Leona opened his eyes. It was pitch dark and he could feel the warmth of something under his arm. He looked over only to be confused when he noticed Lotus was sweating bullets and breathing fast as she slept against the tree.
He sat up in bewilderment as sweat fell from her face and onto his arm. He wiped away the drops of sweat from his arm and touched her forehead.
It was cool to the touch. She didn't seem ill.
Suddenly, the ground felt cold as her eyes suddenly snapped open and she began gasping for air! Seeing her hand shaking and feeling the chill, Leona quickly sat up and grabbed her shoulder firmly, "Take deep breaths…"
Lotus was already doing just that realizing she was having another panic attack as she could feel her body tense and tremble! She was not unfamiliar with this but also knowledgeable about it. However, as she was gasping for air, the only thing racing across her mind was ways to calm down. Reflexively, she was already taking deep breaths and trying to stay focused on her own breathing despite her chest wanting more air. Struggling to hold herself together, she curled over and squeezed her eyes shut while clenching her arms in a tight hug. Like before, she could feel herself on the verge of shattering when she felt a warmth on her back. She didn't like it, but it was not as terrible as she knew it was Leona just not his intentions. If it had been someone else or if it had been her neck and chest he touched, she'd have torn them apart limb by limb…
Minutes passed as she could hear rustling nearby and realized someone was coming! However, her mind was too disoriented to make out who it was that found them! Suddenly, a familiar voice called out, "Dorm leader Leona?"
Her eyes widen in as she quickly broke a pebble in her hands. Without so much of a flash, she vanished without a trace! Touching the spot where she had been, Leona realized she hadn't used magic to hide her figure. She was completely gone.
"Dormleader? What did you call me for?"
He looked up to find Jack look at him from behind the bushes. Leona grimaced with irritation before getting up, "Nothing. Let's go…"
As he stood, he felt something cold slid down his arm and looked down to find a drop or black liquid had landed on his arm and slid down.
Is this ink?
…..
Peony leaned back against her bed and took in deep breaths with her head against its frame. There was a knock on the door as she noticed the familiar spark of spiritual energy coming from it. She sighed and whispered, "Zhang Yang…"
The door opened slightly as he whispered, "Our master is not in the mood for chat."
Despite hearing this, the other was quite careful and noted with a frown, "What happened? Just now…"
Peony huffed a laugh as she could hear a tinge of hesitation in his voice. So, he saw…
She wanted to laugh and to see what sort of expression he had pulled this time just to get his wits together. Unfortunately, she was in no state to do so.
Who knew that falling asleep would trigger her to start an evolution in her eyes. She recalled having heard it from Zhang Li before. The basilisk eyes were the dominant powers of the Hui family since Ancient times. Although she knew of this power, it had brought her annoyances as well. She sighed as she touched her eyes. The warmth of the iron liquid touched her fingers as another familiar energy appeared and she scoffed, "It looks like I've suddenly became the center of attention. Is there something you need… your highness?"
Uncomfortably, Malleus revealed himself as he noticed Lotus on the bed with black ink dripping out of her eyes. She paid no heed to his aura of discomfort and chuckled, "Although I've permitted you to come find me if you ever needed, I did not permit anyone to simply stand there and do nothing." She sneered.
Malleus took in a deep breath and shook his head in disappointment. He made his way over to the nearby chair and moved it next to her bed. He sat in it with no need to her opinions and questioned, "Have you become blind? And this black liquid…"
"Yup." She huffed in annoyance as she folded her arms across her chest, "I'm gonna be like this for a short while. The black liquid is blood. Forget about it. It won't last that long anyway."
"So I take it, you will regain your sight." Malleus hummed.
"That's for certain." She nodded, "But certainly you're not here to ask me about this, are you?"
"No…" Malleus huffed in dismay, "How did you convince the queen to allow their transfers?"
Lotus yawned, "That's it?"
Malleus scowled, "You do realize, the queen would never allow a criminal to be in the vicinity of the sole heir to the throne. You made a decision without consulting with her majesty. Are you aware of the consequences of such a crazy act?"
"I am always prepared for everything." Peony scoffed, "An audience with her was already within my expectations… However, in the end, granny still pulled a fast one on me."
Malleus frowned, "So she sent a representative."
Lotus smiled wide as she huffed, "Would such a matter warrant the need for a council member?"
She gave an malicious laugh, "Those people had always kept their heads in the clouds until Zigvolt's old man finally took the reigns of those crazy chariots… Also…"
Lotus smiled with amusement, "The queen would never sit back and allow someone to do anything which can remotely harm her child. She took the matters into her own hands and decided to pull a fast one over everyone… She personally entered Fluercity incognito."
