Until, at last, it was done.
4
“Alex?”
Alex jolted awake, suppressing a cry, blinking into the smiling amber eyes of the athletic and strikingly beautiful girl who had somehow claimed his heart.
“Hao Chan,” Alex said with a smile, his words little more than a whisper, which surprised him when the mad events of the past week came crashing into his awareness once more. He blinked, gazing down at his hands in awed disbelief, amazed to find himself utterly free of pain, his peripheral channels fully intact with the Extremely Resilient trait more prominent than ever before, his own Bronze cord blazing to his inner eye like a white-hot stream of magma entwined with the obsidian blackness of the coldest reaches of space.
Hao Chan flashed a brilliant smile, turning away to address the girls peering so intently at him, including a number of kitsune girls with foxlike ears dipped charmingly forward, as well as several of the Yidushian professors and friends he had made at Dragon Academy, much to his surprise.
He caught Qie Qie’s poleaxed expression with his own and flashed a cheeky grin, only then noting that they were, in fact, in motion, riding upon a carriage top that had been fitted exactly like the massive affair that had once been the foul trader Hao Zei’s own, complete with flattened rooftop, hemp ropes, and the steel posts they were secured to, mirroring, for all intents and purposes, a squared-off sparring ring.
“I’m betting you never expected this when you first started sparring with your eccentric Ruidian classmate, hey kung fu sister?”
Qie Qie’s mouth opened and shut several times, at a complete loss for words, before she chuckled ruefully. “I knew there was something I liked about you when you had the fighting spirit to keep coming back to class, no matter how tough we were on you. And the more I came to know you, the happier I was to call you kung fu brother. Especially since...” She lowered her head, blushing furiously, and Alex couldn’t help flashing a grin, recalling the last time he had seen her lock gazes with Zhao Doushi, youngest Silver at the academy, as well as disciple and son to Master Panheu. The young Silver had managed to capture Qie Qie’s heart, and something else as well.
Alex did indeed know why she was grateful to have him as a friend. Their training had allowed her to catch the gaze of the man she truly adored, though Alex couldn’t help feeling a lurch in his gut as he realized they’d have to have a serious conversation very soon.
“… anyway, never mind that!” said Qie Qie, wincing under the combined stares of half a dozen girls whose intent gazes made it clear that few secrets would last long during this carriage ride. “What I want to know, hell, what we all want to know, is how did you do that?”
Alex blinked. “Do what, exactly?”
Qie Qie’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious? Please tell me you’re not serious! If you weren’t on death’s door, I’d punch you right now!”
“You will do no such thing!” snapped a glaring Hao Chan, before thawing her sudden frosty regard with an impish smile. “Alex is mine, and only I’m allowed to beat him senseless.”
Qie Qie rolled her eyes while the kitsune girls snickered. “Fine. He’s yours. Not that it will do either of you a lick of good unless you can both reach a rank only a few people in a million possibly could. But after what Alex managed to pull off?” She shrugged, then smiled. “I’d believe anything at this point. Now what I want to know, Alex, is how you managed to soar the heavens, crash into a cultivator at speeds that should be impossible, and not only live to tell the tale, but still have the strength to tussle with not one but two Silvers infused by infernal might and doing everything they could to kill us?” She furrowed her brows. “And I won’t even ask how you managed to actually finish off that damned merchant.”
“Good,” said a deadly serious Lady Jidihu. “And none of us will ever ask again about how Alex did what he did at the end of the battle, because we all know the costs if the wrong questions are asked. We would be putting the hero who risked his life to save our own in direst jeopardy if we did so.”
All the girls paled and blinked, giving solemn nods.
Yinzi grinned. “Oh, you mean how he disappeared, but not like how we kitsunes fade into the shadows, but rather like he flipped out of reality entirely, the very moment that foul merchant came crashing down on him? And then the instant that bastard began to pick himself up, screaming about how he’d violate us all personally after making us all slaves according to some asinine contract provision, he gets this awful look on his face, blood shoots out his mouth and nose, and he collapses as his chest begins to do some very weird things, and then Alex pops out, covered in blood and gore? Or about how our champion washed himself off with what seemed like an entire lake’s worth of water from his tiny little ring?”
