Chapter 15 #4
The air filled with the mocking laughter of a bloated monstrosity so filled with malice that nothing would ever appease, save for the absolute destruction of his deformed youngest sibling, his disciples, and every reflection of happiness or joy that Alex, WiFu, or Shui Jun had ever experienced.
In that moment, Alex knew with searing and utter clarity that there could be no peace. No truce. No ceasefire of any kind between him and his sworn foes of a thousand incarnations.
“Alex, please. Get up. You’re soiling those silks just minutes after we—”
Something in his eyes, perhaps. Nili’s gaze widened with what Alex knew damn well was fear when he regained his feet once more.
“No, Alex. Please. NO!” She fell to her knees, sobbing with terror, desperately pleading with her gaze. Looking so young. So innocent. So like one of Alex’s lost children. “No, no, you mustn’t. Please! The hour isn’t that late. It can’t be! You can’t doom us all again!”
Yet her words were nothing to him as he howled his wordless fury before the heavens, so filled with heart-wrenching despair that he could utter no words beyond a mournful cry so terrible that stone cracked and date palms crumbled to ash.
And the handful of innocent mortals who had been making their way peacefully through the city street who had chanced to look his way...
each and every one of them collapsed, spirits washed away by Death’s waters as their bodies corroded, aging centuries in seconds, before being blown away as white ash upon desert winds.
Even Nili had collapsed in a heap, blood trickling from every orifice upon her terrified countenance, and she looked up at Alex as if he were death come to claim her soul.
And then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone.
“Soon, my disciple. Soon it will be time.”
Alex jolted awake, stumbling on his feet, gazing about with confusion.
“Nili?”
He winced, genuinely worried. Why did his friend look so terrified?
“Nili, what’s wrong?” He rubbed his throbbing skull. “And why the hell does my head hurt? I have Rand 4 Silver Vitality. At this point, headaches are absolute bullshit!”
“I don’t know what you’re mumbling about, but we’re late, Alex.
” Nili snapped, glaring at him very much as a mother would a particularly stubborn child.
“And you’ve somehow managed to get your silks dirty within minutes of purchasing!
Are you sure you stabilized your foundation, Alex?
Because stumbling like a drunkard makes me think you need a good couple weeks’ meditation…
or the same taper your devoted doves will be suffering through. ”
Alex furrowed his brow. Wasn’t Nili upset about something? But she didn’t look upset. Save maybe at him? And was that blood around her… no. Just a trick of shadow and light. She looked flawless as always.
Alex flashed a sheepish smile. “Yeah, I felt like I was on top of the world just… what, an hour ago?” He shrugged.
“Then we got these clothes? Odd, it feels almost like a dream. And then we were chatting and…” He shook his head.
“I don’t know, Nili. Maybe forcing two Silver-tier evolutions in twice that number of days with almost no sleep wasn’t exactly the smartest move I could have made. ”
This earned a playful snort. “Truly the lucky fool as always,” Nili huffed, before patting his hand like a mother, leaving him feeling oddly cared for, for all that her eyes were firm with reproof and gentle with concern.
“Now come, Alex. We’ll pay our respects to the prince.
You’ll just smile and nod and do absolutely nothing to imply you’re anything other than a powerfully built half-blood guard.
Then we’ll head back and you’ll be free to sleep and consolidate your gains for the next week.
And who knows? If you’ve had enough of cultivation academies, you might just find yourself hungry for the road once more.
There’s a whole world filled with bustling cities desperate for caravan guards and heroes. ”
Alex grinned, eased as always by his friend’s patter.
“True. I get a gut feeling that my story will be happiest if I don’t linger any place for too long, especially places where I stand out!
” he said with a fond chuckle. “Like Liushi. It sounds terrible, I know. I made friends that I dearly care for there, but after wearing the hero’s mantle so strongly that both prince and headmistress acknowledged me…
” He suppressed a shudder, shaking his head.
“I don’t know, maybe I don’t want it all to go to my head?
” He sighed. “Somehow, I just knew it was time for me to go.”
