"But how come you were here if you ran away from your attackers on the third floor?"
Daisy asked the question that has been bothering her, but to her irritation, Ken stopped her again.
"He might have been captured after entering the fourth floor for some reason. Here, take this healing pill before you answer."
Ken said in a dismissive tone as if they shouldn't pry on his business while giving Alaric a healing pill he took out of his storage ring. This pill was slightly different from the normal ones.
"Thank you. It's ok, I can tell you. After running from the third floor, I was angry and broken from losing my friends. I blamed myself for giving my trust carelessly and getting my partners killed. I entered one of those rooms to blow some steam and fight the blood monsters, but instead, I was ambushed by those guys."
"I can understand how you feel. I lost two of my best friends a week ago, and I blamed myself for not being there for them."
Ken spoke with a sad voice, giving Alaric a feeling there was someone in the same situation as him. Alaric fought the urge to cry his sorrow out as angry thoughts pervaded his mind.
'I must take revenge for them. I will kill Clarissa and everything dear to her!'
"Remember, there are no bad disciples, only bad masters. If Clarissa acted that way, it was because of her master's teachings. I'm just glad we came in time to save you from those wicked cultivators."
Ken, seemingly unaware of Alaric's thoughts about revenge, sighed in relief. But it only riled Alaric up.
"They didn't kill me on purpose! They used me as a Qi bag. Those vile creatures sucked the Qi out of my body and core every time they finished a battle, so they'd be ready for their next victims."
It also explained why Ken found his core depleted and on the verge of cracking.
"It was painful. It hurt like hell every single time, and I had to go through this procedure 13 times after every fight."
A hint of horror crept into Alaric's eyes as he recalled the painful experience.
'Oh, it explains why the guys from the Four Seasons Sect always screamed when I absorbed their Qi. I thought they were just afraid of death.'
Ken thought to himself after hearing Alaric's description. He didn't invest any thoughts about the matter before since he didn't really care if his enemies felt pain or not.
"We will let you rest now. I don't want to see you get yourself killed, but it's your choice to make. Remember that none of your friends want to see you die out of sorrow. Think about punishing those who don't have a moral code to save others from going through the same thing as you."
Ken explicitly talked about killing others and taking revenge this time. His pill was contaminated with his Bloodlust, and Alaric was very suggestable to bloodthirsty ideas.
"You're right. Getting myself killed will not bring them back."
"As I said before, we will leave in 11 hours. We lost some members due to their greed, they were backstabbers, just like those who tried to kill you. We would love to add someone capable and honest to our ranks. If you find your reason to live, you can come with us."
Ken spoke with a firm tone and signaled everyone to leave Alaric and let him rest. The team was surprised to see how considerate Ken could be; they took him for a cold-blooded killer.
Meanwhile, Alaric was filled with thoughts about killing. His hatred surged, and his emotions turned unstable as he could only think about Ken's words.
'I should take revenge, but that's not enough. I can make the world a better place by purging the hypocrites with the face of a Buddha and a heart of a scorpion. This includes those who taught and raised them!'
Under Ken's instructions, he consumed a healing pill every 2 hours. Without being aware, his thoughts turned more and more murderous. He imagined himself tearing apart Clarissa along with her teammates, then slaying every other cultivator that betrayed his comrades for money and resources.
He could picture the scene where he finds injustice in the street and corrects it by sentencing the traitors to death.
Affected by the contaminated pills, he sunk into imaginations of bloodbaths and horror.
'I can't achieve my goals by myself. I will probably get captured again, and this time, only death will save me. Their team is righteous and just. I must join them.'
Alaric looked at his right hand, or more specifically, at the storage ring on his finger. They gifted him with a storage ring with pills, Qi Stones, food, and a few weapons. They didn't know which weapon he used, so there was a bow, saber, sword, greatsword, and spear.
Their consideration touched his heart. They already saved his life and didn't have to do more, but they still chose to help him regardless of his decision to join them or leave. They even left 3 tokens for him so he can get more BP despite killing those evil cultivators without his help.
He didn't miss that Ken was the leader and everything was done because of his word. His appreciation of Ken was only second to his desire to kill all traitors, which was becoming an obsession amidst his destructive thoughts.
"I want to join you if you are willing. I use the spear, and my attributes are Lightning Qi and Sound Qi. Of course, I also have Spear Qi."
He explained his strengths clearly and Daisy's eyes sparkled when the words Sound Qi were said.
"That's the special inheritance Elder Cassian's master gained as a young cultivator, and barely anybody can use it!"
She was excited to see a rare type of Qi. Ken wasn't impressed, his own Bloodlust Qi was rather special too. However, he was still glad to see his plan worked; he believed Jake would make a good new companion. He only needed to refine the man's personality a bit more.
"Yes, of course. We wouldn't turn our back on a fellow disciple. We will set out as soon as you are well enough to fight."
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