(Yi Feng POV)
*Click*
I unsheathed the sword a bit to uncover a polished blade. A glimmer of light reflected from the metal flashed for a moment before I fully unsheathed it.
*Shing*
I inspected the blade for a moment while thinking about what kind of enemies I might be dealing with. The man I had killed just now was only a 3rd Realm cultivator, Essence Gathering, at the 9th layer.
With the authority of the voice they must have been a little high on the chain of command, but just this man alone shouldn't have been able to beat someone like this body's previous owner.
In fact the bodies of the other woman in the room had cultivation ranges from the 8th layer of Essence Gathering to the 7th layer of Foundation Establishment.
The pile of women numbered roughly 27 and out of the 27 only 5 were in the 4th Realm. Unless there was another pile somewhere this force of 6 Foundation Establishment should have wiped out the high ranks of these bandits, that is if this one that I just killed was considered strong. The body I was inhabiting was actually the Foundation Establishment with the lowest cultivation too.
There must be either multiple in the 3rd stage of the 4th Realm or there may even be a 5th Realm cultivator or two.
While thinking I was taking the time to attach the sheath of the blade to my sash. Tossing the body of the man I killed in the room with those other dead women I left with the sword in hand. Of course I made sure to take anything useful on him, but it seems he didn't even have a spatial ring.
Very quickly I realized the kind of location I was in, it was a cave system, the walls were jagged and sharp, the ground was rough and uneven, and the "rooms" were oddly shaped.
I stopped around every corner before using my Qi Sense to check if anyone was actually around. On one hand I really wanted to kill every last one of these people who would do such things to a group of women, but on the other hand I didn't want to get caught by their overwhelming numbers if I were to alert them all.
'Hmm, I'll just go for a good balance between the two. Hide in the shadows from big groups and kill the stragglers! I can't simply let them go without any repercussions.'
Even if there were only two of them there's always a chance that they might have some kind of instant messaging device. It would only take a single mistake on my part for the whole place to come down on me.
Sneaking up to one of the lone men I held his mouth shut as I inverted the grip on the sword and plunged it down through his neck. His body struggled for a few seconds to break free, until eventually it grew limp. As he did I tried my best to hide the body by shoving it into some crevice. Of course not before taking away any useful items he had and on his person was of course some kind of single use messaging talisman.
Going further I encountered groups or pairs of people wandering around. Fortunately I decided on checking the area with my Qi sense from behind a corner instead of fully exposing myself to find out. If I hadn't I don't know how many times I would have been spotted by now.
As I ventured into new sections of the cave I repeated the same routine of killing stragglers. I don't know how long I was doing it for, but I had killed at least 13 of these people already who were all around or lower than the guy I killed earlier. Of those 13 people only 1 of them even had a spatial ring, even then they were of the lowest quality.
After a long amount of time going from one area to another I heard a commotion which caught my attention. The action came down from a specific tunnel and since I have been aimlessly wandering these caves I decided I might as well find out what that could be.
As I came close I started to hear the clashing of weapons, metal against metal, groans and moans. With Qi Sense I could tell that the battle was between high level cultivators. I was currently behind a number of random objects that these bandits must have stolen to make this cave a little more comfortable. With a crevice between the objects and my curiosity getting the better of me, I took a little peek.
Through the cracks I could see a battle that was already nearing its end. Two men were on the ground covered in serious wounds if not dead. There remained two people who were still fighting, but it was clear one was giving them all while the other didn't even break a sweat.
The two who were left standing consisted of a woman and a man. The man stood hesitantly with a shaky sword in hand and seemed similar to those others on the ground; his cultivation was around the 5th Realm and they wore red armbands.
The woman on the other hand held two hand fans in either hand and similarly to me wore white, but her robes had more detail and an additional color as well, black. The color seemed to seep into the skirt of the robes and into the lapels as well outlining flowery embroidering. I also couldn't discern her cultivation for some reason, perhaps because of some kind of treasure. There was also a distinctive difference between this woman and many others, she had a number of white tails extending from behind her as well as a complementary pair of fluffy white ears atop her head.
I had thought about leaving at this time so I wouldn't be noticed by her. I had no memories after all and if I had to deal with her I might not be able to act right.
"That's enough of this."
Abruptly, with those simple words she swiped her fan up diagonally and a head flew up. The man's headless body slumped forward, falling to the ground rapidly creating a puddle of red liquid.
