Cultivating Chaos 5 -ch 24- (Patreon)

Ash was once more confused.

The road they’d taken into the territory of the Horse tribe had been empty.

Empty of everyone and everything.

He wasn’t exactly expecting cities, given that they were magical beasts and generally preferred to live in whatever habitat they came from, but this was a bit much.

Ashiok had made it sound like the Horse Tribe preferred the open plains but had contracted the Apes to build enclosures for them. To escape the weather and elements rather than just deal with it as a beast might.

“Maybe we just haven’t reached it yet?” Mei suggested.

Jia turned and looked to Moira.

“I saw nothing, but that doesn’t mean anything,” Moira confirmed. “If they use Qi to camouflage it from the air, it’s not as if I could see through it. Ashiok did mention there were those who could fly and that their was an active war ongoing.”

With a click of his tongue, Ash couldn’t agree more.

To simply expect to be able to see everything with Moira all the time was dependent on the enemy expecting it. If they thought they could be seen from above, they’d take precautions.

“Same reason why our beautiful sorceress is holding a camouflage shield up for us,” Ash muttered to himself. “Just in case.”

Xiuying was about to trip over her own feet again.

For perhaps the seventh time.

Ash’s hand shot out and he took Xiuying by the elbow even as her foot tangled into one another. Pulling her closer he quickly steadied her.

It’d become very apparent, and quickly, to everyone that Xiuying was the definition of a klutz.

“Ooh, thank you. You’re so quick to realize it’s happening before I do,” Xiuying said with a laugh, looping her arm through Ash’s. Mei had stuck her there deliberately after the second fall. “I haven’t fallen at all since you put me here, Mei!”

Reaching out with her other arm Xiuying stuck it through Mei’s and pulled the lovely woman close to her side.

Cresting the hill they’d been moving up, Ash could see down the opposite side.

Laid out in the plain were a number of corrals.

Pens that were most certainly built by the Ape tribe with roofs and simple walls.

There were no floors to any of them and there didn’t appear to be any doors or windows either. The corrals were most certainly there for sleeping and shelter, and little else.

Beyond this strange city of pens was a massively flat field with a magnificent herd of horses on it. They looked to be quite normal.

However all of them were rushing off to the left.

On the right of this plain was what was a battle that was ongoing.

A mass of Beasts all clawing, biting, scratch, and tossing Qi abilities at one another. It was such a made scrum that Ash had no idea how any of it could be separated from anything else.

“Thats rather mad,” Rou remarked, one hand coming up to touch a finger to her lower lip. “Yet I don’t see any humans in it. None of these so called ‘shadows’. Everything else that was mentioned in the war is there though.

“What if we went to the of the horse tribes city there and waited. I could offer my services and maybe we could earn some points. Figure out what’s going on.”

“That’s a good idea. Especially if we take the role of a non-involved witness,” Hui agreed. “Ashiok’s name will likely be helpful here.

“Ashley… what do you think we should do?”

“Exactly that. I trust my strategist and Qi-Healer,” Ash replied immediately. Everyone had continued walking. “So, let’s head down there. We’ll wait quietly and see what happens.”

“You know, I’ve enjoyed this trip,” offered Moira. “Spending time with everyone and just… traveling. This is wonderful.”

“My Cuddly Bunny-Wife Self agrees, Sister,” Tala said and reached out to put an arm around Moira. “It will be hard to not move as a group like this in the future. We should strive to never separate this core group ever again.”

“I will do my utmost to make sure that is what occurs,” Jia promised.

“Yes,” Na confirmed. “We should strive to keep our group together as it is now.”

“Did we ever figure out if there were other roles to take on?” Xiuying asked.

“No, we’re in the dark on what to expect if there are any other future Sheng wives,” Mei lamented with a sigh, then she turned to Xiuying, leaned in, and whispered something to her.

The group walked on.

Am I really filling out roles, beloved?

