The next day, Nanming is fighting away the cold. It's not that it bothers him, it's just that the frostbite locks his joint in place, preventing him from moving.
The solution is simple, Nanming just have to move his joint by force
-Crack!
The sound of thin sheet of ice breaking can be heard, that or his body is literally ripping itself apart, whichever is true.
Slowly, he managed to break free from the restraint of his own body, feeling the extreme chill all over the air, Nanming looked up and saw that the clouds were all cleared away, forming a circle as if something blew it away.
"…Cloudburst"
That explains the cold, Nanming breath was frosty and left behind a breath of condensed air.
Nanming went on to check the moldy fruit, thankfully the cold air managed to preserve them somewhat, he really needs to cultivate them soon enough.
He then went down towards the village. Understandably they were all huddled inside, even Nanming has trouble surviving this extreme cold let alone the frail villagers who had never trained in martial arts.
Speaking of which, Nanming feels like the South isn't that cold when Cloudburst hit sometimes ago, chilly yes but not to this length.
Perhaps because the South is warmer in temperature, good things he's in Gunsi which was in the Western Province. Nanming doubts, the moldy fruit will survive the rot should he was still in the South.
Nanming then interrupted his own thought as he went to check on the house where the ill boy was, its empty, they haven't returned yet it seems.
"You… white haired boy"
A grave sound calls out to him; it belongs to the burly man that threatens him yesterday.
"Don't you dare try a steal anythin' 'aight?"
He threatens, but his form is far from threatening. With his limp form, huddling over a multilayer of robes and coat made of straw as he swings around a small hatchet.
"…I won't, I'm not that lowly"
"…"
The Man gives him the scrutinizing look, still distrustful of him.
"Where are you going sir, this is a frozen day you ought to stay inside to not catch a cold"
"Tsk, who are you to lecture me boy…"
The Man said snarly, his rough voice was only accepted by Nanming for he didn't react whatsoever.
"…I'm lookin' a firewood, my house 'boutta lose heat at this point I reckon'"
"I can help with that"
The man recoiled in disgust at Nanming offers of help, swinging his hatchet as if to shoo Nanming away.
"Forget it! Who knows what sort of shit you pull on me once I put my back to ya"
"…"
Nanming can only see as the man walks away while grumbling, his mouth expels more condensed breath alongside his breathing, forming a cloud of freezing air.
Nanming don't have anything to do, should he build a shack to shelter the moldy fruit?
As Nanming went ahead to collect some wood for the shack, the Old man of the hill watch him with impassive eye.
His firepit billows out flame that warmed him despite the many holes that rids his home, taking pity for Nanming who is willing to freeze on this day and even get the trouble to try and make a cure for the Yellow Blight.
And for what? A bunch of ungrateful idiot parasites who know nothing but to eat, shit and sleep.
The Yellow Blight infected that boy due to the villagers not wanting to clean their well, even when he had warned them multiple times about the disease, now look at them reaping what they sow.
And now his crops failed due to a fucking storm, he could only blame the indulgence of the villagers for bringing in bad Karma and demolished all his hard work.
And yet here he is, watching a young boy from Jianghu breaking his back for the good of those moronic villagers, he would see it until the end.
How that boy spirit is broken once he realizes all his goodwill will be met with mud thrown by the villagers.
.
.
.
"…"
Its noon, and Naming had finished building a shack, well, tried to.
It was on the verge of collapse, even when he used the tree he slept under last night as a foundation, the structure threatens to collapse under a gust of wind.
Nanming scratch his head, totally at a loss. He knows how to build a proper structure, foundation at the four sides of each shack, making sure that it was driven deep enough to avoid it being blown away by wind or collapsing under its own weight.
Well, just like Mantai said. Just reading a book doesn't mean you are an expert at it, there's a difference between knowing and understanding.
Its better than nothing, Nanming decided to head inside and prepare the first stage of cultivating penicillin.
The problem is what kind of environment would the penicillin grow, Nanming solve this problem by growing three different penicillin molds in a different environment.
He put one near an opening in the wall since mold needs air to spread, as far as he knows.
Another one in a dark corner since mold loves humid places.
And the last one smacked in dubious spot since he ran out of ideas.
The way he cultivated it is to place the moldy fruit besides a few healthy ones and hopefully, the mold will grow by themselves.
Meanwhile, Nanming decided to ask for a spot to grow garlic in the old man farm.
As he walks there, he can see a kneeling man in front of the old man, his voice of desperation lingers alongside the faint smell of petrichor that heralds another rain.
"Please! Just a bowl of rice just for today! Rat has been eating mine and my wife as well as my baby couldn't eat anything!"
"I told you already, I don't have any more rice…. This season harvest is fucked, you better off took a horse and go to another village that has a better rice yield"
"B-But, I have no more money to pay off my debt if I did so… Please! Anything will do, just for my baby alone!"
