He peered carefully at Ning Jing and a thoughtful-looking Jidihu both. “Or am I completely wrong? Should Hao Chan and I leave this very instant?” Alex flashed a cold smile. “Remember, right now I can read you as well as I can read my own soul. If you lie, I’ll know it.”
“The gall of that boy!” hissed Feng Huang. Ning Jing looked too incensed to speak, Jidihu flashing Alex the strangest of smiles.
Yinzi immediately broke out in laughter, breaking the sudden tension. “And you guys think I speak out of turn, speaking my mind? Oh boy, Alex, I think you’ve beaten me at my own game!” She flashed a sympathetic smile. “I hope you’re ready to sweat ‘til you bleed, because Mother’s pretty ruthless when it comes to disciplinary lessons, and you only just recovered from near killing yourself with Silver-ranked feats that should have been completely beyond you, no matter how much inspiration you were riding.” She gave a curious tilt of her head. “Your peripheral meridians were completely fried. And you had an infernal curse tainting your blood. How did you manage to heal what even cultivators a half-step from Gold would find challenging?
“Oh, yeah, and how exactly are Mother’s techniques putting my life in peril? I mean, Shadow knows I hate them, they give me a grinding headache, but I feel fine after a good day’s rest, as long as I can dodge them for a couple of days afterwards.”
It was the oddest thing seeing Ning Jing’s glare transform to a look of predatory intensity, Hao Chan’s own instructor’s gaze almost pleading, Lady Jidihu herself favoring Alex with the most playful of smiles.
“To answer your earlier question, no, you shouldn’t leave us.” Jidihu’s voice was oddly husky with her heartfelt assurance. “We will not strike you dead for your temerity. If anything, we find your Ruidian ways refreshing. Just as the progenitor of my own tribe did. And like him, we don’t betray our friends. If you hadn’t been here, Alex...” She shuddered and looked away. “I fear I might have overplayed my hand. Had you not come when you did...”
Alex frowned. “Did you predict my appearance even then?”
Jidihu had the grace to flush. “I was banking on it. But did I think Hao Zei would strike so soon? Did I think you’d actually achieve such enlightenment that you would blaze across the skies like a phoenix upon a storm of your own making? Did I think that monster would have fully transformed with two corrupt Silvers by his side, all of them gifted with infernal artifacts specifically designed to strike us at our weakest points? Did I think that bastard could net us with corrupted contracts designed to trap us within poorly made oaths by the slothful former master of my sect? No, Alex. I’m not such a grandmaster of the game we play as to predict all of that.”
“I told you we killed that fool too quickly, and it would come back to haunt us one day,” Ning Jing huffed.
Jidihu pretended not to hear her, all her focus on the young cultivator before her.
Alex felt a curious flutter in his chest when what were now soft brown eyes peered deeply into his own.
“Alex?”
“Yes, Jidihu?”
“I pray you will stand by our side.”
Alex swallowed, struck by the solemn intensity of not just Jidihu, but all the girls present, even Ning Jing and Hao Chan’s instructor, pinning him with their hope-filled gazes.
Alex looked away, burgeoning resentments instantly fading, sensing the sincerity, even the desperation in so many gazes, Jidihu herself, who could probably strike him dead effortlessly, hiding nothing.
“I mean, yeah. Of course I will.” He shrugged. “For all that I’m just a first rank Bronze riding with three Silvers, I don’t mind doing my part.”
Jidihu beamed at him. Alex could sense her relief; the sudden release of tension he hadn’t realized she had been holding at bay, despite their connection. “Thank you, Alex. We are truly grateful to have you with us.”
Alex couldn’t help grinning back. “Do me a favor though?”
She quirked a polite eyebrow.
“No more puppet-mastery, okay? Shoot straight with me. If you need my help with something, tell me straight out, and what our ultimate goal is. Let me be a part of the team, not just an unwitting pawn.”
He was surprised by Ning Jing’s gasp. Almost as if he had said something truly outrageous.
Jidihu nodded solemnly. “It will be done.” She then flashed a playful smile. “And who knows? Perhaps your insights will prove useful. It’s been too long since I last recruited a fresh lieutenant.”
