Zero's mind fluctuated between half-awareness and unconsciousness.
He would open his eyes to find himself staring at children, peeping into an open window or sometimes, just in the corner of a very busy road. The night was still young, many were on the streets.
The place was so busy that to his surprise, no one had pointed him out yet. His hands visibly shook. Not from cold, no. They shook from the internal struggle he was going through.
What was the point of all this? Eating shadowbeasts, eating souls. What was the endgame and how did any of that help him find the damned scroll? This was mental torment. A horrid joke.
A surge went through his body and he found himself in a daze.
He now stood in a dark alley corner. His form had perfectly molded into the shadows so that not even his silver hair caught the light. Not too far away, in a part of this same alley that light from the busy streets could reach, were two men.
They seemed to be having a dispute over some business deal.
"Three silver for a barrel you said! Three!" The first man was dressed in finer clothing than the other. His head was clean shaven but he had a sleek length of hair sitting over his lips.
His thin dark eyes were scrunched up in anger as he addressed the other one.
"P-pardon me sir. You know how hard i-it is bringing such things from the east. If you can just give me two more silver, I—"
Whoosh!
A heavy palmed slap. The second man fell to his knees. He was weeping.
"You idiot! I promised my guests I'd have a barrel of Gu essence for tonight's celebration! And you're telling me you'd need more silver? Where's the barrel?" The first man was like a growling bulldog, in the sense that he had bulldog like cheeks. They swung as he scolded and pointed.
The other man continued crying on the grimy alley ground, in a puddle of melted snow and questionable alley juices.
He kowtowed heavily, banging his forehead in said puddle.
"My goods cost me heavily to deliver this time, my Lord. I ask for just two silvers more and I will have the barrel delivered at your doors before midnight. I swear it!"
The lord sent out a foot and jabbed a heavy boot into the man's eye. "Bold peasant! Demanding more money than he'll ever be worth!" The poor merchant fell to the ground whimpering in pain. Blood was gradually gathering underneath his head. The eye was bleeding out.
"Argh. It hurts! It hurts..."
The lord raised his boot to stomp again but suddenly caught sight of a shadow to his right.
"Who's there? Who are you?"
No answer.
"Show yourself coward! I am a Qi novice. If you plan to rob me, I will end you swiftly!"
Zero stepped out from the shadows. He looked a mess. He was hunched over, eyes drooping, long hair over the most part of his face and stumbling from his arrow injury.
The Lord looked him over, wary growing in his heart. It was only a kid. Zero glanced up at him, silver eyes meeting thin, dark ones.
The man froze. Demon. This was no lad.
He immediately whipped out a saber that had a slight blue glow to it. He looked extremely fierce for a Qi novice. He seemed to be at the precipice of breaking through to Qi master. In a town as such, this was a very rare accomplishment.
He boldy assumed a form, appraising this demon.
Zero, meanwhile, was fighting with his consciousness. He needed to be awake. He didn't want to kill anyone unknowingly. If they were going to die, he was going to watch.
It was his burdern. A second chance at life but with a thousand tortures. It didn't seem fair. But he was granted the terrible fate of a demon. It was a scary path to head down, but he couldn't afford to fear what he was becoming.
' If I must run mad, then I shall do so on my own terms. '
He looked up at the man, then down at the other crying on the ground.
Both sinners.
/Son of Naraka. You've been granted "The Soul Sight." With this third eye, you will see into the past deeds of whomever you deem to look into. Their weakness, their joys and their fears. However, since you are but a weak yin spirit tied to the mortal lands, this sight will come with consequences/
/If you peer into a soul, a part of its punishment in the afterlife will be borne by you on this human plane. The soul's bad karma will taint yours and the Heavenly Dao will deliver the repercussions the soul's karma demands./
/Peering into a soul can make you lose your way. You may acquire false memories and ideals, experience grief not yours and be plunged in a state of delirium/
/Be careful not to get lost in the threads of the soul. Or risk merging. If merged, half your soul will be lost and what will remain of you will be emptiness/
/Reincarnation may be impossible/
Zero blinked. The surge of tiredness was coming again. But this time, instead of falling into a blank state of unconsciousness, a part of him slipped.