“Uhm…it does seem like it, dear,” Locke admitted. “There isn’t a role or need that we haven’t found, run across, or stumbled into. As if it were all assigned by Fate.”

An awful thought that Ash had fought often with slid into the forefront of his mind.

I worry that Fate has a momentum to it.

That it has a momentum and my Dao is going to conflict with it at some point.

“I… that… yes. I could see why that’s a concern. Well… if Fate does have a momentum, I’d say you’re moving along with it rather than against it.

“Which would make Fate your own momentum, wouldn’t it? And if it isn’t… well… I’ll just make it happen. I was a deity once. I think. Or maybe… a demi-god? Something.

“I’ll just figure out what we need to do to make sure things go our way. That’s all.”

Ash didn’t answer that.

He didn’t have one to give.

Then he smiled as the right words suddenly came to him.

Thank you dearest Locke Sheng.

You’ve always been in my corner.

Conversation continued on around Ash as they walked.

By the time they’d reached the edge of the corral city closest to the battle, a small number of Horses had broken away from the battle and headed for Ash.

Lifting his hand, Ash put on as big a smile as he could manage, and waved his whole arm back and forth in greeting.

Xiuying immediately did the same thing, clutching his other arm in a way that reminded him of Mei.

Then everyone else around him began to wave, all of them with smiles on their faces.

It was more than enough to throw the Horses off.

Their wild stampede toward the group slowed down rapidly and became a trot instead. Their eyes lidded partially instead of the wild whites they’d had only moments ago.

“Well that worked,” Jia whispered with a laugh.

“Indeed. They’re very pretty horses, too,” added Na. “I would… Ashley, would you please get me a horse if possible? I really want to ride a horse.”

Blinking, Ash didn’t quite know how to respond to that.

“If I can manage it, I’ll make it happen, Na Sheng,” Ash confirmed. Na never asked for much so when she did ask, he wanted to solve it.

“Ahhh, could… I have a horse, too?” pleaded Rou. “My sweet Cultivator?”

“I’ll ask if we can all have horses,” offered Ash. “But for all I know, that’s incredibly insulting to them. Let’s not mention it unless they bring it up, hm?”

Jia laughed at that as well and then let her arm fall.

“Ah, yes. A valid point. By the way, Ashley,” Jia murmured quietly. “We all have attained the Awakened Mortal rank. Locke captured our tribulations before they even revealed themselves.”

Really?

“Yes. You’re technically the weakest.

“Xiuying would call them Rank three Mortals, level one through seven. Chunhua and Hui being seven. Those two are ever pushing ahead.

“Xiuying, Rou, and yourself are excluded from that though. Xiuying is a Rank two Mortal, level nine. She’s taking a lot of pills and stones to offset her lack of talent.

“Rou is Rou.

“And you… well… you’re only halfway through Rank two Mortal but your power levle is easily that of a Rank one Immortal. You’re just that special.

“My special Ashley. Should I reward my special Ashley later? I came up with a fun game to play. Just the two of us.”

“Hello there!” Ash called as the group of Horses came up to Ash. He was certain they were Magical Beast Horses, not regular horses. He made sure to speak in what Ashiok had assured them was their language.

This realms inherent language.

Now that I think about it, those godlike beings spoke in this, too.

“They did, yes.”

“Yes… hello. I bring you greetings in return,” said the lead Horse. They had a pale-brown coat, a black mane, and black socks. They were fairly large as well. “I am Satasi.”

“I’m Ash Sheng. We’re from a tribe of Humans that were stuck in that large stone structure. The one that lies just beside the Rishaki peoples. They trade with Ashiok,” Ash explained. “The Rishaki tried to kill my people and so we killed them instead. Then Ashiok came and started up trade relations with us.

“They advised us to come speak with your tribe to further understand this realm. That… and we’re an enemy of the Shadows.”

