Sundered Soul: A Wuxia/Xianxia Cultivation Novel Page 8

Yet…he was the emperor still.

  “You are familiar with the artisan village of Han, are you not, my lord?”

  “Han… Han….” Emperor Jin Yu said the name as if trying to recall what he had eaten the night before. “Remind me…”

  “The rebirthers.”

  “Ah yes… Han! What of it?”

  “They were attacked by a demon with Tsu forces in the area. I believe the two are connected.”

  “Tsu? Connected with a demon?” Jin Yu seemed to sober some. “Why? And how could they venture in so far from the front past the wall?”

  “Your excellency does recall what is within Han Village…yes?”

  “Yes, of course!” He straightened himself within the throne again. “If the Tsu ever got hold of our secret rebirthing techniques…well…we’d be fighting a bunch of nine-year-olds!” He burst into raucous laughter again.

  By the gods…He truly has gone mad…

  Amikazu glanced at the two guardsmen within the room. Their reactions were unreadable. Not even a glance. No doubt used to such outbursts by now, he thought. Oh how far you have fallen, Jin Yu. But I will save you yet.

  “I believe the Tsu may have used a Bloodskull demon,” he said. “If so…they could only be tracing one thing.”

  That finally caused the emperor to sit up properly in his throne, dumping his concubine to the floor. “How did they do that?”

  “A stray lock of hair perhaps? Who knows? Not much is needed for that type of summon.”

  “Prepare my personal guard,” Jin Yu shouted. “I’m travelling to Han Village to repel those Tsu fools myself!”

  By the nine hells… don’t even jest. “Your excellency, such a task is far below your immortal blood. It is my remit and duty. I will travel with your divine blessing to eradicate this Tsu threat.”

  “No…” Jin Yu said.

  Amikazu’s heart stood still. Please don’t think yourself a hero now…

  Then finally the emperor continued, “No… don’t eradicate them. Bring them back as captives. I will torture them personally before sending their corpses back to the Tsu Kingdom as a message.”

  Thank the heavens. “I will do as commanded, your excellency.”

  “Good.” He plopped back in his throne and snapped his fingers for a new bottle of wine. “See to it then.”

  “I shall,” he said with a deep bow. “I will Windwalk to Han Village at once.”

  Chapter 13 - Departure

  Curse my fate, Kenji thought.

  Even when obtaining what he wanted, it came at a price. Now that wretched Chet Fai would be joining them as well. Kenji hid his dissatisfaction as he loaded the boat with supplies, collecting sacks of rice, dried meat and fish. He made several trips to the sloop and back, each time avoiding Chet Fai.

  Shinoto’s parents quarreled while he and Waru pretended to not notice. Yuna was clearly unhappy with what her husband had decided, but as with everything it seemed, when it came to his family, Ben Fai’s word was absolute.

  It took the better part of the afternoon to finish loading the boat. By the time they were done, they had packed cooking pots, sleeping rolls, and enough iron poles and tent leather to form two shelters. There was also a small chest provided by Chief Wu, which he entrusted to Waru. Kenji wasn’t sure what was in it—gifts or messages to the neighboring chief perhaps, or something pertaining to himself even. Whatever the case, it had to be important.

  Perhaps when they were finally underway he could speak to Waru openly about what he’d overheard in the attic. He did trust him, after all. Finding out more only made him all the more eager to be underway.

  It was close to dusk by the time they said their final farewells. Shinoto and Chet Fai both hugged their parents with Yuna looking close to tears. Even the normally stoic Ben Fai looked emotionally torn to be separated from his children. Kenji envied them for a moment.

  The most Xian Lu offered him was a handshake.

  “Listen to Waru,” Xian Lu said. “And don’t forget to practice your channeling daily.”

  “I will, Father.” Kenji then waited to see if Xian Lu would add anything else.

  But the young boy who was an old man simply turned to join Chief Wu and Yushiro, who were still seeing to the defenses of the village. Kenji looked around the square for what could perhaps be the last time. It was the only home he’d ever known. The thought filled him with anxiety and apprehension, but excitement too.

