Cultivation System: Elder Edition

Chapter 337

Truths and Lies (XXIII)

I stared down at the harshly mangled body of Lu Yawen, yet despite missing both her arms, having both her knees bent in odd directions, and not having one facial feature that wasn't utterly destroyed... she was alive.

Deeply unconscious, but alive.

"We have a few more here!!" That was Rayce, prompting me to look back and see him drag out two bodies from a nearby, demolished house. "One is alive!"

Without missing a beat, I leapt over and pulled out a healing pill from my ring; the alive one was a rather young girl, perhaps sixteen at most. She was just barely breathing, her chest clearly caved in from where a stone fell.

I gently pulled her lips apart and put the pill in, using a slight flicker of Qi to melt it. Per Lao Shun's advice, I had to use the worst quality of pills, as these were all ordinary people, and their bodies would literally explode under the onslaught of Qi if they swallowed higher-tier pills.

"Leave her here for now to heal a bit," I said. "Take the other with the rest."

"Master, you should rest a bit. It's already been three hours--"

"--it's fine," I interrupted, perhaps a bit too harshly, but Rayce simply shot me a sympathetic look before carrying the dead man and leaving.

I don't want to wallow, but brooding has become me once more. It's honestly kind of nostalgic, as it reminds me a lot of myself back on Earth, especially toward the end of my life there, strangely.

I'd become quite curt and abrasive, even within the most normal interactions, and I fear I'm kind of slipping back.

Haah.

Even Heart-Stitching Art was at best dulling it a bit as it didn't really work against being human but being overwhelmed.

Regardless, I turned over to the sludge that was the woman; I had no intention of saving her. Had she not stepped forth, there was (there wasn't) the slightest chance that we may have come out of this without wrecking yet another city and causing at least hundreds to die.

I took out my sword, crouched next to her, and drove it into where I thought her heart was. Her breathing stilled as her body spasmed for a moment before it went completely limp, the Qi of life vanishing.

Just then, a stream of notifications assailed my view, covering it almost completely. I was just about to start reading through them when Dai Xiu's voice came barreling from the back.

"Master, we've covered the entire city! Master Shun has asked us to go to the temporary clinic he set up!"

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I stood up, temporarily dismissing the windows, and took a deep breath.

I've wallowed enough. It's fine to occasionally indulge in a binge of self-pity; it's healthy even for some nice introspection, but I've felt what it's like to drown in it, and it was one of the worst things I've ever had to live through.

Feeling helpless is one thing, but I actually do have the tools to change that, however little. Bit by bit, in due time, I, too, will be swinging my sword around rather than spectating from the back.

... I hope.

The 'clinic' Lao Shun set up was nestled against one of the few standing buildings near the lake itself. It was a small set of cloth-covered rooms where the line had already assembled that was over two hundred yards long. It was mostly scrapes and some cuts, with the more critical folk immediately being shepherded into the rooms and fed whatever pill he thought was the best.

I went inside immediately, where he was currently showing Xing Feng how to bandage the external wounds.

"Don't press too hard," Lao Shun said, guiding the boy's hand. "Just hard enough to ensure the wound doesn't leak."

"Yes, Master Lao!" Xing Feng listened and carefully wrapped the rather strange-looking bandage around the wound on the calf.

"How's it going?" I came up and asked.

There was a set of eight beds, all populated with varying levels of hurt, mostly with ordinary people as cultivators, even the weaker ones, had bolted at the very first sign of trouble.

"Not the best, not the worst," he said. "I don't think I've treated a mortal in over four hundred years."

"Well, I appreciate it," I said. "I know you're doing it because of my whims."

"... do you feel guilty?"

"Of course. You don't?"

"Hm," he mulled over it for a moment. "You are young, I suppose. But the simple truth is that the mortals who mingle where cultivators live are knowingly putting their lives in danger, all for the purpose of hope."

"That they'll become cultivators, too?"

"Yes. I don't think it's fair that they die so purposelessly, but I also don't think you should don the mantle of guilt."

"Well, I am young, as you say." I smiled. "So I can't help it. I keep thinking, if we just hadn't come here..."

"Yes. Perhaps all of them would be alive and fine. But in seeking higher purpose, the Heavens understand, Qi; today, we have somehow managed to kill a True God, one that had been feeding the city's blood to the vine. It's a cause for celebration--but also a cause for worry."

"Will the word spread?"

"... something odd I've noticed is that... none of the cultivators are quite certain what exactly happened."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"They know that somebody defeated and killed the city lord, and that, in the process, the city itself was ruined, but... they don't think it's us." So, it really did do it. How? It's beyond me. "Looks like you have an inkling as to why."

"Do I? I wonder..."

"Hah," he scoffed, just as Xing Feng finished wrapping the bandage. "Must have been some hidden Sage helping us, then."

"Must have been."

"Good job, Feng'er," Lao Shun said, patting the boy. "Alright, let the next one in. What are you going to do now?" he asked me. What was I going to do? Get through the novel of notifications that I have in the backlog.

"Rest," I said. "We'll probably have to leave by nightfall."

"Definitely leave by nightfall. Where are we going?"

"North," I said. "There's a realm that's waiting for us."

Leaving behind the cryptic message, I went deep inside the house where I saw Long Tao lying on the bed. According to Lao Shun, there was a bit of a war ongoing in him--he was being repeatedly wrecked by some strange energy that even the alchemist couldn't recognize, and then there was the art that I created that was healing him just enough to keep him alive.

Instead of feeding him any pills and chancing a disruption of that delicate balance, he just plopped him onto the bed and left him alone in a somewhat dreary and dry room.

Luckily, nobody else was here--a perfect place to sift through what, hopefully, will make this rather cloudy day just a tad bit sunnier.