction from which the sound came, but no one was there. Only the flowers greeted him.
[Soul 03: Lightning Walk Activated God], a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Thank you, Mr. Voice," Zane stopped laughing as he responded to the monotonous voice that only he could hear. Streaks of lightning appeared on his feet and spread throughout his lower body.
A great exploding sound echoed throughout the flowery forest as Zane suddenly disappeared into the distance.
---
"The old man's tits, where could that brat have run off to now?!"
An old man who was carrying wood can be seen screaming near a small house in a settlement near the town of Taizhou.
"Boo!" suddenly a child appeared out of nowhere behind the old man and frightened him. The old man shouted and jumped a metre high in surprise, causing him to drop the firewood he was about to load onto a cart.
"You brat! You almost gave me a heart attack!" the old man scolded the child as spit saliva from his mouth.
"Ew! Grandpa Ling", Zane covered his mouth as he laughed in the cutest way possible. As he did so, Mr. Voice sounded in his mind.
[Soul 03 shows signs of affection]
"Tch. Where have you run now, you little brat!? Hurry up and load all the firewood in the cart!"
"Eeh!? But there are many...", Zane sulked while looking at the pile of firewood next door. He then looked at his grandfather Ling with his face on a beautiful hottie, "...can I have a candy after!?"
"T-this brat! Just carry the firewood! I'll tell Grandma to give you some candy later." Grandpa Ling waved his hand while he hid a smile from Zane.
"Yay! Thank you, Grandpa!" Zane raised his hands in victory.
Suddenly, a distortion can be felt around it as a red flaming hole appeared at the bottom of the woodpile.
[Alma 02: Gate of Hell]
Mr. Voice played as the pile of firewood was sucked into the hole. A few seconds later, another hole appeared on top of the cart when the firewood fell on top of it. Some of the firewood has obvious signs of burnt marks on them.
"The...Oops?" Zane slowly and nervously looked at Grandpa Ling, "Teehee?" he put his tongue out and blinked.
"Y-you ... what do you mean teehee!? Come here you braaaat!" Grandpa Ling raised his hands and started chasing Zane.
"Nooooo!" Zane screamed as he ran straight to his house and closed the door.
"Tch", Grandpa Ling nodded when he gave up chasing Zane. He wiped off the sweat and revealed a warm smile.
When Grandpa Ling found out Zane had strange powers, he got scared. He thought his wife caught a child of an immortal cultivator loose, or perhaps even a devious demon. He was afraid that one day, someone would knock on the door and kill them for taking the baby.
But, unfortunately, 5 years have passed and they still seem to be living in peace, even with all the boy's antics.
"Grandma Ling! Grandma Ling! Save me!" Zane jumped as he entered his grandmother's room.
Grandma Ling, who was sitting on the bed, dropped the book she was reading when Zane ran to her side.
"V-Viel! My heavens! You need to stop surprising me, grandma is getting old!" Unlike Grandpa Ling, the old woman had a smile as she rebuked little Zane, "Now, what is this?" She said as she stroked Zane over the head.
"Well ... you see," Zane recalled the events with Grandpa Ling, with a small change of detail favoring him, of course.
"Tch tch tch, let me take care of your Grandp- *cough*", Grandma Ling was about to get out of bed before she started coughing vehemently. She covered her mouth to try to stop coughing, but it just made things worse.
"G-gram." Zane said with concern how he arrived for the glass of water that was next to the bed, "W-water, please have some water, grandma!".
Grandma Ling finally stopped coughing as she looked at the child who cared about her.
"O little Zane, come here."
Grandma Ling hugged Zane in her arms as some tears fell from her eyes, "Don't worry about me, my child. Grandma will be fine!" , she said with a warm voice. She only stopped hugging Zane after the tears stopped so Zane wouldn't see her crying.
"So, can you tell Grandma about your trip out? I hope you haven't gone too far!" Grandma Ling waved her fingers while interrogating Zane.
"No! I made sure I didn't cross the ocean this time! Hehe!" Zane proudly raised his chest.
His statement was not an exaggeration. A year ago, there were festivities in his settlement because his neighbor got married.
