Wu Chen has felt something was off, just a moments ago he was in a ruined scape of black and swirling storm and now he had returned into the bamboo grove but with the strange boulder left out of sight.
Wu Chen feels his heart, sensing that it is strangely calm. An anomaly in on itself given just how terrifying the thing he sees just a minute ago.
"…What just happen?"
Wu Chen can only utter those words, for no other syllable can properly describe what he had just witnessed and experienced, it was as if thousands of years of experiences flows through him, and his body felt strangely renewed.
Wu Chen immediately went to a meditating pose and opened his Inhibition Core, feeling all the meridian channel and energy flows exponentially enhanced.
"This… this is… Peak Internal Realm…"
No doubt about it, energy flows as clearly as a river without disturbance yet as depthless as a lake, mental clarity so profound Wu Chen could sink into a thought so deep that everything around him becomes a mere blur or focus so sharp the world seems to laze down around him.
He didn't just gain the power of the Peak Internal Realm, he gained everything a Peak Internal Realm should have. Though he felt that this is just the beginning level of the Peak Internal Realm, undoubtedly, he had just gained a very auspicious chance.
He was still a Celestial Realm up until now, this is a three-realm-skip and…
"Aghhhhh… fuck"
Here comes the remolding process, and three-realm-skip means that this is as painful as being skinned alive while having molten iron poured not just inside your body but having the entire exposed nerve being coated by it.
And soon enough, Wu Chen passes out. The good thing about this is that the pain can no longer be felt.
…
Wu Chen consciousness swam back, feeling a pleasant heat just a few feet away from him, while the pitter patter of flame tickled his ear in its melodic tapping, as Wu Chen opened his eyes, the same scenery of when he was before passing out came into view.
"You're awake…"
A grave voice calls out from beside him, an old man who wears a thick black, red and white robe as well as wearing a Mianfu hat. He is flanked by a white flame and incense stick that floats and burns just on top of the gentle flame.
"I don't know what you are doing here… but this place is dangerous, please leave"
The old man said, he didn't bother turning his head to meet Wu Chen's own and is instead completely absorbed in muttering some kind of chanting in a language Wu Chen didn't know.
"…But I don't know where I'm at, I was kidnapped here"
Wu Chen said, as he was trying to get up yet his body surrenders to nothing and refuses to move, forcing him to lay down on the grass bed and dirt.
"So you are the caused of their death, a mere child killed a group of armed Jianghu belligerent is… far more dangerous than even a wall of Ghosts"
The old man is still fixated on completing whatever ritual he is doing.
"Stay put then, once I finished, I will help you return to where you come from"
Wu Chen complied, and after a few minutes of stillness and silence he decided to satisfy his curiosity.
"What is this place?"
"…"
The old man didn't answer, that or he is musing on what the appropriate answer is.
"A site of placation to appease an Evil Spirit… given your condition though I think you know what this place is, you just wanted a confirmation"
The old man speaks as if Wu Chen is a book meant for him to read, being able to tell Wu Chen his own feelings and intention before he could even put a word on it himself is quite terrifying as it is terrific.
"One of the 8 site where a remnant of an Asura is buried… right?"
"Hmm… the site is normally hidden, its just that the particular lunar phase forced it out of its usual spot"
'Forced? Usual spot?'
Wu Chen finds the wording a bit confusing, but does that mean…
"The boulder moved? I mean, the placation site?"
The old man nod, he then grabs one of the burning incense and plant it on the ground. He then meditates and a Black and Red Aura converges near him, forming a heavy unified sphere that circles him.
"…This year is the year of the Dragon, the auspicious symbol is then east and southeast"
The old man raised both of his arms, and structure made of clay and stone erect itself from beneath the ground, forming a wall and a roof where the door leads to the southeast where as the window covers the four cardinal directions.
"Closed your eyes boy"
The old man said, which Wu Chen quickly did, covering his own eyes in its lid and casting away his vision to swim in darkness.
"…Foundation of Heaven and Earth, root of all energy"
Wu Chen, despite his lack of vision, felt immense energy gathering around as wind pours forth in between every opening of the newly erected building.
"Asura trembles, Asura lost their form, internally there is Thunder, Thunder Spirit hidden voice sounds, I beseech Kirin the Divine Hare!"
-SPEAK
Whatever is happening outside, Wu Chen is sure to know that something big is going on. Feeling the electrocuting feeling traveling from his entire body as otherworldly sweet voice fills the building.
"Swiftly manifest, protect this Earth and its realized inhabitants. Swiftly, swiftly as decree!"
The old man then performs some serious amount of dancing and ritualistic movement that causes his Mianfu to jingles and makes some sound, but Wu Chen didn't know this since he closed his eyes.
Before long, a single marble the size of an eyeball appears, colored in electrifying blue it hovers near the old man hand before it settles in his hand.
