Even the oldest of monsters may still grow. Never underestimate an enemy merely because they seemed to stand still for a century or two. -Sun Queen Tian Li

* * *

I stared at the spot where Shen Tori had stood. The ground beneath had been turned to silver stone, but even as I watched, reality shifted and traces of qi drifted away on the wind. The ground returned to the same color as all the rest, as if it had never been anything different.

“See, you are capable of restraint,” Reili’s voice echoed in my thoughts. She laughed slightly, and then the voices of the void began to quiet, returning to the dull background noise I was used to.

Weariness washed over me, and the world began to spin. Erasing a Silver from existence had taken every last ounce of qi I had. Now, my body shuddered as the cost of such a battle caught up with me. I was still bleeding from a dozen injuries, and desperately wanted to sleep.

“Uncle Yoru!” Xinya cried as she broke free of Taihua’s grasp and ran to my side. “Yoru! Are you okay? You’re hurt.”

“I’ll be fine,” I promised weakly. She knelt and put a hand on my back to keep me upright. “What about you, though?”

She sniffed back several tears and nodded. “I’m fine. I knew you’d come eventually.”

“Of course. I couldn’t leave my disciple to face such a monster alone,” I teased, ruffling her hair. She giggled. “I’ll always come find you. No matter what.”

“Not if I become strong enough! Then I’ll rescue myself first!”

From all around, the remaining members of the Lunar Hunt eyed each other with uncertainty. In the last six months, I’d killed their leader and his eldest son. Furthermore, many of them still believed that I was responsible for murdering their friends who participated in the Siege of Saikan. Whether I was truly responsible or not, to them, I was a force of nature akin to the Tide Serpent itself. Even as I lay weakened, none of them wanted to tangle with me, for fear of losing their lives.

Shen Taihua stepped forward, crossing the radius of the lunar array with several slow, but deliberate steps. With each step he took, Lin matched him, until the two of them were face-to-face with Xinya and I between them.

“Where does this leave us, Shen Taihua?” Lin asked quietly. The young void artist looked down at where his father had last stood before the voidlight had burned his existence away. Sadness glimmered quietly in his eyes, but when he next spoke, his voice was steady and clear.

“My brother took the life of Xinya’s father. In return, you took his life,” he began. “My father sought vengeance, but you killed him before he could reach it. The blood debt between us has not been balanced.” Despite his words, there was no malice in his voice. He was nothing but contemplative.

“Balanced?” Lin growled. “You forgot my wife! You forgot my parents! They were murdered by Lunar Hunt cultivators! The debt is not balanced, yes, but if anything, we are the ones owed!”

“Lin,” I said. “Enough. Let him speak.”

Taihua frowned. “We did not organize those deaths.”

“Like hell you didn’t!” Lin’s voice rose into a shout. “They were wearing Lunar Hunt badges! Yoru saw them!” Taihua was quiet for a long moment, clearly trying to puzzle out the events which had taken place.

“It must have been the other man.”

“What other man?”

“The hidden master who arrived the night Yaoxan was killed,” Taihua explained. “He and his disciple came here that night and offered to my father a plan to weaken Tsuyuki so we could strike. All he wanted in return was the corpse once we were through.”

That was...ominous. There were a good number of people who could benefit from the blood and body of the Darkened Moon. Even as I was, parts of my body could be used as qi components in rituals and advancement all over the world, and if they had a way to access the power I once had…I couldn’t be certain what would happen, but it would be disastrous.

“Did this hidden master give a name?” I asked. Taihua shook his head.

“No sect identification, either, but the way he moved…I’ve never seen that kind of grace. It was inhuman…predatory, even.”

For Taihua to be unsure of their strength…the young artist had certainly met the Governor as part of his role as Shen Tori’s lieutenant. Rumors put him at Gold, so if Taihua said he was stronger…he had to be at least Salt, possibly even further into the Refining Realm.

A hidden master indeed… I’ll have to watch out for that one. Perhaps they were the one who brought Pollen to the Lodge, but if that was the case, whose side were they really on?

Lin still glared at Taihua with hate in his eyes, but the void artist just bowed his head.

“I don’t have the same taste for violence that my family does. I was never able to defeat my father in combat, and I lack the bloodline of our ancestors. I cannot challenge you, and so I choose to drop the feud between us,” he announced. Whispers of surprise and shock echoed across the castle courtyard as the rest of the Lunar Hunt questioned his decision. However, as with most things in the cultivation world, the word of the strong was final. Shen Taihua was Iron, and one of the very few left who could boast that rank. With his surrender, none of the Bronze and Leaf artists had the strength to question it.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

However, Lin didn’t seem convinced. His fists balled at his sides, and verdant qi swirled around him.

“Uncle Lin,” Xinya pleaded. “Master Shen was nice to me when his father wanted to break my core. He’s not a bad guy.”

“Not a bad guy? He works with the people who hunted you and Yoru halfway across the Shore and back!” Lin shouted. “He stood by as his own blood murdered children!”

Xinya stood in front of him, scowling in that way she did where her nose and mouth twisted until she thought herself ferocious. In truth, it was less terrifying than she probably intended, but as long as she was fierce in her own mind, we could work on the rest later. I was too exhausted to argue.

“Leave. Him. Alone!” she insisted. “He didn’t kill Hanako. He didn’t kill my dad.”

The little lightning artist glared at her adopted uncle, and the air almost sparked between them. But, in the end, even at his worst, Lin couldn’t say no to Xinya when she was determined to get her way. He relaxed. Stepping forward, he sized Taihua up and down.

