Cultivating Chaos

by William D. Arand

  As they worked their way down the hall, Ash found himself looking around cautiously. He had the distinct feeling the Essence around them was changing.

  Changing in a strange way. It almost felt oily, in a way.

  Hey, Locke, is there something different here?

  “Nothing that’s showing up to what I can see or scan. Your companions seem unaffected,” Locke said.

  Frowning, Ash nodded and continued. Maybe it was just his nerves, after all.

  There was an all-out war going on. Ash couldn’t do much on the front line, but if he could deny the enemy a fallback point and resources, then he’d be pulling his own weight.

  “Taking the square, recovering allies, and taking prisoners will help in its own way,” Locke said.

  Ash grimaced. His thoughts must have been circling around that point if Locke wanted to comment on it.

  Grasping the handle on the door in front of him, he began to slowly open it.

  Admittedly, I just hate feeling like a lump of nothing.

  “Furthest thing from it, but that all plays into why you don’t try very hard.”

  Ash was about to argue with him, except that when he got a look into the room—it was full.

  From wall to wall, floor to ceiling, there was what Ash could only think of as loot.

  Spirit stones, gold coins, potions, treasures, medicinal pill bottles, dried resources, and a whole lot of stuff Ash couldn’t identify.

  “This is… a lot,” Ash said.

  “Yes. I would say that in taking this, we really will cause them no small amount of distress,” Moira said. “How quickly can you pick all this up?”

  Ash bit his lip and then started to try and load everything into his storage space as quickly as he could. He worked his way around the room, taking piles of things at a time.

  “Sorry, it isn’t meant to take groups of items.”

  “Ash, there’s a door over here,” Tala said, interrupting his work.

  “Ok. Is there something different about it?” he asked, unsure of the point. With a flick of his hand, a small mound of spirit stones vanished.

  “It’s hidden. Built into the floor itself,” Tala continued.

  Looking over to her, he saw her standing over what looked like normal stone. She was tapping at it with a foot.

  “You can tell?” he asked her.

  “I can hear someone down there,” she said. “Curses and shouting.”

  Moira came over and smashed a hand down into the stones. Liquid Metal Essence poured out of her hand and flowed around the stones. It began to seep through cracks and gaps that Ash couldn’t see but were clearly there.

  “Found it,” Moira said. She clenched her other hand. There was a clack, and the stones began to shift around, sliding into themselves.

  An entry began to reveal itself, and inside of it steps led down into the dark.

  “Cursing and shouting, you said?” Ash asked.

  “Yes. A lot. And a lot of just screaming,” Tala said. “Screaming full of pain and anger.”

  “Right. So… a prisoner. Let’s go see who they have chained up,” Ash said.

  Taking the lead, he began walking down the steps and into the darkness below.

  With each step he took, it felt like the Essence around him grew more and more putrid.

  Foul.

  It was like he was walking through a dump on a hot day.

  Then the stink hit him. A rancid, foul smell that reminded him of his Black Day. It had the same awful sick odor to it that would haunt his memories forever.

  “Behind that door,” Tala said, gesturing at the solid wooden door that had appeared in front of them out of the gloom. It had metal bands running along the top, the middle, and the bottom.

  It was very clearly reinforced.

  Whatever or whoever was down here, they weren’t just being punished but locked away at the same time.

  Shrieks and gibbering words without meaning could be heard through the thick door and walls.

  It was the sound of madness.

  “I think this is actually a bad idea,” Ash said when they stepped up to the door. “Suddenly I’d very much rather leave this door closed.”

  “I would as well,” Moira said, and Tala agreed with a nod of her head.

  “Right, we’re gone then,” Ash said, and turned around.

  “Ashley?” shouted the voice from inside the cell. “Ashley Sheng!?”

  “Identified. The occupant of the cell is Jing Sheng,” Locke said. “And I do not think opening the door is a good idea, either. It would be best to leave. Immediately.”

