Capítulo 119: Chapter 119 - Friend.
In a travelling circus.
Xin was sitting in a cage, on all fours, his front legs covered in orange fur. The room was dimly lit, but with his tiger eyes, he could see clearly. There was a cage in front of him, where another tiger, younger and smaller, was lying in confusion, trembling.
The Man is coming again. Xin shuddered.
The door creaked open, and a short man walked in, his bushy, goofy moustache still smelling like smoking herbs. There was a monkey made out of pure gold sitting on his shoulder, motionless, its status as a living being only betrayed by its creepy, eerily moving beady eyes.
"Hello there, me old friends. Missed me, ei?" He smirked and produced a syringe out of his aperture. Xin felt his body tremble instinctively.
The tiger in front of Xin jumped up and leaned on the back of the cage, away from the man.
"Oh, don't you worry, sweetie. We'll start with ya partnah, but you're next. It's just one injection, not a big deal! You!" He pointed at Xin. "Come 'ere!"
Xin feared the man more than he feared the injection, and reluctantly submitted. He lowered his head and approached the edge of the cage. Anything is better than being mind-controlled again…
"Good boy. Here." Xin felt his withers get stabbed with a thin needle, and a cold liquid flowed through his body.
Voices again. An echoing choir of young and old, assaulting his mind in unison.
Twenty long minutes of torture. Plucked from the ignorant bestial bliss, into the curse of consciousness. Xin cried like a newborn child for an hour, until he exhausted himself, then fell back into sleep again.
A dream inside the dream.
***
Two years have passed, but Xin didn't feel like he aged a day. A rare tiger lived to fifteen years of age, two years would age the tiger at least somewhat. Weird.
Oh, I am an awakened animal! Xin's consciousness emerged again from the shackles of the dream, helping him reach a conclusion. It dissolved again, forcing him into the tiger's perspective.
Xin's cage was now much more spacious, and surrounded by many other cages, filled with pandas, monkeys, wolves and dogs. The building they were inside of was also much more luxurious, its ceiling twice as high. Some sort of warehouse, probably the circus's menagerie.
"You want to talk?" The neighbouring tiger contacted telepathically. "I still have some human juice, let's talk while we still can! I love this stuff!"
"Eh… It make me sleep bad." Xin growled. "You do this good, I won't go human. I am not good."
"Come on! I'm with you! If we go human, we will be let out, my friend!"
"Human like this still sold. Slave…" Xin sighed. He knew that becoming a yaoguai would just make him into a more valuable asset, sold to a different buyer.
"Yes, but they'll treat us better! Come on, next time they ask us to meditate, please do as they say!"
"Ugh. Fine. Just for you." Xin smiled lightly, no matter how depressing their situation looked, it was nice, having a friend.
He looked around. Everyone but his friend looked pathetic. The pandas were so lazy they didn't even bother to try and procreate when let out of their cages. Monkeys were smart but loud and hysterical, wolves were weak and too reliant on pack mates to be proper rulers, and the dogs weren't even worth mentioning.
Sniff. Sniff. Humans, this late at night?
The dogs in the nearby cages are going crazy, what's going on?
Xin felt the thoughts surge through his mind, he was smarter than a regular tiger.
The dogs are territorial, and their sense of smell is superior to tiger's. If they are agitated, it can only mean one thing — intruders!
Thirty breaths later, Xin smelled blood from a nearby room, as he heard intense fighting erupt, with explosions, battle cries and clanging of metal. A few moments later, an early twenties man wearing clown's makeup ran into their menagerie, holding a gold adorned staff. He was holding his bleeding shoulder as he ran, and was also limping.
"Animals, heed my orders!" He shouted out, waving the staff. The metal on its tip started glowing, then a familiar energy spread throughout the room. "Defend the master, protect the Golden Monkey at all costs!"
It was hard to understand what exactly he was saying, but Xin understood "Master" and "Monkey" and intuitively knew what to do, as human qi flowed through his body again, steering him towards the main circus room. He was exhausted after today's performance, but somehow still eager to follow orders.
