64 – Den of Iniquities
Back in the Tianhe Sect, Tianjiao returned in a flash of thunder. He was once again in his fat, slovenly appearance. His face was flat and neutral, as if carrying a heavy burden. Not even an hour had passed since he left, and some of the elders were still on Taiheng Peak.
“Back so soon?” Luochen asked with mild surprise. “And didn’t you say you would be returning with fabulous hair?” He noted that Tianjiao’s hairline had receded even further.
“I don’t even get to fight.” Tianjiao cried and lamented. His composure completely broke as he failed to reclaim his glorious hair or at least make it last. Tianjiao cultivated a path that progressed and made him felt more alive through battle. But as a Nascent Soul cultivator, those who could give him a proper fight were few and far between. Not only had he grown fat, his hairline kept receding, a shadow of his former self. This fight was one he had been looking forward to for centuries. Not only for a proper scrap, but also to reclaim his perfect form.
“You didn’t get to fight? How did that happen?”
“The shriveled old man was killed by his own children,” Tianjiao replied. Fortunately, he didn’t overreact.
Around thirty minutes earlier.
Tianjian Xinghui and Tianjiao faced each other. The former unsheathed his sword for the first time in three centuries. The latter crackled with thunder across his arms, legs, and hair, looking every bit like a Great Thundergod. Two Nascent Soul cultivators, a battle the Xiaxuan Realm had not witnessed for more than three hundred years. The Heavenly Dao stood ready to strike them both. Surrounding sects watched with bated breath, preparing to weather the calamity that would reshape the land.
But then two swords erupted from Xinghui’s chest. One destroys his heart. Another shattered his Nascent Soul. Behind him, are his two children. The deputy sect leader and her male twin.
“Ungrateful brats.” Xinghui coughed. With a single burst of Sword Qi, he tried to kill his children.
His son parried it, shattering Xinghui’s Sword Intent and sparing the Tianjian peak behind him.
“You have become weak, old man,” his son said coldly. “I am done waiting for you to get up, and I cannot let you bring disaster to my sect.”
Xinghui remained alive through sheer hatred. He coughed one last time before trying to curse his children.
“I curs…”
“NOOOOOOOO!” Tianjiao’s scream deafened Xinghui’s curse. Laced with almighty Thunder Qi, the roar blasted the dying Nascent Soul into dust.
“I was supposed to fight him! I was supposed to kill him! My hair! Fucking pieces of… AARGH!” Tianjiao raved like a madman. Each sentence stripped away his divine presence. His armor faded. His fat returned. Most importantly, his newly grown hair tore free from his head and was taken by the wind. He looked more distraught and sorrowful over Xinghui’s death than the man’s own children.
Back to the present.
Yes, Tianjiao definitely didn’t overreact.
“Did you see my son on your way back?” Luochen asked.
“Peeh!” Tianjiao spat on Luochen’s feet. “A fellow peer lost his hairline and you worry about your son. AAARGH! If only I had my own disciple to boast and worry about.” Then Tianjiao turned and left.
“Good luck with that.” Luochen jabbed.
Tianjiao then went to oversee the construction of the sect branch in Jin. But then his eyes caught something. Heaven had not abandoned him after all. There was someone with a modicum of talent who could become his disciple.
—
Two weeks later, the Bus arrived at Liǔ’àn city (柳岸|Willow Bank). The independent city was situated auspiciously on the bank of the Great River Yan to the east, with the Golden Field of a Thousand Buddhas to the north, and near the mountain pass to the Southern Mountain Range a short distance to the west. This made it a major hub for trade and commerce for both mortals and cultivators alike.
“I see the road has already been repaired.” One of the Jiushuang sect disciple, Hánméi (寒梅|Cold Plum) said beside me. She’s the first of the Jiushuang sect disciples to go her way to apologize to us properly without making excuses. While the rest keep us at arm length. As an inner disciple of the Jiushuang Sect, she wore elegant pale-blue robes embroidered with delicate frost patterns that shimmered like freshly fallen snow. Her long black hair was tied into a high, neat bun secured by a simple ice-crystal hairpin, giving her a refined yet cool appearance.
