Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path

by Johnson, M. H.

  47

  “Alright, Alex, what the hell is all this about?” demanded a hard-eyed Dineng, his stare matched by over a dozen other students, including Qiang, of all people. All of the waiting aspirants had crammed into his once seemingly spacious pagoda, an equal number of them gazing at Alex with looks ranging from apprehension and curiosity to confusion and outright fear.

  Dineng’s eyes widened. “And how the hell did you claim so many pouches, so fast?”

  “I think you’ve got some explaining to do, Ruidian!” snapped Qiang. “What did you do to piss off Master Bang Jiao and everyone else? All our instructors were looking at us like we’re less than dirt!”

  Alex frowned, fearing the worst. But he had to be sure. “Maybe you better explain what you mean by that.”

  Qiang gave a despairing shake of his head. “During the week you decided on cultivating in the library in search of your breakthrough... everything changed.”

  Dineng nodded. "At first, it was subtle. More guards dressed in red, Zha Shi acting like we were recruits, not cultivators, when he started pushing us far harder than he ever had before, saying we had a long way to go as future soldiers. Even the headmaster came over to speak with Bang Jiao, and boy, does that man send a shiver down your soul if you dare to catch his gaze. But most of us were smart enough to kowtow until well after he left."

  "But it wasn't enough," sighed Bibi.

  Alex blinked at that. "What wasn't enough?"

  "That was the day when everything shifted completely," exclaimed a waifish girl named Fan Ren, rocking herself anxiously. "Zha Shi’s always been a bit of a pig’s ass. But after the headmaster's visit, all the instructors who were normally so sweet to those of us just starting our journey went from being friendly guides interested in our development to hard-eyed men and women who suddenly acted like we were beneath their notice! Before finally saying just the other day that they no longer had time for the likes of us. We were told in no uncertain terms that we would receive no more instruction until we had proved ourselves worthy!” she sobbed. “Only Master Nong still bothered showing an ounce of concern for our well-being. He was the one assigned to take us to the job hall. But Alex, all the assignments—and I do mean all of them—were for nothing but military service or beast core hunting!”

  Her eyes widened with horror. “I’m only a Rank 4 basic cultivator. Most of us haven’t even broken through to Bronze! And the way the assignment clerk was looking at us… like the muck slaves working off their sentences in the city sewers!”

  Zhu Bi nodded in confirmation, giving Alex an apologetic smile. “We didn’t want to trouble you with this, Alex, especially after you had achieved such a remarkable breakthrough.”

  “We had hoped it was just another test,” Yingpei added. “Master Nong made it very clear that we were to look very carefully at these, our first contracts, and make absolutely certain that they were suited for our inclinations before accepting. But when Zhu Bi took one look at the sealed contracts, especially knowing there had previously only been assignment plaques to voluntarily fill as one chose…”

  “My blood ran cold,” Zhu Bi whispered. “All of them were tainted. All of them would bind a cultivator’s base, even his soul, into fulfilling quotas far more than the blathering clerk assured would actually be demanded. If I hadn’t sheathed my hands in Shadow Qi before examining them…”

  She paled and seemed to wilt before the measuring gazes of almost the entire class packed into Alex’s quarters, all of them now gazing so intently at her.

  Zhu Bi nervously cleared her throat. “When I told the clerk that his contracts were tainted, that they would bind our very souls… he went from jaded disinterest to roaring about having my cursed kitsune hide skinned right off of me.”

  Alex was surprised to see Dineng clap her on the back. “That’s when I offered to tear the bastard’s head clean off. When he sneered in my face and said he’d like to see me try…”

  “He changed his mind real quick when Master Nong roared furiously, saying indentured contracts were forbidden and making it very clear that accepting any and all assignments was still our choice,” finished a grinning Yingpei. “Then the clerk noticed half a dozen jian and dao unsheathed and aimed at his heart. And perhaps my jian had sort of kissed his throat. Anyway, that’s when we realized something was wrong. Really, really wrong.”

