“Calm yourself, Yue,” Ash said, grinning at her. “Calm. Thank you for the pill. I’ll take it with breakfast this morning.”
“Breakfast? Oh! Yes, it’s morning. Breakfast. Come to my home! We’ll eat together,” she said.
“We could do that. Let me get some boots. I don’t fancy walking that far without them.”
“Oh! I did that, too. You don’t have to walk far.”
“Did what too?” Ash asked, very confused now.
“I joined the sect. I bought Yan’s position and bribed an official,” Yue said, bouncing up and down. “And I took house number four, since Yan left! I took over her furniture as well. She said bye to me before she left. That’s how I knew.
“She needed supplies for the trip.”
Ash blinked a few times, staring at the energetic young girl. “You joined the sect?”
“Yes! Now I don’t have to stay away,” Yue said, her hands still holding tight to his. Blinking slowly, she seemed to zone out for a second. Then she came back to herself with a small shake. “Breakfast. Yes.”
“I will join you two. I think it would be wise for us to discuss our direction, since it seems we have lost a member and gained a member,” Jia said, walking slowly up next to them.
“Jia? You’re here? I thought you’d take the opportunity to join another sect,” Ash said, looking to the other woman.
She was dressed well in a perfectly fitted blue dress that clung to her. It was a drastic change after having seen her so often in her training clothes as of late.
“Yes, they did try to recruit me. I have much to gain here still, though. It was not time to leave yet. Now, shall we go?” Jia asked. Then she turned to Yue and gave her a smile. “Though I think you should leave the cooking to me, as I think you could use a quick nap. No?”
Yue stared blankly at Jia before nodding her head once. “Yes. A nap. I’ll nap on my couch if Ash will sit next to me.”
Her head whipped around to stare at him as she said it, as if daring him to deny the request.
Yeah, no. You need a nap, you nipped-up little squirrel. If that’s what it takes, so be it.
“Sure, sure. No worries. Let’s go then. I’m hungry.”
Twenty-Eight
“And they just give us several pills for free every week?” Yue said, standing next to Jia and Ash. “Seems odd. Then again, you need a particular license to be able to sell inside the sect. And those are not given out freely; they require a great deal of work.”
“They do?” Ash asked, frowning.
“I do believe you are about to apologize extensively, and Yue might not worship you after this,” Jia said.
“Why? What’d you do?” Yue asked, looking from Jia to Ash.
Since joining the sect, her attitude hadn’t changed toward him. She still seemed to view him with half-fevered awe.
She did have to turn her store over to a manager she’d hired to run the place. It wasn’t as if Yue could watch over it while she participated in the sect.
“Uh, nothing that I did—something I acquired, I guess,” Ash muttered. Pulling the license to operate out of his ring, he handed it over to Yue. “Is this what you were talking about?”
“Hm?” Yue took the sheet of Qi-infused paper and started to read it over. “You… where did you get this?”
“Bought it. I just wanted all their medicinal supplies so the Deng family couldn’t get any. This and the stall came with that purchase.
“I don’t have a need for it. If it’s useful, you can have it,” Ash explained. “Stall too, if you want it.”
Yue looked torn between two emotions Ash couldn’t identify. Finally, she decided on something and looked to him. “Give this to me, and the stall. In the future, I’d like you to consult me on all purchases and sales. Alright? You have too much money to be throwing it around like this. You’re making waves.”
“Ah… that’s fair. I wanted to sell a few transference abilities. Can I have you handle it for me?”
Yue nodded, scanning over the document in her hand. “Yes. That’s fine. I can do it in a way that will help hide the trail back to you.
“Can you press your thumb to this seal and will this contract to me?”
“Huh? Oh, sure. And here’s the transference papers,” Ash said while pressing his thumb to the seal.
He willed the contract to Ying Yue and pulled out around twenty transference papers from his ring.
