Moira’s wing kept him upright, but her firm, strong arm, slid around his waist and pulled him closer.
“You’re still hurt,” Moira said.
“Yeah, I am,” Ash said with a wince. He could feel the strain on his freshly mended bones when he’d almost fallen. “I needed to get out, though. Needed to talk to Gen.”
“Yes, you’ll be forced to lead and guide us, but there are those around you that you can rely on,” Moira said, her fingers gripping his robe now. “As your lover, you may rely on me. You may also rely on Mei, as she has thrown herself entirely into your sphere.
“You can also utilize Na and Yue.”
“Heh. Not Jia or Tala, hm?” Ash asked. He didn’t bother to feign strength or stamina, he just leaned on Moira instead.
“No. Neither of them. You’ll need to claim Tala as your lover first. Jia will need considerably more time and her family defeated, I believe,” Moira said. “You could utilize Rou and Chunhua however. I think they are both receptive to you and have only ever seen you as Master Sheng. I would caution that you would need to bed them before relying on them too heavily, however.
“There is a difference in this veil I’ve come to notice between those who are sleeping together and those who aren’t.”
“Oh? And what does that make us, since we’ve been playing bedroom games for a while now?” Ash asked softly.
“Lovers, mates, life-partners. We’re well beyond any casual relationship at this point,” Moira said, and then gave him a radiant smile. “I’m quite fond of our ‘bedroom games’ as you call them. You’re a most attentive lover. Not that I had any experience to begin with, but you care for me and my needs.”
“Uh-huh. And why do you think I’d need to bed them first?” Ash asked, as they crossed in front of the first house after the entrance to Sheng Street. Number one hundred.
Moira pulled her wing from around Ash, pushed on his lower back with her hand and then took a step away from him. She was deliberately forcing him to walk upright and look the part of a proper leader of others.
“This veil is a strange one. Sex signifies a different meaning here, I’ve come to realize,” Moira said, her head moving from the houses to the road being built on the other side. “It’s almost a surrendering of one’s self to the other. It takes a considerable force to break someone out of that, given what I suspect are oaths to one another.
“Like a few of those women who had given themselves to Mr. Stupid. It took the threat of death for them to break from him. I’ve spoken with a few people about that, as well, but I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary either. I suspect it could be because he’s dead.”
Huh. I wonder if there really is something there.
“There is,” Locke immediately offered up. “Most will swear a cultivation bond to one another with harsh penalties for betrayal or the like. When you killed Mr. Stupid, those you stole from him were severed from those penalties before it could really harm them. Both those who might have been sleeping with him and those who didn’t. If anything, they gained from his death.”
That seems… kinda… strange.
“Why? It’s a form of marriage. It’s also rather difficult to maintain a relationship among cultivators I imagine, as time goes on,” Locke said. “What would you do if you found out Mei would never rise above a mid-level Mortal Refiner, but you were destined for the highest of highs, without any ceiling?”
Blinking at that, Ash didn’t have to think very hard.
“Ugh, allow me to rephrase, Chosen One. I realized my error as I spoke,” Locke said. “What do you think someone else would do?”
Oh.
I see.
“And that is the problem. Separations come swiftly and frequently. Sex seems to be far more fluid here, but also restrictive in a way,” Locke said. “Though I could certainly see someone benefiting from a partner going beyond them and severing the tie. One could gain significantly.”
“Master Sheng,” Na said, appearing out of the gloom near the road. She came over at a quick trot to stand at his side. “Welcome home. Do you have any needs I may attend for you? Or would you prefer the company of another I may send to you?”
He knew without asking that Na was propositioning herself, and every single woman in his alliance, for his pleasure.
And he also now understood why so many would throw themselves at him so quickly.
Absolutely bizarre.
“I don’t know. I’m somewhat of a maiden at heart, Na,” Ash said, unable to help himself. “Could you tell me how many of our people have never sworn themselves to another in the bed?”
“Everyone but those we acquired through Bartek and a few others you took on at the plaza. So less than five in total,” Na replied immediately. “It was one of Mei’s conditions for our alliance to accept maidens.”
Raising his eyebrows at that, Ash really didn’t know how to answer.
“She didn’t want to go against your wishes for the few who aren’t. Since you’d recruited them personally, she assumed it wasn’t meant to be questioned,” Na said quickly. “Though I assure you Rou and Chunhua are both unpledged to anyone in the past. As are myself, Mei, Jia, and Yue...”
I didn’t… I didn’t really want to know all that.
Did I?
“You kind of asked, Chosen One,” Locke said. “If you didn’t want to know, you shouldn’t have asked.”
You know what? Fuck you. Go pledge yourself to a toilet.
“I did. I’m stuck here with you. I’m getting fucked constantly without any of the bedroom fun,” Locke replied happily. “Chosen One.”
“He requires nothing,” Moira said. “He’s tired.”
“Ah, I’ll take care of everything then,” Na said and set off at a trot toward his home.
“There, that’ll solve things for the evening,” Moira said. “You should rely on the Handmaiden more. She’s a good concubine.”