“Yes, daughter, that’s exactly what I mean,” said a hard-eyed Jidihu, her icy gaze so like Ning Jing’s own at that moment that Alex could suddenly perfectly visualize the pair planning out a dozen ruthless hits and overthrowing an underground empire together.
For all that the kitsune could effortlessly flow into the warm motherly demeanor of a matron noble caring for her wayward charges, right now her gaze perfectly mirrored Lady Ning Jing’s customary glare, who was never able to drop her ice-cold demeanor completely.
Yinzi winced. “Ooh. Now you’re both looking at me like that. I absolutely hate that look. Please don’t ground me! I mean you can’t, right? We’re totally fleeing Yidushi in case Panheu can’t take out the former headmaster who I won’t name because I’m not a complete idiot! Even if what we’re really doing is heading for the capital to arrange our own little coup of the local Jianghu sect if they refuse to play nice, all so we can protect Alex’s first love from assassination, since she’s now the first kitsune princess accepted into an actual royal family since Lady Jin Yu herself!”
The kitsune girls were looking at Yinzi with expressions ranging from amusement to dismay. Qie Qie just shook her head, and Alex winced at Hao Chan’s sudden squeeze of his hand, which might have cracked bone, had he not transcended as much as he had.
Jidihu exchanged looks with Ning Jing before chuckling softly. “She truly is like her father.”
Ning Jing snorted. “Wise Fool indeed. Well, my foolish daughter, it’s time we instilled some wisdom, or at least some discipline, inside that clever little noggin of yours. Unlike your ultimate sire, you’re mortal, and for all that chaos cannot be contained, a wagging tongue certainly can! Hammered Iron stance, now!”
Yinzi flashed an apologetic look Alex’s way. “Sorry, Chan, please don’t be mad at what I said, but your stepfather is, or was, I guess I should say, something of a monster.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Hao Chan soothed. “No one’s more aware of what a monster he was than me and my cousins.”
Hao Yin nodded solemnly at that, fox ears wilting in memory of the horrors she had so narrowly avoided. Alex found it refreshing to see that neither Hao Yin nor any of the other kitsune felt the need to constrain ears or tails in bonnets, hats, or artfully arranged clothing, save by choice, it seemed. Alex’s eyes did dart forward to the front of the wagon, noting a whistling Hao Lin once more acting as the coachman, expertly leading a team of four massive horses larger than any oxen Alex had ever seen on Earth as effortlessly as Alex had once ridden his bike, a lifetime ago. The fey youth flashed Alex a cheerful grin before turning back to the road ahead, and Alex couldn’t help but feel the strangest sense of deja vu.
He was riding on a carriage rooftop once more that was, if anything, slightly larger than Hao Zei’s, complete with safety ropes and tough leather flooring serving as the equivalent of an ancient sparring mat, set up almost identically to the one he, Hao Chan, and Hao Yin had spent timeless weeks or months sparring upon from sunup to sundown as they traveled through increasingly wild forests where the perfectly maintained road was the only trace of civilization to be found for hundreds if not thousands of miles.
And gazing at the majestic forest all around as rus
tling leaves and branches from stately trees on either side of the road formed a verdant canopy overhead with shafts of brilliant golden sunlight caressing their skin as they passed underneath was just like what Alex remembered with his first surreal journey through these woodlands.
Finesse check made!
And, just like before, trees abundant with perfectly ripe apples, pears, and walnuts were so bountiful that it was nothing to snag fruit so saturated with spiritual energy that Alex felt instantly refreshed with the first bite of juicy, succulent fruit to cross his lips.
“Alex?”
He turned to gaze into Hao Chan’s hopeful eyes, wondering how much she understood about what was happening, what it all truly meant, and how deeply Jidihu was playing them all.
But none of that mattered, he realized, recognizing the far more important question in the beautiful young woman’s anxious gaze that broke Alex’s heart just to see.
