Chapter 142 - A Demon’s Thoughts of Home

  Meiqi stared down the well. “I thought my words may have harmed Young Master. I thought it was the best thing for us. If I couldn’t save anything, I wanted you to burn the World for it, at least burn Taoyi’s World…”

  Zhengqi went to stand behind Hao. Her hand went to his shoulder as Meiqi crouched, looking down at the tainted water in the well below.

  It was odd, seeing anything but a neutral expression or smirk on Meiqi’s face. There was a slight discomfort at the sight, the lips that were slowly growing into a pout, as arms crossed, nails biting down into herself.

  Zhengqi mimicked the motions. Covering her face with her sleeve, she lowered her head.

  “You don’t have to worry about that kind of thing,” Hao said, stepping forward at Meiqi’s side, Zhengqi at his back.

  He looked down at the sloshing gray water of the well, his voice quiet, “If I didn’t have the things you taught me, I would have died long ago, or worse, my heart and mind would have broken and been devoured.”

  So he said, yet the discomfort of her sad face did nothing to change his neutral expression, even if he felt strange inside.

  Hao knew the term Heart Demon. He wasn’t as familiar with the concept, but day by day in the Secret Realm, he started to understand; it felt like a shadow following him.

  A resilient heart was the only way.

  The disciples of the Fifth Elder on the fifth peak just reminded him of that, the same way Li Tuzai, the butcher, did months ago. Even the toughest heart and steadiest mind could falter; it was easy to lose his way when spending all his time close to death, which made him think it was constantly around the corner, or already come and swept away the only people that didn’t want him dead.

  Hao walked over to the largest building.

  “The buildings can be repaired. I don’t have a lot of experience, but I know it would take more than a few days and a handful of materials.”

  It would be impossible for them to work during harsher winter days. He had the funds to make a request at the Mission Hall. Getting someone else to do the work defeated the point of picking a place so far out of the Sect.

  Meiqi had a small idea of where to start. The great wisdom of a longer life and a fine memory, along with her experience in dealing with Taoyi and his visitors, gave her insight into where to buy materials.

  Hao had his own idea, one that would catch two birds with one stone.

  Zhengqi snuck up behind Hao, “Young Master, we can do a few things before we leave.”

  With that, the three of them dusted the walls, moved dirt, and pulled up old fences.

  Hao wavered while doing so. The labor for a second felt below him, a feeling he had never felt before, but the idea that it didn’t matter kept itching at him. Why bother with such things? The only things that mattered were Cultivation, status, and strength.

  He was just about to drop the debris in his hands when he saw Meiqi pointing around the weedy yard.

  She was talking to Zhengqi, “It’s quite nice, we could have a little garden here…”

  Hao watched as they went on. A back and forth, plans that made the winter seem to vanish as they danced in the white robes, white fingers, and red noses below their pale green eyes.

  He didn’t stop but moved faster. Nothing like joy appeared in his heart, but a contentment that made him cover one of the holes in the roof before he went outside.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The gray sky urged him to go to a proper shelter.

  Meiqi and Zhengqi were not immune to cold, and a fair meal with the two of them was far more important than the little pride telling him he could fix the place.

  “Shall we head back to the old Servants’ Quarters, the place we used to stay?”

  The two looked at each other, then back at Hao. Meiqi nodded, and Zhengqi beamed with a smile.

  “Young Master, you said you can have new robes made like these or something better? They are amazing, I can’t feel the cold where it covers.” Meiqi asked, pulling her pale fingers up into the sleeves.

  “I can try, I don’t know how much it would cost, I might have to sell a few things beforehand. But I have the primary material.” The White fur and giant teeth of the Feline Demonic Beast popped into his mind. He had two full furs, still attached to the corpses.

  Meiqi’s footsteps stopped still, “The primary material? Fur like this from a monster? Zhengqi told me you spent a night in the Medicine Hall. What happened inside the Secret Realm?”

  Hao paused and looked back. He gave an awkward chuckle as his hand rubbed across the bark of the trees they were passing, the last dark colored leaves of fall sailing like tiny boats around them.

  “A lot, some things I can hardly remember, others I remember, but it’s like they are trying to run away. I made a few friends, hunted a few things…” he stopped, no one needed to know of the raw meat he ate and blood he drank, or the poison he consumed, people he killed, friends and allies he made, or the enemies he found. Enemies he would pursue until either he or they were dead.

  None of that mattered; There were things to do before dinner.

  It was true and worrying, however, that some memories were fighting to escape his head; some of the curse from the Peach-Taker Trial token lingered, but more like a phantom pain than a threat.

  A silence held over them as they walked back to the servants' entrance of the Sect; he had to take the robes before they entered.

  He had to watch them shiver as they went a while further. Used to it, they spoke through the cold with hands tucked beneath their arms, hopeful tones of the home they may have if they worked on it little by little.

  Hao stopped them outside the medicine hall. “Can you buy some warmer clothing around here?” He held out a handful of silver pieces.

  They gave a reluctant look at the silver, so Hao took out more until their reluctance disappeared.

  “I’ll see what I can find.” Zhengqi nodded, heading inside.

  “Boy,” Meiqi said while the two were alone, “we can work on those buildings a while longer, until the first real snow comes, but only if you put your Cultivation first.”

  Hao looked down at her. “I didn’t have any intention to neglect it,” he said, now having the Physical Cultivation manual he got from Senior Brother Guan. And beyond that, there were many things he got from the Secret Realm, things to study, insights to digest and ponder.

  Meiqi slides close to him, grabbing his left arm. “It would be better for you to buy these kinds of things. The sect has warmer clothing for servants during winter, but it is always rather expensive; all our stuff would be at Taoyi’s residence.”

  She traced the outline of his bandage. Zhengqi must have told her every wound he had.

  “It’s fine. I will see if I can find anything better. I have a lot of trades to do,” Hao said, wanting to pull his arm away.

  She let go of him on her own, reaching up to take a strand of his hair, her eyes sharper than her words, “It was half this length when you left. Dirty.”

  Hao couldn’t remember the last wash he had that wasn’t a rinse from rainwater. There were a few loose golden strands, but the majority of it, the darker parts of his hair, was tangled and matted.

  “Young Master, since you are so free with money, it’s obvious you still have a lot to learn. Not frugal at all.”

  Zhengqi was back, chuckling with the clothing in her hand, hiding her mouth. She ran over and handed a set to Meiqi, along with the leftover coins, at her mother’s behest.

  Meiqi pocketed the coins before taking the clothing in one hand, suddenly pulling down on the strand of hair in her hand until it snapped.

  “Can I still call Young Master little Hao beyond the Sect’s ears?” She let out a chuckle that was a little sinister, but it almost seemed like an honest question, with desperation hidden in her slow adjustment of the thick overcoat she wrapped around herself.

  “Do as you please.” Hao said, seeing a suppressed smile on her half-pouted lip, “I have one last place to go.”

  The Butcher. He didn’t go just to visit Tuzai, but to lose anyone else that would be trailing them, now that they were back where eyes were plentiful.

  The two nodded, “We can go the rest of the way on our own.” Together, they bowed their hands, placed just below their ribs.

  Hao turned and walked away, heading towards the food hall, able to smell the arid sting from this far in the cold air.