How will people react when a tall woman with purple hair appears walking, leaving behind three blue-skinned men with resentful expressions?
The answer is this:
“It’s a vengeful spirit eaten by beasts, a vengeful spirit!”
“Namu Amitabha Guan Yin Bodhisattva”
“In the name of the Primordial Heavenly Lord, I command you, monster, begone!”
As if seeing a ghost, people hide behind buildings and aim various tools this way. At least those with religion are seen chanting spells…
Seeing that it has no effect at all, it doesn’t seem to be a special spell.
I looked around the village. It’s a village with nothing particularly special.
It’s full of mediocre people who can’t be called good or evil.
In a more developed society, these would be the people who truly eat others, but in this era, they’re close to common folk.
At most, gathering to ruin one family?
That’s too little warmth.
If I’m going to do something, it’s better to go to a slightly larger village.
Retracing memories, it’s not that far to the next city. So I passed through the murmuring people and headed straight for the next city.
Unlike here, which is a village or hamlet, it’s a place where the government’s administrative power reaches to some extent, called a city.
So I don’t stay in this village, but head straight to the next village.
The three men stopped in that village and started talking about what they would do next. Since I’m watching in real-time anyway, they and I parted ways in this village.
The three of them plan to return to their respective sects to explain that the vice leader stole the treasure and ran away, and to make the vice leader pay for his crimes.
They make vows full of hatred, saying they must receive compensation for the lives of the dead sect members.
From my perspective, it’s very unreliable.
Seeing that they said they would return to their sects, it seems they want to return to a safe place first.
Unfortunately, it will be easier to stab than to return.
Why do they think they can return to their sects?
Their skin has turned blue, and their hair has turned purple.
Until now, only Heavenly Demon had blue skin, so they won’t be suspected of being from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult just for having blue skin.
But they will be suspected of whether they’re human or not.
However, after deciding to return to their sects, instead of parting ways immediately, they discussed how to return.
And after saying it would be better to avoid people’s gazes while looking at each other’s skin, they said goodbye and each headed into the forest.
I feel disappointed that they’re not immediately going to kill Five Mountains Sect Vice Leader Jung Chiljin, but that can’t be helped.
Well, thinking about it, Jung Chiljin’s status is higher right now. It would be difficult for something big to happen just because blue-changed people barge in and say a few words.
There’s a high chance they’ll just die being dismissed as nonsense from the demonic cult.
In any case, it’s not a bad thing for me if they return to their sects instead of chasing the vice leader. The further they move, the better.
As people gather, a large flow will be created. I don’t have the brains to figure out where the flow is heading, but I know people will gather.
I can think about it after that.
While organizing what I’ll do next and what I want to do next, I completely leave the village and climb a long hill.
If I climb this hill and go down, there’s a large city with wide fields and stone walls ahead.
Although Kunlun is still far away, even after walking for a long time…
Let’s go.
* * *
I arrived at the big city.
But a problem occurred.
I was refused entry into the city. They say outsiders like me can’t enter carelessly.
It’s close to saying foreigners are not welcome.
Although it’s natural to be wary of strangers, I didn’t expect to be refused by soldiers who clearly look like they’re from the government.
Since I’m not interested in this side right now, I’ll have to go around.
However, this isn’t just a city with a few buildings, but according to the faded man’s memory standards, it’s like a whole city, so I have to go around for quite a while.
I take a detour.
There are slums like tent villages stretching outside the city walls too. It’s a place where you don’t know what will happen if you just go.
If it wasn’t me, that is.
I walk through alleys that are old, dirty, and have almost no straight paths.
I thought something would happen right away, but surprisingly, the people around just whisper and make way, no one lays a hand on me.
Then that’s fine with me.
And after walking for a day, when the sun had completely set.
I stopped walking.
I’m hungry, but there’s nothing to eat.
While walking thinking it would be nice if there was a place selling food in a place like this, I found a faint smell of food.
When I went straight towards it, a quite spacious open area appears between buildings.
Shabby tents are pitched around, and a few dim bonfires are set up with people sitting around drinking alcohol.
And on one side, they’re selling food close to junk food.
“What are you selling?”
“There’s no food here fit for a martial artist like you…”
The woman trails off and subtly steps back. She’s old enough to be called an old woman, but her actual age isn’t that high. It’s just that her face has been hit hard by the years from living roughly.
“I eat anything. Ah, did I not have money?”
Come to think of it, I wasn’t carrying anything like money.
