For both John and Theodore, when they awoke once more, there was only one of them. As John had never been too attached to the ridiculous moniker that he had been branded with, the newly fused soul chose to fully accept the identity of Theodore Winter. After all, if he wanted to fly under the radar as an outside intruder here, he would have to do so anyway.
Still, the situation that he found himself in upon his return from death left him confused for a moment. What exactly had happened? How had he died? The place where he stood was a small hole in an unfamiliar forest. Mere steps away, a good-looking yet creepy woman was about to violate a girl right in front of his eyes.
But how was any of that connected to his demise? Still unsure, he made triply certain that there were no threats anywhere around him, then he charged at the rapist-to-be, grasped her neck and broke it in one smooth move, despite his frail physical state. He had never been one to shy away from eliminating those that committed evil, as his Talent necessitated him to turn into a mass murderer anyway. Although John had treasured human life ever so slightly–far more than old Theodore ever did–now that they had fused, the new Theodore merely felt a bit more appreciative of innocent, regular people.
The moment that the woman was killed, one more Heavenly Dao notification popped up in his field of view, but as there were already a couple of them, he brushed them all aside for the moment. He intended to properly read them all only after he had figured out his exact circumstances.
"No need to be afraid, I've taken care of the evildoer. You're alright now."
Showing a warm-hearted smile, he flung the corpse away and crouched down next to the attractive girl whose simple attire was now disheveled. Admittedly, due to a few pieces of clothing having been partially removed already, she was quite the sight for sore eyes. Still, he wouldn't be swayed by something like this. Additionally, the girl was sure to feel even worse about her situation if his gaze turned into a lecherous one as well. Therefore, he behaved as if entirely oblivious to her exposed upper body.
"H-Huh!? What just happened?"
Confused, the village girl wiped away her tears, before finally realizing who it was that had saved her and was in front of her, now perfectly fine.
"You're still alive?!? That's great!"
A joyful, bright smile deep from the bottom of her heart blossomed on her lips, what she had just experienced taking a backseat momentarily as she delighted in the survival of the charming gentleman that she had developed a crush on at first sight.
"... yes, I'm still alive. But what happened to me? I only remember falling unconscious... and then someone or something attacked me. Would you be so kind as to let me know?"
Sitting down next to the girl, he only looked at her face, his demeanour making her feel comfortable and relaxed all over. The confusion clouding his eyes was genuine.
"Oh! Uh... where do I begin? I found you next to the creek outside of my house about a day ago. But you had a very high fever, so I brought you back home and... t-took care of you for a day."
Upon mentioning this, she couldn't help but recall all of the sneaky glances that she had shot at his body as she wiped off his sweat, and a deep blush spread on her cheeks. As she looked down shyly, breaking their eye contact, she finally noticed the state that she was in, turning red all the way to her nape. Hastily, she covered them up, then made sure to explain herself.
"D-Don't misunderstand! I only wiped you clean! I didn't mean to look!"
Smirking at her behaviour, aware that she hadn't done anything excessive due to his internal vital energy still being unblemished, he shrugged.
"It's okay, I didn't mean to look either. Now we're even, right?"
Hiding her face in her hands, the girl couldn't help but squeal in embarrassment. Only after a while did her heart regain a tiny bit of calmness.
"Ahem! It's all good, no worries! Let me continue where I left off. So, this morning, the woman you just saved me from barged into my home and claimed that she wanted to kill you. Then she dragged both of us out here into the forest. She was too powerful and scary, so I couldn't really do anything. She had this really gorgeous dagger. But instead of stabbing you with it, she laid it on your chest and waited, then stepped backwards once you woke up. That's when some sort of weird explosion took place, and you disappeared. After that... w-well, you know what happened."
Taking in all the new information, Theodore was lost in thought for a moment, then he nodded. All the puzzle pieces fit together neatly. There were still some unanswered questions, but very likely, those Heavenly Dao notifications would clear up these remaining doubts. For now, though, he should first settle down in a safe place.
"Thank you for letting me know. I'll still need some time to piece everything together, but that shouldn't take long. Thank you for treating me kindly all this while, I truly appreciate it! Might I inquire about your name, my dear maiden? Mine is Theodore Winter, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
In response to his charming, affectionate smile, the girl's heart couldn't help but beat faster. The fact that he had used the word 'my' to refer to her caused plenty of fantasies to cloud her mind for a bit as well. It took her a while until she finally responded.
