The city was aflame. Martial techniques from both sides filled the air alongside the screams of the dying.
Lu Chang stood numbly atop the stage, barely aware of the cacophony of pitched combat around him. He stared at the spot where the officiating elder had been, merely a stain of blood and viscera now. He came to his senses when Li Feng roughly shook him.
“Lu Chang, get ahold of yourself! We’ve got to get off the stage; we’ll be sitting ducks up here.”
Still a bit shaken, Lu Chang nodded. He leapt off the stage towards where one of his townsmen was engaged with an invader. Landing lightly behind the man, Lu Chang stabbed his dagger into his neck when an opening presented itself.
The Hundred Fragrance City cultivator he’d saved nodded his thanks and moved on to another skirmish. Lu Chang thought he should be upset at taking a life for the first time, but feelings of any sort seemed to be muted for him. He didn’t feel like himself. He put it out of mind and looked around.
With a moment to take in the situation, Lu Chang surveyed the battle. They were losing badly. While the cultivators of Hundred Fragrance City were valiant, the invaders outnumbered them at least three to one. The city’s experts were dying in droves. Their red-and-gold uniforms were vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn’t recall where he knew them from in the confusion.
Lu Chang made his way through the chaos of the battle, assisting his fellow cultivators when he could. He wanted to look for Li Feng and his mother in the confusion, hoping that he could find them and escape.
Before he could begin his search, though, he was engaged by a wicked looking enemy cultivator wielding a large saber. The man was covered in writhing shadows, like black, wriggling snakes.
Lu Chang dodged underneath a wild slash from his foe, but felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as one of the shadows stretched out to touch him from the man’s arm. He looked down and saw that a small part of his shoulder was rotted away as if by necrosis. Lu Chang eyed the man more warily now; those shadows were the real danger. The invader cackled at the sight.
“Stupid brat. My Shadow Corrosion Art is the perfect technique. Both armor and weapon all at once. You should feel honored to succumb to it.”
Lu Chang had no time to respond as he evaded the man’s strike, careful to stay away from the shadows as well. His usual striking tactics would not work here. He could not touch the man bare-handed, and his dagger was also too short to pierce the man before the shadows touched him. No technique was perfect, though, and an opportunity would come.
Then the wind picked up and gave Lu Chang an idea. He baited his foe into an overextended swing, then tossed his dagger using the principles of the Wind-Chasing Steps. The dagger soared outward, riding the wind as it curved around the sword and buried itself to the hilt in the man’s heart.
“What? No..”
The man looked up at him in shock, shadows dissipating into nothingness as he died. Lu Chang retrieved his dagger and left, worried about his mother and Li Feng.
He passed by many scenes of brutality inflicted by the invaders. Lu Chang saw Old Man Zhao and his butler facing off against a score or more enemy cultivators. They cut down over half of them before Old Man Zhao was injured blocking a technique that would have killed the butler. They were swarmed not long after.
A kneeling Wei Bolin pleaded for his life at the feet of a woman wielding a whip of fire. His pleading was cut short as she incinerated him. Similar scenes abounded and Lu Chang didn’t know whether to scorn the surrendering cultivators as craven or praise their sense of self-preservation.
The Wind-Chasing Steps were the only thing that saved Lu Chang’s life as he made his way through the carnage, though he was injured even still. A spear had taken him in the side when he’d slipped on a pool of blood in the midst of his technique. Lu Chang bound the wound as well as he could, still trying to find his mother and Li Feng. He made his way from the arena and into the upper district, hoping his mother had made it home.
He passed by Sage Liu’s home, burnt to the ground and looted of anything of value. Lu Chang could vaguely make out the old sage’s exsanguinated body, only recognizable from the distinctive lotus-patterned robes he always wore. He wanted to bury the kindly old sage, but it was too dangerous to stop and do so now. Lu Chang grit his teeth and moved on.
Lu Chang stopped to catch his breath; he’d lost a lot of blood. Up ahead he could see the mayor and his household cultivators fighting what looked like a leader of the invaders. They had surrounded the lone man dressed in blood-red armor in a killing-formation, firing off dozens of martial techniques at him.
The collection of fireballs, lightning bolts, and chunks of rock impacted a swirling dome of blood that formed around the man. The churning blood flowed back to the ground afterward, revealing the unharmed man. He flung his arms outward and the blood pooling at his feet snaked out towards the mayor and his household like rivers of blood. As the streams reached each of them, spikes of blood lanced upwards impaling the whole group. The now-unopposed man lowered his hands and the spikes dissipated, the corpses falling to the blood-soaked ground.
The man looked toward where Lu Chang was peeking out from behind the corner. Lu Chang quickly hid back around the wall, eyes wide and limbs shaking from fright. The mayor and his household had all been second realm cultivators, and that man slaughtered them like flies.
Lu Chang pressed himself up against the wall, eyes closed as he hoped the man would move on. A minute passed and the man had still not found him. Lu Chang breathed a sigh of relief as he resumed his trek to the lower district and home.
The fighting had spilled out all throughout the city by now. Bodies lined the streets and rivers of blood flowed through them. Lu Chang had lost count of how many enemy cultivators he’d slain now. A part of him deep inside was pained at the thought, but each new body of a friend or acquaintance he stumbled across silenced that part.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Finally he arrived at home, finding it mercifully unburnt. A light was on inside, so Lu Chang rushed in.
“Mother! Are you here?”
“Chang’er! Thank goodness.”
Lu Chang found his mother packing a small bag. He hugged her happily for a moment, then turned a serious face to her.
“We’ve no time to pack any longer. Take whatever you’ve got and let’s go. Once we get out of the city, we can go find Dad’s expedition.”
