I Am Your Ancestor!

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Wuxian shouted, raising the longsword defensively.

At the same time, he slowly paced backwards, bringing his back to the closest wall. The golden rule of fighting multiple enemies or an unknown number of enemies was to make sure your back was against a hard surface at all times. This meant that the aggressors could only attack from within one's vision, making defence significantly more straightforward.

The chamber had eight ornate support beams that stretched up to the ceiling. They were a few metres wide each, arranged in an octagonal pattern around the spear in the centre of the room.

'The only place someone could hide in this room would be behind those pillars.'

Wuxian began to slowly make his way around the room, tracing the wall tightly. He was unsure of how many people there were or how hostile they were, but it never paid off to act rashly.

Suddenly, he heard a strange chuckle that seemed to be coming from every direction at once. 

"If I did not wish to be found, you would not be able to find me. No matter how hard you looked, you would not be able to catch even a glimpse of my shadow." The voice said matter of factly.

Wuxian didn't respond, continuing to circle the room vigilantly.

"Luckily for you, I have more important things to do other than play hide and seek with a mortal."

Wuxian felt a sense of confusion swirl around his head. 

'A mortal? What does he mean by that?'

"It means exactly what you think it does." The voice said, responding to his inner thoughts.

Wuxian halted in his tracks in shock, eyes wide in shock.

'What's going on?' He thought to himself. 'How can he hear my thoughts?'

"There's more to this world than meets the eye, boy. The things you consider plausible are very different from reality. Amongst the many wonders in this world, mind reading is amongst the least shocking!" The voice claimed. 

Each word was said in a poetic manner, as if the voice was reciting a passage. Additionally, the intonations and the cadence of the voice's speech were confusing and disorienting. 

Hearing the words, Wuxian felt a strange feeling of incongruence. He was completely at the other party's mercy, yet all they were doing was play tricks on him, deliberately acting mysterious.

Every time Wuxian tried to think of a reason he would be held captive, he would end up at the same conclusion: interrogation. But none of the details, aside from his whisking away, matched with the motive.

'If I was captured to be interrogated, why leave me with the body of a dead soldier? And with access to a weapon and my armour, no less? Why give me so much agency?'

He licked his dry lips, gaze flitting about the room.

'If Liang's enemies truly do have people capable of reading minds, wouldn't we have been destroyed much sooner? What would they keep me alive for? Entertainment?'

The next moment, he caught the gaze of a shining figure standing in the centre of the room besides the spear.

It was the visage of an old man, white hair and all. The man's long hair flowed down his back and shoulders and he wore a relatively plain robe consisting primarily of a light peachy yellow with some gold accents. Since he was facing away from Wuxian, the latter couldn't make out his facial features.

'A chance!' Wuxian exclaimed externally.

In a burst of movement, he raised the longsword over his shoulder and dashed forwards.

10 metres.

8 metres.

4 metres.

1 metre!

Wuxian's right stamped into the ground and he swirled the sword forward. The blade was initially accelerated forward by a push of his right shoulder and then carried onwards by the inertia. A whooshing sound was produced as the blade shot forward towards the old man's figure.

"If I were to be done in by a mortal, I would have long since vanished from the face of this world." The man mocked.

Yet, he took no evasive action and the blade continued to sail forth.

Wuxian felt a sense of elation when the tip of the sword burrowed into the man's back. This quickly turned into confusion as the rest of the sword passed through the man's misty form and then numbness as Wuxian's entire body passed through too.

Stumbling into a recovery, he turned back to look at the man. The man in question was shrouded in a mosaic of light, his facial features almost completely obscured.

Wuxian's mouth was dry. He really had no idea what was going on anymore. The moment he entered this chamber, things had begun to spiral out of control. It was all like some sort of bad dream.

He cleared his throat. Despite knowing the other party could read his thoughts, he felt uncomfortable having a silent conversation. At least when he spoke he could pretend that the man was responding to his voice and not his thoughts.

"You're a ghost." Wuxian accused.

To his surprise, the misty figure nodded slowly.

"Well, that's not the exact truth, but it's close enough, I suppose."

Upon hearing his admittance, Wuxian didn't know how to continue. The revelation that he was speaking face to face with a ghost was already too much for him to cope with.

If the existence of mind reading hadn't already broken his sense of reality, then this had most certainly blown the metaphorical roof off of his world view.

"Shocked? Surprised?" The man asked in a goading manner.

Despite being in an uncertain situation, Wuxian felt a sense of growing annoyance. This feeling of powerlessness was very uncomfortable to the lad who hadn't believed in ghosts until just a few moments prior.

In a moment of impulse, Wuxian threw his longsword to the ground with a clatter.

He gave the ghost a defiant look. "Kill me or let me go. I shan't entertain you any longer."

The ghost laughed in response. "I never said you couldn't leave. It is you who has been on edge the whole time."

Seeing Wuxian's doubtful look, the ghost continued.

"How about this then." The ghost cupped his fists and raised them directly above his head. 

"To the Heavens I swear. I shall never harm a single hair on Sihai Wuxian of Xi county, Liang country's body for as long as I exist. To the Earth I vow. If I renege on my oath, I shall have my soul scattered by eighty one strikes of tribulation lightning. I will die without entering the cycle of reincarnation and will never visit the Yellow Springs in the afterlife."

Though nothing seemed to have happened, Wuxian felt a strange sensation wash over the area. The atmosphere in the chamber changed, but exactly how, he could not pinpoint exactly. The ghost glanced at him secretly from the corner of his eye.

"How's that, eh? Feeling better?"