"…You can open your eyes now boy"
The old man said as he procure a jade gourd and from within, an incense burner made of gilded metal of some kind materializes straight into his hand, he then put the marble inside alongside some of the floating incense with a movement so smooth One could think that he had done this so many times that it becomes a habit.
Wu Chen who had already opened his eyes out watch in interest; he had never seen a placation ritual this close before and he could certainly feel the cold of Moon Energy rippling forwards when the old man calls for Kirin the Divine Hare.
The same feeling he felt when Nanming did it… Thinking about Nanming makes Wu Chen felt sad a bit, if he was still here, perhaps he would call upon a Spirit of his own.
"Now, what did you see when you are trapped in the Site?"
The old man said as he fanned the smoke from within the incense burner so that he the smoke can cover the entire erected building.
"…"
Wu Chen is thinking on whether he should speak the truth or not, but given that this old man is as sharp as a fresh made blade, it's clear that it's better for him to speak the truth
"I saw a boulder covered in talisman and tied with red ropes"
The moment the world leaves his mouth, the old man snaps his head to regard Wu Chen with horror painted in his face.
"…You are entangled then"
"What?"
The old man suddenly grabs one of the floating incense sticks and bring the burning end towards Wu Chen forehead.
"Wai—"
Before he could react however, Wu Chen sense that the burning incense didn't do so much as to sting his forehead, rather it felt rather pleasant, like a lingering warm.
"This incense would normally burn normal human, you are not… I know you are a fiend Prince Wu Chen but even fiend should be burned"
The old man said as he retracts the incense stick from his forehead, Wu Chen rub the spot where it had points at him and see if he could feel anything, he did not.
"…You know me?"
Wu Chen curiously ask, this old man know of his identity, and seeing his red eyes it's clear that he is a fiend, so why don't he treat him in an utmost reverence like a fiend normally do?
"The Spirit loves to gossip; you are among their topic… and I will not worship you like the other fiend would"
"I see, it is fine… I would rather you didn't grovel in mere sight of me"
It seems that both the old man and Wu Chen reach an agreement, so the old man decided to clarify what he meant by 'entangled'.
"This Placation Site is one of eight sites scattered across the land of the fiend. Within is a grave of the severed Asura who once bare its curses on us"
The old man continues rambling,
"…Since you knew their true name, I won't hold back"
The old man then sat back on a lotus position while he periodically kept the incense burner alive by fanning air towards it.
"Asura of Contempt, or the Founding Heavenly Demon are buried within these eight scattered sites, once it was indeed a boulder, but that is three-hundred years ago"
"Three-hundred?!"
Wu Chen calm face almost betrayed him for a second, for what he sees during the mass migration of the dead is a scene of three hundred years ago, but how? Was it a spell? Or the influence of Asura?
"The Founding Heavenly Demon is a greedy personage; he even declares to be the founding emperor of the Mogui Cheng who had been given the righteous Heavenly Mandate to rule over Hazhui"
The old man speak with clarity as if this even has been unfolded right in front of his eyes just yesterday.
"I… didn't know this"
Wu Chen though, he is unaware of this history. What he knows is that Wu Clan is the one who founded the Southern Heavenly Sect which later be known as the Demonic Sect.
"Of course you don't, it's a forbidden lore within the annal of Hazhui itself, a period in history where the Huang rivers cry red, the Warring Period of the Great Divide. I fear that this era is approaching that past"
The old man said as he conveyed his own opinion on the matter, Wu Chen knows from the hearsay of countless servant that the land beyond the Demonic Sect has become no less than a wild jungle where only beast resides, each for the others throat and where death is common.
"But what does it have anything to do with the Asura and the Boulder?"
"Ah yes, I forgot to explain"
Wu Chen has now felt what it's like to speak with those of advanced ages, thoughts drift by from their wrinkled brain it seems.
"The Founding Heavenly Demon had a power to sever time itself, for the nature of greed and contempt being unrelenting wind that passes, it's a given that one way or another it will outrun even time"
The old man then points his fingers towards Wu Chen.
"And so, he falls out of time, yet the web of the Trisahasra-Mahasahasra catches him, and so he became Entangled to this world itself. Even in death it continues to haunt the Fiend"
The old man heaved a heavy sigh before he proclaimed a word grave for Wu Chen.
"And you, prince Wu Chen, had become Entangled in his web, either a blessing or not, you are bestowed a power beyond time itself. I believe only the Yurong clan is in the same state of Entanglement given that they are the Original Clan of the Heavenly Demon"
"Wait—"
Wu Chen puts his hand out as if forming a barrier, protecting him from the sheer narration of the old man who he had trouble stomaching.
"So, you're telling me that I had inherited the Founding Heavenly Demon power"
"Just one-eight of it"
"And that the Yurong clan is the who founded the Demonic Sect? Not the Wu Clan?"
Wu Chen answer was not reciprocated with an answer, instead the old man-maintained daftness and pretend not to hear anything.
"Answer me…"
"I do not answer to you prince Wu Chen; I am older than even your father"
'What does that even mean? Is this old man an elder?'
