The merchant’s ugly chuckle washed over them. “Oh, this little bastard gave me no end of problems. Had he not actually proven useful, I would have poisoned him long ago. But his obsessive need to help the chit proved no end of an annoyance. I couldn’t very well jam the wine down the girl’s throat, now could I?”
Laobao gazed at the pair of youths beside the cultivator acting as gatekeeper, forced to silently wait as the four of them conversed behind Laobao’s ward. She sighed. “The kitsune girl is a ripe young thing in the peak of health. I would have paid a pretty penny for her as well, Hao Zei. You’d be surprised how very many merchants, cultivators, and lords hunger for forbidden fruit like her.”
The merchant snorted. “There was no way I could force that girl to take the wine without giving the game completely away. You know how acute their senses are! Besides, she and her brother are serving my purposes quite nicely as it stands.” He flashed a cold smile. “It always pays to clear one’s debts.”
All this said as casually as if they were talking about the weather, while Hao Chan’s look of devastation, of utter betrayal, only grew.
“Father? Father, please! What’s going on? Did you… did you really mean to sell me to this… this monster?”
She shuddered under Hao Zei’s contemptuous gaze. “You’re no daughter of mine, girl. Just the bastard get of your fallen mother, so desperate to believe that anyone cared about your fate!”
Words calculated to destroy.
Hao Chan collapsed with a sob, Laobao now looming over her with cold words meant to break her utterly.
“Surrender, child. You have already lost. Your piece removed from the board the moment your family crossed Hao Zei’s path.”
She waved the red-ribboned scroll in front of a sobbing Chan’s face. “You are mine now, body and soul. This contract you willingly took and I willingly received bears the terms of your indentured servitude. For I truly do own you, child. Body and soul.”
Chan continued to gaze in horror at the man she had thought of as her father. “We loved you! We trusted you! We took you into our lives, shared so much with you… and you would do this to a girl you said you loved like a daughter how many times?”
The merchant just smirked, not even deigning to answer.
Lady Laobao patted Chan’s hand sympathetically, lifting her to her feet. “Truly, I regret that you have yet to develop a taste for that which will wash all grief and disappointment away. But don’t worry, my darling. After a few short weeks under my care, all thoughts of father, mother, and family will flee before the bliss of the glorious waking dream of adventure, conquest, and sweetest ecstasy that we will share together.”
A trembling Chan, still in her dancer’s uniform, began to plod forward like a girl sentenced to an inconceivable nightmare. A prison of shame and despair.
The look she sent Alex’s way broke his heart.
Qi Perception skill check made.
Ward has been lowered.
All the pieces were in play.
He dared hesitate no longer.
The gatekeeper’s gaze widened, immediately understanding what had happened. “Merchant. What is the meaning of this?”
Hao Zei’s beady eyes crinkled in a smile. “Settling my debts with the college, of course! Kitsune child and gifted handler, now utterly under your care.”
The man’s gaze hardened. “I have claimed and accepted your contracts, though I find it strange, considering our initial arrangement. We paid you in advance for lawfully-caught slaves to be used for the trials to come, and instead you have remanded two students to our care.”
Bullrush!
Hao Zei chuckled coldly. “Don’t play coy. I know how much the school will pay for indentured… wait, what?” His voice went up in a shocked squeak at the end, but Alex had already dashed forward, clasping Chan’s hand a heartbeat before she could be lifted up into the finely lacquered carriage.
He had trusted his Qi Perception. No eyes had been on him for that single moment in time.
The muscular guard’s eyes widened in surprise as he turned to see Alex, Laobao’s serpentine cold gaze snapping up to meet his own, still tightly clasping Chan’s other hand.
“Let go of my prize, Ruidian.”
Her voice would have frozen wine.
Alex grinned, bracing himself, sensing the guard to his side unsheathing his dao, all his focus on Alex’s anxious face and the hand clasping Chan’s own.
Adderstrike!
Before crying and lurching back, wrist shattered.
Lady Laobao hissed and lurched back, and Alex froze, suddenly sensing her killing gaze. “Gundun! What happened?”
