Chapter 20: Shadows

For many people, the feeling of being followed, especially at night, is not uncommon. However, ninety nine times out of a hundred, the sensation can be summed up as paranoia.

No, unfortunately the true ability to know when one was being followed could only be earned from one having a life constantly in danger and narrowly surviving such encounters.

Just as he had noticed Pen Yushui's surprise attack against Ying Yue earlier that morning, Eric could feel the presence of several people, on rooftops and alleyways, keeping a steady pace with him.

The only things that kept Eric from attacking or hiding were the fact that he didn't think they meant him harm and his lack of knowledge regarding their strength. His current cultivation had already raised his senses to a degree the was impossible to reach in his previous life. Yet these pursuers made no noise, left no scent and stayed perfectly out of sight.

'I wonder who would take interest in a nobody like me...'

It didn't matter, honestly. He was either strong enough to fight his way out, which was unlikely. Or he was weak enough that this many men could only be seen as overkill, which was most likely.

'There can only be three, no. Four reasons why someone would be interested in me...'

The first being his inexplicable orgin and appearance. He had long since been shocked at how moderate the village had taken his arrival. Perhaps it was more of a show than he thought?

'No, there would be more to gain from steakouts and observing me over a long period of time...'

Eric let loose a yawn that he had been stifling for some time now.

'Real yawns are impossible to imitate under a critical eye.'

The second reason would be his sudden growth in cultivation. This clan was subservient to the Lightning Sect, after all. It would make sense that the Qianggong family, at least, would be severely loyal to the Lightning Sect. Sending a few spies to ensure he wasn't hiding some lucky chance wouldn't be too outlandish.

'But what could I possibly have acquired in a village of strangers? Oh. Number three.'

The third reason, went hand in hand with the second; the possibility of the Primeval Boar he had killed having a primeval core. If someone suspected him of keep one for himself... it would make more sense to track his wearabouts and either confirming his innocence or killing him when the object in question was inevitably discovered.

'I hate how close that one lands in the possible category.'

He was lucky to notice these pursuers, if that was the case.

The cultivation dormitory had finally come in to view. It's simple structure was one of the largest in village and housed the Thunder clan's large number of young future laborers.

It reminded him of a detention center.

'Now if the the logical options turn out to be incorrect, that leaves door number four.'

The fourth option was the least likely. Ying Yue. Or rather, his proximity to her.

'She did say that she had many suitors in her glory days.'

It was impossible for anyone in the village to employ these skilled trackers. Especially since their distain was mostly based on superstition. Nevermind the possible cost of such cultivators.

As he ascended the quiet stairs he threw that option out of his mind.

But if it was someone from the inner court...

'I'd say impossible, since cultivators value strength over all. But the hearts of men are quite unpredictable, in my experience.'

It was within the realm of possibility that someone had found themselves love struck and were seeking out ways to undo the curse on Ying Yue. Eric imagined that an inner court disciple, at the very minimum, made what Qianggong Zhufu Feng earned yearly every month.

'So if a young prodigy used their resources to keep tabs on her while they sought a solution, I could see them being ordered to keep an eye on me. Even if Ying Yue and I are currently only friends...'

As Eric walked through the doors and traveled down the halls, he decided that worrying would change nothing and began ignoring the tingle in his mind that was alerting him. If someone that strong wanted him dead, he would be powerless to stop them.

'Let them waste their manpower over nothing.'

The weight on his shoulders vanished with that thought and he had to force himself to not show his inner relief. He wasn't going to give his pursuers a clue to his knowledge of them, that would be suspicious enough to warrant an engagement that he was nowhere near prepared for.

Pace unbroken, tune unchanged, Eric made his way down the side hall that housed the male cultivators. The noise of his whistling caused the occasional head to pop out in anger, only for them to either immediately receed in fear or remain stuck in shock.

'News travels fast huh.'

Eric didn't worry too much about disturbing his neighbors. If a little whistling was enough to disturb them, then they obviously weren't in a cultivation trance and were most likely wasting the night away.

Ying Yue's distain for her people's laziness left a deep impact on him. He couldn't resent these people for their comfortable lifestyles simply because he was brought in by them. It was a simple thing that he did not take lightly.

He could still be frustrated, however.

Eric stopped whistling as he arrived at his door. Bracing himself for whatever display of laziness or misguided superiority his overweight dormmate had in store for him.

'...'

There, on Eric's roommate's bed, sitting lotus, was a serene faced Xiang Jian. There was a fully formed fourth cloud on his cloud badge, leaving Eric stunned and impressed. This fatty was indeed talented, by this village's standards.

Eric elected to stay as quiet as possible while heading to his own bed. He checked under his pillow and saw the Emperor's Body cultivation scroll still there, unmoved from were he had left it days before. Letting out a light sigh of relief, Eric pulled back his covers and- "Snort!"

'...'

Rage caused a vein to protrude on Eric's forehead. He turned around to look back at his serene faced dormmate. He stared, unbreathing, for what seemed like minutes, before he witnessed that gaint mouth slowly open and fill with drool, while those wide nostrils flaired and stucked in a massive amount air. Then, suddenly, "Snort!" and the mouth was closed again, as if nothing ever happened.

'This son of a-'

Eric looked around for Xiang Jian's nearest shoe, only to discover that they were still on the bastards feet.

'Clever.'

Eric looked around the room in haste. Time was of the essence. His eyes landed on Xiang Jian's pillow.

'Perfect.'

He grabbed the ridiculously fluffy pillow, passively remembering that Xiang Jian was from a wealthy mortal merchant family on one of the lower levels, and began to utilize the whole strength of his perfect Strength Training cultivation base to roll, twist and then crush the pillow to its limits.

He finished in time as that giant maw opened yet again. Without a second thought, Eric stood in front of Xiang Jian and threw the pillow-ball directly into the sleeping loaf's face trap with enough force to knock him backwards into his bed.

"Snor-hmph! Mmm!! Gah! Cough! Cough! W-w-what is happening!!!"

Eric had watched as the pillow had expanded rapidly in Xiang Jian's mouth, stretching it even further than normal and adding even more confusion to the poor disoriented sap.

He saw his dormmate pull the drenched pillow out of his mouth and was grinning ear to ear by the time Xiang Jian had the wherewithal to start shouting.

Xiang Jian had looked around the dark room frantically twice before he noticed Eric's amused face. "E-Eric!?", he said, "You again! You could have killed me just now! Did you not see me cultivating?"

"So you snore when you cultivate?"

Xiang Jian looked as if an arrow had pierced his side, "Uh um, that. Well you see... Anyway. I can't believe you actually came back here, seeing as", he glanced at Eric's glowing red badge, "you've already reached peak Strength Training."

Eric was mildly stunned at the sudden change but decided not to get hung up on it.

'Probably suddenly remembered our difference in strength.'

"Yeah well, I still have no money, or a way to progress my cultivation past Strength Training without the next scroll for Flesh Training. Plus I could use some pointers from the classes, if they're worth going to, at least."

Xiang Jian nodded as he tossed his ruined pillow into the corner, "I see, well the dorms are technically available as long as you're either within the Strength Training realm or under twenty so..." he produced a pillow from the compartment under his bed, "I guess it's not a bad idea. Until the chief puts you to work, at least."

"Excuse me?"

Xiang Jian fluffed his pillow before placing it at the head of his bed, before leaning on it with his elbow and saying, "Yeah, you didn't know? As long as you're over sixteen and you have at least six clouds, you'll be recruited for either the ironwood or the mining crew. It's part of the agreement for accommodations and resources."

At a loss of words, Eric laid down on his bed and stared at his ceiling.

'Well, hell.'

...