"With all that cleared up, what do you want me to do, exactly? I'm talking about those tasks you mentioned, senior Xie. What would I be doing, exactly? What's the point of those tasks?" Han Xuhan asked, feeling mentally fatigued by now.
"Ah, what you'll be doing is information best kept secret for now. But I can tell you their overall aim," Fang Xie said with a strained smile.
"These tasks will help me gather a team of talented youths."
"...That's it? Seriously? I can just go down the mountain and find fifty of them within half an hour," Xuhan nearly shouted in disbelief.
"Talented youths who are not members of this sect. Of course, if I had my way, your sect wouldn't be exempted. But your sect master is a man very difficult to convince."
Han Xuhan repeatedly, rapidly shifted his gaze between the two experts in front of him. The implications were not lost on him.
Whatever Fang Xie had in mind for the youths he wanted to recruit through Xuhan was anything but pleasant. But this one thought suddenly created a spark of doubt in Xuhan's mind.
Kong Ye...wasn't he doing the exact same thing? Was his new teacher's intentions truly as pure as it had originally seemed?
Once again, the unexpected depth and sinister undercurrents of the world of cultivation made itself prominent in front of Han Xuhan's paranoid eyes.
But this was not the time to make wild theories in his mind. Clearing his thoughts, he asked the most obvious question.
"And why did you choose me for this task? I don't think just your hatred of my existence itself is enough for you to wildly choose me for a task so 'unconventional'."
Fang Xie leaned close and whispered the answer to his question. "Cut off your automatic sense of superiority, brat. I didn't choose you thinking you could do it. I chose you hoping you'd fail and suffer horribly in the hands of your targets. It would be best if your cultivation gets crippled in the process. Xuan Zi will have no use for you then. You'll be thrown out of the sect in order to appease the forces behind your targets, and I'll have you all to myself..."
"Ah, So passionate! How I wish you were a jade beauty, senior..." Xuhan whispered back with a wooden expression.
"Oh yeah, me too, brat. Me too."
"What?"
"What?"
"Disciple Xuhan, I was under the impression that you were an intelligent young man. How do you keep falling down to his level every time I let you two have an exchange longer than a minute? Why are you trying to win an argument with a madman?" Xuan Zi butted in with a sigh.
"Maybe he's mad too," Fang Xie remarked thoughtfully.
Han Xuhan rubbed his nose slowly. So in the end, Fang Xie did not care whether he succeeded or not. Perhaps his original plan for Xuhan had been something far more extreme and Xuan Zi had made him compromise.
"When I finish the tasks, you will stop hounding me, correct?"
"Oh! 'When' you finish the tasks? Confident, aren't we?" Fang Xie exclaimed, his eyes narrowing.
"Do I have a choice l?"
"Good, good, good. I like brats who learn fast."
"I'd rather you did not. You haven't answered my question, though."
"Well, yes. For now, that is the plan. You do your job, you keep your life. It matters not to me whether you fail or not, but it definitely matters to you. Hehe..."
Han Xuhan nodded. He obviously didn't believe the man. But he had an idea regarding how to make Fang Xie honor his promise. Reaching into his pockets, Xuhan brought out something he had gotten from Brother BB during their last trade, alongside a new batch of chamber pots.
He had seen Qian Yun use it several times in the past. It was one of the reasons why he had been attracted to the law techniques in the first place.
It was a folded paper containing several paragraphs. Han Xuhan presented it to Fang Xie demurely and gave him his magical quill to sign with.
"Then surely, you would not have any problems signing in there, right?" He said to the dumbstruck man.
Fang Xie stared at the contract for a full ten seconds before he shifted his gaze onto Xuhan. Then he went through the contract again.
"Oh, my apologies. I was unaware that you couldn't read," Xuhan said in a very insincere tone. "Allow me, senior-"
Fang Xie sharply raised a hand gesturing at him to shut up. His eyes shone with a gloomy light as he brought the quill up and signed his name viciously underneath the paragraphs.
"How surprising, old Zi! Letting your disciples wander off into deviant paths better left unexplored, I see. Doesn't quite match your style."
Xuan Zi, enjoying the development so far from his seat, grinned lightly.
