The trip through the city was a sharp contrast to the quiet of the desert. Firstly, it was bustling when they came through the entrance, and when man oozing pomp and self-importance declared with a certain amount of relish that the city counsel would be taking direct control of the grain, it was all Alex could do not to give the presumptuous bureaucrat a piece of his mind, even as the half dozen soldiers accompanying him gave the caravanners cool appraising glances.
Yet before Alex’s hackles could rise too much, Sunlay had gently squeezed his arm before addressing the officer directly. “Then we are quite happy to see you, honored servant of the city. For the just and noble Wanshi counsel does assure a full 150% payment for any grain or produce shipments it appropriates above standard market rates, yes?”
The haughty-looking man stiffened, yet much to Alex’s surprise, the man’s look of surprise that anyone would actually question him became a begrudging nod. “You have the right of it, Lady…”
“Lin Lin is fine,” Sunlay said with a smile, before solemnly nodding and claiming the caravan owners hand. “Here is where we part, honored caravan master. For I have absolutely no doubt that the honorable officer of the council before us will make sure you’re recompensed in full for all your noble efforts to feed our beleaguered city in it’s hungriest hour, and the profit you bring home will encourage all your fellows to do the same.” She turned to beam once more at the pompous-looking popinjay. “Is that not right, officer?”
The man’s lips were pinched tight but he didn’t stint from pulling out a bag clinking with denominations of both silver and gold as the soldiers smoothly closed ranks from any prying eyes while the dozen or so city employed laborers got to work unloading the caravans in surprisingly short order.
“I take it a full two silver per hundredweight will suffice?”
The merchant’s eyes widened, his face lightening in a beaming smile. “Indeed it will, honored officer of the council! I shall make sure that my fellow caravanners know of the rich bounties to be hand making the trip to the fair city of Wanshi! Now, if you would be so kind as to direct us to the nearest healers…”
Sunlay gave the caravan master a wink and a friendly wave as she and the rest of their party broke off from the caravanners and made their way into the heart of the city. Alex couldn’t help but grin with a certain amount of excitement for a new city to explore.
He refused to let his sense of adventure and excitement, and the sheer joy of exploring a new city, be spoiled by the tension he felt for the game of intrigue that was just getting started. If anything, it just added to the thrill of the moment. The adventure of his life that he was now determined to enjoy to the utmost!
Though the streets were wide and airy, much like Quianshi, the two and three story buildings comprised of the same stone that made up the caldera appeared to be carved and worked from a different tradition. There was an emphasis on curves and arches, for all that the rooftops were perfectly flat, just like in Quianshi, though most of the rooftops had been further renovated with light frames of bamboo or wood allowing one to work on the rooftop and enjoy the view of the city and the desert far beyond, much like a rooftop gazebo. In some cases thin plank walls had been added, effectively building an additional story to the buildings of much lighter construction than the brownstone building that served as its foundation. A feature which appeared quite common and went hand in hand with the greater population density of Wanshi versus Quianshi.
Even if the wide boulevards were still a common theme, Alex saw a multitude of lighter wooden huts, no doubt made of reeds or softwood grown in the caldera valley below, were to be found in growing abundance adjoining the more permanent brownstone buildings. He noted as well that most of the wood seemed quite dry, even brittle, and it certainly made sense if shrinking water supply and wood as a resource meant that there was little material to repair or replace those houses. Still, Alex couldn’t help but frown even if the fronds of massive date palms rustling in the gentle desert breeze was just as common here as it was in Quianshi, making it clear that at least people weren’t being stupid enough to cut down such important sources of shade, comfort, and sustenance. Still, when cities grew too crowded without proper plumbing or sanitation…
He turned to Sunlay after exchanging smiles and greetings with the ever polite desert people that were so much more cheerful than the pinch-faced true-bloods of Yidushi.
“Wanshi is truly an impressive city. The population looks to be considerably bigger than even Quianshi!”
Sunlay beamed with pride. “My family has always done its utmost to lead our people to prosperity as best we can, Alex. And you’ll note that the date trees are still intact, even in these trying times.”
Alex nodded. “It’s true. Though the date palms are stripped bare, snack sellers are at a minimum, and the prices I heard shouted were… exorbitant. And everyone seems to be a bit on the thin side.”
This earned a snort from the kitsune. “And are you at all surprised?”
Alex sighed, slowly shaking his head. “Not in the least, Nili. Though I do wonder about all the um… additions to the buildings.”
Sunlay turned her gaze to the many bamboo and wooden huts sprouting from the brownstone buildings and claiming a good fourth of what was still an impressively wide boulevard.
She gave a measured nod. “I know. Our city, against all odds, and even down to a single rift, has been enjoying a significant population boon. Don’t worry, paradoxically, the pressure of so much life has made the caldera basin so fertile that farmers are now among the most revered and envied of professions, not even cultivators stinting from the honor of working the fields… and having first pick of the choicest fruits and freshest vegetables. We still have enough produce to feed everyone at least one meal per day, and our edicts are quite clear. No one who isn’t a part of a given clan, which means having full access to the main domicile’s sewers and water supply, is permitted to build any huts adjoining other people’s property. And throwing waste of any sort into the street, or anywhere save in the carefully maintained sewers, is absolutely forbidden. Finally, no more than a fourth of the boulevard is to be sacrificed for domestic use. It’s a compromise that has stood us in good stead for as long as I’ve been alive.”
Eric gave a thoughtful nod. “It seems like everyone’s thinking ahead and everyone we greet is still smiling, no one looks sick or miserable, so the city’s rulers are clearly doing a good job during trying times.”
Sunlay grinned, her twinkling eyes making it clear she appreciated his indirect compliment, even if no one listening in would think her anything more than a well-to-do traveler seeking accommodations in a nicer part of the city.
Her eyes brightened as the road took on a slight incline, and for all that they could have hired a rickshaw, the fact of the matter was that their casual pace was faster than the handful of rickshaws they passed… and pretty much everyone else who wasn’t at least a Bronze tier cultivator. And that perhaps explained the reflexive smiles being sent their way as much as anything else.
Besides warmth and welcome being the cultural norm here, it always paid to be on the good side of powerful people, especially during perilous times. Even more so if there was a Ruidian or two amongst them, as their daring the one working rift might make the difference between stability and starvation, should the absolute worst happen and the final waterfall run dry.
Alex also noted a change in architectural quality that occurred a bit more sharply here than in Quianshi as they ascended the gentle caldera slope. Sturdy brownstone constructed buildings were replaced by those faced with brilliant shimmering marble, the very stone that had so caught his eye with their sparkle on their original approach, giving the entire quarter of the city they now calmly walked through a rich, pearlescent sheen, sparkling so prettily in the final shafts of the waning sunset. Perhaps the most significant contrast was that there were no more huts or bamboo extensions of the main brownstone homes as had become almost commonplace in the quarter just passed, even if what amounted to rooftop open air pavilions were just as common here.
“Come on. Our destination is just ahead!”
Alex couldn’t help but smile at seeing the twinkle in Sunlay’s eyes, so clearly excited to be among familiar buildings in the city she had called home for most of her life. No doubt she was more than eager to reunite with her family, even if she agreed with Nili’s insistence that they feel things out very cautiously before presenting themselves before the court once more. And considering the prize they now held that could change the fate of the entire city… Alex certainly understood the need for caution, and for decisive action, once they had a feel for the lay of the land, lest hesitation cost them as dearly as doing nothing at all.
***
“Lady Han and entourage. So good, as always, to see you!” Gushed the proprietress of what Alex had to admit was indeed a handsome establishment, an impressive four stories of cleverly fitted wood and stone. The front entrance was especially classy for this time and place, sporting graceful silver filigree upon the grandly arched front door that was itself lined with sandalwood inlay polished to a soft gleam, along with half a dozen wide windows made of perfectly clear paned glass that gave a glimpse of a fine eating hall from which dozens of patrons could be seen taking their ease, sampling countless drinks and gustatory delights. Clearly these individuals weren’t suffering from any limits to their daily intake.