“Ah! It’s good that you are here then! I’m glad Ashiok sent you to us. With such a background, it’s understood that we could easily be allies,” Satasi declared sounding quite enthusiastic now. “They were here only yesterday but then vanished. We’re not sure where they went but after their departure we attacked the forward base here in our lands.

“They have not returned and without them the Lions and Pigs are having an incredibly difficult time with us. We’re destroying them by the score for every loss us or an ally have.”

Ash nodded his head.

He really didn’t know what to say to this.

They were far more warlike than he’d expected given Ashiok’s personality.

In fact, Ash felt like these Horses were far more similar to Cultivators than he had expected them to be. That they were perhaps running along the same cultural route the humans who had inhabited these lands before did.

“I’m only a vice-leader though so I can’t speak for our tribe. It’d be best if you remained here since… well… the only humans we’ve ever encountered were Shadows!” confessed Satasi.

“That’s fine. We’ll just… take a break right here,” Ash murmured then looked to the others. They were all nodding their heads. “Lunch?”

“Please,” Moira asked with a smile.

Before Ash could do anything, there was a crackle of thunder and a boom.

A hole opened up in the realm and Ash was left feeling cold from head to toe.

Cold and suddenly terrified.

Yawning open was a sudden rip in the fabric of reality.

It was easily a hundred feet in the air but it was visible to the eye. Visible and could be felt in the currents of Qi moving around them.

This rent in the world, was something Ash had seen previously.

When the veil was splitting apart and wraiths began to spill out of it.

What he was looking at right now looked eerily similar to that tear.

“No,” whispered Jia from beside him. She clearly had a similar fear that he did.

Except, surprisingly, wraiths didn’t come pouring out of it.

Strange twisted shadows began to tumble out of it. Falling out of the sky and hitting the ground. Seconds afterward they began to clamber to their feet and charge toward the battle.

In seconds, they began attacking both sides of the fight. There was no recognition from the Shadows as either being friend, and all being foes.

“Are those the shadows?” Rou asked.

“No. I don’t… I don’t know what those are,” Satasi whispered.

“Are they the dead?” Ash asked. There was a strange feeling coming from it.

“No,” Hui answered. “It feels more akin to-to-actually, I don’t know. I admit ignorance.”

“It feels like the opposite of sunlight,” Chunhua mumbled, her head tilting to one side. “Sunlight always felt like a type of Qi to me. I’ve used it before. I didn’t consider that there was actually an opposite but I suppose I should have.”

“Can you take care of that then?” Ash asked, gesturing at the portal. He asked it in English due to a strange paranoid thought.”

Chunhua frowned, her pretty mouth twisting to one side.

She lifted her hands up, pushed them together, and then channeled a massive blast of Qi out of herself. It wasn’t an ability, or any type of spell.

Just an extreme condensation of Qi into a certain type.

It shot across the distance and slammed into the portal.

Then right through it.

A hole had been punched into it.

Golden spiderwebs spread out from the point of impact. Everywhere it touched it began to glow a golden color until all of it burned away into nothing at all.

Several shadows that’d fallen through the portal as it happened caught fire. Bursting into golden flames.

As they hit the ground, the fire quickly spread to the other shadows as well. An inferno of golden flames tearing them apart even as they brutally slaughtered every magical beast they encountered.

“That’s… good work, Chu,” Ash said, looking to the white-eyed sorceress with a grin.

Grinning back at him, she let her hands fall to her sides. Then shrugged her shoulders.

“Reward me,” she said plaintively also in English. Causing Ash to burst into laughter. “What? I don’t see any reason to act as I used to. I’ll act how I want to. I want to be as coddled and cared for as Xiuying. So… reward me.”

“I shall. Though, it isn’t fair to the others, we’re still speaking in English,” Ash remarked and looked to Satasi. “Well, that solves that, but I don’t know what that was. Do you?”

