“Governmental Affairs?” The Monk asked, shaking his head. “The second prince is my student. I so happened to be drinking tea with his Majesty when the fire started.”
“The second prince is your student?” Zhu Mo Shi huffed, withholding a bitter laugh.
“Yes, I assume you yourself have students of your own.”
“I had many disciples, but the emperor ensured that I was left with three.”
“Regardless of the number, upholding the Dharma is part of our life. Protect the innocent, teach those who wish to be taught, all of this falls under the rules of heaven, Amitabha.” The monk answered steadily.
Zhu Mo Shi watched as he adjusted his grip on his staff. Good…he realised that his words aren’t working. Zhu Mo Shi strayed to his left.
“Protect the innocent, teach those wish to be taught. Sounds like drivel, especially coming from a man who gave up worldly desires. Yet, you’re here,” Zhu Mo Shi said scornfully. His eyes strayed to the marvels found within the emperor’s library, highlighting the exotics found here.
“The books found here, are the true treasure here. You know it, as you’ve ascended to the Qi Perception Realm.”
“You sense my Realm,”
“I have, but the difference in Realms means nothing if you don’t know how to capitalise it. I’ve fought many geniuses, seeking to gain fame from defeating Shaolin despite its thirty-year seclusion. You plan to be another leaf in the wind.”
“Monk, I am the wind!”
“The aura that surrounds you screams wickedness and destruction. If there’s any wind in you, its only the wind you inhale.”
A cold glint flashed within Zhu Mo Shi eyes “Monk, do you know what our Emperor has planned for us?”
“That is not a concern of mine, that is between the people and the emperor.”
“Neutral as always,”
“We are not here to judge, but to maintain balance. If the Emperor has indeed committed crimes, it is for the law to decide, not for you to take justice into your own hands.”
This conversation IS getting him nowhere, Zhu Mo Shi huffed to himself, feeling his patience thinning. He had no time for philosophical debates. “Enough!” He growled, stepping forward. “If you stand in my way, you leave me no choice but to remove you.”
The monk nodded, acknowledging Zhu Mo Shi’s words. “I understand your stance, but I cannot let you proceed. He is the emperor. His death means chaos will ensue.
Qi swirled around Zhu Mo Shi sword, his killing aura intensifying as it smothered him whole. “Then prepare yourself, Monk.”
In a flash, Zhu Mo Shi appeared in front of the monk, his sword slicing through the air. The monk’s staff met Zhu Mo Shi’s blade and clang of clashing metal against wood echoed through the library, each strike sounding like a deadly rhythm.
The monk’s serene demeanour made Zhu Mo Shi wary, he could tell the man was a formidable and as no one had seen a shaolin monk in over thirty years, he wasn’t sure of what strength they encumbered right now.
As the exchange continued, Zhu Mo Shi felt jealous. Jealous of how the monk parried his sword so easily, it felt as though he was being smothered into the monk’s tempo. Each deflect, block and strike were calculated, precise, as if he was guiding Zhu Mo Shi along a line.
One he wasn’t interested in following.
He understood his opponent’s strategy and began to exploit it. He could see the patterns in the monk’s movements, the rhythm of his attacks. He started to anticipate his moves, deflecting and counterattacking with deadly precision.
Annoyance flashed across the monk’s face, quelling his calm demeanour for a second. Then, Zhu Mo Shi executed an unrelenting combination, forcing him not just out of his rhythm, but into a defensive posture.
The monk retaliated, unleashing an unorthodox combination, that forced Zhu Mo Shi out of his rhythm. The pivot and feints, mixed in with increased, slowed strikes forced Zhu Mo Shi back, but his mind was still clear.
He parried another blow, and he saw an opening. He lunged forward, aiming his sword at the monk’s chest. The monk twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the thrust. Zhu Mo Shi’s sword struck air. But this was just a feint. Using the momentum, he spun around, his foot lashing out in a sweeping kick.
The monk was caught off guard and tried to use hi Qinggong to sail over the sweep, but Zhu Mo Shi, extended his leg and angled it. He hit the monk in the shin, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Zhu Mo Shi used an instantaneous step, and appeared above the monk, his sword aimed at the monk chest. He lunged forward, ready to end this instantly.
The monk disappeared, using an instantaneous step appearing to Zhu Mo Shi left. As he eyes trailed to his left. He saw the monk’s staff sieving through the air, aimed at his waist.
