Was it Ruoming? No way—Ruoming’s presence almost felt serene. Even if all of Ruoming’s energy was focused on me, I never felt an ominous prickle. Sometimes, it was like Ruoming didn’t even exist. Other times, it hit me like a dead calm that I wanted to sink into.
Feiyu’s presence was overwhelming like a fire. It blocked all my senses until the only thing I could think about was Feiyu’s terrifying and dominant existence. At the same time, there was an addictive pull to it. Once you entered Feiyu’s circle, you couldn’t escape.
Wait, what?
I blinked in surprise, looking down at my hands for a brief moment. Since when did I start picking up on people’s presence like this? Was I more in touch with their spiritual energy?
I looked at Yue. She was like a fine poison. It was as though she was the most delicious fruit in the world, but by taking a bite, you would be accompanied by an agonizing pain.
Qijing was the rain pattering on a windowsill. She was sometimes chaotic and violent, but it also delivered a soothing calm. You could lose yourself in the sound.
As for myself… It was completely empty. I couldn’t detect a thing. I looked down at my tattoo, wondering if it was storing pieces of me.
Finally, Hindsight picked up something in my vision. There was the tiniest hole in the throne, and a yellow eye was peeking through. It stared right through me.
I turned to Yue slowly, jerking my head toward the throne. The room was silent. Far too silent. Where was the rest of my party?
I pulled out Zhige and walked across the room, dragging the tip of the blade across the ground and letting the scraping sound ring out. I waited to see if whoever was hiding behind the throne would act, but it remained fixed on me.
“Yue, is this an illusion?”
[Disciple Yue has activated Magician’s Hand!]
“No.”
“Ask the party chat where they are. I’m running out of messages.”
[Party Chat]
Yue: Squad where we at
Yang: Throne room
Yue: ?? Are you hiding in the throne or what??
Yang: No. All of us are here waiting for you. The hole sealed up after the firewall closed, but we figured you guys entered through a different entrance using Zhige.
Yue: We came from the hole your staff made. We’re in a gold and red throne room with various dragons. There’s somebody in the throne, and Peijin looks like she’s about to shit her pants
“Qijing, hold onto me,” I ordered. “Yue, I’m gonna mess around a bit.”
AMERICAN NODE]
[Location: Ferris Wheel RN2938 — Gondola #19]
[Description: The American node controls the citadel’s spatial presence. Use the node’s artifact to toggle these settings regardless of the user's current location.
Alter Layout: [No]
Trap Frequency: 1/10
Location Size: 1/10
Location Firewall: 10/10]
Owner: Liu Peijin
[Alter Layout: Yes]
The room we were in immediately began spinning and flipping around. The various decorations that surrounded the throne even changed, warping into tigers. For a split second, I could see the figure of a person in a meditative pose before they vanished behind the throne again.
“Yeah. Fuck this.” I turned to Yue. “Alright. Somebody must have some god-forsaken skill if they’re able to genuinely manufacture this entire thing. It has to be an illusion to some capacity, right?”
“It could be,” Yue admitted. “But it’s not like we can tear through it. It’s solid.”
“It’s cold,” Qijing suddenly complained.
“Is it?” I asked, surprised.
[MEDITERRANEAN NODE]
[Location: Building AK13829 — Floor Two]
[Description: The Mediterranean node controls the citadel’s environment. Use the node’s artifact to toggle these settings regardless of the user's current location.
Temperature: 5/10
Weather: 5/10
Gravity: 5/10
Pollution: 1/10
Light: 5/10
Time Loop: X
Owner: Peijin
[Set Temperature: 6/10]
“Is that better?”
“No.”
“Oh.” I looked at Yue. “Do you feel cold?”
“No.”
“Qijing, are you talking about having chills?”
The girl nodded.
So, she could feel it, too. “Yue, do you feel like somebody is watching you? I have this horrible foreboding feeling.”
“Maybe you’re going through menopause. I don’t feel it.”
“Fuck off.”
I slunk forward until I approached the back of the throne. I lifted Zhige until it was properly aligned with the top center of the throne and brought the blade down, slicing the throne in half.
The throne split apart to reveal a hollow inside, but it was perfectly suited for a person to fit in. The foreboding feeling vanished.
“Huh. So—”
The sound of a deep drum rang out, and the floor vanished beneath us. Yue let out a startled scream before she stabbed her spear into a nearby wall, catching herself. Qijing and I continued to fall further down.
“Peijin!”
I threw Zhige beneath me, and Zhige instantly expanded, catching me. Qijing let out a pitiful sound, about to smash into the metal. I quickly moved Zhige to the side and grabbed onto Qijing with my hand, pulling her onto the sword.
“Yue, jump down here! We can’t lose each other!”
Yue leapt down, landing on the sword. We were floating in the middle of two throne rooms now.
“Does somebody already have the throne node?” I wondered. “But, this is something only I should be able to do with the American node.”
