"My apologies, everyone. I could not protect you all and let that fiend take someone. I am ashamed!" Zhuo Fan gasped and said in a heartbroken tone, watching them with a painful look.
Li Jingtian next to him felt his face jump around from all the twitching.
[For the sake of Luo clan's future, Steward Zhuo has curbed his mean streak to win their hearts. Or that black captain would never have gotten away even with a hostage.]
Yun clan bowed in gratitude, "Steward Zhuo, please, you don't have to say it. If not for you, all of Yun clan would've ended in misfortune. You have no reason to feel remorse. It should be us thanking you instead. But what we don't understand is what could've happened for us, who look after the people, to incur such a disaster?"
The Yun clan shook their heads.
Zhuo Fan hid a snicker, bearing only his laments, "The world is fraught with evil. Even if you are innocent, the tallest tree always gets the wind! Yun clan is a special clan that everyone has their eyes on. Now more than ever, with the imperial capital saturated with scums of society, many clans are coveting the Yun clan."
Startled, the Yun clan reflected on these words, then sighed with remorse.
They knew now that it was their bloodline that had brought this calamity. Who didn't want to proclaim themselves king, who didn't want to see fate, to act by the heaven's will?
But they had the imperial family's protection over the last millenium to curb these thoughts.
And when all the top dogs gathered in the imperial capital, they could feel the noose tightening on their throats. It started with Clan Head Yun Xuanji, a show of the culprit's cruelty and savagery.
They did not know who did it, but one thing was clear. Staying put would've been obliteration!
Clueless as they were, the herald of their calamity was the one in front of them, the demon turned savior, Steward Zhuo.
Yun Xuanji ended up dead because he had forsaken his neutral ground and exceeded his standing. It had nothing to do with the rest of the clan.
It was actually Zhuo Fan who incited fear in them, coercing them to flee into his asylum.
Yun clan was made up of simple people, who were not sharp enough to guess Zhuo Fan's multi-layered machinations. So seeing that Yun Xuanji trusted him, they did the same and fled.
But who was the Yun clan? They literally birthed the High Priest every generation. They guided the development of the nation and its policies.
And now that they had run away with Zhuo Fan, who the hell would answer all those riddles and conundrums? Zhuo Fan had just stolen their baby, from right under their nose!
Hence, as a result, black shadows rained from the sky. All they wanted to do was to guide the sheep back in their pen.
But with how their savage act worked only to stoke the dread in Yun clan and Zhuo Fan's timely arrival had saved their future, it only pushed Yun clan closer to the Luo clan.
Snickering in his mind, Zhuo Fan put on a particularly heavy look, "People, be at ease. As long as Luo clan stands, for the sake of my friendship with sir Yun Xuanji, I will definitely take you to the safety of Windgaze City. That is where you will never have to worry again!"
"Thank you, Steward Zhuo, for saving us and for everything. We will never forget this!" The Yun clan bowed deeply.
Zhuo Fan waved them off, his grin growing so much that it threatened to split his skull, "Please, you don't have to do that. You can trust in my clan. My only wish is that you remain in our domain, ha-ha-ha…"
Through promises, vague threats and nudges, Yun clan had become his die hard lackey. As if the only one in the whole wide world to save them from doom would ever be Luo clan.
However, among those who wanted the Yun clan for themselves, Zhuo Fan was the first to act, stealing them from the imperial family's jaws.
After a few more pleasantries, Zhuo Fan took out a vial of recovery pills for the elders. It took them six hours to stabilize their wounds.
Zhuo Fan was in no rush to return. He'd only leave when the elders were at least in their peak state.
"Steward Zhuo, I heard you call them spirit puppets. What are they?" Li Jingtian inquired.
Zhuo Fan derided, "A bunch of sorry-ass, lame-ass losers. No one would willingly become a spirit puppet unless forced into a corner!"
The power couple frowned, looking at him all serious.
"We all know that only by reaching the Ethereal Stage can one's mind and soul fuse, allowing them to shed their bodies. Even if the body crumbles, you can just possess another."
The three nodded.
"However, what do you think will happen if the body dies before reaching the Ethereal Stage and the soul lingers? Will it still survive" Zhuo Fan said.
The three shook their heads.
"The soul can last for a hundred days at most, then dies!" Li Jingtian's firm answer came.
Zhuo Fan nodded, "It would be fine if it were. But the demonic path has a secret art allowing experts beneath the Ethereal Stage to wander around as their souls, surviving on the spiritual energy of the world. Hence the name spirit puppets!"
The three sharpened their ears, hanging onto every word.