"This old man has learned from his mistakes in the past, Inspector Xie. On the road to heaven, why should any path be left unexplored?"
Fang Xie almost flinched. Handing over the quill and the contract to Xuhan, he smiled in a way that could be described as benevolent.
"Intelligence isn't always rewarded, brat. You'll learn that the hard way."
"At least I'll learn something new," Xuhan answered back with an equally sweet smile.
For the next thirty seconds, all three occupants of the room smiled back and forth at each other warmly. The word 'creepy' couldn't even begin to describe the scene.
Han Xuhan went over the contract once more amidst all the smiling. Then he signed his own name beside Fang Xie's.
"You can leave now. When the time comes, I shall notify you of what to do," Fang Xie said.
His heart mired in deep sorrow and worry for his future self, Han Xuhan walked out from the sect master's residence.
The mystery behind the orphanage's disappearance was growing into something far too troublesome. Even a cultivator as powerful as Fang Xie couldn't remember its existence? Or was he lying? Or...
Maybe Xuhan himself was the madman?
........ ....... .......... .........
"So..."
"He did not exactly lie," Xuan Zi answered the unasked question, his eyes gloomy.
"Did your new mind-reading technique tell you that?"
"It's nowhere as sophisticated as mind reading, Fang Xie. The elders in this sect aren't some genius sons of heaven. Being able to fish out some superficial thoughts is already quite the milestone. Who knows, maybe elder Wu Di would get called back into working under a solar monarch once the news of his achievement in this field spreads."
Xuan Zi mused over the possibility while Fang Xie completely ignored his words.
"According to the boy, he has lived in that town his entire life; the same town where I underwent my heavenly tribulation. He claims to have lived in an orphanage that I do not remember ever existing. What are the implications here?" Fang Xie asked.
"That he was present during your dao integration? It's common for clueless mortals to stumble upon an integration site and interact with the components in the semi-illusion. I myself have seen this happen countless times back home when I was young and the elders in the family tried to guide my perception of reality. However, unless the cultivator undergoing the integration wants something out of the interactions with the mortal, I cannot see why anybody would grow up in the tribulation site. You certainly weren't stuck in it for seventeen years, but this disciple of mine claims to have been in the orphanage since his birth.
Even more illogical is the fact that he actually remembers it when no one else does. The heavens aren't so blind as to directly ignore an external presence so significant, least of all when it's inside a tribulation site. His recollection of his past is definitely not the correct one even though he believes it to be true."
"You keep defending this boy far too much, Zi."
"The boy is my disciple. Why would I refrain from defending him when he is innocent?"
"Have you considered the possibility that the boy is actually an expert in hiding?"
It was now Xuan Zi's turn to become speechless.
"An expert?" He asked in confusion.
"That's right. Just connect the dots!" Fang Xie suddenly leaped up from his seat and started pacing around excitedly.
"The number of qi deviations and tribulation failures in this planet, no, in the entire solar system has been unprecedented recently. Almost all of these accidents happened to experts at or above the dao genesis realm. What if this boy is actually an exile from one of the Celestial Factions? Maybe he has lowered his realm to hide from enemies. Maybe he's trying to remove all the powerful cultivators around him so that nobody discovers his identity! It makes sense!"
"Fang Xie, take your medication in time."
"You're just biased!"
"Then how do you explain my existence? Am I not on par with you or any of those other cultivators who encountered accidents? The boy lives right in front of my house! Did you think I wouldn't notice if he was an expert in hiding while somebody on another planet would?"
"...." Fang Xie fell silent but still looked unconvinced.
"Sit down. You know, there is another possibility, Fang Xie."
"What is it?"
Xuan Zi scratched his chin and answered, "Maybe the boy is actually right. Somebody tried to take revenge against him for some reason. Maybe it was the expert in the Holy Land of Laws, angered by his escape. My disciple certainly provoked someone with a proper backing there. I can picture that person trying to exact vengeance from the clues I've collected so far."
"But the fact remains that the boy's origins are incredibly suspicious," Fang Xie growled.
"Old Zi, which party would reap the biggest benefits if the inspector of this planet failed to transcend his tribulation?"
