"Hahahaha!"
Laughter echoed through the room as Shu Xian sat in shock, staring at his finger.
"Wh-wh-why..?" He had no words.
"Why? Didn't I tell you?" He got the reply, "Didn't I tell you that your finger will be blasted into smithereens if you lie to me?"
Shu Xian raised his head and looked at the person who held his fate in his hands.
This time there was no hate in his eyes — only fear.
"I-I-I am Shu Xian." He stammered and said, "I am part of the Eastern Scout Group from the Devil Sect. And I have been assigned to the Gracious Sword Sect to assassinate Yuan Shuchun."
The person in front of him nodded his head, "Now tell me something that I don't know about."
Shu Xian frowned, "I tried to assassinate Yuan Shuchun at the banquet but failed."
Seeing another nod, Shu Xian continued. "I failed because of Jun Xie."
"After I failed, Jun Xie was also added to my target list because of the threat."
"However, just as I was about to prepare for another plan, Yuan Shuchun called a meeting."
"The meeting was today, and there, I got to know about a secret mission."
*bang!*
"Ugh-why? Why again?"
"I asked you about yourself, not about your day. Tell me something that you know, but no one has any idea about."
Shu Xian pursed his lips but didn't say anything.
*bang!*
"Ugh, alright! Alright! I will tell you."
He gritted his teeth and stabilized himself.
"I- I am from the Wu Kingdom."
"Hmm, okay, that's quite a lot."
"What do you mean?" Shu Xian asked in confusion.
The person in front of him didn't reply.
Instead, he took out a piece of paper and stared at it.
Shu Xian didn't speak anymore. He waited for the response.
"Well, Shu Xian, tell me this, what is your relation with the Gao Clan from the big four of the Xin Capital City?"
Shu Xian frowned and then shook his head, "I have no relation with that clan. I have never even been to the capital city."
"Hmm, that's interesting." After a pause, Shu Xian heard, "Tell me about the fruitful encounter you had just before the Gracious Sword Sect recruited you."
"Encounter?" Shu Xian frowned, and then as something dawned upon him, his eyes opened wide in shock, "How do you know about that!?"
"Just tell me, there's no point in knowing how I know stuff. Tell me about that encounter."
Shu Xian pursed his lips and fell in a trance for a moment.
And after some time, he opened his mouth.
"It was three years ago. I was passing through Crimson Bay City."
"Which bay?"
"Crimson Bay City."
"Hmm, continue."
"However, just outside the city, I was ambushed by unknown enemies. Fortunately, someone passing by helped me. However, I was too injured to make sense of anything during the fight and soon fainted."
"After a few days, I finally woke up. I kept my guard up as soon as I came to my senses. Fortunately, I was in a mortal's family."
"They were rich. They were the richest mortals I had ever met."
"Oh? Tell me about them?" For the first time, Shu Xian sensed a different emotion from his enemy's tone.
Shu Xian pursed his lips and said, "It was a family of three. They were sea merchants. But they were very rich and well respected. I later found out that the person who had saved me was their old friend and had put me in their care and left to his business."
"I felt blessed with luck. Even though I was raised in the evilest Sect of the Lower Heavens, I didn't act irrational and was very much thankful for their favor."
"However, on the fifth night of my stay, I found something shocking - those mortals were hidden cultivators! And they were very powerful!"
"ANd it wasn't shocking enough for me, what they were talking about but did send the daylights out of my brain."
"Oh?" The person in front of him was intrigued, "What were they discussing?"
Shu Xian looked straight into his eyes and answered, "Token Of Fate."
"What!?"
Shu Xian nodded his head.
"Yes, it was the Token Of Fate."
Suddenly Shu Xian felt a jerk on his collar and felt his body was raised above the ground.
"Tell me everything. Don't you dare miss a single detail?" Shu Xian heard these simple words, but in the most threatening voice, he could ever imagine.
He nodded and replied, "They were mentioning about this token already finding its possessor."
"What!?" His abductor was shocked even more.
Shu Xian nodded his head, "Yes. Token Of Fate has already chosen someone from this generation."
The pull around his collar slowly relaxed, and he felt put down, slowly.
"Did they discuss who had it?"
Shu Xian nodded his head, "They didn't say any names. But they did say one thing - in three years; it was going to be in the Gracious Sword Sect."
"It's going to be here in the sect? That means… Xiao Ming already has the Token!? That's good; I won't have to waste any more time."
Shu Xian frowned when he heard this, "Xiao Ming? Xiao Ming!? Xiao Ming has the Token!?"
His voice got louder and erratic by the end.
However, his question was ignored, "Shut up! And tell me what happened next."
Shu Xian still held on to the question, "If you think you can just go after Xiao Ming the Token and kill him to get your hands on it, I am so glad to inform you that you won't achieve anything."
"What do you mean?"
Shu Xian smirked, "Even if you kill that guy, the Token won't appear. The reason? It's pretty simple - there are two more Tokens in the Gracious Sword Sect!"
"What!?" The person in front of him was shaking, "How is that possible!?"
Shu Xian shook his head, "I have no idea. But that couple discussed these Tokens."
"Which Tokens are they?"
Shu Xian continued to shake his head, "I have no idea, neither did that couple. They only knew that possessors of two supremely powerful Tokens were also going to be in the Sect during the same time as Token Of Fate was going to be here."
"They didn't know who these two cultivars were?"
"No, just like Token Of Fate, they didn't know who the possessors of these two unknown Tokens were."
"Hmm, looks like I will have to make a few more trips to this sect in the coming future…" After a moment, he turned towards Shu Xian and asked, "Were you never noticed by them? How is that possible?"
Shu Xian smirked, "I am an expert in two things - poison arts and camouflage. And that couple wasn't even on guard; they were very relaxed. That's what I think because they never even turned towards me."
"No- no- no, that would never happen. You really think you can escape the eyes of the previous generation's Heavenly King?"
"Heavenly King!?" Shu Xian was confused for a moment, and then his expression turned into that of a shock, "Heavenly King!? From the Middle Heavens!?"
"Indeed. The couple you met were from the Middle Heavens. And the man was Heavenly King Wang. A coward, and pathetic person, who couldn't even keep his family name."
"Heavenly King Wang!?" Shu Xian's breathing became erratic.
Heavenly Kings were no small matter. Especially the ones from the previous generation. Heavenly King Ye shook the world by unifying the whole Middle Heavens under one rule.
Heavenly King Wang was his younger brother.
Everyone knew of these two legendary cultivators. Young kids used to hear their stories before going to sleep.
Shu Xian was no different.
And today, he got to know that he had actually stayed at a Heavenly King's abode!?
He couldn't believe his luck.
"I missed such a great opportunity?" He could only sigh in disbelief.
The person in front of him, however, rolled his eyes at such a reaction, "Tell me about their kid."
"Wang Yao?" Shu Xian frowned.
Seeing him nod, Shu Xian continued, "I will never forget that guy - he's a sex addict. And he was just twelve. Imagine a twelve-year-old sex addict! Meeting with that guy was the unluckiest day of my life."
"Oh really?"
Shu Xian nodded his head, "Yes. I am not lying." He said while pointing at his remaining intact fingers.
After a moment of silence, he added, "Even though they were talking about the Tokens, it seemed that they had no intention of going after the token. They wanted their son to be the one who should go after the token."
"In fact, Heavenly King Wang seemed sure that it would be his son, Wang Yao, who would summon the God Emblem and be proclaimed as the Heavenly Emperor!"
...
A/n: This is the only chapter for today, and also is double the length because I didn't wish to break it into two parts and spoil the plot.
If you find any typos or errors, please let me know through comments. t y s m