Elder He Xuan wasn't even fast enough to react when the creature moved one of its massive arms to strike him - he would've been splattered like a fly on a windshield had Tang Ze not reacted in time, stopping the blow.
The Asura Emperor now leapt out of the depression in the ground where it had been sealed, and let out a mighty roar. It had four pairs of eyes, each of its irises being yellow with slit-like pupils. It had no weapons on it, though its nails had grown out like talons, and based on its strength, its fists were more than enough. More likely or not though, it probably also had a wide assortment of supernatural powers like many asuras did.
Elder He Xuan then realized something - if this thing was so strong here, where it could not use its techniques or Qi, how powerful would it be outside in the world?
No wonder that it had been sealed in this place in particular. "Tang Ze, we must stop it from escaping!"
"Understood," Tang Ze said, taking a fighting stance before launching himself at the asura.
The Asura Emperor was caught off guard, and the blow landed on its chest, knocking it back ten paces.
Tang Ze was shocked - that blow had been nearly full-force!
A Nascent Soul cultivator was over three thousand times stronger than an ordinary person.
An Eternal Soul cultivator was about one million times stronger than an ordinary person.
A Hinayana Realm cultivator was close to a billion times stronger than normal.
The character he was cosplaying as, however, was able to crush planets to a pulp.
Now, it was true that he was suppressing a part of his strength even now to some extent, but still - the fact that there wasn't a crater where Tang Ze's fist had made contact with the asura's body was quite surprising.
Just as shocked as him though, was the Asura Emperor himself. He had fought countless battles, and honed his strength and skills through them.
This was the first incident in a long time where he had actually been hurt by someone else's blow.
No, now that the Asura Emperor thought about it - it wasn't so surprising. This human, though he appeared frail, had been able to move a rock that he couldn't.
In a fight of strength, it was clear who the victor would be.
Given that, why should he fight here then? Asuras had a myriad of magical powers and abilities that only grew stronger as they aged, so why fight where he could not use them?
'I will fight this piece of Myonglite trash outside' - the Asura Emperor came to the conclusion that that would be the best strategy to employ in this situation.
He might have his pride as an Asura Emperor - but why should he place pride over pragmatism? Asuras were bloodthirsty, but they weren't dumb enough to pick fights which they couldn't win.
And so, the Asura Emperor instead chose to flee towards the exit.
Out there - towards the world. By doing so, he could change the battlefield to one that was more advantageous to him. Even if he couldn't beat this human, he had a myriad number of techniques that would allow him to flee if needed.
Tang Ze realized what the asura emperor was doing and moved to block him.
"Can you use the [Lotus Palm]?" Elder He Xuan asked. Although techniques were greatly suppressed in this hidden realm, [Lotus Palm] was a very unique skill that amplified strength while relying on a minimal amount of Qi - there was a chance that it might still be something that they could use here, and if so, given Tang Ze's enormous strength it would clearly be a technique that could defeat this asura.
"I don't know!" Tang Ze said. "I haven't learned how to use it yet!" He had only started to learn the [Lotus Palm] a little over two months ago, there was no way he could've mastered that technique in such a short time.
But, he was determined to stop this creature come what may. He had been suppressing his full might for a while, but now, he wound up all his strength, and poised to strike just like his martial arts instructor had taught him.
Surely - this blow would shatter even the Asura Emperor just like those slime blobs back in the tournament!
And then, suddenly, Tang Ze found that he could not move.
'What is this-' he began to think, as the world seemed to turn to darkness around him. The Asura Emperor, the secret realm, and Elder He Xuan - were all nowhere to be found.
Instead, he became aware of a heavy presence on his back, and the rancid breath of something on his neck.
He turned his head and recoiled.
It was the same creature he had seen in the mirror and which was also attached to his back when he had used the Grimoire of Heaven.
The... thing leapt off his back and then turned to face Tang Ze directly. His own misshapen face looked back at him before morphing into that of Tang Jun, his brother.
"Worthless scum..." it said to him, using his brother's voice.
"What are you? Where is this?" Tang Ze asked.
He suddenly found himself unable to move. Why was that? Where had everything gone?
None of his lessons had prepared him for a scenario like this.
He tried to strike the creature, but despite his best efforts still could not move any of his limbs.
"Your regret..." the creature said. "...your misery... your delectable torment... I am all of those things..."
It smacked its lips and laughed. "Yes! Yes! Your despair - how beautiful it is! Let me add towards it."
In the darkness, small beads of light began to emerge, and each one of them took the form of Tang Jun's corpse.
Tang Ze couldn't help but be brought back to that moment, that horrible moment, as he could only watch helplessly as his brother was wheeled to the hospital while bleeding out - only to be told later that he hadn't made it.
And then, each of the lifeless bodies stood up and began to surround Tang Ze.
"Brother... help me brother..."
"Why... why... didn't you save me..."
"I trusted you... I looked up to you..."
"...and you let me down..."
"...you let me down..."
Talk like that entered Tang Ze's ears - even though he wished to clap his hands over them he couldn't, and was forced to bear these voices; which echoed the voices of regret he had in his own heart and mind.