  “ASHLEY SHENG!” shouted the voice. Then there was a change in the air.

  The dark Essence thickened. It began to creep and crawl into the cell. Through the walls and the door itself. As if nothing could stand in its way.

  “ASHLEY!” the voice shouted again.

  Then everything shook, and the door melted away into black goo.

  Thirty-Seven

  Jing stood in the middle of the cell.

  His face was a black mask of what looked like blood and Black Day filth. Open wounds bled and oozed. It looked like he’d been worked over for a long time.

  His eyes looked haunted, each ringed with a black circle. The whites of his eyes were solid black as well—as if he wasn’t even human anymore.

  It wasn’t just his face, though.

  His torso, his arms, his hands—everything Ash could see of Jing—indicated he had taken a severe beating. One so bad it was amazing he was standing.

  “Hello… brother,” Jing said, a smile spreading across his face. Several of his teeth were missing. “I’ve been here for so long. What day is it? I don’t know anymore.

  “I tried counting. But they punished me for it. Punished me for everything. Punished me for taking my punishment badly.”

  Jing’s eyes unfocused as he stared at the space between himself and Ash.

  “They fed me Black Day filth for meals. Made me eat it when I refused. But… you know what? After a while, it wasn’t so bad. It gave me strength.

  “Gave me power,” Jing said. “The last one they sent to punish me didn’t leave alive. I beat her, had her, then ate part of her while she lived. Then I tore out her heart and held it up for her to see.”

  Ash followed Jing’s gaze as it moved to a corner.

  A naked and very abused female corpse lay there. It looked as if it’d been there for a bit. This wasn’t something that had happened recently.

  “They stopped feeding me after that. So I’ve been eating her. She doesn’t mind.

  “She didn’t mind at all,” Jing said, then looked to Ash.

  As if a switch had been flicked, the man Ash had known as Jing was replaced by a frightening black shadow of death.

  “You did this. This is all your fault, Ashley. All your fault!” Jing shouted. Then he shot forward. “I was the son first. I was the brother. You’re at fault!”

  Ash had been ready for something like this, though. Triggering his Spring Step, Ash flew up the steps behind himself.

  But Jing was there already, practically on top of him.

  As they dashed up the stairs, Jing started to throw punches at Ash.

  Deflecting them away and countering as best as he could, Ash placed most of his focus on getting out of the stairwell and away from his friends.

  He wasn’t sure he could take Jing with their help in a short battle. Not without one of them getting hurt. Or so Ash gauged from what he was feeling from Jing.

  And he wasn’t about to risk their lives for a fight he was sure he could win if he got into an open space.

  Tapping his hands to his waist as he cleared the stairs, Ash turned and fled down the hallway.

  “We can’t siphon any Essence from him. It’s all corrupted. Corrupted and very poisonous,” Locke said. “We’re lucky his Essence has no ability to break into our Dantian. Otherwise, we would be no more.”

  What?

  “He can’t subs
ume us with his poison because we have no elemental affinity. Otherwise, we would be dead already.”

  He’s that deadly!?

  “Very.”

  Ash panicked for a second as he saw the Earthen wall Mei had built up ahead of him.

  Clapping his hands together, he formed a wedge of his Essence and bulldozed through the construct.

  Hitting it at full speed, Ash only lost a fraction of his momentum as he burst up into the warehouse.

  It was all Jing needed to land a strike between Ash’s shoulder blades.

  Instantly, it felt as if his skin was on fire. Burning and itching like acid had been dropped on it.

  Shooting out of the warehouse, Ash turned around mid-stride.

  Jing was on him, throwing a heavy kick towards his middle.

  Ash deflected the strike away with his leg and threw a counter-punch as he circled to Jing’s side.

  Turning it aside as if he saw it coming, Jing snarled at Ash and lashed out with a thick, shadowy saber made of pure black Essence.

  Not wanting to even touch it, Ash ducked low and began speeding away again.

