The Samsara Jade

Chapter 9

"This is just the beginning," Li Chen whispered to the storm. He wiped the rain from his eyes and immediately dropped down next to Deacon Lin’s body. 

There was no time to think about philosophy. He needed to survive, and survival meant resources.

In the cultivation world, a dead body was just an opportunity.

Li Chen quickly searched Deacon Lin’s wet robes. He pushed aside the broken bones and blood. A few seconds later, his hand touched something hard and heavy tied to Deacon Lin’s wide leather belt.

Li Chen pulled it loose. It was a small, grey cloth pouch. It looked very simple, but it felt strangely heavy for its tiny size. The cloth was smooth and cold, woven with fine silver threads.

Li Chen’s eyes lit up with excitement. "A storage pouch!"

These small bags were magical items. They had a small pocket of space folded inside them, allowing a person to carry many heavy objects in a tiny bag. 

Normal outer sect disciples could never afford one of these. They cost hundreds of spirit stones. Deacon Lin must have bought it using the money he stole from the poor disciples over many years.

Because Deacon Lin was dead, his spiritual mark on the bag was completely gone. The bag was open to anyone.

Li Chen eagerly sent a tiny bit of his new, dark Qi into the grey pouch.

Instantly, his mind was connected to the space inside. The space was very small, only about the size of a large wooden chest, but it was enough.

Inside, Li Chen saw three clean changes of clothes, a few cheap healing pills in a white glass bottle, and a small pile of glowing, blue rocks.

"Spirit stones!" Li Chen gasped happily.

He opened the bag and poured the stones into his hand. There were exactly fifteen low-grade spirit stones. They glowed with a beautiful, soft blue light in the dark rain.

For Li Chen, this was incredible wealth. The sect only gave him three stones a month, and Zhao Feng always stole them. 

These fifteen stones were filled with pure, gentle spiritual energy. He could use his Heavenly Void Devouring Art to eat these stones later to boost his cultivation even higher.

He quickly put the stones back into the grey pouch. He took the sack of his own monthly stones that Zhao Feng had made Lin carry, and put those in too.

He stood up, tying the grey storage pouch tightly to his own belt. He hid it under his torn, dirty shirt. No one could know he had this.

He looked around. The rain was washing away the blood. The dark night hid the broken wall of his hut.

“I need to hide the body,” Li Chen thought quickly. “I can drag him to the Beast Chasm. I will throw him in. Everyone will think he slipped in the mud and fell into the poison fog. It will buy me time to hide.”

He bent down and grabbed Deacon Lin’s heavy leather boots. He prepared to drag the fat body away. He took one step back.

Suddenly, a sharp, crisp sound cut through the noise of the heavy rain. CRACK!

Li Chen stopped immediately. His blood ran cold. The sound did not come from the sky. It did not come from the wooden hut. It came directly from Deacon Lin’s waist.

Li Chen quickly looked down. Hanging from Deacon Lin’s leather belt, right next to where the storage pouch used to be, was a small, white piece of jade. It was carved with magical symbols.

Li Chen stared at it in horror. A massive crack had just appeared right down the middle of the white jade. The magical glow inside it suddenly faded away, turning the jade into a dull, grey rock.

"A Life-Slip..." Li Chen whispered. His eyes widened in absolute panic. He had forgotten. Deacon Lin was not just a normal disciple. He was an overseer. He held an official position in the Azure Sword Sect. 

Every single person with an official title had a Life-Slip connected to their soul. One half of the jade stayed on their belt, and the other half was kept in the great Enforcement Hall at the very top of the mountain.

When a person died, their soul vanished. The magical connection broke. The Life-Slip shattered. Which meant the matching jade in the Enforcement Hall had also just shattered.

Li Chen stood up straight, his heart hammering against his ribs like a wild drum. He looked up at the massive, dark peak of the Azure Sword Sect mountain.

For two long seconds, there was only the sound of the rain. Then, it happened.

DONG! A massive, heavy, terrifying sound rolled down from the top of the mountain. It was the sound of a giant bronze bell. The sound was so deep and powerful that it shook the mud under Li Chen’s feet.

DONG! The bell rang a second time. It echoed across the valleys, cutting through the storm. It was the Death Bell.

Far away, at the top of the mountain, bright lights suddenly flared in the darkness. Torches and magical glowing swords lit up the night sky.

The Enforcers were the police of the Azure Sword Sect. They were a group of cold, ruthless, powerful cultivators wearing dark iron armor. They were experts at tracking, hunting, and killing. 

They showed no mercy to anyone who broke the sect rules. Murdering a Deacon was one of the highest crimes possible. They were coming.

Li Chen could already see the bright streaks of light flying down the mountain paths. They were moving incredibly fast, heading straight toward the Outer Sect living area. 

They would go to Deacon Lin’s last known location. They would find the broken hut. They would find the body. And they would find him.

"Run," Old Kui’s ancient voice suddenly echoed weakly inside Li Chen's mind. The dragon-turtle had woken up just enough to sense the danger. "Run now, boy! If they catch you, they will peel your skin off while you are still alive!"

Li Chen did not need to be told twice. He let go of Deacon Lin's boots. He turned around, staring into the dark, foggy forest behind his broken hut. 

Beyond the forest was the edge of the mountain. Beyond that was the most dangerous place in the outer sect.

The Beast Chasm.

Li Chen gritted his teeth. His black eyes flashed with deep, desperate determination. He gathered his new dark Qi into his legs.

He sprinted forward into the freezing rain, running into the darkness as fast as his legs could carry him, leaving the dead body and his old life behind forever.