He gave the only answer he could, a gentle peck to surprised lips both soft and warm before flourishing an apple as if by magic before her eyes. He then squeezed her hand and smiled into her amber gaze. “More than anything else, I’m glad to see you strong, healthy, and whole. Just as I’m glad our friends are free of that place. For all that I had hoped for so much, I think I now know what that school truly was.”
“And what’s that?” asked Jidihu, her piercing gaze seeming to flow from green to amber to silver to obsidian blackness all in the span of seconds as their carriage traveled beneath the ever-rustling forest canopy, the odd shafts of emerald-tinted sunlight caressing the beautiful kitsune with such terrible secrets and deadly power before cloaking her in forest gloom once more.
Alex grinned. “A trap. The school entire. Whatever it once was designed for, whatever influence the god of chaos and change had originally had upon that institution, it has grown rigid and stale, dark and bitter. One can only wonder how many aspiring cultivators seeking growth and enlightenment attended those halls, only to be ground to dust and eventually destroyed when they showed the slightest spark of initiative or creativity, if they were anything other than the chosen scions of one corrupt lord’s clan or another.”
Alex winced at the sharp silence, wondering if he had gone too far in speaking so boldly before multiple former instructors of that very academy. “My apologies. Perhaps I spoke out of turn.”
Jidihu chuckled ruefully. “You have nothing to apologize for, Alex.”
Alex blinked, surprised when graceful fingers inexorably lifted his chin, her brilliant eyes meeting his own. “Do you want to know the real reason why I took up residence at Dragon Academy?”
Alex swallowed, heart racing under that pitiless gaze. “At first, I thought because it was the perfect retreat. Situate yourself right, and any enemy would have to face dozens of powerful cultivators before they had a chance of getting to you, and you’d be warned of trouble coming well in advance.”
Jidihu bowed her head. “And the flash of insight you had that day was worthy of WiFu’s favored mortal assistant, for all that he had disappeared from all historical records save fable and legend, near a thousand years ago. At that moment like no other, I saw my master’s hand upon your shoulder.”
Alex blinked, never having heard such an expression before, but the meaning was clear enough.
“Alex?”
“Yes, Lady Jidihu?”
“What do you think happened to my people, those who dared the Academy, before I came to an arrangement with the headmaster?”
Alex paled. “I’m… I’m almost afraid to say.”
The former assassin’s gaze hardened. “Say it.”
“They were killed. Either that, or used as toys. Used, broken, and thrown away.” Alex felt his guts twist, eyes flashing upon images of young fox women being cuffed and chained, their cultivation bases destroyed, their spirits broken, their bodies enslaved.
Soul Sight skill check successful! You can see Lady Jidihu’s secrets, because she wants you to see them!
Alex paled and looked away from the kitsune’s brilliant gaze that had momentarily filled up his entire world, tasting all too clearly the horror and despair experienced by any kitsune who had dared to come out in the open, dared to better themselves in any place other than the shadows hiding their mother’s soft-spoken teachings.
“Correct, Alex. Before I made my presence known, any kitsune who dared enter the school would be destroyed. No matter that they were greeted with open arms on their first day, kin and family finding their worries easily soothed away, by the end of a single year all were damaged and crippled at best, mind burned and enslaved at worst, more than half ending up dead through one unfortunate accident or another. And any family claiming kinship to that kitsune, save those who claimed considerable political clout, would find themselves bankrupt and run out of Yidushi under one pretext or another, or outright killed soon after.”
Alex clenched his jaw tight, feeling a surge of darkest fury flow through him.
It was only with Hao Chan’s surprised gasp that he relaxed his tightly clenched fists, realizing he had been squeezing her hand far too tightly.
Heart hammering, his mind couldn’t help flashing to memories of Liu Jian, the alchemist who had dared to fall in love with Liu Li’s mother at that very school.
“But what about...?”
Jidihu gave a pitying shake of her head. “It’s only because he was as powerful as he is, and kin to the ruling clan of our entire Principality, that Liu Jian was able to protect his wife to the extent he was. And it is the darkest of ironies that the same damned alchemist who’s responsible for the ruin of so many of my tribe fell in love with the one he was forbidden to destroy.”
