Chapter 178: Death & Sunshine, III

Ke Shuang trembled.

"You slapped me?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper. His cheek was swelling with the red hand-print outlined clearly on his skin.

"I did," Master Shu said calmly. He pulled his hand back and placed both hands behind his back. Not that meant much - deceptively fast as he was, he could slap Ke Shuang five more times before the bastard even had a chance to react to the first slap, and Wu Hao wasn't saying that just because he would've liked to see that happen.

"Even my father never hit me," Ke Shuang ground out.

Wu Hao thought that maybe Ke Shuang's father should have, if this was how the boy had turned out.

"What gives you the right -"

"By virtue of being a guest yet being repeatedly insulted," Master Shu said. "By virtue of being a master of the Alliance whose only disciple was just insulted. That, however, is mostly why I slapped you, boy. You ask what gives me the right? It is because I am a Sovereign, brat."

"But -"

"You do not believe in tradition," Master Shu told him. "Is it power you believe in, then, boy? Because my power exceeds yours like these mountains exceed a pebble."

Ke Shuang's expression twisted. "You forget that we have two Sovereigns," he spat. "You are alone."

Master Shu sighed and lifted a hand. Ke Shuang flinched back slightly.

"Again you insult me," Master Shu said, expressionless. "Until you learn."

"Sovereign, please," one of the martial artists said nervously. "Stay your hand, we beg you."

"Who are you?" Master Shu asked.

"I... am Lu Bowin," the martial artist said. "Of the Purple Clouds house, the third disciple this generation, if it pleases the lord Sovereign."

"Why should you beg, Lu Bowin?" Master Shu asked him, looking over. "You have done nothing wrong. The only person I take issue with is this man."

Lu Bowin hesitated, swallowed, and spoke again.

"Be that as it may," he said. "I - I will take his place, for whatever punishment you have planned?"

Master Shu paused. "The way you speak, it's as if something like this has happened before."

Wu Hao almost snickered. Ke Shuang gave a warning glance to Lu Bowin, who blanched.

"I - I cannot speak to that," Lu Bowin said.

Which even Wu Hao knew meant that yes, he had.

"All the more reason that I should smack some sense into this one, then," Master Shu said. "For all those who should have yet didn't."

Slowly, he raised his hand again. There was something odd about the movement, though. He was deliberately waiting. Stalling, even. What was the master waiting for?

There was a sudden chill that blasted through the area, and Wu Hao had his answer. Onto the suddenly slick stone, a qi came crashing down, born on a cold wind.

As the owner of that qi whipped his sleeve through the air and pulled Ke Shuang back, Wu Hao got a third look at Ke Jiaming, the Moonlight Sovereign. He was tall and dressed in pure, untouched white, with a close-cropped beard that was so white that in places it looked almost blue. While many martial artists weren't bulging with muscle, Ke Jiaming especially had a wiry strength to him that made him seem older. His green eyes were blazing with anger.

"What is going on here?" he barked at one of the martial artists.

Lu Bowin looked almost ill.

"I - sir," he said, teeth beginning to chatter as the full force of Ke Jiaming's attention was focused on him. "Our guest the Absent Sovereign, he, er."

"I smacked your insolent nephew," Master Shu said. His eyes hadn't left the Moonlight Sovereign, who now turned to face him.

Ke Jiaming nodded slowly. "Why?"

"He insulted me and my disciple," Master Shu stated.

Their gazes met like two physical things. Waves of black and white brushed up onto the spreading ice beneath Ke Jiaming's feet, butting against each other in the middle of where both men stood. The rime rippled and turned black, while at the same time the brushstrokes of Master Shu's qi froze like the liquid they weren't.

"I see," Ke Jiaming said. "Nephew Shuang, you will apologize."

"Uncle," Ke Shuang protested. "I don't -"

"No," Ke Jiaming said, biting off the word, and then repeated: "You will apologize, Shuang."

That wasn't what Wu Hao had expected. Judging by the look of him, that wasn't what Ke Shuang had expected, either.

Even if he had been blind, the sheer torrent of qi that was raging through Ke Shuang's core right now would have been enough to convince him that the other man was dead set on taking his revenge in some way. The sunlight had twisted inside until it was the same sort of glass-focused heat that might start a fire fed by feeding it humiliation and anger and desire, all at the same time. Wu Hao smelled, faintly, a scent of ash as the fire wavered in an unseen wind and qi leaked.

