by Tony Tran
“Is that so.” Su Rou said as she contemplated how to deal with the current situation because these next few words that come out of her or Kuai Liang ’s mouth could result in their deaths. If placed in such a predicament most people would freeze up or start stuttering but as leaders of their respective families, these two were carefully concocting plans that may help them get out of their situation.
“Our backer wishes for the other three aristocratic families to disappear.” The other masked person who sat at the table said. From her voice one could tell that she was a woman who is fairly young.
Hearing this both Su Rou and Kuai Liang ’s eyes glittered as relief appeared on their faces. If these six were against the other three families then the term, the enemy of my enemy is my friend would come into play. But they still could not be sure if the words that the masked woman said could be trusted, because that would have been a ruse to get them to admit that they were plotting against the other families in the alliance.
“My lords we do not possess the power to even consider standing up to the other families so why approach us?” Kuai Liang asked trying to get the masked men to speak.
“All our backer wants from you is that after the other families are gone then your two families are to absorb influence and stabilize the province. Of course, your full cooperation is required.” The masked woman said.
“If you can give information and cooperate with us in eliminating the other three families then you would be free of their oppression. Atop of that as long as you remain loyal to the provincial lord afterward, you’ll be the two strongest forces in the province.” The mask man added to what the woman had said.
“I’m willing to cooperate.” Su Rou said, although she did not know if these people actually meant what they were saying or not, she decided that what they were saying was too good to turn down and even if she turned them down and remained at the bottom of the alliance, the other families may still set out to eliminate her family. So, when placed between two roads that may lead to destruction she decided to pick the road in which she had at least a tiny bit of control. Also, if these people meant what they were saying, then delaying her answer would do no good.
“If your onboard then I am also.” Kuai Liang as he patted Su Rou’s back in a fatherly manner.
“But first I would like to ask that you take over your masks and reveal your faces to us. I don’t feel
that we can properly cooperate until we at least know who we are working with.” Su Rou said as she eyed the two-masked people in front of her.
“Fair enough.” The masked man said as he took off the black cloth that covered his face, revealing the face of a handsome young man who gave off the air of a scholar.
Following the handsome scholarly man, the masked woman who was seated beside him took off her mask also, revealing a face that could make nations fall. Soon the four who were standing by the entrance of the tent removed their masks also, revealing dashing and beautiful faces also.
“Is this a gathering of beautiful people or something?” Kuai Liang thought as her gaze shifted from person to person.
Once the masks were removed, the four-people seated at the table began talking about how they should go about eliminating the other aristocratic families.
Chapter 25: Qilin's Pass
Today the citizens of New Moon City looked back at the city that they had called home a few days ago, as they filed out of the fort that Ran Kaitou had erected. Today they would set out on their journey to where a new, New Moon City would be constructed. Bidding farewell to their homes, everyone began the first leg of the trip.
In the dead of night, Zhang, his wives and every single man and woman that were under their command; vanished without a trace. As the moving progressed, Ran Kaitou was too busy managing the civilians, that he did not realize that his superiors had vanished. Thus, Zhang, the three beauties, and their subordinates were able to go off on their own adventure, without causing a delay.
Civilians were placed in the center, while the five aristocratic families split up their forces and took up the rear and front guard. Ran Kaitou’s men were stationed on the sides to ensure that if someone attacked, or some unwanted situation arises; the civilians would be safe.
As the journey continued, thousands of carts and many more pairs of feet, headed for the southern region of the province. To give an insight into the amount of people travelling, as the group progressed, lush fields turned into trampled road, and wide paths were cut through the forest; they were reshaping the landscape with every step they took!
“Uncle do you think this is a wise choice?” Su Rou asked Kuai Lan, as she took one last look at the place that she had been calling home for many years.
“What defines a wise choice, is something one does not know until the very end. But there is one thing I know, and that is the time we spend contemplating on our choices is better spent on other things.” Kuai Lan replied with a smile.
“But if this fails, then it might be the end of us and our families.” Su Rou said in a worried voice.
“That is where you are wrong my niece, if one is clever enough, then they can get away with anything. Regardless of the outcome, as long as we are clever enough, we can make it out of anything.” Kuai Lan said in a reassuring tone.
“Then let’s hope we are clever enough uncle. Or at the very least, let’s hope that our accomplices are.” Su Rou said with a slight smile.
“Our men should have arrived at their destination by now, all we have to do now is wait for the signal.” Kuai Lan said looking into the distance.
Although no one noticed, a good portion of men from the Su and Kuai families had disappeared late in the night, just like Zhang’s men. Due to the number of people in the expedition and how chaotic things were, a thousand or so people disappearing wasn’t very noticeable.
