Banditry
Lu Yuan was Yin Li’s only disciple. Yin Li had never liked noise, so he hadn’t taken on any disciples for years. Only after ascending did he suddenly think that perhaps he ought to have one.
With a single wave of Immortal Lord Yin’s arm, thousands upon thousands of cultivators rushed to become his disciples, nearly trampling the threshold of Yin Li’s immortal residence flat.
The other immortal lords took disciples for all sorts of reasons, usually to build their influence, form ties with other clans, or pass on their legacy. Yin Li couldn’t find a single one of those reasons in himself. In the end, he decided to leave it to fate. He was fairly laissez-faire about the whole thing. Who could have guessed he’d meet Lu Yuan?
At the time, Lu Yuan was dressed in rags and barely came up to Yin Li’s waist. He was still a little boy, with small hands and feet and bright, clear eyes. His face, framed by black hair and dark eyes, was smudged with dirt, but he was still a pretty little thing. Yet because of his identity, everyone shunned him.
Given Yin Li’s status, he really shouldn’t have gotten involved, for any number of reasons. But things rarely went as expected.
The sun was just rising. Little Lu Yuan stood alone beneath the maple trees, his head covered in scarlet leaves. Though young, he stood as motionless as a wooden carving, iron chains binding his wrists and ankles. Intricate restrictions had been carved into them. Any attempt to use spiritual power would rebound against his flesh.
Lu Yuan’s wrists and ankles were swollen and red. He must have tried a hundred times already, and gone without sleep all night. Dried blood seeped through the child’s tender skin, a pitiful sight, but Lu Yuan didn’t make a sound. He never once cried out in pain.
Whenever Lu Yuan noticed someone looking at him, he glared first, then immediately crouched down and buried his head against his knees, like a hedgehog with a little courage but even less nerve.
Yin Li watched him for a long time. Lu Yuan was bold, too. When he saw Yin Li wasn’t doing anything, he put on a fierce expression and glared back. With his baby-fat cheeks, though, he wasn’t remotely intimidating.
Yin Li didn’t know what had gotten to him, but all at once, he felt drawn to Lu Yuan at first sight. He went over, used his spiritual power to shatter the shackles, then scooped up the dazed boy and took him as his disciple.
After that came life in the immortal realm. Yin Li had always been alone, but now he had a little shadow trailing after him, one that everyone else despised.
Yin Li was used to being lazy. Aside from the lessons he absolutely had to teach, he mostly left Lu Yuan to his own devices. Lu Yuan, for his part, was capable enough to reach foundation establishment not long after coming of age. After that, he was the one who ended up taking care of Yin Li.
…
Coming back to himself after all those scattered memories, Yin Li felt a lump in his throat.
He’d thought he and Lu Yuan got along well enough. They’d at least shared the bond of master and disciple. But why Lu Yuan had given him this strange book on his birthday, he couldn’t begin to guess.
Yin Li thought it over from every angle and still came up with nothing. Just then, several elders arrived, supporting Lin Nansheng, who was barely conscious.
Lin Nansheng’s vision swam, and blood still stained his mouth.
Now that the ancestor had returned, and they had no way to seal Yin Li, they could only treat him with respect. As soon as Lin Nansheng woke, he’d heard that Yin Li had gone to the main peak. Though he was half-dead, Sect Leader Lin had specifically asked the elders to carry him there so he could pay his respects.
Lin Nansheng would rather bend than break. He believed that a person should take responsibility for their own actions, and all he could think was that the ancestor should vent his anger on him, not on the other disciples.
Before he even reached Yin Li, Lin Nansheng’s legs gave way. He dropped to his knees with a thud. “I beg your forgiveness, Ancestor. I, Lin Nansheng, have been recklessly presumptuous. If you must punish someone, punish me alone!”
At his words, the disciples and elders’ eyes reddened. Wu Yuan’s nose stung. He immediately bowed his head to the floor as well. “The sect leader wasn’t the only one at fault. I, Wu Yuan, have failed you too. Punish me as well, Ancestor!”
Like a spark catching dry grass, the disciples of Hengkun Sect all dropped to their knees, clamoring to stand with Lin Nansheng.
They watched Yin Li, seated at the head of the hall, in trembling terror. His face was dark and sinister, one hand propping up his cheek as he looked down at them coldly. It seemed that any moment, he might turn the place into a sea of blood and a mountain of corpses.
What they didn’t know was that Yin Li, despite his imposing appearance, was thoroughly confused inside.
When he’d seen Lin Nansheng approaching, trembling like an old man with a bad leg, Yin Li had felt a little guilty. He’d wanted to ask how he was doing, but his status wouldn’t allow it, so he’d sent over a little spiritual power instead, hoping to heal him.
Who could have known that before it even reached Lin Nansheng, the man would drop straight to his knees and bow so deeply? Yin Li couldn’t help wondering if he’d hit the man so hard he’d lost his mind.
After examining himself again and again, Yin Li sighed. He’d meant to tell Lin Nansheng to get up, but everyone else had dropped to their knees and started pleading too, making him look like some indiscriminate mass murderer.
Yin Li propped his chin on one hand and cast a sidelong glance at them, looking every bit the domineering figure. Inside, though, he couldn’t help clicking his tongue twice. These people really weren’t very friendly to him.
