018 Deyed Destiny

  An after-lunch walk.

  The further we walked, the quieter the city became. The festival’s main streets were still buzzing with energy, but here, in the forested parts of Yellon City, the atmosphere was more rexed. Patrol guards passed us by, their armlinting iernoon sun. Families had set up piikets uhe trees, enjoying the festival in their own way. Even along the path, a few vendors had statiohemselves, selling snacks, tris, and teas brewed from local herbs.

  Gu Jie kept pace beside me, carrying the fishbowl like some delicate treasure. Ren Jingyi swam in slow, zy circles, either enjoying the sery or just indifferent to it.

  I gnced around a out a low whistle. "Damn, they sure know how to party."

  Eventually, we reached a small waterfall, tucked away from the bustling city. The water cascaded over smooth rocks, pooling into a shallow basin before tinuing downstream. It eaceful spot—isoted, quiet. Exactly what I needed.

  I found a rge, ft rod sat down. Gu Jie, however, just stood there, watg me carefully.

  "Master, is there a problem?" she finally asked. "What are we doing here?"

  I rested my elbows on my knees and exhaled. "We o talk."

  Gu Jie nodded. "I uand."

  I studied her for a moment befetting to the point. "Tell me about the cultivatiohods your old demonic master taught you."

  Gu Jie hesitated for only a sed before answering. "There were two. Besides Deyed Destiny of the Demonic Path, he also taught me Demonic Worshipping Mantra."

  My brow furrowed. "And what does that do?"

  "It forces the disciple to worship the person who bestowed the teique upon them. If the disciple is ed—"

  I blinked. "Wait. ed?"

  Gu Jie nodded. "Yes. If the disciple is eaten, the effect multiplies tenfold. If they are refined into a pill, it multiplies twentyfold."

  I stared at her, then slowly leaned bay hands. "Okay? That escated fast."

  Gu Jie, as usual, remained eerily posed. "If a disciple begins practig it, they ot stop. Otherwise, they will suffer halluations."

  I sucked in a breath. Demonic through and through.

  It wasn’t just a method of trol. It was a full-blown trap. A person ensnared by this teique wasn’t just bound by loyalty—they were turned into an iment. A resource. The lohey cultivated, the more valuable they became. And if their master decided to harvest them… well, they’d be worth more as a pill than as a person.

  I pihe bridge of my nose. "Gu Jie."

  "Yes, Master?"

  "Did you ever practice it?"

  She looked me dead in the eyes. "No."

  I searched her expression for any sign of hesitation, any hint of doubt. But she was pletely steady.

  I exhaled. "Good."

  Because if she had… then she’d be cursed in more ways than one.

  Gu Jie stood by the water’s edge, staring at her refle. The gentle ripples distorted her image, but she didn’t seem to mind.

  “I stopped practig Demonic Worshipping Mantra after I escaped from my old master’s hands,” she crified.

  I tilted my head. “Is he dead?”

  “Yes. He self-destructed in his fight against the righteous cultivators after his bounty.”

  I nodded, relieved. At least there wouldn’t be some old demonic master suddenly springing out of the shadows for revehe st thing I needed was some lunatic chasing after his property and deg to add me to the menu.

  Gu Jie tinued, “I’ve lived as a beggar and a bandit sihen, until I met you, Master.”

  Her voice was calm, but there was something heavy beh it—years of hardship and survival. I didn’t press. If she wao share more, she would.

  Instead, I asked, “What is your iion in being my follower?”

  She turned, blinking at me as if the answer should have been obvious. “To repay you with my gratitude.”

  Still wasn’t ho with herself. Fine. If she wao keep up the act, I wouldn’t call her out on it—yet.

  I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “Did you have any pns for solving your dition?”

  Gu Jie’s cultivation teique, Deyed Destiny of the Demonic Path, was as fasating as it was horrifying. It allowed her to redirect misfortune, but at the cost of her health. No way someone practig it hadn’t thought of alternatives.

  She was silent for a moment before answering. “I nning to persevere through it and die.”

  I frowned. “And now?”

  Gu Jie met my gaze.

  “I have hope.”

  For the first time since I met her, I saw something different in her expression. It wasn’t just obedience or detached accepta was something fragile but determined—like a single ember refusing to go out.

  I let out a slow breath. “The’s make sure you don’t waste it.”

  Gu Jie stood by the water’s edge, her grip tightening on the fishbowl’s hahe waterfall roared softly behind us, mist cooling the air. She stared at the rushing water as if gatherihoughts.

  “I’ve heard rumors of the Isotion Path Seio Yellon City,” she finally said. “So I traveled here. As a st resort, I was hoping they would accept me as their disciple, so that they could transpose my Deyed Destiny of the Demonic Path to a level I could properly use.”

  She let out a small, humorless ugh. “ces were… they’d kill me for being a demonic cultivator. They have a reputation fhtering demons by any means necessary.”

