73 – Auf Wiedersehen

“Phew.” I exhaled as I sat once more within the meeting room. We had only just finished testing the revised examination format for the upcoming tournament. The trial had begun the previous night and only concluded around noon. It was supposed to be a short test, but each examiner had insisted on taking a turn. After everyone had tried it once, they all wanted another round, and then another.

“So, can it work?” I asked the table.

“Can we try one more time?” a northern examiner asked, barely able to hide his smile. He was clearly enjoying the game far too much.

“No. You are having too much fun. We still have several points to revise from our tests,” a southern examiner quickly shut him down. “But perhaps afterward,” he added, and the others nodded in agreement.

The table immediately set to work revising the scenarios and modifiers to make them fairer and slightly more random, while also adjusting the scoring methods. Of course, as they worked, small discussions about army compositions and the strongest factions kept surfacing here and there.

“Papupapupapapipu.”

The familiar sound of a bongo-cat ringtone heralded a new presence as the meeting room doors slammed open.

The City Lord entered, and the entire room fell silent at once. The examiners continued their work without a word, for the Qi and aura radiating from him made his anger unmistakable. As if that were not enough, a massive pillar of ice erupted somewhere within the city.

“Ahem.” I took a steadying breath as the City Lord’s glare locked directly onto me. “Well… it’s time to go fishing.”

I glanced at Huiran, who nodded. He had already completed his part of the plan. Rising quickly from my seat, I left the room with Wendao and Huiran close behind. Together we rushed toward the city wall, following the direction indicated by the array I had prepared earlier.

—

Meanwhile, within the city, Ningguang stood shielding Wanxia from the rest of the Jiushuang Sect disciples. Her ice techniques, far stronger than those of her peers purely due to her aptitude and constitution, held them at bay. Behind her, Wanxia, who had only recently begun to recover her spirit, remained fortunately unharmed.

“There must be a misunderstanding,” Ningguang tried to reason.

“Misunderstanding?! There is none! She poisoned and killed Sister Hánméi!” one of the Jiushuang disciples shouted in fury.

“We all saw it!” several others added.

Ningguang could not understand how things had reached this point. Only last night she had spent time with Wanxia.

She had not known how to properly console her. Having spent most of her life being the one who was cared for, she possessed little experience in offering comfort to others. In the end, she could only try to imitate what she had observed from Danxing, Huiran, and Wendao. She had invited Wanxia out into the livelier parts of the city, where small gambling stalls and simple games had already begun appearing in anticipation of the tournament. There, she had attempted to draw Wanxia into light-hearted bets and minor games. Guessing outcomes, wagering small amounts of spirit stones, and participating in casual games of chance.

Unfortunately, Ningguang’s complete lack of experience quickly became apparent. She lost nearly every bet she placed and failed at most of the simple games. More than once she found herself staring at empty hands or dwindling spirit stones, unsure how the situation had slipped so far from her intentions. Wanxia, however, had not remained entirely passive. Seeing Ningguang’s increasingly awkward floundering, she stepped in to guide her through a few of the simpler games and even recovered a portion of the losses. Though she spoke little, there was a quiet appreciation in her actions. An understanding that, however clumsy the effort, Ningguang’s intentions had been sincere.

For a brief time, the weight that had settled over Wanxia since being called a “passenger” seemed to ease, if only slightly. Neither of them could have imagined that the following day would bring such chaos.

After notifying the rest of the Jiushuang Sect disciples, she and Wanxia had volunteered to take care of Hánméi in the meantime. Only for Hánméi to suddenly cough blood and die shortly after Wanxia fed her a bowl of soup she had prepared herself. That single moment had led directly to the current predicament.

“She has no reason to do this! Where is Qianxue? She can help sort this out!” Ningguang shouted as the Jiushuang disciples pressed in on her again. Even though her spells were stronger than theirs, her body could not fully support their power.

Then a spear struck down from the sky. Fēnghuǒ landed in the middle of the confrontation with a heavy shockwave, his mount kicking up dust as he cupped his hands.

