As Xiao expected, the moment he left the village, the souls that had been relentlessly chasing him down had stopped in their tracks.
The souls stared at him—no, they stared at Yan with a burning determination to kill him at all costs. But after a brief pause and knowing they couldn't do anything, they turned and retreated back into the village.
Xiao, exhausted and desperate, knew he had to tie Yan up to prevent him from causing any more trouble while unconscious.
Xiao glanced around and noticed how this side of the village was completely different from the other. On the opposite side, there had been a dense forest and a broken, unused road that looked abandoned.
But here, the road was perfectly intact, and a signpost stood nearby, pointing out directions. The forest surrounding this area seemed well-maintained, like it had been taken care of deliberately.
Still, Xiao couldn't focus on the beauty of the scene for long; he was on the verge of passing out from exhaustion. He carried Yan to the sign and checked his pulse to ensure he was truly knocked out.
Xiao wished he had a rope to bind Yan securely, but he had to make do with what was available. Thinking quickly, he decided to use the sign itself to restrain Yan. He pushed Yan's body up so that he was standing upright against the post.
Then, Xiao twisted Yan's arms around the sign in such a way that Yan's wrists crossed over each other, creating a knot of sorts using his own limbs. By wrapping the arms tightly, Xiao was able to use friction to keep them locked in place.
Next, Xiao did the same with Yan's legs. He bent Yan's body at an unnatural angle, twisting his legs around the signpost so tightly that they were intertwined, creating tension that held him in place.
If Xiao had been an ordinary person, the sight would have been terrifying as the degree to which Yan's body contorted was almost inhuman but as a cultivator with many experiences, Xiao knew this was enough to ensure Yan couldn't escape.
Even so, Xiao wasn't satisfied. He needed absolute certainty that Yan wouldn't be able to free himself. He scoured the nearby area and found two thick branches.
He sharpened their ends and used them to impale Yan's hands and feet where they were crossed, pinning him securely to the sign.
As a final measure, Xiao placed his hand on Yan's lower abdomen and struck his dantian (the energy center in cultivation), sealing it and rendering Yan powerless, at least for a while.
Only then did Xiao allow himself to relax. He climbed a tree with a sturdy branch and settled down, breathing in relief.
"Finally," he whispered to himself before falling into an exhausted sleep.
Time passes slowly.
---
Elsewhere, in what seemed like an entirely different realm, there was only darkness which people would assume was an abyss. A disembodied head floated in the shadows, trapped in a room with no visible walls, and seemingly without a body.
Suddenly, the head's eyes opened, as if sensing something. It glanced in a specific direction and smiled briefly, though the smile disappeared as quickly as it came.
The head said nothing, its eyes closing again, slipping back into a deep slumber, as if waiting for another eternity to pass.
---
An unknown amount of time passed before Xiao awoke. His head throbbed with a headache, and the first thing he heard was an incessant voice.
"Let me free."
"I'm sorry for hurting you."
"If you release me, I'll personally repay you!"
Yan's voice kept repeating variations of the same plea, over and over, until Xiao couldn't take it anymore.
Frustrated, Xiao shouted, "Shut up before I kill you!"
Instantly, silence fell. The nagging voice stopped, and the area around Xiao seemed eerily still.
With a pounding head, Xiao opened his eyes and looked to the side. There, still tied to the sign, was Yan. His face was pale, and there was a clear look of fear in his eyes.
"Now, let's deal with you, demon," Xiao growled, walking toward Yan.
His voice was cold and stern. "Why don't you start by explaining the altar?" Xiao demanded, anger bubbling to the surface.
After everything he'd been through and nearly dying because of Yan, he had every right to be furious.
But Xiao knew rushing the interrogation wouldn't get him the answers he needed. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down, even though the frustration lingered. He couldn't let his emotions cloud his judgment.
"Explain yourself," he repeated, his tone firm.
He wasn't in the mood for Yan's tricks. Asking slow, simple questions would take too long, and he needed answers fast. Plus, the quicker he got to the truth, the less chance Yan would have to find a way to prolong his survival.
Yan, with a frightened expression, sighed and began to speak.
"I wasn't in my right mind back there. Something was possessing me, as if I had completely lost control of my body. I could see everything happening, but I was powerless to stop it."
Xiao immediately recognized that Yan was only telling a half-truth. As a former sect master, Xiao had the experience to detect lies by observing the flow of qi, subtle body movements, and relying on his natural instincts.
Xiao sighed, knowing Yan wouldn't reveal the full story. 'Should've known better than to expect the truth from a demon,' he thought bitterly.
Still, Xiao began piecing together the clues from what Yan had said.
'So, the part about not having control over his body seems genuine. Could his connection to the altar have affected his mind?' he wondered, pondering the possibility.
However, Xiao was more skeptical about the claim that Yan couldn't stop his connection with the altar.
'That's probably only partially true,' he reasoned. 'If Yan had tried to sever the connection, it might've killed him or worse, corrupted his soul but nothing could stop him from doing so.'
Despite his deductions, Xiao knew that assumptions wouldn't get him far. He needed concrete answers. So, he decided to ask more direct, meaningful questions to get to the root of the situation.