  I hummed in thought, pig up a smooth stone from the riverbank. With a fliy wrist, I sent it skipping across the water—owo, three, four times before it finally sank.

  Then, without looking at her, I asked, “What do you want from me, Gu Jie?”

  Sileretched between us.

  Then, with a deep bow, she said, “Please take me in as your disciple.”

  I dusted off my hands and stood up. “Let’s go to the Isotion Path Sed ask them to transpose your teique.”

  Gu Jie’s breath hitched. “M-Master.”

  I g her. “Does it have to be the Isotion Path Sect? ’t you ask maybe the City Governor? From how the people aroualk about him, he seems to possess profound wisdom.”

  Gu Jie bli me, as if I had just suggested we challehe heavens. “S-Surely, you are kidding, Master.”

  I knew I was being naive, but for the past few days, I had learned what kind of person Gu Jie really was.

  She didn’t like greens, but she still put in the effort to eat them. She enjoyed soup, especially the warmth of it spreading through her stomach. She never minded running errands, believing that being helpful was in both her best i and mine.

  She had been a bandit, but she was oh so painfully naive.

  It wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that if she ever tried scheming, she’d believe she was being devious—when iy, she’d just be silly.

  I sighed. I hought I’d meet someone more han I was.

  The only reason she’d probably survived this long was her Sixth Sense Misfortune ability. Otherwise, with her at First Realm, First Star—the lowest of the low—she should have been long dead.

  I stretched my arms, rolled my shoulders, and turoward her.

  “Let’s go.”

  Calling Gu Jie naive was like the pot calling the kettle bck.

  Still, I was way better off than her. At least I had a pn.

  What kind of pn ersevering and waiting to die?

  Sure, there was some merit toing to the Isotion Path Sed begging them to take her in, but that was more of a gamble than a proper pn. A det pn required more than just deg and expeg a result—it required thinking things through.

  And not to boast my maxed-out Padin intelligence, but surely, I could e up with a better pn than her.

  So, naturally, we went back to the goldfish stall.

  The oh the arcade game where I’d fished out Ren Jingyi.

  The old man running the stall looked up from his seat, squinting at me with a face full of wrihat held the weight of tless regretful business decisions. I rested my arms on the ter and gave him my best winning smile.

  “Hey, old man,” I said, “ you introduce us to the City Governor? Or better yet, the Isotion Path Sect?”

  Gu Jie looked like a fish out of water.

  The old man looked like he had just swallowed a fishbone.

  "Please do your er a favor. e on, old man."

  The goldfish stall owner flinched. "u-what?"

  He ying dumb. A cssic move for someone of his level.

  I sighed, shaking my head with exaggerated disappoi. "Was it fun toying with my heart and then suddenly pretending you don’t know me after all the time we spent together?"

  The old man gawked at me. "What is this bastard saying?!"

  I ignu Jie's bewildered stare and leaned in, l my voice just enough to make him think I knew more than I actually did. "I get it. Mingling with normal people is fun. It grounds you."

  The old man tensed. Just for a sed. Then he scowled. "What in the forsaken goddamh are you talking about? You know what? You're interfering with my business."

  And just like that, he started pag up.

  Ah. Retreating.

  I had to press harder.

  "e on, old man," I said, stepping closer. "After rigging the game so much, and now that you're about to be found out, you're running away?"

  The old man stiffened. "Rigged? I am an ho businessman!"

  "Yeah? Tell that to my eighty-seven losses and the eighty-seven times you sabotaged me with qi."

  Gu Jie choked on air.

  The old man froze.

  Yes, I couldn’t see qi. But with my high enough Perception, Wisdom, and Intelligence, I could brute-force my way into dedug its existence.

  And this old man?

  Definitely not some random NPC pretending to be Vilger A.

  This guy was a big shot.

  And he could help us.

  The old man regained his posure and huffed. "I don’t know what you're talking about."

  People were starting to look.

  I could hear the whispers.

  “What’s happening?”“That’s the weird goldfish guy, right?”“Is he pig a fight with Old Man Jiang?”

  Gu Jie tugged at my sleeve, her face flushing red. "Master, let’s go… This is… embarrassing."

  I ignored her. The old man had already taken the bait.

  Realizing the growing audiehe stall owner decided to double down—and, oh boy, did he go on a mean streak.

  "Ah, if anything, this was a skill issue!" he shrowing his hands up dramatically. "You failed eighty-seven times? Are you an idiot? What are you gonna do about it? Hit me? Pretend you're a cultivator?"

  I exhaled through my nose.

  "e on, e on, try me!" The old man smmed his palm oall. "I will put you in your pce, you good-for-nothiard! e on! Hit me!"

  The croed.

  Gu Jie’s grip on my sleeve tightened.

  I just stared at the old man.

  He gririumphantly. "Hah! Don’t bme me if you ’t win a simple arcade game! It’s definitely your fault, kid! A skill issue! Eh? Eh? What now? Gonna hit me?"

  …

  Ugh.

  This vindictive old man.