"Hey, starving kid, after you finish your food, come here and let me teach you this card game!" A man called out to Hao Yun. "I want to show these sons of bitches that I'm not cheating. This poker game is so easy, and they are so bad at it that even an amateur can beat them!"

"Coming!" Hao Yun replied, gulping down his food and scurrying over to his caller. This elicited sneers, mocking laughter, and cheers from the onlookers. People shouted that a great game would occur, and betting on whether he would lose or win began.

As he played this simple card game, he wondered how to use Hua Beifeng for his amusement. The thought that there were interesting people in that little kingdom was a truly good find. Currently, that Thirteen guy was drugging the prince and would ensure he remained unconscious until they arrived at his sect. But how boring would it be if the man arrived at his sect in such a state? No, no, no. While he had enough fun stalking Shen Yu, Yang Liangyu, Yu Yongrui, and especially Liu Xing, he wouldn't mind adding more excitement.

Hao Yun began to grin. But the grin did not come from this silly game, which was surprisingly fun. It stemmed from an idea that had just popped into his mind.

Stalking multiple people was fun, but it was like reading different stories simultaneously. Hao Yun, in his bored state, had once encountered an interesting concept from a crazy girl in the Phoenix Empire who had a truly messed up mind but was crazily creative. One of her inventions was actually revolutionary. She took characters from different tales and meshed them into one story. Her creation was nauseating for his ten years old mind, but it did not diminish the fact that her idea was neat.

Hao Yun began to laugh softly.

"And I win!" Hao Yun exclaimed, to the cheers of some people and the curses of others.

"Cheater! Cheater!" His opponents pointed at him.

"I told you! You motherfuckers are just bad at this game!"

"Once again!"

Hao Yun smiled and nodded, intending to win again, but he wanted his win to be a little more exciting than before—a win that was not too crushing, so his opponents could have a hope of winning, only to be crushed by him in the end.

As he played, he thought about how to set up the correct events to lead everything perfectly. He needed a key point to combine everything, and he remembered a baby who was so valuable that even Elder Zhang Zhenking had been inclined to agree to abducting the child. If it were not for his father obstructing this plan, there should already be a baby in the sect, which is disappointing. The elders actually thought that it meant that this baby needed to be left alone, but his father actually never stated that. He just doesn't want this baby to be abducted..

Hao Yun would draw the ire of his seniors, but when he imagined their angry expressions, he just smiled. This baby can indeed become the linchpin of his plan. And it just so happens that there's a worm that he had to trample on.

"Alright, it's decided," Hao Yun muttered.

The only downside to his plan was that the chaos that would occur would be significant enough to cause trouble for his sect. But upon further thought, this downside was no downside at all. It was merely a complication that would make life even more lively!

As Hao Yun crushed his opponents again and again, he began to execute his plan from the midst of a mortal camp.

***

A robe is not an animate object, but even an object can have a story, and Liu Xing's robe certainly had an interesting story that could end up in an interesting place.

Initially, the robe lay tucked between two rocks as its owner swam. The robe did not know what its master was trying to find, but as a robe, there was nothing it could do aside from waiting. But coincidentally, as its master fought a foe that it had no means to understand, a stray attack in the form of a yellow laser struck one of the rocks that sheltered it. It exploded into smithereens, and the force of the attack blew the robe from its initial position. It flew into the sky like a kite, chaotic winds making it fly here and there. Since the robe was made from soft and light yet durable material, it could fly quite far away.

Since it had no eyes or any other senses, it could do nothing in that situation. Although at one point, if it had eyes, it would have realized it passed a scene of murders, where abominations killed a child and his uncle. Yet, the robe noticed nothing, and so, it drifted with the wind until it became stuck on a branch quite far away from its master's position. If it had a heart, it would have lamented its fate. It was a finely crafted object, one that could not be afforded by a normal mortal family even if they worked for years and did not spend a single coin on their survival. Yet, right now, it hung precariously atop a branch, with a stream of river with a quite strong flow rushing freely below.

The robe hung there for around two hours before a gust of wind at the correct angle blew it off the branch, and it fell into the water and was carried by the current.

The robe had never experienced anything like this before, and if it had had a heart, it might have been excited, at least for a while, before it would have felt bothered by it. After all, it had never felt drenched for so long. It had a function to ensure sweat and filth did not stick to it, it had a function to make it always smell fresh, and it had a function to dry itself. All in all, it was always in pristine condition, which was the opposite of its current situation. If it had a will, it would try to activate the array formations on itself, but since it had no will, it could do nothing about it. Thus, the robe was dragged by the strong current of the river. Several times it became stuck on boulders or logs that had fallen into the river, yet, the strong current always ensured it moved. Sometimes it floated, sometimes it dove deeper into the river, swimming with several curious fish that nudged it, perhaps seeking food.

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More time passed until the robe resurfaced in a part of the river that had a truly strong current. If it had ears, it would also have heard a loud sound, and it might have wondered what that sound was. In truth, that sound was made by something natural and beautiful. It was a waterfall.

This waterfall was so high that a mortal who fell from the top would undoubtedly die. But the robe was inanimate, and thus, without any struggle, it fell alongside the water. As it fell, if it had eyes, it would have noticed seven rainbows that appeared around the waterfall. Such rainbows were so beautiful that if a couple sat under a tree and saw them, their hearts would flutter, they would kiss, and they would cherish this kiss forever.