Bang.
The sound of the drum rang out once more. The rooms spun all around us, forcing Zhige to make jerky, last minute moves. Qijing let out a loud shout, but both Yue and I kept a hand on her.
The feeling of being watched returned, and chills travelled up my back.
Bang.
More rooms opened.
Bang.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
The ground beneath us disappeared and opened up into what looked like an infinite fall.
Bang.
Ruoming appeared just before me, and I let out a startled cry before crashing straight into him.
The impact threw me off the sword.
“Peijin!” Yue shouted, her grip still on Qijing.
Ruoming’s eyes widened in shock as we were pressed together until we hit the ground. At once, I felt a sharp, searing pain in my side.
Ruoming had stabbed his sabre straight through me.
“H-Hold on!” I shouted, scrambling back onto my feet with the blade still sticking out of me. “Don’t stab me yet. I’m not ready!” I grabbed onto Ruoming’s hand, preventing him from pulling the sabre out of my body and causing the wound to bleed.
Bang.
Ruoming and I were floating in the air before we were flipped around, smashing into thrones, gold decor, rugs, and pillars. I couldn’t tell which way I was facing, but I held onto his sword like my life depended on it.
I frantically looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of Yue or Qijing to see if they were still with me. Then, I felt a large, steady hand grab me by my hoodie and dangle me in the air like a kitten.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I was hanging off one of the side halls with a large drop beneath me. “Thank you—”
Feiyu’s joyous expression popped into my vision, and he wiggled his fingers in greeting. “Jiejie, I missed you so much.”
[Observer’s Chat]
Landy: LOL
Ahoy987: There is our charmer
SJJC: Feiyu to the rescue
[Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts is watching Disciple Peijin and Disciple Feiyu with bated breath.]
[Observer’s Chat]
Socrates: Jia Li, don’t let Feiyu set you off course again.
Bang.
I was flying through the air again, but Feiyu easily grabbed onto a ledge and held onto me. He curled both the weight of Ruoming and I easily, letting us grab a hold.
Ruoming’s sword was still poking through the entirety of my torso.
“Zhige!” I shouted, raising my hand and expecting Zhige to fly into it like always.
My hand remained outstretched and empty.
I cleared my throat. “Zhige!”
Zhige never came.
I swallowed loudly, looking at Ruoming. Although we were both hanging to the wall with our free hand, and our other hand preoccupied, I was still in the losing position with a sword sticking through me.
“Ruoming…” I laughed nervously. “You’re a really great swordsman. I don’t think I’ve complimented you properly yet.”
Ruoming cocked his head, his eyes narrowing. I laughed even louder out of sheer fear. I heard Feiyu’s sword ring out behind me as he unsheathed it.
[Observers Chat]
Aslan: Oh no
Nipon23: GG
CannedWorms: Our Jiejie is cooked
Socrates: Peijin, just tank the wound and get out of there!
MoldyBlanket: DISCIPLE PEIJIN PLEASE DON’T DIE AGAIN
CactusLiver: Holy Moly. Bohemian Grove is insane.
I felt Feiyu’s calloused fingers trace the back of my neck where I had sliced through it to escape him. I let out a startled gasp and immediately jerked away, but I couldn’t go far. Feiyu let out a light chuckle.
“The wound healed up nicely, but it could be better. Do you want me to ask Cheng to take a look at it for you?”
I raised my voice at him, looking over my shoulder with a glare. “I have an entire sword sticking through me right now! I have bigger problems.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t notice.”
I got ready to shout at Feiyu, but Ruoming took my moment of distraction to pull his sword out. I instantly felt blood drip down from the wound, and I clamped my hand over it in pain. Normally, I would’ve taunted this evil duo, but without Zhige, I was hopelessly weak.
I could still use the dao that I acquired from the previous arc, but that would require me opening my Boundless Bag. Given that I was holding all the nodes in there, that was absolutely not an option.
“The Hermit. How’d you earn that one?” I asked Ruoming, trying to distract him. He ignored me simply and moved to strike me again.
Feiyu wrapped his arm around my shoulders and swung me to the side over the abyss. Ruoming’s blade missed me by mere millimeters. My feet were dangling over another drop, but Feiyu’s grip was tight.
“Ruoming, don’t kill Jiejie yet,” Feiyu pouted, poking my cheek with his free index finger. “She’s really like a baby divinity now, right? With all that spiritual energy she took from me, I want to test the true limits of a divinity.”
… Was this guy planning to torture me? A shiver travelled up my spine.
“Tch.” Ruoming sheathed his sword, readjusting his hold on the wall. “You just like having a shiny new plaything.”
Feiyu grinned from ear to ear. “That’s true. Can we keep her?”