Alex’s belly grumbled just glimpsing it.
The door was quickly opened for them by an elegant servitor who radiated a cultivator’s grace with a short jian at his hip that he managed to wear as if it were just an accessory to his white and blue silk tunic and tight-fitting hose .
Alex had smiled in bemused approval as the man needed only a single glance Sunlay’s way to deduce that she was a noblewoman of note while flowing into a graceful bow before leading the way to the proprietress herself who was even now gushing and curtsying as if Sunlay was a favored and much-loved guest.
Which did absolute wonders for assuring them immediate quarters and seating at what was not just the dining hall but a private room on the side, their table soon tended by no less than three women serving the roles of musicians who immediately took up harp, zither, and erhu while their sunken table was filled with bowls of steamed rice and porridge; pita, humus and chutney; and dozens of small game animals poached, roasted, and grilled, covered with sauces or crisped up much like a drumstick of a lifetime ago.
Alex was beyond thrilled to eat some truly tasty fare, though the look he gave Nili spoke volumes.
Nili, no fool, just smiled and nodded while their musicians and pair of quiet, deferential servants awaited their pleasure.
“A bit much, I know. But don’t worry. Lady Han is an old cover and has facilitated our entrance and exit from the palace at will for the last three years.”
Alex frowned at this, but really, what could he say? That using that role right now smacked of coincidence and pushing their luck to an extreme? That it would have been better to sink into anonymity until the moment they revealed the prize that would pull Wanshi from the bring of utter disaster?
He sighed and shook his head. Because ultimately, it wasn’t his call. It was Sunlay’s. And if her spymistress approved, then who was Alex to say anything? He doubted anyone knew the particular circumstances and how best to go about things in any locale better than those who were native to the area.
Yet despite his acceptance, his fingers still flashed his misgivings.
“I don’t like it. Because there’s no way that no one has put two and two together over that long a period, which means your cover is just a known alias for who you really are. Even if that information was worth little before now, with so many things in play and with enemies no doubt eager to weaken your own faction at every turn, I fear it could bite us in the ass when we least expect it.”
Alex winced internally when both Nili and Sunlay glared at his pronouncement, realizing that his fingers, after days of nonstop battle, had spoken far less diplomatically than was his normal wont.
He cleared his throat and took a sip of hot summer tea. “I can’t help but admire both the beauty of Wanshi and her people,” he said aloud with a disarming smile, saluting his companions with his tea. “This humble Ruidian is grateful to travel in such august company and prays that our joint venture will assure a lifetime of prosperity for all of us,” he declared, going along with their plan despite his reservations, earning a hard smile from Nili as they all drank in turn.
“To desert fortunes and strong companions,” Sunlay said with a lilt to her lips. “With the natural cistern we discovered, our future as the most prosperous water merchants of Wanshi is all but guaranteed.”
All of them cheered and drunk as one to that.
And if one of the beautiful musicians missed a single note in their performance, no one else missed a beat. For such was their cover story and one that would certainly invite interest from all sorts of potential parties. Yet news of a hidden oasis or other source of water that one had to journey for, a source that could be controlled or blockaded altogether, was far less of a threat to their perceived enemies than the prize they actually carried.
It was hopefully enough to excite interest and perhaps efforts to entice or bribe… but news of a new, easily controlled water supply that Wanshi would be unable to access if an actual blockade was put into effect? Hardly a reason to abandon diplomacy altogether when proper enticement and pressure might win their enemies both the city and an extremely valuable desert resource besides.
Or such was their hope as they allowed the carefully calibrated rumors to slip free of their control, assuming they were being spied on at all. And should anyone know Sunlay’s true identity… she was far safer being thought the holder of a secret desert oasis than an actual city-saving Water core.
Still, Alex couldn’t deny the way his heart raced as the geisha focused so diligently upon their instruments, the servants so intently filling their cups with both honeyed mead and rich red wine, which must have been horribly expensive, and precious water which he feared would soon be just as dear to the countless tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of citizens whose lives would be in utter jeopardy the minute the city’s singular waterfall stopped filling the caldera basin with its ever waning bounty.
And how had this grand city that had at least the population and thus rift-stabilizing Dark Qi saturation as Quianshi, ended up with only one rift? It was a question that gnawed at him, even if it was one that would have to remain unanswered. At least for now.
“Come, Zhang. Master Chaoxiang will will be most interested in the fortuitous tidings of our latest guests!”
That was when he heard it, focusing so hard on his senses that he hardly noticed his food, the Wind whispering secrets in his ears that Rank 8 Qi Perception did not, focused as it was more on the movements of the pair of cultivators that were manservant and the zither-playing geisha, more than the far more faint mortals. Yet there could be no mistaking the curt whisper caressing Alex’s ear when he gave Nili a pointed look.
“Who is Master Chaoxiang?”
Nili froze for just a heartbeat, before roaring with laughter at the awful story Zichen and Anjen were gleefully recounting about their one encounter with bandits and desert boar. Nili then leaned against a smirking Alex, a heartbeat before her arms wrapped around him and her lips locked against his own, sending his heart racing with a fiery, passionate kiss.
Alex froze almost as much as Nili’s husband Quing Da, even though he had known it was coming, not having to act at all when his arms instinctively wrapped around the beautiful, lithe Kitsune woman and he kissed her back, fiercely and hard, losing himself for half a second as Quing Da’s laughter rang through their private dining room, only pulling back with flushed cheeks when his Dantian actually twinged.
And the teasing look Nili gave him was just too much, biting his lip as she whispered loud enough for half the table to hear. “That was yummy. Now take me to bed and kiss me like that again.”
Her tweasing quip set his cheeks blazing all the brighter even as he lifted himself to his feet, arm wrapped around a purring Nili as he locked gazes with their party leader.
“With your permission, Lady Han… the hour is late.”
Sunlay sighed, giving her presumed employees an exasperated smile. “I fear it has been a long day for all of us. Best we make use of the quarters provided, and we could all use a good-night's rest. Come, my friends. To quarters. Tomorrow will be an exciting day.”
She turned her gaze to the ever attentive servitor beside the doorway who was either Bronze or just a half-step below, now bowing fluidly at the waste.
“Please follow me. I shall show you all to your quarters and the steam baths below, should you wish it.”
Time passed in an odd blur as Nili captured Alex’s lips yet again, and this time his Dantian was definitely twinging, which filled Alex with hot shame, to find that the wild hunger he happily put on display for their presumed audience wasn’t entirely the act he had intended it to be.
Nili chortled huskily. “Come, my pet. Let me show you the true delights that our fair city has to offer,” as she slipped into the first room that the coolly smiling servitor led them to, pulling Alex along and slamming the door shut.
Only then did she chuckle huskily, still leaning against Alex, her heart racing just as fast as his.
The look she gave him when she stepped back left Alex’s throat dry.
For long moments they just stared at one another, her fingers gently reaching to caress his cheeks, her flush lips half opened as her breath hitched, soft brown eyes taking up his entire world and Alex froze, stiffened by shame, desire, confusion, and being totally caught off guard.
For an endless moment they stared at each other, Alex’s Dantian now definitely twinging, before Nili broke off eye-contact with a chuckle, quickly spinning around, fingers slipping free of a hand he hadn’t even realized had been holding her own so tightly.
“Good acting, Alex,” Was all she said as she quickly adjusted her attire.
Still, it was several long moments before they had both fully collected themselves, sharing an awkward smile when a storm of something that neither of them had been expected finally passed.
