Poison God's Heritage

Both me Shen Fu and I tensed up for a moment. How did she know?

"Don't worry, I'm not planning on selling you off, nor do I think I have the ability," she said as she approached the table.

She folded the sleeve under her arm as she grabbed the bottle of liquor and poured both me and Shen Fu a cup.

"This looks like an exotic wine, do you have more of this?" she asked.

"I suppose you're buying," I replied.

"I'll make sure to give you an adequate price, we have many people looking for… strange tastes if you know what I mean," she said.

"I do have another bottle but it won't be cheap," I said.

"Tell me your price," she asked.

"Information, I need information." I said.

"Then let's start from the basics, where did you come from, and how much do you know," she asked.

"I come from the Vast Expanse," I said.

She thought for a second and said, "I Don't really know what is the Vast Expanse, but I could assume it's somewhere outside the Beyond. Then, it means that this is your first time here. Seeing you're 'unbranded' means that you didn't come through any of the main channels." She said.

"No," I replied.

She then pulled up a stamp from within the folds of her robes, you can guess form where.

"Use this, it will temporarily stamp allegiance to the Red Sun, allowing you free entry to the realm of the Red Sun," She said.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you this good to us, it feels suspicious," old man Fu said as he looked her up and down.

The lady then pulled a chair and sat down in front of us, and muttered, "Would you mind?"

I handed her a pill and she took it and poured herself a cup then drank it down, making sure to drip a couple of drops that didn't go unnoticed as they went down her cleavage.

She slammed the cup on the table, "Ah! That hits the spot!"

She shook her head and said, "Yes, nothing in this world is for free, and so is my help. I need you two to do me a favor," she said.

"On what premise?" I asked.

"I know what you guys are thinking," she said, "The both of you believe that you don't need my help, which is understandable, after all the gentleman here is mighty powerful…"

"But there are seas below seas and mountains above mountains," Old man Fu said.

"Exactly," she replied, "The Beyond isn't as it seems, it's full of predators all over the place looking to establish their own regime, people are tired of the system of the suns, they all strive to reach the peak, but the eight suns are stopping them." She said

"And how is that related to us?" I asked.

"I'll get to that." She said then leaned back, "You two are fresh blood, something that is very rare in the Beyond. In this land a man's fate is sealed the moment they're born, to follow under one of the eight suns, and once someone gets close enough to the sun…"

"They burn him," said old man Fu, after all he experienced the heat of the Darkest Sun personally.

"Exactly, and you two are unbound to anyone," she said.

Well I for sure am not, but I don't know about old man Fu.

"Simply put, you have the ability to freely choose the Sun you serve, or, leave to the Sea of Demons and live a life of prosecution and being hunted." She said.

"Sea of Demons?" I asked.

"Yes, among all the regions of the Beyond there exist a place that is far too mysterious and dangerous that not even the eight suns dare go there. In that place live exiled cultivators, criminals and all sort of lowlifes," she said.

I frowned at her wording.

"I know what you're thinking, why is it so different than the Ant Cave?" she stated. "It's because here, people still respect the rule of the Red Sun and they all uphold their brands and their allegiance to it. As for the people in the Sea of Demons, they relinquished their suns, and rule themselves by themselves."

"Alright I see, but so far you haven't told us what you want from us," I asked.

"I need something from the Sea of Demons, and I want you guys to bring it to me," she said.

"You just stated that the Sea of Demons is a nasty place full of dangers," I said.

"And the reward will be appropriate enough," she said.

The old man then interjected, "Why us, why not send someone else, you have plenty of power here, I'm sure you could find someone to do this job for you," he said.

"Indeed, but their allegiance to the suns is making it difficult, only the people who have renounced their Suns are allowed entry to the Sea of Demons, they have a way to find out if you're loyal to any of the suns, and if they do find one loyal or following one of the suns they kill them instantly. It is a dangerous place for anyone with an ounce of loyalty to the Suns but the two of you are fresh blood, and you were not tainted by the Suns yet, so you can freely walk into the Sea of Demons," she said.

'This is awfully suspicious,' said Shen Fu.

'I know," I replied to him through Divine Sense.

"So this got to be something really important for you to get if it's in the Sea of Demons," I said.

"Indeed, the Sea of Demons is vast, incredibly so, but we do know some parts of it. And within those parts are cities, and in one of the cities an auction is going to be held. I want you to bring me something from that auction," she said.

"If you have this much information, couldn't you just buy the item from whoever gets it afterward?" elder Fu asked.

She shook her head, "What I want is something too precious for my Red Sun sect to waste, I would assume that other people from different Sun regions would be sent to grab the item, and we can't allow it to fall into their hands," she said.

"Right, so, what's in it for us?" I asked.

"Official admission to the Red Sun sect," she said.

I frowned, clearly dissatisfied with the condition. And before I could refuse she added

"And the ability to walk under the protection of the Red Sun without being branded," she said.

"…"

"Not really tempting to be honest," I said as I was about to stand up and leave. "The risks outweigh the benefits, we never had any intention of joining the red Sun, and if we keep our heads low like we've been doing no one will bother us. I'll have to decline your offer," I said.

"HEAR YE HEAR YE!"

That shout came out of nowhere as it reverberated through the entire Ant Cave.

"Trouble!" Old Fu spoke as he stood up looking to the north. As if his gaze would pierce through the walls.

"The Red Sun herald!" she said and instantly knelt down towards the direction of the voice.

I went up close to the window and peered through it to see what was going on.

A man standing on top of a four winged horse, with a massive banner on his shoulder carrying the flag of the Red Sun.

"HEAR YE! HEAR YE!" he shouted once again, and instantly all function stopped in the city. His voice carried great power as it penetrated through buildings and reverberated through my very bones.

"His greatness The Lord of Blood, The Laughing Slaughterer, the Red Sun has a decree for you all! HEAR YE HEAR YE Prostrate yourself and Listen!!"

Suddenly shivers ran down my spine… Did he just say… the Laughing Slaughterer?