Cultivating Chaos 4- Ch4- (Patreon)

Locke managed to nearly swindle the inn-keeper out of the room she got for everyone. Talking him down in price to the point that there was no way he was even breaking even.

Likely the room was being rented to them at a loss.

All it’d cost Locke was promising to mention the place if others asked where she was staying. Rou and Hui had quickly done the same for the man.

After the deal was struck, Ash was finally allowed to come into the inn.

The three women had wanted him to stay outside just in case the inn-keeper thought he had a chance with them. It’d be easier to talk him into a terrible deal with Ash not being present.

Ash had momentarily felt guilty for the man.

Except that’s how negotiations went.

Find your point of leverage and shove.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed Ash considered how to reach out to Liu.

He needed to do it in such a way that didn’t send her tumbling back into a coma, but it had to be a way where they could communicate back and forth. Which meant practically getting inside of her again.

“She won’t mind,” Locke remarked from where she was arranging the wardrobe.

The room had come with some limited furniture.

“In fact, she’s a lot like Na. As someone else pointed out, I honestly forget who, you could push Na face first into a roaring fire to have your way with her, and she’d say thank you,” murmured Locke as she gave the drawer she had open an odd look. Then she shrugged and closed it. “Alright. Rou and I are going shopping. Since you and I can chat regardless of where I am, this works out well.

“Jian Hui Sheng, I leave our master in your charge. Please be sure to attend to him diligently.”

“I… of course. Hui will do her best to take care of Ashley,” Hui said, bouncing up off the bed she’d been cultivating on. She performed a martial salute, putting one hand to the other in front of herself and dipping her head to Locke.

“What is it, Hui?” asked Rou, looking curiously at the other woman.

Apparently she’d seen something no one else had.

“I would like to go shopping later as well. I don’t have any clothes that are pretty. I may be the weapon of Ashley and his to use as he sees fit, but… but I enjoy clothes,” Hui confessed in an almost ashamed way. “Especially since Ashley has… has stated he is… interested in my body from a physical standpoint.”

“Oh! Well… you know what, just come with us,” Locke said with a laugh. “Ash is fine without us. He’s honestly stronger than all three of us if he got serious and pulled stones from the Hall.

“And speaking of Stones… Ashley? Husband of mine? Darling?”

Unable to help it, Ashley grinned. He already knew what was coming.

“Yes, Locke Sheng, beloved wife?” he replied, knowing she wanted to hear such a thing from him. That no sooner had he spoken the words than an electric current would practically jump down her spine.

A stray thought floated through his head.

That maybe with Locke being locked out of the Hall, she might be free of the emotional echo that she always heard. If given some time, she might be able to develop her own feelings.

Then he listened for that echo from her.

He could feel that she was delighted at what he’d addressed her as. That she was incredibly randy at the moment and wanted to kick Rou and Hui out and seduce Ash outright.

But that was the extent of it.

There was no forced feedback from his own emotions reverberating back and forth. She was already free of the echo.

“Would you give your wife an allowance?” Locke purred at him. She bent forward and exposed her cleavage to him, putting one hand behind her back, and holding the other in front of herself.

“My wife doesn’t get an allowance because she owns everything I do,” Ash remarked, still smiling. “Merely tell me how much of our funds you want and I’ll give it to you.”

“Mmm… could I have a pouch with a hundred spirit stones in it?” she asked, smiling impishly at him. “Since the cards won’t work we’ll have to carry them about in purses I suppose.”

Ash put three such pouches together and then held them out. Conjuring them from the Hall.

“One for each of you. There’s no way I could send you out with only a hundred for three of you,” Ash stated.

“Such a dear man, my darling is. I’m going to spoil you tonight. I’ll be sure to try and find some earplugs for Rou and Hui so they can sleep through the night,” Locke promised, her eyes staring into him.

“Likewise. I’ll make sure to get you a blindfold Locke, as I know your heart aches to watch others,” Rou stated and then carefully plucked the pouches from Ash’s hand. “Thank you, husband. Your Qi-Healer appreciates you and your kindness.”

Not waiting, Rou turned and then exited the room.

Hui looked to Ash for a moment, then followed Rou.