“No,” the horse whispered. Half it’s head turned to keep looking at the monsters. They were still tearing into both sides of the fight with reckless abandon. Their numbers were considerably fewer now. “But it seems quite similar to the Shadows. They have similar attacks but not quite. Their lands are filled with shadows like that though.

“Monsters that attack anything and everything. Yet not the same thing.”

Ash raised his eyebrows at that.

There was a whining noise followed by a gigantic bolt of black lightning in the distance. It was easily a mile or two away yet it was wide enough at the top that one could have seen it from a considerable distance.

No flash of accompanied it but instead a dash of shadow. As if everything were darkened for a momentary split second.

A distant and horrifying boom accompanied it as well as rumbling.

“Well, fuck that place in particular,” Ash blurted out. “Whoever has black lightning bolts as a weapon really didn’t like wherever that is.”

“It’s… that place? The only point of significance over there is a tomb. A tomb that… it’s… that’s the resting place of the Lord of Graves,” whispered Satasi. “He’s laid there since he gave us freedom. Dominion over the realm.

“I don’t even-that’s… that’s… no. No!”

As if realizing the situation collectively, the entirety of the battle began storming off. Their fight to the death with each other, and the monstrous shadows, forgotten.

As one, all the Magical Beasts began charging off in that direction.

They were moving with such speed that it would be impossible for Ash and company to catch up to them.

Let alone keep up with them.

“There’s… there’s lesser members of our clans who you can ride,” whispered Satasi. “As a vice-leader I give you permission. It’s clear you’re an ally in this. Go… go to the corral that way and mount any tribe member there and join us.”

Satasi didn’t wait after gesturing with their head in the direction they’d wanted Ash to move. Then they pivoted and began sprinting off.

“Well. You all wanted horses,” Ash muttered and looked to everyone else. “Do we follow yet again? We’re being dragged on in this. Our ability to act is being limited by us allowing this course to continue.

“Is this what we want? Do we want to see what’s going on?”

“I think it’s those deities,” Hui stated, then looked to Ash. She’d been watching the magical beasts. “I felt something different in that lightning bolt. It felt like the horned man in the other realm.

“Based on what was said, it’s easy to see that they are not a friend to the realm. Let alone humans such as ourselves. We should find out what’s happening as if there were to be another sickness, there is no guarantee it wouldn’t infiltrate the prison.

“Or the other realm, in fact. This is a danger that we should confront.”

Jia flinched at that, then nodded her head.

Mei looked partially convinced but still unsure.

Everyone else was nodding their head or holding still.

No one seemed to be dissenting to it, they just weren’t completely sold on the idea.

“Let’s get the suggested horses and see what this Lord of Graves is. Was. Maybe it’s the One Emperor by a different name,” suggested Ash. “If so, maybe the Hall can open it.”

Which would translate to “treasures” and “artifacts” for everyone else.

There were now communal head-nods at that. All of them eager to rob a tomb.

They were cultivators after all.

Ash looked toward where Satasi had indicated.

There was a small herd of horses inside of a corral. There was also one that was outside of the pen. They all looked fairly similar.

Brown coat, black mane, black socks.

Walking right up to the horse outside of the pen Ash dropped a hand on it and stared into it’s eyes. He grinned at it.

“Look at you. You’re clearly the horse for me,” Ash muttered as the rest of his group moved into the pen. “Look at how brown you are. No other horse is as brown as you are. The most brown of the brown horses.”

Ash grabbed it by the mane, jumped up, and flung a leg over the horses back. Holding onto it he dug his heels in and tried to guide the horse around by forcing Qi into the air around him.

Without reins or a saddle, Qi would be the only way he could make a horse do what he wanted. He was terrible with horses.

Quickly, he turned the horse to the side while still holding to the mane.

“Come on you brownest of brown horses. Such a deep gorgeous brown,” Ash said sarcastically. It was hard to see the horses as any better than clones when they all looked exactly the same.

His group set off quickly.

Once again, traveling.

Ash knew his group was enjoying this, but he felt better getting into a base and building up.