studiobondurri 220. One Uneffected By Heaven’s Will
220. One Uneffected By Heaven’s Will
Jin Shu glanced over his shoulder at the little girl waving enthusiastically as he stepped out of the village he had privately dubbed the Village of Dread.Aptly named, considering their god.
He didn’t know the village’s real name—probably something far more pleasant. Probably.
He waved back to Xiao Nuhai, briefly considering turning around and taking the talisman from her. Giving something like that to a four- or five-year-old child was… irresponsible.
But it would be fine.
…Probably.
Shaking his head, he forced the thought aside. If everything went as planned, he would never see the village again. It would remain nothing more than a footnote in the long journal of his life.
Instead of dwelling on it, he pulled out his mother’s map and reoriented himself along her marked route.
His next destination was a medium-sized city—roughly the size of the one he’d grown up in. According to the instructions she’d left behind, there was something he needed to pick up from a shop there.
What it was, she hadn’t said.
Knowing her, it was nothing good.
With a quiet sigh, Jin Shu folded the map away and continued on.
***
Xiao Nuhai clutched the talisman she’d received from the handsome stranger.
She remembered his name.
Jin Shu.
Grinning, she sprinted through the streets of her village—Peaceful Village. The name made sense to her. Everyone waved as she passed, some calling out fondly.
“Xiao Nuhai, where ya off to in such a hurry?” the baker, Li Zhu, called.
She liked his bread—especially when he sprinkled sugar on it just for her.
“The woods!” she shouted, already gone.
“Be safe!”
She darted into the forest, scattering a group of horned squirrels from their perch. Deeper and deeper she ran, until the shadows thickened and light all but vanished.
A normal child might have been afraid.
Xiao Nuhai wasn’t.
He was here.
Moving through the trees as easily as if she knew them by heart, she eventually reached a clearing where light returned. A man sat at its center, cross-legged in meditation, his long, shaggy brown hair spilling over his shoulders.
“Da! Da!” she called, waving the talisman overhead. “Look what I got!”
The man opened his eyes.
They were like twin voids—black holes that swallowed the light around them, dimming even the sunlit clearing.
Xiao Nuhai didn’t hesitate. She ran straight to him and climbed into his lap, holding up the talisman proudly.
“Look, Da!” she said again. “I got a tawis man!”
“So you did,” the man said. His voice was deep and resonant, echoing like a distant moose’s bugle. “I take it you liked the birthday present I got you.”
She tilted her head. “What present?”
He pointed to the talisman.
“Da, you’re being silly,” she said. “I got dis from Jin Shu.”
“You’re right,” he said softly, shaking his head. “I am being silly.”
She nodded. “Weally silly!”
“We really should fix that speech of yours.”
“My speech?”
“Yes. It’s broken.”
“But dis is how everybody talks.”
“An oversight,” he murmured. “It was built using a child’s memories. I should correct that first.”
Xiao Nuhai tilted her head again, not understanding a word of what her dad was saying.
“That can wait,” he said. “Since you thought I forgot your birthday, I should give you another present.”
He tapped the talisman with one finger.
Black qi spilled outward, staining the pristine white paper a deep, inky black.
Xiao Nuhai frowned. “Ya didn’t weck it… did ya?”
He laughed. “No. I didn’t wreck it. I fixed the crude construction. It will no longer attack indiscriminately—and its power is now limitless.”
She didn’t look reassured. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes.
He sighed and waved a hand.
A plate appeared on the forest floor—stacked higher than she was tall with small cakes.
Her eyes lit up. She slid off his lap and immediately grabbed two handfuls.
“If I weren’t limited by this world’s heaven,” he said quietly, watching her eat, “I could give you far more than cakes. Still… I finally found someone unaffected by heaven's will.”
His gaze softened.
“At least now I can give you something to keep you safe.”
Xiao Nuhai glanced back at him, cheeks bulging like one of the horned squirrels she’d chased earlier.
The man smiled, softly, lovingly.
***
While walking, Jin Shu began testing his new runes. Two were inscribed behind his eyes, while the other two rested on the soles of his feet. Because of their hidden locations, they hadn’t required visible tattoos—a small mercy, considering the time crunch he’d been under while inscribing them.
The runes on his feet were identical: acceleration runes. They barely needed testing. Their effect was simple—his legs moved faster, which meant he ran faster. He could also kick faster, if he ever felt the urge to kick someone. Which, ideally, he wouldn’t.
The runes behind his eyes were more interesting.
The first was the eagle-eye rune. He scooped up a handful of roadside pebbles and flicked one forward, throwing it as hard as he could. His gaze followed it effortlessly, tracking its entire arc through the air without blinking.
On its own, the feat wasn’t particularly impressive. A well-trained mortal could accomplish something similar with enough practice. The real power revealed itself when the pebble struck the ground, bounced once, and rolled behind a nearby boulder.
