28 Chapter 27: Reunion (1/2)

”Whoa!”

I jolted upright, blinking. For a moment I didn't know where I was. Looking around in confusion, I tried to recall what was the last thing that happened.

”That's right…I fainted from the venom, and was washed away by the current of the river…”

Standing up groggily, I checked my surroundings. It was incredibly dark, covered by shadows. My first impression was that I got washed into a cave, but the more I looked around, the more I realized that I wasn't in a cavern.

There were…no walls. No ceilings, nothing. I was in a vast open space that stretched infinitely, a place where no light could ever reach.

A chill ran down my spine. I remembered seeing this place before. It was…

Flicker.

I reached into my pocket and retrieved the Golden Dragon Medallion that I had been carrying on my person all this time. It had come to life, glowing brightly and radiating golden light that was almost blinding. Raising it in the air, I used it to light my way.

As I suspected, despite the illumination the Golden Dragon Medallion afforded, there was nothing to see for kilometers around. That was because I wasn't in a physical space.

Well, looks like I'm back in the underworld.

For the second time in seven months, I had died and was sent to the underworld. I never would have guessed that I would be so unfortunate.

”Ugh…”

Sighing, I began walking. The initial darkness, while discomforting and disorientating, wouldn't last. As long as I kept moving, I would be able to find my way back to the populated recesses of the underworld where lines of ghosts waiting to be reincarnated stretched for miles. With a heavy heart, I knew that this time was no mistake. I had really screwed up and died.

”…hmm?”

While I was strolling across the unfathomable darkness, the golden dragon medallion glowed ferociously and a single beam of golden light burst out and stretched across the infinite space, pointing toward a single direction.

”…ah…”

I instinctively understood. The Golden Dragon Medallion was acting like a compass, showing me the way. Following its guidance, I headed in the direction of the blinding ray of light. Even though I would have reached the Naihe Qiao or Bridge of Helplessness eventually without the Golden Dragon Medallion's guidance, I suspected the little gadget pointing me the way would hasten the process. After all, I wanted to get out of this darkness a quickly as possible.

Turned out that I was mistaken. The Golden Dragon Medallion wasn't leading me o the Naihe Qiao. If I had thought about it, it should have been obvious. As I mentioned earlier, and evidenced by my first time here, anybody would be able to get to the Naihe Qiao even without any guidance. If that was the case, there was no reason for the Golden Dragon Medallion to lead me there.

No, instead it led me to…

”Grandma Meng?”

I gaped when I saw the old lady sitting on a chair and taking a sip of tea. She lowered her teacup and greeted me with a smile.

”Oh, lad, so you're finally here.”

”Here” was actually a room. I had no idea when the darkness disappeared, but at some point while I was walking, my surroundings had been replaced by a peaceful forest. Within the tranquil greenery stood a little villa. Grandma Meng was on the patio of the villa, resting against a huge, rocking chair and having tea. A large mahogany table stretched next to her, surrounded by empty chairs, and carried a tray atop its surface. The tray itself contained a relatively small teapot, circled by upside down traditional Chinese cups.

If I hadn't known better, I would have thought that I had just come across an elderly lady leisurely enjoying her vacation in her private villa located far away from any city.

”Eh? Grandma? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be serving soup…?”

”I'm old, you know?” Grandma Meng made it a point to show how she was stretching her thin, wiry body. ”I need a break once in a while, to rest my ancient bones. I've delegated my duty to those younglings.” She paused, her wrinkled face creased on concern. ”I really hope they know what they're doing.”

I watched her, not knowing how to respond to that. She then frowned at me.

”And again, I'm not your grandma, so stop calling me that.”

But I had no other way of addressing her. Whatever, I was in no mood to argue over such trivial matters right now.

”Um…so should I head over to the Naihe Qiao now?”

”Relax.” Grandma Meng put her teacup down on the table with a soft clink and smiled at me, amused. ”Are you in that much of a hurry to get reincarnated?”

”No, not really. But…what other choice do I have? I'm dead, right?”

I might have sounded bitter, but Grandma Meng merely chuckled.

”No, actually, you're not dead.” She shook her head and waved at me reassuringly. ”You're on the periphery of death, but you're not actually dead yet. Cutting really close to it, though.” she studied me for a moment and then nodded in satisfaction. ”Seems like you've eaten and assimilated the Hellfire Badger's immunity to venom. That's probably what saved your life. It'll take some time before your body develops the antibodies to fight the toxins, but you'll get there eventually.”

”…really?”

I didn't know if I should sound relieved or disbelieving. That was just too convenient, to the point that I suspected that it was plot armor. I knew the Hellfire Badger possessed resistance to all known venoms in the world, but even so…to think that my next enemy was a Hydra that carried the most lethal venom, and that I would survive that extremely potent toxin just because I happened to eat a demonic beast with resistance to it in the previous chapter.

”Yes, I have no reason to lie to you.” Grandma Meng sipped some tea and smiled warmly. ”Since you're already here anyway, why not keep me company for the time being?”

”…s…sure.”

With nothing else to do, I decided to sit when Grandma Meng gestured toward the chair opposite her, and listen to her.

