CC3 -ch18- (Patreon)

Ash looked down the endless line of people.

It seemed to go on all the way into the distance, beyond where he could even see due to the way the boulevard turned slightly as it went along. Heading back up to the palace and away from the gate where Ash had started this review of the people.

Because in the end, there were simply too many people that would need to be inspected according to what Ash had asked for. Which led Stephen to simply decree there would be a parade consisting of Ash and his lieutenants.

The entirety of everyone Ash asked for would line both sides of the main boulevard that led from the front gate, to the palace. Everyone would be expected to attend and it was considered mandatory and without exception.

Not being where you should be would label you as a traitor to the new king, his highness Hu. Because the crown had entrusted his brother-in-law to bring the Imperial City to order until he could arrive and provided him his seal.

Disobeying Lord Ashley Sheng was to disobey the king of the realm itself.

This execution, though unexpected, had already provided unexpected results for Ash.

The citizenry, or anyone who wanted to see him, were lining up along the boulevard as well. Trying to get a look at what was going on and who this person was that came to the city riding a tidal wave.

That one, too.

They feel like they’re holding some Life-Qi.

“Indeed. I’ve marked them. I’ll have them pulled into the Hall shortly. It’s a good thing I don’t have to try and restrict Tai or Ehrinis anymore. There’d be no way for me to hold all these people prisoner,” replied Locke with a deep chuckle. “This is as simple as it could be. The fact that no one’s been able to sense them before like this has made them foolish. Foolish and arrogant.”

I mean… you don’t know what you don’t know, ya know?

For all we know, we have a similar blind spot.

Ash felt it when the individual simply vanished from his ability to sense the disturbance they made in the Qi around them. They were there one moment, gone the next.

Did you ever end up finding anything out from them? Anything at all?

“No. Not a damn thing. One and all they’ve been very tight lipped,” grumbled Locke. “I tried torturing a few and came up with even less than before I’d done it. I ended up just killing them and putting them out of their misery. I couldn’t sit there and listen to them being in pain anymore and it was clear they weren’t going to talk.

“After what I did to them, if they were going to talk, they already would have.

“I don’t have a taste for all this by the way. It’s rather odious and it made me feel decidedly sickened. I’m resorting to depriving them of food and water instead. It’s still a form of torture but… I don’t have to get my hands dirty. At least, not in the same way.

“Apologies, my Chosen One.”

That’s fine.

It would have been nice if they’d revealed something, but in the same breath, we didn’t really expect them to. They’ve already proved that they’re more of a clandestine organization.

Cutouts, patsies, and a lot of missing information all around.

“Indeed. They’re rather good at this. I’ll probably end up having to turn them all over to Gen when we get a chance,” Locke said and then sighed. “I imagine he’ll have better ways of getting information out of them than we do.

“For now I can at least act as a prison. No reason to let our enemies run wild while we’re trying to figure out what’s going on, and no sense in killing them if we don’t have to. I regret the ones I tortured and killed. Maybe others could have had more success with them.”

It is what it is. We’re doing all we can.

We’re going to make mistakes as we go along.

No one’s perfect.

Certainly not me.

Ash continued to walk along the boulevard, his hands behind his back, and visually inspecting everyone around him. Letting his eyes meet those of anyone else who would look his way.

Almost one and all of them would immediately look away after only a fraction of a second.

There was a sudden flicker of multiple Life-Qi filled individuals up ahead.

Looking toward the path that lie in front of him, Ash found that it was the start of the Royal Guard that’d set him off.

Apparently some of their number didn’t openly take up arms but laid low instead.

To be fair, it was rather surprising they went wild like that.

“Indeed. Should… I pull them in? I don’t think I have enough room to get them all,” Locke confessed.

No. We’ll give them all to Stephen. We just need to find out who they are then notify him to grab them.

“Commander,” Ash said fairly loudly. There was actually quite a bit of noise in the crowd. It was almost deafening to Ash, in fact. “I’m afraid there’s traitors in your ranks.

“How would you like me to point them out to you so you can deal with them? It wouldn’t be good if I handled them, as then there would be no confidence in your leadership. We wouldn’t want that given the fact you’ll be protecting my brother-in-law when he returns. Not me.”

The commander didn’t say anything. He just stared ahead.

Blankly.

As if he were staring down an oncoming bull rushing at him.

“Just-just nod your head at the company commanders you want me to look at. It’ll give me a chance to see if I can’t find them on my own,” Stephen finally said.

“As you like, though I should warn you that they have great power. You can’t let your guard down,” Ash said and then looked to the first of the royal guard commanders directly ahead of them. Ash nodded his head to the man as he passed by. There were several people in his group that were holding Life-Qi.

This’ll take a while.

“I suppose it will. Should I tell you about what’s going on in the Hall while you’re doing this? It’s rather interesting,” Locke said, her tone sounded amused to him. “My Chosen One, shall I tell you?”

