Defunct chapter 87 (Patreon)

I showed the jade token to the proprietor of the inn. He looked twitchy and shell shocked, his eyes flicking to the cultivators behind me. It was still two hours till dawn, and it was probably a really shitty time to check in. But the man had been awake, and this place suited my needs.

“Yes, sir. There are vacancies left. I’ll prepare my finest rooms—”

“Just normal rooms are good. Sorry to spring this on ya.” I told the owner. The Shrouded Mountain Disciples shuffled in without a fuss.

I kind of needed a place to put my new. Well, I’ll call it like it is. They were basically hostages. I didn’t want them anywhere near my wounded friends. So they got relegated to the hotel.

Hopefully there wouldn’t be any last minute assault or escape attempts.

What a fucked up situation. A situation I didn’t know how to deal with. Maybe I had decided to “take charge” a bit too much. My only answer was that it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Which was a pretty shitty answer. Instead, I turned, and started walking through the streets towards where Yingwen told me the Verdant Blade Sect’s Manor was.

“Big D?” I asked.

“Yes, Master?”

“Could you go and get Huo Ten for me? I think there shouldn't be any more fighting tonight.”

My rooster, his feathers singed, bowed his head. He wouldn’t be too far away. With a breath of movement, he disappeared.

I kept walking, until I found the symbol that was on the dress that Xiulan wore.The gates were open, and there was one guard. A weary looking kid with rather unfortunate eyes that were reminiscent of a dead fish. He had some bandages around his head, and a black eye that looked mostly healed.  He clasped his hands together at my approach.

“Master Rou. This Hi Huyi greets you. Unfortunately, there are no Elders to receive you at this time. I beg your forgiveness for this.”

I raised my own hands in greeting, and the guy’s eyes widened. “Rou Jin. Just call me Jin.”
The kid blinked up at me, incredulous. “It's alright. But where are the Elders, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Huyi shook his head. “The Mountain…. It's shut up tight. Every door is closed and sealed. I didn’t even know that some of those entryways could be shut, but there isn’t any way in.”

I sighed. Great. Something else on my plate. When it rains it pours, huh? Whatever. Hopefully the Elders could take care of it themselves, because I needed to check on my friends. They would get taken care of in the morning.

“Thanks for telling me.” I said, and left him to his guard duty. There were some servants scurrying around, as I approached the main compound, but nobody stopped me as I just walked in the front door.

The first thing that assaulted me was the smell of medicinal herbs, tainted with the undertone of blood.

A bunch of people were laid out on mats in the room. Gou Ren had his arms bandaged up, while Yun Ren looked fine. Tigu was curled up in the corner, her face buried in Yin’s fur, as Noodle stroked her head with his tail.

Three men were in the beds. A kid, a raggedy looking man, and a guy who was as big as I was, his skin marred with light scars that looked like cracked metal.

It was.. Well it looked less bad than I had been imagining.  There were some bloody bandages, but there wasn’t any screamingThere were a few whispered conversations, but it was mostly quiet.

“Jin!” Gou Ren called, looking like he wanted to scramble to his feet. I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. The entire room startled at my entrance. Tigu glanced up, then buried her face into Yin again.

“Hey.” I greeted them. I took care of things.. For now, anyway.” You Ren nodded his head. “Where's Lanlan?”

“Ri Zu took her to the back room. She's with Xianghua and An Ran.” The names didn’t mean anything to me, but I nodded, and started walking over.

The door was shut and I opened it— to the sound of shock from within. A short, rather cute girl with braided hair and her arm in a sling intercepted me, glaring—before her face paled and she stepped back.

“Ahh… Master Rou— The Young Mistress is in a state of…” She got out. She looked like she was deciding if she wanted to step in front of me, before she let me through. I realized why as soon as I stepped into the room.

Xiulan was mostly submerged in a tub, with only her head out of it, and was once again in a state of undress. Xiulan was panting and sweating, her skin flushed red, and her eyes rolling around under their lids. Wounds once more littered her body. Half-healed burns, slashes, and scabs covered her body. If she wasn’t a cultivator, the burn scars alone would have required extensive skin grafts, if they could ever be fixed. Instead, they looked like they would close up with only minor scarring, if they scarred at all.

Me and Lanlan really had to stop meeting like this. As soon as the thought came I regretted it.

Another woman, one who was pretty tall and hit every button on the “classical beauty” table stood and bowed with a whispered “Master Rou.” Before returning to her charge.

Ri Zu was on Xiulan’s clavicle, little paws pressed against Xiulan’s pulse.

The woman with the blue dress, after finishing her bow, returned to a bucket of water with a small blue crystal in it. The blue woman pulled a rag out of the bucket, and placed it on Xiulan’s forehead.

‘No steam this time. She is cooling down well, and her Qi is stabilizing, Ri Zu thinks. The fire is almost gone.’ The rat let out a sigh of contentment, and turned to look up at me. ‘Ri Zu thanks Master’s timely arrival!’

“I just had some herbs. You did the rest, Ri Zu. I think Meimei would be praising your work, if she were here.” The rat squirmed at the complement. “Is Xiulan going to be alright?”

Ri Zu… Ri Zu thinks so. We are past the critical time. Master brought her to Ri Zu so swiftly allowed Ri Zu to cool her down… But there is damage to her Qi Ri Zu does not know how to fix. Her body will heal, and she will awaken, but her spirit…it is lesser than when Ri Zu last felt it.’

I grimaced. “Thank you Ri Zu.” I whispered.

“Young Mistress—Xiulan.” the braided girl whispered. Her eyes unfocused, and her face twisted. “Those Shrouded Mountain Bastards. I’ll kill them all—”

‘Miss An, Miss An.’ Ri Zu said, getting the young woman’s attention. ‘Please help Ri Zu get friend Xiulan, and make her comfortable, yes?’ Her voice was soft, and full of gentle prodding. An Ran’s eyes focused again immediately, her snarl disappearing from her face.

