Chapter 258

  Darkness (IX)

  "I was recruited just shy of six hundred years ago," the man began, squeezing words between his teeth. "At first, I was merely a sweeper. After a few years, I was tasked with collecting tithes from the nearby villages. That was when I learned, however, that I wasn't in an ordinary sect. Tithes weren't of gold or goods, but sacrifices. For every ten people in the village, one would have to be sacrificed.

  "Every day, I'd cart anywhere between five to fifteen people from the surrounding hills and mountains to the sect, where I'd be given a few Spirit Stones for each. Bit by bit, I'd made enough to reach the Foundation Establishment on my own and was accepted as a Disciple."

  Long Tao listened patiently, though he wasn't quite sure why the man was giving him a full history of his life. Was he planning on talking until he drew his last breath?

  "I will say that, even after almost six hundred years, I'm still... just an Outer Disciple."

  "Oh? You're that pathetic?"

  "Nonsense!!" the man growled. "Anywhere else, I'd have been considered a pup to rear! A true prodigy! But they... they don't care about talent. All those kids who died? They all had at least Heavenly Roots."

  "What do they want, then?" Long Tao exclaimed softly, feeling a tinge more surprised.

  "I..."

  "You don't know? And you spent 600 years serving them?"

  "..."

  "Wow. I don't know whether to be impressed by your loyalty or confounded by your stupidity."

  "Hah! I'd rather be the servant of true gods than a false god of vermin! Do you think besting me matters at all?! Or interrupting our plans a couple of times?! Hah! If they truly wanted you dead, you'd have died a long time ago! The world is vast, and you merely a buzzing fly they don't care to correct!"

  Long Tao learned a very important thing--the man knew nothing of importance. That was likely why he was allowed to yap like mad. There were probably eyes behind his that were laughing at him, at this display of utter obedience. Yes, it was the false sort, born of dual fear--fear of death and fear of the Sages--but obedience nonetheless.

  At the very least, he began to understand a few vague things; they likely had the means of increasing one's natural talents. There was no way to field dozens of kids with Heavenly Roots with such ease in this corner of the world. Even Long Tao himself would need decades, if not centuries, of setup just to barely start it.

  How were they doing it?

  There were hundreds of ways to change one's natural talents. Rather, the question was just how low quality and unstable those roots were. After all, none of the kids had ever displayed combat prowess matching their supposed talents. With Heavenly Roots, they broadly matched Dai Xiu and Xi Zhao and Wan Lan, yet those three could obliterate them all by the handful rather than one by one.

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  It was likely the same as it was with his Master's cultivation--a mask hiding the unhinged rot beneath. A pretty clever mask, but a mask nonetheless.

  "You still didn't tell me why you're here."

  "... we're looking for the Garden."

  "Ah." Long Tao exclaimed softly, almost grinning in disbelief. "You lot really don't have the faintest idea of what this place is, do you?"

  "And you do?"

  "... there are 21 Heavens," Long Tao said. "Though how many worlds exist between the membranes, even the Emperors do not know. If I were you," he added, grabbing the sword. "I'd run. Run as far away from this one as possible, into one of those deserted worlds bereft of life."

  "What are you talking about?! Have you gone mad?!" the man growled as Long Tao walked up, the look in his eyes detached and cold.

  "If I catch you," he swung. "You will never die."

  A head flew cleanly as he withdrew the sword, the edge disappearing into the membrane of reality. The body toppled sideways and was, within a few seconds, entirely consumed by the tiny tendrils jutting out from the roots.

  There was rage burning in his heart like a furnace watching it--not because he felt anything for the man, but because he was repeatedly reminded of those ghouls who were one of the leaders of the union chasing him.

  To think they'd stretched their fangs this far out--no...

  He took a deep breath and calmed down. This wasn't them so much as it was those that learned from them.

  Looking around, he was still a bit struck with the perfection of this place. Even within their own gardens, they would have never been able to conjure up something this perfect. There were always flaws, failures, and shortcomings; this place, however... it was divinely carved.

  It was old, almost ancient, but the odd bit was that Long Tao didn't recall it being here. In his memories, this place was an endless plain of gold, the Empire's borderless farmland.

  The other odd bit was that he couldn't tell when it appeared here. Examination was faulty, as it only revealed the age of the place, not its history.

  He ignored the now-buried body and turned to leave, heading back to the group.

  Was there a garden somewhere in this forsaken place? Possibly.

  But that garden likely had no treasures, as this place's purpose would have never needed any treasures. The only thing the garden might have was the progenitor, if the poor thing was still alive.

  By the time he returned, the fighting was already over, with the bodies having likely been swallowed up by the forest. The kids were passionately discussing something, while the alchemist seemed to be reexamining all his beliefs.

  The odd one out was his Master, who was still crouching by a patch of moss, pulling it apart and then covering it, going from one patch to another and doing the exact same thing.

  "What are you doing, Master?"

  "Aaah!!" the man yelped and jumped in shock, and Long Tao felt his breathing turn clearer. "Dammit, Long Tao! Will you ever stop doing it?!"

  "Unlikely."

  "... haah, what do you want? Did you run away and come to ask the kids for help?" Long Tao smiled at the jab, taking it in stride.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Oh. Something isn't adding up."

  "Hm? What isn't?" he asked, feeling a bit curious.

  "Look at this." Master pulled open the patch of moss yet again, pointing at the face.

  "... uhm. What am I looking at?"

  "The face! The face!"

  "Yes, it's a face. Good job, Master."

  "Ugh, not that. The expression."

  "What about it?"

  "Look at this, then," Master said, moving to the nearby patch of moss and doing the exact same thing. "It's the same expression!"

  "So...?"

  "They're all the same!" he exclaimed. "They all have the exact same expression!"

  Long Tao smiled invisibly, looking over at the somewhat scared expression of his Master.

  Of course he noticed the expressions before everything else. Most other cultivators would have perhaps noticed that the bodies were all positioned facing up as well as in the same direction, or that the palms of their hands had a strange, purplish tint to them, or even that their tongues were rolled up inside their mouths... but Master noticed the expressions.

  That was how the world named them, based on those expressions.

  Harbingers of Serenity, Defilers of Eternity.