  He was heading into the unknown.

  * * *

  “I should have let you lift the heavy end,” Waru said, as they stumbled along the small path to the jetty, carrying Olja.

  Kenji looked down upon the sleeping warrior’s face directly below him, the bamboo stretcher creaking as it took her considerable weight.

  “I’m pretty sure I already am carrying the heavy end,” Kenji said with a grunt and Waru laughed at him.

  “I can help too,” Shinoto said as she walked next to him, carrying a small pack with her personal belongings. She then exhaled deeply, channeling her Qi. She could probably help indeed. Even as an Off White again, her Qi was dense enough to give her strength far beyond that of the tiny seven-year-old body she now possessed.

  “Don’t bother,” Chet Fai said as he followed behind them empty-handed. “You’re too short.”

  “Yes, but you’re not.” Shinoto shot her brother an accusatory stare over her shoulder. “Why don’t you help them? Kenji carried her all the way from the peach orchard by himself, you know?”

  “Then he shouldn’t be bothered at all.” Chet Fai smirked at her. “This should be far easier.”

  It was in fact. Although Olja was still massively heavy, compared to carrying her across his back, this was easy. Arriving at the sloop, he and Waru gingerly rested Olja aboard and then secured her under one of the tent skins.

  “Blasted,” Waru suddenly cursed. “I’ve left the chest. Prepare the boat, lad. I’ll soon be back.”

  Waru then hobbled across the jetty in a run and disappeared down the path towards town. The three of them then embarked, Kenji helping Shinoto aboard first.

  “Oh,” Shinoto said, suddenly stiffening. “I think I left something, as well.”

  “What?” Chet Fai asked.

  “My rebirthing gift.”

  “The apple?” Chet Fai said incredulously.

  Shinoto looked behind him to Chet Fai. “Can you please get it for me, Chet Fai?”

  “How could you be so irresponsible, Shinoto?” Chet Fai said angrily. “Do you have any idea how much that is worth?”

  Shinoto reddened. “I know. Father would probably force me to stay at home if he knew I’d left it. Can you please go for me? Just tell them you came back for something of yours. Please! Don’t let them know I forgot it.”

  Chet Fai scowled at his sister, but then his eyes shifted to Kenji and a smirk crept upon his lips.

  “Sure,” he said eventually. “I’ll go get it for you.”

  Kenji’s stomach stiffened with unease as Chet Fai left. “Shinoto, I don’t think Chet Fai intends to do what you asked.”

  The little girl laughed. “Of course he doesn’t. Why do you think I said it? It’s the only thing that would make him go. My brother is nothing if not predictable.”

  Kenji raised his brow with a smile. “You’re quite the little manipulator, aren’t you?”

  “Trust me…” Shinoto then produced the miniature apple from her robes. “When it comes to my brother, it’s more than easy.”

  Kenji outright laughed.

  “Now that we can talk freely,” Shinoto said, “what do you think about what the elders said this morning?”

  “I was going to ask you the same thing. Waru, a general?”

  “I know!” Shinoto slid closer to him and whispered, despite them being the only ones on the boat—besides the sleeping Olja, of course. “They clearly know more about what’s happening here. Don’t you think?”

  “Yeah…” Kenji then paused, almost not wanting to ask the
next question. “Do you think they chose to send me to Amatsu because they don’t want me in the village?”

  Shinoto frowned. “Maybe…But maybe it was just for safety.”

  “I thought of that,” Kenji said. “But I can’t tell if it’s for their safety or mine.”

  A pause fell between them. Softly, Shinoto patted his hand. “Well, I for one feel safer with you, Kenji. Even if my idiot of a brother is coming along with us now.”

  Kenji snorted out a laugh. “It’s bound to be an eventful trip, that’s for sure.”

  Shinoto smiled. “I can’t wait to get to Amatsu. My father said it’s much larger than our village. There’s even a permanent sect of the mystic schools there.”

  “Really?”

  Shinoto went on to describe how she looked forward to perhaps visiting the sect and impressing some of the masters there. Although she would not qualify until she reached at least 4th tier again, her strategy seemed sound.

