Demonic Tribulations - Chapter 93 preview (Patreon)

Chapter 93 – Yin Xue

Late into the day, the sun was just beginning to set. Lurid yellows and oranges painted the sky, bathing the surroundings and making the colors in the surroundings pop. Facing away from the road, down at the lake below, some of the villages were finishing up the washing while others were washing themselves after a long day of training.

Yin Xue had finished work for the day, intending to complete the translations the next day. For now, he was seated cross-legged, surrounded by a series of beast stones laid out in the consumption formation. There was no need for that for him since his dao and control would allow him to absorb the multiple stones at once. The only reason he utilized it was that it allowed him to pre-filter some of the impurities in the stones, providing a cleaner ‘taste’ to the energy entering his body and reducing the amount of work. The minor loss in efficiency utilizing the formation caused was more than adequately replaced by the external energies it helped draw in as well from the surroundings.

As he cultivated, bolstering his strength, his aura continued to expand across the land. Passively in such a way that he became part of the world. Not direct dominance, though he still had significant control. Enough that he was the first to sense their guest.

He sensed the carriage roll onwards for a good half-hour, closing in on the residence before his allied demons were alerted. Tension rose, with a few discussions begun and ended to disturb him in his cultivation. In the end, it was Korcan who decided the matter, refusing to allow anyone to disturb Yin Xue unless it was truly urgent.

Instead, the newly minted militia set themselves up in the building and the surroundings, hiding as best they could while watching if the carriage would pass them by. It was a vain hope – the road to the guest house led only here – but the villagers clung to it.

Preparations to flee were being made by the non-combatants, but it was done so with minimal enthusiasm. There was nowhere to flee, after all, and this was a single carriage. Defeating those within, especially if they borrowed his strength, would be simple enough.

Yin Xue was glad to see they were taking action themselves, ignoring his presence. It showed a degree of self-reliance that he liked to see. There was no place for hangers-on, for the leeches and lazy in the jianghu. Those who were content to be weak would be swallowed whole by the strong.

It was not long before he could sense within the carriage. It was sparsely filled with two servants, squeezed into one corner and facing their mistress who sprawled on the other end of the carriage seat. Four arms, unlike the simple two of her servants. A mark of her grown strength. Something he noticed in the refugees, the gathering of energy near their chest.

Incipient change, given time.

On the carriage itself there was a footman seated beside the driver, holding a crossbow in one hand. It was an interesting instrument, cocked with a gleaming warhead tipped with a carved and enchanted spirit stone on its end. The driver had a shield propped beside him, meant for easy access and a smaller crossbow behind it. That one lay uncocked, though the mechanism it utilized and the in-built sheaf meant the weapon could be cocked in a single motion.

Terrible aim, for how small the crossbow itself was. However, the driver was unlikely to be fighting a war of arrows. No, his job was to survive long enough to get the vehicle moving and only reach for his weapon if matters were truly dire.

Not an unusual set-up, but the lack of luggage on the top of the carriage, the scarcity of additional goods and luxuries was suspicious. The presence of storage rings and storage chests might make packing simpler, but in Yin Xue’s experience, the ability to pack one’s necessities in a small space meant that more luxuries were added.

Packing light was not a trick nobles learnt.

Most especially when compared to cultivators in the lower-end. Those stuck in the early to mid-stages of Core Formation – or the equivalent – were often the worst. Powerful enough that the vast majority of humanity lay beneath them, close enough to the peak that they might glimpse it on occasion, but so far from it that their sense of inferiority shone through.

Much like the woman who sat there, in the carriage, with too few servants and an entourage. Beautiful, he assumed, if one was into demons. Yin Xue’s own viewpoint of beauty was in flux as the external markers became less convincing.

It was more the way she sat, tense and pensive that drew his attention more than anything else. The stink of fear on the pair of servants, the way they looked out the window when they could, searching the horizon.

Desperate eyes scanning for pursuit, the minor relaxation when nothing was found.

That thought drove Yin Xue to finish his latest cultivation cycle, drawing hungrily upon the energies of the spirit stones till they exploded in puffs of black and purple smoke. Ground spirit dust fell to the ground, the chi within sucked dry.

A mental nudge sent the dust skittering away into a nearby hole, where it would be collected and utilized. Yi Xue briefly wondered what it was used for, then dismissed the matter as he threw the doors to the cultivation seclusion room open and strode out, summoning his sword to belt onto his robes.

Not that he intended to use it, but the weapon and its presence made for great distractions.

“Great cultivator…” Korcan found him immediately, bowing as Yin Xue made his way to the entrance of the house. “Our scouts have not spotted any other carriages or wagons. Have you…?”

“Just the singular. Five in total, including I believe, the man’s mistress.” Lips curled up. “Either that, or his wife or relative is quite beautiful.”

“Can you describe her?” Wase asked. “I have met her twice before. She is quite the remarkable beauty, unlike the others.”

“Dark skinned, like you all. Highlights of purple and red along the edges of the eyes and cheekbones. Two horns on either side, small and dainty with a thick mane of hair. A third eye, solidified into a pink gem. I get the sense of the dao of passion and attraction in it.”

“That is her then.” At the looks they both gave him, Wase added. “The mistress, Ozel.”

“Ozel.” Yin Xue rolled the words around in his mouth, made sure he remembered it. In the meantime, he described each of the others along with their weapons, but none were familiar to Wase.

“Not unusual,” he replied when asked. “Those at the peak switch their servants on the regular in fear of spies or growing too attached. Servants are resources, but if one were to insult the wrong person, speak or be in the wrong place, they then becomes a liability.”

If this woman was everything he had been led to believe – a courtesan, a middlingly powerful demon who had leveraged her beauty and political acumen to higher levels – she would be a great resource. She would certainly know the players and have later information.

“What caste?” Korcan asked.

“Rumors place her as a fankar, though she plays the part of a muraa'aat,” Wase said.

“Interesting.” Yin Xue added to the catalogue of information before he nodded to the group. “Let them come in. Do not show yourself. Do not get involved unless I signal you too.”

“What signal?” Korcan said, practically.

“You’ll know it.”

Neither party were not happy, but the carriage was arriving and the pair dispersed to give orders to the remainder of the militia. Yin Xue took station, behind the door, wondering how best to play this.