"Qing Li! Who are these people?" one of the villagers asked. The villagers started following them along the way. The man who had been escorting Xue Wei and Hei Gou was named Qing Li, who stopped in his tracks, his smiling face grimacing when he saw the man that had spoken.
"Long Tian, this has nothing to do with you!" he exclaimed. "I already gave them the option to leave, but it will not let them leave, so I am going to be gentle and bring them to it right away. They have to go there sooner or later anyways."
"What is the rush? Is it because you were led there right when you came to the village and now you want to see others in the same kind of miserable situation so you can feel superior?" the man called Long Tian sneered back without hiding anything, revealing Qing Li’s ugly nature.
Xue Wei's face did not change. He had felt the immense pressure in the distance the moment they arrived, and knew that it was in no way a pleasant encounter that they had in front of them, but the sight of the others still being alive meant that it was likely that they were also going to survive it.
"Shut your mouth!" Qing Li exploded out with anger and embarrassment. He never thought that this Long Tian would expose him so ruthlessly, but a smile crept onto his lips when he saw that Xue Wei did not seem to care.
"See, they don't care about your meddling," he sneered. "They just want to get it over with, and then we will see if ‘it’ will let them leave!"
Xue Wei and Hei Gou were curious about what this 'it' was. It was not a being since it was being referred to as a ‘it’, but they had no idea what exactly it could be.
They were being led to the other end of the village, where a large temple stood erect.
This temple was many times larger than the most significant building in the village. It was well-maintained and seemed to be a place for someone to visit whenever they felt a need to be cleansed or pray for something.
Xue Wei had seen a few temples here and there, but it was rare to see one in a village. Only now did he understand that the temple was not there because of the village, but the village was there because of the temple.
Although the villagers were not monks, they all did something to provide for the temple, and their purpose in life was to ensure that the temple was in good condition.
Xue Wei was curious. Which god did this temple represent? The architecture was similar to the other temples he had seen paintings of in his books, but was this perhaps a place for Diviners?
The village had seemed as simple as any other village, but upon laying eyes on the temple, he understood that it was not as simple as it had appeared.
The monks were a strong faction within the main parts of the continent. They had fighters, Diviners, and even fanatics that only pursue the pinnacle of martial arts.
It was rare for the monks to visit a remote place like the Heping Kingdom, but perhaps a secret base was located within the Vermilion Forest Kingdom? Xue Wei was curious.
Was 'It' perhaps some sort of power that gave the monks their strength? Was it a divine boon or a personification of a god?
They were getting closer and closer to the temple. Even the ones who had previously seemed gleefully awaiting the scene of their misfortune turned solemn, and sweat started to bead on their foreheads.
Qing Li continued to lead the group, and Long Tian followed from behind. Qing Li moved dramatically slower at this point. He was no longer swaggering around, and instead every move he made was timid and forced.
Although the heavy pressure was focused on Xue Wei and Hei Gou, it was also pressing down on the others. Because they knew what was waiting for them, their hearts were beating rapidly, and fear took root in their minds.
Xue Wei and Hei Gou also started sweating, but instead of being scared, they were curious and alert. They understood that something serious was about to happen, but they had no idea what that was.
Just as they were about to enter the temple grounds, a young woman appeared. She was wearing a white dress. Her hair was tied on top of her head, and her eyes resembled the eyes of a phoenix.
Her body was slender, and curvy, which the white dress did well to accentuate, but no one sent her a lustful glance. In fact, all the gazes on her were filled with fear and reverence.
This woman seemed very young, around the same age as Xue Wei, but her eyes were deep and unfathomable as if she had seen a completely different world than they had.
She carried herself elegantly, and the aura she exuded was filled with solitude and sadness.
Her gaze traced over the many villagers, and all of them lowered their heads so as to not meet her eyes.
Xue Wei was curious. Was this the 'it' they had been talking about? But it was clearly a woman.
"Are they the strangers that are causing it to be so restless?" she asked with a gentle voice that made Xue Wei imagine a stream of water over a riverbed of stones.
"Yes, young priestess!" Qing Li was the first to answer, nearly jumping out as he did. "I have taken it upon myself to bring them to it! I hope your ladyship will allow us to go through!"
The woman looked at Qing Li for some time, her eyes devoid of emotion. Her face was expressionless. "Sure," she said after a bit of time, "let them enter."
Qing Li heaved a heavy sigh of relief. He had feared punishment from the woman, but it seemed that she too wished for ‘it’ to meet these two intruders as soon as possible.
"It is more restless than ever before," the woman sighed. "I have never seen it become so riled up before; these two young men are clearly exactly what it needs. Who knows what will happen to them."