“Who would use coins in a place like this. It’s things like field mice or scorpions, so you’d better go somewhere else if possible.”
“With scorpions. Spiders too, they’re somewhat edible.”
If I don’t have money, I can make gold, right?
Of course, it would be a disaster for this person, but what can I do? I can create an opportunity to cause a commotion along with eating.
I picked up a stone fallen on the street, then crushed reality and changed it to gold.
Crack.
Faint cracks appear in the air.
It should be fine to patch it with gold from now on too.
I handed that directly to the woman.
“It’s gold.”
“Are you, an immortal?”
The woman is startled and touches the gold as if mesmerized, with an expression asking if this is real. And the noisy sounds of people drinking around disappeared.
Without a sound, countless gazes are directed here.
“No. I’m not an immortal.”
I took some edible food and ate. The human body needs calories. The nutritional value is a bit lacking, but if I eat a lot, I can sufficiently fill the calories I need right now.
“Will you drink a bottle of alcohol at least?”
“No. I don’t need alcohol. Is this water?”
While watching the woman nod, I’m eating the food placed in front, when people stealthily approach.
“Hey, you. If you can just give away gold like that, won’t you give us some charity too? Huh?”
Most are short and thin. But even those with some bulk have only their bellies protruding, perhaps due to nutritional imbalance.
“Do you want gold?”
“Yeah!”
So I picked up a stone from the ground and placed it on his hand.
Whoosh, thud.
“Are you joking now!”
The man throws the stone and glares at me with his face close. Threatening actions are similar everywhere.
Well, I don’t need to worry much about cracking in this world.
So I turned his limbs to gold.
Crack.
Dark cracks appeared in all directions. I can’t change any more as there’s a risk of breaking if I go further, but this is enough.
“Uh, uwaaaaah!”
“It’s the gold humans wanted.”
The man screamed and fell to the ground. It can’t be helped since his arms and legs that need to move to maintain balance turned to gold.
I decided to instigate chaos here.
Pure gold is softer than you might think.
So I grabbed the fallen man’s fingers, twisted and tore them off.
It’s a piece of pure gold. I threw it into the center where people were most gathered. The people around rush in screaming that it’s theirs as if bewitched.
Watching that, I say this:
“There’s a lot of gold here, why are you fighting over that?”
Yes.
Now the face of the man whose limbs turned to gold has turned pale white. Because the gazes of the people around have become extremely sharp.
In this era. In this place, human life is nothing.
And by chance, there’s gold that’s good for mining?
Soon, like prey being torn apart by a pack of wolves, one person is torn to pieces.
From the scene of madness covered in blood and gold, I said goodbye to the shop owner and came out. And I approached the man who was dying with his limbs torn off.
His eyes are rolled back white, and he’s lost a lot of blood, on the verge of death.
“The gold is yours, why are others taking it? I’ll help so that those who should have it can have it.”
I plant an easy-to-understand target of hostility. In reality, it’s the act of someone who gives the disease then the medicine, treating people like fools.
But in a situation mixed with such madness, how many people can think properly?
“I will give myself to you. In exchange, when you finish everything later, I’ll take everything you have then. How about it?”
And I immediately recited the contract text.
Even if consciousness isn’t straight, this contract text is embedded in people.
The man immediately contracted, and as his skin cracked like pottery, a man with bright blue skin emerged. Of course, his arms and legs grew anew.
He looks up at me with a face mixed with fear and awe. He seems scared of what I’ll do. But his consciousness is already sufficiently ripe.
So I said this:
“Now, do what you want to do.”
After saying that, I abandoned him and left that place.
A moment later.
From behind, I hear many mixed sounds: a man shouting to give back his gold, people refusing to give it up, and people rushing to take gold from those refusing, and so on.
I hope he survives as long as possible, and that blue people are revealed everywhere along with appropriate chaos.
Until catching up to the people who returned to their respective sects.
Whoosh
Eventually, a fire broke out behind. In a place like this, if a big fire occurs, it should be extinguished immediately, but who would care when there’s an easy-to-understand wealth like gold in front?
What if the gold is stolen while putting out the fire?
Or if you can steal gold taking advantage of this opportunity now?
Someone else will do it.
Someone will put out the fire.
That will fuel the fire. Until it becomes impossible to extinguish. When that happens, people inside the city walls will have to come out too.
Even if the flames can’t climb over the city walls, toxic gas is different, right?
Trudge, trudge.
I walk towards Mount Kunlun.