Author’s Note: Let the pills rain from the skies like chocolate rain, for oompa loompa and children alike — let the wise cultivators get some of that viagra and Tylenol. As always, thanks for reading. (And this chapter was also supposed to be uploaded when I was gone. Miscommunication is a terrible thing.)
“Aiyah, your friend is hurt! What happened, what happened, tell Granddaddy Dugu,” a bent little old man with a scraggly beard greeted them. “That leg is hurt badly, very badly! Granddaddy Dugu has pills! You need pills right? Come, come!”
“I don’t trust him,” Cai coughed weakly from Gai’zhi’s arms.
Gai’zhi smiled. “Aigoo, if my little prince thinks you’re bad, then you’re bad. Sorry, old man.”
“Prince,” the old man chuckled and opened his eyes. “Did you say prince?”
“Yeah, this man is bad news,” Gai’zhi chuckled. He stepped around Granddaddy Dugu. Signalling with the jolt of his head, “Follow me kids~”
“Kukuku,” Granddaddy Dugu laughed. “A prince!”
The old man snapped his spine straight and lunged forward. Pulling out a tiny dagger from his crotch, he plunged it forward. Eyes bulging with redness, a twisted laughter born from the carcass of hope, Granddaddy Dugu flung himself through with his measly first stage of qi condensation.
Meili frowned and dislodged the weapon from the old man with one deft flick of her palm. Then she held Granddaddy Dugu by his wrists.
“Prince! Hahaha!” Meili released him when foam frothed at his lips. Granddaddy Dugu kept laughing as blood bursted from his veins. “Prince! Kill the prince; money, gold, taels, pills! Granddaddy Dugu has pills! Pills!”
Blood spluttered up from his throat as he ripped at his clothes. His pale face marred by blood lit up when his hands clutched around something. Laughing, he stuffed it into his mouth.
“Pills, pills, Granddaddy Dugu has pills,” he laughed as he choked down dead rats and live
centipedes. Then, squirming as a final jolt ricocheted through his body, his eyes jumped open, froze, and his arms collapsed onto the ground.
“D-did, did I kill him,” Meili jumped back, panting. She pointed at the body for Gai’zhi to see.
“No, we’re simply in the slums of the great Black Pearl Sect. That’s all,” Gai’zhi smiled,
though his eyes were downcast. He pointed at the alleys. A group of children came out from the shadows and rushed for the dagger. After a brief scuffle which left one boy without an eye, a victor was crowned, leading the pack of ruffians back into the alleys. “These things happens all the time in slums — though addicts are worse here than anywhere else. That’s why, kids, never take too many cultivation dan, they’ll cripple your mind and body~”
“But the houses are all nice houses,” Jang-Guo pointed out.
“Who says slum people can’t be nice people? Or addicts to be good people?” Gai’zhi chuckled. “On this mountain, anyone who is not in the Black Pearl Sect or one of its wealthiest merchants or investors, is part of the slums. Though, that is not to say some merchants are not addicts.”
“Hey, Senior Brother Gai’zhi, what do you think he meant by prince?” Qiu’yue pointed at dead Granddaddy Dugu. Her hands were bloodied from her closing the old man’s eyes.
“It’s the sect’s annual Spring Festival. If the royal prince does not attend, then what face does Black Pearl Sect have? Though, with the Black Pearl Sect, even the royal family strives to be on their good side.”
“Oi, are you guys forgetting my goddamn leg wound?” Cai shouted with forced breaths.
“Yes, yes, my little prince,” Gai’zhi whispered into Cai’s ears, much to his annoyance. “We shall hurry on up to the official sect.”
Like that, the older disciple and Cai became mere dots on the slope. Leaving behind four children was never a good idea. Despite the slight incident at the outskirts of the miniature kingdom the
Black Pearl Sect has built, the children met with little oddities for a little while.
It seemed the kingdom was built in an organic way. It was only natural for the Black Pearl Sect, the largest and most grand labyrinth of structures, to be at the apex of the mountain. A snake only needed its head to survive. The tail was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Crime and poor living decreased the further one ventured in the city — however, at the same time, the severity of individual crime increased.
Having walked for an incense, passing by the old crippled by withdrawal, children playing tag or with wooden balls composed of bound twigs, and wives gossiping, the children all reacted with shock when they ventured upon their next incident: a gang-war.
From the onlookers’ conversations, the young cultivators were able to gather what was going on.
Both gangs were controlled two of the kingdom’s top merchants. Since both gangs supplied to the residents, it was inevitable for the gangs to lash out for blood.
“Oi, you egg-bastards, what the hell you doing on our turf?”
“Your turf? Excuse you, since when did illegal peddling of pills have actual legal authority regarding territory?”