A loud clunk echoed through the library and the Zhu Mo Shi growled out in pain. He half-spun, trying to get away from the monk but the moment he got a sword-distance away he realised that the staff was glimmering, as if soaked in Qi.
Zhu Mo Shi dropped to the ground and spat a mouthful of blood. He tapped his shoulder acupoint, and the two acupoints at his waist. He inhaled deeply and began cleaning blood from within his meridians. He spat out another mouthful of blood and noticed that the monk was soaring in the air, falling toward him, staff aimed at his head.
He rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the monk’s staff as it came crashing down with a thunderous thud. The cracked the emperor’s marble floor, sending dust and debris flying around the room.
In the corner of Zhu Mo Shi’s eye, he saw the emperor, standing, watching the fight with his hands clasped behind his back. It was as if, he had confidence in the monk, and not his former friend. “Bastard!”
Zhu Mo Shi scrambled to his feet, and looked eyes with the monk gave him slight nod. His lips curled into an unconscious smile, as he returned the nod, acknowledging his strength, but there was another meaning behind the nod.
A silent challenge.
As the two warriors circled each other, they moved in perfect sync, like two deadly predators sizing each other up.
The air crackled with tension, as each searched for an opening. Zhu Mo Shi struck first, his sword moving like a blur as he unleashed a flurry of attacks. The monk parried and countered, his staff whirling as he expertly deflected Zhu Mo Shi's blows.
Zhu Mo Shi’s side began to roil violently, and began stealing his Qi trying to alleviate the pain in his side. He knew that he couldn’t keep up this pace for long, but he refused to yield. He needed to find a weakness, some way to turn the tide in his favour.
He feigned an attack to the monk’s right, then quickly switched to a low sweeping kick. The monk stepped back, shaking his head, letting Zhu Mo Shi, he wouldn’t fall for the trick twice.
He stepped, shortening the distance between the two and brought his staff down like a hammer. Zhu Mo Shi anchored his right foot, and brought his sword up in upward slash, meeting the monk’s staff.
The monk loosened his grip on his staff and slid down the shaft, left hand rocked back. Zhu Mo Shi released his sword, half-spun catching the sword with his left hand brought it across his waist.
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The monk twisted his body right, tilting his staff down and deflected Zhu Mo Shi’s sword with his staff. The blade and staff collided and a resounding clang groaned out. “You aren’t bad, for a man of the Accentuation Realm,” Zhu Mo Shi chided.
“You aren’t either, this battle would probably be over if you used your Qi-Enhanced eyes,”
Zhu Mo Shi lips curled into a bitter smile. He’s right He thought, but I still have smoke within my lungs and meridians, I can’t use my Qi sparingly.
As the battle raged on, both fighters pushed themselves to their limits. Sweat poured down their faces, and their breaths came in ragged gasps. Their movements began to slow, their bodies weary from the prolonged duel.
Zhu Mo Shi feigned a strike to the monk’s left, drawing him into a defensive posture. He executed an instantaneous step and appeared on the opposite side, his sword drawn back and laced in Qi. He watched as the monks’ eyes trailed to him, but his staff was heading in the opposite direction. “Got you, you bastard!”
Zhu Mo Shi pierced the wind that was meant to be the monk. In that moment of crystallised time, his heart sank. He didn’t know where the monk disappeared and in a knee jerk reaction. He swirled the Qi within his Mind Dantian, surging it towards his eyes.
Qi trailed from where his sword was piercing and flowed through him. The bastard’s behind me! He swirled the Qi within his Core Dantians, surging them towards his legs, trying to execute another instantaneous step. The Qi fluttered within his meridians, ensuring that he didn’t have enough to execute the move. No…the smoke, its mangled my Qi! He hissed, then felt his meridians roil into fire.
The monk hit Zhu Mo Shi with the tip of his staff, He grunted out, then felt the monk exert his Qi into the tip of the staff. He half-spun, grabbing the tip of the staff, crushing it in his palm.
The monk buried his fist into Zhu Mo Shi face, sending him flying into the air. He crashed eight meters across the library and crashed into bookshelf behind, books and tomes fell on him like rain, burying him in a batch of box.
Zhu Mo Shi pushed himself up, but the shattered tip of the monk’s staff was pointed at his carotid artery, stopping him from moving. “Don’t move,” The monk said, smiling brightly. “You’ve been defeated, Zhu Mo Shi.”
