In a crumbling realm of a long dead immortal.
Xin laid in wait, embracing the bare earth, his camouflage melding seamlessly with the greenery around him. He exhaled a good thirty heartbeats ago, but his mind was focused on the elusive lines of qi that his body manifested, as his fingertips subtly moved, weaving a strand of greenish energy.
The innocent rabbit, his future meal, was fifteen steps away from him, drinking water from a crystal clean spring, yet focused on its surroundings. A part of Xin's mind admired the verdant scenery and the tranquil silence, only broken up by an occasional bird humming, yet the hunter within held his focus on the task.
Armed with its hearing, peripheral vision, and speed, with the wolves and foxes all but gone, the rabbit felt safe and complacent. Drink to its fullest, eat to its fullest, and breed just like a rabbit should - that was its plan.
Xin had his own idea about the rabbit's future. The green strand slowly crawled up just behind the creature, surrounded its tiny legs, and just as the rabbit touched its face with its paws - solidified.
Xin lunged at the beast, a part of his camouflage falling off, with his qi strand pulling the creature that lost its balance towards him, grabbed it by the neck and swiftly snapped it, making sure not to damage the hide.
I am spent, he thought. Caught some fish in the morning, but nothing big, the Fist sect poachers have long exhausted the lake. Two rabbits, a partridge, a viper - a decent haul, but Xin wished for a boar. As he wrapped his prey, his mind drifted again. Still, his senses were as keen as always, attuned to every breeze and hum.
Xin's reverie was cut short by a distant rumbling. It rapidly grew strong enough to make the water surface vibrate a bit, sending all the small birds and rodents to flee. Xin was also shaken and sprinted towards the nearby hill, his first instinct compelling him to run towards the danger, not away from it.
As he left the grove and spread the bushes to reach the hilltop, the rumbling only got worse. He approached an aged oak, the tree that used to gift him and his father cover when they hunted together. Sadly, he had no qi left to assist his climbing. Will have to do it normally then, he thought.
It took him a few tries, but he finally managed to find a small place to hold onto. From then on, as he climbed higher, the branches allowed him to rest and not exert himself too much, so he eventually reached the top. The rumbling continued. From his new sightseeing spot, he could see the walls of Tealstone, the parsnip fields nearby, and something he'd never seen before.
A giant, colorful mass of creatures moved in a chaotic fashion, yet clearly not coming into conflict with each other. Xin had sharp eyesight. He could clearly recognize the wolves, apes, foxes, and wild dogs. Yet the horde also included an occasional giant snake, a panda, an ostrich, or a tiger. Weird.
The figure towering above them all, the source of the rumbling, was a giant black boar with tusks each the size of a horse. The beast was covered in tattoos, emanating a dreadful, ominous aura, and was surrounded by a swarm of giant insects, crawling and flying around it.
Xin was deeply moved but regained his composure and thought. A tide of beasts like this is not natural, nothing like that was ever recorded. To sneak such a number of creatures to the outskirts of Tealstone is not mere chance or guile, but a use of powerful magic indeed. The beast tide is massive, yet most of our strongest bureaucrats and cultivators are attending the Conclave. It seems that the fastest animals are already pincering Tealstone, trying to surround the town.
Xin felt a strong urge compelling him to run forward, but restrained it. The town is gone. The crossbowmen will be useless against the boar. The xiandao masters inside aren't numerous enough. The bureaucrats' shendao is laughable against these numbers. The walls won't matter, either.
But maybe I could do something? Run back to my hut, which will take fifteen minutes, fight some animals off, and help at least some women and children from the outskirts evacuate? With some luck, I could take on a qi active wolf, couldn't I?
Xin felt the tension rising in his body, and his thoughts drifted again. If I have to choose, what civilians should I try and save? Women and children? Women give birth, yet men fight and work more. An elderly man has five years left to live, but is an important pillar of his community, while a young kid is nothing but raw potential. Comparing human worth like that was quite stressful.
Smash!
Xin watched astonished as the boar broke down the gates in one swoop, the shendao masters' tribulations not even penetrating the cloud of insects that surrounded it.
Wait. I haven't moved? I just stand here, thinking hypotheticals? I spent so many years fantasizing about a dark day descending upon my mundane existence, stepping up and becoming a hero to save the day, yet here I am, motionless! Am I afraid?
Afraid of dying? Yes, a bit. Didn't stop me from engaging that qi-infused wolf a year ago. This situation is scarier, but no, fear of death is just a convenient excuse. Understandable enough to have plausible deniability, humiliating enough to sell the sentiment if I "open up" to someone, yet utterly dishonest at its core!
What I truly hate is the expectation of me to become a hero! To lay down my life saving other people, to die to let the others live! Just because I am a martial artist, other people feel entitled to me shedding my blood for them!
Would these people save me if given my power? Would these women and children rush into the beast tide if they could fence, manipulate the elements, and knew martial arts? Most wouldn't. This society never gave me anything, all it wanted from me was the meat I sold, and even then, they underpaid!
