Chương 138: 75-79
Chapter 75: The Governor
Sun Hu waited for the others to creep closer to the thorn, fingers tingling with pressure, heart thumping in his chest. There was little spiritual energy here, but with his Foundation, he could keep the chains alive long enough to make some trouble while the others handled that thorn.
Normally, once he unearthed the real culprit during an investigation, he would either gather a team of soldiers from the Emperor's Own or alert the Skyguard if the suspect was too powerful for them to handle, rather than making a move on his own.
But it was fair to say time was short in supply in Jiangzhen's situation. The formation or whatever it was that kept belching out this foul energy to the city was making more people sick with each passing second. He didn't know what this culmination would bring in the end. A terrible explosion? A sudden earthquake that would bring the whole city down with it? Or perhaps, Sun Hu rather thought, the honest folk of the city would be sacrificed for some unknown bastard's cultivation.
Things like that happened in the past, and it was usually the mortal cities that got the brunt of them.
Sun Hu shook the thoughts off and felt the spiritual energy stir within his Foundation. Toward the right side, Brother Lei, Young Miss Luli, and Brother Lou were making a cut through the shelves. There was an opening before them near the staircase, a direct path that they could use to reach the thorn.
His job was to make sure they weren't expected from that side.
The rattling of the chains filled into his mind. He grasped them with both hands, took a breath in, and counted the seconds. One. Two. Three. Then he sent them spinning toward the thorn, the chains carving a smooth path through the fog and aiming for the Governor's head.
Might as well make it count, was Sun Hu's thinking. If he could get the man with this simple attack, then it was all the better. If not, he would at least force him to respond, and that would confuse the others, which in turn would give Brother Lei the chance he needed.
Metal clanked against something hard. Sun Hu scowled at the sight. The Governor was sitting there, legs crossed and rotten face serene as a well, while the man sitting next to him hauled himself up to meet with the chains. They tore large chunks out of his arms before sending him reeling back, spattering yellow blood all across the ground.
His face remained indifferent even as his flesh squirmed around where the chains tore at him.
The others were stirring. Eyes opened and blanked at the odd sight where a pair of chains was curving around them to make another attempt on the Governor's life. Sun Hu caught a familiar figure there, watching the chains with eyes narrowed. Jin Longwei, his face barely visible under those thick sinews that pulsed strangely.
But it wasn't him who'd decided to try and stop the chains. It was a larger man, with arms long and skin a sickly pale color. Sun Hu had a hard time recognizing him as Mao Hu, as the man's facial lines were completely eroded under loose, wrinkled skin. He placed himself before the chains' path, trying to secure the Governor's back.
Others moved in and stood near him, nearly a dozen men circling the main bastard in a rotten carapace.
Our Governor needs to stay focused, then? That's good news.
Sun Hu smiled and spread his chains into a dozen long streaks. He sent some hurtling mindlessly about their fleshy circle, and a pair of others flying high into the ceiling to make a straight dive toward the Governor. Another pair was digging into the ground.
Let's see how you deal with this.
The marbled floor exploded as the chains dug deep, scattering bits of rock and gravel across the entrance. Rotten fog wavered unevenly around the circle of men, who looked like a bunch of fools gotten lost in a circus's crowd. Unaware. Senseless.
They look like they don't know what to do.
It'd been just a couple of days since he last saw them. Perhaps, Sun Hu thought, they couldn't get used to whatever change had happened in their bodies in such a short time. He knew that for some Death Cultivators, it took years to complete a similar transformation.
Chains clashed against their line. Bits of rotten flesh squelched down to the ground and melted the marble like acid poured over paper. Trouble was, the resulting fog that wafted from those holes was being sucked by those bastards. It patched the wounds around their bodies or even regenerated arms and legs that were torn off in a shower of yellowish blood.
Still, this was working. Through the corner of his vision, Sun Hu followed Brother Lei and the others as they cut down the distance. Every bit of those fools' attention was on his chains alone. They weren't aware of the real danger.
Good, we're nearly there.
His Foundation used what spiritual energy was left in his body. There was nothing here that could replace the emptied nodes, so Sun Hu breathed a sigh of relief when Brother Lei took off from the ground in a mighty jump, mace hauled up high in both hands. There was nothing between him and the thorn.
They succeeded.
....
Lei forced the mana-spiritual energy blend toward his fingers, arms aching, body shaking with the sudden force that sent a shiver down his back. The Maiden's Flame constantly supplied purified waves of mana to the Dao Seed, the tiny sprout working overtime to mix them with spiritual energy before sending it around his body.
Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as he brought down the mace. Behind the thorn, he could see a circle of men trying to protect the Governor from a barrage of chains that came from everywhere. He even saw Dai Aiguo throw himself over to the man when one of Sun Hu's chains dived high from the sky.
What are you doing?
He thought they'd face a strong resistance. These bastards had the numbers. They had the rotten mana that surrounded the Library. They had every advantage Lei could think of, but they weren't using any of them.
Why?
What was the point of undergoing that terrible transformation if it would leave them desperate in a situation like this?
Lei shook the thoughts off and focused on the mace. Its head inched slowly down toward the thorn. Green light reflected over its surface. No matter what was going on here, the moment he shattered this piece of metal, he could cleanse the city from rot. Then they would deal with those bastards one by one.
The heavy weapon crushed hard into the thorn.
It screamed. Not in sound but in a resonance that vibrated through the air, rattling his teeth and making the walls shiver. Lei barely managed to keep his grip on the mace as the thorn cracked and a dark, oily mist began to seep out from within.
Beyond the mist, the Governor's men reacted with a guttural roar. The ones holding the line against Sun Hu's chains grew frenzied. They'd already lost what was human in them, but now they seemed like a group of beasts flailing desperately without a thought in their minds.
Zhu Luli and Fatty Lou sprang forward from behind Lei, coming at the approaching beasts from the sides while the mace tore yet another part from the thorn. The fog was getting thicker. Bits of it tried to ooze into Lei's skin, only to pause when the Maiden's Flame welcomed them.
Tongues of flame darted about and coiled around the dark spheres that found their way inside Lei's body. They resembled the rotten mana, but felt different in a way that Lei couldn't quite understand. They were heavy, though, and were trying to press him down.
One more.
Lei wrenched the mace free from the thorn, slipped slowly down to the ground, breath hissing in his throat. Through the cracks that opened on the thorn, he could see something pulsing deep inside. Looked like a head-sized, round sphere that absorbed all the light around it. Staring at it filled Lei's mind with invisible fear.
But there was nothing to fear. The Governor was still in a state of deep meditation, the men-turned-beasts around him struggling against Zhu Luli and Fatty Lou. The ethereal chains leashed at them whenever they gave an opening.
Lei took one more breath, then he was off, raising the mace over his head to take a sweep at that black sphere. Dark mist splashed across his face. He snapped his mouth shut and eyes closed, letting his senses guide him.
A deep crunch sounded when the mace found purchase. The impact sent jolts of pain up Lei's arms, fingers shaking madly as he forced more energy into the weapon. The sphere resisted him. Its round surface was as hard as steel, ringing with a cry that dinned painfully loud in Lei's ears.
"Manners," came a voice, thumping in his mind. "They're rather important, don't you think?"
The air shifted. Fog coiled around Lei's arms and pushed him back… back until his feet touched the solid ground. When he pried his eyes open, he was standing before a man clad in robes as dark as the night. His face had yellowish spots oozing with pus, arms coated with the same-colored scales, and black mist cascading down his wide shoulders.
"You…" Lei muttered, disoriented as he swept a gaze around him. Beyond the thorn, Zhu Luli and Fatty Lou were still fighting against those beasts, the ethereal chains aiding them from left and right. And before the thorn… was him, with mace clutched tight in both hands, trying to crush the sphere.
