Even though both of them had broken through, the guards didn't treat them with more respect; instead, they started feeding them more sparsely, with a meal every two days instead of the usual one meal a day. It seemed that cultivators had it worse than mortals when in prison.Luckily, the situation only lasted for a week and a half before a group of guards came in, opened their cells, and chained their arms. It was time to depart for the border.As Yun Qiang walked the stairs toward the exit, the rhythmic clanking of chains accompanied his thoughts.
I wonder who will see us off. The sect would surely take this opportunity to make us examples for other disciples.
When they reached the exit door, Yun Qiang briefly stared at it. His eyes seemed to penetrate it as his mind filled with the scene behind it. He had already imagined a small mass of disciples, restrained by guards, their eyes filled with disgust as they saw them off. He imagined an open cart only delimited by iron bars, slowly parading through the sect like animals, while a senior disciple read their crimes and reprimanded them. All while passersby and residents alike shook their heads in disappointment.He took a deep breath and straightened his back. Even if the sect wanted to parade them, he would try his best to look strong and determined. He knew that his crimes had a good reason behind them and that he shouldn't be ashamed of them. As the guard opened the exit door, Yun Qiang briefly closed his eyes and took a step forward.However, what greeted him wasn't a big square full of people nor an open cart to parade them; instead, he only found a small square with a wooden cart in its center. After the guards unceremoniously shoved them inside, he looked outside the only barred window that the cart had. The square was still empty, and while the cart slowly trotted along the outer sect, nobody paid any attention to them nor looked at them in disappointment.
Yun Qiang breathed a sigh of relief; it was better this way. Even if he was mentally prepared to be shamed and paraded around the sect, he gladly accepted the lack of it.
I guess our case wasn't a high-profile one. We are still too unimportant for them...
On a cloud above the sect, three old men were watching the prisoners' departure. Behind them, two young guys wearing the robes of inherited disciples were watching the prisoners with conflicting emotions in their eyes. These were Wuji and Yun Nian. The first looked conflicted and seemed to feel pity for the prisoners, while the second had disappointment in them.Suddenly, the one in front of Yun Nian spoke. He was the third elder of the Skyward Pavilion. His voice carried wisdom and authority that only comes with experience and time.
"Nian, your brother is now a convict and will probably spend his entire life in the border guard," his tone was that of a father instructing his son. "You should officially cut ties with him and announce yourself as a member of the Liang family when we go back."
"Yes, master." Yun Nian's voice was clear. Even if he cared about his brother, he had broken the sect rules. It was normal for him to distance himself from a felon. Besides, if Yun Qiang had waited for a while, he could have sent him some pills or talismans to help with his cultivation. Yun Qiang only had to wait, but he had failed. Yun Nian was disappointed by this.He bowed toward his master.
"I'm honored to take on Master's surname."
A snicker came from the side. The snickering man was the second elder of the sect, a fat man who was widely known as an eccentric man who did as he liked without bothering with any etiquette or official protocol. He only cared about alchemy and rare herbs. He was usually seen wearing a black alchemist robe that could easily hide stains instead of the sect uniform.
"What a cute scene, but didn't you forget something?" A greedy smile appeared on his face. "Like compensation for what my disciple went through?"
The third elder glanced at Wuji, who took a step back in fear. Maybe Wuji's master could provoke such a man, but Wuji was just a weak disciple, and just a glance instilled fear in his heart.The second elder continued in a mocking tone,"My, my, are you scaring children now? I wonder if you truly belong in a righteous sect like ours."
The third elder's face darkened.
"The culprits have already been punished." He paused. "If your disciple wants compensation, then he should go and ask them."
The second elder didn't miss a beat and swiftly responded,
"Maybe, but they aren't capable of paying enough compensation. Wuji is an alchemist, and I fear this trauma will slow down his progress in the alchemical arts." He grinned. "And if someone can't pay, isn't it normal for his family members to pay and cover for him?"
The meaning was clear: if Yun Qiang couldn't pay, Yun Nian should. Since Yun Nian hadn't changed his surname when Yun Qiang committed the crime.
The third elder was silent before throwing out a golden ring.
"This is my personal stash. Take three herbs and give it back."
"Five herbs. My disciple has received a very serious trauma. He should receive more."
The third elder's face darkened even more. He knew that the second elder was lying through his teeth and that his disciple was doing fine.
"Three. It's nonnegotiable," his voice was as cold as ice, and the hostility in it materialized in the air, forming small black clouds that slowly traveled towards the second elder as he spoke.
The second elder didn't mind him and started visibly gloating while scanning the ring's contents. Only when some of the hostility that had materialized came close did he pick three exotic-looking herbs and throw back the ring.
While gloating about his extorted gains, the second elder glanced at the third man that stood silently at the side. The old man responded right away, without giving him a chance to ask for compensation.
