1 Prologue (2/2)
”...”
'Ah... King Yama... you should've used metal fences instead...'
As he was thinking about that stuff, he fell into the black pool with a loud splash.
”Old man Yao!”
”Quick, someone help him!”
”Lady Meng, you can't! If you fall in there, you'll be shredded to pieces! Don't go!”
”Venerable Yao! Hold my fork! Oh shit, I can't see him anymore...”
”Venerable Yao-!”
”...”
As he sunk deeper and deeper, the voices quickly faded away.
Within the swirling darkness, Yao Huang's soul felt pressure coming from every direction. In the first blink, he was squeezed into a small dot. In the next blink, every fiber of his soul was pulled in all direction, threatening to break him apart. The pain was incomparable to his past tribulations. Compared to this, they were mere walk in the park.
If he stayed here any longer, his soul would be ripped apart, and he would no longer 'exist'. It was the feeling of 'true death'. Forget about unable to reincarnate, his everything would be removed from the world's memory, as if he had never been there in the first place.
”...No!”
Fear crept into his heart for the very first time in thousands of years. He had to get out of there! Now!
Waving his arms in the dark, murky water, he noticed a faint light in the distance. Usually, this kind of light would stay in the bottom of the jugs, signifying the entrance to the path of reincarnation. However, the pool was unstable at the moment. He couldn't tell what kind of thing he'd end up as.
Who knows, he might end up as cockroach!
”...Ah, damnit! Cockroach is fine!”
Anything was better than disappearing for all eternity!
Finally making his mind, he willed his torn soul toward that light...
---
”...”
”...”
”...Pain-!”
A gasp escaped the small child's mouth, causing the adults to turn their head to look.
”Still alive. It seems that the child's compatibility isn't too bad.”
”Does it matter? It's just a temporary vessel anyway. We've finally found satisfactory candidates. In a few days, we'll transfer the beast again.”
”What about the child?”
”What about it? Don't tell me that you've grown sentimental?”
”Heh. You wish. Anyway, I don't think it'll hold for long. Let's go.”
The two men walked out toward the door. One of them gave out an order to the guards outside.
”Keep this room sealed. If the beast managed to break out of the kid's seal, subdue it immediately.”
”Understood!”
”So, about that candidate...”
”Hmm, if I remember it correctly, the name's Han-”
The door was finally closed, sealing the room from the outside world. Without light coming from outside, the room was covered in total darkness.
The child slowly got up into a sitting position.
”Pain... what's going on? Did I reincarnate into a sickly body?”
Yao Huang tried moving his new body's limbs. Everything worked fine, saves for the pain coursing through his body. When he swiped his fingers over his arm, he noticed that it was covered in thick, sticky liquid.
He took a sniff. It smelled like iron.
”...Blood?”
Hmm... he might had reincarnated into a dangerous situation... but at least he's still a human, not a cockroach!
'As long as I'm still a human, then I can cultivate!'
He had lost all his techniques after drinking the first cup of Five-Fragrance Tea, but he still retained the memory of his old self, as well as his knowledge of cultivation. With that, he could restore his strength back to his peak.
'Still, it will unbalance the karma of this world... ahh, whatever, I'll just leave it to King Yama to settle when I get back there!'
He tried to stand up, and accidentally noticed something.
Some... things were jutting out from his behind. He could feel it now that he was sitting down. When he turned around, what he saw shocked him silly.
Five glowing tentacles were attached to him, each of them swaying with the wind. No, not tentacles... they looked soft on the touch, and a bit feathery.
Could it be... tails?
Curiously, he poked one of the tails with a finger. It swayed away in response. The touch felt like sinking into a soft pillow.
'The heck? Did I reincarnate into a fox demon?!'
At that moment, he felt something assaulting his soul. A soft, yet prideful voice echoed within his head.
”This One's name is Kokuo.”
The shadow of a huge, white beast filled his vision.
”Such a weak and small vessel... This One will take you over!”