After days of gray, there was light. The clouds had cleared up, and the sun could be seen. However, shades of the many people who were floating fell upon the depths of the pit.
"You Jaegals are worthless," the figure said.
"You disappoint us all," another added.
"Give him what he wants. The glyph is far too important for your foolery," another said.
And the elder obeyed. The seer had what he wanted in a mere instant. All Jaegal forces retreated, and in the seer's hand were two spatial rings and a Yin-Yang relic. The relic looked like a bronze plate with a Yin-Yang symbol drawn on it, with tiny needle-sized swords dangling from its edges.
The robed figures descended. They were all wearing black with a half-sun symbol stretching through their hoods. Their faces were covered so that only their chin and mouth could be seen.
"You have what you wanted. Now leave this place," the leader figure demanded as the rest of them quickly entered the mines.
The seer did as he said.
"Wait, I trusted the Jaegals more than these guys. They won't let us off this easy, I'm certain they will try to pull something," Cao Tang said, barely standing.
"Don't worry, I trust them. They look so trustworthy," the seer said in a sarcastic tone as he helped Liu and Tang up.
They were on the edge of the abyss when one of the figures popped up.
"I will leave as soon as I have confirmed that you're not trying to pull anything," the figure said.
A few meters away, the figure rushed in for the kill.
"Classic," said the seer as he clicked a button.
DHRUM! BOOM! THRRRRR! DGHARAM! GUTURGAJ!!
The mine began to collapse. None of those robed figures could have escaped or survived that. The entire mine was destroyed.
"Li Mei deflected the attack."
"You! How dare you! Do you know who we are? We are the Heavenly Supreme Demonic Cult!"
"No, I don't. All I know is that you are the ones who destroyed the mine."
There was a second of silence. Li Mei had a poisoned knife within that second. Of course, a poisoned one.
"I mean those fucking cultists, you guys, and on top of that, the Jaegals for having sold their souls to other provinces and become puppets of the cultists. Aren't I right?" the seer continued rambling.
His friends knew what he meant. The victor decides the truth.
Sure enough, they ran into the alliance troops who came after the explosion.
"HALT!"
The seer and his group surrendered. They told them about the corpse they were carrying.
They wove a story. The story was believed.
"The Jaegals, the alliance leader's daughter, they have her," Cao Tang said weakly before passing out.
The alliance had a corpse and the location of the daughter of the alliance head. There would be no way they would not believe the story woven by the seer. Besides, the seer himself had quite a reputation of awe and admiration.
The seer had also been feeding the alliance head's daughter wrong information on the low side, making her believe he was working for Jaegals. And he had his phantom friend relocate her to the Jaegal residence where the basement looked very identical to be told apart while she was sleeping.
"Zhihao, the scroll," said one of the captains leading a unit. And Zhihao gave them the scroll that the seer passed to him in the prison. As soon as that was done, the group received VIP treatment. Their wounds were taken care of, and they were given grandiose beds in the hospital with legendary doctors tending to them.
"So, you planned this entire thing?" Lin Hua asked the seer as she lay in the bed next to his.
"Nah, I just improvised and played accordingly. I am just very resourceful and quick on my feet," the seer replied.
"What did the scroll have in it for us to get such treatment, though?" Cao Tang asked, who was lying on the seer's right.
"I don't know. Some national secret or something..."
Thrrrr! Crash!
"Kill the intruders!"
"Kwak!"
After a few minutes of battle noises, all came to a halt. And a guard came storming into the room to make sure they were safe and not getting attacked. And it seemed they were, as many alliance troops swarmed in and started stabbing paintings, walls, and windows, which occasionally spat blood when stabbed.
"I apologize, you are guests of His Majesty. We will increase our security," said the guard as he left.
It was most likely the cultists who were here for vengeance. After all, the seer and his party had become a certified threat as they had killed one of their leaders and framed them for orchestrating an entire province's annihilation. Destroying that mine was as good as cutting off all four of a person's limbs.
Naturally, the Emporer and other regional sects were very furious at them.
The only other people who knew the truth were the Jaegals whose main powerhouses were annihilated and the rest of the family currently persecuted. The seer even managed to fake evidence that suggested they gave all their wealth to the cult.
"Come on, guys, just enjoy your stay. We will be more than fine soon enough," the seer spoke with his mouth stuffed with various high-quality fruits he was indulging in. The juice dripped from his mouth all the way down to his chin, and the nurses gently wiped away the mess he created.
But this peace did not last long. An argument seemed to have broken out in the hall between a legendary doctor and a newbie.
The attention of the entire party was now on them. The two were arguing about some medical techniques.
"You insolent brat! How dare you question me, the legendary doctor, and disrespect my methods!"
"Ah, shit, always that one legendary doctor," the seer said, swallowing his fill.
"All hope is lost anyway. Please, young man, try whatever method you can," said the patient's family.
It was quite a large hall, and many VIP-class patients were resting in this particular magnificent ward.
"And there is always that one guy favored by the system," the seer said, going for another bite.
"It's a miracle the technique worked."
"Young man, you have saved me from the poison of the Earthen Dragon Centipede. You are my benefactor."
"You piece of shit! And you call yourself a legendary doctor? You shall be stripped of that title."
"No, please! I have been truly blind."
"Have him thrown away!"The patient's son ordered.
"No way! This guy is definitely tricking you, and I can prove it, for this was all seen by the mighty seer who is present at this very moment," the doctor shouted in a futile attempt to salvage his reputation.
"Don't drag me into your mess," the seer was busy indulging in the high-quality fruits.
"Please," came crawling the legendary doctor, who grabbed onto the seer's legs.
Everyone in the hall now looked at the seer, waiting for him to say, "It's not a trick," but the seer remained silent.
"Huh, the seer can predict the future, they say. Clearly, he is just as blind as you. He wouldn't even know what it was that poisoned the elder," the favored one taunted.
The seer, although bothered, chose to ignore any and all contact with the favored one.
"Please, I will give you everything," the doctor said in a low tone.
"Goddamit, I have become some sort of an antibody against these chosen ones," the seer grumbled.
"Hah, you expect him to help you, who cannot even refine poison," the entire hall laughed.
"Oh, I can refine poison alright. It's you inferior and worthless folks who cannot neutralize mine," the seer said.
"There is no poison that I cannot refine," said the newbie doctor.
"Alright then, dare to refine this?" the seer tossed a vial.
"Yes, I dare," the doctor gulped the entire bottle and began meditating.
"Idiot! Now die to cyanide," the seer went back to bed and covered his face with a blanket. "Suppose that is one way to deal with the chosen."
The newbie doctor, after a minute, spat blood and died, showing obvious symptoms of poisoning.
"You killed my benefactor! You will pay for this!" yelled the enraged man who had just gotten off his deathbed.
"He killed himself," said Cao Tang. "He took the challenge on his own volition, overconfident in his abilities."
"He purposely gave him something he could not refine," the man yelled.
"I mean, that was the point," said Zhihao. "I mean, even I can't argue with that. The newbie was just egotistical and stupid. No one forced him."
They were right, and this infuriated the man. He had no justifiable reason to attack the seer, but the grudge would stay.
"Come on now, you don't have to worry about repaying any debts," said the legendary doctor. "Besides, I copied his technique, and with him gone, I am the only one who can give you treatment. So, stand down, yes?"
The damage for the day was done. The rest of the recovery days flew by without many hiccups, and the legendary doctor Han treated the seer and his friends with extra care.