"Its normal to get confused in your first spiritual journey," the man said and clasped his hands behind his back. A smile bloomed on his lips as he stepped over to Lei and glanced at the chaos around the thorn. "Quite the sight, I must admit. I would've been lying if I said I was expecting an intrusion to our little ritual."
The Governor…
Lei swallowed. There was a strange, almost surreal feeling about how everything looked around him. His feet and arms seemed just the same, but moving them was like trying to blow a breath through a clogged pipe. His body refused his commands. Or rather, there was a gap between his thoughts and his physical being.
Meanwhile, the man had no trouble moving. He was smiling as one might smile watching a good play. A sick show of strength that chilled Lei to his bones.
"What are you trying to do here?" Lei forced the words out of his throat. "Isn't this your city? Why are you killing the people?!"
"The people?" the Governor frowned as if confused, then he let out a throaty chuckle. "Oh, you mean them! The honest folk of Jiangzhen, right? I wouldn't worry about them if I were in your place."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lei hissed. He was trying to reach to his body, to the Maiden's Flame, hoping it would take him out from whatever this place was, but there was nothing there.
"It means, young man, that you're under the impression this city was ever yours, theirs, or anyone else's. But you see…" He spread his arms wide, as though embracing the chaos around them. "Jiangzhen is mine. Always has been. The people? They're merely a start to what is inevitable."
"What kind of monster are you?!" Lei spat.
The Governor tilted his head. "Monster? That's such an unimaginative word. I prefer visionary. What you see as destruction, I see as evolution. Or do you think we shall confine ourselves with the boundaries of cultivation? The so-called Immortal Path many a Sage just couldn't stop blabbering about? No… This is the future we must strive for. It's started already, and no one can stop it."
A faint tingle around his scalp. Lei frowned at the sensation. Then something crawled from the nape of his neck and poured into his eyes. It filled his body with warmth as he gazed at the Governor.
[Duàn Xiaowen - Level 27 Mana Cultivator]
"What?" Lei muttered shakily. "You have a level?"
The Governor turned toward him. His eyes widened slightly as he scowled in confusion. He searched Lei's face with a gaze that weighed upon his soul. He stepped back, hesitant, raising one clawed hand over his face—
A pair of fiery tongues slithered out from Lei's eyes. They streaked across with unimaginable speed and coiled around the Governor's body. He tried to claw at them, but the flame hissed at his touch and splattered over his arms, up his neck, and started burning him from within.
"Break!" the Governor roared suddenly.
The air blurred and twisted around Lei as the man wailed before him. The rotten fog wavered. The thorn turned upside down and then Lei was standing all crooked and looking down at his own body from above.
He barely saw through the corner of his vision the Governor pull something black from his robe, then… the world broke. Cracks ran through his vision like a mirror shattered by a fist. Everything was mixed in a dizzying mess that didn't make any sense.
"I told you to break!" the Governor's voice was sharp and furious. "You are my spiritual world, and you will listen!"
Parts of the world melted and started dripping in big droplets. Pieces of it scattered. Lei felt a sudden pull at his core, as if something was reaching him from a place that he couldn't see. He doubled over, breath wheezing through his lips, eyes burning with flames. It hurt. It hurt too much.
Then he froze. His vision shifted. It was dark for a moment, then bright light spilled into his eyes and showed him a familiar sight. His fingers were curled round the mace's handle, dark mist still oozing from the black sphere nestled deep in the thorn. Beyond that, Fatty Lou and Zhu Luli were facing off with the beast, protected by ethereal chains.
But there was someone else there. A man who stood behind it all, tall and mighty, yellow eyes peering straight into Lei's face. The Governor's face was twisted with cold fury. Clasped in his hand was a double-edged, rusted sword that sent chills down Lei's spine.
Lei shook himself off and breathed in deep. He hauled the mace for one last time and brought it down upon the black sphere with all his worth.
Chapter 76: More
The sphere cracked with a cry of agony, a deep wail that seemed to echo all around him. Streaks of black light poured out of it, cutting through the rotten fog like dark spears. They shattered the book shelves and crushed the pillars of the Library, gravel and bits of marble raining about in a shambling mess.
Something thumped in Lei's chest. The warmth was still there, around his eyes, forcing him to trail every dark streak like he was possessed. It nudged him like a stubborn child, insistent, yearning.
Lei raised his hands and let the flame out. Tongues of it darted forth, sparks scattering round the bookshelves and setting them ablaze, the Governor's men hissing painfully against their sight.
"You!" came the Governor's voice, furious. He swept his sword in a wide slash to force Fatty Lou and Zhu Luli to back off, and then hacked at the ethereal chains. Metal clanked harmlessly off the sword's rusted surface, Sun Hu pulling them back as he stepped out from his hiding place.
The Governor's men, all healed as the rotten mana kept feeding them, lumbered forward in a scattered line. The ones that still had eyes seemed aghast at the dark streaks flailing against the burning flames.
"What's happening?" Fatty Lou said, glancing at Lei, sweat dripping down his chin. "Those streaks…"
"The thorn is crumbling," Zhu Luli motioned with her head to the broken sphere, black mist still oozing out from it. Then she stared at Lei and blinked. "Your eyes… Where did those flames come from?"
Lei tapped a fist over his chest, just as confused. "I'm not completely sure, but that's not important right now. We have a bastard to kill."
"A Chosen here in Jiangzhen," the Governor muttered, yellow eyes fixed on Lei. The men around him parted to give him way, and he walked out from their circle with the sword clenched in his hand. "Who sent you? How could they know? Everything was hidden! Even these men knew nothing of the ritual, so how?"
All eyes turned at him, which made Lei laugh for some reason. "I guess you're not good at hiding as you've thought, Governor. Though I'm curious… Didn't you know what happened in the mountain and how we've dealt with that Elder Huang? Can't be that big of a surprise, right?"
"The mountain…" the Governor's eyes snapped at the older man who stood a step behind him, the one that kidnapped Snake and Stone. "You've told me it wasn't important. A mere slip on your side. What exactly had happened there?"
"I'm not familiar with the details," the man said with a gravelly voice. He had a few gray hairs left dancing over his wrinkled face, skin slimy and clawed fingers all yellow and black. He averted his gaze. "I've been told by one of those thugs that a stray group of cultivators barged into the mountain and rescued the kids, but Master remained undisturbed. That's why I didn't tell you anything."
"They killed your brother—"
"He was doing his job, and he did it well," the man cut the Governor's words sharply. He didn't seem to fear him even though the Governor stood a head taller than him and oozed with rotten mana. In fact, it was the Governor who seemed to be taken aback by the man's indifferent gaze. "I've lost thousands of brothers to get here. One more is nothing."
The Governor's eyes narrowed at him, fingers tight around the sword's handle.
"The past doesn't matter now," the man continued, sweeping Lei with a cold gaze. "What matters is the ritual."
"The thorn—"
"It's too late for them to do anything. We have gathered enough mana to aid him. Master is on his way," the man said with a smile that sent chills down Lei's spine. He then raised his clawed hands and stared at him. "But it's still nice of you to present your head to us, Chosen. The last one had managed to stall the inevitable, but you… You're still a budding, weak disciple. I'll make sure nothing stands in our way this time. Kill him."
Even though most of them looked barely human, the Governor's men glanced hesitantly at the Governor rather than obeying the rotten man's command. They still seemed to be intent on serving him.
The Governor himself looked conflicted, but that only lasted a second when he raised the sword and aimed its tip toward Lei's group. "Move! I don't care about the others, but get me that man's head."
A single command erased what hesitation was there in the men's eyes. They reared back like a bunch of beasts and lunged at Lei's group with madness that burned deep inside their eyes.
