Cultivating Chaos 4 -ch22- (Patreon)

Ash looked one way, then the other.

They were in the middle of a massive reception for all city-lords and their people. Smack dab in the middle of a large open stadium of sorts. Ash felt like this could have easily housed a soccer team or something similar once upon a time

Right now it was packed with dignitaries mingling as they were all reacquainting themselves with one another.

In every direction were people trying to showcase wealth and status. Wearing clothes, jewelry, and decorative belts that likely were quite expensive.

Even the soldiers of these people looked to be dressed in an excess of funds.

Kyle was of course no different. He’d complained about it, bemoaned it, but he’d bent his head to the culture that was on display here.

Not that Ash could blame him.

When in Rome, do as the Roman’s do.

As a fox, you don’t survive in the wolfden by behaving like a fox.

“Oh how pretty,” Rou commented and quickly left her position amongst Ash’s entourage to move over to a nearby stall that ran along the edges of the stadium. These were all expensive and rare items that’d been brought out by the host city, Shixur, to demonstrate their wealth as a location.

Siu made brief eye contact with Moira before the Owl turned and followed after Rou. Apparently between the two of them, she was more suited to make sure Rou didn’t get into trouble.

Or became trouble.

Rou seemed to find the weird cracks given her looks, ability, and lack of martial talent.

Siu clicked her tongue, looked down to the ground, then to Ash. Locke had an immediate and similar reaction. The two of them acting in such a way gave Ash a momentary pause before he realized what had happened.

They wanted to go shopping.

“Siu, Locke, would you care to go look at stalls? I don’t mind if we go walk around together,” Ash asked, looking from one to the other with a smile. He knew Hui wouldn’t care and would just follow him around.

Tan was wandering around with the city-lord and his personal guards. He was trying to learn more about the guards and how they carried themselves. Especially the city-guards that were strong enough, trusted enough, to perform bodyguard functions.

“Yes, please!” Locke blurted out immediately. She grasped his right hand in both of hers and held tightly to it. Then she stuck it up between her breasts in her clothes.

“I would certainly be appreciated, dear Husband,” Siu allowed with a heated smile for him. Her eyes coming to life with a smoldering light within. Her Pink Bubble attack enveloped him and then began trying to drown him from the inside of it. “Thank you for offering to escort us.”

Ash smiled nervously. He was finding being between Locke and Siu left him with few thoughts that didn’t involve him strangling his libido to death.

“Can I hold your hand as we shop?” Hui asked, her head tilting to one side. “I’m not interested in anything here, but I’d love to be able to cultivate with you.”

Opening his mouth he was about to deny the request, then realized it’d give him an excuse to get his hand out from Locke’s bossom. Smiling, he retracted the hand she was forcibly moving against her chest, and then offered it to Hui.

Who took it up immediately.

Only to drape it around her shoulder, and then put her arm around Ash’s shoulder. She was indeed holding his hand, just not in the way he’d been expecting.

He should have known better.

“That’d be fine. Now… which stall did you two want to go to first?” Ash asked, doing his best to bury his regret.

Siu and Locke looked to one another, then both pointed to a stall that was four or so away from Rou.

“We’ll start there and just make our way around. We’ll catch up with Rou and she can join us,” Locke offered.

“Indeed, I like that plan. It’ll also give us a chance to circle the area and gauge the enemy. It seems every city-lord brought their Hand today. If Kyle had come without his, he’d have been at a loss.

“I have to wonder if they had expected him to arrive without one given it’d just changed. That maybe their information is just a bit out of date. Maybe it ended with the old Hand before you took over?”

Ash could only nod his head as the group made their way to the indicated stall.

He hadn’t found anyone who was moving against the momentum of the city. If there was anyone with hostile intent he’d have found them and quickly.

“My Brides did find a number of people in the surrounding area attempting to get information from travelers,” Siu offered up in English as they arrived at the stall.

“I saw the report. I reminded him of it, he knows of it, even if he doesn’t remember having been told of it,” Locke answered for him.

“Hui believes these are people from the nearest cities. Wondering if they can step in to attempt to take resources, or the city itself,” Hui stated. “They’re not spies, they’re forward scouts. Hui thinks that our excursion into the hunting area stopped them short.

“Otherwise they might have attempted a raid on the walls. Hui spent a lot of time shoring up the defensive line and making everything working as intended. Or at least, that’s what Hui thinks and submitted in her report along with her after action plan.”

Errr… then… she’s just saying it to get a head pat.

Isn’t she?

There’s only one person to say that to since you and Siu would remember it. I admit I forgot it if I was told it. That means she’s looking to tell me.

And the only reason to tell me would be for a head pat.

Before Locke could respond, Ash curled his arm and began to gently stroke Hui on the head. Smoothing her hair back and mussing it up somewhat.