“So… are you ready for a meeting with the local head of an organization I was once intimately familiar with?”
Alex, still not trusting himself to speak, and perhaps more ashamed than he wanted to admit, just dipped his head.
This earned a snort. “Don’t worry. ‘Master Chaoxiang’ as he now calls himself, has always been a creature of habit. His efficiency and careful methodology is what earned him his present position. He never dared to betray me in the years he worked under me, for he knows as well as anyone that JiangHu chapters where advancement through the ranks occurs through bloodshed rather than merit tends to be branches where the average life is both short and brutal, all the more so as one goes up the ranks. Such organizations are also far less likely to have amicable ties with the government at large and the populace they are supposed to at least nominally, protect. They might even be hunted down, for good reason. And that’s the last thing a creature of efficient self-interest would abide.” She flashed a saucy wink. “Mostly, though, he knew I’d gut him like a shrike, and he’d linger a hell of a lot longer than a handful of days.”
Alex swallowed, forcing himself to speak. “So you’re saying that your protege was no saint, but he was a creature of efficiency and enlightened self interest. Someone who I’m guessing rewards profit and efficiency and discourages treacherous assholes because that works out best for the organization as a whole. In other words, he’s someone who can listen to reason. Someone who we can negotiate with.”
Nili nodded. “And if nothing else, he’s someone who we can trust to give us the lowdown on what’s really happening in Wanshi. Because a stable city without the populace and his own people at risk of dehydration, starvation, and slaughter truly is in all our best interests.”
Alex frowned. “Even so, that being said...”
Nili’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “Don’t worry, little cub. I have absolutely no intention of revealing secrets that our ours alone. There’s enlightened self-interest, then there’s tossing truffles to swine that would happily churn our city to a mud pit.”
Alex smirked. “Noted. But if all we have is the location of a desert cistern with access to an underground river…”
“That makes us intriguing, certainly. We might even get a discrete offer or two. But Chaoxiang will still know it’s in his best interest to inform us about where things truly stand in the city. Because, if by some miracle, should things actually turn out for the best… he knows he will be reward in all sorts of ways that go beyond coin. The acceptance, favor, and legitimacy that the counsel could grant him or anyone else for their diligence in the coming days will serve as a path to security and respectability he would have no other way to earn.”
Alex nodded at this, finally having calmed his racing heart, and his breathing. When he next looked at the coolly smiling Nili he saw a strikingly beautiful woman who didn’t look a day over twenty, thanks to his own ability to remove so much compressed Dark Qi plaque from her cells and meridians. But certainly he wasn’t in danger of falling in love with her.
Not when she was happily married, had a houseful of kits and a very loving husband, and there were other are brighter fires in his heart. Because for the first time in months that had felt like years, he actually had hope that the girls he had thought forever beyond his reach… just might not be.
Still, something in his expression brought a sympathetic smile from the Kitsune.
“Don’t worry, puppy. Your acting skills are top notch.” She winked. “One day very soon, I think you’re going to make a certain special girl very happy.”
Alex felt his cheeks blaze as he turned to the door. “Come on,” he said, his voice not at all husky. “We got a city to save.”
“So dramatic,” she snorted, her fingers now brushing his cheeks, brow, and chest in ways that had nothing to do with romance and everything to do with Shadow Qi. And even he couldn’t help but smile at his reflection in the silver wall mirror polished to such a sheen that it was almost as good as glass.
Alex found himself gazing upon the friendly smile of a young aristocratic-looking true-blood who just might have a bit of Ruidian ancestry with the set of his eyes and jaw. But he wore it well and looked good enough that even in Yidushi, he doubted he’d receive any disparaging comments at all.
Here in the desert cities, where a lot more intermingling had occurred than most people seemed to realize, no one would give him a second glance. For he pretty much was the norm. And with Shadow Qi, it was best to stay true to the original as possible, as was the case with most illusions and disguises, or so Alex was given to understand.
Though she did squeeze his hand teasingly as they slipped out the door once more, Nili quickly leading him down unnaturally shadow corridors where the busy flow of people he knew were there seemed to always be a room or half a corridor away, a bubble of coincidence, dim light, and distraction assuring that no one saw them at all as they slipped out the backdoor and into the night.
Nili took a deep breath of desert air smelling faintly of smoke, fried meats, and a caldera far dryer than it should be.
She gazed up at the stars. “Beautiful, aren’t they?”
Alex smiled and nodded. “They are.”
She squeezed his hand once more, still not letting go as she turned around to meet his gaze, a twinkle in her eyes. “Come, hero. Let’s see if racing through shadow gets your heart racing as fast as my kiss did.” With those teasing words they were off before he could utter a single syllable of protest, and within moments he had no desire to protest at all, eyes alight with wonder as they raced across the shadowy streets with the same perfect flow as a dream of flying, darting from pools of shadow to rooftops to puddles of darkness as they slipped by dozens of disinterested eyes and scores of conversations before flowing into the darker areas of the city where there was no true need for Shadow magics at all. Yet it was magic Alex happily embraced, once daring to laugh aloud as he picked up a happily squeeling Nili by her hips and took to the air.
“Alex!” She said with a breathless squeel, yet a smiling Alex knew they were safe. He could still feel her magic wrapped comfortably about them both as he kept his flight just feet above the ground, well within the domain of building and Shadow that he knew her city-bred gifts worked best with.
As they had for at least one woman who had touched his heart, countless lifetimes ago.
He blinked back an unexpected tear, feeling a tightness in his chest as her slightest shift in focus had him instinctively slow his pace and lower them to a convenient patch of liquid shadow. As if his body knew the movements to an ancient dance between partners that his conscious mind had forgotten countless years ago.
Nili chuckled breathlessly in the darkness. “You were made for this, Alex.” She squeezed his hand, eyes twinkling with warmth and excitement. “A Kitsune girl is in you future, hero. I see it as clearly as if it were already written in the stars.”
Alex flashed a sad smile. “Wouldn’t that be something? I’ll bet it would be a sweet life, at that.”
Nili froze, cheeks flushing as the excitement faded and she realized what she had said. Who she had said it to.
“The desert air makes this fox foolish. Forgive me.”
Alex snorted. “For what, enjoying our gifts for a few minutes? Come on, Nili. The sooner we get the lowdown on what’s really happening here, the sooner we can head back and plan for tomorrow.” Alex grinned. “And the sooner you’ll have an outlet for hungers that go far beyond savoring your gifts. And if the look Quing Da was giving us was anything to go by… your children will have another sibling to cherish in very short order.”
Nili chuckled throatily before favoring Alex with a smile filled with such gratitude that he had to look away.
“Only thanks to you, Alex. Using gifts I can’t even fathom to lift age’s gentle mantel and leave me feeling as passionate and hungry as a twenty year old girl, with all the wisdom of a woman many time that age… and don’t ask how many.”
Alex grinned. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
She snorted. “And the way my husband’s been going at it, a new addition to the family will probably be happening in very short order. Oh, the looks on my daughter’s faces when they see the trouble their dear mother gets up to,” she said with a sultry chuckle, before her warm smile faded and the cool-eyed focus of a true professional came to the fore.
“Alright, Alex. It’s time. Are you ready?”
Alex nodded, feeling that same rush that he always did when fate’s dice began rattling inside his head. No matter how often he embraced conflict, no matter how horrific the price he had paid for daring his perilous path, he still couldn’t help but feel a frisson of excitement, as if he was at the beginning of an exciting new twist in the story of his life as they approached what he just knew was another pivotal moment in Wanshi’s own tale. Yet he didn’t let his excitement show, keeping a perfectly calm sedate demeanor as they approached the nondescript doorway of a perfectly ordinary if somewhat neglected stretch of town that was still lively enough. There were a handful of men casually drinking and enjoying the night air from the cantina across the street.