“Not in the slightest,”
Zhu Liu Shi executed an instantaneous step, appearing to the monks left. He sensed Zhu Liu Shi and tried to spin. Zhu Mo Shi, finger flicked the crushed tip of the monk’s staff. The bits of staff hit the acupoint in his knee, chest and shoulder, incapacitating, leaving Zhu Liu Shi to end this.
The thrumming blade of Zhu Liu Shi, roiled within his hand sieving through the air like a hurricane. As the blade shimmered in his hand, he brought the blade down with all the remaining Qi in his body.
The blade sliced the relieved the monk’s head from his body leaving him to fall to the side, spraying blood across the floor, tomes and books that were under him.
Zhu Mo Shi leapt from under the body, floating across the ground like a fly, hitting the emperor in his back. He huffed a grunt, falling to the ground with a loud thud. “You had your chance to leave when the monk and I were fighting. Now, you try to leave? Taizhong, has your arrogance grown so tall since we last SPOKE?!”
“I AM THE EMPEROR, HOW DARE YOU ADDRESS ME BY MY NAME…Dingshe!”
“I WAS YOUR FRIEND!”
“…AND AS MY FRIEND, YOU DIDN’T BELIEVE IN ME!”
“LIAR…I BELIEVED IN YOU, THAT’S WHY I NEVER TOLD THE EMPEROR OF OUR TRIP TO AXSUM!”
“Then why did you let the man that tried to kill us know of my plans to open Huaxia to the world!”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“You fool, it was Prince Zheng that tried to have me killed all those years ago. It was him that hired the pirates to attack my boat!”
Zhu Mo Shi staggered back as if physically hit, his eyes widened with shock. “Prince Zheng?” He whispered; disbelief etched on his face. He knew…that bastard knew! Yet he imprisoned us for years!
“Prince Zheng is your closest ally!”
“Zhu Mo Shi, you fool…you keep your friends close, but your enemies closer,” Emperor Taizhong said, grimacing in pain as he pushed himself to a sitting position.
Zhu Mo Shi’s mind raced as he tried to piece together the information. How could he have been so blind? He had known Prince Zheng for many years, he didn’t trust him, but believed he was the next option for the throne.
“I didn’t tell him about your plans!” Zhu Mo Shi protested, his voice echoing through the library.
Taizhong let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. “So, you say. But someone did. And now, Huaxia is on the brin--“
Zhu Liu Shi appeared in front of the emperor, his sword rocked back, he took one step forward and buried the blade into the emperor’s chest. The blade pierced his heart and he roiled a smidgen of Qi into the blade, exploding his heart into matter. “Your feelings for Huaxia don’t matter anymore, this will be Prince Zheng’s decision.”
Zhu Mo Shi walked over to the emperor’s body and dropped to his knees, he held the body of his former friend, his heart pounding thunderously in his chest. He was the one meant to kill the emperor. A bitter taste filled his mouth, a mix of guilt and relief.
As he sat there for a short while, he finally gathered his thoughts. He placed the emperor’s body on the ground and turned to Zhu Liu Shi. “Shi Jiu?” He asked, voice reverberating.
“Master, he’s dead, killed by Shi Xue,”
“And Shi Xue?”
“Shi Jiu was able to kill him,”
“That’s good and the Imperial Family?
“I killed the Empress, the harem and the two princes without issue.
“Without issue?” Zhu Mo Shi scoffed. “You look worst than the night you pulled us out of the fire.”
“I feel worst than that night Master,”
“You’ll be fine…”
As the two last dingshe’s began making they’re towards the exit Minister Song appeared, with two guards at his side. Zhu Mo Shi and Zhu Liu Shi raised their swords in defence, ready for one final confrontation.
The news of Prince Zheng’s treachery left a sour taste in Zhu Mo Shi’s mouth. He didn’t expect Minister Song to appear at the right moment, it was as if he was watching the chaos within the Dragon Palace unravel.
As he approached us, he raised his hand, stopping his guards from attacking. He walked up to Zhu Mo Shi and clapped him on the shoulder. “You’ve done it, you’ve killed the emperor, stopping his reign of depravity. The skies should open soon lacing the land in rain once more. Oh, the joy of Huaxia will have, being in favour with the heavens once more!”