Locke was chewing at her lower lip, watching him.

Without even having to think about it, he knew she was contemplating letting the two women leave and then shoving Ash into the bed. Locke’s sex drive practically had no limit.

“I need to talk to Liu,” Ash offered. “Not sure how long it’ll take.”

Locke clicked her tongue, then darted in to him. She kissed him warmly for several seconds before breaking away.

The three women exited the room and closed the door behind themselves.

Ash let out a slow breath. He’d been half tempted to ask Locke to stay behind.

There was no end to the pleasure Locke drummed up in him when she tried.

Closing his eyes, Ash instead turned to his Dao, then sank into it. He let himself float through it as if he were getting caught up in a current.

He was slowly pulled down into the whirlpool of his Qi-Sea and began to slowly spin around the golden column that sat in the middle of it. Bobbing along through the statues that covered everything.

As he floated along he heard Liu’s Dao. Echoing to his own and calling for him.

Letting himself be drawn to it, he glided along through the realm.

Escaping it entirely without much effort.

It was then that Ash realized the prison was in a different veil let alone a different realm. That it was actually somewhere else entirely.

Then he found himself inside of Liu’s Dao.

Or more precisely, inside Liu.

He settled down comfortably inside of her and let his consciousness spread throughout her. Her heart beat in time with his own. Her meridians were his meridians.

Her Dao was his Dao.

“Ah… it’s exactly like we thought. He’s found me. Master Sheng, I welcome you,” Liu said. “I’m pleased you came so quickly, too.”

Except he didn’t hear it from inside their shared space, but Liu’s own ears.

“Oh, why thank you Bride Liu,” Ash replied with a chuckle. His voice didn’t exit through Liu’s mouth but it felt more like it was transmitted to her by thought.

I wonder if this is what Locke feels like.

He could feel that Liu was cultivating in an open space. She had her hands palm up and spread out while seated on what felt like grass.

Her eyes were closed and she was focusing inwardly.

“Master Sheng is with me,” said Liu. “He… he can hear everything I can. It’s tough to hold it together but I believe I can keep this up.”

“Good work, Bride Liu,” said Mei. It sounded like she was very close. “Ah… Ash? Can you hear me?”

“I can, yes,” he said. This time it came out of Liu’s mouth though with a slight delay. He figured she would just speak aloud whatever he did. “Uhm, before anything else, is Moira okay? Was she treated? Did-did the emperor kill her?”

“I’m fine, Ashley,” Moira responded. Her voice had a deep warmth in it’s tone. A soft laugh followed her words. “I’m flattered to be your first question, my love.”

“I mean… of course. I saw you practically destroyed just as I was flung out of the realm. Everyone else is okay? And before you ask, I have Locke and Rou with me,” Ash stated. “They’re both fine.”

“Everyone here is fine as well,” Jia said. Ash had the impression she was practically on Liu’s shoulder. “There are no concerns. The Brides of Sheng are maintaining everything exactly as you would wish it.

“All things are secured and being protected. Though the realm is changing rapidly.”

“It is? Why?” asked Ash, relieved to hear that things weren’t what he’d feared them to be.

“He’s still really nervous about Moira,” Liu said in her own voice. She’d been pitching Ash’s voice lower than her own as if to emphasize who was speaking.

“I’m… I’m fine, Ashley. Truly,” Moira said. “The emperor healed me and then vanished. I got the impression he really didn’t mean to harm me. I’m perfectly well.

“Tala and I don’t seem to be suffering any ill effects from our slave bonds. Though I wonder if they’ve been perhaps removed since I can’t even feel it anymore.”

“Slave or not, my elegant self is bound to Ashley. By choice if not design,” growled the warrior. Her tone shifted quickly with the last word. He could hear a change in it as if she were a different person entirely. “Though… Ashley, may I take the name Tala Sheng? May I formally be your wife?”

“Of course you can,” he answered immediately. Given what’d happened with Moira and now being separated, he’d felt a need to grab up and bind them all to himself much more closely.

“Wonderful. Thank you, dearest. My elegant self looks forward to your return,” Tala offered with a great deal of affection in her voice.

“Yes, we’re all eager for you to come home,” Chunhua piped in. “Though… where did you end up?”

