Memorable sword riding experience

The mask Fu Jie was wearing had a simple yet famous design. It had two holes shaped like eyes and a smiling mouth with large sharp teeth sticking out from either side of the mouth's end. Fu Jie didn't mind the design since he wasn't the one who would have to see it. It looked a bit scary, but why should he care about scaring or not scaring others? It was their problem, not his. If they were uncomfortable looking at this mask, they might as well avoid him.

However, the real reason why they were standing clear of this man who had this weird mask on was not because they found it to be scary, it was because the mask was familiar. They would never be mistaken about it.

This mask was worn by a particular type of people. The rogue cultivators, who roamed around the eastern mountains. They were... The misfits and no one would ever want to even stand close to one. The people feared white-masks, but of course, there were still people who didn't care about such things. The men who were beating up the boy Fu Jie had saved were a great example. Maybe the man who was trying to pick a fight with Fu Jie wasn't afraid of him, but the other one who had stopped him was certainly wary because of the mask Fu Jie was wearing.

If Fu Jie knew this, he would probably think that Xiao Jingyi had calculated all this and taken precautions to help Fu Jie in advance, but since he didn't know any of this, he would simply call the man a cold-hearted bastard who had no manners.

Suddenly there was a commotion and this time, Fu Jie wasn't clear what it was about. The guards who were roaming around the streets started panicking as they ran towards a certain direction and the normal civilians who were previously walking around, ran towards the opposite direction.

Fu Jie lowered his head as he passed by the running guards.

What happened?

He questioned in his mind as he looked in the direction where they were all running.

Maybe they found another coax?

Maybe someone spotted the demonic cultivator whom they were after?

Or they might have caught the prisoner who had escaped along with Fu Jie.

Whatever it was, Fu Jie couldn't care less. He wasn't looking forward to seeking any more trouble, so he would naturally follow the civilians and run the other way. This was the perfect chance God had gifted him. The guards were busy and he could use this time to run away from here as fast as possible.

Fu Jie thought he would be able to avoid trouble, but how was he to know that before he could run away, his arm was caught by a guard who looked at him and asked, "Care to give us a hand? We'll pay you generously."

"Huh?" Fu Jie was dumbfounded as he heard this.

Unbeknownst to him, the rogue cultivators who wore this mask didn't belong to any sect, this allowed them to work for money instead. If a particular sect needed assistance, they could simply pay a rogue cultivator wearing a white mask and ask them for help.

Since Fu Jie was currently wearing such a mask, it was expected of him to take on the job.

The guard didn't wait for a response as he pulled out his sword and pulled Fu Jie along with him as the sword rose up from the ground and started moving, or rather, flying in this case.

Wait...

Wait...!

Wait!!

WAIT!!!

Fu Jie no longer had any idea what was going on but he knew that whatever was happening, wasn't something necessarily good for him.

Am I being kidnapped...?!?!

Fu Jie had a lot of things to worry about and it seemed that all his worries had caused him to feel nauseous as he felt the food he had just had climb back up his throat.

Fu Jie tried his best to hold it in but he was still unable to stop himself from vomiting out the dumplings that he had thoroughly enjoyed overeating. Thankfully, he had lifted the mask up a bit on time, so no substance was left behind on the mask, but instead, it all showered down on the people below.

The people who were standing, walking, and running around below them suddenly felt something sticky and watery fall on them so they touched it curiously wanting to find out what it was but when they realized what it was, they could only curse at the heavens for showering them with freshly ground dumplings.

The guard who was traveling on the sword along with Fu Jie suddenly had a disgusted look on his face as he asked, "If you have motion sickness, why didn't you tell me?"

Fu Jie's face was flushed with different colors as he looked up at the guard and asked, "Would you let me down if I told you?"

The guard's mouth twitched as he responded, "Try to hold it in, we are almost there."

Fu Jie nodded, but as expected, it was hard to stop his bodily reactions.

The people below no longer knew if they were supposed to run because of the commotion caused by the guards or because of this sudden vomit rain.

Fu Jie could clearly hear their loud curses, but he no longer cared. All he could feel was a pity for himself. He finally got the chance to fill his stomach and now all that food was going to waste.

It didn't take them long before the sword lowered down and the two got down from it. By the time Fu Jie could feel his feet touch the ground, he no longer had any energy left, nor did his stomach have anything left to puke out.

"How could this be?" Fu Jie heard someone cry out and he looked over but still had no will to go and ask the man what had happened.

He sat on the ground and looked at the people who were all seriously discussing something.

"Who in the world would have such courage?"

"Where are the elders?"

"Elder Dayu is on his way over."

