Chapter 15 #7
He couldn’t quite suppress a wince, even though he knew that that was exactly what they wanted. And he thought he understood why. Finally understanding the sympathy he had seen in Nili’s gaze.
What Alex wanted more than anything else was to be able to blend in and just enjoy a peaceful life, where he wasn’t always roaring forward at a mad crescendo that almost always ended in a disastrous crash, no matter how glorious the peaks of ascension that he would inevitably glimpse might be.
It was the reason he hadn’t even looked back when he had left Liushi, somehow sensing that the golden bubble of a fresh start surrounding his soul would be put under ever more strain, should he increasingly be the focus of both the prince and headmistress’s attention, making it all too easy to slip into grandiose roles that so often ended in bitter tragedy. Or at least they did for him.
Far better a lighthearted slice-of-life comedy! Or at least lighthearted action adventure?
He smirked at his own playful musings, knowing that his life was the furthest thing from a LitRPG tale.
But still. No one, save for a handful of girls he might never encounter again, would see the blond-haired youth soon to be strolling the city as anything but an eccentric curiosity.
Not a person deserving of any extraordinary attention or focus.
Just one more curiosity in a city no doubt full of them.
Because somehow he just knew that the better he could blend in, the happier he would be.
So, even if looking into te reflection in his wine cup showed a rather plain-looking man with a stronger Han stamp to his features than most of the desert folk present, Tong’s face and presence would no doubt be forgotten as soon as the night was over.
And that suited Alex just fine.
“And what boon would one earn if they could deliver an actual Water core?”
Alex’s private musings snapped back into focus, his eyes darting to the coolly smiling man who had spoken.
Alex felt a lurch in his gut upon catching sight of the well-dressed emissary moving with a deadly quiet grace even as he gave the royal couple a half-bow.
For he had not been announced and had spoken completely out of turn.
Yet the prince did nothing, and Alex couldn’t help but note that this courtier alone, out of everyone save for the royal family and their guards, was permitted a jian at his hip.
A jian radiating fearsome spiritual energies, at that.
Alex swallowed the bile crawling up his throat, just knowing that was one of Dongfang Hong’s emissaries.
One of the men perhaps indirectly responsible for the uptick in banditry with the goal of starving out targeted cities.
Just one look at the man’s sneer beneath his smile, and the powerful foundation he couldn’t hide from Alex, made that much damned clear.
“Would such a boon perhaps be worthy of the hand of one of your beloved daughters, Lord Wanshi?”
Gongniu’s eyes widened with outrage. “How dare that pig speak so freely to His Royal Highness! Refusing even to use his royal title, as if we were already a tributary state of those—”
His words cut off when he sensed how firmly Alex’s hand was gripping his tightly corded wrist, freezing it in place.
For just a heartbeat, Gongniu locked gazes with Alex. “I will challenge that cur and—”
Alex coolly shook his head, mouthing the word “trap” without uttering a syllable.
Gongniu froze, eyes widening with alarm. Though whether it was from Alex’s mouthed word or the fact that he couldn’t budge an inch against the supposed half-step Silver’s strength was unclear.
Nonetheless, he gave a begrudging nod, sitting himself back down, Alex following suit a heartbeat later.
Yet it seemed that the jian-wielding functionary had caught wind of Gongniu’s displeasure. The man’s pinched, aquiline features twisted in a smile that was both vicious and mocking as he seemed to flow across the hall, suddenly in Gongniu’s face.
“What’s this? Did I hear correctly? An upstart guard lacking all sense of decorum, rank, or common sense actually thinks he’s worthy of challenging one such as I?”
He smirked right up into Gongniu’s face.
The latter’s features twisted in a furious snarl…
and Alex could sense that the provocateur before him would love nothing more than to butcher a loyal kingsman, clearly a valued and honored warrior, and perhaps one of the strongest pawns to be found outside the king’s elite forces.