"Yes, let's kill them all! I'll die for our master, if need be!" His partner in a cage nearby sent him a telepathic message as he roared fiercely.
Xin's heart dropped. What are they making us into? This sensation of loyalty… Is alien! My Friend, a proud tiger, neutered into an eager puppy! That's not him! He felt the human qi get pushed aside by a bestial sensation rising within.
The clown approached each cage and tapped the lock with the staff, and it opened by itself.
"Hurry, hurry! Towards the arena! Go!" He kicked a confused panda in its buttcheek. "Tigers, you are our main force, try and channel some qi powers!"
Compelled to run forward, Xin rushed into the arena, ahead of any other animal, appearing from the tunnel behind the scene. There was a bunch of hooded people fighting the circus staff, everyone was using these weird qi energies to fight. Sadly, Xin didn't know how to channel qi, unlike his partner, who was much more successful in training.
"Let's snatch the monkey and fuck off! Use restraining techniques!" A tall and slim man flying above the arena shouted out. Xin had more understanding than the tiger he was embodying in this dream, and managed to conclude that he was a Condensation stage master.
"You'll never get it, scoundrel!" The circus master was also flying around, but on a flying sword, carefully launching snakes made out of pure fire.
A martial artist with a spear ran up to Xin, his face filled with anger. He confidently pointed his weapon at him and allowed him to make a first move, while slowly stepping forward.
"Let's team up!" Xin's partner flanked him after avoiding a crossbow shot, then made a faint lunge at the martial artist, falling back right after baiting out a stab.
Now! Xin charged the enemy and tripped him over, pressed his shoulders into the ground and bit his throat off. Xin found this motion rather familiar.
"We must help master! I'll use my qi!" Xin's partner was determined to save his master. The fight was quite chaotic, a colourful mass of circus staff clashing with the invading cultivators, it was hard to gauge the situation or understand what his next action should actually be.
"No! That man kill you no effort!" Xin wasn't afraid of dying, but losing the only soul he could talk to sounded terrifying!
"But I have to!"
Bestial energy surged from within. In front of true loyalty, injected experiences were squashed like a paper tiger, and Xin unleashed his first ever qi technique!
Tiger's Roar!
I am not a toy, not someone to be sold and not someone to die for you, human! Xin's own bestial qi surged, and his roar filled him with pride and determination. With a telepathic connection he had with his friend, he also felt that its effect was infectious! Xin's friend stopped in his tracks, then switched directions and ran up to him.
"I'm free! Let's fight our way out, then!"
"Roar! Free!"
***
Five years later.
A vaguely humanoid tiger figure walked back into their camp, holding a bag filled with valuables. He now spoke like a human, using words and gesturing.
"I am glad you recovered. We'll soon hunt together again. I didn't manage to get these human qi materials I promised I would, but don't worry, you'll make it, friend." He told Xin.
Xin felt a deep sense of sorrow. His animal powers grew, he was stronger and faster than ever, but with his human qi fading, he lost a telepathic connection he had with his friend. Even his ability to understand human language was getting worse every day. Xin's body also aged, albeit at a reduced rate.
His voice is still soothing, and he means well, despite being akin to a human. A true Friend. I wish I knew what he said.
"That old hermit is teaching me martial arts in exchange for food. I don't trust him, but his lessons are legit. Here, I brought you a treat." He threw Xin a delicious chunk of raw farm chicken meat. He stood up, happy, and started gorging on it.
His Friend talked and talked, until it became annoying. It was hard to understand him these days, and they drifted further and further apart. He didn't sleep as much as a true tiger did, instead, he was energetic like a human, roaming around, training, interacting with other hermits living in the steppe and leaving him alone more and more often. Xin sulked.
His body wasn't as good as it was before. He was now slower, slightly weaker and less durable, and had to rely on his qi powers more and more. His eyesight also took a hit. His friend was also quite clumsy with his new body, almost getting himself killed on two different occasions. Quite a dire situation. Luckily, Xin didn't self-reflect or torture himself with thoughts, the simplicity of being a tiger allowed him to just fall asleep.
