V13 Chapter 76 – You Can’t Save Them All

Sen looked around briefly after he walked through the city gate. He was not impressed by what he saw. The people in view all looked haggard and underfed. That went as much for the soldiers as it did for the common people. His eyes flicked for a moment to an alleyway. The mortals wouldn’t have noticed it, but his enhanced vision made it all-too-easy to see the starved faces of street rats. Beaten by the world as they were, they were still children. And children are curious, thought Sen. They were trying to get a look at the cultivators and soldiers the same way he’d once hidden in an alley and tried to get a look at Master Feng. Much like him with Master Feng, they had little chance of escaping his notice. There were priorities to attend to first, though.

“Chou Dai Lu,” he said.

Though she did her best to disappear into the background, she knew the role of a good disciple in situations like this. It was simple enough if not always easy. Her role was to be nearby and serve as a willing set of hands for his will. She appeared next to him almost instantly.

“Yes, patriarch.”

“I don’t want the former king to start getting ideas above his station. It could lead to confusion during the battle. Take a few of my guards, Xu Xiao Dan, and some soldiers to the castle. Help the king find his way off that throne and to a nice, quiet room.”

“Me?” asked the startled woman.

Sen gave her a level look and asked, “Is this task beyond your abilities?”

Chou Dai Lu paled but shook her head fiercely.

“No, Lord Lu!”

“Then be about it,” he said before looking at the cultivators who served as his guard. “Three of you, go with her. I expect her to be returned to me without a scratch. Xu Xiao Dan.”

“Yes, Lord Lu?” said the elder cultivator.

“If any nascent soul cultivators at the palace start getting the idea that they have anything to say, correct that thinking.”

“It will be as you say, Lord Lu.”

Sen watched for a brief moment as that small group strode away toward the center of the city. Chou Dai Lu and Xu Xiao Dan would probably have been enough all by themselves, but his disciple still had confidence problems. That would require some correction, but this wasn’t the time for that. The street rats had forgotten themselves, it seemed. When he let his eyes move that direction again, he saw small faces peeking out into plain view of everyone. Not that he thought the mortals were going to spare the orphans any thought, but he didn’t want them getting caught up in fighting near the walls.

“Misty Peak,” he said under his breath. “There isn’t time to gather everyone up, but task your people to encourage the children near the wall to head deeper into the city.”

“That soft heart of yours,” whispered the fox-woman, who was invisible behind an illusion. “We won’t reach them all.”

He couldn’t decide if her tone was chiding or just exasperated. Nor did he especially care at that moment. If he didn’t look after the welfare of those children, he knew for a fact that no one else would. They didn’t deserve to die because they lived in an alley near the walls. He also knew she was right. The city wasn’t as big as his capital city, but it was more than big enough that they’d never reach all those homeless children.

“Do what you can,” he conceded.

“Yes, Lord Lu,” she whispered.

He was sure that there was a hint of gentle mockery in her voice that time. Oh well, he could chide her for it later. Then again, she might actually enjoy that. Maybe it was better to just let it go. Sighing at how complicated his life was, he activated his qinggong technique and appeared right in front of the street rats. A few of them stumbled back, but most just stared up at him with huge eyes. They were all so young. There couldn’t be one of them older than ten years old. His heart ached at the sight. You can’t save them all, he told himself as firmly as he could.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from NovelPhoenix. Please report it.

“There’s going to be a battle at the wall very soon,” he told the children. “It won’t be safe here. Head deeper into the city. Spread the word.”

Then, to give them an incentive to do as he said, he summoned apples from a storage ring and tossed one to each of the children. They lost interest in absolutely everything for the minute it took most of them to devour the fruit. When they finally remembered that a cultivator was standing there, a few of them started to shrink back. He just shook his head and pointed toward the inner part of the city.

“Go on.”

The children shuffled a little before the oldest did his best to give Sen a martial bow. It was so bad it might have been funny on some less grim day.

“Thank you, Master Cultivator?” squeaked the boy.

“Lord Lu,” he gently corrected, only remembering at the last possible moment not to call himself Sen.

That would only lead to trouble later. Trouble for them.

“Thank you, Lord Lu,” said the boy with a little more confidence.

With a few words and gestures, the boy gathered the other children and led them away. Sen let himself watch them for a few seconds before he tore his eyes away. He couldn’t let these distract him for long, much as he might want to. He turned back to where the generals and cultivator leadership were standing. They were all watching him. Most of them had gotten used to this kind of thing from him, but some of the cultivators just couldn’t seem to grasp it. Sen found that incomprehension troubling and a little sad. No one should find the very idea of minor kindnesses baffling. Still, he was well beyond explaining this issue to people. If they couldn’t understand his interest, that was ultimately their problem. They would still obey when he ordered them to help those children later.

“General Hu, send a runner to the palace. Have them retrieve any generals that might be cowering there. We need information about whatever passes as this city’s defenses before we can deploy the army to best effect.”

“Already done, Lord Lu,” said the general.

“Good. Song Lan, these walls are in terrible condition. Disperse the earth cultivators to reinforce the worst parts. Have the formation masters and talisman masters join me. I want to discuss how to distribute the surprises we’ve all been making.”

“Yes, Lord Lu,” said the former Matriarch.

Sen was about to continue when he picked up on a powerful burst of qi from about where the palace should be located. He traded a look with Song Lan.

“I guess someone isn’t very smart,” she said with a shake of her head. “Well, Xu Xiao Dan knows how to deal with the unruly.”

“And what would you like me to do?” asked Master Feng, who lowered himself next to Sen on a qi platform.

Sen thought that over for a moment before he said, “Flying spirit beasts are always troublesome. Would you like to go convince any that are flying around that now is a good time to start their next lives?”

Master Feng gave Sen a smile so cold that the chill threatened to take up residence in Sen’s bones.

“I think that’s an excellent use of my talents,” said the elder cultivator.

“Just don’t wear yourself out too much. We’ll need you later when the real fighting is happening.”

Master Feng just gave a snort of amusement and flew off.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to just turn him loose on the spirit beasts like that?” asked Song Lan.

“I think it’s probably a better idea than leaving him with nothing to do while there are all those enemies out there.”

“What if he gets overwhelmed?”

Sen stared at the woman in total confusion before he said, “Oh, that was a joke. Sorry.”

The look on Song Lan’s face suggested it hadn’t been a joke, but she didn’t pursue the point. Sen turned his attention back to General Hu. He almost started giving more orders until he remembered that this man wasn’t incompetent.

“Is there anything else we should be doing while we wait for this city’s generals to arrive?”

General Hu just shook his head.

“I’ve already dispatched people to take control of the gates. I don’t imagine anyone here is insane enough to open the gates for the spirit beasts, but there’s no reason to take chances.”

Sen frowned as he thought about how well this confrontation had been set up. The general might not be worried about traitors in the city, but Sen was. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a way to spot them on sight. His life would have been so much easier if he did. He’d just have to trust that there weren’t enough of them to destroy his army’s chance at victory. Before he could spend too much time worrying about that, a small group of cultivators approached him. They didn’t look happy to see him, which he couldn’t really blame them for. He'd been working the formation masters and talisman masters hard lately. They’ll have some time to rest after this, thought Sen. Assuming we survive.