Straight into the soul of this so called Qi novice.
The lord saw how the whites of the demon's eyes started creeping with dark matter. Some of this fluid dripped down his eyes.
"Dark art! A dark—"
Before he could scream further, something sharp cracked into his consciousness, forcefully ripping into him. His mind went blank.
Zero found himself outside a grand house. He seemed to be seeing the world from the man's perspective. He was somehow inside the body of the lord in this memory.
The lord's heart was palpating and Zero observed that his hands were sweaty at that moment.
He could read through the thoughts the man was having.
' Wang died in battle. He died while in combat. There was nothing I could do... seems believable enough. '
The door opened. An older woman with a stick and poor vision squinted at him.
"Shen? Is that you?" The woman's voice was cracked but she appeared to be excited at the sight of the owner of the body.
"It's me, old missus." Shen's voice came out firm. His heart was set on what he was about to do.
A small war had broken out in the north. The imperials had summoned all able bodied men to resist the rebels. He and his childhood friend, Lin, were drafted.
Lin was a wealthy boy and Shen had always been envious of him. His greed had overtaken him on the battle field and he...
He ended the life of his friend. He wanted to feel guilty but it was all for his future. It was for the best, he reminded himself. He would make the life of his dear friend worth it in the end.
"Lin. Where's Lin? Where is my boy?"
Zero felt the other soul within this body make a firm decision, and a lie came pouring out his mouth. Tears even gathered in his eyes. An act.
"My...my dear friend. Lin! Argh..."
In a pretence so perfect, he dropped to the ground and assumed a grand bow. "I did my best to protect him, old missus. I tried. He insisted on joining the battle on the frontlines. I tired to stop him but—"
The old lady shook heavily and dropped. She began to wail painfully. Someone came from behind her. A young lady with delicate features.
Zero could feel how Shen's heart moved at the sight of this girl. He appraised her, leeching eyes fixed at her womanly bits.
'Yes, this was definitely the best decision I made. Lin's beautiful wife...I love her more than Lin ever did. She was promised to me first...'
He reached into the folds of his robe and took out something. It was an engraved ring. The family heirloom that belonged to Lin. He had no other male relatives left and succession was uncertain. Lin had been drafted a week after his wedding.
It had been six months since then. The young woman did not look pregnant. Shen smiled to himself.
He looked to see the poor girl in a tender embrace with her mother-in-law. They were weeping over that spoiled brat.
Lin had bragged a lot. An his family name had promised him a year in the Han sect. He told Shen all this, knowing fully well that it was Shen's dream to become a cultivator.
Now he was dead. Ha.
He looked deeply at the ring then said in a sorrowful voice, "on his dying bed, Lin asked that I take his family name as I was the closest thing that...that he had to a brother."
A pause. He shed a fake tear.
"I was given his ring, old missus. It was his wish and I shall do my best to fufil them."
He kowtowed, trying to hide the delight in his eyes.
"From today, I renounce my family name and shall be called Lin Shen!"
There was surprise on the women's faces but they were in too much grief to say much. The memory began to warp.
The Sight was draining Zero. His mind was in knots.
In seemingly seconds, he witnessed more deeds of this Lin Shen man. A sinner.
Hell was a befitting place for a man like him. Zero tried to withdraw his consciousness from inside the man but it grabbed unto him, eager to transfer a bit of karma to his name.
Zero grunted and snapped out of the man's soul. A reverberating pain grew over his body.
Lin Shen fell to the ground where the other man had passed out. Zero was shaking as well, barely able to stand.
His eyes fell upon the lord and a hungry, deranged smile grew on his lips. Something about peering into a soul made you hungry for it.
And Zero had a feeling that even a person with more good than bad would not escape this hunger of his.
His eyes flashed and he moved forward.