“I know not, my lady.” The man groaned. “I blinked and my wrist… I thought the boy… my eye was on his face but something struck my... but it’s impossible. No mortal can break a body cultivator’s bones!”
Lady Laobao frowned.
Alex’s face revealed nothing, smiling into Hao Chan’s shocked gaze. “It’s been quite a day, hasn’t it? But we still have yet to do what we came all the way here for!”
Chan immediately broke into sobs. “Alex! Oh gods, I’m so sorry, Alex, so sorry you had to see me...”
“Get browbeaten by a bunch of flesh peddlers? Come on, in your heart of hearts you knew Hao Zei was a manipulative ass, the abusive uncle role being the only one he could possibly play. So why give two shits about him or anything he says? You came all this way to attend the trials and show off your prowess as a cultivator, right? Well now’s your chance! The gatekeeper’s still there. We can still apply to the trials!”
Perception check failed. Quickness check failed.
Alex gasped and flinched, a drop of blood beading up from the tiniest of cuts as he stumbled back from a shocked-looking Hao Chan.
You have been tainted by Black Poppy Poison Technique! You are suffering a drain of 5 Fatigue points per second. Must save versus Exhausted Slumber every ten seconds. You are disoriented. You are suffering the effects of Euphoria. Euphoria mitigated by inherent resistances and Terror. Should Fatigue reach zero, breathing will stop and health damage will be taken instead.
“Alex, what happened?” screamed a desperate Chan, now actively fighting against getting pulled into the carriage.
“I’m afraid your dear friend has his own vices my dear, I recognize the signs,” Laobao said, flashing Alex a wicked smile. “For a non-cultivator to dare our glorious path without guidance or moderation will find himself savoring the sweetest journey down the River of Souls before he knows it.” She tilted her head thoughtfully, even as Chan sobbed with terror. “But a strong boy like him… With the correct intervention, he should be left with nothing but the most delicious of cravings. Cravings which any hostess of the Purple Pavilion would be delighted to sate for him. For a price, of course.”
You have lost 5 Fatigue.
Unorthodox Qi attack hinders all attempts to counter. Qi Absorption skill check has failed!
You have lost 5 Fatigue.
Alex’s heart pounded, the surge of adrenaline jolting him awake and dispelling his dizziness even as the increased blood flow assured the poison would course through his system ever faster. Then he got the message he had been praying for.
Black Poppy Poison Technique analysis complete. Spirit, Wood, and Water Elements in poppy extract carrier detected. Unorthodox use of trace Dark Qi in poppy extract carrier also detected. Biochemical carrier allows for Biochemical Mastery Perk usage.
Dark Qi has been neutralized and claimed.
You have achieved 40% Immunity to the effects of Black Poppy Poison Technique.
You have lost 3 fatigue.
You have deduced the elemental underpinnings of this attack. Qi Absorption skill check successful. Dizziness abated. Biochemical carrier mitigates rate of absorption.
Lady Laobao kissed Chan’s cheek. “We are already bound by contract, my darling. But I, like all those who truly care for their girls, believe in choice. In freedom. So give yourself to me wil
lingly. Choose to embrace the path I will lead you upon for a single moon’s time. And in return? I will save your friend.”
She flashed a gentle smile. “Now, you need feel no shame at all. You are sacrificing yourself for your friend. Absolved of all guilt, all regret, free to leave after a month’s time, if you wish. Or free to stay for as long as you like, savoring heady pleasures without end. The choice is yours, child. Your friend’s life for sweetest pleasure given and received, or a gasping death for the silly boy who dared forbidden delights?”
You have lost 2 fatigue. You have achieved 60% Immunity to Black Poppy Poison Technique.
Chan’s eyes were filled with horror, and Alex could all but taste her desperate thoughts. Sure, she could leave Lady Laobao’s service after a month, but by that time she would be enslaved to who knew what dark vices, and she would have lost the virtue her maiden art required, needing to achieve Silver before she dared join her Dao with another.
