Mana 5 Chapter 19 (Patreon)

Other groups headed off from the tomb in search of the remaining ash beasts, wanting to claim enough to secure a strong position before entering the tomb.

It didn’t take long before cultivators started coming back empty-handed and dumping all the stones in the braziers. The Biji family had waited patiently, not in any sort of rush.

The braziers were both overflowing with the cores from the ash beasts.

“Ming, would you do the honors?” Tian Jin grinned. His people's stone contributions had also exceeded the number of stones she contributed.

But she wanted to get it over with, so she walked over, flicking a drop of flame into the two braziers. They went up in a whoosh of gold flames.

There was a pause as everyone waited for whatever would happen next.

Sure enough, the doors cracked, opening just wide enough for one person to pass at a time.

“Well then, I’ll see you later.” Yi Long beckoned his people, and they all filed into the door.

Tian Jin nodded, letting Yi Long go first.

I suspected Tian didn’t want to be first, despite his prestige as first among this generation of cultivators. He understood the dangers that might be behind the door. He was smart.

None of us knew what lay deeper in the tomb.

Tian Jin waited a minute longer before entering with his own people.

But Ming wasn’t so patient, beckoning her people in.

“Mu, come with me.” I ducked behind the procession of Ming Feng’s people.

She turned, and her eyes lit up on seeing me. A smirk grew on her face. “I knew you wouldn’t be left behind.”

“Nope. I even made friends. Meet the Biji family.” I ducked through the door even as I heard Jade Yutu stirring behind me.

“Get back here!” Jade screamed and rushed the door, but the 4th in line took offense and blocked her.

“I’ll see you deeper in the tomb, Jade.” I called back as the last of Ming’s people funneled through the door. We were left with over a dozen passages. “Which way do we go?”

“Tian Jin went through the middle one.” Ming said, her eyes bouncing over the passages. “Twenty-one in total.”

“Take the second from the left.” Mu Biji suggested.

“Why?” I wanted to understand his reasoning.

“Phoenix Legend is all about rebirth. Rebirth is all about second chances. It’s just a guess, but it’s an educated one based on other tombs.” Mu explained his logic.

Our group looked at each other for a moment before Ming pushed ahead into the second passage from the left. We didn’t have any better of a guess to go off.

“Keep your heads up and scan the passage. You never know what we are going to face. This place will be enormous.” She advised everyone.

I took the opportunity to dart forward and squeeze Michelle’s rear in greeting. I moved around, giving each one a peck on the cheek and a squeeze as we moved forward.

Pausing at Thea, I looked her up and down for injuries. “You look like you are doing better.”

“I told you it wasn’t bad.” She slapped away my questing hands. “Besides, I can’t keep you in line if I’m hurt.” Thea squinted at me through narrow eyes. “I’ll ask your beasts how beat up you were. Sounded as if you took on three of the top ten at once?”

Ming Feng overhead that and joined the conversation while continuing to walk. “That sounds quite impressive. I’m not sure how I’d fare in such a situation.”

“They blew it out of proportion.” I tried to play it off. “I fought them for a few exchanges and then was forced to run, luring them through ash beasts to escape.”

Hendrick snorted. “See. Told you it wasn’t possible for him to be that skilled.”

Before I could reply, another voice spoke. “I doubt you could escape such an encirclement. Being able to retreat from such a lineup is commendable in its own right.” Breeze walked by my side, his hand resting on his sword, and a sharp edge seemed to be just below the surface of his gaze, like a sheathed sword ready to strike. But I noted that he may be another ally among the group.

Quixi pulled at Hendrick’s arm to get him to stop pushing. Apparently Breeze had enough of a reputation that Quixi didn’t want Hendrick to start a fight.

“Quiet, there’s something up ahead.” Ming stopped the group.

I peered through the dark tunnel. True to her word, there was something giving off light ahead. “I see it. It looks like the tunnel is coming to an end.”