He’d only hurt someone by accident. Was there any need for every last one of them to act like they were ready to die? True, he was inhabiting the body of a fiend, but from the moment he’d woken up until now, he hadn’t killed a single person. He really was being wronged.
Once everyone had finished wailing, Yin Li rose from his seat. Sure enough, every face he saw was cringing. He was getting tired of this, so he simply looked out of the hall. To the others, though, even that looked like disdain.
“I have now returned to my rightful place,” Yin Li said, choosing his words carefully. “For three hundred years in the Cold Pool Tomb, my spirit continued to cultivate. The demonic obstacle that once drove me into qi deviation has been dispelled. You were acting for the good of the sect. How could I blame you?”
When he finished, he walked into the light and flicked his hand toward Lin Nansheng, who was still bowing on the ground. A gentle breeze lifted Lin Nansheng to his feet, along with all the disciples and elders around him.
Lin Nansheng was so moved he wept openly. The others wiped their tears and looked at Yin Li at the center of the hall. It seemed the ancestor really had recovered. Otherwise, how could he have said such a thing?
Feeling their attitudes change, Yin Li smiled, baring his teeth without thinking. He thought he looked kind and approachable, but he’d forgotten that the muscles in his face were still stiff. The result was nowhere near what he intended.
Yin Li’s lips were pale and thin. When he bared his teeth in a smile, they showed stark white, making him look like a monster eager to sink its teeth into flesh.
Everyone drew a sharp breath and turned away. After bowing their thanks, they hurried out.
Lin Nansheng had been frightened too, but after catching his breath, he reminded himself that Yin Li hadn’t actually killed anyone. The weight on his heart eased a little. He sent people to clean out the cave abode he’d been living in on the main peak, then arranged for Yin Li to stay there.
…
Yin Li lived in Hengkun Sect for a month. He didn’t think much of it, but he had no idea that the disciples had spent the whole month training themselves to the point of exhaustion, afraid Yin Li might go berserk one day, grab them, and suck them dry.
They trained day and night, preparing for the worst, so that if they had to run, they could do it faster.
The main peak’s cave abode was the most luxurious place in all of Hengkun Sect. The sect’s accumulated wealth was all here. Carved beams and painted rafters, jade furnishings and fine vessels, it had everything. Yin Li was almost convinced Hengkun Sect was actually rich.
If he hadn’t happened to see some disciples who hadn’t yet reached inedia growing vegetables at the foot of the mountain, he might have thought this was a rich man’s golden nest.
For the whole month, Yin Li had kept trying to leave this body. But he and it were damnably compatible. No matter how he struggled, he couldn’t get out, as if he belonged here after all, and this weren’t the world of a book.
After failing several times, Yin Li accepted it. Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it. He’d find a way back eventually.
Since he was using the original owner’s body, it wouldn’t sit right to watch the original owner’s disciples grow vegetables just to eat. And it was even worse when Yin Li secretly followed them once and discovered that sometimes the disciples would take their surplus vegetables to sell…
They changed clothes and used false names to sell them, but seeing it made Yin Li feel uncomfortable all over, as if he were the one selling vegetables.
One day, Yin Li summoned Lin Nansheng away from his busy teaching, wanting to ask him what was going on.
The cave abode was dark and eerie. Yin Li’s face was black, and Lin Nansheng knelt before him, trembling.
“Tell me, is Hengkun Sect poor?” Yin Li had the man rise, then got straight to the point.
Lin Nansheng had just been given a seat. He’d drunk only half his tea when he heard the ancestor ask this. He was so startled he choked. “Cough, cough… Ancestor, cough… What did you say?”
His face flushed, but his eyes were full of shock. They clearly said, “How did you find out?!”
Yin Li thought to himself that Lin Nansheng had apparently believed he’d hidden the truth for a long time…
He leaned back against the brocade couch and narrowed his eyes. The curtains weren’t drawn, and the sunlight outside was too bright.
The hairs on Lin Nansheng’s back stood up. He thought the ancestor was angry and hurriedly spilled everything, like beans from a pod.
As it turned out, Hengkun Sect had a sworn enemy, Xianchong Sect, which had broken away from the foremost sect, Sword Sect.
Xianchong Sect mainly cultivated the sword. It had split from Sword Sect because its members couldn’t stand being forced to practice the unfeeling Dao, which demanded they sever love and desire and was comparable to the Buddhist path.
After breaking away from Sword Sect, everyone in Xianchong Sect, from disciples to elders, seemed to go mad, challenging people everywhere.
It was one way for a sect to rise quickly. Sects competed against each other, and the winner gained prestige and could take the loser’s money to strengthen itself.
Unfortunately, Hengkun Sect had been the first one Xianchong Sect challenged. Once the challenge began, Hengkun’s disciples refused to accept defeat, and the two sides fought several times in the arena. Hengkun Sect had long been little more than an empty shell, naturally no match for Xianchong Sect. In the end, it grew poorer and poorer, weaker and weaker, until all it could do was keep up appearances.
Yin Li listened without changing expression, but inside he couldn’t help grumbling. What kind of sect competition was this? It was plain robbery.
Author’s note:
No one’s reading… The author has climbed back into the coffin and pulled the lid shut…