003 A Changed Man (2)

Gale stared blankly at the cloudy sky for several minutes, immersed in the warm water.

The private stone bath had an open sky with softwood walls barricaded all around from peering gazes. Herbal flavour drifted in the air, while the temperature reached the perfect degree as the spirit constructs stopped warming the water.

Gale remained idle, immersed in the lukewarm water. Was this how his life was going to be? Idle and uneventful. His mind elected to that thought, but a part of him told him he won't like the uneventful life all that much.

Gale hated to admit it, but overlooking all the blood and gore of this xianxia land, he liked this place. He enjoyed adventuring into unknown legends and discovering new things, despite all the danger. He loved the camaraderie, despite the few he had been left with. He liked high society, despite all the politics and its shadiness.

Gale loved gliding through the sky, the free wind caressing his face. He adored all the new stuff he came across. He liked killing monsters and helping people in need. The sheer gratitude they showered on him, even when he barely saved them, filled him with the fulfilment that he never managed to earn in his past world.

No matter how many times he denied it to others, the truth remained unchanged in his mind. He liked all of this.

But I can't do all that anymore, can I?

Leaning back against the wet stone, Gale lifted his ankle out of the water. A thick metallic anklet bore his ankle tight, as dark blue veins showed above and below, bulging in the muscles until they disappeared. The anklet had ancient runic patterns in them, something Gale had some grasp of, but this anklet wasn't his making.

It was an abominably complicated suppression device that kept most of his Qi and spirit aura locked. If it looked ominous merely from the outside, you hadn't seen what it did to his inside. The anklet's inside had long teeth that bit through his flesh, reaching bones. That's not the end of it.

It hurt like hell when they first put it on him, and it hurts like hell now too, so long he thought of removing the ankle. A safety net, especially put inside for him, lest he tries to remove the manacle and kill himself.

The Manacle wasn't evil, but what it was suppressing inside was.

One of the biggest achievements in Gale's life was treading paths with a Thunderfiend and defeating it when he was barely Gold.

He killed the fiend alright and saved millions of lives. Unfortunately, in the process of killing the Thunderfiend Gale was introduced to corruption.

A good portion of his Qi was tainted, and that doomed his career as a practitioner, as there's still no cure for corruption. Yet.

They could only suppress it.

And with that, his adventuring life was over. He could neither unseal the suppression device nor promote his strength. The Great Gale Stormborn was reduced to nothing but a miserable sap awaiting death.

Well, he could use his power alright, but drawing the tainted Qi would reduce him to less every time he uses them.

Still, anything below gold should be manageable for him to deal with.

Gale had too many things to regret, but he didn't want to live in regret. His visit to the Oracle at the First House of Spirit Arts had been fruitless. She just talked in metaphor most of the time and opened paths for him, which were no paths at all. Even with her immense reputation, the Oracle didn't have a straight solution for Corruption.

She did advise him to stay in Tianhui if he didn't like the path she showed him.

Gale was incredulous about the whole meeting. 'Yet here I am. Let's see what life throws at me.'

Gale didn't go on introspecting his depressing thoughts. He finished bathing, wiped himself off and put on a loose night robe. Before leaving the bath, he turned to face the mirror and met his gaze.

His face resembled faintly to the boy that came to this world years ago. After a few turns of transfiguration and purification, his face changed a lot. It didn't take the liberty of words to call him handsome anymore. Nobody can remain ugly or unremarkable in the realm he had reached. Well, that was of earth's standard, mostly.

But that wasn't the reason he was staring in the mirror.

Gale wondered what to make of this face. He barely recognised it.

Exhaling, he got out of the bath, bottling up all those thoughts. A smile crept to his lips as he found the cute lass Xiaolin standing absently, deep in thought with a bucket and broom.

"Are you waiting for me, Xiaolin?" he called her by her name this time.

The Young Lady got out of her stupor, almost dropping the bucket while the broom fell after she fumbled twice. Gale's smile widened, finding the clumsy Xiaolin, turning red. The little lass had thanked him and apologised more than twice already, though Gale was sure she would do it again.

"Ah, yes," said Xiaolin, getting hold of the broom. "I wanted to talk to you about something, but after what you did with Han Xiao, I . . ."

"It was nothing," Gale said, shaking his head. He moved along the corridor, gesturing for Xiaolin to follow. "What do you want to say? It better not be any more gratitude or apology. I still have to eat, miss."

"Oh, no, nothing of that sort," Xiaolin said. "Although you have my gratitude for standing up for me, Senior Gale--"

"What did I say? No more gratitude."

"Yes, Senior Gale."

"Just Gale is fine."

Xiaolin looked horrified hearing that. Wait, it was taboo for normal folks to address a practitioner without honorifics. Especially in the eastern domain. The old people were still firm about their traditions. Gale wouldn't be able to scour the tradition that had been imprinted onto her bones that easily.

"What do you want to say?" Gale waited for her to steady, which took a few more seconds than usual.

"Senior Gale is looking for land to purchase," she said, and Gale waited. "I may be stepping my boundaries, but I can propose an option for that."

Gale perked his eyebrows at her. He deliberated over this matter with Wang Li for several minutes. Back then, Xiaolin remained silent like a log, working her duty of pouring drinks, serving and cleaning.

"Do you know someone who'd likely sell land?"

Xiaolin shook her head strongly. "It's my land. The land my father left me with," she said, biting her lips, which suggested there was more to it than it showed on the outside. "It meets all criteria Senior Gale spoke up, but . . ."

Gale was waiting for that 'but' exactly. It seemed like she didn't want to sell off her land, but there were other issues she couldn't deal with that rendered her to walk on this path.

"Xiaolin, I'm tired after all the journey. How about we talk about all this in the morning when you have a better sales pitch in mind?"

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