My eyes focused on the head for a moment as it still hadn't fallen to the ground yet. When the head fell it happened to fall directly in front of the crack I was peeking through. Immediately after the head fell past I felt like we made eye contact and I froze for a moment.
I felt a slight terror and tried to back up only to hear a *Tak* as her hand fan taped my shoulder. In the blink of an eye the woman had disappeared from in front and now stood behind me.
"Oh? One of my disciples actually managed to make it out? Stand up, let's have a chat."
Replacing the hand fan was her hand which turned me around to make me face her, but I never looked her in the eye just in case she could discern something.
"Hmm? Oh! You must be Disciple Yi Feng, tell me did any other make it out alive?"
'My name is Yi Feng in this body too? That's quite convenient, but how would she know? Do I have some kind of identifier?'
"No, Ma'am. I'm the only survivor."
"Hmm? You're not calling me Sect Master? No matter, I'll let you off this time because of what you went through."
'Hah?! I almost fucked up already?!'
"I-I'm sorry, Sect Master! It won't happen again!"
"It's alright, now come let's go and get out of here."
"Sect Master, are you just going to let these people who killed my sisters off?"
"Of course not, once we leave your sisters will be avenged by your fellow disciples and elders outside. Hmm, wait a minute."
"Y-yes?"
My heart started to beat and pound as she said wait.
She raised my chin and finally I got a good look at her face.
She wore cherry red lipstick which pops out with her pale skin. A small tooth poked out from her upper lip. Her eyes had a purple hue to them, like an amethyst , and emitted a seductive feel just by looking at her, in fact her whole person exuded the air of a seductress.
'T-this person! I-isn't she Li Daji, that should be his sixth disciple right? Did she finally part with him? Perhaps I can somehow find a way to contact him through her. As his disciple she must have a way right? This is perfect!'
I had come across this woman multiple times whenever I came to see that man. At times I questioned whether this disciple of his wanted more than a simple relationship, but eventually I began to believe that she only acted this way. Before that demon of a woman came this girl always seemed to cling to him, but I noticed that once she did come, Li Daji's interaction with her master became a little less often, instead almost like she was replaced by that woman. When our mass execution occurred this woman should have still been with her master.
'Maybe, just maybe she was also kicked out of his life like we were. If that's true then we can work together! But, should I expose my identity? No, at least not so soon. Perhaps all those times she clung to her master she really had been in love and if she knew who I am, maybe she might think of me as another competitor. That's all if she still has such feelings for him. I suppose it's worth a try though, who wouldn't want the chance to get their love back?'
"You have a scar across your face." She raised her hand to caress my cheek and with her thumb she lightly touched the scar across my eye.
"Those men did this to us and my sisters too!"
Her eyes became colder as she placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry disciples, they won't be able to escape from here. I'll make sure to tell the others outside that they shouldn't be merciful."
She let go of me before starting to lead me out of here.
"Um, Sect Master, I have a question for you.."
"...Yes? Go on. I'll listen to you, whether or not I answer will depend on that question."
"You, you're the 6th disciple of Master Ip Jiang, Li Daji, correct?"
Immediately she stopped in her tracks and turned around to face me. Her facial expressions haven't changed from before, but I could feel that the air around us seemed to tense up a bit.
"People across the world hear the names of those 10 disciples numerous times, but even with the names, the faces and features of those who barely leave the mountain and those who don't make names for themselves are usually unknown.
The 6th Disciple, Li Daji should be one such person no? Now, why do you believe I'm that 6th disciple? Disciple Yi Feng, what made you come to this conclusion? Better yet, let's assume that I am this 6th disciple. What would you do then?"
"I…"
'Shit! Did I just reveal myself? I didn't think about it until now that she never really left the mountain. Perhaps, this really isn't her? No, she has to be! I've already outed myself as odd with this question. I might as well push and hope for the best.'
"Miss Li Daji, I just happened to see you from afar before. You were always with your master, but now you aren't, it just feels odd to me. Perhaps I could help you somehow."
"Hmm, you seem dead set on the fact that I'm Li Daji huh?"
I only nodded in response.
"You know an odd amount of information, but there is no free lunch. What are you after?"
'The same thing you are, your master!!'
"I would just want to be able to meet your master! You're the only one who can take me to see him… I also heard that he is a good weapon creator as well so I'd like for him to specifically make a weapon for me." After my first sentence I realized that the offer might be a little too good so I made it sound a little more greedy.
"Hmm, alright. You were correct, I am in fact Li Daji. We'll discuss this matter later back at the sect. Come with me Yi Feng."