Inner Devil

"Hey! Brat, are you still breathing?" A loud and carefree voice resounded and Xu An abruptly opened his eyes.

The bald middle-aged man, Old third, let out a sigh of relief.

He carefully eyed Xu An's face before shaking his head.

"We've arrived at Purple Cloud City. Our little journey together has finally come to an end."

'We've already arrived?' Xu An's gaze widened.

It only felt like a few seconds, yet hours had gone by?

He couldn't help but gulp and silently praise these simple breathing instructions.

He looked at the ravaged bookcover, a strange look on his face. Truly, the ways of immortals were mysterious beyond reason.

Seeing the stupid look plastered over Xu An's face, Old Third thought for a moment before sighing and taking out a greyish cloak.

"Here, wrap yourself with this. Old Fourth bought an extra one a few weeks ago and for some reason… he seems to think that you need it more than we do." He rolled his eyes before tossing it to Xu An. "It's Grey Bear fur, light, hard and not cheap to procure."

"And, since you're still alive and I'm the one who brought you here, let me give you a small piece of advice..."

He looked around for a few instances before lowering his voice. "The city lord is said to be a very ruthless character, so don't stir up any trouble. Behind city walls, beasts who rear their heads don't get to keep them for long…"

He then casually tossed Xu An a small leather pouch. "There's enough in there for a meal or two, now get going."

Xu An, holding the cloak and the coin-filled pouch, silently looked at Old Third for a few seconds before calmly nodding.

"Thank you." He clasped his hands together.

Although Old Third had a frown while speaking, Xu An could tell that his actions were quite genuine. The man was probably just a natural cheapskate.

He had only ever met a handful of such people and one must know when to show a sliver of respect.

Without getting any response from the man, Xu An lifted the cloak and gave the younger brother a deep look. After receiving a simple nod, he gritted his teeth and forced his body to walk down the street.

Sunlight had just begun to bathe the streets of Purple Cloud City, and the skies were still shimmering with a faint crimson-purple hue in the west.

Yet these long roads had long-since left behind the cold silence of the night.

Horse-drawn carriages moved back and forth, people walked with hurried steps, low to high whispers and calls resounded from one side of the road to another…

Unlike in the little village way back in the mountains, the streets of Purple Cloud City felt like they had a special type of life.

Along his search for a cheap Inn to rest, Xu An saw all kinds of things that he had only been able to marvel at in his dreams.

Atop these large cobblestone roads, he could see hundreds of small food stalls.

Some of the vendors were sporting bright smiles, filling basket after basket with fresh fruits and lush vegetables.

Others could be seen with fierce expressions haggling away with even fiercer customers.

Some of these people had thin sets of bamboo sheets spread on the floor, littered with all sorts of strange items, ranging from fine leather hides and silvery daggers to beautiful wooden carvings and strange looking rocks…

There were dozens of food restaurants whose windows were still filled with the coldness of the night's haze and dozens more of wine shops already ready for the day.

In fact, some people could already be seen walking unsteadily while holding onto wine bottles.

There were even some towering pavilions of white marble in the far distance…

If he could place it all in one word, it would be - overwhelming.

Xu An couldn't help but feel his own heartbeat quicken a few times along the way, leading him to exhale a couple of deep breaths.

His eyes weren't just filled with awe. There was also resentment and yearning.

Although he had taken what felt like a big leap forward, perhaps even this enormous place was still just another small patch of earth inside of an even larger and deeper Well.

His limping footsteps only came to a stop within a narrow and foul-smelling alley.

Underneath the cloak, his face was paler than snow and dripping with cold sweat. His legs felt like they were being burned with ice and his stomach felt like an empty and ravenous hole.

The cobblestone beneath him was cracked and muddy. The sidewalks filled with knee-high wild flowers and the wooden doors to the Inn looked old and dirty.

Xu An could even see a few people sleeping by the side of the road.

"Perfect." He took a deep breath before stepping in.

There were only a handful of people inside. Most of them had thin faces, white hair and whispered among themselves.

When Xu An first stepped inside, they barely spared him a second glance. All but one...

The old man behind the counter looked to be almost a hundred years old. However, his thin and narrow eyes immediately lit up at the sight of a new customer and he quickly straightened his back.

"Dear patron, one night is a single piece of copper. A warm bowl of rice and a piece of bread is also a single copper!" He lightly coughed from behind the counter.

"Oh, but if you stay for three nights, the Inn will throw in a meal for free. Eheh, throughout this entire wretched city, no other establishment charges as sincerely as this noble house!" He then brightly smiled, revealing a few crooked yellow teeth.

"How about five nights and you throw in two meals for free?" Xu An lightly shook the small pouch of coins before tossing it to the counter.

The old man seemed to ponder for a few instances. "Hmm…" He looked Xu An up and down and tapped his fingers against the counter a few times before finally letting out a dejected sigh.

"Welcome to this old man's humble home." The old man tossed the pouch below the counter and took out a rusty key from his pocket.

"Here, it's the last room down the hall to the left. There's a small bathroom to the right, but the old maid ran with some villain a few months back, so you'll have to scrub your own back." As he spoke, the old man hatefully glared at the door. He then turned around and immediately smiled again.

"Should i fill a bowl right away…?" The old man asked, pointing at a rice-filled wooden board.

"Right away." Xu An nodded. He then grabbed the rice-filled wooden bowl and headed straight to his room.

"Oh, and you only get 1 bath a day. Water isn't cheap these days..." He suddenly heard the old man shouting from the back.

As he entered the room...

The place was dirty to say the least. The bed might as well not even be called a bed… but compared to the streets, the warmth of a roof and a set of walls was still a luxury to behold.

After filling his stomach and peering at the outside through the window for a few minutes, his eyes began to slowly shut and he finally fell into a deep state of slumber.

***

The days in big cities were lively until way past noon.

Yet, this liveliness was all inevitably missed by Xu An.

Deep into his sleep, his body began to tense and beads of sweat gradually formed on his forehead.

His mind had wandered deep into the world of dreams, and within, he found himself facing that blurry figure once again.

A horrifying roar split the air asunder.

A murky string of clouds wove itself into a spiraling pit that seemed to want to rip and devour all of the earth into the heavens.

Lightning flashed in the color of blood and wails of agony seemed to blend into the wind.

Xu An's little village trembled as the earth began to crack and a massive shockwave suddenly turned a large portion of the forest into a field of desolation.

At the center of it all, the figure that had always uttered the same cryptic words suddenly turned toward the child-like Xu An.

The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before the figure suddenly flashed and arrived just half a step away from him.

"If you become you, you will no longer become who you are supposed to be!"

Xu An still couldn't see the face behind the dense veil of darkness but an overbearing sense of hatred had already begun to permeate into his soul.

The figure didn't seem to want to waste any more time as it lifted a hand into the skies. 

The wind roared and a terrifying golden glow began to converge upon the figure's palm.

Yet, just as the hand was about to fall, it suddenly trembled, and the person behind the veil of darkness looked toward the heavens.

At the same time, an even more terrifying presence seemed to fall upon the world.

Even though it was all a dream, Xu An still couldn't help but tremble and feel a sharp pain running through his mind.

"YOU DARE?!" The figure let out a roar and flew into the sky. However, in the next instant it was struck down by a bolt of thunder and reduced into nothing but ash.

The wind raged and blew forth with even greater fury…

The skies crackled even louder…

The earth quaked...

And Xu An was left to stand there in absolute silence.

For some reason, at heart, he could feel a deep sense of unwillingness plaguing the air…