Chapter Five: Come With Me... (Lan's POV)

The howls of laughter echoed against the worn walls of the alley, adding to the growing frustration as I stood rooted to the spot. For the first time since being reincarnated, I felt unsure of myself. Was it right for me to meddle with the plot? What if I make things worse?

This uncertainty felt like I was wading through thick mud that, with every struggling step forward, I sank further into its clutches. Then, in the back of my mind, the devilish whispers began, "It's just a book. The plot will always run its course. There's nothing you can do; even if you were to help him now, he would still die later on." My internal struggles paused for a moment until my eyes locked with Kai's. His eyes, despite the pain, were calm as if he knew this would be over if he just stayed silent.

It was too much for me to watch any longer, to hell with plot or whatever! This was my favorite character those bastards were hurting, and I'll be damned if I just sit back meekly as they harass him!

So I unhooked my sword from my waist and gathered enough Qi to activate my sword's aura, and gracefully swung the sheathed sword towards the group. I made sure to adjust the strength of my attack just enough that it wouldn't kill the boys. I just needed to blow them back, but with that, it also felt like I cut through the sludge that held me back. Though these strings were most likely in my mind, I finally felt like I could break the book's plot apart and make some actual changes.

Utilizing the Sect's lightstep, I went from the edge of the alley to beside Kai in an instant and pointed my sword towards the group. "Leave, now." The chill in my voice even startled me a little; I guessed I was angrier than I thought.

"My father will hear of this! Don't think you'll get away with this!" The portly one yelled as they ran off complaining about their bruises.

[Inner Dialogue] "Get away with what! All I did was put some spoiled brats in their place. How dare you attack my Kai!" I raged, mentally flipping tables.

I paid them no mind and knelt beside Kai, extending my hand to help him up. I may dislike physical contact, but I needed to touch others at times. Kai leaned up, hesitating for a moment as he looked at my hand before gratefully accepting the help. His hand was thinner than mine, most likely due to malnutrition and rough against the skin of my palm. Yet, where there should have been apprehension from touching another, all I felt was concern over his wellbeing and something else that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

[Inner Dialogue] "His hand is so rough! Is this because he works all day, every day? His hand is just skin and bone as well! How dare they toss the porridge. Even if it was for his little brother, I'm sure that he and his parents would still get at least a few spoonfuls." I wanted to curse the Author more for giving Kai this life while the 'Hero' dined in one of the wealthiest Sects. This was clearly playing favorites!

Kai fell back to the ground with an agitated. "Thank you, Big Brother. I'll be able to get up soon, and I can walk home," the way he spoke so casually about it made my heart tighten, and I idly wondered if it was too late to break some of their bones.

"So, you are unable to get up," it wasn't so much a question as a simple observation seeing how he couldn't even put weight on his left leg while sitting. The nervous laugh that bubbled from Kai made me sigh in frustration before I knelt back down next to him. Placing one hand against his back and the other under his knees, I scooped him up bridal style, earning protests from the other boy.

[Inner Dialogue] "Bridal Style! It's a Bridal Style carry! I can't believe I'm the one that gets to do it for Kai. I should enjoy this while it lasts. He's already at shoulder height to me; he may be as tall as Brother Yue when he grows up fully. Then I won't be able to carry him anymore!" I hummed with excitement.

"Don't fuss. Where is your home?" I asked, glancing at him from the corner of my eye. Because of his height, he was now nearly at eye level with me, which made it easier for me to talk to him as I carried him out of the alley.

"Ah, it's past the South Gate. But, er, Big Brother, isn't it difficult to carry me?" He asked with a complicated smile, one arm around my shoulders and the other busy playing with an amulet that hung off his neck.

I tilted my head in confusion, "No, you're very light." The bitterness in my tone seemed to surprise him, and he quieted with a thoughtful expression clouding his face. Instead, I didn't think more about it and focused on walking along the barren street to the South Gate. If I dwelled on the fact that I was carrying Kai, I would keep noticing just how light he was, and I didn't think I would be able to keep myself from killing the Village Lord No-Name.

If the Lord had a name, I must've instinctually tuned it out. To me, someone like him was not worth remembering, and soon there would be no need to remember him. Just thinking about it was enough to put me back in a good mood. After the issue with the ghouls was resolved, I would find the evidence to take him completely out of power.

The boisterous voice of a young woman caught my attention as we neared the gate, and I lamented for my quiet walk with Kai. Xinyi stood near a small house that seemed even more run-down than the houses within the village walls despite being not even fifty feet from the gate. An older woman and small child stood outside the door, engaging in a lively conversation with his disciple.

Xinyi caught sight of me first and ran up to me, concern evident on her face as she looked from the boy to my hands. I nodded my head to her and approached the house with her quick on my heels.

