I’d nearly made it out of the mountains. Xiang could easily look after things while I was gone, and we both knew I had to take the Dragon King on personally. Just like we both knew he’d begin his campaign as soon as there was enough grass growing to support mounted forces.
So I’d slip in while he held his annual tournament and kill him before then.
I’d honestly thought Xiang would play along… until a very familiar heeled boot slammed my head into the snow-covered road.
“Dear, I thought I told you-”
“Nope.” Great. Xiang was in one of her know-it-all moods. I’d known her for the better part of twenty years now, and it was still annoying when she got like this.
Mostly because she was almost always right.
“Alright. So what am I overlooking?”
“Mostly that a certain white tiger will pounce when the dragon is wounded, I’m guessing?” Another familiar voice.
“It’s going to be hard enough to cross the border without an entourage, Kaoru. And who is watching the village while we’re off doing this?”
“Mistress Fu has the younger kids, so our oldest are working together to keep things going.”
“Xiang.” I tried to be patient. “You are telling me that you left the operation of an entire village and an attached monastery, to say nothing of a very busy maternity clinic, to three teenagers?”
“Chiaki’s handling the monastery, actually. And they are… usually… very responsible for their age.”
“Xiang, please get your boot off my head so I can get out of the mud. And we’re talking about the same teenagers who-”
“The past is done, Li. And those two learned their lesson, for all it nearly killed them. As for the other two, I personally smacked some sense into them before they followed through on their big plan of having Chiaki be a big symbol of fertility at the wedding. Song and Chen were a touch disappointed, but agreed with my points.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
I stood up, brushing off the slush and mud that I could. “You didn’t make those points with a fist, did you?”
“Give me some credit, Li. I don’t hit my children unless it’s in sparring.”
I shrugged, but admitted the point.
“So you’re coming along with me because you think the Tiger King will attack whoever wins the altercation the moment it ends?”
“No, I’m coming along because I know the Tiger King will drain the Dragon King’s qi the moment he dies, ascend, and it’ll be my turn to fight again. Least I’m not pregnant this time, I’m gonna need my full cultivation.”
I blinked in surprise.
“How long have you been holding this information back?”
“Pretty much the whole time. That overfed house cat’s the one behind everything, really. Known that since I first saw he was the only one of the Four Kings who wasn’t human.”
This time, both Kaoru and I were staring at my lovely wife as if she’d grown a second head.
“Oh, right. Kaoru never got to look at him when they went after the world tree. When I called him an overfed house cat, I meant it literally. I think he awakened some 350 years ago, quietly enabled the thoughts and behaviors of the nastiest cultivators of his time, then came up with a way to glut himself on all the qi he could find. Only problem was that his tools became too powerful for him to easily discard, so he’s been biding his time. The Dragon King has a special collar on his neck that will drain his qi when he dies, and that will probably be the tipping point for the Tiger King’s ascension. Need to have the remaining nexus unlocked by then so I can use the one he’s turned himself into to fight him.”
“And… you’ve been planning this ever since you saw those three… five years ago now?”
“More like six and a half, the twins were only ten at the time and we were pretty quick to take down the Tortoise King after that decade on the move. Wow, time passes so quickly. I’ll be glad to have this done with, I want to spend more of my life being less important.”
I shook my head, bemused.
“Then I guess we each head to our destinies, as little as my beloved rabbit believes in such things. Kaoru, do you mind helping me through the border? Your illusion magic will make it far easier.
She grinned, and I caught a glimpse of red-tipped ears hopping over the last ridge between us and Rivermill before I mounted a giant eight-tailed fox and rode Kaoru toward the Azure Citadel.