Chapter 149: The Grave

Chapter 149: The Grave

In world Six where the temple of the lady stood tall. The rooftops trying to reach the sky remained the same as before, completely devoid of any dirt.

Inside, the training ground echoed with sounds of an intense fight.

Xue Lan and Yi Jyuhan stood across from each other in the training ground. The floor was a typical land of sand and dust, with each step rose the dirt.

Yi Jyuhan held a wooden sword in his one hand; his other hand, which had been severed, was healed now and grew back into the same one.

Xue Lan also held a wooden blade. His stance seemed relaxed and entirely calm, bringing precision. His moths weren’t present there, as they had agreed to train without Authorities. Just skills and movements.

"You’re favoring your left side." Xue Lan spoke flatly; his personality had dramatically changed and had turned colder than before.

Yi Jyuhan grinned, that familiar clownish mask sliding into place. "I didn’t ask for that advice, but I suppose that’d be great." With that, he lunged first.

Xue Lan sidestepped. His wooden sword caught the aim. As within the next blink, both of them disappeared from sight, appearing a few meters away before dissolving back into air instantly and exchanging multiple hits.

Yi Jyuhan’s blade swung forward quickly as he bought it toward Xue Lan’s neck, who bent his head down and dug his sandals deeper into the sand, tilting his spine backward.

Without wasting any moment, he quickly brought his legs, pressing his one hand against the floor, before slamming the kick on Yi Jyuhan’s wrist, who took the hit and thrust forward, aiming directly toward his shoulder. The wooden blade almost went closer to Xue Lan’s shoulder to hit him, but he instantly twisted his body and jumped into the air, then came behind him to slam the wooden blade.

Yi Jyuhan quickly turned and blocked the hit as the sound echoed through the training room. "Your skills are really getting even more refined."

Xue Lan only huffed slightly. "You aren’t half bad either."

"A compliment always makes someone’s day." Yi Jyuhan said before stumbling backward and taking a long breath.

After the training, they sat on the veranda, looking out at the mountain. The air had slowly turned colder as the night had fallen upon the Bleakstone district. The snow was falling; a few of the white, cold ice fell over Xue Lan, who leaned back slightly, keeping his expression calm.

"You’re leaving then?" Yi Jyuhan asked softly before looking toward the sun behind the peaks of the mountain.

Xue Lan only nodded, feeling the coldness of the ice over his long purple hair.

"Jim had already found the priestess, but he is still in the search of a Grave Walker. Her name is Kiyori Tamayori."

"Good, either way, that’s the only destination I have currently."

Yi Jyuhan was quiet for a moment after hearing his words. "Xue Lan, you know that the world doesn’t end when you can’t find purpose. Maybe, there is more than just that."

Xue Lan remained silent, his nebula-violet eyes staring at the stone below.

"Are you planning for your Descent then... you know that reaching Demigod means half of your humanity would be gone."

"It doesn’t concern me." ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Maybe it doesn’t." Yi Jyuhan sighed as he slowly stood.

"Because it’s not my place." Xue Lan paused. "Running around pathetically won’t solve anything. These worlds demand power, and to get it, leaving humanity is the easiest way out.

Yi Jyuhan: "If you care more about your humanity than revenge, Xue Lan, is a little temporary happiness really enough? Seriously, what’s the point?"

Xue Lan stared at the horizon. He finally stood up too. "It’s not just about revenge anymore." He said finally." I used to think it was for my father. Then my brother. Then revenge. Now... I don’t see anything worth my attention here. Being blinded by fate is not the greatest experience." After a long pause, he continued. "I’ll leave tomorrow."

Yi Jyuhan didn’t say much and only gave him a nod before moving toward his room in the temple.

Xue Lan, however, took the graveyard root as a shortcut.

He entered the place where a few lotuses and various regional flowers bloomed alongside an oak tree in the center.

Beneath the night sky, his gaze finally lay on the graves, which he had never truly examined too closely before. What was to examine if everything was just dirt now.

His gaze stopped near the grave of Mo Fei. The flowers across the entire graveyard were nourished by the spiritual essence of the dead; however, to the right above Mo Fei’s grave, the flowers seemed different, as their roots had been loose.

Finally, half-buried in the dirt near the headstone, covered by a thin layer of fresh snow, were two small, mundane items: a button from his regular clothes and a piece of blindfold cloth dug halfway through the grave.

It shouldn’t have been there at all... even naturally, the position didn’t seem to look like it emerged naturally; it seemed as if the grave had been dug weeks ago and clawed a way out.

Xue Lan’s eyes narrowed. Was his body stolen for an Embodiment of his Authority? But why would someone steal such a low-rank Embodiment even if it was rare?

He looked around once more before walking toward the small storage shed beside the graveyard. A moment later, he returned with a rusted spade in his hand.

Although he did not immediately dig and brush the snow away with his fingers to notice the soil beneath that was darker than the surrounding earth.

Someone may have disturbed the grave... he picked up the cloth. The edge had been torn unevenly, as if it had been caught against something while being dragged through the soil or might have been left behind unintentionally in hurry.

Xue Lan stared at it for several seconds. It was part of the blindfold Mo Fei had once worn.

He quickly pushed the spade into the earth as the soil gave away easily; a few more strikes revealed the emptiness beneath. It should have been buried closer than how much he had dug.

"Impossible..." He muttered and stared down at the empty ground, then looked around at the other graves who were completely perfect. If someone stole it, then why would it leave other graves and steal the low-rank Embodiment.

"How are you alive...?"