Shixiong – a senior male fellow student or apprentice son (older than oneself) of one's teacher
Wulin meeting room - time 10:43 AM
It was bad luck and desperation that landed Zanhui Yu amidst the powerhouses assembling the Wulin. Mostly bad luck.
Originally, his composed and cunning shixiong was chosen to grace those halls - since he was trained in diplomacy shixiong was truly the best fit. It was bad luck that he was killed in battle before the Wulin conference, and with all his other sect brothers and sisters being indisposed, away, or healing, the job fell to Zanhui Yu instead. Zanhui Yu, who couldn't be diplomatic if you pressed a sword to his neck.
Protesting hadn't done much when there was literally no one else fit for the job, so, here he was, forced to partake in social niceties, small talk, and outer sect relations.
Que in the exaggerated shudder.
Honestly, Zanhui wasn't sure how much longer he could fake being civil, for it wouldn't do for a representative to break decorum, and yet, just sitting in the same setting as those… people. Zanhui was ready to commit genocide.
Those people lived for years upon years, and only due to their cultivation level had they regained their youthful looks, yet all of them decided to bestow him with his very own nickname – 'old-man Zanhui'.
Zanhui Yu's cultivation is excellent for his age, he just didn't reach the stage where his body rebuilds itself as a younger, more handsome version of itself.
Still, Zanhui Yu didn't dare say a word, because God forbid, he'll make so many enemies over something as silly as name-calling. He's better than that.
(Plus, he can still curse them in his mind.)
And so, Zanhui decided to glower at the wall instead.
He could hear them talking with half an ear, something about some missing sect leader or other. And while he agreed that demonic cultivators that practiced the forbidden arts should be handled, that wasn't a pressing matter.
Zanhui wanted to say his piece and leave, but decorum forbids talking out of turn. He had to wait until one of them addressed him. But as time passed, all could see Zanhui grew impatient.
His face started looking funny with various exciting expressions. His blood pressure shot through the roof, and his body started shaking with anger.
The moment Zanhui finally erupted, no one was surprised. In fact, the rest of the cultivators turned to look at the show with amused expressions and lightened eyes.
Zanhui hit the table, interrupting what master Tein had been saying, "Ho god, would you give it a rest! You are going on and on about those demonic cultivators playing villains. Just crush them like the insects they are. You could end them in a day if you really wanted to."
A heavy silence accompanied the sudden deceleration, and all heads turned towards Zanhui.
This was one of Zanhui's less than stellar moments, but if he needed to hear one more word about those insignificant insects, he was going to explode.
"I, on the other hand, have a REAL problem," he roared in outrage, "I'm talking about demons! A whole hoard of them!"
The displeased look that most masters wore softened at that. But like always, there's that one person that likes to stir up trouble. That guy was the same one that Zanhui cut off earlier, master Tein.
"It sounds like you aren't capable of dealing with a few demons yourself." A blond man said with an easygoing smile, "I would have been able to handle a few demons when I was your level. It seems to me like you're slacking."
'Bastard.'
"While I’m flattered that Master Tein is comparing me to a Wulin master such as himself," Zanhui huffed, "may I remind you that I’m not, and I can’t do what you did when you were young."
'You're also unmatched when it comes to being a dick.'
"As it so happens," Zanhui added, "I don't have time to cultivate because I'm dealing with a large group of demons, you see."
Tein snorted in disbelief. He looked away from Zanhui when one of the other masters finally decided to add their own two cents. "It isn't easy to deal with demons on a good day, but we're going to need more detail if you want us to do anything about it."
Zanhui nodded with a small smile, "the demons that attacked my territory aren't low-level beasts – they're far too strong for a usual cultivator to deal with. So, regular disciples cannot fight against them," He cleared his throat, "and I can't deal with all of them by myself."
"Those pests practically come daily, sometimes two or three at the same time! If I leave my territory unprotected, it could be destroyed by the time I come back!"
That made the other masters in the room push. It was very worrying. Yet, if only to be safe, they needed to ask a few more questions.
"How strong are those demons that we are talking about?"
There are different kinds of demons.
The weakest kind - beast-like demons are the ones that had the easiest time crossing the barrier separating the human realm and the demon realm.
Alexa leaned in, "I never faced a high-level demon before," she said with shining eyes, "but I heard that the taste of their Kii could be… very pleasurable."
