Wu Jian returned with Wu Meiying and Zhou Lihua, Hou Jingshu in his arms. Their goal was to bring a stop to the fighting. However, they needn’t have bothered, as the situation when they returned was already over.
“It seems we weren’t needed,” Wu Jian said.
There were a lot of bodies littering the street, but many of them were being lifted and hauled off by a combination of humans and magical beasts. Wu Jian recognized the humans from their robes. They were members of Supreme Ocean Palace.
“We should find someone in charge,” Zhou Lihua said.
“Loong Mei is over this way,” Wu Meiying told them. Her eyes were glowing blue, so she must have been using clairvoyance.
They followed Wu Meiying as she lead them to an area where almost a hundred Divine Moon Hall disciples were kneeling on the ground, bound in chains. Loong Mei was there. She was also arguing with several other people--one of whom was the sect master of Supreme Ocean Palace.
“You cannot just kill these people,” Shui Meili stated. “That is not how we do things here.”
Loong Mei narrowed her eyes. “Do not think you can order me around. I do not listen to anyone who is so much weaker than myself.”
“We are at the same cultivation!”
“And yet, I could still beat you with my eyes closed.”
“What’s going on here?” Wu Jian decided to interrupt.
The two turned to him. Shui Meili’s eyes lit up, but Loong Mei grew concerned when she saw Hou Jingshu in Wu Jian’s arms.
“Is she…?”
“She’s badly injured, but she’ll live,” Wu Jian said. “What’s going on?”
Shui Meili spoke before Loong Mei could. “They want to kill the prisoners they captured from Divine Moon Hall.”
Wu Jian tilted his head. “And what’s wrong with that?”
“What’s wrong with that?” Shui Meili looked almost aghast. “You’d kill those who can no longer fight?”
He shrugged. “If it means preventing future problems, then yes. I don’t know any of these people, but they were part of a group that spent the past several hundred years ruling from the shadows and killing anyone who posed a threat to them. Killing them now would save us future headaches.”
“I knew you would understand,” Loong Mei said.
Shui Meili gestured toward the Divine Moon Hall disciples. “Look at these people. Do they look like they have any fight left in them?”
Wu Jian took a closer look at the men and women. They were being guarded by several members of the dragon and tiger clan, bound in thick chains that glowed with a formation, and there was a look of utter defeat on their faces. Their eyes were dead. It was clear they had completely given up.
He sighed. “We’ll destroy their dantian and allow them to live as normal humans. Will you be satisfied with that?”
Shui Meili nodded. “I am glad to see you still have your morals. While it is true that the strong have the right to call the shots, I do not think that means we should become tyrants ourselves. If we did that, we’d be no better than Zhou Shiwei.”
Loong Mei looked like she wanted to argue, but Wu Jian cut her off. Now was not the time to get into fights like this.
“In that case, I will leave dealing with the prisoners to you. Loong Mei, I need you to gather your clan and find several ingredients.” He summoned a scroll from his storage ring and handed it to her. “These are the ingredients needed to fully heal Hou Jingshu.”
She read through the ingredients, furrowing her brow. “These will be hard to come by… they might take a while for me to get.”
“That’s fine so long as you get them,” he said.
She sighed, nodded, then folded the paper and put it inside of her storage ring. He wondered why she had bothered folding it.
Wu Jian turned to Shui Meili and was about to give her orders even though she probably wouldn’t accept them as a sect master--when a burst of flames appeared on his side. He and the others turned and got ready for a fight. However, what appeared from within the flames was a man.
He was a beautifully androgynous man with features that made it hard to tell his gender at a glance. His hair was the color of fire and descended all the way to his knees. Several orange strands formed something that resembled the crown feathers of a bird. He looked at Wu Jian with his crimson gaze.
“You are coming with me,” he declared.
He tried to grab Wu Jian but wasn’t fast enough. Wu Jian stepped back.
“You do not get to order me around, Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ,” he said. “You are not my master, and I am not so weak that you can just drag me off.”
Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ looked livid, but Wu Jian was not going to put up with this phoenix’s bullshit.
“First, tell me what is wrong,” Wu Jian said.
Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ worked his jaw like he didn’t want to say, but then he glanced all around him and the others. His eyes locked onto Wu Meiying and he sighed.
“I tried to rescue the phoenix who has been trapped in the Xia Dynasty… but there is a barrier that prevents me from using my power. I cannot accomplish this task alone.”
“So you need me to help you. That’s fine. Shuchang was going to the Xia Dynasty to save his sister anyway, and now that my task here is done, I can help him too.” He turned to Wu Meiying and Zhou Lihua. “Can I count on you two to help things here while I am gone?”
“Of course,” Wu Meiying said with a smile. “Just leave everything to me.”
Zhou Lihua nodded with a serious expression. “I will look after Jingshu.”
“Thank you.”
Wu Jian handed Hou Jingshu off to Zhou Lihua, then turned to Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go,” he said, and off they went.