Nili gave him a pointed look, fingers flashing in the darkness. “Alright. You understand where we are and what the plan is, yes?”
Alex gave a curt nod. The fumes wafting through the door alone giving him a hint as to the nature of this place, and he supposed Nili’s kiss had been a test as much as plausible cover for those who didn’t already know Nili personally. “I do.”
“Good. And don’t worry. Everyone within is here by choice, and gentle paths to other professions are offered for anyone who wishes to take advantage of them. That being said, this is a place of business. Men and women come here for silver earned in a single passionate night that it might take an unskilled laborer who lacks any trade or clan weeks of grudge-work to earn anywhere else. Appetites run high, for both coin and pleasure.” She gave him a pointed look. “Even with Shadow’s touch, you are an exceptionally handsome boy. Whether or not you wish to accept any girl’s offer is, of course, your own business. But until our city’s safety has been secured…”
“I’ll keep it strictly professional. Scout’s honor,” Alex assured, not that he would indulge, even in the best of times. Not with love’s ideal still an ache in his heart, and passion’s promise still an ache in his Dantian.
“Good. Odds are that we’ll be in and out in short order. But on the off chance Chaoxiang seems particularly amenable to a mutually beneficial arrangement, he might wish to speak to me personally. I doubt he’d be so foolish and to try anything untoward when I’ve already given him free reign in return for the smallest of considerations, and he knows both my skills and my reputation.”
Alex smirked. “Especially since we’re literally trying to save the very city his livelihood depends upon.”
Nili flashed a tight smile. “Say no more on that, even with your fingertips. And you’re right. Now come on, we’re burning time.”
Alex braced himself for anything as they opened the door, only to be greeted by a warmly smiling madam wearing a lilac-colored cheongsam that went down to delicate ankles, her sprightly feet caressed by a pair of silken slippers.
The elegant woman quickly dipped into a bow, her glossy locks kept in place with a pair of silver capped wooden hair pins. “Sir and madam, an honor to greet you tonight. Please, come in and make yourselves comfortable. We have tea, wine, and whatever you need to relax and unwind during these trying times.”
The woman’s smile was both inviting and professional as she led them inside a well appointed entryway with fine silk rugs and what looked like the world’s most comfortable chairs of finely polished hardwood lined with spirit beast furs and what looked to be truly soft, supple leather.
Alex was left momentarily speechless. In a world full of hard wooden chairs and bamboo mats, where even the chairs of rulers emphasized elegant craftsmanship and jeweled adornment but certainly not comfort or anything like padded pillows... soft indulgent chairs were an almost unheard of sight.
Why? Why were there not more of these things? Why were the first chairs that looked like his father’s stressed leather wingbacks of a lifetime ago only to be found in some random house of excess?
Alex exchanged a look with Nili, his fingers flashing in the dim light. “I’m taking these chairs with me. You know that, right?”
Nili blinked, clearly at a loss for words.
He caught the faint sound of laughter and the scents of hashish and poppy, seeing a comfortably lit room separated by strings of beads just beyond the greeting area, catching sight of yet more comfortable-looking chairs, these almost recliners, and they too would be his… as well as a fair number of hookahs and glass bottles containing exotic drinks as a trio of musicians expertly played drum, flute, and erhu while a strikingly beautiful pair of girls gracefully danced around an elevated platform, with more than a few men looking on in admiration, almost all of them accompanied by one or more women wearing near identical high-hemmed dresses of sheerest silk that left very little to the imagination.
The madam caught Alex’s roving eye, flashing an approving smile. “Oh yes, please do feel free to watch our performers and partake of some of the finest wine, spirits, and hashish you’ll find anywhere in the desert sands! We would be honored as well to provide you both with a hostess that will happily see to your every…”
“I want the recliners,” Alex said in utter seriousness. “And the leather wingbacks in the foyer. One way or another, that’s happening.”
Their hostess laughed as if Alex had told the most humorous of jokes. “Oh my, our dear guest is in rare form tonight! Well, if you’d like to take your ease in any of our recliners and enjoy a massage from any of our girls, of course you may...”
Her words died off as widened eyes took in Nili’s cool smile, the subtle enchantment of artifice and Shadow slipping free to reveal her true self once more.
The woman instantly froze, trembling as she dropped into a kowtow. “My lady, please forgive me. I had no idea!”
“That was sort of the point, Ling,” Nili said, quickly rising her former associate back to her feet. “I assume Chaoxiang is in his back office as always?”
A slight flicker of alarm crossed her features. “My lady, I…” She tensed, before giving a solemn nod, the tension leaving as quickly as it had come. “Yes, my lady. I believe he is. Shall I let him know you’re paying a visit?”
“That would be for the best. And Ling?”
“Yes my lady?”
“This stays between the three of us, yes?”
The woman paled even through her carefully applied patina if face paint. “Yes, my lady. Of course!”
Nili smiled and shook her head as Ling darted off. “Always good at welcoming the customers and taking care of the girls. She hates surprises, though, and certainly I’ve thrown her off kilter for the night.”
Alex smirked at that. “I’ll say. She looked like she saw a ghost when you came in!”
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Nili sighed. “That she did.” Her eyes twinkled as she teasingly gestured to the chamber beyond with its music, hostesses, and dancing girls. “You look a bit tense yourself, Alex. All this talk about… chairs. Are you perhaps compensating for other desires?” She grinned at his expression. “Perhaps we should give ourselves a chance to relax before getting back to business.”
“Ha ha. Seriously though,” he said, switching back to handsign, “Are you sure Ling’s on the up and up?”
For just a heartbeat, the good humored adventuring companion’s smile faded, replaced with the countenance of an experience professional, who both knew the score and did whatever had to be done to eliminate trouble and keep her undercity running smoothly. And if one arrogant upstart boy dared to question her like she was a wet-behind-the-ears novice…
Alex couldn’t help but smile at her expression. “Wow, you and Jidihu could be twins, with the look you’re now giving me.”
Nili froze, and she actually lowered her head in apology. “And after you sprung from the skies like a miracle, saving our lives, just a day ago. I apologize, Alex. You, of all people, should be allowed to question as freely as you like.”
Alex held up his hands. “Sorry! Of course you know you’re business far better than I ever could. But I can’t deny that Ling looked nervous as a farmer being paid a visit by hungry tax collectors.”
“Perish the thought.”
“I know, right?”
The pair traded innocuous quips and Alex did his best to practice his skills by getting a sense of everyone nearby, picking up a bit more than he cared to on the floor above and below, even if it was good to have a sense of the true, impressive dimensions of the building they now found themselves in.
Seconds later, a somewhat flustered Ling reappeared along with the one of the hostesses who walked a deferential step behind her. The younger woman’s soft brown eyes glanced up at that moment, pinning Alex’s own. He refused to call what he felt in his chest any sort of cosmic lurch, even if she was both strikingly beautiful and unusually voluptuous, compared to most desert girls. She pinned Alex with her wide almond eyes, giving him a curious smile.
Ling’s lips stretched in a nervous grimace. “My lady, the master of the house would be honored to consult with you and awaits your convenience.”
Nili, if anything, looked pleased. “Excellent. If you’ll lead the way?”
“Of course. And the master sends his compliments at your new protege and hopes you will allow Lilly to entertain him until your meeting is concluded.”
With those words the petite young woman who couldn’t have been any older than Alex flowed into a graceful curtsy. “It would be my honor to attend to the young master’s desires.”
Nili, if anything, looked relieved. “Yes. That should work quite well,” she said, eyeing the young Lilly speculatively, her mixed bloodlines obvious to all. “Ruidian?”
