A Promise and an Unexpected Reunion
"The promise was for one human Foundation Establishment cultivator, was it not?"
"Yes. Surely... you aren't planning to go back on your word now?" U-jam's eyes narrowed sharply. At the same time, the Ghost Qi that had settled down began to churn once more.
Jekyeong felt the churning Ghost Qi and murderous intent rising behind his back, but he continued walking forward with utter composure.
"No. I keep my promises. However, I shall add one more condition."
"An addition? Are you saying you will give me something more?"
"Indeed." U-jam, who was following behind, could not see it, but as Jekyeong spoke, his eyes had already narrowed into slit-like, reptilian pupils.
"If my plans are ruined because of your foolish antics, I will personally slaughter you. I promise."
It was a calm, casual remark. Yet, U-jam could faintly sense something heavily suppressed beneath those words. Whether it was rage or murderous intent, he did not know—nor did he wish to find out. Thus, he shut his mouth and did his best to suppress the Ghost Qi leaking from his body.
"I will keep that in mind." Grunting a blunt response while pretending to be unfazed was the absolute limit of his defiance.
"Over there." Jekyeong headed toward the presence detected by his Divine Sense. It was a ruin piled high with charred debris. The most vibrant aura in the vicinity was emanating from that very spot.
"Here?" "Below. There is a space underground." Jekyeong approached the ruins. Upon closer inspection, he could see other signs of destruction besides the burn marks scattered everywhere. A fierce battle had likely taken place here in the past.
They did a clean job. To the naked eye, there were no other anomalies besides the faded traces of combat. Anyone who stumbled upon this place without prior knowledge would have dismissed it as a mundane ruin and walked right past.
"Where is this underground space?" "Right here." Jekyeong struck the ground without warning. Boom! His fist, which seemed to strike with casual ease, tore a massive fissure into the earth. The gray ash blanketing the ground erupted into the air, instantly enveloping the area in a thick cloud of dust.
"You could have at least warned me before doing something like that..." Jekyeong completely ignored U-jam's grumbling and inspected the collapsed ground. Just as he had suspected, a small underground space lay beneath the caved-in earth. It was a passage so narrow that two people standing side-by-side would block it, barely deserving of being called a "space." Judging by the crude supports installed here and there, and the uneven, jagged walls, it had clearly not been constructed by professional hands.
Hmm? Jekyeong's eyes narrowed. The underground presence he was tracking was moving rather quickly. It seemed to have sensed danger and was attempting to flee.
"Follow me." Jekyeong pursued the retreating aura down the partially exposed underground passage. Crude traps were hidden throughout the tunnel, but none of them could delay his steps in the slightest.
"Pant... pant!" Before long, heavy breathing echoed from ahead. Jekyeong blew away a freshly erected earthen wall with a gentle breath, revealing a human cultivator hunched over on the other side, looking utterly exhausted and in clear pain.
"Ugh... damn it!" The human cultivator cursed as he watched the earthen wall, which he had squeezed out his last drop of strength to build, crumble to pieces. But when he looked up and recognized the face of his pursuer...
"Huh?" His eyes widened in shock. "My Lord?"
In the span of a few seconds, the young cultivator's face went through a kaleidoscope of emotions. Fear shifted to bewilderment and shock, which then blossomed into sheer joy. These emotions did not seem fabricated. Jekyeong felt that the youth truly recognized him.
"..." Jekyeong stared intently at the youth's face, searching his memories. Though the face had seemed unfamiliar at first, he soon matched it to the familiar face of a young boy.
"Ju-hyeong?"
"It really is you, My Lord!" At the sound of his name, Ju-hyeong stood up, a brilliant smile spreading across his face. "I never imagined I would live to see you again in this lifetime."
From his tone to his expression and gestures, Ju-hyeong utilized every means at his disposal to convey his profound joy and deep emotion. Anyone watching would have thought he was reuniting with a long-lost parent.
"Heaven has truly smiled upon me."
Jekyeong did not miss the brief, anxious tremor in Ju-hyeong's eyes. The overly dramatic display of emotion was merely a protective coloring to shield himself. The raw terror hidden beneath was the true emotion Ju-hyeong felt right now. It was only natural, and thus, Jekyeong could understand it. In fact, Jekyeong preferred this kind of reaction from Ju-hyeong.
"It has been a long time."
"Yes. It has indeed been a long time, My Lord." Ju-hyeong's expression softened into something slightly more natural. Exchanging even a brief greeting seemed to have brought him some measure of comfort.
"Have you been staying here all this time?" Jekyeong could tell at a glance that Ju-hyeong's cultivation was at the mid-stage of Qi Condensation. Judging by how his spiritual energy was unstable and fluctuating rather than firmly consolidated, he had likely reached the mid-stage only recently.
