Book 2: Chapter 80: Arrogant Young Masters |
Da Ruis was missing.
Hours had passed while everyone was waiting for him to return so they could keep moving, yet he was nowhere to be found.
There was no way he hadnt noticed them there considering his perception.
Yin Hu had waited for some time, but by this point he had started to worry. Either the old ghost had run off with an essential part of his future training plans in the form of a Sparring Instance, or he had been attacked. There was no way it could have been any other reason. Da Ruis was not a kind ghost to say the least. Whether there was a village burning or a damsel in distress, the old coot would run twice as fast in the opposite direction no matter how much they begged.
It was just his character toward others that werent directly connected to him.
On the other hand, if his very typical xianxia setting character stayed true, then he would fight tooth and nail for all disciples and members of the Clan. Not because he was that loyal, but rather because he would lose face if he failed to defend his people from foreigners and strangers.
Nothing could be worse than that to him, right?
Then where is the bastard!? He isnt escaping his eternal punishment of being a Sparring Instance after trying to kidnap my girls! No one is going to kill him either!
Yin Hu stood up from his seat.
The girls shot up and the couple ran out of their tent. Both were ready to go ghost hunting ever since he asked about the Da Ruis for the third time. Even the Zhong Da failed to find him for some reason when he was always reliable in locating other members of the party.
He hadnt even used his perception skill yet to give him a chance to come back by himself and explain the sudden absence.
There had to be a good reason or there would be hell to pay for.
Yin Hu closed his eyes and let his skill rumble to life. The emptiness of the forest continued to be a stark reality around him even though there was an entire caravan of people not that far away. His perception cleared the exact areas he knew Jin Bao and Shan Yue to be located at in this moment since they moved so much slower than their party. Even the margin of error of his guess was tiny.
But, here he was. Staring at nothing but emptiness
Hold up?
Yin Hu blinked as he focused toward the northern parts of the general forest. Two extremely faint focal points of Qi flickered back and forth as they circled one another. Both hovered around what he recognized was the strange feeling he got whenever he tried to locate members of his Hu Clan. That meant Da Ruis either found a treasure or was surrounded by two illusions that had him in their grip.
The old ghost hadnt been left alone for longer than a few days and he was already captured by another illusion array?
Was he a magnet for them?
That was if his perception skill locked onto them. Yin Hu was still unsure whether it was a general Qi locator that was utterly broken and rarely worked or if it found powerful illusions of a certain level. Other than his party members, only the two mind altering areas in the Bleak Forests had come up on it. Other than Shao Yating, but he had less information about that incident. For all he knew, it could have been the attack Jun had launched that so happened to turn the ground into glass. The same one Cai Xuefang had deflected.
Yin Hu pointed in that general direction. That way. Da Ruis is over yonder.
Yonder? Shui ran up to him with a tilted head. Whats that supposed to mean?
He schooled his face and refused to explain. Instead, he started walking forward in the direction he had pointed at.
Shui and Jun had been much more joyful after learning they had to do more katas only as a punishment. Both of them sagged like balloons the second he announced it. As though they were expecting something far worse for some reason.
What did they think he was? A monster?
The flickering, weak flames spun more violently around where he suspected Da Ruis to be, though they never touched him. He didnt hear anything or feel an ounce of danger at all even as they grew closer with every second at their fast pace. Whatever issue Da Ruis found himself in, it had to be his unique weakness because it felt pathetic. Low levels of Qi that he would consider at around Shuis level if he had to guess.
Though it was rare for him to notice any Qi at all from people, so he was assuming it wasnt for the time being until proven otherwise.
Yin Hu and crew pushed through until he came upon the same exact barrier he remembered crushing at the palace. It gave off a very familiar signature though it was even weaker than before.
He huffed.
Of course Da Ruis got himself stuck in an illusion. Why wouldnt he dive head first into the only thing he couldnt fight against?
His whole Hu Clan seemed to dive head first into them; the second one appeared even though they had no chance of surviving. He really needed to give them that talking to. Delaying it would only create more problems down the line. That also meant finding a way to strengthen their illusion detection as well. Prevention being better than a cure was the perfect little motto he could live by.
Less headaches that way.
Yin Hu reached out and touched the illusion barrier, shattering it into a million pieces of glass.
His whole party jumped as expected. That only made his frown grow deeper.
A voice began to laugh like a maniac further into the clearing they were heading toward. Ha! You run? Of course you would run from this Hei Gu!
Oh no Oh fuck no Not a real Arrogant Young Master.
Yin Hu closed his eyes and actually considered turning around and leaving Da Ruis to his fate. Let him deal with whatever bullshit was going on alone without involving him, alas, as the Patriarch, he had a responsibility to take care of.