“It’d be great if you could sell these for me. Feel free to keep any if you want them for yourself, just tell me and I’ll make more,” he said, holding them out to her.
Yue’s eye twitched and she hurriedly took the contract and the papers, then vanished them into thin air.
Ah, she bought a storage item? Good thinking. Should make sure Jia has one.
Turning his head to Jia, he held up a thumb, indicating Yue.
“Do you have a storage item? If not, we could see if our lovely and talented merchant could get you one.”
“I have one. It is a family heirloom. Worry not for me,” Jia said, eying him with a smile and holding up her hand. A simple silver ring sat around her finger.
Master Gen appeared out of thin air, as if he’d always been there.
“Ah, my students. Good to see you,” Gen said. Then he turned his eyes on Yue. “And who is this?”
Ying Yue pressed her fists together in front of herself and bowed her head to Gen.
“My name is Ying Yue, Master Gen,” she said. “And I would ask to be your disciple as well.”
Gen’s eyes slowly moved from Yue to Ash, and then to Jia. “I see. Building a harem, are we?”
Feeling nervous and jittery at the question, especially after having slept with Moira the previous day, Ash chuckled nervously.
“I guess. If I am, I’ve certainly gotten the best possible start,” Ash said, his mouth moving faster than his brain.
Gen, Jia, and Yue all stared at him.
Coughing lightly, Gen turned to Yue and gave her a small smile.
“I pity you for your choice in friends, though I welcome you as a disciple. Should I assume you also have some fearsome abilities like these two?” Gen asked. “Anything I should know?”
Yue let her hands fall to her sides, staring at Gen.
To Ash, it was clear as day she was debating telling him about her status as an alchemist.
After two seconds, she literally looked to Ash for direction.
“Tell him the truth,” Ash said with a smile. “Gen is on our side. Were he to fail, we would fail.”
Yue nodded and addressed Gen.
“I’m an alchemist, and I have the Wood element of Qi,” Yue said.
Gen raised his eyebrows. “What level alchemist?”
“I can synthesize anything level nine or below in the Body Refiner realm nine times out of ten.
“My success falls to less than half for anything above the fourth level of the Mortal Refiner.
“It falls further to less than one in ten for everything in the Spirit Realm. It took a number of tries to refine the pills Ash needed for you to recover,” Yue said.
Gen visibly froze, even his breaths stilling.
Then he snorted once, followed by a deep, dark chuckle.
“I see, I see. Yes, wonderful,” Gen said, his fingers clasping and unclasping his cane repeatedly. “Truly wonderful. I can’t wait for the alchemists’ test in half a year. Oh, ho ho ho, yes.”
Gen reached up with one hand and started to run his fingers through his beard. His eyes unfocused and he looked up into the distant skies. The feral smile that came over him whenever he thought about the Deng family showed itself.
“If I supply you with reagents, would you mind making some things for me?” Gen asked, looking back to Yue.
“Sure, but you’ll need to give me enough for four of everything you want. I do still fail. And I get to keep the extra reagents if I succeed early,” Yue said. “I could use the practice anyways.”
“Yes, y
es, of course.” Gen agreed and nodded, his eyes slowly wandering back up to the skyline. “Deng will pay.”
Ash wasn’t quite sure what to make of Gen’s mood. He seemed hell bent to not just defeat the Dengs, but crush them.
The line was starting to move again. Whatever had held it up was over.
“Ah, it’s our turn next. Will we see you tomorrow for formal training, Master Gen?” Ash asked.
“Hm? Yes, yes of course. Yes. I need to go. Things to prepare,” Gen said, smiling at all of them. Then he walked away. Lost to the world.
“He holds great anger for the Dengs. I think Master Gen will cause them more pain by himself than we ever could,” Jia said.
“I’d agree,” Yue said. “Though at least I’ll get free experience and reagents out of it.”
Ash shrugged his shoulders and moved along in line.
A minute or two later, they were on the way back home after having received their allotments.