"You're looking at him," Xuan Zi replied plainly.
"Well yes, I can see that. But who else has the power to meddle with heavenly tribulations and make such a neat getaway? I swear if only they'd left a single clue as to what had happened during that time..."
"If we're talking about the safety of the entire
planet, only Lord Eternal Night should be crazy enough to initiate something like this. This region is still a part of the neutral territory after all. Are you telling me you suspect that Lord Eternal Night is scheming to infect this solar system using my disciple? Sure, I have a high opinion of him, but right now he is still....a trash."
Fang Xie didn't retort this time, as if considering the possibility.
"Regardless, I think it is unnecessary to brood over this issue any longer for now. If you haven't realized it yet, the boy himself is quite suspicious of his own origins. To begin with, he is a cursed reincarnation of his past self. Couple that with the continuous incidents he keeps facing despite being vastly unprepared, it's no wonder that he didn't even report the disappearance of the orphanage to the authorities. Had he known anything about what's happening in the background, he wouldn't take such a huge risk despite meeting you there. To ward off my suspicion, he would have reported it as soon as possible and tried harder to convince us of his innocence. Right now, he has driven himself into a corner and allowed himself to become a mere puppet in your hands. Nobody with a prior plan would land himself in a trap so hard to get out of."
Fang Xie looked frustrated at Xuan Zi's explanation. But he kept his tongue in check and got up from his seat.
"Fine then. We'll see where this goes. I'll send you the materials as soon as I can gather them. Deliver them to the boy before you execute the mass teleportation spell. And one more thing..."
For a brief second, Fang Xie hesitated.
"I'll accompany your sect as an elder to the Titanfall Archipelago. Create a solid identity for me."
"That will be risky," Xuan Zi replied, his voice an octave higher than before.
"I'm not letting that brat mess around unsupervised. Besides, the risk pales in comparison to the consequences involved if any accidents take place. The Beasthaven sect's hurried movements need some scrutiny."
Xuan Zi's eyes twitched in response. Calmly, he watched Fang Xie leave.
"With all that cleared up, what do you want me to do, exactly? I'm talking about those tasks you mentioned, senior Xie. What would I be doing, exactly? What's the point of those tasks?" Han Xuhan asked, feeling mentally fatigued by now.
"Ah, what you'll be doing is information best kept secret for now. But I can tell you their overall aim," Fang Xie said with a strained smile.
"These tasks will help me gather a team of talented youths."
"...That's it? Seriously? I can just go down the mountain and find fifty of them within half an hour," Xuhan nearly shouted in disbelief.
"Talented youths who are not members of this sect. Of course, if I had my way, your sect wouldn't be exempted. But your sect master is a man very difficult to convince."
Han Xuhan repeatedly, rapidly shifted his gaze between the two experts in front of him. The implications were not lost on him.
Whatever Fang Xie had in mind for the youths he wanted to recruit through Xuhan was anything but pleasant. But this one thought suddenly created a spark of doubt in Xuhan's mind.
Kong Ye...wasn't he doing the exact same thing? Was his new teacher's intentions truly as pure as it had originally seemed?
Once again, the unexpected depth and sinister undercurrents of the world of cultivation made itself prominent in front of Han Xuhan's paranoid eyes.
But this was not the time to make wild theories in his mind. Clearing his thoughts, he asked the most obvious question.
"And why did you choose me for this task? I don't think just your hatred of my existence itself is enough for you to wildly choose me for a task so 'unconventional'."
Fang Xie leaned close and whispered the answer to his question. "Cut off your automatic sense of superiority, brat. I didn't choose you thinking you could do it. I chose you hoping you'd fail and suffer horribly in the hands of your targets. It would be best if your cultivation gets crippled in the process. Xuan Zi will have no use for you then. You'll be thrown out of the sect in order to appease the forces behind your targets, and I'll have you all to myself..."
"Ah, So passionate! How I wish you were a jade beauty, senior..." Xuhan whispered back with a wooden expression.
"Oh yeah, me too, brat. Me too."
"What?"
"What?"