Even after it vanished from sight, Jin Shu knew exactly where it had come to rest.
It wasn’t true x-ray vision—he couldn’t actually see through the stone—but once his eyes locked onto something, it was nearly impossible for it to escape his awareness. Only specialized concealment techniques might interfere.
The final rune was something special.
It had no direct combat applications, but its versatility was nearly limitless—as long as he could imagine a use for it.
With a thought, a three-dimensional image of his body appeared before his eyes. Another thought shifted the view inward, revealing the endless web of his meridian pathways in precise detail.
He drew his pistol and glanced at it. A floating number appeared above the weapon, displaying its remaining ammunition.
An illusion rune lay hidden behind his eyes, allowing him to perceive information invisible to others—unless he chose to share it.
“This is cool and all,” Jin Shu muttered, “but I don’t know how useful it’s actually going to be.”
“Actually, it will be very useful for one thing,” Shuang said. “Organization.”
“What…?”
“Here. Watch.”
Shuang activated the rune on his soul body and projected its function onto their physical form.
A transparent screen materialized before Jin Shu’s eyes, filled with neatly arranged information.
Current Cultivation: 2nd Stage Spirit Realm
Rune Count: Seven
Formation Count: Two
Countdown Until Next Inscribing: 1 week (6 days, 15 hours)
Money: 10 Spirit Stones, 150 Gold, 299 Silver
Jin Shu skimmed it, then waved a hand dismissively.
“Really? Is that necessary?”
“It certainly can’t hurt,” Shuang replied, “especially considering your track record.”
“Sure, but couldn’t we have just used the cellphone?”
“…This is cooler.”
“True,” Jin Shu admitted. “But you just didn’t think of that, did you?”
“Use it or don’t,” Shuang said flatly. “Either way, it’s there.”
“Hey, if this were a story,” Jin Shu said, “wouldn’t it have just turned into a LitRPG?”
“What? No,” Shuang replied flatly. “A LitRPG is about real life becoming game-like. This is just… taking notes. Or using an organizational app. Like Excel.”
“Yeah, but what if we game-ify it?” Jin Shu said. “Like this.”
The screen reappeared, this time summoned by Jin Shu himself. The information rearranged into something far more structured—and far more familiar.
Power Level: 2nd Stage Spirit Realm
Spirit: Long Xue Ling (Blood Spirit Dragon)
Effect: Unknown (Likes eating formations)
Runes
Strength
Location: Left Shoulder
Tattoo: White Tiger (Yin’er model)
Effect: Strengthens entire body
Stability
Location: Right Arm
Tattoo: Azure Dragon
Effect: Enhances shooting stability
Life-Giving
Location: Chest (over heart)
Tattoo: Creepy Skull (+cringey quote)
Effect: ???
Eagle-Eye
Location: Behind Eyes
Tattoo: None
Effect: Enhanced tracking ability
Illusion
Location: Behind Eyes
Tattoo: None
Effect: Summons illusions
Acceleration (x2)
Location: Both Soles
Tattoo: None
Effect: Increases speed by onefold (each)
Formations
Minor Deity (Modified)
Location: Dragon Scale (Xue Ling ate it…)
Effect: Replaces physical body with a lightning deity avatar. Power Level +2 Stages
Modification: Feeds on lightning to strengthen effect and duration
Pure-Light Trapping
Location: Dragon Scale (also eaten)
Effect: Creates an impenetrable barrier of light (extremely effective against ghosts and other supernatural entities)
“See?” Jin Shu said. “Isn’t that more game-like?”
“Sure,” Shuang admitted, “it’s formatted like a skill list in a game. But it still isn’t a LitRPG.”
“Why not?”
“Because it doesn’t actually change anything. These are still just our abilities—only organized better.”
“Yeah, but compared to Gold’s world, we’ve got special powers and a floating screen that lists them,” Jin Shu countered. “Bang. LitRPG.”
“That isn’t how that works.”
“How ’bout we ask Gold? The concept is from his world, after all.”
“Uh…” Gold hesitated. “I’ve never even read a LitRPG. So how would any of us know what qualifies?”
“…He has a point,” Shuang said. “If he doesn’t know then none of us could possibly know.”
“Plus,” Gold continued, “this isn’t a story. It’s real life. You can’t sort real life into genres—it’s not one person’s narrative.”
“But if you could…?”
“No.”
Jin Shu sighed. “Fine.”
The conversation lulled.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Nano said, “but why don’t you project the illusion outward? Would that not be far more useful?”
Jin Shu blinked. “Why would I want to show someone my personal information?”
“No. Not that,” Nano clarified. “You could create illusions of anything, and make others believe they are real.”
“Oh…”
Jin Shu paused.
“That’s… actually a great idea.”