“Why can’t you just tell me what’s going on?” Cha Ming asked. But Silver Fish had never been the talkative type. He tossed up the Clear Sky Staff, and it split into six. One for each of the five elements, and one glowing violet with Demon-Subduing Intent. Silver Fish’s eyes narrowed as they crashed down on top of him. For a time, he even resisted. But Cha Ming knew something he didn’t. The core of what made him so powerful was in Cha Ming’s control. Cha Ming didn’t oppress him with demon-subduing energy—he just pulled some of it away.
Silver Fish screamed as much of his strength left him. “Give up,” Cha Ming said. “Give up, and we’ll talk.” The man struggled for a bit before finally accepting his fate. Cha Ming had his weakness well in hand, and he probably felt that Cha Ming didn’t want to kill him. A good call on his part.
“I could have handled him,” Mi Fei said coldly. “I didn’t ask for help.”
“Maybe you could have,” Cha Ming said. “But the others were all paired up. Besides, I’m glad I showed up. I know him. I’d hate for you to have killed him.”
Mi Fei frowned. “Did you say Silver Fish? I recall Brother Longshen mentioning something about him.”
“The very same,” Cha Ming said, and he turned back to his friend. “So tell me, Silver Fish. Why all the sneaking around?”
It didn’t take long to convince the caravan guards that they were friendlies. Not long after flashing her Kingfisher Guard medallion, Mi Fei found herself in a private room on one of the many linked ships that made up the caravan. Their prisoner, Silver Fish, was bound to a chair.
“You think they’ll tell anyone about us?” Cha Ming asked.
“I don’t think they’re that brave,” Mi Fei answered. “But I’d bet everything I have that they’d fold given enough pressure.” She’d seen slugs with more spine than these guards had.
Cha Ming nodded and looked back to Silver Fish, who was looking very relaxed despite being tied to a chair.
“There’s an aura about him,” Mi Fei warned. “It makes everything near him… strange. And powerful.” Powerful enough to counter her Grandmist.
Cha Ming nodded. “He’s a Dao Lord, and a very strong one at that. His Dao is the Dao of Inky Sea.”
Inky Sea? She’d never heard of that Dao before. No wait—was he related to the Inky Sea Sect?
“Why were you sneaking up on the caravan, Silver Fish?” Cha Ming asked again.
The man shrugged indifferently. “I needed to liberate some cargo on the ship. It was for a good cause.” It was a thief’s excuse. A bad one.
“You were going to rob the caravan… for a good cause?” Cha Ming asked. He sighed deeply.
“I don’t see what gave you the confidence,” Mi Fei interrupted. “You’re just one man. How much could you possibly take with you?”
Silver Fish raised an eyebrow. “I was more than a match for you, and I didn’t even use everything I had. You think these guards could stop me?”
“I was just getting warmed up,” Mi Fei said.
Cha Ming shot her a glare. She clenched her teeth and scowled at Silver Fish again.
“You’re not a bad person,” Cha Ming said. “Why would you rob a caravan? Why are you involved in this mess?”
Silver Fish chuckled. “No one else wanted to act. When demons are involved, they never seem to want to help. I guess I just felt the need to do something.”
“Then it seems you’re better informed than I am,” Cha Ming said. “Tell me, what were you looking for? You can’t store even a tenth of these goods on your own. I need to know.”
Silver Fish hesitated, then shook his head. “You don’t trust me. And you’re human. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me,” Cha Ming said. And the exchange continued.
Mi Fei soon couldn’t stand the circular arguments and walked out of the room. She went to stand on one of the many perches where the caravan guards kept watch. No one said anything, and in fact, they gave her wide berth as she looked about. Being part of the Kingfisher Guard had its benefits, especially when you weren’t dealing with nobles.
She looked out at the dark woods, and at the moon up above. She wondered about her fight with Silver Fish. Could she have beaten him? She thought back to facing him. She’d been using every ounce of her strength. Yet no matter what she did, he’d countered her. Was it fighting experience or something else that she was missing? People like Cha Ming had been fighting for tens of real decades, and Silver Fish, tattooed as he was, had probably been in more bar fights than she’d had arguments.
