Mana 5 Chapter 10 (Patreon)

Wenxi convinced me that the baby pangolins would sell extremely well and would be taken care of by their owners. So we decided to bring them back to her mother to sell. Her initial estimates were that the baby pangolins would sell for several times more than the reward from the quest.

Unfortunately, when I agreed, I hadn’t considered how we would transport the four little buggers back to the city. It wasn’t as if I kept a cage in my spatial ring.

I carried a large crate on my shoulders, but the pangolins kept popping the lid and trying to escape.

“Come back here.” Wenxi chased after the latest escapee as it tried to dig into the street’s cobblestone. Its soft young nails made no progress.

The little pink creature didn’t have the scaley plates that the adults had yet. They weren’t a danger to anyone in the city, but they did have a knack of escaping.

“Got you.” Wenxi placed it in the crate and hammered a nail back into the lid in hopes they’d stay put.

“We are almost back.” I reminded her as we walked through the middle ring of Blueheavens towards the Su Family estate.

“I know. These are going to be worth so much.” She bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet. “People will pay top crystal for one of these. The offspring of a 5th rank beast have lots of potential.”

“Good, because they were a pain to get back here.” I spotted the Su Family gates and let out a sigh of relief, speeding up my walk.

“Cousin!” Toshi shouted, waving excitedly towards us as she headed out from the family estate. “I’m so glad I didn’t miss you. Look who came to see you!” Toshi gestured to a handsome young man at her side.

“Not now.” Wenxi shooed me through the gates. “We need to deliver this.”

As she said it, one of the nails fell to the ground and the crate creaked open again.

Wenxi was fast, darting down and snagging the nail. She got it back into the corner of the crate before the little beast escaped. “Not this time.”

“Lovely Wenxi, I’ve come all this way to see you today. I’m sure you are not turning me down after I’ve made such an effort.” The way the man spoke to her irked me. It was like he was trying to use etiquette against her to force her to do as he wished.

Wenxi sighed. “Get that to my mother; I’ll deal with this.” She pushed me and the crate deeper into her home.

Wanting to get rid of these little escape artists as quickly as I could, I didn’t bother with what was happening. It was clear enough that Toshi was trying to wedge the two of us apart. I’d rather not get swept up in whatever was her latest scheme. I had no doubt that Wenxi was going to remain loyal, and that was before I’d brought her multiple orgasms.

Rushing the crate back to her home, I spotted Tianxi walked out of their house. “Here you go.” I dropped the crate off. “It’s a present for your business; try not to let them escape.”

“Huh?” She blinked in surprise. But as she paused, one of the nails popped out and a baby pangolin darted out of the crate.

Tianxi’s eyes went wide at seeing the beast, and she moved faster than I could track as she snatched it up by the scruff of its neck. “Oh my. Thank you for the present.”

Two more pangolins darted out of the opening, and suddenly Tianxi had her hands full of baby pangolins. But there was a big grin on her face as she recognized their value.

I left them in Tianxi's hands and hurried back to the entrance to the Su Family.

“Let me go!” Wenxi’s scream cut through the air, and I immediately took action. Shooting forward, I returned to where I’d last seen her a moment before.

And I arrived just in time to see three men holding Wenxi, trying to wrestle her into a carriage. All the while, Toshi leaned against the gates, looking smug.

I needed to help Wenxi; I’d deal with Toshi later.

The three men holding onto Wenxi exploded in gore as I arrived, smashing my palms through their unsuspecting backs. They had all been fourth rank cultivators; they weren’t even a challenge.

“Savage.” The handsome man gasped as he turned back. “Is this the man you’ve chosen, Wenxi? I’m disappointed.”

“Fuck you.” I spat, wiping some of the blood that had splattered on me. “You’re trying to kidnap her, and I’m the savage?”

He sneered. “Yes. Because killing in the city is forbidden.”

“I would do worse to protect Wenxi.”

Toshi spoke up. “What? I didn’t see you protecting Wenxi. They were just standing there as Chiji’s guards. You got all defensive over Wenxi and killed them.”

Before I could snap at Toshi, powerful auras pressed all of us down. Two sixth rank guards appeared, but I didn’t recognize any of them from my prior encounter with Ming Feng.

“What has happened here?” They barked.

“This man has killed my guards in a fit of jealous outrage.” Chiji shouted before I could even put words together.

“Lies.” I snapped back. “They grabbed my fiance and tried to drag her away.”

Toshi pushed off the wall, drawing the guard’s attention. “I saw the whole thing. On the Su Family honor, he attacked them unprovoked. If you check my cousin, I’m sure she’s covered in bruises. She was trying to escape him, and he killed those men as a threat.”

I nearly puked blood hearing her words. How had she twisted things into making me a wife beater?

“Miss, please show us your arms.” The guard turned to Wenxi.

But she held her arms close. “We just came back from hunting beasts. Of course I have bruises. He spoke the truth; I was assaulted, and he came to my defence.”

I could see that the guards were already discrediting Wenxi’s story, assuming she was saying it all out of fear.

“Until we clear things up, you will need to come with us.” One of them grabbed my arm.

My first instincts were to activate my bloodline and fight back, but I also knew doing so would likely bring more guards down on my head. Fighting the higher cultivation guards was going to be a losing battle.

“I want to speak to Ming Feng.” I stood my ground. We might not know each other well, but she would have the context from the prior fight that Toshi had instigated. It seemed Wenxi’s cousin was nothing but trouble.

“Right.” The guard chortled as he wrenched my arm behind my back. “And I’ll get the patriarch of the Feng family to come have tea with us while I’m at it.”

“Please stop. He was set up.” Wenxi tried to stand up for me again. Her face darted over, scowling at Toshi. “My cousin tried to instigate another attack just the other day. Please, check your reports.”

The guards looked over at Toshi, who was flaunting her body and batting her eyelashes. “We haven’t heard of such a report.”

“It was Ming Feng’s personal guard that intervened.” I said, realizing they may not coordinate with each other.

“How convenient.” The guards didn’t believe a word I said. The moment they arrived on scene with me covered in blood and multiple bystanders accusing me.

Manacles were snapped onto my arms and pulled tight. Whatever they were made of was meant to hold cultivators. When I tested them, they held tight. Though I earned a punch for doing so.

Chiji stepped forward like he was trying to comfort Wenxi, but she slapped him before storming back inside her family estate.

I hoped her mother could do something, but she was also now busy wrangling several naughty pangolins. Either way, I suspected I was in for a night in prison until they sorted things out.

“Let’s go.” Both guards grabbed my shoulders, and I was ripped from the ground and carried away. It was a far less comfortable trip than the time that Ming Feng’s guards carried me off.

I landed with a thump as the two guards dropped me off like a sack of potatoes in front of a large square stone building with no windows.

Lovely.

“Get up.” The guard barked, kicking me in the ribs.

I decided not to point out it was his fault I was on the ground in the first place. Something about antagonizing your captors never worked out well.

Pushing off the ground, I stood, showing no emotion, taking in the surrounding space. It was off in a corner of the city. Even the surrounding slums seemed to be wary of the massive stone prison as it loomed over them.

“You go in front.” I was pushed through the door of the prison and led down the damp, dark halls.

They were sparsely lit with mana crystals that hung every dozen or so feet, giving off a soft light. It was barely enough to see by.

I tripped over the rough floor several times as I was pushed down the hall. Other residents of the prison pushed their faces to the bars to try to get a look at the fresh meat.

Many of them looked like they had been forgotten down here, flee ridden and filthy. I knew my wives would fight for me and I wouldn’t be forgotten, but it would no doubt take some time and resources.

“In here.” They stuffed me into a cell, the door slamming behind me. The cell was lit by a single mana crystal no larger than my thumbnail. I could only see about two feet in front of my face.

“Welcome.” My neighbor called to me from across the aisleway.

“Shut up.” The guards rapped at his cell as they turned back around and left.

“Well, this sucks.” I said, patting around until I found a ledge and sat down on it. As soon as I sat, I could feel moisture on the seat soaking through my pants. I cringed.

“Don’t try to escape. You’ll only wear yourself down faster.” Came the voice from the prisoner on the other side of my door. “Everything is fortified to hold a sixth rank cultivator. You don’t stand a chance.”

“Wonderful. Why stop there?” I asked, joking. “Let’s fortify it for a seventh rank.”

The man laughed. “No one would dare arrest a seventh rank; they are the pinnacle of this world.” Of course not, might was right and if someone tried to tell a seventh rank that they were wrong, blood would spill.

I grunted in agreement, leaning my head back slowly so I wouldn’t bump my head in the dark. “Sounds like you’ve been here a while.”

“Time comes and goes. Where mine has gone, nobody knows.” He broke into a cackle that ultimately ended in a coughing fit.

“At least they haven’t robbed you of your humor.” I rolled my eyes. Of course, I’d end up next to the crazy old man.

But before he could respond, a door banged open and footsteps came down the hall once again.

Out of curiosity, I waited and listened. Sure enough, they were coming in the direction of my cell. And I had no idea who it would be. Not enough time had passed for Tianxi to have come up with a plan or Ming Feng to have received a message and responded.

So, when my door opened and Tuomo Su stood there, I wasn’t surprised. But I did my best expression of complete and utter shock. “Fancy seeing you here.” I joked.

I knew he’d been behind all of it. His daughter was just carrying out his orders. From the beginning, he’d been the one pressuring Wenxi.

“You seem chipper for somebody imprisoned.” He gave me a warm smile that didn’t fit with the current situation. “I’m here to get you out.”

Now I was actually surprised. I assumed he’d rather I rotted away in the cell.

“Oh?” There had to be a catch.