Nili gave him an understanding smile. “Yours isn’t an easy burden to bear, Alex. But I’m glad you chose to leave when you had. Otherwise…”
“Otherwise, Dongfang Dickhead’s troops would have had way too much fun harassing my friends, and that’s a big no no, as far as I’m concerned,” he said with a certain twinkle in his eyes.
“All right, why are we standing around here? Let’s go pay our respect to the prince, secure a certain prize, save a city, and walk off as fresh legends with no trace that we were ever here. ”
Nili chuckled throatily, squeezing his hand.
“Let’s do just that!” And with a flick of her fingers and a brush of Shadow, the odd stains on his fancy silken attire disappeared as if they had never been, and soon they flowed through the city at a pace that seemed oddly graceful to the passersby, even if they darted past at a speed no horse could hope to match.
“Nili?”
“Yes, Alex?”
“What were we talking about before I had my dizzy spell?”
This earned a snort. “Clearly nothing worth mentioning if you can’t even remember it, don’t you think?”
Alex shrugged. “Fair. Oh, I think I see the palace!”
Alex gazed with unabashed wonder at the magnificent display of ostentatious wealth, particularly for this day and age, gazing upon a grand marble edifice of minarets and towers complete with a massive copper-covered dome shimmering even under the moonlight.
A brilliant jewel of pristine refinement at the heart of a lush garden filled with countless desert blossoms opening their petals and filling the nighttime air with heavenly aromas that lifted Alex’s heart and filled him with an odd sense of peace and joy.
Alex couldn’t help but chuckle with wonder at the sight of such lush greenery at the peak of the caldera ridge.
“It’s so beautiful! And the way all these date palms were so carefully placed, along with the copperthorn vines between them, forms a natural canopy that should keep both the garden and the hedge maze in cool shade, even in midday.
” He froze as Forest Sense and experience revealed other secrets as well.
The origins for the cool mist he felt, the natural humidity in the air.
An Ice shard was buried here. He was sure of it.
And he didn’t need the garden’s anxious rustle to know that was one secret he must never reveal.
For it was the furthest thing from the pristine core needed to rescue the falls upon which the entire city depended upon, and Alex could think of no better use for the shard than exactly what it was doing here and now, eternally preserving this lush, peaceful grove, as it no doubt had for centuries.
He was sure he was imagining it when a sympathetic pat of the closest date palm eased the rustling grove, and superhuman Finesse made it effortless to catch the sweetest dates anyone could ever hope to savor.
Alex couldn’t help chuckling, though, now not feeling so bad about keeping close to his vest his own treasures, thinking fondly of the discreetly hidden arboretum he would soon be treating to the exact same boon. Speaking of which…
He turned to the kitsune by his side, whose eyes were crinkling in dreamy wonder, breathing deep of air redolent with the aroma of countless desert roses.
The other evening guests were also making their leisurely way to the palace along the winding path they shared, though always in sight of the hard-eyed palace guards radiating powerful Bronze auras.
Yet for the moment, it felt almost like they were in a private bubble with only their thoughts and the lush greenery all around them.
“Nili?”
The kitsune turned to him, an unreadable look on her features.
“Alex?”
“I’d like to buy the warehouse, if possible. At the very least, I want to make sure that no one can tear it down or claim anything within. Not without my permission, at least.”
This earned a curious tilt of Nili’s head.
“If you’re looking to invest in real estate, Alex, there are a number of highly profitable opportunities that I could point you toward.
But that particular warehouse…” She sighed, shaking her head.
“I have every intention of tearing it down. For any number of reasons.”
“Please don’t.”
She gave him a curious look. “Why ever not?”
Alex lowered his lips to Nili’s ears. “Because it’s no longer what it seems.”
“Alex?”
He gazed around him, grinned, and turned back to Nili. “Let’s just say we have a nice little arboretum of our own.”
Nili blinked. “You’ve hidden Mongoose’s remains with plants?”
Alex shook his head. “No, Nili. The warehouse. The entire warehouse is now a miniature grove.” He sighed.
“And sort of my responsibility. It’s why I’m alive right now, I think, as much as any amount of luck or skill at my end.
Mongoose was definitely a trump card and came a lot closer to killing me than I really want to admit. ”