“Oh,” Ash said, suddenly recalling her brother. “Yeah, we could do that.”
Any chance of talking to him through the ring without letting him out?
“Of course, Chosen One.”
Open it up when I ask you to.
“—he okay? You just made him vanish as if he never existed and… and… clearly he meant ill for us. Clearly,” Jia said, her hands locked together in front of herself. “But he is still my brother. He was there for me as a little girl and I… he is my brother.”
“He’s quite fine. Would you like to talk to him?” Ash asked.
“Can I? Please?” Jia asked, her eyes lifting up to Ash’s.
“Of course, Jia,” Ash said with a smile.
Do it.
“Done.”
“Hello?” Ash tried. “Jia’s brother?”
“Hello? Who is there!?” came the familiar voice. It seemed to be coming from the ring itself.
“Ah! Tai? Are you well?” Jia asked, a small smile on her face.
“I am… well. Yes. Jia… where are you?” Tai asked.
“I am here at the sect,” Jia answered.
“Ah… okay. Then… where am I?” Tai asked.
“Much better question,” Locke said with a snort.
“Ashley… Ashley cast you out of the sect when you refused to listen. He imprisoned you,” Jia explained. To his ear, it sounded like she was laying it on a little thick.
He was clearly in the minority, however, as everyone else in the room began nodding their heads at that.
“Imprisoned,” Tai said.
“That is… correct. Ashley put you there because you would not listen,” Jia said.
“And he’ll keep you there as long as he likes,” Yue said.
“I think you should be left there until you die,” Tala said. “You dared threaten Ashley and my elegant self.”
“Now, now,” Mei said before anyone else could speak up. “Jia is our compatriot. We can’t simply murder her brother out of hand.”
Mei held a hand out toward Jia as if to direct the conversation back to her.
They really defer to Mei now.
Ever since Jia’s little tantrum, she’s lost all of her footing.
As if realizing her position, the anger that was on Jia’s brow dissipated instantly.
She instead bowed her head toward Mei and then sighed.
“Brother Tai,” said Jia. “You attacked my alliance. Those who have protected me since my arrival here.”
“You wouldn’t need pro—”
“Please listen, honored brother Tai,” Jia said, interrupting her brother. “Because I believe I will only have one opportunity to say this.”
“I will listen,” Tai said, his tone having changed considerably.
“Ash—or Ashley to close friends and family—Sheng is a Fated One,” said Jia in a patient tone. “A Fated One who…who sought me out and gave me strength unheard of for nothing.
“He granted me power that could rival even yours if I were even several levels below you. Power that I could use to beat you with almost no effort.
“He has more wealth and power in his possession than our entire family will ever wield. He has only demonstrated such things for less than a year and continues to grow.”
“If he were that powerful, why is he but a Body Refiner?” Tai asked.
“Because he has only been cultivating for less than a year. His Qi is thick. Like… like metal,” Jia said, her voice taking on a strange tone. “And he clearly had an emotional attachment to me. I think he would have pledged with me.”
Errr.
“You did. Let’s not try to side-step it. It’s certainly decreased as of late. Though if only poor Moira knew how often you had thought of Jia when she first started—”
Shush!
“—squandered it. Cast it aside in a moment of folly and bravado that I can never get free of. Cast away all that I had pride in and threw it down,” Jia said. “I lost my position and must now re-earn it, but I will do so. I will do so because he is such a Fated One that he will shake the very heavens. I would be fortunate to be able to pledge with him, but I do not think he would allow it at this time.”
“And how did you cast your pride aside?” Tai asked, his voice dangerous.
“I challenged him to a fight and mocked him when I believed I had the upper hand,” Jia said. “I belittled him and showed him scorn. I acted the very part which he had fought against for the duration of his cultivator’s path.
“I did not have the upper hand at all. He just feared harming me. I challenged him to a fight to see if he could best you without harming you. And instead he locked you up, as if you were nothing but… nothing but a shouted curse. To fade on the wind and be forgotten in an instant.
