Twelve
Ash blinked.
Blinked then looked around at everyone around him, wondering if this was some sort of strange introduction by execution thing. The world of Cultivators was strange and wide with anything and everything being possible under the heavens.
To rule out an execution as an introduction was admitting you weren’t creative enough.
Except when he looked around to everyone around he saw absolute shock and surprise written across everyone’s features. There were no looks at all of anyone who seemed to be expecting this.
“That… the Alliance Strategist… he’s dead,” whispered Qiao, staring at the corpse wide eyed.
Alliance Strategist.
Okay, so that wasn’t an execution, wasn’t expected, and this is outside of expectations.
What do you think, Locke?
There was no response from Locke.
Now that Ash was thinking about it, he couldn’t hear the Divine Brides and their eternal praying, either. Nor the quiet whispers of people invoking his name here and there as they Cultivated or asked for help.
It was dead silent to Ash and his senses.
A shocking situation to be sure as he’d never truly been alone in a very long time.
Perhaps more so than the fact that someone had just been burned inside out on the stage.
A man had appeared just before the Strategist was set on fire. One that Ash had discounted as just an assistant, but now that he focussed on him, Ash realized he knew the man.
One couldn’t deny that he was traditionally handsome. Both for this culture, and to Ash’s modern sensibilities. His features were delicate, he had clear brown eyes, and long light-brown hair. His build was athletic though somewhat slim, and by and bye unassuming.
His height was more or less average as well.
It was Shen himself.
The very Cultivator Ash beat in a duel when he was new to Cultivating.
As well as the same man who harmed Hui so much that she quite literally had a break from her personality and mind for a while. She’d come back to who she had been as a person for the most part, but not entirely.
Even her Dantian had been half maimed, dead really, from his actions. Her one request to assisting Ash was him killing Shen and putting his heart on a plate for her.
Which he genuinely thought she might eat, at that point.
“Hello! I am Shen,” Shen called out, his voice booming easily. Pure white and blue flames were slowly roiling back and forth across Shen’s shoulders and head. “I’m the Orthodox Alliance Leader now. If you want to fight me for it, fine. Come up, we’ll fight. If not, I’m the leader. If you want to fight me for killing that whiny assistant, fine, come up.
“If you all want to fight me at the same time, fine. Come up. I don’t mind. Just don’t be surprised that I go for nothing but lethal moves.
“Oh, it should be said… I killed the Alliance Leader. And the junior leader. And… well, his whole Assembly. The Strategist was the last one because I needed to introduce myself appropriately.”
Shen stood there, radiating power and menace. He seemed quite happy with himself and Ash didn’t believe for a second that the man would be bothered with attacking everyone here.
Which was why when he got his wish, Ash turned and looked to his own Assembly instead. The grand-stands and audience all flew at Shen for the most part. Half of his own Assembly had fled their seats as well, moving straight toward Shen.
“His Qi will burn your Qi out of you!” Ash shouted even as his Assembly peers ran forward. Though the Healing Hall leader stopped. Stopped, turned, and looked at Ash. “He’s a monster. His ability is to ignite the Qi in you. I don’t what it burns, or why, but it burns.”
Ash looked to Shen even as he began laying about himself with a whip made out of his Qi. It quickly got caught up in two different people as others attacked him.
Those who were struck, immediately caught fire and started to burn from the inside out. The one that was struck second burned even brighter than the first, as if he were made of a better fuel.
“Burns them?” asked madam Tan, looking from Ash to her grand-daughter, and then back. She did something with her hands, then took Qiao by the wrist, and began hustling her away.
Ash didn’t hesitate and went to follow her quickly.
Before they’d made it halfway down the stands toward the aisle, the rest of the Assembly returned. As if madam Tan had somehow notified them to not fight.
As a whole, the Assembly quickly hustled out and away from the ongoing battle. There were booms of Qi explosions, shouts, screams, and the roar of crackling fire through it all.
A din of horror for the ears that Ash didn’t wish to turn around and see.
Shen had upended the entirety of the realm and it seemed he had plans for it. Ash couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been behind the strange deaths that’d been reported earlier, or if it were an unrelated coincidence.
Either could be true.
“There’s others ahead!” shouted madam Tan.
Gritting his teeth, Ash pushed his Qi out, formed the Qi-legs, the sword-like limbs, and launched himself forward. It reminded him of how spiders lept, really.
He felt like he soared forward far faster than he had any right to. Straight at the people who stood in front of them and were blocking the exit.
They were the same guards who had checked Ash and everyone through and into the grounds themselves. It seemed Shen had taken over long before this moment and had been biding his time.
Not waiting, Ash lunged at the guards with his sword-limbs. Rapidly shifting and shaping them even as he swung three of them at one of the guards, and stabbed out at the second with the fourth. Hoping to catch him off guard since it seemed like Ash wasn’t targeting him.
The three attacks failed against the massive man with the ringed saber, though the fourth attack did slip through. Ash felt the jolt when his sword-limb ran the man through the groin area, or just above it really, and came out his backside.
