Chapter 128

  Echoes (IV)

  "You want this? It's really sweet! How about this? Do you want the Big Sis to teach you something?"

  Long Tao silently eyed the strange young woman who seemed entirely obsessed with Light--to an unhealthy degree. And yet, it was all a facade. Her eyes and Divine Sense darted over the other kids, trying to figure them out.

  Naturally, she saw only what they wanted her to see--there wasn't anyone alive, at least not in this realm, that could see through his means.

  Nonetheless, it peeved him a bit, the false front. And yet... he was annoyed with himself even more.

  Of course, it was a false front--it was a de facto state of all cultivators. It was how they lived and how they interacted with the world at large. He himself had been the exact same way all his life. And yet... he found himself annoyed.

  It was for a simple reason--that chatty buffoon at the front.

  That genuine kindness and concern were like shackles as well as a mirror held up against the rest of the world--and Long Tao found himself trapped between the two ends.

  Ignoring all the inane questions, he briefly focused on the story of 'Hollowers'--a rather far-fetched tale that made no sense, told no doubt to simply cover up the truth behind countless disciple killings.

  However, Long Tao knew precisely who'd killed the boy--perhaps not by the name, no, but he did recognize the method. After all, it was a method that was used against him thousands of times before, with each new assassination attempt that the Emperor Swordstar orchestrated.

  It was a lesser variant of the art that had a manual for each tier--the one employed against the dead boy was at least of the Sky tier, which likely meant that it wasn't another disciple who killed him.

  He even knew who it probably was--the man who wore the garish emblem of a sword etched into his robes, a sigil so familiar that he nigh exploded in rage the moment he saw it. But... it wasn't exact.

  It was a mimicry of sorts, likely a far-descending branch of the original, the Sword Mountain--one of the nine powers that came together in a bid to destroy him... and had succeeded.

  These inane matters, however, had nothing to do with him--but he was gnawingly curious about the sect behind that man. There was no doubt he'd have to visit it at some point in the future and see who they sent down to become an Envoy. It likely wasn't anyone of importance, probably some random low-level disciple that he wouldn't even recognize, but even if it was a janitor, he could still ask them some questions.

  "You've been rather quiet." She finally turned toward him, stretching out her lips into a smile. "What's your name?"

  Long Tao remained silent for a moment, eyeing her.

  He held no grudge against the girl, as it truly did seem she was mostly just curious--not about them, specifically, but by nature. She seemed the type to get distracted with whatever she thought was a puzzle, and, today, the moment Light evaded her hug, they became that puzzle.

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  "You can call me Tao," he said.

  "So, it's Junior Brother Tao! You're quite cute too, you know?" She fell behind a bit and tossed her arm around his shoulder, pressing her breasts against him.

  It had worked on Xi Zhao, after all, as the boy immediately got red in the face and stammered out a few answers.

  "Thanks," he said. "They're too small."

  "Hm?"

  "I like big ones," he spewed out randomly. "The bigger the better. In fact, at least larger than your head."

  "... Junior Brother says some awfully mean things." Her eyebrows twitched, and Long Tao found himself a bit surprised that she endured. She looked to be in her early twenties at the latest, which, to him, was the same as if she were 20 days old. "No girl will ever like you if you're that blunt, okay? Girls, ah, girls like heroes! Charming, strong, handsome! We want guys who will tell us we are beautiful every day, and who will protect us, and who will never, ever say mean things to us."

  "Girls sure do want the oddest things," Long Tao played along. "I should be grateful, then, that I prefer women."

  "..."

  She still endured, surprisingly.

  Long Tao reexamined her a bit deeply; he'd already noticed there was something odd about her, namely in her Soul Energy--she seemed to possess not just an abundance of it, but also different types. That wasn't possible--not without some extremely specific Physiques, none of which could appear within humans.

  There were two possible answers--either she wasn't a human and was a member of some Ancient Race disguising herself as one, or... there was another Soul present either within her or within some object on her.

  Though it would be easy to check, he actually didn't dare. If it was a remnant soul, there was no way to tell how strong it was. No, rather, any expert capable of transfusing themselves into a purely Soul State had at least achieved Nirvana. They'd immediately be able to notice his probing and alert the young woman, who in turn would likely alert the Elder at the front. And though he was confident in being able to get away, even taking Master with him, he knew that the latter had grown quite fond of the kids, and leaving them behind would render him a ruin.

  "Clever," she said, the look in her eyes shifting. "How old are you?"

  "Too young for you," Long Tao replied dismissively. "How long have you been in the forest?"

  "Four months. Are you curious about me?"

  "Where are we going?"

  "He he, you want to know? Our Divinemancers say that it's actually an Ancient Tomb of an Emperor! You must think, 'an Emperor? Who cares about some mortal Emperor?' but--he he, listen to Big Sis, for cultivators, becoming Emperor is the greatest honor! No, more than honor, it is Heaven itself decreeing you worthy! Someone like that, they must have possessed treasures beyond imagination! And, if you ask me nicely, I might fetch something for you too when I get inside~"

  Long Tao looked at her emptily for a moment before turning away.

  An Emperor? Here?

  Naturally, none of the people here knew what it actually meant to become an Emperor. It was likely a passed-down tale from the original founders of the Sects that did come from the higher realms. Emperors never leave 'tombs' behind, as they never 'die' natural deaths.

  Besides, he already knew the exact nature of the 'tomb', though he was still curious to see its quality.

  "Sure," he said. "An Immortal Sword will suffice."

  "... you really are no fun," she pouted briefly before stretching, her bones cracking rather loudly. "But... you're interesting."

  "Let me give you some advice."

  "Oh? Little Brother has some advice for me?" He glanced at her and smiled for a moment, though it was an... odd smile.

  "I'm a puzzle you don't want to crack." No sooner had he finished speaking before she was almost fifteen yards from him, having nearly drawn Qi to fight. Her eyes were wide, her jaw was tensed, and her heart must have been beating a thousand miles an hour.

  So, it's a stray soul, Long Tao presumed, though it could still just be that the girl had extremely sensitive natural instincts. Hmm. Maybe after they all die at the hands of Demon, I can scry her and see who she's hiding?

  "Senior Brother, hurry up!" Dai Xiu suddenly grabbed his arm and started dragging him. "You're not allowed to flirt with her, okay?! She's already made Junior Brother confused! She's a witch, I'm telling you! Don't fall for her spells!"

  He wanted to both smile and slap the back of her head. But he simply let himself be dragged. In the slightest of ways, he understood that man's attachment to these little gremlins. Though, just a very tiny, imperceptible, even, touch of it…