"Disciple Xuhan, I was under the impression that you were an intelligent young man. How do you keep falling down to his level every time I let you two have an exchange longer than a minute? Why are you trying to win an argument with a madman?" Xuan Zi butted in with a sigh.
"Maybe he's mad too," Fang Xie remarked thoughtfully.
Han Xuhan rubbed his nose slowly. So in the end, Fang Xie did not care whether he succeeded or not. Perhaps his original plan for Xuhan had been something far more extreme and Xuan Zi had made him compromise.
"When I finish the tasks, you will stop hounding me, correct?"
"Oh! 'When' you finish the tasks? Confident, aren't we?" Fang Xie exclaimed, his eyes narrowing.
"Do I have a choice l?"
"Good, good, good. I like brats who learn fast."
"I'd rather you did not. You haven't answered my question, though."
"Well, yes. For now, that is the plan. You do your job, you keep your life. It matters not to me whether you fail or not, but it definitely matters to you. Hehe..."
Han Xuhan nodded. He obviously didn't believe the man. But he had an idea regarding how to make Fang Xie honor his promise. Reaching into his pockets, Xuhan brought out something he had gotten from Brother BB during their last trade, alongside a new batch of chamber pots.
He had seen Qian Yun use it several times in the past. It was one of the reasons why he had been attracted to the law techniques in the first place.
It was a folded paper containing several paragraphs. Han Xuhan presented it to Fang Xie demurely and gave him his magical quill to sign with.
"Then surely, you would not have any problems signing in there, right?" He said to the dumbstruck man.
Fang Xie stared at the contract for a full ten seconds before he shifted his gaze onto Xuhan. Then he went through the contract again.
"Oh, my apologies. I was unaware that you couldn't read," Xuhan said in a very insincere tone. "Allow me, senior-"
Fang Xie sharply raised a hand gesturing at him to shut up. His eyes shone with a gloomy light as he brought the quill up and signed his name viciously underneath the paragraphs.
"How surprising, old Zi! Letting your disciples wander off into deviant paths better left unexplored, I see. Doesn't quite match your style."
Xuan Zi, enjoying the development so far from his seat, grinned lightly.
"This old man has learned from his mistakes in the past, Inspector Xie. On the road to heaven, why should any path be left unexplored?"
Fang Xie almost flinched. Handing over the quill and the contract to Xuhan, he smiled in a way that could be described as benevolent.
"Intelligence isn't always rewarded, brat. You'll learn that the hard way."
"At least I'll learn something new," Xuhan answered back with an equally sweet smile.
For the next thirty seconds, all three occupants of the room smiled back and forth at each other warmly. The word 'creepy' couldn't even begin to describe the scene.
Han Xuhan went over the contract once more amidst all the smiling. Then he signed his own name beside Fang Xie's.
"You can leave now. When the time comes, I shall notify you of what to do," Fang Xie said.
His heart mired in deep sorrow and worry for his future self, Han Xuhan walked out from the sect master's residence.
The mystery behind the orphanage's disappearance was growing into something far too troublesome. Even a cultivator as powerful as Fang Xie couldn't remember its existence? Or was he lying? Or...
Maybe Xuhan himself was the madman?
........ ....... .......... .........
"So..."
"He did not exactly lie," Xuan Zi answered the unasked question, his eyes gloomy.
"Did your new mind-reading technique tell you that?"
"It's nowhere as sophisticated as mind reading, Fang Xie. The elders in this sect aren't some genius sons of heaven. Being able to fish out some superficial thoughts is already quite the milestone. Who knows, maybe elder Wu Di would get called back into working under a solar monarch once the news of his achievement in this field spreads."
Xuan Zi mused over the possibility while Fang Xie completely ignored his words.
"According to the boy, he has lived in that town his entire life; the same town where I underwent my heavenly tribulation. He claims to have lived in an orphanage that I do not remember ever existing. What are the implications here?" Fang Xie asked.
"That he was present during your dao integration? It's common for clueless mortals to stumble upon an integration site and interact with the components in the semi-illusion. I myself have seen this happen countless times back home when I was young and the elders in the family tried to guide my perception of reality. However, unless the cultivator undergoing the integration wants something out of the interactions with the mortal, I cannot see why anybody would grow up in the tribulation site. You certainly weren't stuck in it for seventeen years, but this disciple of mine claims to have been in the orphanage since his birth.