The robe fell and was swept by the current once again, although the current was now gentle and the size of the river actually became smaller. If the robe were a human, it would realize that it had finally arrived at a town. The color of the water it floated through was muddy, and if it had feelings, it would have felt undignified after a brown and wet thing touched it, something so beneath its position that it would have felt shame for its entire existence.

After that, it finally came to an irrigation system to water rice fields, where the robe actually became stuck and stopped water from flowing to a certain rice field. It waited there for more than a day before the farmer, concerned that the water flow to his field had stopped, finally picked up the robe.

The robe would have felt happy and relieved if it had feelings. After all, it had been a long time since a hand had touched it. It was not its master, but the robe would tolerate it. Everything was better compared to wandering aimlessly in the river.

The farmer brought the robe to his home. Coincidentally, he had a son who would fit this robe, and so, with a smile on his face and gratitude to the heavens for coming across this fine robe, he gave it to his son.

"It's such a fine robe, I don't think I'm fit to wear this. People would think I'm rich, and then I would be robbed," the son said.

The farmer felt sad for a moment, but then he agreed with his son. "If that's the case, then sell this robe to the merchant in town."

"Yes, Father."

"The money will be yours, so you can use it as you please. I know you are trying to pass the test to become a scholar, so buy some books with it."

The son was actually surprised his father knew about his ambition. It was not that he didn't want to be a farmer. But the girl he fancied did not want to be the wife of a farmer, and since people always said that he had a good head, he intended to choose a scholar's path. Who knew, perhaps, he would be given a nice position by the emperor.

And so, the son ran hurriedly to town. He sold the purple robe and received a large sum of money, one that surprised him, and he came back home with a cart full of books. That night, the son studied as if possessed, and several months later, he succeeded in passing the test. The robe, of course, did not know about it, though if it did, it would probably have been proud, since it was its direct involvement that helped the son succeed.

The robe was sold to a merchant who felt lucky to have come across a fine quality good—yet he was not knowledgeable enough to know the real value of the robe. He cleaned it, dried it, folded it carefully, and tucked it into a fine box, one that would surely make the robe look more valuable. The next day, the merchant who bought the robe went to the bigger city, bringing a cart full of goods. But because the man spent too much on liquors and companionship, he had to hire cheap mercenaries, one of whom had connections to unsavory people.

As the merchant passed a small valley with his two guards, a band of robbers popped out from nearby bushes and laughed heartily. The merchant was scared shitless, but before he could flee, one of his guards stabbed him in the back, and one honest mercenary fought valiantly, but ultimately, he was beheaded by the leader of the robbers.

The robbers then transported the goods while laughing, thinking they could have fun that night. One of their younger members, a twenty-five-year-old slender man who fought gracefully with a sword, decided to sneakily take one box. This box, coincidentally, contained the purple robe. If it had a heart, it would have felt saddened by the fate of the merchant, and it would have hoped that the one who took it would value it more than the merchant. When the robbers were partying, this slender man went to a suspicious alleyway in a nearby city, and he begged a man to give him a certain substance, one that the robe did not even know existed. The robe was then traded for something illicit, and it would have felt disgraced by it. How could the robe be traded for something like that? But, once again, the robe had no heart, so it could do nothing.

If the robe had a qi sense, it would have realized that the man who now possessed it had a trace of qi on him, but the man was not a cultivator. He was merely an assistant to a loose cultivator who was coincidentally an alchemist.

When the alchemist saw the robe, he realized it was a robe from a sect, though since his knowledge about the wide world was limited, he did not know which sect the robe belonged to. The alchemist wondered how he could use this robe. Could this robe be dissolved to become an ingredient? That thought was crazy, but a poor alchemist like him needed to find creative ways to concoct pills, and it was not the first time he had come across unusual things, and the last time, the pills he made actually had better quality. But, before he could decide, the room where he was suddenly exploded.

"Bastard, I finally found you!" A man wearing a white robe shouted and stood atop a thin flying sword, and he looked down at the alchemist, who snarled like a beast.

The alchemist and this cultivator had a deep history, and they battled for a full day before, finally, the cultivator beheaded the alchemist.

"This is for my son, whom you refined into a pill."

The cultivator began to cry, but the robe did not know about the sorrow and the relief of this revenge. When the alchemist's room exploded, the robe flew like a kite once again, gliding in the sky before it landed on the edge of a small forest. A day later, a deer nudged it with its horn, and it became stuck there.

If the robe had a mouth, it would have sighed. How long would it continue to change hands? Or in this instance, horns? The robe did not know how much time had passed, since it had no consciousness and could not perceive the passage of time, but it would have been surprised if told that its adventure had only lasted several days. It wanted to go home to its true master, and as the deer went deeper into the forest, if it had had a heart, it would have felt despair, knowing that the chance of it returning to its master was so minuscule, even smaller than an ant. But, it held faith in the heavens. Someday, it would either return, or its master would find it. Only time could tell. For now, the robe would accept its fate.

"I want to be useful." If it had a mouth, it would have said so. After all, it was a robe. It wanted to be worn, to keep its wearer warm.

And so, the robe traveled with the deer. It may or may not change hands again. It may or may not cause the deer to be noticed and killed by a hunter, and may or may not be exchanged for food, and may or may not end up in the hands of a single mother. Only time would tell.

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