On the streets, a storyteller was passionately speaking.
The storyteller had a head full of white hair and a goatee beard. His wrinkles flowed like calligraphy lines on a piece of paper.
With mildly grey eyes, he gazed at the audience.
"Today we have a special story. Have any of you heard of the Demon Judge?"
"Of course we have."
One of the audience member yelled out.
Another also responded.
"Did he strike again?"
"He struck last night!"
The audience gasped.
The storyteller smirked. His hand brushed his goatee.
"100 years ago, the Demon Judge appeared on a stormy night. Accompanied by a woman dressed in cyan robes, holding a White umbrella with red flowers."
"Wearing a black and red mask with a white full of hair, he looked just like a demon! But what's weird is that he never targets those that were innocent."
The audience wanted to skip the intro already to get the good stuff.
"So what happened last night?
He continued, "Last night, the cultivator Guo Lie of the 5th step was killed. His body was torn apart with bones and skins shattering as if he impaled from the inside! His body was hung on his front gate with a message."
The crowd leaned in closer.
"W-what message?"
"Break the promise–Die!"
"But I thought that the Demon Judge only goes after cultivators that have done something wrong? Did Guo Lie do something to make him mad?"
BAM!
The storyteller slammed the table for added effect.
"That's exactly right!"
"It turns out, 3 years ago, Guo Lie in order to hide the truth about a secret treasure map, killed an entire village! When the Demon Judge found out, his wrath was like a raging dragon flying through thunder and rain!"
The storyteller jumped up from his seat and stood tall on the table causing everyone to look up.
His voice echoed through the hall loudly.
"At that time the Demon Judge stood tall like this and said, 'Guo Lie. You kill innocents for your own pathetic greed. Since that's the case, I shall judge you!' Their swords clashed, and within 3 moves, Guo Lie was defeated!"
The storyteller exaggerated the actions and his voice like a opera actor.
"Guo Lie stood his ground, but no matter how he fought, no attacks landed. All his artifacts turned into merely objects, his treasured armor, was destroyed and turned to ash. Even his precious treasure map was torn to shreds!"
"W-what!? Just like that?"
"The Demon Judge didn't care about the treasure map one bit. His only goal had been merely to make Guo Lie realize how effortless he could kill him!"
The storyteller huffed out a breath of fresh air. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
Then he sat down normally.
"As you all may or may not know, the Demon Judge has a unique quirk. Every sinner, depending on how heavy their sins will be given a chance of redemption."
He took a sip from his teacup and twirled it around.
"Do good, and I shall let you live. Do evil, and I shall kill you."
The audience were silent. They were completely engrossed in the story.
Even though they called him a Demon Judge, they felt great respect for him.
For small cultivators that are only at the 3rd step and below, it was all too common to be crushed by some power tripping cultivator.
Because the Demon Judge only attacked evil cultivators as well, no one found a viable reason to attack him. It also made things a lot safer for everyone.
Some of them even worshiped him as an idol of sorts.
Though, because of his actions, some egotistic cultivators were annoyed at him.
The storyteller slammed his fan on the table.
"There are many theories about who the person behind the Demon Judge is."
He paused for a second.
"Do you all recall the event that caused the Li family and the Su family to become life long enemies?"
"Naturally! I still remember it like it was yesterday. Li Tao killed his wife. Then his son made him bedridden!"
Some of the audience on hearing this almost bursted out laughing.
Choose your words wisely! Do you want to die?
The storyteller cleared his throat.
"One of the survivors of the Demon Judge claimed to have seen the same Yin Devouring Aura that Su Ye uses!"
The audience gasped.
"Y-you can't just say that without any evidence!"
They looked around them.
If any rumors started about the 4 cultivation families, they might not even be able to survive tomorrow.
"Hahaha, no worries, no worries. The Demon Judge uses his aura so openly, I'm sure that even if we don't say it, everyone already knows. Besides, the Demon Judge is so strong that nothing can even touch him. Even a 6th or 7th step might not be able to harm him. Would such a person care about rumors?"
They thought that the reasoning made sense, but they still didn't dare say anything too harsh.