“Tell me, honored brother, were you even able to resist at all?”
There was no response to the question. Everyone stood there, looking at Ash’s ring.
“No,” he said finally. “I was helpless. Am helpless.”
Could we put anyone in the ring?
“Well, up to a peak Spirit Refiner. Beyond that and they’d likely just force their way back out, Chosen One,” Locke said. “Though, as we grow stronger, so too will the Hall. I’m sure you could eventually lock almost anyone up.”
“And there it is. Not even an issue. I challenged Ash, sacrificed my place doing it, and gave up my lead in my arrogance. All for nothing. I worried and fretted and… and it was for nothing,” Jia said with a dark laugh. “He tossed you aside as if you were nothing, just as I tossed aside my own place.”
“If he truly was fond of you, he would forgive you,” Tai grumbled, sounding somewhat confused.
“Oh, he did. But that does not dictate my place. His forgiveness was perhaps the last vestige of his care for me,” Jia said and then sighed hard, looking at Ash. “Do you know what is going on right now, Ash?”
“Not really. I saw patrols of our people the other day,” mumbled Ash. He didn’t really know what was going on. “Looked like we were wearing armbands. There was some very obvious robbery going on in the sect as well. Feels like a… I don’t know. Something’s going on, though.”
“It is a competition,” Jia said, holding her hands out at her sides. “Armbands have been handed out to everyone. The armbands are attached to their owners by Qi. Even you got one. Rou connected it to you while you slept. It’s in your bedside table.
“Starting in two days, every armband will count as a point if taken from an enemy. The expectation of everyone is that the Sheng Alliance will place in the top three. Despite only being a sixth the size of the third-largest alliance. All because of who and what you are.”
“Oh. Alright,” Ash said and then shrugged his shoulders.
“All those women you brought in, that you forced to swear to you? They are all so… so talented,” Jia said, looking pained. “There are those who easily rival my own talent.”
“True, Chosen One. We have some monstrous cultivators at our disposal.”
“And I… well…” Jia trailed off and shook her head. “Honored brother, what was your goal?”
“To take you home,” Tai said quickly. “You must return and take your place as a daughter of the clan.”
“I assumed as much,” Jia said. “There is nothing I can say or do to dissuade you from this course of action? To convince you to leave me here and allow me to live my life?”
“No. You must come back,” Tai said. “There is no other option.”
“I see. You leave me with only one choice. One I did not honestly expect to have available to me, but suddenly find myself excited to run to,” Jia said, then looked at Ash rather than the ring.
“Forgive me, Ashley. But I hereby swear myself to Ashley Sheng in love, life, and death. Bound together, bound forever. Hand in hand, heart with heart, Dao to Dao. Though we were born on different days, may we both die on the same day. On the entirety of my cultivation and… and my life.”
There
was a sudden and sharp detonation in Ash’s Qi Sea.
As if something had just exploded apart and formed inside of it.
Glancing inward, Ash immediately saw that something had indeed changed.
Rising up out of the slow and powerful churn of his Qi Sea was a statue of Jia. Made of pure and untarnished gold, it glittered beautifully.
A perfect and exact replica of Jia standing with her arms out, as if she were diving toward his Dao pillar. Straight into the center of what he was.
Looking back to everyone and Jia, Ash found they were all in absolute stunned silence.
Except for Jia, who looked absolutely blissful.
Radiant.
“What have you done?” Tai hissed, his voice sounded completely shocked.
“I did all that I could. That, as they say, is that. I had no other choice. When there is no way out, you go deeper.
“And I went as deeply as possible. I am bound forever forward on pain of death or voluntarily being released,” Jia said with a sudden laugh. “You may address me as Jia Sheng the Bound. I will take my place as first mistress when you are ready for me, Ashley. I will say it now and directly as well, I am very ready for my duties.”
Laughing again, Jia gave herself a full body shake and then put her hands on top of her head.