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“Sweetheart, are you sure you don’t want to join this fight?” Ling said as she gazed afar at the countless people swarming their way toward the south.
“We can’t leave any clues as to who we are, so none of us will be using any magic.” Zhang replied with a grin, as he sat down beside Ling; who was sitting at the edge of a cliff.
Ran Kaitou had mapped out a path for the expedition with the fastest possible speed, and with consideration to the size of the group. This would take them to where the new capital of the province was to be built.
If they took the path that Zhang had taken to arrive at New Moon City, then it would take nearly double the time despite not taking and detours, this was because the dense forests that they had to pass would be too narrow for the large number of wagons and carriages that were a part of the expedition.
Some would think that this problem could easily be solved by cutting down trees and enlarging the paths in the forests, but doing so would also require a lot of time and manpower, which could possibly end up taking longer than using the alternative route than detouring around the forest.
This detour just so happened to pass a place called, The Qilin’s Pass. Zhang had deemed that this pass was the best place to enact his plans. This was because the pass was only wide enough for seven or eight carriages to pass side by side at once. What this meant was that the three aristocratic families who were at the forefront of the expedition would be the only ones crossing the pass for a while.
Now that they had the cooperation of the Su and Kuai families, they could simply get rid of the other three aristocratic families This was as long as they make it seem like they were not involved at all as this could possibly deter people from surrendering in the future.
“Do you guys know why this place is called the Qilin’s Pass?” Zhang asked his wives who were all sitting beside him.
“I’m sure it has something to do with Qilins. Maybe one used to live around here or something?” Ai said with a chuckle.
“You’re sort of right.” Zhang said as he began recalling the sto
ry he had heard from one of the residents of New Moon City. In fact, if one asked anyone who lived in the New Moon Province then they’d be able to tell the same story.
“Countless years ago, before the Sai Empire was formed, and when the land that would be called the Warring States Region, was controlled by two rival kingdoms. A war that was said to end all wars, occurred here. But when this war occurred the Qilin’s pass was known as Mt. Wutai.” Zhang said.
“Of course, this name would change after a certain event occurred here. On a day, much like today, the two rival armies that controlled the land met face to face. Rows upon rows of spears and swords stood in line as the two armies prepared to engage in combat. On one side of the battle field, a newly crowned king stood in front of their loyal soldiers, while on the other side of the battlefield a newly crowned queen stood in front of her loyal soldiers; both waiting for the other to make a move. Battles such as this one had occurred countless times, although both sides pledged that each battle would be the battle where they annihilate their enemy and unite the land, no matter how hard they fought the two sides were too evenly matched for a victor to arise.”
“For many generations, the two kingdoms fought and killed countless people, but this battle would mark the end of the war. No one knows which side initiated the war, but countless arrows blotted out the sky and the flumes from the burned corpses were said to raise all the way to the heavens.”
““Kill them all! I’ll offer their blood to my royal father who is looking at us from heaven!” The newly crowned king roared. The previous king had recently fallen in battle; however, he did not fall alone. That is because upon his death he had taken down the king of the other kingdom with him.”
“Once the two previous kings had fallen in battle, their two only children, one a young man and the other a young woman filled their places.”
“On the opposite side of the battlefield the newly crowned queen was cutting down every enemy in her path. The objective of the two armies was to capture Mt. Wutai. Whoever captured this mountain could erect a fortress on it, which would give them a strategic location to invade the other kingdom.”
“Both sides had deemed long before, that this battle would be perhaps the bloodiest battle that would occur in the entire war, but none of them would be prepared for what happened. The opposing armies interlocked and mixed with each other in bloody combat, but this all stopped with a blinding light that shone through the dark clouds that loomed over head. All of the killing and fighting ceased, as everyone’s attention was focused to the skies. From behind the curtain of clouds an inky black Qilin descended.”
“Foolish humans who plague the earth and no naught but violence. If you wish for violence I will show you violence that you’ve never seen before. The Qilin said.”
“After saying the words, it did, a beam of white light shot out of its mouth and rained down upon the soldiers below. Not even moments had passed before thousands of soldiers were burnt to dust, the armies were decimated and the terms ally and enemy no longer applied.”
“The aftermath of the Qilin’s attack was complete annihilation of the two armies. However, as if by heaven’s will, the newly crowned king and the newly crowned queen both survived. By a stroke of luck the two of them were somehow spared. Once these two returned to their respective kingdoms, a treaty was formed and peace was instilled.”
“The Qilin single attack had destroyed the mountain and carved this pass into the ground?” Ai asked as Zhang finished telling the story.
