"The atmosphere in town is very subdued," was what YuLan thought as soon as she stepped foot into the gates of Ru'an.
Looking from behind her veil, she looked at the long line of visitors that were still awaiting for security clearance at the gates. For her though, her access into town had been fast-tracked; the soldiers that were guarding the gates did not cause her any trouble. One of the soldiers had one look at her sect's robe she was wearing and he smiled amiably,
"Exalted Daoist, please stay for as long as you wish. Ping sect is our benefactor, having rid Ru'an of Daemons."
YuLan's heart thumped as she lifted her veil upon hearing the soldier's words. The appearance of her uncovered face caused the soldier to startle for a split second,
"Sir, does that mean my martial siblings are in town?"
The soldier blinked and stammered his incoherent response, causing his superior to nudge him with his elbow. The older gentleman smiled at YuLan,
"Exalted One is correct. A few Daoists wearing the same robe and insignia as yours had stayed in Ru'an, along with a few other sects' Daoists. This one believes that amongst them, were Daoists from from Wu Shan sect and Hui Lin sect."
YuLan's eyes brightened at the mention of Wu Shan sect. She had been travelling for days without stop, trying to catch up to her martial sisters and friends. From Sage Hu Lan, she found out the last location of Cao Lu, but after the latter's last known location, Cao Lu had not sent any news back to the sect. YuLan could only try to gather information from villages and towns she passed to find out their whereabouts.
It seemed to be her great luck as well that Wu Shan sect – hopefully Zuo ZhouLei was amongst them – seemed to be travelling together with her martial sisters.
"Ah, but they have left town just a couple of days back, have they not?" The younger guard reminded his superior.
YuLan's spirit quickly deflated like a pierced balloon.
She had been stuck in Ping sect for eight years, and as soon as she woke up from her dreamscape that granted her the ascension to Sageism in the shortest time possible, – if such duration could be called as short – all she could think of was Zuo ZhouLei. To hell with malice and Daemons. For one who had lived through a couple of lifetimes, to have met her beloved one again, and to have that beloved one so near yet so far – like a carrot being hung by a stick upon a donkey's head... .
"Alright, I am thinking too much," YuLan sighed inwardly. She certainly was no donkey, despite how delicious the carrot-named-Lei would be.
"Surely Lei would understand my absence. Surely, my martial sisters would have told him that I had no choice... ."
The veil covered her face once more, and the older soldier pointed towards a direction,
"Ah, but I recall that a few of them actually stayed behind. There had been a few casualties because of those Daemons. Heavens, I still cannot believe even the town's vice-magistrate was one. I think that among the injured, is one wearing Wu Shan sect's uniform."
YuLan's heart thumped loudly, and though she managed to bow slightly to the soldier as her gratitude for his information – not caring whether or not he saw it, she immediately exerted her qi into her 'Hui', flying at the direction the guard had pointed towards.
"How could I be so absentminded? Now that I pay attention, this qi signature... , belongs to Cao Lu. But, the other two, their energies are erratically fluctuating. I don't know who they are, their qi are much too distorted... . Oh heavens, please don't let it be Lei... ."
The few guards and people left behind could only stare in awe, feeling the gust of wind barely left behind from the sudden qi burst YuLan just made. After all, one did not simply see a Dao cultivator showcasing their talent in public.
The young soldier looked on with admiration in his eyes, "What a beautiful woman. I thought the others that have come before her were the most beautiful women I have ever laid my eyes upon. But this one... there's something about her that could even bend the strongest of a man's will."
His superior immediately smacked his head, "She is not someone you could mindlessly chatter about. Have you forgotten what our cultivations' rank is? We are Martial-Artists. And were you able to gauge her qi's depth? No. That means she's either an Enlightened, or even a Sage. She could send your ass to hell and back. Now stop dreaming about useless things and get back on duty!!"
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YuLan found the inn in no time at all. Perhaps it was due to the recent Daemon incident and the stricter security at gates, depriving the inn of visitors and the usual bustle of a normal business place. The red lacquer of the two stories structure added to its forlorn ambience as well, despite the workers trying to act busy.
She was also able sensed Cao Lu quickly; though she must say she could hear her DaShijie's voice from a mile away,
"It has been days! My brothers seem to be dying more each passing day! You are a Physician yet you are so useless!!!"