She flashed a bitter smile. “Honestly, I think Liu Jian, whose true name is Cui Jian by the way, first claimed her out of pity, seeking to save the first kitsune he came across when he actually broke out of his shell, stepped beyond his academy apothecary, and dared to glimpse and understand what was truly going on.” She gave a satisfied nod, flashing a toothy smile. “In fact, it’s in large part thanks to him that I was able to change things around as… efficiently as I was.”
“She means without washing the academy entire in rivers of blood,” noted a straining Yinzi, shadowy ears Alex could sense with his Qi Perception even without moonlight making it clear she was listening intently to her second mother’s every word, even as she strained through cultivation forms her fully human mother was insisting she follow as the other girls cultivated quietly or gazed on.
“Silence, daughter. Now is not the time for speaking, but for silence and doing,” said a no-nonsense Ning Jing.
“Yes, mother,” whispered an exhausted-looking Yinzi, struggling through forms Alex could sense were actually paining her.
Lady Jidihu gave a nonchalant shrug. “Be that as it may, I was more than slightly impressed with Liu Jian, your mentor. If Liu Li’s mother hadn’t already claimed him… suffice to say, my associates and I were able to turn things around at the academy. Oaths were made and understandings reached. And as much as my former mates and I wanted to kill the headmaster, we had sworn an oath to do no such thing.”
Alex flashed a bleak smile, suddenly understanding. “But when Panheu provoked that ass-wipe of a headmaster, after allowing his pet Ruidian to mock his enemies and wipe the floor with multiple Bronze-ranked spoiled brats, he was goaded to outrage. And just like Lai Leng was driven to strike me down, even though he broke his cultivator’s oath and weakened himself considerably by doing so, the headmaster was goaded to challenge Panheu in turn.” Alex chuckled softly. “Funny, how that all turned out.”
Jidihu flashed a jaded smile. “Isn’t it, though?”
Alex shook his head, bemused smile still in place. “How many moves ahead were you guys planning this? Was I a pawn from the very beginning?”
“Of course,” the kitsune mastermind said, denying nothing. “But you were a valued pawn we did all we could to keep alive, even as you were forced to face your own demon
s, to purge your weaknesses, and forge yourself into a worthy rook far stronger than any pawn before you.”
Alex smirked, giving the grinning kitsune a golf clap. “Bravo. If I didn’t like you so much, if I couldn’t sense how much you genuinely cared about the girls under your protection, I’d jump off this carriage in a heartbeat and give you all the middle finger while doing it. You know that, right?”
Solemnly, the secret head of the entire Yidushian Jianghu sect nodded her head. “I have no doubt of that.”
Alex’s intent gaze locked with her own. “But I can tell how much you love these girls. How fiercely you love Yinzi. I think I know why you didn’t dare tell her the truth of things in that viper’s nest of a school, knowing your daughter was already savvy enough to avoid most dangers, and the threat of Ning Jing’s wrath was enough to give any remaining adversary pause.”
He smiled at her sudden pallor. “You opened yourself to me, Jidihu, and now it is me reading you like a book. And no, you won’t strike me dead because, despite how messed up your own life once was, you will never let go of your own fierce code of honor, and your devotion to those you feel need you. No matter how ruthless you need to be to your enemies, no matter how many neutral pawns you must sway to achieve your ends.”
He momentarily closed his eyes, savoring the warm dappled sunlight caressing his brow from the canopy overhead, undisturbed by the crimson tension in the air. “And it’s because I can sense the fierce, beautiful, kindhearted woman beneath the calculating puppet-master that I choose to stay. Not to mention the fact that I too care about the girls under your care, including your daughter Yinzi. And I can only hope that you can sense as well as I how her birthmother’s desperate attempts to forge Yinzi into her own image will soon destroy her. So yes, for all of those reasons, I’ll stick around for a bit, trusting that neither you nor your former wife will strike me dead for daring to speak out of turn.”
Alex’s gaze hardened. “Because unlike the bastards plaguing that school, I’ve yet to meet a Jianghu member who didn’t have a sense of honor. And when someone risks their life to save your own, you cut them a little slack, whether or not they speak out of turn.”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior's Oath: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 4 Page 4