“Ah.. um.. Yes.” An Ran said. Her snarl was gone, and replaced with something small and lost. But she started to carefully tend to Xiulan.

I nodded to Ri Zu, and left the back room. The blue girl, who was apparently Xianghua, left with me. Her face was blank, devoid of emotion, and she walked straight past me to go and sit with Gou Ren, leaning against him.

He pulled an arm around her waist.

A little gesture that dispelled at least some of the bleak mood I was feeling.

All eyes were on me, as they waited.

I sat down, and glanced at where Tigu was sitting, her eyes cast at the floor.

“Tigu’er. Come here.” I said gently. She needed no further prodding. My little girl scrambled into my lap, carrying Yin and Noodle with her. I held her tightly, took a breath, and stroked her hair.

“My name is Rou Jin. It is a pleasure to meet you all.” I said, making the gesture of respect the best I could.

“Now please… tell me what happened.”

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Xianghua studied the man in front of her, as Loud Boy wrapped up his tale. He should have looked foolish, or strange. He had a menagerie of animals across his body. A snake on his arm, a rabbit on his shirt—half way through Loud Boy’s tale a rooster and a monkey had joined them, along with Ri Zu. The roster was especially stunning, but that was not what drew her attention.

It was the monkey that was brewing them all tea.

Xianghua was much too tired to be shocked at this development. Or the fact that Tigu’s Master apparently had even more Spirit Beasts at his home, that her Gou had whispered into her ear. It sounded like a fascinating place.

Loud Boy was obviously flagging, and barely able to keep his eyes open. But the man said nothing, when he stumbled over his words, and simply clasped the boy on the shoulder when his eyes filled with tears at recounting the blow to his stomach that broke his cultivation. A likely rupture in his dantian. The scrolls said it was fixable… but it was still a devastating blow.

The churning, oppressive power that had shrouded Master Rou, like a mountain rising up and going to war had mostly faded.

It was still there, lurking beneath the surface, but instead of glaring down at them, it felt… warm. Like laying on a grassy hill in the middle of the summer.

Xianghua was next. She told her story with the minimum of embellishment. She was too exhausted to put in her usual enthusiasm.

Then it was Ri Zu, as the predawn light started to shine.

Master Rou’s eyes closed. He took a breath.

He gazed upon all of them. He gently placed Tigu to the side, and leaned forwards.

The powerful expert pressed his head to the floor, kowtowing before them all.

Xianghua took in a sharp breath. Loud Boy gaped.

“Thank you. Thank you all.”

That kind of stuff only happened in stories. In tales where foolish heroes bested the odds, and managed to win, simply because of their virtue and conviction.

He raised his head, conviction burning in his eyes.

“I swear, I’ll do my best to make all this right.” He declared.

Xianghua couldn’t find it in herself to doubt his words.

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I sat still in the room. I ran my fingers through Tigu’s hair. She had long since fallen asleep in my arms, and this sleeping position was probably bad for her back or something, her chin resting on my shoulder like a kid.

My mind churned like a storm, over the events of the day. I bit my lip.

And I clung to the small piece of comfort. I was worried I was holding onto Tigu a bit too hard, but she just let out a happy sound in her sleep.

It may be immature of me. But I didn’t want anybody to be looking at my face either.

I had killed somebody. The thought was one that made me sick to my stomach. I had crossed a line that seemed so permanent. In the Before, life was something sacred. Or it felt like it at times. To kill somebody stained your soul forever.

It was something I had never wanted to do myself. Part of that little, slippery slope that my mind told me I should never cross.

And really. Why shouldn’t I have killed the other members of the Shrouded Mountain Sect? What the hells would stop me? They broke that kid everybody called Loud Boy’s cultivation ,and didn’t seem to care. They kidnapped and beat Tigu.

My blood boiled at the thought of it. I wanted nothing more than to wring their necks. Something deep and primal demanded that I destroy everything they were for their offense to me and my family.

Just don’t.

But it was an impulse I couldn’t act on. I couldn’t go around slapping everybody I didn’t like. I didn’t want to be that person, and where that lead was the exact opposite of where I wanted to go.

Maybe letting them live was a poor decision. Maybe it would come back to haunt me. Maybe this was all just wistful thinking and everything was going to go to shit. But I couldn’t not try.

This world is shitty enough. It doesn’t need me making it worse. Maybe that was arrogant of me. But if annoyance was trying to be better than what this world demanded of people… then I’ll be as arrogant as a Young Master. This could end here. Hopefully.

I don’t know if that was the easy road, or the hard road. But if they did die, then other people would suffer. And while I’m not some kind of superhero, to right wrongs wherever I could find them…I wasn’t going to start a war for my own satisfaction. Especially not after the people here had protected Tigu.

Consequences. Things always had consequences.. Including me running to the Azure Hills. Gramps’ letter. The Cloudy Sword Sect looking for me.

I sighed into Tigu’s hair. She snuggled closer to me. I looked down at her face. The fading bruises, and the look of contentment on her face.

I may not be able to run anymore. I may have to face every consequence coming for me.

But I knew what I wanted my life to look like.

I ran my fingers through Tigu’s hair.

The feeling settled like a rock across my shoulders.

But if there was one thing I was good at now, it was carrying heavy things.

There were people to meet. Strange conspiracies to uncover.

The sun broke the horizon.

And a house to fix. I felt bad about that. At least there was nobody there. Really, I had to control my strength better when I panicked…

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This one i'm a bit ambivalent on. it may not be what people were expecting or hoping for, and maybe I could have skipped ahead a bit. I thought we needed a bit of Jin's thoughts on what was happening.