Lei raised the mace and twirled it round himself to force the beasts back, Zhu Luli and Fatty Lou using the opportunity to swipe at a few that tattered unevenly around the sides. A pair of ethereal chains caught one of them by the ankles, who Lei recognized as Dai Aiguo, and sent him sprawling over to a bunch of burning shelves.
It was chaos that followed after it. Zhu Luli's sharp fingers drilled holes through their rotten shells. Fatty Lou's fists crushed them brazenly, which he often followed with throwing the regenerating beast into the air where Sun Hu's chains waited.
Meanwhile, the Governor slashed at Lei with a force that made the air scream. Lei stepped back and ducked under it when the tip grew dangerously close in his vision. He sprang up swinging the mace, the heavy weapon light in his hands, and came at the Governor from the side as the bastard struggled to lift the sword up in time.
But the moment the mace crushed a portion of the Governor's shoulder, the rotten waves that spilled from the dark streaks instantly poured over and patched the wound. In return, the fog thinned visibly, just as it thinned whenever the tongues of flame consumed the dark streaks.
Once we've dealt with all those streaks, these bastards will stop regenerating.
Which was why Lei had to stall this man while the Maiden's Flame did the job. It seemed Zhu Luli and the others recognized the fact as they too had decided to favor hit-and-run tactics instead of throwing themselves at the enemy.
There was a problem, though. The more the Governor pressed him, the more Lei had to give up on precious space, which pushed him further toward the staircase. Around him, the shelves burned in lanes, and the fire sprawled over to the second floor, encapsulating them in a fairly narrow area. Lei thought his own flame wouldn't scorch him, but the terrible heat seemed to think otherwise.
So eventually, he would have to face the bastard.
He was okay with that. More than okay, in fact, he was expecting it. For too long, he'd been struggling against this enemy. For too long, he'd been tied with their ropes instead of living his life. This wasn't how he thought his second chance would go.
This city and his brother-in-arms. The kids and the new family he'd found. The restaurant. He had everything, more than he could've ever thought of, and yet it seemed it all came with a price. Nothing was fair in either of the worlds. What was fair, instead, was taken by one's own hands.
That was what Lei had to do. Claim them as his own. Refuse whoever dared to barge into his life. Make them regret.
The Dao Seed's tiny sprout fluttered within his body, sending another wave of purified energy up his meridians. His fingers clutched the mace so strongly that the wooden handle nearly cracked.
A wave of hot air splashed against his back. The heels of his feet thumped to the first step of the staircase that burned alive behind him. There was no running anymore.
Lei stopped. He saw the sword coming from a mile away. He ducked under it, let the rusted weapon clank against the marbled step, and drove his right shoulder into the Governor's stomach. The bastard doubled down and wheezed out through his lips. He fumbled with the sword, but the mace was there, waiting to claim its prize, coming from below with fury.
It crunched on his chin and tore half of his face off, sending him reeling back. Lei followed him closely and swiped at the hand holding the sword. The weapon clattered down. The Governor was left there bare and confused and disoriented as he gazed stupidly around him. Searching for help that wasn't there. Looking for a spot that was claimed by the Maiden's Flame.
What he found instead was Lei's mace. The weapon caught him by the side of his chest and hurled him down to the ground. He spat out blackish blood and waved a clawed hand at Lei. Rotten mana oozed with his command, coming in waves and drilling into Lei's body.
"More, you fucking bastard!" Lei screamed at his face as he hauled the mace in the air. "Send me more!"
Arms aching, muscles straining, he brought the sword down just as the Maiden's Flame consumed the last dark streak coursing in the air. There was nothing left to aid these bastards. With one last crunch, Lei would send the Governor to whatever the hell he belonged.
A shadow darted from the side. Clawed fingers swiped at the mace and forced Lei to step back. He was thrown off balance, mace in the air, eyes trailing the shadow. Elder Huang's brother. That old bastard turned and twisted in the air before lunging at him with both hands stretched.
I can't…
Lei tried to think, to come up with a way that would protect him from those closing claws, but his body refused to move. He was too slow. The mace weighed him down, and gravity worked against him. His Spiritual Sensitivity skill was screaming in his mind, but there was nothing he could do. Nowhere to move.
"The System will punish me for this," the old man hissed with wicked pleasure. "But I'll do everything for the Legion. Die, Chosen. This world will be ours!"
The claws inched slowly toward his eyes. Lei watched him with breath stuck in his throat. It was over. He would—
"Back off!"
A little arm stretched from the side, fingers glistening painfully sharp. Another one was coming from the back, this one muscled and strong, fist aiming at the rotten man's face. They both found purchase the moment Lei's feet touched the ground and sent the men sprawling.
Snake gave Lei just a momentary glance before lunging back at the bastard. His Thousand Node Fingers drilled into him like sharp awls, spattering yellowish blood all over his robe. Stone was close, pinning the man with both arms to the ground, allowing Snake to deal one blow after another.
Beyond, Lei saw Little Yao and Little Mei pulling a beast away from Zhu Luli, who was deep in their ranks. Fatty Lou was there beside her, with Sun Hu holding their backs as they slowly forced the Governor's men toward the burning shelves.
"I'm not alone…" Lei muttered, then scowled when he caught the Governor reaching for his sword. "But looks like you are, you piece of shit. No one's left for you."
The Governor looked at him, eyes narrowed down and fingers trembling as they touched the sword's handle. His chest rattled with a strange laughter as he looked up at the Library's ceiling. The fog was almost gone, the dark streaks no more, but the man was cackling madly.
"It's over!" he was saying when the ground underneath their feet trembled all of a sudden. "It's over. He's healed! Back to whole again!"
The ceiling broke. A wave of rotten mana swept across the Library and quenched all the flames burning around them. It filled the interior with a sickening, heavy fog that made them sluggish.
Chapter 77: Master
Yellow blood dripped from the hole in the ceiling, running along the streaks of punctured marble and down into the roaring flames. A rain of acid that turned Lei's blood cold. There was a dark silhouette there, beyond the hole, two emerald eyes looking down at them.
"Master!" the Governor wailed, fingers stretching out toward the man in black. The others stirred behind him, staring hesitantly up at the figure. Lei caught mixed emotions in their gazes. Fear. Pain. But more importantly, hope. A faint glimmer in their eyes.
The figure in black waved a hand in response. The air picked up from around and pushed Snake and Stone off the rotten man, Zhu Luli and Fatty Lou back from the beasts. The invisible current then dragged the Governor and the rotten man to the other side, where they joined their pitiful company.
"Get here," Lei gestured at Zhu Luli and the others as he rubbed his arms. He made sure to get the kids behind his back before looking up. His heart tightened. His head throbbed. The so-called Master, the bastard behind all of this, finally decided to reveal his presence.
"Ah…" came a rasping, hissing voice as a rotten hand grabbed the edge of the broken hole. It was then joined by another hand as the Master clenched his fingers around the edges and jumped down from the hole, landing with a grace that didn't fit the state his body was in.
His robe was torn in more than a dozen places, soiled with yellow blood and revealing the sickly, slimy skin underneath. There was a terrible gash across his face, which nearly split his nose open. Flesh squirmed along the cut and tried to stitch itself back, but failed as a faint spiritual energy pulsed from inside that streak. Like others, it was hard to tell his age. The expression, the scaled skin, and those emerald eyes… The man looked more like a snake than a human.
Right after he landed, he swept his gaze across the two groups and let out a humorless chuckle. A part of his lips was missing, showing his rotten cave of a mouth that was filled with broken teeth and a tongue that stretched unusually long.
"A little town. A stubborn fool. A simple mountain," he growled with what Lei thought was incredulity. Then he gazed deeply at Lei. "And now a simple Chosen. Your gods do like their games here in Three Realms, do they not?"