“I bear a message from the Master of Ceremonies. Disciples of the Tianhe Sect and Jiushuang Sect are to follow me. Everything will be explained,” Fēnghuǒ announced. Behind him, a dozen city guards arrived, their cultivations fully revealed, forcing the conflict to a halt.

Even the Jiushuang disciples could do nothing but stop. The Wanli Merchant Guild was rumored to possess strength comparable to a sect, and this was clear proof of that claim. Wordlessly, they decided they would simply present the matter to the City Lord instead. Ningguang, for her part, was simply relieved they had arrived in time. Had the fight continued, her second and final sealing bracelet might have shattered, and she doubted she would have survived the remainder of the journey. Wanxia quickly caught the swaying Ningguang, and Fēnghuǒ offered both of them a place on his mount.

The ride to the city wall was swift. There, the City Lord himself stood with a dozen other cultivators, all keeping watch beyond the walls.

“We greet the City Lord,” Ningguang and the others said in unison. The City Lord’s attention, however, remained fixed outward.

“Ah, there you are.” It was Danxing who greeted them instead. “First of all, I would like to apologize for not telling any of you beforehand. Hánméi is fine.”

He sent over a familiar hexagonal mirror, the same one Huiran had once used for peeping. Within its surface appeared the room where Hánméi was recovering. This time, however, there were two beds and two Hánméi figures on opposite sides of the chamber. The dead one vanished along with the illusion that the room had been mirrored. Wanxia and Ningguang were once again reminded of Danxing’s proficiency with Illusion Arts, while the Jiushuang disciples realized they had been thoroughly deceived. Humiliation and rage simmered beneath their expressions, though they dared not show it openly with the City Lord present.

“Now then, since all of you are here, let us fish for the one who is still missing.” Danxing approached Ningguang. “May I borrow the small sun for a moment?”

Ningguang nodded and retrieved the sun in its jar from her storage ring, handing it over. Danxing then projected one of his weapons, though this one was different from those he usually employed. His typical weapons were slimmer, with two parallel rails at the front. This one was bulkier, featuring three cubic extensions on either side and a single long circular barrel instead of rails. Then he slotted the small sun on the other end of the weapon.

“So in the end, he didn’t take the offer,” Danxing remarked as he took aim.

“Of course he didn’t. What sane person would?” Huiran replied as though it were obvious.

“Ready?” Danxing asked. Huiran nodded. With a snap of his fingers, a solid black chain materialized. Huiran seized it and pulled with all his strength.

“Auf Wiedersehen.”

For a single flash, the world turned bright red.

—

Some distance away from Liu’an City, Qianxue and Jiying came to a stop. She still could not believe how conveniently the express permit had fallen into her hands. She had used everything at her disposal. From subtly drugging Wanxia to make her more suggestible, to spraying poison into the soup the girl had prepared. The former had been meant to convince Wanxia to hand over the permit under the pretense of gathering spiritual herbs for Hánméi’s recovery. By now, the latter should already be dead, and Wanxia would bear all the blame.

If Qianxue was fortunate, her fellow disciples would press Ningguang hard enough in defending Wanxia that the remaining sealing bracelet would shatter and kill her as well. Qianxue held no personal grudge against Wanxia. If anything, she pitied her. It was clear the girl had only been raised as a cultivator to serve Ningguang. Whether she died at the hands of her own sisters or was imprisoned by the City Lord was of no concern. And if she somehow survived, Elder Gūyuè would undoubtedly make her suffer before ending her life. Wanxia had only her own circumstances and karma to blame.

Jiying quickly set up a hasty concealment array around them, clearly impatient to restore his missing arm. He had harbored some doubt when Qianxue first contacted him, but everything appeared to have gone smoothly. He had been greatly surprised earlier when a letter suddenly appeared on the table of his hiding place. A letter from the same Xuan who had taken his right arm. It claimed that if he returned the Liuli, the Xuan would reattach the limb. But who would be foolish enough to walk into such an obvious trap? No one in their right mind would trade the priceless Liuli for a severed arm, especially one that had been separated for so long. Even if reattached, it would inevitably be inferior.

