Chapter 89: Ascended

Chapter 89: Ascended

As they reached the village, they stopped near the end of the line. A man carried a small bag of rice. The one ahead carried fishes in a bucket. Mo Fei tapped the last man’s shoulder, who turned toward him.

"What’s happening here?"

Upon hearing that, the old man carrying the rice broke into tears, his hand grabbing Mo Fei. Seeing that Mo Fei’s pupils dilated in surprise. "Hey, hey. What happened?"

The man clenched his robe tightly, speaking in a cracked tone. "We are... peasants." His breathing hitching with each word. "In the war, we had nothing... nothing... to eat. Today... they came."

Kiyori stepped forward and softly held the old man’s hand and rubbed it. "Tell us, what’s happening here?"

The old man’s voice cracked further, his eyes dropping tears nonstop. "They are ascenders... as what they said... they asked to bring everything we have, and... And if we don’t, we will... will... will."

Staring down at the old man, Mo Fei’s expression gradually softened slightly. Then he turned toward the five men standing ahead.

Kiyori’s stare hardened at his words. "They are threatening?"

The old man clenched his stomach, the bag of rice now heavier in his hands as he tightly held Mo Fei’s clothes even more; his wrinkled hand made Mo Fei flinch.

"I take care of them."

"No! Don’t... don’t please; they won’t spare us." The old man pulled him.

"Or I won’t." Mo Fei held his hand, slowly removing it from his robe. Kiyori also followed him with a final glance at the old guy, who watched them go hopelessly, his tears dropping from his wrinkled old face.

One of those five men looked at Mo Fei coming and yelled. "Hey, get in the line. We are ascended." The man raised his hand, showing the ribbon.

"My bad, I was so desperate to see one." Mo Fei didn’t stop as he walked toward them.

As he got closer, their leader turned toward him and said, "Oh, you don’t fear us? Where are our parts?"

Mo Fei’s gaze lowered at their ribbons, pathetic, low-quality silk woven in an imperfect ribbon. The edges pulled out strings, making it even more hideous, and then he looked in the leader’s eyes flatly. "Nice ribbons. From where did you buy them?"

The leader gulped slightly as the truth was revealed, yet he kept his composure from outside, maintaining his terrible acting as ascended. "We can kill you instantly, boy. Have you ever heard of ascended before?"

"Ohhh, I definitely did somewhere. I think you forgot to imitate it more perfectly." Mo Fei said flatly as he turned toward the villagers. "Unfortunately, they never did."

The leader grunted at his words and yelled at him in an attempt to fluster him. "You are bluffing!"

Mo Fei said nothing at once, then he raised his hand and pulled his sleeve back, the ribbon glowing faintly. "See the difference yourself." His voice dropped low into an almost threatening whisper. "You think being an ascended is a joke. You think you are being smart for using it for your profit."

The leader slightly stepped back as he saw the ribbon. "Y-you think you are scaring us, hah. We are real too, just tired; that’s why the ribbon is not glowing."

Mo Fei grabbed the knife from the table and put it on his own neck. His stare hardened at them. "Okay then, get that knife; I’ll wait."

All of them blurted out at his actions. Their composer wavered instantly as they saw him putting the knife on his throat. "What... what are you doing!?"

"Oh? What? You don’t die to ascend?"

"W-what are you bluffing? That’s not..." The leader’s breath caught in his throat.

"It does. Get the knife; remember, ascenders don’t die when they kill themselves, and then let’s ascend together."

The villagers watched the scene unfold as the new stranger walked in and put the knife in his throat. Their expressions were filled with fear as they looked at the fake ascenders. The hands holding the items trembled. The fake ascenders gulped, but their hands couldn’t reach toward knives.

Mo Fei waited, but suddenly a heavy slam of wood smacked his head. Kiyori hit him on the forehead with her bow, slamming him down on the ground. The knife loosened in his grip. She smacked him softly again with her bow and shouted. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, LIFE IS NOT SOMETHING TO JOKE ON!!"

Mo Fei rubbed his forehead, slowly sitting back, and looked at her. Annoyed by the hit, he just growled under his breath.

Then, Kiyori turned toward the fakers furiously. "How dare you fake yourself to grab the poor people’s assets! The war has already ruined their lives; they are living their lives through hardships already, and you are extracting their souls out of them. Do you even have shame over what you are doing?"

The men flinched, their gazes lowering. The bag of rice dropped from their hands. One of them whispered, his voice exhausted. "Because of the wars, my whole family has died... my daughter needs food to survive."