Xue Wei was listening attentively to their conversation. From what were saying, he understood that the young woman was in charge of the temple and represented 'it'.
On the other hand, he realized that the villagers contributed heavily to the upkeep of this temple despite their ordinary farm-hand lives, repaired the temple whenever needed, and ensured that the priestess was well-fed and well-dressed.
"It is in here," she said suddenly after walking through the temple itself, and the pressure was already so heavy that every step Xue Wei and Hei Gou took, was even more challenging than when they were walking knee-deep in the snow back in Lingyun Town.
Their legs felt as if they were made of lead. They dragged their feet as they moved, and sweat started running down their backs and foreheads.
In front of them was a door that was filled with paper talismans all over it. These yellow pieces of paper were stuck to the door, giving it an ominous vibe.
Without anyone touching the door, it started opening with loud creaks. Inside the door was darkness. Pure darkness. Even if it was a room without windows, there should still be some light, or at least the light from the opening of the door should brighten up what was inside, but nothing could be seen other than pitch black darkness.
Then laughter rang out from inside. A piercing and mind-rending laughter that invoked nothing but despair. Their entire beings felt cold, and their bodies started trembling. Fear was evident on the faces of each and every person in the vicinity around and inside the temple.
Xue Wei’s heart started sinking into the pits of his stomach. This laughter was truly sinister and even he was affected by it.
"This is interesting," he mumbled to himself as he looked behind him and saw Hei Gou acting just as terrified as the villagers.
"Well then, let us see what is hiding in the darkness," Xue Wei muttered before his eyes turned sharp and he stepped forward.
The pressure was getting many times more intense the closer he got to the door, but at the same time, he felt a suction force.
It was not before now he realized that the pressure that was pressing down on him did not come from this thing they said was 'it,' but from the talismans that were subduing whatever was hiding within.
Since this thing had been summoning Xue Wei and Hei Gou, the talismans had also affected them, but now that he was so close to whatever this ‘it’ was, he could feel the calling for him, the suction force and the eagerness to have Xue Wei enter the room.
Although he felt the evilness within the laughing voice, Xue Wei was not scared. There was this thought convincing him that he would be fine and that nothing terrible would happen to him.
The moment his foot stepped into the room, he felt his entire body being swallowed up by the darkness.
All his senses were blocked; he could not see, hear, smell or touch anything.
"Finally, a worthy one has come," the sinister voice snickered. "Why don't we make a deal? Give me a bit of your soul and I will make you incredibly strong!"
This sinister voice was in no way domineering or frightening, in fact it sounded rather cheerful and energetic. Xue Wei had a hard time taking it seriously.
"Idiot, who would ever give away their soul?" Xue Wei snorted. "I am not so naive that I will give up myself to become powerful!"
"Oh really? That is a shame," the sinister voice reverberated through Xue Wei's mind. "If you had said yes, I would have taken over your body and been reborn!"
"So you admit it? Isn't that just rude?" Xue Wei was stunned to hear the voice admitting it so readily, but he also did not hate that about ‘it’. In fact, the only thing Xue Wei could feel in the face of such honesty was admiration.
"Well, you denied my offer so fast... it is not like you will change your mind, so telling you makes no difference."
"Well, you should not think about taking over my life in the first place!"
"Why don't you give me just a bit of your soul energy?"
"I don't want to."
"Your Qi?"
"No."
"Your blood?"
"Not even a drop."
"Stingy."
"What are you even?"
"Oh, right. You are in the middle of my world of darkness."
"You don't say."
"I am the heroic spirit of the sword!"
"What sword?"
"The sword! The sword that makes them all shiver in fear. The sword that has been here for thousands of years! The sword that has slain immortals!"
"That sounds quite fancy."
"I am quite amazing kiddo, so why don't you give me a bit of your soul?"
"Not happening."
A deep sigh could be heard within Xue Wei's mind, and suddenly the darkness turned to a dim-lit room.
In the middle of the room was a sword. This was a beautiful sword with a dragon coiling itself between the handle and the blade; the dragon’s mouth was open and served as the guard, and the blade itself was long and sharp.
The sword hung on heavy black chains, and talismans were placed all over it. Every inch of the sword was covered with yellow talismans to keep it from breaking free.
"Seems to me that you are a prisoner, not some heavenly sword," Xue Wei mocked. The sword trembled slightly.
"If I were not so unfortunate to fall from the sky, I would never have been in this embarrassing situation!" the haughty and sinister voice of the sword retorted, but in Xue Wei's ears, it sounded a lot like a whining child.