138 Hatch a Plan (1/2)
The priestess led the two young men to their appointed room. Afterwards, she left them, returning to her daily chores.
Although she had been promised a ticket to freedom – and she was likely much more happy now than she was before – her face was still completely expressionless.
Xue Wei was starting to understand that the experiences from his childhood where he was ostracized and bullied might not be the worst fate out there; others might have experienced much tougher things.
This woman had on the surface been honored and respected, but the truth was that the villagers had always despised her.
Living in such a situation, she was always careful with what she did. She had to be gentle and feign ignorance to the hatred directed at her. She had to live a double life.
Right now, the villagers were already very unhappy with her. She was already this old, but she had yet to display any willingness to conceive a child with one of the villagers and let the bloodline of the priestess continue.
Xue Wei and Hei Gou rested in the room for a few hours. The room was somewhat sparse in space, but there were at least two beds for them to sit or lay down on. Other than the two beds, there was nothing in the room.
The beds were also old, but they seemed to have been maintained regularly, and thus they did not collapse when the two of them took a seat.
”Are you okay?” Hei Gou finally asked after a long time spent in silence. ”I am quite curious about this sword that you met,” he continued, his eyes brimming with curiosity. Xue Wei chuckled.
So far, they had been in the presence of either the villagers or the priestess, so he had not been able to explain what he had experienced fully until now.
Xue Wei explained everything that had happened inside the room of darkness with the sword, and he was very straightforward with his words. Hei Gou's eyes widened in surprise.
”A wicked soul in a strong sword consuming the souls of the vile to increase its cultivation levels. This is seriously weird. He, that Tianyi guy, might consider himself evil because he consumes the souls of others, but he pointed out specifically that the souls he wanted were the souls of those doing sinister deeds. Then is he not a vigilante? Someone protecting the weak and poor, killing the tyrants and the evildoers?”
Xue Wei shrugged his shoulders. ”I don't know for sure,” he answered. ”The reason he wants the evildoers is because their energy is beneficial to him. If the souls of the pure were useful to him, he might be eager to kill those too.”
”There is no telling whether or not he would mind massacring tons of innocent people for the sake of his cultivation,” he continued. ”I don't know if he is a truly evil spirit or not, but he is definitely not someone who cares deeply about others. He will do what benefits him and stick with it.”
Xue Wei had not spoken with the sword for long, but he had long since understood the character of the sword. It would do almost anything as long as it benefitted itself.
They discussed for a long time about their current predicament, fully aware that their situation was somewhat risky.
They were stuck in a village filled with hostile men and women. Most of them wished for nothing more than to have these two strangers be killed by their nemesis, the sword.
While a few felt guilty and uncomfortable about it, the majority were celebrating because it meant that it would prolong their lifespans.
Xue Wei and Hei Gou finished discussing their course of action after a while, and decided to leave their new chambers to look around. They had already received permission to wander around the village as they pleased, as it seemed impossible for them to escape the hidden realm.
Since this was the case, the two of them decided to stroll through the village to see if there was any way of sneaking out, or if they had to prepare to fight their way out.
It would be ideal if they could escape by sneaking out, but a walk through the village told them that the entire place was walled in behind a very tall palisade, and that only one gate led out of the village.
This gate was under constant watch; the villagers had guards there all day and all night. Although the ones guarding the exit were all easy to overpower for the of them, Xue Wei and Hei Gou were also aware that the rest of the village would rush to the gates the very moment they make a move – and then their situation would be difficult.
It would be less difficult to escape if they were alone, but they had to bring the priestess with them.
”We can fly over the palisades,” Hei Gou said with certainty, but Xue Wei shook his head. ”I think it is impossible. The formations should have blocked the sky.”
Hei Gou frowned. ”They can do that?” he asked. Xue Wei shrugged his shoulders. ”I don't know,” he said honestly, ”but I could imagine that it is possible. Imagine what would happen if what we went through while coming here happened in the sky? We would be completely incapable of telling what's up and down, back and forth, and there's no telling what we'll end up running into while flying blindly.”
Hei Gou's face turned a little pale at the remark, but he said nothing more and just sighed.
”This is troublesome. First, we were captive in a tribe. Now, we are captive here. Both places had their own agendas, and we are stuck waiting for the opportune moment to run. Will we ever not be on the run?”
Hei Gou seemed to be giving up, but Xue Wei nodded his head. ”The reason we are in this situation right now is that we are weak. If we were just a few ranks stronger, then this village would never be able to contain us. If we were Heavenly Warriors, then we could wash the streets with the blood of those who want to sacrifice us to Tianyi.”
Hei Gou nodded his head, finding truth in what Xue Wei said. ”Right now, we are genuinely weak. We are still mere Warriors, and in fact only a Sky and Earth Warrior, you and I respectively, to boot. Although we can leapfrog levels in terms of combat strength, we are still helpless against the masses and some of the real, properly trained Heavenly Warriors.”
”Since this is the case, why not spend the next few days focusing on cultivating? We will be able to raise our strength and wash away the shame of being held captive!”