The Third Kingdom - Chapter 23 preview (Patreon)

Washed and changed, Wu Ying barely made it to his match on time. The referees and the Seven Pavilion Merchant Association had pushed ahead, demanding the final quartet of quarterfinalists take part this day. The tournament, meant to showcase skill at arms and be a celebration of the Association’s strength was a subdued affair, the crowd numerous but subdued.

Stepping into the ring, Wu Ying stared at his opponent and could not help but offer the young lady a smile. Despite the dire circumstances, Pan Shui was bouncing a little in anticipation of the upcoming fight. She grinned at Wu Ying, waving her free hand at him.

“Come, Expert Long. Let us settle things, once and for all!” Pan Shui said.

Wu Ying stared at the exorbitant young lady, then glanced at the referee and her pair of sisters. Both sisters looked a little glum, having drawn conclusions from Wu Ying’s numerous mistakes about his true standing and combat prowess. He turned his head further, meeting the gaze of impassive Elders seated at their usual table. And then further upwards, to see the impassive mien of Elder Cao as she perched on a rooftop.

He considered them all and then the surroundings, spotting the bookies who were doing brisk business. Before the referee could form the barrier around them all, he held a hand up.

“I have an announcement.” Wu Ying pitched his voice to resound through the square, ensuring that everyone would hear him. “I am withdrawing from the tournament.”

Silence, then tumultuous shouting. None louder than the bettors who clamored for a return of their wagers.

Striding across the space separating them, Pan Shui stabbed her spearhead at Wu Ying as pointed declaration. “No! You are not allowed to do that. Tell him he’s not allowed!” She snarled at the referee.

“I cannot, Honored Cultivator. Attendance and participation for this event is entirely voluntary,” the referee replied, sweating a little. “But Honored Cultivator, this is unprecedented.”

“It’s also your first event. There’s not much of a precedent there,” Wu Ying pointed out.

“Even so. This… may I ask the Chief Judge?” he said.

Wu Ying nodded, knowing the poor man dared not make a final pronouncement without backup. After all he was but a sixth stage Body Cleansing cultivator, tasked with powering up and watching the fights. It would take someone like the Head Judge and referee to make such a pronouncement. Or, more likely, Elder Cao who was overlooking the entire proceedings even if she was not officially in charge.

Hushed words were exchanged in the distance, the Chief Judge casting glances to where Elder Cao watched. In the meantime, Pan Shui was ranting at him, repeating her belief that he could not just quit. It was only when she tried to poke his foot with the butt end of her spear that he paid attention to her once more.

“Don’t.”

“You weren’t even paying attention to me!” Pan Shui snapped. “What? Am I really that irrelevant that you’ll not just ignore me in the ring but in conversation too?”

“It’s not that,” Wu Ying said. “We fought once already and you’re a better spear wielder. You have the Heart of your weapon in your soul, and though you might lack a little in experience, your ability more than makes up for it.”

“Yet, I did not win our last duel. Not decisively,” Pan Shui said.

Wu Ying shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I never came here to win the tournament but to meet others and to progress my own path of the sword.” He touched the blade by his side. “Your pointers and the fights I’ve partaken in have helped.”

“Then fight me again! This time for real. You can’t have learnt everything I have to show you from a single spar. Not when we were both holding back.”

“No, I couldn’t. But I know what will happen if we did fight for real,” Wu Ying said. “Have you considered the results? What happened with Liu Ping?” He lowered his voice, gesturing around him. “Any battle between the two of us will leave us both vulnerable. And that, I’m unwilling to accept. Not right now. Not when you have a decent chance of winning the tournament anyway.”

“And the prizes?” Pan Shui said. “Do you not care?”

Wu Ying shrugged. “It is less useful for me than for many others here.” She didn’t need to know that he had been warned off winning anyway. It didn’t help that he had a feeling that his chances of staying hidden as a Core Formation cultivator was dropping with every passing day.

“Who, exactly, are you?” Pan Shui said, gesturing with her free hand. “You wander in, fight like a demon, lose like a fool, speak with Core Formation cultivators like you do it every day and hold not just a rare element but soul and body cultivation methods.”

Wu Ying could only shrug, unsure of what she wanted him to say. He was who he was, a poor ex-farmer turned cultivator, banished son of a prestigious sect, an apprentice wild gatherer. A student, of life and existence.

“That’s not an answer!”

Before she could prod him further, the Chief Judge approached and raised his voice, quieting the crowd.

“As participation in the tournament is voluntary and each individual may retire at any time, I hereby declare Cultivator Pan the winner of this match.”

