"I didn’t know you were such a poet, friend. So creative." Seer quipped as they stepped back into their room, a mischievous grin still playing on his lips, eyes twinkling with amusement.

  "We should leave." Jin Yu said abruptly, turning around without hesitation.

  "So soon? But this place is entertaining!" Seer’s eyes widened as he hurried after him, clearly baffled that anyone would willingly walk away from such drama.

  Jin Yu didn’t respond.

  "Okay, okay! Let’s at least wait till noon. Who knows? Maybe we’ll catch another round." he grabbed Jin Yu’s arm like a child begging to stay longer.

  "Your life must be terribly boring," Jin Yu muttered, still walking.

  "Alright, till dawn?" Seer bargained with a frown, clearly displeased.

  "No."

  "At least—"

  "No."

  "Okay, fine," Seer gave in with a dramatic sigh. "But promise me you’ll do that more often. It’s fun!"

  Jin Yu shot him a side glance, the kind that questioned Seer’s mental stability.

  "Huh? Promise!" Seer beamed, still clinging to his arm like an overenthusiastic child.

  "Fine." Jin Yu relented coolly, stepping outside.

  Seer finally let go, grinning like he’d won a bet.

  Down the street, the loud girls from earlier were still a few meters away, grumbling and muttering curses. The moment they saw the two of them...

  "See?! I told you!" one of them slapped her thigh like she’d uncovered a grand conspiracy.

  "...He’s a pervert! No wonder he ignored such a beautiful girl."

  "Ew! So disgusting. I can’t believe I even looked at him earlier." another sneered.

  "I could tell the moment I saw his pretty face. What a waste! His generation ends with him."

  "Good for his parents! Maybe if they raised him better—"

  "Men like that are cursed by the heavens." one said with such pity, you'd think Jin Yu had a terminal disease.

  Only the young girl among them looked confused. Even Jin Yu and Seer were visibly bewildered.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "What is it, sisters?" the girl asked.

  One of them quickly covered her eyes and began dragging her away. "Don’t look, they’re slaves of the Fiend! So scary."

  "Yes, baby sister, such men are wicked and wild. Avoid them at all costs."

  "Exactly." the others nodded gravely, as though warning her about a contagious illness.

  The girl glanced back at Jin Yu, still confused, but they were already pulling her away.

  Seer stared after them silently.

  "You’re not leaving?" Jin Yu asked as he mounted his horse.

  "Loud bitches." Seer muttered before mounting his own.

  Jin Yu raised a brow, genuinely surprised. "You know what a bitch is?"

  "Huh? It must be something bad. You said it earlier," Seer replied with a grin.

  Jin Yu shot him a glare and galloped ahead.

  "You didn’t get mad." Seer noted as he caught up.

  "They’re not worth my attention."

  "Not that. I mean the Fiend thing."

  Jin Yu looked confused. "Why should I be?"

  "You don’t know who the Fiend is?" Seer’s tone shifted, disbelief coloring his voice.

  "Never heard of him." Jin Yu replied honestly.

  Seer’s jaw dropped.

  "What? Is he popular?" Jin Yu asked

  Seer: ??

  The silence that followed was deafening.

  After a long pause, Seer muttered, "Sometimes your ignorance makes me wonder what rock you crawled out from. But then you speak and carry yourself like someone raised in a noble clan, so I don’t even know anymore."

  Jin Yu shrugged. "What about my ignorance? Must I know him?"

  "A lot about it!" Seer’s frustration spilled out. "You didn’t know the basics of formations. You asked where north was. You didn’t realize people could sense spiritual traces. You were surprised by the twin moons. You casually spent mid-tier stones like water in a rural city. And now you say you’ve never heard of the Fiend Emperor?"

  Seer stared at him, shaking his head like he was witnessing a cosmic mistake. "Do you even know what an Emperor is? Who let someone like you out into the world? Did you sneak out from somewhere? Or did someone wipe your memory?!"