"Master, your wounds…" the rotten man who stood beside the Governor said shakily, his face looking confused as he neared the Master. "You should've been healed after all that mana… What happened?"
The Master gave him a disappointed glance and shook his head. "We've been caught, Silug, by what we've been warned for. What we've been cautioned against. The invisible threads stretch ever close now, can't you see? All around us they flail, rejecting our presence with a deep-rooted disgust. We've been compromised."
The man called Silug looked like he was about to say something when the Master waved him off and turned to Lei. His slitted eyes glinted strangely. "So tell me, Chosen, whose spawn are you? Are you perhaps one of Xuanwu's sons? But wait, surely not, as you have not the signs of that old turtle's blood. Or is it Hou Yi? Where is your bow, then? I see that mace in your hands, and yet I can tell from your fingers that you're not a master of that weapon."
Lei looked at him, holding the mace close to his chest. The man's voice had a strong quality to it, but even now yellow blood was pouring out from that long gash that nearly ripped his face in two. He could also feel trickles of mana oozing from his skin, too, as if at each passing moment the bastard was losing that precious source for which they contaminated every part of Jiangzhen.
"I respect your discretion. It's often a quality many of your kind lack," the Master said with a smile tugging at his broken lips. Then he glanced over at the burning flames and tapped a clawed finger to his chin as if confused. "Flames… Of a strange quality, as well. I'm afraid I can't tell just by looking at them. I should've studied more when I had the chance. Know your enemy first, as your kind likes to say, eh?"
"Who are you?" Lei finally asked, his heart thundering in his chest.
"Not very kind of you to ask when you've refused to humor my questions, now, is it?" he said, shaking his head. "But I'd be happy to tell you everything if you answer this one question of mine. What do you say?"
"Go ahead," Lei said. "Ask."
"When did you open your eyes to this world?" he asked.
Lei's skin crawled as he looked at the man. He felt Fatty Lou and Zhu Luli's gaze on his back, poking into him like invisible needles. "What kind of question is that?" he said hastily. "I was born in—"
The Master raised a hand at him. "I'm not talking about that body's birth, young man. I'm asking you, the soul that now occupies that body, the one that speaks to me now. Tell me, was it right after we'd clashed with that stubborn fool, the one I buried on that day after paying a terrible price? Was your body one of the victims that got killed when a part of the city fell?"
Lei trembled. He stepped back, eyes wavering. How? How did this man know that he wasn't from this world? Or rather, how could he know that Lei opened his eyes to this world after a part of Jiangzhen got crushed by a cultivator attack?
It was him. The reason why my soul brother died. This… can't be a coincidence.
"I…"
"You need not say anything." The Master started smiling. "I think I've got my answer." Then his chest rattled as that tiny smile turned into a cackling laughter that echoed around the Library. He clutched his heart and bent down, blood spurting out from between his fingers. Still, he laughed, and his empty, mad voice filled Lei's mind.
"FATE!" Voilanth roared. He reached with a hand and yanked his rotten aide by the arm, forcing his face to look at Lei's group. "See them, Sigul? There's your answer."
"M-Master, I-I don't understand—"
"It's happening again," the Master hissed at him. "Paradise in this wretched world, we thought, when we discovered that mountain, knowing not it was an Immortal's prison! Foolishly, we believed thousands of souls lived in this city, a place their guardians cared for not. Sheep waiting to be harvested. Sheep laid bare before us as a gift!"
He threw Sigul to the ground and clasped his hands over his face. His laughter dinned in Lei's ears. Sent shivers down his spine. The man was mad. Too lost in his own mind that he kept uttering words that didn't make any sense.
"Be ready," Lei said to his group. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Where are my manners!" the Master said a moment after, then straightened his back and wiped his face. He gave Lei a simple smile. "I've said I'll tell you everything, and so I shall. Young Chosen, my name's Voilanth. I'm one of the commanders of the Legion, sent here by the Everquest to claim this world. Thousands came before me. Thousands are on their way through the Crack, now. This is a war you can't win."
"War?" Lei muttered. He clenched his fists and set his jaw tight. "You've made the whole city sick, turned all those guards into your minions. They became mindless, rotten zombies. You've made the honest people in Jiangzhen bleed just because you wanted to patch your wounds, and yet you call this a war?"
Lei swept his hand out at him, then around his group. "I see no soldiers here. Just a group of beasts and people trying to stop them. Where is your army, then? What is your aim? What have these people done to deserve any of this?"
"People?" Voilanth arched an eyebrow at him. "This isn't about people, young man, nor is this something us lessers have any say in. This is just the way it is, always has been. The System gives the quest, and we oblige lest we die in its terrible claws. Don't think that little trick your gods have pulled off will protect you from it."
"Little trick?"
"You've got a System, no?" Voilanth sneered at him. "A most genius attempt, I must say. A bridge between the two worlds. Your gods knew they couldn't protect their precious Daos from the tides of the Endless Hordes. They needed more, so they decided to play a dangerous game and created abominations that didn't belong to any side."
"This…" Lei swallowed nervously, slightly shaken by the words.
"Or what, did you really think you've been granted a gift just because you're special?" Voilanth continued. "What about the others before you, then? Were they special too? I've heard the last one that governed your world. The Emperor, is it? Do you ever wonder what has happened to him? Where that gift had forced him to move? That is no blessing, young man. It is a curse. One that's been shackled onto you just to delay the inevitable."
He stepped over and stretched a hand toward him. "But I can help. If you come with me, you won't have to worry about any of this. The Legion will give you whatever you want. It can save you from fighting a battle that's already been lost."
The moment Lei had laid his eyes on that inviting hand, a heavy pressure settled over his shoulders. A terrifying consciousness had drilled into his mind and watched, curiously, his thoughts and everything he'd ever experienced. The air stirred around him. Thunder crackled.
An intense force pulled at his heart, making the Maiden's Flame roar in response. It started thrashing around, disturbed, panicked. It wailed a painful song that hacked at Lei's mind.
'Ding! The Overseer has invited you to the Endless Hordes. Do you accept?'
Lei tried to wave the notification off, but he paused when everything changed in his vision. He saw acres of land stretch before him, lush grass swaying lazily in the wind. Trees towered high into the sky, circling a two-story building that seemed to be made from quality wood. Its door was open and the sound of laughter drifted from inside, carried by the wind.
Then Lei was there, inside the place, sitting cross-legged before a big table. Fatty Lou was beside him, one hand over Snake's shoulder and the other hand pulling Stone in a tight hug. Before them, Zhu Luli was surrounded by other kids, Master Li and Granny Xu looking down at them with beautiful smiles. The squirrel squeaked gently in the back, face smeared with all kinds of food. Even Old Ji was there, all healed.
A sign was hanging from the back wall, words carved along its surface. It read 'Family Restaurant'.
"Accept it," came an ethereal voice, thumping in his mind. "You've braved long enough. This isn't your fight. Accept it and I shall have your dreams realized. Away from the conflict. Away from any of this. Just one simple 'Yes'."
Lei staggered back. This was peace. Home. It was something he lacked during his first life. A dream that he didn't know he yearned for. It'd become real in his second chance, but they sullied it. Threatened to tear it into pieces. Yet it was here again, being displayed before him in the most perfect way that was possible.
But he frowned. The more he gazed at them, the more he began to suspect that there was something wrong here. His chest felt empty, just like how those faces lacked a certain warmth that made them real. It was as though they were guided by invisible strings, like puppets dragged by their Master somewhere beyond where he could see.
Warmth filled into his heart. The Maiden's Flame screamed in defiance, pouring out from his eyes and his mouth, lunging over to Fatty Lou's body. It burned his smooth skin then spattered to Snake and Stone before moving toward the sign hanging from the wall.