"Wake up! Someone's coming!" His Friend alerted him hours later. Xin jumped up on all fours and looked around.
"Don't worry, yaoguai." A man emerged from the tall grass, wearing a fancy shirt made out of snake hides. He was followed by three armed men, all wearing nomad lamellar armours. "We won't sucker punch a noble warrior like you, we decided to offer a bargain, first."
"Calm down, friend." The yaoguai pointed at Xin, who was eager to fight. "Let's see what these gentlemen have to say, eh?" His demeanour certainly changed after almost dying twice in the past few months. Last week, Xin was seriously injured by a demonic cultivator they ambushed together, and his yaoguai friend was much more careful since.
"Eh, you know the drill, pal. We want to refine a tiger totem, our buyer's clan lost theirs. Thing is, it's quite tedious and takes a lot of time to refine, but there is a perfect shortcut right in front of me."
"I am not dying without a fight! Bring it on, then!" Friend roared, he suspected that it would be his final fight, but he was willing to go down fighting!
"Wait. No. That's not what I mean." The man's voice was calm. Soothing. Reminded of Master.
Xin hissed.
"You see, my dear yaoguai friend, we don't need to kill you. In fact, it would be quite barbaric. We only need some of your blood and your cooperation for a week or so. We could even help you with human qi cultivation, if you so wish. You could become a human much faster. Interested?"
Xin kept growling.
Friend responded:
"Eh, think there's a catch. I assume you'll want my friend, right?"
"Friend? It's an animal. A refinement material… You see…"
"Fuck off! It's a friend! Leave, or prepare to die!"
"So be it." The master activated a dao shard — Thorn Limbs!
Another cultivator! Xin knew that he had to go all-in, even if he wasn't fully restored.
Steppe King! Xin's mind was filled with a vision of his perfect rule, he manifested a perfect version of himself, younger and stronger!
Tiger Leap! Yang Strength! True Roar! Xin was activating a technique after technique, without knowing their names or understanding what cultivation truly is.
"Hya!" Friend charged the enemy master, who stabbed him with his thorny arms. Luckily, as a yaoguai, he was quite durable.
Tiger swipes! He unleashed a series of qi infused tiger style swipes with his nail-fangs, but only barely scratched the opponent's tree bark method.
This is bad…
***
Xin was lying in a puddle of his own blood. Three enemies were dead, one was running away.
"Hey, friend!" The yaoguai approached him. "There were some pills in his bag, take them!"
Xin felt his Friend's human qi flow into him. He felt their telepathic connection restore for a moment, and his mind sharpened once again.
"I am mortally wounded. Master killed animals who were injured like I am right now. It's over."
"Don't say so! Here, take the pills!" Friend handed him a blood stoppage and blood restoration pill."
"These won't be enough, don't you remember the last time?! You might also die, look at that hip stab! Take them. I'm done for." Xin now spoke clearly, he felt his mind get sharper than at any point during this dream.
"No, no, no! My friend, hold on, I'll try and play around with his aperture materials! Wood path, should do something with your fire nature… I guess!"
"Friend, my path with you is over. Remember, no matter what happens in life, it is our destiny to face our death alone. Even if you hold a friend's paw when you die, once death comes, it's only them and you! No one else!"
"What's that with you?! Don't you start speaking fancy on me, you are just an awakened animal!" His Friend sobbed.
"This is your own human qi, resonating with mine, telling you the truth of your life! My path with you is over, but you know what to do so that we can always stay together!"
"No, this is disgusting! I won't do what that hermit taught me!"
"In this world, the strong eat the weak, it just so happens that I am weak. Doesn't mean I don't love you, Friend! Hurry, before I leak too much qi!"
The yaoguai wiped his tears.
"Forgive me." He put his hand-paws on Xin's belly and started gorging on his flesh.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder