As the two traveled, one walked with enthusiasm while the other trudged. While one found everything amusing and fun, the other had little reason to be excited and up and about.
Not only was Tang interrupted in his sleep, but he also thought that he had seen two figures from his past life pass him by. He was also not thrilled or amused by the under-earth dwellers who, from what he had picked up from chatter, had grown into a complete body consisting of an ass, toes, and all.
"How can one be so unimaginative?" Cao Tang wondered, but then again, so was he. As Tang pondered for more answers to the questions he asked himself, he suddenly found himself lost in the crowd with no signs of neon.
A flood of humans burst out of an adjacent street and flushed Tang down the drain into a smelly and dark area. He could tell he was closer to his destination, and the small little igloo looked much larger from where he stood.
"Not a place you should be," a ghastly cold voice whispered.
And all of a sudden, there was a human-sized crack in the space. From it stretched out two hands that pulled him inside. Cao was only in there for a second, but within that one second, he had lost all sense of direction and time. He went through a full 360-degree rotation in the astral space and came out a bit disoriented.
"Where the fuck did you pop from?" the seer asked, not nearly as surprised as he should be. The look was more akin to worry than surprise.
Cao Tang was reunited with his buddy. It was a neat alleyway where they stood. Neon stood, staring at Tang, waiting for a reply beside the hooded dark mass that was present at the tournament, who also looked at Cao Tang with astonishment.
Beneath their feet was a grotesque, distorted, disfigured, and disabled human who looked so disgusting it was an insult to humanity to call him human. The pitiful and crooked man lay there, spurting blood from various parts of his body.
"You..." the monstrosity spoke in pain while pointing one of his fingers at Tang.
And the two started beating him again.
"GAH, stop hittin' me!" his voice was just as crooked and horrible as he looked.
"Stop! Why are you hitting this pitiful thing?" Cao Tang pushed the two away and looked at the slim-shady-shadow for an answer, wanting to avoid Neon's bullcrap.
"Errh... Because the seer is always right," said the shadowy mass, who had no part of his body exposed to the air.
Cao blinked his eyes in confusion before moving his face in the seer's direction.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because the seer is always right," replied the seer.
"Kala vinasha aba..." the thing began to speak.
"Did I not tell you to fuckin' stop!" the seer yelled.
And the two started beating him again.
Cao Tang stopped them again.
"It's obviously some sort of black magic mind control crap or some shit," Neon yelled in his defense.
"How the fuck do you know that?" Cao Tang argued.
"It's fuckin' Murim! You judge a book by its cover. I am certain it's evil and is gonna come bite my arse very hard one day!" Neon yelled as he attempted to finish the job.
Swish
A hidden blade emerged from the seer's boots, and it was about to finish the job when once again Tang interrupted him. As he did that, there was a flash, and the thing was gone.
"I have a feeling that you won't be seeing him for a long time," the slim shadow told. "I will go tend to my business now. This should help us be in contact." The slim shadow gave something to the seer and vanished into a blackened air.
"Let's go," the seer told in a voice barely audible to Cao.
The two climbed the ashen stairs until they reached the gate. Two guards stood there. People in Hidden Toad Village were not at all like your cringe folks who lived on the surface. Or maybe it was just the seer's lucky day.
"You can't go in," said the guard.
"Why can't he go in?" asked the other guard.
"You want to interrupt Lord Middle Finger's time with Lady Pinky Finger?" the other guard answered with a question.
"I don't know about you, man, but I am not very psyched about Lord Middle Finger's business with Lord Lady Finger," the other guard said. "Maybe I want these guys to interrupt them."
"Brother of mine, who finger who is not our business. We are guards. We protect. Besides, as long as they are happy, we should not mind, and we should not poke noses where we should not be," the other guard explained.
"Yes, yes, brother, you are so wise. I understand you."
"Good, brother, as you should. It is my responsibility to take care of you."
"Yes, your junior brother is very grateful."
Both took a pause at this moment as they realized something.
"Oh, by any chance, are you the seer?"
"Yes," it was a quick and short reply by the seer.
The two guards retracted their spears and opened the gates. This most definitely popped a nerve in Cao Tang's face. And popped two more when they were told to wait in the gardens for a bit.
The gates were opened for him, and they were greeted by Lord Middle Finger.
"Ah, my father has been... ehm... the elder has been very anxious to meet you. You shall see him shortly. Until then, why don't you sit down and enjoy the little party arranged by my dear Balls." the man was kind and polite as he said it.
Was this disrespectful? No.
Balls were the name of Lord Middle Finger's oldest son.
Lord Middle Finger and Lady Pinky Finger were the current patriarch and matriarchs of the 7-finger organization.
Although now it extends much farther than just fingers. It wasn't always like this. All these bullshit changes took place after a certain elder took charge. A powerful and manipulative man.A man they would soon get to meet.
Cao Tang was already filled in on the horrid state of affairs of the house on the way by the seer, but it was barely keeping him from blowing up. He did not find this funny. It was weird, it was sickening.
"You named him Balls? Why?" Cao Tang asked in a painful voice.
"Oh, I did not. It is the Elder Braincells who does the naming," the patriarch replied.
What Cao Tang found most absurd was that these people did not realize what was so wrong with their names. Did they live in isolation to be this dumb about it? Or maybe it was Elder Braincell's brainwashing. Cao Tang didn't even know what brain cells were.
The state of affairs here was horrible, and what Cao Tang worried about the most was the seer, who might slaughter everyone in the household.
Even one mistake or one wrong action could trigger severe cringe in the seer's neck. And that would mean his plans would fall apart, and that would mean the two lovers would fall apart, and that would mean their friendship would fall apart. Cao Tang could not let that happen.