Moreover, there was something strange about his qi. The Dao of Inky Sea, Cha Ming had called it. Now that they were in the light, she recognized the black water as a form of water qi. It was oddly harmonious with everything around them. She’d fought Dao Lords before, but none of them were nearly as strong. His fused dominion and domain could match up to her Grandmist domain. That was impossible, wasn’t it? Her Concept of Perpetual Mist might not be enough to condense a rune, but it was a Grandmist concept. It should be stronger than most third-order concepts.
“I’ll have to ask Xiao Bai about it,” she muttered. She was upset. But more than that, she was disappointed. It wasn’t just about getting overpowered by this Dao Lord Silver Fish—she could live with that. Her sword instructor, Daoist Burning Sword, did that all the time. What bothered her more was that Cha Ming had chosen to ignore her judgment of the situation and rushed to her aid. Wei Longshen had probably put him up to it. They didn’t understand that she could take care of herself.
She sighed and looked up at the moon. Rays of light shone down on the thick jungle. She’d always loved the moon. Since carving her core, that love had grown deeper. She wondered why it reminded her of home, when even the home she grew up in didn’t.
She knew its shape. She knew every scar carved into its large surface. Most people thought the moon as something static, but she knew it was round and omnipresent. In her mind, she pictured it as a garden paradise, a private place made for her and her alone. A bridge of stars had even been built to take her there. A child’s fantasy.
She sniffed and realized her cheeks were wet. She wiped away tears she hadn’t felt coming. In that moment, she felt a warm light settle on her soul. It was enlightenment on a concept, and a jade moon and starry skies appeared in her spiritual sea. It was often this way with concepts. They came to her so naturally. They swirled close to the pool of Grandmist that her domain was based on, along with dozens of other ones. Some were fused, and some not. Every concept gave her a different perspective on reality.
What would it be like to see this world from the moon’s perspective? She wondered as she reflected on the concept. It was a silly thought, but she soon realized that somehow, she was looking down. She was the light over this small world, this shriveled-up shell of a world that was breaking apart at the seams. It was a wounded world, with a hole so dark at its center that one could mistake it for the emptiness at the edge of the universe. No light could shine there.
It could shine elsewhere, however, and where it could, she could see. She followed the light across the black waves of the inky sea, those deep waters she couldn’t pierce. She followed the rivers inland toward the three imperial capitals several thousand miles away from their shores. She followed large rivers that oozed out from the gaping wound of an ocean. They faded to a lighter color as they fed all who lived there. The waters lightened as they traveled farther outward, until they were practically clear in comparison and dumped into the outer sea. One such river passed by their caravan.
She could see herself there, gazing at the moon and the stars. She could see every guard and every nook and cranny, and even into the caravan through open windows. Every bump in the gravel road and every tree in the woods. She could see the demons as they scattered and the fear in their eyes. And beyond them, she could see the swirling mass of dark cloth as it was buffeted by the wind. The angry glint in their leader’s eyes. The commands their leader shouted as he approached her.
“Cha Ming!” Mi Fei yelled as her awareness plunged back into her body. She was disoriented, but she knew she had no time. “We’re under attack!”
Guards scrambled into their positions, and from the deafening silence of the woods, arrows shot out. She dove for cover, and overhead, a silver shield expanded. It wasn’t a powerful shield, but she realized instantly what it was. It was a communication jamming shield, and a high-level one at that. Something was different about this attack. Something troubling.
And no one else was coming to help them.
The ship rocked, and Cha Ming cursed as Silver Fish’s chair tumbled to the floor. “They’re here. It’s too late,” he said.
Cha Ming frowned. “You’re not with those who’ve been robbing the caravans?”
“Do I look like I’m one of them?” Silver Fish said with a growl.
“Then why are you being so obtuse?” Cha Ming hissed.
“It’s complicated,” Silver Fish said.
