Chapter 22:
The bandit camp was quite different than I’d last seen it. There was a lot more blood than there was before. Unfortunately, the blood did not solely belong to the bandits. In fact, most of it probably wasn’t theirs, I realized to my chagrin.
Master Fang Hong fought with fire. The charred corpses would be the bandits then. And so the blood was from everyone that the bandits slaughtered while their leaders and more powerful members ran away.
My fists clenched tightly at my side at that realization, and the state of the ruined camp became even worse in my eyes. Damn it.
I tore my gaze away from one of the bloodstains I’d been staring at and made my way through the camp. It was nighttime, but many fires burning kept the place illuminated. Though with my new eyesight that came with reaching Rank 1, the bright starry sky above would have been enough for me to see plenty.
Most of the flames were just campfires and normal torches that the bandits had left behind. Some of them were the still burning remains of marauders that were slaughtered by Master Fang Hong. I might have felt a little bad for their gruesome deaths if it wasn’t for what they’d been doing right before they’d died.
“There you are,” a voice said from beside me, almost making me jump. “You shouldn’t wander off like that. The Marauders should all be gone, but it’s still better to be cautious.”
It was Ming Lin—still in her male guise.
“Sorry, I just needed some space to think,” I said, sighing as I looked away from her back to the rest of the camp. At the burnt corpses strewn about, and the far larger pile of normal corpses that the mercenaries that Sun Xia had hired and the Alchemist Guards were gathering.
I’d been with Sun Xia, her sister, and Ming Lin when Master Fang Hong reported what had happened. And what the camp had been like when he got here.
Apparently, the strongest members of the Marauders didn’t have much faith in their leader. Either that or they were just really fast at running away. By the time Master Fang Hong arrived, they’d fled, leaving behind their subordinates as distractions. There wasn’t a single marauder at the late-stage of Qi-Gathering that he faced in the camp. The worst part was that the leaders commanded their underlings to slaughter the slaves, forcing him to have to intervene and giving the scum more time to get away.
The only good news was that the bandits left behind had no idea what was happening. They thought it was some kind of mass sacrifice ritual and a reward. So they took their time about it, keeping the number of dead slaves a lot lower than it could have been. Especially since many of the slaves had still been in the mines, and the bandits were also less interested in killing the women right away.
The sick bastards.
It really pissed me off, even if most of the marauders had been killed and a majority of the slaves were saved. It still felt like a pyrrhic victory. The main ring leaders, and worse, the main strength of the bandits still managed to get away. And the most horrible thing of all was the deaths of the slaves that had been so close to getting saved.
My anger at all that just wouldn’t abate, so I had decided to cool off away from people who could swat me like a fly. A small part of me hoped I’d see a familiar big-nosed bastard's corpse among the bandits. I hadn’t forgotten how psychotically eager he’d been to suggest the punishments in the Marauder’s gruesome power display. But I knew that was just wishful thinking.
The corpses were too charred to recognize anyone, and if that guy really had been related to the Black Hammer, it was unlikely he would have been left behind.
“Brooding like this won’t change anything,” Ming Lin said.
My fist clenched tight at my side, but I resisted the urge to snap at her. “I know. But it isn’t like there’s anything else I can do right now, is there?”
“Not now, no,” Ming Lin said, speaking softly. Then her voice grew hard. “But that’s why you need to focus on the future. I hate that any of those bastards got away too. After everything they did? After what they almost did to Sun Yun? I wanted them all to burn. If I was strong enough, I would have done it myself. But I’m not. And neither are you.”
I gritted my teeth and turned to glare at her. “What’s your point, then?”
“That the only thing we can do,” she said, matching my glare with an intent stare, “is work to get stronger. So next time we run into something like this, we don’t need to wait for someone like Master Fang Hong to take care of it all. Instead, we take care of it ourselves.”
I held her gaze for a long moment before I sighed and deflated. She wasn’t wrong. But it was hard not to dwell on all this with all the bodies around us.
“Now, come on,” Ming Lin said, putting a hand on my shoulder and guiding me toward the center of the camp. “There’s not much more we can do here, and we’ve both been through a lot. We can leave the investigating to the Alchemist Guards.”
