Chapter Four - Breakdown of Negotiations

Nie Ruyi

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They were landing for their first break all too soon, and by the end of it, she stepped onto Lao Xiaojun's sword by herself, balancing on it's steady slim surface until he stepped up behind her and once again locked his arms around her. She had the sense of mind then to be a little bit embarrassed, but despite the color rising in her cheeks, she didn't feel like she needed to comment. Apparently neither did Lao Xiaojun.

The camp was a little collection of dismal tents and wandering figures as they descended over it a few hours later. The people milling around watched their descent and even a few crowded around like puppies waiting for a treat to be put on their nose. Once they were close enough, Nie Ruyi jumped down from the blade of Lao Xiaojun's sword and grinned up at him.

"Thanks again, Lao-Gege!" She declared, in much better spirits now than when she'd left. Despite the fatigue of standing still for so long, she was energized by what she'd seen and felt while flying. How amazing, that these humans got to fly free as birds.

"It's Shixiong." Lao Xiaojun growled, dour in his own exhaustion. She'd noticed that all three of the men's temperaments were slowly growing pricklier the longer they were flying. She theorized that it took more to fly than she thought.

"Right! Lao-Shixiong." She corrected herself. She turned, just in time for a woman to stride through the standing circle of disciples around them. Her face was scarred heavily on the right side, her heavy bladed sword strapped to her side. She came until she stood a respectable distance away from the group, then bowed that stiff bow this world's people used.

"Lao-Shidi, this Lin Baiwei greets you. Guo-shidi, thank you for guiding them." Her voice was soft and low, the kind of voice that made Nie Ruyi shiver.

"This disciple did nothing." Guo Ding performed the bow as well, and then seemed to dismiss himself, as he disappeared into the crowd surrounding them. At this, Lin Baiwei raised a hand and gestured for the three of them to follow. Nie Ruyi went first, with Lao Xiaojun next to her and Song Fengling bringing up the rear.

They entered a squat, small tent, only to enter a huge war room, it looked like. Nie Ruyi did a double-take, but was, unfortunately, kept from exiting the tent by a hand on her arm. Song Fengling narrowed his eyes at her censoriously. She restrained herself and took a seat next to the low table, which had cushions around it, and maps spread across it. Files bound by string were littered across the top of the table and the floor around it.

The others joined her in taking a seat, except Song Fengling, who as youngest, made and served the tea, and then settled in a corner to await any further orders. Nie Ruyi picked up the teacup, unaware it was ceramic and therefore too hot. She nearly spilled it, trying to put it back down, and then blowing on her poor burnt fingers.

This time it was Lao Xiaojun looking at her with narrowed eyes. She gave him a sheepish smile, interrupted only by Lin Baiwei clearing her throat delicately. "As of now, the situation has not changed. We have not found the beast's lair, nor have we run into it. It has, however, eaten at least three disciples that we know of. We've been having Disciples running in teams of four since then. The junior disciples are forbidden from going anywhere alone."

"A sound decision." Lao Xiaojun agreed. "We've brought new intel on the beast, which should hopefully reduce lost lives."

Nie Ruyi suddenly felt silly, as if she were a small child, playing at an adult's conversation. People had actually died to this beast. What if she remembered wrong? What if she was wrong about what it was?

"Then out with it." Lin Baiwei demanded, her brow furrowing.

Lao Xiaojun gestured to Nie Ruyi, who choked a little as she realized she was the one being commanded. She swallowed back the worry and spoke as carefully as she could.

"You're... You're probably fighting an Ancient green dragon. anywhere from 300 to 800 years old. Its breath can become a poison, which can seed into the fog around the forest, which is why people have been getting sick. More than that," She tried to remember what else she'd read. "The reason you're not finding it is that it can see you. All the animals and birds in the forest are its eyes and ears."

"What?" Lin Baiwei interrupted in hissed tones. "What do you mean? Surely it can't-"

"Sorry, but... if this is what it is, there's a hell of a lot more it can do." Nie Ruyi cut the other woman off, narrowing her eyes. She didn't like being interrupted. "It can control the roots and vines in the forest too. It's terribly smart, smart as a human, or more. And it knows you're hunting it. It's big and strong, but it isn't fast. Probably no faster than your average peasant. If you can get close to it, you can outmaneuver it. Also, it's not resistant against magic, or fire, or lightning, or anything else. Just poison. If you can use elemental attacks against it, you should do more damage than regular steel can.

"It's smart, though. It can speak and do spells, and they're incredibly persuasive. Especially in its own domain. No offense to your disciples, but they were probably talked into walking right into the dragon's maw." She was exaggerating, perhaps, but she wasn't going to risk that they'd go into this thinking it was going to be an easy win. "Also, it's probably bigger than a house."