"The name says it all. They are puppets of the spirit world. Once a should-be-dead person is refined into a spirit puppet, to say nothing of their soul never growing stronger, he would roam the world as neither man nor shade. A zombie pretty much sums it up. Unless one is consumed by revenge and hatred, one would rather die than choose such a pitiful existence. It is a downright disgrace! On top of that, a spirit puppet has to consume souls to maintain their Yuan Qi; a truly vile secret art.
"It hardly matters if they meet me, a demonic cultivator. But stumble upon a righteous cultivator and those overzealous warriors of righteousness would chase them to the ends of the earth. It is part of their job description, and also earns them merit. It does wonders for their mentality, tempering their hearts."
The three blinked in understanding.
Xue Qingjian then asked, "Something is off here. Steward Zhuo, you just said that those filled with immense regret and hatred would turn into spirit puppets, but we just faced hundreds of them. There's no way for there to be so many warriors knowledgeable of this art and be so consumed with revenge. It's too much of a coincidence."
"Ha-ha-ha, those mass produced goods aren't included."
Zhuo Fan cackled, "The other side is amassing a secret army, forcing cultivators into becoming spirit puppets. To Tianyu, who has never seen a shadow of an Ethereal Stage expert and with so few martial arts focused on the soul, spirit puppets would be a headache to face.
"It is a blessing in disguise that they are so hard to make. Not anyone can become one. The slightest slip up and it'd be the end! Elder Li, you know how the kids Old Pang is training in the Wraith Art have a low success rate. Well this one is even lower, ha-ha-ha…"
Li Jingtian was stunned.
Ever since joining the Luo clan, Captain Pang and he had received close training in the same art. Of course he knew about the young guards Luo clan was rearing as well.
For one guy to come out of a batch of hundred was already promising.
But with the spirit puppet's chance of being created even lower, isn't it the same as Zhuo Fan wiping out a hundred thousand strong army of theirs by killing those hundreds?
Li Jingtian had a sour taste in his mouth.
Zhuo Fan laughed seeing through him, "You don't have to worry, they have plenty more where that came from. Ha-ha-ha…"
"But Steward Zhuo, you have no trouble dealing with them while we are hopeless. Teach us how!" Xue Qingjian noticed Zhuo Fan's casual attitude and cutely said.
The others looked on with hope.
It was tough to say if it was from their incapability to deal with spirit puppets or from the need to learn more of Zhuo Fan's secrets.
Sticking so close to Zhuo Fan for so long had taught them that his bag of tricks ran deep, in both quality and number. Far better than the entire Tianyu could ever provide.
Nabbing one or two of them was the greatest fortune the trio could ever hope for!
This was one of the reasons these experts were so casual about staying with Luo clan. To say nothing of a martial fanatic like Li Jingtian, who practically lived for power.
With how Zhuo Fan had had his head deep in official matters, and being lazy on top, he felt disinclined to teach them. Today was the best chance to squeeze something out of him. And they weren't about to miss it.
Glancing at them, Zhuo Fan smiled, "No need. Spirit puppets are merely at the 3rd level. Low level spirit puppets are soul-based; no different from a wraith. With your strong Radiant Stage strength, your intent is enough to destroy them. Mid level spirit puppets can enter weapons or armor, making them their vessels and using them to somewhat resist soul attacks. Like those black men. You can't one shot them, but giving them a deep wound is still easy.
"The crucial thing is the black captain, a peak level spirit puppet. He can phase in and out, with a soul so strong that only a specialized martial art can defeat him."
The three bobbed their heads, like eager children.
"I reckon strong guys like him are limited to just him. And since I've harmed him, he won't be showing his face anytime soon. You can rest easy." Zhuo Fan waved his hand.
The three got his gist and sank into depression. [The kid doesn't wanna teach us.]
Xue Qingjian pouted, shaking Zhuo Fan's hand in a bratty voice, "Steward Zhuo, we can forget about these crotchety geezers, but what about little old me and my precious body? Who am I to blame if that miscreant scars it? If you are that scared of having your secret leaked, sister will visit you in the dead of night. Will you teach me then…" (StarReader: secret here can also mean a cheat/hack.)
Zhuo Fan's face twitched at Xue Qingjian's rosy cheeks, "Sister Xue, please have a modicum of dignity and act your age. Your man is right behind you!"
"He-he-he, Steward Zhuo, why are you being so testy? We're all on the same side, I don't mind. If you still find it lacking, I can join you as well…"
"So will I!" Qiu Yanhai exposed a disgraceful grin, followed by Li Jingtian's shout…
Ugh!
Zhuo Fan almost had a case of the technicolor yawn. Waving all over the place, "Fine, fine, I'll take it as my loss. I'll teach you something', a profound ranked martial art focused on souls. Finger of Death…"