He turned back toward Zhong Da and crew and found all four of them huddled together and shaking like branches. Their eyes snapped back and forth as though they were seeing the same evil ghosts and spirits that had almost consumed their souls in the mansion. Clearly still reliving the trauma of that day over and over again as soon as he shattered the illusion.
What bullshit is this?! I just got away from the first arrogant cultivator and immediately Im smacked with another one? Fuck this bullshit, man!
Yin Hu stomped into the clearing that was unusually sparse of any trees, boulders, bushes, foliage, or anything else that filled the forest. The illusion had been hiding whatever this alcove was supposed to be. The first thing he noticed was a cute white rabbit that blinked its innocent eyes at him.
Zhong Da and Wu Xui shouted in terror behind him, but he ignored them.
Go on, little guy, Yin Hu waved the cute rabbit away. Im about to deal with an arrogant young master. It might get messy.
The white rabbit snapped its head back and forth, clearly scared of the big bad humans that had suddenly appeared out of thin air. It probably was caught in the same illusion array Da Ruis had found himself in. Yin Hu just wondered if the arrogant young master that was still regaling the world of his awesomeness was the source of this one though? There was no way to tell with how wonky his perception skill was.
Hey! You! the aforementioned arrogant young master that screamed his name in the third person shouted at him. Hei Gu was his name. When did you get here?
Yin Hu looked deeper into the clearing where he found Da Ruis on his knees and a young adult that barely had hair on his chin standing above him with a black blade, edge lord black fire over his shoulders like a cape, and his chin stuck in the clouds like he had a permanent spine issue. Every single thing he hated about what an arrogant young master was supposed to be.
Ostentatious look.
Showboating just by existing.
Edge lords presence that faked just how strong he actually was.
A sense of superiority that was unearned and unbecoming of someone as weak as him. How could someone that Yin Hu could feel his Qi to be around the Qi Gathering Stage act so high and mighty before his Hu Clan member and Sparring Instance Elder?
I should fucking kill him. Thatll teach them
Yin Hu froze as he side-eyed the girls behind him. They had no blood in their faces, looking paler than even Da Ruis.
He couldnt get rid of him. Not after giving them the whole dont be a murder-hobo spiel even if it was not as direct as he wanted. He needed to set an example even against every single bone in his body begging to just get rid of the arrogant young master before him. They would be watching his decision making the whole time and just waiting for any reason to fall into a corrupted path.
Especially Hu Shui. Any mistake could cost him dearly.
Man I hate having to be a role model.
Da Ruiss eyes snapped to him. He immediately sprinted to his side, and dove behind him. P-Patriarch! Save me! This man wants to kill me
Hei Gu sneered. This pathetic insect is your patriarch? What a shame. Almost as disgraceful as the old illusion bastard.
Old illusion bastard? So this edge lord isnt the source of the array here?
Yin Hu looked around but could not find this old illusion bastard no matter where he looked. Yin Hu assumed he had run away when he shattered the illusion with a single touch. This entire F- ranked world just had a bunch of weaklings throwing their weight around as though they originated on a much higher ranked world.
Hei Gu walked up to him and stood a few feet away studying him up and down. Im speaking to you, old coot. Whats the matter with all these seniors suddenly appearing out of the wood work? Is this a mortal senior home or something
Yin Hu pimp slapped him.
The fire on his shoulders were blown away. His sword disintegrated. That arrogant look vanished as the young man dropped to his knees, eyes wide, blood leaking out of his mouth, and the back of Yin Hus hands printed pink on his face.
Learn your place, child, lest I put you down without mercy, Yin Hu stepped closer to the now not so arrogant young master and whispered so only he could hear. Thank the Heavens that my granddaughters are behind me right now. I would have killed you otherwise, little boy. he pulled back and gave him a disgusted look.
All it had taken was nothing but a slap. Not even a powered one, with a gauntlet, or even with any type of fist weapon. Nothing but a basic backhand.
Yin Hu walked past him and back toward their camp. Da Ruis. You best have a good excuse for being held up by such a pathetic being.
Everyone stared for a few seconds, unsure how to react.
Well? Yin Hu stopped and turned to him. Are we camping here or are we going back to our original area?
Da Ruis, Zhong Da, Wu Xui, Hu Jun, and Hu Shui all ran to catch up.
Wait! He Gu shouted behind him. Wait! Please! Wait! You cant leave me here! Please. Not after what you''ve done to me! Take responsibility!
Yin Hu did his best to ignore him and pick up the pace.
Maybe he would grow tired of chasing them after all the antics and showboating that had to have been exhausting his reserves. Qi Gathering Realm cultivators werent supposed to have enough energy to maintain them for so long anyway.