“Young master… what is he doing? Is that a monk? Is he prostrating to us?”

  “He must recognize our clan’s robes! Of course, he’d be prostrating to us.”

  “I agree, Junior Brother! Young master, the heavens haven’t abandoned us!”

  Feng Mu stared puzzledly. They were a hundred steps from the Pillarshard before the Seekers Accord prevented them from getting any further. This meant the Pillarshard wasn’t anchored but was in the process of being sieged.

  As a young master of a prosperous family, he knows what a Pillarshard siege should look like. But this… didn’t seem right.

  “Ah, hello cultivators and seniors from the Fang Clan.” The monk manically prostrating at the entrance said before he stood.

  Feng Mu’s face twitched at the mistake. But before he could correct the person, his brows raised. The person was bald and young. Tall and a little skinny. Loose and tattered robes covered in blood or ichor, only small patches revealed its original colors. Young. Very young.

  “Young master!” Feng Yue Huang whispered with glee. “I recognize those deep blue robes! We’re in luck, it's a Buddhist monk!”

  Feng Mu nodded. He could work with this. Clasping his hands, Feng Mu bowed. “Greetings, young monk. I am called Feng Mu, the tenth young master of the Feng Clan. May I ask which Buddhist sect you hail from?”

  He looked up and studied the monk. Young, but High Inititate…

  “This one is called Xue Dejiu, of the Heavenly Snowy Temple.” The monk, Xue Dejiu, returned a formal bow.

  “Forgive me for asking, but may you allow us entry into your Pillarshard? We only seek to return to the surface.” Feng Mu said.

  “...Apologies, cultivators from the Fang Clan, but I cannot.”

  “It is Feng Clan, young monk. Not Fang.” Feng Mu’s brow twitched as he straightened his back. “We’re from the Shenguo capital, Lingzhou. Our clan is known far and wide for our unparalleled talent in cultivation, our mastery over sword arts, and, naturally, our grace and dignity. Call for other your senior monks, they’ll know of my clan.”

  Who wouldn’t know the Feng Clan? Even the Shenguo King wouldn’t dare cross their clan head!

  Xue Dejiu scratched his head, his lips twitching awkwardly into a polite smile. “Ah, of course. The…Fang Clan. You’re famous, yes?”

  “It’s Feng!” Feng Mu corrected, color rising to his face. He turned to Feng Yue Huang, “Are you sure this is a monk from our lands? I refuse to believe we traveled beyond the Shenguo kingdom if he’s holding his head this high.”

  “It should be. The Heavenly Snowy Temple… I think it may lie within the kingdom, but I don’t know exactly where. I only know that there are a handful of temples, but most are near the capital.” Feng Yue Huang whispered meekly.

  “Useless thing.” Feng Mu barked. The monk’s insolence has irked him so. But his face twisted into forced politeness before he turned back to face the monk.

  “Young monk Xue Dejiu, may you please ask for a senior? I am sure we can come to an arrangement befitting such an esteemed Buddhist sect. I fear daimons may encroach us in this place despite your mighty force vanquishing the Pillarshard.” He said with clasped hands. “Again, we seek to return to the surface. I can promise gifts and wealth to your temple in exchange.”

  He watched the monk once again scratch his head awkwardly.

  “Um… I don’t know, young master of the Fang Clan. I’m by myself, really.”

  Feng Mu’s forced smile faltered for a fraction of a second. “Just you? Surely, there must be someone more…experienced who holds the authority to negotiate?”

  “Nah, I’m by myself. I have to kill the guardian soon. Maybe after that? I don’t have that much time before its too late.” Xue Dejiu shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t really know how this all works. I can’t defend ya’ outside and all. I’m a little busy.”

  I'll be busy with your mother! Bullshit! Does this monk play me for a fool? A lone monk, High Initiate or not, killing a guardian alone? Argh! My clan could level your temple without another word! Feng Mu’s face twitched.

  “I can toss some daimon meat though. I have too much to spare. I killed this fish like one earlier.” Xue Dejiu rambled on.

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  Feng Mu paused and raised an eyebrow. Is he serious?

  As Xue Dejiu continued to prattle, Feng Mu turned to his followers. “Do you think this idiot monk is telling the truth?”

  “He may… the Pillarshard might’ve swallowed him whole or he walked in.”

  “Is this scoundrel truly so foolish to enter such a thing?”

  “He may not even know what a Pillarshard is before he headed in.”

  “He might’ve been sleeping on the ground as the earth split open and he wandered in.”

