When he stepped into the hut, he found himself in a vast room. Stone walls stretched high overhead and gaped wide in every direction. Tigers, carved from pure white jade, growled at him from either side of the hall, lining the path down the center of the hallway. At the far end of the enormous hall, a huge throne stood tall over him.
Atop the throne, a small figure sat, dressed in gold. It drumd its fingers on the arm of the chair. With a gesture, it waved Hui closer. Co.
Hui bowed as he walked, approaching with caution. He eyed up the passing tigers, wary of them. They look so lifelike. Theyre totally going to kill , arent they? I dont trust them.
On the other hand, we did find the White Tigers shrine, or whatever this is. Theres sothing related to the White Tiger here, anyways, if not the White Tiger itself. But I guess theres no point worrying about that this ti around.
That person on the throne I cant sense any pressure from them. Either theyre basically mortal or theyre so incredibly powerful that I cant even sense them. Hui swallowed. Yeah. I can guess which one it is.
He peeked up. Closer to the throne, he could make out a child, maybe twelve years old. The boy wore regal imperial robes in all gold, with dragons embroidered on its surface. He looked quietly down at Hui, waiting. Unbothered.
I dont want to get any closer. I wont possibly be able to escape if I get any closer.
Though, perhaps there was never any hope of escape in the first place.
Hui dropped down to the ground and kowtowed.
The boy waited.
Hui laid there, unmoving. Im not getting any closer. Acknowledge or not! But Im not moving!
A sigh. The boy sat up. Theres no need for this fear. Whether you take precautions or not, theres nothing you can do. Your death is inevitable.
Ah yes, Hui agreed. He hesitated, then stood and walked closer. If theres no need for fear, then I suppose I wont fear. No point to cower and hesitate if Im facing an atomic bomb as an ant.
The boy looked surprised. Really?
Eh? Should I have not? Hui asked, quickly dropping back to the ground.
No, its just every other ti, you The boy waved his hand. Never mind.
I already killed myself by now, huh? Well I understand. But that past might have known what this boys goal is. The current doesnt. I wont know how to escape properly if I dont know what his goals are. Hui stood again, putting his hands behind his back. My apologies for the past s, Senior.
I assu youre here to revive the four cardinal beasts? Its a good idea, but it simply isnt enough. I hid them away because they threatened once. A long, long ti ago. The boy propped his head on his hand and shrugged. Go ahead. Revive them. It wont do anything to , even if you do.
Senior is indeed the pinnacle of intelligence, Hui praised him, nodding.
The boy sighed. As irritating as ever.
Could Senior perhaps enlighten this undeserving one with your na? Hui asked.
At that, the boy squinted. You dont rember? Ah. I suppose youre deteriorating. No one survives forever. Eventually, you, too, will be absorbed into the loop. And then He fell silent, a hand to his chin.
A mont later, he waved his hand. In any case, you can carry on calling the Golden Immortal. Its as good a na as any.
Hmm? Does he not want to forget and beco an ordinary mber of the loop? Senior, what do you want from ? Surely this small cultivator isnt worthy of such extre attention.
No. Truly, no.
Hui nodded. Reasonable.
However I think you know why Im interested in you.
Hui glanced at the boy. Im sure I dont. Senior, please enlighten .
The boy gave him a look. Hui returned the look unflinchingly. Even if I know, do you think Im going to tell you? Hi, Im the cops, do you know how fast you were going? No! I never know! Im not stupid. Im not going to incriminate myself! If Im wrong about why youre interested in , Im not going to tell you another reason to be interested in !
Haaaaa. The boy shook his head. After a long mont, he gestured Hui closer.
Hui stood still. Yeah I know it doesnt matter, but Im not entering arms reach, either. Theres a difference between it doesnt matter how close you are and standing close enough to touch.
With another sigh, the boy sat up straight. When I was born, I rembered all my mories from the realm of reincarnation. In that beauteous realm, I saw more. Not rely the reincarnation of this world, but of every world. Worlds far more fantastic than this one. Worlds cloaked in darkness, and worlds bathed in light.
Out of all of those worlds, one caught my eye. A world of shining steel, where even the buildings were clad in light. Where re mortals used magical techniques the most advanced cultivator would only dream of, and lived in luxury greater than the most powerful emperor. A world where
My world, Hui said, cutting him off. Theres not incriminating yourself, and theres having to listen to a villains entire life story monologue. I think I can go ahead and guess where this ones going.
The boy pointed at him. Indeed. I watched that world, and I marveled. Every night through my childhood, I dread of that world. Even as I beca a cultivator and ascended rapidly through the ranks, I still dread of that world. And yet, it remained tantalizingly out of my reach. No matter how much I learned, no matter how powerful I beca, I still could not enter that world.
And so, I thought why not create that world here?
Then, thats the mortal villages in the Immortal Realm, Hui guessed.
The boy pointed. Precisely. I thought Id simply recreate the conditions to create that world of yours here, and let it co to fruition on its own. However I dont know whats gone wrong. Is this world too stagnant? Do the people not dream of more? No matter what limitations I put on these people, no matter how much I try to recreate the world I saw in my dreams, I simply could not make it co true.
After centuries of failure, I had another thought. If I couldnt create the world I wanted, why not bring soone who could? Soone who saw that glittering realm of light and steel, who dread the sa dreams I did, who could bring it to reality. And so
And so, here I am, Hui said, putting his hands behind his back and nodding.
Indeed. It took far more effort than I thought. More than once, I gave it up as impossible. The spells I had to cast went counter to this worlds laws, its Dao, everything. But fortunately, there were other worlds, and cultivators who ca from other worlds to this one.
Chen Wuyas spirit-summoning array. But it was in the mortal realm, which you couldnt reach. So you had to manipulate re lower-realm cultivators to use the array for you, Hui said, nodding. I couldnt forget it if I wanted to. Terrorizing nonstop in the lower levels unpleasant, entirely unpleasant.
The boy looked at him. If you know, why did you pretend as if you didnt?
Hui waved his hand. Ah, no, no. Please, continue.
While that plan failed, I gained the knowledge of your presence and qi signature from that series of events, and thus, I was able to occasionally reach into the mortal realm and attempt to find you. It failed, as you well know, but at that point, I was able to monitor your growth. Although I never gave up on my attempts to capture you, I knew youd be coming to my realm sooner or later. And so, I waited.
Mmm, I see, Hui said, nodding.
The boys grip on the arm of his chair tightened. His knuckles went white. That was over five hundred years ago. Five hundred years of this abominable ga of cat and mouse. Please. Give up. Let realize my dream. All I want, is to bring your world here. To use you as an anchor to rge our worlds, and drag your world into this stagnant reality. Force the world to finally change and grow!
Hui stood upright. He looked the boy in the eye for the first ti. Respectfully, Senior? I refuse.
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