Malleus was stunned as Lotus chuckled. She could feel his aura suddenly disappear and became mixed. She leaned her head against her knuckle and laughed, "Her majesty has never lost her element of surprise. For someone who is known to have never left her kingdom, she suddenly decided to do something like play a trick on the council and visit her little pet with a stick and a carrot. I wonder if his highness will ever become as bold as her majesty."
"You dare test me?" Malleus growled as thunder rumbled softly in the air.
Lotus sighed and clapped her hands stopping the thunder from rolling in as she sighed coldly, "I already had and you utterly failed."
Malleus was taken aback as he pursed his lips. Lotus huffed, "I've told you before, but you should really keep an eye on when is the best time to release your emotions."
"I finally managed to get in here and all I see is the two of you ready to get into an uncivilized fight. Is there anyone with common sense left in this place?"
Lotus sighed, "Looks like you finally started to play smart. You got past my attendant quite easily, I hope… Rollo."
Rollo walked in with a handkerchief over his mouth as he grumbled in discontent, "If it had been easy, I would have walked through the doors within the first five minutes he stopped me."
"Then it would seem you're in need of more training." Lotus chuckled.
"Wha-?!" He grimaced before muttering, "Forget about me. You. What happened to your eyes?"
"Something about my biological family's lineage at play." She huffed, "I'll have to pretend to be hale for the next couple of weeks until I can see again. You could call it growing in my case."
"What's next? Will loss of speech become another case?" Rollo scoffed.
"I've heard of someone losing their life after having lost all of their five senses during their growth in power." She laughed.
"Disgusting…" Rollo glared at her with disdain, "At least, remember to cover it up."
Lotus chuckled, "What? Afraid of a little blood?"
"That isn't 'a little' and that color isn't normal!" Rollo glared at her.
She sighed and waved a hand just as the traces of blood disappeared from her body.
"Are all of your growth in strength so… gruesome?" Malleus frowned.
"Cultivators aren't born immortals from the first day. Even those who do become immortals can't give birth to one. Everyone starts out as humans, even if they have a little magic in their bodies. To become immortals, they need to restructure their own bodies through absorbing the surrounding mana and evolving. Depending on your mental state and goal, it will either make you a benevolent god… or it can turn you into a indiscriminate killing machine. Sometimes, it can be both or even a corpse."
"Both?" Malleus hummed.
"Even a path of taboos and evil is still a path." Lotus huffed, "I have seen those people control corpses as marionette and others conduct many taboos acts. Even those who don't pass their trials can have risks of instantly dropped into the wrong path or just dropping dead. Sometimes, it's a part of their lineage and others are due to their environment."
"Hmph! As if such powers existed. Otherwise people would have already turned back time." Rollo scoffed.
"Turning back time is easy." Lotus flicked a pebble at his forehead, "Your problem is that, no matter how many times you turn back time or how many different options you try to deviate from the path, a life lost will always be set in stone once it is lost. Even if a person become god, the cycle of life and death cannot be rewritten. No matter how much you contort your body and expand your mana pool, you cannot bring back the dead. The most you can do is look for their reincarnation, even that is like looking for a needle in a haystack."
She sighed, "Once that happens, they naturally lose track of their own goal and stop progressing in strength and will never reach their goal."
Malleus frowned, "You can stop acting, unless you really wish to sigh away your happiness."
They paused and stared at him in surprise. Did he really say something so childish? Even Rollo was confused over his words. Lotus huffed, "You know, sometimes you still act like a child."
"I am already over two hundred years old." Malleus glared at her.
"Yet, you're still quite gullible like a child." She laughed.
"If you guys have had your fun, would someone explain to me how she's going to pretend to not be blind as a blind person?!" Rollo frowned.
Malleus paused and glanced at her in confusion. Lotus raised a brow curiously, "Did you forget? I had the same dilemma just a couple of months ago too."
Malleus frowned. He didn't recall such an event. Was she joking again?
"Regardless." She hummed, "If you ever require something, I'll be in the nurse's office."
"The nurse's office?" Rollo frowned and glanced over to Malleus.
"She had become the Nurse's assistant and a creator a numerous herbal medication. After the seal of approval, the medicine has been used as an emergency medication in cases where there is a lack of medical supplies." Malleus muttered, "However, you've been stealing all of the bandages."
"Hm?" She noted in surprise. "Bandages? Hm, the last time I touched them was a month ago."
There was a moment of silence before Peony frowned, "Ah… It must've been from that time."
Malleus frowned. He doesn't buy it. Not the part of her not touching the bandages but her changing her mind. If it's about that situation, what does she plan to do this time? He gave Rollo a glance with a frown and shook his head.
Rollo was surprised to see this. Someone so powerful was forced to put up with their headmage's whimsical nature. Perhaps it would be best not to get involved with her just in case they get swept up in her plans again.