Her cultivation path broken, burning with regret and desperate need, her body already used by dozens of men. The path of a beautiful maiden admired and courted and eventually cherished would be forever lost, or so she might think. And so the vile Purple Path would suddenly be the only real choice she had, if just to escape the torments of withdrawal and the shame in her soul.
And before she could say words that would damn her forever, Alex smacked the vial away.
“Think!” Alex snapped, only slightly dizzy. “It’s a trap!”
“I know!” she sobbed. “I’m not stupid, Alex, I know! But she already has the contract and I can’t let you die, so what choice do I have?”
But Lady Laobao was no fool. Her killing glare was laced with the tiniest hint of fear.
“Who are you?” she hissed.
Alex paid her no mind. “Think, silly goose! What did you and Yin practice all those weeks on the carriage top?”
Alex forced himself to grin despite the awful sweet craving that burned through his veins for just a heartbeat… and then it was gone.
100% Immunity to all opioids achieved.
100% Immunity to Black Poppy Poison Technique achieved.
Synergistic use of Qi Absorption and Biochemical Mastery in effect. You now enjoy an automatic 5 Health & Stamina per second damage reduction against all advanced Qi techniques used by all Purple Path Cultivators. You are now immune to all secondary effects from all Qi attacks used by Purple Path Cultivators.
She blinked, dumbstruck, suddenly understanding, the fire of hope suddenly in her eyes. “Yes, but what about—”
Alex turned to a suddenly-shaken Laobao, refusing to flinch from her violet gaze. Instead he smiled. For all that he was but a lowly basic cultivator, no doubt easily crushed by those of higher rank in any but the most fortuitous of circumstances, she was the one who paled and flinched before him.
“Why don’t you take a closer look at that contract? For some reason, I’m almost positive it doesn’t say what you think it does.”
The seductress’s eyes widened as she did just that, her soft hiss turning to a vile stream of profanity muttered under her breath. She glared at the merchant who was presently arguing frantically with the grimly smiling gatekeeper.
“My offer to you is rescinded, Hao Zei!” she snapped, rolling up the scroll and gently helping a stunned Chan back to her feet, stepping back, and handing her the contract.
Her words to the girl were rueful. She bowed her head with a smile, and actually began to laugh. “Well played, child. Masterfully played! For you and your pawn have coaxed me to break a seal I normally leave forever sacrosanct, no other pawn daring to push, fearing my wrath if they do so. But you! Your tears of confusion and regret so poignant even I, a master actress, thought them genuine. The gaze in your beau’s eyes reeking of dire promise, as if the god of mischief glared from the shadows behind him. A Ruidian without even a jewel. Utterly powerless, and yet he gave me pause. You both did. So much so that I actually untied the ribbon, scanning a scroll I knew there was no need to, for the ribbon marks it as bonded to both of us.”
She chuckled throatily. “And there’s the rub. This contract here is a commendation not to my house of pleasure, but to the academy we are now so conveniently before. This notice is clearly for dear Zhao Doushi, the path to your silly dreams now clear before you. And the merchant who thought to trade you for gold has instead delivered you right to the temple doors.”
She then winked. “And should you ever find your inhibitions waning, replaced by a hunger to profit mightily from ruling all the hearts and minds of the most powerful men in Yidushi… find me. I do more than provide solace to wayward girls. I’m also happy to split the take with women of caliber who know how this game is truly played.”
Her hard eyes peered thoughtfully into Alex’s own. “You played the part of a patsy masterfully, distracting my henchman and I both, acting so bold I almost thought you were a force to be reckoned with, while your mistress put on the performance of a lifetime. Though how you resisted my intoxication so thoroughly is a question I’d dearly love an answer to.” She sighed. “Though I’m almost not surprised. Strange how the very few girls who manage to break free of my charms sufficient to flee with the men who claimed their hearts tend to be Ruidian, just like you.”
She gave a final rueful shake of her head before entering her carriage, glaring down at her henchman. “Get up, fool. We’ve wasted enough time as side characters to that merchant’s idiocy!”
“Wait! Where are you going?” screamed a panicked-looking Hao Zei. “You promised gold for the girl! Platinum if she exceeded all expectations, which she did!”
