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Old Bastard didn’t notice it at first.
He had been busy focusing on his cultivation and also making certain no one took his pearls.
Originally they had been Xie Yuchen’s.
Too bad for the man that someone decided to cause trouble when the man had been over for a visit and held out the box with the lovely content for viewing.
Even more of a pity that the troublemaker actually managed to knock it over, when he’d made a grab for it.
A lucky hit.
One that totally didn’t have anything to do with him tripping the man up at the right time.
After the thief had been beaten up in retaliation, Xie Yuchen had offered to pay the black man – Hei Yanjing – a rather large amount of money if he got the pearls back. All of them.
Wu Xie had wisely tried to convince both of them to let it go, that the pearls were now in Old Bastard’s realm and were his now.
Neither Black nor White had wanted to listen.
The moment the taller of the two made to enter Old Bastard’s pool the large koi let him know exactly just what he thought of that. At the same time Wu Xie informed his former teacher that if any harm were to come upon Old Bastard that he would be very cross with him.
Hmph.
Blacky might be holding a fair amount of strength of cultivation himself, but he still was but a child to this grandmaster before him.
And those pearls filled with special energy were just what he needed to give himself a little extra boost.
So they were going to damn fucking well stay right where they were.
Okay. Maybe not EXACTLY where they were then.
He might have rolled them over the ground and properly set them up in an energy drawing formation. Nothing some plebeian would understand or have any use for.
Anyway the black clad man had been determined to take what was Old Bastards already, but Old Bastard wouldn’t have grown to his majestic size and lived as long as he did if he was a quitter.
It may have been beneath him, but when the leather wearing guy made it clear that he had no intention to leave without completing the task that promised him riches…
Well, seeing how taking nips at his legs – very fine, long legs – weren’t enough to discourage him, there was no other chance.
He’d gone for where it hurt.
It as actually kind of hilarious how quickly the guy could move through the water and jump out when he realized his intend.
It was only fair, wasn’t it? Pearls for pearls.
Anyway, after he had successfully asserted his dominance over the visiting peasants – okay, Xie Yuchen was not included in that, because he knew that sometimes the man could dress up really fancy – he may have spent a bit too much time with the sources of his growing energy.
That was the only plausible reason he could find, for missing that horrible stench of death – no matter how subtle it actually had been.
Wu Xie was affected by it first. Of course he was.
Everyone thought his signs of fatigue were just the result of his body catching up with him after he’d slaved away day and nights over a dozens of books – all to find a trace that might help him untangle a rumor.
Then one day he didn’t wake.
At first his friends thought him to be playing tricks on them and just be a lazy shit. Then Xiaoge went to to wake him up.
He was the next victim. Never saw that trap set up specifically to take him out of the game until it was too late. Until he’d already touched Wu Xie and found the strange mark at the back of his neck.
Xiaoge passed out and flopped over Wu Xie within seconds.
After that, Pangzi went to take a look. That one noticed something was wrong immediately after he set a foot into the room and promptly started praying to various deities that were no longer there to listen to his words. Or had never existed to begin with. Pft.
Old Bastard had never figured out what it was that protected this particular guy, but something was shielding him long enough for Pangzi to call for Wang Meng.
Poor lad was in for the shook of his life when he rushed into the house only to find Pangzi sprawled out on the corridor and finding the other two entangled when he peeked through the open door.
The man managed to get Pangzi in a comfy bed, before meaning to call in a professional.
The curse immediately got violent and that’s when Old Bastard suddenly noticed the foreign presence in his courtyard.
The intruder had covered his presence well, but now that he was looking for anything out of place, he was like a beacon glowing brightly in the night to his senses.
Now this was just typical. He was this close to reaching the next level, but leave it to Wu Xie to drag something back from a tomb that would cause a disaster on a level that he actually had to intervene.
In person.
Ugh.
The youngster was in for some dosing in cold when he would least expect it. Preferably in the morning, after dragging himself out of bed.
Mentally already plotting how to let the young man suffer from his frustrations, he swam towards the edge of the pond and then jumped up into the air.
He felt his body dissolve and reshape starting from the tip of the tail and rapidly going upwards.
With feet that he hadn’t had in quite some time he landed on the stone tiles surrounding his current domain. As he stretched to raise to full length, he absently held out his hands, watching his fingers flex. Long hair felt open over his shoulders and back, lightly tickling his skin just beneath his knees.
‘Old Bastard’ hadn’t taken this form in a while and it felt almost foreign. Still he wasn’t that out of it, that he would forgo the manners he had been thought.
No, he would not parade around in the nude. With one or two exceptions there were no people around usually that he’d grant the gift of looking at his unclothed body.
With a frown he materialized a gown he’d worn long ago. A time long before all this… modern stuff.