“They’re not exactly high grade,” Yue said, tapping the pill in her hand. “I could make these in bulk if I was determined to waste time.”
“Not everyone is blessed by a fortunate encounter with a Fated One, Yue,” Jia chastised her with a wry grin.
Yue bit her lip and nodded her head minutely. “You’re right, Jia. I’ll just… hang on to this for now, I suppose.”
The pill disappeared into Yue’s storage item.
“If we didn’t pick them up at all, it’d be more suspicious,” Ash said. “Even if we have better things to be doing.”
“Is that Mei Ling?” Jia asked suddenly as they entered the section of the path they lived on.
“Huh?” Ash muttered.
Up ahead, at house number three, Ash could see a group of people. He had vague memories and recollections of them and could only place them as Deng family members or affiliates.
In front of them, standing directly in their way to the front door of house three, was Mei.
“It is,” Ash said. “I wonder what trouble she’s causing now.”
“Not our problem,” Yue said. “Not our house. Though I don’t think I’ve met the owner of house three.”
“He is a very quiet young man. I saw him once,” Jia said.
As they walked closer and closer, Ash started to get confused. The crowd of people looked like they weren’t there to cause trouble to the owner of house three.
It honestly was starting to look like they were there to cause problems for Mei herself.
Especially since she was shouting at the crowd, and it was shouting back at her. They were also looking more and more poised for violence.
“This is odd,” Jia said.
“I’ve scanned Mei. She doesn’t have the Deng energy source on her person any longer,” Locke said.
“Mm,” Ash said, responding to both Jia and Locke.
“It is worth noting that Mei is heavily injured. Several of her ribs are cracked, her left arm has a hairline fracture in the ulna, she has a slow bleed in her liver, and is suffering a mild concussion.
“The likelihood of her surviving is high, though it is possible the bleed in her liver could continue or get worse, and she’ll die.”
Huh?
“Her eyes are blackened, and her lips are split,” Jia said. “It would appear someone has given her a fierce battle.”
Ash looked to Mei’s face.
Her once-elegant look was indeed marred by what Jia had—in Ash’s opinion—understated as a fight.
To Ash, it looked more like she’d been beaten black and blue. One of her eyes was swollen shut.
Tala slid out from the side of Yue’s house, catching Ash’s eye. She approached the group at a jog and moved up to Ash’s side.
“It would seem the young woman,” Tala said, indicating Mei, “is being spurned for failing in her duty to stop you and Jia. Apparently, she’s been thrown out of the Deng clan entirely. She showed up early this morning and challenged the owner of this home and took it.”
The Rabbit woman paused, her eyes moving to catch Ash’s.
“That group has come to challenge her for… honestly it sounds like nothing. Guessing from the look of her, and the mob, they just want to fight her and possibly kill her. Or so it seems from my experience as a Kin. I’ve seen it before,” Tala finished.
Yeah, I could say the same for this veil. I wouldn’t put it past them to blame her for not stopping me, and then simply killing her as an example.
That or this is all an elaborate trap for me.
Ash sighed and rubbed at his jaw. They were only twenty feet from the situation now.
Guess we’ll spring the trap and deal with it after.
Rapidly activating his abilities, Ash then drew his butterfly swords from their single sheath.
The sound of metal rasping drew the eye of everyone nearby.
Tapping one d-guard to the other, Ash gave his wrists a spin.
“Alright, make a line for me,” Ash said, pointing at the mob with a one sword. “I’ll challenge you all one by one for whatever you have on you. This will be your toll for coming down my street uninvited.”
Jia laughed, the sound cool and threatening.
“That will take too long. I will challenge those at the rear of the line—that way we can be done with this quickly,” she said. Lifting her left hand, thick Water Qi pooled and formed a staff. Grasping it, she popped its butt against the ground.
“This has nothing to do with you, Ashley Sheng. Leave this Deng matter to the Deng family,” said a young man, pushing himself to the front of the group.
