I stayed quiet, not out of choice mind you but rather because I physically couldn't speak. His aura cast a pressure upon me that pushed and weighed down on my very soul and every fiber of my being protested his presence.
He looked at me, a confused look crossing his face as if he were puzzled by my silence.
"Well? Aren't you going to say anything at all?"
My eyes popped wide open, mouth gasping open and close like a fish out of water. A look of realization finally crossed his face as he slowly withdrew his aura into himself, finally letting me breath.
"My apologies boy, I often forget the effect I have on mortals. Please go ahead and speak, I'm sure you have questions."
I take a deep breath, examining his face carefully, trying to detect any signs of hostility or deceit.
"Greetings esteemed elder," I said as respectfully as I could. "May I have the privilege of knowing who I am speaking to."
The man let out a boisterous laugh and said, "Spare me the formalities boy, I've longed tired of empty courtesies. My name is Tang Li, Patriarch of the Tang Clan."
Tang Li. The strongest man in the city. Patriarch of the Tang Clan. Our most bitter enemies.
"Hah. HA. HAHAHAH."
The absurdity of the situation finally broke me. I laughed and laughed until the laughter turned into sobs that wracked my body. I was dead. In the house of a beast that probably kept me around to toy with me.
My Uncle couldn't rescue me, hell I doubt he even wanted to anyways, knowing the man he more than likely sold me hoping that the Tangs would do his dirty work for him and finally finish me off.
He looked at me, almost amused by the whole situation.
"Are you done?"
I gave him a weary smile, I was a dead man walking anyways, might as well speak my mind.
"Yes sir."
"Good."
"Why am I here?"
He leaned back on his chair and gave me a sly smile.
"Thats a great question. Long story short, your uncle lost a bet."
Hah. A bet, that's all I was worth to that man. He gambled away his own flesh and blood. I never thought that the thought of that would disappoint me so, given the way he treated me I should assume no better…
But it still hurts.
"What is the long story sir," I asked him, not really expecting an answer.
To my surprise his smile grew even wider as he said. "Tell me boy, what do you know about the Seabreeze Tournament boy?"
The tournament, I knew that it was…
Actually now that I thought about it, I really didn't know anything about the tournament other than it happened once a year.
"Not much sir."
He nodded and said," Very well then listen carefully."
"It's a tournament held once every year where both the Lei and Tang Clans send their most outstanding prodigies to compete and see who is the best of the best. Now the tournament is supposed to typically be a friendly competition, not unlike a spar at most, but, given that rivalries can run a bit hot, the matches tend to escalate."
That made sense, given how competitive cultivators tended to be I could see the matches quickly devolving out of hand.
"This year your cousin, Lei Wei faced off with my son Tang Lou but unfortunately they got in a bit of a scuffle before the fight."
A fight before a fight? What the hell even happened?
"What type of scuffle?"
"Tang Lou accidently spilled tea all over Lei Wei, which led to an argument that culminated in them betting their cultivations against each other."
That line washed over me like a bucket of cold water. To bet one's cultivation was to risk it all because to lose would mean having your dantian broken. Just like mine.
It was a fate worse than death and both of them risked it over a glass of spilt water. But then again, honor is currency among cultivators, to slight a genius, no matter how minor your transgression may be, is to challenge their worth.
"Alright I get that but then what does this have to do with me?"
Tang Li chuckled and said, "Well obviously my son won, his victory was never really in doubt anyhow, but that put your uncle in a bit of a pickle. He needed to cripple his own son. The prodigy. Quite understandably he didn't want to do that so he did the only other thing that he could think of."
Even before he finished his sentence I knew exactly what he was going to say.
"The wager was sealed by an oathstone, meaning something had to be offered in return. When your uncle refused to cripple his son, he offered you instead — your blood for his heir's, so tell me Lei Nei, how does it feel, knowing that your entire worth boiled down to a cup of tea."
I was too shocked to speak.
"Now I was all ready to have a Lei Clan bastard as my slave, it would have been so much better than just crippling your cousin," said the beast, his tone still light and friendly, but each sentence now imbued with his Qi, the words slamming into me like physical blows. " So imagine my surprise when all I got in return was a crippled mortal boy, beaten, bloody, and already half dead, although in hindsight I should have known anything that the greasy bastard you call an uncle would say would be too good to be true."
He narrowed his eyes and looked at me dangerously before saying, "I had to waste quite a pretty penny on keeping you alive so now, Tang Lou's mother insisted on treating you herself — soft hearted woman, so, how should I deal with you. I doubt I'll be able to get anything of value out of a cripple like you. Maybe finishing the job might improve my mood."
Ah… I thought to myself, this is it, my final moment is probably here. Life hadn't been kind to me, I had lived in fear for most of it, first a slave for my uncle and now I would die as a slave for this man.
