There was no such thing as a war without bloodshed. There could be more or less violent wars, bloodier battles, or territories subverted by political guile. The Fox Princess had infamously taken Kucheon almost single-handedly, relying entirely on her bewitching gaze—but even she had needed to murder key figures in order to fully secure her reign. In the fighting between Qin and Jiaguo, there had been many casualties on both sides.

Yet one thing had become clear as Jiaguo continued to win battle after battle against the Heavenly Empire’s inexhaustible numbers—they were taking prisoners. Focusing on it, even. It didn’t make sense to Gao Yuanjun. Taking cultivators prisoner was a dangerous risk, and the only way Jiaguo could defeat them was by bleeding out their numbers until the cost of the war was too great to bear.

So why do it? The only sensible answer was the Fox Princess. She could turn their own soldiers against them. He could only assume there was some sort of limitation to her power, or they would have already seen an army of thralls on the battlefield. Still, the thought unnerved him.

How did one fight against that? Did the grandmasters have some sort of plan? The original Fox Princess had disappeared, but nobody knew how or why.

Gao tried to hold on to the hope that his brother—his friend, Shun Song—had survived their dreadful first encounter with Empress Yoshika. But even if he had, would he still be the same man? Or would he be twisted into some grim mockery of himself, bent to the will of the Fox Princess?

He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer to that, but he didn’t have a choice. The prisoners had started returning.

It was just a few, at first. They returned one at a time, unarmed and alone, as non-threatening as possible. Gao was wary, but he had the privilege of personally escorting one of the returned prisoners. Not Shun, though the man did bear news of his brother.

“Shun Song? I think that might have been the name of the fool who speaks to the empress when she visits the camp.”

Gao furrowed his brows. No, that couldn’t be right—the man was mistaken.

“I see. You weren’t harmed or...changed? Did you meet the Fox Princess?”

The man turned and spat.

“Not I. Nor anyone else that I know of. The pretender only appeared to us in the guise of the storm.”

Gao paled. The one managing the prisoners was—? The returned prisoner noticed Gao’s face and shook his head.

“It’s not like you’re thinking. She’s only like that in battle. I never spoke to her, but I have seen her. She’s...smaller, in person.”

“I’m not sure what that means. But you’re still loyal to the empire, then?”

“Of course! I live and die by the will of the God-Emperor, brother!”

He could be lying but...Gao didn’t think so. It felt genuine, yet he still worried. Could he trust this man at his back, in battle? It turned out not to matter. Gao stared at the man incredulously when he explained it.

“What do you mean you aren’t returning to the front? The sect masters won’t tolerate desertion.”

“I swore an oath, brother. My part in this war has ended.”

“Under duress! You were threatened—surely such a dishonorable pact has no merit.”

The former prisoner shook his head.

“It’s not like that. We were all asked to take the oath, but some refused—determined to resist our enemy to the last.”

Gao clenched his teeth.

“They will be avenged.”

“No, brother. They still live. Those who refuse the oath aren’t executed, they just...aren’t paroled.”

“Truly? And they just released you on your word? Nothing more?”

He nodded.

“I find it as strange as you, but yes.”

“Why?”

The man scratched his cheek, frowning.

“I think they’re running out of room.”

----------------------------------------

Yoshika was suffering from success. While Qin undoubtedly had the numbers to weather the attrition, Jiaguo was winning enough battles that the prisoner camp was filling faster than they could expand it. They’d had to start paroling the prisoners, but that was a rather slow process. Many had taken the oath not to fight again, but not all of them were sincere, and it was difficult to vet them. There was also the concern of how Qin would react to receiving their prisoners back.

So far it seemed to be going well, but it meant that Yoshika had to accelerate her plans. They were running out of time, and she knew that this wasn’t a war to be won on the battlefield.

That was why, for the first time, she was introducing the captured soldiers to Eunae. As promised, she wore a veil over her eyes, and she had no intention of using her powers on any of them. They were under her blessing, but only that.

Shun Song was obviously nervous as she approached. Eunae knew that she had a more imposing appearance than Jia, and the veil didn’t really help. She didn’t have Jia’s girlish charms or endearing immaturity, but she had her own way of being disarming—even if it was something she hadn’t really tapped into since her time in the academy.

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Eunae smiled behind her veil as she approached the anxious man from Qin. He couldn’t see her face, but a genuine smile was something that you could see in someone’s bearing—hear in their voice.

“Hello, Song! Thank you so much for meeting me! I’m Seong Eunae, but I insist that you simply call me Eunae.”

“Erm, I don’t think that’s wise, Your M—er, Miss Seong?”

“Nonsense! Do you know how confusing it would be for us to be calling each other Song and Seong? Given names only, please—I’m utterly exhausted by how the people of Kucheon treat me.”

He blinked, and Eunae took advantage of his uncertainty to take his arm in hers and begin walking through the camp.

“Miss—E-Eunae, I don’t think this is appropriate! This is rather forward given that we’ve only just met.”

“Don’t be silly, we’ve been talking for days! I know I act differently, but I am in fact the same person who’s been sharing lunch with you. Different, but also the same.”