Jiying then withdrew the Liuli from his storage ring. Immediately, boundless sacred Qi blossomed outward. The surrounding land was blessed in an instant, flowers and fruit-bearing shrubs sprouted at a rapid pace, and trees bore fruit out of season. Qianxue’s eyes, however, flashed with unrestrained greed, blinding every other sense.

“I invoke the oath you swore to me. Help me use the Liuli’s Qi to regrow my arm,” Jiying said with severe intensity.

Qianxue could only grit her teeth. She had already sworn a Heart Demon Oath and was bound to fulfill it. Yet an idea formed in her mind. The Thousand Buddha’s Liuli of Lingshan was famous for its power to dispel even Heart Demons. If she could simply seize the artifact and flee…

She held out her hand to receive the Liuli. The moment it left Jiying’s grasp and entered hers, the world flashed red.

Both of their eyes widened in horror. Jiying’s remaining left arm was blasted cleanly from the shoulder. The sharp scent of burnt ozone mixed with the stench of molten flesh and blood. Before either of them could react, the express token floated, turning into black chain wrapped tightly around the arm Qianxue used to hold the Liuli. In the next instant she was yanked off the ground and pulled rapidly back toward the city.

Qianxue tried to break free, but the sheer force of the pull had already dislocated her arm and nearly torn it from the socket, making any resistance almost impossible. Before she fully understood what was happening, she crashed painfully onto the city wall.

PSSSHHH!

The sharp sound of steaming air made her look up. The City Lord and dozens of city guards stood above her, looking down. The Liuli was still clutched in her hand. More importantly…

“Sister Qianxue?”

All of her fellow disciples were there as well.

With no time to think, Qianxue immediately tried to flee, throwing the Liuli to the ground as a distraction. It was a futile effort. Her right arm was torn cleanly from the shoulder, and the Liuli flew straight into the City Lord’s waiting hand. The guards seized her at once and began dragging her away.

“Damn. I missed,” came an oddly out-of-place complaint from the direction of the steaming air. The Xuan stood there holding some kind of rod-like weapon. The cubic extensions near its end had expanded outward, glowing a molten bright orange as they vented excess heat.

Qianxue realized then that it had been him all along. He had held her completely in the palm of his hand. She opened her mouth to spit out a curse, but a guard immediately sealed it shut with a silencing talisman and dragged her toward the city’s prison.

—

“What do you mean you missed?” Wendao asked in surprise.

“Well, unlike my other weapons, I actually knew this one existed beforehand. So I ended up needing to compensate quite a bit here,” I explained. Laser weapons had never been practical for infantry back home due to the bulky power capacitors they required. It was easy enough to mount them on spaceships, which had proper power systems, but miniaturizing them for personal use had never been a priority when handheld railguns already existed. This prototype had been created by altering the Particle Cannon schematic from The Heavenly Golden Arrays, converting the particle projector into a high-intensity light projector.

“Still, I took his left arm. I suppose he won’t be doing much thieving for a while with no arms left.” I decided to count it as a win.

Then the City Lord stepped up beside me. He looked up at me, his earlier anger having fortunately subsided. “Never attempt this kind of plan again.”

We nodded. While the plan had worked, it was clear he thoroughly disliked it. Especially the part where I had counterfeited one of his express permits. I pulled the small sun out of the prototype laser cannon and returned it to Ningguang.

“Once again, I apologize for not telling you beforehand.”

She accepted the sun jar… then promptly kicked me in the shin. This was no playful tap. It was a real kick, infused with Qi.

“Ow.” I took a step back, only for Wanxia to immediately kick the other shin.

“Why are you two doing this?” I rubbed both shins as the two of them swiftly walked away. Fēnghuǒ, meanwhile, escorted the remaining Jiushuang Sect disciples away for questioning.

“Tsk tsk tsk.” Huiran clicked his tongue. “It would seem our young master is still inexperienced when it comes to dealing with a woman’s heart.”

~ Valarion