Alex blinked at that. “What?”
Qi Perception check successful! You sense a strike coming from behind. You have failed to dodge!
Alex winced when an open palm smacked the top of his head.
“Really, boy, how much of a fool are you?” snapped Ning Jing. “You’re playing with fire, with the deadliest woman it’s ever been my pleasure to bed or kill beside. How could you not expect to get burned?”
Warm throaty laughter washed over them all. “It’s quite all right, love. I won’t push Alex further than he’s willing to go.” Her warm gaze hardened. “And I won’t involve him in topics he doesn’t need to know. For all his potential, he has just begun his journey as a Bronze, his mind far more vulnerable than he realizes. But those assignments which might involve him personally? Yes, Alex, I will let you move your piece as you see fit, worthy rook that you have proven yourself to be, though I do hope you’ll take my guidance when it is given. Far more is at stake than you know.”
Those words chilled Alex more than anything else, since he already sensed that an awful lot was at stake. To say nothing of that terrible vision he wished was just a dream… an entire city that would be consigned to damnation if he wasn’t where he needed to be, when he needed to be there. A nightmare occurrence that could happen in weeks, months, or years.
It was a weight upon his soul.
A weight that served to further underscore what seemed to be the major theme of his life. For his own sake, for the sake of those he cared about, he had to get stronger, at all costs.
Alex bowed his head. “Sounds fair.”
He then winced, feeling a grip hard as steel upon his shoulder.
“Good,” said Ning Jing. “Now that that’s settled, how about you explain to me what exactly is wrong with the forms I’m teaching my daughter?”
Alex swallowed. “Of course. I’d be happy to.”
He turned to face a suddenly anxious-looking Yinzi. “Don’t be nervous. You’ll find this first part a breeze. To start, I’d like you to cultivate or meditate or practice whatever forms feel most natural to you.”
“I’m never nervous,” Yinzi insisted. “That would dishonor my father, who laughs even in the face of death, before getting the best of everyone who thought they could defeat him.”
Alex grinned. “That does sound like him,” he admitted, before catching himself, noting a number of suddenly perked ears and curious stares.
“He knows her father? Impossible!” squealed one kitsune girl.
“Shh. We’re not supposed to let on that we know who Yinzi’s even talking about,” insisted another.
Qie Qie frowned. “Who, exactly, is your father, Yinzi?” she asked before paling and quickly lowering her gaze. “This lowly one means no offense with her impertinent question.”
Ning Jing looked less than pleased with the turn of the conversation, though Jidihu flashed a mischievous grin. “Show Alex your favorite forms, dear.”
“Yes, Lady Jidihu,” Yinzi automatically replied, before flashing a suddenly shy smile. “I mean… Mom.”
Qie Qie, if anything, looked even more confused, flashing Alex a helpless look.
He grinned and winked. “It’s complicated,” he stage-whispered.
Yinzi, for her part, was now sitting in the lotus position, breathing deep, easy breaths, rosebud lips easing into a peaceful smile as she closed her eyes, and suddenly they were surrounded by what almost seemed perfect silence, the grinding crunch of massive wagon wheels supported by what Alex thought a remark
able suspension system had faded to a distant murmur, the soothing green-tinted light they were all bathed in under the lush, verdant forest canopy on either side of the road from which they could, more often than not, snag ripened fruit at their leisure, seemed to dim from high noon to dusk to twilight gloom.
Alex felt the slightest chill as Yinzi’s grin widened.
When she opened her eyes, they were the color of obsidian.
More than a couple girls gasped, though Jidihu favored her daughter with an approving nod. “Well done, daughter mine. Now open yourself to he who will be your sifu, so that he may better judge your strengths and flaws.”
Ning Jing hissed at this, but held her peace under Jidihu’s icy gaze.
“Of course, Mother,” said the softest rustle from the trees overhead.
Alex took a deep breath, braced himself, and peered intently at the beautiful young woman holding so many secrets so close to her soul.
