Chapter 127: Chapter 127 - Meeting the family.
They've been talking for a few minutes now. What's going on? Xin tensed his lips and squinted as he tried to scan them for hints.
Her sibling's voice is about to break, it's almost hysterical. Wanted to start arguing with her, gave me a side glance and changed his mind. Interesting.
Erdeni's lips are pale, and despite her seemingly stoic demeanour, it's clear that she's distressed. Did their tribe get attacked?
"Ugh!" Xin grunted towards Erdeni. I am also here. Tell me what's going on, his face said.
"Xin… Our tribe is beset by a dangerous demon. She just took many people hostage and started boiling our horses alive in a massive hole she dug out. We used to pay her tribute, but she says we are no longer useful."
So many questions! Boiling horses alive. Blood path. Fire path, too, maybe? Dug out holes, meaning earth path? Wood? Not enough information.
Xin pointed towards Horhu's horse, peacefully plucking grass a hundred steps away from them. Will she get what I mean? By the ancestors, it's frustrating to talk like this!
"The horses? Yes, she demands them in return for hostages, otherwise she just boils people alive. Already killed one."
Why? Xin spread his arms in a questioning manner.
"It's… To grow her plant creatures. She mixes the seeds from her bag with the bodies she boils, and then they crawl out, slimy and shambling…"
ROAR! Xin raised his chin and emitted a low sound that almost deafened the siblings. His martial spirit rose up, only one thing on his mind.
Kill! Kill! Kill!
"Xin, what's going on? Please, calm down." Erdeni tried to reach Xin's totem again, and found him and the totem raging in unison. What got him so agitated?
Exhale. Xin whistled lightly as he pushed the air out, first with his chest, then with abs. He managed to cool himself down, but his eyes were still flickering with cold rage.
"You… Know her?"
Xin nodded, then smiled with a corner of his lips. Erdeni understands me well.
"She says she is rank two. Condensation stage. Moss Plant Demon. She emerges out of nowhere, her plant beasts crawling from all sides, demands tribute and leaves. She started small, but became more and more, what's the word, audacious over the past few weeks. My brother managed to retreat, but she said she'd kill a person in his place if he didn't stop running. He feels guilty now."
He shouldn't be. She tried to guilt trip him, and he made the right choice. He bears no responsibility for the person she kills in his stead. At least he managed to inform us, so now I'll fight her.
Wait, should I? She's rank two, and has a squad of plants on her side. Let me think.
When I was still a mortal, I managed to hurt her with a qi infused crossbow shot. Yes, she had a gap in her bark, and it benefitted from an elemental advantage. This time, my qi is more intense, I can put more of it into a shot, and infuse the string with wooden qi to propel the bolt even more. Should be enough, and I can do it multiple times with my reload technique.
Her plant demons, unless she improved somehow, are quite durable, but otherwise slow and have limited attacking methods. Their thorn missiles can't beat my Iron Lung if I react on time, and my Woodcutter's Downswing will make short work of them. The trick is to target their "necks", not their heads. This disables them instantly.
This woman herself has limited movement methods, while I have Mercurial greaves and expansion wood qi techniques. Again, shouldn't be that bad.
Now, for the worst. She probably has rank two powered attacks, as she was capable of matching master Taowei in combat for some time. He was low on qi after his meridian stress, but she still hadn't won, which probably means that her direct power is bottom of the barrel among rank two masters. She relies more on her tamed creatures, just like the Young Mantis. Still, she has that ring that killed outrider Lu. Fuck, how do I counter it?
"Xin? You thinking?" Erdeni gently called to him. He is probably strategizing right now.
Yes, yes. Xin nodded and prepared to act. He knew what he was about to do. His intuitive mind was a rare one, he knew the conclusions after a few moments of thinking, then had to think to discover how he arrived at them. Out of people he knew, only Lei thought similarly, everyone else felt more structured, more… Consecutive.
Xin played a charade with Erdeni, imitating wearing pants, swinging weapons and pulling things out of a bag. I need my equipment, he tried to tell her.
"Xin… Are you seriously going to fight her? She's rank two, and I assume you're still rank one."
Yes, and I'll win. Xin nodded with a proud face and walked towards his lair.
Erdeni walked behind him in confusion, and Horhu wanted to follow, too, but Xin hissed at him, stopping him in his tracks. This little cuntsmear isn't entering my territory.
"Fine, sister. I'll wait here. Don't worry about me."
Xin didn't understand what he said, but noticed Erdeni roll her eyes and smirked.