Voices rose in protest, some of the cultivators glaring at Wu Ying as he descended. A few moved to accost him but stopped as he turned his gaze and allowed a little of the killing intent and bloodlust within his soul to escape. These wandering cultivators might see more battle than a sect cultivator who stayed in their sects, cultivating in their lofty heights. But this kingdom had been at peace, their demonic and spiritual beasts managed by the army.

He had been honed in war and competition, in the depths of the untamed wilderness and across the blades of the dark sect. He might as well be a slavering, blood-hungry beast for them. Even a trace of the true killing intent and bloodlust he had absorbed was enough to make those meaning to challenge him from approaching, leaving him to stand in the crowd...

Alone.

***

Eventually Pan Shui left the stage sulkily. The remaining two contestants were escorted up the stage, Liu Ping and Kong Lai facing one another over their weapons. Liu Ping held her tie jian in both hands, the sword breaker no more than a sharp-edged cross-sectional metal hunk, meant to crack and break delicate weapons. Not that the paired axes that Kong Lai wielded could be considered delicate.

“Interesting match-up. Good weapon mix,” a mortal merchant, not far from Wu Ying muttered to his friend.

“Axe against sword-breaker? Yes. Better than dao or jian, those would break. And it’d be boring if they wielded polearms. Good strategy, but boring fights,” his friend muttered.

Beside them, a third leaned forward and added his own words even as on the stage, the referee was speaking to the pair of contestants, almost begging them to take care to not harm one another; to fight fairly and with consideration for the tournament’s good name.

“I bet there’s going to be blood. You heard about the crazed wandering cultivator’s actions, right? I tell you, those bestial bloodlines can’t be trusted. Animals, all of them.”

“I heard the Mountain Fast cultivator killed her brother,” the first merchant speaker said.

“No, that was the demon cultivator. The murderer,” his friend corrected.

Silence grew over the three, before the first speaker spoke, slowly. “Do you think she’s the demon cultivator?”

Which she he meant, he left unconfirmed for a passing guard shot the three a disapproving look at their gossiping. The group stayed quiet even after the guard had left for the referee, giving up on his attempt at receiving a confirmation of honorable conduct and receiving no support from the silent Elder Cao or the Chief Judge had finally left the ring.

As he came down, he gave the Chief Judge an elaborate shrug. Wu Ying did not miss the look the judge cast to where Elder Cao stood, still silent.

One had to wonder, why she was watching them instead of continuing her investigation. Or perhaps she considered this – being present where nearly everyone else was – part of her inquiry. Or was she looking to head off chaos? If Wu Ying had been the killer, he would take this opportunity to sow chaos. If he was one to kill indiscriminately.

Which, once more brought the question of why. Motive for the killings, for the reasoning behind the killer’s actions were lacking.

His thoughts were interrupted as the protective shell covering the ring formed and the pair of contestants were protected from interference. They charged forward, intent on injury and death in a clash of arms and pent-up emotions.

Disdainful battle maniac met enraged and grieving sister in the middle of the ring, neither party willing to give a foot. Axe blades clashed with the heavy tie jian, the steel of the metal bar slamming into sharpened edges and pushing the lighter weapons aside, even as tiny wounds accumulated along Liu Ping’s arms from leftover blade intent.

The injuries only seemed to fuel Liu Ping, the edges of her aura solidifying, a brown haze that softened blows and turned imperfectly aligned cuts aside. Her lips pulled apart and widened into a rictus of anger and hate, her swings growing wider and ever more powerful as they clashed.

The change in Liu Ping’s aura and the increased strength of her blows pushed Kong Lai back, the sect cultivator retreating every few exchanges. Chips from the edges of her axes flew through the air at each clash, metal bent and twisted as even aura-reinforcement of the weapons did little to alleviate the damage done to them.

In short order, Kong Lai had retreated to the edge of the ring. There, wounds began to accumulate as she transitioned to a purely defensive stance. Unlike Liu Ping’s showy infusion of bloodline into aura, Kong Lai’s earthen element could only be seen in the steadiness of her stance, her ability to handle the massively empowered blows from her opponent.

Long seconds passed, as Liu Ping continued to thrash Kong Lai, blood and sweat flying through the air. Yet, no matter how close it seemed that Kong Lai would miss a parry and crumple under the echoing, revibrating blows; she held on.

Strike after strike, disaster was turned aside by cun after cun.

Beside Wu Ying, the trio of mortals were murmuring again.

“I thought she’d do better. Not much of a sect cultivator is she?”

“I told you. They’re all false dragons and cowardly tigers. None of them are true warriors. Indolent fools, one and all.”

“Who cares? It’s a good fight, isn’t it?”

“I hate losing money… Not as though I earned that much this time around.”

“Hah! I told you, you should have brought more healing pills. That’s what I did.”

