Chapter 180

  Eternal Lament (VI)

  They paused for a moment at my suggestion, though it was a bit of a stretch. If he was as paranoid as these two made him out to be, he wasn't coming out even if we burned down the entire castle.

  However, there would be a reaction of some sort, I imagine. The hope is that it'd be big enough for either me or some of the kids to notice.

  "However," I added quickly. "It cannot be obvious that he was attacked. We need to make it seem like an accident."

  "Because, otherwise, he probably wouldn't do anything," Lilia mumbled. Though, even with this, I don't think he will do anything, not really. But it gives me a chance, a chance to beat that soggy old monster over there that seems to be at the brink of laughter.

  "It also can't happen while either of the two of you are near him," I said. "He probably knows who you are and would be suspicious. And it can't really happen while I'm around either, as he'd suspect something, too."

  "Then, what are you suggesting?"

  "... one of my disciples can do it." They winced at the suggestion but stayed their lips, likely being courteous of the 'customs'.

  I think they see the kids the same way I do, sans my knowledge that they're little monsters capable of cosmic destruction... given time.

  "This..."

  "Don't worry," I said. "I'd never let them go in harm's way; if we can't manufacture anything, then we'll look for a different way. What you two need to do is stay peeled for any abnormality, no matter how small."

  "Shouldn't be too hard," Lilia shrugged. "Nothing ever happens here, anyway."

  ... did she just jinx us?

  Nah.

  This might be one of those times when the said thing is simply the truth.

  They left quickly after, and the kids came out as soon as they did--turns out, they weren't cultivating or meditating... they were eavesdropping.

  Oh well.

  "Let me do it, Master!" Dai Xiu voiced.

  "... and how exactly do you plan on doing it?"

  "I'll punch him in the ribs so quickly nobody is going to see anything!"

  "Out."

  "Let me do it, Master!" Xi Zhao voiced.

  "And how do you plan on doing it?"

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  "I'll slash with my sword so quickly--"

  "Out."

  "But why?!"

  "Because you might kill him."

  "Oh."

  "That leaves me, then." For a moment I thought it was Wan Lan, but it was actually Light who spoke up.

  "... why?" I looked at her oddly.

  Ever since her little... 'episode', she mostly kept to herself, only occasionally taking jabs where she saw appropriate. She largely hung around me (oftentimes on top of my shoulders) and seemed to observe the world with a rather curious glee.

  "I'm seven. Nobody is going to suspect anything!"

  "..." Everyone pulled back a bit; though it was understood that Light most certainly wasn't your everyday seven-year-old girl, that didn't mean she wasn't treated as a bit of a 'mascot'--sort of like me. It's just that they never dared do it to her openly. "Uhm..."

  "You're not going to say no, right?" Hmm. She's doing that thing where she sounds and behaves a slightly bit older than she is.

  "What... exactly are you going to do?" I asked.

  "It'll be funnier if it's a surprise."

  "Oh, I'm pretty sure it's not."

  "He he, just wait, dummy Master, I'll surprise you like never before!"

  ... yeah.

  Okay.

  So, they don't sell cages for girls in this world, right?

  That weird, weird—holy shit, is it weird—thought aside, I figured... may as well let her have a go at it. I've seen Light fight--or, well, spar a couple of times--and, honestly, she kind of scares me.

  Despite being half their age, she's keeping up with both Dai Xiu and Xi Zhao and takes Long Tao's beatings as well as the rest of them. I tried so, so, so many times to try and talk her out of it, telling her that a childhood should be the time of play and joy, but... it didn't work.

  Just like with all the others, there's something deeper pushing her--some kind of desire that still eludes me.

  Despite knowing these kids for at least half a year or so each, there are still layers that they... not necessarily 'hide' from me, but elect to keep hidden. I don't think it's because they don't trust me or something like that, but simply because they don't want to 'burden' me.

  At the end of the day, they're teenagers in the ordinary ways--and quite a few extraordinary ones--though at least I rolled a good dice with them. For now, at least.

  Okay, that sounded foreboding, but I noticed... trends, as it were, that have a chance of developing into something more exponential.

  The most obvious one is probably Dai Xiu--her somewhat unhealthy attachment to me aside, she's becoming shorter and shorter with Xi Zhao. It was especially so during the climb up the mountain, as the two would fight practically every day, and their sparring sessions always turned bloody.

  On the flip side was Xi Zhao--he never talks about his family. He never even suggested that we try and go south to see if they survived. In fact, ever since we escaped the Sect, it was like he went out of his way to make it seem as though he has no family.

  How does this manifest? Well, for now, it's just mild paranoia--he jumps at every shadow, immediately bolting to my side, wanting to protect me. It's not an isolated thing, far from it, as it's happened many times in the past few months.

  Wan Lan seems the most 'stable', but she's also the oldest--and her little demons are kind of contingent on a few other factors. She's a bit of a combo between the other two kids; she often gets lost in the violence of the blood and has to be beaten by Long Tao until she can't stand up to get out of it.

  Speaking of Long Tao, he actually worries me the most.

  Not because I think he's harboring some developmental demons--of course not, the dude might be older than ancient civilizations back on Earth--but because his apathy... has actually 'leveled up' recently. Or, rather, it's in this constant flux between two states.

  It used to be that it was considered 'Common', but, in the past few months, it has jumped, almost on a weekly basis, between being 'Common' and 'Rare'.

  Or, perhaps, he's merely returning to his default state after 'getting used to' life post-reincarnation?

  I don't know.

  All I know is that all of them are ticking time bombs in one way or another, and I don't know how to help them.

  "So... we're really letting her do it?" Light had stood up and left before long, going to do what she was going to do. Luckily, Long Tao slipped out in the meantime as well, unbeknownst to the other kids, so I felt at ease that nothing would happen to her. It was Wan Lan who asked, and they all turned toward me, waiting for an answer.

  "... maybe she surprises us?"