Mocking laughter washed over him. “You were played for a fool, Hao Zei. The girl you thought a golden goose instead turned out to be the wiliest of foxes! And really, what did you expect? With a Ruidian and kitsune in her coterie, you’d be a fool to think her as naive as most of your victims.” She shook her head. “I think this will be the last of our dealings, merchant. You were fooled by children. Your edge is clearly slipping, and I would not want your folly to infect my own fortunes.”
She glared coldly at the merchant’s dumbstruck features, the man choking on his own fury. “And your privileges at the Purple Pavilion have been formally revoked! I’m tired of paying for the treatment of tainted wounds not even my tinctures can completely numb, and my girls are never the same after your attentions. They flinch at the sight of you, no matter how lost they are to poppy’s haze.” She gave a satisfied nod. “Perhaps this works best, after all. I think you have interesting times in store for you, merchant, and I want no part in them.”
“Wait! Where are you going? What are you talking about?” screamed the merchant. “I need that gold!”
“Read the contract, fool!” snapped Laobao, all good humor gone from her voice as her carriage pivoted around and rode away.
A furious Hao Zei now loomed over the still-dazed girl who had thought, until just minutes ago, that he actually cared for her. “Those two rats have the wrong contracts! This is a nightmare, and you were involved! What did you do, you little whore? What did you do to botch the deal? You will tell me now!”
Alex had trained with his friend for countless hours, always pushing her to excel. He knew all too well what she was capable of. But in those moments, still caught between shock, disbelief, and horror, having just avoided getting sold to a brothel by the slimmest of margins, dodging an enemy’s blows was the last thing on her mind.
But not Alex.
“Move!” he hollered, smacking into the merchant’s desperate hands clawing for the contract. “Your cousins just have the contracts they were promised! Now pass through the gate and hand yours to the gatekeeper. Now, now, now!”
Even as he said the words he blinked at the pain in his side.
The furious merchant who had seemed such an oily bloated fop, save for when he was angry, hadn’t budged an inch when Alex had crashed into him.
His flabby limbs were as hard as steel.
It w
as only his surprise at Alex’s audacity that had bought Chan the desperate moment she had needed to collect herself… and dart for the gate as fast as her fleet dancer’s legs could take her.
Alex snarled as Hao Zei’s pudgy hands gripped him, before his eyes widened in disbelief.
He couldn’t break free.
“Promised? It matters not what they were promised. They were to be slaves. Slaves! Broken for the pleasures of cultivators who embrace the darker paths, used for their skills until they drop to the ground, squeezed for every drop of effort they’re worth! That fox bitch was never to be given a noble’s privilege! That brat was only to be given the most perilous of tasks, helping his masters gather all the sacred bloody herbs the damned forest provides. And the pair were worth a fortune in gold! This is all your fault! Isn’t it, Ruidian?”
Hao Zei glared at Alex with a killing hate that pierced his soul, filling him with dread. “Those contracts are immutable. Unbreakable! Only a Gold could undo those ribbons.” He flashed a chilling smile. “I know what you are, boy. Oh yes, don’t think I couldn’t sense you feeding upon the Heavens as I supped upon the Hells below as we traveled at right angles to all known points on any compass! I know what you are. Just as you know what I am.” His voice lowered to a threatening snarl. “What I want to know, boy, before I rip out your throat and suck down your soul, is what the hell did you do to my contracts?”
Alex was beyond stunned, looking at death in the face of an unassuming merchant. He was strong. Horrifically strong. Stronger even than the mad cultivator who had almost ripped him in half when he and his master had dared to take on the diabolist’s fortress, what now felt like a lifetime ago.
Granted, it had been so easy to underestimate the man after he had tripped and stumbled flat on the ground when trying to grab a far more agile Alex weeks ago, but that had been all about quickness and finesse, and nothing to do with strength. And here he had deliberately slammed into a man whose grip was as strong as steel.
Though intellectually he knew he was in a world of cultivators ascending to heights undreamed of in terms of power, in his heart he was still judging things in terms of his own basic cultivation strength.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Reforged: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 2 Page 37