Awakening

"Gahhh... Eugh... you... fucking..."

Shen Yuan could barely utter any words as his throat was mauled by the woman. On top of that, their body was shriveling up as Xue Lan's black aura siphoned his life and power away from her.

They were still in the treetops before The dying cultivator could no longer stand, falling flat on the ground. Their eyes were lifeless as Xue Lan feasted away at his body.

At the end of it, the glow of her eyes dimmed down as she finished her meal, leaving nothing but skin and bones.

Xue Lan merely sat beside the corpse before fainting, the black aura that seeped out of her body dissipated. Her body laying beside the one she had killed. And the woman fell into a deep sleep.

It was dark and quiet, the ghastly sounds of their chase were no longer heard.

But the sun would rise up and soon enough Xue Lan awakened. Turning around, groaning as she did so, the woman sat up, clutching her head tightly.

"Agh, ugh, what... what happened? My head..." she muttered to herself.

Opening her eyes, she looked around, finding herself in a dense forest. Small beams of sunlight shined through the gaps within the leaves, settling on her face, and bringing a feeling of warmth to her.

She was very quiet, unconsciously enjoying this sliver of peace.

Looking away, her gaze trailed down until she saw Shen Yuan's body beside her.

"Heee!! What... What is this?! Did I... did I do this?"

Seeing the shriveled body, she crawled back only to look down at herself and see the blood staining her clothes. Her eyes widened and her face was white. She saw several holes in her clothes where she had been stabbed. Moving to touch them, she found not even a trace of injury.

In an instant the memories of last night came to her, it dawned on her and the look of realization was there. Her eyes just switched between her and the corpse, trying to digest everything. The pain in her head pounded incessantly.

"Agggh!"

She groaned, trying to bear the pain but it felt like war drums beating in her head. And it only grew louder and louder until she started screaming and then it stopped. In an instant, the pain was gone and Xue Lan heard silence.

Taking her hands away from her head, the woman looked around. Her face showed nothing but fear and confusion. Her hair was an utter mess and her clothes were ripped and covered in dried blood. Taking another look, she stared at Shen Yuan's corpse and crawled forward.

Without any hesitation, the woman searched through the corpse, looking for anything of use.

Her eyes were a little crazed, obsessive even. After all, the was the person that caused her to do such heinous acts. The one that turned her into this monster. There had to be something to help her.

Taking everything but his clothes, Xue Land saved the spatial ring for last. Partially because she knew that it would hold the most important thing but also because she didn't know how to use it.

Holding the ring up to her eyes, she looked at it curiously.

"How do I use this?" she wondered to herself.

It was a silver ring with a large gem on top. The woman pressed her finger on it but nothing happened.

"What if I put it on?"

She furrowed her brows as the ring slipped onto one of her fingers and then her eyes widened with surprise.

Xue Lan felt something within her, some sort of force stirring inside her body. Immediately, she looked at herself and took off the ring. But the feeling didn't disappear, instead, it continued to move, coursing through the veins of her body.

"This is... spiritual energy?"

She wasn't sure, after all, she was an ordinary mortal before this and she was past the age to cultivate too. She knew next to nothing about cultivators other than that they were god-like individuals with powers beyond her imagination.

Her mind continued to race.

"If this is spiritual energy, then am I a cultivator? So the ring, I should be able to activate it, right?" she asked herself.

Putting the ring on again, she felt the spiritual energy in her body, focusing on it. Bit by bit, she moved it towards the spiritual ring until a small stream made its connection.

The ring suddenly glowed and Xue Lan pointed it outward, taking out everything within it. Moments later, there was a pile of things in front of her. From books to weapons to clothes, there was a variety in what was available but they all seemed to have a strange aura around them.

"What is all this?"

Taking out one thing after another, she separated them into piles, one with books, one with equipment, and one with any strange trinkets. In spite of that, there was nothing but confusion on the woman's face.

"There's nothing here, nothing that can help me", she muttered.

In the end, Xue Lan sat back, staring at the organized items. Her eyes went down to her hands where she was still wearing the nail guards. They were dirty, covered in blood, and caked in dust.

"I really did all those things. I ate... my own husband and son. I killed all of those people. It feels like a nightmare that's come true. I remember it all but it all felt like a dream, was that truly me?"

In the span of a day, someone like her had committed sin after sin and now had this wretched power. She covered her face with both hands, crying quietly to herself. She was a complete and utter mess but what else could she be?

Pulling her hands apart, her face was shown and there was a twisted expression there. Her eyes widened with tears running down her face, and the corners of her mouth were curved downward.

And then the crying turned to laughter.

"What's the point?! Why am I still alive?! Why?!" she laughed a miserable laugh.

Her arms fell by her side as she looked down at the ground. The crying and the laughter stopped, and she was quiet once more.

"There must be a reason for me being here. To give me this power now... I must use it! Yes, I need to take revenge, vengeance on those that wrong me!"

She looked up, her eyes were wide open, the insanity slowly culminating as a wicked smile formed.

"That's it! Revenge! That is the only reason!" she muttered.

She then turned towards the items left behind by Shen Yuan before looking at their corpse.

"Perhaps I should thank you for such an opportunity", she said to it, "You've given me a new path to follow."

Xue Lan crawled towards the pile, taking a much closer look at what she had. She might not directly benefit but surely, they had some use for her.

"There must be something that can help me."

She sat there cross-legged, going through the books first before the items. It took her all day and night to read and re-examine everything. And since she was done, the ragged woman picked out a fresh set of clothes from Shen Yuan's belongings.

"Hm, this looks good enough", she muttered

Her torn and bloodied clothes were replaced with a rather revealing breastplate, gold and crimson robes, some trousers, and new shoes. But her face and hair were still a mess, she needed to get it cleaned.

Putting everything back into the spatial ring, Xue Lan stood up and walked aimlessly through the wilderness, searching for a pond or a stream of water.

It didn't take long for her to hear the sound of splashing water as she came upon a small river.

"Ah, there we are."

She smiled, walking towards it before noticing something standing by the edge, looking around with a blank stare. It was a deer, a small one at that. It stood very still as if waiting for something before turning its attention back to the river, drinking the cold water.

"And I found my dinner."

Xue Lan grinned before leaping forward. With her hand outstretched, she pierced the deer's body and grabbed what felt like the heart, pulling it out.

It was still beating in her hand, the blood dripped from the black nail guards. Her prey was dead in an instant, dropping to the ground. Blood quickly pooled around its body as some of it flowed into the river, giving it a hint of red.

And while the heart was still fresh, she consumed it, dirtying her face even more before moving the deer away to clean.

Once finished, she stared at the river, finally seeing what she looked like.

"Ah, my hair is such a mess. Though... my eyes... were they always this color?"

She had a confused look, finding her vibrant red eyes strange. However, she couldn't recall such details and shrugged it off.

"It doesn't matter, they do look quite pretty though."

Xue Lan knelt down, taking a closer look at her eyes. She spent a few moments admiring them before undressing herself.