A Red Night

The old woman flashed Li Lang a smile as she ran her hand over his cheeks. Her hand continued downward until it reached his neck."Hmm…strange. No unique physique or talent for cultivation despite your deformations… Never mind then. Run along now, child."She quickly lost interest and turned her back on Li Lang."Wait, take me too!"Li Lang ran after the old lady, reaching out to grasp her sleeves. His hand went straight through her as if she were a ghost, and her body turned translucent before dispersing away into the fog."Don't worry, child. I will keep your friends safe, but you likely won't be able to see them again unless you become at least as strong as me. You should forget about them and live out your life however you want." Her voice echoed from every direction.Am I too useless to even be kidnapped in this world?"Where are you, you old witch?! I said take me too, damn it!"Li Lang's provocation went unanswered. He continued yelling obscenities at the old woman, but there was no response, even when the fog cleared up. After an incense stick's worth of time, the fog completely dissipated, leaving Li Lang alone on the streets just outside the Zi manor.He stood there shaking his head with a clenched fist.This…this isn't the safe and civilized world that I am used to. I really can't do anything without power here, can I?When Li Lang was done processing what had happened, he began scanning his surroundings. The entire manor was a mess and the bodies that he previously saw all disappeared!Just the shockwaves from the fighting were enough to end many lives of the servants and guards serving the Zi Family. It was shocking for him to find all the bodies disappear into thin air so abruptly.Li Lang gritted his teeth at the sight of all the damage and at the thought of the Abductress not even sparing the remains of the deceased.It is so easy for the weak to die when they didn't even do anything wrong. Their deaths don't even have meaning…Now we don't even have a body to return to their families. What did they die for?He assessed the surroundings before his eyes rested on where one particular body used to be. The remains belonging to the former master of the house, Zi Zun, were also missing. It meant Li Lang couldn't even live up to his promise to the siblings to bury their father. He grimaced at realizing he couldn't even do that much for the man who had taken good care of him.Zi Zun was never officially his father or anything, but from his memories, the care and affection he showed Li Lang since he was young was undoubtedly fatherly love."I'm sorry… I'm so sorry. I swear I will at least save your children." Li Lang's words intensified with each passing word.He abruptly stood up after his declaration and disappeared into the manor. He knew the town would soon claim this property once they heard the news, so he began looking for any valuables to prepare for his journey.However, he found the entire manor eerily empty, with not a single body in sight. There were either no valuables to loot or they were buried beneath the rubble.That witch must've taken everything, too…Many others put in his position would fear for their future as he had lost his backing, but Li Lang didn't. All his life, he had relied on honest, hard work to get anywhere. It was a habit deeply ingrained into him, so he had no complaints. It was how he rose up in his previous life with no backing.The only thing Li Lang could find around the wreckage was some food. He quickly packed all his belongings into a small sack and exited the area.With the Zi family gone and his poor aptitude becoming common knowledge, Li Lang knew he wouldn't be treated well if he stayed in this town. He was fine with it, as he needed to journey around to achieve his goals, anyway. His childhood friends wouldn't be saving themselves, and he wanted to study how cultivation worked.Li Lang didn't have any memories of his biological parents from this life, so Zi Zun was the closest thing he had to a parent in this world. He believed the least he could do for the deceased man was to not give up on his kids.Still, just because he wanted to save them didn't mean it would happen. He had no idea where to go from now on.He knew the best method was to seek help, but a part of him wanted to find a way to get stronger himself, so he could gain access to information pertaining to higher levels of cultivation.Just because someone told him he had no aptitude, the scientist in him refused to blindly believe the words of others. He only believed in claims that were backed by concrete scientific proof.He knew that it was likely that he was just fooling himself, as there was nothing scientific about a world of cultivation, but he wanted to believe. He wanted to believe that cultivation could be studied just like any other phenomenon.While he had been deep in thought, Li Lang had subconsciously walked toward the lake his childhood friends had brought him to previously. He stared blankly at the beautiful sight of the purple Nightembers that glistened under the moonlight, as he reminisced about the fun times he once had around here.Memories of his peaceful time flashed through his mind and frustration inevitably welled up in his chest as he realized those days were permanently behind him.He let out a sigh and then began taking a stroll along the edge of the lake.He soon walked into the rocky area where Zi Xi had once guided him to. Just like his previous visit, he picked up a pebble and threw it with all his strength toward the water. The stone skipped a few times before disappearing into the lake.After throwing a few more stones, he calmed down and sat on the ridge that overlooked the entire field of purple Nightembers that shone with soft yellow light.Well…time to plan out my next step. Survival is my priority, and then I need to find an expert to either help me or learn from them. Survival, survival…I should