Chapter 1 - Just After Descent

Fwuuuu~

A cold wind blew, giving us a chill on our sweat drenched backs. I knew the temperature on desert would cool down when the sun was off duty, but I didn't expect it to be such a drastic change.

It was just the start of the night and our clothes already couldn't shield us from the cold, that was creeping up our bodies.

After hours of aimless wandering in this desert, we had actually found an oasis town. It was a great fortune to find even a cactus in a desert. For us, this oasis was practically heaven sent.

'Wait, it couldn't be...? Was it arranged?' I looked up, the sky was darkening. I wondered why we had to descend into a demon world and even a desert out of all places.

'Maybe it was arranged, maybe... Uh- whatever, this cold is killing me and I'm hungry. We need to get some rest first,' I tried not to think too much and said to Chunu, "Let's enter. We don't want to freeze to death here, do we?"

She shook her head and moved her legs. As we went towards the appearing evening lights, we immediately saw the townspeople busy with their lives.

Walking on the dusty road which had clay houses lined up neatly on both sides, me and my sister discovered, to our surprise, that almost everyone in this oasis town was a cultivator.

Well, not exactly a cultivator. Most of them hadn't opened their meridians yet, so they should be called as pseudo-cultivators.

It was strange in a mortal world. However, as a land where demon beasts had the most power, maybe it was not that abnormal.

This town was quite large as it was built surrounding a lake. Much to our suprise, there was neither a wall nor any watchers when we entered. Though, there were some trees surrounding the periphery.

Another suprising thing about this town was that it was well-populated. Even at night, there were lots of pedestrians. Most wore grey and white clothes, with an occasional few yellow clothed ones coming into our sight.

As it was the evening, the smell of cooking had diffused throughout the streets, tempting our hungry stomachs to make weird sounds in unison.

While I was taking in the sights of this Pinchu town, whose name I figured out from the various shops' banners attached to the houses, I felt a tug on my sleeves.

It was Chunu. She decided to talk? How wonderful.

"Brother, everyone is looking at us," she whispered, her face which was barely illuminated by the yellow lights (coming from the shops) showing slight worry.

A few people were pointing at us as well, especially that middle-aged man from one particular shop. He was discussing with another man while looking and pointing at us from time to time.

Suddenly, they started walking.

'Huh? They are coming over?' Both were at body tempering 3rd rank, just like me. That man... he had a black tape with him. Was it some kind of weapon?

My mind couldn't process what was happening, but I knew that those guys wanted something from us.

"Damn it, we only came here five minutes ago!" I cursed softly. I didn't have the energy for a full blown fight right now.

Chunu clutched my sleeves tightly and stared at the incoming trouble.

"Don't do anything. We have to know their motives before we act," I reminded her lest she freaked out. This girl didn't have any combat experience with strangers. Even in heaven, she was known to shy away from battles.

I focused on examining the appearances of those approaching us. From the front, the middle aged man looked quite menacing yet comical on that purple coloured cloth he was wearing.

Long sleeves, oversized wear and that red scarf he used to cover his head and neck; it was a perfect combination which was rewarded with a look of distaste from my sister.

And yes, that man had an uncombed beard and a long nose. The very qualities that little Nu didn't like.

The man and the one he was talking with earlier, took long strides towards us and carefully examined us with their beady eyes. My rather thin body, wide shoulders, a diamond face and dark hairs were reflected on their irises.

Their gazes ran from my cloth shoes to my narrow forehead. I furrowed my long brows when I saw an eerie smile creep up their faces.

At that point, I was ready to fight with the two of them. All preparations were complete. Using my mortal technique, which was ironically called Copper Pagoda Body, I could make my body as hard as copper. I could then use my mastery of martial arts to-

'Ugh, should we just run away?' I also considered that option. I hated fighting when there was no gain involved.

"Hehe, young lad..."

The middle aged man started talking. I didn't care about any threats, though. This area had many clay houses. If worst came to worst, we could just hide in one of them.

"...Give me your clothes or I'll make you strip," he said in a confusing manner, showcasing his black tape for us to see.

I couldn't quite make sense of what he was saying. Thankfully, there were no apparent threats and I was just overreacting.

'Why does he want my clothes, though?' I thought.

"What are you saying, you idiot?"

The man next to him reprimanded the person, and started speaking apologetically.

"Err... little brother here shouldn't interpret his words literally. Uh, he's trying to examine your clothes."

"What I'm currently wearing?" I asked

"Yes, the luxurious clothes you're wearing. My brother, Tuo Yiwu is a tailor and he's interested in the materials that your clothes are made of," he eyed my sister's hems as he spoke.

Externally, I was still frowning. Internally, I heaved a long sigh of relief. I had a tendency to overthink. One disadvantage of having manipulated so many people since an early age. Though, it was precisely thanks to this devilish mind of mine, that I wasn't caught back on earth.

'Yet, I still died.'

I looked at this tailor called Tuo Yiwu. To be at the 3rd rank of body tempering at that age... the man was definitely a failure as a cultivator. Mhm, a failure scum.

'Hmm... What stage would a normal cultivator be at this age?' I stroked my non-existent beard as a pondering expression covered my face.

Yet, the men thought I was seriously considering their matter, so they invited me to their shop.

To be frank, I almost didn't want to go with them, but then I realised I didn't have much choice.

We were poor. So poor that we only had our clothes with us at that time. If we wanted to get some money (which we urgently needed to get food, water and a resting place), we would either have to work or sell our only possessions.

I did consider robbing the town dwellers but with all of them being nearly at our rank, that thought was eliminated quickly.

"Lead the way." In the end, I could only say that.

Now, it would all depend on how much use I could make out of this situation. Hehe, so what if I couldn't rob? I could still scam them. After all, these were clothes worn by individuals who had once been divine beings. It was only fair they paid an 'appropriate price' to buy it.

'Err... I'll go with the standard procedure. First, I'll brag about the rarity of this material. Then, the dangers of hunting the beast from which the silk came. After that, comes the exquisite design, the tailor's dedication, and the skill level. Lastly, we should make ourselves seem as emotionally attached as possible to our clothing-'

Suddenly, something broke my train of thought, something I couldn't help but notice.

"Little Nu," I whispered and she turned her oval head towards me. She had her reddish hair braided intricately on both sides.

"Come closer," I took her by her waist and placed my hands on her shoulder. As expected, she started fidgeting. Her thin and dry lips quivered under her straight, small-tip nose.

"Stay still," I commanded and her breathing became rapid but she didn't move. This girl was far too inexperienced in such matters.

Thinking I needed to teach her some basic things, I lightly dusted her white top off, saying, "We're going to do some business.. The goods should at least look presentable, my dear sister."