  “You can never get your foot in the door too early. That goes for you too.”

  Kenji only smiled. “Perhaps…”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll get that doma of yours working. Even if I have to pester you day and night. We’ll do it.”

  “I’ll try my best.”

  Shinoto stared at him. “I can see it in your eyes, you know? Even my mother said it too.”

  “See what?”

  “You have a deep strength to you, Kenji. Every time I look at you I see it. You just need to find it for yourself.”

  His skin pricked at that. Perhaps this was the real reason he valued Shinoto. Her constant and unwavering faith in him, no matter how much of a dullard he truly was. “Thanks, Shinoto.”

  “Hey!” she said, as if suddenly struck by an idea. “Maybe you could try learning how to—” Shinoto stopped and then her eyebrows bunched together. “Do you smell that?”

  Kenji inhaled. Smoke…

  His heartbeat sped as he stood within the boat, and when he faced the village his stomach fell through the ground. A few miles away, thick black smoke rolled into a burning red sky.

  Han Village was in flames.

  Chapter 14 – Tsu

  Kenji ran, his legs pounding the earth so hard his teeth shook. Despite her much shorter gait, Shinoto flew ahead of him, sped by her Qi-infused Qinggong. Kenji’s stomach roiled with sickness with each step, filled with dread at what he would find once they reached the village.

  Cries echoed in the distance as they approached the square, carrying above the roar of the flames which now towered into the sky in huge red tongues of destruction.

  Ahead of him Shinoto came to a stop just before the paifang. She then screamed.

  Kenji doubled his speed and caught up with her. She ran into him, scooting backwards, reeling from something in fright.

  “I’ve got you!” he said, grabbing ahold of her.

  His heart then leapt as he finally saw what she was reacting to.

  On the ground just beyond the paifang were two headless bodies strewn across the ground, one smaller than the other. His stomach lurched. Shinoto ran to the side of the road and vomited noisily. The sight of her doing so, along with the thick scent of blood in the air, caused him to do the same.

  He could barely look at them…the bodies. These were people he knew.

  “Kenji…” Shinoto said, her voice cracking. “I–I think that’s Master Yushiro…”

  Kenji glanced at the bodies once more. Sure enough, the twin gold stripes of the village’s only mystic artist were irrefutably adorned upon the blood-soaked robes of the larger body. The robe of the smaller one next to it had a single gold stripe with orange trim. Even without a head, Kenji recognized who it was.

  Shiro…

  His insides froze. Both father and son. Dead. Kenji’s stomach heaved a second time.

  “They must have been killed defending the gate,” he said. But killed by what?

  “Kenji, our parents…” Shinoto looked at him fearfully with tears in her eyes. “Chet Fai and Waru.”

  His throat tightened. He could barely answer her, not wanting the answer for himself. “Come on.”

  Grabbing her hand, he pulled them both toward the village center, ignoring the dread and terror building in his heart. The crackle of burning timber filled the air as the main square came into view. Shinoto’s house was engulfed, along with half the buildings lining the square. More dead bodies lay decapitated and dismembered, littering the dirt road.

  His heart thundered in his chest. Had the demon come back?

  Had it come for him?

  He caught sight of Ben Fai and Chet Fai both armed with farmer’s tools. They stood in front of what was left of their home with Shinoto’s mother cowering just behind them. Not far away was a man Kenji had never seen before. He was a head shorter than Ben Fai, but built like a barrel with a mane of wild dark hair and a full beard. His chest was bare and tattooed with an intricate pattern of thin lines. He’d seen such a pattern before…the mark of the Tsu region.

  Was this what Olja had warned him about?

  Next to the wild man was another, branded with the same markings. He was much taller and bald-headed, and within each hand he wielded a curved Dao. The thick-bladed swords flashed like lightning as he spun towards a group of villagers, twisting like a dervish. The group of five militia members stood their ground, and raising their palms, unleashed Yushiro’s newly taught technique. The waves of energy hit the warrior, but cascaded off his body like water splashing a rock. The blades then tore into them, severing limbs with a single slash. The villagers cried out in screams of shock and pain, their blood spilling to the ground, followed seconds later by their lifeless bodies themselves.