I kicked my legs and tugged at his arms furiously, infuriated by how dehumanizing he was. “Let me go, you bastard! I’m not some toy—”
Feiyu slapped his hand over my mouth to shut me up. I screamed against the palm of his hand, but he didn’t move it.
“She’s a baby divinity,” Feiyu repeated with wonder. “And look. She’s like a kitten.”
I was screaming a flurry of horrifc curses into his hand, but unfortunately, he couldn’t hear any of them.
Bang.
The room shifted again, and Feiyu held me tightly beneath my arms. I finally kicked free and landed on the ground with a loud grunt. I scrambled onto my feet and quickly opened the Boundless Bag, whipping out the dao as fast as I could before shutting the bag once more.
Ruoming and Feiyu followed me down, landing on the ground gracefully one after the other. I turned around, breathing heavily and tightly gripping the dao.
Despite having more spiritual energy, I was undoubtedly cornered by these two and lacking my main weapon. The wound at my side was quickly healing thanks to my heightened status.
“I won’t let you torture me for your own sadistic pleasure!” I shouted at Feiyu and Ruoming.
Ruoming slouched and turned away, rubbing his temples like he was suffering from a severe migraine. “She’s your problem, Feiyu. Her voice gets on my nerves.”
He stepped back to begin inspecting the room, eyes roaming over every detail; Feiyu took a few steps forward, his hands held in a placating gesture like he was approaching some rabid animal.
“Calm down, Peijin.”
Calm down??
My eye twitched. Last time I fought this man, he cut me apart and told me to beg for my life. What the hell did he mean “calm down?!”
“You tried to kill me!”
“When did I do that? The citadel has sanity decay as one of its debuffs. Are you sure that isn’t getting to you?”
I wanted to bash my head into a wall. I couldn’t describe how utterly infuriated this man could make me feel.
“I’ve spoken to you enough. I want to talk to Ruoming.”
Feiyu pouted. “Am I not interesting enough? Just because you and Ruoming have matching tattoos doesn’t mean you two are suddenly super special.”
“Yes, it does.”
“If I get one, will you talk to me?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll work very hard then to impress you, Jiejie.”
[Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts is giggling at his screen.]
[Divinity One Who Fights in Front rolls her eyes.]
Feiyu had a big, mocking grin on his face. It was like he was playing with his food. I lagged a few steps behind Ruoming, following him as he inspected his surroundings.
[POLL #3
Who should Peijin be placed with?
- With her party
- With Disciple Ruoming
- With Disciple Feiyu]
“What?!” Feiyu and I cried out at the same time but for entirely different reasons. I whipped around to face him, glaring and pointing my dao at his face.
“What are you shouting for?”
“I’m only in a third of the options,” Feiyu answered, feigning worry.
“And so what about it? I hope you fuck off!”
[Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts is campaigning for C.]
[Divinity Ears that Hear what Comes on the Wind affirms Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Host’s message.]
[Polling ongoing…
- 13%
- 60%
- 27%]
[Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts is threatening dissenters.]
Feiyu looked at the ongoing results, biting the inside of his cheek. “Only twenty-seven percent?”
“That’s already too fucking high, bastard!”
At the sound of our bickering, Ruoming suddenly turned around and glared at us both. We went silent instantly, looking at him nervously like scolded children. I trailed behind Ruoming, silently for a moment before I spoke up hesitantly, wanting to know more about him.
Although the two could have easily subdued me by now and stolen the nodes, they hadn’t. And perhaps my sense of security was misplaced, but I wanted to believe that I wasn’t about to be brutally slaughtered.
Furthermore, I wanted to signal that I wanted to speak to Ruoming. I also wanted to return to my party, but it was rare to get an opportunity like this.
“How did you get your tattoo?” I asked.
“I don’t remember.”
“Are you a regressor? I hate your kind, by the way. You ruin every story, strutting in here already knowing the solution to everything.”
“This run is different from before.”
“Oh, sure it is. You must be at such a disadvantage.”
Ruoming bristled, but his expression calmed right after. He was a total expert at masking his emotions, and it only made me more eager to dissect him. I wanted to know every little detail about Ruoming.
Whether or not he was Zhao Rui didn’t matter anymore. Ruoming had entirely captivated me on his own. So, I continued to speak, even though most of my words seemed to die in the air before reaching Ruoming.
“I got my tattoo when I came in contact with Zhige.”
“I’m surprised to hear that,” Ruoming said absentmindedly, searching the room for something.
“Why?”
“Because Zhige was never your sword,” Ruoming answered bitterly, his voice suddenly cruel. “I’m sure you’ve pieced that together by now.”
“Zhige likes me a ton, so does it matter? Besides, spiritual weapons are bound to their owner. If Zhige is still bound to me, then it’s not a mistake. What, did Zhige used to be your blade or something?”
Ruoming froze, turning to me with those completely dead, haunting eyes. “It’s not Zhige. It’s Haimo. If you keep talking, I’ll slice your tongue off.”