"I know what you are thinking, but I cut ties with him a long time ago. You can't ask me for compensation."
These words were like a bucket of cold water, sending chills down the second elder's spine and putting out every improper thought he had. As the second elder hurriedly excused himself and flew away, the hostility emanated by the third elder quickly vanished, leaving only some black puffs in the air.
"Sorry I let you see something shameful." His voice didn't carry regret but only the courtesy and respect that etiquette and protocols required.
"Dan Lee can get on others' nerves. You don't have to excuse yourself." He sighed as he watched the cart in the distance. "Today is not a good day."
"If the first elder wants, I can ask some people to protect him in secret."
"Qudei, you shouldn't interfere in this matter." There was a hint of regret in his voice. "They are part of the young master's plans, so we can't interfere."
"I'm sorry, sir, but they won't last long if someone from the golden generation took an interest in them."
"Then let it be..."
The tone of voice made it clear that he didn't want to continue the conversation. Silence fell between the two, and only when Liang Qudei went away did he speak again.
"One day, you will pay for what you did to him, Liang Wei..." His voice sounded indecisive, as if he was trying to convince himself that what he said was true.
"Yes, one day you will pay."
As he watched the horizon, a single tear fell to the ground.
Four hours later
Yun Qiang looked at Sun. He was still dirty with dried blood, and his robe was full of small tears. Right now, Sun was scratching his arm with fury.
"You should stop that; your dry blood is getting all over me."
"Qiang, you don't understand. It's super itchy. I need to remove it."
As Sun said this, a huge chunk of dried blood fell off from his arm and slowly flew onto Yun Qiang's foot.Yun Qiang looked at it briefly before shaking his foot in disgust.
"At least do it in the corner. That stuff is disgusting, and it's flying all over. Just look at the ground."Sun briefly looked at the ground, which was covered in dust and dried blood, before retorting back,"How are you supposed to last at the border if you think dried blood is disgusting?" He started peeling off the blood stains from his legs. "Have you ever seen an infirmary? Those places are messed up, blood everywhere and people constantly screaming and lamenting their injuries. That's what's really disgusting."However, Yun Qiang didn't skip a beat and retorted right away,"How do you even know that? That's probably the first time you have gone this far from the sect."As he said this, he tried to sound as calm as possible, but he couldn't hide the nervousness in his voice."My father brought me inside an infirmary when I was five. He said I need to understand the reality and cruelty of the world while I was still young." A hint of sadness flashed in his eyes."I should have listened to him..."
The duo fell into silence. Even if they tried to hide it, they were both nervous and scared of what's to come. This kind of conversation was just a way to distract themselves and discharge their feelings and the accumulating tension.
After a long while, Yun Qiang broke the silence and whispered,
"I don't find blood disgusting. It's just that I don't want to look bad or give the wrong impression when they see me. I don't want them to think I'm a dirty person..."
Sun looked at him for a second before laughing. It wasn't a hysterical laugh or a nervous one but a genuine laugh. As Sun laughed, he bent down and kept his hand on his stomach. Yun Qiang didn't know what was so funny about what he said, but it was clear that Sun did, since he only stopped when he had his knees on the ground and could only cough to stop himself.As Sun slowly moved himself back on the bench, he stared at Yun Qiang, lightly laughing every now and then. Now he had a huge smile on his face, and small tears formed in his eyes due to the laughing.
Only after he completely calmed down did he explain himself.
"Qiang, you know you are the dirtier one here, right?"
Yun Qiang gave him a confused look while looking at himself. Yes, his robe was slightly dusty, but he didn't think he was that dirty—at least compared to the now half-bloodied Sun.Seeing his confused look, Sun explained further.
"Try passing your hand on your head. Oh, and your body too."
Even more confused than before, Yun Qiang did as asked. As he passed the robe on his face, he could clearly feel the dust gluing itself on his forehead. However, when he looked at the robe, he saw a huge black stain on it.
"When someone becomes a cultivator, their body will expel all of the accumulated impurities." He looked at Yun Qiang with a funny look. "Right now, your entire face is black, and your body is probably full of greyish marks and stains."
As soon as Sun's words fell, Yun Qiang hurriedly looked under his robe, only to be greeted by a grayish, almost black color. That was his body. It was covered by a huge and uniform black stain that made it difficult to see his original skin color. The only exception to this was his hands and arms, which somehow resisted the stains and remained clean. Yun Qiang's face darkened; his face was probably in the same state.
He started scrubbing his face with his robe. He didn't care about the new black stains in his robe—at least he wanted to have a clean face when he arrived at the border.Meanwhile, Sun laughed on the side. It was a true laughter, one that he didn't have in a long time.This was the only real conversation they had that day, since the growing tension and the monotony of the travel slowly got to them.