Even more illogical is the fact that he actually remembers it when no one else does. The heavens aren't so blind as to directly ignore an external presence so significant, least of all when it's inside a tribulation site. His recollection of his past is definitely not the correct one even though he believes it to be true."
"You keep defending this boy far too much, Zi."
"The boy is my disciple. Why would I refrain from defending him when he is innocent?"
"Have you considered the possibility that the boy is actually an expert in hiding?"
It was now Xuan Zi's turn to become speechless.
"An expert?" He asked in confusion.
"That's right. Just connect the dots!" Fang Xie suddenly leaped up from his seat and started pacing around excitedly.
"The number of qi deviations and tribulation failures in this planet, no, in the entire solar system has been unprecedented recently. Almost all of these accidents happened to experts at or above the dao genesis realm. What if this boy is actually an exile from one of the Celestial Factions? Maybe he has lowered his realm to hide from enemies. Maybe he's trying to remove all the powerful cultivators around him so that nobody discovers his identity! It makes sense!"
"Fang Xie, take your medication in time."
"You're just biased!"
"Then how do you explain my existence? Am I not on par with you or any of those other cultivators who encountered accidents? The boy lives right in front of my house! Did you think I wouldn't notice if he was an expert in hiding while somebody on another planet would?"
"...." Fang Xie fell silent but still looked unconvinced.
"Sit down. You know, there is another possibility, Fang Xie."
"What is it?"
Xuan Zi scratched his chin and answered, "Maybe the boy is actually right. Somebody tried to take revenge against him for some reason. Maybe it was the expert in the Holy Land of Laws, angered by his escape. My disciple certainly provoked someone with a proper backing there. I can picture that person trying to exact vengeance from the clues I've collected so far."
"But the fact remains that the boy's origins are incredibly suspicious," Fang Xie growled.
"Old Zi, which party would reap the biggest benefits if the inspector of this planet failed to transcend his tribulation?"
"You're looking at him," Xuan Zi replied plainly.
"Well yes, I can see that. But who else has the power to meddle with heavenly tribulations and make such a neat getaway? I swear if only they'd left a single clue as to what had happened during that time..."
"If we're talking about the safety of the entire
planet, only Lord Eternal Night should be crazy enough to initiate something like this. This region is still a part of the neutral territory after all. Are you telling me you suspect that Lord Eternal Night is scheming to infect this solar system using my disciple? Sure, I have a high opinion of him, but right now he is still....a trash."
Fang Xie didn't retort this time, as if considering the possibility.
"Regardless, I think it is unnecessary to brood over this issue any longer for now. If you haven't realized it yet, the boy himself is quite suspicious of his own origins. To begin with, he is a cursed reincarnation of his past self. Couple that with the continuous incidents he keeps facing despite being vastly unprepared, it's no wonder that he didn't even report the disappearance of the orphanage to the authorities. Had he known anything about what's happening in the background, he wouldn't take such a huge risk despite meeting you there. To ward off my suspicion, he would have reported it as soon as possible and tried harder to convince us of his innocence. Right now, he has driven himself into a corner and allowed himself to become a mere puppet in your hands. Nobody with a prior plan would land himself in a trap so hard to get out of."
Fang Xie looked frustrated at Xuan Zi's explanation. But he kept his tongue in check and got up from his seat.
"Fine then. We'll see where this goes. I'll send you the materials as soon as I can gather them. Deliver them to the boy before you execute the mass teleportation spell. And one more thing..."
For a brief second, Fang Xie hesitated.
"I'll accompany your sect as an elder to the Titanfall Archipelago. Create a solid identity for me."
"That will be risky," Xuan Zi replied, his voice an octave higher than before.
"I'm not letting that brat mess around unsupervised. Besides, the risk pales in comparison to the consequences involved if any accidents take place. The Beasthaven sect's hurried movements need some scrutiny."
Xuan Zi's eyes twitched in response. Calmly, he watched Fang Xie leave.
