67. What if?

Di Ram had not wanted to risk the Peach Blossoms on their inaugural mission, so he had sent with them three silver ranked scouts and nine bronze rankers. While this might seem like overkill to some, considering that it was effectively a scouting mission, nobody questioned him or thought he was being overly cautious.

The silver path cultivators remembered their own days following their rank ascension, when they had viewed themselves as invulnerable and immortal. And the bronze cultivators knew the fatality rate for scouting in the north. If there was even a hint of a forward stronghold this far south, then they would be grateful for every silver ranked cultivator they could get in the force that dealt with it.

“Do you hear that?” one of the bronze path scouts asked the others as they dashed along the treetops and the silver-rankers flew above them.

“I don’t hear anything,” his friend said.

“Exactly. When is the last time this jungle was quiet?” the first one asked.

It was an hour before dusk, and everyone was tense. The veterans because they sensed something was off. The disciples of Little Bug, the peach blossoms, because they too sensed something was off. The flow of Qi in the area was unnatural, with a strange pull to it.

Hien Ro reported what he sensed to the silver ranked veteran who was in charge of their group, and the veteran made the call to investigate, diving into the center of this strange magnet.

They arrived in the hollowed out village just as the sun set. At first there was no sign of life. The scouts, knowing the signs, were instantly on edge. If the village had been abandoned peacefully, then it showed none of the usual signs. The peasants who evacuated were supposed to leave a record behind of where they were going, but when the bronze ranked cultivator emerged from the village chief’s house, he reported not a scrap of paper with the destination, but a bloodstain on the underside of a bed.

As though a child had been hiding there.

They discussed the matter for a while longer before deciding to investigate further, but just as the sun fell, they had their answer. The corpses had buried themselves in shallow graves in the edges of the jungle before the previous dawn, and now that it was night once more they emerged and converged on their village.

And they grasped at the cultivators who resided within.

The common peasants had been raised to the bronze path in undeath, and there were dozens of them.

Tolkle, one of the bronze path scouts, realized that there was a very real chance that he was about to die as six of the ghouls fixated on him. They raced forward swiftly with gnashing teeth, and he fought them off. Later, he remembered the battle only in fits and flashes.

First, he thrust his sword into the gut of the lead zombie.

He remembered screaming as his leg was bitten by one of the child-corpses

He remembered feeling brains on his hands as he crushed a skull of the unliving.

He remembered thinking that this was not enough as his shoulder was dislocated by one of the ghouls who had managed to grab him and throw him into a building.

And then the battle was over, and one of the Peach Blossoms was there. Lahri, her name was. Tolkle took her hand as she helped him up, and he felt her Qi enter his body and wash away his wounds.

“Thank you,” he said.

“We’re gathering over there,” she said.

Tolkle nodded and followed her directions to where the others from the little band were congregating. The silver path cultivators were consulting each other. Two of the veterans wanted to press on and continue the investigation, while the third was recommending that they return to the city and give an account of the battle.

The bronze ranked cultivators were asked if any would volunteer to make a solo run to give a report to the Many Peak Alliance.

Tolkle volunteered immediately.

He listened carefully to the report he was to repeat back to the minds that were preparing the defense of Mer’cah, and he repeated it back to the veterans.

Then, from a shadow in the sky, he was hit by a ray of energy. His eyes went wide, and everyone turned to look at the source of the attack. An attack which seemed to have done nothing except scare--

Tolkle did not finish the thought as his own Qi rebelled against itself and he was violently ripped apart from the inside.

The survivors watched in horror as three figures descended on the village. “You’re wasting resources again,” one figure said.

“It’s an enemy, why do you care?”

“He was on the bronze path. That meant we could raise him to at least the silver if we had the body,” the female voice chided.

“We’d have to kill him first for that. We’ll have to kill all of them for the ambush to work, not just the one that they sent to report.”

“And that’s the other thing. Now they know we’re here. You really are an idiot, I meant follow him when I ordered you to kill him.”

