Ning Bing looks down at the rapidly moving past us ground. "I think I'll get myself a flying mount gu worm, this is fucking amazing!"
Cui and Luli opt not to respond, instead they give the ground a glance and then grab onto me tighter. I shout to Ning Bing. "Just make sure not to drop those two!"
She shouts back. "Do I look like an idiot to you?"
I shout back. "The paycheck's slipping."
She shifts her grip onto the young man I rescued to hold him better. "Fuck you!"
I shout at her. "You don't have the cock for it!"
She yells at me. "Neither do you you fucking shithead!"
The girl I rescued seems to be waking up. I yell at Ning Bing. "The girl's waking up, don't drop her!"
Ning Bing glances at the girl, before shifting her grip. "Where are we going now?"
I shrug. "Towards Wu clan's city. If we happen to pass by a populated mountain we'll make a temporary stop there."
Our eagle is starting to grow tired, we'll need to make a stop soon. Still, we've made some pretty good progress now that we're using it.
At this rate it'll only be a few months until we reach our destination. Teleporting there would only take us a few days, but that has other requirements before it is possible.
For one my teleportation killer move only works in areas where I have already been. I can teleport us anywhere on our route, but I can't use the killer move to travel faster in unknown regions.
I start scanning the ground beneath us, looking for a suitable place to rest.
The Southern border is full of mountains, many of them are wild uninhabited, a few of them sport mortal clans and fewer still are part of a super force.
Ideally we would stop at a mountain without a rank 5 gu master. I can deal with rank 4 gu masters without issues, Ning Bing can deal with rank 3 gu master's much the same. Rank 5 gu masters are somewhat more tricky.
If I had to fight one I would rather do so as a sneak attack or with some time to prepare. Still, ideally we would not fight at all. The less of a trail we leave, the better.
Which reminds me, I need to think of a name for this identity. I whisper to Cui. "Any ideas for what I should call myself?"
She pauses, before grabbing me harder as she slips slightly. Cui leans into me. "I think Ying Yue would fit you, master."
Ying Yue, full moon. That does sound pretty fitting.
My extreme physique boosts moon path, so Ying Yue is a fairly fitting name. I give her a nod, before shouting to Ning Bing. "Hey, make sure to call me Ying Yue for now!"
Ning Bing shouts back. "So you admit that you're an asshole?!"
Full moon also happens to be a euphemism for anus. I shout at Ning Bing. "Fuck you!"
She laughs. "Grow a cock first!"
That's now gone up the list of priorities. It was already at the top, but now it's gone even higher. "Okay."
Ning Bing stops laughing, before giving me a confused look. "What?"
I give her a smile. "I said okay."
She doesn't reply back. I turn my attention back to scanning the ground just in time.
There's a mortal village visible at the foot of a mountain in the distance. I change our course towards it.
A mortal village means that there are mortal clans on the mountain. A superforce would have the backing of gu immortals, they would have a dense city instead of spread out villages.
I glance at the now semi-conscious girl, who seems to be in between wakefulness and unconsciousness.
It takes us a few more minutes of flying to pass by the village, our new position reveals a few more locations in the mountain.
There's two villages bearing flags, those must be the mortal clans occupying the mountain. They both seem to be the same size, so I pick one at random to land next to.
Thanks to me guiding our mount, the landing at the gates is gentle. I hop down the eagle, as does Ning Bing. Cui and Luli carefully climb off of the eagle.
Ning Bing drops the man to the ground as if he were a sack of potatoes, he quickly stands up and starts to dust himself off while giving me and Ning Bing fearful looks.
Looks like it's dawned on him that he wasn't saved by truly righteous cultivators. I just need to make sure the idiot doesn't figure out that I'm actually a blood path gu master.
Ning Bing doesn't drop the girl, instead she gives her a glance, see's her to still be half unconscious, before shrugging and shifting to hold the girl on her shoulder.
I turn my attention to the gate, where there is a pointed lack of a gu master to greet us. There is a single mortal guard keeping watch, currently giving our group a concerned look. Once he notices me staring at him he shifts his gaze aside.
The clan leader himself coming out to greet us is unlikely, it's much more likely for an elder to be sent to greet us.
Ning Bing starts to impatiently tap her foot on the ground. "How long is it going to take them?"
I shrug. "Maybe they were in an important meeting or something?"
She continues tapping her foot. "Or maybe we need t-" She is interrupted by someone coming towards us from the village.
Said someone is a forty year old man with gray hair and a small beard. He is giving off the aura of a peak stage rank three gu master, probably an elder not talented enough to breakthrough to rank 4.