"I-I am Xie Mei! But everyone calls me Mei'er. And I'm happy to meet you, too!"
Thinking the brave face that she put on was quite adorable, Theodore nodded, his gaze a little contemplative.
"Then... should I call you Xie Mei, or Mei'er?"
Her cheeks turning bright red again, Xie Mei looked away bashfully.
"M-Mei'er is fine."
Amused at her behaviour, Theodore replied in kind.
"Then you can just call me Theo. Now, we should probably go back to your village, right? I can't image the forest is completely safe, after all."
Standing up and reaching out a hand towards Xie Mei, Theodore steered their conversation into a more productive direction now that a certain rapport between them had been established.
"Y-You're right, Theo! We're quite far from the village, so we might encounter a boar or wolves! I-I'll lead the way back!"
Reluctantly letting go of his hand after she got up, Xie Mei scrutinized their surroundings for a while, then she pointed in a direction.
"Wait a moment. Let me just see if that woman has anything useful on her. I'll be right there!"
Ignoring both the terrified gaze of Xie Mei as she peeked at the dead body, as well as the empty stare of the corpse, Theodore spent a few moments, only to find various unfamiliar banknotes, gold, silver and bronze coins. There was also a sheathed short sword at her hip that appeared to be of outstanding make. The rest of her clothing was in horrendous condition and there were quite a few scars and barely scabbed-over wounds covering her body. Who knows what she had experienced to end up like that?
Pocketing everything that he could, he returned to his adorable guide's side and followed next to her as the two of them made their way back to where they had first met. On the way, he inquired about the money that he had found, causing Xie Mei to go extremely wide-eyed when she saw the fortune that he had acquired. Her own family earned around one gold piece in a good year, which was more than sufficient for the three of them to live and have plenty to spare that they could squirrel away to prepare for harsher years or emergency expenses.
One gold coin was worth 100 silver coins, and one silver coin could be exchanged for 100 bronze coins. As for those banknotes, they were worth between five and 500 gold coins! Upon learning of this, Theodore picked out one of the 100 gold banknotes and stuffed it into Xie Mei's hand.
"Here, take it. But keep it a secret from others–wealth can often invite disaster upon yourself!"
Shocked at his generosity, Xie Mei wanted to give the money back, but was ultimately refused. What convinced her was Theodore's next statement.
"Take it as payment for letting me stay with you for a while, will you? I'm completely unfamiliar with the area and will need to settle down for a while to come. I wouldn't want to impose on you for free!"
Xie Mei could barely keep the joking words "you can pay me back with your body instead" locked inside, leaving her head once again resembling a tomato. In all honesty, she had never expected to be repaid for her actions, or for lending him a place to stay.
Whilst her parents might see things differently if they returned while Theodore was still around, she hadn't actually thought that far ahead. After all, they could be gone for a few more days, and she was totally lovestruck with the gentleman who had suddenly appeared in her life.
If Theodore was a bit of a rogue, then this state of hers would be a recipe for quite the tumultuous time indeed, but he truly just needed a relatively safe space to gather his thoughts for a while and figure out how to proceed from this point onward.
As an effectively 'old monster', and someone who had seen the most drop-dead gorgeous women of the Heavenly Dao during every single social gathering, while he was quite surprised at Xie Mei's terrifically outstanding looks, he was desensitized to beauty. The grand goal that he was chasing after was also not something as base and boring as mere procreation.
While he was preparing for the future, he would simply enjoy this girl's various cute reactions and behaviours on the side. After all, it would make the journey a little less monotonous.
Soon, the two arrived at the mountain village, where Theodore stealthily made his way into the house that Xie Mei pointed out. He would indubitably become the centre of attention if he strolled around in public dressed as he was, and might even invite the concern of some elder or chief-like figure. Therefore, he hid away in the home of his eager host.
He let her know that he would have to focus on thinking about some matters, so she left him to his own devices and proceeded to tidy herself up properly. Then, she took care of her daily chores.
Reading the four Heavenly Dao notifications that had popped up in chronological order, he worked through them one by one. And the second one was already completely unexpected!