3 The Village of Mount Logean (1)

"Sir Wuji, if you don't mind my asking, where have you been all this time?"

"Away. I've only just come back."

"Sir Wuji, are you going to be living in Akna-Logea from now on?

"Maybe. It is the only place that ever truly felt like home to me."

Currently, Logean Wuji was following Ye Hong and Ling Ji'er down the brushy mountain path. The sight of the greenery and the blue sky gave the atmosphere a warm and cosy aspect, while the fresh air blowing against them rejuvenated their spirits.

As they walked further down the path. Logean Wuji could see the village in the mountain's shadow. Dozens of small buildings dotted the landscape, puffs of smoke escaping from some of them and rushing off into the air. From that high up, the people looked like tiny specks, but Logean Wuji saw them as clear as day.

An otherworldly silver light filled his eyes as he scoured the village.

'Qi Condensation… Qi Condensation… Regular mortal… Qi Condensation…. Ai.' In his mind, he lamented while covertly assessing the cultivation bases of a number of villagers. Aside from the few Core Formation cultivators, everyone else seemed to still be within Qi Condensation.

"Sir Wuji, are you going to disguise yourself? The statue of your likeness still stands in the village and I'm afraid everyone will recognize you." Ye Hong suddenly realized this then was quick to bring it up. At some point after he and Ling Ji'er received partial enlightenment from his words, they both started trying their best to curry favor.

"That's right, Sir Wuji. Those people could come at you like wild and savage beasts. While we don't fear for your safety, we do not wish for them to offend you like this."

Putting an end to his observations, Logean Wuji shook his head and smiled. "There's no need for a disguise. I want them to know who I am and that I have returned. I want even the Proud Heaven Empire to get the news, eventually."

Hearing him say this, greater hints of admiration appeared in Ye Hong and Ling JI'er's eyes.

"Speaking of the Proud Heaven Empire, what about the other regions? Does the Gautama Buddha Monastery still lord over the east? Is the south still home to the Yama Clan?"

And so it began, with Ye Hong and Ling Ji'er competing to be the first to answer his questions.

"My Ling Clan is actually from the east originally. In fact, the reason why we left was due to the Gautama Buddha Monastery's repeated warnings of an otherworldly force that opposes them specifically. We were told to evacuate the east and get as far away as we could, so we travelled as far west as possible. We would have stayed in the Proud Heaven Empire, but living expenses alone were far too much."

Ling Ji'er stuck her tongue out at Ye Hong as if she was saying, 'Ha! You snooze, you lose, chump!'

Ye Hong did not take it to heart. He instead went directly for the second option. "Actually, there was a bit of drama with the Yama Clan recently."

"Oh? What kind of drama exactly?" Seeing Sir Wuji being intrigued enough to ask a question, Ling Ji'er's victorious expression became sullen. Ye Hong was a tour guide after all, he knew how to word things in order for people to be most interested.

"As I'm sure Sir Wuji knows, the Yama Clan takes pride in being the descendants of King Yama, a legendary figure from the Mythical Realm."

Logean Wuji sneered at this, wanting to laugh but holding it in. 'Descendants of who? Due to the feng shui of the southern region, a Hell Gate opened up and allowed them to grasp unique concepts, but that was it. To think they would dare proclaim to be that boy's descendants. Laughable!'

"As King Yama's descendants, they are able to comprehend and cultivate the laws of hellfire to an abnormal degree, so they take their bloodline very seriously. Word is that, during a sparring match between the juniors, a certain Clan Elder's daughter was facing off against the Clan Leader's son. Passions erupted during the match, and the Clan Elder's daughter was in dire straits."

"Who could have guessed that she would then attack with the signature frost technique of the northern powerhouse, the Snowfall Sect."

Logean Wuji was actually taken by surprise and let out a, "Goodness." Even Ling Ji'er was reeling in shock; she had not heard this news before.