YuLan's mind blanked at Cao Lu's remark about her 'brothers'. Zuo ZhouLei was of course, one of Cao Lu's brothers as well, and YuLan just had to make sure of his condition as fast as possible. Therefore, without greeting Cao Lu, she immediately went up to the second floor, towards the third room from the end of the corridor.
The qi emanating from inside was sill as erratic as ever since YuLan noticed them, but now that she was closer, she could breathe a sigh of relief.
The qis belonged to Zuo BingTan and Zuo JinHai. YuLan frowned, suddenly deprived of her initial relief. The two siblings meant a lot to Cao Lu, and Cao Lu meant a great deal to YuLan. She battled for a moment, whether or not she should leave Ru'an and continue to pursue where Zuo ZhouLei might have gone to. Cao Lu's still booming exasperated yell from below immediately let YuLan decide.
She stepped into the room. The room was quite spacious, it must have been prepared for more distinguished guests of the inn. There, lying in two separate beds, was Zuo BingTan and Zuo JinHai. YuLan walked silently, understanding that at her current cultivation level, even if the two men were conscious, they would not be able to sense her.
However, she was caught off guard; as soon as she stood within an arm's reach of the bed, her hand was roughly pulled by one of the men – her friend that was still sleeping just a moment ago.
Her sense of gravity was suddenly deprived; and soon she was looking into Zuo BingTan's eyes, her body was pinned underneath him, her two wrists were tightly gripped in both of his palms against the bed linen. YuLan's mind whirled, as she had never seen the bestial hunger in the first Royal Prince's expression before.
Her impression of Zuo BingTan and Zuo JinHai, was that they were always conscious of their conduct and was always graceful. Even more so than Cao Lu and Zuo ZhouLei who tend to not care much about protocols.
However, the current Zuo BingTan was anything but proper. She gritted her teeth and exerted her own qi to break free. However, to her surprise, the man on top of her – despite supposedly being a mere Enlightened – was like an unmoving mountain.
"BingTan-shiong!" She growled in warning. She could try to fight him back, not believing she could not set herself free if she were to optimize her capability. But this man was Cao Lu's and Zuo ZhouLei's brother, as well as her own friend.
"... ." Zuo BingTan flinched slightly, and his grip somewhat loosened. YuLan broke free of his hold and jumped towards the wall. If anything was to go awry, she could just jump out of the window.
He looked at his palms, and his initial perplexed expression turned violent once again. He growled, a sound that sounded inhuman, even to YuLan's ears,
"Want!"
He shook his head and staggered backwards, as if having an internal struggle. YuLan gripped her sword subconsciously. Which was fortunate for her, because she soon barely evaded an attack from Zuo JinHai, who she also swore was still in his bed just a split second ago.
Zuo BingTan clenched his fists and sweat started to form on his pale face, "I... want! Why can I not want! I want her! She ... will accompany me forever, won't she?"
His questions were barely audible while his eyes were still scorching with desire, contradicting the confusion marked by his tightly knitted brows,
"That's what you sang about, years ago. YuLan, you sang that you will accompany me forever. You called me by another name... . Your guqin... yes ,your guqin... .The guqin named 'SongLi'. You called me by that name."
"Why can't I be 'SongLi'? Why is it Lei? Is Lei 'SongLi'? Why can't I be Lei?"
"I am confused. I want you, but I should not want you. I want you!"
All the while, YuLan was still dodging attacks from Zuo JinHai. She nimbly jumped over Zuo JinHai's head, flanking his behind and trying to hit his meridian points to render him immobile. Although the current Zuo JinHai had strength that seemed to have multiplied hundred-folds since the last time she saw him, the young man had a sort of hesitation in his attacks. His eyes were bloodshot, and his lips emitted a shrill scream that of a madman. However, with every punch he threw that could probably easily incapacitate a wild beast, he always changed his fist trajectory at the very last split second. The contradictory movement was as if he was not fully in control of his own body.
In between Zuo JinHai's incoherent growls, were also utter rubbish words YuLan could hear,
"Kill! Kill all. Hate ... this world ... . The world that Mother could no longer live in... ."
"Kill everything. Kill everyone."
He then paused, and his red-rimmed eyes looked into YuLan's. She suddenly had a sense of foreboding as Zuo JinHai's lips were drawn in anguished smile,
"Kill everyone. Kill ... myself."