  Wait. Did he say his times almost up? As in the thirty days of control? Feng Mu’s mind shifted to a scheme. His earlier endeavor resulted in a grand failure. But if he could claim this Pillarshard after the monk dies or exceeds the time limit, then he could wander inside and lay claim to it. His father would be proud — after all, that's the whole reason he even descended into the Seventh Hell in the first place! A free Pillarshard for the clan? His status as the Tenth Young Master might rise!

  “Ah, very well young monk. We will make camp outside then. We wish you luck.” Feng Mu said pleasantly with clasped hands.

  Xue Dejiu laughed, returning a beaming smile. “Of course, of course! Thank you, comrades of the Fang Clan! I’ll hurry and slay this guardian. ”

  Feng Mu feigned a smile in return. He bowed again to the monk before he turned around.

  As he did so, a dark smile tugged his lips. Ha! The heavens haven’t forsaken me after all.

  —

  “Bastards. I know that two-faced smile.” Dejiu muffled a curse as he walked down the Pillarshard. He’d be a fool if he hadn’t learned anything about insincere and deceitful faces over the past seven years.

  Putting aside his skill in seeing through dishonesty, this was bad. Very bad. If defeating a guardian wasn’t bad as it is, he has another menace, no, a group of them waiting outside!

  To think the very thing preventing more monks from helping him was the very thing protecting him right now — the fact he had thirty days to assault the Pillarshard alone.

  “Gah, just my luck. Amitabha, this monk has had enough.” He said before he looked up. “Bing Xin! I could still hear you laughing!”

  Dejiu scowled as he recalled the conversation he shared with Feng Mu. Laughter blared in his ears as he forced himself to smile at Feng Mu and his company.

  “Ah, it was too funny little monk”

  “Ah, it was, wasn’t it? Not! This is bad!” Dejiu cried. “They’ll be waiting for me if I live! What did I do to deserve this?”

  There's a lot he could do. But there's also a lot he didn’t know. Sure he riled Feng Mu up, but doing so was enough to help him gauge who this Feng Mu and his posse were.

  “Miss Bing Xin, how much longer until the guardian reaches the Sixth Hell?”

  “A few days. Not enough time to reach an ordinary attainment level in Withering Palm without foes to practice on. However, it is enough time to scheme little monk.”

  “A monk mustn’t scheme. A monk mustn’t kill without reason. But to be righteous in wrath… that must also extend to humans too, right?” Dejiu muttered to himself as he thought of the cultivators outside.

  If he could see Bing Xin right now, then she must have a wide smile. Before he could even begin to scheme, it seemed that she already succeeded hers. This entire fiasco… it was too weird.

  “Hey. You knew something like this would happen, right? Maybe not exactly what, but now that I think about it, every time I tried to push ahead beyond a hundred steps, you would warn me of approaching daimons. I didn’t think much about it at the time because you were right a few times and daimons attacked in droves. But that perimeter — there's something you’re withholding about it.”

  Dejiu paused and looked up. He didn’t know why he did that when she was inside him somewhere, but the way she always spoke made it feel like she was always watching him from above.

  He was left without an answer for a while before she finally responded.

  “...Ah, you found me out, little monk. You’re right. Go beyond a hundred steps and you would be forcibly let go from your Pillarshard’s assault. That would also mean that the monks waiting at Mount Xuedou’s footsteps would descend immediately to save you.”

  “You forced me down here! You prevented them from saving me. If I relinquished my control then they could’ve come down earlier to help conquer this Pillarshard before these cultivators showed up! You wanted me to stay here so some fucking reason!” His face twitched. He was right, this was all a scheme from her. His skills in seeing through dishonesty still needed work it seems.

  “Indeed. I do want you to say here. And if you live, is it so bad? You emerge stronger. You’ll be rewarded for conquering the Pillarshard. You’ll obtain more remnants, Hell Shards, and experience. Isn’t that everything you desired?

  “Enough. You know what I mean. That doesn’t change the fact that you fostered this outcome. I almost forgot — you’re a daimon.”

  “Indeed I am, little monk. But that doesn’t change your circumstances, does it?” Bing Xin’s voice dipped, her tone laced with venomous amusement.

  “Do you think my nature will matter when the blades are drawn? When that Feng Mu’s greed turn to action? When you’re forced to retaliate? Oh no, little monk — when you stain your hands with their blood, it won’t matter if I influenced you to remain down here without help. Although I have a part in these circumstances, the fact is that they wish to do you harm — something I didn’t influence.”

  Dejiu frowned. “Maybe those cultivators are plotting aren’t so bad. Sure that guy, Feng Mu, was hiding a nasty face, but I don’t know if he’s willing to kill me.”

  “Oh, now you care about the particulars? Don’t humor me, little monk.”

  Dejiu didn’t reply and sighed.

  It felt like each and every action he did was a result of her doing. He didn’t like it. But what could he do but play at her whims?