74 Senpai (1/2)

Endless dunes.

Clear blue skies, light breeze, and endless dunes across all directions. That's what Han De was looking at while waiting. He looked towards the east with anticipation. Just a little more patience, just a little more!

He tried to fix up his clothing once more, everything had to be perfect for this moment!

'That's odd, why do I suddenly feel naked? Everything is in order, I'm not missing anything, right?'

Han De shook his head. There was no need to second guess himself. He assumed his dignified pose once again. A few moments later, he realized what was missing.

'Where are my life-saving items?! Why am I not wearing any?!'

In a panic, he looked at his storage ring. He was about to scold himself for forgetting something so essential, but his mind went blank.

'W-Where are my life-saving items? My escape items?! F#$%!! Where is my stuff?!!'

Han De retraced his steps. Without his stuff, he could easily die to any random Nascent Soul expert. He had a knack of attracting those types too.

'I was… dragged into a tribulation?'

He looked at his surroundings in confusion. When did he get here? A movement disrupted his train of thought. A woman wearing white clothes appeared behind a dune. A white umbrella was blocking her face. Han De's heart started throbbing. This was the moment he was waiting for.

She stopped, and put down her umbrella, revealing her delicate features.

”Chu Chen?”

Han De gulped after seeing the woman's sweet smile. This was the crush of the cultivation idiot. The walking talking uncanny valley.

'Is this… the legendary inner demon tribulation?'

Chu Chen started walking towards Han De. Her affectionate expression didn't change as she closed the distance between them with her graceful steps.

'Isn't this the cultivation idiot's inner demon? This feels like an invasion of privacy...'

Han De turned back started walking in the opposite direction. There was no need to play a romantic scene with that flat-colored freak. As he walked, he admired the desert scene. The heat, the breeze, the feeling of his feet getting slightly buried in the sand. Everything gave a perfect deserty feeling. Truly, the tribulation seemed to have spared no expense.

”Dear husband, where are you going?”

The sweet voice stopped Han De in his tracks. Just a minute ago she was so far away, but now she was only a few meters behind. Han De reminded himself that she wasn't real. There was no need to be unsettled by something like this. He tried to enjoy the desert while ignoring her.

”De~ar…”

Han De felt two delicate arms hugging him from behind. He could feel Chu Chen's breath on his neck. First, his body went stiff, then, he used all of his power to elbow her. Han De didn't let her recover and decisively cut her down with his sword.

Chu Chen's body faded away almost instantly. Han De breathed heavily as he warily checked his surroundings. His violent reaction surprised even himself.

After calming down, he continued walking while occasionally checking his surroundings. 10 minutes later, he got bored and jumped on his sword. Half an hour of high-speed flight later, Han De frowned.

'Ok, this is a desert, I get the idea. Now what? There is nothing here. Wait, is this one of those things where the MC has to spend a lifetime inside just to emphasize their unbreakable will?'

Han De came to an abrupt stop and fell into deep thought. The condition of his body was… not… good. If the reason he was dragged by the heavenly tribulation was because of those leviathans' own tribulation, he was bound to die anyway. No one could quit a tribulation just because as far as he knew. Only low-level tribulations could be dispersed by someone that was 3 realms higher.

'Spending a lifetime here wouldn't be that bad, depending on the fantasy setup of this world of course.'

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Han De felt regret at accidentally killing Chu Chen's illusion. She looked freaky for sure, but at least she showed affection for him and called him husband. That was a billion times better than hearing the 'confession' of the cronenberg chef. Han De involuntarily shuddered at the memory.

'Alright, if Chu Chen's illusion appears again, I won't ignore or destroy it. Now that I think about it, I won't need to hide anything while I'm here. What happens in inner demon tribulation, stays in inner demon tribulation…'

Han De dashed forward again at full speed. This time, he was actively searching for signs of life. If this was really some sort of tribulation that was trying to seduce Han De, he might as well let it happen. A freaky flat colored skin meant nothing in front of true happiness!

*Thunder SFX*

*More Thunder SFX*

Thunder sounds were coming all around him, but the sky was completely clear. Han De tentatively reduced his speed. A faint flash of light appeared in front of him. Then another, and another. Thunder sounds started to get louder as well. Han De immediately stopped.