”Oh, don't worry. I won't be the one talking. After all, there's someone I would like you to meet.”

Grandma Meng turned and waved at the entrance to her villa. A servant appeared, dressed in traditional Chinese robes, and bowed respectfully.

”Call our guest here,” she told the maid. The young-looking servant nodded and disappeared back within the house. Within moments, footsteps echoed throughout the interior and the last person I expected emerged from the door.

”Ah, lad, you're finally here.”

My jaw dropped when I saw the newcomer. So shocked was I that I dropped the Golden Dragon Medallion on the floor, the secret treasure bouncing off and then rolling across the wooden floorboards. The newcomer scowled as he bent down to catch and pick up the Golden Dragon Medallion, then he strode over to return it to my empty hand.

”Hey, take good care of the Golden Dragon Medallion I gave you! Don't just drop it all over the floor! It's an extremely important treasure!”

”Y…you…” I spluttered in disbelief. The old man I saved from the truck, and the same one who visited me in the hospital, the original owner of the Golden Dragon Medallion, stared back at me with a wry smile.

”We meet again.”

”…You…you're dead!” I blurted out. The old man snorted as his eyes narrowed into a scowl.

”Why, thank you for stating the obvious.”

”It's not that obvious,” Grandma Meng spoke up flippantly as she took another sip from her teacup. ”Anyway, have a seat. I'm sure there's a lot of things you want to say to this poor lad.”

It was actually the other way around, but before I could break into a tirade, the old man chuckled and nodded.

”Indeed.” He turned to me and shook his head. ”To be honest, I never expected to see you again. After I died at the hands of the Martial Arts Alliance, I came here and lined up at the bridge to get reincarnated. But this hag over here stopped me and told me to wait.” He leaned back on his chair and nodded. ”I see why she held me back now.”

”Don't call me a hag, geezer.”

”Don't call me a geezer, hag!”

What the hell were they, twelve?

”Anyway…” the old man cleared his throat and then extended a hand. ”Despite the two times we met when I was still alive, I realized that I have never quite introduced myself. I am Tian Mo.”

”The former leader of the now destroyed Heaven and Earth Sect,” I muttered, but took his hand and shook it anyway.

”Ah, I see that you've find out quite a few things about me. How embarrassing.” Tian Mo laughed sheepishly as he ran his hand over his white, thinning air. He then got serious. ”Must be hard for you, isn't it?”

I glared at him. ”You don't know half of it.”

”I'm sorry.”

I doubted that he was, and spitefully pushed the Golden Dragon Medallion toward him.

”You can have that back,” I spat venomously. ”You claimed that you were grateful and this was a reward, but this damned thing has been nothing but punishment. It has brought me nothing but trouble. Everyone's chasing after me, accusing me of having learned some ultimate martial arts from you even though you've never taught me anything. They've also treated me like some sort of villain, thinking that you made me your heir or the next leader of the demonic Heaven and Earth Sect. I don't want to inherit the leadership of any sect!”

”But on the other hand, you've also been offered a chance by your academy to restore and recover the lost Heaven and Earth Formula, haven't you?” Grandma Meng calmly pointed out as she sipped her tea. I gaped at her.

”How…how do you know about that?”

”I know everything,” she replied sagely as she flicked her small teacup at me. ”I am in charge of reincarnating the dead, after all.”

”Heh! See, lad, it isn't so bad, after all!”

Tian Mo chuckled and slapped my shoulder, pleased. However, Grandma Meng merely tilted her head at him.

”But that still doesn't change the fact that your actions brought this lad a lot of trouble.”

”Ugh…” Tian Mo shrank back, but then he beamed. ”Hey, this is tough love! It's only by overcoming all these hurdles, obstacles and trouble that you'll become strong enough to claim the title of invincibility!”

”What makes you think I want to be invincible?” I countered crossly. Sure, it sounded like an appealing idea, but such an ambition was often more trouble than it was worth. I just needed enough strength to put me ahead of my rivals, to live a simple enough life. I didn't want to be at the very top – that would drag me into all sorts of unwanted politics and responsibilities. As they said, great power came with great responsibility, and both enemies and wannabe allies would flock to me, pestering me if I stood out too much.

”Boy, you should have a lot more ambition than that!”

”Oh, I have my own goals and dreams,” I acknowledged. ”And it's true that I do want to get stronger. But I would prefer to do it my way.”

”Come on, don't talk like that.” Tian Mo was pleading with me now. I stared at him, not sure what he was trying to do.

”What exactly do you want? No…” I then turned to Grandma Meng, who was clearly the one who orchestrated the whole meeting. ”What are you planning?”

”Nothing,” Grandma Meng replied indifferently. ”I'm just guiding you along destiny.”

”Screw destiny,” I growled, feeling fury ignite inside me. ”It's because of this shitty destiny that I've to suffer over the most stupid of reasons. I want to smash destiny and overthrow fate.”

”Indeed…but in order to do so, don't you need strength?”

”That's…”

Grandma Meng's response stopped me cold. I was unable to rebut that, and could only fall into a sullen silence.