"Ah, my sister, what have those evil scums done to thee? Your radiance is lost, and you look ever so pale. Your skin has lost color, and your eyes spark. Why must the world be so cruel to the likes of us commoners? Why must we be constantly victimized and oppressed? It makes me happy thou lives. Now that we have been reunited, we shall build a small house away from these inhuman folks who oppress and those who enjoy our oppression."
The seer was being overly dramatic, but he knew that this kind of shit would work. All that Shakespeare he read had to be put to some use somewhere, and it is designed for theatrical dramas, so it was a perfect fit.
The seer continued to follow his description of sad events with dramatic poses and occasional tears. His sister had already passed out due to the smell of chloroform, which made things very convenient.
Yes, he keeps all sorts of poisons in his robes and uses the ones necessary. Neon is a rather adaptable and quick-witted person.
And from the crowd stepped out an enraged baldy who had a fierce sense of justice. A member of the Murim Alliance. The reason justice is blind and bald. The Bodhisattva of the Eight Trigrams Shaolin Temple. The blind and bald enforcer of justice known throughout the entire Murim. The truthful sun of Murim, Atid Daishin.
"Jackpot," the seer thought to himself.
I don't like where this is going.
"Suck it, stupid system. You only ended up helping. How utterly pathetic and useless can you be?" the seer taunted the system again as is the custom.
There were tears rolling down his scarred eyes of his, which were but a complete white that lacked a retina. It was but a plain white surface.
This man capable of ascension to the upper realm had stayed behind for the poor ones he pitied. Flames enveloped his stylized clothes which were a mix of what monks wear and the alliance's uniforms.
He did his beads as he heard all that had happened. Neon talked in detail about the incident that destroyed his family.
"We are just common people. Blood relations and family actually matter unlike most of you cultivators who would cut and kill even their siblings and parents. sob sob sob," Neon went on as tears continued to roll down his cheeks.
The monk was so angry that the flames of justice that covered his enormous body would outgrow him and start burning even civilians. But he cared too much to let that happen.
"THEY SHALL SUFFER!" And the monk jumped off into the sky to rain down on the evildoers' hideout like a meteor. The address that the seer had very subliminally given to him during his rambling and complaining.
The crowd dispersed along with the man as the annihilation and bloodbath that would follow would be a more interesting event.
"Yawn Man," the seer stretched and got back up. "Seemed the family part really made him emotional."
Lin Hua stood there as the seer recovered himself and his sister. They went back to dump the seer's sister onto the bed in their room and once again started for the Ai family estate.
Lin Hua wanted to say a lot but did not know how to or what to do, and hence she didn't say anything throughout the trip.
The Ai family estate was large and still expanding.
"Hey, let's move. No way in hell is the An family gonna have a bigger estate than us, Ai family," some workers shouted as they sped up their work.
They were not obstructed as Neon was carrying a pass with him on his left.
The Ai and An families were contested on various fronts. They were fighting for control of the Kunlun Academy, the spirit stone veins in the north of Xianhu, the spiritual well of the south, and for an empty seat at the emperor's court.
No way in the eighteen levels of hell were they gonna give up power or make an agreement to let go of one resource for another. They wanted everything, and they would have everything.
The problem was that their power levels were more or less the same, and neither wanted an all-out war as they would then be third-partied by other clans such as the Hao clan or the Nai clan.
But it's Murim, and they will not hesitate to do so even if it means the ruin of both.
"Aahaahhah, both my granddaughter and the seer are here. What a lucky day," the old man laughed happily and lightly.
"This granddaughter greets grandpa," Lin Hua presented a greeting.
"So, what are you two doing together? Oooohuhuhu," the old man was obviously implying something.
"No such thing, Grandpa. I simply hired him to protect me and the package," Lin Hua continued.
"Ah yes, that. I hope Mr. Seer can keep this a secret. Being what you are, I am sure you already know of its contents..." the old man said with a much serious and grave expression. The mood completely changed.
Neon did not reply; he just raised his right hand and closed his eyes, essentially saying, "Yeah, yeah, don't worry."
Neon was here to look at the old man's collection, and so they did.
"Fake," Neon said as he picked something up from the shelf and threw it onto the ground.
"Fake."
"Fake."
"Fake."
"Fake," one after another, he assaulted every shelf.
"Fake."
"Fake."
"Fake."
"Fake," he continued to break and throw shit away.
The more seer appraised, the more angry and depressed the old man got.
"Oh, this one is not an original, but... it's been copied to perfection. It's not inferior to the real deal in any way. Nice," the seer was extremely impressed with this particular sword he held.
And while Neon was loving it, the old man was pissed. Not at the seer but at himself and all those mf* that had scammed him. Even his treasured Black Flame Sword was but a duplicate copy and not the original.
"God damn, the craftsmanship on this one. For one to replicate it to such divine perfection with these minor quality-of-life improvements. It's actually superior to that of the originals," the seer continued to admire the sword's beauty. The seer loves swords and guns.
This made the old man extremely relieved and happy.
"I don't remember the great master Pang Jin ever attempting to better any of his weapons," the old man attempted to engage.
"No, it's not him... it is someone else. You can feel that that person was attempting to surpass Master Pang Jin. He has imbued his name in this sword, but it had been through so many hands. You can notice the slight wear," Neon interrupted.
The two nerds talked for hours about their love for various weapons and their creators, and the seer smashed yet more artifacts from the old man's shelves. By the end of the day, only about 48 out of about 200 or 300 were left authentic.
The old man was having multiple breakdowns due to sudden jolts of happiness that he got from talking to someone as knowledgeable as Neon and the heartbreak of fake artifacts that were destroyed by the seer.
"Excuse me, elder, but it's extremely urgent," a girl in messenger clothes rammed in through the door.
"The ancient Yin Yang set that was uncovered has been stolen. We suspect it was the An family."
At the same time, elsewhere...
"Goddammit, I bet it's the Ai family who stole the Yin Yang set. It was supposed to be a joint effort. I never trusted them, but they have gone too far," yelled a shadowy figure from the throne.
"Go find it!" the figure yelled again.
"Yes, patriarch," and the shadowy figures dispersed. It was now an empty hall.
And during the same time, a man was flying through the air with tears still rolling out of his eyes. He recalled the 'family' speech of the poor man he had met. "I shall bring justice for that pitiful man's family," he flew on, still crying.