“What about the slaves we managed to save,” I asked, stopping for a moment to look over at the west side of the camp where we’d been served food before. There was a large group over there—but not nearly large enough. I could hear crying, but also some cheers of celebration and the smell of cooking meat.
“The Marauders that got away didn’t take any of their supplies,” Ming Lin said, pushing a little more firmly on my shoulders to get me moving again. “So they’ll be able to eat and rest. The Alchemist Guards and the Azure Tigers will stay with them and escort them out of the forest in the morning.”
“Azure Tigers?” I asked, confused.
“The mercenary company that Sun Xia hired to help.” Ming Lin explained. “They're like the Stomping Bulls.”
“Oh,” I said, turning to give the now-freed slaves one last look. Just how many had made it? And how many had died? “What will happen to them afterward?”
“Hopefully, they will return to their lives,” Ming Lin said. “Maybe they will have family in the city, or perhaps they might be able to contact whatever town they're from for help.”
I couldn’t help but frown at that as we arrived at the center of the camp where Sun Xia, Sun Yun, and Master Fang Hong waited. “So they won’t be getting any help from the government?”
Master Fang Hong let out a light scoff and shook his head. “Ah, to be so young and naive.”
I turned to glare at him for a moment, right before I remembered just who I was glaring at. As if to emphasize the point, I just got close enough that he was within my Earth Sense. Despite probably keeping his Qi contained, I could still feel the weight of his power through my Skill. I winced at my slip up.
Master Fang Hong caught my expression and smirked in a way that made me want to punch his stupid face. At least, it would have if he wasn’t so powerful that he could probably kill me with a flick of his fingers.
“It’s hardly naive to expect someone who calls himself a lord to take care of his people,” Sun Xia interjected coldly.
Suddenly, Master Fang Hong's smirk turned into a grimace. “Of course… Disciple. However, City Lord Lu technically is just the lord of the city. His main responsibilities are to keep that safe and secure.”
“Really?” Sun Xia asked, though there was a sarcastic lilt to her voice. “Then someone should tell City Lord Lu that next time he taxes the region and all the towns around here.”
Master Fang Hong winced again but nodded at the point. “Well… I’m sure we are all tired from everything that’s happened. Let us depart, then, shall we? I’m sure you’d rather go and get some rest at your manor instead of staying out here.”
“Yes, I suppose we should,” Sun Xia said, waiting just long enough to make things awkward for the old man. “We will have to go back to our campsite to pick up one of my retainers first. If you don’t mind?”
“Not at all,” Master Fang Hong said before he tapped the pouch at his waist. Well, another pouch, I realized. He had two of them. This one was almost pure white. “I am, of course, happy to help my favorite Disciple.”
“Thank you then, Master,” Sun Xia said, smiling as she put a strange emphasis on the last word. Not quite sarcastically, but something along those lines.
Master Fang Hong smiled weakly at that as some sort of white smoke came out of his pouch… Actually, no, it wasn’t smoke. Instead, it kinda looked like a cloud, I realized as the stuff continued to pool on the ground under us.
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A moment later, the cloud-stuff had gotten thick enough that it lifted us all from the ground. Surprisingly, despite how wobbly it looked, it felt quite firm and steady under my feet. Then, without warning, it started to float above the ground.
“Whoa,” I said in shock. Then we shot up into the air, and I yelped and clung onto the nearest thing to me to steady myself.
After a moment, and when I realized I wasn’t going to be blown off my feet, I realized I’d grabbed onto Ming Lin. She looked at me, with an amused raised eyebrow but didn’t comment. I coughed in embarrassment and let go of her, standing back up straight as I looked around.
However, before I could appreciate just what was happening, we descended again. I wobbled a bit at the sudden move but endured it better as we arrived back at the camp where we’d been before sunset.
It only took a brief exchange with one of the Azure Tigers that were on guard for Shui Jianfeng to be alerted to our presence. And to my surprise, he arrived on his own two feet, looking far better than before.
He was met by an enthusiastic hug from Sun Yun, and a friendly shoulder pat from Ming Lin. I, of course, emulated Ming Lin and patted him on the shoulder as well. It was good to see him up and about again so soon. The medicine in this world was truly amazing. And I needed some unconditional good news.