The masters at the table had an uneasy look at that. Alexa was also known by another name. They called her the seductress.
She gained her seat with a grey cultivating technique that almost boarded on being evil – a Qi stealing technique.
Zanhui's expression grew dark, "the weakest of the demons that invaded is as strong as an arc daemon, and the grand daemon."
Alexa's smile widened. She chuckled lightly with a nice-earthy tone, "I heard that the stronger they are, the better their Qi will be."
"It seems like the numbers are the real problem," said Yan Ba-Sian, "how many demons are we talking about here?"
Old-man Zanhui cleared his throat and took out a bag filled with… something. He opened the bag and spilled the contents onto the table.
"For each demon that I killed, I cut one finger. Some fled, others were done by fellow cultivators."
The masters leaned in so that they could see better, and they almost lost face with how shocked they were. "Those are a lot of fingers-neo."
"I counted sixteen," Yan Ba-Sian said serenely.
"Those are a lot of demons. We usually see one demon in ten years. I could stomach three, or even nine, but sixteen of them is-" The room grew quiet, and the atmosphere turned dark and oppressive.
"I fear that that's not the worst of it…" called Wan Saigon, a young-looking man sitting at the head of the table, "I don't believe that this number of demons could get here without outside help. Someone made it easier for the demons to pass."
"More than that, I believe that there's a reason why they had been sent here. I can't say anything more yet without investigating the matter, but I believe we somehow got involved in something."
Alexa shifted and leaned towards the man, "and how would you know something like that, master Wan? It could be a coincidence."
She didn't think so, but Alexa never liked Wan. Without an excellent reason, the seductress would never agree with that man.
Wan frowned and glared at the woman sitting not that far from him, "keep your tongue in check, or I'll gladly do it for you."
Alexa laughed at the mere thought, "ho, was that a challenge?!" she smiled predatorily at the other man.
"No one is challenging anyone-neo! Stop this!"
The two huffed and turned away from each other. "Now, you were in the middle of explaining-neo."
"Yes, thank you, master Tein," Wan Saigon bowed his head in Tein's direction.
"Demons live in the demon realm," he started explaining. "To cross to our realm from theirs is a tough feat. Not a lot of demons can do that even if they want to," Wan Saigon took off his glasses and started cleaning them.
"For a low-level demon to succeed is astonishing, and the stronger they get, the harder crossing is," he placed the glasses back in place. "For sixteen of them to make it through just like that is impossible. So, they must have had help."
Alexa tapped her manicured nails on the table as she listened, "I'm sorry, but let me correct you about something – old-man Zanhui only killed sixteen, but from what he said it appears there are much more than that," she pointed out with a sneer.
"The one aiding them must be powerful," Yan mused.
Zanhui started collecting the fingers back. His movements were elegant and refined. "Why would they send so many demons over to our side?"
"I don't know," Wan Saigon shook his head and frowned.
"We need to capture a demon alive and interrogate it. We need to know if the demons are readying for an attack," Yan pointed out, practically ignoring how difficult it was to capture a demon (alive).
"We will be in deep trouble if an army of demons invaded the human realm. Something must be done," Wan agreed but didn't volunteer any of his disciples for the task.
"For now, the only thing we can do is to capture ourselves a demon and learn everything we need from it."
"Talking about learning things, I remember your disciple left for mount Pazos, did he not-neo?"
Wan looked at Tein in surprise. He didn't know that the other master cared enough to remember. As far as he knew, Tein was all for razing Xìnrèn temple to the ground. "Yes, he did."
"Have you heard from him yet?"
"I last heard of him three days ago, when he was on his way to Pazos. If everything goes well, I should hear from him soon."
"I hope for his safe journey," Alexa added "it's not an easy path to take. There's a hydra near the base of Pazos. You know that this disciple of yours is not known for his battle powers."
"Are you asking me if I sent my idiot disciple on a suicide mission?" he asked, "Because I did not. That boy is more capable than you know. He'll bypass the hydra. Of that, I have no doubt." Wan sighed, "It's the Xìnrèn temple and its people that I worry about."
"Well, I hope everything will go well. We need to contact Xìnrèn if there's anything left of that place by now." Yan's smile turned to a small frown, and as one, all the masters turned to look at the empty seat.
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