Wu Chen mused in his thought, given how the old man had acted it's a high chance he is one of the Sect elders.
"Just know that the power is as powerful as it is woeful. And it will strengthen the curse of our bloodline even more"
"What?"
Wu Chen suddenly felt drowsy, for he had a hard time trying to maintain his conscious mind. Before long, the abyss of his mind took hold, dragging Wu Chen into the unconscious.
But then, the old man last voice delivered an omitted curse, one who appears ancient and constricting.
"That Fiend will never find love from other who are not Fiend…"
Before Wu Chen consciousness shut down once more.
.
.
.
Gunsi Province, Nameless Village.
The villagers are speaking in hushed tone over the sudden and persistent arrival of a Jianghu boy whose name they didn't even know.
He's been here for weeks now, accompanied by a mysterious Rabbit mask woman whose form is even more terrifying than even Tiger, but rather than extorting and terrorizing the village, he instead provides treatment for those stricken with the Yellow Blight.
He even went out of his way to send this village two large bags of rice, enough for months of full meal for every one of the villagers.
One of the villagers, a young man who had just reached adulthood glances towards the tree over at the cliff where the boy resides, he wanted to repay him somehow, but how?
"I heard he didn't have any shelter…"
The young man said, the burly man besides him who were about to go logging watch him with disinterest.
"He's one of those Jianghu… I bet he had some twisted mind trying to make us feel indebted to him"
"That is uncalled for uncle, he's helping us!"
The young man barks back, yet he didn't stop preparing for his uncle's meal. Simple rice and some boiled beans packaged inside a banana leaf.
"Yeah I soon be raped by a group of Pekungs then to believe that…"
The burly man then shifts his attention to the young man.
"Once a Jianghu always a Jianghu… Heartless men they are, it did him well if he leaves soon, less more and more of those bastards'll flock our village like flies to shit"
The burly man then grabbed the banana leaf and head out, leaving the young man to himself. Normally he would work himself in the field of the old man of the hill, but ever since his farm got devastated by the storm, he was never called to work there.
So he usually passes the day by watching the kid play cricket fighting or making some toys made from wood for them.
But seeing that boy from the Jianghu working his ass off to make medicine, he couldn't help but to feel pathetic.
"…I should call Bui and Huo"
He remarks as he goes to call for his friend, he was about to turn in the direction of Li but remembers that he is still in the city to treat Little Bo, the young man wishes he would survive.
As he walks along the village road, meeting all sorts of villagers and neighbors along the way.
"Morning Mr. Ki!"
He greeted the old cricket master Mr. Ki, damn near unbeatable in cricket fighting, now he enjoys eating them than pitting them against each other.
"Ah Kuo… care for some cricket?"
He said as he shows off five crickets impaled in a stick and being roasted near a fire, the young man named Kuo though didn't really like eating cricket.
"Ahh… I just finished eating myself, can't get too greedy less I become a fiend, right?"
"Hahaha! Yer damn right, sometimes I forgot yer already tis' big lil' Kuo… How about marrying my lil' cousin?"
Kuo shrug off his offer as he continued walking pass by him.
"Nuh uh Mr. Ki. I wanted to become a scholar when growing up"
"Dream too big and you got smiten' by heaven you hear!"
"No worryy!"
Kuo eventually reached the house of Bui, it is larger than even his house, what's more is that Bui is the only one living here alongside his granny. Kuo still remembers the day both of his parents got carted into village already in names only.
"Bui! Are you there?"
He lightly knocks the door of the house while peering inside the shaded interior.
"Ah… Little Kuo? Is that you?"
A small, weak voice replies, it belongs to Bui granny, she is kind and often gives him some candy when he was a little kid.
"Granny, why don't you sleep? Its midday"
"Blasted heat is too much for me… I send that Bui to fetch me some water from the river"
Granny said as she feels her way through the interior, her weak and frail hand trying to support her body to stand, Kuo quickly helped her find her step by supporting her arms with his own.
"Careful granny, why don't you just sit?"
"Ah…"
Under Kuo guidance, she finds a wooden stool and sits there. Despite being 80 years old she is still lively and healthy enough to walk somewhat easily.
"So Bui is on the river? That is awfully far no?"
"Bahh he probably took Huo alongside him, and here I thought all three of you went together… you know, with you being a friend since forever with them cough cough"
Granny said before she fetched a bamboo bottle and sips some water that is already inside to ease her throat.
But since Kuo had known that both Bui and Huo had some feeling inbetween them, he decided not to intrude and instead took care of granny.
"Can't be help, I wait for Bui here"
"Ah… thank you for accompanying this old hag Kuo… care for some candy? I'm sure I still had some from last year"
Granny was about to took off from her seat, but Kuo prevented it.
"No need granny, I just sat here… and besides, I already eat some rice porridge!"
And for some time until Bui and Huo arrived, Kuo and Granny chatted with each other.