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Chapter 53 – Fa Yuan

Leaning sideways as the wagon that she sat within trundled onwards, the single pair of wheels beneath the conveyance rolling across tamped and ground earth, Fa Yuan pushed aside the pink, patterned cloth curtains. Simple floral designs covered the curtains, woven hemp rather than more luxurious silk. Much like the thinner cushions on the conveyance that she had, immediately, replaced with her own seating cushions when she had been escorted within the vehicle.

Weeks of travel, moving at a mortal pace. Forced idleness, with only the barest allowance for communication with those outside of her environs. Yang Fa Yuan, fairy of the kingdom of Shen and Right Guardian of the prestigious Verdant Green Waters sect was not a prisoner of the kingdom of Liu. Not at all, or so her captors assured her.

She was just not allowed to travel freely, was being brought – against her wishes – to the capital, and was barred from continued communication with the government of her kingdom, her sect or any other cultivator sects, families or kingdoms in the vicinity.

Outside, the rolling hills enshrouded by bamboo forest was beginning to give way to the farmed fields that so often surrounded cities. She could spot some through the gaps already, the rice farms that fed the Middle Kingdom and cultivators and mortals alike. She pushed forward, poking her head out to spot the city farther ahead, only for a cough to attract her attention.

“Fairy Yang, if you would…” The speaker was her captor – sorry, her host – who had found her after her battle with Wan Qi, astride a horse unlike her own enforced solitude inside the carriage. Cultivator General Fu Ke Yi, mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator and the Lion of the South.

“It is stuffy in here.”

“So you’ve said. But your appearance is quite distracting, for my soldiers and those passing by.” His reply was smooth and cultured, but iron underlay the conversation.

Letting out a long sigh, Fa Yuan let the curtain fall away as she leaned back. At the same time, she allowed her spiritual sense to expand, pushing against the general’s aura to sense the world around her, judging the patrol that watched over them, the driver and the passing merchants and travelers.

A good steady flow of merchants, travelers – scholars, pilgrims and the occasional noble – moved along the road. Overall cultivation level was similar to that of the Shen kingdom, the vast majority having opened a single meridian or two at most. Cultivation for mortals was common and enforced in nearby states to Shen, since the benefits of having a basic meridian or two open on general health, well being and aging was clear. To break through and open more meridians required either fortune, talent or persistence. Something that most nations lacked, at least for the entirety of their population.

“You’re watching.” The words were sub-vocalised, not even a whisper but loud enough for Fa Yuan to hear.

“What else am I to do, General Fu?” Fa Yuan did not bother to lower her voice much, being trapped as she was in the wooden walls. Perhaps the guard might hear, over the rumble of the wheels, but it was unlikely.

“So long as you stay hidden, I am content. There is much to see in our kingdom, after all.”

“How much longer am I to stay captive?”

“Only a few more days, Honored Yang.” General Fu replied, ignoring her accusation with practiced ease. “We need only ensure that you are properly presented to the prince.”

“Prince, not king?”

“He is much further away, another four more days of travel. If you wished for that honor, I can make arrangements, of course…”

Deftly maneuvered as she was, Fa Yuan could only answer in silence. She could have broken free – perhaps – but it would be foolish. There was nothing to be gained from fleeing Ke Yi’s gentle confinement, not when she would require the aid of the kingdom of Yan.

In truth, she would require the aid of multiple states if she was to enact the changes that she wished. The gentle skirmishing on the borders would have to end, if the Cai and their demonic aspirations were to be ended. Even so, convincing the kingdoms to mount a war of aggression would be difficult. Not so soon after many of these kingdoms had either finally experienced peace for the first time in decades or achieved freedom.

As it stood, it was a foul thing, to desire war. The turning of plowshares into swords, the raising of armies and the removal of farmers and artisans from their occupations to march, bleed and die on foreign soil was to be mourned.

It was no light thing to strike the drums of war and raise the flags of chaos, but to allow the rot of further demonic influence in the Middle Kingdom was unacceptable. She had plans, for the kingdom, and from the smirk that she felt tugging at the edges of Ke Yi’s lips, she could tell he knew it too.

That he was guiding her along meant that he could either be a massive ally or a terrible opponent. It was not clear, yet, which he would be.

She would likely find out in a few days, when they arrived at the city and the prince’s palace within. What she did know, though, and kept in mind was that everyone had objectives of their own. It was only a question if she could arrange it that their objectives were linked to her own.