Author note: Chapter 50! Hope yall think it's a good one.

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Sun Jiao was ecstatic. Sun Qi had basically given herself up as a hostage. Sun Jiao could now seize control of the situation using her as leverage. He could make a wager with Sun Lu with the children as the bet.

He would face off against Sun Lu’s guards for the fate of the children.

He had always planned to use them as hostages for two reasons. One he didn’t want to kill children and two he would be able to use Sun Lu as an extra arm gaining him more strength in the capital.

This also meant he could hone his new ki in battle as well as vent some of the anger he had over Xu Rong’s death.

This was killing two birds with one stone and his plan was basically perfect. Unfortunately the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

Sun Qing arrived before Sun Jiao had a chance to react.

Sun Qi had turned towards her mother and only felt a wind approach from behind. Everything stood still as Sun Qing gently laid a hand on the back of Sun Qi’s head. This move seemed to move slowly, but arrived before anyone could react.

Sun Qing shoved her forward, her hand following Sun Qi’s head to the ground pressing it into the hard stone floor. Sun Qing had used all her strength at the peak of the third layer. Sun Qi hadn’t even had time to realize what was happening, but even with a unique body she would have been unable to put up a resistance.

Wondering what everyone was looking at was the last thing that passed through her mind.

Well second to last.

Sun Qing’s hand smashed through her head and into the floor causing it to burst like an egg thrown at a rock.

Without missing a beat, Sun Qing straightened and shook her hand clean, careful to avoid getting blood and brain matter on her cloths.

“Hmph. Who said you can hug him you...you...you hussie!”

The sins of the father will be laid on the son. The same could be said of the mother as well.

Sun Qing had already been infuriated by the mother so it’s no surprise the vulnerable daughter would pay.

So when Sun Jiao was hugged Sun Qing couldn’t hold back any more and attacked. Even she couldn’t hug him so casually how could she allow Sun Qi that privilege without being jealous?

Sun Lu’s face reflected her insides; twisted and knotted with emotions.

“KILL THEM!”

She quickly inhaled and released her Smoke Embrace Puppet technique on the eunuch Meng Fai.

Meng Fai reacted just as quickly and lunged at Sun Qing almost exactly as the guard under the control of Sun Lu moved as well.

Sun Jiao was a much slower to react. He once again faced the cruelties of this world and the terrifying erratic nature of Sun Qing.

He hesitated, but it was only for a moment and had managed to recover without Xiaobo’s help. Without realizing it he was already becoming accustomed to the life as a cultivator.

He lifted his blade, wrapped in ki, to block an incoming sword. The blade passed right threw the sword and with a twist of his wrist in the shape of a J the blade met the side of the guards head which offered no more resistance than the broken sword.

Before Sun Jiao finished his attack a spear came at him from the other side thrusting towards his chest.

Unable to hold back any longer Sun Jiao activated his Sun and Cloud steps and disappeared from the spot.

Arriving in front of another guard he lashed out with his blade but only managed to leave a deep wound on his shoulder. The opponent was at the Second Layer and coupled with the Smoke Embrace enhancement he was able to avoid a fatal wound.

As though he was uninjured the guard counter attacked and managed to land a cut on Sun Jiao’s left arm before Sun Jiao jumped away.

This time Sun Jiao arrived behind another guard and shoved the blade into his back and pulled it out.

Again the guard ignored the wound and turned to attack as if he was fine.

Sun Jiao already had a hunch this would happen and had picked one of the First Layer cultivators that had previously fainted.

The guard’s moves were clumsy and Sun Jiao was able to avoid the attack by stepping to the side.

Sun Jiao shoved his blade into the already wounded guard this time aiming for his heart. When he pulled the blade out, smoke leaked out of the wound and the body collapsed.

Xiaobo cut his sentence short, even though with a bit of effort they could speak instantly to each other he had just noticed an attack and couldn’t delay any further.

Sun Jiao reacted quickly and moved to the right. An arrow passed where his head had been and struck a guard a bit aways. The guard ignored it and continued to move towards Sun Jiao.

All this took time to explain, but took less than a few breaths.

Sun Qing wasn’t nearly as frantic as Sun Jiao. She had reached the peak of the Third Layer and was a half-step into the Fourth Layer. Even before reaching this level she could contend with the combined strength of Sun Lu and Meng Fai.

When fighting Gu Long she had been playing around.

Her strength came from her speed and aberrant attacks that ignored physical defenses. Raw power wasn’t her forte and that had been what she used against Gu Long’s defense focused style.

Meng Fai struck out using his fist and Sun Qing effortlessly avoided the attack.

As Meng Fai continued attacking, Sun Qing continued to avoid the powerful movements. If she took a direct hit then even she would be severely injured, but her confidence showed that she wasn’t worried at all.

“Hey old man you should chase around little girls like me or people will get the wrong idea!”

Stopping for a moment during a break in the attacks she looked down patted her chest and continued on with a cheerful voice.

“Oh I’m not that little any more haha! Well I’m still too young for you. Besides even if you caught me do you even know what to do? I heard that- ah!”

Sun Qing was interrupted by another punch. The attack missed and the air pressure sent cracks throughout the wall behind her even though the fist was a distance away. The attack was precise and unhurried.

