Life as a Rogue Cultivator

Chapter 273: Feeding

Pinned by all those cold, unblinking stares, Liu Xiaolou felt horribly out of place. He quickly spotted an empty spot, scrambled over, and leaned against the cave wall, trying to catch his breath.A sharp, burning pain shot through his ankle. He looked down and remembered; these were the seeds left behind by the split vines of the Ghost Banyan. How the hell they’d wriggled into the Kunlun acupoint, he had no idea. But the fire licking at his skin left no doubt who was to blame.

When he reached down to touch the spot, he could feel the two seeds tucked there. And in his mind, images kept flashing. It was as if the seeds were greedily sucking away his true qi and blood.

He tried to squeeze them out, but they seemed to sense him. They slithered through his meridians, dodging his fingers, leaving him rattled and on edge.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when suddenly he felt thirsty. Looking around, he spotted someone crouched by the left wall, licking at the trickle of spring water seeping from a crack. He quickly crawled over, shoving aside the two people in front of him and nudging the one drinking the water. he three of them didn’t so much as blink, letting him go first.

After he’d had his fill, a bit of calm returned to him. He glanced around, then grabbed the smaller person on his right. “Why did they lock us in here? What do they want with us?”

The small guy he’d yanked over just stared blankly. Only after Liu prodded him twice did he mutter, voice deadened: “We’re waiting to be used for pill testing. Or maybe, hehe…”

Liu Xiaolou grabbed him by the hair, voice cracking. “ what?”

“Maybe we’ll be used ingredients… hehe…”

Liu Xiaolou shoved him to the ground. Even that tiny movement left him panting. “Hehe my ass!”

He caught his breath for a moment, then suddenly shouted, “I’m at Qi Refinement Layer Ten! Mountain Lord Zhu, I’m Layer Ten. You can’t use someone at Layer Ten for pill testing! I’m willing to go through fire and water for you, truly... I’ll do anything for Mountain Lord Zhu!”

He shouted again and again. His voice bounced off the cave walls, hollow and weak.

That “hehe” came again from beside him. The small guy kept giggling like an idiot, but Liu Xiaolou couldn’t shake the feeling that the guy’s eyes... were looking like he was the fool.

He grabbed the man’s collar again and hauled him close. “Hehe, hehe... what the hell are you laughing at?!”

The small man said, “Quit yelling. I’m Layer Ten too. That bearded guy across from us, Old Si, he’s Layer Ten. And the one next to you… that woman! Can’t you tell? Never mind. She’s Steward Fan from the Qingcheng Sword Sect, Peak of Qi Refinement. And that one... yeah, the guy missing half his hair, he’s also Layer Ten. You know how he lost that half of his hair?”

Liu Xiaolou stared, unable to look away. “What… happened to him?” he muttered.

The short guy snickered. “They took him to use as ‘spiritual material.’ Soaked him in potion for seven days. He came back like this.”

The guy with half his hair missing suddenly burst into tears. “My hair…”

The moment he started crying, the whole cave blew up in wails. At least half the people joined in, howling their lungs out, the sound miserable.

Before long, two people from the Miao Feng Alchemy Sect rushed in, each holding a leather whip. Without a word, they started lashing at everyone inside. Even hiding in a corner, Liu Xiaolou couldn’t escape; he still took two solid hits.

Once everyone had been whipped into silence, the two enforcers kept muttering “Jing Qilang” and began searching the cave. They found him soon enough, yanked him up, and dragged him away. Jing Qilang thrashed wildly, screaming in terror as they hauled him deeper into the cave.

Liu Xiaolou watched for a long moment, still shaken, then grabbed the small guy beside him. “What’s this Lord Zhu’s deal? Why is he treating his own people like this?”

The small man looked bitter. “Used to be a skilled alchemist, they say. Talented, high cultivation. By now, he’d already reached the late Foundation Establishment stage. Back then, rogue cultivators spoke well of him; plenty came to join him. But in the past few years… he’s gone mad. Obsessed with forging Foundation Establishment Pills for his two sons. Can’t make it, of course, and somehow he veered off into… demonic path. And we’re the ones paying the price.”

After that, there wasn’t much left to say. Aside from the small guy, no one wanted to say a word. So Liu Xiaolou started prowling around, wondering if there was any chance he could dig a tunnel out.

After searching for ages, all he found were solid rock walls. If he still had his cultivation, maybe he could’ve come up with something. But with the Eightfold Restriction Cord draining him dry, even a big movement left him panting. Digging through stone was out of the question.

The other prisoners watched him fuss around and couldn’t even be bothered to comment. Finally, the small guy couldn’t hold back a sneer. “You think we’re all idiots and you’re the only smart one? Some of us have been stuck here a whole year. You think we don’t want out? Any idea you can come up with, we’ve already tried.”

Liu Xiaolou stayed quiet for a long time, then slumped to the ground in defeat.

As long as that Eightfold Restriction Cord was wrapped around him, there was nothing he could do.

The cord blocked his true qi so completely that he felt like someone recovering from a terrible illness. Exhausted, shaky, barely able to keep his eyes open. He didn’t know how much time had passed before he drifted into a groggy sleep.

Footsteps woke him. He jerked upright just in time for a sticky rice cake to land on his chest.

There was a light, pleasant fragrance coming from it. Something that felt faintly infused with spiritual energy. Liu Xiaolou took a bite, and warmth bloomed through him instantly, so soothing it felt like it spread from his scalp all the way to his toes.

After swallowing it, a soft current of spiritual energy seeped through his meridians, mingled with a medicinal scent he couldn’t quite place.

He couldn’t tell whether it was because he was starving or because the rice cake was just that irresistible, but in that moment Liu Xiaolou felt as if he’d tasted the most delicious thing in the world.

“What this cake?” he asked, still holding on to the only man willing to talk.

The small guy wolfed his down in a few bites and let out a satisfied groan. “Relax and eat. It’s good stuff, helps your meridians. Lord Zhu is dosing us with medicine again. It won’t hurt you.”

Whether it was bad for him or not, Liu Xiaolou could tell just from a taste. He finished his piece quickly, too, then went to the rock wall to lick up some water.

These rice cakes were made from spirit rice mixed with all kinds of medicinal ingredients. There wasn’t much to them, but they were packed with spiritual energy. And produced almost no waste.

Twice a day, someone from the Miao Feng Alchemy Sect would come in carrying a chamber pot and make the prisoners line up to relieve themselves. Men and women weren’t separated; everyone just took turns over the same bucket.

Every seven days, they’d take everyone out of the cave to the latrine pit outside so they could do their business properly.

On his third day there, Liu Xiaolou happened to be taken out, and it made him appreciate the bright blue sky and the warmth of the sunlight all over again.

By the seventh day, after eating the rice cakes for a week, his body was full of medicinal energy. And it was finally his turn to be dragged out to the cave hall outside. Liu Xiaolou panicked and struggled instinctively. But it didn’t make the slightest difference.

They dumped him in front of a huge vat. The water inside was boiling hard, bubbling and steaming, giving off a pungent, almost spicy stench.

Liu Xiaolou’s scalp prickled all over again. He looked toward Lord Zhu and the two young masters standing by the cave wall and begged, “Lord, I’m willing to join your sect! I came all this way just to pledge myself to you!”

But Lord Zhu acted as if he hadn’t heard a word. He sat cross-legged by the alchemy furnace, eyes fixed on the color of the flames licking beneath it.