Everything around Lei started melting into a sludge that reeked of rot and death. Before he could do anything, he was standing inside a river of blackish yellow, the current sizzling, his skin crawling as the foul source tried to seep in.
Still the Maiden's Flame burned. It tore the river in pieces and scorched its surface with fury. It cleansed whatever that was wrong around him and turned Lei's vision back to him where he faced Voilanth's inviting hand once again.
He looked up at the man, fingers clenching tight around the mace's handle. A smile strained on his lips.
"I refuse," he said, and swung the mace at the bastard's face.
Chapter 78: Last
The air screamed as the mace bounced off an invisible barrier. Thunder crackled high above. Beyond the hole, high up in the sky, purple clouds churned in a storm and sent streaks of sharp winds down to the Library.
Lei's Dao Seed fluttered in response, feeding the Maiden's Flame like fuel created solely for this purpose. His fingers itched as the warmth took control. His heart thumped strong in his chest. The mace looked so small now, the handle thin like a stalk about to crack. The palm of his hand pulsed with a strength he hadn't known existed.
And yet Voilanth was smiling. A triumphant, sick smile stretched his lips. With one clawed hand, he called a sphere of pure yellow and guided it toward the ceiling, where it patched over the hole to keep the winds outside. He then tore a piece of the sphere and snapped his fingers. A shower of yellow pus rained down and quenched the burning shelves.
"Fate," he rasped as the others stirred behind him, confused and hesitant. "Ever the Maker that plays us like pawns on a wooden board. I'm afraid we have to accept that a different world comes with its own set of rules. Might as well play it, don't you think? Might as well accept the gift."
"It doesn't matter how many times you ask. My answer won't change," Lei said as the spiritual energy-mana blend burned across his veins. He could sense it now with clarity—how currents of it boiled in Zhu Luli and Fatty Lou's bodies, how Snake and Stone were full of it. It almost seemed their meridians had been changed for this moment, prepared to house this strange energy.
The only exception was Sun Hu. He was the strongest of them, and yet he seemed to have trouble just standing there on his feet. His face was pained. His meridians were empty. They felt normal to Lei now that he'd seen them—too normal to accept mana.
All that food. All those skills. And lastly, the Chef's Touch. Is this why I was given the System? To prepare for the war this bastard had spoken about?
This gift was meant to be shared, that Senior Brother of his told him. Lei had been sharing it for the longest time. Every day they dined at the same table, all together, with Lei's food on the plates. Every single day.
"I wasn't talking about the invitation," Voilanth hissed at him wickedly. "I was talking about you. Even if fate brought us here and played us like fools, it doesn't change the fact that you are now standing before me. A budding Chosen. A chance for me to make sure this world will be ours in the end."
"Try me, bastard!" Fatty Lou roared and lunged from Lei's side, coming at the Master with his eyes blazing and fists screaming in the air. Zhu Luli joined him right after, the fingers of her right hand gleaming painfully sharp. Sun Hu's chain stretched from her back.
Fists plunged into his face as Voilanth just… stood there. Bones snapped. Fatty Lou jerked back in pain, holding his right fist to his face, his knuckles all bruised and purple, a bone sticking out from his palm.
Then fingers drilled into the bastard's rotten carapace. Zhu Luli strained visibly against the hard shell as Sun Hu's chains coiled around his ankles. Lei felt the shift before it happened and was too late to scream at her when a rotten wave of mana splashed against her face, sending her reeling back.
Blood ripped from her fingers. Nut-sized holes opened in the back of her palms, the rot sizzling over their surface. Just the sight of it made Lei wince, but Zhu Luli didn't seem too bothered by it. Instead, she was looking straight into Voilanth's eyes with fury.
"A good opening," Voilanth chuckled at them like a proud teacher praising his students. He then turned toward his own group. "But now, let us put an end to this game. Kill the others. I shall deal with the Chosen myself."
Beasts lunged from behind him, unrecognizable faces oozing with pus. Voilanth's aide and the Governor joined them as well.
"Brother Lou, your hand—"
"I'm fine," Fatty Lou cut Lei's words with an assuring nod. "You focus on that piece of shit. We'll deal with the rest."
"The flame!" Zhu Luli said as the beasts closed in on them. "I don't know how you did it, but call it again. The rotten mana's gone now."
"Understood," Lei said as he gazed at the kids. Worry clouded his mind just for a second before he steeled his thoughts. "Be careful," he said to the trio that looked at him. "If something happens to us…"
He left the last part unsaid and focused on the Master.
The Maiden's Flame still burned in his heart, but it was weary, almost too spent to pay heed to his calls. From how the Dao Seed kept feeding it, it would take some minutes before he could use it again.
He needed to stall.
Voilanth wasn't about to let him.
He neared Lei with a lazy look on his face and tipped his head as if this was some medieval duel. When Lei didn't return the gesture, the bastard frowned ever so slightly. He then stretched a clawed hand and pointed his index finger at him.
"You're an abomination," he said. "A being that can hold mana and spiritual energy both. I'm curious as to how that exactly works. When I'm done with you, I'll be using that shell to study the intricacies of a being that should not have existed. Come now. Try your best. Show me your worth."
Lei swung the mace yet again at Voilanth's face, his Spiritual Sensitivity skill alerting him that the same barrier still stood strong. Like an extra layer of thick skin, it coated the bastard from head to toe, an armor mere flesh couldn't hope to ever breach.
But there was no choice for Lei but to try. He refused to believe that the man's shell would remain strong after a flurry of attacks. If more force was what it would take to tear it apart, then Lei would happily oblige.
The mace clanked harmlessly off the slimy skin, sending a jolt of pain down Lei's arms. He used the momentum to turn himself around and dragged the mace horizontally to plant another blow to Voilanth's waist.
Face creasing, this time the bastard stepped easily back and let the mace fly before him. His eyes glinted when Lei's side left completely open. He let out a chuckle and lunged closer at him, driving a clawed hand into Lei's gut.
Pain blasted into his stomach like a living fire. It streaked up his body. It was warm around his skin for a second, then it got cold, making him tremble. It took everything for Lei to tear himself back from the poisonous claws.
He could feel the rotten mana working its way inside his veins, filling his head with terrible pain. The world spun and twisted about him. Lights blinked in and out, breath wheezing in his chest.
Then came another one, this time right below his waist. When Lei forced his eyes to open, he saw the bastard there on his face, claws plunged deep into Lei's gut, blood pouring out from their sides. A reeking, rotten breath splashed into his face.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Voilanth said and leaned closer before pulling his claws sideways to tear a long gash across Lei's waist.
The mace tried and failed to force him back. It couldn't even open a dent in that invisible armor as Lei wheezed out a breath. As Voilanth was about to swipe at his neck, chains stretched from behind and clanked hard against the bastard's claws.
He retreated back in a shower of sparks that spattered from his claws, which gave Lei a moment to breathe.
His eyes kept closing. He had to forcefully pull his lids back lest he'd lose his sight. The fresh pain that screamed from all over his body slowly turned into a dull sting that he barely felt anymore. Nothing to hear. Nothing to see. All blood and tears round his face.
Beyond, Zhu Luli and the kids were fighting a losing battle. The squirrel moved around them and made sure the kids remained safe, which put most of the pressure on Zhu Luli and Fatty Lou's shoulders. With one lifeless fist, his brother-in-arms was having trouble fighting off against four monstrous beasts.
Their bodies were riddled with wounds. Blood had painted their robes crimson. Even Snake had a long cut around his right arm where he patched it with a piece of cloth. It was people against mindless creatures. The Governor's men had only one thing on their minds.
Kill these cultivators.
Lei tried to shake himself off. He couldn't continue like this. He had to do something, anything to change the tide.
Flame… Maiden's Flame…
He called at it, but he could barely hear its pulse. Too spent to move. Too tired to hear his pleas.