“Goodness that feels rather good to be so blessedly free of everything,” Jia said. Then she laughed once more and waved a hand at everyone. “I am going home. I must make sure I have a wide enough bed for both of us should Ashley decide to hopefully take what is rightfully his tonight. Yue, may I drop by your store to purchase a bed if I do not?”
“I… uh… sure, Jia,” Yue said softly. She looked like someone had just told her the world was made of Jell-O and marshmallow.
“Splendid,” exclaimed Jia with a light clap of her hands.
Then she walked over to Ash and cupped his face with a gentle hand.
“I am truly sorry, Ashley. Truly sorry. I know that is not the way you would wish this, but I had no other choice that would free me, but to bind myself to you,” Jia whispered. Her eyes were incredibly bright and beautiful right now. “I will regain my place, you will see. It will be as it was when we trained together in the valley. With you watching and yearning. This time, though, I will beckon you to come close the moment I see it. And pounce on it.”
Before he could respond to any of that, Jia leaned in and kissed him briefly.
Brushing her thumb along his cheekbone, she smiled at him and then left his house.
“Well, that was lovely,” Locke said. “Her oath was rather pretty and poetic, too. I liked it. Very romantic and… heart-warming. Lovely.”
“What?” Mei muttered almost too low to hear. “What? No. No! What? No!”
Shaking her head back and forth, Mei looked angry and frustrated.
“No! That’s… no!” Mei repeated. Looking extremely determined, angry, and annoyed, she locked Ash with her eyes.
“Ah, I think you should—”
“I hereby swear myself to Ashley Sheng in love, life, and death. Bound together, bound forever. Hand in hand, heart with heart, Dao to Dao. Though we were born on different days, may we both die on the same day. On the entirety of my cultivation and my life,” Mei proclaimed. Repeating Jia’s own oath word for word and then nodded her head decisively.
Once more, there was another extreme crackle of power and shifting of Qi inside himself.
Taking a second, he looked inward.
Inside his Qi Sea stood a statue of Mei, equally as impressive and equally as golden. It was beckoning slightly to the Dao pillar, as if inviting it closer. A beautiful and winsome smile on its face. Promising everything with a single look.
Mei’s statue was also completely nude, where Jia’s was clothed.
“Goodness! This is quite the momentous day! Do you think any others will swear to you, Chosen One?” Locke asked.
“No one else!” Ash declared, holding up his hand. “Not a word!”
“Sorry, Ashley, but I can’t agree to that,” Moira said, giving him a wide-eyed look that was paired with a grin.
“Yes, I must disagree,” Na said. “Master Sheng, receive my oath.”
“And mine, Master Sheng,” Chunhua added as well.
“You may also take mine, for my elegant self may as well be bound with the others,” Tala said with a flick of her hair.
“Ashley,” Yue murmured, gazing at him. There was a strange light there. One he didn’t know how to place and honestly didn’t want to.
“It’s because she can make herself known without having to admit anything to you. She can swear herself fully to you and simply… wait.
“To be honest, it’s a smart tactic for her to take,” Locke said. “I could swear, too, if you like. Maybe I should. It really is rather romantic.”
Shaking his head, Ash did his best to look threatening.
“No. That’s final. I mean it,” he said.
“Ashley Sheng,” Yue said breathlessly. “I hereby—“
Yue’s voice was drowned out in the chorus of everyone else starting to swear at the same time.
No, no, no, no!
“Yes, yes, yes, Chosen One,” Locke said, his tone firm and far more serious than he’d ever been previously. “This is exactly what we need. Exactly what we need.”
Ash didn’t like the sound of that.
For the first time, in a long time, he questioned just what Locke wanted with him. What he’d chosen him for.
Why he’d been ripped away from his life.
And not just me. But Trav, too.
Trav is out there. In the Kin realm. I know he is.
I know it.
“—cultivation and my life,” Yue proclaimed, practically shouting it above the others as they finished as well.
