Rumors of Elder Han's crippled child being possessed began spreading all around the sect.
By morning, the story had already changed several times in different mouths. Some said the child had died and something else had climbed into the body. Some said Elder Han had gone made a deal with a demon. Some said the child had always been born strange, and this time the strangeness had finally shown itself.
The sect master's peak remained quiet.
Ye Luoxue stood outside the east room and stared at the door.
Coming here was already annoying.
As long as she did nothing that could affect a certain plot, SV generated on its own. The larger the incident, the more SV she got for staying out of it. That was the whole beauty of it.
Do nothing. Gain SV.
Then her mother had sent her here.
Ye Luoxue pushed the door open.
Di Yusheng was inside.
He was sitting on the bed in clean clothes that did not fit him very well. He turned when he heard the door and looked at her.
Ye Luoxue walked in and stopped in front of him.
"What is your name?"
"Di Yusheng."
Good. She had a name.
That meant the scan would cost less.
System. Scan Di Yusheng.
[No individual with the name "Di Yusheng" detected within a radius of three hundred meters.]
Ye Luoxue stared at him.
Then she reached out and twisted his ear.
Di Yusheng jerked. "Let go."
"You little shit," Ye Luoxue said. "Do you know how much I'm sacrificing just to be here? Then you try to lie to me."
"That hurts."
"Good."
He grabbed at her wrist and failed to move it. His face tightened. "Why does it even hurt? There's no way you're stronger than a mountain beast."
"Tell me your real name."
"That is my real name."
Ye Luoxue clicked her tongue.
"Fine. You're compensating me for the extra SV."
She did not let go.
System. Scan him.
[Scan who?]
"The kid."
[Which one? There are many children within the sect. Host needs to be more specific.]
Ye Luoxue's grip tightened.
Di Yusheng groaned. His ear had only just started healing. The pain sharpened at once.
"The kid I'm holding," she said.
[There is no child in the host's grasp.]
Ye Luoxue froze.
Then she looked at him again.
"What do you mean there is no one? He's right here. Then what am I holding?"
[The user isn't holding anything.]
Ye Luoxue narrowed her eyes at Di Yusheng.
"Are you a clone?"
Di Yusheng stared at her through pain and disbelief. "What are you talking about? You crazy bitch, let go first."
Ye Luoxue let go.
Di Yusheng slapped a hand over his ear and stepped back at once. He looked at her quickly.
Then he turned and ran.
Ye Luoxue saw him bolt for the door.
"Wait. Come back."
He ran faster.
Ye Luoxue went after him.
He was still weak, but fear made people quick. He ran out onto the path.
Ye Luoxue raised a hand and cast the binding spell.
It was fast. Firmer than Elder Han's.
The spell caught him while he was running. Di Yusheng pitched forward and hit the ground hard.
Ye Luoxue walked over.
Di Yusheng was on the ground, bound, one hand still near his ear, his face twisted with pain and fury.
Ye Luoxue looked down at him and said, "We clearly got off on the wrong foot here clearly we are both at fault wait are those tears."
Di Yusheng pulled against the binding.
Di Yusheng did not answer. He kept pulling.
"Don't cry," Ye Luoxue said. "I'll buy you some candy."
"Shut up."
He could feel it. The same feeling from when the beast had torn into him and his body had rebuilt itself. The binding pressed into him and his body pressed back. Not with force. With change.
The Qi he had just gathered when he was trying to cultivate ran through him and drained, feeding the rewrite. His meridians emptied. His Qihai went dry.
It hurt.
But the binding began to give.
Ye Luoxue noticed. Her eyes widened slightly. The spell's hold was thinning. Di Yusheng's body finished rewriting its structure. Something settled.
The binding cracked and fell apart.
Di Yusheng pushed himself up. He was breathing hard. His face was pale. His Qihai was completely empty.
But he was free.
Ye Luoxue did not know what had just happened inside his body. She only saw a small boy break a binding that should have held him for hours. She assumed he was simply stronger than he looked.
"Don't run," she said. "I won't hurt you anymore if you dont."
Di Yusheng raised a hand between them.
"What do you want? Stay three steps away from me and speak from there."