With a brutal swing that none could stop, Lin’s fist slammed into Taihua’s cheek. The void artist stumbled and fell in surprise, and several of the Lunar Hunt rushed in, determined to come to his defense. However, he raised a hand.

“It’s fine! I’m fine!” He stood and straightened his armor. “If that’s what it takes for there to be no further bloodshed, then my skin is thick enough to take the blow.” The rest of the Hunt relaxed slowly as Lin knelt and pulled my arm over his shoulder. I leaned on him heavily as we began to withdraw. Pollen, Kansi, and Lian all kept their vigil as we exited the gates before falling into step behind us.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m hoping for a very quiet return to Saikan,” Kansi muttered. Lian immediately tensed and put a hand over the wind artist’s mouth.

“Are you nuts!?” he hissed. “Don’t say things like that! You’ll only tempt-”

But fate had already been tempted. A thousand blue-silver threads sparked all around us in the environment, visible only to my eyes.

“Is this a good time to mention that we are all bathed in voidlight?” I said.

“And that does…what, exactly?” Lian asked.

“Anyone ever wonder why I’m called the Demon of Misfortune?” I answered. Anything the voidlight touched would have their fortunes altered. We’d all been present for the battle with Shen Tori. We were all cursed by my own techniques.

The threads of fate began to twist and weave around us, and panic grew in my heart. Whatever twisted monster was about to jump out of the woods at us would not be easy, given how much I’d used my techniques. Drained of qi as I was, would I even be able to help?

Xinya lit a small mote of moonlight to illuminate the road ahead of us. The trees on either side of the road swayed gently, and everything was peaceful. Then, the threads gathered before us, and a man dressed in silver stepped into the light.

“Well, well, well,” he said. “Here I came to see my old friend, Shen Tori, after my travels, and I find rats scurrying about his castle.”

“Wait! Governor! I can explain!” Shen Taihua shouted, running after us with all his speed. At the mention of the Governor, everyone tensed. Eyes flicked to his shoulder, where a Gold badge dangled amidst his clothes.

“Young Shen, does your father know you’re out?” the newcomer asked softly. His voice was calm, and almost bored. “Nevermind. Go and fetch him. I would have tea with him to discuss affairs.”

“Governor, I can’t…my father is dead.” Taihua was hesitant in his words. “Please, let these people go. We’ve settled our quarrel. There’s been enough bloodshed tonight.”

“Enough blood?” the Governor asked incredulously. “One of my servants is dead after an enormous beam of moon qi shot into the sky. There are intruders at your gates, and you dare to tell me that enough blood has been shed? Know your place, boy. Do you recall who it was who gave me authority over this place?”

“Th-the Ascendents, sir,” the void artist answered.

“Exactly. Now, why have you ignored it?” Taihua had no answer and could only look around helplessly as the Governor waited, tapping his foot impatiently. “I see,” he finally said. “It seems you are not a fitting replacement for your father, Shen Taihua.”

In flash of motion, the Governor was behind Taihua. He struck two fingers into the younger man’s back. Taihua cried out in alarm, only for his cries to be strangled as his body tensed without his permission. He collapsed to the ground, his body perfectly paralyzed.

“Be still. I will deal with you later,” the Governor instructed. “Now, for the rest of you.”

Kansi lunged at the governor, drawing her sword in the blink of an eye. The ground shook as a wall of earth sprang up between her and the Governor. Her blade cut through it, but the blow lost much of its force before it could reach him.

“Lin, take Tsuyuki and Xinya and go!” Pollen shouted. “We will buy you time!”

“Do you think I would be so foolish as to let that happen?” the Governor shouted. He raised a hand towards the three of us. Ten pointed stones formed from the dust in the air before streaking towards us so fast that a single one could probably pierce straight through our bodies without any resistance at all. The Governor was Gold. This was not a fight we could win.

A thread of voidlight whipped across my vision, darting from Pollen to the Governor before racing off into the forest. From where it came, a furious battle cry and a horrible buzzing heralded a brilliant flash of golden light. It slammed into the ground between the Governor and us, burning the stones.

But, it wasn’t enough. Even in the light, I could see the stones weren’t going to be stopped in time. I threw myself in front of Xinya. Sharp pain ripped through my skin, but at least it wasn’t deadly.

A bright streak of blond and black slammed into the ground in front of the Governor just as a thousand hornets the size of dogs surged from the underbrush. Their eyes glowed with the golden light of Pharyx’s bloodline.

“You!” Pollen breathed in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Trying to be the kind of ally I want to be,” the hornet queen answered. He swung his lance around and pointed it at the Governor. “I’m just glad I didn’t arrive too late.”

“Stupid Spirit Beast.” The Governor grinned. “Do you think you can save them? With your pitiful strength? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Tsuyuki, Lin,” Pharyx began. “My actions when we last met shame me greatly. Can you forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive, friend,” I answered.

“Then go! We’ll hold him and the Lunar Hunt off,” he promised, raising his lance. “Governor Hong. I am High Queen Taiya Pharyx, Son of the Dawn Empress. I am claiming the Eastern Shore in the name of the Hanai Hornets and all the rest who dwell there. Renounce your claim or die by my hand!”

“It won’t take long to end you,” the Governor growled. “You buy nothing with your death.”

“We’ll see about that!” The hornet lunged, his hair and wings already shining bright with his power.

“Let’s go,” Lin insisted. I nodded. I was in no condition to help them. All I could do was pray to whatever spirits might be listening in the dark and dreary forest for their safety.