No, much as he liked that outfit, it simply wouldn’t do.
With a till of his head and starring at his reflection on the water’s surface, he watched it shift into something a bit more modern. Something he’d seen still being worn by traditionalist even in these modern days.
The Chang Pao was a pretty simple robe compared to his original outfit, but less restricting than and still elegant.
Absently he waved a hand to make fine embroidery of a black and a white koi circling around a red disc in the middle appear on the cream colored robe and felt his hair tie itself into a braid.
Nodding at his reflection and wiggling his toes in the matching shoes, he turned around with a dramatic whoosh that made his hair fly in half a circle and stalked towards the peace breaker.
The youngster was sitting in the shade of a tree, his eyes closed and a mean drawl twisting his lips upwards.
There was a second presence with him, older – around Old Bastard’s age – but weak, as well as several lingering souls.
He nearly groaned just then. A fucking necromancer. Just what he needed that very day.
And he had a feeling he knew that ancient spirit with him.
“Are you done at last? You are being a nuisance and I do not appreciate your kind entering my turf uninvited.”
Old Bastard took great satisfaction to watch the kid jump and nearly fall over in surprise.
Just what he deserved. The sheer nerve.
Amateur.
There was some stuttering and fumbling as the stranger tried to regain his composure and climbed to his feet. Already he could feel the yin energy suddenly peaking and then the male suddenly stiffened. His shoulders dropped a moment later and then the head tilled to him almost eerily.
“We met again.”
… What?
“This time I’ll make you pay. The shame you have brought upon me the last time has filled me with a grudge so deep, it is enough to last me several life times. And in all of them I’ll hunt you and yours down and make you suffer.” a deeper voice than before addressed him.
Great. Now the kid was possessed by the ancient one.
And this was exactly why one shouldn’t fucking meedle and dabble with forces one didn’t knew shit about.
“Oh! I think I remember you!” he smiled brightly in an imitation of Pang-ye.
“As you SHOULD! The humiliation you forced me to undergo-”
“My bad. I mistook you with someone else. Apologies. Who are you again?”
Oh yes, it was a pure delight to just punch the air out of the other verbally.
Stupid self-important fucker deserved all of that – and more.
“Actually save it. I don’t really care. What I do care is that you trespassed into my domain and attacked my servants. Obviously YOU don’t know who exactly YOU are dealing with. Otherwise I doubt you’d have the sheer fucking audacity to pull such a stunt. Leave now and never return and I shall forget all about this… Resist and I’ll make you regret it before I throw you out.”
There was another moment of silence in which Old Bastard observed the multitude of emotions flickering about that young face. Predictable it was fury that won out in the end.
He could feel the dark energy gather even before it visibly showed and only let out a sigh.
Stupid, stubborn morons.
There were some that were endearing in it, like young Wu Xie, but most were in fact not.
Well, he HAD given them a fair warning.
With a dark smile he watched as the other attempted to conjure up whatever bodies might be buried deep under the earth to give form to the spirits it commanded and found himself coming up empty.
“What’s wrong? Nothing responding to your call, Mr. Wannabe-necromancer-in-training?” he taunted the other without mercy.
“Don’t you know the most basic of principles that come with that craft?” he mused, slowly stepping closer.
Fear flashed through the other’s eyes and the young man managed several steps back before rage took over again. A struggle for control, it seemed. That’s why two souls in one body were never going to work out.
“You! You did something!!!”
Oh please.
Old Bastard rolled his eyes. “No need for that. I told you. You are in my domain. If you don’t understand what that exactly means… it’s honestly a surprise you lasted this long. When engaging with someone practicing cultivation – no matter what kind – you should always try to measure up your strength against his. And even if your opponent is weaker than you… Never engage on their home base. You do not know how deep the roots are and how much more powerful the person becomes.”
The ancient lectures rolled of his tongue easily, even if the language he spoke had changed. He liked to think that his old teacher would nod proudly while stroking his beard, agreement with his words obvious.
“Now… Let me eradicate you old fossil from this world.”
A smile with a row of sharp teeth – whoops, forgot about adjusting those – was the last warning he gave, before power flowed into his left hand and was unleashed forward a few moments later.
The kid the body actually belonged to was quick on his feet, he gave him that much, but he hadn’t exaggerated when he told them about his domain.
He couldn’t help but play a little with his prey, letting him thing he actually had a chance of outrunning him, but the moment he sensed the shift in control again and the stranger attempting to make for the house enough was enough.
Plants quickly shoot out from the ground, wrapping around ankles and climbing higher.
A high pitched scream of fear escaped the youth, before the other wrestled for control. The yin energy pulsed through the body, causing the plants to turn dark and rot.
