Shattered dreams. Empty stomach. Burnt wings.
Fate shall punish the gluttonous puppet that ate its strings.
****
Singing a happy tune, walking under the warm radiance of the Sun and breathing-in a mouthful of cool air devoid of the bloody stench left in the wake of the rain yesterday, Di Tanxue could not help letting a smile of satisfaction appear on his face.
These things, although trivial, were part of the daily life that he had so desperately hoped to reclaim for the past eight years.
Freedom….
It was as pleasant and sweet as he remembered it to be, yet it was equally as burdensome since he was well-aware that it might not last for much longer.
Letting out a sigh, he saw a caravan approaching from up ahead. With more than a dozen beast-driven carriages and nearly a hundred beast-mounted guards protecting them from all sides, the caravan was of a modest scale seen frequently on the four Cardinal Highways.
It was only a few moments later that the caravan guards seemed to notice Di Tanxue and slowed their advance out of caution.
Recognising the cloak of concealment worn by the lone figure ahead of them, a few of the caravan guards shared uneasy glances amongst themselves and hastily looked up at the sky.
Fortunately it did not seem like it would rain anytime soon.
They heaved a sigh of relief only to realise that the more experienced ones among them had expressions filled with horror and dismay as they gazed ahead.
On the other side, Di Tanxue too noticed their expressions of horror and with a frown he walked to one side of the road, gesturing towards the caravan guards to pass by.
"Scram!"
He shouted in a deliberately pretentious tone, making the guards snap out of their dazed state and turn their gazes simultaneously towards their captain.
"Advance, advance forward at full speed!"
Panicked, the guard captain gave the only viable command that he could give and took to the front urging his own mount to run faster.
A moment later he could feel the earth shake from the hasty charge of their caravan. Letting out a sigh he prayed to the dead Divine Spirit to safely get them out of their present predicament.
Fully prepared for any eventualities, the guard captain successfully reached a few steps away from Di Tanxue when suddenly his mount, including everyone else's, stopped in their tracks, seemingly shivering in fright.
'As expected!'
Cursing in mind, the captain touched the hilt of his sword and turned his gaze towards Di Tanxue only to be left puzzled.
He was not aware when but at some point in time this lone figure in cloak of concealment had turned their head around, intently looking behind at something.
When the guard captain followed the cloaked figure's gaze, he too could see it.
Far off in the road ahead of the caravan, an armoured beast of particularly large size was seen speeding towards them with maddening frenzy.
There was no time to think of what, why and how. From his experience and the beast's trajectory, the captain could tell that it won't take long for the frenzied beast to reach and collide into their caravan.
It would likely end with half, if not more, of his subordinates dead or gravely injured. It was as good as a death sentence for all of them since even the surviving individuals won't live for long with the reduced numbers.
"Disperse! Move! Move damnit!"
The captain shouted frantically, looking behind at his subordinates remaining motionless despite the frenzied beast having covered almost half the distance.
Except for a handful, the guards under his command appeared to have fallen into a state of fear similar to their mouth. At this the captain could do nothing except throw a gaze filled with venom and hatred towards Di Tanxue.
'A misunderstanding, it is a misunderstanding;'
Di Tanxue sighed in a barely audible tone and watched the guard captain deliberate abandoning his mount and fleeing all alone, yet in the end he just closed his eyes and chose to share the same fate as his subordinates.
Even the handful of the guards that were unaffected too made the same choice, it was foolish… utterly foolish.
Clicking his tongue in criticism, Di Tanxue once again looked behind at the approaching frenzied beast or the thing being dragged along by the beast to be precise.
While it was not easily noticeable due to the frenzied beast's gigantic size of being nearly twice as tall and ten times as wide as an ordinary human; there was in fact a luxurious looking carriage of an equal size attached behind the beast.
Di Tanxue could feel the presence of four living beings, most certainly humans, from the luxurious looking carriage and one of those four was single-handedly responsible for the current mess.
For a fleeting moment he contemplated saving the caravan guards, it would be an easy task for him to do but… why should he?
He owed them nothing. Since they dared venture out of their respective domains, they must've been aware of the dangers involved.
One unfortunate event and they could all die. One chance encounter with a cultivator and their lives could turn into a living hell.
They must have known. Wasn't that the reason why they looked so afraid of Di Tanxue earlier.