YuLan did not have any time to react properly, she wanted to render him unconscious, but Zuo JinHai was a breath quicker than her – his hand reaching for his 'Muhou'. YuLan grunted as she wanted to wrestle the sword away from the second Prince, but her body was suddenly locked from behind by Zuo BingTan.
However, as soon as Zuo JinHai's fingers touched 'Muhou's hilt, he hissed and stepped backwards, as if the sword had rejected him and burnt him.
One must know that a sword contained a cultivator's qi signature, their purest of energy that was imbued into the weapon. When the cultivator's qi had been corrupted and did not synchronize with the weapon's, they would not be able to wield it. Despite still struggling to break free of Zuo BingTan's grip, YuLan felt a bit of relief. Although 'Muhou' seemed to currently refuse Zuo JinHai, at least it had hindered him from hurting himself. She had also begun to realize the abnormality of Zuo JinHai's own sword rejecting him, his erratic qi, and the relationship between the two matters.
YuLan decisively stab the back of her own 'Hui''s hilt into Zuo BingTan's ribs, causing the latter to grunt and loosen his grip. She now knew that the two men were not in complete control of themselves, and that their qi had become distorted, that they were battling their own inner demons. YuLan did not understand how or when, but she knew both men had been corrupted by malice; hence, the uneasy feeling she felt about the distorted qi she had sensed when she arrived at Ru'an.
It also explained why she had not been able to sense their presence as she was attacked by them in the room – despite both having lower cultivation levels than her. When they attacked her, the malice took over, completely masking their own qi. But when they faltered in their consciousness and retained a bit of their own mind, their qi tried to battle the malice.
When 'Muhou' burnt Zuo JinHai, YuLan sensed that in his Dantians, suddenly pooled a pure strong energy. It circulated wildly and caused the black threads of malice to ooze out every inch of his skin. It was as if, the qi inside Zuo JinHai was suddenly jolted awake, an inner potent anti-body that tried to battle the cancerous disease. But as Zuo JinHai continued to out in agony, as the two conflicting energies battled inside his Dantians, YuLan knew that she had to have another method to help him.
Like a Fire Phoenix' purification fire.
But how the heck was she going to summon a Fire Phoenix?
YuLan kicked Zuo BingTan's 'Niang' towards him, who once again started to lunge towards her. He – or the malice inside of him – seemed to know that the sword was capable of doing harm, and he dodged it. Despite not wielding a sword, he could match her moves and blocked every attempt of rendering him immobile.
A sound of porcelain breaking was heard from the room's door. Cao Lu was standing there, her lips parted slightly in terror and disbelief. Between clashes of sword and fist, Zuo JinHai's howling still as he crouched on the floor in agony, Zuo BingTan's mumbling about 'wanting' and 'why can't it be me', the furniture that had become cannon fodders amidst their fight... .
Even the inn's workers sneaked a look from behind Cao Lu, though none dared to voice their concern as they painfully watched debris after debris of the initially impeccable room gradually being destroyed.
YuLan, however, was utterly delighted when she saw Cao Lu's presence. It was impossible for her to leave the two men to look for her DaShijie earlier, but now Cao Lu was here herself, it made things a lot easier.
"DaShijie. Fire Talismans, please!!"
"Huh?" Cao Lu blinked, then she looked at her Shimei who was still jumping around, dodging attacks from her brother, and as she saw his distorted expression, she stammered,
"No! No! No! Shifu said Fire Talimsan would not work with human Daemons! And what were you thinking! Even if it worked... ." Cao Lu was reminded of how Long TianShan had turned after he was purified, how the farmers and vice-magistrate at Ru'an had turned after they were freed of malice,
"Even if it worked... ." She almost cried as she added in a whisper, "My brothers... must not become useless people!"
"DaShijie! Trust me!" YuLan yelled. She knew Cao Lu was aware that Zuo BingTan and Zuo JinHai had been corrupted by malice, but YuLan did not have the time to explain her plan. She did not even know if her plan would work, but this was her best bet, their only solution.
Glancing at Zuo JinHai's figure, and focusing on the black threads swirling around him, trying to engulf the pulse of his own qi, she had a suspicion. The qi was as if it was alive, it felt purer than most of Enlighteneds' qi YuLan had encountered. In fact, Zuo BingTan's, Zuo JinHai's, and Cao Lu's qi felt somewhat familiar to each other. Although they were siblings, one's qi should be like one's unique identity – a modern person's thumbprint to say in the simplest terms. But the three of them possessed qi signature that were as calm and boundless as a tranquil pond, and as if the the three rivers of water were connected to each other, from the same source.