“Mmm.” Ming agreed, readying her spear as she continued forward. It wasn’t long before we broke out into the next area.

I blinked my eyes against the bright light, but it was as if we had stepped out into another world.

Heavy green leaves and vines covered my view as we stood at the edge of an emerald jungle. It was far different from the bleak, stony wasteland we had just left.

I turned back. There was a wall of the bleak stone behind me, but as I followed its curve, there was only our door. None of the other passages appeared to exit into this room.

“Everyone, be on your guard.” Ming had her spear forward, ready to fight.

Strangely, after we entered, much of the jungle seemed to bloom with bright red flowers, like little flames dancing among the leaves.

“Phoenix tears.” Mu Biji breathed as he watched the flowers. “An incredibly rare herb with potent healing properties. A must have to create any cure for a severed limb.”

“Let’s pick them.” Breeze stepped forward, but I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“They opened up as we entered. I think they’re luring us into something.” I looked around, trying to determine the trap.

Hendrick had also stepped forward, further than Breeze. When he stepped on a twig, its crack was like a bomb amid the otherwise quiet jungle.

Buzzing rose in the air in response.

“Ready yourself.” Ming swung her spear forward just in time to deflect a barb that shot at our group.

Red mana beasts the size of dogs crawled from under leaves and roots of trees. Suddenly, there was far more red than green.

“Blazing Army Ants.” Rei identified them immediately. “Everyone, be careful. They shoot darts and have bites with venom that is said to make you feel like you are being burned alive. But the worst part is they also fly.”

As if proving her right, a handful of them lifted off the ground with buzzing wings. Everybody looked slightly horrified except Celina, who was smiling brightly. Venom didn’t scare her, it fascinated her.

Ming spoke up. “Form two lines, rotate front and back of your positions when you are tired. Biji family, scout the room and collect any treasure you see. I’ll give you a twenty percent cut.”

Mu seemed excited at the prospect, bowing and disappearing, along with his other five family members. They used their movement technique to avoid the bugs while they collected treasures.

“That’s not fair; they aren’t even fighting.” Malcolm Kong growled even as he put on a pair of metal gauntlets.

“The Biji family are experts in tombs, though they are non-combatants. They generally don’t team up with other families. I’m not sure how Issac earned their trust, but we are lucky to have them. With their help, we’ll increase the speed at which we can clear this tomb. And we have a better chance of successfully navigating it.” Ming declared, quashing Malcolm’s and anyone else’s unsaid disapproval. “Now, prepare to fight.”

The ants were gathering up at the edge of the jungle, watching us and twitching their antennae, trying to get a sense for us.

They were each low fifth rank beasts, which meant they were still incredibly dangerous in larger numbers.

Ming sent a blast of fire forward. The ants recoiled away from it, only to surge forward as soon as it had passed.

I had stepped into the front line, with Rachel standing close behind me to provide support if I needed it and take over when I got tired.

Because by the way the red ants poured out of the jungle like a red wave, I knew it wasn’t going to be a quick fight. This was going to be a test of endurance.

“Brace!” Ming shouted as if we were a wall of spearmen, but we all understood.

I drew void mana into a spear and stabbed forward at the first ant to come into my range.

Michelle was on my left, and Wenxi was on my right. They took a different approach.

Water blasted forward from Michelle, wrapping an ant in a globe of water before flinging it back over its allies. Wenxi shot a gale of wind blades forward.

Unsurprisingly, the most effective seemed to be Celina, who dusted the wave of red ants with poisonous feathers.

She had been standing behind Michelle and should have been resting, but Michelle was relaxed, holding off the ants with a shield and crushing waves she generated from her mace.

Not wanting my wives to outdo me, I stepped up my game. I created javelins of void mana, hurling them into the ants as they came.

Soon the front line of the ants became a wall of their dead and the ants started crawling over their dead fellows and launching themselves at us from the top.