I felt grief, trepidation, and resignation all at the same time, but more than that something else bubbled up within me. I felt indignation and rage. I wasn't some commodity to be traded around. I refused to be an object any longer.
I wasn't going to roll over and let this man do what he wanted to me. I refused to serve. If I was going to die, then I wouldn't die on my knees.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to settle my emotions, before opening them and meeting his. He had an amused smirk on his face but just below that facade was his true power. Raw, wild, untamed, power that he slowly let seep out, once again weighing down, pressing on me, almost as if forcing me to submit.
Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead as I tried to hold eye contact, a herculean task when my instincts screamed at me to lower my head and surrender.
But I didn't.
Because I couldn't.
I knew deep within me that I was gazing into the abyss and if I were the first one to look away.
It would be the last thing I ever did.
He stared into my very soul with those eyes of his, my knees trembling, collar soaked in sweat. Just when I thought I could no longer go on, he chuckled and closed his eyes, the pressure finally withdrawing, relief sending me to my knees, the fall opening up my injuries. The pain ran through me, but I didn't even notice.
"Do you know why I agreed to take you instead of crippling your cousin boy?"
I shook my head.
He got up from his chair, came close to me, kneeling down so that our faces were level.
"It's because he begged me. Oh yes he screamed and cried and begged both my son, and then when he did not relent, me to forgive him, and in that moment I knew. I knew that he would never make it past Golden Core, because he was a coward. Letting him live in his own inadequacy is so much sweeter a punishment than anything I could ever do to him."
Oh. I had misjudged him. He wasn't a beast.
He was a monster.
"However," he said, pressing on, "You were just a little extra prize for me, I'm just glad you're braver than your cousin. I really have no time and patience for cowards, had you begged me for your life just like him I fully intended on carrying out my threat. But your courage pleases me."
The realisation of how close I had come to death should have shocked me but I was simply numb. I was tired, still so tired, I just didn't have it in me to be scared anymore.
"Then what happens to me now," I say very matter of factly.
"Well now, we're finally back to asking good questions," he said, walking back over to his chair and sitting down.
"The answer is that I don't know. You're crippled, which severely limits the tasks that I can assign you. As far as I understand you're an archivist but I'm sure you understand that we can't exactly have you snooping through our texts until we know we can trust you."
That…was extremely fair. I honestly understood where he was coming from because I didn't know what to do with myself either.
As he pondered, however, a flicker of madness crept into my mind unbidden. This might be suicide to ask, but the question burned on my tongue anyways.
"Sir?"
"Hmm, yes?" He said, still pondering.
"Is there a way that I can fix my dantian?"
"Fix your dantian? Boy, why would I, of all people, lift a finger to mend your dantian?."
I bit my lip anxiously. What could I possibly offer him?
"Ill do anything."
"You don't understand the implications of what you're saying child."
"I do."
"If you did, you wouldn't be saying it."
"I don't care, I can't live the rest of my life being at the mercy of those that are stronger than me."
This made him pause, he stared me up and down hungrily like a fresh piece of meat. I realised that I indeed did not understand the implications of what I had just said.
"Yes, you are a brave boy," he growled. "We're done here, I'm tired of you, we will talk later."
His tone was calm, but his eyes promised violence. I couldn't tell if he was warning me or encouraging me.
But I needed to know. Is there a method? Is there a way?
"Sir please tell me…"
He waved his hand, shooing me off. Ah he was done with this conversation.
I recognised that I was pushing my luck. I got up from the ground, bowed to him respectfully and turned around to leave. Just before I stepped out the door, however, I turned around to ask him one more question.
"Sir?"
"Hmmm?"
"Why are you helping me? With all due respect I'm your enemy, you have no reason to do any of this."
"Honestly I don't know myself. All I know is that you're the first mortal to ever look me in my eyes?"
"Thats it? That's all it took?"
"I need no other reason to do what I want to do. Might may not make right son, but only the weak have to justify themselves."
Ah.
I walked out the door back into the courtyard and all the stress, exhaustion and fatigue caused by simply standing in a powerhouse's presence hit me all at once. My hands trembled, palms slick with sweat.
Tang Lou was waiting for me with a strange look on his face.
"What did he say to you?" he said, genuine curiosity in his voice. "This is the longest I've ever seen him talk to someone other than my mother."
I looked at him, about to answer before I was hit by a wave of dizziness, sending me reeling into his arms.
I heard him sigh and felt him pick me up, walking me back to the infirmary and dumping me on to the bed with his mother in the background admonishing him for not being gentle.
I was sleepy.
And so I fell asleep.
Darkness claimed me but in that world of blackness I once again emerged in a room of grey. Again I dreamt of the Sutra and once again it taught me wondrous, exciting things but for the life of me when I woke up I couldn't remember a moment of what I had experienced.
All I know is that it truly was special.