"Kai!" the madam called out and raced over; worry seemed to be etched into the woman's features as she placed her hand against Kai's cheek. The child at her legs gripped his mother's skirt as he anxiously tried to look up at his older brother.

I let Kai slip from my grasp, keeping a hand against his back to help steady him as he found his footing. The smile he gave his mother and little brother was luminous as he answered his mother's worried questions with soothing words.

The madam pursed her lips into a fine line and stared at her son, finally conceding as she realized he would not tell her anything further. She turned her gaze to me, "Thank you, my Lord, for bringing my son home. It's not much, but my husband did manage to capture a few rabbits for dinner if you would like to join. Ah, but first, may I have the name of the one who brought Kai home?" Her tone was friendly and pleasing to my ears; it stirred up something in my chest to see them happily together, and I idly wondered if it was because the old Lan missed his mother dearly.

"Forgive my rudeness. It seemed that you had already met with my disciple, Yang Xinyi. I am her Master, Zhou Lan," I removed the weimao slowly as not to wrinkle the veil and leveled my gaze to the madam. When the madam made no move to lead them to the house, I slightly tilted my head in confusion. Perhaps it was my expressionless face that shocked her? "Madam?" I asked quietly. A feeling of nervousness bloomed in my chest as they stood in place as if rooted to the spot.

The question seemed to rouse the madam from her stupor, and a light blush tinted her wrinkled cheeks, "I apologize! This, this just wasn't what I was expecting with Xinyi'er told us she traveled here with her Master."

A soft 'pfft' came from behind me, and I whirled around to see Xinyi whistling softly as if she had nothing to do with this scene. I would ask her what she said later, but the sky was darkening for now, and we would need to prepare for the ghouls.

"We would like to stay and eat with you and your family, madam. However, we were dispatched from the Jasmine Sect to eliminate the monsters in this village." Monsters indeed, by the time we left, it would not be just the ghouls that fell to Luoxue. Striding to the fence that encompassed their bit of land, I placed the hat on a post to keep it off the dirt and prepared myself for the ghouls by gathering in Qi. Thankfully their land was near a forest, and it felt more natural to get help from the darkening forests to strengthen my attacks.

While Xinyi ushered the small family back into their home, she dutifully placed evil-repelling talismans around the entrance to give them some protection. Unfortunately, it seemed that the father was still in the village working, so we would need to keep an eye out for him as we fought the ghouls. It may seem challenging, but between Xinyi and I, a horde of ghouls was a simple matter.

Now, all we had to do was wait for night to fall.

During the time spent as we waited for the ghouls to emerge, we meditated and spoke in hushed whispers about our next steps. Cleansing the area of ghouls would be an easy task for them; however, the act of catching the current Village Lord would be a much more arduous task. Unlike the Lan from the novel, I would be more thorough in taking out the parasite that stuck to this village like an infection.

"When this is completed, I will keep the Lord busy by demanding a small feast and entertainment. While he is preoccupied, I want you to search his rooms. He doesn't seem that competent, but he might keep some fake scrolls to throw us off the track," I flicked out the fan, lightly fanning myself as I placed my hand against the trembling Luoxue. I had faith in Xinyi's light-step and slipperiness to get the job done while I mingled.

"Of course, Master! Please leave it to me. This disciple will not let you down!" She cupped her hands in a respectful bow towards me while a mischievous smile graced her lips. Then, she paused with a thoughtful look as she gazed past me towards the house as she straightened.

Before I could question her, a loud *snap* broke through the night air, signaling the beginning of their night hunt. The first few ghouls ambled away from the tree line and broke into a run once they spotted the duo. Now, it was time to get to work.

With Xinyi taking the initiative, she unsheathed her sword and swung it effortlessly at the first few ghouls, never breaking her momentum as she cut each down. While she was still not ready to receive her named sword, it in no way dampened her abilities.

[Inner Dialogue] "Xinyi'er is so skillful! Do I even need to be here? I want to have a moment to look cool too!" I griped, but I couldn't keep myself from fawning all over Xinyi. With her personality, she quickly became another character that was my favorite.

There was no time to keep sulking as a group of ghouls made their way past Xinyi. Unsheathing Luoxue by just using Qi was a simple task for me by now, and as the silver longsword hovered in the air before me, I flicked my fingers as a silent order. The sword sliced through the air like a sharp whirlwind, cutting down each ghoul in front of me before coming back to my side, where I grasped the hilt. As gratifying as it was to watch the sword execute my enemies for me, I figured I should move about as well. After all, this was a perfect opportunity to test my skills against moving objects.

It seemed that whatever caught the interest of these ghouls was quite potent as the horde continued to grow. It wasn't the first or last time I would wonder if they would persist until the first rays of sun peeked over the horizon. How annoying.