  “You’re heading for the Inner-Sect. I strongly advise not moving in that direction. The Essence waves coming from there are still very violent. It is likely the battle continues.”

  Good. Maybe I can get Jing to go after someone else and they can deal with him for me.

  Ash hunkered low, activating Spring Step every time his feet touched the ground.

  Except Jing was on him. He was only three steps away and matching him on speed.

  Leaping upward with an explosive burst of Essence, Ash began to practically jump from building to building, flashing forward.

  Reaching down into himself, he began to press on his Dantian. On the swirling maelstrom of his Qi Sea. Each and every time he landed, he activated Spring Step and shoved on the circling mass of Qi in his Dantian.

  His meridians flared and stretched each time, Qi racing throughout his body as he pushed himself harder and harder.

  Feeling the momentum in his movements with every beat of his heart when he hit the ground, and the massive flow of Qi, Ash watched as his golden column flared to life.

  It exploded into a golden pillar of light and filled the space from where it stood to the ceiling of his Dantian, then stopped dead.

  As it happened, he felt something inside himself pop and fall away.

  The next time he activated Spring Step, Ash felt himself practically vanish with the speed he launched off with.

  Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Jing start to barely fall behind.

  “ASHLEY! I WILL CATCH YOU!” Jing screeched at the top of his lungs.

  Disappearing from view in a puff of black smoke, Jing appeared right behind him.

  “His power just increased,” Locke said.

  No shit!

  Gritting his teeth, Ash looked ahead and strove to get to the middle of the Inner-Sect.

  He could actually see the disturbance now with his eyes. Essence and Qi flashed with explosive force ahead of himself. It was clear there were a number of cultivators locked in a heated battle up there.

  Pushing on his Dantian, Ash felt his heart shudder. His body wouldn’t be able to keep up with something like this for much longer.

  Landing in the midst of what looked like a mad melee of older men, Ash ran straight into a pack of Deng masters and elders.

  They saw him at the same time and looked rather confused.

  Ash could imagine it from their point of view. An Outer Sect nobody landing amongst what could only be described as a bloodbath between mortal and spirit refiners.

  Bracing himself to be struck during the maneuver, Ash got low and then sprang up and over the Deng group.

  Before he’d cleared the front line, Jing appeared. Like a predator sighting prey, Jing lashed out at all the Deng clan members in front of him.

  Each time his hands, feet, or weapon landed on one of them, they shrieked in pain. Flesh and limbs came away from the exchange with black smoke roiling off them.

  Ash landed behind the group and began sprinting wide around, trying to get away from the whole situation.

  Those Deng cultivators who were mortal refiners died within seconds of Jing touching them. Their Qi literally turned on them, becoming pitch black and devouring them.

  Seeing someone he recognized as not a Deng affiliate, Ash waved him down.

  “Get everyone out from here! That’s a monster that kills by touch. We have two safe havens in the Outer Sect,” Ash told him as he passed by. “It might be time for a strategic retreat.”

  The older cultivator looked to the situation Ash had pointed out.

  By now, more and more Deng clan members were getting involved. Some splitting off from their fights with other masters to help out.

  Realizing something was happening that was outside of their expectation, the elder nodded. Lifting his arm, he fell back toward the Outer Sect. More and more, Gen’s allies, unaffiliated cultivators, and those who simply opposed the Deng, were leaving the square.

  Getting into a reasonable spot, Ash got low to the ground and tried to calm his racing heart. His body was beaten and tired, but this wasn’t over.

  Jing was a whirlwind of anger and death. Everything and anything he got a hold of suffered for it.

  “We can’t win,” Locke said suddenly.

  What?

  “We can’t win. There is little we can do to stop him. And with every life he’s taking, I sense a strong up-swell in his power.

  “He is much like you in that he gains power from those he kills.”

  Great. Any ideas, then? If we can’t beat him in a straight-out fight, I’d love to hear any other options.

