"Now, it's just a matter of time..."
"Before I complete this mission, haha." Zeta chuckled, his hands inside the pocket of his robe, standing inside his shack of a room with a small smile tugged at his face—the smile of victory.
[Celebrating one's victory before it is even achieved is the work of a fool—no wonder you died before turning 30 in your last life.]
"Tch..." Hearing his system mocking him, he clicked his tongue.
"You're half right and half wrong."
"I wasn't celebrating. I was amused by the smooth sailing of this mission." Zeta retorted. However, he got no response—a testament to the system's claim of being non-sentient.
But he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he went outside—silently and without being seen, of course—and came back with a chair that was just around the servant courtyard.
"Now then, it's time!" he exclaimed, his face turning serious as if he were about to do some earth-shaking thing—
"Time for me to rest." That serious face of his instantly died down as he slowly fell onto the mattress, before falling into a deep sleep for the rest of the day.
***
Evening.
The sun, which had been shining brightly, dimmed down as it slowly but surely made its way to the other side of the planet.
Zeta, who had been asleep the rest of the day, woke up. After splashing some water on his face, he sat down on the chair he brought hours ago.
He was sitting on the chair completely backward, with his head resting on the backrest.
He could be seen smiling like a sly fox if looked closely at his face.
"Now then... don't disappoint me by showing up late like yesterday," Zeta muttered with a sly smile.
He knew the time Ming Yue usually showed up, and it was around late evening.
However, he was a bit worried—worried that she might come late like she did yesterday. It was completely out of character for her to arrive that late.
Click.
Just then, the door was unlocked, the clicking sound echoing throughout the room, which in turn made his grin even wider.
"Speak of the devil," he muttered with a grin before watching Ming Yue come inside while holding a green bowl.
"You...?" But when she entered and found him sitting in an unconventional way with a smile, she froze.
Not because of fear, but rather from surprise.
Previously, whenever she would come to bring him the leftovers, she would always find him hiding inside his blanket, not even showing his face no matter how much she cursed or how much she kicked him while he hid.
"What? Surprised that your favorite human stress ball is being strange?" Zeta mocked her, his smile dripping with arrogance.
"TRASH!" She raised her voice, veins popping out of her forehead. She was angry—truly angry—that the human stress ball she could use anytime to vent her frustrations fought back.
She blinked her small eyes.
She was expecting him to flinch, drop his act, and be the same old scaredy-cat he was.
But contrary to her expectations, this time, he didn't even flinch. His expression remained the same as before—smiling as if he were above her.
"You know what? Raising your voice doesn't mean you're in control..."
"I'm perfectly capable of hearing you even if you say it in a hushed tone." This time, he dropped his smile, his expression turning cold as he stared into her eyes, which made her feel a bit uneasy. However, she still wasn't scared of him.
"Hahahaha." But that cold pretense of his didn't last long as he started laughing, which gained him a strange look from Ming Yue.
Has he gone senile from all those bullying? she thought, confusion written all over her face.
"But man... isn't it strange..."
Hearing his words, her ears perked up. At this time, she still felt no fear. She might have been surprised by his earlier acts, but she had confirmed that he had gone senile—and for her, he was nothing but a brat she could boss around.
She had yet to see him cultivate. That's where her confidence that she could best him came from—and how girly, how soft he looked.
"Isn't it strange that Wan Ru is the complete opposite of you?"
"How come she looks better than you, has manners that are definitely better than you..."
"I wonder how she remained so innocent with a bitch like y—"
He couldn't finish his words. Or rather, she didn't let him continue as she threw the green bowl she had been holding.
"My, isn't it rude to attack when the said person is talking?" But he didn't flinch. He had faced situations worse than this. He had been almost killed so many times, and compared to those experiences, this was child's play.
Crack—SPLASH.
The bowl hit the chair he was sitting on, as he had ducked, using the backrest of the chair as a defensive object.
"You're truly filth." He disappeared from where he was—only his shadow afterimage was left in the place he had been sitting.
"Wha—" she gasped, sweat dropping from her forehead—almost as if her forehead was the central structure of a fountain.