The noise was so loud that it began to touch Zane's ears. When he couldn't take it anymore, he ran away so fast from the sound until he didn't realize he was already in front of the ocean.
"Good ... good." Grandma Ling was relieved.
The two continued to talk about mundane silly things. After a while, Grandma Ling came up with something under her pillow.
"Zane, happy 5th birthday!" Grandma Ling handed Zane a wooden box.
"F-for me!?" Zane was happy to receive a surprise. But then he nodded when he realized something, "B-but... my birthday's not until next month?"
"Ssh, don't mind. Hurry, open!"
Little Zane was still suspicious, but could not conquer the curiosity of receiving a surprise gift. He cheerfully opened the wooden box before once again tilting his head.
"Eeeh, Grandma Ling ... What is this?" in Zane's hand was a shiny copper plaque with a quote about him, "Reach for Immortality! Enroll in our Academy!".
"This is a sign to take the exam for the Taizhou Academy! Many top scholars and growers of various sects are a former student of this school!" Grandma Ling clapped while explaining to Zane.
Originally, the elderly couple opposed the idea of having Zane go to the gym. After all, even with their limited knowledge of growers, they know enough that Zane was different.
They feared that Zane would be isolated and intimidated by his difference, even worse if we add the fact that he is Western.
But when they thought about it, wouldn't they be isolating Zane themselves if they didn't allow her to mingle with other children?
It was also an opportunity for Zane to lead a more extravagant life. After all, once Zane becomes a grower, it won't matter if he's a Westerner anymore, the academy will protect him. This reason alone was enough to convince the old couple to finally allow Zane to have the chance to go to school.
"Eeh, but I couldn't stay here with you and Grandpa!? It's noisy in the city!" Zane lay down on the floor and started rolling around.
"No, no!" Grandma Ling nodded, "Besides, there will be other kids there. You can play with them!"
"WHAAAAT!? I start playing with other people!?" Zane suddenly got up and ran over the bed as he jumped like a rabbit in it.
"Yes, the children there will be as strong as you ... probably. So, we are not afraid of accidents happening.. We thought, "Grandma Ling replied hesitantly.
Zane continued to jump up and down on the bed as Grandma Ling tried to calm him down. Suddenly, Grandma Ling started coughing violently again.
"G-grandma?" Zane stopped jumping while expressing his concern.
"I'm fine, Grandma Ling is very happy *cough*, can you call Grandpa here?" Grandma Ling comforted Zane while revealing a nice smile.
"O ... OK, I'll get Grandpa now!" Zane jumped out of bed hastily.
When Zane was about to leave the room, he turned to Grandma Ling.
'Mr. Voice, please activate Judgment Eyes! '
[Warning: Souls 02 and 03 is against the activation of skill]
'Please, Mr. Voice! '
[Alma 01: Eyes of Judgment]
His black eyes suddenly turned white for a fraction of a second as Mr. Voice touched his ears.
Zane revealed a very sad expression before finally leaving the room.
A few weeks later, Zane finally entered the city of Taizhou for the first time.
"W-Woah! W-w-w-what is that!? W-what is that!?" Zane frantically walked around all the stalls he could see in the city.
Initially, Ling and Ling were supposed to come with Zane to drop him off at the Taizhou Academy examination site, but Ling's health began to worsen so that the couple could not come.
The townspeople began to gather when they realized that a child was running around town with a stupid expression on his face and checking every stall he saw.
"Who left this girl here?"
"Hehe, how beautiful it is!"
"Why is a western dwarf running through our city?"
A commotion began to break out. Some people have expressed concern, some have expressed joy, but there are also some who have expressed annoyance.
"Somebody call the guards, there's a Western dwarf running through our town." said an old man with disdain.
"Ssssh, watch what you're saying, look at her waist!" another man scolded the old man while pointing at Zane's waist.
"That ... a pass from Taizhou Academy?" the old man swallowed his saliva as he moved nervously away from the crowd.
Although Zane was not yet a student of Taizhou Academy, the guards would not kindly accept people who will mock someone related to Taizhou Academy, even if they are Western.