Your target has bared her soul before your gaze! +4 bonus to all Soul Sight and Find Weakness perception checks. Rank 6 Spiritual Teacher bonus in effect. Critical success! You understand the affinities, strengths, and weaknesses of she who will be your newest student! (As if you had a choice in the matter.)
Alex paled and took a shuddering gasp, awed despite himself by the incredible potential he sensed in the girl now gazing so intently back at him, obsidian orbs locking with sky blue eyes that had first glimpsed this world a thousand years ago.
She flashed a mischievous, knowing smile, and Alex winced, wondering if perhaps she had caught a glimpse of his soul as well. Yet all she did was bow her head before uttering the words certain to get him into trouble.
“Do you like what you see?”
Several of the kitsune girls chuckled throatily at that, even Hao Yin, flashing Alex an impish smile.
Alex flushed, feeling Hao Chan’s amber gaze burning into him like lasers.
“Are you trying to get him killed, daughter?” huffed an exasperated Ning Jing. “And I don’t just mean by me.”
Jidihu shrugged. “The Alex before us today is only a year older than our daughter, and she is of age. We already know the boy has Golden potential in his veins. Our daughter could do far worse, and I think they would make a lovely alliance, all three of them. Though I don’t see our headstrong child as being second-wife to anyone without an absolutely delicious level of drama and conflict, fit for the storybooks.”
Much to Alex’s surprise, Ning Jing was nodding just as thoughtfully as Jidihu, as was every kitsune girl present, Yinzi’s quip somehow turning to a careful study of Alex’s potential as a future husband.
“Wait, what exactly is going on? Are you guys serious right now?” asked a perplexed Qie Qie. “You all know Alex has to be celibate until he reaches Silver, which only a few people in a million can even achieve, right? And what was that about the Alex before us today? Is there a different Alex I should know about? How many Ruidians with that name...?” She paled, suddenly gazing at Alex in a whole new light.
Yinzi flushed at how serious a turn the conversation had taken, gazing almost shyly at Hao Chan. “Please don’t be mad, I was just joking.”
Hao Chan chuckled gamely. “I know that, Yinzi. It’s alright, friends joke around all the time.” Alex winced as the beautiful girl now holding his hand squeezed just a bit too tightly, but he knew better than to complain.
Alex turned to Jidihu. “Did you teach her that?”
Jidihu dipped her head. “I did indeed. An old technique passed from mother to daughter for generations.” She flashed a smile filled with maternal pride. “And my daughter took to it with a grace that astounds me to this day.”
“I’ll say, she managed to clear out all seven of her meridian gateways! She’s just a half step away from Bronze! From everything I’ve heard, to achieve that at eighteen, especially with the challenges kitsune face, is beyond remarkable,” Alex said.
Ning Jing snorted. “Her problem was never with cleansing her meridians. Her talents with Shadow and the Void allowed her to all but pull the blockages free, Metal coming along for the ride like a lodestone.”
Yinzi nodded solemnly. “I’ve been a half step away from Bronze since I was sixteen, Alex.”
Hao Chan gasped. If Alex was impressed, it was nothing compared to the look of awe on Qie Qie’s face.
Yinzi huffed. “And it doesn’t even matter. No matter how hard I try, no matter how hard Mother pushes me, I can’t forge any Bronze cords!” She gave a frustrated shake of her head. “None of the meridian channel patterns she’s shown me appeal, either. They’re all wrong! And Mom’s pattern is so ridiculously intricate it makes me green with envy, but it can only hold Shadow and a dash of Fate. If I were to try to balance the Void atop of it, it would tear free like a spider’s web!”
“I know,” said Ning Jing. “You hold the weight of oblivion in your soul, so no matter your shared affinity for Shadow, Jidihu’s pattern can never be your own. That’s why I’m pushing you so hard, daughter. Out of all the cultivators you will find in the entire principality, none have learned to harness the power and potency of Dark Qi, the heart of destruction, the caress of oblivion, other than myself.” She flashed a bitter smile. “It’s what makes me such a deadly assassin. And it’s why I will never see Gold. Even for one as gifted as I, the dark rites I embraced took their toll.”