The girl blushed faintly. “On my father’s side. I think… I think he used to delve the city rifts. My mother is a musician and lives in the lower quarter. I have no ties to any clan, nor any jewel upon my brow. But I am a skilled flautist, and many have praised my dance.”
“Excellent. I’m sure my associate will enjoy your company… so long as music alone is played,” she said with a raised eyebrow. Lilly’s cheeks flushed, she immediately sunk into a low curtsy, stretching the hem of her dress as much as she could without tearing.
“I will be as you say, my lady.”
“Good.” Nili’s eyes twinkled as she caught Alex’s gaze, her fingers flashing. “Behave. Or not. So long as you are ready to leave when it’s time.”
Alex nodded, yet despite the enormous respect he had for Nili, he refused to take anything for granted, keeping his ear cocked on the low intense conversation she was having with her former employee.
Though admittedly it was hard to focus on the soft murmurs when Lilly flashed a relieved smile, her light brown eyes twinkling, her voice slipping from deferential to frank very quickly.
“So serious, those two are.” She gave Alex a thorough once-over, biting her lip with a teasing grin. “I can see why she’s so protective of you. A jealous lover?”
Alex chuckled. “It’s complicated.”
“Aren’t all relationships?” Her laughter was like music. When soft fingers clasped his hand, he didn’t resist. “And what should I call you, honored sir?”
Alex smirked. “Alex is fine,” he said, before wondering if it really was fine, since Fog of War was no longer in play, but by then it was already too late.
If anything, the mischievous twinkle to her eyes only grew. “My, your parents are bold, aren’t they?” She laughed throatily, squeezing his hand. “Come, Alex. You can watch me play my flute, or I can play yours, and I’ll let you experience just how good a musician I am.”
Alex opened his mouth, but no words came out as she gently pulled him in her wake. In very short order she was leading him up several flights of stairs, then down a narrow hallway before unlocking a door and coaxing him and into a well-appointed boudoir where Alex noted several well cared for flutes and zithers, and several hookahs as well.
There was an open window, so the air smelled only faintly of hashish and opium, scented as well by the clean desert air and the scent of date fronds and the distant whiff of the lush crops still growing in the still fecund caldera valley upon which the lives of so many people depended.
Alex gazed in the basin’s direction, for all that he had no clear line of sight, feeling an unexpected warmth and sympathy for the people of this city, knowing all too well the plight of their final hour, even if they hardly knew him at all.
He took a deep breath, promising himself that even beyond the intrigue of the moment and assuring that his friend Sunlay had her meeting with her father and strategized how best to execute the next phase of their city’s rescue… that he would stick around until water was pouring into the basin with the full force of a fresh Water Core in the basin and, one way or another, the threats imperiling their city were removed.
“Alex?”
He blinked, only momentarily cursing himself for a fool for allowing his thoughts to drift, no matter how noble his resolution, in the middle of what was effectively an intelligence gathering operation, where their safety was by no means assured.
Fortunately, he still had the presence of mind to keep his aura in check and turn around slow enough that he’d seem no more than an athletic mortal, though what he saw did indeed catch him off guard.
His eyes were captivated by the sight of a young Lilly who he was now certain was far closer to eighteen than twenty, smiling at him wither her cheeks flushed prettily, holding a flue in her hands yet otherwise as naked as the day she was born. Alex was captivated by breasts pert and ripe with both youth’s bounty and a young mother’s blessing, a droplet of milk leaking free of single dusky aureole that was flush and full.
“I love to play you a song, Alex. Unless, you’d like me to play your flute instead?”
She smiled at his expression, a teasing quip on her lips hading to a hitched breath when she saw what had captivated him. Her cheeks flushed. “I’m sorry. I know most true-bloods don’t like it when a girl is, well, leaking. Though some… anyway, I already fed her before…”
Alex forced a smile. “Is your baby alright?”
Lilly blinked, momentarily at a loss for words before quickly bowing her head. “She is fine. My mother cares for her.” She sighed, flashing a rueful smile. “She might not completely approve of my working as a musician here. But with three younger siblings to care for, two eager for apprenticeships, and my own mother unable to work, and now with a child of my own...” She shrugged. “Well, let’s just say I’m grateful to make new friends with gentlemen who feel a touch of pity for a girl who’s sort of lost her way.”
She bit her lip. “I hope it doesn’t bother you that I’m, well...”
“A mother?”
Lilly took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Exactly.”
“No, not at all. I can only imagine how tough it must be to raise a child, especially when you’re the only breadwinner for your entire family.”
“You have no idea,” she said, with a rueful smile, shaking her head. “But enough about me, Alex. All that matters right now is me making you as happy and comfortable as I possibly can. Because I can tell you’re sweet, and I think we might become really good friends, Alex. And I want you to think fondly of me, if you ever pass this way again.”
Ales felt his own cheeks heat up at that, eyes helplessly drawn to the captivating sight of her natural treasures once more.
She flashed a teasing smile. “Do you like what you see, Alex? Perhaps you don’t mind my being a mother after all?”
“I would never mind it,” he said huskily, before shaking his head at her impish grin. “And I’d love nothing more than for the gifted flautist before me to regale me with music as graceful she is beautiful.”
She chuckled throatily. “I like seeing you blush, Alex. You’re so sweet. You remind of, well, more innocent times.” She slowly approached, treasures swaying captivatingly, her Ruidian bloodlines leaving her far more endowed than the average desert girl.
When her hand gently clasped his own, he was surprised to find that he hadn’t resisted.
“Alex?”
“Yes?”
“I think I could make us both very, very happy, if you’d let me.”
Alex winced at a very sharp throb. Then his eyes widened, pretty sure it could mean only one thing. He took a deep breath, peering closely at what was before him, knowing better than to dismiss anyone out of hand, no matter their apparent bloodlines. Especially not in these desert cities.
A long second’s pause, Lilly’s smile growing ever more bold, certain he could only be captivated by one thing.
“Lilly?”
“Yes, Alex?” whispered the girl whose lips were suddenly very, very close to his own.
“Did you know you have a cultivator’s gifts?”
She froze, cheeks blushing, before stepping back with a glare. “Is that supposed to be a joke?” She squeezed her fists before the fire in her eyes immediately faded as she wilted before him. “Or is this your way of mocking a girl who’s fallen so far in life?”
Alex firmly shook his head. “Neither. All I see is a talented musician who’s clearly been forced to endure some hard life choices. And if you can land on your feet and find work that you actually enjoy, meet customers who both tip you really well and are genuinely fond of you? Then I think you’re actually a lot better off than countless others.”
Her hard gaze softened, she gave a soft chuckle. “You really are a sweetheart, aren’t you?”
Alex laughed. “You’d be surprised by all the people who think I’m anything but. Yet for the sake of a hardworking young mother doing the best she can… I’d say to see about unlocking your meridian gates and seeing just what you’re capable of.”
Her teasing smile faded, her gaze now that of a woman seriously listening, and considering. “You’re not lying. After all I’ve…” She shook her head, her gaze one of gentle wonder. “You actually believe every word you’re telling me, don’t you?” She sighed, her fingers reaching to caress his cheek. “Why couldn’t I meet you just a year ago?”
Alex shrugged. “You met me now. The past is already written, Lilly. And as sensual and beautiful as you so clearly are, as much as I can tell you find pleasure in what you do… I think you’re capable of so much more. But only if you wish to embrace that path. Certainly, don’t shame yourself for where you are today. You’re taking care of your entire family, and that’s no small thing. But maybe cultivation could lead you to a future you can truly be proud of.”
Lilly gave him a look. “You make it sounds so easy.”
“It’s anything but.”
“And if I like where I am?”
“Then enjoy yourself,” he said with a gentle smile. “But keep your head clear enough that you can be good to your daughter, and yourself. Save up, buy a house, or an apprenticeship in whatever interests you, so the Lilly of ten or twenty years from now will be filled with satisfaction and peace, not bitter regret.”