'Shit, did I get to the edge of the level?! Isn't this a bit too shabby?! How can an inner demon tribulation have an edge?!'

Han De decisively turned back at full speed. How could he give up a lifetime of happiness just like that?

Unfortunately, even though he kept flying at his top speed, lightning strikes kept appearing one after the other. Soon, he started hearing roars. Their volume increased. The sky got darker.

'No, no, no, no. I didn't even get to-'

* * *

As he woke up, Han De heard endless roars. His vision and his hearing returned slowly. Aside from the blinding flashes of light, there was nothing to illuminate his surroundings. But not even the heavenly tribulation lightning was enough to illuminate the endless emptiness surrounding him.

It took him a few minutes to get used to seeing things. As the lightning flashed, Han De saw large shadows on the clouds. Looking at the shadows' shape, it was obvious that the leviathans were in the middle of their tribulation.

Han De closed his eyes. He didn't want to check his own condition. Thankfully, he wasn't feeling any pain. Even without using his spiritual sense, or his vision, he could tell there was something very wrong with his body. Some of his limbs were definitely bent in a way they weren't supposed to. The slimy feeling around his left might actually be his internal organs. At this stage, it was better to close his eyes and wait.

As minutes passed, Han De started freaking out more and more. Was his leg split in two? He didn't want to think about it. He shut his eyes even more. Something was brushing on his left arm. Even though he didn't want to, he couldn't help but wonder.

Han De opened his eyes. He didn't peel pain, but he felt that it was difficult to parse what he was seeing. Warily, he looked to his left and saw a few strands of white hair, fluttering with the wind.

Han De closed his eyes once more.

'Of course, she was hugging me, wasn't she. Was she forcibly dragged into the tribulation? Well, it doesn't matter now. I don't think I can even lift my fingers...'

He wanted to forget, he just wanted to rest, but something kept bothering Han De. Her cooking was delicious, but she was unreliable in Han De's eyes. Was she waiting for him to die just to absorb his soul?

With great effort, Han De tried to move his body. Everything in his being was screaming at him to stop, but Han De couldn't. He had to know. It was better not to know, but he had to know!

Han De moved his arms in an attempt to turn himself. The snaps and sloshing sounds he was hearing made him thankful for his inability to feel pain. He balanced his body with his three right arms. The white hair was definitely there, it was just laying on the floor, but he still couldn't get a clear look.

One of his right arms crushed under his weight and snapped, causing him to lose the sight of the white hair. Han De sighed and looked to his right.

'Wait, what the hell is that… thing…'

The thing could only be described as a convulsing mound of flesh. There were torn and burnt pieces of cloth all over it. Some of them were yellow, some of them were grey. Han De tried to move away, he didn't care if he had to break his other two right arms. He flailed his arms, and the creature flailed his arms. Almost as if they were in sync.

Han De's hearts dropped. In the background, the leviathans were continuously roaring.

'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…'

Han De closed all of his eyes in denial.

'This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not happening…'

In desperation, he tried to open up his status screen. Surely the System would prevent something like this, right?

[Status check is unavailable due to an ongoing inner demon tribulation]

'...'

'W-What?!'

Han De tried to open it once again, the same error came up once more. After a few more confirmations, relief overwhelmed Han De. Some things were far worse than death.

As he waited, Han De kept trying to bring up the status screen, just to confirm and reconfirm that this was just a bad dream.

* * *

'Oh wow, this is so juicy and tasty… This chef really knows her stuff...'

Han De was eating his steak with intense satisfaction. It was most likely the most delicious thing he had ever eaten. He had to actively restrain himself while eating. If he gave in, he would start devouring everything. Even with a table chock-full of dishes, he wanted this experience to last for as long it could.

'This is so good… I'm seriously gonna cry just from the taste…'

Alas, all good things must come to an end. Han De finished his steak. He was all alone in the dining room, so he naturally didn't pay any heed to his dignity and started licking the plate. Only once it was squeaky clean, Han De looked the fried roll looking things in front of him. The steak was a special order, now he wanted to taste a Xianxia dish, and to his eyes, those rolls looked sufficiently Chinese.