“In prison. Just as the emperor said. It’s rather strange here,” Ash said. Then he let out a soft breath. “Wait, before I get into that, you said the realm is changing, how?”

“Well, it’s rather simple,” Mei said with a laugh. “The Sheng alliance holds the position of the realm lord. The Sheng alliance are also inlaws to the royal family.

“Where there had been a deadlock between the two factions previously, there is none now. Gen and Hu are hammering things out faster than you can draw in Qi, Ashley.

“About the only thing they’ve disagreed on so far is if the Sheng family is a noble clan or a martial clan. They settled the matter by naming Ju a princess of the Sheng and a princess of the Peng.”

Not to self.

Do not get Ju pregnant or the kids will be royally screwed.

“And yes, she’s pregnant,” Mei deadpanned. “You got her in one attempt.”

Fuck.

“Alright, well, alright. Right. Hm,” Ash muttered. “Anyways. Prison life. Where do I start. Actually…. I know where to start. Probably with Xiaohui.”

Ash began to explain the situation to everyone back in the realm. With every word spoken he felt better and better as well.

He could hear all the important people in his life around him as he inhabited Liu’s body with her. They were quietly discussing what he was saying, making plans, and generally relieved that he was well.

Much as he felt in regards to them.

All his fears and concerns washed away in the moment that he’d found out that Moira was perfectly fine, and that everyone was well and healthy.

***

“Okay. Then… that’s all we can do,” Mei said. “We’ll work on our end to see if we can punch a hole to the veil you’re in, and you just… survive. The lack of Qi on your side of this will make it nearly impossible for you to do such a thing.”

Ash nodded his head. That made perfect sense to him given everything that they’d talked about.

Their only true options came down to three things.

The first was petitioning the Emperor for mercy, which was unlikely. The man had built his entire throne off of his laws, rules, and holding to them strictly. To the point that he’d happily butcher an entire city that bothered him too much and violated one too many of his laws.

Second was reaching out to the Emperor and letting him know that he’d sentenced two innocent people to prison. That’d likely get Locke and Rou out of the veil, but there was no guarantee the Emperor would do anything for Ash in that situation. Mei and Jia had quickly disagreed with Ash’s thought that maybe he’d give Ash some leeway for his false imprisonment.

The fact that there were people living in the prison that were clearly born there meant that the Emperor didn’t actually care that much. If it didn’t concern him and his laws, it likely wasn’t going to matter to him.

Banking on his mercy was truly betting on a dark horse.

Last was taking action into their own hands and committing completely to a prison break. Getting Ash out of the prison outright and not bothering to wait for his time to be served.

Waiting for his sentence to run it’s course was realistically was a stupid thing to hope for. There was no written record of his release date, no planned extraction, and nor was there any type of agency to petition for information.

Such a plan was entirely dependent on the Emperor remembering the date, how long he’d sentenced Ash for, and being willing to retrieve him once the time was up.

For everyone involved from Ash’s circle, that was just too much of a risk.

“Afterward, you just need to make sure you lay low and stay out of view. To make sure the Emperor never even suspects that you’ve escaped,” Mei concluded. “ Alright… ah… we should cut this here. Liu is looking very pale and very likely needs to rest.”

“I admit I’m very weary, Mistress Sheng,” Liu confessed. Ash could tell she was tired as well. Her very Dao felt quite thin in comparison to how strong it’d been when he’d first jumped into her.

“Then that’s what we’ll do. I’ll try to reach out again in a few days once Liu has recovered. Until then… ah… I love you all, please be safe,” Ash murmured and then disconnected himself from Liu.

He came back to himself with a whoosh.

At some point his body must have gotten tired of sitting upright as Ash found himself staring up at the interior of the room. He was laying on the bed now.

“Hm. Odd,” he muttered, then moved his tongue around in his mouth.

It felt dry.

Very dry.

When he went to move his body to try and get up to get a drink, he found it mostly unresponsive. His desires to move went unheeded and all he managed was to twitch about.

“Is Ashley well?” Hui asked, appearing above him.

The beautiful and slightly disturbed woman was staring down at him. Concern and care was evident on her face.