"After that, the Elder and his daughter were crippled and banished from the Yama Clan. After that, the Clan Leader and a few other Elders left for the north, most likely to seek an explanation. Things are still quite tense in the south."

Logean Wuji nodded, then asked, "What happened when they arrived in the north?"

"This lowly one can't say. These events are very recent, so it is likely that word is yet to spread." Ye Hong sighed dejectedly at his incompetence. He couldn't believe that after all that, he failed by not having acquired the rest of the story. He felt like slapping himself to death.

By now they were nearing the foot of the mountain and could see where the path began. There was a large wooden gate here that read, 'Mount Logean, Home of the Ancient Logean Clan!' However, there was a smaller signboard nailed up just beneath the inscription that read, 'And Home of the famous Ten-Tastes Noodle Soup!'

Logean Wuji smiled wryly, then walked through the gate. As it was still a bit early, not a lot of people were walking about. A few of the early bird vendors had opened up their shops and stalls, but aside from them most of the people were lined up outside a large restaurant.

When they saw who it was that had come down from the mountain, some of the people started murmuring.

"It's that guy, Ye Hong and the new girl… Jie, uh, was it Jing?"

"Who's that with them? Looks kind of familiar, doesn't he?"

Aside from the murmurs, three people standing in line saw Ye Hong and started waving and hollering, "Ye Hong! Ye Hong, over here!"

"We saved you a spot, Brother Hong!"

Calling out to Ye Hong were three people in brown clothing, all having similarly colored headbands on, who were at the front of the line. Ye Hong also had similar clothes on, so it was apparent that these were the other tour guides he worked with. Ye Hong hurriedly waved back at them, but stopped abruptly to explain the situation to Logean Wuji.

"You see, the restaurant is quite famous even among the locals. People get in line pretty early just to secure a bowl of the noodle soup. As for those three, they are Ji San, Han Long and Han Yueli, the other guides that frequent the mountain path."

Logean Wuji nodded and expressed his thanks. "We should go join them then."

Much to Ye Hong and Ling Ji'er's surprise though, he actually led the way toward the three people that had called out. Once he got to where they were, they looked at him with puzzled faces.

"Hey, Ye Hong, who's this guy?" Ji San looked Logean Wuji up and down, not sensing any kind of aura and immediately frowning.

"He's quite handsome, but isn't he just an ordinary man?" Han Yueli also sized up Logean Wuji, but she was more focused on his looks.

"Who cares about that? If he's a friend of Ye Hong's then he can join the line with us, no problem." Smiling kindly, Han Long pulled his companions aside and made room for three new people. Shockingly enough, the people behind them did not seem to mind. In fact, they were too caught up in looking at Logean Wuji to mind it.

"Say, doesn't Brother Hong's friend look a bit too familiar? But I know I've never seen him before… How strange." Just like everyone else in line, Ji San, Han Long and Han Yueli were completely lost in Logean Wuji's face. At first, Ye Hong and Ling JI'er didn't know what was going on, but when they looked at Logean Wuji they realized that they too were finding it hard to look away.

As a matter of fact, if it was not for them having spent so much time around him already, they would be just as mesmerized.

"You are Han Long, yes? What a pleasure to meet the friends of Ye Hong. I'm Logean Wuji." Nonchalantly, Logean Wuji extended his hand for Han Long to shake as he spoke his name.

However, as he did so, everyone present immediately realized where they had seen this man before. It was precisely the old statue of Logean Wuji that still stood in the village to this day!

The sun seemed to shine brighter at that moment. The almost thirty people who were present felt their chests tighten and their heartbeats quicken; their eyes widened and their throats dried up. Everyone here was a local, and as a local it was impossible to have not seen the statue of Logean Wuji.

There were virtually no people living in the Logean Mountain Region that did not know who Logean Wuji was.

"It can't really be you, can it?" Han Long stiffened while simultaneously beginning to tremble. All of a sudden, pressure began to build up around him and everyone else, slowly erasing the lingering doubts.

