"You know what really bothers me? Was that monster there on purpose or was it just some really hardcore coincidence? How fast are the normal great moles?"
Soon after dusk when the three people were sitting by the fire that Zoemi set up after they found a suitable area with materials that could be used for setting up a makeshift camp.
"...I wish to have problems like you..."
Alan looked up at him with an accusatory look and scoffed.
"And the great moles' aren't very fast. There was one crazy leader of the Lion's Pride sect who actually did some research in that regard and found out that they can keep up with an average human leisurely walking speed."
He might have been angry, but the young man ended up answering the question to the utmost of his knowledge.
"Then as long as it wasn't teleported in, it must have been in the area. That's more disturbing... was my movement predicted or... or are there more beasts like that just hanging around?"
Zoemi nodded with a solemn expression and breathed out, eyeing out the remains of the fire that he burnt the potentially diseased monster's corpse at, a safe distance away from their current location.
"Maybe. I don't know. And you don't know either, right? For the moment, the most important thing is to plan out our next move. Like, do we just camp out in the wild until this disaster blows over, or do we try to hang out around the small villages without many martial artists around? We could even go and return to that lumberjacks village we met. There was literally only one marital artist from the Raging Bull sect, right?"
Alan shrugged his shoulders before rubbing his legs with both hands and straightening his back to declare with conviction.
"Yes, it would be best if you did something like that, Alan. I on the other hand must look into this."
Zoemi nodded at the young man's words while sitting straight and staring into the crackling fire.
"Hold on. You didn't call me master, and did you just suggest that we should split up? Where did the WE from before go?"
Alan picked up on the slight differences in the way that Zoemi addressed him and asked in a wary tone.
"Plans have changed. Completely. If the great mole from before was influenced by Cherro, the demon-lord-level threat that I thought I completely erased from this world, then I can't just hang around trustworthy people and take things slowly."
"!!!"
The black-haired man spoke I great seriousness, causing the young man to flinch.
"The mana potion you got from the traitor that joined the dark sect, for whatever reason was labeled as a monster lure. Now we encountered a monster that was using mana... The dark sects were already ears-deep into evil business, it doesn't sound all that farfetched to me that one of them encountered the surviving strain of consciousness and is foolishly trying to use it to increase their might even more... If Cherro will find a way to resurrect... Tsk."
Zoemi began speaking, tilting his head from side to side while biting his lips before clicking his tongue and looking to the side, greatly disturbed.
The increasingly worse scenarios kept playing inside his head, making him anxious and adding the feeling of dread to the already enormous longing for returning to his homeland and more importantly Miriette's side.
".."
"..."
Alan and Aaron looked at each other in silence.
The beloved child of Sagittarius kept quiet and just looked away – as he did since Zoemi killed the rabid monster, but the young man from the Great Ram sect couldn't just sit there.
"What is your plan there? Don't underestimate the martial artists from the Heavenly Archer sect, they definitely will be able to recognize you and put up a wanting poster. In case of another encounter, you will again be forced to either kill or flee from them. The problem is the more you kill the more will show up next time for revenge and in no time it will not be just the Heavenly Archer sect but the entire army of the heavenly star nation."
The young man sighed, putting his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his hands.
"Since everything I do will be risky to some degree, why shouldn't I go for the potentially most straightforward option?"
"That being?"
Zoemi shrugged his shoulders but Alan cut in his talk with a rather tilted expression...
"Joining the dark sect. Having the information at its source would be the most efficient way of finding out what exactly is going on."
"..."
The black-haired man explained, leaving Alan speechless and staring at him as if he sprouted another head.
For someone who lived his life in a lawful sect, a declaration like that was nothing sort of complete idiocy.
"Have you lost your mind?! You already killed people in self-defense, but now you want to try your hand at killing innocents or something?! It's pure luna..."
"They will not reach out to you in the first place."
Alan breathed out, hiding his face in his hands, before looking up and scoffing at Zoemi with a furious expression when even Aaron decided to chime in for the first time in a while.
"Yeah! They would not... wait, what? They wouldn't? How do you know that?"
The young man nodded his head vigorously at the boy's words before flinching and asking in confusion after the meaning of the words spoken had fully settled in his mind.