“Fine,” Cha Ming replied. “Tell me about it later.” He moved toward the door.
“They’re strong,” Silver Fish warned. Cha Ming paused at the door. “You’ll need my help.”
Cha Ming hesitated, but he looked at the invaders. His eyes could pierce walls, and his soul could sense the strength of those that had amassed just outside the caravan. “Fine,” he said. “But afterward, you’ll tell me everything about these people. I’m on a mission, and I need answers.”
Silver Fish shrugged. “Fair enough,” he said. “Just untie me, and we’ll talk later.”
Cha Ming sighed. He released the ropes binding Silver Fish. They were an expensive treasure he’d purchased prior to the mission. They had been good enough to restrain Silver Fish, though to be honest, he wasn’t sure if that was because Silver Fish chose not to struggle much in the first place.
They ran through a hallway, passing caravan guards that were hiding behind small windows. They opened them between blasts of fire they unleashed through strange runic lances. The caravan was a moving fort, and they were fighting like they were under siege. They also hadn’t stopped advancing this time, despite the attack.
Cha Ming raced past them and left through the door. He and Silver Fish ducked just in time to evade a lance of hot lightning. They looked around and surveyed the scene. Mi Fei was atop the second ship and fighting against a team of six late-grade cultivators. She was holding her own with her sword and gray mist, but barely.
“It looks like they’re heading for the back,” Cha Ming said, spotting a group running toward the fifth ship. Another ran toward the front ship. “Can you stop them from getting through and support the guards?” Cha Ming thought a moment, then summoned a cloud of white mist, forming a silver pin not unlike his own. It was a replica—a poor one—of the Kingfisher Guard’s insignia. “Just stick this on your cloak and they should listen to you.”
Silver Fish hesitated, then put it on. “What will you be doing?” Silver Fish asked.
“Stopping them from killing the power core on the front ship,” Cha Ming said. It was easy to guess what they were doing. He summoned the Clear Sky Staff and ran toward a group of men who were sneaking up to the front of the deck. The caravan operated a lot like trains back on Earth; its many ships were tethered together, and all power and propulsion came from the front.
Bandits swarmed the deck. Cha Ming walked toward them and elongated his staff. He summoned his tri-element domain and infused the Concept of Radiant Construction into the Clear Sky Staff and struck out with a swift, biting chop. Most bandits ducked, but three tried to block and paid the price for it. They flew off the ship, dead or dying. It wasn’t a technique or anything fancy. It was something he’d learned fighting Shneraz and many others. You didn’t need techniques to fight. Most of the time, you just needed concepts and a weapon to cause heavy damage.
Cha Ming advanced. Many bandits tried to close in on him, but his domain made things difficult for them. It warped and twisted, summoning metal and earth and water to impede and obstruct them and choke away their power as he executed swift sweeps, strikes, and stabs. They tried countering with a group attack, but he simply withdrew his domain and spun his staff around. Their rune-carving weapons clattered against his superior one, many of them breaking in the process.
Seeing that they couldn’t penetrate his shell, his enemies changed their tactic. They circled around him to restrain his movements. Cha Ming saw through their footwork and began to move. His staff was a defensive blur as he advanced using Clockwork Boots of the Golden Dragon. They made his arms and feet only slightly faster, as he didn’t activate their ability beyond manifesting them.
The bandits had many openings. He used them to weave his way through them and jump across the gap to the next ship in the caravan. Upon landing, he formed a solid arch using his domain. Sand and metal repelled their attacks. He didn’t have time to counter, however, as a sword pierced out from the darkness. He burned some of the metal in his bones, buying himself just enough time to parry the sword with his staff and spot the four blades of ice that shot at him from another angle.
Not today, Cha Ming thought, summoning four staves of metal and sand. He’d used a variant of his Temple Sand Clones but had infused them with the Concept of Radiant Construction. They couldn’t move like his Temple Sand Clones, but they were stronger than the mobile creations, and more than sturdy enough to block mere ice. The ice shards shattered, but to his surprise, they didn’t vanish. They filled the area with a flurry of ice and snow. It was an enemy’s domain that was here to wrestle control of heaven-and-earth qi away from him.
