The next hour passed by as Alex and Natasha bantered among each other and satisfied Xialing's idle curiosities. Soon, they had passed the valley between the many hills in the subdimension and came upon a lakeside village.
The trio were welcomed by almost a hundred armed soldiers, all of them pointing their weapons at them, sporting hostile expressions. They were ready to attack the newcomers at a moment's notice. They were predominantly holding either spears or bows with nocked arrows.
"Hi there," Alex greeted the natives in fluent Chinese with a smile as if he hadn't even noticed the hostile expressions on their faces.
"Leave," An old man in front spoke up, "Before we are forced to make you leave."
"Well, that's no way to treat a guest," Alex said. "You're scaring our Xialing back there," He glanced back at Xialing, who was standing on the ground but was timidly hiding behind Natasha. While she seemed to be reacting to the situation, her eyes seemed glazed, as if she was distracted by something. It made Alex shake his head as he turned back to the old man. "My name is Apex," He said. "I come in peace. Who are you?"
"Leave," The old man seemed stubborn, "I will not ask a third time."
Alex showed a predatory smile, "You know, old man, I heard very similar words from another old man just a few hours ago. He was sent running with his tail tucked between his legs. Would you like a demonstration?"
"Shouldn't you help him?" Xialing pulled Natasha's hand.
"Definitely not," She said. "It's very rare that I get to see him personally take action."
Xialing wasn't sure what Natasha meant, but she agreed nonetheless, leaving things to the adults.
"Arrogant," The old man grunted and grabbed a spear from the soldier on his side. He pointed it at Alex and released a powerful blast of golden energy.
Xialing screamed as she saw the beam of golden light approaching Apex, who didn't seem to react at all.
Alex saw the beam of energy approaching him and raised his hand in the path of the beam.
"So this is Qi, huh?" Alex said as he intercepted the beam and controlled it into a visible sphere in his palm. "How interesting …" Since Qi was essentially life energy, he used ‹Biological Manipulation› to control it and absorb the energy into himself.
[EP +0.01]
His smile widened as he noticed the minuscule increase in his EP.
This is going to be my long-term source of EP once I've exhausted Earth-Z. There is a limit to those abominations.
The old man exclaimed in disbelief, but Alex mostly ignored his words and subsequent orders to fire at him. He was focused on analyzing this different kind of life energy that he had just gotten access to.
Moments later, hundreds of Qi blasts and dragon arrows were thrown at Alex, each of the combatants shooting him in their own ways.
"Didn't I already say that I come in peace?" Alex asked before waving his palm at the arrows. Black tentacles instantly burst out of the ground and grabbed each of the arrows, absorbing the infused Qi inside them. As for the blasts that were released by the spears, they were naturally pulled toward his palm and coalesced into a dense ball of golden life energy.
[EP +1.53]
[EP +1.47]
He effortlessly absorbed the Qi that was released by those people before speaking, "If you're done, how about we have a civil talk? I have no intention to kill you all, which I hope you can understand."
"What's going on here? What's all this commotion?" A feminine voice came from the back of the formation. The people made way for a slightly aged woman who looked to be in her forties, "Guang Bo," She looked at the old man who was still glaring at Alex, "What's going on?"
"Are you the leader here?" Alex asked.
"There is no leader in Ta Lo. We are all equals," The woman spoke. "Who are you, intruder?"
"Do they listen to you when you tell them to lower their weapons?" Alex asked rhetorically. "I'm Apex, as I told your people before they so quickly started shooting at me. Look at how scared our Xialing got because of them."
Natasha's brow twitched at Alex's poorly disguised attempt to paint himself as a victim. Still, Alex's words had the desired effect.
"Xialing?" The woman raised a brow as her expression turned complicated. She couldn't stop herself from looking at the child who was hiding behind this intruder's companion. "Xu Xialing …" She mumbled under her breath before slowly regaining her composure. The implication of an unknown man and woman bringing her niece to Ta Lo was not lost on her.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"We aren't here with malicious intentions," Alex said. "I merely wanted to come here to look and get a feel of your culture. As for our Xialing, she was bored at her father's house and agreed to follow us to Ta Lo. I would have brought her brother as well, but he wasn't as agreeable as her."