I hunched my shoulders at her comment. Technically, it had been partly my fault.
“I heard a certain young master make trouble here.” Huiran jabbed.
“Yes yes, I heard the young master was chased by five Golden Core elders.” Wendao added.
“Yes yes. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” It had already become a habit for the two of them to call me “young master” whenever they were joking around.
I flew the bus down near the main road, where traffic and carriages were plentiful. Of course, there were a few carriages comparable in size to my bus, pulled by various spiritual beasts. But naturally, my giant double-decker bus was still bigger. Haha!
“So we’ll have a short visit. We can resupply and buy a few things before continuing east,” I said like a tour guide. “Is there anything interesting here?” I asked the others.
“The only thing of note is that the Wànlì (萬利Ten Thousand Profits) Merchant Guild established a branch here.” Huiran replied.
“What’s special about this merchant guild?” I drove the bus toward what looked like a customs checkpoint.
“The merchant guild is led by cultivators, so it functions somewhat like a sect. They also have a mortal branch that caters to ordinary people. They facilitate missions for rogue cultivators and trade all kinds of spiritual resources. They also regularly hold auctions every decade and every quarter-century.” Huiran explained.
Ah. A corporation. Finally something familiar. Then it was finally our turn to be inspected. I stopped in front of the gate. The guards were a pair of Qi Refining cultivators in armor. I lowered the window and leaned out.
“Greetings, Senior,” the guard bowed respectfully. “Would you mind if I enter for an inspection?”
I looked at the others, who simply shrugged.
“Sure, come in.” I opened the side door.
The two guards entered and looked around the interior before noticing the disciples of both Tianhe and Jiushuang sect inside.
“This guard regrets the overreach. We did not realize we were addressing such auspicious guests.” The two guards then bowed in apology toward both the front and the back. “You may enter. A guide will be assigned to show you where to place your carriage.”
They spoke professionally before exiting.
“Did something happen?” Wendao asked Hanmei.
“I don’t know.” Hanmei replied honestly. “Whatever it was, it must have happened after we went south.”
“Was there anything unusual about that?” I also asked.
“Usually the guards don’t check the interior of cultivator carriages, as those usually belong to powerful or wealthy cultivators.” Huiran explained.
“Can they impose the search?” I asked the important question.
“Yes. The Wanli Guild is the one that polices the city, and the branch leader is rumored to be quite powerful. So this means something of value has been stolen.”
I see. So they still acted polite even when they had the authority to force a search. As for why they were searching those entering the city, it was perhaps meant as a show of force. Though a background check seemed more probable.
Then a soldier riding an armored white horse landed in front of the bus from above. The horse’s mane and hooves are coated with fire. Both the soldier and the horse are Foundation Establishments.
He cupped both of his hands. “This one is Fēnghuǒ (烽火|Fire Beacon), I will lead you to the parking spot.”
Fenghuo looked like a tall, broad-shouldered man with a weathered but handsome face. He wore dark red armor etched with flame patterns, and a short crimson cloak fluttered behind him. He has a thin scar running from his left temple down to his jaw. All giving him a hardened but reliable soldier appearance.
I peeked my head out of the window. “Lead the way.”
He guided us to a dedicated parking area filled with other large carriages. I parked the bus at the edge so as not to block the path of those exiting. Only then did all of us step out.
“A Foundation Establishment cultivator personally leading us here is quite generous, don’t you think?” Wendao asked, standing face to face with Fenghuo
“Of course, of course.” Fenghuo laughed. “We can’t provide anything less for our auspicious guests.”
“Anything interesting happening lately?” Wendao probed again.
“Nothing interesting.” Fenghuo lied. “Enjoy your stay.” With that, he swiftly departed.
“It would seem like we are not above suspicion.” I noted and Wendao nodded.
“It’s best that we didn’t split…”
“Hanmei, come, we have our lodging planned.” Qianxue called. The rest of the Jiushuang sect, along with Ningguang and Wanxia, moved together. Wanxia gave us a subtle gesture not to follow them.
