Essence Chapter 8 of the Revised Codex – Fear

Long Qian, extremely alert, quickly turned around to take a look, only to find that there was basically no one there, but he didn't think what he had just heard was a hallucination.\ Sure enough, from behind a large black strange rock to the left front, a man came out. The man looked somewhat disheveled, his hair messy, wearing red clothes, soaked through. It was hard to tell his exact age, but judging by his build, he probably wasn't more than fifty.\ Looking at the condition of the middle-aged man in red, Long Qian figured that this man must have climbed out from the Qingrong River, and he probably had just climbed up not long ago. Under such a scorching sun, his clothes were still wet, no wonder Long Qian hadn't noticed anyone nearby before.\ Long Qian didn't speak, after all, he had no idea what this unidentified stranger wanted, and just observed him with curious eyes.\ As the man in red approached, he brushed the hair hanging over his forehead back, revealing a face that looked very kind. He smiled at Long Qian, then coughed violently a few times, and with some effort asked, "Little guy, do you find me scary? Don't be afraid, I won't do anything to you. I just hope you can help me with something."\ Long Qian remained silent because he noticed something strange: the right arm hidden in the man's sleeve looked just like a dry branch. Even the skin below the neck, covered by the collar, looked like tree bark, full of wrinkles, completely unlike the skin that should match his face, more like that of a centenarian!\ Seeing Long Qian still didn't speak, the man in red furrowed his brows, a trace of obvious cruelty and irritability flashed in his eyes, then instantly disappeared, replaced by a gentle smile. He extended his normal left hand, and a thick black book suddenly appeared, floating several centimeters above his palm.\ The moment the forbidden tome appeared, cold sweat immediately soaked Long Qian's back. In fact, he had taken in every fleeting expression that the man in red had displayed, and without even thinking, he knew this person was not as kind as he seemed. Now, having summoned the forbidden tome, he had an urge to immediately turn and run.\ But he couldn't run now, and couldn't show any sign of fear. If he did, Long Qian suspected he would very likely be killed by this man without hesitation.\ "You've probably seen this thing before, right?"Actually, I am from the Xuanzong Hall. Do you know the Beast Hall? I am a Beast Master...”\The middle-aged man in red suddenly stopped talking here. He seemed to feel that telling such things to a child around four or five years old would be of no use, so he changed his words: “Haha, how about this, little one? If you help me with a favor, I will give you ten silver coins to buy candy.”\From observing the forbidden tome in his hands, Long Qian was certain that the man was nowhere near a mere Beast Master. At the very least, he was a Beast Lord, and it was even possible that he was a Beast Supreme!\Long Qian's judgment was based on the fact that on the spine of the forbidden tome floating above the man's palm, one of the translucent stones emitted an extremely bright red light! The red light symbolized that the man possessed Beast-type Xuanqi, and judging by its brightness, it surpassed a Lord-level Xuan practitioner and quite possibly represented a Supreme-level.\A Beast Supreme, a Supreme-level expert, would be considered immensely powerful even within Xuanzong Hall. Let alone here, at a riverside in a small town in Qingtian City, Southern Luo Kingdom, where perhaps no Supreme-level expert had come in hundreds of years.\Long Qian had never witnessed the true strength of a Xuan practitioner, but he could clearly feel the intimidation emanating from the floating forbidden tome. He did not expect to encounter such a powerful practitioner, which caused an uncontrollable deep fear inside him. Even under controlled circumstances, he had no chance of escaping from the middle-aged man in red.\Long Qian did not doubt that the man would kill him if he lost patience. Long Chengren could mercilessly kick someone over two years old, and this obviously not-kind man in red would naturally have no sense of compassion. He had to put on a look of surprise, like a child tempted by something, and hurriedly nodded.\The middle-aged man in red immediately took out a strangely shaped stone from his sleeve, walked a few steps over, and placed it in Long Qian's hand, smiling: “Actually, it's very simple. Just keep this safe, don't let your parents know, and come here to wait for me at this time tomorrow. Then I will give you ten silver coins.”\Long Qian held the stone and nodded, feeling a sense of relief in his heart.\The man in red seemed somewhat unconvinced. He initially wanted to be fiercer, but then he seemed to worry about the opposite effect, so he solemnly added: “Be careful not to lose it. If you lose it, Xuanzong Hall will not spare your parents. Actually, it's very simple, isn't it?”“You just need to hide it and bring it here tomorrow.”\ At this, the middle-aged man in red suddenly reached out and touched Long Qian's head, smiling and asking, “Little guy, what's your name? Where do you live?”\ Long Qian opened his mouth and pointed to his tongue, making a series of ah-huh and ooo sounds. The middle-aged man in red was slightly taken aback, and rudely reached out to pinch Long Chen's mouth. He carefully looked at Long Chen's tongue and found that Long Qian's tongue was naturally deformed, the tip folded back, almost touching the throat—no wonder he never spoke.\ However, this seemed to make the middle-aged man in red extremely satisfied and happy. After reminding and intimidating Long Qian a few more times, the black forbidden book floating above his palm opened automatically, revealing a page with the image of a strange beast. Then, a red halo appeared at his feet, and he instantly vanished from the spot.\ Long Qian could only catch a glimpse of a small splash on the river at the corner of his eyes, and he, like an ordinary child, revealed a puzzled expression, looked around carefully, then cautiously put the stone into his pocket, covering his hand with a happy expression. He hopped and ran toward the hillside on the east bank, eventually disappearing up the slope.\ It was only then that the red-clothed man hiding under the river surface popped his head up and looked in the direction where Long Qian had disappeared, letting out a relieved sigh before smiling coldly and muttering to himself, “Hehe, who would have thought that thing would be in the hands of a little mute? Tomorrow, or the day after, that thing will be completely mine. No one will ever find me again.”\ After speaking, the red-clothed man sank into the river and vanished.\ Leaving the Qingrong Riverbank, Long Qian ran happily into the distance, looking like a truly happy little mute. But in his heart, he wasn't happy at all; it was still filled with fear, his heart racing. He didn't know how long he would have to keep playing this role. He almost didn't dare to go home, nor dared to stop and look at what that stone really was.It had been over four, almost five years since being reborn into this world, and this was the first time Long Qian felt such fear. Even when facing someone as ruthlessly vicious as Long Buren, he had never cared in the slightest. Even when confronting the man-eating beasts in the old forest behind Qitan Town, he had never felt timid. It could be said that in both his previous life and this one, Long Qian had never truly felt a fear that could threaten his life so profoundly.

If he had a choice, Long Qian would never have accepted the strange stone the man shoved into his hands. That man was actually trying to escape, and the reason was the stone in Long Qian's pocket!

That stone was enough to make a cultivator with an esteemed-level strength flee for their life. One could imagine how great the hidden danger was. This was the kind of danger Long Qian was not ready to face, nor were his parents, and probably the entire Qitan Town wouldn't dare confront it either.

But Long Qian had no choice. He knew that if he refused the man, he would definitely be killed. He had never realized he was so afraid of death, so concerned with life itself, that he would take the stone just to avoid being killed, without considering whether it might bring danger to his parents or Qitan Town.

For the first time, Long Qian realized how helpless he felt in such a situation. He kept running and running, not knowing for how long, his mind repeating that he must not run back to Qitan Town, to stay as far from the Qingrong River as possible, far enough that the man could not see him.

And so, in the mountains and fields, a strange scene appeared: a young boy hopping and running forward without stopping for breath, like a wind-up toy...

-- Chapter Eight End.