The Fourth Fall - Chapter 15 preview (Patreon)

What was nearly as good as a successful assassination? A failed one. At least, when it came to disrupting the careful protocols and procedures that had been developed over the course of months for this very meeting. Once the shielding formation had been dismissed, the royal entourage and the Prince themselves returned to their residence, the questions and the demands had arisen. The quick flashing spiritual messengers lit up the air between the three instruments, as communiques between high level parties began.

Wu Ying only noted all this in passing, having been brought to speak with the Sect Head and then forced to wait as the august personage dealt with the demands and questions of the Princes. The kingdom of Shen had only risked one - the fourth Prince - in the disembarkation and Wu Ying was not unaware of the irony of saving that man's life twice. Especially as, once again, said Prince of Shen was not at all impressed or grateful.

"How could an assassin come so close!" Ru Yuan snapped at the Sect Head once again. "Are you certain that all elements of the poison was captured? I have already changed and burnt the clothing that might be affected, of course."

"Without a doubt, Honored Prince," Sect Head Yan Shu Ren replied. "Every drop was captured by Elder Long before it could strike you, the arm itself and the poison within the finger is sealed under the Six Promises and Eight Weavings Bandages. My own people are reviewing the arm and the poisons as well as the captured poisons to understand their origins." A slight pause, then he continued. "If the Honored Prince had been struck, he too would know it. This was not a subtle poison."

"If you are wrong, my father will be greatly displeased," Prince Shen said, but he seemed mollified.

Not so the Elder Prince, the First Prince currently in line for the throne. Though, of course, that might change with the whims of the King and the success of this expedition. Which was why he was frowning, to face trouble already at this stage. "The Fourth Prince is correct, however. Why did the assassin manage to arrive so close?"

"We were not, at that time, expecting an attack," Shu Ren replied, inclining his head. "At least, not from the servants. Of course Elder Long was on watch for any betrayal, but the cun ke hid his presence - and his cultivation - well. His willingness to sacrifice himself was also surprising."

"Except he escaped," the First Prince replied. Eyes narrowed, he turned from the viewing mirror that allowed sight of the Sect Head to spot Wu Ying standing in the background. "I was led to understand that Elder Long was very fast. One of the fastest, if not the fastest, in our kingdom. A wind cultivator should be, no?"

"Elder Long is very quick, but the delay was my fault," Sect Head Yan said, inclining his head. "I had tasked him with the defense of the Prince and ourselves first and foremost. He could have caught him, but I wished to ascertain that such an attack was not the first of many."

"Wars are lost by an overabundance of caution," the Prince said. "I would have thought the Sect Head would know that."

"Yet lives are certainly lost by carelessness."

Silence, then the First Prince turned. More messages were piling up, the spirit link between the two neither secure nor necessary. Words would have to be exchanged, real truths revealed later. For now though, diplomacy must be enacted or the entire expedition would fail, before even the first meeting.

Wu Ying could not help but comment that, when the Sect Head finally turned to him. And find the older man nodding. "Yes. A good move, by our enemies."

"The State of Cai?" Wu Ying said, slowly. "It makes sense, though could it not backfire?"

"It could. It will," the Right Guardian replied, shaking his head. "We will not be so lightly dissuaded."

"Then why waste such an asset?" Wu Ying said.

"That is the question, is it not?" Shu Ren replied. Then, he turned to Fa Yuan who had stood quietly beside the Right Guardian, the pair listening but not interacting with the Princes, out of their line of sight entirely. "What do you think, Elder Yang?"

"A few facts stand out to me. The attack and its wastefulness, the objectives and those who might benefit from such an attack, and of course, Ah Ying's lack of success at catching them," Fa Yuan said. "Yet, I hesitate to voice the suspicion. For while the facts might line up, the actions... are cold-hearted in the extreme."

"Speak, Elder Yang. This room is warded against even the Weeping Widow or the Golden General," She Ren replied. "Here, you are free to discuss what you wish. Or suspect."

"Then, I must ask, Right Guardian. Sect Head. Were we the ones who arranged such an attack?"

"The Verdant Green Waters was not party to the attack itself, only its blocking," Shu Ren replied, immediately and firmly. His voice rang with conviction. "We might have stopped it earlier, though that too would have caused additional problems."