“Since when did drug dealers fight in the open?” A voice called out. Stepping in between the two rival gangs was a young boy. He had not yet hit his growth spurt and possessed a baby-doll face like a girl’s, round and full. Black hair laid over his eyes like claws. He wore black pants and a white shirt. This boy was certainly a member of the Black Pearl Sect.
“Drug dealers? Huh, what could you possibly mean, Young Master Lin?”
“Yeah, yeah. No illegal drugs here. Certainly not in the open; certainly not days before a public festival. Nope, not at all.”
With those simple words from Young Master Lin, the two sides retreated. The crowd parted, with one half flocking to one dealer and one half flocking to the other. One catered cosmetic pills, health pills, and such; the other dealt cultivation pills and pills which temporarily boosted one’s strength.
“Do you guys sense that?” Senior Sha gulped down his surprise.
“Yeah,” Meili whispered. Her slight wound on her chest tingled. “He’s at the petrification stage.”
“Hmph,” Jang-Guo snorted. “He’s probably just doped up on his sect’s drugs — probably at a bottleneck.”
“I can hear you,” Young Master Lin called out coolly. “If you wish to say something, say it to my face. Come on now. Say it. I dare you to, brat. Apologize now and I’ll leave you with your head attached.”
Jang-Guo blushed. Meili knocked on her brother’s bald head. Qiu’yue walked up to the boy and bowed. “Uh, little Qiu’yue is really sorry for her Tang-ge’s stupidity. Please don’t kill us.”
Young Master Lin pointed at the other’s general direction. “Is this sister of yours retarded? Who the hell apologizes like that? Where's my kowtow? Where's the fresh breeze of her crawling between my legs while jumping through fire and knives? Does she take me for a fool? No, is she a fool?”
“Hey, who are you calling retarded,” Meili shouted. She shoved past poor Senior Sha and marched her way to the Black Pearl Sect member. “I don’t care if you are the young master of the entire Black Pearl Sect, but my sister is the smartest and cutest girl!”
“Of course you would think that,” Young Master Lin snorted. He rolled his eyes and jerked his nose up with a sneer. “With an ugly face like yours, any girl would be cuter. With a personality like that, any girl who can keep her mouth shut would be smarter. Hell, I suspect you aren’t a girl at all, but some twisted and confused demon!”
“No one insults my dear sister like that! What if her fragile heart becomes emotionally scarred,” Jang-Guo roared and pounced forward with his Tiger Form. Swiping with his claws, the boy was easily repelled with a single fist. Slamming into a wall, Jang-Guo coughed up blood.
“My, my,” Young Master Lin chided. “You two really want to fight?”
Senior Sha helped Jang-Guo up. With Jang-Guo leaned against his shoulder, Sha walked toward the two girls.
“Little Qiu’yue ah, you are super cute,” Senior Sha declared. Then he turned to Meili and said,
“Junior Sister Meili ah, you are a real beauty, so don’t let anger twist your face. Calm down, calm down.”
“Hmph,” Young Master Lin laughed. “A confused demon, a weakling, and a disabled coward, and a retard. What an adorable bunch.”
Senior Sha held his head down, gripping his stump. He raised his head and bared his fangs. Senior Sha smiled. When an ugly person smiles, it never equated to a good sign — especially one filled with such bloodlust.
“This pressure feel so good,” he smiled.
Young Master Lin grew disgusted with Senior Sha’s lascivious face and dealt a blinding kick at Sha’s head. Reacting with a speed unseen by the others before, Senior Sha dove into the ground and dodged the strike, then popped his head up and slammed his fist up Young Master Lin’s groin.
Squealing, the young boy buckled and fell onto the ground in pain.
“Senior Sha looks scarier than usual,” Qiu’yue remarked.
“Mei-Mei, that’s just how he is when he’s angry,” Meili responded. “It’s the only time Senior Sha is useful.”
“Junior Sister Meili, how cruel,” Senior Sha cried. Then he screamed as Young Master Lin stood back up and kicked his left hip into the ground.
“You must all be wishing for death,” he whispered. He dragged Senior Sha by the collar and stared down at Qiu’yue. He grew angry when the girl simply stared back at him — like he was a delicious meal. “I don’t like how you’re looking at me, girl.”
Qiu’yue pouted and slapped Young Master Lin’s cheek. Then the other cheek. And then his forehead.
“You are looking at death,” he breathed. His qi shot forth from him like steam.
Qiu’yue stuck out her tongue.
“Young Master Lin, Sect Master Lin is looking for you,” a voice said. It belonged to a young boy with white eyes and beautiful red hair. That fiery hair was only accentuated by the deep maroon scarf he wore along with his Black Pearl Sect uniform. And this boy blocked Young Master Lin’s powerful strike with his bamboo walking stick. “You must not make your father wait.”