Is there anything left in that town worth fighting for? Dying for?
The girl I fancied, my failed love story, trading in the market. She'll die. Old hunter Jun, a parody of a father figure. He could make it out, he's a decent runner and knows his way around animals, but it's afternoon, and that means he is drunk and in no shape to fight. Will die.
The family home I want to buy out? Apart from sentiments, it's just a building, and it won't bring my childhood back. Or my parents. Fuck it. I'll abandon it, along with the sentiments (Is this what mom did to us?). The library? I've read everything of value there, I carry these stories and knowledge with me, they can keep their etiquette manuals for the boar.
"A man's worth is determined by an ability to reforge himself when broken, and the man's greatness is determined by an ability to break himself when half-broken."
Wise words, father. Did you live them? Thanks, anyway. I know what to do.
As he prepared to leave, he noticed a small pack of wolves start moving towards the forest he hunted in, so he hurried up towards his hut. It was a small, unremarkable shack, with some worn-out hides serving as beds, a fireplace, and a storage section.
Xin grabbed his knife, gathered the traveling supplies, making sure to go light on weight, prepared some dried meat and fish and left. Oh, almost forgot. He emptied a small jar of salted caviar, greedily gulping it all in mere seconds. Would be a crime to abandon this delicacy. Time to leave. Maybe I'll return, he thought, but this house will soon have no value to me, and to everyone else, it's already worthless.
Xin understood that it would be hard to evade the wolves if they followed him, so he took out some wolf herbs and created a bunch of smell traps. A big stinky pile near the house, and a bunch of false trails to confuse the beasts. Should be enough.
And it was. An hour later, Xin climbed a tall hill covered in beautiful pine trees, refreshed his waterskin in a small stream, and kept moving. He was getting tired, but he knew a place safer than his own house: Old Man Jun's hut.
Five minutes later, he reached it and looked around. It seemed quiet and safe here. Jun's dog had died a year ago, so there was no one to guard the house, but it was remote and ordinary-looking enough that bandits would probably not bother with it. Still, Xin knew the old man had a hidden stash somewhere around the house, and that it was his ticket to surviving.
As Xin approached closer, he infused his already remarkable senses with qi. Something moved inside the house! Fuck. Xin contemplated his course of actions. If that's a lone mortal or two, I could just kill them? I never had to kill before, but if they force my hand, I won't hesitate. Times are different now.
If that's a demonic cultivator, I'm probably a goner. Should I leave? Well, I have a surprise advantage, wouldn't it be wise to use it? Still, if I am caught sneaking, it seems like the fight will become unavoidable. Could Jun have any guests? Not that I know of.
Better safe than sorry. Let's try diplomacy.
"Uncle Jun? You there?" He called out. A pause. Silence. "Uncle Jun, was it you who moved? Are you drunk again?" Eat this, fucker, I could hear you and now you know it. No trying sneaky shit.
"Nah, it's me, Wu Lei!" He heard a ringing voice respond.
"Who? I am coming in. I am friendly, don't do anything stupid. Heard the news?" Xin approached the door, opened it, and entered the hut.
It smelled like an old man's body. An old alcoholic's body, to be precise. Yet there was also a hint of herbs and charcoal. Xin looked at the man standing before him — a handsome, if slightly mild-looking, slim man with a topknot and two long strands of hair reaching both of his shoulders. He wore thick black linen wraps and a coat on top, fancy leather sandals, and had a dagger on his belt.
Xin made a step forward and looked the man straight in the eyes. One of his eyes was blue, yet the other was greyish, almost white. An awakened eye? An augmentation? Some sort of artefact or ability? Who knows, but should be vigilant.
"Who are you and why are you wearing the old man's coat?" Xin exuded strictness.
"Who the fuck are you to ask, pal? I am a trader. Me and the man go a long way." This man's elegant appearance didn't match his speech, he sounded quite… Urban.
"A long way, huh? What was his dog's name?"
"Let me tell you my name. I am Wu Lei, and I'll be honest. You look like trouble. What do YOU want?"
"You already told me your name, you moron. Look, I wanted to check up on a fellow hunter amidst the catastrophe. And you look like some sort of marauder. Let's not pretend I didn't notice your lack of an answer."
"A marauder? Me? Fuck you, don't you dare court death making these accusations! Take these words back!" He furrowed his eyebrows and made an angry face.
The man pulled out a dagger, and Xin instinctively took a step back. Yet it was no mere retreat, but a proud battle stance, inviting an opponent to charge.
The young man looked at the hunter, his eyes bloodshot, and suddenly his body emanated a weird light. A pulsation, a ringing, some heat. This man exuded a powerful aura! He is no mere mortal. A visible aura like that would put him at the level of Condensation stage cultivators!
Xin squinted his eyes and looked closely, not saying a word. The man took a step forward and pointed a finger towards the floor.
