Chapter 73

Jaded tiles were scattered across the ground. A wavering, coiling wave of dust coated every bit of the palace. It was hard to see what was happening, but Lei could feel through his Spiritual Sensitivity skill the rotten fog losing some of its quality.

It was almost enough to let the ambient spiritual energy wash it away. Almost, but not quite. The main source of the fog, which came from the Library, still remained strong. So long as it stood there, and so long as it kept feeding the rot into the air, it wouldn’t go away.

“Who can it be…” Fatty Lou was muttering, both arms crossed over his chest. He squinted up at the dusty waves. Zhu Luli and the kids were staring too, waiting in nervous expectation to see who had really done it.

“Better to be careful than regret it later,” Lei said, gesturing for them to get back. For all they knew, it could be a quarrel between the bastards—some sort of conflict in their ranks.

The others nodded and stepped slowly back, eyes still fixed on the dusty waves.

Lei caught an outline of a person in the rolling dust. Average height, a little round on the belly. Likely a man, then. He couldn’t see anything resembling a weapon in his hands. There was no sign of those chains that carved the greater part of the Governor’s Palace like it was nothing.

When the man stepped forward and revealed his face, Lei scowled. There was a tightness to the man’s lips, the skin near his mouth strangely stretched and wrinkled. The Spiritual Sensitivity skill jolted at the sight of him, sending a familiar wave of alarm down Lei’s chest.

He looks familiar too.

“You!” Fatty Lou said, one trembling finger pointing at the man’s face. “The taxmaster! What?”

“Ding Yan?!” Lei’s eyes turned as it dawned on him. “What the hell is this man doing here?”

And how did he crush the Governor’s Palace? Why would he do that?

“Oh! I didn’t think I would see the employees of Jiangzhen’s finest restaurant here!” Ding Yan said, a smile parting his lips. He clasped his hands and bowed toward them. Then he gave them a piercing look that didn’t quite fit his lazy demeanor. “Gentlemen, forgive my curiosity, but what are you doing here?”

“That’s our line!” Fatty Lou said, his voice hard. “What the hell are you doing here? Did you really seal that current? So what, you bastards are trying to get at each other now, are you? Having trouble deciding on what sort of torture you’ll unleash upon Jiangzhen’s honest folk as if you haven’t turned their lives into hell already?”

“Look, I didn’t—”

“You shut your mouth, or I’m going to make sure nothing will come out of that foul hole in the future!” Fatty Lou said, his face flushed with cold fury. He then gestured toward the group. “We know what you’re up to. We know what sort of sick plan you’re carrying on here! You’ll pay the price. You’ll regret ever laying a hand on our city!”

Ding Yan let out a long, weary breath. “I guess you really can’t reason with some people.”

“What’s that?” Lei asked, slightly furious now. The bastard looked like he was out for a morning stroll. Every bit of his body had a relaxed, almost careless quality to it. He treated this whole thing like a game. A sick game, but a play all the same.

Then Ding Yan snapped his fingers. “Oh, I’m stupid!”

“Yeah, you are,” Fatty Lou said.

“Not that— You know what, you’ve every right to say those things,” Ding Yan said and smiled as he tapped a finger on his cheek. “I would’ve done the same. These people are bastards, after all. Real ones, at that.”

“Eh?”

“Big Brother Lei, this man doesn’t look good,” Snake said, a frown stretching his lips. “I think he’s lost his mind.”

“Dangerous.” Stone nodded, pulling his fists up.

“I guess there’s no point in hiding under this shell anymore,” came Ding Yan’s voice. The bastard was chuckling. Then the finger tapping onto his cheek suddenly lodged deep into his flesh. He hooked the tip of it and pulled at his own skin, tearing it apart like a facemask shaped like real human skin.

Lei watched with some degree of horror as the man ripped everything off. When he was done with the face, he moved over to his arms and even lifted his robe’s tails to work on the legs.

This isn’t some twisted circus trick, is it?

If so, it was a damned good trick as the man literally tore his belly off and grew a good three inches on his feet. His face was changed, too. His lines were sharper, and his eyes a deep dark that glinted with a certain pride. Long, silken hair cascaded down his shoulders in waves.

“This one’s Sun Hu,” he said, bowing once again. “I’m an Auditor of the Emperor’s Own, or rather an apprentice Auditor… We came here with my Master for the annual check on Jiangzhen’s general situation. I don’t think you’ll be interested in the whole story, so let’s just say that I’ve decided to stay here and do an investigation on my own after my Master was gone because I sensed something strange.”