"You are a complete outsider with no information on you. The first time you ever surfaced was today, killing some bigshots and running off to who-knows-where. Plus your age. If the strength you wield is taken into consideration, you are ridiculously young. Anyone from the dark sect with even half of a working brain would think that you were someone the lawful sects or even the star pagoda brought up and nourished in complete secrecy to infiltrate their ranks and wipe them out from the inside."
Aaron briefly glanced over at Alan before looking up at Zoemi and revealing in a flat voice while rubbing his hands together nervously.
"Well... when you put it like this it does make sense... but still you are aware how important the head of the justice magistrate was, right? Would the people from the dark sect think that the star pagoda or any sect would be willing to lose someone like him just for a chance to infiltrate their ranks?"
Alan breathed out again and straightened his back, carefully analyzing the situation at hand.
"You don't need to believe me."
Aaron merely shrugged his shoulders and looked away...
"...huh...?"
Just to be faced with the black-haired man who walked up to him and sat down by his side without the boy realizing it happen.
"In that case, what do you think would be the best way to infiltrate their ranks? I believe that you are the most knowledgable person amongst the three of us, so I would really appreciate the help."
"Zoemi... huh...?"
Zoemi said with a serious expression, making Aaron bit his lips and start staring at his knees – Alan rolled his eyes and called out to the black-haired man with a tired expression but was silenced by a quick shake of the man's head.
"The dark sects will not fall for the mysterious insider strategy because it was used against them once in the past. But there is a chance of you getting picked up if..."
Aaron took a deep breath and clenched his fists even harder before looking up at the calm black-haired man and motioning with his head at Alan on his other side.
"...if he will help. Back in the Great Ram sect, you did say that you have talent in the law of Leo, did you not?"
The boy asked the young man.
"I... I do. In fact, in terms of my talent in it, the law of Leo is my second best, but I didn't focus on it too much being a member of the Great Ram sect and all. It just doesn't compliment the law of Aries."
Alan nodded his head hesitantly, raising his brow at the seemingly not-connected points.
"If used by the dark sect member, the unstable law of Leo can extend its control over a weakened human being that's close to dying. He alone will never manage to meet with a higher-up of any dark sect, but if you, a lawful sect member with a rather questionable reputation will show up at their door, the outcome might be completely different... especially if we will try to pull off the same thing with me."
Aaron said looking around nervously, not being able to keep eye contact with either Alan or Zoemi.
"After all, I was kidnapped by someone far stronger than me. Why wouldn't I get seriously beaten up and have my mind exploited when at my weakest?"
The boy added with a shrug and a faint smile that he hurriedly hide by lowering his head.
Zoemi and Alan exchanged bothered looks.
No matter how they looked at it, that must have been a trap, right?
"I know of a few potential locations where the dark sect members gather as well as one entire lawful sect that is suspected to have strayed from the lawful path. If we go to any of those places and sue the plan I suggested, you might get what you want..."
Aaron added, really trying to make his strategy compelling.
*Trap.*
Alan made eye contact with Zoemi and mouthed silently.
It was more than obvious that the beloved child of Sagittarius was trying to trick them and simply be put into a situation where he could escape or be saved by his own sect.
Maybe because of his inexperience in the matter, his intentions were almost painfully obvious.
*I know.*
Zoemi nodded and mouthed back, making the young man breathe out in relief...
"Sounds like a plan. The best one we can use in our situation at least."
"!!!"
"~!"
...and even s, the black-haired man ended up walking into the trap, making Alan flinch in shock while Aaron twitched with excitement.
"Yes! I'm sure we can make it happen! But we will have to disguise ourselves a bit – almost every place I talked about is being watched by the observers from the Star Pagoda, we cannot be reckless!"
"..."
The boy perked up and exclaimed with enough excitement to make Alan stare daggers at Zoemi for doing something so obviously stupid.
"Then our first destination should be some village or small town where we could get clothes and hopefully some dyes as well. It is surprising how rare the completely black hair is around those parts."
Zoemi responded with a bright smile that fooled Aaron completely.
"Should we really be drastically changing our looks? We do want at least me to be recognized, right?"
Alan graned but ended up making a follow-up to the black-haired man's show.
"True... how much are you attached to your long hair?"
"You don't mean...!"
Zoemi nodded at the young man's words and asked, squinting his eyes at the reddish-broen hair he styled himself, to which Alan gasped trying as much protectively as unsucessfully to hide the mass of hair with both hands.
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