Wuxian shrugged, pretending to be unaffected. In truth, what shocked him more than the strange feeling that occurred after the vow was that the ghost knew his full name. 

Of course, the ghost could read his mind, but he didn't exactly have the habit of referring to himself by his full name. Then, wiping away the stray thoughts, Wuxian opened his mouth to speak.

"Even if I wanted to leave, I can't. The way out is completely blocked by a cave wall."

'Anyway, if he wanted me dead, I would never have even woken up in the first place.' He thought to himself.

Looking at the ghost, he seemed to see a vague smile form on the figure's misty facade.

"You're right." The ghost affirmed. "Now cheer up a bit. What you're about to receive is something that all living things in this world desire, but only a fraction actually manage to obtain."

Before Wuxian could respond, the ghost suddenly assumed a serious demeanour, dropping all feelings of impishness that each of his previous words had been imbued with.

"We don't have much time left. If you wish to be able to spread your wings and soar across the skies freely, if you wish to accomplish that which your heart truly and deeply desires, listen to me closely."

Wuxian, having long given up any notions of resistance, nodded.

'I have nothing to lose anyway.'

The ghost nodded in satisfaction. "Good, kneel down and worship me as your master."

Wuxian blinked twice, staring blankly.

"Go on, kowtow." The ghost urged, somewhat impatiently.

Wuxian's mind remained blank, his body started moving on its own. He felt like he was in a trance.

He stepped forward one pace and then knelt down. He kowtowed three times, though his forehead didn't actually meet the ground. Then, he stood up and moved forward three more paces and kowtowed again. This process was then repeated one more time.

When the ritual was complete and Wuxian felt as if he was back in control of his body again, he had just finished the last kowtow. A burning sensation could be felt in his ears, a sense of humiliation permeated from within.

Though he had only lived for a short period of time and had not experienced much of life, Wuxian had come to have some internal standards that he held himself to. These had come partly from experience and others from lessons he or others had received.

He remembered back to when he, Mian Ji and Xiao Chong had been conscripted. Their encounter with Sir Lv had brought a positive role model into their lives. Wise and incorruptible, cultured and well learned.

'Do not kowtow so easily, especially not to a stranger. Kneel only to the Heavens, the Earth, your parents and your liege.'

Wuxian could still remember Sir Lv's words to this day. His time in the field had passed in a haze, but the old official's words had impacted him deeply.

"Wow, did I really say that? My incarnation really went overboard, haha!"

"Eh?" 

Wuxian looked up in confusion, only to be met with the ghost's grinning guise. However, the misty fog had dissolved into the air, revealing his true face.

"S-sir Lv?!" Wuxian exclaimed in shock, hands subconsciously rising into a salute.

The ghost who closely resembled Sir Lv adopted a sagely pose, with a hand on his white beard and another behind his back. Unfortunately, it was ruined by his wide grin.

"Aihya, I knew separating my artistic and righteous soul aspects into an incarnation was the right choice to make, though, why did he use 'liege' and not 'master'?" The ghost sighed, shaking his head.

Wuxian looked at the monologuing ghost in confusion. Though he understood the words the ghost said individually, together, they caused his mind to short circuit.

"Alright, dear disciple. Since you have accepted me as your master, I'll have a lot of clarifying to do. Let's do this fast and efficiently." 

Wuxian didn't respond. His mind was numb. Part of him felt that he was dreaming. Perhaps he was still back in Xi county, having never been conscripted. 

"Ready?" The ghost cleared his throat. "Okay, let's begin."

"I am the Sir Lv you encountered, but not exactly. I have the ability to separate aspects of my personality into new bodies which can act autonomously without my supervision. 

Ah yes, Sir Lv is merely the moniker my incarnation adopted. My real name… let's keep that to myself for now. Fellow daoists refer to me as 'Black Emperor Mountain Hermit'. Don't give me that look. The 'Mountain Hermit' part was passed down to me by my master- it's a naming tradition for cultivators of our lineage. As for you, you may address me as 'master'.

Let me answer the most important question now. A lot of the stories that my incarnation, Sir Lv, told you were true. Immortal cultivators are real. Demons are real. There are in fact cities in the sky and the underworld is also real. Flying while standing on a sword is real too… well, it's sort of out of fashion the last I checked. Maybe don't do that in the future if you want to avoid coming across as pretentious. I think chariots are becoming quite popular now, actually.

Ahem, back to the topic.

To explain things simply, it's like this. Cultivators are gifted humans and demons that utilise their innate talents and hard work to pursue longevity and the Dao. We use the power of the five elements, harnessed and controlled through cultivation arts or techniques to defy the Heavens. As a cultivator develops their understanding of the laws of nature and themselves, they become closer to the Dao. 

Now, why did I pick you to become my disciple, you ask?

Simple!

After spectating your life and interacting with you through my incarnation, I have determined that you posses the necessary qualities to become my successor. You possess an honest heart and a strong sense of loyalty. You have a righteous character, but understand when to compromise your values for the greater good!

But most importantly, you have the necessary innate attributes to inherit my legendary cultivation technique that has been passed down through generations!"

Wuxian swallowed subconsciously. His worldview was being subverted and he needed time to digest all of the information. Immortals? Demons? Was this really true, or was it false?

"But throughout the country, there are countless people who fulfil the criteria of having a good character. Is the innate aptitude that big of a factor in their qualification to become your inheritor?" He questioned.

His master, Black Emperor Mountain Hermit nodded in confirmation before continuing.

"But more important than all of those things is this: you are my descendant! That's right, I am your ancestor!"