Chapter 277

  Moon Lake (III)

  All three were men, and quite young at that, with the system revealing them to be in their late twenties. Surprisingly, two were at the peak of the Spirit Manifestation Realm, while one was actually in the early stages of the Revolving Core Realm, like me.

  They donned identical robes, clean silver with etchings of dark gold and red along the edges, and had even styled their hair in the same way; two had brown and one had black, though all wore them in a loose ponytail.

  Shockingly, it wasn't the strongest one to speak up, but one of the weaker ones, putting on an honorable attempt for a fake smile.

  "Greetings, fellow Daoists," he said. "I hope we haven't offended you." There was a certain level of derision in both their looks as well as his tone, though considering how we looked on the surface, that was kind of expected.

  We've gone through a lot of changes of clothes, and we were literally out of fresh ones. Even Lao Shun was wearing gashed and dirtied ones, let alone me and the rest of the kids. On the surface, we did look like an assembly of beggars living off the land, and they at least bothered to mask their, uh, opinions, something that can't be said for everyone we've met.

  "Not at all," I said as I stood up and smiled, offering a faint bow. "Do fellow Daoists require any manner of assistance?"

  "No, no," he shook his head. "We were just wondering whether the fellow Daoists were headed to the Moon Lake, too."

  "Oh? Indeed we are." I nodded. "For the festival?"

  "Ha ha, as I thought," the system didn't really reveal anything inherently sinister or off-putting about any of them. The worst trait they had among the three of them was 'Gynophobia', which is, now that I think of it, probably the reason why the strongest one didn't speak.

  ... but we didn't really have women in our cohort. Was he also afraid of the little girls? Or maybe just Wan Lan?

  "Many Daoists converge upon the lake every year, and we've long since heard rumors from our Seniors of the lake's immense worth. Ah, forgive me for the tangent--the reason we have so rudely interrupted your rest is that we have been travelling afoot our swords for almost a week now and have been running low on Qi reserves. I was merely wondering if we could travel with you for at most a day to replenish a bit? Of course, not for free--we shall offer an appropriate payment."

  ... huh. Not really the reason I thought they'd come down.

  I stealthily glanced over at Long Tao and saw basically no reaction (I don't think he even opened his eyes?), which meant that, even if they did have untoward intentions, it wasn't life-threatening.

  "Of course," I said. Besides, I kind of yearn to do a good deed, to be honest. I've felt that I'd gotten embroiled in death and such a bit too much recently. "We would be happy to help. My name is Lu; this is my older brother Lao." We already had a cover story in place for precisely something like this, and it was the one I insisted on even if it wasn't entirely necessary. "And these are our kids. We set off from our little remote village almost a year ago, now, and headed toward the Lake."

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  "It's a pleasure," the man bowed ever so slightly, still smiling. "Thank you very much."

  "Are you hungry? We were about to eat."

  "Ah, no, thanks," he said. "We abide by a strict diet of our Sect and cannot eat any food not prepared within it. I hope you understand."

  "Of course. Kids, don't bother them, and keep to yourselves."

  It was kind of out of nowhere, and for a purpose I'm not entirely buying, but I always kind of have to teeter on the edge of 'Hey, it's your paranoia seeping out because of your experiences in this world' versus 'It really is as it appears to be'.

  I wasn't gonna lower my guard, of course, but even if I did, I don't think it would matter; Long Tao and Lao Shun would have pounced on anything before I could even blink, so I instead focused on something I haven't in a while: compartmentalizing... my rewards.

  Though I'd love to compartmentalize certain other things, now wasn't the time. And as far as rewards go, I've been sitting on a pretty few of them and should probably take stock of it all before I forget.

  I'd nearly forgotten, actually, the physique and root I bestowed upon Xing Feng, as I got them (or at least one of them) eons ago.

  Besides the hefty, nigh four thousand sum of Creation Points (which filled me with more joy than I'd care to admit), there was the stock of my most treasured possession: Tortoise Mirror.

  I still had two of its uses left, and the level of attack it could block and reflect... was still listed as '???'. Does that mean that it can actually endure up to the Nirvana Realm?!! No freakin' way! Using it on that moron back in the city would have been such a waste, if that were the case!

  No, no, no. It might be a glitch or something.

  Whatever.

  I'm not severely depressed.

  Then there was the Demonic Crystal--or, well, two of them, now--the Severing Slash Talisman, and the de-cursing needle that I've yet to use.

  There was also the ability to inherit any one of my Disciple's strengths, though I imagine that's far more for the future than for now.

  Lastly, I think there was also Single Severance, an art I made for Xi Zhao a while back and never gave to him. Honestly, I still don't want to give it to him; it is far too restricting and constricting, though I know for a fact he'd immediately start learning it. Even if I said nothing, the implication of me handing it over would be enough for that kid.

  Besides those, there was still a trove of some middling Spirit Stones, a few herbs and pills that I fear we'll start outpacing rather soon, and the litany of the arts I've made, as I always saved at least one copy of them in one of the rings. A bit of a dumb thing to do, truth be told, as if we're ever robbed, we'll also be properly fucked post-fact.

  "Ah, fellow Daoist, I'm wondering if you heard the latest news," Wei Lin, as he said was his name, which did match the system's info, spoke up after we'd finished eating and all the kids retreated to their corners, leaving me a bit 'lonesome'.

  "Probably not," I said. "As you can see, it's been a while since we were among the civilized."

  "A-ah, yes," he smiled somewhat awkwardly, quickly recovering. "Though it's unconfirmed, the rumor is that Ghostblade of the Immortal Sword Haven Sect is dead... and not only that, but that he was ambushed and killed!"

  ... I know I'm supposed to feign shock here, but, honestly, I can't.

  Immortal Sword Haven Sect is one of the Holy Lands, sure, and I'm sure that Ghostblade was an amazing character (judging by his name), but... I mean, don't people die all the time? Why is his death so special?

  "He was found," as though unhappy with my reaction, he continued. "Mutilated so badly that it took them almost a week to identify his body! And, worst yet, the killer hasn't even been identified yet, much less caught!"

  ... I gotta give it to him, huh?

  "Wow! Really?!!"

  "He he, really~" he said rather smugly, all while his two companions were looking at him rather... oddly. "You may not know this, but in my sect I'm affectionately known as Know-It-All-Wei!"

  ... yeah, buddy.

  I don't think it's affectionately.