“Simple question for you, then. Is she in the Deng clan?” Ash said, pointing at Mei.
“No,” Mei answered loudly, standing defensively in front of what was apparently her home. “I’m not affiliated with my… the Deng family. At all.”
She hadn’t backed down from their challenges, apparently ready to fight them.
It was impressive, to a degree.
“Then this clearly isn’t a Deng family issue, but a Sheng Street issue. Now make a line, for me. I can challenge you one by one while Jia works her way up the back, or you can forfeit something of equal value to today’s allotment pill,” Ash said.
“This is stupid. We’ll not accept a challenge from you. Who says we’ll do anything—”
Ash activated Spring Step and darted forward. Smashing forward with his right fist, he brought the d-guard up into the young man’s stomach.
Folding in half, the Deng family member pitched over Ash’s arm.
“There, there. Do not fear, I’ll be your senior. I’ll act like your father here and give you a lesson.
“I will care for your well-being on Sheng Street,” Ash said. “Now, would you like to give me something equal in toll? Or should we continue this challenge?”
Looking up to the rest of the group, Ash gestured with his eyes to the spot he’d indicated earlier. “The rest of you line up.”
An audible thump got everyone to look to the spot Ash had indicated.
Moira was standing there with her wings spread, sword drawn and looking rather hostile.
Taking her cue, Tala unsheathed her big blade and whipped it around, setting it down on her shoulder.
“You don’t know what you’re doing,” someone called from the crowd.
“Sure I do. I’m pissing off the Deng clan, which has already made me one of their biggest enemies. On top of that, you’re welcome to go tell your elders what happened, but I bet they’ll just punish you. Won’t they?”
Sighing dramatically, Ash smiled at his audience.
“Be thankful I don’t cripple you or have my friends here kill you all. We’d have a party after that and bury you all behind my house while having a barbecue to celebrate your demise,” Ash said. “Line up, now. And don’t come down Sheng Street again. At least not without a toll or gate price.”
Finally realizing what was happening, the Deng family members began to placidly line up.
Smirking to himself, A
sh looked to the man folded over his arm and started checking his pockets and clothes for anything to take.
***
Mei was seated between Jia and Yue at Ash’s table in his main room. Tala and Moira stood on each side of Ash as he sat across from her.
“So… what happened?” Ash asked, looking at Mei.
Mei lifted her chin up a fraction, her pride unbroken.
“I was punished for failing in my duty. When I protested my punishment and questioned the decision, I was… I was banished from the clan,” Mei said. “It’s as simple as that.”
Ash eyed her directly, looking over everything he could see of her at the table.
Up close, it was obvious she hadn’t just been punished, but beaten to a pulp.
“I would say the punishment they gave you is far more than ‘simple.’ If I don’t miss my guess, you’re bleeding internally and you have several broken bones.
“All of which could be easily solved with even a little bit of wealth. Did they rob you, too?” Ash asked.
Mei’s jaw flexed, her one good eye watering up as she stared back at him.
“Yes,” she said after a few seconds. “Yes, they robbed me after they beat me like a dog. Does that make you happy? Are you satisfied?
“Do you feel vindicated now?”
Fighting down a frown, Ash wasn’t sure how to respond. He hadn’t expected Mei’s outburst.
“And now you’ve forced me into your home. Do you plan on humiliating me further? Turn me into a concubine and lock me away?
“I didn’t believe what the elders said about you—are you going to prove me wrong now?” Mei asked, her throat constricting as she spoke. Her right hand quivered slightly as she clutched it to her chest. Her left arm was flat on the table, as she clearly didn’t want to put weight on it.
Glancing at some of the icons floating around Mei’s nameplate, he read them.
She was in pain. Immense pain.
Full of fear, self-loathing, and pain.
Everything you’d expect of someone in her position.
“Why did you take the house here? It’s quite a far fall for you, isn’t it?” Ash asked, changing the direction of the question.
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