“Front line, fall back.” Ming demanded, leading by example and stepping back. Quixi had positioned herself behind Ming and stood her ground even as Ming faded behind her. As she did, Quixi took the brunt of the wave of ants.

As I took my turn to rest, I watched Quixi and Hendrick fight side by side. She fought much like Wenxi, a flowing, wind-based fighting style.

Hendrick, on the other hand, fought with an overbearing ferocity of lightning and strength. It was so reminiscent of his younger brother that I could practically see them overlap in that moment.

Rachel held her own in front of me. She danced, slicing forward with attacks. She used two chakrams as her preferred weapons.

A hint of the swordsmanship I had taught her bled through, but Madam Orchid had picked out weapons that suited Rachel far better than the sword I had taught her.

I had taught what I knew.

At times, I favored the spear for its range, but the spear was the easiest weapon to use, the hardest to master.

I was no master at the spear. And I wasn’t a master at the sword, either. But I was competent in both.

Rachel faltered, nearly getting bit by one ant. Luckily, Celina had been paying close attention. Darting in, she severed the mandibles before they could close around Rachel’s arm and darted back to her own spot, creating space with more of her poisonous feathers.

“Thanks Celina!” Rachel called, getting her head back into the fight. She attacked the next ant.

I watched impassively, gauging Rachel’s improvement. Though she’d been with our family for a month, she was still by far the least experienced in combat. Even Wenxi seemed to have more combat experience.

But she had still drastically improved from the last time I’d seen her fight.

I realized we hadn’t spent much time together recently. It was getting harder as my family continued to spread. I made a mental note to get some time with us alone.

When Rachel slipped up again, I was there, thrusting a spear of void over her shoulder into the head of an ant.

The ants were flying more often; their dead brethren littering the ground made walking too hard.

Darts shot out from them as they hovered over the shoulders of their allies.

The trick to avoid the darts was that the front line and back had to both dart. Otherwise, the front could end up just letting the second get hit.

“Second line, fall back! First line forward!” Ming commanded, shouting and flying over Quixi with a blazing spear that killed two ants on impact. Then she swung her spear wide to create space not only for herself but for the person on either side.

Deciding that I’d follow her example, I jumped forward, thrusting my palm out and summoning a massive kunpeng claw to crush the ants in front of the three girls as Michelle and Wenxi took their own spots.

We fought like that for several hours, rotating people to stay as fresh as we could. And those in the back helped protect and support the front.

Eventually, the space between the wall and the edge of the forest was heaped with dead red ants. I continued to brace, but quickly determined that there were none left.

I slumped to the wall and tried to steady my breath.

That had been an effort in stamina.

Three of our group lay injured in the very back. One even had his arm severed.

“The phoenix tear is a remedy for their venom.” Ming said as Mu gave her a pile of the gorgeous red flowers.

There were so many that I couldn’t count them all.

Ming ground up two of the flowers and fed them to the two injured and then mixed several other ingredients and another flower for the man missing his arm.

Like a budding new stem, his arm grew back before everyone’s eyes.

“What an incredible herb.” Nikki commented next to me. “They must have an incredible value.”

“Indeed.” Ming dusted off her battle dress as she stood. “They are priceless, given their rarity.”

“Thank you for using them on me.” The man clenched his new fist in awe.

“No treasure in this tomb has value if we don’t make it out alive. Everyone remembers that. Use these as you need to survive.” She then handed out five of the flowers to each person in the group.

“We should see if we can’t sell these in another city.” Diana bit her lip. “The supply in Blueheavens just went through the roof.”

I rolled my eyes at their focus on business.

“What of the ant corpses?” I asked, looking at all of that chitinous armor that would likely sell extremely well. It was a pity that the ants wouldn’t make good food.

“Take what you want.” She waved her hand dismissively and turned to the Biji family. “What have you found? Anything beyond the flowers of value? Any exits?”

I collected some of the ant corpses. Their cores and their chitin would be valuable enough for me to go through the effort.