As Zane still curiously checked all the shops, a group of men calmly approached him.
"Hello, little girl. Will you take the exam for Taizhou Academy?" a skinny man with dark circles in his eyes hit Zane on the shoulder.
When Zane turned to see who was talking to him, the skinny man quickly retracted his hands when he was surprised to see Zane's black pupils.
"Hello sir! Y-yes! I'm going to Taizhou Academy!" Zane quickly asked and got straight as he greeted the skinny man.
'T-this dwarf.. I don't think it's anything,' the skinny man wiped his sweat as he waved, "May I see your pass? We, the older brothers, are teachers at the Academy." The skinny one pointed to his little group.
For some reason, your group laughed when they were introduced.
"Uhhmm, OK. Here you go, sir!" Zane handed the copper plate to the skinny man.
The skinny man waved the slab around to check it, he bit the plate before nodding his head.
"This is really an exam pass, come with us. This older brother will take him to the examination site, "the skinny man put the exam pass into his bag as he told Zane to follow his group.
"Yes sir!" without even a hint of suspicion, Zane nodded as he followed the group like a rabbit being led to the guillotine.
The thin man's group once again laughed maliciously as they drove Zane away from the lively square.
The group walked for a while to reach a dark alley devoid of people.
"Eeeeh ... doesn't smell right here, sir!" Zane covered his nose when they entered the dark alley. " Are we at the gym yet?"
Zane looked around and was surprised to see how different this place was from the lively square in which he was just moments ago.
"HAHAHA! You stupid little shit!" the group laughed as they suddenly revealed an ugly and perverted expression on their faces.
"It's a good move, boss. A Western girl like this will be worth a high price on the market!" , said the fat man from the group while rubbing his hands.
"Are we sure about this? This bitch is an examiner at the Academy."
"Relax, Fengfeng. Nobody saw us. kekeke"
The group began to discuss how they began to surround Zane in a circle.
"Uhhmm, what's going on, kind gentlemen?" Zane bowed his head as he found himself confused about what these men were talking about.
"Hahaha! Don't you understand yet, little girl? We tricked you!" The skinny man laughed poorly when he pulled a knife.
"I'm a boy?" Zane looked at the skinny man as he becomes even more confused with the situation.
"What was that about?"
"W-what? You expect us to believe that!? HAHA! It's no use, we won't let you go, miss, "the skinny one laughed even more when he ordered one of his men to tie up Zane
"Come here, little girl. I won't hurt you, Keke!" said one of the men with a rope when he approached Zane.
"Uhhmm, does that mean you won't take me to the gym?" Zane replied, this time with a slight disappointment in his voice.
"Oh, oh no. Let's take him to a school, but a different school!" said the man with the rope as he continued to approach Zane.
"Uhhmm, no thanks. I have to go to Taizhou Academy. Please give me the pass back, please." Zane shook his head as he looked at the scrawny boy who took the slab.
"Haha! This is mine now, little girl. You won't need it where you're going," the skinny man waved the copper plate mockingly.
"Give it back, please, my grandmother gave it to me." Zane reached out when his face started pouting.
"Oh is that so? Then maybe I should visit Grandma to thank her in person? Kekeke! Hurry up and finish tying this brat up so we can go!" Skinny turned his back and walked away.
"Okidoki Bos-", before the man with the rope can finish his sentence, he felt his whole body change as he felt a heavy force hitting his stomach.
The group was surprised by the sudden turn of events, all they heard was a sound of something exploding and their friend with a rope was suddenly planted on the wall a few feet away.
"Little bitch, what have you done?"
"I think I know what you are ... my grandfather Ling told me about you..."
Suddenly, the alley that was dark enough became even darker as chilling pressure began to build up. The group felt a painful cold sting on their skin as Zane released a breath.
Zane slowly raised his hand and pointed at the skinny man, the group trembled as they nervously awaited what was to come.
"W...wait! Young master! W-we were just joking... h-here, y-y-you can have th-"
"You guys... are pedophiles."
"....", the group looked at each other in bewilderment.
"And Grandpa said that pedophiles..."
"...Need their balls smacked!"