"Off you go, Chosen," Voilanth rasped a throaty laugh. "Off you go to the place you belong. The Depths will welcome you! It's only right for you to become a part of that deep emptiness!"
The Master came at him slowly, smiling, the gash across his face still throbbing with a sharp spiritual energy. Lei found himself looking at that cut. Thinking. Questioning.
What could've caused this bastard to bleed like that?
"No!"
"Ah!"
A boy's cry. Lei snapped his head at the sound. His eyes widened. Breath stuck tight in his throat when he saw the Master's aide, or rather who he was holding with both his hands.
Clawed hands had wrapped around Snake and Stone's necks, strangling them, their faces white and lips breathless.
"Get off me!" Lei roared and swung the mace with all his worth.
Voilanth waved the blow off with terrible ease. He looked at Lei with pleasure in his eyes.
"It hurts, doesn't it? This is what the Everquest had reduced us to. You and me, young man, we mean nothing. Those kids mean nothing. Mere playthings. You just have to accept the fate you've been given."
"No!" Lei screamed, and yelled, and tried to force his way, but Voilanth refused to let him. His claws tore chunks of flesh from his arms. Dug holes deep into his chest. Pain and fury struggled against each other. When they both receded, what Lei was left with was desperation.
He watched, blood dripping down his chin, the life slowly leaving Snake and Stone's eyes. The boys were struggling. Both of their right arms were stretched.
Then it dawned on Lei the reason why. For one last time, before death claimed them, they were trying to hold hands.
Tears streamed down Lei's eyes.
The boys managed to hold their hands as Sigul squeezed their necks tighter. Lei saw in that moment a peace in the kids' faces. Metal clanked as they touched the copper rings they wore on their hands together.
Light bloomed.
An explosion rocked the Library.
The walls shivered and groaned. A pillar near the entrance broke off in a cloud of dust.
Lei swayed dangerously on the tip of his heels against the impact, barely making out a pair of little silhouettes who stood with their right arms stretched. Silver light had coated over their hands. The rotten aide that held them was… nowhere in sight.
What is that?
Lei scowled in confusion. Light was pouring out of those copper rings. Cruel, sharp lights that even looking at them made his eyes ache. They pooled somewhere above the kids and coalesced into a shape that looked oddly like a sword.
It turned ever so slowly and pointed its tip at the Master's back.
"Master Grim, no!" came Stone's voice.
Voilanth's eyes widened at the sight of the sword. "Can't be…" he muttered. "You were dead! I killed you with my own hands!"
There was no response. Only a clear cry of metal as the sword darted forward. Voilanth tried to move out of its way, but the sword was too fast. In just a moment, it closed the distance and lodged deep into the bastard's chest.
Something snapped. Sounded like a mirror shattered under a great force. The sword of light fell apart the moment its tip pierced Voilanth's layer of invisible armor, its lights scattering across the Library.
Lei blinked at the sight as Voilanth floundered back to his feet. He looked unhurt, his chest as slimy as ever, but there was a panicked, almost pained look on his face.
In that moment, a sudden warmth coiled Lei like his mother's embrace. It held him tight and gave strength to his feet. He winced, blinking at Voilanth's shocked face. He caught the surprise before the bastard shaded it with a deep scowl. He must've felt it too.
The rotten mana that was wreaking havoc in Lei's body… The Maiden's Flame was eating it away.
"What is that flame…" Voilanth raised a hesitant hand at him, looking greatly troubled and confused. "How could you purify the death mana? That should not be real!"
"It is," Lei said as he threw the mace away and willed the Maiden's Flame to show itself. Tongues of it crawled from the depths of his eyes, stretching in fiery streaks over his arms before densifying around his fingers. "Now, it's my turn."
Lei leapt forward, fists blazing with flames, breath hissing in his throat. He came at Voilanth with such speed that the bastard could only raise a shaky hand at him when he had already closed the distance. Burning fingers clenched around his slimy neck. They touched the rotten, sickly skin. There was no armor anymore. Nothing that could protect it from Lei's fury.
"I will kill you," Lei said to him, looking straight into his slitted eyes. "And you'll die knowing that even the fate that brought you here couldn't save you from me."
The Maiden's Flame tore Voilanth's skin wide open. Lei's fingers clenched tight around his neck and squelched into the pouring yellow blood. With one last scream, he snapped the bastard's neck off.
[You have defeated Voilanth - Level 125 Rotscale Viper]
[You have leveled up! 3 stat points gained!]
[You have leveled up! 3 stat points gained!]
...
...
[You have leveled up! 3 stat points gained!]
[You have leveled up! 3 stat points gained!]
[Achievement Unlocked - The Chosen's Fate]
[Warning! The Overseer acknowledges your presence!]
[Your presence has been revealed to all the Everquest participants in the wide circle of your world!]
'Ding!'
[Quest Available!]
Loud sounds rang in Lei's mind as Voilanth's limp body slipped slowly from his hold. His neck bent hideously to the side, yellow blood pouring out from where the Maiden's Flame bit deep into his skin. Mana rushed in waves from his body into Lei's chest, gravitating toward the Dao Seed and getting sucked into that tiny sprout.
It fluttered joyfully as it purified the energy, sending a part of it up to Lei's meridians, another part of it oozing slowly to the round seed. The black sphere stirred and started shaking. In his mind-vision, Lei saw two more holes open around its surface where two little sprouts showed themselves.
They looked so pristine and felt so intimate that for a second Lei forgot where he was.
A guttural roar pulled his mind back. Through the corner of his vision, he saw the Governor sweep a hand toward the others and force them back before lunging furiously toward him. His whole body trembled as he kept stealing glances at the Master's dead body. Behind him, Sigul was no different, looking shaken, face white as paper.
With waves of mana-spiritual energy blend coursing through his veins, Lei needed not to fear a mindless beast coming at him. His knuckles cracked loudly when he clenched his right fist. He stepped sideways, waiting, then ducked under the Governor's sheeting blow and brought his fist up with crushing force.
His fingers plunged into the bastard's stomach and sent him sprawling over to the side, skin sizzling as the Maiden's Flame that spattered from Lei's hand started burning his skin. He let out a terrible shriek.
A loud crunch sounded close by. Lei snapped his head back to the chaos and saw another beast being flattened by Fatty Lou's fist. His wounded hand hung limp beside him, but it seemed his brother-in-arms needed only one hand to deal with this bunch.
What remained of the Governor's men tried to attack him, but Zhu Luli's fingers slashed across their necks, and they fell in a shower of rotten blood and pus.
In the thick of the muddle were Snake and Stone, punching a still-shocked Sigul and bloodying his face beyond recognition.
Sun Hu was there, chest heaving, trying to take deep breaths from the recently opened hole in the ceiling. Spiritual energy was washing in from the sky where the purple clouds could be seen, mixed with the tiny drops of rain that spattered against the puddles of rot.
Lei breathed in and dragged himself, wincing, toward the group as Fatty Lou and Zhu Luli handled the rest of the beasts. Altogether they stood behind Stone and Snake. The Master's aide still lived. Little fists crushed into his chest, arms, and face.
"Hah…" Lei sighed heavily at the sight.
He wanted to tell them to stop, that everything was all right now, but he couldn't. The boys' faces told everything. The time they'd spent in the Mountain, all the things that had happened to their new family… It was because of these people. They tried to take away what was theirs, and now they had to pay the price.
This is a cruel world, Lei thought, and to our enemies, there's no other choice for us but to act in a proper way.
This was their reality.
No matter how he wanted to deny it, and no matter how he wanted to tell himself that no kid should experience something this heavy, it didn't change the facts.
So he let the kids beat the man into a pulp. He waited for them to get tired and then leaned slowly closer to them.
