Cultivating Chaos 5 -Ch 21- (Patreon)

An unassigned Golem in the shape of a small monkey trundled away quickly from the group. Before anyone could grab it and throw it into a storage device.

“Ashley, do forgive me, but I’m just not suited to combat with beasts,” pleaded Siu, moving in close to his back. He felt a cool hand press to the middle of his spine and remain there.

There was a flash of extreme sexual need followed by it being stripped away. Leaving Ash feeling a lot like he’d had a perfect climax and was in the after-effects.

Honestly, I didn’t even notice her doing anything in the last fight.

What’d she do, my beautiful Locke Sheng?

“She kept your body chemically ready for extreme combat. You were heightened to a point that you were like a bow drawn all the way back.”

Ah… that makes sense.

Not something I’d notice but something that would show results if tested and measured.

I did feel pretty good in that fight.

Also, is she getting bigger in the chest? I feel like her body is shifting.

Is that due to her Dao?

“Exactly so on all counts, my handsome and intelligent, Ashley. I always find myself to be so fortunate that I find you very attractive.”

Ash’s mind blanked out somewhat at the compliment.

An arm wrapped around his waist and he felt a warm body press against his back. It was an unmistakably full figure.

Then a warm breath washed over his neck.

“Oh me, oh my, this doesn’t seem right. Ashley, what do we do?” Siu purred.

Blinking, Ash looked out to the area in front of himself.

Coming toward them looked as different from what they’d experienced yesterday as night and day.

Shuffling along was a large group of beasts. They didn’t seem to be moving toward them with any great speed or awareness of his group, but had the look of a merchant troupe.

One and all they were some type of ape or gorilla. Ash wasn’t really sure of the difference if he was being honest with himself.

For all he knew, a gorilla was an ape and he’d thought of it wrong this entire time.

“A gorilla is an ape, yes.”

Figures.

They were wearing odd backpacks that fit them as if made for them. Trundling along on all fours and moving clearly for the city.

“We wait,” Ash declared, feeling nervous and excited. “We see what happens and goes from there.”

The whole goal of moving away from the prison was two fold.

Find the exit to get back to the original realm was the primary goal.

The second was to gather information.

It seemed information might be forthcoming momentarily.

“If they have backpacks, that means they really are intelligent. You wouldn’t be traversing the landscape like that unless you were moving, trading, or adventuring,” remarked Chunhua. “This is a good turn of events if they can help us with information. But… who should speak for us if they can speak? If it were a cultivator it would be best to send Locke or Siu out were they male, and Ashley if female.

“How… does one try to gain an advantage with a beast?”

At the same time the words were spoken the beasts collectively seemed to notice Ash and his people. They stopped dead in their tracks and stared.

To which Ash and company stared back.

The Golem Monkey was toddling around in the area between the two groups and seemingly unaware of the staring contest. It gladly rolled around, picked up a rock threw it, then chased after it.

“Ah… uhm… that…” Xiuying began to whimper.

The monkey began moving back toward Ash’s group. It’d found a small berry bush and tore it out of the ground.

It was now running to Xiuying with three limbs as it held out the small bush.

“You-you silly… that… why?” asked Xiuying as the monkey ran right up to her.

It quickly clambered up her, gripping at her knee, hip, then elbow, to land against her side. Holding the bush up.

“Yes, thank you,” mumbled Xiuying, taking the uprooted bush away. “Naughty little thing.”

When did she bind it to her?

“Since the start. It happened on accident when she dropped a tomato out of her sandwhich and it landed on it’s head.”

I… of course that happened.

Of course.

The beasts were now moving forward again. One and all they were locked to Ash’s group with their gazes but didn’t seem aggressive.

They were however extremely cautious.

Their ranks had been quickly reordered and the very large members of their group were at the front.

“Strength?” Mei mused. “We should show strength, but passively?”

“I would think so, Sister,” Jia agreed, then she turned and looked to Hui.

“Yes. Strength. Passively. Ashley… ah… Ashley, yes. Would you please utilize your Dao? Spin it up and let it run without doing anything? Be sure to pull on your Brides and Knights as well,” Hui advised.

Ash immediately did so, pulling on all the chains, firing up his Dao, and feeding it a steady amount of Qi, but not pushing it into action.

“— that way… oh… ah… yes. Thank you for listening,” Hui trailed off. Ash hadn’t bothered to listen to her explanation. He trusted her.