Please do.

Entertain me.

“I’ll do that later… for now though… Jia is confronting her brother at the moment,” Locke said and then laughed. “Your Brides of Sheng all told Ehrinis together that she was pregnant, then Jia went and tracked down her brother.

“They’re now engaged in a verbal debate about why it’s pointless for him to even bother you anymore. Doubly so since he can’t do anything anyways and that he has his own child to look out for in the future.

“Tai doesn’t seem to believe it, though he’s clearly wavering already. Apparently it was well and good to lecture Jia about her own duties, but it seems too much for him to ascribe to the same ideal for himself.

“Also, for what it’s worth, Tai is no longer a match for us. Though you’d likely have to kill him to beat him, you’d be unable to subdue him.

“See? I told you just giving me the Tribulation Crystal to absorb for you would work out. And you were worried I’d somehow scam you out of the power spike. You’re already level five after it’s all said and done, though your certainly able to punch far outside of your own weight class.”

Hm.

Well, that makes it easier with Jia’s family, I suppose.

“Somewhat. Tai is the weakest relative in her generation, other than her, and was sent on this mission to partly prove himself. I imagine the rest of the family won’t be as understanding to either Jia or Tai, but that’s a worry for another day. We have a parade to finish.”

Ash could only smile at that, then dip his head toward another company commander who was an actual traitor and had a number of fellow conspirators under his command.

***

Ash finally made it past the last people in the parade.

A great many butlers, maids, family servants, and slaves that all worked in the palace itself. All of them being very close to the royal family in one way or another.

Yet none of their number seemed to be involved in the plot against the king.

There wasn’t a single person amongst them that had any Life-Qi in them whatsoever.

They were in the clear, one and all. Loyal to the crown, or at least as loyal as a citizen could be given the circumstances.

Believing that there were no other plots on the royal family’s life or grip over the realm was a foolish hope that would accomplish very little. There would always be plots to overthrow whoever was in power.

“That’s not true. It’s very unlikely anyone in your own power base would turn against you without a serious issue coming up first.

“Then again, they’ve all taken the extraordinary step of pledging themselves to you. It’s a wonder, really,” Locke said suddenly. She’d gone quiet for a while leaving Ash with nothing to do but walk the parade. “Well… maybe it isn’t exactly a wonder. In fact, I suppose it isn’t that surprising in the end.”

Wait, what? Why isn’t it surprising?

Taking the stairs up to the front of the palace Ash was excited to get out of the eye of the public. He had work to do and he’d already spent enough time on ferreting out everyone that he could.

“The women of this veil, this world, are all very strong. Very aware of their worth and the vast majority of them all yearn for power. For stability and the resources to better themselves,” Locke explained, almost as if she were convincing herself of the fact at the same time. “They understand the value of their sex, and I mean that literally and figuratively. Many of them will barter away their bodies in exchange for whatever they deem it worth and be quite happy with the results.

“Others will use cultivation techniques that can drain a man of their life-force through sex. Yet others still will develop and hone techniques that will have men, or women I suppose, at their beck and call. The women of this world can easily be just as strong as a man and many will sell the extra commodity they have to benefit themselves.

“That’s what happened in the Sheng alliance, in a way. They all sold themselves to you in exchange for your protection and power. Creating a hierarchy where you live and thrive will benefit them. If you were to stop moving forward or fail, they’ll gain nothing at all.”

Ash felt his face screw up in a frown.

He wasn’t really sure if he liked the way Locke had phrased it all, but he couldn’t really argue with her about it. It somewhat matched up with his own expectations and fears.

It’d been why he’d kept Mei at arm’s length for as long as he had, let alone everyone else. In his head he’d been tied up in the idea that they were all seeking his companionship for the wrong reasons.

“To be fair, you were the only one who cared about that,” Locke admonished him. “Seriously. Prude that you are. Keep underestimating their wants and desires at your own peril and- someone is coming.”

Ash felt it then, too.

A great disturbance in the Qi around him and that ran throughout the city. As if all the Qi around them was being drawn back.

Like the ocean pulling away from the shore just before a massive wave would appear.

Feeling like this was a possible attack, Ash instead latched onto the Qi that ran throughout the city. Grabbed onto it as a cat would a mouse, pinning it to the ground and preventing it from moving away.

Where the Qi had been flowing out of the city, it now rebounded as if it were elastic. Sliding back to where it had been and belonged.

A fleeting sense of surprise came back to Ash with the Qi, as if it were transmitting a feeling from the person who’d been pulling on it. That momentary flash of emotion gave Ash all the proof he needed that someone had indeed been actively behind the shifting Qi.

“I need everyone,” Ash said, turning to look down the boulevard. Distantly he could see the stone of the gatehouse raising up at the edge of what he could see.

Chunhua, Na, Jia, Tala, and Locke all materialized around him. They were all in their “Brides of Sheng” outfits, even Tala.