"How stubborn can you be, I've no more rice except for myself… Why should I give it to someone who gambles away all their money?"
With that remark, the kneeling man was stunned and speechless, but the old man didn't stop his accusation.
"All of this is because you are too stupid, there is no way in hell you can win money by gambling… And now what? Your whole family might starve to death because of your stupidity"
That remarks was unnecessarily harsh, and the kneeling man can do nothing but to accept those stinging words.
Nanming felt that something is needed to be done, some part of him forced his leg to move and before he knew it, he is already near both the old man and the kneeling man.
"I can help you get rice, where is the nearest village?"
"…R-really? I-I mean, it's on the south just beyond the forest clearing…"
Nanming nods, he prepared to run but the old man grabbed his shoulder.
"Don't be a fool and play kind boy, this bastard needed to pay the price for his action"
The old man said, causing the kneeling man to looked shocked and desperate, before he clings his arm to Nanming's leg.
"Please! I will give you anything! Just help me get some rice!"
"You have nothing! All your money and assets have been seized! What can you give him then?"
"…"
Nanming stayed silent before he slowly convinced the kneeling man to stop clinging to him, the man looked horrified for a second, but Nanming next words seems to calm him down.
"You said he needed to pay for his action, I agree for that…"
"Then why—"
"But at the cost of someone else, that is just cruelty…"
At Nanming remark, the old man shudders. Whether from anger or from realization, who knows?
"…I'll get you some rice, don't worry"
"T-Thank you! Thank you so much!"
The man banged his head against the ground to show his gratitude, Nanming nods and he sprints away.
The old man just clicks his tongue at Nanming actions before he went back to his house, but not before he gives the man one last advice.
"That boy is kind, a rarity… Don't expect to be saved twice and let this be your lesson"
"…"
The man can only cast his head downward while wearing a pained expression, all of this because he was fooled by his friend to go gambling.
They say it could change his life forever, it did, in the worst way possible.
If there is a chance, he could turn back time, he would return to the day when he rode off into the city, but rather than gambling he will buy some new toy for his soon to be child.
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.
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The Southern Academy.
Wu Chen just arrived back after the 3rd day mourning rite was finished.
He immediately trained in his favorite empty courtyard, yet no happiness etched his face, it was replaced with quiet and intense stare of empty dark red eyes.
Swinging his Guan-dao so hard it cracks the tile below him just by the sheer pressure of the displaced air, creating a booming sound that startled the surrounding insects and birds.
"Huff"
He then firmly grabbed the long shaft, before spinning in a circle as he swing the Guan-dao using his left hand while his right hand balanced the sheer weight, but because his left hand isn't his dominant one, the Guan-dao falls towards the floor and creates a spark of flame as it was dragged around in the tiles of the courtyard.
"Tsk"
Once again, his own body fails him. Wu Chen set his Guan-dao down and did a push up with just one hand.
He repeats the push up to the hundred, then to the thousand, drenching his own robe in sweat.
That is until a step break his routine, he thought it was another eager fan of his, but it was Gu Liang. He wears an intense stare before calling out to him in a quiet voice.
"Wu Chen… There is a big problem with our faction"
"-?"
No greetings nor words of encouragement, instead he utter a warning. Whatever happens must've been quite troublesome and big for Gu Liang to forego his trained etiquette.
Wu Chen stop doing the push up and stride towards him while controlling his exasperated breath.
"What?"
"…All of our faction member defect to Wu Yincang"
"…"
What?
"He spread around a rumor that you are the cause of Wu Nanming's death, that your incompetence will one day bites back to your followers and encourage… our member to leave"
…So that's the reason he didn't attend the mourning rite… Fucking bastard.
"He took everyone, sap us of our strength by bullying and intimidating those who remained… I was actually attacked on the way here"
And he dares to blame him for Nanming's death? When he wasn't even present during his funeral? When he didn't even defend him from that fucking Arhat?
"And not just me, Gu Tian was shunned, Xiu was ostracized and Ni Len was being bullied…"
"Heh"
"-?"
Gu Liang was surprised to hear Wu Chen laugh, but its not a happy one, if anything it was the exact opposite of happiness.
Hate, sheer Hate to the point where he becomes manic, because it's the only way he could be in control of himself, to laugh and mock the world.
He had lost his beloved brother, and now his faction that he painstakingly tries to build was destroyed in not even a week by his own older brother.
"Hahaha"
His laugh is low, dangerous and edged with madness. Wu Chen covered his own face as he let out a manic laugh.
And what Wu Chen felt was a painful sting in his heart that repeatedly stings him again and again and again and again and again, until what was left of his heart is a nest of hole where nothing remains.
He had followed his heart; he truly believes that kindness is the way… and yet this is what kindness gets him.