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Meng Fai was able to keep control of himself under the Smoke Embrace Puppet. He wanted desperately to shut Sun Qing up, but hadn’t lost himself to his emotions as one of the effects of the Smoke Embrace Puppet technique was a calming effect on the soul.

He knew that flying into a rage would only leave more openings for her to slip through and thought that she was putting on a show to get into his mind.

She’d been stuck at the Third Layer body stage for a few years and it would still be some time before she broke through so he was confident in out pacing her. His martial arts, Diamond Hoof Zodiac Horse, focused on stamina and power.  

A Zodiac Horse was a beast that ran among the stars and he had even had a chance to consume a pill refined with Zodiac Horse blood.

If he knew that Sun Qing had broken through he would have coughed up blood.

Sun Jiao was ready to cough up blood himself.

He’d managed to kill half of the First Layer cultivators, but only killed a handful of Second Layer cultivators. Killing the Second Layer cultivators was akin to climbing a mountain of swords. Each one would twist and turn causing fatal blows to become deep wounds and then counter attack without regard.

He was able to manage by focusing on his speed, but was quickly running out of ki.

As if a light in a dark room was turned on Sun Jiao realized his mistake. A heavy punch with all your strength moves slower than a light jab. The result would be a strong attack compared to a weak attack.

With Sun Jiao’s ki that could rip through space what difference would there be in the results? Both would cut through the enemy easily. If the result was the same then what was the point of using all his strength?

Sun Jiao stopped in front of a Second Layer guard and swung horizontally left to right. The guard stepped back just far enough for the blade to pass through his chest and expose his heart. A huge wound opened up, but that didn’t prevent him from chopping down with his axe.

As the axe came down towards Sun Jiao’s left he swiftly turned the blade and it returned the way it came. The guard was in the middle of his attack and couldn’t retreat as the blade slide back and cut his exposed heart.

Using the momentum of the cut Sun Jiao spun past the falling axe without using his Sun and Cloud steps. With this new understanding not only had he killed a Second Layer cultivator, but he had done so without using a large amount of ki. This was basically twice the work with half the effort!

As Sun Jiao slipped past the dead axe guard two more approached him both at the Second Layer.

Sun Jiao decided rather than attack first then eat their counter-attack he would give them a taste of their own medicine.

Pretending to slip he stumbled a little and waited for the two to start their attack. The guards responded immediately and jumped forward. The guards were under the complete control of the puppet technique and couldn’t comprehend complex strategies or bluffs. This was a major flaw on using the technique on so many guards.

After fighting for so long Sun Jiao had already started to notice this weakness with a bit of prodding from Xiaobo and this confirmed his theory.

He quickly regained his balance and attacked the two guard’s weapons destroying them. Then brought the blade back and chopped off their heads.

Having killed 3 more guards Sun Jiao realized even that wouldn’t be enough and he’d still run out of ki before he finished them all.

He spared a moment to look over at Sun Qing and immediately got the urge to smack her for her  blasé attitude. She looked as though she was playing around while watching him fight giving the appearance of a young woman watching a butterfly while skipping in the park.

He was going to yell at her to get serious, but remembered the scene of her smashing Sun Qi’s head and swallowed the words. Sun Lu was furious, but she still had another child. With her motherly persona would she sacrifice her living child for the sake of a dead one? Sun Jiao didn’t think so.

He began to work his way through the guards towards Sun Jun who had ran back inside and was peeking out behind the palace entrance.

He didn’t rush directly there, but instead zig zagged through the group. Sun Lu wasn’t a front line fighter, but she could still stop him if she was prepared.

Once he got close enough he allowed a guard to attack him and dodged towards the entrance. As soon as he recovered he activated the Sun and Cloud steps and burst towards the doors.

Before Sun Lu could react he had already arrived. Reaching out he grabbed Sun Jun by the back of the collar and held his blade to the Sun Jun’s throat.

Sun Jiao never thought he’d threaten a child’s life, but he’d seen how quickly things could turn towards violence and he needed to show he could react if needed.

Sun Jiao was sweating, wounded in four places, and out of breath. He quickly circulated his ki and began to recover. After only two cycles his breath returned and he was able to speak clearly.

“Call of your dog and surrender. You already lost one because of your arrogant resistance don’t lose another.”

A chill passed through Sun Lu’s body and her blood went cold. She realized now she lost control of herself in grief and had forgotten Sun Jun.

Her love for Sun Qi had caused her to lose herself, but she had thought that her reaction was proof of her motherly love. Didn’t it make her a good mother that she cared so much for her daughter that she would fly into a rage? Or would a good mother hold herself back and think of her son who was still alive?

Which was the right decision? Fiery anger for her daughter’s death or coldly ignoring it for her son? Which would have made her a good mother?

Perhaps neither or perhaps both.

Sun Lu couldn’t decide, but she did realize that today, as a mother, she had failed.

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Yet again my gut was telling me the characters would behave one way and not another. Had to go with the gut feeling and unfortunately that means Sun Qi dies. Another character I had plans to develop. Oh well. This is just the start of the next arc. Next chapter should be the conclusion to this mini-arc/transition. Then probably a chapter more before we get to the start of the next arc.