บท 6: Chapter 6: Lucian The...???

"Fuck!"

A loud noise echoed through the room, with Yang taking several steps back away from Lucian. His back was hunched as he held his face, or more specifically, the syringe that was pierced through his eye,

"Fuck! How…!?"

"Between your eyeball and your punctum," Lucian breathed out, "You mentioned you will give me a quick death, that means you were either targeting my head or my heart --- but seeing as you are a Cultivator, you will instinctively target the one nearest to my dantian. I calculated your height and your speed, and used your own momentum to pierce straight through your brain with those parameters in mind."

"W… what?" Yang could not help but just let out a small chuckle as he looked at Lucian, only to see his arm completely twisted and broken, "You managed all of that in a split second? You broke your arm, why would you do that!? I was going to kill you painlessly!"

"60 minutes," Lucian calmly said as he clasped his broken arm while watching Yang just casually pull out the syringe from his eyes.

"Huh…?"

"Based on the lith you emitted earlier, you are at the Spirit Infant level," Lucian's breaths turned heavy as he looked at Maeve's monitor, "What I just injected you with is an antibody that prevents Rot from spreading — but injected into a healthy individual without Rot, the body will overreact…

…and end up producing vast amounts of antigens that would instead result in the individual developing Rot at a rapid rate."

"What…?" Yang forced out a smile as he looked at the syringe in his hand.

"And for a Cultivator, it would permanently damage their dantian and reduce their level," Lucian calmly explained,

"You are at the lowest level of Cultivation, Mr. Yang — and that means in 59 minutes and 28 seconds, you will turn into a mortal. And with lith still inside your system, your body would explode."

"You…" Yang could really only point at Lucian; breaking the syringe in his hand as he smiled, "...I knew you were special, Lucian. I knew it."

"Please, Mr. Yang…" Lucian slightly winced as he felt his shattered arm throb, "...Please, leave while you can still get help. I will also take my daughter away and leave this city, you will not have to see us again."

"I really, really like you, Lucian," Yang's smile soon turned into an almost manic chuckle as he continued to point at Lucian, "You're so fucking smart! But I guess I expected too much, you're still one of them…

…and can't see Mount Tai when it is right in front of you."

"Mount Tai is not a real place, Mr. Yang."

"What I meant is that you're wrong, Lucian," Yang then let out a small but very deep sigh as he looked Lucian in the eyes, "I am not at Spirit Infant level, your guess is at 3 ranks below…

…I am at Spirit Elder level."

"!!!"

And as soon as Yang said that, lith once again emerged from his body; this time, a darker green.

"Mr. Yang, please retract your lith! My daughter—!!!"

Lucian could not finish his words before he felt his vision shift. He did not even know how it happened, but his back was now pinned to the wall, with Yang's hand wrapped around his neck.

Lucian, however, did not bother looking at Yang at all but instead focused on his daughter; whose body was already convulsing due to the lith in the room.

"Mr. Yang, please…" Instead of gasping for air, Lucian started to beg for his daughter's life, "...Please, remove your lith."

"I changed my mind, Lucian," Yang then let out a small sigh while shaking his head, "I am going to let you see your child slowly die right in front of you, and I will let you live instead."

"No…" Lucian gritted his teeth, raising his non-broken hand to try and pry Yang's hand away.

"And fortunately for you, I don't think it will last 60 minutes," Yang smiled as he glanced at Maeve, who was already going into a seizure; foam dripping from her mouth.

"No…no, no…" Lucian gritted his teeth as he started kicking and struggling. But soon, however, he felt his consciousness fade away.

"Wait, don't tell me you're dying already?" Yang slightly loosened his hold on Lucian to give him a chance to breathe. Lucian, however, took this chance to grab a syringe from his pocket — but before he could do anything with it, Yang snatched it from his hand,

"Seriously? This again?"

"No," Lucian shook his head; his voice, faltered and weak, "It is not for you…

…It's for me."

"What? Trying to kill yourself?" Yang rolled his eyes, "I think I overestimated you, Lucian."

"Please… please, I need that," Lucian tried raising his hands, but he felt extremely exhausted all of a sudden, "You… you don't understand."

"I think I do," Yang smiled as he crushed the syringe.

"No!" Lucian then screamed as soon as he saw that, "Kill me, please… kill me."

"Now, now. Lucian…" Yang lightly slapped Lucian several times, "...Not before your daughter dies."

"No, no, no, no…" Lucian whispered, "You don't understand… you don't understand."

"What's this…? Have you actually turned crazy?"

"I promise…"

"What…?" Yang could really only raise an eyebrow as Lucian continued to whisper to himself.

"I promise that I will never hurt… or harm another living being, and instead treat and nurture them to the best of my ability for… as long as I live. That… that is my Dao."

"What? Have you really gone crazy?"

"I promise… never… my Dao," Lucian's whispers turned weaker and weaker as his consciousness faded away, "Kill me… kill me, please. That is… that is my Dao. I will never hurt… I will treat… treat and nurture. Kill me."

"What the fuck are you on about? Hey!" Yang then started shaking Lucian as he saw him about to faint. He then once again slapped him awake, "You need to see this! Don't you dare fucking die on me! Lucian, I already told you that—"

And before Yang could finish his words, he suddenly noticed the previously collapsed Lucian just staring at him, or was he? Yang could not really tell since Lucian's eyes were all of a sudden completely black. Very much like what one would see from… a mouse.

"Lucian? What did you—!!!"

Yang once again could not finish his words as Lucian suddenly placed his hand on his face; the very hand that was broken and shattered just moments ago. Yang could then hear a sudden beat escaping Lucian's throat — not his mouth, but his throat.

It was rhythmic, almost like a laugh, but not really.

"I'm…" Lucian then spoke up; his voice, holding a completely different demeanor from his usual stoic tone — his words were almost like a hum as his head soon started to sway,

"...hungry."

"You—" Yang let go of Lucian's neck as he tried to get away from him, but suddenly found him stuck as Lucian grabbed him by the wrist; while his other hand which was holding his face suddenly tightened… completely locking him in place,

"What the… I'm… I'm at Spirit Elder level!"

"You…" A very small smile then started to crawl on Lucian's face as he stared right below Yang's chest and above his belly — right where his dantian was located, "You…

…look very tasty, Mr. Yang."

And all of a sudden, Yang found himself being pulled closer and closer to Lucian. He tried punching him right on the stomach with his free hand, but all that happened was his fist bouncing back to him.

"What the…" Yang's eyes widened as he stared at Lucian's face, only to see his mouth very slowly opening; his fangs, almost 2 inches long, "What the…

…what the fuck!? What the fuck are you!? Are you also a Rogue Cultivator!?"

"I do not really know the answer to that, Mr. Yang," Lucian answered; a clicking noise, escaping his throat, "I have been trying to figure that out for more than 3 years — I am…

…something different entirely."

"No…!!!" Yang tried struggling and kicking to get away from Lucian's grip, but he could not even budge him at all. The only thing he could do was watch as Lucian's fangs grew closer and closer to his neck.

"No… stay away…

…Stay away!"