Traveler

"Why did you have to wait until our lives were getting better to come and destroy everything!" The woman held a blade, stepping toward Lu Bai.

What the woman said was not wrong; she had been abducted months ago and cast into hell.

If she hadn't been reasonably good-looking and realized the reality of her situation in time to start pleasing those masters, she likely would have died long ago.

As the Black Tiger Stronghold transformed into the Black Tiger Sect, and after she didn't even know whose child she was carrying, her life had finally improved a little.

At the very least, when they beat her, they didn't hit her quite as hard.

They claimed that the Black Tiger Sect was now a righteous sect and that they needed to be mindful of their image.

In short, during this period, although she still had to entertain some people, the situation was much better than it had been at the beginning.

Things were getting better bit by bit; that night, the sect leader of the Black Tiger Sect had even said that once her son was born, he would betroth her to Wang Er.

By then, she would be settled in the Black Tiger Sect, a member of a Martial Forest sect, and could even return to her maiden home to bring honor to her family.

But everything had been destroyed.

This person—no, this evil ghost.

Upon entering the stronghold, he had slaughtered everyone in sight. Her future husband had been killed by his casual punch.

"Why didn't you come sooner? Why did you have to come now!"

The woman raised her blade and slashed toward Lu Bai.

However, given her condition, she would have struggled to even hit an ordinary person.

She was injured, had never learned anything of the sort, and even her grip on the blade was wrong.

Yet, the other party had no intention of killing Lu Bai; her spirit had already collapsed, and this was an act of seeking death.

Lu Bai watched her, his eyes filled with interest.

"Do you want to die that much?" Lu Bai grabbed her hand and spoke.

The woman looked up at Lu Bai's face. Although his hair was cropped short, he was better looking than any man she had ever seen.

At this moment, he was asking her quite earnestly.

The woman froze for a moment. Her resolute will to seek death faltered, and she collapsed onto the ground, breaking into hysterical sobs as the blade fell to the side.

"Then forget it." Lu Bai said, looking toward the remaining people and kicking the blade over to them.

"Who else among you wants to die?"

No one answered, but Lu Bai could see something in the eyes of some of them.

The woman who had reacted most violently was still salvageable, but these people, already lost to Numbness, were beyond saving.

And so, Lu Bai moved once again.

The woman slumped on the ground could only hear screams and the sounds of limbs shattering or snapping.

With every sound, she trembled, for she knew all too well that it was the passing of a human life.

Before long, Lu Bai finished his work, two modules appearing in his hand.

Elemental Module [Numbness] and [Adaptation], though neither had a comment, clearly indicating they were not of high quality.

"It seems my previous hypothesis was wrong, or at least incomplete."

Lu Bai looked at the modules in his hand. These people had clearly become completely numb and adapted to the life of the stronghold.

Numbness and adaptation had permeated their lives, condensing into relevant modules, yet there were no comments.

"To condense high-quality modules, other factors are required."

Lu Bai explored the secrets of the modules, then, ignoring the broken woman, found a room and went to sleep.

He was indeed quite tired after this period.

Furthermore, although he had used the energy module [Vitality] to activate the Blood Burning Technique, his own vitality had been partially consumed in the process.

Coupled with the fact that Flower Face had drained him earlier, he was indeed quite weak.

Waking up after a night's sleep, Lu Bai stretched. Although he still felt somewhat weak, according to his own judgment, he would recover after eating well and resting for two days.

"Not as bad as the old days!" Lu Bai sat up and calculated. A Vitality Module of average quality could only fuel the burn for about a minute.

But that one minute provided him with an extraordinary boost.

Pushing open the door, Lu Bai saw that the courtyard, which had been chaotic before, had been cleaned up.

The corpses had been tossed to the side, and not far away, smoke was rising from a cooking fire.

As Lu Bai walked over, the woman who had been lying down to rest immediately stood up and brought over the food.

The woman's face was deathly pale, her lips devoid of color, and she was still trembling, yet she stood before Lu Bai.

"Is it poisoned?"

"No." The woman said, dividing some of the food and eating it to prove there was no poison.

"I want to learn martial arts." Seeing Lu Bai take the food and begin to eat, she spoke up.

"Good idea!" Lu Bai was noncommittal, observing the woman as he ate.

The woman was indeed quite attractive, and the bruises on her body only added to her pitiable aura to a certain extent.

Coupled with her current attempt to put on a brave front, it truly stirred an urge in one to wantonly bully her.

Seeming to notice Lu Bai's scrutiny, the woman immediately moved to unfasten her clothes.

"Hey!" Lu Bai stopped her. "I don't have that kind of preference for pregnant women."

If Lu Bai wasn't entirely without a bottom line, he did still have some.

His tolerance for children was slightly higher, and it was precisely for this reason that he hadn't killed the woman the moment she swung her blade at him.

Of course, it was only slightly higher; those bandit children who looked at him with hateful eyes had not escaped their own fates either.

"How about this: I'll ask you a question. If your answer satisfies me, I'll give you a secret manual." Lu Bai fished out a manual for Embroidery Leg from his person.

It was densely packed with small characters, a handwritten copy Lu Bai had transcribed while studying secret techniques during his time at Hundred Flower Valley.

Anyone who could read would be able to follow the exercises in this book.

Naturally, Lu Bai had more than just this one; to prevent loss, he had even had others copy a few more.

In any case, the few people he had collaborated with at the time were just tools.

The woman touched her belly, her expression shifting, but she still nodded.

"In your opinion, what is the most important thing to them?" Lu Bai asked, pointing toward the pile of corpses in the distance.

"They have nothing important." The woman looked at the corpses, speaking only after seeming to reminisce for a moment.

Having received the woman's answer, Lu Bai nodded and tossed the manual over.

"Practice it as you see fit. It doesn't matter how well you master it; I hope that one day you can come find me to take your revenge again."

Lu Bai finished eating everything, ransacked the mountain stronghold, and after asking for directions on how to leave these mountains, he chose to depart.

He left behind the woman, who stood there in a daze, clutching the manual.

The wind and snow gradually swallowed Lu Bai's figure; he was merely a Traveler, and he would never linger for anyone.