"Are you going to summon the spirits of these people, Master, to attack our enemies? Three doesn't sound like much…"
Not that I wanted to give Lin Chu ideas, but anything that killed Crystal Phoenix soldiers saved me from being endangered by them.
"No, these prisoners will provide me with energy for the ritual. Watch and learn, Disciple Ru—taking energy for techniques from death is one of the most powerful aspects of using Death techniques. It allows me to have more energy in reserve on a battlefield than any other cultivator of the same rank. And it's incredibly useful for rituals like these."
"It's best when the death is slow and painful, and the soul stays for a while between this world and the next, giving more energy. Now pass me the ritual knife."
I looked around, and found a small brazier nearby, where a long, curved dagger was heating on burning coals. My hands didn't shake when I passed it to Lin Chu. I felt sad more than anything else.
I watched, learned, and did my best to not pay attention to the muffled screams, sobbing and the smell of burned flesh. Lin Chu explained what he was doing, but only once, so if I wanted to learn, I had to pay attention.
I wanted to learn. One day, this knowledge might save my life, and that day might as well be tomorrow.
"Hot knife hurts more, and cauterizes wounds, preventing the sacrifice from bleeding out. It's still better to avoid cutting large arteries. Aim at that, that and that acupuncture points instead. Now measure his pulse."
Lin Chu paused and moved away from the mangled victim. He raised his hands, and the purple Death Qi surrounded the circle, turning into symbols. A single glance at them made me feel like someone was walking over my grave.
I slipped past the symbols to touch the victim's wrist.
"The pulse is uneven. The heart rate is… around 200. Oh, I think that's a lot, Master."
"It means his heart will give out soon. The dregs like these are not very resilient, but he lasted long enough. Now he must die for the Death energy to flow," Lin Chu said after my report. "Do it, Disciple Ru, and make it painful."
Lin Chu gave me the bloodied ritual knife. It has cooled down by now. I stared at it dumbly for a moment.
"Well? What are you waiting for, Disciple?"
I shook off my momentary hesitation, and I stabbed the knife in the sacrifice's guts, just where Lin Chu showed me earlier. Something burst inside, and blood poured out together with disgusting intestinal fluids. I winced and breathed through my mouth.
Considering that this was my first kill—not counting chickens back in my home village or —it felt strangely routine.
Was I becoming just like the people I hated? Sacrificing innocents for power... Hm, from what Lin Chu said, these people weren't actually innocents.
The man struggled in his bonds and screamed into the gag. The sound reminded me that I was in no position to spend time on the nature of morality, including my own.
Lin Chu's Qi became brighter, glowing a much purer purple. He nodded to me and walked to the second victim, who had pissed himself while waiting for his fate.
"Two more."
***
By the time the ritual was repeated five times, the sun had set, and the rain was finally over.
From a glance, nothing changed under the walls. However, I knew that now Death energy was buried within, waiting for a signal.
And Lin Chu wasn't done yet.
"Now, Disciple Ru, watch closely."
He raised his hand and snapped his fingers with a spark of Death Qi. A pulse of cold energy flew through me, and I shivered. What was that?
"This is the signal that activates the Circle of Hungry Spirits. The spirits can't discern friend from foe, and will attack anyone who approaches, except myself, and suck out their life. However, they are weaker under the sunlight. With this signal I showed, you can awaken them from a safe distance. Did you get that, Disciple?"
"Yes, Master."
I flicked my fingers like Lin Chu showed. The chill that went through me earlier was the signal—an invisible pulse of Death energy, too weak to harm. I directed it at Lin Chu—out of spite, and so he'd know I got it.
The walking icicle didn't even flinch. Instead, he gathered Water Qi in his chest, and I saw… was he moving his chest muscles to activate it? Oh, that was great. Stone Body technique worked similarly. Somewhat tricky, but incredibly convenient—I could use this technique without an extra hand!
A thin, water-like sphere appeared around him, leaving only legs open. I squinted, watching how Lin Chu's Qi moved to control and support it.
"And this is the Clear Sphere technique. It won't let you attack through it, but you can temporarily remove parts of the sphere."
Lin Chu demonstrated by turning a sphere into a half-sphere with more chest muscle movements.
I nodded and focused. Now that I knew the technique's secret, even if I didn't see Lin Chu's muscle movements in detail since he was wearing clothes…
I tensed my pectorals, gathered Water Qi, and moved it.
No, wait, that was wrong.
I tried again… No, that motion couldn't go there. It was better… There. Hm, still wrong.
Third time was the charm. Slowly but surely, I made it work, and a transparent sphere appeared around me. It was uneven, but several more minutes of trial and error fixed it.
"Hm. Are you sure you need a teacher, Ru Yujin?"
I stared at Lin Chu, unsure if he was joking. Lin Chu wasn't smiling. I never saw him smiling, though. It was harder to tell with the jokes…
"Go rest, Disciple. It's been a long day."
I let the Clear Sphere fall and exhaled. That was right.
By now, I was drained and full of so much nightmare fuel that I was HOPING to have my weird memory-nightmares that night.