  Jin Yu reined in his horse slowly, the motion calm, but his eyes turned distant.

  That’s right... I don’t belong here.

  Earth.

  Seer’s eyes widened as he caught the shift in his expression. "Wait... don’t tell me—!"

  Jin Yu looked at him now, focused again.

  "You’re not from Solenthia?!" Seer gasped.

  Jin Yu said nothing, but his narrowed gaze said enough.

  Seer’s breath caught as he shook his head. "This is huge. This is impossible! The shattered voids were sealed. Who let you in? This is a scandal! a miracle! no wonder you’re so strange! So different! So—"

  "Shut up," Jin Yu snapped, annoyed. "What’s wrong with you? You lose screws up there? You’re too chatty. It’s embarrassing."

  "What?!" Seer gawked. "You’re trying to change the subject! Admit it! where are you from?"

  Jin Yu nudged his horse forward, trying to leave.

  "No, no, you’re not escaping this time!" Seer blocked his path. "Tell me now. You’re from an alternate realm, right? If you don’t confess now, I’ll—"

  "Show me your face." Jin Yu interrupted, locking eyes with him.

  "Wha—"

  Seer froze mid-sentence, as if something had short-circuited.

  "...Don’t try to change the subject," he mumbled, dazed.

  "Maybe you’re the one from the alternate realm. Hiding your face day and night. So suspicious," Jin Yu said coolly.

  Seer pointed at Jin Yu's face and said dramatically

  "What do you know, you ignorant one! who doesn't know of this divine child in the whole of Solenthia?!, I was born and raised here, the whole Realm can testify for me! What about you, who can?"

  Jin Yu tilted his head slightly, gaze narrowed with a faint, amused smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

  “Whole realm?” he echoed, voice smooth and quiet. “You must be very old to speak for it.”

  Seer gasped, placing a hand over his chest as if mortally wounded. “I am not old! I’m youthful and timeless! It’s called cultivation, look it up!.”

  Jin Yu raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.

  But Seer wasn’t done. His chest puffed with theatrical pride as he leaned dramatically closer in the saddle.

  "Infact, let me tell you” he began, jabbing a finger in Jin Yu’s direction with every word. “I was bathed in celestial springs before my first breath. Before I could walk, I carved sigils that made elders weep. By five, I was offered thrones—thrones, I tell you! And the stars aligned on my name when I was born!, even the Seven-Star Pavilion begged me to attend their academy when I was five! And—”

  Jin Yu cut him off, voice as dry as winter dust. “Do any of those people know what your real face looks like?”

  Seer flinched.

  There was a pause. A long one.

  The wind whistled through the trees. Jin Yu’s gaze sharpened like a blade unsheathed.

  “You like tossing facts,” he said slowly, “but everything about you is smoke. You know far too much. You’re always watching. Always hiding. So tell me—”

  He leaned forward slightly.

  “Who are you, really?”

  Seer turned his face forward, the wind brushing through strands of his pale hair. The usual gleam in his eyes was gone, hidden, replaced by something unreadable.

  Then, finally, a chuckle escaped his lips. Low. Almost tired.

  “If I told you,” he said softly, “you’d either run… or bow.”

  Jin Yu’s expression didn’t flicker. “Try me.”

  A long silence followed.

  Seer exhaled and leaned back in the saddle, arms crossed behind his head as he looked toward the dusky sky.

  “…It’s more fun like this,” he muttered. “Besides, if the realm still remembers me, it’ll whisper my name to you soon enough.”

  He glanced sideways, a mischievous twinkle returning faintly to his eyes. “Let’s see who gets the bigger gasp, you or the stars.”

  Jin Yu stared at him for a long moment. But he said nothing.

  The horses trotted onward, leaves swaying overhead, the twin moons watching in silence.

  Whatever secret Seer was carrying, it ran deep.

  But Jin Yu was sure of one thing

  He wasn’t just a bored traveler tagging along.