“Not a concubine if I never have sex with her, now is she?” Ash grumbled. His mood and humor were so far down in the dumps right now that he was only a few comments away from going apocalyptic.
And maybe only a single comment from Locke away.
“That’d be unfair to her. You promised her servitude for her life. You’ll need to pay that toward her at some point,” Moira said.
Pay it toward her by sleeping with her?
A group of five women was walking together slowly down the street. There was a band on their arm that was yellow and black in coloring.
“Master Sheng,” said the woman in the lead as they passed by him. The group continued to walk along the street in a slow fashion, their eyes and heads moving in many directions.
Uh. What?
Not far ahead of him, Ash could see a second group—very similar to the first—walking in the same direction Ash was.
A third group was much further down, standing at the crossroads from the old road into the district and what was originally Sheng Street.
Patrols.
They’re patrols. Guards.
My guards?
Walking past the next group, Ash turned to look at a few of them to see if he could recognize any.
“Master Sheng,” said the woman at the front.
She was a purple that he’d sworn into his service earlier.
“Welcome home,” she said, giving him a smile and bowing her head to him. Then her head turned and she went right back to watching everything around her.
“Thank you,” Ash murmured, looking straight ahead again.
This all happened while I was sleeping and resting?
Did I miss something?
Reaching the third patrol group—which seemed more like a stationary guard than anything else—Ash was once more greeted. This time he recognized every single person in the group.
Chunhua herself was standing in the center of them.
Her white eyes fastened on him. She gave him a wide smile, but said nothing. Several seconds after, she turned her head
and looked back up the road toward a small group of people that were heading her way.
Moving past house ten, Ash finally made it to his home and found a group of people waiting for him just outside of it.
Jia, Tala, Rou, Mei, and Yue were all standing together. Jia was at the rear of the group, which was interesting. She typically put herself near Mei at all times.
Standing directly opposite from them was a young man.
He appeared to be in his twenties and shared many features with Jia. Going so far as to look almost as feminine as Jia was when she had stopped dressing as a man.
Though he was clearly a man and had dressed as a man would.
“That would likely be her brother,” Locke said. “Or so I would guess from the fact that he’s a Spirit Refiner.”
What?
“Spirit Refiner,” Locke repeated.
Spirit Refiner.
“That’s right. Spirit Refiner. Are you broken? Did you finally crack, Chosen One? Should I be looking for a new host?” Locke asked.
Her brother.
“Clearly you’re broken. Wonderful. Well, this’ll be interesting,” Locke said.
Turning his head toward Ash, the young man broke into a rather wide smile.
“Ah! Hello. You must be Ashley Sheng,” said the man.
“Name’s Ash,” Ash said. Family called him Ashley. This man wasn’t that.
Especially if he was here to collect Jia.
“And you are?” Ash asked, coming to a stop next to Mei.
“Here to take Jia home. Now, if you’d be so kind as to tell her to join me, that’d be fantastic,” said the man. “Otherwise, I will have to take her by force, but only after breaking her ‘toys’ as they are.”
Ash took in a slow breath and contemplated the situation as a whole.
There’s no way we can win, right?
“Ha. No. Not unless there’s something you know that I don’t. But I find that very unlikely. Except perhaps how paint tastes,” Locke said. “Did you eat much of it? Was it crunchy?”
Glancing over to the group of people around Jia, he could see that they were all resistant to the idea of handing Jia over.
Even Yue.
But he could also tell that not one of them had an idea how to resist.
“Well?” asked the man.
“You’d just kill us out of hand, huh?” Ash asked.
“I mean, if that is what it took to bring my beloved sister home, yes,” said the man with a chuckle. “What, did you think you little peasants could keep her here? Goodness.”
Taking in a slow breath, Ash stumbled around blindly in his head trying to figure out a way to make this work.
And got nothing.
As far as he could figure, there really wasn’t anything he could do.
“Gen could fight him. Though I don’t think that would actually solve the problem,” Locke said. “Especially since he’d be forced to let him go, rather than dispose of him.”
Dispose of him.
Dispose of him?
Dispose…
“Jia, would you be broken-hearted if something happened to… him?” Ash asked. The man hadn’t even given Ash his name.
“I… he is my brother,” Jia said. “I would hope he is not killed.”
And that’s partly why you were so upset that I couldn’t beat you in a spar. Because you want me to fight him outright and win.
Well, sorry, princess, but this isn’t how the story goes.
Locke, put him in the damn ring.
“I… I beg your pardon?” Locke asked.
Put-the-douche-bag-in-the-ring.
I can’t make that command any simpler, can I?
“I… well… I… no. No, you can’t. That’d… yes. That’d work. Though he’d have access to all our abilities while he’s in there. I can’t keep him out of the library.
“I can keep him from accessing all our items, but not the library.”
Fine, whatever, ring him. Don’t care.
“Okay, Chosen One,” Locke said. Though this time, there wasn’t the sarcastic tilt to his words.
Jia’s brother simply vanished as if he were never there.
Loot him of everything on him, by the way. No sense in letting him keep anything.
“Already done.”
Nodding his head, Ash made a dismissive gesture at the spot the man had been.