If one thought about how far the pass stretched from side to side, the thought of a single attack creating it by anything was unimaginable. The pass stretched dozens of miles, and was hundreds of feet tall, so if the Qilin truly carved it out of a mountain, then the power behind its attack was breathtaking.
“My lord, the expedition has arrived.” A masked man dressed entirely in black reported to Zhang while bowing on one knee.
“Good let’s head out.” Zhang said as he pulled up a black piece of cloth that hung around his neck and covered his face. Once his face was covered, Zhang fastened a rope made of spider silk around his waist. All around him and the beauties were hundreds of masked people dressed in black, who were fastening silk drops to their bodies.
“I’ll see you all at the bottom.” Lingqi said as she tossed down a few dozen bottles filled with liquids of various colors before jumping off the ledge of the cliff. Soon to join her were the hundreds of masked people, along with the rest of the beauties and Zhang.
Down below, the Tao clan and the other two aristocratic families were making their way through the Qilin’s pass. They were the only ones currently in the pass due to the number of carriages and belongings they had, thus, traveling through the pass was taking very long.
“How much longer until we reach the other side?” Tao Qian said impatiently.
“My lord we should be at the exit in about fifteen minutes at our current pace.” One of Tao Qian’s men said, as he spoke through the flap of cloth that covered the entrance into Tao Qian’s carriage.
The moment the man finished his sentence, the sound of shattering glass rang into everyone’s ears. Soon a trail of white smoke drifted its way into the carriage, causing Tao Qian to cough uncontrollably.
Had Tao Qian been outside, then he would have been able to witness the sight of hundreds of black clothed people bungeeing off the side of a cliff.
Descending into the smoke, Zhang withdrew a flare from his interspatial ring and shot it into the air, signaling the men from the Su and Kuai family, and his men stationed atop the cliff near the entrance to the pass.
Once the signal was given, Zhang’s men at the entrance of the pass would bungee down from the cliffs, and the men from the Su and Kuai family would rush into the pass from the other side.
The people from the three aristocratic families that were in the Pass were trapped and being slaughtered left and right. Blending into the white smoke, the black clothed people cut down one person after the next.
While disarray ensued, Zhang was storing away one cart full of treasure after the other. While looting the three aristocratic families, he of course, was also looking for Tao Qian. He thought if anyone was going to kill him, then he might as well be the one to do it.
By now Tao Qian had crawled out of his carriage and was surrounded by dozens of his guards. All around him, people were dropping one after the other, like flies. Hundreds of rivers of blood, were bleeding through the land to beneath the sole of his shoes, as he tried to find a way to escape.
“Quickly! Get me out of here!” Tao Qian screamed.
“Ri-right away my lo…” One of his men tried to say, but before he could finish his sentence, blood gushed out of a hole left in his throat by someone’s dagger.
Zhang’s subordinates were like specters that came and went as they pleased, leaving a trail of blood and death in their wake. To Tao Qian’s horror, after a few breaths the dozens of men who were guarding him were all laying on the ground in a pool of their own blood.
In a mix of emotions consisting mainly of fear, Tao Qian spotted a familiar face in the chaotic crowd. A goddess like beauty was making her way toward him, through the trials of white smoke that rose into the sky.
As he spotted Lingqi, a burning pain emanated from his arm. Looking down he could see a trail of blood streaking the sleeve of his robes.
“Save me! Save me!” He yelled as he ran toward Lingqi. He totally forgotten to question as to why she was even there, as the only thing that was going through his mind was the fact that she was a doctor, and that she could possibly help him.
A smile crept onto Lingqi’s face, as she heard Tao Qian’s words. Her step become brisker as she saw that he was making his way toward her.
“I wonder which potion I should use.” Lingqi thought as Tao Qian inched closer and closer.
However, the smile on her face turned to a frown as she caught sight of Zhang approaching from behind Tao Qian, with swords in hand. A s
mile was on his face, as he looked not at Tao Qian but Lingqi.
“You want to compete with me?” She muttered as a smile once more crept onto her face and large needles were withdrawn from her interspatial ring.
Chapter 26: Unexpected
Zhang’s eyes glinted as he spotted Lingqi charging toward Tao Qian, although he did really care if he would be the one to kill Tao Qian or not, he found it enjoyable to compete against Lingqi. Thus, he quickened his pace and moved in for the kill at lightning speeds.
“Darling! You're not going to beat me this time.” Lingqi yelled as two large needles shot out from her hand at unbelievable speed. Despite her cultivation being only at the fifth level, which is rather low compared to the other three beauties, this didn’t matter because anyone who was hit by her attacks would surely die.