Hui laughed suddenly and blew out a breath.

“Thank you for your confidence Ashley. I should say aloud that I wish to have sexual relations with you,” Hui blurted out.

“How… how do all of you always manage to throw out red flags and death statements?” Ash grumbled as the beasts came on.

Stating such a thing right before what could likely be a fight to the deaht was just asking for something terrible to happen.

“It’s okay, I’m here!” Xiuying declared with a cheer. “No deaths allowed! The Fortune’s Chosen has married the Fated One!”

“Now… now you’re just asking for them to drop rocks from the sky! Rocks fall, everyone dies, stop!” hissed Ash.

“Hehehe, it’ll be fine! I’m-I’m Fortune’s Chosen!” professed Xiuying.

The beasts came to a stop roughly forty feet away.

“Greetings?” one of them called out.

“Greetings,” Ash replied after a slight hesitation.

The words spoken had been in the language that he’d learned when they found the diary. The same languages he’d forced everyone to learn.

“You’re… humans,” the beast who had spoken said.

It almost sounded like a question in a way.

“Yes. We are,” confirmed Ash.

“Are you part of the Shadows?” asked the beast.

“Who? We were in the prison. We only recently escaped,” Ash explained, then gestured to the massive tower behind them. It was still quite visible even at this distance given it’s size. “We know nothing of this realm or what’s gone on here. There are other humans?”

“Some… some. They work with a group called Shadows. They’re… not normal. They move from body to body as needed,” the beast rumbled. “We came here to trade with the Rishaki.”

“Are those the big rats?” Ash asked. “If they are, they attacked us and tried to kill us. I killed a very big rat that tried to eat me.”

The large ape-like monster blinked, their head jerking back fractionally at that bit of news. Then shook it and sat down on it’s rear end.

“They’re not individually very strong. Most of them are just peak Empowered Mortals. There’s one Enlightened Mortal. Or as dear Xiu would say. Lots of rank one Mortals. Only one rank two Mortal.

“They aren’t a problem individually but they outnumber us significantly. It would be difficult to handle it without injuries.”

“This is unexpected. They weren’t very kind but they were a dedicated trading partner,” the monster said, then flicked it’s eyes to Ash. “Are there more of you?”

“Quite a few. Lots. More than there were rats,” Ash conceded. “Most of them are leaving the prison and will likely move into this city.

“Would… you care to open up trade with us? Though most of them won’t speak your language. Please give them time to learn to speak it.”

“Do… they speak the language of the dead?” asked the ape in the kingdoms tongue.

“They do,” agreed Ash. “Though… of the dead? What happened in this realm? There was a diary left behind that spoke of a great plague.”

“Yes… the dead. The plague did indeed do exactly that,” the beast confirmed. “Outside of you, and the few hundred Shadows that live in the Tomb, there are no other humans. This realm was eradicated to the last.”

Blinking slowly, Ash digested that.

He had no idea who the Shadows were, but he had a suspicion.

There was only one unaccounted force here that Ash could think of. The people who killed themselves and the Demonic Cultivators.

“Do they tend to kill themselves?” Hui asked, apparently having the same thought as himself. “The Shadows that is. Perhaps use an attack that is a bright beam of light and cuts through anything?”

“Yes. Yes! They do both of those things. They’ve caused many such deaths in that way,” agreed the ape, sounding quite upset about it. “The Pigs and Lions have allied with the Shadows and the rest of us stay out of their way.

“Though I think our own people have done better than either of those fools. I’ve heard tell that they lose countless people to the Shadows as sacrifices or tributes.”

Hm.

It would seem there is indeed a fair amount of politics here. Things are going on and happening and we’ll need more information.

Though… these Shadows… it makes me worried.

“I see. Are the… Lions, Pigs, and Shadows collectively aggressive?” Hui asked. “Should we be looking to form alliances or collectives?”

“Maybe,” the beast said with a shrug of it’s broad shoulders. “The Tigers, Horse, Mice, and Chimpanzees have all banded together and brought war upon them.

“It’s a stalemate for most of the year, though every summer it heats up. The snow makes it hard for them to have open warfare.

“Though the ones with Qi that corresponds to the winter months do tend to get a bit more rowdy during those times, too.”

Ash smiled.

He most certainly had found a font of information to draw upon.