Mu pulled out three golden eggs. “These were amid the center of the forest, along with an egg chamber with plenty of ant eggs. The exit appears to be a tunnel leading deeper into the tomb in the egg chamber.”

“Was there a queen?” Ming asked, taking the eggs and storing them in her spatial ring.

“Not that we identified.” Mu bowed at the waist to Ming.

I was still staring at the pile of flowers. There were so many..

In return for the six of them scouting and collecting loot while the rest of us were busy fighting, he’d made off quite well. Their strategy didn’t seem crazy. He’d taken much less risk while gaining a wonderful reward.

But they still held respect among the families. They weren’t a direct threat, and they could make amazing allies. In the end, they were a sort of symbiotic relationship with the powerful families.

“Lead on then.” Ming waved her hand forward, and Mu led the rest of us deep into the jungle. Ming brought up the rear along with me.

As we walked, I spotted a lone Phoenix tear flower hanging amid the jungle foliage. “You missed one.” I plucked it and held it out to Ming.

“That one is immature; it has no healing properties.” Ming informed me.

Feeling a little silly for plucking it already, I stuffed it in Ming’s hair. “Then a pretty flower for a pretty lady.” I replied.

Ming froze. Her eyes searched around us to see if anyone noticed our brief exchange, but no one had turned to comment. “Thank you.” She said softly, turning and hurrying through to the front of the group.

Kat elbowed me as soon as she was gone. “Got your eyes on Ming?”

“What? No, she’s engaged. I was just teasing her.”

Kat raised an eyebrow in doubt.

“Oh, come on. I can tease a girl without wanting to sleep with her, can’t I?”

Wenxi and Rachel fell back to join the conversation as I said that.

“I see what you mean, Kat. He’s just like honey for butterflies, isn’t he? Does that make me one of his butterflies?” Wenxi asked.

“Absolutely.” Kat nodded, but then her mind seemed to drift off in a different direction. “Though we have to make a stand once we get back, hopefully as victors from this stupid tomb. Maybe if we can get Feng Family on our side, they can squash Tuomo for us.”

Ah, she was still stuck on that.

“No.” I knew they were just joking, but I wanted to make one thing clear. “I will be the one to kill Tuomo.” The man had choked me out. I had every intention of ending his life mercilessly.

Kat held up her hands in surrender. “Of course, love. We’ll get her to force him out of his family. That better?”

“Better. I would like nothing more than to let him experience what it’s like to be bound and beaten.”

“Understandable.” Wenxi agreed. “I still feel responsible for what he did to you, considering he did it to keep you away from me.”

Kat snickered. “Just wait until Tuomo finds out Issac has already deflowered you.”

A smiled, feeling smug. But I didn’t plan to let Tuomo live that long to find out.

Looking over, I noticed that Rachel’s face was a bit fallen.

I realized she likely felt even more isolated among our family with Wenxi taking steps ahead of her.

Wrapping my arms around her shoulder, I held her close before she closed herself off.

Thankfully, she leaned into me, resting her head on my shoulder rather than stiffening. I took that as a good sign. If I gave us a bit more time together, I could make her feel truly wanted and important to our family.

Arriving at the hole in the ground that would lead to the egg chamber, Ming paused and looked back. Her eyes zeroed in on my arms around Rachel. I didn’t miss the bit of fire that seemed to spark in her eyes before she tossed her hair and turned away, heading into the egg chamber.

I wasn’t the only one to see that interaction; the rest of the group tossed me a curious look, and some of my wives poked me and smirked.

Despite their ribbing, she was engaged, and I had a feeling meddling in the Feng Family’s effort to maintain their bloodline would be absolutely disastrous. I didn’t need that drama, or to bring that drama potentially down on Wenxi’s family.

I could probably win them over by helping boost Ming’s bloodline, but that wasn’t exactly something I wanted to broadcast far and wide. I wasn’t yet strong enough to handle the volume of interest, both good and bad, it would bring.