"...We had gathered it was large from the depth and breadth of its footsteps." Lin Baiwei commented, frowning at the maps in front of her in what Nie Ruyi thought was probably frustration.

"How have they been killed in your world?" Lao Xiaojun demanded.

"I told you, they don't exist in my world." Nie Ruyi frowned, glowering at the hulking man. "We played a game where we fought them as pretend people. It was like... Like... a thought exercise. War games!" She stumbled across that as an explanation, and continued quickly, "But when we go up against them, we usually either tried to reason with them, or we fought as hard as we could, taking advantage of the fact that we were small and creative, while it was large and proud."

"So your only advice is to either speak to something that you have admitted can beguile a cultivator into its maw, or fight it like a pack of wolves might an elephant." Lin Baiwei said, her voice as hard as stone. Ruyi flinched, thinking that was pretty much an apt description of their situation, honestly.

"In the games I played, one could, with luck, remain unbeguiled. There were items and skills that allowed one to be resistant or immune to mind-control and beguilement. Is there anything like that here?" Ruyi asked, hoping that there was, that something would translate that they could use.

"...There are teas and talismans that promote clarity of mind." Lin Baiwei answered, thoughtfully.

"I have a sachet!" A voice burst from the corner before Song Fengling slapped a hand over his own offending mouth. Ruyi couldn't help but smile at the boy's fidgety excitement. Now that he had the attention of the adults in the room, he was gestured to continue and did so at a much more natural level. "W-We made them in class a few days ago. They're perfumed sachets, meant to help with clarity of mind and retention of information!"

Good for students, then, Ruyi thought, which can now be useful for us.

"There you go! If we can get ahold of sachets like that, double up on tea and talismans, we might actually have enough of a buff to talk the creature over to our side. Although... they have been known to be incredibly evil. So we may need more than just our words to convince them. Do you have any gold, or land that can act as a bribe? Someplace else you want it to settle?"

"If it is as evil as you say, we need to slay it." Lao Xiaojun threw his words out like a storm, disrupting the excitement of the room. "It's irresponsible to leave alive a creature that might harm those around it."

"It's intelligent though. And they tend to work within the law. So, if you can form a treaty with it, and give it something it wants, I'm pretty sure you could leave it in peace! We just need to find out what it wants." Ruyi argued. "And... honestly, I don't know enough about this world to offer a strategy on killing it. In the war games, the only thing that could hurt a dragon of that size were magic weapons. The more magically spelled the better."

"We'll operate with two plans. The first is to attempt diplomacy. Lao-Zongzhu has permitted me to act as a liaison from our sect if at all possible. I can write up the necessary treaty if it comes to that. During the negotiations, we will also seek weaknesses and information so that if we have to strike, we can strike well." Lin Baiwei cut between their argument with sharp precision. Nie Ruyi relaxed back, unaware that she had leaned forward tensely.

"As Lin-Shijie wishes." Lao Xiaojun acquiesced. "Who will join the diplomatic team?"

"Myself, Nie-Shimei and yourself, Lao-Shidi. We can't risk any of the senior disciples, it might disrupt the chain of command. I'll be leaving my deputy in charge while we're gone-"

"Wait! I can't go!" Nie Ruyi cried, horrified. "I'm mortal! Civilian! I-I can't fight, or do magic or anything! I'll die!"

"I'll protect you." Lao Xiaojun dismissed, turning his attention to Lin Baiwei. Nie Ruyi gaped, disgust warring with fear. How was she supposed to believe that?! He'd done nothing but glare and scoff at her the entire time she'd been here!

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"This disciple will go as well!" Song Fengling declared from the corner, his hand on the hilt of his sword. The bravado looked adorable, like a puppy growling. "It is my duty to instruct and care for Nie-Shijie. I'll be useful!"

"You're a junior disciple, you'll slow us down." Lao Xiaojun stared at the boy, eyes narrowed and brow drawn down. "I'll have my hands full protecting her."

"He'll be better in a fight than I would." Nie Ruyi sniped, nose crinkling. She wished she could storm out, but if she did, where would she go? "You're dragging me out to my death, why shouldn't I have more than one protector?"

Now Lao Xiaojun turned that stare on her, and his lip twitched in a sneer. "You think I'm incapable of protecting one civilian?"

"If you're capable, then why should it matter if he comes with us?" Nie Ruyi retaliated. "He can defend himself, right? That's what you've trained him to be, a child soldier. So, let him fight."