She gave a bitter shake of her head, her gaze almost pleading as she regarded her daughter once more. “Your second mother saved me from the darkest of paths. A fate that would have damned my very soul. Though tarnished, though I will most certainly face several lifetimes worth of purgatory, you, child, are my shining light. My redemption. And this is why I wish you could show just a bit of discipline! You think your path pains you? At least Voidal Qi comes naturally to you! I pay a price in pain every day I dare stint in cultivating, carefully sealing every sliver of explosive chaos within cords of hardest iron! Together, they forge the most indomitable of Steel alloys even a Gold Titan would think twice before facing, knowing there’s a chance, however small, that he would fall before me!”
Alex swallowed, feeling a sudden chill. To hear so many secrets said so carelessly around half a dozen girls not much older than himself…
Jidihu flashed a reassuring smile. “Do not worry, Alex. They have all taken Cultivator’s Oaths to reveal no secrets spoken of during this trip, save amongst ourselves, of course. Besides, most are my students, wards placed in my care.”
Alex let loose a relieved breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding. “I’m glad to hear it,” he said. He turned back to a solemn-faced Yinzi, shadowy ears perhaps only Alex could see wilting, as if pained by her mother’s confession. A conclusion made all the more certain when Yinzi swept her birth mother in a fierce hug.
“Don’t worry, Mother. If any force tries to send your soul to purgatory, I’ll steal you away with me back to heaven when I pass on. We will hide together in a beautiful compound with a garden even more glorious than the last one, and we can garden there and enjoy heavenly sunlight ‘til it’s time for us both to be reborn once more.” She smiled through the tears in her eyes. “But you get to go first, Mother, so you can have me later and treat me like a princess for being so good to you between lives.”
Alex’s eyes widened, seeing the tears falling down Ning Jing’s cheeks as she held her beloved daughter close, the ice-cold assassin in that moment revealing a mother’s tender love, a glimpse of the gentle woman she might have been, had her life taken a different turn.
Alex was surprised by Hao Chan’s soft sob, bringing his clasped hand with her own against her chest, and he almost felt guilty by how nice it felt. When she leaned against him, he couldn’t help squeezing her close and giving the top of her head an affectionate kiss as she snuggled up against him.
It was some moments before Yinzi got up from her mother’s side, turning to face Alex. “Now I guess you want to see my cycling technique?”
Alex solemnly nodded.
; Slowly dipping her head, her normally cheerful expression hardened to something steely and cold. Yinzi began taking short, sharp breaths before launching into an explosive kata. Alex’s eyes widened, not having expected a martial cultivation technique that skirted so close to pure body cultivation, but perhaps it made sense, considering who, and what, her birth mother was. And there was no mistaking the fact that Yinzi had learned how to strike, pivot, and kick with consummate grace, for all that her blows were powerful and direct, seeking to finish off her imagined foe in the shortest amount of time. It was a style somewhat similar to Golden Realms Kung Fu, Alex sensed, perhaps specialized for practitioners of Ning Jing’s former trade.
It was a good thing there was so much space on top of the carriage, all of them politely standing at the front, giving Yinzi as much room as Alex and Hao Chan had once enjoyed atop their slightly smaller carriage rooftop, just a handful of months ago.
Besides possessing tremendous reserves of strength and stamina, which Alex was not surprised to see, his Soul Sight skill made it clear that Yinzi also had the potential for an extremely strong foundation.
Yet the way she forced herself to compress her Dark Qi in a brittle shell of Metal made him wince, and so viscerally did he sense the slow withering death of Wood desperately cloaking itself in Shadow that it left him visibly shaken.
He did not expect it to affect him so deeply, but as a Rank 6 Spiritual Teacher now doing his best to commune with his student, which he guessed she now truly was, the sight of her actively damaging her foundation was more than he could bear.
“Stop now!” he said more forcefully than he had intended. “Please, stop.”
Abruptly Yinzi halted, panting and covered in sweat, her sudden relief unmistakable.
Alex turned to Jidihu, who was gazing at him so curiously, then to Ning Jing, brows furrowed, all but glaring Alex’s way.
“Why did you have my daughter stop?”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior's Oath: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 4 Page 5