In a tavern close to the inner city, Li Shen, Lihua, and Li Wen were seated at a table in a corner.
The tavern seemed to be popular as more than a few people were coming in and out regularly.
Because of the long cloaks they wore, they draw a few eyes but that was it. It wasn’t like people who dressed like them were uncommon in this area. For a cultivator, there were more than a few reasons that can crop up that require them to hide their appearance.
‘Young Master, why did we come here? I don’t think us going alone is a good idea, please reconsider.’
Li Wen who was to Li Shen’s right sent a message through their shared mental link.
Li Shen didn't respond and was instead frowning under his robes, his eyes darting to a few people at a nearby table that was quite noisy, obviously drunk.
His eyes then turned to an old bartender that just came up to another table with a tray of food.
He looked at that table that had a few young disciples that seemed to be from a local sect in the area.
Li Shen did this for everyone he could see without turning his head too much.
While in the midst of this, Lihua voiced the same sentiments as Li Wen.
‘Li Wen’s right, this is a mid-level Demonic Cult hideout. There will be Core Formation realm demonic cultivators inside along with a horde of Foundation realm demonic cultivators. It’s best if we give up on searching for their hideout and instead leave to regroup with the others. The sun is even rising in a few hours, making us lose our cover and open possibilities for this hideout to discover us.’
Lihua was good at looking at the overall picture and make wise decisions based on what she observed. It was his mistake to call her immature when she was the most mature out of everyone in the group, and would hardly let emotions affect her judgment.
He valued her opinion immensely because of this.
Lihua and Li Wen both waited for his answer as to their next move. Swirling his cup of wine a bit, Li Shen turned away from the people in the pavilion, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Seeing this, Lihua and Li Wen realize something else was making him this deep in thought.
‘What is it? Why do you look so puzzled?’
Lihua asked.
Li Shen didn't answer, after he placed down his cup, his expression turned serious as he raised his head and instead asked.
‘Don’t you think these people are acting weird?’
The two were taken aback by his words before they looked around the pavilion, but seeing the people in their separate groups chatting and laughing, they couldn’t understand how they were acting weird.
‘Look closer, observed them in detail for a moment and you’ll understand what I mean.’
Li Wen and Lihua hearing this set aside everything and focused on the people in the pavilion discreetly.
Thirty minutes or an hour go by and during that time they saw nothing, but suddenly their expressions changed.
‘W-What are they doing? They’re just repeating their actions.’
In the pavilion, the noisy group, the old bartender, and the disciples from the sect. They and everyone else were repeating their actions at different intervals.
Their conversations and their actions from an hour ago would start over, repeating like a cycle.
It almost seemed as if they were in a loop.
It was hard to notice unless someone paid close attention, otherwise, it would look no different than what one would see in a tavern setting like this.
'Not just this pavilion, the people we passed on the streets were the same. Probably the entire city.”
Li Wen and Lihua’s bodies shook upon hearing this, and they didn't understand what was going on.
‘Is someone controlling these people? If that’s the case then…’
Li Shen finished Lihua’s words.
‘We’re most like sticking out like a sore thumb in this city.’
‘Young Master, we should leave immediately, forget the Demonic Cult, this city is too strange.’
Despite Li Wen's urgent tone of voice, Li Shen lean back in his chair before he said.
‘Don’t panic, calm down. Whatever we stumbled into I don’t think we can leave that easily.’
Li Shen's face look calm, but his heart was anything but.
He hadn’t noticed anything off with his city when he entered, probably because he was focused on his injuries. But after talking to Lihua and Li Wen, he used his Heavenly eyes that allowed him to see the laws in the surrounding world.
What he saw caused his heart to sink to the pit of his stomach.
Everyone he passed in this city, and he meant everyone, had Demonic Qi emanating from them. This entire city was completely encapsulated in black miasma. It was unlike anything he had seen before.
So he came here to this local pavilion to find out what was going on. It wasn’t that everyone in this city was a Demonic Cultivator, but that something about them was making them give off that black miasma.
Now, he knew what it was. No, actually, he had no idea what was going on. He only knew that whatever was affecting this city was causing these people to repeat their actions and words, putting them in a loop.
Li Wen’s eyes narrowed.
‘Is Young Master saying we’re trapped here?’
Li Shen let out a sigh before he said.
‘It's my fault we’re in this situation, I promise I’ll get you guys out of this city in one piece.’
Li Wen frowned since that was his job, but Li Shen only continued.
‘For now, let’s leave this place and head back to the abandoned house, from there we'll think of what to do. Try not to draw any attention to yourselves while we do.’
Now that they know what predicament they were in, Lihua and Li Wen became extremely cautious.
As they got up and left with Li Shen, they watched everyone in the pavilion in preparation for an attack.
But Li Shen was sure none was coming. If they wanted to attack, or if the person controlling these people wanted to harm them, they would have been attacked by people while they were coming here.
Li Shen couldn’t imagine a Core Formation-level city full of cultivators all attacking them, there was no way they could escape.
However, he wasn't even sure if these people were being controlled by someone, it could be that something in the city was the cause.
But any which way this had everything to do with the Demonic Cult hideout in this city.
With Li Shen in the lead, while Lihua and Li Wen was following a step behind, they swiftly left the tavern.
They began retracing their steps back to the abandoned house, but a few minutes into their walk something happened.
“Fucking vermin, move!!”
“Ack!”
A shout and a loud bang echoed out before someone was sent flying towards Lihua.
Lihua moved instinctively and caught the person, twisting her hand strangely to reduce the impact of his body so as to not hurt them.
Li Shen and Li Wen turned to see what was going on.
A man who looked to be a cultivator was vehemently staring at the boy Lihua had caught, who looked no more than fifteen in age.
From his tattered robes that were a second away from falling off him, along with his dirty and disheveled appearance, he look like a child beggar.
The man moved towards the boy with his hand on his sword by his side, but Lihua shot him a glare that made him pause.
Looking at Li Shen and then at Li Wen behind her, the man snorted before he turned up his nose and walked away.
After the man was gone, everyone turned to the boy who rose with Lihua’s help.
“Are you okay?”
Lihua asked.
The attack from before sounded vicious and the boy didn’t seem to be a cultivator.
“I am, thank yo-”
The boy nodded and was about to say thank you, but turning around, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Lihua’s face under her hood.
His dirty face instantly froze before his eyes went wide. He then clutched Lihua’s hand in his own and suddenly blurted out.
“Are you a goddess sent from heaven to save me? How can a woman be so beautiful?! Please goddess, will you marry me?!”
Lihua, Li Shen, and Li Wen was taken aback by this. It also quickly turned annoying as his shout drew a few people's attention to them.
Lihua who was caught off guard by this boy’s declaration quickly recovered and went to pull her hand away from him, but all of a sudden she paused.
Her attention went to his hand grabbing hers and she couldn’t help but give the boy a quizzical look.
His hand was extremely soft.
Despite it being covered in dirt and having a few callouses, she admire his skin texture.
‘What a good material to use.’
Lihua's expression then turn strange as she looked at the boy deeply.
Seeing the look on her face and the deep stare she was giving him, the boy felt that something was off and a hesitant expression appeared on his face.
While this strange interaction was going on, Li Shen suddenly sensed something amidst and he looked at the boy, eyes narrowing slightly.
His already golden eyes under his hood gained more luster and he focused on him.
The image of the boy that appeared in his vision was unlike everyone else he saw in this city. There was no black miasma coming from him.
‘Who is this boy?’
Li Shen found himself asking.
**
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