Growling, the young master sped away for the labyrinth of buildings at the apex of the mountain. Then the mysterious young boy turned to face the four young cultivators.
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“I do not care if you four are guests,” he spoke in a monotone, “cause trouble and I will kill you. Do you smell that odor of iron? Do not become like them by my hands.”
Tapping along the cobblestone road, the boy walked up the mountain, scarf flying with the wind.
“That was a foreigner, right?” Jang-Guo spoke first.
“He was pretty,” Qiu’yue said. “His hair was really, really pretty.”
“More importantly than that,” Senior Sha swallowed his breath, “he was at the soul-severance stage.”
“Ge-ge. Mei-Mei. Senior Sha.” Meili took in a huge breath, then exhaled. “We are so underleveled for this.”
“Wrong genre again, dear sister,” Jang-Guo said. “They’re obviously doping. There’s bound to be side-effects.”
“Do you think we should check the alleys?” Qiu’yue asked. She tilted her head and said she was going to check the alleys. Then she skipped away.
“Hey, Ge-ge, did something happen when you two were trapped in the Tomb of Scorched Ice?” Meili frowned.
Jang-Guo’s face flickered for a second but then the shadow passed. “No, nothing weird happened at all. Why do you ask?”
“Mei-Mei seems more impulsive than she was before,” Meili spoke with worry. “Right, Senior Sha?”
“Uh, yeah, little Qiu’yue does seem more reckless,” the senior brother nodded his head in agreement.
“Nothing happened,” Jang-Guo asserted. “Let’s catch up to Qiu-di. You two are being weird for no reason at all.”
As the trio approached one of the alley, they saw Qiu’yue back away from the alley with the speed of a storm. The young girl’s face was pale as she vomited all over the ground. She collapsed onto all four. The girl gestured to the alley behind her.
Peeking into the alley was a river of bodies. They still breathed, simply asleep. However, smeared across the walls was bits of flesh. It was surprising how much space one human can cover in actuality: the small intestine could be 10 meters in length by itself. Already flies gathered, buzzing about, as rats crawled from cracks sniffing at its feast.
The other children paled as a tightness grasped at their chests. Turning away from the scene, they turned their eyes toward the road in front of them. Even if that foreigner was doping, the strength garnered was still genuine. Gulping, the children continued upwards toward the Black Pearl Sect.
The Black Pearl Sect was the number one sect in defense, not just in individual martial arts, but also in terms of the design of their sect. Reaching the top third of the mountain, the air became shallow and much colder — the fact people lived in such an atmosphere was a badge of honor for cultivators. They were one step closer to becoming gods.
Numerous stairways and tunnels were in place. Outsiders easily got lost due to the magnitude and complexity of the paths. Guards were stationed at every major intersection. On their way to report as guests, the children were stopped no less than ten times.
There was an incident where the buildings physically moved — rotated. The sudden movement shook the children up, but filled them with awe and a thrill for their stay. After presenting themselves at the reception area, a pair of servants led the four to where the other Yue Yun Sect members were.
They were led to a miniature pavilion. Two houses lied perpendicular to one another, opening up a courtyard and a small pond with the perimeter lined by flowers. Currently, the courtyard had a deep groove drawn down the middle. Qin Kuai and the two outer disciples occupied one side. Gai’zhi and
Cai occupied the other, the one nearest to the exit. The other children joined him.
“What’s the situation?” Meili gestured with a tilt of her head. She crossed her arms. “Their death stares are really annoying.”
Gai’zhi smiled, “Mm, you know, normal inter-disciple relations. Qin Kuai wants to kill you and leave your heads outside for the mercenaries to claim.”
Senior Sha breathed frantically, practically hyperventilating. “He’s a psychopath like usual, huh, Junior Brother Cai.”
Cai grunted. Then he narrowed his eyes. “Then again, I would do the same if I was in his shoes. The mercenaries are clearly after us. Even more so now that we killed one of their blood brothers. And their boss doesn’t seem to be the most sane person with how much crow’s piece he smokes. So, with Black Pearl Sect being the grand capital of pills, this is most likely the worst scenario.”
“But it’s not like anyone without an invitation can get inside the sect in the first place,” Gai’zhi said.
“And I doubt those mercenaries are sneaky enough. Besides, I’ll lay out some formations to guard
against evil intent — I would have done it anyways since Qin Kuai is here.”
“You’re being awfully nice to us, Senior Brother Gai’zhi,” Qiu’yue smiled brightly.
“Aigoo, a flower and a prince, so cute,” the older cultivator exclaimed as he snatched both Cai and
Qiu’yue into his embrace. “I’m so glad you guys are actually competent children!”