“Who talks like that?” Fatty Lou muttered, gazing at the man like one might gaze at a clumsy clown. “But an Auditor… At least he looks strong. Gotta have to give him that.”

“If you knew something was wrong, then why didn’t you tell your Master?” Lei said instead, slightly shaken by that part. If the word got out that Jiangzhen was under some sort of attack, then this whole thing could’ve been solved by the Skyguard or the Empire’s other forces.

“The signs are there only for those prepared to dig deeper,” Sun Hu said, shaking his head. “I’m afraid my Master is not one of those. I’ve tried, but he doesn’t have a particular interest in places that are decisively mortal. ‘Best we leave them to their own’ is his usual way of handling troubles in cities like Jiangzhen. So I had to take the liberty of acting on my own.”

“That’s not very wise of you,” Lei said.

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“I’m not known for my wits,” Sun Hu said with a smile. “But people often tell me that I have a stubborn mindset, and I rather like that more. Stubborn and decisive in the path of justice. That has a good ring to it, don’t you think?”

“I think?” Lei arched an eyebrow at him, then gave him a small nod. “I guess so.”

“Thank you, fellow Daoist. I knew there were people out there who still appreciate a good effort. Now, if you will,” Sun Hu said and walked past them with his hands clasped behind his back. “I intend to make a run for that Library in which the Governor and his men are deep in what I presume is an ancient ritual.”

“Ancient ritual…” Lei said, gazing at the man. “What do you know, exactly?”

Sun Hu paused a step before him. “For some time, I’ve been trying to find my way into the Governor’s close circle, but I can’t say I’ve found much success in that part. What I know, though, is that they’re likely getting outside help. Perhaps from a Demonic Cultivator. I’m not completely sure about the details, but I can’t let them complete that ritual. It’s too dangerous.”

Too dangerous indeed.

“So what, you just expect us to believe that?” Fatty Lou argued. “A stray disciple of an Auditor risking himself for justice?”

“Well, I can understand your suspicions, but I have really nothing else to—”

“I have a few questions,” Zhu Luli said suddenly, earning a surprised look from the man and the rest of them. She’d been keeping quiet all this time, which just occurred to Lei how strange that was. “You’ve said that you’re an apprentice Auditor. One that can change his own skin, and your surname is Sun…”

“Yes, Young Miss?” Sun Hu said, gazing curiously at her.

“You couldn’t possibly be related to the Grandmaster Changming, could you? The famed Grand Judge of the Emperor’s Court, who was forced to retire under the new Emperor’s reign… I remember he had a few sons, but you—”

“You know my Father?” Sun Hu’s eyes widened at her, then his face grew serious. “But how? There are hundreds of families with the same surname, and I don’t think I’ve much in common with my Father. Not very much at all. I certainly hadn’t expected to be recognized in this far corner of the Empire. Especially in a mortal city…”

“I have my ways,” Zhu Luli waved him off and turned to Fatty Lou before nodding. “If he’s from that Sun Clan, then we can trust him. Even if he wants it, he can’t do anything against us.”

“And why is that?” Lei had to ask because it was getting too much for him. Felt like all they were doing was to keep answering questions with more questions.

Zhu Luli and Sun Hu crossed eyes, then Zhu Luli cracked a smile. “There are reasons I can’t disclose. Let’s just say that if he ever dares to do something bad, the Heavens wouldn’t keep their silence against him.”

“Ah…” Sun Hu scratched the back of his head and stared at Zhu Luli. “If you even know that part of our clan… Can you give this one your name, Young Miss? I’m terribly curious.”

“My name is Luli,” she said almost contemptuously. “Zhu Luli.”

“Zhu Luli…” Sun Hu muttered absently before he gasped and scrambled back hesitantly, fingers shaking around his robe. “As in, the Zhu Clan’s Youngest Miss? That Zhu Clan?”

“Mm,” Zhu Luli said with a wave of her hand and turned to face the foggy city. Something was churning there in the thick of the fog. “We don’t have much time. We need to move, now.”

“Young Master Luli—“

“Don’t,” Zhu Luli said when Sun Hu tried to speak. “Don’t you ever call me that. We move, now.”

Lei looked between the two. In the end, he sighed out a long breath and shook his head. He would leave all the thinking to his future self. Right now, right here, he already had enough things to deal with.

……

On the way to the Library, Lei made sure to keep an eye on Sun Hu. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the man. Just that the man had a strangeness about him. His expression changed constantly between a grim dedication to lazy acceptance, eyes flickering up at the blotted sky as if he was checking something out there.