“What… what should Hui do? How can I help?” continued Hui before he could even respond.

Then her hands were pressed to his face on either side.

“I… I’ll give you some Qi. You seem empty,” murmured the woman to herself even as Ash tried to voice a response. “It’ll be okay. I’ll just convert death Qi directly into normal Qi into you, then pull it back out on the other side.

“I’ll cultivate through you. I do it normally through my body. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Before he could tell her to stop, she began.

Qi began to quite literally flow through his head where each of her hands were. From more or less one ear, to the other.

It left him feeling quite literally light-headed as well as causing his body to go rigid.

“Ahh, see? Hui is helping you, Ashley. Your weapon can be more than that. Please don’t discard your weapon,” said Hui, sounding incredibly insecure all of a sudden. A far cry from the noble and imperious woman he’d seen as of late.

“Your weapon can do anything you need of it. Hui can be much more than just a weapon. She can be anything you need her to be,” continued Hui, cycling Qi through his head with her hands. He was starting to feel better about it as time went on, but it still felt like too much stimulation. His body was beyond his control. “I’m willing to be anything for you, Ashely. Just guide me. All I want is Chen’s heart and a safe place to be. Please protect me. Protect Hui, Ashley. Don’t get rid of me. I’m really useful!”

Okay, yeah, damaged.

I can even see why, now.

Chen used her up, caused her to be wounded, then dismissed her as if she weren’t worth anything. When I found her, it was after he’d already told her he was getting rid of her I imagine.

Everything from then on was her trying to cope with what’d happened, handle the trauma and stress, all while holding up her own mentality.

She’s incredibly strong, but also incredibly weakened.

Gritting his teeth, Ash stopped fighting.

Instead, he sunk himself into his Dao and the momentum of what was happening. He could feel the frantic and asymetric energy of it. How Hui was in a mental state that was bordering on the edge of losing her grip of herself.

To become nothing more than the sobbing broken mess he’d found in the sewer.

Forcefully, he shoved at the momentum’s peak energy, and pulled at the lows. Flattening it out but not altering the amount of energy it had in total.

Redirecting it rather than stopping it in any way.

The intensity of it all increased, but the constant spikes were cut away.

Ash felt it when he’d stabilized everything. To the point that he could actually get his hands to move again. The Qi Hui was pushing through him was more like a faucet on high rather than a kinked hose that was being released of it’s pressure every other second.

Reaching up, he laid his hands atop Hui’s. He redirected the Qi she was putting through his head, into his hands. Through his lower Dantian and back out to the other hand. Creating a loop between himself and Hui.

The Qi he was pushing back to her was pure and without the turbulent emotional baggage that it came with. Instead washing into her like a cool breeze on a hot pan.

It wouldn’t instantly quell it, but it’d slowly leach away the heat.

Hui whimpered, her eyes widening as she gazed into his face.

“You won’t throw me away? Throw Hui, your loyal weapon away?” asked Hui.

“I won’t throw you away. You’re my weapon. Jian Hui Sheng,” agreed Ash, forcing himself to a seated position. It inadvertently forced Hui to back up and caused her to sit on the bed with him.

Rather than release her hands, he instead continued to cultivate with her. Much as he’d done with Na, Mei, Jia, and Chunhua a number of times. Their Qi and talent allowed him to do such a thing.

Hui was no different.

Stifling a sob, Hui continued to stare at him as he quietly circulated Qi back to her.

With each passing moment more of the emotional debris that was lodged in Hui’s heart was washed away. Eroding at the sharp edges that were left and smoothing them over.

“I can’t leave my weapon in such condition, now can I? I have to care for my Hui. Don’t I?” asked Ash, wanting her to make that self realization.

“Yes, you have to care for me. Your Hui. Your weapon. Hone my edge,” she choked out, then began crying in earnest. She tilted forward, put her face into his shoulder, and held onto his hands.

It was the first time she’d finally lost control over her emotions and let herself feel what’d happened to her. The momentum of the room Ash and Hui were in violently wobbling for a moment, before it came back under his control.

Unending emotions flooded and rushed into Ash, coloring and clinging to Hui’s Qi.

Ash held her and became a filter for her.