Before he could get more than a small whiff of ash, though, there was a barrier of cold qi that surrounded Ke Shuang's core that prevented Wu Hao from sensing anything. He mentally poked at it and nearly flinched back when the cold qi latched onto his senses. Even then the cold lingered in his bones, having slithered down from his mind.

The Moonlight Sovereign had acted, and he had acted decisively to veil Ke Shuang's core. The other man's qi fled, and with it the faint golden tint that had crept up his hair began to fade back into its charcoal black. His skin almost seemed to take on a more pale cast.

Ke Shuang bowed his head.

"I apologize," Ke Shuang said, his posture one of humbled submission. His head was inclined and his back bent slightly - that, apparently, was how deep his pride would allow him to sink.

Wu Hao wasn't fooled for even a second by the apology. He saw that several of the surrounding martial artists were trading looks again, their qi speaking of a quiet dread that Master Shu would take offense. Exasperation, indignation, and more.

"What are you apologizing for?" Master Shu asked idly. "The insults? The threat? Your own lack of enthusiasm in guiding us today, perhaps?"

The sound of gnashing teeth was so loud to Wu Hao's enhanced senses that it would be a miracle Ke Shuang had any teeth left, he thought. Ke Jiaming looked over and, without making any movement whatsoever, there was a thin pulse of power spreading out from the core in Ke Shuang's chest, pushing him along.

"All three," Ke Shuang said. "I apologize for all three, Sovereign."

"Will that do?" Ke Jiaming asked mildly.

Master Shu looked at Ke Shuang.

"I suppose it must," he said, and placed his hands behind his back.

"Then my nephew will take his leave now," Ke Jiazhong said, his tone leaving no doubt it was a command, not a suggestion.

"Yes, uncle," Ke Shuang ground out. "Sovereign. Until later tonight."

He stomped off. After a few more looks traded between them, most of the group that surrounded them broke off and followed Ke Shuang, though not before asking the Sovereign to excuse them and Bowin. One of them flashed forward, his feet stepping on thin gossamer clouds, and arrived at Ke Shuang's side, then flinched back at the shove he got in response.

Ke Jiaming didn't look at them or at his nephew.

"Lu Bowin," he called. "You will take over the tour."

"Yes, Sovereign," Lu Bowin said, even though he'd blanched slightly.

"I had hoped to meet again under better circumstances," Ke Jiaming said. "Unfortunately, my nephew put his foot in his mouth. I hope you will forgive him."

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"We will see," Master Shu said noncomittally.

Ke Jiaming sighed. "I suppose we will. As my nephew said, until later tonight, Shu Renqing. I shall see you at the banquet."

They watched the Moonlight Sovereign disappear into a sudden cold blast of wind. Ke Shuang too had disappeared into a distant building.

"Why is he called the Moonlight Sovereign, anyway?" Wu Hao asked. "His qi is just cold and dark. There's nothing moon-like in it."

Master Shu gave Wu Hao a funny look. "What would moon-like feel like, if not cold and dark?"

Wu Hao had to think about it for a moment before he spoke again.

"Cold," he admitted. "But also a sense of not-quite-realness. Ripples like water. Soft darkness instead of harsh darkness. I can't really express it any better than that."

Even as he spoke he found the words nonsensical.

"Hrm," Master Shu said. He placed his hands behind his back. "That makes sense, yes. Although your wording could use definite work. I'll lend you a book of my favorite poetry, boy. You will be erudite enough to cite verse one day, if I've anything to say about it."

"Don't I have enough reading to be doing?" Wu Hao asked.

Master Shu snorted.

"That, my boy," he said, "is your problem. Although frankly it's no problem, if you ask me. There is no pleasure quite like beginning a new book."

Wu Hao grunted. In spite of - or maybe because of - all the time he spent reading lately, he would still much rather be out there, wherever out there was.

"You didn't answer my question."

One of the martial artists coughed. Lu Bowin gave him a glance.

"If I may, Sovereign?" Lu Bowin asked, turning to Wu Hao. "I know the answer, if you will allow me?"

"Of course."

"It is because he said he wanted to be a second sun for the sect, to illuminate the night as his brother illuminated the day. Hence the moon. He was the second one to achieve enlightenment of the two, you see. Otherwise, he would have become the Sun Sovereign instead of the current Patriarch."

"Oh," Wu Hao said. "I see."

"Why do you ask?" the martial artist asked.

"Just wondering," Wu Hao said, and turned to Master Shu. "Anyway, do you think you could beat him, old man?"

Lu Bowin almost stumbled. His qi spoke of an incredible dismay, and a feeling that Wu Hao could only describe as "there's another one of them".