“Thanks, Hui. That makes sense. Good work. I appreciate what you’re doing. You’re a very useful weapon, but an also equally important strategist. I know Locke has told me to value you for your mind,” Ash confessed, his fingers gliding through her silky hair.

Hui made no noise, nor spoke. She didn’t make a move out of the ordinary and for all the world seemed perfectly normal.

Or so she would appear from the outside.

He’d felt her hold on her Qi shudder as soon as he began petting her. The amount of Qi she was pulsing out into him became unsteady and varied.

The physical equivalent to stumbling and landing on her face.

Not for the first time, Ash worried at how damaged Hui seemed to be. That she would need considerable reinforcement and reconstruction.

“Ahhhh, yes. That’s a very good point. Husband, I meant to ask, did your chain shift or shorten? If the direction changed significantly, that individual might be here,” Siu asked.

“They’ll be here. Hui is certain of it. They just won’t reveal themselves until later. When it’s most opportune to do so,” offered Hui as Ash looked to the chains to try and figure out which ones were which. He had a number of them at the moment, though most of them were going outward to provide Qi to others. “He will not know that Ash can gauge his location based on the drain. Only that he is being drained.”

The chains providing him Qi were indeed in a different orientation. They were heading off in a direction that was on the opposite side of where they had been.

“Either he’s here, or the city he’s in is considerably closer to Wahst then where we are currently,” Ash replied.

The stall attendant seemed very confused by their continued use of English. Siu and Locke were fingering through everything on display and were setting things to the side that they likely wanted to haggle over.

“I love that we have a battle language,” Hui added in suddenly. “Having a language that is almost entirely our own is splendid. While there could be others that know it, it’s so very unlikely. We can write in code, without a code.

“In fact, we should develop codes for everything and an encryption. Just to make sure that we don’t create a blind spot for ourselves. Where even if they knew our language, it wouldn’t matter. I’ll work on this. I’m sure I can come up with something.”

Locke held up a vial in front of the attendant.

“What’s this?” she asked in the kingdom tongue.

“Ah, fertility treatment made with Qi. Very likely to get pregnant if one takes this,” stated the shop keeper with a wide smile. “Very rare, hard to get. I had to purchase it from one of the Qi-Lord’s personal storekeepers.”

Locke raised her eyebrows at that and stared at the vial. Then she picked up a rack of vials that were all different types and set them down in front of the shop owner.

“Describe each one to me. It’s likely I’ll buy them all,” Locke requested.

“A different form of alchemy! We have no knowledge of this. This is exciting. I hope you don’t mind spending money.”

On you, Locke Sheng, my beautiful and darling house wife, I’d spend every penny I had.

Merely ask with that beautiful smile of yours, that nervous and sexy look you get, and I’d give you all I had.

Ash meant it, too. Since she’d stepped fully into her role as “house wife” his own life had calmed down significantly. Moira, Hui, and Siu all respected and did as Locke requested.

He had no idea why, but she was his protector at the moment.

Locke turned a deep and bright red, glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, then went back to her shopping. He could practically hear the screeching of her thoughts echoing through the Hall though.

Along with the rapid and awkward thump of her heart.

Locke was an incredible romantic in the end, he’d found.

Her language of love, was expressions and bold statements of care.

***

Kyle was seated at the table with Ash at his right hand. He’d taken the place of a body guard and was acting in that role.

Hui was on Kyle’s left as his secondary bodyguard.

Siu was directly behind Ash and a step to the right.

Moira, Locke, and Rou, were all elsewhere. Ash wasn’t sure where, but he had no doubt they were doing things he needed and didn’t even known it.

The more he complimented and pushed his thanks to those thinks, the harder she curved that way. He knew it was training her in a way.

Yet he knew perfectly well Locke was training his own behavior into ways she liked, using her body and favors as rewards.

How much is married life training your partner while being trained, dear?

“Uhm. I don’t know? I’ve never been married. But it feels like that’s all we do. Train each other,” Locke confessed. “I’m enjoying it, personally. There’s something fun about being bent, while I bend you.”

“— move to impose a new tariff. It’ll only be three percent but it’s something I must do to preserve my own industries,” said a city-lord across the way from Kyle. “It’s nothing personal, it’s not directed against any city, it’s just what I must do.”

Ash blinked and focused his attention on the speaker. He was older, looking to be in his seventies, with straight white hair and a white beard.

His words had been weary and worn. As if it were a sack of rocks he’d been carrying around and was disappointed he couldn’t put it down yet.

“How dare you. This is nothing but a blatant attack against my own city!” declared a man at the end of the table on the right. “This is purely malicious rumblings and political manipulation. Your people are just fanning the flames of greed, fully exposing your sinister designs to oppose us.”

The man who’d announced the tariffs sighed, shook his head, and offered no response. He was clearly at his wits end and wasn’t going to offer anything up further.

Instead he, gestured to Kyle directly across from him.