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“Who says you’re in charge anyway?”

Two of the three figures continued to bicker while the scouts tensed.

Hien Ro stepped forward, and behind him eight figures and a jaguar fell in behind him.

“We’ll slow them down,” Hien Ro said. “Go to the city and report what happened here.”

The veterans knew this went counter to their orders, but the series of events that had just unfolded changed their priorities. “Everyone! Scatter!” The leader shouted. “At least one of us must report that the invaders have three gold rankers. Peach Blossom, I have only one order for you. Do not give your lives in vein.”

“Just get out of here,” Thaseus said. “You’re in the way.”

Feeling ashamed, the leader flew away.

A burst of fel energy hit him, and he felt a strange sickness in his core. A moment later, he too exploded into gore.

But nine members of the team got away.

While the Peach Blossom held the line against three golden ranked fighters.

~~~~~~~

The strings of fate tickled at my awareness. I frowned, trying to ignore them, but I could not. Finally, I opened my third eye to follow the one which seemed to be pulling me to act, and I saw the possibilities.

My disciples were about to face their first true test since their graduation. They were up against three gold ranked opponents, with no backup or support.

I could interfere, if I chose. I could send an avatar to assist them, I could drop one of their opponents into a pocket dimension even from here. I could do so many things.

I closed my eyes and chose to trust in my disciples and the training they had gone through. I whispered words for them, sending them on the wind as I had on the night when the lone warrior stood against the corruption.

I closed my eyes, and the strings of fate bothered me no longer. I had acted, and I didn’t need to know the result to know the result.

I had faith in my disciples.

I paused, and I began to truly consider that insight from a different angle.

What if …

~~~~~

Li Toh grinned at the ten little figures who had stayed to play. He wondered which one of them to pick off first.

“Don’t.” Wen Shi said impatiently.

“But they’re enemies,” he whined.

“Their corpses are valuable. Don’t destroy them. Kill them, but do it clean.”

He pouted, but he knew she was right. That part of him that hadn’t gone insane knew that if he returned and she reported that he had wasted ten silver-ranked corpses to play with his ability, corpses which might be elevated as Phal Rei had been elevated and made to serve, then he would be punished.

And he didn’t really like the feeling of his soul being scoured and twisted and torn.

So as much as he wanted to explore the inversion ability, he instead raised his hand and--

“Phal Rei! Rip these fools apart!” he shouted.

The corpse-puppet dashed forward, moving through the air. Thunder chased after him as he broke the sound barrier.

Fist met fist, and Phal Rei stood face to face with the undead abomination, matching strength for strength. In fact, he pushed the corpse back for a second, then weakened.

“Taimei, Xol,” Thaseus shouted. “Support me!”

“Yes!” One of the women shouted.

The jaguar growled.

Li Toh frowned. Phal Rei was physically stronger than he was. Stronger than anyone except the other corpses who were raised in the same manner. How could they--

Lightning shot at him and he narrowly avoided it. A young man hovered before him, electrical arcs popping and zapping the air around him.

“I’ll take this one. Lahri, Farun, and Arjun, empower me,” Polkluk said.

“Yes!” the dao companions shouted as one.

“We fight as one!” Lukal Lukal shouted, stepping forward to stand next to Hien Ro.

“I’ve got your back,” Yara said.

Hien Ro faced Wen Shi. “This is your only chance to back down. Surrender, and we’ll ensure that you’re not tortured during your interrogation.”

The woman frowned. “What gives you the confidence to—”

Lukal Lukal dashed forward, moving faster than a silver should. He formed a spear of mud and clay and threw it even as his master’s spear spun and came too close to taking Wen Shi in the throat. She raised a barrier to protect herself from the technique and--

And it pierced through.

She frowned as the speartip pierced her left shoulder. Around her, the flashes and bangs of techniques and energies colliding echoed, and she realized for the first time something which she had neglected to consider before.

She was, technically, outnumbered.

It shouldn’t matter, as one gold could crush thirty silver.

But what if…

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