Her gaze turned thoughtful. “Maybe I will, at that.” She then flashed a teasing smile. “Sweet and thoughtful as you are… I’ll bet someone’s already claimed your heart, haven’t they?”
He nodded his head. “I’m afraid so, Lilly.”
She sighed. “Then she’s a very lucky girl.” She suddenly looked a bit flustered, naked with a flute in her hand, advances turned down, Alex having taken the role of concerned mentor, the farthest thing from a randy young buck hungry to taste her most intimate secrets.
Alex smiled. “If you wouldn’t mind playing a soothing song, Lilly, to help me relax and meditate? I’d really appreciate it.”
Now she chuckled softly. “Because you’re actually a cultivator.”
Alex winked. “Maybe I am.”
She quickly switched attire to a slightly longer, more elegant looking cheongsam Alex assumed was what she wore when she was acting as a musician, not a courtesan, and certainly the first soft golden notes she played put a smile on Alex’s face, easing away worries he hadn’t realized had been so heavy upon his brow until that very moment.
He closed his eyes and concentrated on what mattered most, allowing the breeze filled with a thousand whispers to wash over him, ears perked for a single voice amongst hundreds, then dozens, as if he were sinking into deep blue depths, all but losing himself in his trance. Knowing better than to fall asleep… but it was perilously close when he nodded off to find Lilly gently stroking his bangs.
He gasped and chuckled apologetically. “Sorry, it’s been a long day.”
“How about you lie down and relax then? I give wonderful massages.”
Alex grinned. “Next time.”
“Good. It’s a date,” she teased, though her twinkling eyes suggested it was anything but, as she lifted the lute to her lips once more. “Go on, meditate. I’ll play the same lullaby my daughter favors.”
Alex felt his cheeks flush, but he nodded, allowing his thoughts to drift with the gentle melody… relaxing more than he should, of course, when he jolted with a frisson of connection.
There!
“Nili, Nili! Be reasonable. Of course our duty as loyal JiangHu representatives is to put the city’s welfare above all else. But sometimes it is corruption and incompetence, not to mention piss-poor handling of a certain cultivation academy, that leads to a city’s downfall. Not any grand plots or intrigues of any sort. The rumors of armed men are just that. Rumors! You know as well as anyone how good our ears and eyes are throughout the city. Believe me, if anything untoward were happening, I would be the first to know! Now, let’s quit chasing rumors and instead focus on the good we can actually do for the city! Word on the street is that you and a certain free spirit of the royal family actually managed to find an ancient water cistern that refills from an undergound network of streams? This is wonderful news. Absolutely wonderful! This alone will put us in excellent standing with the entire council and the royal family! But allow me to present it and you’ll have done our community a service beyond compare. We will be in your debt, and I assure you, dear Nili, everyone will know to give you full credit for the discovery!”
Alex sighed. It sounded like a certain JiangHu head, or the public face, at least, was far more interested in chasing Nili’s bait then actually providing them with useful information. And should Alex be surprised? Within cities that were only a tiny fraction of the population of one of the Sacred cities, Silvers were as rare here as diamonds. With Dongfang Hong having a score of Silver-tier infiltrators and assassins hidden just outside the city… it was no wonder that these people hadn’t seen anything untoward at all.
Yet before Alex allowed his awareness to drift back into the waking dream that allowed the wind’s secrets to flow so naturally to his ears, he was jolted out of his half daze by the sudden pressure of a pair of Bronze rapidly making their way down the corridor. Customers eager to taste sweetest passion? Perhaps.
But just in case…
A sudden hard knock jolted Lilly from her entrancing lulluby, the air air ringing with a discordant note.
She turned to face the door. “This room is in service!”
“Open it, Lilly. Now.”
Cold, hard words that brooked no insubordination. Lilly paled, eyes wide with genuine fear.
“Yes, sir. Give me but a—”
The door latch broke with a crack as a pair of brooding men with powerful shoulders and cold, hungry eyes let themselves in.
Lilly wrapped her arms about herself and trembled.
“Get in the corner, Lilly. There’s a good girl. Now how about you play us something nice,” ordered a hard-eyed lead man with a short but powerful build, radiating superhuman quickness. A sharp contrast to his scarred compatriot, sausage fingers tapping his short steel truncheon secured at his hip, who was six feet if he was an inch, radiating pure brute Strength.
Alex knew it was out of character, but he couldn’t quite wipe the smile from his lips when Snake, as he had mentally nicknamed the shorter, wiry man, flashed pearl-white teeth, fingered the blackened steel dagger at his hip, and deliberately got in a seated Alex’s space.
“So, you’re the hired help that our old boss brought along, hey?”
Snake asked the question that was no question at all as he snagged Lilly’s wine carafe and drank deep. The formerly hauntingly beautiful notes from Lilly’s flute had become strained and brittle, her fear almost palpably radiating from her trembling body to the notes of her instrument.
And the way Snake smiled… he knew. He knew, and he liked sensing Lilly’s fear.
Scar was no different, sneering at Lilly before giving her a lewd wink. “You’d better keep practicing, girl. You’ll be playing mine soon enough.”
Both men laughed at the crude, mocking jest. Making it clear just what they thought of the girl huddled in the corner.
Lilly’s cheeks flushed with shame.
Alex’s jaw clenched underneath his smile.
“Thank you,” he said.
Snake gave him a condescending snort. “Why are you thanking me, outsider? You haven’t even heard our offer.”
“Nope, but you’ve definitely made a morally grey area a lot easier to paint an absolutely delicious shade of red. But enough about me. Let’s talk about you! Such as why you saw fit to break my hostess’s door? Are you truly that eager to talk to me?”
Snake forced a chuckle. “Yeah, sure. We’re that eager.” His smile became a contemptuous smirk as he loomed over Alex. “Now, word has it that you just might know the whereabouts of a giant underground cistern that could do our poor beleaguered city a lot of good. Now your boss… former boss? Might be holding out, but Master Chaoxiang has a good feeling about you. One look was all it took for him to know that you’re our kind of people. So, let’s cut to the chase. How’d you like to be a hero and luck in to an absolute fortune in silver? Think about it, kid. Why settle for your master’s scraps when you can come to the table as a fully made member of the JiangHu sect? You’ll be doing Master Chaoxiang a big favor, and you’d better believe he’ll make it worth your while.”
He turned to gesture at the now trembling Lilly. “You like the mixed blood mongrel? You can have her all you want, for as long as you like! But why settle for the scraps your old mistress gave you? You can have your pick of the finest ladies here. Pure-bloods, worthy of a man of your stature!” He stepped back as if appraising a coolly smiling Alex.
“I think he sees the light, don’t you Ku?”
Scar crossed his arms, giving a begrudging nod.
Snake actually smiled. “But wait, I know what you’re thinking. What if your old boss finds out and cuts your throat? Well no worries there, friend! We’re not going to say a word. Why would we? You and the Kitsune will leave with the master’s blessings, and if negotiations don’t pan out between them, how’s that your fault, am I right? Best of all, your new master, a generous soul, will leave you a thousand Silver’s credit down at the bar that you can make use of whenever you come to our little slice of Purple Pavilion paradise! And as soon as your advice pans out? You’ll get another two thousand in hard coin and an offer you won’t want to refuse.”
Snake stepped back, no longer looming over Alex, with a big confident grin. “So, what do you say, kid? Ready to play with the big boys and take your pleasure whenever you desire?”
Alex’s hear was hammering, sensing his worst fears inevitably coming true.
