Suffocation of the Unknown

Leaving the school that he would be spending the next three years in just like any other child with soul power, there was one thought running through Tang Wulin's mind.

'It's useless.' Tang Wulin noted to himself. All the things they taught were either things he already knew or vague information on things that may or may not be true.

Even their information on meditation techniques, the thing he went for, was less than good. In fact, they were quite horrible, much worse than what he had access to in his previous life.

'I'll have to receive higher education.' Wulin thought to himself, an intricate web of plans of all kinds weaving itself in his mind. While the mediation techniques of this school were bad it's highly unlikely they all were.

Shrek for example should have plenty of meditation techniques thousands of times better than what he just learned. Of course, that meant he would have to spend time going to Shrek to learn them all.

Luckily attending Shrek had already been a part of his plan. There was nowhere on this planet where he'd grow as quickly in strength as Shrek. It possessed the necessary materials and mentors to optimize his growth.

"Please stop." A childish voice sounded from further down the road Tang Wulin was currently walking. It was a voice that had an odd degree of effect on him, it felt as though there was something pulling himself toward it. Unfortunately, he ignored the sense of pulling.

"What's wrong little lady? We're just trying to show you something fun!" A disturbing voice filled with so much emotion that even Tang Wulin could recognize it without issue sounded out, easily audible even without Tang Wulin's heightened senses.

'Lust? I heard that most individuals aren't attracted to children as they cannot bear offspring so why?' Tang Wulin thought blandly, not at all worried for the child, rather he was curious at the emotion.

He had no intention to help the child no matter how much he was oddly attracted to her. He had no plans to interfere at all, it was not something he was told to do by his parents or mentor so why would he interfere?

Stepping past them quietly the sound of his footsteps made them pause in place, all four of their eyes turning toward him at the same time. One looked at him in hope, one in lust, one greed, and one in annoyance.

"Hey! Another pretty kid! I bet you'd sell well!" A voice different from the prior one yet equally disturbing in tone said as he sauntered over arrogantly, not understanding that he was approaching death itself.

Looking at the man, Tang Wulin's emotionless demeanor instantly changed despite nothing about him changing, a sense of dread overwhelming the three men.

'They wish to eliminate me.' Wulin determined, his crimson eyes turning dim. His body felt colder than normal despite nothing physically changing about him. He would have to determine its cause later.

Stepping forward the strengthened earth cracked around his feet, his figure vanishing from their sight one moment and their position changing another. It was extremely quick however they felt nothing but confusion as their body disintegrated in a flurry of crimson specks.

'Why did I hesitate?' Wulin asked himself, his crimson eyes staring into the eyes of the silver haired child, her purple eyes filled with fear looking back at him. She was a witness, she should be eliminated.

Yet for some reason he didn't want to. He couldn't understand why but his body seemed to not listen to him whenever he moved to remove such a tiny, weak life from this world. It would be unbelievably easy yet he couldn't do it.

'Why won't I eliminate her?' Wulin once more asked himself, his crimson eyes not even blinking as he took in every facet of her body. He didn't seem to be physically attracted, his body was incapable of being so, nor was he emotionally attracted for obvious reasons.

So why did he not want to remove her? Besides her above average physical appearance based on objective standards of both this world and his last she was nothing special, not to him anyway. There was the odd sense of pull toward her but he had already acclimated to it.

'The chance anyone will believe her claim is less than 7%. The chance of being investigated is 87%. Total danger, less than 0.15%.' He determined instantly without a change in expression, his crimson eyes causing her to shake in place.

With his status as the assistant of Mang Tian, the best blacksmith in the area, nobody would attempt to harm him in any way, shape, or form. He may be investigated but it was extremely, extremely unlikely anything would come out of it.

For that reason, he will leave her alive. While he does not know why he won't eliminate her if there is no reason to do so he will not. Instead, he will examine his body and possibly go over all the definitions of emotions once more.

Turning away from the nearly crying child Tang Wulin walked off, his mind filled with all emotions it could have possibly been. He does not understand emotions, it can be called his one weakness, meaning if he understood them he could remove that weakness entirely.

'What was it? What category does it fit into?' Wulin asked himself, going through the hundreds of emotions he was aware of no matter how small they were or what language or religion they were from.

It was an unbelievably easy solution, an answer even a child younger than himself could give, yet he could not discover the answer. It wasn't a matter of idiocy, it was a matter of unfamiliarity and inexperience.

Tang Wulin had never felt an emotion before due to the teachings of the past and so he had trouble putting labels on what he felt even with all the definitions memorized word for word in his mind.

For that reason he couldn't determine which emotion he felt, what it was born from, or even what it had meant. All he knew is that he felt like he could absolutely not kill that child despite not having such reservations in the past.

Standing in front of his home, there was only one thought running through the mind of the Son of the Sea God and the possessor of the Golden Dragon King who had, for the first time in both of his lives, failed to comprehend something.

'I don't understand.' Wulin thought, a suffocating emotion filling his chest unbeknownst to himself.