“Save the speeches for those who’d believe.”
“Aiya, you wound me dingshe,”
“Hardly,” Zhu Liu Shi grunted.
“Tough nut to crack, the both of you,”
“…Hardly,” Zhu Mo Shi said.
Minister Song eyed them both from head to toe and nodded. It didn’t seem as he’d approved of them, but wary inspection. “Prince Zheng said to tell you if you’re successful, return with the story,”
“As the prince requests,” Zhu Mo Shi said with a bow. Zhu Liu Shi didn’t bow, but Zhu Mo Shi jabbed him in the side with his sheath, forcing him to follow suit.
“Good,” Minister Song said, “I assume you’ll exit the way you entered?”
“If the Minister allows it,”
“Of course, we have much work left to do, dingshes, this is only the beginning,”
“Understood,”
Zhu Mo Shi stalked his way out of the emperor’s library, when he left. He took one more look at the emperor’s body and the pain of his death once more. Despite everything, he was a friend, before he tried to kill him.
As Zhu Mo Shi and Zhu Liu Shi walked through the labyrinthine underbelly of the Dragon Palace. The cold and dank tunnels hummed with a palpable tension.
As the lantern flickered across Zhu Mo Shi's weathered face. He turned to Zhu Liu Shi, his eyes, once vibrant and full of fire, now held a grave understanding.
“Zhu Liu Shi,” he said calmly. “You’ve proven yourself to be the next Zhu.”
“Only because of your training Master,”
“Hardly…your temperament as a Zhu far outreaches my own. You killed the emperor when I hesitated, that must be commended.”
“The emperor was once your friend Master; he knew using sweet words could sway you back to him.
Zhu Mo Shi nodded in agreement, but then shook his head as a realisation pulsed into his mind. “Prince Zheng,” He said calmly, “He’s shrewd. Shrewder than the rest of the emperor’s brothers, but most of all he’s the most ruthless. He won’t rest until he’s secured the throne for himself.”
“Master?”
“We’re just pieces in his grand scheme, and he has no qualms sacrificing us for his victory.”
“Why would he sacrifice us?”
“Look around my boy, only us, Minister Song and himself knows of what took place tonight. I’m sure Minister Song is already corroborating a plan that the emperor and his family went into a fasting of three days. In his return from the fast, he was poisoned along with the imperial family, someone will die for the poisoning and that’s about it.”
As Zhu Mo Shi looked at Zhu Liu Shi, he noticed the realisation reflect within his protege’s eyes, but he suspected that it had already crossed his mind, he simply didn’t want to bring it up. “The Black Cauldron must continue,” he said firmly.
“But it’s just us two.”
“Wrong, it’s just you.”
“Master!”
Zhu Mo Shi paused, his gaze meeting the younger dingshe. “There’s a way for us to flip the board,” He said calmly, “A way that’ll ensure the Black Cauldron existence.”
Zhu Liu Shi met his master’s gaze and understood instantly, “My death is the best solution to ensure its continuance.” Zhu Mo Shi asserted, “End my life.”
The gravity of the proposal sunk into the silence of the tunnel, a crushing weight upon Zhu Liu Shi. His eyes widened in disbelief, the harsh reality of the words striking him harder than any physical blow.
“I will not,” He growled.
“Zhu Liu Shi, listen carefully…when you arrive at Prince Zheng’s residence. He will want to hear the entire plot. You will tell him the truth. You will tell him how I faltered at the crucial moment. You will tell him the emperor named him a thorn in his side and how I hesitated to strike the fatal blow to the Emperor, Then, you will tell him you killed the emperor yourself.”
“Then you will confess to Prince Zheng on how I, Zhu Mo Shi plotted his death, to avenge our countless torments. You will let him know that you couldn’t follow through with the plan, and then offer my severed head should serve as an offering of your loyalty.”
Zhu Liu Shi stood still; his face ashen. He looked at his master, his mentor, and the words caught in his throat. But the grim determination in Zhu Mo Shi's eyes silenced any protest. He nodded, a single tear glistening in the lantern light.
Zhu Mo Shi sank to his knees on the cold stone, his head bowed in submission. Zhu Liu Shi, trembling, unsheathed his sword.
The blade glinted ominously as he raised it high, casting long, flickering shadows on the tunnel walls and he brought it down with vigorous err, ending the life of Zhu Mo Shi with one clean stroke.