Chapter 96
Longing of the Night
On his way back home, Leo stopped by the rushing river and filled some ten barrels with its cool waters. He also took a quick dip, especially as it was another sizzling day, refreshing himself. As he stared at the clean water, he felt a bit depressed, wishing it was ever so slightly closer to the longhouse. Since he'd always have to make it at least a one-night journey if he wanted to come visit, he decided to only do it once or twice a month, at most.
As always, Milky disappeared between the trees, living out his own life, occasionally showing up, jumping on top of Leo's shoulder and taking a recharging nap. Though Leo wondered what exactly the little feline was doing when not with him, he didn't probe and Milky never 'mentioned' it. Everyone, even animals, were privileged to have secrets, whatever those may be.
They managed to reach the camp just before nightfall, and that was with some hurrying on Leo's part.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he hurriedly started fires, bearing the weight of some eighty pairs of eyes scrutinizing his every move. "I'll make you guys something to eat immediately. Ah, if I were any smarter, I would have pre-made enough food for you guys while I was away. I'm so sorry," under his apologetic voice, the flames roared, and the water began to quickly boil as he started preparing the ingredients.
Beyond the expectant gazes, however, none of the animals did anything else. He knew that would be the case, though--for all the horror that (some) induced, they were extremely tame by nature. Whether that was because Leo was feeding them the kind of food that they otherwise couldn't get their hands on, or because that was their nature, it was irrelevant.
They all patiently waited as he sifted through every pot, one by one, stirring the boiling vegetables until tantalizing scent of Spring began to overwhelm the stiff air. The moon hung high in the sky by the time every animal got to eat. Leo had noticed a pattern emerge over time, a sort of hierarchy that the animals exhibited--except, it seemed to be in strange reverse.
The smaller, seemingly weaker critters were the first to snag their meals, followed up by the taller and larger ones. The last ones were those whose full forms Leo never witnessed, only their shimmering eyes peering from between the trees. Usually, one of the smaller animals would carry off a plate toward those eyes, and they'd vanish soon after, disappearing into the distance (the eyes, not the small animals; those almost always returned).
Finally, he was alone, eating in silence of the night--well, not absolute silence. As soon as the animals disappeared, the wails began to sound out from the forest's depths. It was strange, as he hadn't heard or witnessed any 'ghosts' when he went west. Whether that was because they didn't exist there or because they converged here as the 'word' spread around, he didn't know. Regardless, he sighed and stood up, stretching lazily before sauntering over into the depths.
Tonight, he was unaccompanied, drifting through the shadowed darkness alone, though not for long. Merely four hundred yards or so away from home, he paused as he saw a creeping silhouette emerge from the dark. Tall, broad-shouldered, as pale as the moonlight itself.
The man stood still, not even wailing, his head craned upward, chest bared where hundreds of scars intersected to seemingly write a story of his life. Robes hung loose from his frame, not even moving in the faintly fluttering wind.
Leo began to chant, motes of gold appearing soon after; even as he approached the man, the latter didn't seem to notice him, focused entirely on the sky and the moon above. Leo gently pressed his fingers against the man's head and was briefly overcome with the depthless abyss before being tossed into yet another memory.
A figure flickered speedily like the light itself, deluge of colors echoing outward sporadically in its steps. A shadow of a sword curled around countless heads, decapitating them one by one, yet not drawing a single drop of blood in the process--the blade itself, it seemed, swallowed it all before it had the chance to even leave the body.
The valley lay perfectly preserved, fluttering of flowers and trees surrounding hundreds upon hundreds of the corpses. A solitary man stood in their midst, his robes grandly billowing in the gentle wind. He wore a porcelain mask without features, silver hair streaming eastward with the wind's path. In his left hand he held a curving sword the length of a grown man's leg, thin and reflective of night's light.
There was a morbid juxtaposition of beauty and carnage in one, ravishing yet horrifying, that captivated Leo into numbness.