"Calm down, would you?" She felt a hand resting on her shoulder.
When did he— Her mind raced as she quickly turned around.
However, to her shock, there was no one beside her.
"Hey, who are you looking for~?" Zeta questioned, his tone playful and, at the same time, mocking.
"You—" She turned around, only to find him still sitting in the chair, still in that same damn spot dirtied by the food she had thrown at him.
"You... how do you know my daughter?"
"I'm damn sure I've never let her go out of the outer area of my abode in this courtyard!" she questioned, sweat still dripping down her neck.
This time, she truly felt it—she could not match him. He was too powerful for her.
And for the first time, in those two weeks that she had spent bullying and using him as a human stress ball, she truly felt fear.
"Ah, that? I was just wandering around, hoping to get some peace of mind in the forest... and met her there!"
"She seems to love butterflies, doesn't she?" Zeta answered her, his smile widening as he tilted his head in a cute way, like a harmless cat.
In a desperate attempt, she summoned her Qi, her hands glowing in an ethereal brown color.
But Zeta didn't flinch. He didn't even bother blinking.
"If I were you... I wouldn't do that," his tone went really low. "You see, if I die... and people come to know that you did it... even just a whisper of it... there are people in this sect..."
"They will eat your daughter and your husband alive..."
Hearing his words, she gulped down a mouthful of saliva.
Even she knew he was just bluffing. However, there was one part of her that believed his words.
"Of course, not in an attempt to avenge me—I'm simply a nobody," he clarified with a chuckle.
Ming Yue's Qi faltered.
Zeta then took a step forward.
"Does she know how many enemies you've made so far in here, Ming Yue?" He paused.
"How many influential people's sons you've rejected to sleep with or scolded?"
"How many women you've made enemies of because of your appearance—even at the age of 34 while still only being a first-stage Qi Refinement cultivator?"
"...Shut up." Her tone was low, almost a whisper.
"I'm just telling you the truth, thou—"
"SHUT UP!" she shouted. It wasn't fear of those she had made enemies of... rather, it was guilt.
Only now did she realize how many people she had made enemies of.
No matter if it was the rightful thing to do—it was a crime in this world.
Not in a literal way, of course. The world they live in is a cutthroat world, and those who are stronger, or have stronger backing, rule it.
And Zeta made her realize how her family was in danger.
If she attempted to kill him, she'd bring self-destruction to her family.
Even though the sect did not care about Zeta at all, they did care plenty about their reputation.
A disciple of theirs dying—no less to a servant—would not only make others think they can't teach, they'd also think the sect is incapable of providing a safe environment for their disciples.
"And it would be a shame... a real shame to see Wan Ru be tortured, used as dual cultivation material by those creeps who find kids attractive, no?"
"Shut up..." she said, her tone unusually low.
He was right. If all of this did happen, not only would she and her husband die, her daughter would be used as cultivation material for those old creeps.
"But what if I told you there's a way to avoid all of this?"
"What if you don't have to go through anything I've mentioned?"
She remained silent, silently clenching her hands, her fingernails digging into her skin.
"What if you can end this grudge of mine... and I leave the sect?"
"Nothing will happen to you nor your family. You can live your comfortable and peaceful life."
Hearing him, her ears perked up. He was right... in a sense too.
She had already shown plenty of moments where she publicly humiliated him, scolded him, and beat him.
And if he decided to pursue revenge by acting dead—or killing himself for real...
All the blame would go to her, not to those inner sect disciples or anyone else who had bullied him. She was the weakest, and she wasn't important nor influential. So it would be really easy for the higher-ups of the sect to push the blame onto her to avoid tainting their sect's reputation.
She tried to speak... but her words got caught up in her throat.
"Hm... seems like you're deep in thought?" Amused by the situation, Zeta grinned, his eyes getting colder by the moment.
"Wh... what is it that you want from me—to end this grudge between me and you? To disappear from this sect as if you never came here?" she finally got her words together, her hands trembling a bit.
***
A/N: Hardest chapter I've wrote so far 💀 all those social standing, power hierarchy, psychology & manipulation almost made me give up, lol. Let me know what you think.