  Zhu Bi nodded. “Even Master Nong looked disgusted when I told him about the taint.”

  “But none of us are idiots, whatever you may think, Ruidian,” sneered Qiang. “We just laughed and flipped that bastard of a clerk some coins, telling him it was a masterful performance, but he could tell Bang Jiao that we had seen right through it. Even our instructor played along, saying aloud this was just one of the many levels of deception we must prepare for, once we blossomed into full-blooded members of the school, and that the real contracts would no doubt be prepared for us the next time we stopped by. But the way that bastard’s fury turned to a mocking smile when he scooped up our silver and said he looked forward to discussing the particulars with Master Nong… told us all we needed to know.”

  Zhu Bi nodded. “That something was really wrong, but we’d be okay if we played stupid, for now.” She paled and shook her head. “I had thought, had hoped… and Master Nong looked so confident in his threadbare robes, assuring us that he would get things straightened out. But even he started acting strange, demanding we follow him on a roundabout trip to his own personal pagoda. Only then, once we were all inside, did he explain that we could all leave right away on independent work assignments he would write out himself.” Zhu Bi swallowed. “And the look in his eyes when he told us he would only write out those special assignments with the understanding that we wouldn’t be coming back here, not ever.”

  Dineng gave a sad shake of his head. “He wouldn’t even say why, exactly, except that there were countless cultivation schools in every major city throughout the land, most beneath any noble’s notice, and that a quiet life was a treasure never to be undervalued. When we asked what the hell that meant, he said only that when powers greater than ourselves played for kingdoms and crowns, it was always the pawns that were plucked from the board first.”

  “Not that we had any doubt as to what he was really getting at,” snorted Qiang.

  Alex blinked, realizing he might have done Master Nong a complete disservice by writing him off as a man who had only wanted to milk what credits he could, trying to sell them all his customized cultivation assistance. And maybe he had been hungry for coin. But unlike the other cold-eyed instructors, when the chips were down, he still seemed to actually care about his students. “Did anyone take him up on the offer?”

  Bibi nodded. “Two girls did. They looked desperate. One was actually close to whimpering, saying she just wanted to go back home to her family, marry the man her father had picked out for her, and have a life where she didn’t have to live in constant fear.” Bibi scowled. “Even then, we had thought her just an anxious fool, surrendering her dreams out of panic. As if she had failed yet another test. She didn’t even flinch in shame when Master Nong handed her a servant’s robe to don. A servant’s robe! But the look of relief in her eyes when she changed before us without an ounce of shame… we should have realized right then and there that we were the ones acting the fools, refusing to see the ugly truth before us.”

  Zhu Bi nodded. “That the promise of a glorious academy, willing to shape us into the most powerful cultivators we could possibly be, was just another lie. Sweetest honey to lure idealistic fools into binding traps that would swell the ranks of whatever regiment would receive them, useful tools for the powerful who will forever corrupt absolutely everything to serve their own ends and will happily crush anyone who believes their lies, or just gets in their way. A bitter truth that only two of us were ready to face, the rest of us desperate to believe that there must be another path, save fleeing with our tails between our legs.”

  Dineng nodded. “One reason why
I was happy to take you on and earn some honest credits, Alex. I halfway thought… hell, I was almost certain that if we trained together, honed ourselves to lethal sharpness, we could make a decent income just taking on challengers in the Bronze Arena.”

  The muscular youth chuckled ruefully. “I had thought I was wise to the ways of this world, that things couldn’t truly be so bad as the girls feared. I believed that our instructors might be ruthless, as they are at most academies, but that there was always a way forward for hardworking students. Bang Jiao had gone out of his way to help me, after all. Or at least, that’s what I told myself when I turned down Nong’s offer. Then I woke up to find that I had been playing the naïve idiot. Because instead of cultivation practice this morning, well, everything was different.”

  Zhu Bi nodded. “Bang Jiao had the gall to call it a ‘curriculum change.’”

