The entire mountain was scorched.
We descended amidst the ashes and soot, passing by burn and dismembered bodies of practically unrecognizable beasts. Per my likely (wildly) inaccurate estimates, it's been at least a few weeks, which gave it just enough time for it all to be slightly covered by a layer of dirt carried on by the wind.
Taking the same winding path down that we took up was... well, it didn't feel the same, that was for certain. Gone was the lushness and the canopy of the trees, and gone were the shrubberies decorating the sides of the 'road', and in their wake was just... nothing. A barren wasteland of death and decay.
It truly did speak volumes of the guy's character that he took out his wounded pride and ego on all of this. A man I'd literally consider ancient in age was no better than a petulant, tantrum-throwing child. I've been blessed enough that I haven't actually come across many cultivators that behaved distinctly like that, with most of them being relatively reasonable--at least on the surface.
Yes, there was still that pride bored deeply into all of them, and there was still the way they all instinctively looked down on us, but this was... this was something else.
Probably an extension of that guy's corrupted nature. but, to be fair, from what I remember he was a nearly thousand years old dude with a Divine tier of 'Arrogant'. Even fucking Long Tao didn't have that. In combination with Demonic Qi ravaging his senses, he may as well truly have lost his mind because a literal child from his perspective nearly killed him, and did so with ease.
My heart kept sinking further and further the closer we got to that nestled cave. It took us about eight or so hours of relatively speedy descent--most of which was spent in silence as kids picked up on the fact that Long Tao was pissed, and brave though they were, they were not that brave--before we'd reached the part where there used to be a wide spread of trees blanketing the flattened part of the mountain, beyond which there was a cave.
Now, there were no trees--but there was a cave, still.
Nonetheless, even without going in, I knew there was no life inside. And if I knew, then everybody else did.
Long Tao headed over toward the entrance, and just as everybody else was about to, I stepped in front of them. It reminded me of that time that old monster offered to take me into that 'secret realm' that we found surrounded by the Holy Lands inside Eternal Spiritwood Grove, and how happy I felt to have rejected him once he came out.
I don't think this one will be that bad, but it was best not to risk it.
"... what's wrong with him?" Lao Shun asked what everyone was thinking.
"There was a Demonic Beast here," I said. "That he and I met when we were first climbing the mountain. It seemed it was somehow bonded to his family, by one of his ancestors. He'd told it that we'd return for it relatively quickly. But, well..."
"Oh." the old alchemist exclaimed softly. "And considering he spared that guy..."
"..."
"Is it wrong that I feel a bit bad for that creepy guy brother Tao beat up?" Dai Xiu suddenly said.
"You feel bad for him? Why?" Rayce asked.
"Knowing Brother Tao," she said. "That creepy guy will wish he was killed on that day."
"That's true," Wan Lan nodded.
"And even after brother Tao was so nice to him," Light said as my eyebrows twitched; didn't he blow half of the guy up? What do you mean nice?
"Indeed," hey, Zhao'er, what do you mean 'indeed'? "That guy cried just because he was a bit hurt." A bit hurt? Hello? Am I the only one losing my mind at the moment?
"Yes! Brother Tao beat me twice as hard and I never complained!" Xiu'er, the apple of my eye, if he ever did beat you twice as hard, you'd be dead!
"Never complained?" Wan Lan said. "Never?"
"... I don't complain," Dai Xiu buzzed. "I simply manage my pain through the words!"
"Ah, that's why you yap so much," man, these girls just don't quit.
"Master, will Senior Brother be fine?" Rayce asked as everyone turned toward me to listen.
"... he will," I said. If he could mentally survive dying and being reborn, this won't destroy him. But... "But, remember everyone, being 'fine' is a spectrum. Long and vast, like an ocean. On one end of that spectrum, we merely feel grief for the loss, a tinge of pain, but it does not consume us. On the other, we are broken, hapless in the face of suffering--but we live on. Every day, we wake up and put a smile on our face, and when the world asks us, 'How are you?', we say, 'We are fine'. Some will consider the latter a form of bravery, but it's not; once in a while, we all need a hand to pull us up. And when that day comes for you, I hope with all my heart you will come to me with it. Alright?"
Though I spoke to the group, I knew that the old guy was listening to me so I curated it a bit for him. As someone with a lot of experience with grief and pain, I was still woefully ill-equipped to comprehend his. He's someone who's lived for god-knows-how-many years and lost god-knows-how-many loved ones. Nonetheless, I know what pain can do and how overwhelming it can be.
"Of course, Master!"
"But you must promise the same to us!"
"Ho ho, do I, Feng'er? I'm afraid it doesn't work that way."
"Nuh-uh, little Feng is right," Dai Xiu said. "If Master is sad, then I'll be twice as sad!"
"Ho ho, that is very, very unhealthy, though..."
"But to think one word can have such different meanings..."
As they pondered on my personal interpretation of 'fine', I saw the silhouette emerge from the cave's maw. His shoulders were a bit sunken and his expression downcast, but most of all... it was his eyes. They were suspiciously bereft of much, as though he'd purged them--which he of course did.
Haaah.
Does the little bastard think I'm a complete moron?
Everyone quieted as Long Tao came over, stopping once he reached me.
"We should go to the island." he said.
"That's where we were already going." I said. "Now, before all else, I need you to promise me something."
"... what?"
"I have a few things I need from that thing's Master," I said. "So, before we decide to lay ruin to the whole thing... can you pretend to be the nice kid everyone assumes you are based on how kindly you look upon the world?"
"... pfft," a few stiffened laughs caused Long Tao's eyebrows to twitch for a moment before replying.
"Very well. I'll be the kindest kid that's ever lived."
"..." oh.
I do not like the sound of that. Not at all.