STNS: Chapter 470 (Patreon)

How many months have we sat here?

Qiang Bao did not enjoy being forced to remain in this palace. He rarely left to begin with, and so it wasn’t a problem, but he just didn’t like it when he was forced into doing something.

Luan Desheng had told him to remain in the palace until Mei Xilan and her cohorts came to him. He understood the logic in that. Two members of her group were at the Seeker Realm. That meant they already had more firepower than he did. The only way to defeat them was to use the Luminous Eclipse Seal, which ignored a person’s cultivation entirely. That could only be activated when he sat here, on this very throne.

Yet even though he knew that logically, he still hated it.

When will those blasted curs make a move?! Have they not kept me waiting for far too long?!

He just wanted Mei Xilan to attack him so he could defeat them and be done with it. Dammit. The latest report said their numbers had swelled again too. More and more people were flocking to Mei Xilan. Why? He didn’t understand it. Qiang Bao knew that he and his sect were a little rough, but they did not mistreat the citizens. Sure, they had slaughtered a few villages that resisted his reign, and yes, they had made some examples of the city folk in the capital, but that was all. Other leaders had committed similar acts throughout the ages and never suffered for it. Why was he the one to be made a fool?

“You look troubled. What ails you, oh benevolent sect leader?” asked a mocking voice.

Qiang Bao snarled. “Luan Desheng! Stop hiding in the shadows if you wish to speak with me!”

A mocking chuckle echoed around the room as a figure appeared from within the darkness. Luan Desheng looked the same as always. Nothing seemed to phase this man. It annoyed Qiang Bao that he could be so calm.

“What do you want?” he asked.

Luan Desheng chuckled. “You don’t have to look so disgusted every time you talk to me. Even I have feelings, you know? What will you do if my feelings get hurt? I might leave for greener pastures.”

Qiang Bao snarled. “We both know that you would have left ages ago if you could. There’s a reason you’re stuck here with me.”

“True enough,” Luan Desheng said with a sigh, shrugging.

Luan Desheng had committed a grave act against the Zhou Clan. Qiang Bao didn’t know what he had done, but it was bad enough that their Hunter and Elimination Squad had been sent after him.

The Zhou Clan was the preeminent clan of the entire Xaio Continent, a clan so strong that their status ranked up there with the Three Celestial Sects, though they were known for their mercantile spirit rather than cultivation.

Of course, that was only on the surface. According to Luen Desheng, the entire Zhou Clan was a den of monsters. They committed the most heinous acts under the cover of darkness, never leaving a trace of their deeds behind, and of course, those who were found out were targeted relentlessly. Luan Desheng was one of those people being targeted.

The Zhou Clan Hunter and Elimination Squad was, according to Luan Desheng, a group of elite fighters dedicated to eliminating any threats to the Zhou Clan with extreme prejudice. This included everything from dissidents to traitors. No one knew the methods they used--no one except Luan Desheng.

Qiang Bao didn’t know how much of that was true. However, he wouldn’t be surprised if the Zhou Clan was not what they seemed. No clan could become so powerful by keeping their hands clean. The fact that Luan Desheng was willing to cooperate with someone weaker than himself was also a sign that the Zhou Clan was more than they appeared. This man would not deign to take orders from him if he did not have to.

“Anyway,” Luan Desheng shifted topics. “I’ve come to tell you that Mei Xilan and her rebel army have arrived at Shengshi City. They’ve established a base right outside the city limits and have already entered the city itself. Several Undying Sun Sect members have even been arrested and are being charged with assault, battery, and abuse of authority.”

Qiang Bao gritted his teeth and clenched his hand. He would have said something, but at that moment, the doors opened and his elders walked in. All of them looked ready for war. He didn’t even need to listen to them to know what they were here for.

“That blasted woman thinks she can do whatever she wants on our turf!”

“We need to teach her a lesson!”

“If we do nothing now, our very authority will come into question! Qiang Zongzhu, make the right call!”

Qiang Bao sighed. “Very well. Let us head out right now to take care of them.” The looks of relief on every face there almost made him smile, for what he said next wiped the relief right off their faces. “By the way, I’m appointing you elders to take care of the Seeker Realm cultivators. You can handle that, right? Since you want us to teach them a lesson, you should be willing to put your spirit stones where your mouth is.”

The pervading silence that followed made him almost grunt in discontent. These men were not foolish, but they had grown complacent in the past few years. So used to their power and authority were they that they couldn’t adapt to their new situation.

“Going on the attack now will simply result in our loss. We must wait for them to come to us,” he said. “Relay my orders to all of our disciples. Tell them to return to the Palace of the Sun and remain here for now.”

The elders were quick to scurry out of the room, hopefully to relay his orders. Qiang Bao sat back and closed his eyes.

“You’ve become quite the leader,” Luan Desheng observed.

“Shut up…”

***

Wu Jian walked through the streets with Youmei. Shengshi City looked the same as it had the last time they were here. Most of the houses were raised on wooden stilts due to frequent rain. It wasn’t the rainy season right now, but once the rainy season struck, it would rain almost constantly, every day for an entire six months. This architecture helped protect homes during flooding and kept it cool when the humidity rose.

The architecture changed as they stepped into the city proper. Buildings became narrow, multi-story structures packed closely together. While other nations had guardian statues before every door, these did not. These buildings, commonly referred to as tube houses because of how long and narrow they were, had a plain entrance with nothing adorning them.

“Oh my. Is that Jian Wu and Youmei, I see?”

They were traveling through the market district when someone called out to them, an old woman with wrinkles lining her kind face. Her outfit was plain. It suited her, however. She was just a normal woman whom they had met over the past month.

“Daniang, hello.”

“Ah! It’s the nice lady who always gives Youmei bread!” Youmei quickly escaped Wu Jian’s grasp and ran up to the older lady with a bright smile. “Ne ne. Do you have bread for Youmei today too?”

The old woman smiled kindly. “Of course. Here you are, little one.”

“Yay!”

Wu Jian walked over and bopped Youmei on the head. “Say thank you.”

“Thank you, daniang!”

“You’re quite welcome,” said the old lady.

“I’ll pay this time,” Wu Jian said.

“Oh, you don’t have to…”

“I do, actually. If I didn’t pay you for your services, I’d be no better than the members of the Undying Sun Sect.”

Wu Jian fished out four copper coins, which he handed to the old lady. He had gotten better at using normal currency recently. It felt almost like he was resetting his common sense. For quite a while now, he had been using spirit stones as currency, which were worth far more than copper, silver, and gold coins.

It had been roughly one month since they established a base outside the city limits. That first day was spent announcing Mei Xilan as the rightful heir to the Sui Kingdom, decrying the Undying Sun Sect’s unjust usurpation of the nation, and demanding they give themselves up. Of course, they didn’t expect the sect to do anything of the sort. And they weren’t disappointed.

The purpose of making that announcement had never been to get a response, but to call into question the legitimacy of the Undying Sun Sect’s rule and also ruin their reputation. Qiang Bao would not come out to confront them when they had two Seeker Realm cultivators on their side. However, in opting to remain sequestered in their palace, Qiang Bao and the Undying Sun Sect’s reputation was being dragged through the mud. The people were beginning to wonder why they weren’t doing anything. Why were they just letting Mei Xilan and her group say and do whatever they wanted? Was it because they didn’t have room to stand on? Was it because Mei Xilan was really the heir to the Sui Kingdom? Was it because the Undying Sun Sect was weak? As more and more time passed, the people’s thoughts on the Undying Sun Sect would continue to sour, until eventually, not a single person would respect them.

While strength meant more in the world of cultivation than it did the normal world that did not mean it meant nothing. A ruler needed strength to rule.

Wu Jian and Youmei made their way back to base. The tents that had been set up were made from magical beast hide, though they weren’t made from strong magical beasts. They were still fairly durable. He wandered through the camp, listening to the hustle and bustle. Several people offered him a martial bow as he walked past while a few cowered in fear. He almost felt like crying. Was he really that scary?

“Be careful not to get too close to him! I hear Jian Wu eats the flesh of humans?”

“Don’t say that! He might kill you! I hear he even killed someone just for looking at him the wrong way!”

“No, no, no. He hasn’t killed anyone. However, if you cross him, he will make you run laps with ten ton weights strapped to your limbs.”

I will remember each and every one of you fuckers. Mark my words, you will rue the day you spoke ill of me behind my back!

With ill thoughts filling his heart, Wu Jian made his way to the command tent, where Mei Xilan, her generals, and his companions were already discussing the situation.