“Thank you for the accommodation.” Hanmei thanked me before joining the rest.
“There goes not splitting up.” Huiran noted.
“I still cannot trust them.” Wendao added.
“Me neither. This Qianxue lied about not knowing Ningguang was with us when she led the others in hunting me.” I said as I started walking out of the parking area.
“Wait, you knew this and didn’t tell us?” Huiran quickly walked beside me. Wendao followed on the other side.
“Well, it wasn’t exactly relevant at the time. It was just a lie to cover her own skin, and we couldn’t exactly kill her and the rest right then.” I explained.
“True.” Huiran replied. “But I can’t help but feel that something wrong is going to happen.”
Wendao looked around. “Boy, come here.” He called over a stable boy who was also a second level Qi Refining cultivator.
“Would you mind following the disciples of the Jiushuang Sect? No need for anything fancy, just find us and tell us where they will be staying.” Wendao handed him ten spirit stones, which were quickly accepted. The boy ran off to follow the group.
Then I noticed something. A faint sliver of divine sense brushed the corner of my vision before vanishing the moment I tried to focus on it.
“Hmmm. We are being followed.” I noted. The others nodded.
Oh God. Please, not another problem due to me being a Xuan.
We went to find an inn for a meal. It quickly become clear however that we are not exactly welcome.
“I’m sorry, we are closed.” An innkeeper closed the door to a clearly busy establishment.
“I’m sorry, we can’t serve you here.” Another clearly terrified waiter begged us to leave.
“Please find somewhere else.” A terrified proprietress swiftly closed the door on us.
“I will be… absolutely livid if this is because of me again.” I said flatly.
Huiran patted my lower back due to the height difference. “There-there. We are still not out of options.” He said with a smile.
I looked at Wendao. Wendao looked back at me. We still had options?
Huiran led the way without another word, and we followed. Before long, the streets grew livelier and more colorful. Red lanterns hung from every eaves, casting a warm glow over the crowded walkways. The air was thick with perfume, incense, and the sound of string instruments drifting from open windows. Beautifully dressed women leaned from balconies, calling out playfully to passersby, while young men in fine robes laughed and drank in open-air pavilions.
“Den of iniquities!” I noted loudly in a mixture of genuine surprise and joy, drawing chuckles and laughter from the surrounding streets. Places like this no longer existed back on Earth. Or at least, I had never managed to find them.
“Ran, come introduce us to your friends.” A beautiful woman leaned from a balcony and called out to Huiran.
“We can accompany you until morning.” The one beside her teased.
“No discount.” The third one added with a playful smile.
Huiran smiled and waved. “Maybe later after we have something to eat.”
“Follow me, I know a place that is clean and serves good meals.” Huiran then beckoned us. As we followed, it became clear that he was somewhat well-known in these parts. mostly among the brothels. Women called out to him in sweet voices and invited us along. And by mostly, I meant all of them.
Eventually we entered one of the better-looking inns. Business seemed unusually slow, as every table on the first floor was empty. Or perhaps they had only just opened.
The three of us took seats at one of the many round tables.
“Old man, did you get in trouble again? The usual for me,please cook us a feast. After that we can catch up and you can tell me what’s new.” Huiran called out to the middle aged innkeeper, who was drenched in sweat.
“Ah, well.” The man wiped his brow nervously.
Then, in the blink of an eye, dozens of shadows poured in. Cloaked figures wearing veiled round hats entered through the doors and windows, completely filling every seat on both the first and second floors.
Huiran rose and gripped his hammer. Wendao's hand tightened around his sword. I projected a railgun above every cloaked figure, while holding one directly aimed at the man now sitting across from me.
The man was dressed entirely in black, with dark red patterns that looked disturbingly like dried blood. His eyes were bloodshot red and burning with a predatory light. His hair and short beard were unkempt and wild. Like a barely restrained beast. He looked at the railgun pointed at his head
Then he slowly grinned from ear to ear, revealing a mouth full of needle-sharp teeth that glistened under the dim light.
“Easy now,” he said in a low, rasping voice. “We just want to chat.”
~ Valarion