"No, I'm sorry.... I really am sorry..." Tang Ze said. "I… if I could give anything to turn back time and save you, I would…"
"But that's not all, is it?" the spider-like creature said, with its face now morphing to that of Tang Ze's father, and its voice changing to mimic him as well. "You were a disappointment. Your brother was the son we always cherished and loved. Who wouldn't want a child like him? Who was actually capable of carrying on his family's legacy? Who wasn't a stain upon our family's honor?"
The creature then sprouted a second face, this one belonging to his mother. "Why did you let Tang Jun die? It would have been better for you to die instead," his mother's voice said, though it carried none of the warmth or tenderness that he typically associated with her speech.
"Yes," his father's voice said. "You were always the lesser of the two. It would have been much better for you to die and for Tang Jun to have lived."
"If only we could trade your life for his, we would do so in a heartbeat," his mother's voice said.
"No," Tang Ze said. Although he had felt at times that those might have been his parent's innermost feelings after his brother had passed away, he knew they would never say that. And even if they did, they would never have truly meant it. "You're a liar! My parents loved me!"
He was sure of that.
"Perhaps," his father's voice said. "But then how did you reward this love of ours?"
Disclaimer (Author's Note):
This rest of this chapter contains detailed depictions of suicide and sensitive themes related to mental health. These topics may be distressing or triggering for some. Reader discretion is advised, particularly for those who may have struggled with such issues in the past.
The next chapters will not have such scenes.
A tree sprouted next to the creature, and a single apple appeared on it, before bursting for something else entirely to drop down from a branch of the tree.
"...no..." Tang Ze said weakly. Of all the things - he did not wish to see that!
He didn't! He didn't even want to think about it!
"How did you reward our love?" his mother's voice echoed. "You could not live with your own failure, and where did that lead you?"
"I... I didn't know what to do!" Tang Ze yelled out. Who was he trying to justify these thoughts to? Himself? Or the shadows of his parents? "I'm sorry for what I did..."
In the years following Tang Jun's death, Tang Ze had spiraled further and further into depression. His family tried to move on from that tragedy, but they hadn't been able to, least of all Tang Ze.
Tang Ze had enrolled in a college - but he couldn't keep up with the coursework. Gradually, he turned up to class less and less frequently, and then one day just stopped showing up entirely. This led to him getting expelled.
All of this had made no difference to him at the time. Despair, pain, joy - he couldn't feel any of those things. Only an empty void, a void where his younger brother had once been.
Gradually, food had lost its taste.
Gradually, sleep could not refresh his mind.
He gave up on making costumes - the one thing he had used to love. How could he continue? When that was what had led to his brother's death in the first place? And he could find no joy in it regardless.
Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore.
He couldn't take the disappointed gazes of his parents during the few times he would leave his room.
He couldn't deal with the emptiness in his soul that was left after Tang Jun's death.
He wanted to escape.
He wanted to escape the endless pain.
The creature forced his head, making him turn to look at what was hanging from the tree. It forced him to open his eyes despite all of his attempts to keep them shut, and made him take in the sight of his own corpse hanging from the tree.
"What did you do?" his father's voice said. "You hung yourself in your own bedroom!"
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." was all that Tang Ze could say, tears now streaming down his face.
"We lost one son already, what do you think it would've been like to lose another?" his mother's voice asked.
"Did you think about how your selfishness would affect us?" his father's voice then asked. "Let me show you - let me show you the consequences of your actions. That which you could not see yourself."
A door appeared, the door that led to Tang Ze's bedroom, and from the other side of it came a voice. "Tang Ze! Breakfast's ready!" it was his mother's voice, his actual mother's voice, not the pale imitation this monster had adopted.
"Come out here! You can't be sleeping till this late in the morning!" his father's tired voice echoed.
His parents called his name a few more times, until finally, his father seemed to have had enough and came to check on him.
"...no..." Tang Ze said.
He didn't want to see this!
Of all things, he didn't want to see this!
The creature had turned back to having only one head - Tang Ze's own, and said, "Why are you looking away? See the consequences of your selfishness. See what happened after you died."
His father opened the door, and then stepped out of it into the void only to be greeted with the sight of Tang Ze's corpse. "Tang Ze..... TANG ZE!" he screamed when he realized what it was that his son had done.
His mother ran in when she heard the noise, and let out a scream that would forever etch itself in Tang Ze's heart from that moment forth.
The thing made Tang Ze watch as his parents found his corpse that day after he had killed himself.
Tang Ze watched as they broke down once again like they had on learning that Tang Jun was dead - he was made to watch how they sobbed and shrieked upon discovering his body.
"Do you see?" his own voice echoed back to him. "Do you see what you did? While you were out here in this world, playing hero, do you see how they were suffering? What kind of hero are you, who caused so much suffering to those who loved him? Are you happy now?"
"No... I regret it... I'm sorry..." Tang Ze said softly to the images of his parents. "I regret it! I always regretted it! I regretted it since the moment I came to this world!"
The creature laughed as Tang Ze sunk into the depths of despair.
"Good! Yes, so tantalizing it is indeed - your suffering is just so delectable. More! More! More!"