***
Xin procured all the bags of holding from his secret stash, then pulled his equipment out and started dressing up. The totem didn't mind, since Moss Bush Demoness was a higher ranked opponent, the vow didn't apply. He forced Erdeni to wait outside, embarrassed of his dirty lair, with animal carcasses and leatherwork trash lying around, yet she ignored his orders and approached anyway.
"This armor, that's what imperial soldiers wore when they crushed the First Bannermen. To think that you might be saving us… Xin, thank you again, but are you thinking rationally? Can you pull this off? If something happens to you, I don't know if I'll be able to live with that." She frowned, as inspiring as Xin was, his intentions still looked quite suicidal.
Hush! Xin hissed at her and put a finger to his lips. I don't need that extra pressure. The only youth tournament Xin ever lost was the one where his father was present, and he felt like wanting to do best by him was that little feather that tipped the scales into the opponent's favour.
Master Xiaodan was right. There is no me, no Erdeni, no demonic cultivator hag — just bags of flesh swinging at each other. I don't need Erdeni to distract me, to infect me with her worries — I've got a mountain to climb as it is. Xin finally donned his armour, procured his crossbow and glaive from another bag of holding, prepared some combat medicine and left the lair.
Clothing. Not that leather "jacket", but something to fully cover my skin. What a weird feeling. It was nice to dispose of every wind's caress, but it felt limiting, there was something liberating in roaming the forest naked.
This armour needs an adjustment. Xin grew more muscular in the past few weeks, but his armour was fitted for his old frame. It wasn't that bad, but it was certainly irritating. Still, the protection was well worth it. Even if the demon's Mercurial Snake ring could slice through it like a knife through butter, she also had weaker attacks and plant monsters that it could protect from.
"Xin, how do you like my brother?"
Xin stopped and pointed at Erdeni's genitals.
"I don't get it. What do you mean?"
Xin made a hole with his fingers and pointed at it.
"You… Want to bed him, too? He's a man, and quite young…"
No! Xin smiled and slapped his thighs in irritation. Not what I meant!
"I get it, he's a pussy. Just fucking with you. I agree." She smiled, her gaze playful, as if slightly intoxicated.
Xin chuckled.
When they returned, Xin found Horhu near the lake, watering his horse. This audacious invader broke your orders! The totem demanded satisfaction.
"Xin! Don't! He's right, he had to water the horse, it looked tired! He had no means to ask you for your permission!" Erdeni pleaded, trying to prevent the worst scenario.
Right, right. Xin nodded. It's fine, he gestured.
But… Xin pointed his finger at the sky. I have to do something, otherwise I'll damage my soul. Erdeni understood what he meant, but Horhu didn't.
"No, mastar! Sorry me feed horsu water! I didn… Aaaah!"
Xin grabbed him by the collar and slapped him.
"Mastar! Pleeees, mastar!"
Slap.
"Aaagh! Me no do bad! Mastah!"
Slap! Xin pulled a golden ring from his finger, then pocketed it.
"Sis! It's my late mother's gift, please intervene!"
Slap! Xin threw Horhu on the ground and kicked him.
"Enough, Xin! You followed the vow, stop!"
The totem was far from satisfied. A bright thought flashed in Xin's mind. He approached Horhu's horse, took it by the reins and pointed at his chest. It's mine now. The totem calmed down. That's some good loot.
Xin then pointed a finger at Erdeni. The horse is yours.
Fuck you, Xin! Fuck you! Fuck you, human! You tricked me! I'll assault your soul! Roar!
I broke no rules, totem, Xin smirked.
"Brother, we'll talk about the horse once this matter is resolved. Please stand up."
"You let a foreigner humiliate me like that? I am a successor of our tribe! I think he broke a rib! My face hurts!"
Xin hushed him again. What an annoying brat, at least speak my language, it's not polite to speak a language your host doesn't get!
"Horhu, no one has to know about what happened here. Your reputation is safe. It works both ways." She used this opportunity to remind him not to talk about her lover. She knew that Horhu's tongue had no bones at times.
"I… Get it, sister. It wouldn't be good. Politically." He still sulked. He was too stressed to ruminate right now, and felt like he observed himself from outside, but he knew that his dream crumbled today. His sister, his perfect woman, now a slut for a foreigner. There will be no united dynasty, in fact, she is probably his rival now.
Xin mounted the horse, then looked at the confused siblings.
What? He spread his arms. I need my energy, and you two are useless. Am I supposed to let Erdeni ride a horse and jog behind her? Well, you two fight the demoness, then.
Erdeni understood his words and expressions.
"Fine, Xin." She still looked somewhat upset by his actions. "I'll show you the way."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone