Chapter 391: An Undesirable Outcome (Patreon)

“As a good husband, I cannot possibly answer that question.”

~~~

“That went much better than I expected.”

“If so, I dread to imagine what it is that you consider a truly undesirable outcome,” Xiao Shuang says, lips lightly pursed as she looks at him. She is seated on a small round seat next to the bed.

With the exception of Great Mother and the Scribe, the entire tower has retreated to their rooms, with some people opting to share theirs to seek safety in numbers. Liu Jin is certain this has caused some interesting situations. The rooms in the tower do not seem to bend space in any way, meaning they are exactly as cramped as one would imagine them to be. Their round shape and round furniture make it worse, wasting a lot of would-be corner space.

It is a little sad. The rooms are small, so that there can be many. This tower was clearly built with the idea that the descendants of the One Hundred and Eight would flourish and multiply. One hundred and eight people, their companions, and families were supposed to be hosted here.

Instead, nearly two-thirds of the tower are empty.

“The worst-case scenario would have been if this whole thing ended up being nothing but a sham to capture me,” Liu Jin replies. “If all three major powers could set aside their differences and coordinate just to trick me, it meant I never had a chance.”

“You rely entirely too much on people not getting along,” Xiao Shuang points out. “Do you realize that, husband?”

“At this point, it is just recognizing patterns,” Liu Jin says, lying down on the bed. His chest rises as he takes a deep breath. “With the Scribe and Great Mother watching over us, it is unlikely that Xun Huwen will try anything. Spending a week confined to this room is a small price to pay. It sounds downright pleasing compared to everything that has happened lately.”

“You really think it is him, then?”

Liu Jin turns to look at Xiao Shuang. She makes no effort to hide her dubiousness. To her and those not of the Eternal Flame Clan, the idea seems as ludicrous as the accusations against Liu Jin, maybe more. Xun Huwen does not possess a special technique that can bypass the barriers. He is not the champion of some tournament or the ruler of a country. He is “only” a cultivator in the Heaven Realm.

“I realize it might seem hypocritical of us to accuse him without any evidence, but there is no doubt in my mind that he did it,” Liu Jin says. “That man is dangerous. Even now, my soul screams at me that he cannot be allowed to roam free. If I could do what people accuse me of doing, I would have already killed him.”

Xiao Shuang stares at him for a moment, not having expected such a frank admission. Liu Jin does not delight in murder, but rather sees it as a grim necessity. The bloodthirst that shines in his eyes when talking about Xun Huwen is striking.

“This is not normal dislike, is it?” Xiao Shuang says, rising to her feet and sitting down next to him on the bed. “It is your Dao.”

Hollow.

The effectiveness of his Dao is inherently tied to his judgment of those around him. It makes it hard to fight those he approves of, but that’s not an issue with Xun Huwen. It is the opposite. His and Xun Huwen’s souls already clashed in the Dead Plains. His Dao has already judged him and found him wanting. Now, it demands action.

“His Dao is Destruction. Without motive or purpose,” Liu Jin says. “I did not understand what that meant at first. I thought that would make him violent, which he is, but there is a frightening intellect behind that violence. He understands how to cause as much damage as possible in every conceivable way and delights in it. Every second he is not stopped is another one in which he is free to plan how to cause more misery.”

Murong Bang, mad as he was, brought violence to the world because he believed that to be the natural order of things. Yun Han sought to sever all that which brought him pain. Lord Feng Gui destroys for the sake of bringing about something new. Patriarch Feng wants stronger cultivators. The Temple of the Thousand Shadows seeks to preserve the status quo. The Death Fashioning Scripture wants to break it. Liu Jin can understand them, even if he will never be able to agree with most of them.

Xun Huwen alone is different.

“There is no greater purpose, no guiding ideology. Just destruction.”

Xiao Shuang takes his hand in hers and gives it a gentle squeeze. He squeezes back, their fingers interlacing. Their Qi mingles, thoughts and feelings exchanged in the blink of an eye to fill the gap that mere words are not enough to express.

“It might be hypocritical of me to say this after my behavior in the tournament, but you cannot let it control you, Husband,” Xiao Shuang says.

“I won’t,” he promises her.

His Dao judges and condemns. It creates an empty world in which his opponent is to be slaughtered. However, that cannot be all there is to Liu Jin. If his life is defined only by what he rejects, then that means he is as Hollow as everything else. He fully understood that during his battle with Xiao Shuang.

That is why a small tree now grows in that Hollow world.

“Right now, I can think of nothing more worthwhile than spending time with you,” he says.

Xiao Shuang smiles and leans into his shoulder. He feels her snow-white hair brush against his neck, the warmth of her body against his. Human warmth is such a simple thing.

And yet, so very fulfilling.

~~~

“I do not think I like this game.”

Liu Jin does his best not to laugh as Xiao Shuang stares at the game board with a deep frown. Her white pieces are spread haphazardly across the battlefield while his black ones have already consolidated around key positions. The game still has quite a few moves left, but a comeback is unlikely.

“I am not particularly good at it either,” Liu Jin says.

“Liar,” Xiao Shuang says, her stare pointed at the state of the game.

“It is true,” Liu Jin says, bouncing a black piece on his palm as he considers where to put it. “General Nie Dan calls my skill passable at best. He made me play against him, but the idea was never for me to be good at the game. He just wanted me to start thinking about the concept of controlling territory.”

“If your skill is only passable, what does that make mine?”

“As a good husband, I cannot possibly answer that question.”

That gets a smile out of her, which is good. Considering she’s been trained by Lady Meng Yue, a thrown go piece and even a thrown game board were also possible reactions. However, the game continues in peace, the two engaging in casual conversation as they move their pieces. Xiao Shuang occasionally bites her lower lip in concentration, then stops when she realizes she is doing it.

“I believe you win,” Xiao Shuang says after a while. “I think. I still do not quite understand how the scoring is done.”

“It takes a while to get used to,” Liu Jin admits.

Xiao Shuang sighs.

“Husband, I do not believe I like this game,” she admits. “Maybe I am more like my master than I thought.”

She sounds genuinely worried about it.

“I do have other games,” Liu Jin says, patting his spatial pouch. “Though most require more than two people.”

Among them is Feng Guo’s needlessly complex and confusing board game, but even if they did have enough people, Liu Jin would not bring it out. The only reason Lu Mei hadn’t throttled Feng Zhuo’s neck when they played was that she physically couldn’t. That brightly-colored board is an insidious thing that invites violence and bloodthirst.

“It would be nice if we could all be together,” Xiao Shuang says. “Circumstances aside, this is probably the quietest that things have been in a while.”

And it only took a murder in a place where murders could not happen.

“I imagine there were not many quiet moments around Lady Meng Yue,” Liu Jin says, putting the board and pieces back in his pouch.

“Oh, there were many quiet moments, but they were not particularly peaceful,” Xiao Shuang says, lying down beside Liu Jin. “It was usually the two of us against whatever Spirit Beast or natural disaster she deemed worthy to pit me against. Silence was often necessary. Oh, but it wasn’t always like that! I did spend a lot of time with my fellow disciples in the Divine Frozen Palace.”

Xiao Shuang smiles as she remembers it.

“The One Hundred Frozen Peaks look quiet from a distance, but there is always something happening there,” she says while lifting a hand towards the ceiling. “The Divine Frozen Palace is located on the tallest of the peaks, but many of the ones surrounding it have installations for the disciples' use. The Elders often organized activities and contests for us. Races, hunts, and many other things.”

“You had quite a bit of fun,” Liu Jin says.

“I did,” Xiao Shuang says. Her smile brightens for a moment before a pang of guilt dims it. “I am sorry. I am speaking about my good fortune, but while I was safe, you and my brother were struggling in the world outside.”

Liu Jin puts his hand on her shoulder.

“Do not apologize,” he says. “It was because you were safe that we could feel somewhat at ease despite everything else.”

“Even so, I often wished I could be at your side,” Xiao Shuang says, looking up at him.

“You are now,” Liu Jin says, smiling.

Their eyes meet, and unspoken energy passes between them. Liu Jin leans in at the same time as Xiao Shuang leans up, their lips meeting in the middle.

Xiao Shuang has very soft lips.

The thought uselessly drifts through Liu Jin’s mind as his arms hold Xiao Shuang closer to him. Though she has gained incredible power, there is something almost frail about Xiao Shuang, as soft and ephemeral as snow. And just like snow, it feels as if she will melt between his arms if he holds her too tightly. However, that is exactly why he does not want to let go of her.

Lu Mei was an attraction that evolved into something deeper, but Xiao Shuang is a childhood promise sealed with the briefest of kisses, a memory of innocence lost and now reclaimed. That he does not have to give up either one of them is a privilege of his position.

“Wait!”

Xiao Shuang suddenly pulls back, her face flushed red. Her chest rises with heavy breaths. Liu Jin follows the redness of her cheeks to her neck and all the way down to where her robes have come loose.

“I..I am not…That is to say…I am not… ready.”