Inside Zuo JinHai, that river was behaving like a torrential storm in the middle of the ocean, as it tried to fight back the darkness of the night.
YuLan just had to give this storm a helping hand.
No longer having any option, and unable to raise her weapon against her brothers, or YuLan for that matter, Cao Lu took out a few fire talismans from her storage ring and threw them in the air. With a flick of her fingers, the talismans were burnt, the inferno remaining balled into fists of fire. YuLan jumped towards the balls of fire formed,
"DaShijie! I need all of the fire talismans!"
"I cannot take any chances. This much might not be enough."
A few more yellow paper talismans were thrown into the air, and subsequently burst into flames. Compared to a Fire Phoenix' purifying fire that was without waves and almost pale white in color, the balls of inferno from the talismans danced in the air as if they were large fire lit from a candle, swayed by the surrounding air.
YuLan hooked her finger to will the flames to fly towards Zuo BingTan and Zuo JinHai. It was no issue to reach the latter, who was still clutching his head in inner agony. But Zuo BingTan suddenly started to wreak more havoc than ever; after avoiding a few balls of the talismans' fires, he changed his direction towards one of the windows inside the room.
YuLan knew that he wanted to escape.
"DaShijie!" YuLan yelled exasperatedly. She was not as adept in controlling talismans as Cao Lu did. The remaining fire talismans that had yet to be directed towards the first Prince were still hovering in the air, waiting for her order. But YuLan no longer had the confidence to subdue him, especially with Zuo BingTan being as elusive as a rat.
Cao Lu, whose concerned gaze had been affixed at Zuo JinHai's burning figure, soon brightened. Despite her being unable to sense her brothers' qi while they were unconscious for the past days, she clearly had been able to feel Zuo JinHai's strong energy as he was being engulfed in flame. Although the hoarse screaming of her second brother was far from comforting, she decided she would trust YuLan. After all, with the latter suddenly appearing here, that meant YuLan had been released by Ping sect's elders.
Also taking into account that Cao Lu could no longer feel YuLan's own qi, that most likely also meant YuLan was now a Sage – a whole ocean's difference from Cao Lu being an Enlightened. Seniority aside, an Enlightened would always need to be respectful to a Sage's ranked cultivator.
Cao Lu made a series of hand gestures and nimbly directed the remaining fire talismans towards Zuo BingTan. To YuLan's relief, the fire talismans were cleverly positioned by Cao Lu at the exit points of the room, as well as continuously being used to minimize Zuo BingTan's scope of movement.
Because of the chaos, the spectators had already dispersed and evacuated the building. Which was favourable for YuLan and Cao Lu, as Zuo BingTan had pretty much demolished the second floor of the inn while trying to get away.
As Cao Lu finally managed to concentrate the last remaining talismans to engulf Zuo BingTan, causing the latter to emit an unearthly howl, YuLan immediately set up a sealing array, infused with her own qi, to surround both Princes. The fire talismans were predominantly of Yang countenance, and YuLan's qi was Yin based. The sealing array was to avoid the pure energy of the fire talismans to be as concentrated inside the sealing arrays, and for those energy to not be able to disperse.
Both women looked on with grim expressions, waiting for what seemed like forever. YuLan could only pray to the heavens – and perhaps those three deities she met in her dream – that the two Princes were strong enough to battle the malice inside of them, with the assistance of the purifying fire.
The howls and screams gradually became fainter, and the flames soon also dissipated into wisps of translucent smoke in the surrounding air. When they clearly saw the two men's figure crouching on the floor, they held their breaths. The subtle jerk of Zuo BingTan's shoulder made Cao Lu wince in anxiety, then Zuo JinHai let out a soft groan.
Cao Lu inadvertently glanced at YuLan, seeking assurance. YuLan let out a sigh of relief and released the sealing arrays.
From the two Princes' bodies, the black threadscould no longer be seen. Despite how they were physically exhausted, their qi flows were now steady and strong, not erratic as they used to be.
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Runexi's notes:
Holy guacamole on a pita bread! This chapter used so much of my brain juice and even so, will probably still cause true xianxia fans to want to burn me on a stick of fire. But anyway, I tried my best to explain what I intended it to be... ┑(￣▽￣)┍