"Elder Bai is also coming."

"We still can't contact the second elder."

"Did you call everyone back?"

"The guards were sent out to look for the fugitives. They aren't back yet."

"What perfect timing! Everything just had to happen today?!"

"Maybe it was planned."

"This was definitely planned."

It was only now that Fu Jie had realized he was sitting in a place surrounded by guards and none of them seemed to be interested in the man who was leisurely sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking up at them and enjoying the confusing show.

"Where is the sect master? What about backup?"

The guard who had brought Fu Jie here suddenly spoke up as he pointed at Fu Jie, "I have brought a white mask along."

Fu Jie suddenly felt that he had become the center of attention as the guards looked at him curiously with a bit of disgust laced along with their expressions.

"Are you sure you didn't just pick up a madman from the streets?" One of the guards asked as he looked at Fu Jie up and down.

Fu Jie nodded but said nothing and instead it was the other guard who had brought him here that spoke up, "Do you think I can't differentiate between a madman and a white mask?"

The other rude guard once again looked at Fu Jie and replied, "I do."

Fu Jie pushed himself off the ground and stood up as he dusted his clothes and smiled, only to realize that his smile wasn't even visible from behind the mask.

"Nice to meet you guys, I'm... Xia." Fu Jie spoke up, but he didn't receive a friendly response.

"He's a madman." One of the guards sighed.

"I'm not a-" Fu Jie stopped himself from saying anything as a sudden idea overtook his mind, "Yes..."

"..."

Fu Jie bobbed his head up and down as he spoke, "I'm a madman! The maddest madman to ever exist!"

"..."

"So you see, you fellas have no use for me. I'll be leaving then." Fu Jie beamed as he took a step back and got ready to flee the scene however he was stopped by the same guard who had brought him here.

"Don't joke around. This is a serious matter."

"..." Fu Jie was certainly not joking. He really wasn't going to be of much help to these people and it was best for him to run away from them before he gets thrown into that stinky jail again.

"You can fight, can't you?" The guard asked as he glared at Fu Jie.

Fu Jie gulped as he shook his head and strongly denied, "I cannot! I have a weak heart! I'll die of a heart attack if you put me in a fight!"

"..." The guards had seen a lot of shameless people but it was probably their first time seeing a 'white mask' be so shameless.

"I'm telling you the truth!" Fu Jie spoke up, "I can't even kill an ant!"

"You won't have to kill ants." The guard didn't seem to believe anything Fu Jie was spouting although it was somewhat true.

"Don't worry about the money." One of the guards spoke up, "We'll give you a hefty amount."

"Let's move out!"

"Huh?" Fu Jie was left dumbstruck as he looked around at the guards who seemed to be going somewhere and they weren't going alone. They were taking/dragging Fu Jie along with them.

"I can't fight!"

"I have a weak heart!!"

"I don't want to go!!!"

In the end, nobody listened to what Fu Jie had to say and they dragged him all the way to the sect's entrance which was crowded by people who were wearing black and red colored robes.

Fu Jie tried to disappear into the crowd of guards as he looked at the scene before him. This was a fight, a really bloody one with some losing their arms and some losing their legs while others straightaway lost their heads.

Fu Jie suddenly clasped his hands together as he prayed goodbye to his dream of attaining the crimson gear.

This was it.

This was how he was gonna die.

To think he'd have such a stupid death... Without getting his precious gear?

It was a pity...

The guards were pushing and pulling around, some launching themselves into the bloody fight and some trying to escape from it. With all the pushing around, Fu Jie found himself stranded in the middle of the fight.

"Oh shit...!!!" Fu Jie ducked his head as he saw a sword aiming to cut through his neck.

Fu Jie felt experienced in such situations, well, at least in video games. He had played a lot of games like this where he was supposed to fight against an entire army. He knew what to do and what to not do, but that was if he was in a game. Fighting like this in real life seemed to be a lot harder than the video games he played.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw an arrow heading for him and he immediately reacted by moving aside.

"Who the hell threw that?! Fufufu~" Fu Jie couldn't help but want to curse the people who were attacking him.

Suddenly his hand felt as if it was gripping something and when he looked down, he found that he now had a sword in his hand.

"Go fight!" The guard who gave him the sword ordered as he lightly pushed Fu Jie away towards an enemy soldier.

Fu Jie couldn't help but gulp in fear as he saw the glaring eyes of his opponent, "Fufufu~ Who said I knew how to wield a sword?! This Laozi is innocent!"

The man attacked first and although Fu Jie had never wielded a sword before this, he was somehow able to avoid the attack by ducking his head down and letting his opponent's sword cut through nothing but air.

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