He gives Ning Bing and I wary looks. "Bu Liu Jin, clan leader of the Bu clan, greets you."
Interesting. The village doesn't look too damaged, so either they're going through a period of weakness or the clan leader died in a freak accident of some kind.
Either of those options is fortunate for us.
He didn't bow to us, so I don't bow to him. "I am Ying Yue, my partner is Ning Bing. We are traveling Gu masters in need of shelter."
This situation turning hostile would not be ideal for either them or for us, but it would suck a whole lot more for them.
The difference between demonic gu masters and righteous gu masters is not necessarily one of good and evil.
There are just as many, if not more, righteous gu masters that are serial war criminals as there are demonic gu masters. The true difference between the two is that demonic gu masters are solitary, while righteous gu masters are not.
A demonic gu master is almost always stronger than a righteous gu master of the same rank. Our strength is a complete unknown to this clan, being careful is in their best interest.
The gu master gives us a slight bow, I bow just as slightly as him. "Are we welcome in your village?"
He gives a slight nod. "You are welcome to rest and trade as you wish, feel free to enjoy our hospitality. Do you require lodgings?"
I nod. "We do."
Bu Liu Jin motions for us to follow him. "I will lead you to your accommodations, please follow me."
We follow him. Cui and Luli stay behind me, Ning Bing comes next to me and the young man moves behind Cui and Luli. That's a coward if I've ever seen one, hiding behind literal servant girls.
I move forward to stand next to Liu Jin. "Forgive me if I am prying too much, but what happened to your clan leader? Surviving a beast tide without a rank 4 gu master seems difficult."
He snorts. "You are forgiven. Our previous clan leader died saving the village from the beast tide."
That explains why everything is so intact despite the clan leader's death. He continues. "It is my turn to ask for forgiveness if I am being presumptuous. Is there a reason that the six of you are traveling alone?"
Not an odd question to ask. He gave me an answer, so it would be rude not to give him one in return. "The caravan we were travelling with was attacked by beasts, we barely managed to escape with our lives."
That's not something odd to happen to a caravan. The wilderness is dangerous, an unlucky encounter with a pack of roaming beasts is more than enough to completely destroy a traveling caravan.
Bu Liu Jin nods. "You have my sympathies then."
We stop in front of a large wooden house. "You are welcome to stay here for as long as you wish, the only condition we have is that you help defend the village if it happens to be under attack."
So they're afraid that the clan next to them is going to attack. I give the man a nod. "We will stay for not more than a few days. All we need is to rest and to buy supplies, food, gu. After we are supplied and rested we will leave."
I doubt that there's anything interesting on this mountain. Not all clans are made under a secret inheritance. Liu Jin sighs. "Very well then, I hope you enjoy our hospitality."
With that said he leaves. We enter inside the house and get ourselves comfortable.
There's four bedrooms, three of which have multiple beds, a kitchen, pantry and dining room. This would be a pretty good living place for either a wealthy rank 2 gu master or a rank 3 elder.
Ning Bing claims one of the double rooms for herself, the man gets the second room and the girl the third one. Luli, Cui and I are going to sleep in the same room.
It's too late to go out shopping, but it's still a bit too early to go to sleep, so Ning Bing and I are sitting at the dinner table, waiting for the food to be ready. Cui and Luli are preparing food, the man is currently in his room and the girl is resting.
Ning Bing sighs. "So we're not going to kill anyone?"
I chuckle. "No, they've been fairly accommodating with us."
The chances that we're not being listened on in some fashion are practically zero. Ning Bing slumps on the table. "That's boooring. Why don't we wait for them to get attacked before leaving then?"
I shrug, before taking my coin from my pocket. "Heads means it's safe for us to stay, tails means we should leave."
Ning Bing watches me flip the coin with anticipation. It spins in the air then lands on the table, heads. She pumps her fist. "Yes! We're going to have some fun!"
Cui and Luli come into the dinner room, carrying plates of duck and rice. Luli puts a plate and a pair of chopsticks in front of me. "Have you given that guy some food too?"
Luli nods. "He said he wants to eat alone."
Ning Bing immediately digs in as soon as Cui puts her food down. "What's his name anyway?"
I think it was Zhizen? Cui replies. "I do not know."
Ning Bing turns her attention towards me, I shrug. "It was Zhi-something, I didn't pay much attention to his name. Is the girl awake?"
Luli sits down next to me and nods. "She has awakened. We left her a plate of food as well."
I smile. "Call her over, I want to have a talk with her."
