Chapter 65

  Long Tao's Fun Adventure (II)

  "What's your name?" Long Tao asked, taking a bite of a recently cooked rabbit leg.

  The captured old man was sitting politely on his knees, back upright, a look of wonderment and terror on his face.

  "This lowly one's name is Hou Lan, o' Great One!" he all but shouted, prompting Long Tao to frown.

  "Quiet down."

  "Yes, the Great One!"

  "Why were you following me?"

  "Orders, the Great One!"

  "Whose?"

  "Sect Master's!"

  "Sect Master of the Fire Sun Sect?"

  "Yes!"

  "Hm," Long Tao took another bite, eyeing the man's expression for a moment before continuing. "Why the hell is he ordering you guys to tail kids?"

  "I... I'm not sure," Hou Lan said. "I've heard... rumors."

  "What rumors?"

  "You may not know this, O 'Great One, but the core cultivation method of our Sect, though amazing, comes with some... side effects. The higher one's cultivation realm, the more prominent they are."

  "..." Long Tao remained silent for a moment, considering. He didn't actually know what method they practiced, but he had enough experience to stitch together an approximate--an ostensibly Yang cultivation method without a counteractive force was a death sentence for practically everyone without a special physique. Ordinarily, due to the low ranks of methods like these, side effects tend to peak at the 'bad temper', but if the method is pushed further... "Go on."

  "Ever since our Sect Master broke through to the Void Transformation Realm, he's... changed."

  "Changed how?"

  "I, I only heard this from some of my seniors," Hou Lan's voice, strangely, turned into a whisper, as though he was divulging the world's greatest secret. "Sect Master has always had a... taste for women. However, ever since his breakthrough, all women that go in... don't come out."

  It wasn't odd; even if the man wasn't consciously killing them, copulating while cultivating a method that one lost control over was purely animalistic behavior.

  "The rumor is that, uh, it helps him stay calm." It tracked still. Excess fire energy was expelled temporarily--however, that was also easily achievable by just soaking oneself inside a Yin bath.

  "That still doesn't explain why he ordered you to follow us. For starters, despite my heavenly looks, I am not a woman."

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "That... is why we followed you..." The man's voice turned strangely melancholic as he hung his head low, prompting Long Tao to frown.

  "Meaning?"

  "... it would buy us time," he said. "Our plan was to claim you dressed as a woman to sneak out of the sect, but when we caught up to you, we realized you were a boy. Not knowing what to do, we decided to deliver you to the Sect Master for judgment."

  "Ah," Long Tao understood, feeling even a twinge of sympathy toward the man. Though the world of cultivation was one of vile monsters and rancid souls, there were still things the vast majority of the cultivators were unwilling to do.

  He still didn't feel too much sympathy--there was no doubt that the Fire Sun Sect Master would have killed him, and they probably knew it. They selfishly chose to sacrifice who they thought was a fourteen-year-old boy just to buy a few days to weeks worth of time where they wouldn't have to be on the lookout for girls and women leaving the Spirit Sword Sect.

  "Is that why you guys instigated the war?"

  "Officially, no," Hou Lan shook his head. "But my seniors did imply it. Apparently, mortal women aren't enough... anymore... and, recently, there are rumors about some low-level disciples disappearing from the sect. The only reason I know is because I was a servant myself once and still have some connections there."

  "Hoh," Long Tao sighed, finishing off the rabbit's leg and wiping his lips.

  None of this had anything to do with him, not really.

  He was not a good man, nor did he feel particularly compelled to do anything with the information he learned. And yet, he paused; had it been him before he met that sore influence he called a 'Master', he would have heard the man out, promptly beheaded him, and then just... ignored it.

  There were so many monsters doing far worse things across the countless realms that if he busied himself with killing them all any time he heard about them, he would never have the time to cultivate.

  And yet... he paused.

  "How many of you are stalking the outside of the Spirit Sword Sect?" he asked.

  "I... I don't know."

  "...?"

  "Honestly! Honestly!" he quickly bowed. "I'm just an Outer Elder! The only reason I even know any of this is because it's been happening so often that it's almost impossible to keep it a secret anymore! I just know about a few other groups with elders of my rank in them, but as for the others... I'm not sure."

  Long Tao didn't hear anything about an uptick of disappearances of the Spirit Sword Sect disciples, at least not anything outside the two incidents that prompted the sect to consider a war. Then again, it wasn't entirely impossible. Missions often took at least a month or so to complete at the very least, and most Outer Disciples would stay out for a while on their first mission, as it was likely their first time leaving the Sect in over a decade.

  So, it was entirely possible that there were disciples who were captured, but their disappearances haven't yet been discovered as it hasn't been enough time.

  He glanced sideways at the cliff and sighed--he had to go back.

  It wasn't so much a logical decision, but one of his Dao Heart. If he stayed to decipher the Array, a subtle demon would be born. It probably wouldn't have any impact for centuries and would go entirely unnoticed, but it was precisely these tiny little things done at the very start of the journey that ultimately become nails in one's race toward Immortality.

  He had to go back and inform that sordid man who changed him about all of this.

  It was a shame, but it wasn't a complete loss. He did rip that Elder Zh-whatever his name was for all he had and only had to give his Master half of it... which he now realized he couldn't do.

  His Dao Heart was telling him to give everything.

  "Ho ho, this is getting annoying," he grumbled outwardly.

  "T-The Great One?"

  "Thank you for your cooperation."

  "A-ah, no problem, no problem! So... can, can I go?"

  "Of course."

  "Really?!"

  "Off you go."

  A flash of the sword's edge later, there was a head rolling by the roaring campfire, eyes still hopeful. Yet, within that hope, there was venom--venom formed from humiliation.

  Long Tao may have softened a bit, but that was akin to saying that a vast desert was now a bit lighter after losing fifty pounds of sand.

  He stood up after a moment's thought, flicked his fingers, and burned the body and the head to ashes.

  One last wistful look at the cliff later, he spun and pushed Qi to his feet, turning into an invisible blur, fading into the darkness of the night, as though he was never there.