“I’m sorry, I must have misheard you, earlier. I know how deeply most city folk revere Ruidians and what they do for the cities whose delves they frequent, the good that the cores they retrieve do for everyone, in terms of enriching crops, facilitating the manufacture of various potions in the hands of apothecaries and alchemists, and the creation of magical treasures at the hands of cultivating artificers. And of course, the grandest prize of all. Fresh cores of Water or Ice. The greatest of all prizes in a city with only a single rift producing water, am I right? So, I can’t quite wrap my head around why you would call Lilly, a second generation Ruidian, probably the daughter of a delving jewel master herself, a mongrel? As if she were trash, utterly unworthy of your respect.”
He kept a hard eye on both Snake and Scar’s scowls, looking for the slightest shred of doubt or remorse.
Scar sneered. “Because that’s exactly what she is. A half-blood harlot, like her mother before her.”
Alex tuned out Lilly’s choked sob, knowing that calling attention to her was the absolute worst thing he could do right then. “Still, it’s curious. Very curious. When I say Ruidian, I don’t see your features lighten with hope, I see your lips curl in disdain.”
A distinctly displeased Snake no longer bothered with false bonhomie. Instead he drew his dagger, smirking as it flashed and darted through the air in a series of moulinets that would have been impressive… if viewed by a mortal. “Last chance to make the smart move, kid. Now, if it were up to me? Me and Ku would have fun getting what we want from you the old fashioned way. But like I said, Master Chaoxiang saw something in you he liked, when he caught a glimpse of you. So, if you want to make the smart move, be up a thousand credits and on your way to a hell of a lot more, quite stalling and show us what we want to see.”
He turned to scar who grunted, immediately pulling out a surprisingly detailed map.
Alex’s eyes widened as he took a moment to truly appreciate the intricate details of what he just knew was a topographically accurate depiction of Wanshi city. And in the distance, somehow distinct and clearly visible, despite what should be hundreds of miles distance, was Quianshi city as well.
Alex’s heart began to pound with wonder as well as growing dismay. Because for these men to be showing off such an incredible prize…
He already knew his worst fears to be true.
Yet the moment he sat transfixed by the map was all Snake needed to feel like he’d finally convinced him, all smiles once more as he brought forth a quill that shimmered with Spirit Qi.
Snake even had the gall to wink. “And hey, no hard feelings, kid. You like the girl? Lilly’s yours. Scar won’t even have her one last time to say goodbye. Will you, Ku?”
The larger man solemnly shook his head. “Not if our buddy here is smart.”
Time seemed to freeze as Alex took in every last detail of the roughened visages before him. Seeing so clearly the marks of vice, cultivation shortcuts taken. Drugs savored.
Infernal contracts made.
“Alright, before we do this, I have one last question for you both,” Alex said, his voice whisper-soft.
Snake smirked. “And what would that be, boy?”
“Why did you say that my employer was Kitsune?”
Scar stiffened, caught off guard by the question.
Snake’s bonhomie faded to a cold smirk. “Because she is, boy. And you should be damned glad. Because we’re willing to work with you, whereas with her kind, you can expect nothing but a dagger in the dark.”
Alex forced a smile despite the blood pounding through his skull. “Interesting you should speak so casually of them. Because among these desert people, Kitsune are no more than myth and legend. Isn’t that right, Lilly?”
Lilly, who had gone pale as a sheet, just gave Alex a horrified look, clearly able to sense the deadly tension in the air.
Alex smirked. “See? She’s speechless with your cavalier sangfroid.”
Scar’s eyes widened. “What did you call me?”
Alex chuckled coldly. “I called you Dongfang Hong’s lapdog. Here to pry what secrets you can before you do your utmost to slice both our throats. Isn’t that right, you infernally bound sycophantic lick-boot?”
Snake’s eyes widened. “He know! Kill the gir—”
Before he could finish his sentence, Alex drove his fist through the man’s chest, and tore out his heart.
Find Weakness skill check made! You sense the flaws in your opponent’s tainted techniques! Find Weakness 100% penetration bonus in effect!
Enhanced Water Strike (Black Swan) effortlessly pierces your target!
Rank 2 SILVER Strength allows you to claim your prize!
You have successfully slain Rank 1 Bronze Body Cultivator (Tainted Foundation).
Experience earned!
Time seemed to slow as Lilly lurched back, inhaling for what would no doubt be an ear-splitting shriek of horror.
Scar had time only to blink in confusion before his steel truncheon was effortlessly plucked free of his grip before Alex whipped it around with such deadly ferocity that it completely tore through Scar’s skull before lodging itself in the man’s chest.
You have critically struck your foe!
You have successfully slain a Rank 2 Bronze Body Cultivator (Tainted Foundation).
Potency Mastery in effect! You are now regaining 4 Qi per second for the next 240 seconds!
Quickness check successful!
Before Lilly could even finish her scream, Alex’s hand was over her face. His cold words froze her to shuddering sobs.
“Your entire organization has been infiltrated and compromised by the most ruthless sons of bitches on the continent. Assholes who would gladly purge you and me for our ‘impure’ bloodlines. Monsters who would see us all in chains, bowing to one corrupt monster. Do you understand what I’m saying, Lilly? Nod once if you do.”
The terrified woman trembling in his powerful grip jerked a quick nod.
“Good. Then listen well, Lilly. If you so much as utter a peep that alerts our enemies, the first thing they’ll do is take every girl up here hostage to assure absolute compliance. Hell, they might even come after your families. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Lilly jerked a nod, and Alex slowly backed off, wiping the gore off of his changshan tunic with a single flick of his hand, his attire spotless once more. Just as biochemical mastery letting him cleanse the gore off his face as easily as taking off a shirt, a single wipe sending it all into the storage space he refused to think too deeply about, along with the remains of both Snake and Scar and the most visible bits of gore now staining Lilly’s boudoir.
Alex had expected horror, dismay, even a glare of betrayal from the girl. What he hadn’t expected was such a bitter smile.
“You’re too late, Alex.”
Alex blinked at that, guts already knotting in anticipation, yet knowing that he had to ask the question. “About what?”
Lilly sighed, shaking her head. “The JiangHu sect has been fully infiltrated. Our new masters know where all of us girls live and all the members of our families.” She glared out the window into the darkness. “Everyone we love will be put down like dogs if we dare disobey them in anything.” She flashed a bitter smile. “We fuck who they say to fuck. We slip drugs into the drinks of whoever they say to. And we can only pray that they will let us go in the end.”
Alex, far from condemning her as she no doubt feared, flashed a sympathetic smile. “But you already know how it will end.”
She choked back a sob. “Yes. Of course I do. The things they call me, treating me like filth on any night I don’t have a customer… so you better believe I always try to find a gentle customer I can entice to spend the entire night with me…” She shook her head, tears dripping free. “I know that me and the other girls are as good as dead, but it’s not like we can flee, can we? Not without our families paying the price. At least our families should be safe, even if us girls will probably have our throats cut by the end of it all.” She gave a bitter chuckle.
“Besides, it’s not like there’s anywhere for us to go.”
Lilly glared at her hookah. “That right there’s my only escape. I hardly ever used it before. And now? Now, I can’t go a night without it. And it only ties me closer to those assholes.”
“When did they first infiltrate the organization?”
“From what a nobody like me can tell? Almost a month ago,” she admitted with a hitched breath.
“Is there anything else you can tell me?”
She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. “I just do what I’m told and try not to let what they do hurt me too much.”
Alex gently squeezed her hand in heartfelt sympathy. She flinched, before breaking down in tears, and then somehow she was sobbing in his arms and holding on to him like a lifeboat in a storm. “Gods’ mercy, Alex. What do we do? How do I get out of this alive? How do I keep my family safe?”
“Alright. Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to take what you value most here, and you’re going to discretely knock on every girl’s door on this floor that you trust.” He pointed out the window. “You see that roof over there?”
Lilly gave a hesitant nod.