"...Fine." Lao Xiaojun's face smoothed into disdain, and she felt almost like she had as a teenager, when a teacher handed her a red-marked test. "Song-shidi will come with us. The second this turns to combat," and here he turned to Song Fengling, who listened with rapt awe. "You are to get her away from the combat zone as quickly as you possibly can. Do not play the hero."

"Yes, Lao-Shixiong!" Song Fengling declared.

Lao Xiaojun gave a sharp nod, and turned back to Lin Baiwei, who had apparently ignored this little spat for her maps. "When do we set out?"

"In a few moments. I need to call my deputy to speak with him and we need to arrange for the appropriate precautions." Lin Baiwei stood, then, heading for the tent opening.

The few minutes Lin Baiwei requested passed, and soon Nie Ruyi found herself on the blade of a sword again. This time with Lin Baiwei to their left and Song Fengling to their right. Weaving between the trees didn't give her the same feeling of freefalling that open flight did, and now the fear wasn't pushed away. Even Lao Xiaojun's steel-cable arms couldn't ease her worry.

They'd given her a veil to cover her mouth and nose, which she had tucked into the collar of her robes despite the stares it garnered her. It wasn't quite airtight, but it would make it harder for the poison in the air to get into her lungs. She was also loaded down with enough talismans lining the inside of her clothes that it felt like another layer entirely. Along with the three mental-safekeeping sachets that had been found for her, tucked into her sleeves, she was heavily doused in some strange incense that was supposed to keep the mind focused as well. It smelled awful, but she wasn't going to complain if it kept her safe.

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The forest was so thick that the light that managed to make it down was green-tinted. It reminded her a little of a scene in one of her favorite movies, where a young prince met a forest-god. Dark, and mysterious, with light appearing where it wasn't expected. The only difference was, in this forest, a thick, muggy fog swept between the trees like a living thing. Birds chirped sluggishly in the higher boughs, but there weren't any little characteristic twig-snaps or rustling that signaled movement in the thicket undergrowth.

"This is eerie..." Song Fengling declared, voice hushed as if to match the forest.

"What do you see?" Lao Xiaojun asked, in an oddly patient tone that struck Nie Ruyi as the sort of tone her teachers took sometimes.

Song Fengling took a moment to gaze around them, even as they passed slowly between trees. "... There are no tracks. No signs of animals at all. The bark of the trees isn't scored, so no deer have passed through here all summer. The undergrowth is so thick an animal bigger than a raccoon would take ages to pass through it. ... Are there no deer here? No pigs? Nothing... It's like..."

"Like the dragon has eaten them all." Lin Baiwei finished, her voice an unsettling endnote to the conversation. In her hand, she held a small round ball made of something that looked like glass to Nie Ruyi. She'd say it was a crystal ball, but it probably had some complicated name fit for the setting. She just didn't know it. "This way."

She banked a turn left, and Lao Xiaojun and Song Fengling followed. They'd been riding for minutes, following Lin Baiwei's direction, as she followed the magical artifact in her hand. She'd said it would lead them to the creature's current whereabouts. Honestly, Nie Ruyi was of the opinion that the dragon would probably find them first.

As if summoned by her thought, a vine whipped out of the underbrush like a catapult, followed by several more, turning their cautious flight into a dodging dance. Song Fengling cried out as one of the vines snagged at his sleeve, before letting go.

Nie Ruyi blinked. It... let him go? "Wait! It's... The dragon is playing with us!" She gasped.

LaoXiaojun had shifted her to one of his arms, her immediate response to cling to him as he drew his sword and slashed away the incoming vines. He turned his gaze on her now, for a second, before flicking it away to continue batting away the danger. "What do you mean?"

"It had Song-didi!" In her haste to explain, she couldn't remember what honorific she was supposed to be using, "The vine had his sleeve, and then it let him go! It's herding us!"

In fact, the three swords had been driven further along a strange unknowable path. The vines continued snapping out, sending Lin Baiwei and Lao Xiaojun back further. Nie Ruyi could easily see that they were being led somewhere, and Lin Baiwei looked absolutely furious about it.

Eventually, the sound of claws clicking against the hard treebark earned their attention far more than the snap of the vines, and almost as if it was supposed to, the vines died down as the beast came into view. It descended from the canopy like a gecko, long neck lifting it's head to look at them, an even and alien gaze.

Suddenly, Nie Ruyi felt like cold water had been poured over her, terror making her heart pulse and her vision narrow on those gold-and-green orbs, their slitted pupils shifting between each of them. The creature's fin was flared, translucent green skin flared between each spine as it's head swayed back and forth. Nie Ruyi remembered looking at a size-chart, years ago. One that displayed the different size-categories in the game, and how they related to human-sized creatures. She hadn't realized then, what it meant for a human to be roughly the same size as an Ancient Dragon's jaw. She came to the uncomfortable decision that she was, in fact, bite-sized to this creature.