Ripping the limb free and jerking it to the side, Ash felt the man get flung like a ragdoll as Ash braced the launch against the other Qi-legs, then shifting his weight.
Qiao was suddenly there, throwing a handful of small items at the ringed saber guard. Then she jumped at Ash, wrapped herself bodily around his front, and stuck something that was in her hand, in his mouth.
“Chew and swallow! I threw poison!” yelled Qiao even as the large guard went from a normal color, to a red version, then a absolutely pale and partially green faced one. Only to turn, then throw up a massive amount of blood, his entire body convulsing.
Ash rapidly chewed whatever Qiao had given him, put his arms around the young woman, and then swallowed eagerly. He wasn’t about to doubt her in this moment after what he’d just seen.
Madam Tan shot past along with the rest of the Assembly. Ash chased after her but didn’t let his Qi-legs grow too long. He needed to be at roughly roof height and ready to dismiss them if someone came looking.
When he realized everyone was looking at him, Ash retracted the Qi legs and took to running on foot. Only to realize he was still holding Qiao.
He dropped her to the side after holding her gaze for a second and she seemed to realize he was going to put her down. She hit the ground running and matched him stride for stride.
“We need to get out of the city!” yelled madam Tan. “Or at the very worst, we need to—”
Her voice was cut off as a number of what looked to be ordinary citizens jumped atop her and the others in the Assembly. Knives flashed, weapons cleared scabbards, and abilities went off.
A great many of them.
They were quite powerful and their numbers were enough that Ash wouldn’t be able to win cleanly.
Before Qiao could scream, or react, Ash realized what’d happened. The city streets were lined with those who served Shen. This had been planned in advance for a time and this was after the trap had sprung.
Everything was in motion.
It was likely that Shen had helpers on the stage to make sure he didn’t die, as well, and everyone who attacked him, was just putting their neck onto the chopping block.
As he had that thought, Ash realized his Dao hadn’t responded to him. It wasn’t in motion right now and it was quiet.
Dormant.
“They’re escaping!” Ash shouted and pointed at the Assembly members who were even now being attacked. Drowned in bodies, abilities, and weapons.
His logic was simple. He and Qiao were too young to truly be part of an Assembly without being sect heirs. If he could just get them to focus on the rest of the Assembly, even for seconds, he could escape.
Perhaps even with Qiao.
Not waiting, Ash wrapped an arm around Qiao’s waist, dashed into someone’s shop, went right through the displays, and out the other side. Blowing through a door and into an alley.
Looking one way, then the other, Ash pulled at the Hall.
It didn’t respond. He couldn’t access it directly.
Nodding his head, Ash pulled out the Qi-legs, drug himself up to the top of the building, and then forced Qiao down onto her back, and laid down on-top of the roof beside her. He quickly folded his Qi over them into the same shape as the roof originally had. He had to change the height of it a bit, but it wasn’t too hard. He threw in false objects as well, like a barrel, a crate, and a broken broom.
His biggest concern was that it wouldn’t have unique coloring, but the same flat color his Qi always had.
All it needed to do, was hide them long enough that people would stop searching the city.
Or at least, this section of it.
“What?” hissed Qiao.
With a blink, Ash reached over and grasped at the thing that he’d pulled off himself earlier. After going through the gate that thin film had attached itself to him.
Grasping blindly at Qiao, he got a hand full of hair and her shoulder at the same time he found the film. They were in pitch black, covered by his Qi after all. There wasn’t low light, there was no light.
With a tug, he pulled the film free from Qiao and a fluttering glittering thing sparkled to life briefly.
He could see Qiao’s wide mis-colored eyes staring at him from a foot away as whatever it was faded into nothing.
Plunging them back into darkness.
“Grandma,” whimpered Qiao.
“Is… likely dead,” Ash replied. “If she isn’t, we’ll do all we can later. But I guarantee… I guarantee if she could choose between you escaping, or saving her, she’d pick you escaping.”
Qiao began to whimper, sob quietly, and sniffle in the dark.
There was no sound leak from outside of the Qi shell Ash put up. It was dead silent.
No one could hear them, they could hear no one.
Later, Ash would open up small slits, or holes, so they could peek out and see what was going on. This situation was nowhere near over. It was only just beginning.
Hui is gonna be… interesting to handle
Angry or happy, I have no idea which.
No response was forthcoming from Locke.
It didn’t hurt as badly as the time he was in the cave and he couldn’t hear her. He knew that it wasn’t that she was gone, but that he was just cut off. That would be fixed with time and distance from this location.
“I can’t use my storage device,” snuffled Qiao. Sounding a lot like her nose was running, followed by another sniffle and a quiet sob. “None of my artifacts are working.”
“Yeah, none of mine either,” Ash confirmed.
Whatever Shen planned, it was working.
Though Ash’s first thought was simple.
A formation.
Ash had done similar things in similar ways with formations.