"Yes. I have remained in Gwangyang City ever since you departed, My Lord. It's not that I didn't want to flee, but... with my shallow cultivation, I feared leaving the city would only invite greater danger." Ju-hyeong forced a wry smile onto his shadowed face. "I do not know if it was the right choice. Especially lately."
"The situation must be quite dire."
"It is. It was already bad to begin with, but ever since the Heavenly Fire Sect and the Yangbu Cultivator Family washed their hands of this place and left, we have been learning the true meaning of 'the worst' day by day. Just when you think it can't possibly get any worse than today, tomorrow proves you wrong, and the day after is even worse..." Ju-hyeong shook his head weakly, his exhaustion plain to see.
"I do not know how much longer I can hold out. These days, securing provisions is as difficult as plucking stars from the sky. Everyone else realized this too, so those who could leave departed long ago. Most of those who remain are simply unable to leave, even if they wanted to." The bright-eyed boy had grown into a haggard young man, but his silver tongue and cunning remained fully intact. Jekyeong believed only half of what Ju-hyeong said.
"I see." The claim that the city's situation was terrible and that those who could leave had already done so was likely true. Jekyeong had witnessed the state of the city with his own eyes and scanned it with his Divine Sense on his way here. However, he did not buy the boy's deathly expression or his endless whining for a second. Given Ju-hyeong's unstable cultivation, he had broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Condensation within the last six months at the very earliest. What did this imply? It meant that even in a city supposedly hitting rock bottom every day, he still had the luxury and resources to focus on his cultivation.
"You are quite resourceful."
"Pardon?" Jekyeong silently scrutinized Ju-hyeong. He had just realized something. He had come here believing Ju-hyeong's presence belonged to a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator. In fact, he had judged it to be the most robust late-stage Qi Condensation aura in the entire area. Yet, looking at him now, this young fellow had only just stepped into the mid-stage of Qi Condensation. Despite that, his presence was no weaker than that of a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator standing on the precipice of Foundation Establishment.
Indeed. Jekyeong thought he understood how this young, weak fellow had managed to survive so "comfortably" until now. His presence was extraordinary. While he wasn't quite a Qi-destined Child, his aura far surpassed that of any ordinary cultivator of the same realm. At the very least, he possessed enough luck to find a path of survival amidst catastrophe.
Amusing. Jekyeong suddenly grew curious. What would happen if he snapped this kid's neck right now? Snuffing out the life of a mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivator was as effortless as breathing for him. Luck would play no part in it. If this boy's life were cut short by a fleeting whim or curiosity of his, would it be because the boy's luck had run dry? Or would it be because a lesser destiny had collided with a greater one and shattered?
"What is this? That brat isn't at the late stage of Qi Condensation. He falls far short, no matter how you look at it." While Jekyeong was weighing Ju-hyeong's fate in his mind, U-jam's irritated voice drifted from behind.
"Indeed. I was mistaken."
"Mistaken? You were mistaken?!" As U-jam's emotions flared, a trace of Ghost Qi leaked out. To Jekyeong, it was nothing more than a gentle breeze, but to Ju-hyeong, it was entirely different. Furthermore, Ju-hyeong had only just managed to discern U-jam's face, which had been shrouded in the darkness.
"T-That person..." Just as U-jam had recognized at a glance that Ju-hyeong was not a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator, Ju-hyeong also realized instantly that U-jam was not human. Anyone with working eyes could see it. More than half the flesh on his face had rotted away, exposing the bone beneath, and dark, writhing things squirmed around the exposed skeletal structure. How could such a creature be human?
"Calm yourself."
"Tsk." U-jam reluctantly suppressed his Ghost Qi but took a step forward anyway. His gleaming eyes locked onto Ju-hyeong, whose face had turned as pale as a corpse.
"By the way, I believe I'm owed an explanation."
"An explanation?"
"Didn't you say you've never been here before? Then how do you know this brat? It's not like he rolled all the way here from Yang-seo-ho, is it?"
It could hardly be called a slip-up. Jekyeong had simply not bothered to care about such a trivial detail. He snorted, looking at U-jam, whose eyes were shining as if he had made some monumental discovery.
"I have been here before."
"Then what you said earlier..."
"Isn't it obvious? I lied." At Jekyeong's shameless response, U-jam was momentarily taken aback, but his anger quickly flared as he pressed further.
"Why did you deceive me?"
"To use you as a guide. If I claimed to have never been here, the need for a guide would naturally seem greater."
"Ha!" U-jam took a step back, his wariness spiking. His Ghost Qi surged violently, as if it might burst through his frail, borrowed vessel at any moment.