Once that was done, we were taken back up into the air. This time, I managed to not flail about despite the slight feeling of acceleration on me, and the much more obvious acceleration I could see with my eyes.
When we leveled out and started flying in a single direction, I finally got a chance to take in the view from who knows how high up. It wasn’t too amazing or anything, mainly because it was night, and as bright as the starry sky was, it wasn’t enough for me to see many details of the landscape below.
Mostly, I saw what looked like a big dark blob that was the forest below us, which was occasionally broken up by rivers or other bodies of water that shone with reflected light. Still, it felt pretty incredible, given that I was seeing all this while flying on a freakin cloud of all things.
The novelty helped push away the memories of the Marauder’s camp for a while. Let me focus on what wonders existed in this world instead of all the horrors.
Eventually, we got within sight of the city. Ming Lin tapped me on the shoulder and pointed it out, drawing my attention from the open fields I’d been staring at. When I turned to look where she was pointing, I was greeted by a much more impressive sight than I was expecting.
The first thing I thought when I saw the city was big. The other was bright. Despite likely having no electricity, large swatches of the city were still illuminated brightly by orange light, either fires or maybe magical lights. It was also just way bigger than I thought it would be.
Maybe it was because I didn’t know how high we were, and wasn’t great with determining the scale of things. But, from just what I could see, the walled port city looked like it was big enough to match a modern city from Earth. Definitely not one of the largest, like New York, or Tokyo, or London. But at least big enough for a million or more people.
As we started to descend, I could see ant-sized people moving around the street in large numbers, making me think of a modern city even more. It also made me very curious. Just what was it like down there? How did it compare to back home? And just what would I find if I got a chance to explore it?
Thoughts like that continued to run through my mind as we approached the city. I could make out more details now, and unlike the size of the city, the architecture didn’t surprise me as much. It looked like the ancient Chinese style I’d been expecting ever since I met my first robed cultivator.
There were a lot of those sloped and curved style tile roofs, and bright colors that I could still make out thanks to all the lights down there. Most of the buildings were short, but there were a couple of large pagoda structures that were at least ten stories tall—some even greater. And at the center of the city, I could make out what looked like some kind of walled palace. It seemed to be a massive complex at the top of a large hill.
We didn’t approach that though, and instead moved around the palace. What few other flying travelers in the air above the city seemed to do the same—all of which flew on what looked like clouds as well. I would have gaped at the sight of them if I hadn’t been traveling the same way.
The place we were headed seemed to be a more affluent part of the city. The buildings were a lot less clustered together. There were also big sections that looked like courtyards or maybe private gardens.
The further we traveled, the larger these buildings became, and I think they started being broken up into whole compounds instead of individual homes. It was at one of these compounds, not one of the largest but still very nice looking, that we finally descended.
The cloud landed in what appeared to be the central courtyard of the compound we were stopping at. Once it landed, it started to shrink and flow back towards the pouch at Master Fang Hong’s hip.
“And here we are,” Master Fang Hong said, putting his hands behind his back. “Finally back safe and in the city. If there isn’t anything else you need, Disciple, I should go report back to the Association. The blatant attack on one of our members will require a coordinated response. We will likely set a bounty on the Black Wind’s head and send out some of our own Foundation Establishment Alchemist Guards to hunt him down.”
“That is good,” Sun Xia said before she gave Master Fang Hong a small bow. “This disciple thanks Master Fang Hong for his… timely intervention. I hope I can continue to count on you in the future.”
Sun Xia said that without a hint of irony or disapproval in her voice. Yet Master Fang Hong winced all the same.
“Of course,” Master Fang Hong said, his smile incredibly strained. “I am happy to help my favorite disciple. Now I must be off. But feel free to contact me at any time.”
After saying that last part in a rush, he kicked off the ground and flew up into the air, two small blasts of fire shooting out from his feet. Despite that, he left no mark on the ground nor did he disturb the air around him.
The rest of us watched him until he flew off into the air.
Then Sun Xia spoke up first as she walked over and placed a single gentle hand on her sister’s shoulder. However, something told me that grip was actually iron-tight as she pulled Sun Yun away from Shui Jianfeng.