The series of explosions in his Dantian was almost deafening.
Ash didn’t have to look inward to know that there was now a statue of everyone there in his Qi Sea.
Golden, dominating, and in various states and positions. Much in the way that Mei’s wanted him desperately to collect her, and Jia’s wanted to vanish into him.
I don’t want… this. Any of this.
“And yet you have it, Chosen One,” Locke said. There was no mockery in his tone. “And yet you have it.”
Seventeen
“And you’re telling me… this is supposed to start as soon as the sun hits the horizon,” Ash said, looking out to the east.
“Yes, Master Sheng,” Na said. “Today is the day the armband war begins as soon as the sun crests the horizon.”
“See, that’s stupid,” Ash said. “All I have to do is go to the tallest building in the area, claim the war starts as soon as the sun is visible from there, and command my people to attack.”
“I… ah… why… why didn’t we do that then?” Na asked, looking at him with raised eyebrows.
“Because it’s stupid and I didn’t know about any of this? Rou had me on bed rest, remember?” Ash complained.
“I’m right here. I’m not a bump on a log,” groused Rou from behind him.
“That’s nice Right Here, I’m Ash. I was locked inside for too long because my Qi Healer is a stup—”
“Do you really want to finish that? Do you really?” Rou asked, interrupting him.
“I wouldn’t.”
“I… ah… no. My Qi Healer is a beautiful woman who I’m blessed to have in my life,” Ash murmured, cowed by the woman outright. He had no difficulty imagining how hard his life would have been without Rou taking care of him.
Or if she’d been angry at him, and then took care of him.
He couldn’t quite determine which outcome would actually be worse.
“Good,” Rou said.
“Well, then,” said Tala. “Should I take my elegant self up to the tallest building a—”
“No. No, don’t do that,” Ash said, regretting his words. He had a woman on each side right now who didn’t listen very well to him, no
r did they seem to understand sarcasm.
“I’ll go then,” Moira said. “I can do it very quickly and—”
“No, stop, just… no. No. Okay? No,” Ash said, his patience quickly fleeing in every direction. He suddenly wished Mei and Jia were here to act as a barrier for him. They tended to interpret what he said much more clearly and without the strange deference he got from those he was working with right now.
“Ah, you were trying to be funny,” Tala said, then slapped him on the back once with a powerful hand. “I’m sorry, my elegant self didn’t catch the joke. I’m sure it was an enjoyable one.”
“I swear to my hairy ass, I’m going to—”
“There’s the sun,” Na said, cutting Ash off. “Does that mean we should be ready to be attacked?”
“Yes, of course we should,” Moira said. “Why wouldn’t they attack us?”
Staring at the archway which led off Sheng Street, Ash waited. Everyone with him here was those they could spare to guard against attacks from the district plazas.
Most everyone else was at the original street intersection, or working hurriedly to try and finish the new street that’d bypass their homes.
“We are not being attacked,” Tala said, her large sword in front of her. The tip was in the ground, her hands resting over the back of the pommel.
“I mean, yeah,” Ash said.
“Hm, that’s a good thing. Right?” Rou asked. Of everyone in the Sheng Alliance, she was the absolute weakest in combat. “We don’t want to be attacked.”
“Kind of?” Ash replied. “I mean, the easiest way to collect armbands is to beat people. Unless someone attacks us, we’ll have to attack others. How long does this last again?”
“Three days, Master Sheng,” Na answered immediately.
“Uh-huh,” Ash said. “I’m going to go over that way and… take a look around. Stay here Rou, Moira. Tala, Na, you’re with me.”
“Certainly, I see no reason for me to go,” Rou agreed instantly. “I’ll just… move back a bit further.”
“I should go with you,” countered Moira.
“No, you should stay here to protect Sheng Street. I’ll defend Ash with my elegant self. I’m his weapon as well, after all,” Tala said, lifting her big blade up and setting it down on her shoulder.
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