  “If you can call all of us having to fight our instructors, knowing that the losers would be immediately conscripted into the imperial legions, a ‘curriculum change,’” snorted Qiang. “And Master Nong? He was missing. No trace of him at all!” He clenched his fists. “I’m not a fool. I know my history, and I know damn well that the emperor doesn’t force-recruit from cultivation academies, except in times of war!”

  Alex returned a bitter smile, realizing it was time for him to say his piece and let the chips fall where they would.

  “That’s because you wouldn’t be fighting for the Emperor.”

  As one, the entire class turned Alex’s way.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” snapped Bibi, the fierce-tempered girl that had somehow claimed Dineng’s heart, if the way he held her so protectively was any indication.

  Alex discreetly slipped his prizes of battle into his storage ring, keeping his eyes on his peers. “I trust everyone here is aware of the new princess in our midst?”

  Bibi nodded. “Of course we are. We’re not stupid, but what does that have to do with any of this?”

  “If you would let him speak, I’m sure it will be obvious!” snapped Su Lin, the second girl whom Alex had saved that harrowing morning when the Spirit Wolves had first hounded them. She pressed forward, possessively grabbing his hand and glaring back at Bibi. “Out of all of us, he’s the only one smiling like a cat who caught his prize, leaving all those damned Adepts howling like the beaten curs they are! If it weren’t for him, we would have never found our way back to safety after that ill-fated trip to the library with those monsters chasing us. And you all know I’m only here because he cared enough to scoop me up before those monsters could grab me. So if anyone has a way out of this mess, it’s him!” She turned her hopeful gaze up at him. “Alex, why are your cheeks red?”

  Bibi smirked. “Well, at least you’re finally in his pagoda.”

  This earned a number of chuckles as the petite girl’s cheeks suddenly blazed.

  Zhu Bi smiled sympathetically at Alex and continued the narrative. “The princess is the first of my kind to achieve royal rank since Lady Jin Yu, daughter of Silver Fox and Qing Bai, was recognized as the Sovereign Princess of Yidushi.”

  “Before Yidushi fell in status after her death,” countered a surprisingly knowledgeable Bibi. “And that title was claimed by the Baidushi, now recognized as the capital of CuiJing principality, while Yidushi’s former royalty has been relegated to Ministerial rank and status only.”

  Zhu Bi nodded. “Correct. And the real reason why so many Yidushian nobles hate my kind so fiercely.” She then turned to Alex. “So, what does our beloved princess Cui Li have to do with our instructors suddenly turning as pitiless as the northern snows?”

  “Cui Li claimed a prize that earned the regard of the imperial clan itself,” Alex told his suddenly breathless audience. “A prize which she was all too happy to honor our Emperor with, in return for forbearance and mercy. Those gracious boons and perceived desirability have meant that, for the first time in perhaps forever, kitsune are now treated with almost universal respect and tolerance.” Alex shook his head. “Everywhere except for the city of her birth, that is.”

  Dineng frowned. “Fair enough, but…”

  “Prince Dongfang Hong, regent of YanTu nation, is just one of the royals interested in currying Princess Cui Li’s favor. He’s quite eager to solidify his regency status with outright rulership, never mind the former king’s mysterious death, or that the sister and her daughter have claims at least as strong as his to YanTu’s throne. And how curious it is that his surviving relatives felt the need to flee for their lives, living in hiding for well over a decade. But that aside—or perhaps because of the precarious nature of his own claim—Dongfang Hong has decided that his best path forward is to secure Cui Li’s hand in marriage and, who knows? Maybe annex all of CuiJing province while he’s at it.”

  Alex took a deep breath as the group just stared at him.

  “There are a number of factions vying for the princess’s hand, and I just happened to witness the Red Prince’s henchmen winnow away some of that competition in the most ruthless manner possible,” he confessed with a bleak smile. “And that’s not even factoring in the elite Bronze companies that have been scouring the deepwoods near Baidushi for any trace of his niece or sister, to say nothing of positioning themselves for whatever military action Dongfang Hong might deem necessary, should his dreams of imperially sanctioned marriage not come to fruition without a little… encouragement.”

