Chapter 192

  Calls From Beyond (II)

  I couldn't even really celebrate the windows and notifications popping around me as I was being dragged out through the dark tunnel and out into the light.

  ... except there was no light.

  With us emerging from the cave, I realized that the mix of rain and snow had turned into a straight-up snow.

  Rather, it was a blizzard.

  Winds quickly cut through and nearly made me yelp out in shock--they were so harsh and forceful that I saw a thick, dying log that once used to be a thriving tree bend, its roots momentarily jutting out of the ground.

  Holy shit.

  As far as I know, we literally had specialized machines back on Earth specifically made for root extraction? Or, at least, specialized tools?

  Or maybe those were for teeth root extractions? Heh. It's good to have a sense of humor when you're being buried by the weather that seems borderline apocalyptic.

  Within moments, we all retreated back into the cave's maw; even if it was still extremely cold in here, too, at the very least it offered a shelter from the wind.

  "Uh, was, was it really okay to leave that boy behind?" Lilia asked as we settled, with her starting a small fire that remained suspended between us all, actually kind of managing to warm up the air.

  "Who? Ah, Long Tao?" I said. "Yeah, it's fine. He's preparing for a major breakthrough, so he needs to challenge himself..." I threw out a random lie, taking out a few more blankets from the spatial ring and tossing them over Light, as other kids refused them.

  "... I still can't really believe it. Any of it," she chuckled in that 'Hah, did that really just happen?' sort of way. "The Blood Fiend wasn't who we thought he was but rather his older brother. And this whole time, he was trying to prepare a vessel for his spirit or soul to inhabit? How is... any of that possible?"

  Frankly? I've got no idea.

  I'm not even sure what constitutes a 'soul' or a 'spirit' here, as they aren't just concepts people made up to grapple with the fact we don't really know what 'thoughts' or 'consciousness' even are but seem to be very much tangible things. Or... maybe they're not. Maybe it wasn't so much spirit that got trapped in that body, but whatever caused the 'entrapment' simply fused two brains together and created two personalities, and one happened to be more dominant than the other.

  ... nah.

  I don't think me trying to logic away the magic out of this situation will work.

  "Everything feels so... fruitless," Zhu added. "All our struggles. All the years wasted."

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "You got to the truth," I said. "That's, at least partially, worth it."

  "Thanks to you. That umbrella... it must have been one of the rarest artifacts," Lilia said, her expression turning strangely pained. "I... I don't think three Inscriptions are nowhere near enough to pay for it..."

  I mean, yeah. Though, to me, the umbrella was just an item that was given to me by the system, so I didn't really have a frame of reference to match, it probably was something of a rare artifact.

  "It's fine," I shrugged. "I can always find more artifacts; life, though, is just one."

  "Ha ha. I hope you don't take offense," she said. "But... you are a rather strange man, Mister Lu. I've met a few cultivators before, and though they never harmed me directly... I did not get the impression of humility and humbleness from them."

  "I can be a rowdy, cold, proud egomaniac if it'd make you feel better. Demand you kiss the ground I walk on for saving your non-cultivating asses."

  "Ha ha ha," she laughed somewhat liberally at a bad joke, prompting me to look over at her once more; though I was seldom a good judge of attraction, there's a chance--

  "Bad Master, bad!!" Dai Xiu voiced from the side, suddenly pinching me. "Don't fall for her witchy powers! Master, please wake up! Don't be fooled and become a beast!!"

  "..."

  "..."

  Oh.

  Wow.

  So, it wasn't that I was good at tolerating awkward and embarrassing situations; it's just that I was yet to encounter one with the capacity to break me.

  Huh.

  Interesting.

  Lilia looked away, her shoulders shaking; Zhu turned toward the sky and whistled lowly; Light spun toward me, too, and looked rather judgmental; Xi Zhao was red in his cheeks, his head lowered; and Wan Lan... she was also on the verge of breaking out into laughter.

  Yes, it's all very comical, sure, if you're not the target of comedy!

  "I wasn't going to..." I mumbled with a sigh.

  "Humph!" she scoffed, standing up, walking over, and sitting in front of me while eyeing the woman opposite of me.

  "Are you scared I will take your Master from you?" Lilia teased.

  "You? Hah! Master deserves a Heavenly Divine beauty--no, a thousand such beauties! Only they are worthy of him! You? You are maybe worth washing his feet once or twice as a reward!"

  "..."

  Alright.

  I feared she'd be offended--as she honestly just straight up should--but instead, she broke out into a wide smile.

  "You must love your Master very much," she said. "Haah. I envy you, Mister Lu. As much as I envy your disciples. I did always find the master-disciple relationships that cultivators have... fascinating. There is no such concept for us Shamans. Though we all have teachers, sometimes even direct ones, we never form bonds like these--every new trainee Shaman, after all, is a threat to an already Seated one.

  "But then I also hear stories of master-disciple relationships breaking down and resulting in rather... grueling deaths, and I stop and wonder whether either side has it truly figured out."

  "... the only thing I've got figured out is that if these kids are trying to kill me," I said, smiling faintly. "They probably have the best reason anyone ever had for a murder."

  "... lovely sentiment."

  "What are you talking about, Master?!" Dai Xiu erupted. "I would never, ever, ever, ever even think about hurting you, no matter what!"

  "Oh?" I glanced down at her. "What if your Master got possessed by an Ancient Demon that wants to destroy the world?"

  "As if! Master would never get possessed by someone as pathetic as that!"

  "That's right," even Xi Zhao joined. "If an Ancient Demon tried to possess you, you would probably conquer it instead and use its power!"

  ... right.

  It might still be considered somewhat adorable, but, honestly, as they age up, these quite wild things--whether they truly believe them or are just feeding my ego--are becoming sharp razors to my ears.

  "Right," I sighed, patting both their heads and turning toward Lilia, who was, once again, at the brink of laughter. "I think you guys have it figured out."

  "Ha ha ha."

  It was in the ringing laughter that the sound of approaching footsteps silenced us; looking over, I saw unharmed (and... pretty much un-anything, honestly) Long Tao walking.

  Right.

  I need to quickly examine the notification windows so I can properly play the game of bullshitting between the two of us.