“I’m Ash. Ash Sheng. These are all my wives,” he said, gesturing at those around him. “Could I get your name? Also, is there anything I could offer you after your journey? While I’m not your expected trade partner, I’d love to open relations to that end.”

“Ah, yes. That’d be wonderful. We’re a bit tired as we traveled over night rather than rest out in the open,” the ape mused. “I am Ashiok. The head of this troupe.”

“Ashiok. Let’s see if I can’t get you some refreshments and place to lay your heads,” Ash suggested and then started going through everything that’d been thrown into the Hall.

There’d been more than a few times he had lamented all the random things that people put into it, but at this moment, he was suddenly glad for it.

***

“— that’s it,” Ashiok stated and leaned away from the map.

Chunhua and Rou had created it from magical elements and were modifying it based on what Ashiok told them.

The rest of his troupe were all dozing amongst the various pavillions, umbrellas, and sunshades that Ash had pulled out for them. Many of them dropping straight away into sleep as soon as the shade had been provided there in the grass.

“Thank you,” Hui whispered, staring at the map even as Chunhua and Rou pulled a strange table looking object out of nowhere. The pair quickly stuck the spell into it and seemed to lock it into place.

Chunhua stuck her hand against the table and did something that felt alot like locking mana into place.

“Oh, that’s my stupid spell holding table,” Ash blurted out, suddenly realizing what it was.

“Yes. I bring it with me,” Chunhua agreed, fiddling with something on the side. “Rou and I have modified it along with Locke. It now serves many purposes and I treasure it.”

There was a pop and then the map shifted away from the table and expanded in front of them. It was easily six feet in length now in every direction.

“Oh, wow. That’s impressive,” Ashiok stated, gazing at the map. “And the details translated very well though I’m afraid maybe I gave you some things that were wrong.”

“This is a perfect starting point, actually,” Locke mused, looking at it. “Moira and I can add this to the map we’d been putting together. As we go we’ll just keep expanding on it.”

“You are… very different than my original expectation,” Ashiok grumbled, looking around at everyone. He didn’t seem angry, just concerned.

“What were you expecting?” Ash asked curiously, looking away from the map.

“I don’t know. But this wasn’t it. The Shadows do not act like this and the records that we’ve found of the previous humans… this wasn’t it either,” Ashiok explained. “They all demanded things of one another. Took things.

“Killed, bribed, stole, or robbed anyone or anything they could. A people without morals or scruples. Corruption ran rampant and the only thing that wouldn’t be stolen would be a red hot stove that was nailed down.”

Ash grinned at that.

Ashiok’s view of Cultivators and their society matched his own.

“They really are a terrible people aren’t they?” he asked with a laugh. “Given how power works, though, you can’t really fault them.

“An entire system with Cultivator’s serving as protectors of weaker cultivators would need to be put in place. Along with a great deal of checks and balances.

“It’d require work, effort, and investment on the part of those in charge. If they don’t care enough to do it, it’d never happen.

“I’m not talking about anything as silly as communism or the like.

“Just… maybe… not having an entire way of life built over bragging, corruption, and generally treating everyone else as a resource.”

“My elders said they acted like insects,” Ashiok offered. “Without care for one another and no sense of pack.”

Ash snorted at that.

It wasn’t something he could naysay as it was quite right.

“You’re not wrong. It’s all we ever knew, before,” Hui agreed forcefully. “Ashley Sheng, our husband, a Fated One, has shown us it doesn’t have to be the same.

“There is another path we can walk. Where we are still Cultivators, yearning to become the best, while also preserving the ability for others to reach up.”

To Ash it sounded rather pretentious.

Even if he was the one who put the ideas in their heads, it still sounded pretentious. As if his world view was the only right one.

“Well. Maybe not the only right one, but it’s one worth trying. I’m sure we’ll make mistakes as we try to implement it. It’ll likely come down to you forcing everyone to behave the way you want, ‘or else’ but… even then… even then such an idea life might be worth it.

“Or maybe I’m just waxing poetically about it because I hope you’ll reward your ever loyal house wife later?”

Grinning, Ash looked to Ashiok.

“So… what’re your plans? It might help us with our own choices,” Ash asked. “You’re our first contact with this world and with the information you’ve given us, we now have to make our own way in it.”

“We will trade with the people here as we intended. You’re in charge?” asked the ape.