Wu Ying tuned out the discussion about optimal stock types, paying further attention to the battle. He did not blame the trio from missing the point, though he was surprised how often this sentiment was echoed around the ring even by other cultivators who should know better.

For he could sense it in her aura, in the edge of her swings.

Liu Ping was running out of energy. Her blows were growing more frantic, her attacks swung ever harder. Powered not by strength itself but desperate, desperate need.

And Kong Lai stood firm. She received the blows and redirected them when she could, suffered in silence when she could not. As blows hammered the edges of her own weapons into her arms or chest. Even the occasional misses that struck were weathered, by shifts in footwork and rolling movements of the upper body. All to keep her standing, her chi stores from draining too quickly.

A sharp spike of worry and concern, fear stench intensifying. A short distance from him, standing with his friends and allies, Gao Qiu finally noticed what Wu Ying had too. His breathing slowed and tightened, and he started to lean into the ring as though his focus and attention could provide Liu Jin the energy she lacked.

Interference –entrance from outside the ring– was viable. But doing so would mean disqualifying Liu Ping. Still, Wu Ying could almost see the man considering it, weighing her displeasure with the knowledge of what Kong Lai had done to Liu Jin and the enmity the pair bore one another.

Before a decision could be made, the duel turned.

A kick, flashing upwards in a too large a gap between swings caught Liu Ping in the chest. She flew backwards, flipping through the air and barely managed to block the downward swing of her opponent’s axes as Kong Lai followed and struck at Liu Ping while she was still in the air.

The force of the block saw Liu Ping’s legs forced into the ground, weapon held upwards with both hands even as the sharpened edge of her sword breaker bit into her open palm reinforcing her block. The smell of fresh spilled blood mixed with the muskiness of her aura, seeping out from the ring.

“Did you really think you could win, you barbaric fool?” Kong Lai taunted, pressing down. Her chi surged, the smell of earth and loam, granite and basalt filtered outwards to Wu Ying. The axes drifted closer, heavier than ever as they neared Liu Ping’s chest.

“I… won’t… lose.” Teeth gritted, head tilted upwards, even her uttered defiance was insufficient to combat the growing weight.

Cun by cun, it lowered till the edge of her swordbreaker touched the tip of her forehead, axe blades hanging over and biting a little into her collarbones as her back arched. Liu Ping struggled, the aura of the bear wavering.

Then, howling in pain, she forced her blood to burn, the caustic disruption making Wu Ying’s eyes widened. His fool of a friend had done this before, burnt his very life force to win fights. Few sects taught such a method, but those with bloodlines like Liu Ping could tap into the technique instinctively it seemed. Still, even Tou He had never, ever, done something like this in a tournament.

The effect was short-lived, a momentary surge of vigor that pushed the pair of axes upwards by their hafts. The weapons swung down almost immediately as the strength was robbed from Liu Ping’s arms as energy petered out.

But this time, Liu Ping was ready.

She collapsed backwards almost bonelessly, the momentary surge of strength allowing her to shift the position of her legs so that she could fall back and kick upwards, lifting her opponent over her. Momentum changing ever so swiftly, Kong Lai tumbled over and slammed into the ground with a tile shattering crash.

Yet that move had also robbed Liu Ping of her position and injured her body, twisting and kicking backwards as she had. Blood streamed from her sides where the axes had clipped her, she struggled to her feet moments before Kong Lai did, the earth cultivator shaking off shards of stone and dust.

Outside, Gao Qiu strained against the arms holding him back, whispered words from his compatriots telling him to keep calm. To trust in the woman. He struggled in vain, even as the pair clashed once more, their movements slower, their attacks warier now as they probed for further missteps.

“You can do it, Ah Ping! Beat her till she doesn’t even know her own name!” One of the men from the convoy next to Gao Qiu roared, even as he held back his leader.

Emboldened by the words, Liu Ping found a sudden surge of strength and cunning. She shifted the angle of her latest strike with the swordbreaker, managing to catch not the blade of the weapon striking at her but the haft and fingers beneath.

Crying in pain as her fingers were crushed, Kong Lai’s hands spasmed open. Another swing brought the swordbreaker crashing into the now opened side of the sect cultivator’s body, throwing the woman aside. Kong Lai bounced off the ground, rolling over and over until she fetched up against the edge of the ring, one leg dangling off.

Slowly, ever so slowly she pulled herself upright.

Shouts from outside, many with their eyes locked on the sect cultivator who groggily attempted to regain her feet. Many were wondering aloud why Liu Ping stood still, unmoving as she missed the opportunity to finish the battle.

Indeed, to the visible eye, Liu Ping stood trembling, her legs shaking as she struggled to stay standing.