"Why, pray tell, are more of you little things flying into my forest? Gifts, perhaps?" The creature's voice was sinuous and soft, and the way it's maw moved didn't seem like it should result in human speech despite the fact that it did. "What lovely and kind owners this land used to have."

The fear still shook Nie Ruyi's bones, but luckily, it seemed that Lin Baiwei was able to speak despite being faced with a creature that could use her sword to pick its teeth after it ate her.

"We have come to seek terms of peace. We have been informed you are an intelligent and proud creature, and so we would wish to broker peace between yourself and our peoples." She managed, with the steady voice of someone trained in diplomacy.

"Oh? Is that what you wish. You know, every one of you dressed as you are, has raised a sword against me. Why should I not simply eat you, as I did them?" The dragon questioned, eyes narrowing.

Lin Baiwei's face took on a deep red, as if she were struggling to hold something back, and Nie Ruyi couldn't let this fail. She didn't want to die. Words exploded from her mouth before she could stop them, before she could worry about if she'd make it worse.

"Because it's a pain!" She cried, and the dragon's eyes turned and sharpened on her. "B-Because it's annoying, having so many cultivators traipsing through your woods, taking up so much of your time every day! I mean, if I were a great and powerful wyrm such as yourself, I know I'd want to be doing other things with my time, than picking off small fry."

The creature tilted its head to the left, a sinuous and forked tongue sliding out and licking along the seam of its lips. "Hmmm... You aren't wrong, little... cultivator? Is that what you called yourselves?"

"Yes." Lao Xiaojun stated, and the dragon's eyes focused on him for a moment. His shoulders squared and he stood tall in the face of it, but those eyes turned back to Ruyi a moment later.

"I'm Nie Ruyi. I-I just got here, myself. I lived in a world very different from this one, where creatures like you were respected and dreamed of. We had nothing like you on our world." She explained, and the creature's head darted forward, so that the breath blew back her and Lao Xiaojun's robes like a heavy gale.

"You came from another world?" The creature demanded. "You were brought here?"

"Y-Yes! I... I was. And I think you were too!" Nie Ruyi answered, and when the creature nodded, just a sinuous dip of its head, she continued, "The people who brought me here don't know how to send me back. So, I can't promise that. But, I know what it's like to be dragged away from where you belong. From your home, everything you love and care about."

Those gold-and-green eyes narrowed, and Ruyi felt like it knew she was trying to make it connect them empathically. She hurried on, "I don't know how to get you home, but we can help make your life here easier! We can try to help you settle in, and maybe-"

"What are you offering, little cultivator?" The dragon's voice was a quiet hiss, almost polite in it's interruption. Ruyi bit back the instinctual frustration at being interrupted, figuring that lashing out at this point would mean death. "What could you possibly give me that I cannot take?"

"Peace of mind." Lin Baiwei stepped in figuratively, which was good since she was the one with the actual negotiating power here. "We can make it so that the mortals don't enter your domain, or if they do, they know they take their lives into their own hands. In return, all we would ask is that you do not kill humans while outside your forest. We offer cooperation so that we may learn your circumstances and investigate who brought you here. Perhaps if we learn their method, we might find a way to get you back home."

A thrill ran through Nie Ruyi as she realized that it might help her get home too.

"And if I don't?" The dragon asked, it's head sliding back, as if to look down it's nose at them. "I am powerful in my own right. Do you threaten me, thinking that you can kill me, should I disagree?"

"Yes." Lao Xiaojun spoke once more. "We have faced worse than you and won." Nie Ruyi looked him in the face, and if he was bluffing, he was good at it. She wondered what exactly they'd fought, and what they'd had to do to win.

"Is that so." The dragon reared back, the way a cobra might, just before it strikes. For several tense minutes, it swayed back and forth, looking at them, before its eyes settled once again on Ruyi. She took a sharp breath at the weight of them. "I will need more than just to be left alone. I want tribute. Gold, gems, silver, magical items, whatever you have, six times a year."

Lin Baiwei's shoulders dropped from their squared position, and she nodded. "I will convene with my Sect Leader and we will work up a contract. We'll bring a preliminary contract in the next two days. If you have any changes to be made, we can negotiate then."

The dragon nodded, and Nie Ruyi thanked the heavens that the creature had patience. "Then, so long as no more trespassers step foot in my forest, I will restrain my appetite until the negotiations are done. Two days is not so long in the life of a dragon such as I."

The three cultivators gave their bows, Lao Xiaojun's one-armed bow startling Nie Ruyi into giving one of her own. Then, as they'd come, they turned around and flew back to the camp.

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