“Well, we’ll do what we need to,” Ash murmured, then closed his eyes. There was no point in panicking and realistically speaking, he was best served right now by Cultivating. He’d need all the Qi he could get.
Because the Hall was cut off from him and he wasn’t receiving anything from his people.
At this moment, he had no support to rely on, but himself.
“Grandma,” whispered whimpered Qiao.
Himself and one terrified young woman.
***
Ash and Qiao had lain there, in the dark, for a long while. Ash felt like it had been somewhere near three days, but for all he knew it was only a single day.
It was hard to keep track of time in the dark.
Especially with no food, no drink, and no bathroom. Just talking quietly in the dark to one another and nothing else. Time moved slowly.
Very slowly.
Encased in his Qi and without anything to do as no artifacts or unique objects worked. An endless period of time that was interminable and without reference.
“I think… I’m willing to risk escaping now,” Qiao suddenly whispered. He heard a rustling that sounded like she was turning toward him. “I’m thirsty. I’m a bit hungry, and I’m tired of laying here in the dark. On top of that, I need to use the restroom.”
Ash let out a slow sigh.
He couldn’t fault her for how she felt and honestly he couldn’t even disagree with her. He felt quite similar, if not perhaps worse. He needed to use the bathroom quite bad and he was only thankful that he hadn’t been gassy.
Having gas beside Qiao would’ve been embarrassing to the point of dying.
“Alright,” Ash allowed then took in a slow breath. “Alright. You’re right. It’s been a while. We should probably make a move.”
Chewing at his lip, Ash thought.
He’d been working at how to get away from this for a while. His mind had come up with a simple solution. One that had been inspired by Chunhua and Tala, in fact.
Their response was to immediately burrow into the ground and hide inside the earth. Waiting for him to come to them.
In this case, Ash had a simple plan. Escape their current position, hit the ground, burrow into it, and become a mole. Dig in a direction and escape the city by not being in it at all.
He would become the Lord Sheng, the mole man.
Respect and face be damned. If he needed to commit to the lazy donkey roll, he’d do it.
Survival was always going to be paramount.
Slowly, Ash peeled away several layers of Qi, sliding it back into his own personal reservoir. He hadn’t been gaining it from outside sources, but nor had he been truly losing any. He’d been forced to actually Cultivate while holding his Qi up so that he could gather more, while sheltering them.
If nothing else, this had been a wonderful forced stage of growth.
As Ash peeled away the Qi shield, he found it was noon.
At the very least, they’d been hiding in his Qi bunker for twenty-four hours.
Shifting his head around he looked out through the hole he’d made. Looking one way, then the other. Of course all he could see was sky, but it was better than the dark.
“Let… let me see,” whispered Qiao.
Ash glanced at her, then carefully opened up a similar hole for her, rather than make her crawl over him to see out this one.
“Ah… ah… yes,” she whispered, staring outward. “Yes. I… yes.”
Ash peered out the hole and saw little. He could hear the sounds of a normal day through the hole though. It was faint and odd, likely given that it was a small hole, but it was there.
Listening, it sounded like any other city or location.
A normal day.
He took several slow breaths, letting each one enter and then leave. Thinking, listening, processing.
It could be a trap, it could be nothing, it could be over.
“Are you ready?” Ash asked quietly, turning to look at Qiao. He could see her briefly in the shaft of light coming in through the hole.
“Yes. I’m… ready,” she answered, took in a breath, held it, then let it out. “I do not have my weapons, or my poisons. I have several hidden weapons, throwing weapons, but nothing to truly defend myself with.”
As he thought on that, Ash shrugged and came to a simple thought.
“What kind of weapon do you normally use?” he asked her.
“Poison,” she answered simply.
That wasn’t something he could supply her.
“Martial weapon?” he tired instead.
“A simple sword but… I’m not well versed with it,” she admitted.
Same problem as ever. They rely heavily on everything else, but can’t quite defend themselves physically. Cultivators everywhere suffer this way.
It’s why I make sure everyone actually learns martial arts.
Summoning a simple sword with Qi, Ash handed it over to her. He structure it as best as he could, but it wasn’t a true sword. Once have gave it over to her, it would be weaker than if he were holding it.
“It’s not a true sword but… better than nothing, I suppose,” he told her.
“Give me throwing darts instead,” she replied with a shake of her head, not taking the sword.
Converting the sword to the best aproximation he could do with throwing darts, Ash handed them over to her.
Then he blew out a breath and withdrew the Qi bunk and drew it down into himself. Holding it in thick discs near himself as he didn’t have room to put it back into his Qi-Sea, which was quite full at the moment.
As he did so, he had a stupid thought.
He couldn’t fold or condense his Qi any further in that way.
Yet he could control Qi in a way few could. It was a unique ability to him practically because his Qi was pure and without an element of any sort.
Later, I should see if I can ‘boil’ my Qi down somehow.
Reduce it.
For now though… let’s… get out of here.
Ash stood up and looked around.