“An entire month has passed since we came here, and Qiang Bao has not made a move to remove us. I think the time has come for us to act,” said Zhang Ming.

“I agree,” concurred Li Wei. “I am sick and tired of waiting.”

“I understand what you’re all saying,” Mei Xilan began. “However, we shouldn’t attack recklessly. We still don’t know what the Luminous Eclipse Seal does. I’m certain that Qiang Bao is waiting for us to storm his stronghold so he can use it on us.”

“Even if we do not know what it does, we have to do something. We cannot just sit here in this stalemate forever,” said Zhang Ming.

Mei Xilan furrowed her brow. “I do understand that…”

As the generals and Mei Xilan discussed what to do, Hou Jingshu noticed him walk in and smiled.

“Back from patrol?” she asked.

“Yeah. Nothing out of the ordinary, again. I think all of the Undying Sun Sect disciples have withdrawn from the city now,” he said as he walked up to them. “Mei Xilan, I know you have your reservations, but I think we might have to simply attack them. Unfortunately, we have no way of finding out what the Luminous Eclipse Seal does. None of the disciples we’ve interrogated know what it does either. I suspect only Qiang Bao and his elders will know, and they aren’t going to come out.”

The original plan had been to drag the Undying Sun Sect’s reputation through the mud and force them into an open confrontation. No sect could survive after having their reputation so thoroughly tarnished. This was doubly so for a sect that ruled a nation. If they did this in the Xia Dynasty, the Phoenix Clan would have met them in full force to wipe them from the face of existence.

Mei Xilan sighed. “I know you are right. I guess it was foolish to hope they’d be dumb enough to meet us in combat when we have Shuchang and Hou Jingshu on our side.”

Since it was decided they would attack soon, they needed to come up with a battle plan. There were several factors to consider. The Luminous Eclipse Seal aside, the Undying Sun Sect still had more strength of numbers than they did. Mei Xilan, Wu Jian, Hou Jingshu, Youmei, Shuchang, and Zhou Lihua were stronger than anyone in the Undying Sun Sect, but they were only six people. The Undying Sun Sect still had more members and those members were still stronger than most of the people in Mei Xilan’s army.

There was also Soul Eclipse to consider. The dark sect was the Undying Sun Sect’s trump card. They didn’t know how powerful Soul Eclipse was, but their leader was supposedly a Seeker Realm expert, which meant he was at least as strong as Hou Jingshu and Shuchang. That alone put them at a serious threat.

One thing they had considered was asking for outside help, but that was immediately discarded. Not only did they already have the help of Wu Jian, Hou Jingshu, Zhou Lihua, Youmei, and Shuchang, but asking aid from other nations meant putting themselves in debt. They did not have anything of value to give. Chances were good the Sui Kingdom would become a vassal state and Mei Xilan a mere figurehead.

They also could not afford to use starvation tactics since that would take too long. Wu Jian and those not born of the Sui Kingdom had no intention of remaining here forever, and they did not know how long it would take for the Palace of the Sun to run out of supplies.

“I guess… we’ll need to split our forces,” Mei Xilan said at last. “I’ll have the Four Pillars stage a diversion. We’ll pretend to attack from the front. Meanwhile, I will lead a force inside the Palace of the Sun. That force will consist of myself, Wu Jian, Hou Jingshu, Shuchang, Youmei, and Zho… nevermind. Zhou Lihua, I’d actually like you to remain here.”

“What? Why?” asked Zhou Lihua.

“Your alchemy will be more useful to use than your combat prowess. I’d feel safer knowing my men had someone on hand who can provide support,” said Mei Xilan.

Although she said that, Wu Jian could have sworn he’d seen Mei Xilan look at Zhou Wen for a brief moment. He furrowed his brow beneath his mask.

“Once we’re inside, our groups will split off. Shuchang, Wu Jian, and Youmei? I want you three to open the palace gates and let our men inside. After that, you’ll take care of Soul Eclipse. Meanwhile, myself and Hou Jingshu will go after Qiang Bao and his seven elders. We should be more than enough to deal with them.”

While it looked like the Four Pillars had some complaints, they kept their mouths shut. The plan had now been set. All that remained was to carry it out.

“Get some rest, everyone. We’ll attack at midnight when their techniques are at their weakest,” concluded Mei Xilan with a look of determination.