Jin Muyi (I don't want no trouble!, Road Trip pt 1)
The food tasted like nothing in his mouth. It was a unique experience feeling a variety of textures within his mouth but having them all taste the same. It was a reminder to Muyi that despite his current appearance, he was in no sense Human. The Demonic Vines had turned him into a creature that had more kinship with the Spirit Plants that resided in areas rich with Qi.
Reaching Pleuron after eliminating the bandits had bought him to a interesting sight. Even before coming within sight of the City Gates' the buzz of a crowd discussing could be heard and a detailed examination revealed a mix of mortals, cultivators and Clansmen discussing the empty spot where a tangled forest once stood.
"....was probably burnt "
" Ritual to clea- "
" Harvested for sal- "
" I came all the way for the Forest! "
" Not used to it being so open. "
" -en the Forest Demon? "
" ...grow grapes for wine now "
" If the forest is gone, how did you get these fruits that you claimed to have picked from the forest no more then 5 minutes ago? "
Regardless of the discussion, it all came to a sudden stop at Muyi's appearance. A bit puzzled at the dead silence, Muyi raised a vine tentacle and gave it a slight shake in a approximation of a wave, which sent the whole crowd into gasps of horror.
" Where's the City Lord? Get the Lord "
" Eew..Look at the way it wriggles. "
" Cultivators! Make sure the mortals stay back "
For every slither Muyi used to move forward, the crowd took a step back in response. As the Clan Cultivators start to appear and fan around the crowd to guard them, Muyi decided to ignore the spears being brandished at him and make the first move.
" I aM mUYi, tHE OnE thAt UsEd tO Be kNoWN aS XiAo Yi. i hAVe mAnAGed tO rEcoveR fOrM mY WOuNds aNd WoULd liKE tO REpoRt tO ThE eLDeRs. "
" Lies you fiend! The world knows that our Elder Council was lost! And we won't have you desecrating the name of one of the Heroes of Pleuron! The Clan is busy with investigating who desecrated Senior Xiao Yi's grave, so we'll let you go this time! Leave Now! "
The news that the Elder Council was destroyed sent Muyi into a panicked state, the temporary loss of control causing the vines that now made up his body to writhe frantically with a few even lashing the space around him.
" IT'S ATTACKING! CULTIVATORS, FORMATION UP! HOPLITE ON THE COUNT OF 3! "
It was at this point that Muyi realized that Yep, things were not going as planned. As the Golden Hoplite took form with a metallic shriek, Muyi found himself looking at the business end of a golden spear. A rare view that most Clansmen usually never experienced.
In a attempt to defuse the situation, Muyi tried to raise his vines so that they pointed up, to show that he didn't want no trouble. Unfortunately, the vines appeared to disagree. Perhaps it was the act of suddenly flicking the vines up or perhaps it was the vines reacting automatically to the Qi of the formation, but Muyi found himself watching in horror as the vines went up and UP until they smacked into the Hoplite and send it sprawling back with a thud that shook the ground.
Hastily bringing the vines back down did not help. Instead of bringing the vines back, the action instead caused the upraised vines to chop down on the fallen Hoplite, shattering it's shield and armor.
" I DiD NoT mEAnT To dO thAT. It WaS A AcCiDeNT. "
" You might be able to stop us Demon! But our Seniors will avenge us! The Clan does not fear Death. You got another thing coming if you think we'll let you hurt our Mortals. COME! "
As the Hoplite rolled back to it's feet with a metallic groan, Muyi found himself saying something that he never thought would come from his mouth.
" sTaY DOwn. I'll doN'T WAnT tO HuRt YoU. YOU aRE nO MATch FoR ME, cALl oUt yOuR SEnIORS. CLeaRly I nEEd To tALk TO tHEM IsNTEAd. "
" YOU MONSTER! What do you have planned for our Seniors?? We won't let you! CULTIVATORS! ON MY MARK, SELF DETONATE. Ready? MAR- "
To Muyi's relief, the impending detonation was stopped by a familiar roar and a green blur that slammed into the ringleader. Looking at the familiar sight, he found himself crying slightly from his non-existent eyes. Unfortunately, that took form as liquid beading and dripping from the thorns of the vines, the impression of it being poison not helped by the hiss sounds that appeared when the liquid dripped onto the ground and started melting holes into the road.
" QInG yUn IT'S mE. I'Ve cOmE BAck. "
Looking at Qing Yun's blank stare, Muyi couldn't help but feel a pang of heartbreak. Had he changed so much from the Demonic Vines that even his brother no longer knew him ?
Reaching out once more, he tried to convince Qing Yun with his voice warbling slightly from the stare being levied at him.
" iT'S mE. rUMoRs Of mY DeATh WeRe,
GrEAtly EXagGEraTed.... "
However, the moment he spoke, Muyi realized that the warble had made his voice come out in a lower tone. The attempt to appeal his position instead came across as a threat used by someone who returned to obtain vengeance.
" tHiS IsN'T WhAt It SOunDs LiKe. I sWEar I'M nOt hErE fOR a FiGhT! "
The long look Qing Yun gave him and then at the scene of groaning juniors lying on the ground from the carnage he wrecked made Muyi squirm slightly in embarrassment. The writhing of the vines sending shivers of disgust among those still standing.