take stock of my finances first.Finally, having a moment to catch his breath, Li Lang opened the pouch the elder from the Clear Heart sect had previously thrown to him. As he suspected, he found it full of coins. They varied in color, with the majority of them being silver mixed in with some bronze and gold.However, there was one coin-sized object in there that drew his attention. He carefully picked up a colorless, small orb that was translucent. It resembled a murky marble, but with more flat faces like a cut gemstone, and Li Lang could feel something special about it.It was only then that he remembered a different currency that cultivators normally used. The metal coins in the pouch were the common currency among regular folks, but he remembered being taught about an even more valuable currency called Qi stones. Having received the pouch from a powerful cultivator, it wasn't hard for Li Lang to make the connection.Li Lang thoroughly examined the Qi stone, as it piqued his curiosity.Interesting. This kind of rough finish should mean this is its natural shape and not cut like a gemstone. From its name, it should contain this Qi energy that powers cultivators and their tools…Having observed that point, Li Lang couldn't help but take out the red gemstone on the necklace he had been wearing. He placed it right next to the Qi stone and began comparing it to confirm his suspicions.What he didn't expect was for both stones to suddenly start glowing. On top of that, he could feel a strong suction force coming from his red gemstone. It was even causing the Qi stone to turn into speckles of light before being absorbed by the ruby.What is going on?Despite his panic, the phenomenon taking place before him didn't give him any time to think. The suction force exponentially intensified and within a second, the entire Qi stone had vanished. However, the suction force didn't stop, and it began tugging on Li Lang's finger that had been holding the stone.His skin quickly parted, and blood was drawn.Thankfully, as soon as his blood made contact with the red gemstone, it calmed down. Li Lang quickly took off his necklace and distanced himself from the dangerous specimen.This thing is…dangerous, but I also want to study it. Hmm…In the first place, where did it even come from? I have been wearing it ever since I 'awakened', but my memories don't have any information on where I got this necklace.Just as Li Lang was frozen from indecision, the gem began to glow again. This time, the brightness of the gem was incomparably more intense than before.As the light grew brighter and brighter, he began to back away. He had seen countless experiments his peers had done to know a rapid increase in luminosity could mean trouble. It represented a huge amount of energy, and he doubted that it would be different in this world.To his surprise, the red stone began to rise, floating up in the air by itself. It was slow at first, but slowly gained speed. Just as it got to his eye level, the stone abruptly started heading straight toward him.Cursing his luck, he didn't hesitate to turn tail and run. There was so much he had to do, and he didn't want to have any risky dealings with the suspicious floating stone. As much as he was curious about the stone, he wasn't stupid enough to risk his life to find out. He preferred a safe laboratory environment when doing research.After a few steps, he took a peek to find the stone was still on his tail and accelerating, too. He changed directions several times but to no avail.What is this?! How in the world do I get away from it?As he started to panic, he ran into the treeline in hopes the obstacle would slow the stone down. His eyes widened when he saw the stone agilely maneuvered around the trees, traversing the obstacles even faster than he could.It gained quickly on Li Lang, and his mind blanked. It was inevitable the pressure of being chased finally got to him and he clumsily tripped on the root of a tree. He rolled down a slope, and for a moment, he outpaced the stone. It only lasted until he landed with a thud as he collided with a tree.With the wind knocked out of him, he could only lay there helplessly as the stone rammed straight into his head. It didn't bounce off after the impact, but instead, stuck onto his forehead.It…didn't hurt?Li Lang slowly opened his eyes to find nothing had happened. The stone didn't explode or hurt him in any way. In fact, the light had subsided, so he reached out to the stone to confirm its existence.The moment his bloodied hands made contact with the stone again, he felt like he touched a black hole as it sucked up the energy out of him. He rapidly grew tired and his vision darkened.In an instant, Li Lang had fainted."...M…ma…" A muffled voice rang out in the darkness. "Ma….master!"The voice became clearer by the moment, rousing Li Lang from his slumber. When the voice became clear enough to make out their meaning, he snapped open his eyes. He found himself floating within the darkness, with only a specter of red light floating beside him."Master! Please decide how you would like to set up your artifact space." The red orb glowed in sync with the child-like voice."Where am I? Who's there?" Li Lang glanced around the darkness around him in confusion.The red orb floated into his view whenever he turned his eyes."Master, I'm right here. I do not have a name yet, but that can wait. You should decide how you would like the artifact space to be set up first so you don't have to float around in this darkness."With nothing else around him, Li Lang was forced to accept the floating orb was talking to him. He stopped looking around, squinting his eyes to inspect the red orb.A talking red orb. Truly fascinating, and if possible, I would love to experiment with it. That is… unless…"Have I gone crazy after hitting my head? And this is all just a figment of my imagination?" Li Lang muttered with wide eyes.