Traveler

"Why did you have to wait until our lives started getting better to come and ruin them!" The woman held a knife and walked toward Lu Bai, step by step.

She wasn't wrong. She'd been abducted a few months ago and plunged straight into hell.

If she hadn't been reasonably pretty and recognized reality in time, starting to please those men, she would probably have died long ago.

After Black Tiger Stronghold became the Black Tiger Sect, she didn't even know who had gotten her pregnant, but her life had finally improved a little.

At least when they beat her, they didn't hit her too hard.

They said that the Black Tiger Sect was going to become a respectable martial arts sect, so they had to be more careful.

In any case, during this time, although she still had to entertain certain people, things were much better than they'd been at the start.

Things had been getting a little better bit by bit. That night, the Black Tiger Sect's leader had even said that once her son was born, he'd arrange for him to marry Wang Er.

Then she'd have a home in the Black Tiger Sect and be part of the Martial Forest. She might even be able to return to her family and bring them honor.

But it had all been destroyed.

This man—no, this demon.

After entering the stronghold, he'd slaughtered everyone. Her future husband had died from a single casual punch.

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

The woman raised her knife and swung it at Lu Bai.

But in her condition, she could hardly hit even an ordinary person.

She was injured, had never learned to fight, and was even holding the knife wrong.

But she hadn't actually meant to kill Lu Bai. Her mind had already collapsed. She was trying to get herself killed.

Lu Bai looked at her, his eyes full of interest.

"Do you really want to die?" Lu Bai grabbed her hand and asked.

The woman looked up at Lu Bai's face. His hair was still cut short, but he was more handsome than any man she'd ever seen.

He was asking her seriously.

The woman froze. Even her resolute desire to die faltered for a moment. Then she collapsed to the ground and began to sob uncontrollably, the knife slipping from her hand.

"Never mind, then." Lu Bai turned to the people remaining and kicked the knife toward them.

"Anyone else want to die?"

No one answered, but Lu Bai saw the signs in some of their eyes.

The woman who'd reacted most intensely could still be saved. But these people, who had already grown numb, were beyond saving.

So Lu Bai moved again.

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

Each time a sound reached her, she trembled. She knew all too well that another life had just ended.

Before long, Lu Bai was done. He had two modules in his hand.

The Elemental Modules [Numbness] and [Adaptation]. Neither had a description, so their quality was clearly nothing special.

"Looks like my earlier guess was wrong—or at least incomplete."

Lu Bai studied the modules in his hand. These people had clearly grown completely numb to and adapted to life in the stronghold.

Numbness and adaptation had become part of their lives, allowing them to form the corresponding modules, but neither had a description.

"To form high-quality modules, there must be other factors involved."

Lu Bai continued exploring the secrets of the modules. He paid no mind to the distraught woman and found a room to sleep in.

He really had been a little tired lately.

And although he'd used the Energy Module [Vitality] to activate the Blood Burning Technique, the burning had also drawn on some of his own vitality.

On top of that, Flower Face had drained him earlier. He was definitely feeling weak.

After a night's sleep, Lu Bai stretched. He still felt a little weak, but by his own estimate, some good food and a couple of days' rest would get him back to normal.

"Still as good as ever!" Lu Bai sat up and calculated that one average-quality Vitality Module could fuel the burning for about a minute.

But that minute gave him an enormous boost.

When Lu Bai opened the door, he saw that the once-chaotic courtyard had been tidied up.

The corpses had been dumped off to one side, and smoke was rising from a cooking fire in the distance.

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

Her face was deathly pale, her lips completely colorless, and she was trembling slightly, but she still stood before Lu Bai.

"Is it poisoned?"

"No." The woman served herself some of the food and ate it to prove it wasn't poisoned.

"I want to learn martial arts." Only after seeing Lu Bai take the food and start eating did the woman speak.

"Good idea!" Lu Bai gave no clear response. He ate as he sized her up.

The woman was indeed fairly pretty. The purplish bruises on her body only added to her pitiful air.

And the way she was pretending to be tough now really did make someone want to bully her mercilessly.

As if noticing Lu Bai's scrutiny, the woman immediately started to undo her clothes.

"Hey!" Lu Bai stopped her. "I'm not into pregnant women."

Lu Bai still had a few principles, as long as he hadn't completely abandoned them.

He had a slightly higher tolerance when it came to children. That was why he hadn't killed the woman as soon as she'd swung her knife at him.

Of course, only slightly higher. The bandit children who'd glared at him with hatred hadn't escaped their fate either.

"How about this? I'll ask you a question. If I'm satisfied with your answer, I'll give you a manual." Lu Bai took out a copy of the Embroidery Leg manual.

It was densely covered in tiny characters. During his time at Hundred Flower Valley, Lu Bai had learned the coded writing and copied it into this handwritten manual.

Anyone who could read could follow the instructions in this book and practice.

Of course, this wasn't his only copy. To prevent it from getting lost, he'd had several more made.

The people he'd worked with back then were all just tools, anyway.

The woman touched her belly, her expression changing several times, but she still nodded.

"What do you think matters most to them?" Lu Bai pointed at the pile of corpses in the distance.

"They had nothing that mattered to them." The woman looked at the corpses. She seemed to think for a while before answering.

Lu Bai nodded, then tossed her the manual.

"Practice however you like. It doesn't matter what you become. I hope one day you'll come looking for revenge again."

After finishing all the food and searching the stronghold, Lu Bai asked how to get out of the mountains, then left.

The woman remained behind, holding the manual, dazed.

The wind and snow gradually swallowed Lu Bai's figure. He was only a traveler, and he never stopped for anyone.

Second update. Good night, everyone! If you've got votes, please cast them. (づ￣3￣)づ╭~