“What is she doing? Finish it!”

“Gods above, I should never have bet on a wandering cultivator.”

“Maybe the beast is taking over?”

Voices rose and fell, cries of disappointment arose as Kong Lai managed to stand again.

Conversations quietened as the crowd noticed the sect cultivator was smiling through bloody lips, her eyes glinting in savage glee. One hand was wrapped around her side where cracked ribs were cradled, but the other was pointed at her opponent.

“Now you see the difference between a beast and a true daughter of the heavens!” Kong Lai said, sneering aloud. Then, her tone changed as she chanted, waving her axe as earth chi surged. “Pursuit of the Earthen Hunter. Entomb.”

At her last words, earth chi that had been gathering around the pair as they fought slammed close. Strands of energy pulled together, trapping Liu Ping and crushing her. The crack of her knees banging into the stone tiles resounded through the ring, even as the swordbreaker fell from exhausted fingers.

Another surge of energy, this time from outside the ring. Wu Ying turned his head as Gao Qiu threw those who held him off. Only for Elder Eng to appear behind him, his hand coming down on Gao Qiu’s shoulder. A minor exertion of force and Gao Qiu was forced to his knees too.

Wu Ying’s eyes narrowed, but Elder Eng was not injuring Gao Qiu any more than he needed to. Choosing to keep watch and silent for now, he turned back to the fight in the ring where Kong Lai had stumbled closer to Liu Ping, absolute glee still on her face.

Standing over the trapped woman, earth chi coating Liu Ping in strands of dark chains, she raised her axe. “I’ll crush you, just like your useless brother. Then you beasts will know the true strength of the sects!”

At the mention of her brother, Liu Ping released an inhuman growl. The bestial aura that had been crushed disappeared entirely for a moment before returning, threefold in strength. Liu Ping threw herself forwards, the earthen chains of chi holding her down exploding under the strength of her bloodline.

Kong Lai staggered backwards from the backlash of her technique breaking, even as Liu Ping’s face twisted into an animal’s, her nose and mouth seeming to lengthen and darken as her chi surged. Claws, black and shimmering as they changed exploded from her hands as she lunged at Kong Lai, ducking under a swinging hand to claw the woman’s torso. Long lines of blood and exposed ribs were drawn from the claws, but Kong Lai managed to finish her own attack, burying the axe in Liu Ping’s lower back.

Silence for a fraction of a second, as both opponents fell to the ground, nearly on top of one another. The referee’s jaw worked as his gaze darted from still form to still form.

Then, movement. Elder Eng rushed the ring, only for Elder Cao to place her hand on Elder Eng’s chest, easily stopping him from approaching.

Gao Qiu, released, staggered towards the stage, but was beaten to the two bodies by the referee and Chief Judge. Together, they peeled the senseless bodies apart for the healers. Wu Ying kept back, knowing there was nothing he could do for them that the healers could not.

“What a waste…” Voices from behind, though who it was that said it, Wu Ying could not place. For the better, probably.

“Let them work,” Wu Ying said to Gao Qiu, pulling the man back as he tried to crowd the healers. The pair watched as they struggled to heal the pair of cultivators, a part of Wu Ying hoping they were well. As cultivators, it took a lot to kill one of them. “Liu Ping will be fine. She’s a Body Cultivator, isn’t she? With that bloodline, she’d have to be.” A nod from Gao Qiu. “Then she’ll heal.”

“But will she ever heal all the way?” Gao Qiu said bitterly. “She burnt her life blood. And forced her bloodline to evolve. Neither of those things…” He shook his head. “You understand.”

“It won’t be easy. But perhaps it might even aid her,” Wu Ying said. “A bloodline evolution is hard to enact, even normally. This might have been for the best.”

“The best?” Gao Qiu turned to Wu Ying, eyes glittering with repressed fury as he shook off Wu Ying’s hand on his shoulder. “You immortal cultivators truly are insane. Anything to keep moving ahead, to ascend, no? She lost her brother, her own family. He was her everything. All that she ever wanted. And you think it’s for the best!”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Just leave. It’s not as though you care for us, or anything but yourself.” Then, deliberately stepping away from Wu Ying, Gao Qiu turned his attention back to the woman.

Wu Ying stood there for a second, alone, before he turned his head around. Elder Cao met his gaze, a sardonic smile on her lips even as she kept back Elder Eng and any retribution he might enact for the damage to his niece.

For a second, Wu Ying looked about, at the shocked faces and the looks of disgust turned on him. Between Gao Qiu’s visible distaste and his own showing earlier in the day; there was no welcome for him here.

Shrugging, he left the ring and the surroundings. Whatever happened now, it was none of his business. That was what he had chosen, had he not?