They looked up at him, faces smeared with streaks and blood. They looked confused. Angry. Relieved. All the emotions mixed into stares so blank that Lei's heart ached facing them.
In the end, he gestured for Little Mei to get close. The girl obliged, nearing him.
Lei stretched his bloody arms out and cuddled all three of them. Others joined close after. They embraced each other and cried.
Chapter 79: Aftermath
Once the fog lifted from the city, the terrible destruction was laid bare for all to see. Most of the library was gone, scorched by flames and riddled with holes. Precious marbled tiles lay in scattered messes around it, limp bodies of guards mixed between them. What books remained inside were forced to face the natural elements as rain streamed down from the sky.
The Governor's Palace was no more. The peak that housed the grand place now looked like an abandoned set of ruins that housed the bodies of nameless guards who had either succumbed to the sickness or been killed off by Sun Hu's ethereal chains while he was trying to destroy the thorn.
But what really struck Lei was the empty looks on people's faces. Most of them were aware that they had lived through something terrible, though only a few seemed to know what it really was. The sickness still clung to them even as the source of it was removed from the city.
So Lei and the others couldn't rest in the following days. There was still a job to do, people to rescue, and a city to pull back from the depths of desperation.
Thankfully, they found Aunt Lifen in the depths of the library along with some others, mostly healers who had been captured when the Governor's men found out they were handing out a remedy that could heal the sickness. They looked like they'd been through some dark times, but the weight of the responsibility made them reliable allies.
They set up stalls around the city while Lei and Zhu Luli prepared cauldrons of the remedy inside the restaurant. People lined up before the healers. Kids carried batches of medication to the ones shackled to their beds.
It was a common effort in a period of silence. Without the guards and a board to guide them, people patched their own wounds. They cried together in the squares for the ones they'd lost. Laughed when the sick got healed. Praised the Heavenly Cook and the Herbalist who'd pulled them out of their miseries.
There was one thing Lei made sure everybody knew: no matter who they were, and no matter how old or young they were, there was always some food for the sick people of Jiangzhen in the restaurant. The doors were opened wide, and beyond the wooden walls, smoke wafted in beautiful waves as the Chef and his staff kept working on.
They carried tables, laying them before the restaurant—dozens of them stretching in long lines, hundreds of people joining in each meal, carrying their own chairs. Pain became something they shared openly. Stories were told about the ones who were no more.
All throughout this, Lei worked in silence and with a guilt that was mixed into his selfish relief. He was relieved because his newly found family was still around him—everyone. But there were people out there in the city who had lost someone during the chaos. He felt guilty because of his own relief.
Snake and Stone kept cultivating in the backyard, their eyes bloodshot after all the tears they'd shed. Lei learned from them that the sword of light that had appeared on that day came from their mysterious master. Snake had told him, eyes teary, that he was a wise and old man who liked to talk in a roundabout way, always stretching the words to sound clever, never letting him get his way.
Lei was more than surprised when he heard his name was Master Grim. When Zhu Luli learned of this matter, she made them sit at a table and told them tales about him: an Immortal of old, with a fearsome reputation that stretched over hundreds of years. Many thought him a mere legend, some tale made up to scare unruly children.
But after that day, he'd become a true hero to the pair of kids and Lei alike. He would be ever remembered as one.
Meanwhile, Master Li and Granny Xu had shown their wisdom through these chaotic times. They guided the lost and established order in the city. They took promising youngsters and made them act as guards. They took people who were masters in their professions and rallied them to the work.
Slowly, the broken city was healing itself.
....
It was another day in the restaurant, and the counters were full of ingredients. The kitchen staff, ever the diligent chefs, were waiting for the Head Chef to decide what sort of menu they would be serving for today's lunch. There were ideas, of course, but Lei could see they were keeping their silence with patience.
"Alright, chefs!" he said, sweeping his eye across them. Before him stood Little Jiao, Ning, Yunru, and Chuanli—his most reliable staff members, who had proved their talents in the field of cooking. Behind them, though, was a crowd of people staring expectantly at him.
Now that they had removed the outer walls of the restaurant to expand the kitchen, they could let dozens of cooks get in line before him. Lei didn't know how it happened, but at some point, a good part of the city started eating their meals around here, and there was no way his little team could provide hundreds of people a good meal each day. So more help was needed.
Well, the food is free. That plays a part, I guess.
Another part, a bigger one to Lei's thinking, was the experience itself. After all the things that had happened in Jiangzhen, nobody wanted to stay alone. The notion of "the more, the merrier" had become something that erased what boundaries were there between the people, and now they were like a big family.
"I've heard that the reconstruction of the library is coming along. And I'm also pleased to announce that Brother Hu told me he'd notified his Master about our situation. The Empire is in the process of sending a grand delegation of people that'll supposedly help patch our wounds."
Lei nodded at the crowd, who looked with doubtful gazes into his eyes. Most still didn't believe the Empire would help them, given that it remained silent even when the city was under the attack of what many thought was a group of demonic cultivators. People were furious, and they had every right to be.
But a kitchen wasn't the place for giving a voice to such thoughts. Therefore, Lei focused on what was really important.
"Already the winds carry the promise of a long winter. It's getting cold, and it'll get colder still. So for today's lunch, I've decided to go for a simple meal," Lei said, a smile tugging at his lips. "One that is good for the soul and body as well. A chicken soup, followed by a kimchi stew. We'll start with the broth, people!"
The crowd dispersed into their respective stations scattered about the kitchen and beyond. Most of them consisted of a basic cauldron and a makeshift stove, with a table to serve as a counter that lay beside it. Still, nobody uttered a word of protest and followed the Head Chef's orders.
Lei checked the cabbage parts he'd fixed earlier that day, then skinned the chicken with practiced ease. On a pot large enough to fit the chicken, he sprinkled a bit of salt, some black pepper, and put a mix of onions and potatoes to give the broth that rich flavor. Once it started to simmer, he eased the chicken inside and half-closed the lid.
"Big Brother Lei—"
"You're supposed to call him Chef!" Little Jiao was quick to silence Little Chuanli, who'd called out to Lei. The little boy scowled at his sister, but it was quickly replaced by a beaming smile as he glanced up.
"Chef, can I skin the other chicken, please?"
Lei crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the boy, his face perfectly still. He purposefully let the wait get to him before he gave a small, strict nod. "Chef Jiao, make sure our Chef Chuanli here will keep all his fingers intact during the process."
Little Jiao's mouth parted slightly while Little Chuanli's shoulders sagged. Then the little girl patted him on the back and nearly saluted Lei. "Yes, Chef!"
"Alright, chefs! Get a move on. We don't have much time!"
It didn't take long for a deep silence to settle over the kitchen and the field beyond it. Dozens of cooks worked to deliver the menu in time, faces creased with focus. But Lei could see the occasional smile here and there, as if now and then people suddenly remembered who they were cooking for.
That brought some warmth around Lei's heart as well.
He paused when he heard a flurry of steps from the main hall. He craned his head around the counters and arched an eyebrow when he saw Little Mei coming with the little squirrel perched over her shoulder.
Wiping his hands on a cloth, Lei walked over to welcome her, the girl's eyes sparkling when her gaze settled on him.
"To what do we owe this pleasure, Little Mei?" Lei asked with a wide smile on his face. Little Mei and Little Yao were now a famous duo around Jiangzhen, partly because of how fast they were at delivering the remedy to bedridden people. The old grannies were especially fond of them.
"Teacher Luli sent me here to fetch you, Big Brother Lei," Little Mei said in a sing-song voice. Her cheeks had that cute flush that made her look like a doll. The same couldn't be said about Little Yao, however, as the squirrel looked as tight as a rolled-up sleeve. Her beady eyes seemed lifeless, too.
