CHAPTER 67: DICHOTOMY

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Submerged in the cold water of the stream, Noctis shifted his head side to side, letting his hair fall down as he riffled through it with a wooden comb he had carved for himself.

Thanks to the bone knife, it was easier to make it even though he was still an amateur in this respect.

About his hair: it had grown to reach to his chest, and due to his lack of care, it had started looking quite tangled and wild despite its natural appeal.

Now he didn’t have much experience taking care of his hair despite having lived a life till his late teens, what with the obsession of the facility to erase every bit of individuality among the subjects, nor did he actually care for his hair... Or so he told himself.

But his mother forbade him to cut it off.

Less forbade and more lightly suggested to keep them, but he couldn’t go breaking her heart for something that didn’t really inconvenience him all that much.

After combing through his wavy hair, wincing and whining at every snag but pulling through, he took the double-breasted brooch, also his storage artifact, and used its chain to fasten his hair loosely over his shoulders.

He adjusted it around as some strands fell unevenly and some pulled at his temple, rummaging through it for minutes before getting it a bit manageable.

After taking care of the hair, he took hold of a plant he had brought with him.

Crushing the roots and leaves of the soapwort plant, he mixed it with a little water and lathered it on his body.

Since he couldn’t get proper soaps or perfumes here, he had to make do with what was available in the forest to cleanse himself.

As he was busy with cleansing himself properly, he suddenly sensed something and looked towards his back with a surprised expression.

’Someone entered the deeper parts? No, it’s not just one.’

After sensing the group coming precisely towards the stream, Noctis finished quickly and started making his way out of the stream.

Just as he was about to reach the shoreline, a frown appeared on Noctis’ face as he suddenly jumped backwards, towards the other side of the stream.

Along with it he pulled his white cloak out of his brooch and wrapped himself with it as a fat, densely bearded man jumped out of the trees and landed exactly at the place he was about to reach, had he not moved.

’A qi user!?’

Noctis looked gravely at the middle-aged man that had suddenly appeared and was staring at him with a hideous expression.

"Oi, Dunk, what did you do that for?"

Another few men soon appeared in front of him, shouting and calling as they ran.

The man called Dunk, who was still looking at him like he had just discovered a treasure, with large eyes and his tongue out, dancing disgustingly at his lips.

"Look what I found, Kirk. Look what has stumbled at our doorstep."

After reaching the place, the other men also looked at the scene.

Some clothes lay strewn on the floor just ahead of them. On the other side of the stream stood a short, lean figure with a beautiful white hair bun and deep ocean eyes, with a white cloak desperately covering them from their nose to toe.

The short figure with hostile eyes and in such a vulnerable position quickened everyone gathered at the scene.

"Are you a lost little girl? Don’t worry, with us here you won’t be feeling unattended at all."

The man named Kirk smiled widely as he said with a barely disguised lust.

On the other hand, Noctis saw as more and more men in tattered clothing and with bearded faces came into view.

Covered in all sorts of mud and dirt and with unkempt faces, they looked like beggars rather than hunters in the deep woods.

Adding onto this were the numerous wounds marring all their bodies.

Some were so deep and old they had started an infection as filthy pus oozed out of them. Yet the men were entirely unbothered, as if it wasn’t their body deteriorating steadily into them resembling the waking undead.

’How are they even alive?’

Of the 6 men present, only the two that had spoken till now had some qi. And barely a trace amount at that. He had more qi than this when he had woken up after awakening the first time.

Apart from them, the others were thoroughly ordinary humans. As Noctis looked more keenly towards the man that had a wound that started developing necrosis, he noticed his body shaking the moment his vision locked onto him.

Tilting his head to the side, Noctis saw his hands slowly creeping down until they reached his crotch and started rubbing it in a vertical motion.

Noctis closed his eyes as he took a deep breath.

"Don’t be shy, my precious rabbit! Look at us!"

With his eyes closed, Noctis spread his qi perception, picking up the faint red silhouettes of the gathered men while Dunk came flying towards him, his hands outstretched towards his cloak.

Kirk, on the other hand, jumped straight up, likely intending to land just behind him.

Gritting his teeth, Noctis moved his qi in a violent flurry.

Immediately the whole place was covered with hundreds of vines and roots sprouting all over the place.

The four unmoved men were bound tightly with dozens of thin, thorny vines that penetrated their skins and painted their stems red with flowing blood.

The two moving men shared similar fates as they saw thick roots, far faster than them, piercing straight through their hearts, tearing through the thin layer of qi as if it were a piece of paper.

Kirk, flying over the stream, only got invaded with one giant root through his chest and was subsequently dragged below the water as the roots tightened around him.

Giant bubbles and ripples disturbed the constant flow, but nothing came out.

Dunk, being closest to their assailant, had it much worse.

Deliberately avoiding the vital points, Noctis sewed the roots through every one of his organs and nerve joints as the man was held firm right in front of the little body; his expression tightened into what seemed like a painful scream that he couldn’t let out no matter what.