Ch 27 - Back to Tianming

Xu Ming took in the fresh air, enjoying the sensation of the calm breeze against his skin, tickling his pores and caressing his hair.

It was the first day in a very long time that he had not practiced his qi cultivation, body cultivation, or alchemy. The reason for this was because he discovered that he needed something called an array lodestone to carve the basic arrays, but the materials weren't available in the sect's stores.

Therefore, he had to make a trip back to Tianming City, where he could purchase some of his much needed supplies. But he wasn't just planning to visit the stores of Tianming City, and had plans to go visit his mother and uncle.

After all, although they had been in touch by mail for a while, it couldn't compare to the feeling of actually seeing each other. Xu Ming wanted to satisfy this crave of his, and then he would dedicate another few years into studious cultivation.

He got up with a start on his horse, and made his way towards Tianming. Although he was indeed an elder and had the right to use the sect's flying cranes, it was a bit of a hassle since it took a lot of energy to keep them fed and happy while at the same time protecting them from harm. Also, it wasn't easy to keep yourself balanced and was generally only used when you had attained the foundation establishment level.

For his purposes, Xu Ming believed a horse would suffice. By now, Xu Ming truly had nothing to fear in the mortal world, including attacks from beasts like the Blue Tailed Langurs. If they dared show their fangs at him again, Xu Ming wouldn't mind exterminating their entire tribe.

And thus, Xu Ming had been riding for nearly a day and a half, relaxing, and meditating on some scriptures when he heard a strange noise coming from a distant far place, near the open wheat fields.

Intrigued, he went to go check it out.

------

Out in the middle of a big wheat field.

Everything seemed normal, the sky was blue and the wheat was yellow. The birds ignored the scarecrows, and were perched on them blissfully.

Suddenly, a wave of crimson miasma surged forth from the middle of the field.

As soon as the miasma touched the birds, the flesh and wings on them completely evaporated, instantly vaporising the chirping birds, and corroding the wood of the scarecrows.

A dark portal from hell seemed to have opened just then, about 16 foot long, out of which emanated a dreadful aura.

Without warning, a figure was suddenly ejected from the portal.

The figure was a tall and charming young man, who seemed to have been abused terribly. A host of unsightly injuries were prevalent on his fair skin, and there was a great deal of blood flowing from his head, as if something had been torn out from it.

Another man hastily stepped out from the portal. The man had the all the charm of a noble, but an unmistakable dreadful aura filled his presence, and the two prominent horns of his head made it clear that he wasn't a normal human.

"You imbecile. You disgrace, you absolute excuse of an idiot, do you know your crimes?", rage filled the man's face as he cursed at the young man who was on the verge of death.

"I would still make the same choice, father. Neither you nor the clan elders can control me and my fate.", the young man spat out some blood before calmly speaking.

"Even if that meant your death? You willful bastard?", the man cursed.

"Even if Hades himself tortured me.", the young man proclaimed as he stared at his poor excuse of a father.

Hearing this, the man kicked his son straight in the head, prompting him to cough blood again.

"How can you casually take the Supreme Lord's name? Fine, you just won't learn. I've taught you time and time again, but you insist on rebelling. From this day onwards, you are no longer part of the noble Suri Devil Bloodline. You will bleed to death in this lowly mortal world, and you will die all alone, surrounded by no one. Your worth will be the same as the pieces of shit around you. You will no longer be my, Bie Suri's son."

"I give you one last chance, repent!", the man shouted as he looked at this defiant son of his.

The boy mumbled something, but the man couldn't hear it.

"Huh? What was that?", the man asked as he got closer.

The young man spit blood on his father's face and said, "I said, rot to death, you sorry excuse of a scumbag!"

The man wiped the blood off of his face and looked at his son with rage.

"Fine, have it your way. From today, under the witness of the Abyss, I no longer have a son.", the man said as he summoned a small imp from a bundle of mud that was lying around.

"Bind him up and leave him to dry out in this shithole. I don't care if he dies, he's nobody to me."

The man seemed to have vented his rage, took one last look at his dying son with disappointment, and stepped back into the portal, after which it closed for good.

The imp followed the man's order and crucified the boy in a cruel manner, and wandered off into the wild after making sure everything was well done.

The young man reminisced the events of the past week and closed his eyes for good, forcing back his tears, knowing he might really die this time.

Days and nights passed by.

One week after another, like a statue, the hardy young man's body was tarnished beyond repair, but his mind was still active, counting the days before his death would arrive to free him.

Over the winter, he wondered why he hadn't perished yet. It must have been the despicable bloodline inside of him, the bloodline he hated the most. Ironically, it was what was keeping him alive all this time, even without food or water.

Now, it had been nearly 8 months since he was strung up on this makeshift pole.

The young man's psyche had long gone into hibernation, but suddenly, he opened his eyes.

"Day 235.", the young man muttered.

Suddenly, he heard a noise trodding by, and even in his shock, he hoarsely screamed, hoping his torn up vocal chords wouldn't fail him.

It was weak, it was horrible. But it seemed to have convinced the trodding noise to stop.

He continued screaming, even as his throat tore up.

Luckily, it worked. A young boy came out of the tall wheat and looked at him, surprised.

"Well, you don't look to be in quite a good condition.", the boy spoke.

As he spoke, the boy took out some water and bread from his rucksack and gave it to the young man, who hastily devoured it.

"Calm down, young man. It won't disappear. Now, tell me your name?", the young boy asked.

The young boy asked as he took out a few bandages and started wrapping the wounds up, which had been scarred deep at this point.

The young man gasped after he finished his meal and said, "Thank you, my benefactor. My name is Cang Suri-- No, my name is just Cang."

The boy looked deeply into his eyes but didn't question it. Perhaps he was thinking of something, or maybe he didn't care. Ming couldn't make it out clearly.

"Nice to meet you, Cang. My name is Xu Ming, and I'm an elder of the Ming Sword Sect. Mind telling me what happened to you?"

The young man named Cang shook his head and seemed to be in pain thinking about it, and so Xu Ming did not press him on it.

Instead he asked, "Well, do you at least have anywhere to go? Or any place that I can drop you off at?"

The young man looked troubled and said, "I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about this place. If I may, could I stay by your side for a few days while I figure everything out? I promise, I'll pay everything back. Tenfold."

Xu Ming merely chuckled and said, "I can accompany you till the next town. I'm afraid I have many troubles to undertake there, and I can't keep you company for long. But I can tell you everything about the general situation and escort you till we reach Tianming City. From there, you can perhaps look into getting a job as a waiter until you can figure everything out."

Xu Ming extended his hand towards Cang, who finally let go of his pensive expression and smiled lightly at Xu Ming as he took Xu Ming's hand and got off the ground.

"Thank you, Xu Ming. I-I didn't expect that there could be such good people in the world.", Cang admitted with a hint of moroseness in his tone.

Xu Ming raised an eyebrow but merely shrugged it off, "There's good and bad everywhere, I think. How you deal with it is the more important part. Besides, building good karma has never been a bad practice since the ancient times."

Cang lightly smiled and nodded at Xu Ming, perhaps affirming his words.

Xu Ming took Cang back to his horse and put him on the back of the horse, and got up with a start.

Kicking the reins, he began rapidly making his way towards Tianming.