“No. I’m in charge in the fortress. What was once a prison,” Ash said and once more pointed to the large structure looming not far off. “There’s a camp at the foot of it of the people I’ve ejected from it. Those people will likely fill the camp as well as the city.

“Me and my people will remain in the fortress. We’d welcome trade with you, though I do know that those in the city would also wish to trade.”

Ashiok looked to be digesting that, then nodded his head once.

“We would prefer to trade with you and your people. How would we do that?” Ashiok asked curiously.

“We can just work out an expected date to meet up at the foot of the fortress,” Ash suggested, looking to Jia and Mei. “Dears?”

Jia and Mei both immediately brigthened in a smile.

“That would be most expedient,” Jia agreed, glancing at Mei, then back to Ash and Ashiok. “I would suggest second day of the week. Or every other second day.”

“Ah, that would be quite acceptable,” Ashiok said with a rumbling laugh. “Would you escort us there after we rest? After we trade, we can take you back to your tribe. It would be a good place for you to start your journey.

“We border with a number of neutral tribes as well as the Horse tribe. They would be a good source of information about the Shadows and their ilk.”

“Then… let’s do that,” affirmed Ash with a smile.

“I need to go let Ren know he’s coming,” Siu murmured to Locke and looking to the other woman. Ash didn’t think he’d been supposed to hear that, but he found himself constantly straining to hear anything Siu ever said.

There was an attraction to her that was growing.

One that he disliked admitting he held.

Possibly because she threw his sex drive into a wild state, often, and saw him so frequently when he was intimate with others, but hadn’t approached him again for herself.

“—let her know through the Manse Brides,” Locke suggested. “There’s always one from the facility there just in case and one from the prison. You can use the Manse ring if you’re standing beneath the hole at the bottom of the fortress.”

“Oh? Fascinating,” whispered Siu. Then her eyes slid to the side and caught Ash staring at her.

She smiled at him, raised her fan, flicked it open, then covered her face with it. Lightly fanning herself as Locke vanished.

Likely into the Manse to go alert a Bride.

“Ah, Ashiok, could we discuss what goods you are likely to offer?” Jia asked.

Na and Mei had formed up around Jia and looked eager for the discussion.

Everyone else was distracted with other things and looked to be trying to accomplish whatever task they were on.

He could tell she was still smiling though given the way her eyes looked.

Deciding he wanted to push a bit, he put his hands behind his back and slowly walked over to Siu.

Siu noticed immediately.

Her fan started to move a bit more swiftly, her shoulders stiffened, and her eyes widened above the rim of the fan.

“Siu Sheng,” Ash said quietly as he came to a stop before her.

“Yes… Ashley Sheng?” she asked in a tight voice.

“It seems like Hui has made her desires known,” he began, glancing over to where Hui stood. She was staring at him as she often was wont to do. He smiled at her, to which she smiled brightly in return. Then he looked back to Siu. “You asked first though. So… would… my dear Siu wish to have a meal in the Hall with me sometime soon? Just the two of us?”

Siu’s breathing had grown louder. He could hear her panting now as they held each other’s gaze. The fan was fluttering mechanically in a jerky way at the moment.

The smallest bit of her face he could see over the fan looked to be bright red as well.

“Yes,” she hissed. “Please. Just… don’t think less of me once we’re alone. My Dao has been very demanding and it’s been very… hard… to control it.”

Ash was fairly certain her Dao was less and more than anyone had admitted.

That it was likely his sexual desires and his alone, or some variation of that.

The pink bubble that often was representative of her power encompassed him and her.

As it surrounded him he felt an electrical crackle between himself and Siu.

Who was now just about gasping for breath as her whole body shook from head to toe.

He’d never looked away from her, and she never had either.

All the while he had deliberately thinking a lot of highly sexualized thoughts about Siu, at Siu, for Siu.

Even going so far as to momentarily grab the chain he shared with her, and even push gently at his Dao to direct his personal momentum toward Siu.

The results of his attention were clear.

“My Dao… aches,” moaned Siu, her pupils becoming little more than pinpricks as the pink bubble around them began to rumble and shake.

Her control was slipping.

“How about now?” he suggested. “Rather than wait? I also want a full explanation of your Dao. Every detail.”

“Yes,” she got out in a groan. “Please.”

So Ash took her to the Hall rather than wait.

Being active was his current goal, after all.

That and he couldn’t deny he did want to steal Siu away to a bedroom.