The Scum Is A ***

Dongxin Town.

In the darkness, a man was running with loaves of bread in his hands. "Daoshi." He called to the person who was sitting on the corner, their back is leaning on the wall. They were wearing a wide conical hat with veil to cover their face. A sword was sitting beside them. "Here." He said as he handed a loaf of bread to the cultivator.

The cultivator stirred and turned to face the man. Wordlessly, they reached the bread and slightly raised their veil. Then, they nibbled on the bread.

The man watched the cultivator ate, then looked at the white clothes of the cultivator be stained in red on their side. The cultivator is wounded. "Daoshi." He called. "I met seven Xinfaxian sect disciples this morning." He said. "They are passing by the town. They\'re going to the Zhongyang to participate in the Intersect Competition." he explained. He saw the cultivator paused, then resumed eating. "Is daoshi planning to join the competition?" he asked. Seeing the cultivator nod his head, he continued to ask. "Is daoshi interested in joining a sect?"

Suddenly, the cultivator paused. Before the man could react, he saw the sword has left its scabbard and its tip just a centimeter away from his neck! Cold sweat formed on his forehead and trickled down the side of his face. He gulped as his heart beat loudly against his chest.

"D-daoshi?" the man called. He can only see through the dark with the help of the moonlight passing through the wide and open window. He could see the sword glistening below his chin. Then, he looked at the cultivator. He met the cultivator one month ago and the cultivator was wounded. He took them in an abandoned house where he was staying. However, just as he was about to treat their wound, he almost died when the cultivator became on defense. He could only watch them treat their own wound. "Your wound…" he said and looked at their side bleeding.

The cultivator froze and their sword suddenly fell on the ground with a loud clang. The noise reverberated on the small space. The cultivator held their side and retreated to the wall, pasting their back against the cold wall. They took out a pill and ate it. Then, they saw that the bleeding finally stopped. The smell of blood lingered, then dissipated as the cold breeze blew.

The man watched the cultivator silently treated their self. "I am Qie Shi." He introduced himself a month late. "What\'s your name?" he asked. He thought that the silent cultivator wouldn\'t answer. He was about to leave when he saw that their hand moved and wrote on the floor filled with dust. The man immediately turned and saw two characters were written on the floor.

Wu Xi. The characters are from \'wordless and uncommunicative\'. It meant the cultivator is taciturn. They don\'t want to speak. They finally communicated with him since they find him too noisy and nosy. Qie Shi sighed and decided to leave them. He\'s already done feeding him. It would eat his conscience if he\'d found them suddenly dead tomorrow because of hunger.

Qie Shi sat on another corner and leaned on the wall. Then, he closed his eyes to sleep. It\'s as if he could still hear the bakeshop owner\'s shrill voice on his ears. He forced it out of his head and fell asleep.

Just as Qie Shi fell asleep, the cultivator moved. They pressed their hand against the wall – a jade-like hand forming a sharp contrast against the cold gray wall. They borrowed the wall to find the strength to stand up. When they succeeded, they looked back to the sleeping Qie Shi. After hesitating for a long time, they threw a pouch and it fell beside Qie Shi with a soft thump.

Then, without looking back, they left.

Morning.

"Shimei, you\'ve got it big!" Cheng Sheng exclaimed when You Rou came back after she finished her business with the women of the Dongxin Town.

You Rou shyly smiled. "Cheng-shixiong is praising me." She said and looked away, only to meet Fei Yin\'s hostile gaze. She immediately lowered her head and hid behind Lei Qing. "Shijie. Da shixiong is too scary." She whispered.

Lei Qing just chuckled and blocked her from Fei Yin\'s sight. Lei Ling looked tired after staying up all night making talismans. You Rou also stayed up late, but she ate a Rejuvenating Pill so she looked the usual. Li Tian knows his limits and he is strict with himself, so he followed their sect\'s curfew hours and he slept on time. Meanwhile, Feng Mo looked like he\'s glowing. He and Wu Bai exchanged messages last night and cultivated more feelings.

Cheng Sheng and Fei Yin are in their best state. Surprisingly, after they took a walk last night, Cheng Sheng chose to go back and then slept. He already has done his businesses during the morning so he got bored at night thus he slept. Dongxin Town is just a small town – smaller than Xinfaxian. Thus, it has limited goods.

After they done preparing, they flew to the sky and continued their travel. Lei Ling hitched a ride on Feng Mo\'s sword again so it was You Rou who tested the Balance Talismans he made. Lei Qing assisted You Rou while on the way.

Just as they left, the bakeshop owner immediately shrieked and ordered some people to look for the thief. The thief stole from her shop again last night. However, this time, the matter is worse. The thief killed the one of the bakeshop owner\'s servant after the servant caught him.

Meanwhile, Qie Shi finally woke up. He looked around and found that the cultivator had left. He was shocked. This is the first time the cultivator moved from that spot. He immediately rose and was surprised to see a pouch beside him. "Was it from that daoshi?" he muttered and opened the pouch. He saw a dagger inside.

Suddenly, he heard noises outside. He immediately hid the dagger in his shoe. "So you\'re here!" it was the bakeshop owner\'s voice. The dilapidated door was kicked open. "How dare you kill my servant!" she said and glared at him when she finally saw him.

"What?!" Qie Shi said. "I didn\'t kill anybody! I\'ve never killed anyone!" he said.

"Shut up!" the bakeshop owner shouted.

Qie Shi frowned. "I may be a thief, but the only thing I will never steal is a life!" he said.

"Blood…" someone who came with the bakeshop owner suddenly spoke.

Everyone turned and saw the traces of blood on the floor. Qie Shi\'s face paled. "I didn\'t!" he said. "It wasn\'t me! The blood isn\'t mine, nor whoever else\'s!" he said. However, anyone can see that the blood looked fresh and dried up after a short amount of time.

"You liar!" the bakeshop owner said. "You not only steal my bread, not only you stole a life but now you\'re stealing the truth! Arrest him!" she ordered.

Everyone immediately subdued Qie Shi and dragged him out. Qie Shi doesn\'t know what to do. The blood on the floor is definitely of the cultivator\'s. Qie Shi knew that the cultivator wouldn\'t harm him. However, it\'s such a coincidence today. Qie Shi can tell them the truth – that the blood is of the cultivator\'s he saved. However, who would listen to his truth? Since anything he will say will be taken as a lie? Who will believe a thief? They did a crime. Who will believe in a criminal? Furthermore, he\'s just a nobody. The one who has the power sets the rules. If you wanted to fight against the rules, you should be more powerful than the one who made them.