This might be the most awkward I felt in a long time. I mean, I did just utter a phrase 'We come in peace!' unironically, which might be measurably the most cringe thing I had ever said in my life at any point. Including the ever-delightful years of puberty, ripe with memories I'd rather forget.
The group stared back at us, though underneath that cover was a readiness to jump at us and fight immediately. I'd rather avoid it, as the leader of the little expedition was... uh, kind of nuts? No, not her--her window. Rather, nuts is being charitable. Just to see her window partially cost me 1,000 points which I barely had the heart to part with, but the curiosity got the best of me and, as usual with these high-number unveilings, I wish I had just remained the ignorant bastard that I was seventeen seconds ago.
[--1,000 points spent][Target: Zi Tai][Age: 44][Talent: quasi-Divine][Cultivation Realm: quasi True God Realm][Cultivation Method: Inaccessible][Cultivation Arts: Inaccessible][...][Traits][Heavenly Chosen (Legendary) -- as someone chosen by the Heavens, he will always get favorable outcomes no matter what][Blessed by Dao (Dao) -- a creature directly blessed by Dao itself; fate is uncertain][Righteous (Legendary) -- seeks justice no matter what and will never stand and watch what she perceives to be an evil act occur without interfering][Perceptive (Legendary) -- has an extremely keen eye; difficult to deceive and lie to, and will notice small details where otherwise most would miss them][A Herald (???) -- has the capacity to become the Herald of an Age, ushering in a new era of the cosmos][Child of an Epoch (???) -- her Bloodline traces back to before the Origin][Remaining Traits are inaccessible][...][Assessing suitability...][... numerous anomalies discovered. Host can view only two][...][Special Bloodline Discovered][Blood of the Progenitor (???) -- there is no recorded information in the Heavenly Courts about the bloodline, as it predates the very establishment of human civilization. Though extremely thin and diluted, its existence reveals the changing of an age, as it is only ever awakened within the trace descendant when the world requires a change. Those with the Blood of the Progenitor will never encounter any bottlenecks, be it in cultivation, understanding of Dao, or cultivating martial arts; however, they are natural vortices of karma and emergent catalysts of chaos][Special Anomaly Detected: The Hunter of the Order of Dao][Order of Dao is an ancient sect, established during the era of the first cultivators, largely remaining in shadows as observers and course-correctors of reality. They seldom ever directly engage with the world, though on occasion they send out one of the three types--the Hunter, the Inquisitor, or the Judge--to correct what they deem to be broken. Though they had been hunted by the Court before, as the identities of their leaders are unknown, not much came of it][The Hunter -- cultivators of the Order specializing in tracking down specific anomalies and uprooting them; the target belongs to a small sect within the sect that specializes in tracking and hunting of the Sages of the Abyss][...][Recommendation: the host is currently too weak to properly take the target in as his Disciple; it is recommended that the host first upgrade the system to the Sovereign Tier before attempting to recruit her. Nonetheless, establishing a positive relationship is a must][Final Assessment: once-in-an-epoch figure who can alter the course of history all by herself. As she is quite young still, the end path of her journey is entirely unknown; what is known, however, is that it will be one of struggle, strife, pain, and unending loss. The Heralds never choose their fate--it is imposed upon them, the ungrateful role that none ever want, but the world always needs]
Honestly, when Long Tao told me that there was somebody else scurrying about in the tunnels, I just figured it was some small-time sect that picked up on something wrong in the city, or maybe even the city lord himself or herself realized there was something untoward and sent someone to investigate. Little did I know that I'd encounter Mrs. World-changer right here, surrounded by a bunch of kids.
Excluding the fact that I am a bit handsomer than she is (in my humble opinion, of course), it was honestly like staring into a mirror. I don't think my window would show the 'Herald' trait or anything of the sort, but I certainly feel that way more often than not. Which is why I'm booting it as far away from her as possible as soon as we're done with this godforsaken place.
If I'm always having my ass set on fire being just by myself and the kids, if I add her magnet for trouble, we might never sleep. No, we might never even stop to catch our breath.
This is a one-off, and I'll let her do her bringing-of-the-new age thing while we do our own thing. Unable to stand the awkward silence any longer, I coughed and broke it.
"Khm, alright, I understand that I'm very handsome and that staring at me is relaxing, but we should probably talk first."
"Master isn't handsome," Dai Xiu tossed in from the side. "Master is divine--"
"--not the time or the place, Xiu'er!" I interrupted, preventing the blood from rushing into my cheeks. "Uh, my name is Qi, as I mentioned. Are you alright?"
"... we are fine," the woman in the lead replied, her expression finally hardening. "What di you mean when you say you're here for the same reason?"
"To destroy the vine."
"... what vine?"
"The one vine that's trying to infect the array."
"I'm not sure what you're talking about. We're here because we heard the Great Mole is hiding here."
"..."
"..."
"Fine," I said, shrugging. "Why don't you go back to chasing your Great Mole, praised be his name, while we go chase the vine that's not there, trying to infect an array that's immune to infections, and we both never see each other again until the day we meet the Great Whale in the Sky who takes us to the promised paradise."
"... it's not fun when bastards like you play along."
"Don't tell me the Great Mole isn't real; you will break my heart."
"How do you know about the vine?" her countenance changed into one of aggression as she asked.
"Does it matter?"
"More than anything else in the world right now."
"... wow. We found it the same way we found all others," I said. "By sensing that they were disrupting--"
"--you found others?!!" she ran over toward me and grabbed my collar, but as there was no killing intent in any of her actions, the most she got were the frowns and stares from the kids. "Where? How? How many? Where?"
"..." we sat in silence for a few seconds before she realized what she was doing, promptly letting go, coughing awkwardly, and walking back a few steps. "I've let you see a shameful side of me, forgive me."
"No, no, I have a short-term memory so, come dawn, I'll have forgotten it," all I got was a sigh as a response. "That aside, should we finally have a normal conversation about why we are here?"