Luli nods, before getting up to bring the girl. Ning Bing swallows her food. "Why are you so interested in that girl? She is pretty, but just that can't be enough for you to be that interested in her."
I shake my head. "It's not that, or at least not just her looks. Her determination and will impressed me."
Ning Bing tilts her head as Luli and the girl enter the dining room. Luli places the girl's plate onto the table.
I continue. "Her caravan was completely destroyed, her leg was destroyed and her jaw was broken, among other smaller injuries. Anyone else would have gone into shock just from the pain, she didn't even flinch when trying to beg me to help her friends."
Ning Bing stares at me, before shrugging. "I think you should just fuck already."
Classy. Ning Bing goes back to eating as Luli sits back down. The girl opts to just stare awkwardly at us, before giving me a deep bow. "I truly cannot thank you enough for saving my life, but do you know anything of my companions from the caravan? Are they still alive?"
I take a bite from the duck. "You're welcome. Your companions were already dead when I got to the caravan."
She stays bowed, before slowly rising back up with a complicated expression on her face. "I see… Thank you for your honesty."
I motion for her to sit down, she reluctantly does so. "I didn't quite catch your name though."
She clears her throat. "My name is Zhang Xin Ci, I am a merchant."
Ning Bing shakes her chopsticks at Xin Ci. "You were a merchant, now you're fucked."
A merchant without any capital is a nobody, just like a gu master is nobody without any gu worms. She gives Ning Bing a sad smile. "That is true, I was a merchant."
Ning Bing swallows. "When do you think the other clan is going to attack?"
I shrug. "They're probably not going to attack for at least a week, the clan leader here was disappointed when he heard that we'd only be staying for a few days."
Xin Ci stares at Ning Bing and I, before looking despondently into her food. I take in a mouthful of rice with my chopsticks. "What do you plan on doing now?"
That startles Xin Ci slightly. She plays around with the rice using her chopsticks. "I'm… not sure. Is there even anything for someone in my situation to do? I have lost my companions, my capital, I lost everything. Even if I got back to Wu clan's city, there's nothing waiting for me there."
That sounds about right. A mortal with no relatives, no money, no nothing is literally nothing. She might as well just sell herself into slavery. The only other options she realistically has are either begging, which no clan would take nicely to her doing, or starving to death.
Cui and Luli give her sympathetic looks. Ning Bing just yawns. I swallow my mouthful of rice. "Why don't you join us and become my servant then?"
Xin Ci swallows nervously, before giving my proposal some thought.
Her old life is, effectively, over. She has nothing valuable other than herself and the clothes on her back. She gives me a conflicted smile, before nodding. "I do not have any other choice, do I?"
I give her a nod. "Not really, no."
It's not that I'm threatening her life, but what I've done is akin to asking someone dying of thirst to become my slave in exchange for a cup of water. I'm not the reason her life is fucked, but I am definitely taking advantage of it being fucked.
The rest of the meal is spent in relative silence. Ning Bing breaks the silence when she's finished eating. "I'm going to go to sleep, if that Zhi-whatever guy annoys me can I kill him?"
I scoff. "No."
Xin Ci clears her throat. "His name is Zhizheng."
Her knowing is good, it means we might actually get something from rescuing him. Ning Bing shrugs and leaves for her room, I give Xin Ci a curious look. "What do you know about him?"
Xin Ci stares at her soon to be empty plate in thought. "His uncle is slated to become the next leader of our clan, his competitors are too weak to truly contest him."
That sounds good. I motion for her to continue. "Does the uncle care about him?"
Xin Ci blinks in surprise, before shaking her head. "About him specifically? I don't think so. Xiaopeng is many things, but kind to mortals is not one of them. He would almost certainly reward you for rescuing his nephew, but that would be more for his public image than out of love."
I shrug. "That's good enough for me."
We spend a few more minutes eating. Once I'm done I rise up from my seat and stretch. Xin Ci finishes eating about the same time as me. She stands up from her seat and gives me a bow. "Once again, I would like to thank you for saving me."
I wave her off. "You're welcome, now please follow me."
She nods. I lead her to my room, occasionally glancing at her leg to see how she is walking. She gulps nervously before entering it. Once we're inside I lead her to a chair and motion for her to sit down.
She sits down on the chair with some confusion. I point at her leg. "How do you feel when walking?"
Xin Ci takes a deep breath. "I… It just feels normal? There's nothing out of the ordinary with my walk."
I didn't notice anything odd about her stride, so she's probably fine. I put my hand on her leg and start feeling it with my hand, making sure there's nothing odd with the bone.