They were alternating in a zig-zag pattern.

“First, it’s obvious that the Hand of Wahst has been replaced. This is the new Hand, Ash Sheng,” Kyle offered, indicating Ash at his side with an upturned palm. “Beyond that, I need to make no policy changes at this time for the city of Wahst.

“While we’re not beholden to discuss our inner city workings with anyone else, I thought it would be prudent to share that Wahst is performing adequately at this time.

“As a city, we’re going through some reconstruction that needed to be completed. We’ve finally been able to put some time into the project and it’s been slotted into the schedule. It’ll continue for at least a year I imagine, though it’s possible it’ll finish sooner.

“I have nothing else to offer of any significance.”

Kyle nodded his head, paused, frowned, and then shook his head abruptly.

“No, there’s one more thing. My hunting teams were suffering losses so I’ve asked the Hand to assist in this matter. He had a strange encounter on his first outing.

“I thought it’d be prudent to bring it up here that there’s apparently bandits and murderers out there in the wilds,” Kyle continued in a placid tone. He was stating something that they already knew, really. Even Ash knew this to be true and he was new here. The only reason for him to state it was to excuse Ash from his actions and to state that future deaths wouldn’t be their concern. “This was clearly the right time to remind everyone that we’ve all agreed to act neutrally to each other’s hunting parties, though for everyone to be careful of course. Lots of accidents happening out there.”

Ash smiled as he realized that it was exactly what he thought.

Kyle was stating that he was now working hand in hand with his Hand. That the hunting efforts would be carried out without citizens and coming across Ash or his people was asking to be buried.

Turning his head, Kyle looked up to Ash.

“Is there anything you’d like to add, lord Hand?” asked Kyle.

“Ah, there is, thank you, honorable city-lord,” Ash replied with a dip of his head to the other man. Then he looked to those at the table. They had an unfriendly look to them for the most part. “My name is Ash Sheng. Hand of lady Ghast. I’m in prison for murdering a Realm Lord. The Emperor decided I would be better served cooling my heels here for a while.”

Ash smiled wide at the same moment his words landed upon everyone in the room. The idea that someone who killed a Realm Lord was here amongst them was somewhat inconceivable. That he was sentenced by the Emperor himself doubly so.

“I’m afraid that I have a propensity for making answers to problems permanent. I’m not very good at sparring either and have a bad track record of killing or maiming those I spar with,” Ash continued in the same tone of voice he’d use to ask for breakfast. “I’d ask for your forgiveness if I end up killing people I don’t mean to. It’d be best if I simply didn’t get involved in most things that doesn’t require someone dying.

“Beyond that, my only other statement would be that I’m opening a Sect in Wahst. Some of you may have already heard this, or would hear of it soon, so it’s easier to discuss it here and now.

“I’ll be inviting many people in to become cultivators, or a new type of citizen soldier. They’ll be sworn to my clan, the Sheng clang, of course, but you’re welcome to send anyone you think could benefit from a new avocation in life.”

Kyle nodded his head at Ash’s words then leaned forward an inch as if he were whispering, but not actually.

“You should mention your personal life,” he directed.

Blinking, Ash realized this was a good point. Otherwise there might be those seeking an alliance with him in the future.

“Thank you, Kyle. I appreciate the direction. Ah… I have multiple wives, many mistresses, and no children. I’m not looking to have kids at this time either,” Ash summarized. “Thank you for your time.”

Ash then nodded to Kyle and resumed his stationary position as bodyguard.

He was the only Hand that was at this meeting serving side-by-side with the city-lord.

They were making sure they showed a unified front before all these people as well. The closer they appeared as a team, the harder it’d be for everyone else there.

Slowly, the remainder of city-lord’s declared their own points of interest. This was just the opening “standing” for them all. To declare whatever they wanted to declare to everyone else.

There’d be a number of meetings with various partners in groups, or by themselves, to hammer out deals, agreements, or anything else that might come up.

At the end of this, and roughly an hour after, there’d be a very similar meeting for the Hand’s to have, apparently.

Ash had received no such notification and if he had to bet, he’d imagine that his “invitation” had been given to the previous Hand and then lost. With no follow up sent because they weren’t aware of him.

Or at least that’s what they would claim, even if they new he’d replaced the Hand.

For that meeting, Ash had requested that Kyle attend as his personal adviser on city matters. He’d be using Siu and Hui as his bodyguards there, along with Tan.

He was looking forward to seeing how everyone reacted to Tan.

The young man had been training nonstop in his free time since he’d been altered. His speed of learning wasn’t great, but his effort and will were unmatched.

It’d take time for him to become proficient, but he would be, if not by sheer will alone.

Ash was looking forward to the moment that he could spar with him directly. It’d force him to adapt new strategies and tactics against someone who could limit his ability to use Qi.

Adversity is the mother of invention.