"You heard what happened yesterday right?"
A youth leaned towards the person sitting opposite him and whispered.
"I'm one among those few who saw everything clearly." The person opposite him said with a smirk on his proud face, as though he witnessed some miraculous phenomenon.
"Then, Brother Zhao, is it true that Senior Brother Ye stripped in front of others? H-how good was it?" His face had the obvious sorrow as if he missed a once-in-a-lifetime sight.
He previously heard rumours from other disciples of what happened yesterday. But all of them were contorted and unbelievable.
Some said- "I saw Brother Ye's flawless body." while some others said- "He didn't show anything." He didn't know whom to believe, there weren't any recordings of that sight, which was why he asked his brother Zhao Ning about this.
"WHAT? No, he didn't. I-I mean, he did, but-" Zhao Ning replied, before pausing midway. He looked around the hall to see barely one or two disciples apart from them and said in a weak voice-
"shh… Brother Ye's senses are unmatched, he might hear us. Let's discuss this somewhere else."
With that, both of them stood up from their seats before heading out.
…
Inside my room.
I sat on a chair, holding the golden pen in my left hand. My face twisted into an ugly expression as I wrote something on a piece of paper.
[31. Enhanced Hearing.]
I was making a list of Ye Han's skills that I've figured out. With the last one, I could enhance my hearing ability to a certain extent, which was enough for me to hear everything from the hall below.
I shook my head. I shouldn't care about such things but instead, focus on what to do next.
'This should be all'
Of the skills I figured out till now, 11 were battle skills, 6 enhancement skills, and the rest included other techniques such as movement, breathing, etc.
With that, it was time for the next step. Which was to run, as far as I could.
I have to avoid interacting with other disciples in any case. Especially those 'named characters'. If I had the power to erase memory, I swear I would have erased everything about me from their minds.
I made sure to empty up my room before leaving. I planned to jump through the window without anyone noticing.
I stood in front of the mirror, imagining how everything would go according to my plan.
After I change my appearance using the disguise skill, I'll jump off and quietly leave this place. Honestly, my plan was perfect… if I wasn't interrupted by a certain someone.
UGHHHHH! WHY HIM?
I groaned my lungs out; in my mind, of course. As I couldn't do such acts in front of him.
The one who just entered my room casually was the one I was afraid of the most. I knew who he was in a glance, because of the blue shard on his forehead. His skin was pale, and the blue robe he wore gave off a luxurious aura.
"Greetings… Brother Ye" He said as he cupped his fist.
He was Xin Yang, the current heir of the Golden Moon sect. He was the reason for everything, the reason why I'm about to die.
Xin Yang wasn't as strong as me, but he had the whole Golden Moon sect backing him, as the son of the sect master. He was the one who wanted me to defeat Shen Ming.
He targeted one of Shen Ming's beauties named- Nan Xifei. He tried to capture her many times and even ended up killing many of Shen Ming's subordinates. Because of this, he almost got killed by our protagonist. Afterwards, killing Shen Ming became Xin Yang's biggest goal.
Now, he was here to remind me that I should kill Shen Ming.
"I'm sorry for your loss," he said in a sorrowful tone.
I didn't know how to answer him as I just said.
"Yeah"
It was because I couldn't think how Ye Han would react in such a situation. Like hell, he'd feel sad or angry for his brother's death.
Even in the novel, Ye Han was rather happy when he heard about his brother's death.
Not only had he removed a headache, he could add one more person to his harem.
Of the three beauties, one was supposed to be Ye Han's, one for Ye Chen and one for Xin Yang. That was their agreement.
Now that his brother was dead, he could add one more girl to his harem.
How dumb!
These kinds of developments could only be found in such novels. Why did I even read it in the first place? I should have spent those hours finding the meaning of life, instead of reading it.
"Su Liang… you should take her since brother Ye Chen is no more." Xin Yang said, trying to comfort me.
Just as I expected.
Su Liang was the name of the girl 'reserved' by Ye Chen.
Xin Yang's priority was to make me as infuriated towards Shen Ming as possible. He would do anything to kill Shen Ming because he once lost his pride.