“Yes. You are our family’s guest after all, even if you have sullied that with your aggression. We can pull some strings, lighten the sentence for your crimes. And you’ll, of course, have to move out of the compound immediately. We cannot have a felon joining the Su Family, I’m afraid. Even the elders would agree with me on that.” He smiled cordially.

That made more sense. He’d already done the damage he thought he needed to keep me from providing support to Wenxi and her family.

In his mind, the world saw me as guilty. Now it was just about dusting me off and sending me along my way.

“You clearly want to remove me from the picture. Why am I such a threat to you?” I asked, ignoring what he’d said previously.

“Because I don’t want some brat from the Jin family coming in and making a mess of my own.”

I dismissed his answer with a wave of my hand. “No, cut the bullshit. You were applying pressure to Wenxi and Tianxi before I was in the picture, and before you knew I was from the Jin family. This is just you trying to prevent them from gaining an ally, admit it.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter much to you now, does it?” His warm smile dipped into a cocky sneer.

I clapped my hands mockingly, enjoying his frown. “I’ll admit, you’ve got me in a tight spot at this moment, but I wouldn’t get too overconfident if I were you. But tell me, what’s your endgame? This feels like a lot of effort for just a family competition.”

Tuomo paused, scowling at me. He didn’t much like that I wasn’t cowering or rolling over for him. “You think you are a cheeky little brat. You need to learn to play your part. Surely your family trained you better than this.”

“If only.” I leaned back, getting comfortable on my stone ledge. “Anyway, I appreciate the offer, but I think I’ll stay here for the moment. It’s been a while since I’ve had a vacation.” I smiled back at him.

“I’ll wait until Ming Feng comes to release me, which I’m sure she will. And then we can have a conversation about what really happened to those guards.”

Now I understood why Wenxi said men seemed to run off on her. If I was a betting man, I’d bet that Tuomo had pulled this sort of stunt on more than one of her past suitors.

Tuomo closed the door behind him and smiled. “I’m afraid I don’t like having loose threads. Takes too much work to manage them. I was trying to be polite given your family name, but I’ll just have to make sure you don’t join Wenxi another way.”

I brought my arms up to defend myself, but he grabbed my manacles before I had the chance. Then he pulled both of my arms up as his fist buried itself in my gut.

His sixth rank cultivation was no joke, and I felt my insides rearrange themselves with his sucker punch.

Bringing forth my gold dragon bloodline, I tried to weather it. But he was using his hand on my manacles to pull and push me, making it difficult for me to regain my balance as his other hand repeatedly smashed into my torso.

“Not so tough now, are you? Some fifth rank brat, even if you have that bloodline, the 6th rank isn’t something you can bridge that easily.” Tuomo commented, smashing me against the wall of my cell. He must have felt like a real big man beating a bound man less than half his age.

My mana beasts pushed against their rings, but as I tried to push them out of their rings, he smacked my head against the wall, disorienting me.

“We’ll have none of whatever technique you were preparing.” His fist hammered my ribs again.

I tried to gather all of my strength and protect myself, but I was off balance, bound, and repeatedly being hit. I could barely think clearly, let alone get my feet under me to fight someone a whole rank above me.

Then he grabbed my head and smashed it against the wall of the cell once more, throwing me onto the stone ledge. “Time to take a very long nap.”

His hands grabbed my neck and squeezed.

“He’s killing him. He’s killing him!” The crazy old man in the cell across from me started screaming. I was thankful for the old man at that moment.

But as seconds passed, and no boots stomped in response, I realized I was not going to be getting help. Tuomo had this backup plan fully worked out.

Running out of options, I did the only thing I could think of doing. I drew in as much mana as I could and poured it into Aurora’s ring.

The rich life mana filled my body even as I ran out of air. Once before, early in my cultivation journey, Aurora’s life mana had saved me from near death. Maybe, just maybe, it could do it again.

Tuomo just kept squeezing as he spoke. “You filthy brat. Coming into my family and taking my woman? Wenxi is mine. Her bloodline is so pure. With her, I’ll ensure that my family remains the head branch of the family for generations to come.”

I was confused. If her bloodline was so pure, then why hadn’t she been able to express it?

“I can see your confusion. It’s all part of the plan. But don’t worry, I’ll take great care of her when you’re dead.” He squeezed even harder, and I felt my neck crackle.

As a fifth rank cultivator, it was taking longer than normal to choke me. But it didn’t matter. My body was so weak from his beating. I wouldn’t be able to fight off a kitten at that moment.

So I kept pouring mana into Aurora’s ring, hoping that there would be enough of a reserve that, after he finally stopped, it could bring me back from the brink of death.

The edges of my vision darkened, and I gave one last attempt to fill Aurora’s ring. The light faded further, and the last shitty thing I saw was Tuomo’s face inches from mine with that disgusting smile of his.

If I lived through this, I would make sure he regretted every inch of that smile.

Wanting to play dead, I inverted the space inside my soul palace, dumping what little mana crystals I had collected there in the cell. I tried to make it look just like it had when I’d killed the Ying Family patriarch. As I passed out, I hope I’d done enough.