He’s strong…

Yellow Maiden’s Eyes skill had shown him that the man was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. A man deep in the Immortal Path. Lei didn’t remember seeing a single Foundation Establishment cultivator here in Jiangzhen. The spiritual energy was too thin here, too mild that even Qi Condensation Stage cultivators tended to prefer places like Lanzhou for more efficiency.

An Auditor, though, was a whole different thing. The man belonged to the Emperor’s Own, which was the more ‘active’ side of the government here. According to what he’d said along the path, the reason why he hadn’t notified the authorities was that he hadn’t enough solid evidence.

Almost seems like fate’s playing some wicked game here…

Wicked and strange, to Lei’s thinking. It didn’t matter all too much now that they’d gained a rather reliable ally. One that had his quirks, but strong and steady on his feet, at least.

It took them some time to reach the streets through which the Library could be seen in the distance. Sun Hu showed them the guards that looked to be animated by that rotten mana. They were like zombies, except they weren’t exactly dead. More were waiting for them before the Emperor Xia’s statue that stood right across the Library. Dozens, or perhaps hundreds of them.

They stopped at the end of a narrow street.

“What’s the plan?” Fatty Lou said, leaning against a cold wall and craning his head toward the square. His face was twisted in disgust. Rot was thicker here, weighing them down.

“You’ve mentioned a ritual,” Lei said to Sun Hu. “What exactly were they doing? Maybe we can catch them in the middle of it.”

Sun Hu nodded. “They were meditating around a thorn-shaped tomb. Like the one you’ve mentioned that you’ve crushed in the Eastern Market. The one in the Governor’s Palace was similar too. But this thing is easily twice as big.”

“So they were just sitting around that thing and meditating?” Zhu Luli said with doubt. “What made you think it’s a ritual? Couldn’t they be just cultivating?”

“Young Miss, I know a man doing his circles when I see one. They weren’t doing that,” Sun Hu said. He smiled sheepishly when Zhu Luli frowned at the ‘Young Miss’ part, but then he continued. “There was no spiritual energy inside, and the rot was changing them. The Governor looked like one of those rotten guards I’ve shown you.”

“Changing them…” Lei mumbled. “The rot that makes Jiangzhen’s folk sick is feeding them, so it must be the mana. We can’t let them keep at it.”

“I agree,” Zhu Luli said solemnly and turned to Sun Hu. “Your chains can cut through the roof, can’t they?”

“Yes, Young Miss.”

“Then there’s no need for us to go straight through the entrance. We should use a different route.”

Fatty Lou nodded. “That’ll save us from dealing with that mindless horde as well.”

Lei gestured for the kids to come closer, then swept an eye across the square. It didn’t seem much of a plan, but they didn’t have much of anything to go with right now. At least using a different entrance would give them the element of surprise.

Better than nothing.

This close to the Library, the Spiritual Sensitivity skill was screaming in his mind. He took the lead and slipped slowly back, picking another street that stretched toward the backside of the Library. The group followed him without making a sound. Lei glanced over his shoulder now and then to check the kids.

Don’t think. It’s now or never.

Forward, through the streets, they finally reached the backside of the Library. A couple of rotten guards lingered there, either leaned against the high walls or lay in scattered twos or threes around the place. They had an airy, sickly way of breathing that turned Lei’s stomach.

“Go on,” he said, gazing at Sun Hu. “Show us that trick, Auditor.”

Sun Hu stepped wordlessly forward and stretched both his hands out. The air shifted. His face strained as spiritual energy coiled around his fingers, weighed by the thick fog around them. Even Lei could hear the man’s Foundation at work, spinning madly as it pushed more energy to now-materializing chains.

Once Sun Hu got a hold of them, he swept them toward the wall and the guards, the ethereal chains passing smoothly through the chaos and latching onto the wall. Metal’s shriek was a dull, heavy sound, before a big part of the wall came off as the chains tightened.

All the guards around that part turned at the sound. Lei was already running, Fatty Lou and Zhu Luli by his side, the kids darting after them like wolves. As always, Little Mei seemed to have decided to let Little Yao do the fighting, she herself coming at a more relaxed pace from the back.

“Go! Move!” Lei yelled when he saw the wooden shelves beyond the hole. A thick wave of fog spilled from inside and threatened to drown him, but the Maiden’s Flame made short work of the foul energy.

With a rasping roar, he swung the mace at the incoming guards. There was no going back now.