“I understand—I think—but I wouldn’t want anyone to think I was being untoward.”

Eunae patted him gently on the shoulder.

“Oh please, you’ve nothing to fear on that front—I already have two wives, and I’m quite satisfied with them.”

He sputtered incredulously.

“You—two?! Wait—Miss Lee and An Eui?”

She rolled her eyes.

“No—they are married to each other. My wives are not among our aspects, and yes, I have two. My greedy sweetheart went and courted both me and our wife at the same time, can you believe it? I suppose I had only myself to blame, though—I wasn’t being honest with myself at the time, and it worked out rather nicely all things considered.”

“I...I see?”

Eunae covered her mouth—out of habit, since the veil already hid it—and giggled. She did feel a little bad for the poor man, but while Jia had her ways of winning people over, so did Eunae.

“Are you married, Song? Any family?”

He was taken aback by her sudden question.

“Er, no miss—”

He wilted a bit when she shot him a withering look from behind her veil. It really was more about body language than facial expression.

“Eunae—apologies—I am unwed. I have a mortal family back home, but I haven’t seen them in years.”

“Tsk, that won’t do! You should visit! Time may mean little to us immortals, but we mustn’t forget our mortal connections. I’m sure they miss you.”

“I wasn’t, er, particularly close with my mortal family.”

Eunae sighed.

“Not with any of them? I can understand if your family is terrible—believe me—but if there are any that you care for, you should cherish them while you can.”

“I...suppose there’s my little sister, although she must be—by the emperor, in her forties by now. She probably has her own family.”

“I’m sure they’d be delighted to meet their mighty cultivator uncle.”

He scratched his head awkwardly.

“Er...maybe not. I wasn’t raised in a sect town, and cultivators have a...mixed reputation.”

Eunae blew a puff of air up at her veil, causing it to flutter.

“I’m well aware. I’ve visited Qin before, you know. My sister forced me to wear a veil to avoid disturbing anyone, and I hated it. Also, Sun Quan tried to murder me—twice.”

“I...am from the Great Austere Mountain sect, and have no association with the Silver Orchard.”

She laughed and shook her head.

“Don’t worry, I don’t hold a grudge. I’d like to end this war—peacefully, if possible. That’s why I’ve gone out of my way to take prisoners, offer surrender where I can. I only hope that Qin has been as gracious.”

Eunae knew for a fact that they weren’t, but she still prayed for the safety of her people.

“Do you believe that you can change the grandmasters’ minds simply by being magnanimous?”

She smiled sadly at his look of pity and shook her head.

“No. I know that Sun Quan at least partly fights because he believes I am Seong Heiran reincarnated, but even if I convince him otherwise, I doubt that will be enough to stay his hand.”

“Then why?”

“Do I really need a reason other than that it’s the right thing to do? I won’t lie—yes, I do hope that by changing your minds I can find a path to end this senseless war with a minimum of undue bloodshed. I regret that I had to slay Bu Dong Rushan—he seemed like a decent enough man, and I doubt that an evil person could develop a domain that protects people like that.”

Eunae sighed.

“But that is what your sects have brought upon me. Death and destruction—innocent blood spilled for nothing more than the glory of an empire built on the pride of a single man who lacks even the common decency to stand behind the actions of his own people.”

Shun Song furrowed his brows and pulled away from Eunae, his tone warning.

“I would ask you not to besmirch the name of our God-Emperor. You may believe your cause is just, and your actions moral, but I have not forgotten that you fielded demons against me and my brethren.”

“Would you believe me if I told you that in both this war and the last, those demons have killed the fewest of all my armies? Yang Qiu has trained for years to control the power of her toxins so that they only paralyze and debilitate, without killing.”

The look on his face told her that he didn’t believe it, but that was fine. Perhaps she’d introduce them later, if she thought it would help. Probably not, knowing Yang Qiu.

“The point is, Song, I do not want your people to die any more than I want my own to die. I take them prisoner and offer them parole because that is just. But...”

Eunae looked around at the crowded camp. They’d been touring the perimeter, and other cultivators gave her a wide berth, but it was obvious to anyone that the camp was running out of space.

“I cannot keep this up forever. Jiaguo is losing this war, Song, even as we win battle after battle. I could defeat every cultivator in your entire empire without taking a single casualty and still lose. I will not—cannot massacre your people, even as you threaten me with the same. Something else needs to change.”

Shun stared blankly at her, searching for his words. She waited patiently for him to respond.

“I...cannot speak for my people, Eunae. I’m only one man. Blessed to be part of a great sect, but unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Even if you tell me all of this, what can I do about it?”

Eunae shook her head.

“Nothing. I’ll start sending people home soon—in fact, I already have. I hope that they—and you—will remember what they saw here, and consider carefully who and what they fight for.”

He looked away, unable to meet her eyes even through the veil. Eunae smiled gently and gave him one last pat on the arm.

“Take care of your little sister, Song. Whatever else becomes of us after the war, I hope you remember that much. I think I’d like to meet her one day, if I’m able.”

Eunae turned and left. She didn’t know whether her words would resonate with him, or if any others would care to listen. She hoped it was enough. It had to be enough.