  Every aspirant present was now gazing him in slack-jawed amazement.

  “Alex, how do you know this? How do you know any of this?” breathed an awed Su Lin, restless fingers twisting one of her curls.

  Alex smirked. “What can I say? I get around.”

  Dineng scowled. “So, you’re a hell of a lot more savvy than you look. Thank the gods for that. But what does that have to do with—“

  He stopped when a hard-eyed Zhu Bi caught his gaze. “You’re not stupid, Dineng. Save when you dared to challenge my revered ancestor to combat, you’ve been the savviest of all the players besides my own.”

  Dineng frowned. “What the hell are you talking… wait, wait!” His eyes widened. “The job clerk. Half the cultivators we passed by, even the Spirit Wolves! Gods, even the library guardian who was shouting at Bang Jiao the other day. All of them were wearing ruby earrings or pendants!”

  “And all the masters were wearing crimson sashes for the very first time this morning,” agreed Su Lin. “The first time I ever saw Bang Jiao wear anything more ostentatious than white and worn grey since coming here.”

  “Signs of the Red Prince’s favor. I’m almost positive.” Alex shook his head in disgust. “Signs that Donfang Hong has essentially bought their souls, with an entire kingdom’s coffers at his disposal.”

  Massive fists suddenly began pounding on the door, causing absolutely everyone to glance at the shaking frame, countless eyes widening with primal terror.

  Alex flashed a grim smile. “If you dare to touch that door, only two paths will be open to you. Death, or the oathbonds of a sworn soldier belonging not to the imperial legion, but the Red Prince’s personal shock troops.”

  For long moments, the entire group froze like rabbits caught in headlights, disciplined focus replaced by crippling fear as they were forced to accept that the school they had trusted to guide them along a path of perseverance and infinite wonder had been co-opted by the most ruthless of players. Now, those once sworn to help them ascend were determined to break them. Death or forced military indoctrination, slavery on the front lines, was all that waited for them outside the pagoda’s too thin walls.

  Dineng swallowed, holding a whimpering Bibi protectively close as he glared Alex’s way. “Alright, genius, you got us into this mess. Now how the hell do we get out of here?”

  “Time’s up, Ruidian! Best get running and make this chase worth my time!” taunted none other than Duo Ku from the other side of the door, his voice hardening as he continued. “And any fool who dared to hide inside with you had better run ju
st as fast and far as you. For your punishment has just become their own!”

  The entire class blanched at the threat.

  “Hey, Duo Ku?”

  “Yes, worm?”

  “Go fuck yourself!”

  The entire pagoda seemed to shake with the furious tirade of roars and savage blows crashing against the building, but Alex’s fierce smile merely widened as his desperate gambit seemed to pay off. Even if he was tightly clenching his talisman in a trembling fist, swearing to himself that he wasn’t terrified of the Silver psychopath roaring for his head, just beyond those walls.

  “You will die for that insult alone!” Duo Ku roared.

  “Alex, what are you doing?” sobbed none other than Su Lin.

  “You’re a fool, going to get us all killed!” Qiang snapped, his scowl matched by nearly every male there, save for an anxious looking Yingpei.

  “Alex? Please tell me you’re just as clever as the Ruidians in all the stories?” the young merchant pled.

  “You mean all the campfire tales where they don’t paint him as an utter fool, forced to speak in rhymes that reveal the flaws in all his schemes?” Dineng said with a glare Alex’s way. “Let’s just pray that our idiot of a friend here is like the wily fox in the countryside, and nothing like the mythical characters in the religious texts even this school’s library carries.”

  Alex blinked in surprise as half the class nodded sagely.

  “I never heard Alex speak in riddles, at least,” Bibi whispered. “Have you, Su Lin?”

  Su Lin adamantly shook her head. “I would never let myself fall in love with a doomed idiot out of the storybooks,” the younger girl whispered, stealing a quick glance Alex’s way with reddened cheeks.