Chapter 65: Just A Weird Feeling
["Miss Pat, can I ask something? What’s the difference between a mortal who can light a match and a cultivator with a flame spiritual root?"]
["Well little one, once you see it you’ll know. The flames of those damn immortals rise up like a mountain of hell."]
Dimitri didn’t know why those words Miss Pat had once said to him rang in his head at that exact moment.
Perhaps it was the flames.
Long, wide, and utterly uncaring about their surroundings.
Flames that didn’t discriminate between mortals. Flames that ate everything whole.
These were names people called the flames of immortals.
Yet at that moment, Dimitri could only see a living, untamed demon currently devouring his family, his home, his people, and his memories.
Dimitri clenched his jaw so tight blood began pouring from his gums.
He wanted to run in.
He wanted to check if perhaps someone was still there, waiting for him to help them.
The kids, Miss Pat, the other adults who never spared a coin if it meant helping and providing for him.
Dimitri felt something run down his cheeks.
Drip. Drip.
’Huh?’
He raised his trembling hands toward his face.
Tears. Hot tears that seemed as though they had been boiled by the flames ran down his face.
’Why the hell am I crying? Who the hell said they were dead?!’
Dimitri tried to deny his own emotions, yet he knew the truth.
This was...
Acceptance.
He had already accepted that everyone in the village was dead even before checking.
Was this how strong a cultivator was? That they could snuff the hope out of anyone just by existing.
What a load of bullshit!
Dimitri took a step forward, ready to rush into the village, only for Amy to hold him back.
He tilted his head back slightly, only to see an expression he never wanted to see on her face.
Her eyes were red from the tears still rolling down her cheeks. She stared at him with those pitiful, teary eyes and slowly shook her head. "Don’t," she breathed. "Please, don’t go in. I don’t want to lose you too."
Dimitri clenched his fist, loosened it, then exhaled. With steady steps he walked over to Amy and pulled her into a hug. "Everything will be alright, Amy."
The young girl nuzzled into his chest, her arms wrapping around him as she sniffled. "Why did they do it, Dimitri? Why did they attack our little village? We didn’t do anything to them."
Dimitri’s gaze darkened, his expression turning hard.
In truth he knew the reason those immortals came here, or rather had an idea of why.
Although he never showed it, the question of what type of person his mother was, and what type of cultivator she had been, had gnawed at him for a while.
The reason he stopped asking the village head whether she was a prodigy or just a normal foot soldier was because he had figured out something very frightening about himself.
He was born with an awakened spiritual root, and by five he could control it perfectly. Unlike what Miss Pat’s stories portrayed, he could control not just one, but every spiritual energy around him, though only at a mediocre level.
So did that mean...?
Dimitri steadied himself, refusing to collapse, at least not while he was still comforting Amy.
Beyond that, he found no point in wallowing in self-guilt. The only thing he could do now was get revenge.
He patted Amy’s back gently, and the pain that had once lived in his eyes vanished completely.
His eyes were clear as day, his gaze fixed on the roaring flames.
’I’ll kill them,’ he promised himself. ’I’ll kill every single one of them!’
The morning sun drifted toward the west, slowly giving way to the bright glow of the moon.
Mortal or immortal, whoever stood in his path toward revenge would die by his hands. Even if he failed. Even if he was struck down midway, he would keep cutting until he appeased all their souls.
Slowly he closed his eyes and muttered under his breath. "Rest in peace, my loved ones."
Amy, standing close to him, caught those words, and her sobs grew sharper, as though the full weight of everything was crashing down on her all over again.
Hours passed after Dimitri and Amy said their goodbyes to the souls of the villagers.
Once the flames died down and the ground grew warmer, Amy wanted to build graves for the dead, but Dimitri advised against it. After all, no one knew what the cultivators would do if they discovered there were survivors.
After that they rested for a time before making their way down from the mountains surrounding the village.
It was the first time they had gone so far beyond the borders of their village, yet neither of them paused to admire the scenery.
"Dimitri, wait a moment," Amy panted, wiping her face with her left hand. "I can’t walk any further."
Dimitri glanced back at the exhausted Amy.
Perhaps because he had been holding her hand the entire way and setting the tempo, she had spent every last bit of strength in her body.
It wasn’t as though he could simply stop, though. Stopping was the same as asking for something, or someone, to find and kill them.
He sighed. "You really are helpless without me."
He turned around and lowered himself down for her. "Climb aboard, my lady."
Amy’s lips curved up slightly. "Are you sure? I might be heavy."
Dimitri smirked. "Yeah, I guess you are..." He pretended to stand back up, only for Amy to shove him back down.
"Can’t you be a gentleman for a full minute?" Her expression brightened noticeably, and with graceful steps she climbed onto his back.
Dimitri rose to his feet, then wobbled as though he were about to lose his balance, drawing a frightened squeak out of Amy. The next moment he straightened up and giggled softly. "What was that?"
Amy buried her face in his back. "Bastard."
"Oh, when did you learn such naughty words."
Amy giggled into his back. Once they set off she lifted her head and asked, "So where are we going?"
Dimitri skidded to a halt. "Huh? I thought you knew where we were going?"
"No, I don’t. I was following you, remember?"
’Oh shit,’ he thought, his gaze sweeping across the stretch of bushes and tall trees.
It seemed his journey toward revenge was going to have to wait a good while longer.
After some deliberation, the two of them managed to find a path out of the forest.
For reasons neither could explain, Amy seemed to have the ability to hear the voices carried in the smoke rising from the burning village.
Dimitri couldn’t understand how that was possible, nor could he shake the feeling that the two of them had done something like this before.
Pushing the thought aside, he turned his attention to the young woman beside him. "Hey, Ta—" The words died in his throat.
What was he about to say?
Ta... who?
Dimitri’s feet froze as a splitting headache tore through him.
His hand shot to his forehead, gripping it tightly as his body leaned slightly forward.
Amy turned toward him at once, her expression shifting to worry. "Is something wrong?"
Dimitri was about to shake his head when an even harsher ache slammed through his skull.
His face tightened. A thought he couldn’t quite grasp surfaced in his mind.
How did I get here?
It was a stupid thing to ask at a moment like this.
He was from Earth, yes?
He was a high schooler, yes?
So why did it feel like something was missing?
He shook the thoughts off and focused on Amy. The moment he did, everything churning in his head stilled, leaving his mind calm again.
’What was that?’ he thought, rubbing his temples.
A beat passed before he sighed. ’Perhaps I haven’t gotten over the villagers’ deaths yet.’
Amy, her face still creased with worry, tapped his arm. "What happened?"
He shook his head. "Nothing. I think it’s better if we leave here soon."
She nodded. "Okay. So we’re going left, right?"
Dimitri’s eyes shone with a faint purple light, causing Amy to take a small step back. He tilted his head to one side, then pointed toward the northeast. "There," he said, the wind rushing past him. "Our path is there."
Amy raised an eyebrow. "I thought we were meant to go left?"
Dimitri frowned, unable to understand why he suddenly felt drawn toward the northeast.
Was it intuition?
No.
It felt more like something deep within him was actively telling him where to go.
He couldn’t help but wonder what this power was, or where exactly his mother had come from, and perhaps even where his own soul had.
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A/N: Sorry for the rough update, everyone. The story hasn’t been performing well since the first feature, so mass-releasing Chapters right now wouldn’t make much sense unless it gains traction again. That said, I’m not dropping it. From now on, I’ll be posting one Chapter (around 1,500+ words) daily.