Murim Recurve

"You are…?" Ki\'Nua looked around in surprise at the tall lady, for this was the first time she was interacting with someone in the Withered Courtyard. All along, the moment she exited the room, she would wake up soon after.

So, it was surprising that there was a perfectly normal person in such a place where she visited a lot of times in her dreams.

"You can call me Ju\'Tha," The tall lady smiled, motioning for Ki\'Nua to accompany her as she walked on the road, "This hasn\'t been the first time we have talked, though."

"What…do you mean?" Ki\'Nua was shocked, hearing something that went against her experiences. Moreover, her shock stemmed from another astonishing fact. When Ju\'Tha said the statement, Ki\'Nua felt that it was the truth. Such a fact did confuse her, making her stare agape, rooted to the spot.

"It had happened really long ago though, so it isn\'t shocking that you can\'t remember it," Ju\'Tha smiled, thinking as she tapped her chin with her index finger, soon recalling the info as she spoke, "I think it was when you were around three years of age. On the first night when your Pranic Heart had begun to grow, you had appeared here."

"But how?" Ki\'Nua finally decided to learn the situation now that she had a chance to ask someone, even if she couldn\'t guess the inclination of the other party, "I never had any connection to the Withered Courtyard. So, how did I appear here? And that too at such a young age?"

"There was a connection though," Ju\'Tha smiled, "But, it wasn\'t through you. Rather, it was through your mother, Ki\'Nha."

"My mother shared a connection to this place?" Ki\'Nua was scared now, fearing something bad would happen to her mother.

Seeing her reaction, Ju\'Tha didn\'t console her, continuing to speak, "During one of her fights with a Sha, your mother was significantly injured. There was a lot of Ghost Qi deposited in her body. But, this heavy concentration of Ghost Qi caused her to stumble upon the Withered Courtyard."

"You mean, my mother entered this place in the flesh?" Ki\'Nua no longer had an idea as to what she should feel, intending to first hear the rest of the details.

"Yes," Ju\'Tha nodded, "She wasn\'t the first, and she wasn\'t the last either. At that time, the Withered Courtyard was situated right next to a mining village. Your mother fainted right after entering here. She stayed the entire night with us and left in the morning, thinking all along that she had stayed in that mining village."

"But," Ju\'Tha smiled, her lips curling up eerily as she looked at Ki\'Nua, "What your mother hadn\'t realised at that time was that fact that you were a month-old foetus in her. And, that was when you formed a connection with this place."

"Even before I was born…" Ki\'Nua stared vacantly, losing hope that she could extricate herself from the place.

"You don\'t need to fret," Ju\'Tha patted her head. "The Withered Courtyard won\'t do anything to you. Rather than getting harmed by this, you will be obtaining benefits instead."

"What…do you mean?" Ki\'Nua was confused. Moreover, she flinched when Ju\'Tha patted her head. For, all she could feel was ice-coldness, as if the other party was a block of ice.

"I suppose there is no harm in saying this to you," Ju\'Tha laughed, "You\'ll forget everything I said to you anyway. Only when you are here would you be able to remember it."

"This is what will happen to you," Ju\'Tha pointed at herself, "I was the same as you a hundred years ago."

"A hundred years ago?" Ki\'Nua was shocked, looking around as she shuddered. After all, the longer a Sha lived, the stronger and more mysterious it became. Moreover, it would grow beyond the extent a Harmoniser could handle.

Any Sha couldn\'t be scaled using common sense. Therefore, they had to be treated with caution and eradicated as soon as possible. Otherwise, if they continued to grow, they would soon destroy entire cities overnight.

"Yes," Ju\'Tha nodded, "My mother faced a similar situation as you. And because of it, I had developed a connection to this place. And, when I died, I became a Sha that was a resident of this place."

"What…? A Sha? How could that be possible? A Sha cannot form like that." Ki\'Nua refuted immediately.

"And, why do you think so?" Ju\'Tha leaned in on Ki\'Nua, letting out a derisive sneer, "Your Pranic Heart and meridians are made from Ghost Qi now. So, you are already a Pseudo Sha. Therefore, the moment you die, your corpse would absorb all the resentment and other negative emotions you had accumulated throughout your life and would be immediately born as a Sha."

"Why?" Ki\'Nua gritted her teeth, "Why do you want to make me a Sha? I just wish to be a Harmoniser."

"You are indeed a Harmoniser, still are." Ju\'Tha smiled, "The traces of Ghost Qi in your Pranic Heart and meridians would completely vanish after a day."

"Then…?"

"Let me finish," Ju\'Tha turned serious for a moment, causing Ki\'Nua to flinch as she spoke, "You wouldn\'t be able to live your life as a Harmoniser and wield the four elements dictated by your Cultivation technique, supposedly. But…"

The face of Ju\'Tha convulsed as she grew a pair of horns as her body began to bulge, turning into a beast. Before Ki\'Nua could register the other party\'s appearance, Ju\'Tha returned to her normal appearance, "All the Ghost Qi in you would condense in your Pranic Heart and form your Pranic Avatar."

"So," Ju\'Tha chuckled, "Your Pranic Avatar would be slightly different from the others in your Clan. And, when you die, it is your Pranic Avatar that becomes a Sha. And, if you wish, you can even use your humanoid form then."

Soon, they arrived before a house in the centre of the place as Ju\'Tha motioned for Ki\'Nua to enter inside, "You\'ll know more about everything inside. The Master of the Withered Courtyard will tell you."