"Ah whatever, I might as well just do it;"
Di Tanxue clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He saw no benefit in helping them out but it was also true that he won't lose anything even if he did save them. Not to mention, it was indeed an insignificant task for him so much so that it would not be an exaggeration to compare it to the act of swallowing a mouthful of delicious meal or breathing even.
'Sense the ripples in the Great Ocean… locate the point of turbulence and… cast your own Existential Anchor within…'
Exhaling a long breath, Di Tanxue tapped his right foot gently on the ground causing faintly visible ripples to spread along the very fabric of space with him as origin.
In no time the ripples brushed past the frenzied beast, the luxurious carriage behind it and also the whole caravan which was now but twenty steps away from the frenzied beast.
The world seemed to experience an inexplicable shift as the frenzied beast froze for the briefest of instance. With some amount of sanity returning to its mind, it hurriedly stopped its mad dash only to tumble forward in the process.
Fortunately, the caravan guards and their mounts had returned back to normal by that moment hence they managed to get out of the way just in the nick of time to not suffer any major damage.
A period of silence settled upon the scene with the armoured beast laid panting on the ground licking its injured legs and the caravan guards looking around with confusion and hesitation.
The silence lasted for about an incense stick worth of time when all of a sudden, the door of the luxurious carriage opened with a bang and a young man came rushing out.
Seemingly in his late teens, the young man had a slim physique and a chubby face which at the moment was mired with stress and exhaustion.
"Little Unicorn!"
With an anxious cry, the young man ran forward towards the armoured beast and embraced its gigantic head in an awkward pose.
It's alright, it's alright. Big Brother is here. He whispered in a sobbing tone hearing the armoured beast whimper with pain. Calming down the beast, the young man took out some ointments and medicines from his spatial storage bag and began tending to its wounds delicately.
Contrary to their glory in the ancient ages, the Beasts of the current era were relegated to the status of mere livestock and free labour. As such it was a rare sight to see someone treat a Beast in such an empathetic way.
For the caravan guards it was a touching sight to behold since they themselves viewed their beast mounts quite dearly.
Di Tanxue, meanwhile, withdrew his Existential Anchor within his lower dantian and turned around. He gave the chubby young man and the caravan guards one last look and was about to leave when;
"Fellow daois- err… Elder! Please wait!"
A second individual came out of the luxurious carriage and respectfully called out to Di Tanxue.
A handsome young man with a commanding yet calm presence. He was most likely a young scion of some Nobel clan, Di Tanxue could see the obvious hints.
Noticing that he had Di Tanxue's attention, the young noble cupped his fists and bowed down in greetings.
"Elder, many thanks for your help just now. Thanks to you we managed to avoid an unfortunate incident!"
The young noble laughed with a relieved expression and walked towards Di Tanxue.
"No need to thank me, I did it on a whim;"
Di Tanxue shrugged his shoulders and replied honestly, all the while looking at the young noble with some amount of interest.
"Still, if you had wanted you could've left after calming down our carriage beast yet you waited for us to settle down. How can I not be thankful?"
Stopping four steps away from Di Tanxue, the young noble looked around, seemingly searching for something and spoke out with hesitation.
"I.. my carriage is headed towards the Northern-Port and I can see that you're travelling on foot;"
"And?"
Di Tanxue asked with an amused look on his face, he could already guess where the conversation was headed and sure enough;
"If you don't mind, how about coming along with us? We can drop you off wherever you want.. not to mention, we'll get a chance to repay your favour!"
Saying as much, the young noble noticed Di Tanxue remain silent as such he insisted.
"Please don't refuse, I promise you won't find anything to be dissatisfied about!"
"Alright;"
Nodding his head, Di Tanxue readily accepted the young noble's proposal and laughed as he saw the latter's expressions freeze with doubts for an instant.
Soon enough, the young noble guided Di Tanxue to the luxurious carriage's door.
"Elder, please have a seat inside. I'll handle the things here first;"
"Sure, go ahead;"
Di Tanxue watched the young noble make an apologetic gesture and walk towards the caravan guards.
'He's a cunning fellow, just like his appearance suggests;'
With a thoughtful expression, Di Tanxue shook his head lightly and entered inside the carriage only to be greeted by the view of a girl laying on the floor in a puddle of blood while the same oozed out of her five orifices.