Cai and Qiu'yue reacted with varying levels of disgust.
Jang-Guo whistled and pointed at Cai’s leg, “The Black Pearl Sect is strong, huh. It’s already healed. Hey, Sha, you think they can grow your hand back?”
“Huh? Oh, uh,” Senior Sha shrugged. “I think I’ll keep my hand like that.”
“Definitely!” Gai’zhi nodded his head with excitement. “It’s cooler that way. Boy, you hacking off your
own hand was one of the manliest thing I’ve ever seen.”
The oldest of the children blushed and smiled awkwardly.
“Oh yeah, this is your first time at the festival right?” Gai’zhi asked with a wide smile.
The children nodded.
“Do you want to hear about the things you’ll see and do?”
They nodded again.
“Ahem, well, the days leading up to the main 3 days event is known as the Gourmet Pills
and Dan event. The Black Pearl Sect holds a demonstration of the fruits of their research into pills among other things. Last year, they also held a special tour through their manufacturing system. You’ll also get chances to get free pills — some of them are prototypes, so don’t actually ingest those. That’s why outer sect disciples are encouraged to come here, besides witnessing how strong the inner disciples are.” Then Gai’zhi leaned his head forward. In a low volume, he told the children something else of interest. “Apparently, the prince was bored with just the fighting tournament last year, so they may add another competition open for anyone not entered in the fighting portion.”
“How can the prince be bored with the fights?” Qiu’yue pouted. Her irritation at that fact caused Quiet Thoughts to threaten to come out of ornament form. "Everyone train so hard!"
“Well, some of the sects obviously are not as strong as others, resulting in a one-sided massacre. Other sects often feature the same style or method of attacking, and that becomes tiresome to the
untrained eye. And I heard the prince is a very carefree prince.”
“But that changed hasn’t it?” Cai spoke up all of a sudden. His eyes sharpened and a deep intent flowed from him. More surprisingly, Cai pulled back that intent when he felt a more viral, primal force assault his. At first he thought it was Qin Kuai, but his eyes landed on smiling Qiu’yue last.
Gai’zhi nodded with crossed arms. “After the failed assassination on the Emperor, the prince became withdrawn. It’s a very bothersome affair.”
“Do you think my Mama really did it?” Qiu’yue asked with clenched fists. Her eyes were like bubbles on the verge of collapse.
“Mm, I don’t know or care,” Gai’zhi laughed. “If it’s interesting and fun, that’s good enough for me. It’s getting late, children. Even Qin Kuai has gone inside.”
At that, no one else offered a response to Qiu’yue’s question. Everyone went inside the building and into bed. At first, Qiu’yue slept in her own bed, but after a series of uncomfortable intervals of sleep and no-sleep, she rose and snuck in between Jang-Guo and Meili, squished cozy with a smile.
The prince was staring blankly outside the window. In the two days he has been within the Black Pearl Sect’s walls, he has done nothing else. Musicians failed to stir his spirit. Artisans failed to amuse him. Stories never roused him. Food left the room as they arrived, save for one spoon less of every dish.
His royal retainer, Zhao Gao, was at a complete lost. At least back in the palace, he was able to sneak the young prince to his mother. Here, he was alone. Here, he was vulnerable. Here, he was as close to death as possible.
Not just physical death, but a spiritual one as well. And before either of those, quite possibly a social decline too. Though rumors have propagated regarding the prince’s mental trauma and retardation, they remained rumors. If the prince showed no change, those rumors would become reality. His own fate was tied in with the prince’s. Sighing, he left the room as well.
Once the young prince confirmed the dog of his relatives was gone, he placed his finger on the wooden windowpane in the shape of a cross. It was his signal for his loyal servant.
“Prince Shun-qi, your faithful servant, Yao Ye, is here,” a handsome man dressed in blue robes greeted the young prince.
The prince knew he must not talk above a whisper. He walked over to Yao Ye and spoke directly into his ear, “When will we finally kill General Bo Ling? I want him dead! Dead, dead, dead!”
Yao Ye listened to his prince’s tantrum until he exhausted himself. Then once Prince Shun-qi’s stomach growled, he handed him a pair of meat buns. The prince gorged on the plain meat buns like they were dragon meat.
“We must be patience,” Yao Ye said. “There is a great likelihood of an assassin sent after you while you attend this event. We cannot simply throw down all our cards so soon, we must wait.”
“Fine.” The prince growled. “I’ll keep playing the fool. No, I am a fool.”
“Good, good, the Emperor, may he live a thousand thousand years, would be proud,” Yao Ye commended.
The assassin listened to the exchange from his hiding place. Smiling behind his mask, he left his post and sent a letter by bird.