After another one or two moments of silence as Qing Yun stared at him with a hostile glare, the aggression within in his eyes made Muyi feel disheartened at the continued lack of recognition and causing his vines to droop. Turning around with vines dragging the ground, Muyi left the City with slow stumbling steps. After all if even his brother could not recognize him, how could the Clan? He just had to count his blessings that none of the Clan's Core Formation Cultivators were here to eliminate the " Demonic Plant ".
As the Demonic Plant turned around and started leaving, the way it moved struck a chord with Qing Yun. A faint memory sprung into his mind, one of his earliest memories. Of following his brother with stumbling steps as they left the ruins of their home to seek out a new place they could belong...
The realization hitting like a thunderbolt, Qing Yun let out a roar containing both Joy, Rage at himself and Guilt at not recognizing his brother before bounding forth and knocking into Muyi, rubbing his head like he was a pup again seeking a pat.
" yOU ReMemBerED! "
The loud cry from Muyi was followed by a flowery scent, the mere sniff making the victim feel euphoric.
" Watch out! The monster appears to have brainwash Senior Qing Yun with the smell, cover your noses! Being a Spirit Beast, Senior Qing Yun is more subsectiple to underhand tricks like this! CULTIVATORS, WITH ME! WE HAVE TO SAVE HIM! WHO'S WITH ME? "
" Me! "
" I'm ready! "
" You have my spear! "
" Mine as well "
" My Unit is ready to assist! "
" We're with you as well! "
" Alright! Thanks to Senior Qing Yun, the Demon should be weaker now, TOGETHER WE CAN DO THIS! WITH ME, CHAAAARGE! "
With a loud roar, the scattered groups of Juniors charged in unison towards the duo, causing Muyi to retreat back and Qing Yun to place himself between the mob and his brother.
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Ferenike had been walking from the gate, heading for Xiao Yi with a new batch of Golden Grass Wine in hand and Century Scorpion Oats secreted away in a bag. The wine was starting to be a pain in the ass to get for whatever reason, which was a shame since it was
really good wine. Not as good as Ice Peach, but nothing was.
She slowed at the commotion a decent way outside of the gate. The voices drifting over didn't make any sense as she saw a bunch of juniors with the energies of a dissipating Hoplite around them as she saw attack some kind of... plant... man and Qing Yun in front of them? What. She sped up towards the pair and the group of juniors.
She hadn't seen Qing Yun that happy in years. Reaching out and feeling the Qi all around her intently, she noted the juniors presences, Qing Yun's snapping lighting like aura, and the aura of the jungle which Xiao Yi had produced concentrated in the plant man. Putting two and two together she smiled, so hard she was grinning.
One of her friends
wasn't a suffering half-corpse!
She heard one of the leaders of the group spout some bullshit about challenging Xiao Yi, rallying them and smile became a flat line as she sprinted forward at the front of an incredible fantail of sand and then leapt over them.
She slammed down before Qing Yun, and her spear smashed into the sands, throwing up a huge cloud of the stuff that temporarily obscured her and her friends.
She stood up a red-limned silhouette in the rain of dust and sand. "Really, never in seventy years have I seen people more blind to bloody
Mt Tai." She grumbled. The juniors stopped dead.
"Ah Lady Ferenike! This demon plant-eek!" one of the leaders tried to step forward before she loomed out of the sand with her faced a horrific mask of glass and fangs that caused him to become white as a sheet.
"SHUT IT! Before I spit you out for the vultures." She shouted in her voice that gave trainees nightmares. The juniors quailed before the incredible furnance heat of her breath. She sighed and pointed back with her spear. "Seriously, if you all had eyes you'd know that the man before you has the same aura as the jungle of Senior Xiao Yi and I can see Qing Yun is in his right mind from his aura as well. Therefore, this is Xiao Yi."
She blinked. "Was your trainer a daft monkey?" She shook her head and threw up her arms, spear disappearing into storage. "Fuck it! I don't care, go back into the city before I whoop you all for your idiocy!"
And then she wheeled, sauntered past Qing Yun with a wine bottle in hand. and stepped up to her friend. She threw an arm around his shoulder and shoved a golden bottle of wine into his hands, completely ignoring the vines as they skittered off her glass armor. "Here, drink this for your troubles. It's some Golden Grass Wine and
extremely good." She said with a smile, seemingly intent on being happy her friend was back.
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The joy of being recognized at once sent his vines lashing once more. Thankfully, they seem to just skitter off Ferenike without causing any harm. Concentrating fully on a singular vine, Muyi sent it to gently pick the bottle of wine from her hands and put it gently on Qing Yun's bag.
" iT's GoOd To SeE YOu aS wELl mY FRieNd. I Go bY MuYI nOW. it'S a loNg sTOry. iT ALl StarTEd wHEn I cAUghT tHE sOUnds oF A BatTLE.... "
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Have a change of pace from the past few sad and dark omake! Here's one aiming at comedy! Still some Dark, but COMEDY IS THE GOAL HERE!
@occipitallobe Fate Roll for this in Turn 6 please! It's the start of at least a 2 parter maybe even 3 with
@BungieONI who i must also thank for the Ferenike Scene.
The Jokes might be obvious and cliche, but i hope it's still funny and that it helps lifts the darkish mood from the Trial results! Any of the glorious Collabarators, i'm going to title this as Muyi, but it's still under the Xiao Yi storyline!