Cha Ming clicked his tongue and willed the energy around him to change, and for an instant, he struggled against a late-grade-rune-carving cultivator. It was a short battle of wills that lasted just an instant before sand burst out from around Cha Ming, dispersing the snow and turning it to mud that splashed out and countered three flying swords that had snuck up behind him. One of the swords flew back. A black-robed cultivator grabbed it, and the sword began to vibrate and execute a technique he recognized.
“Cloudreach God Clan?” Cha Ming said. The figure cursed. Cha Ming threw out three talismans that each sent out a blast of fire that pushed away the bandits, distracting them as he swept a wide arc with his staff. He couldn’t be sure of their identities, so he didn’t dare risk executing Raging Waves of the Inky Sea. Instead, he channeled earth. He channeled the Concept of Radiant Construction. The illusory image of a serpent solidified slightly as his staff became a brittle tail that smashed out at his foe. His opponent raised a shield of ice that broke under the weight of the pillar.
No time to waste here, Cha Ming thought. He could sense them closing in on the core. He activated his Clockwork Boots of the Golden Dragon pushed between two cultivators that were fighting a trio of guards. He used his quick footwork to avoid most battles, only lending support to the caravan guards where it was most needed. He didn’t do much. A staff strike in the back of a rune-carving cultivator to help the guards finish off their target. Golden gears appeared behind a body cultivator, and the guard, understanding Cha Ming’s intent, forced the cultivator back into it. The bandit died in a spray of blood and divine power. He couldn’t do much, but where he acted, it mattered.
Eventually, Cha Ming arrived at the front of the ship. It was dark when he entered the compartment. The place was silent and empty, save for a glowing blue core and runes that surrounded it. Thick lines of energy led to power conduits that linked it to the rest of the ships.
But where’s the captain? Cha Ming thought. It didn’t take him long to spot a headless corpse lying on the ground. Right, then.
“What have we here?” a voice said. It came from the shadows, but not from anywhere in particular. Cha Ming heard rustling sounds from all directions. A strange energy filled the air. His eyes narrowed as he realized he’d seen such energy before. It was plain, unaligned, and very adaptable. The demonic energy in the room refused to interact with it. It loa
thed the energy’s presence.
“And here I thought you’d all stop causing trouble,” Cha Ming said. “They told me your clan had vanished from the prefecture.”
“A minor inconvenience, I assure you,” the voice said. A man stepped out of the shadows, and when he did, the darkness bled from his too-white robes. “Now, if I remember correctly, you have something I need. Will you be giving it to me willingly, or must we fight like savages?”
“I don’t know what the Origami Clan wants with the Rapid Turtle Clan’s technique, but I don’t have a very good impression of you,” Cha Ming said. “That means no sharing, if I wasn’t clear.” He stared at the pale-haired man with frightening eyes. His irises were creamy white, like the neatest paper. He might only be a middle-grade cultivator, but Cha Ming would be foolish to underestimate him. “Did you bring more Dao Lords, or are you the only one?”
The man grinned toothily. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” He extended his hand, and a gleaming white blade appeared. He flicked his sleeve, and the blade flexed like a serpent. Its many sections parted, and the weapon cracked like a whip. There was a fluttering in the darkness, and over a thousand tiny creatures appeared, small creations of folded paper. They were winged, they were sharp, and they were—to Cha Ming’s surprise—many-colored. “Has there been a sufficient amount of taunting, or shall we begin?”
“I’m not big on monologues,” Cha Ming said.
“Very good,” the man said. “Prepare to die.” His sword whip cracked, quick as lightning.
Chapter 13: Target
Mi Fei spun through the battlefield like a tempest. Her opponents were wary of the gray mist that splashed around her. It was a gas heavier than the heaviest of solids and harder than a diamond. It flowed like a liquid and could take any shape.
Crown of the Starry Sky: Book 11 of Painting the Mists Page 20