Chapter 388: Fifth World: Mysterious Cloaked Man

In the dead of night, a lone figure wearing a cloak stood in the middle of a bamboo forest like a sinister ghost. If normal passersby saw this situation they would be scared out of their minds and possibly soil their pants.

The cloaked man wasn't idle either. In his hand was a broom and he was sweeping an odd shadowy structure that was hard to distinguish in the dark. The man seemed engrossed in his task making this scene even stranger.

All of sudden, the man sharply turned his head to the right before moving at the speed of light above ground towards a particular direction. The cloak fluttered with the breeze creating a horrendous scene that could frighten any living person.

Long slender fingers reached out of the cloak before grasping someone's neck. The victim was dressed in a black cloak as well but his blue garments could be seen from the gaps of the cloak.

Startled then mortified, the victim tried to remove the hand choking his neck as he stammered, "Lo-lord, plea-please. Let m-me live." This voice was oddly familiar even though he was being strangled. It was none other than Sect leader Zhao. As to why he was roaming around in the dark, it was exactly because he was looking for this man.

Two months ago, he received a talisman from this man asking him to return what belongs to him. He ignored it but the following threat after that had his hair standing on end.

His entire sect was threatened and to prove he would do as stated, ten of their outer disciples were found skinned alive and hung in trees in a gory display.

Left with no choice but to meet with this vile man the sect leader set off to the meeting point. The only problem was that he had no idea what he had stolen from this strange man. Even if he knocked his head on the wall to figure out what he stole from the man, he wouldn't be able to tell.

It was when they eventually met that he realised what he was talking about. The stolen property wasn't an item but a person. The boy he found lying unconscious along a river after the Qie mansion incident. At first, he wanted to leave the boy there but when he caught sight of the feet underwater, he lost his mind.

This sect leader staggered backwards in fright. He had seen so many Yao devils and fought countless ghosts in his cultivation journey but he had never seen such a sight.

He had heard rumours of the legendary Yao that closely resembled Betta fish but he had never seen one with his own eyes. Five millennials ago, a nascent soul cultivar wandered further south of the continent attempting to cross the sea in search of treasures that could help him ascend to immortality.

On his journey, he faced rough storms that he couldn't counter. Resigned to his fate, he sank to the bottom of the sea but when he woke up he found himself in a strange place. A place with clear azure waters and a beautiful beach. This is when he met a Betta fish yao that had cultivated to the point of transforming to its human form.

He was truly grateful to his saviour but the longer he stayed in this place the more his thirst grew for this transcended beauty. Because the yao was lower in rank when it came to its cultivation, the man couldn't hold back his desires anymore and committed the greatest sin.

But it turns out his sin paid off with a sharp increase in his cultivation. That very day the cultivar ascended to immortality and vanished towards the heavens. By the time the Yao woke up not only was its innocence robbed but it was also with child and the culprit was nowhere to be found.

From that legend, it was rumoured that a clan of half-human yao creatures resided in a hidden realm. The reason the clan was hidden was that they were a highly sought after being.

Think about it, if the legend is true then the secret to transcend straight to the heavens and become one of the world's powerful force was spending a night with these creatures wouldn't it lead to the abuse and annihilation of these single clan?

So one can only imagine the sect leader's reaction when he saw this boy. He dragged him out of the water and the gorgeous fin was enveloped in white light and vanished. He waited for the boy to wake up intending to find out where he was from.

Sect leader Zhao didn't intend to ascend as an immortal for now but he would love to increase his cultivation in a short period. Thinking he could tie the boy up and lock him in the underground dungeon in his sect he found out that it was pointless. This is because the boy didn't remember who he was or what he was.

As a result, sect leader Zhao gave him a new identity. He told the boy that he was his son and that his mother was a beauty in a brothel. One night of passion accidentally produced him but the sect leader only found out about his existence recently after his mother passed away. Sect leader Zhao claimed there were on their way to the sect when he fell into the water and almost drowned.

Using such a devious method he began raising this eighteen-year-old as his son, Zhao Zhi. He forbade him from entering the river, lake or any large water body since he had a near-drowning experience. Who would have thought more than two decades later, this cloaked man would come after him claiming he stole his property.

"Ha! Let you go? Sect leader Zhao, I am not a patient person," said the cloaked man squeezing the fragile neck tighter. At this moment the sect leader could barely keep conscious with his strength to fight drastically reduced.

Just when his face turned purple knocking at death's door, the cloaked man flung the poor sect leader a half a kilometre away. His body crashed into trees and bushes causing grievous harm.

Sect leader Zhao's body tumbled to the ground rolling twice before abruptly smashing into a boulder. Grimacing in pain, he curled up into a ball but he just couldn't catch a break.

The cloaked man flew over in a flash like a vicious ghost in a horror movie and strangled the sect leader once more. This time he used less force but directly bashed the sect leader's head against the boulder creating a dent.

His pinkish pale lips showed a little out of the hood of the cloak as he whispered to the sect leader. "I let you keep him.... but asked you to keep him pure," he said while rubbing the blood seeping from the corner of sect leader Zhao's mouth with his thumb smearing it everywhere.

"But what did I hear? That Qie brat directly asked for him and you wanted to exchange him for a stupid sword," said the cloaked man with his grip tightening again.