"So you allowed them to target the Fourth Prince to understand who it was that was being attacked." Fa Yuan nodded. "A bold move, but it gave us much needed information. But..." she frowned. "Would the Princes have made such arrangement?"

"If we failed to spot the assassin, the Fourth Prince would have died most painfully," Wu Ying muttered. "I do not believe he would have the courage to gamble like that."

"Agreed." Fa Yuan inclined her head at Wu Ying, but also shot him a look. One that told him to be quiet, for this was her test. "In that case, the likely culprit was the First Prince." A slight twist of her lips. "The death or our current predicament could both be leveraged against the State of Wei for our nation's best interest. One might be more beneficial than the other in the palace as well."

"True. An interesting analysis," Shu Ren said. He stopped when Fa Yuan held up a hand.

"Unless, of course, the State of Cai knew all this, calculated that such an attack could cast suspicions within our ranks and, as such, acted upon that knowledge. After all, if we can believe - and rationalise - that the assassin was from the First Prince, both the Fourth Prince and the State of Wei can as well. Such suspicions could cause fracture lines along out alliance, one that could be further picked apart."

Wu Ying winced, not having thought that far. Then again, why would he? His problems were normally much more straight forward.

"We do not, unfortunately, have evidence of any of that. Further analysis of the robe, the arm and the poisons utilised might provide additional information." Her lips pressed tight. "Once Elder Long has further detailed the techniques, we might be able to get Librarian Li to confirm the provence of the cun ke. Though I hold little hope of that."

"Yes, the secret techniques of the cun ke are well hidden. Though you might be surprised at the extent of our records." Shu Ren replied. He tirmed his head to the side, taking in the Right Guardian. "Assessment?"

"Good. A little cautious, and of course, the potential of the Fourth Prince setting the entire act up - even with his own self-evident cowardice - cannot be entirely discounted. Or the inclusion of a fifth party."

"Fifth?" Wu Ying counted on his fingers. "I count three - the two Princes and the State of Cai."

"We are not the only Sect on this vessel. Emberassing us, in this space, is a distant possibility but a possibility."

"And who might be the fifth party?" Wu Ying said.

"You have met them, many times. You yourself described the smell," the Right Guardian replied.

"Demons."

Both the Right Guardian and the Sect Head looked quietly grim. While the presence of demons among the cun ke was not unexpected - after all, dealing in such acts and demon worship or even demonic techniques was as common as rice and salted fish - the wind cultivator's own experience could not be discounted. After all, the increased presence of demons in the Middle Kingdoms was always a concern.

"I did consider such matters, Honored Seniors," Fa Yuan said, after a moment of silence, her voice firm. "However, if I am to take on the role of Right Guardian, I believe my cautions and analysis should be for the most likely scenarios. Not shadows." She continued as the pair looked at her, voice calm. "Not that I would not, of course, continue to pursue enquiries for any such possibilities in the meantime. But the Sect Head cannot act on unlikely scenarios."

"No, I cannot." The Sect Head sighed, eyeing the glowing series of sigils. "I am sorry I asked you to hold back, Elder Long. I had not expected our opponent to be so resourceful. I also believe that it is most likely, that it is the First Prince. And a loss of a trusted servant might have been unwelcome."

"Do you think he knows, we know then?" the Right Guardian asked.

"Possible. We will have to be careful and watch for signs." Then a look down at Wu Ying's hand that he had kept by his side, still wrapped. "The poison?"

"Mostly erased. The robe would be lethal to most Energy Storage cultivators. Damaging to most Core Formation cultivators." Wu Ying shrugged. "As a Body Cultivator, however..."

"A fortunate twist of fate."

"it is."

"Go. Rest well, Elder Long. After, of course, your Elder Sister finishes her interrogation of you on his techniques."

Inclining his head in agreement, Wu Ying stepped back as the Sect Head turned to his own notes. The man had work to do after all, appeasing diplomats and Princes.

Better him than Wu Ying.

***

Yang Mu peeled the bandages off his hand with care, lips compressed. She waited till she could see the red flesh beneath before she spoke. "Touching a ci ke for any reason is unwise. Their clothing, their flesh, their very chi and dao can be anathema to a cultivator. It is rare that my presence ban cultivators from their inn, but they rarely allow members of those sects within."

"I know," Wu Ying said.

