"Is he doing that again?" Lin Hua asked Liu.
"Yup, he is," Liu replied.
"He looks so sad..." Lin Hua said.
The seer sat on the roof, staring at the moon, reminiscing.
"He has his shit to deal with," Cao Tang said as he dragged the four prying eyes away. "Go the fuck back to sleep."
Cao Tang understood the seer rather well, both having memories of the crappy life they had before. Somehow, Cao Tang was able to recognize it, as the seer suffered through the same pain he did.
"Sup?" Cao Tang said as he seated himself next to the seer in the dead of night.
"Look at you. A cringe asshole is now able to empathize with others. I wonder how I did that," the seer asked, gazing towards the moon.
It was a rhetorical question that needed no reply. And for a while, there was just the serene beauty of the moonlit night and silence.
"For a very long time, ever since I was reincarnated... you probably already guessed what my backstory is," Cao Tang broke the silence.
"I know. At least I do have a solid idea, but in a nutshell, backstab and betrayal or some shit, right?" the seer confirmed Cao Tang's suspicions.
"Right, so for a very long time, I was driven by vengeance. I was extremely self-centered, and the only thing on my mind was vengeance. I didn't associate with people much. My sole focus was my cultivation. And I was putting people in 'with' or 'against' me categories, and somehow, I don't know why, but putting people in the 'against' category was just so... easy to do. It gave me this sense of security, you know. But then, after you guys pulled me out of that little cocoon and spent so much time with the two of you... just talking and laughing... well, it felt different. I felt like I could actually call you guys my friends. I have had friends before, but that was different. It was an empty give-and-take relation. I... realized that friends that I made in my past life... just calling them that was my mistake, not because, in the end, they betrayed me, but for not being able to realize that they were my friends because of factors that were not entirely... you know me. It was the second time in my life that I just... enjoyed someone's company. If you guys were to backstab me, I would wonder for hundreds of years why? But in my case, I know why, which is..." Cao Tang could keep going, but he simply could not find the words.
"Jeez, dude, it's fine. I get what you are trying to say," Neon said as he pushed a fist onto his shoulders.
"Yeah, I suck at this... I don't even know myself... but the point of it all was: Don't abandon the guy. He needs us... And I want to help him, not because he is going to be someone powerful in the future but to just ensure that he will be around when I wish to see him again. I don't even think much of vengeance these days, and it's mainly thanks to you. He is the type of guy who should have been dead for a while, and I can see him dying because of us. He is, you know, like a rare treasure..." Cao Tang's train continued.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I will help you guys. Jeez, enough with the cringe. You guys sometimes really piss me off," the seer made sure to properly and permanently derail the train this time.
With this, Cao Tang got up, gave a pat on the seer's shoulder, and left.
You are spreading like a virus now. Look what you did to my potential host.
"Ugh... God, you again. Fuck off already. Why are you still here? Like being insulted, you exhibitionist."
I shall remember this insult. I shall remember all insults ever chucked at me by you. And I shall have it paid back tenfold.
"Ugh... stop! Go away! You cringy weirdo. You are spoiling the night for me."
And with that, the system once again left the seer to be.
It was cold that night and exceptionally silent, except for little skirmishes between assassins, cultivators, and martial artists here and there. A few would run around, and a few would hop rooftops at great speed. The noises produced, however, were minimal, just light tapping and steel banging in the distance and no more.
The first thing you need to mastermind anything is information, and the seer knew just where to get a shit-ton of it.
"Ay, Lin Hua. Let's go see your grandfather and aunt," the seer yelled from a corner of the staircase.
"Huh," an expected reply. "No fucking way."
She had no choice and was dragged along.
"A very important part of masterminding something is information, and we are going to draw on it," the seer lectured as they walked the bustling streets.
Somewhere along the way, the seer bumped into a pretty lady with raven black hair and red eyes, much like the seers. They both stared at each other for quite a while before tears started rolling down the woman's cheeks. She suddenly grabbed the seer and started sobbing. She looked familiar. The seer and she looked way too alike.
Muhahahahahhahahahahah. I pulled some circuits to save your sister. While it is true the entire family is dead, except for the two of you, I managed to save her. I did it specifically to bother you later on.
"What circuitry is this?" Neon murmured.
The commotion had once again gathered a crowd. Like every other time, the citizens of Murim had nothing better to do. They loved these dramas to compensate for their pathetic existence by approving and disapproving of others. They didn't have a life of their own. All they did was chat about this guy doing that guy, and so on. The people in power were shit, but the people who were not were equally shit. They judged instantly and punished and rewarded people based on their whims and fancies.
A major reason why people are able to get away with the shit they do get away with. No matter how powerful you are, you can never go against the masses. For then, you become a tyrant. Then, a hero emerges and slaughters you.
This is not very different from the actual society people live in, but in the case of Murim, this issue is especially severe.
In Murim, people will always be against you. They hold so much power as the collective yet are extremely weak and pathetic. They have no cooperation. Therefore, the one who controls the people controls the Murim.
And right now, the seer needed to get out of the trouble he was suddenly in as he had to fend off both the people and the pursuers who won't stop until the two siblings are dead.
Thankfully, though, the seer is great at manipulating people. This was an amazing opportunity to gain a higher reputation value, and the seer would not have it any other way.