Betrayal.
"…Hahhhhh"
Wu Chen let out a deep growl, he could feel his own blood boiling from hate…
'That's what kindness get you'
The whisper returned, but Wu Chen agrees to it.
Yeah, this is how it will always lead to, Wu Chen is kind, but others are not.
The road to his own ambition is laden with venom and poison, being kind in that kind of road is a death sentence, he was simply lucky to be able to survive this long with that mindset, that kindness can solve anything… it is not.
'Throw away everything… let us build a kingdom of majestic ice'
Wu Chen set his heart, his whole self… if his brother… no, what kind of brother left his own siblings to die? Wu Yincang is not his brother; he is a monster that needs to be culled.
And it's only right for Wu Chen to defend himself against a monster, and to kill a monster… he needed to be one as well.
"If he wished to play like that… I'll gladly match his commitment"
"…"
Wu Chen smiles are empty, and it's not because he was acting, his smile has utterly lost its meaning. More like decoration than anything.
And to protect his own remaining follower, he needed to resolute, to not let even a single one of what he had left to die a meaningless death… No, he would drive even death away from them.
Its only right, he will not be a King (將) confined to a Palace (九宮) like Wu Yincang is… He will be a King that marches headfirst into a war, cross the river and behead the enemy King himself, personally.
So that his piece will not die a meaningless death in the name of his ambition…
.
.
.
Nightfall, Dark Hours reign closer, in these turbulent moments a figure trudges an empty path.
They wore a black cape draped over grey armor as their head is covered in mask hidden by a straw hat with jingling bell attached to its rim.
The figure walks towards a manor, as they edged closer a group carrying a torch greets him.
"You must be a Netherstride fellow we hire"
The figure didn't nod, they instead presented their plaque that has a tael attached to them, colored in blue, the deputy of the Netherstride Sect.
"I see, come in… the lord of the manor has yet to return, so I will be the housemaster for the time being"
"…No need, the problem will be dealt with before the dawn break"
The figure said in smooth and woman-like voice, she then shoved the man aside as she welcomed herself inside the manor.
It was bleak and dark; the atmosphere was gloomy and heavy as if something unseen did not welcome them at the slightest.
The woman then points her hand covered in clawed glove towards a specific building.
"The problem is there, right?"
"H-How did you know?"
The woman walks closer towards the addressed building; her boots crush the leaf beneath before she realized that the leaf was actually a severed finger.
"W-what?"
The man exclaimed in surprise as horrid expression painted his face, the man around him panics and swings their torch wildly into whatever side they wished.
"Leave, less your soul be devoured…"
The woman said, from her left hand a metal lantern attached to a chain fall to the ground before the flame inside glows in sick green.
The man and his group complies and scatter away like a little girl, screaming as they did. The woman then regards the building, feeling its structure becoming bigger and bigger the more she lock her eyes to it.
"…Hex Arts 1: Burn"
She swings her lantern, scattering green flame around the building, when the flame hits the building, multitude of ghastly visage screams and reveal themselves to flee the dreaded Nether flame.
-You!! Human!!! How dare you!!!
One of them spoke, but they were soon devoured by the green Nether flame as they screamed in extreme agony.
The woman shifts her attention to another visage that bare their claws towards her, she calmly retracts the chain so that the lantern is on her hand and shoved it towards the visage, it too screams in agony.
-AHHH!!!!
"Malicious spirit, be gone!"
The woman swings her lantern around to burn whatever visage of Spirit was nearby, burning them back to their accursed realm.
-You humans burn this sacred land! It's only right for us to reclaim those that belong to us!
"Tough talk for lowly spirit…"
-Brat! You haven't lived for a century yet!
The Spirit that argues with her then manifests itself into a tiger, 5 meters in height and it roars and blows away all the scattered Nether flame.
-Haha! Now you are just a weakling without your flame!
The tiger Spirit launch itself as it bares its fang towards the woman, yet she remained calm, instead of dodging the lunge, she embraces the tiger and sink a dagger into its throat.
"Hex Arts 2: Imbued"
Before the dagger explodes into a green flame, burning the tiger and the woman, but the woman is immune to the Nether flame, the tiger Spirit is not.
-AHHH!!!
It screams, before its entire form vanished and burned by the green flame. Leaving the woman alone, as she produced a yellow talisman with Curse written upon it.
A curse of banishment, she burns the talisman and the manor dreadful atmosphere returned into a lively one almost in an instant.
"…It didn't even take five minutes"
She is disappointed, she had an expectation that this spirit will be troublesome and challenging, but it's not.
She walks away from the manor, the man and his group returned with face full of relief and brightness that once fleets away from their form.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
but the woman just walks away, not speaking a single word. She didn't even wait for their praise and thankful worship full of gratitude.
On her mind, she wanted to spent time drinking in a nearby village.