  Kenji stared at the carnage beside himself. It was as if he were in a dream… a nightmare.

  A powerful shout then filled the air. “DEMON’S CURSE!”

  From the center of the square a huge tornado of flame rose up from the raised palms of a woman dressed in billowing black robes. Her hair was long and dark and whipping wildly against her porcelain-white face as she evoked her spell. Her eyes looked completely black and if not for that fact, she would have been beautiful.

  But the only thing she evoked inside Kenji now was fear.

  “A Fire Soul Master,” Shinoto said vacantly, as she watched the woman wield her immense internal power. But there was something off about it. Something unnatural. Even from this distance Kenji could sense it…the same sickly reek that came from that monster.

  “She’s using dark Qi,” he said. This was not just a Soul Master. “She’s a witch…!”

  The tornado tore through another group of villagers, setting them alight with screams. It then crashed into a building, adding to the already-raging blaze.

  The barrel-chested man lunged towards another group of villagers, using gauntlets tipped with metal claws. He howled like a beast as he tore into them, their screams cut short as he slit their throats with deadly efficiency.

  Kenji stood helplessly, frozen with fear.

  From afar he spotted Chief Wu and his father and his heart soared with relief. Chief Wu hurled a wave of energy at the witch, using the palm technique. The witch cried out as it hit her from behind, but even with the chief’s great inner strength he only just managed to knock her off her feet.

  Xian Lu then rushed in quickly, lashing a rope around her hands, binding her at the wrists. The glyphs on the rope flashed and her body froze. Even her mouth lay open in the midst of her angry screams, as if trapped in time. Chief Wu then hurried a group of villagers past her.

  “Flee the square! Quickly. ”

  The Dao-wielding man leapt to block their path, blades flashing. A resounding clang filled the air as they were suddenly met with the tip of a spear.

  Kenji looked for the wielder and his heart filled with hope yet again. “Waru!”

  Waru spun and twisted to match the man’s rapid attacks. A look of shock flashed across the Tsu’s face, no doubt perplexed by the old man’s martial
prowess. Kenji was perplexed himself. Waru moved with a speed and grace that defied his old body.

  Chief Wu used the opportunity to rush the villagers past the both of them.

  Waru managed to stab the younger man several times with the spear, but each time it bounced off his skin as if he were made of iron. Body mastery…. That would place him as a 5th Dan at least!

  With a Qi-charged yell, the Dao wielder leapt into the air with a spin. Waru blocked the attack skillfully, but was no match for the power behind it. The blade cut through both the spear and Waru’s midsection, slicing the old man in half.

  Waru…!

  Kenji’s breath froze as his friend fell to the ground, his body folded awkwardly in two separate parts. The horror of it overwhelmed him and his knees grew weak. Shinoto screamed.

  The Dao wielder lunged at Chief Wu next, but the small boy caught both blades with his palms. “Leave this place, you fiend!”

  The Dao wielder once again appeared perplexed, his face twisting in a confused scowl. “How are there so many prodigies in this village?”

  He sent Chief Wu flying backwards with a swift kick to his stomach, knocking the boy into the side of a burning building. Xian Lu then appeared, lashing a rope around one of the blade master’s arms. But the man quickly retaliated with his free hand, sending the three-foot-long Dao straight into Xian Lu’s side.

  Kenji’s heart stopped as Xian Lu dropped to his knees, blood erupting from his mouth. He then fell flat on his face and didn’t move.

  “Father!”

  A familiar sense of indignation and insolence surged through him as he ran into the fray, fueled by rage. These men had just killed his father. His friends.

  They were all going to pay.

  Kenji cried out with a hate-filled scream. He scooped Waru’s broken spear from the ground and charged towards the Dao-wielding man. He’d nearly reached him when a wave of blue energy slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. What in the nine hells…?

  Kenji raised his head to see what had struck him and spotted Chief Wu a short distance away, his palm still raised.

  “Run, Kenji!” he said. “You must not let them get—”