"Kneel, peasant, and I will spare you. Disrespect me again, and I will kill the future generations of your family, but might keep you alive!" He painted an elaborate castration gesture with his dagger, grinning.
Their gazes locked, and then Xin laughed, mocking him. "You stupid fucker. You poor cunt! Hahaha, this is pathetic." You want to speak urban? Fine, I'll bite.
"Don't you dare, peasant. I said, kneel!"
"You bumbling monkey, you subhuman yaoguai, you inbred dog. The only chance I die today is from laughter! I know this trick!"
Wu Lei felt a chill run down his spine. Fuck, who the hells is this man? It's a rare and hard-to-execute trick, to be able to release your qi as a mortal and simulate the aura emanations of a cultivator! How does HE know? Is he a cultivator himself? And doesn't it mean that he knows that I'm spent now? Not good.
Wu Lei exhaled, and his aura faded. "Look, mate, I am just trying to make a living. I know there is a secret stash here. I wanted to grab it and leave. This old man is hoarding a bit of wealth, but it does him no good, so how about it funds my career instead? If you are against it, fine, I can leave. I'll just go and find some work in Tealstone, and this looks like too much hassle. Why are you looking at me like that?"
He doesn't know. Funny. Xin felt a perverted pleasure in crushing the hopes of the one who insulted him moments ago.
"Don't you know? The beast tide. The giant boar, three stories high. Monkeys, birds, bats, snakes, qi-infused predators. Rammed the gates and are currently eating everyone inside. There is no saving them. How could you not hear the rumbling?"
Wu Lei looked at Xin, confused. No way, it's a bluff, right? No, it's not. It's true. Yet he was always swift to regain composure. So, this guy knows Jun, and he knows that Jun is in Tealstone on Fridays, and he claims that Tealstone is in ruins. Means he is fleeing, thus…
"Look, chum. I believe you, but it doesn't explain why you are here. Let's not play these 'save face' games and get straight to business. I've been trying to locate his stash, but I couldn't. The man always had a key with him, and a key implies a lock. Guess what, I am a lockpicker. You show me the stash, we split the thing. You pull something stupid, we fight. I assume you lost your home? You need new contacts, then. Might be me, right? Find that logic sound, pal?"
Xin smiled. This guy blundered at first, yet his aura idea was pretty good. He regains his composure quickly when he fails, and he is a relatively smooth talker. He could be a valuable asset. And I kinda like the guy, except his stupid smug grin.
"Hide your dagger and let's talk. The stash is indeed inside of the house, but I don't know where exactly. We find it, we split the goods fifty-fifty; you pull anything stupid—might lose your life. I am not spent, unlike you." Of course I am spent, but I haven't exposed it yet!
"Wait, you don't know where the stash is? Let's renegotiate. How about 70/30? Your share can be called an escort fee for protecting me once we reach the Clay Nest."
"Fuck off. It's 50/50, I am no escort. Maybe your mom was." Xin knew it was immature, but he couldn't resist the urge.
"I wish, maybe I'd have a better childhood. She was a plain old prostitute. A good woman, still, tried her best, you know?"
"I'd pity you, but mine left me and pa. Let's keep searching."
"Chill, it's not a tragic life story competition. Let's get back to work, alright?"
So they kept looking, for half an hour or so, stabbing each other with sarcastic remarks and sharing their thoughts. The level of insults hurled would drive some righteous cultivators to frenzy, but the hunter and an urchin didn't mind. For now.
The search was fruitless, and Xin had a theory. He shared it with his "partner."
"Look, Wu Lei..."
"Eh, just call me Lei."
"Wu Lei, the thing is, I have some wood powers. And some metal powers. You, fire and metal, I guess. Conflicting elements both, which is funny. We are both mortals, though, and our mastery is probably basic. I am not going to pretend to be some secret Condensation stage master, let me be honest instead. I am half-spent, let me drink some water and meditate. I'll then try and scan the house, alright?"
"Deal. I'll rest, too."
And so they rested for two more hours. Xin focused on earth and water elements prevalent in the surroundings, and Lei on water and wood, as per Wuxing approach of elements feeding each other.
The surroundings were pretty mundane, and so were their aura emanations. After some rest, Xin infused his fingertips with wooden qi and started tapping around the house. He also boosted his natural senses to perceive the vibrations of the natural elements, as opposed to normal senses such as sight, touch, and hearing.
Despite being a mortal, his experience as a hunter, his father's training, and his own hardships allowed him to rival Foundation stage masters in this regard.
Lei was impressed. He understood how hard it was for a mortal to conjure such powers. But what intrigued him most was how and why such a man would stay a simple mortal. He knew why he himself did.
Who would invest in him, with his conflicting elements? An old master offered him to become an Inner Disciple once, on the condition he burns out one of his elements through alchemy. Fuck him, and fuck this Inner Disciple business. Serfs with some cultivation are still serfs, I'll forge my own path and do things MY way!
"Lei, you daydreaming? I think I found it."