Yeah, I'm not angry at all.
Like hell, I'd ever fight the protagonist. That was straight-up courting death.
Not fighting him would also end in my demise, as that would be 'going against Xin Yang', which was enough for the whole sect to annihilate me.
I couldn't just kill this guy named Xin Yang either. He wouldn't die, even if I did.
I was surrounded... by death.
The Tri-Moon realm was like an ancestral land that opens every hundred years.
Each sect from the Northern Edge would send their disciples here to gain treasures and experience.
Anyone above the Core Flame Stage couldn't enter this realm, and because of this restriction, everyone here was either disciples or the natives, who didn't have any cultivation base.
Within a year, they are to come back to the real world, the Ruan Continent.
I was in the rebirth stage right now, as I had advanced after entering this realm.
Even If I kill this guy here, he would resurrect outside this realm with the help of his blue shard.
The blue shard was the biggest treasure of the Golden Moon sect. It acted like a pair of Bluetooth devices. One of them is kept safely under the hands of our Sect master while the other one is with this guy. If he somehow ended up dying, he could be resurrected using the other shard. In short, he simply had an 'extra life'.
There was barely a month left for the realm closing. Those who entered here will be teleported back to where they entered from.
For me, it was a place used by the Golden Moon sect and the Blood Moon sect.
I could imagine how the two whole sects would be all around me, at that time. If I fought Shen Ming, I'd die. If I didn't fight him, I'd die. And escaping simply wasn't an option.
"The realm will close in one month and before that, we have to kill Shen Ming and make him regret his existence."
I nodded vigorously, trying my best to look like a villain.
"This time, he's dead for sure. He has already offended numerous other sects and they'll all be on our side." Xin Yang said with the grin of a villainous young master.
I've always wondered what these 'villains' sounded like, in real life. How can they spout such cringe dialogues without being embarrassed? Now that I was seeing it, I suddenly had an urge to laugh.
Poor guy didn't know those others, including him, were going to be demolished by Shen Ming.
"Ahh yes, this is the list of those who have agreed to join us."
Xin Yang took out a paper from his ring along with another object, which he placed on top before passing it to me.
The object was another dimensional ring. I picked it up and looked at Xin Yang in confusion.
"I heard you like wine made of Bubble-rat's blood. That contains some best quality ones I found." Xin Yang smiled gently, looking at the ring held by me.
"Bubble… rat's blood?!" He wasn't referring to the wine I had yesterday, right?
He was...
Even if I tried to deny it...
Because I could sense the contents inside this ring.
"Then, I shall take my leave. Be sure to vent your sorrow on it." saying so, Xin Yang left the room.
I felt nausea, but my body didn't. It wasn't reacting the way I wanted it to! Should I just puke purposely by sticking a finger in?
…
After he left, I changed my appearance into a rather ordinary one.
Black hair, brown eyes and slightly more muscular. I changed the robe into a casual brown one as well.
Ye Han's looks were considered on par with Shen Ming's, if not slightly lower. He was perhaps the only character in the entire novel who could rival Shen Ming in terms of looks.
With his looks, he could get any girl he wanted. Yet, he solely targeted Shen Ming's girls.
Because he was freaking dumb.
Anyway, the technique I used was a basic one as well as useless. 'Disguise' only worked in front of those with the same or lower cultivation base, compared to the user.
In short, anyone stronger than me can easily see through my disguise. As of now, I was the strongest here in this realm. No one could see through my disguise here.
In terms of strength, Shen Ming was ahead of me now, while in terms of cultivation stage, I was ahead. So he wouldn't see through me as well.
Albeit, in front of those higher-ups from my sect, it was useless. In their eyes, my disguise will be revealed the moment I step out.
This was just a temporary relief. A relief till the day of realm closing.
I opened the wooden window and jumped without much thought. I used 'Blinding steps' in half-air and reached somewhere no one was around.
Blinding steps was another movement technique known by Ye Han. Though It was weaker than shady steps, it was more relevant in this situation.
I quietly left this place, which was one of the few native villages in the Tri-Moon realm.