Doctor Lu Cheng finished his recount of the village's narrow escape, his voice steady but his eyes weary. Old Lady Shen stood in the center of the apothecary, her presence filling the room like a gathering storm.
"So that's how it played out," she said, her voice dropping to a solemn whisper. "Those dogs won't stay away for long. Cultivators of that sort never lick their wounds in silence. They'll be back with their master."
She turned to Lu Cheng, her gaze sharp as a needle. "I'm staying. I won't leave until this is settled."
Lu Cheng's eyes widened in surprise. "There's no need for that. You should return to the forest. Wang Fang is still out there, and he needs your guidance more than we"
"Wang Fang is safe," she interrupted, her tone final. "The boy is sturdier than you think."
She stand up and move towards the door, The boy is smart,so his save. She stepped out into the village air, her eyes drifting toward the distant mountains where her home sat. A rare, soft light touched her face. Let me go and check on Xinyi first,she thought. The boy's mother doesn't have much time left.
Inside the Nine Heaven Sword Sect.
Su Qingmei adjusted his pristine white robes, his expression unreadable. "Before we depart for this 'treasure village,' I must pay my respects to my Master."
Su Qingmei turn around and walk away,at that moment mo Xuan watched him walk away, his heart was boiling in a cauldron of resentment. Beside him, He Sun and Bai Lu sneered, their eyes full of sycophantic worship for the Senior Brother.
"If those villagers even look at Senior Brother Su the wrong way," He Sun chuckled, "Elder Han Yue will descend like a vengeful god. They have no idea what's coming."
Mo Xuan stared at Su Qingmei's retreating back until it vanished around a marble pillar. His hands clenched into white-knuckled fists. If he suppresses that village and takes those artifacts, and pills, Xuan thought, his teeth grinding together, he'll reach the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm. Xuan continued,Although his at the late Qi Gathering Realm,If he get his hands on those artifact and that pill,He'll break into Qi Condensation... and then Foundation Establishment.Then He'll become an immortal, and I who was only luck enough to reach Qi gathering Realm, will be...
The thought felt like a dagger to his chest. I'll be nothing but his dog.
In that instinct,the sounds of the Sect faded as a memory,vivid and poisonous,surged to the front of his mind.
Back then...
"You should be a dog, Su Qingmei! Not inner disciple!"
A younger, broader Mo Xuan had his fingers tangled in Su Qingmei's hair, shoving the boy's face into the mud of their home village. "This is my territory. My father is the Head, and I am the strength. You? You are nothing."
He had spent years crushing Su's spirit, treating him like a footstool because he had the power to do so. He remembered the day they were both summoned to join the Nine Heaven Sword Sect. He remembered the climb, the excitement, and the cruel plan he had hatched.
Even at the Sect gates, Xuan had secretly slipped a jade stone into Su's robes.
"Thief!" Xuan had screamed, pointing a trembling finger. "He stole from the gate disciple!"
The gate guards hadn't asked questions. They had beaten Su Qingmei until he was a bloody heap on the stairs. Xuan had watched with a sadistic delight, leaning against a pillar. I won't kill you myself, he had thought. I'll let the world do it for me.
Xuan was happy, mocking, untill...
The talent testing day.
The elders had separated the candidates. They tested other people first, then they both xuan and su qingmei, but xuan was sent to the left, the pile for "trash" and outer disciples. And su qingmei was sent to the right.
"What?!" Xuan had screamed, his voice cracking. "I belong over there! I have the strength!"
The testing Elder had looked at him with pitying eyes. "Strength is common, boy. Talent is divine. Your talent is mud. But this one..." The Elder turned to the bruised, bloodied Su Qingmei with eyes full of greed. "You have the bones of a sword immortal. Will you be my disciple?"
"Huh" everyone was surprised, a sword immortal bone.
In that moment, Mo Xuan's world hadn't just broken; it had turned to ash.
As Xuan remember it, is blood boiled.
Mo Xuan gripped his shoulder so hard his nails drew blood. His breath came in ragged, uneven gasps.
"Brother Xuan?" Bai Lu asked, reaching out a hesitant hand. "Are you alright? You look pale."
Xuan jerked away from his touch, his eyes wild and bloodshot. "...Nothing. It's nothing."
He Sun frowned, stepping back. "He's acting strange."
Mo Xuan didn't hear them. He stared into the distance, his mind a storm of hatred and obsession. I don't care what it takes, he vowed, the darkness in his heart swallowing him whole. I will never let that servant stand above me again