Chapter 118

  Silence (III)

  The remaining day passed by rather quickly and uneventfully.

  The town calmed down for the most part, and the rumors returned to being largely about the two fallen sects and the rising number of smaller ones trying to take over the suddenly empty seat of the region's sovereign.

  Neither Wan Lan nor Madame Lu showed up at all throughout the day, and the kids didn't linger out for long either, as I told them to come back early. There weren't any 'preparations' we had to do, not really; this wasn't like traveling back on Earth, where I'd spend a couple of days packing and arranging things in suitcases, only to still somehow forget to pack like 7 essential things, so I'd do it rushing like mad the morning of the flight.

  Aah. Good times. Anxiety-riddled, yes, but good.

  So, anyway, most of the evening was spent in anticipation of the visit--the kids cultivated, and I tried cultivating, but despite the advances I've made in purifying this godawful body, it was still, well, slow. I mean, this is probably what an average person feels when they cultivate--it's still sluggish and sort of like trying to run a mile uphill without any prior training.

  Like, sure, you start off okay, but the longer it goes on, the more painful it gets. Not that I feel pain, but that tiredness, though, very much so.

  So, while the kids worked hard on advancing the future, and while I bargained that the system would do it for me at some point, maybe, possibly, hopefully... hours ticked by, and the night soon came.

  Just as I was about to turn in for sleep, feeling rather ready to leave first thing in the morning, I heard hurried knocks on the door.

  Walking up, on the other end was a panicked-seeming Madame Lu, her entire countenance rather different than any other time--even when I revealed who Light is to her.

  "Madame--"

  "Hush. No time for chatter. Gather your kids and follow me; you must leave immediately."

  "What is happening?" I asked, standing my ground a bit.

  "... I'd just gotten some news--it seems that all my houses will be raided tonight by the city officials," she said. "The official reason will be that they had information I was 'harboring murderers and thieves', though it's probably just a way to get back this half of the town. If they find you, I don't know how long they'll keep you locked up--or even if they'll ever let you go. So you need to leave, now."

  Okay.

  Is it time to panic? No, not yet.

  I hurried back in and was just about to knock on the kids' doors when they opened, and the four of them came strolling out. None seemed particularly surprised, not even Dai Xiu or Xi Zhao.

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  I awkwardly shuffled back and guided them out as we closed the doors behind us, leaving fast.

  The old woman led us down a set of seemingly blind alleyways, and I soon lost myself within the maze.

  Hmm. Isn't this just a bit suspicious? That she got 'information' that she'll be raided just the one night before we're supposed to leave? And that she urgently needs to usher us out?

  I eyed the hunched back of the old woman warily, wondering if she'd had a change of heart. It's unlikely, but... people change. Plus, maybe the system was just wrong about her--maybe despite caring a lot about Light, she still held some resentment over the fact that the Demonic Cult or whatever it was banished her and stripped her of cultivation, and this was her way of getting back at them?

  Oh, there it is--panic.

  It'd be one thing if she just outright tried attacking us, but luring us in and such is rather diabolical!

  ... or am I just being hyper prejudicial because she used to be a Demonic Cultivator? Essentially doing the exact same thing this world is doing?

  Hell yeah, I am! Of course I am! Can I even be blamed?

  No, no, it's fine--Long Tao is following calmly. He's my little alarm bell--if shit was hitting the fan, he'd be singing something or another. It's still fine.

  About five or so minutes later, she led us into one of the abandoned homes; she took down a lamp hanging by the entrance and lit it up, guiding us to the descending stairs and down. I followed cautiously, silently taking out my little trump card and clutching it in the palm of my hand.

  The descent was brief, and at its bottom waited a familiar figure--Wan Lan--and was doing so right by a gaping hole in the wall.

  "Madame--"

  "Hush, child," she interrupted Wan Lan as we stopped. "This isn't time for you to be petulant. I've taught you everything I know, and you've grown well beyond the point I thought you would. This town is not a home; it's a prison. The world is vast, and you belong to its many lands, where you'll finally be able to spread your wings. Hate me if you must, but go nonetheless."

  "I..."

  "And you, promise me," she turned toward me, her eyes dangerously serene. "Don't leave her behind."

  "... I won't." I said simply, my anxiety diminishing somewhat. I kept stealing glances toward Long Tao, but the bastard must have realized it, as he maintained the exact same expression from start to now--as though he was telling me to figure it out on my own.

  "Go now, hurry. And never come back to this hell." She ushered us all into the tunnel, handed me the lamp, and had Wan Lan pull the stone over the hole, blocking it.

  The tunnel itself was surprisingly wide and breathable, though it was quite hot. I mean, we've barely been in it for six seconds, and I already feel like I'm about to sweat.

  The young girl pressed her fist into the cold stone for a moment, biting her lower lip, as we waited in silence.

  "... let's go," she growled as she turned around and faced me.

  Nodding, I took the front and started walking--it was a straight line with an occasional step upward, and it went on for a long while. I was roughly calculating in my head, and I quickly realized the tunnel was probably leading us to outside the town's walls.

  We walked in silence, but the further out we went... the odder the feeling in my gut was. Maybe it was the combination of Long Tao's foreboding warning and my suspicion of that old hunched woman, or maybe I did develop a supernatural ability to detect danger while in this world... regardless, I found myself worrying.

  Worrying about what was waiting on the other end of the tunnel.

  It turned out to be a rather 'large' man and about a dozen others, all perfectly circling the hole in the ground that I exited first, stopping the kids from going out as soon as I saw the others.

  "I thought I smelled some rats crawling out of my town," the large man spoke, his lips thinning out in a grin. "As I knew that bitch would use this hole to get them out. What of the rest of the rats? Will they hide in the hole forever?"

  Well, the good bit of news is that I didn't misread Madame Lu and that she didn't sell us out.

  The bad news?

  Oh, where the hell do I even begin...