"Can I talk to her?" The woman said cautiously. She wouldn't just trust everything that this dangerous man said. "I'm Ying Nan. Her mother's sister."
"That's up to her," Alex said before turning his head a little and looking at Xialing. "Child, do you wish to meet with your aunt?"
Xialing shook her head. She was still pretty spooked by the situation and found solace in hiding behind her new shifu. Alex met Natasha's eyes, and she gave him an affirmative nod before putting her hand on Xialing's head.
"Honey, you can talk to her," Natasha said to her. "She's your family, after all. I'm sure that she's missed you a lot over the years."
The girl shook her head, requiring a good amount of coaxing from Natasha before finally agreeing to meet with her aunt.
"You have to stay with me," Xialing made Natasha promise as the spy could only agree helplessly to the stubborn brat.
As the two approached Ying Nan, Xialing made sure to hold Natasha's hand tightly as if afraid that she would abandon her. Alex could see the pained expression on the face of the middle-aged woman as she looked at her niece, who was pretending that she was a villain.
"Xialing …" The woman was a little hesitant after seeing Xialing's attitude, but still pulled the girl into a gentle and loving embrace, "My niece …" She mumbled sadly.
Xialing didn't quite understand the complicated emotions of her aunt but still hugged her back with one arm, enjoying the warmth, the other was still tightly holding Natasha's hand.
"What about your brother?" Ying Nan asked, "Where's Shang-Chi, Xialing?"
"He ran away," The girl spoke poutily, "Leaving me all alone with Father."
Ying Nan thought for a second and ultimately decided to change the topic, "When we have the time, I'll take you to see your mother's shrine," She said, only to see a vivid array of emotions on the child's face.
Ying Nan didn't say anything, still a little shaken up by the situation. Natasha took the opportunity to step back and stand beside Alex as Xialing followed with her.
The older woman finally regained her composure, "I must apologize for my loss of control. I apologize for the actions of the people of my village, but your appearance was very unorthodox, putting everyone on edge."
"No harm done," Alex shook it off. "How about we get to the crux of the situation?"
"Please," She nodded in agreement.
"It's better to talk about this in a more private setting," Alex said, looking at the people who were all still very much on edge and ready to attack him.
Ying Nan seemed to understand the situation and nodded, "Follow me." She said.
[I thought that the old man would resist or at least show some displeasure.] Natasha commented.
[That just tells us that only this leader thinks that there is no leader of this village. It doesn't matter. As long as they have even the smallest semblance of sense, they will agree to my proposal.]
[How do you plan to steal their dragon?] Natasha asked.
[What's the fun if you already know the plan?] Alex's words made Natasha shake her head with a snort.
They were led to a peaceful seeming pavilion that overlooked the lake behind the village, "We won't be disturbed here. What is it that you have come here for?" The woman asked, her eyes constantly darting toward Xialing, who kept looking at the lake ever since it came into view.
"I wish to learn your ways of harnessing the energy of the self, or Qi," Alex said. "In return, I will help you permanently get rid of your pest problem."
"You are an outsider. It is impossible for you to harness Qi without a trace of the bloodline of our ancestors. That is without mentioning that we are forbidden from passing our teachings on to outsiders."
"Even if I offer to completely solve your pest problem? I can kill it," Alex said.
"It all boils down to trust, Mister … Apex," She said. "We cannot take the risk to open the seal on the basis of some outsider's words. While I am grateful to you for bringing my niece here, that does not mean I will trust you with the core secrets of my heritage."
"Understandable," Alex nodded. "What will it take?"
"I don't follow," Yand Nan said.
"Name your price," Alex said. "What will it take for you to teach me your methods of harnessing Qi? Longevity? Strength? Freedom? Allowing you to connect with the gods that you worship? Letting your branch reconnect with Ta Lo? I can offer things you can't even begin to imagine, Ying Nan."
Each of Alex's words had a soul-stirring effect that shook the woman to her core despite her high mental fortitude.
"I came here with goodwill, Ying Nan," Alex continued, "Don't make the mistake of refusing my good intentions."
"Just … who are you?" The woman couldn't help but ask. The simplistic offer from this unknown outsider had truly shaken her down to her core.
"Me?" Alex suddenly chuckled. "I just wish to free myself from the sick joke of an experiment that is this universe."
***
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