"Why should I need to beat him?" Master Shu said. "There is no emnity between us. Our differences have been resolved with the apology of his nephew."

There was a general sigh of relief, and the walk continued. Between two steps, though, Master Shu sent two quick pulses of qi thrumming through the air.

Which meant that he believed he could. Wu Hao grinned.

The rest of the tour was... honestly, it was as boring as the one given by Ke Shuang had been, though efforts were made not to say anything that might even accidentally offend. Wu Hao could muster some interest whenever martial arts were mentioned, but more often than not, Lu Bowin talked about the architecture of a building or the exalted identity of whoever had once lived there, or how long ago it had been built. The oldest so far was a building that had been erected four hundred years ago, and the most recent was a building that had been built opposite the Sunlight Hall for Ke Jiaming's exclusive use as the Moonlight Sovereign, which was called the Crescent Moon Manor.

Apparently, despite it being a large manor, Ke Jiaming lived there alone. Occasionally he accepted disciples for training, and this was apparently a much desired spot to grab, but none of them had measured up to his standards, or so it was claimed. Lu Bowin hurriedly clarified that the martial artists had gone on, in most cases, to have solid careers for the Diancang Sect.

There was a certain echo of Ke Jiaming's qi that clung to the building itself, which made it feel cold and unwelcoming. Wu Hao stepped on a shadow and felt a chill run up his spine, which he tried to ignore.

But the Crescent Moon Manor aside, their tour ended at the Great Sun Hall, the core of the Sect.

"We have arrived at the Great Sun Hall," their guide spoke. "This - as sir Ke Shuang put it - is where the main family of the Diancang Sect lives. This includes the Patriarch, Ke Taiqi, his wife and his three children. Also living there is Du Linglong, granddaughter of the Seven Gods Sword Sovereign and permanent guest of the Sect. Currently, we are standing in front of the three training grounds set aside for the family, of which the first is used by the Patriarch, but the second is rarely used..."

"Is it?" Wu Hao asked.

"It is set aside for the mistress of the Diancang Sect," Lu Bowin said. "You are, perhaps, wondering why? Milady doesn't take much of an interest in martial arts, I have heard. The training ground is kept clean, just in case. However, as I was saying, the third -"

"There's someone inside right now," Wu Hao said. "I can sense qi being used."

Lu Bowin gave one of his fellow martial artists a vaguely panicked look, which Wu Hao had to fight not to laugh at.

"Well," Master Shu said mildly. "Let's go see who it is, hmm?"

"Of course," Lu Bowin said, though he closed his eyes for what might have been a short prayer when stepping forward.

He pushed open the door, bracing himself for who he might find inside.

But the first thing they all saw was a shimmering light, which carved slowly through the air, passing them by. It smacked into a training dummy and left a thick slash alongside its midsection, which flared with brilliant light and then, slowly, began to fade.

"Damnit," a girlish voice grumbled to herself, and Wu Hao caught the rustle of cloth of someone letting themselves fall to the ground.

"Lady Du," Lu Bowin said, quietly. Then, when she failed to react, he repeated, more loudly: "Lady Du!"

She made a sound that wasn't unlike "Eep!" and rolled to her feet, adding another layer of frizz to her hair.

"Brother Lu," she said, seeing the man who'd called her name. "Er - sorry - it's just, I -"

"We have guests," Lu Bowin said, face contorting into a smile.

The look on her face when she saw Wu Hao had come was something to behold. Her eyebrows scrunched together, her lips set into something halfway between a smile and a grimace, and she shook her head. There was a definite scent of peaches hanging in the air - but then again, so was the smell of sweat. She had been practicing, after all.

"You're here," she said simply.

"I am," Wu Hao said, unsure what else to respond.

Master Shu snorted again.

"Clearly you two have some catching up to do," he said, then spoke to Lu Bowin who had stood by. "May we continue the tour? My disciple will probably request a spar or some such foolish thing."

"As sir requests," Lu Bowin said, though he gave Du Linglong a look that was meant to express something not unlike "we will discuss this later". Wu Hao had never gotten it himself, lacking parents, but he'd seen Jin Qinghe use it a few times on her son. Du Linglong failed to see it, though, with her attention currently mostly occupied by frowning at Wu Hao. She neared him and he tried not to take a step back.

"Are you a second-grade already?" she asked.

Again, Wu Hao had no clue what to say.

"I am?" he said, accidentally making it sound like a question.

Du Linglong pointed a finger at him, which shook with some anger.

"You've come to laugh at me, haven't you?"