Stretching out my arm, I channeled my Qi into my favorite fan until it glowed in a luminescent pale-blue aura. A few quick flutters of the fan and a storm of my aura began to dance around the clearing, creating currents of cerulean that bent and flowed like waves breaking upon the shore. The aftermath of unleashing my Qi in such a fashion were deep grooves that clawed out chunks of earth and parts of ghouls thrown haphazardly around the clearing, along with a very troubled disciple that narrowly dodged one of the razor-shard gusts.

For now, it did the trick in thinning the herd, and we were left with some particularly fierce ghouls that withstood the initial wave. The ghouls that emerged during this wave seemed more rigid than the early wave, so I turned all my focus to these ghouls. A mistake, I realized soon after, as I forgot to keep my vigilance up for Kai's father to come home. I had hoped he would stay within the safety of the village, but maybe it was out of worry for his family that he still made the trek back to his home.

"Dad!" I heard the excited cry of a child from behind me, as did some of the ghouls I was fending off.

Panic gripped me as one of the ghouls broke off from attacking me, opting to go after an effortless meal. As I turned to attack the escaping ghoul, two more descended on me, nearly sinking their rotted teeth into my arm. I needed to deal with these two quickly, or else we would be the reason Kai lost his father and little brother this night.

"Jingyi!" I heard two different voices, filled with panic, again from behind me. Like a man possessed, I stepped forward to knock the ghouls back with my sword, but instead, a pale light much like my aura surrounded my foot, and from this light, vines quickly grew like sharpened stakes to impale the two ghouls in various places.

For a moment, I was stunned; this wasn't a skill I knew I had! However, this was no time to dwell on it. Instead, I needed to take care of the ghoul that slipped past me. So, without a second look at the skewered ghouls, I whirled around just in time to see why Kai had become my favorite character in the novel. The booming drum of my heart pounded hard and fast in excitement at the sight of my favorite villain.

Kai stood there rigidly, with eyes like hardened amber, and the ghoul that escaped me impaled on the end of what looked to be a broken tree branch. Though his body was still like skin-wrapped bones, he looked every bit the fierce villain I envisioned as I read the book. I wanted to shout with all the frenzy of a zealous fangirl but now wasn't the time as I zeroed in on Kai's aura that still lingered around the makeshift stake like a crimson cloak.

A bloody aura pulsed around Kai before he came back to his senses and pulled back from the ghoul to sit on the ground with a heavy thud, the ghoul falling to the side like a discarded sack of diseased wheat. I thought I would need to act fast before Xinyi noticed, but thankfully, the aura naturally dissipated. So, I decided to watch as father and sons fussed over each other for the time being. The mother standing by the door, white-knuckled and looking like she may faint on the spot, and Jingyi bawling his eyes out against his father's chest.

My eyes locked with Kai briefly, and I nodded towards him, thanking every God for Lan's natural poker face. The last thing I needed was to make a fool of myself before attempting to convince Kai to become my disciple! With that, I turned back to the ghouls that still survived and left Kai to tend to his family while Xinyi and I finished our work here.

Some hours passed and, with the sky beginning to change from a star-filled blue to a blushing red, we knew that any remaining ghouls would stay hidden in the shadows of the dark forest. Now was the perfect time to talk to Kai.

I paused, attempting to find the correct way to address Kai before settling and calling out with my fan raised to my mouth, "Brother Kai." I waved Xinyi away, hoping she would understand that she had other duties to attend to now that the ghouls were finished for now.

The teen turned to face me from the doorway to the modest home, with a look of surprise flickered across his features before it was replaced by an amenable smile. I turned away quickly with an internal war where I wondered if I had made a mistake somewhere. Walking some distance away from the family to ensure that no one would overhear our discussion, I could feel Kai close on my heels.

"What is it you wish to talk about, Master Lan?" His tone was smooth and pleasant on the ears as if he already knew what I wanted to talk to him about.

"Have you always been able to do that?" I turned my head slightly, looking at him from the corner of my eye. The pensive look on his face was all the confirmation I needed. Snapping the fan closed and hitting it lightly against my hand, I sighed dejectedly. I needed to make it seem like an issue with his aura to convince him of my plan. Truthfully, there was nothing wrong with him having that aura, it was pretty natural for someone like him, but I couldn't let others know about this aura just yet.

"I've used it a few times. It seems to only emerge when I'm panicked, though, which makes me worried that I might accidentally lash out against my family with it," the seriousness of his tone tugged at my heart. Of course, it was a valid worry for someone who didn't know how to control their aura correctly, but this also made it easy to bring up my next point.

Turning to face him entirely with a light breeze gently lifting my hair to flutter around my face and the early morning sun shining against my back, I spoke the words I had wanted to say since finding him on the street just yesterday, "Come with me. Come with me and become my disciple. I will teach you how to properly use your Qi."

[Inner Dialogue] "What is with this scene! Ahh, I'm so embarrassed. Someone help me here!"

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