Though hundreds lay dead, Leo saw a salvo of souls gathering at the valley's entrance, swarming it like ants. Thousands, all led by several dozen gilded figures. They yelled something, though whatever it was seemed to not impact the man in the slightest; rather than attacking, he stayed rooted in the spot, waiting for them to descend. And, as they did, he moved.
It was impossible for Leo to follow the man with his eyes--all he saw was a fading array of light streaking between the falling bodies of men and women. Every once in a while, he'd catch a glimpse of a sword stirring with desire, and that porcelain mask that seemed to be the face of death itself at the moment.
Mounds piled, and just as it seemed like the death would not stop, those gilded figures moved in concert--rather, twelve of them moved, all armed to teeth, bursting with valiant Qi. They descended in perfect harmony, streaks of elemental arrays blurring toward the masked figure, exploding. The latter, even still, remained a fluttering desire more so than a person; he weaved between the attacks with unmatched grace, shimmering like the very moonlight enriching his presence.
The battle raged, but Leo was none-the-wiser of it; all he saw were bouts of colors blending into various shades, almost as though he was witnessing a brush streaking and painting across a blank canvas, over and over again, never quite creating any discernible shapes or figures. It was less so a battle in Leo's eyes and more a show of colors, beautiful and alluring.
At some point, however, it ceased.
The colors dissolved and evaporated, and the blurring edges wavered. There, beneath it all, lay the masked figure, sprawled on his back, a massive sword jutting out of his chest. His porcelain mask was cracked, webbed out from his right eye, though still holding whole. Around him were only three figures of the twelve that attacked--the remaining nine lay dead spaced out across over two miles of land. And even the three surviving ones looked more like vanishing corpses rather than valiant winners of a battle.
Within the blink of an eye, Leo found himself back in the forest, the tall man in front of him fading. He finally looked away from the sky and at him, his features... strange. Though there was a face, Leo couldn't quite pin together all its elements--it was as though if he focused on the eyes, the nose and the lips and the cheeks seemed to distort, and if he focused on another element, all others grew tangibly odd. The fading figure, however, did leave something behind himself as he vanished into the sky like vapor--a flickering 'system window'.
[You have brought forth salvation to the spirit of an Ancient Sage, '???????']
[As to express his gratitude, he has tasked you with a quest: locate Ay'leen, the Veil of the Celestial Thorns, and express '???????'s' last message: In the grace of opulence, dirt is gold]
[Reward: Unknown]
[Penalty for failure: None]
[Time Limit: None]
[... System curates further reward for incentive...]
[...]
[Bonus Reward:
[
[You will gain access to 'System Shop' for 7 days. Items in the shop will be generated randomly based on your current needs. You may spend either System XP or your cultivation as payment]
Leo dismissed the window, sighing.
There weren't that many quests being handed out recently, and it felt that none of the things he was doing were being aptly rewarded. However, when it rained, it truly poured, especially because he wouldn't necessarily have to go out of his way to do this quest. There was no time limit, and as he had no description of whoever Ay'leen was, it wasn't as though he could just go from one ghost to another and look for her. Or him.
He looked forward the most to the System Shop, but was a bit disappointed to see he'd have to pay with System XP--of which he had one, big, fat 0. And he was rather unwilling to part with his cultivation as, even if he hadn't truly worked hard on it, he worked hard enough.
"Whatever," he shrugged. "Maybe I'll get some XP in the meantime."
He turned around and left, the wails in the forest disappearing, the whole world turning silent once again. The flames had already died out, leaving nothing but the light of the moon to illuminate the area around the longhouse. Leo didn't meander, quickly going into his room and lying down on the bed. Others were already fast asleep, and he made sure to make no sound so as to not wake them up. Even so, they all did, ever for a moment, crawling over and lying either on top of him or by his side. Soon enough, he found it ever so slightly harder to breathe, but remained still, closing his eyes and drifting off into the encroaching darkness.