Alex understood instantly what such a blow would serve to the morale of the royal family, how it would both antagonize and perhaps instigate rash actions, which would in turn work right in the hands of those who would love any pretext to cut the king down where he stood…
or perhaps simply seek to weaken Wanshu out of one more vital Silver-tier defender and reinforce just how utterly outmatched the fragile city state was, compared to the might that Dongfang Hong could so effortlessly bring to bear.
Either outcome was unacceptable to Alex, who immediately took steps of his own.
Combined Strength/Finesse check (modified by ranks in Golden Realms and Wind Crane Kung Fu) = critical success!
You have toppled Gongniu into his seat with a simple hip check!
Gongniu has suffered no injuries. Gongniu has failed an intimidation check!
Quickness check made! You have intercepted Enemy Cultivator’s blow.
The entire court seemed to freeze at the sound of a palm cracking naked flesh.
Even the emissary was blinking at Alex in surprise when his palm somehow managed to smack Alex’s lowered cheek, his clear target having somehow fallen back down on his seat.
“How the hell did you…? Failed half-step, my ass!” Gongniu uttered softly, though he quickly shut up when Alex raised a clenched fist, both silencing the man whose life he was trying to save and, he hoped, making it utterly clear to all that he was accepting the challenge.
The man before him stepped back. “How did you…?”
Alex answered him with a contemptuous spit by his feet, before giving Rachel a meaningful look that, to his surprise, she immediately understood. As if she were reading his mind, which was strange, because he hadn’t even tried to form a party link with her, let alone any sort of gestalt.
“You have struck my husband who is guilty of nothing more than honoring the prince’s summons at court. He will gladly accept your challenge!”
The man glared at the spittle on the floor, any surprise or hesitation he felt turning into a cold sneer.
“Gladly, wench. And since you have declared yourself his wife, I declare you my personal property to do with as I wish, once I take his life!”
“And with your death, I declare my husband the rightful heir to all your assets and property! The goods he will take from your corpse will be his by right of conquest, and none will contest it!” Rachel Lu said just a bit too gleefully for Alex’s taste.
But he forced himself to flash a grim smile, smacking his fists together just as fast as a Silver Giant who had managed to achieve a few ranks in Bronze Quickness.
A feat that many Strength cultivators, perhaps even the majority, failed to accomplish until a deeper degree of Silver had been achieved, if they could achieve such at all.
The man’s eyes widened in outrage,. “So be it! And since I see that you speak for your husband, taking out your tongue will be the first thing I do, once I claim you as my property!”
The entire court went silent at this bold declaration of mutilation amongst the elites, yet Alex could tell that the audience was as much titillated as horrified by the threat.
If anything, they were enjoying the drama unfolding.
Too few realizing, it seemed, the long-term implications for their own lives and futures, should what was effectively their enemy’s forces emerge unscathed and victorious.
“His Grace shall permit this duel, with the understanding that quarter shall be granted upon request.”
The entire court froze as Sunlay herself chose to speak, now standing by her father’s right-hand side, imperiously gazing down at the Red Prince’s pawns like the ruler she was, instantly asserting her dominance and her father as the true master of the court and all that went on.
Alex couldn’t help but feel a certain visceral surge of relief to note the subtle shadow by her side was none other than Nili whispering hurried counsel into her ear.
“And I will further have the assurance from our visiting emissaries that any duels or disputes settled within these chambers will go no further than these chambers. No blood feuds will be incurred, and there will be no pretext to violate treaties or oaths of nonaggression that all of you have already given for the duration of your visit, outside of sanctioned duels. Nor will we allow the outcome to adversely affect our own negotiations.”
Alex could sense the sudden killing glare of a handful of functionaries wielding the finery of sycophants and the cold eyes of Silver-tier assassins in the shadows of a rotund man seated on a leather recliner that had apparently been brought in by his staff.
His station was clearly lower than the sovereign prince, yet his very indulgent ease somehow painted him as the true orchestrator of this court.
Yet the silken-robed man, with his jewel-encrusted turban radiating powerful spiritual energies, waved his hand in casual acceptance and, much to Alex’s interest, actually earned the cool glares of several of those powerful Silvers hiding in his wings.