Pleasing as the sight of a flustered Xiao Shuang is, Liu Jin knows it is best if he says something.

“You do not have to force yourself to do anything,” he says.

“I am not… It is just…I know you and Lu Mei are… well…”

She blushes, unable to finish it.

“Lu Mei and I have spent more time together. You and I have just begun anew,” Liu Jin says. “To be honest, it’s rather refreshing to see you so embarrassed now. You kept talking about your marital duties when we were children. It was very awkward for me.”

Xiao Shuang covers her face.

“Please, do not remind me. It is because…”

She trails off. Hers and Liu Jin’s attention is suddenly on the door. The two are immediately on their feet as it opens, Xiao Shuang moving behind Liu Jin to adjust her robes.

“I apologize for the intrusion. It seems I have come in at an inopportune moment.”

It is Lord Feng Shang, yet not. The man’s body is completely transparent, little more than a ghostly apparition. Without a doubt, it is a soul fragment, one with such a faint presence that even now Liu Jin has a hard time sensing it.

“Lord Feng Shang,” Liu Jin says. “I was not expecting you.”

“How are you here?” Xiao Shuang asks brusquely, evidently embarrassed by the interruption.

However, her question is the right one. Great Mother and the Scribe of the Heavenly Sword should be keeping watch outside, ensuring that no one goes out of their room unless absolutely necessary. Somehow, Liu Jin does not think Lord Feng Shang asked for their permission, or else he would not be here as a soul fragment.

“I wanted to test a theory of mine. This soul fragment is something I am quite proud of. Its presence is so faint it is barely detectable, yet it retains a complete copy of my consciousness,” Lord Feng Shang says, looking at his transparent hand. “However, useful as it is, it is not good enough to hide from two divinities.”

“Great Mother hid you,” Liu Jin realizes.

Feng Shang nods.

“I gambled on her understanding my intent,” he says. “With the two of them so close to each other, they can use their presence to block the other’s sight. If I am here, it is through no merit of my own. I trust you understand what that means.”

If Great Mother can hide Lord Feng Shang from the Scribe, that means the Scribe can hide someone from Great Mother’s sight.

“You think Xun Huwen is working at the behest of the Scribe?” Liu Jin asks.

“That makes no sense,” Xiao Shuang says. “If that is the case, why kill Green Shadow? And why not side with the Temple of the Thousand Shadows against my husband?”

“I do not have all the answers, but I imagine the Peerless Heavenly Sword Peak wants to maintain an image of impartiality,” Lord Feng Shang says. “Xun Huwen is good at being a madman. It is easy to feign innocence when next to him. However, they knew what they were doing when they brought him here.”

“Is the Scribe helping him commit the murders, then?” Xiao Shuang asks. “You and Great Mother said the active interference of a Divinity would be noticeable.”

“There…there is a way,” Liu Jin says, narrowing his eyes. “The disciple of the Heavenly Sword working for Murong Bang, Bright Sword, had an item that helped him hide his presence and that of an entire army. He called it the Thief’s Lamp. Its effects reminded me somewhat of [Art of the Roaming Thief], so I was very surprised to see a soldier of Murong Bang’s army have something like it. However, if that was always an item of the Heavenly Sword…”

If it was something that belonged to the original Roaming Thief…

“Then they may have other items like it,” Lord Feng Shang says. “It may be that they have always been able to overcome the barrier, and Xun Huwen has been allowed use of an item like it.”

“Xun Huwen can still kill people,” Liu Jin says with a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Everyone is confined to their rooms, so everyone has been isolated for him.”

“Feng Zhuo is the one chosen to perform the ceremony in the name of the Feng Clan this time,” Lord Feng Shang says. “Other than you, I cannot think of a better target.”

Liu Jin and Xiao Shuang gasp as Lord Feng Shang kneels in front of them.

“Emperor Qing Jin, I ask that you protect my son’s life.”

~~~

Mini-Character List

Liu Jin: Our Protagonist. Moderately skilled at board games. 

Xiao Shuang: Disciple of Meng Yue. Just needs a few training arcs and an ancient Egyptian pharaoh to be Queen of Games. 

Feng Shang: Lu Mei’s father. Has encountered Feng Gui in a wide variety of ludicrous and embarrassing situations. This has turned him into the nearly unflappable man he is today. 

AN:

Someone asked what was up with the little quotes. The answer is that I used to be able to put preview text in the posts, but then Patreon changed and I didn't like how the preview text looked so I stopped doing it, but then it changed again when I wasn't looking, and I started using preview text again.