  “You could put him in the Hall. It’d make it off limits, and I strongly believe there’s a good chance he’ll corrupt it with his Essence,” Locke said.

  Pass. Not a great solution because it doesn’t really solve the problem. I’d still have to let him out eventually or risk you and the Hall.

  When he hit me, did it have any effect on him? Did it burn him?

  “Yes, but only marginally. It did nothing to him.”

  Ash stood up, having gotten his breathing under control. His options felt beyond limited, and he lacked any way to actually make this work.

  It felt like the only thing he could do was try to make Jing leave. Except nothing mattered to him.

  He had betrayed his sister and tried to rob Ash directly.

  There wasn’t anything that could—

  Mother Far!

  He always was a mother’s boy. Far would be a trigger for him.

  Did Mei ever mention where the Deng family head is?

  “Middle realm. They’re a low-tier family there,” Locke said.

  That’s the plan, then. Try to convince him somehow that the Deng family is after Mother Far, and the only way to stop them is to go after the head.

  “To be honest, it’s already likely they are indeed after Far. They may not have acted yet because they’re not sure who’s behind you.”

  Ash blinked and felt his heart quail. Locke was right, of course.

  “Jing!” Ash shouted.

  Wrapping his hand around a Deng woman’s throat, Jing looked to Ash.

  “Wait a moment, brother—I’ll take your life shortly,” he said, then closed his hand. The woman who had been struggling up to that moment withered, turned black, and collapsed to the ground.

  “It can’t wait, Jing. The Deng clan head is after Mother Far,” Ash said, and put his entire belief of this statement behind it. Because he did truly believe they were probably targeting the Sheng family.

  “What!?” Jing said, taking a step toward Ash. His brawl with the Deng family was forgotten.

  “The clan head of the Deng family. He was making plans to go after Mother Far. Because they thought you were lying about what you knew.

  “So they’re going after her, and he’s the only one who can take back that attack,” Ash
said.

  Jing stood frozen to the ground, shivering from head to toe.

  “You know this? You believe it?” Jing asked.

  “I do believe it. It’s what they would do. Just look at what they did to you.

  “Imagine them doing that to Mother Far,” Ash said.

  Jing snorted, black mist exhaling from his nose. He was clearly contemplating what to do. How to respond.

  Even in his rage and madness, he was still Far’s son.

  “Where is he?” he asked finally.

  “I don’t know. I only know the Deng family is from the middle realm,” Ash said honestly.

  Jing stared at Ash for several long seconds.

  Then he vanished, as if he’d never been there. In his place was a black fog. One that held the very essence of death and pain.

  It swarmed over the remaining Deng members, blocking them from view. Screams, shouts, and the occasional Qi explosion were all Ash could hear and see.

  Then Jing, a living cloud of evil, sped off into the sky. Vanishing out of sight.

  All he left behind were the corpses of all the Deng clan that’d been standing there only moments before.

  “I pity you, Chosen One. It would seem the ploy worked, but what if he finds out you lied? I think the rage he has will be entirely directed at you, then,” Locke said.

  Yeah… probably. Take it as we go.

  “More Deng clan members are coming. They are all very much stronger than you.”

  Right, uh, time to go then. Let’s head back to the warehouse and finishing cleaning it out, then go to where we put the wounded.

  “A wise course of action, Chosen One. Though… I fear this isn’t the end of this problem. Either the Deng family will win, and you and yours will be hunted and executed, or Gen and his followers will win, and the sect will be very bad off for its loses.

  “This is a no-win situation, really.”

  Yeah, I know. But this is where we’ll stay.

  So let’s do what we can.

  Epilogue

  Gen eased himself down into a chair across from Ash and smiled at him.

  Half of his face was a mask of burnt skin, and one ear looked as if it might be lost entirely if he didn’t take some time to have it checked.

  “So… you tended to the wounded, took prisoners, ransacked their holding here, and then led a shadow monster into their ranks causing excessive losses,” said his master.