His mother looked sadly around at their home, but nodded in assent. She grabbed the small bag and wiped her tears.
“I’m ready Chang’er, let’s go.”
Lu Chang nodded.
“Hopefully Li Feng will meet up with us on the way out.”
He led her out of the house, only stopping to grab the Wind-Chasing Steps scroll and hide it in his robes. They slowly and cautiously made their way toward the eastern gate, with Lu Chang dispatching what few invading cultivators they found.
The attack had come from the west, where the arena had been, so Lu Chang theorized the eastern part of the city would be less overrun. He was right, but less so than he’d hoped. The pockets of invaders increased as they approached the eastern gate.
Lu Chang peeked around the wall, assessing the group of three invaders blocking their way. He grimaced at the sight. He could perhaps take out two of them if they weren’t any stronger than the ones he’d killed so far, but three was pushing it.
He also had his mother to consider. She cultivated spiritual energy, but only for her music; she was helpless in a fight. There were legends of music cultivators who could kill with a plucked string, but they were just that in Hundred Fragrance City, legends.
Regardless of the situation, those three invaders had to die so they could escape. Lu Chang readied himself to fight for his life, but stopped when a large hand grasped his shoulder. He whirled around, dagger at the ready for whatever foe had managed to sneak up on him, only to find Li Feng.
Lu Chang sighed, lowering the dagger and calming his nerves as he took in the welcome sight of Li Feng. The large boy had clearly had it as rough as Lu Chang had, with a long jagged wound across his chest, inexpertly bandaged with a mass of woody pulp. They exchanged low greetings.
“Li Feng! You’re a sight for sore eyes, brother.”
His friend winced, putting his hand to his wounded chest.
“Don’t I know it. Luckily us wood-types have vigorous life-force. I should be fine eventually.”
Lu Chang nodded. Li Feng was alone, he just now noticed. Hadn’t he gone to find his mother?
“Your mother?”
Lu Chang subtly broached the subject. A dark look crossed Li Feng’s face, a far cry from the usual cheerful boy. He shook his head mutely, and Lu Chang grimaced. Li Feng’s mother was all his friend had since the other boy’s father left them at a young age. He gripped Li Feng’s shoulder in silent support, and Lu Chang’s mother gave the tall boy a tight hug.
“One day we’ll get our revenge.”
Lu Chang promised him.
“What better time than right now?”
Li Feng replied, eyeing the group of invaders Lu Chang had been observing.
They quickly made plans to take out the three invaders in their way, who were still looting the nearby houses. Lu Chang gracefully leapt up to the rooftops, while Li Feng brazenly walked around the corner, idly twirling his staff, a wide vicious grin on his face.
"Ho there fellows! Your grandaddy Li Feng is here. Why aren't you kneeling yet?"
The three invaders were taken aback by Li Feng’s approach, but relaxed when they realized it was only him. They looked at each other then laughed uproariously. The lead invader pointed at him.
"Ahaha, look at the baby martial artist. How many meridians have you opened kid? One? Ridiculous."
Li Feng’s grin never wavered. The invaders seemed content to jeer at him for now, all while Lu Chang maneuvered above them. He nodded at Li Feng, the signal for the taller boy to charge, then promptly leapt off the roof. Lu Chang pushed his concentration to the maximum to control his descent and make as little noise as possible.
He fell silently on top of the rearmost invader, pushing the man to the ground and sliding his dagger into his neck. Simultaneously Li Feng charged toward the front two, staff whirling. The leader caught Li Feng's staff strike with his own sword, but as he did so a spike of wood grew out of the side of the staff, impaling him through the head.
As the dead man fell to the ground, the last invader ran away in fright, dropping his weapon and loot. He didn’t make it far before a thrown dagger buried itself in his back, courtesy of Lu Chang. He’d found he had a talent in throwing the things, so Lu Chang had gathered more from each invader he killed.
He, Li Feng, and his mother continued their careful sojourn to the gate. When they got to the gate, though, they found it guarded by at least a dozen of the invaders. Crestfallen, they turned to make a new plan when a wave of water washed over them, carrying them into full sight of the gate and the guarding invaders.
Lu Chang struggled to get up, but found himself bound tight by bonds made of water. A quick glance at the others told the same story. From around the corner where they’d just been, walked two invaders, one of them wearing the blood-red armor that Lu Chang assumed identified him as a leader. The invader accompanying him was identifiable from the rest only by a wicked scar that travelled from above his left eye all the way down to his chin, ruining the eye that it bisected.
The leader looked down dispassionately at them for only a moment, then spoke with a chilling voice to his companion.
“Take the younger two. Kill the woman.”
He gestured at them, then walked towards the group of invaders at the gate. The one-eyed invader shot them a malevolent look while the three of them struggled futilely in their bonds. He stalked towards them slowly, clearly enjoying their dread. Standing before them, he leaned over and touched the side of his mother’s cheek, almost gently.
“Hmm, it’s too bad the Legate told me to kill you; such a pretty thing would be popular back at the camp.”
Lu Chang’s mother recoiled in revulsion. The invader merely clicked his tongue.
“Tsk tsk, what passion. Oh well, a bit of fun isn’t worth upsetting the Legate.”
Lu Chang could only watch helplessly as the man slid his dagger across her throat. A ragged shout tore its way from his throat as his mother collapsed to the ground, blood pooling all around her. He cursed his weakness and the strength of the chains of water that bound him so tightly he could barely breathe.
The last thing he saw was the lifeless eyes of his mother and the thin line cut into her throat. A heavy blow struck the back of Lu Chang’s head and he knew no more.