The bone has healed properly, it doesn't feel like there's anything odd about it. For how fucked it was that's pretty good. Next up is her jaw.
I stand up and start feeling around her jaw, which gives her a slight blush. The fracture seems to have healed properly, both looking at it and touching it confirm that. "Is there anything you feel off? Any pain or feeling of discomfort?"
She blinks in surprise, before shaking her head. "No, I feel healthy. Thank you."
I motion for her to stand up. "Now let's have a bit of fun."
Xin Ci stands up, looking at the curiously. Said curiosity immediately turns to embarrassment once I disrobe her. "Oh."
I give her a smile. "Oh indeed."
She doesn't object, but she is thoroughly embarrassed.
—
Eight days later.
The Bu clan turns out not to have any interesting gu worms. Their clan specialty is in earth path gu worms, which are dime a dozen in the Southern Border.
Ning Bing and I are currently standing at the gates with the sect leader and the five elders of the Bu clan. The medicine elder, a young man in his late twenties, clicks his tongue. "When will the dogs from the San clan come to their slaughter?!"
I chuckle. "Calm your tits, your job is to make sure that they don't come to your slaughter."
Bu Liu Jin nods. "I concur. Keep your wits about you, lest we fall right into a trap. Our scouts confirmed their mobilization, all that is left is to wait for their atta-"
A giant monkey charging towards us from the distance interrupts him. It doesn't give off the aura of a beast, that's a rank 4 mount type gu worm of some kind.
Without Ning Bing and I this clan is getting fucked, now how to swing this situation for my benefit…
Neither of the clans are likely to have anything material that they can offer me. This clan wouldn't be in this situation if it did, and the other clan wouldn't have had to thoroughly plan their attack if they did.
That doesn't mean that their immaterial possessions are without value. Gu worm recipes and knowledge is something that I always welcome with an open heart.
As the group tenses and prepares for combat I smile. Once the monkey is in range I wave my hand at it.
A moonblade boosted by light gu and amplify effect gu surges towards it too quickly for it to dodge. It tries to duck, but still gets itself cleaved in half horizontally. The upper part of its body flies towards us, the lower half slides onto the ground.
The upper half lands about twenty meters away from the group with a loud bang, sending dust and blood flying everywhere.
I'll make my presence known. I can blackmail the San clan for their gu worm recipes and knowledge, then blackmail the Bu clan as well for their gu worm recipes and knowledge.
Once I get what I want I'll bail. I have enough primeval stones to just gamble for more of them in Wu clans city if I want to.
—
AN:
Hope you enjoyed the read[plain]:)[/plain]
This AN might be a bit longer, it's not any bad news, I just kinda feel like yapping a bit.
Finding good villain protagonists that are actually evil, and not just an anti-hero with another coat of paint, is a pain.
Most of them are either:
Actually just an antihero/dark hero ("Oh no, I just killed all those pedophiles and rapists! I'm soooooo evuuul!")The result of someone soapboxing. These are the protags that the author wants to convince you are beacons of righteousness, but are actually just war criminals in disguise. ("RAAAAAAAAAGR! DEATH TO ALL SLAVERS!!! I CANNOT STAND THE FORCES OF EVUL!!!")
I tried thinking of a C category, but none come to mind rn.
Reverend insanity has a good villain protag, Fang Yuan is amazing and genuinely unforgivable.
Death Note's Light Yagami is a narcissistic egomaniac and the series treats him appropriately. He's amazing too.
But for every Light Yagami and Fang Yuan there's ten or more A's and B's around.
It really feels like to actually write a good villain protagonist you can't be remotely close to what they are like IRL. The writer of Death Note understands Light Yagami enough to condemn him. Gu Zhen Ren treats Fang Yuan like the unforgivable demon that he is.
Thanks for listening to my ted talk, as an apology I offer you this duck leg recipe:
Mix in your favorite spices in a bowl, don't be cheap and put in a LOT of spices. My suggestion for duck is:
Paprika. (Two teaspoons)
Pepper. (I like half or a quarter of a teaspoon, you do you)
Salt. (half or a quarter of a teaspoon, if you like it saltier or less salty feel free to change this around)
Garlic powder. (For me half a teaspoon to a teaspoon, I like garlic)
Put the spice mix all over your duck leg, both top and bottom. Then put it a baking tray, tall and small trays are best, but you can use any you have.
Chuck the thing in the oven at 120C for two and a half hours to three hours, until the skin becomes real crispy.
Remove from oven and enjoy
Yapping over :>.