He wasn’t sure how she’d managed to get her ears into that hat but he’d be curious to find out later. For all he knew it was an elaborate illusion.

A second after that, Tai and Ehrinis appeared as well.

Tai appeared to be in his twenties and shared many features with Jia. Going so far as to look almost as feminine as Jia was when she’d been dressing up as a man.

“Oh,” said Tai, looking around at the surroundings with a curious eye. “We… are we in the Imperial City itself?”

Ehrinis looked far more surprised than Tai did. She stepped into Tai’s side and then cast her eyes to everything and everyone around her in a suspicious way.

She had pointed ears, pale-gray skin, wide light-colored eyes, and short black hair giving Ash a decidedly “dark elf” like impression of the woman.

Tai laid his arm around the woman in a protective way before looking to Ash.

“Indeed, we’re in the Imperial City. I’m here acting in the king’s stead,” Ash said, not hiding the truth from them. “I’m not sure why Locke pulled you out of your prison, but I’m guessing this is you earning your freedom in one way or another.

“As to what we’re doing here, we’re bringing the city in line for his majesty. Hu Langye, the newly crowned king.”

Staring at Tai, Ash realized that Tai really was no longer a match for him. All he could feel from the man, was the same thing he felt looking at other cultivators who didn’t have his strength.

He’d surpassed the man completely, despite being at least a full cultivation cycle below him.

“It’s just how it is for you. You’ve folded your Qi and continue to solidify it at every opportunity,” Locke said, responding to his unspoken thoughts. “You have exchanged short term gains for long term ones. You’ll take longer than others to arrive at a similar point ranking wise, but you’ll always be stronger than them.

“Except for Chunhua. I’m afraid she’s going to start hitting her point of exponential returns, soon. She’s really going to take off. Her and Na both, actually.”

“You… the king?” Tai asked.

“Yes, Ashley is the husband to the crown princess of the realm,” Jia said. “As I’ve stated to you many times, he’s a Fated One. Destined to shape the heavens as he sees fit. This is only his beginning. He will be the uncle to your child as I am Jia Sheng the Bound, and nothing can ever change that.”

“Less talking, more prepping,” growled Tala, her new sword resting on her shoulder. There was no mistaking her regardless of the disguise she was wearing. She had a way of carrying herself, even without a weapon.

At that moment, Ash felt an immediate change at the extremes of his ability to sense Qi. At the furthest fringes, just inside the perimeter of the walls, he could sense a great presence.

Someone who could pull Qi into themselves, utilize it, and exert it as fast as Ash could.

Then Ash finally saw the person in question running down the boulevard.

It was clearly a cultivator with great strength, sprinting toward them at high speed. Running in the same bizarre way that many of his compatriots did.

Their head down, arms out behind them, and leaning forward in a weird way. Looking for all the world like something out of a terrible anime.

They were also radiating power in every direction. Expressing their Qi in a near physical way to propel their body forward at speeds Ash was envious of, given that it was faster than he was right now.

“That’s… the Realm Lord,” muttered Tai, watching the man approach. “Mother made sure I memorized the faces of all the important figures in this realm, despite it being lower, just in case I came across them.

“As the saying goes, the Lower Realm is filled with cultivators with a hand on their shoulder.”

In other words, it’s likely the Realm Lord has the backing of someone in a higher realm. Considering he was appointed by the Emperor himself, it’s not a surprise.

I bet he was placed as a favor to someone else by the Emperor, in fact.

“Probably. But that’s okay,”Locke said with an excited laugh inside his mind. “He’s indeed an Empowered Mortal who’s stuck at the bottleneck. In fact, just looking at him, he’s been stuck there for a long time. I would imagine his ability to advance is no longer a question mark, but a period. He’ll never break through to an Enlightened Mortal.”

Okay, yeah, great, that’s neat.

But why’s he here?

I also get the feeling I couldn’t take him in a fight.

“I have no idea why he’s here, and no, you couldn’t beat him in a one on one fight. Good thing the Brides of Sheng are here, is it not?”

Ash frowned, his thoughts churning. Grinding away at the situation and what it could mean.

There was the simple possibility the man was here to give greetings to the new king after receiving Hu’s letter. Except that the letter would have likely stated that Hu wasn’t at the palace as of yet.

That meant that the Realm Lord would be coming here fully expecting the king to not be here as of yet. That left few possibilities, all of which left Ash feeling like his mouth was drying up very quickly.

He’s… part of this, isn’t he?

In league with those who wield Life-Qi.

The Realm Lord was attempting to over-throw the king in a clear violation of the Emperor’s laws. There’s really no other reason for him to be here at all.

No reason except to try and take hold of the Imperial City for Tyan-yu and Hou, he’d know Hu wouldn’t be here.

“That… that seems very likely, though we’re about to find out,” Locke whispered in his mind.

Then the Realm Lord came to a stop in front of them and the time for thought ended.