The second one averted his gaze, saying nothing. The leader spoke next. "I know... I know it’s shameful to take from someone who has nothing to give, but it’s hard to survive the good way..."

Upon hearing that, Kiyori’s anger instantly faltered. She turned toward the villagers, who watched in surprise that they had been scammed. Although Kiyori stood still for a few seconds before turning back to the fakers. "I understand, but wrong is wrong... though blame the war, not people. I forgive you for once."

She moved a hand in her sleeve and pulled out a small bag of coins. "Take this, and return what you took. Buy food, start a life."

"This may not work as you think." The leader whispered, slowly taking the bag. "But we will still try."

All of them turned, walking away from the village, leaving behind the items.

Mo Fei stood and dusted off his clothes. "You talk too much, but when you don’t, your actions are really violent."

"Sorry, I just couldn’t stop my hands." She murmured.

As they turned toward the villagers. The old man slowly walked toward them; with his tear-streaked face, he fell on his knees near Mo Fei’s legs. With a cracked voice, filled with an unexplainable gratitude, he whispered in a staccato manner. "Tha... Thank you. I... we can’t thank you enough."

Mo Fei quickly grabbed his shoulders and helped him stand. "Don’t; I’m not a God."

"You aren’t less than one." The old peasant gave him a warm hug, his tears soaking his robe, and the dust of working in the fields hard stuck to Mo Fei’s clothes, yet he didn’t pull away; with a small smile, he stood still.

One of the villager’s children walked toward him, but his mother didn’t stop him. His small hands grabbed his legs. Mo Fei lowered his gaze toward the kid; his expression softened further. Kiyori watched this silently; there was something about Mo Fei that made her look at him in a way that melted her heart. He wasn’t trying to be kind; he wasn’t trying to connect to people, yet somehow his actions always stayed with him.

Kiyori’s gaze landed on the dry fields. The crops were lower, then her eyes scanned the village. Small huts, dusty, almost a place that seemed no place to live.

The elderly woman looked at Kiyori, seeing the soft tanned skin of the priestess. The unnatural actions and defying the idea of how a priestess should be. The woman said softly, "Please, be our guest for today."

Kiyori simply gave her a warm smile first, then shook her head. "We can’t bother you. You may give us shelter and food, but that food could fill two of the villagers’ stomachs. I can’t take that away, though we can accept a shelter."

Mo Fei looked at the situation of the hut. He thought for a few seconds and then called out in his mind. "Divine Serpent."

"Great Master, you called me."

"I need you to create better huts. Furthermore, provide them food."

Hearing that, the Serpent remained silent for a while, then spoke. "I can do the first one, but the second one needs more time, but I can do something else."

"Do as you wish, whichever gives them another better day to live."

With that, the Serpent’s half body came out of nowhere. It curled around Mo Fei’s body and hissed loudly.

The villagers stepped back as they saw a large serpent appear out of nowhere. Kiyori watched it curiously, knowing that it never appeared without reasons.

With another hiss, multiple threads emerged, reaching toward the huts. All of them merged with the wood; slowly, the threads reshaped the broken huts. Villagers turned their focus to their huts, which now became a repaired house without any broken debris. The Serpent’s body reached toward the sky, its misty, emerging tail remaining near Mo Fei as it extended itself toward the sky. With one loud hiss that echoed like lightning, the black clouds came out of its breath, then its body dissolved in mist that merged with clouds.

Pitter-patter. Splash!

The rain fell gently, soaking the dry earth. The villagers laughed, cried, their hands reaching toward the ground, feeling the raindrop. It was real... it was. Kids ran around in the mud. The miracle, the weather, which only a God could control in their eyes.

One of them asked with gratitude, stepping one step forward. "Are you really... not a God?"

Mo Fei stared down at the falling rain. After a long silence, he spoke. "No, even if I were, it’d not have changed what I would do."

Kiyori’s expression slightly changed as his words reached her ears. Not a God, nor a human. She had never believed in God who watched sufferings, yet she was a priestess without her choice.

Mo Fei lifted his palm, the rain drops falling in his hand. Slowly, he turned toward the endless path ahead. "Let’s continue our journey, Kiyori."

Kiyori nodded and ran behind him, her hand holding the bow tightly as the soft echo of her arrows in the quiver behind her back.

In a daze, the villagers watched the young man walk away. The Glaive moved as he walked; their eyes had gratitude greater than the weight of the sun’s morning light.

As both of them exited the village without accepting the shelter to not give them more burden. They walked on the street, but just as he took the next step, he suddenly saw a familiar thread. He stopped walking; his eyes lingered on the presence of that familiar spirit thread. He tapped his temple to see the thread...