"What's this about?" Lei asked.
"A group of people came to the Library," Little Mei said. "And there is this man… He's one of them, and I think he is Big Brother Hu's Master."
Little Yao poked a claw into Little Mei's arm, which made the little girl scowl in confusion. Then the squirrel squeaked in an irritated, but almost pained, voice, to which Little Mei nodded as if she understood the meaning.
"My mistake. He's Big Brother Hu's Master. He's the head of Sky…guard? Anyway, Little Yao says he's strong, and I think he doesn't like it when people make him wait. So you better hurry, Big Brother Lei!"
Head of Skyguard? Are these the people Brother Hu told me about?
Shaking his head, Lei told his staff to take a break while he followed Little Mei to the Library.
…
The statue of Emperor Xia still stood strong under the bright sun, beyond which rose multiple scaffolds that surrounded the Library. Dozens of townsfolk were busy patching the holes around the marbled walls, with Master Li overseeing the construction in person.
He had a makeshift tent placed near the statue, with a pair of young men clad in leather armor acting as guards before it. Though they tried to look the part, it was clear from the tight frowns on their faces that they weren't used to those spears.
Lei gave them a nod as Little Mei guided him past the tent toward the Library's entrance, where a group of blue-robed men were standing. Sun Hu was there among them, conversing in a hushed tone with a bulky, mean-looking man who had a pair of hawkish eyes.
"Ah, Brother Lei!" Sun Hu's eyes glinted the moment he saw him, and he gestured for Lei to join them. "This man here, gentlemen, is the true hero of Jiangzhen! This city is lucky to have him, as not only did he save the mortals in this city, he and Sister Luli came up with a remedy to heal that strange sickness."
The large man swept Lei with a fierce gaze. He was easily a head taller than him, and just like the others in his group, his dark hair was cut short. There was something feral about the way he carried himself—a sense of power, a tremor of strength. It was just like looking at a monstrous beast, one hidden under a human's skin.
"Jiang Liu," the man said with a gravelly voice and nodded in greeting. "On behalf of Skyguard, I'd like to thank you for saving these people. Please forgive us. I'm ashamed that the Skyguard failed to arrive in time."
"Oh…" Lei was taken aback by the sudden apology and scratched his head. He almost used the Yellow Maiden's Eyes to check the man's cultivation stage, but decided against it, as he still had little idea about what these people would think when his eyes started blazing. Instead, he used Spiritual Sensitivity to check whether there was anything abnormal about the man.
Nothing… So he's a real cultivator. That's a relief.
It had become a habit for him lately. Dealing with a bunch of rotten and crooked people had done a number on his faith in appearances, after all.
Noticing the man kept looking at him as if he expected something, it dawned on Lei that he hadn't accepted the man's apology.
"There was nothing you could do," he said with a solemn voice. "They locked all means of communication so we couldn't reach out to you."
"A bastard of a Governor, and a bunch of corrupted fools," Jiang Liu growled, then turned and nodded at his men. "Clear the city. Don't leave anything unchecked."
Spiritual energy stirred as the group of men gave him a nod and took off from the ground. Each one of the five took a different route as they all flew away.
Flying… They must be at least Core Formation Stage experts.
It looked like the reputation of Skyguard was nothing to scoff at. They did have some strong people in their ranks.
"Brother Lei, we were talking about the strange nature of our enemies with Guard Jiang Liu here," Sun Hu said after a moment, sounding greatly troubled. "I've decided to make a detailed report to the Emperor's Own and present it myself to the Office. After all the things you've told me, I think it's fair to say this is not a simple case of a demonic cultivator attack."
Lei nodded. They had a good talk with Sun Hu after the thing settled, thus he knew these people were of a different origin. Not only had they come here from another world, but there were also hundreds of others like them scattered in the Empire.
"So you're going back to the capital?" Lei asked.
"I must," Sun Hu said. "This is not something I can handle on my own. I also want to consult my Father on this matter. Something tells me this is not the secret we think it is."
Jiang Liu shifted uncomfortably at those words, averting his gaze.
Sun Hu rolled his eyes at the man, then shook his head and smiled. "Anyway, I'll put a good word in with the Emperor's Own while I'm there. You ought to be rewarded for your efforts here."
"You're too kind," Lei said.
"So, did you make a decision yet? What are you going to do next? Don't tell me you're planning to stay in Jiangzhen," Sun Hu said.
"I'm not sure," Lei muttered. "We always talked about trying our chances in Lanzhou. The kids deserve a real opportunity as well, and this city is too small for them. Sister Luli also wants to try that academy she's been talking about."
"What about you?" Sun Hu asked. "I know you like to put the kids first, but the Emperor's Own can use a man like you. You have a… gift that I haven't seen before."
Lei smiled at him. "Me? I think I'll continue with my cooking. The other day we were talking with Brother Lou about a restaurant. Perhaps we'll try to open one in Lanzhou."
"Oh?" Sun Hu's eyes glinted.
"But before that, I want to focus on Jiangzhen. You know there's still a lot of work to be done. The people weren't the only ones affected by that sickness. Farms, buildings… Hell, we don't even have a Governor anymore!"
Sun Hu waved a hand at him. "Don't worry about those things. Now that the Skyguard is here, the Empire will provide everything your people need in a few days. Things may look grim, but trust me, it'll take at most a week for life to get back to the way it used to be here." His eyes turned toward the makeshift tent by Emperor Xia's statue. "And from what I can see, you already have a Governor candidate. We just need to officialize it."
"You mean Master Li?" Lei chuckled. After all the talk about retirement and having a peaceful life, nowadays Master Li barely had a moment to scratch his own head. Good thing Granny Xu was keeping up with him. The woman never left him alone.
And he sure likes the responsibility.
"We'll see about that," Lei said. "Can't make the decisions for them, right?"
"That's true," Sun Hu said, then sighed out a long breath. "I know you're busy, so I don't want to keep you any longer. Just know that you'll always be welcome in the Sun Clan. If you ever decide to come to the capital, don't forget to send me a word. I would like to try your dishes one last time before death claims me."
"You're too young to talk like that," Lei said, and clapped the man on the back. Though the time they'd spent wasn't long, they'd braved those bastards side by side.
"Take this," Jiang Liu said all of a sudden as he stretched a hand toward Lei. Clasped in his fingers was a round, blue token with a pair of clouds carved along its surface. "This token proves your identity as a benefactor of the Skyguard. Whenever you need some help, you can show it to our people and get aid."
"Oh…" Lei said, taking the token. It felt cold in his hand. "Thanks, Brother Liu."
"Mm," Jiang Liu nodded and turned to Sun Hu. "We should talk about the details."
"Alright, I'll leave you two alone," Lei said, taking the message. He gave Sun Hu and Jiang Liu a bow before drawing back.
Little Mei joined him, and people smiled at them as they were about to make their way back to the restaurant, only to pause when Sun Hu yelled at them.
"Brother Lei!" the man called out to him. "I forgot, there's one final thing. Sister Luli is expecting you in Master Li's tent. I'm afraid she has some strange company with her, though."
"Strange company?" Lei arched an eyebrow.
"Yes… Strange indeed," Jiang Liu muttered, and a look of dread flashed behind his eyes before he gathered himself. "That man is more terrifying than the rumors."
"I know, right…" Sun Hu said.
"And?" Lei insisted when it looked like the pair would refuse to tell him who this terrifying person was. "Anything I should know?"
"Don't worry," Sun Hu said and chuckled oddly. "He's just Sister Luli's father. I don't think he's going to do anything harmful to you."
"You think?"
"You can't be sure about these things," Sun Hu shrugged. "He's the famed Heavenly Scholar, after all."
Heavenly Scholar…
Lei swallowed. It looked like today would be a day for meetings.
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