“Now, Little Sister, Shui Jianfeng has been through quite the ordeal,” she said, turning a pleasant smile to the now nervous-looking young man. “You shouldn’t keep him from being seen to by Doctor Ming.”
Shui Jianfeng winced a bit at that and rubbed his chest. “I don’t think that will be necessary, Young Miss—”
“Nonsense,” Sun XIa said, waving a hand. “Better to be safe than sorry. You shouldn’t just rely on antidote pills when you have access to a doctor. Now, off you go.”
Shui Jianfeng grimaced but nodded. He then turned to give Ming Lin a pleading look but Sun Xia interrupted again.
“I’m sure you will be just fine by yourself visiting Doctor Ming,” she said, an amused note in her voice. Then she tilted her head and looked both Ming Lin and I up and down. “Though… I suppose both of you have been injured as well. Perhaps it would be best if you were all seen to. Just in case.”
Shui Jianfeng perked up at that, looking a bit relieved. Ming Lin, however, shook her head rapidly.
“We should be fine,” she said, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me along. “I can make sure Li Lan is fine once we get him settled. I’ll just take him to the guest quarters.”
Sun Xia let out a small laugh at that. “Very well, if you think that’s best.” She then turned her attention to me, meeting my eyes. “We will speak again soon Li Lan. Perhaps tomorrow, or at most the day after tomorrow, to speak of what I can do to repay for your help. Until then, know you are more than welcome to stay with us for as long as you need.”
“Okay, thank you,” I said, waving goodbye as Ming Lin dragged me off.
She only stopped pulling on me and let me just follow behind her normally when we turned a corner around a building and were out of sight.
“So what was that about?” I asked, looking down at my arms. They’d stopped hurting long ago, and a careful look showed the wounds were completely healed, if very dirty with blood and grime. Still, I couldn’t help but worry about infections. “Cause I think I might want to see a doctor. I got bit by this fox spirit beast a lot, and even if my wounds are healed there could still be an infection issue. Maybe, anyway.”
“You should be fine,” Ming Lin said, shaking her head as we stopped in front of a building. It was only a single story, with a tile roof and paper windows. Despite the rather archaic look, it seemed really well-maintained and clean on the outside. “We’ll clean the wounds, and I’ll check on them myself just in case. No need to bother Granny Ming.”
“Granny Ming?” I asked, following her inside the building.
Ming Lin stopped for just a moment at the door and pressed her hand against the wall of the room where there was a circular symbol. Then several flame lamps in the room lit up, illuminating what looked like a small anteroom and probably the rest of the building as well.
“My grandmother,” Ming Lin said, leading me into the rest of the building. Though not before leaving our shoes in the anteroom. “She taught me everything I know about the healing arts. She also enjoys using more… traditional medicines. Easier and less costly to make than alchemical pills. But… they are quite rough on the tongue.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle lightly at that. So we were avoiding her grandma because of some gross-tasting medicine. Well, it's not like I couldn’t relate to that. I’d done the same in the past when avoiding traditional Chinese medicines instead of just taking a pill or some cough syrup.
Ming Lin gave me a quick tour of my new house. She showed me the equivalents of a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Then she looked over my wounds after I’d cleaned them up a bit and deemed them not needing any more treatment. After that, she moved to leave and let me rest for the night.
However, she did do one more thing before she left.
Stopping at the door, Ming Lin turned to me and said, “I haven’t gotten a chance to say it yet… So, thank you, Li Lan. For getting Jianfeng and I out of the mines. And for taking the risk to help save Yun. I will repay you for what you’ve done for us.”
With that said, she turned and left before I could reply. I stared at the door for a moment, a warm feeling in my chest, before I decided to get ready for bed. I’d been through a lot the last couple of days. Getting cleaned up and getting to sleep in a real bed was just what I needed.
Sure, I was still in another world. And I doubted this would be the last time I ran into trouble or danger. The remnants and leaders of those bandits were still out there as well. But Ming Lin had been right and brooding wouldn’t help anything.
For the moment, I could take the time to relax and unwind. Needed to really. I was tired in a way sleep probably wouldn’t fix, but would likely help.
Tomorrow, I would consider what I would do next, now that I was finally free and safe in this new world. And in the future, when I was stronger, then I could focus on what the bandits had done. Because then, I would be able to do something about it.