Seeing that the audience were hesitating, he chose to close the curtain early.
He stood up and cupped his hands in front of him.
"Gentleman and ladies, I hope that you never have to meet the Demon Judge. Thank you for listening to today's news. Please come back for even more interesting news!"
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A old man with black robes walked along a barren field. His face had wrinkles like a dried up tangerine. By his side was a maid that was looked like she was in her 20's.
He saw a shriveled body by the side of the road and walked up to it.
The old man walked slowly.
It looked like a man in his mid 30's.
His body was beaten half a inch away from death. He was bruised and battered, but he reached out to the old man with a desperate desire for survival.
"P-please help me..."
However the old man didn't answer, but rather sat on the dirt floor besides him.
"Life and death are part of the natural desires. Holding on to what's not yours will only lead you down a path of no return."
As if he felt sympathy for the dying man, the old man paused before softening his tone.
"But after all, since you and I met, this must be fate. Thus, I won't ignore you. Tell me what your desire is."
The dying man heard this and carefully examined the old man.
There was no sign of spiritual qi at all. Not even in his breathe.
Then he looked at the maid.
His eyes widened upon learning that she was at the 4th step: Engraving Stage.
For him to be able to have such a handmaid must mean that he was as powerful himself or even more.
"Cough, Cough."
He could feel his life slipping from his hands.
His voice was dry and crackling.
"A-anything?"
The old man gave him 3 rules.
"1, I will not kill anyone for you. 2, I will not save your life. 3, you must tell me a secret."
The dying man felt unwilling to die, but he calmed himself down.
For a chance to get some sort of wish was already good enough.
The old man looked at him.
The maid passed him a pill.
"Take it. It'll help you survive for 10 minutes."
The pill slid into his mouth and dissolved the second it entered.
He could feel some strength return as he struggled to sit up.
"I...I want you save my fiance."
The old man looked at him closely.
"Are you like this because someone stole your fiance?"
The man nodded.
"Its someone from a noble cultivation family. The Jiang family."
He kept his gaze on the old man to see his reaction on hearing about the Jiang family.
In comparison to the great cultivation families, noble cultivation families were countless.
But they were a still strong foundation with a rich history behind them.
They could be considered the local bully.
Yet to his surprise, the old man scratched his head and looked at the maid in confusion.
"The Jiang family?"
The maid smiled, "nothing to worry about."
"Ah, alright then."
It was such a quick conversation that it caught him off guard.
Even though the noble families weren't as strong, they still had three 5th step cultivator in their family.
Did that mean that this old man was someone that powerful?
"So is your fiance in some sort of trouble?"
He gripped his hands and gritted down his teeth so hard they started bleeding.
"It's because of that bastard Jiang Ziqan!"
"Was he the one that made you like this?"
"...yeah. If it wasn't for him crippling me, me and Yan Rou would have already married. Now, he's trying to take her by force! If they get married...Yan Rou would be jumping into a den of wolves!"
He gripped his fist.
"Please save my fiance!"
He used all of his strength and knelt down as he tried to kowtow, but felt a invisible force stop him.
The old man's voice echoed to his ears.
"I don't need you to kowtow. Just tell me a secret of yours."
In the old man's head, he was interested in gossip.
Was his secret going to be something unique?
The thought excited him.
The dying man hesitated, but ultimately nodded.
Let's take a gamble.
"My secret is–"
Roar!
The maid's eyes shifted as she heard the roar behind them.
In a instant she stood in front of the old man, shielding him for whatever was coming.
"Who–!? Come out!"
The old man turned his head slightly to the direction that the maid was looking at.
His eyes were scanning the surroundings.
Underneath him, a black shadow began to expand.
A voice spoke out.
"I mean no harm~"
A delicate voice accompanied by the sound of small bells echoed in the air.
Fwoosh!
A red carriage with golden handles led by 2 Qilins stopped in the air.
The maid spoke in shock.
"The Wang carriage?"
The old man looked on with curiosity. He muttered under his breathe.
"What are they doing here?"
Several veils covered the carriage, but the old man could feel a stare that made him feel...uncomfortable.