***
Shuchang lay in his cell, wishing the hard stone bed was at least a little more comfortable.
How much time had passed? Dammit, he didn’t know how long it had been since they captured him.
Shortly after returning to the Xaio Continent, he had split ways with Wu Jian and the others to go rescue his sister. He had decided that he couldn’t wait for them to resolve their own problems. Who knew what his father was doing to his sister. By this point, they might have already enacted the ritual to force her into pregnancy.
He would be damned if he let that happen.
Fortunately, that hadn’t happened yet. The phoenix, in its last-ditch effort to save Huo Yulie, had transported her somewhere far away. When Shuchang arrived, she was already long gone and the Phoenix Clan had been searching for her. He had arrived, broken through their home, and been subsequently captured before finding this out.
“Haaaah… if only I hadn’t been so hasty,” he muttered.
Shuchang understood now that he had been acting far too hasty. This was all hindsight, but he was beating himself up over being acting so rashly. He should have listened to Wu Meiying. Now he was imprisoned and there was no telling when his father would find Huo Yulie.
As if his thoughts had summoned the man, his father appeared.
Huǒ Huangdi was a brooding man with a perpetual scowl. Really, he could afford to smile a little more. It might make people think he was actually nice. As things stood, it looked like the man had a stick constantly shoved up his ass.
Though right now, he seemed oddly happy.
That put Shuchang on alert.
“Traitor of the Phoenix Clan, you will be pleased to know that we have found your sister,” Huǒ Huangdi said. Shuchang immediately stood up and made it to the bars. He tried to slam into them, but they released a shock that drained his qi and he stumbled back. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Not only do those bars drain what little qi you have, but the formation etched into your body will prevent you from using qi. Also, you should be rejoicing. The reason I am here is so you can bear witness to your sister’s noble sacrifice.”
“Noble sacrifice?!” Shuchang shouted as he tried to keep on his feet. “There is nothing noble about what you’re doing! What you’re doing is sick, disgusting. You want to force her to get pregnant with the phoenix’s child, and then you plan to insert your soul into her womb. That’s beyond horrendous.”
Huǒ Huangdi scoffed. “I don’t expect you to understand. Our world is changing. The balance of power is shifting, and if I am to protect my nation, I need greater strength. Being reborn as the child of a phoenix will let me ascend to even greater heights and--”
“Ha ha ha haaaaaa…” Shuchang’s laugh interrupted the man. “Do you really expect me to believe that? Do you expect anyone to believe your words? Stop trying to justify the unjustifiable. We both know what you’re real goal is. You’re just a power hungry old man who has reached his limit and wants to become stronger through any means necessary. You disgust me.”
Huǒ Huangdi was silent for a moment. Then he shrugged.
“It seems your opinion will not be swayed. Not that it matters. You two, grab him and follow me.”
Two people entered the cell. One of them he didn’t recognize, but the other was Huǒ Wěndìng, an elder of the clan and his father’s closest advisor. They both grabbed Shuchang by the arms. He wanted to struggle, but he was far too weak. Even if he had the strength to put up a fight, he wouldn’t have been able to take on everyone here and escape. He could, at most, kill Huǒ Wěndìng and the other man, but it would take everything he had and his father was another matter entirely.
“Are you really going to remain loyal to that piece of shit who calls himself a father after everything that’s happened?” Shuchang asked of the elder.
Huǒ Wěndìng smiled sadly. “Perhaps… if I had known earlier what was going to happen, I might have tried to stop him… but now? It is far too late, and I am in too deep to stop now. I am sorry.”
“You’re sorry means absolutely nothing to me. Ashes is all your words are,” Shuchang said bitterly as he was dragged away.
***
Wu Jian followed Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ to the Xia Dynasty. It didn’t take long at all. At their cultivation, flying from one country to another was quick, and they didn’t need to worry about being seen now.
They set down just outside the borders.
“I’ll leave it to you then,” Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ said to Wu Jian, who raised an eyebrow. “Don’t look at me like that. I cannot go any further. They have set up a barrier that drains a phoenix of their strength. Even one as powerful as I cannot enter that carelessly.”
“Is that so?” Wu Jian closed his eyes and reached out. “I can’t feel anything.”
“Because you are not a phoenix.” Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ rolled his eyes. “Anyway, deal with this problem and I shall give you a reward that is commensurate with your task.”
“All right. Sure,” Wu Jian said as he stepped past the phoenix and into the Xia Dynasty. He didn’t feel any changes himself, but if the barrier was meant specifically for a phoenix, than that made sense.
Flying into the air, Wu Jian made a beeline for the capital. As he got closer to Heavenly Chengshi--the Xia Dynasty capital--he finally realized that Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ was right. The capital was glowing. It was only now that he saw it glowing that Wu Jian realized the capital and surrounding towns and villages were all shaped to create a massive formation.
I should hurry, he thought as he put on a burst of speed and raced through the sky.