The man crackled in triumph, but only before he nearly run head along into Old Bastard, who turned his head a little to the side.
“Would you like to know why I choose this place as my domain?” he asked sweetly, leaning in a little only to bend backwards when a fist wrapped in Qi went for his face.
He used the other’s momentum to kick one of his legs the other way, causing him to stumble and fall.
The vegetation was only too eager to make a grab for him again, rapidly regrowing whatever he managed to rot off.
Calmly he watched the struggle before crouching down and putting one elbow on a knee to rest his head on the propped up hand.
“It’s because it’s old. Like. Really old. Even before the current family came into possession of this estate it was a place of power to many. And now it’s been the property of this bloodline for generations. Do you have any idea how thick the bond is between them? And the heir considers me part of the family as well, even thought he only knows my in my other shape… That means… all the power slumbering in this very earth… is ready for me to wield it as I please.”
Well, that wasn’t the full truth, but the other would never know about it. Besides, seeing those eyes widen and the body freeze up in fear…
He could almost taste it. So delicious.
“Sorry lad. You shouldn’t have dabbled with this power. It made you the perfect target for body stealing from that sore loser. May you stay far away from it in your next life.”
Raising from his lowered position to stand tall with a straight back above his victim, he took a few steps back to give the spirits of the land space.
“Not so fun when you aren’t the top dog but rather on the receiving end, is it? Consider your last moments a learning experience. You are about to find out for yourself, why none of the many bones you could feel responded to your call.” he told the youth, which was starting to get dragged into the ground.
There were vague shapes of people along the veins now, grabbing hold of whatever limbs they could reach, further immobilizing the intruder who harmed the people under their protection.
A panicked whimper reached his slightly pointy ears, making him sigh.
Really, he wasn’t trying to be unnecessarily cruel, but…
Ah.
With a smirk he activated the spirit trapping array he’d secretly drawn with his other hand on the ground when he’d been crouching.
The old soul jumped as it sprung to live and wrapped like a net of light tightly around it. “There you are. I was wondering how long you’d cling upon him. Almost a pity you didn’t cling to him until he breathed his last breath in your arrogance...”
The soul flame flared in anger and unbidden the image of a sea urchin came to him, making him snicker and enraging his prisoner further.
A pained gasp drew his attention away for a moment and he huffed.
“Oh stop it. The kid is terrified enough already. I’m sure if we were to let him go, he’d NEVER EVER even THINK about using this power again… Right?”
The young man looked at him with wide eyes that were overflowing with tears, before quickly nodding.
“Good. Remember this well, because if you do...” A smile stretched his lips wide again. “Well… Then you can only blame yourself for what… tragedy were to befall you. I can only warn you about this much: They’ll never find even a single piece of your body.”
If the man hadn’t already emptied his bladder earlier he’d most certainly be peeing in his pants now, if the fearful sobbing was anything to go by.
Flickering a hand in irritation he let the kid drop through a portal beneath him into some forest outside the city. If he took the right direction, he would end up at a road within an hour to be taken back into civilization.
If not…
Well, that was hardly his concern now. His destiny was up to fate now. He’d already saved his life, that had to be enough.
That old spirit in his hand however…
Glancing down at the blue flame, he slowly started to close his hand, making the cage shrink. He could feel the spirit struggle to free itself, but he had not the patience nor the time to entertain it.
“Release them from your course. You have three seconds. 3… 2...”
He felt the energy taking hold of four of his idiots disappearing so suddenly as if someone had popped a bubble.
A moment later he snuffed the soul out by crushing it in his hand with his own energy.
It had been tempting to eat it and take his power for himself, but he’d already used up a good amount of karma he had collected and he really didn’t need the debt of the many lives the other had taken to be added to his account.
Borrowing Wushanju’s consciousness to check on the four inside it, he nodded in satisfaction to himself.
Someone was approaching – and fast – just as he stepped towards the pond.
Ah. Zhang Qiling. He should have known.
The slightly frazzled looking male glanced at the spot of land that was currently reshaping itself to it’s prior form, then darted his gaze over to him.
With a smug smile, he allowed himself to fall backwards into the water.
The male shoot forwards as if meaning to catch him, when he shifted form just before he hit the water.
With a loud and large splash he drenched the young looking one from head to toe.
A valid punishment for making him do all the work.
With another displeased slap of his tail, he took off, leaving the dripping male stand there frozen, his hand stretched out and looking dazed.
Hmph. Some Zhang he was.
Had he really not been aware that he wasn’t the only one around with some years to them? Even Blacky had been able to tell!
Then again Blacky could hardly be used as a reference.
He had known better and still had dared to challenge his claim at the promise of money.
Now that he thought about it… Time to admire his pretty pearls again and take some of that pleasant energy to store in himself.