“I cast you aside like a fart in the wind. Poof,” Ash said with a chuckle. Then he started moving toward his front door again. “So much for that stupidity.”
He was tired, worn out, and didn’t want to deal with anyone right now.
Should’ve stayed in bed.
Tired. So very tired.
“Ashley!?” Jia asked loudly, spinning in place. Her hands grabbed at his wrist. “Ashley, what—”
“He’s in the Hall,” Ash said, shaking his head. He didn’t pull away from Jia. Instead, he reached out and patted the back of her hands. “We’ll have to figure out what to do with him, but… I can keep him there indefinitely. We’ll just have to remember to feed him.
“Though… if I’m being perfectly honest… the last time I had to try and remember a pet like this it just kept dying and I had to restart over and over.”
I sucked at keeping Tamagotchi’s alive.
“I… ah… alright. Okay. Feed him, yes,” Jia said, nodding her head.
She let go of him and stood there, more like a statue than a person.
“What? Beating him wasn’t going to solve anything and it wasn’t like I had a chance,” Ash said with a shrug of his shoulders. “So I banished him to the land of wind and shadows.
“Well, the Hall, really. But whatever.”
Mei suddenly started laughing, putting her hands on her hips. She looked like it was the best joke she’d heard in quite a while. Her laughter only growing in volume by the second.
Ash didn’t want to bother with anything anymore. Instead, he turned around and opened the door to his home.
His day was long since done.
Inside his ring, Jia’s brother raged at the world and broke everything he could.
Which simply instantly repaired itself, since it was just a projection.
Where he was, nothing actually existed with any substance.
Except him.
Sixteen
Rou laid a hand to Ash’s cheek and peered into his eyes from a few inches away.
Then she let out a short breath and nodded her head.
“You’re doing much better now,” she said, as she leaned away from him. “I’d say you’re certainly well enough to do whatever you need to, starting tomorrow.
“Today, you’ll rest. Your little escape and journey yesterday wore you down.”
“Rou, I’m going to do what I want and—”
“Stay-in-this-home,” Rou said firmly. Letting her hand fall from his cheek, she stared at him. Her gaze was firm.
“Listen, little Healer,” Ash growled. “If I want to leave, I’m going to leave. I’m fine and I’ll—”
“No,” Rou said simply. Then she put her hands on her hips. “And if I have to fight you to make that happen, so be it. But we both know you couldn’t respond to me attacking you without hurting me. And you won’t do that.”
Ash glared at the woman. There was no way he was going to stay in this house all day today. It was barely sunrise and he was already feeling claustrophobic.
He wanted to dare her to try to stop him, to even think it, but he couldn’t.
Because ultimately, she was right.
Rou was precious for her skills, but also because of her attitude. She was a determined and dedicated woman to the alliance as well.
“Well? I’m telling you to stay in the house today,” Rou said. “You said you’d move the heavens and the earth for me.
“Well? Move them. Bend your pride to my demand, thank me for my services, and ask me to come check on you tomorrow.”
Shocked by the statement, Ash stood stone-stil
l, staring back at Rou.
Realizing that not only had she spoken the truth to him, but that she was right and he was being somewhat childish, Ash let out a slow breath.
Bending low at the waist, he bowed deeply to Rou.
“You’re right, Healer Rou. I shall move the heavens and the earth for you,” Ash murmured, facing the ground. “Thank you for your healing arts and kind care. Please come back and check on me tomorrow and give me your tender services.”
“Stop it,” Rou hissed, her hands pulling at his shoulders and standing him up straight. Allowing himself to be moved, Ash stood back up, looking at the surprised Healer. “Goodness, I didn’t—well, you’re welcome. Of course, I’ll come back. I’ll always come back.”
Rou blushed a color that matched her natural hair color.
Hair that she was no longer dying.
Clicking her tongue, Rou looked around the room.
Tala, Moira, Jia, Mei, Na, Chunhua, and Yue were all watching. One and all, they had a somewhat surprised look.
“Rest,” Rou said, looking back to Ash. “You can go out tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Healer Rou. I’ll do as you’ve commanded,” Ash said.
Nodding her head once, Rou left with a smile.
“Well! I can certainly say I didn’t expect that,” Mei said. “Maybe I should see if I have any talent for being a Qi Healer. Maybe I can make Ash bend to my own whims.”
“He should bend toward my elegant self simply because of who I am,” Tala groused.
“Master Sheng need bend toward no one. We should all bend to him,” Na countered.
“Yes, we should all bend to Master Sheng,” Chunhua agreed.
“You just want to bend over for him,” Tala accused.
“As if you don’t?” Moira offered. “We both know you’re just waiting for the invitation.”
“I’ll skewer you—”
“How about!” Yue shouted at the top of her lungs, getting everyone to quiet down. “How about… we stop bickering like children? We need to talk about what we’re doing next for our alliance.”
“Yes. That’s… yes,” Tala said with a heavy sigh. “You’re correct, Yue. We should discuss what we do next. As the senior members of the alliance.”
“Uhm,” Jia murmured. She was off to one side, a few steps away from the group. She was staring at the floorboards and looking very nervous. “Perhaps we could discuss my brother, first?”
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