Fingers tightened on his hand, drawing a little hiss. The damage - the boils, the creeping blackness along veins and spotting of darkened blood - was gone, leaving behind only red flesh that was, even now, fading. "Did you now. And yet, you took such action."

"I was - I am - somewhat protected by my cultivation level and methods," he said, mildly.

"Somewhat. And you did not know his own level. Or abilities," she said, angrily.

"I could guess. If he wore it, he could not have made it stronger than me - for I could sense his cultivation level when he moved. I acted swiftly, but not without thought." Wu Ying clenched his hand, squeezing hers and ignoring the pain that the movement resulted in. "Poisons are not something I have no experience with. And I trusted that between Elder Wei and the kingdom, we would have - could have - counteracted anything too untoward."

"Still a risk. One that you did not need to take." For she had seen the entirety of the actions, knew best of all how swift he was. She understood he could have stopped them, if he truly had wished it so. "Did you mark him then for the future?"

Wu Ying shook his head. He wished he had a technique that would have done so. His Master certainly did, perhaps even his martial sister. Tracing others through karmic connections was a powerful and almost impossible to block tracking tool, though adding time and effort to such techniques was simple enough. Other Elders had techniques that would allow them to imprint their auras, or other signals to allow them to follow an assassin.

He had none.

"Do you want me to try to find him?" Yang Mu offered.

"Can you?"

"He is now connected to you," she said. "And our connection is strong." Squeezing his hand once more, she traced the top of the redenned skin, each movement a fiery coal against his skin. "But if I were to do it, I feel that tracing them through the Fourth Prince might work better."

"Oh?"

"An assassination is significant." Then, her gaze turned up to meet his. "Doing so, finding how they interact, it can be dangerous. What I see..."

"Might be more than what others want you to?" Wu Ying said, softly.

"Exactly."

"Ah...." He closed his eyes, then opened them. "Would my martial sister be of aid if you did that?"

Immediately Yang Mu shook her head. "Elder Sister's own dao does not interact with theirs. She seeks balance, in her own dealings. Because she did not interact with them, she has no leverage." She offered a slight half-smile now. "My own dao is more esoteric. Less personal. Easier to manipulate in such a broad case."

Wu Ying fell silent, contemplating her offer now. She did not push the matter, for which he was grateful. He worried about her, about what she would find. If his sister, if the Sect Head was right and that this was an action taken by the royal family, it would embroil them without a doubt in deeper politics. On the other hand, if this was action taken by the kingdom of Wei or Cai, it would be valuable information.

Or, "If the demons were involved..." Wu Ying began, hesitant. They both had interactions with that kingdom, with those creatures. Yang Mu more recently than him.

"Then I will learn of it." Yang Mu replied.

"I lost my Master to an obsession..." Wu Ying said.

"You lost him to those who would have endangered you, your family and your people," she corrected, ever so gently. "His pursuit of the dark sects ensured that the numbers, that they could not do more damage."

"And yet, he nearly died. Did..."

She nodded. She knew the story. His desperate quest for ingredients. His Master's long period of recuperation. The Master, left behind in a cave, dying and offered one last opportunity to, perhaps, break free. A tragic story - but then, the majority of cultivator stories were tragic. After all, theirs were stories of failed dreams and thwarted ambitions in the majority.

"I do not seek to pursue the matter to the utmost. But the Middle Kingdom must be warned, if such events are not to cause true calamity. If the signs we have seen are not to catch all unaware."

"Then, it seems, you've made up your mind one way or the other," Wu Ying replied, meeting her gaze.

"You speak as though your opionin is not valuable."

"Is it?"

"Of course. I would weigh what you say with utmost care."

"And still do what you believe best." He smiled at her, taking the sting out of his words. The accusation within them, such that it was more a statement of fact. He understood, in the end. It was why tying a pair of cultivators, especially ones at their level, was so fraught. Individuals who were too stubborn to bow to even the Heavens could not be constrained.

A good thing he had never even considered it.

"Do what you think is best." He paused, then added. "But perhaps, do not let them know." Which them, he left unsaid. He was not certain he knew himself. For there was still one other option, one other group that could have had a handle on the attack.

After all, he had been told by the Sect Head himself to avoid killing or capturing the other if possible.

And he knew enough of the history of the Sect to know that it too could act rashly, callously and firmly when necessary.

What was one life, if it avoided a war?