Han Yueli and Ji San, among others, took involuntary steps back and gasped before their breaths were cut short. Logean Wuji's eyes shone with sunlight, blinding them momentarily.

"It really is me." Logean Wuji then recalled the tiny bit of aura he had released, returning the atmosphere to tranquility. However, beneath the surface, large waves were crashing in people's minds. At first, they started to leave one by one. Shortly after, entire groups of people were rushing this way and that.

People were flying out of their sleep and rushing outside to find the source of that terrifying pressure. Since he had been just outside of the Ten-Tastes Restaurant, the staff members, who had been inside preparing the place for customers, burst out of the open door to see what was going on. The owner, a tall and muscular middle-aged man with silver hair, was the first on the scene.

"Oh, if it isn't Mister Mantiao!" Ye Hong and Ling Ji'er were still by Logean Wuji's side, so they saw when the owner, Mister Mantiao, came outside.

He looked around a bit before becoming stunned, his jaw agape and his eyes dim. Behind him, a few maids came out before, finally, a white-haired woman in chef's clothes came out. The milky white skin of her forehead was dotted with tiny droplets of sweat; she had just been in the kitchen. They all seemed surprised to see that, of the thirty some customers, only three hadn't stormed off.

"Were they tired of waiting? Did they not wait longer than this the day before?"

Out of all the staff members, only Mister Mantiao was truly crestfallen. "Ah! What injustice is this? My Ten-Tastes Restaurant, an establishment deemed 'most likely to probably succeed' by our chieftain, has now fallen from grace. Heaven! Explain, damnit! Explain! Boohoo…"

By now he was on his knees scooping up fistfuls of loose sand and shouting at the sky, slowly letting the it fall from his hands. The maids simply returned to their cleaning and whatnot. After all, Mister Mantiao wasn't paying them to attract customers.. They were wasting time and thus wasting money.

As for the white-haired woman, she ignored his antics and stepped forward to greet the three people, her gaze lingering on Logean Wuji for just a second longer. "Good morning, friends. We still aren't quite ready for customers at the moment, but we would be glad to take your orders. Once the cleaners are finished and you are seated, your food should be ready."

Ye Hong and Ling Ji'er smiled brightly, rubbing their hands together and preparing to state their orders. Before they could though, Logean Wuji spoke, "Take your time, miss. You should prepare the place well, as you'll be receiving a lot of customers today."

With that, he disregarded the woman and Mister Mantiao entirely, walking off further into the village while calling out, "Ye Hong, Ling Ji'er, I want to see this statue."

Realizing that they would not be able to eat just yet, Ling Ji'er and Ye Hong sighed. They gathered their bearings and returned to looking dignified and respectable instead of seeming like mere gluttons. Leading the way, they saw people rushing about, rambling among themselves and casting shocked glances at Logean Wuji.

"Someone alert the chieftain! Call out Old Man Sun! Someone go wake up Father Tang and Mother Guan!"

"Shut up, you!"

Logean Wuji nonchalantly strolled through it all. In actuality, he was thinking back to two people he had just seen. One was the man called Mister Mantiao, owner of the Ten-Tastes Restaurant. There was something about him that Logean Wuji found amusing, but he had not taken the time to properly analyze him.

The other person was the white-haired woman that had also come out of the restaurant. Both of them seemed to be more than they appeared, which intrigued him. He would surely revisit the restaurant.

"There it is, Sir Wuji."

They arrived at a kind of old plaza. The tiles on the floor were different from the rest of the village; though they seemed older, they were definitely in much better shape. On either side, dozens of small altars were erected inside of enclosed stone sheds, a single lantern outside each one. As they walked further down, past the altars and lanterns, they came up to a tall stone statue depicting a young man.

The minute he saw the statue, Logean Wuji frowned.

When had he ever posed for this statue? How come he could not remember it?