“Good. In about five minutes, you’ll all be sheltering on that rooftop. Out of everyone’s sight, out of everyone’s mind. Then you’re going to slip down the stairs and head home. I know, it’s a temporary solution, but you’d better believe those assholes will have a hell of a lot more to worry about than terrifying girls they don’t really care that much about. But just to make sure you’re okay… do you know mapsign?”
She gave him a curious look. “Back when I had dreamed of making it as a musician, performing at so many high end gatherings in the Northern Quarter… yes, I do.”
Her eyes widened when Alex’s fingers flipped against her palm. “Do you know this inn?”
“Alex, this is one of the most luxurious spots outside of the palace!”
Alex grinned. “That’s where I should be staying. Show up there. Tell them you’re there to give me a private performance.” He winked at her expression. “We’ll hide the truth in plain sight. And if you’re inside… you’re safely inside, and any informants would have to be damn careful before they tried to cross the Bronze tier security playing at being a concierge that’s on staff.”
She stared at him for long moments. “Alex…” Her eyes widened when he solemnly handed her the pouch of silver coins that Snake had had on him.
“For you and the other girls. Even if you don’t want to follow up with me, this should help you all to disappear and find safe places to relocate in the city until this all blows over.”
“Alex, this place is filled with infiltrators! Almost all the original sect members have either been turned, were smart enough to flee… or were, well…”
“Killed?”
She sighed and dipped her head. “Exactly.”
Alex flashed a fierce smile. “Well, all the more reason to clean up house, and no time to delay. But first, you have to tell me where the hell this Chaoxiang is. Because he might be playing softball right now, thinking I’m either in your arms or telling Snake and Scar all my secrets…”
“Snake and Scar?”
“The assholes I just took out. Please, don’t flinch. They’re the bad guys, remember? Anyway, we know that Chaoxiang will stop playing nice with my friend the second the alarm is raised, which is why I need all you girls already out of here on the neighboring rooftop. And yeah, take whatever ‘supplies’ you have. Not to lose yourself in bliss for a few nights, but to taper off. Do you know what I mean by that?”
Lilly’s cheeks flushed. “Yeah. One or two girls, they tried… but it’s hard. Especially now, when every night we’re either sick with fear, or in pain from the wrong sort of customer.”
Alex winced in sympathy. “I’m sorry. But you better believe any girl looking to make a purchase will draw the wrong kind of attention and will have nothing but a hell of a lot of pain and a quick death to look forward to.”
Lilly whimpered at those words. Alex did his best to soother her. “That’s if things don’t go according to plan. But trust me, Lilly, I’m going to see this through. When this is done, I’ll see what I can do about getting you and your friends the help you need, including a healer, for a fresh start. But for now, we need to move!”
With those words, Alex was out the corridor, going at a slow but measured pace, looking every inch the well-to-do gentleman while Lilly hurriedly knocked on multiple doors. A handful of wide eyed girls were gazing Alex’s way with an odd mixture of hope and horror were soon following behind, almost all of them with customers dozing in their beds. Whether just asleep or drugged, Alex really didn’t care.
The girls whispered in growing concern when Alex led them all to the rooftop, finding it very much set up like the rooftop verandas with wide open airy views on all sides.
“Lilly, who is this boy? How is he going to get us out of here? Does he have a rope?” Asked one curious girl even younger than Lilly who looked both excited and terrified, smelling of wine and poppy and so much fear that it broke Alex’s heart.
Alex gave her his gentlest smile. “None of that. Now, Lilly told you to take enough for a gentle taper, right? Because none of you are coming back.”
Of the five girls present, one froze in outright alarm, another smirked in disbelief, while Lilly nodded, squeezing the youngest girl’s hand. “It will be alright. We’ll stick together and do this together. Just like we swore we would, the minute we got a chance to break free.”
“We can’t break free,” said a tired looking girl with beautiful if strained features and a husky voice. “You know that, right? The dung beetles who now rule this sect with an iron fist know where our families live. If they think for a second that we are no longer obeying their every wish with a smile…” she shivered.
Lilly swallowed, she alone having complete confidence in Alex, having seen what he was capable of, even if it had horrified her. “I believe him,” she said softly.
She turned to Alex. “Alex, take me there?”
It said something, how willing she was to trust a complete stranger while approaching the lip of the gazebo, about to fall into empty space.
She flinched, squeezing Alex tightly when he let he leaped.
“Lilly!” the youngest girl’s panicked cry became an awed gasp. “He’s doing it. He’s actually flying?”
The girl beside her nodded. “It isn’t the hashish… or if it is, I’m seeing it too.”
And within seconds it was over, Alex gently depositing his charge before returning for the other four.
The teary-eyed looks of wonder and gratitude he received from all of them touched his heart, though the oldest girl who couldn’t have been older than her early twenties, even if hers was a strained beauty, wiped away an angry tear. “Please, hero. Don’t play the fool like in half the tales? Give our stories a happy ending? Our families are in jeopardy if even one of those bastards escapes… whatever it is you’re going to do.”
Alex froze at those words. Caught between five pairs of very intent stares. “Wait… you understand… how?”
Lilly chuckled softly. “Whatever magic you were using to disguise yourself faded when you took flight… hero.” She gave a rueful shake of her head. “But really, I should have known. When you actually seemed to take an interest in me as a person. To care about a worthless harlot. And you’re name. That also sort of gave it away.”
Alex’s cheeks blazed. “I see. Well, then. Try to be safe?” His gaze hardened. “Hopefully when I’m done, you and your families won’t have anything to worry about at all.”
“Alex!”
“Yes, Lilly?”
“There are other girls there. Lots of girls! You saw them downstairs, right? Please don’t hurt them?”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
With those words, Alex leaped off the roof, racing through the air to the rear of the building, Lilly having conveyed through mapsign as much about the innerworkings of the massive manor like building serving as the local purple pavilion as Alex had about where they could meet in the future.
He strove for absolute quiet when he discretely slipped behind the one tired-looking sentinel guarding the back entrance. Yet he refused to make a single move against the man until he had confirmed his worst suspicions twice over, as the man leaned back and cursed his boredom, before taking a sip from a small silver flask.
Stealth check made.
Your foe has no idea that death stalks him from behind!
The Bronze suffered from a corrupt foundation, a consequence of embracing quick power for a body that would age far faster than most Bronze, even if slower than the average mortal. But it was clear from the way the man was rubbing his joints and cursing in the same soldier’s cant that Dongfang Hong’s troops favored that the soldier was already paying the price for impulsive choices he now no doubt now regretted every day.
But not nearly as much as he regretted the feel of sharp steel piercing the base of his spine before he collapsed in a boneless heap… and then he regretted nothing at all.
You have successfully slain Rank 1 Bronze Cultivator (Deviant Cultivation) with Fangtian Ji!
Experience earned!
Potency Mastery is now in effect.
Alex furrowed his brow, surprised to find the backdoor locked… and the guard lacked any key.
Fortunately, Alex’s mastery of Water now saturated with Dark Qi allowed him to feel out the tumbler and align all the pins to their sheer point, before turning the handle with a silent click.
You have successfully unlocked Reinforced Door!
You have successfully countered Poison Needle Trap.
Congratulations, Lock Picking is now Rank 5!
Alex paused for a moment, using the wind and his heightened Qi Perception to sense the layout of the room.
From what he could tell, there was no one around. At least not in the foyer just beyond the doorway.
Of course, he knew better than to take that as a given in the heart of what was effectively JiangHu territory that had been completely overrun by the Red Prince’s agents.
Alex took a deep breath, focusing himself as best he could, before he stepped inside.
Because whether or not any hue or cry had been given, the hour was even later than he and his friends had thought, and Nili was in dire peril.
Alex only hoped he could get to her in time.