83 Volume 4: Cutting it Close

Jin watched the Seal vanish from Mei Hua's hand, his face purposefully blank. It was better that few people knew exactly what he and the others had created. Only those involved, and his sons, knew what they'd made. To everyone else, Mei Hua was in a coma and her treatments were nothing out of the ordinary. He planned on keeping it that way.

He was relieved to see Mei being stealthy about it too, despite not havinga chance to discuss the matter. That must have been Shuya's influence. Apparently she was more than wind and leaves….

But this whole 'stuffing outside objects into that world' was really astonishing. Of course he'd known it could be done, if for no other reason than that twig— Shuya, finding her way into Mei's world. Obviously, if she could bring in a twig, a rock should not be a problem. But she shouldn't have been able to do it to begin with.

Her world had been experimental, a mixture of many different medical and spirit grafting techniques, as well as a large helping of 'lets try it and see what happens'. But there had also been some firm guidelines put in place for her safety. One of them was that only energy could go in. Mei spirit had been dangerously weakened and needed a way to safely and easily siphon energy in to regain her strength without anything dangerous coming in with it. So one of the restrictions had been to prevent anything else from finding a way in.

It was a happy accident that Jin discovered he could go there too. He'd simply been snuggling his lonely spirit very close to her world when he'd felt a tug from it and slipped in. Most likely he was allowed entry simply due to the fact that he was a Mountain Spirit, something akin to the elemental energies in nature. His nature was an anomaly, and so he became an exception… so he thought.

The world inside had been different from what had been theorized by those who'd created it. Very different. In the end, it was apparently so different even the few restrictions put in place had fallen apart, allowing Mei to bring the twig, as well as the other trees in apparently.

And now the Bloodstone Seal.

He had a lot of questions, and he wasn't the only one. The Fairy Doctor and Sect Leader likely did too. But because of Shuya's interference, he was just going to have to wait to ask them. As he was feeling disgruntled, the silver haired woman floated forward.

He squinted at her. What was her name again?

From the woman's wide sleeves, she pulled out a sheathed sword. They all blinked in surprise. The sword was longer than her sleeve! But she acted as if what she'd done was totally normal. Holding the sword in her palms, she bowed and extended it toward Mei Hua.

"Lady Cha offers the next gift to the Imperial Queen Consort."

Mei Hua hesitated.

"Go on," Shuya encouraged her. "Take it."

Lady Cha carefully re-positioned the sword at Shuya's words. The bottom half of the sheathed weapon rested on her right arm, while she held the upper part with her left hand. The hilt was facing Mei Hua, making it easy for her to unsheathe the sword.

Mei Hua didn't move and instead asked in a perplexed tone, "Why a sword?"

The only thing she knew about swords was how to disarm an opponent with one, or if that wasn't possible, not get stabbed or slashed by one.

"What? Do you think I'd give you something useless?"

Seeing Shuya's cocked eyebrow and confident expression, Mei Hua could only give a slight shrug. Truly, Shuya wouldn't give her anything useless. Reaching out, she wrapped her pale hands around the hilt and pulled.

The sword had been in a plain dark wood and black leather sheath. Its handle had a thickly wrapped dark brown leather grip and a plain steel disk for a pommel. The guard was also plain, with simple designs. Nothing about it looked very impressive.

Mei Hua drew the sword out of its sheath with one hand, the soft fox child held comfortably in her other arm. Even as a person who knew nothing about swords, Mei Hua found herself impressed at the blade. The inner part of the long blade had a beautiful, intricate geometric designs of blue and gold, while the edge was a sharp silver color. Just below the guard, directly on the blade, were beautifuly carved words that read "Erlang Shen's Righteous Sword".

She felt something throb in the handle and the weight of the sword—which felt uncomfortable—suddenly lightened. At the same time, she gained a subtle confidence in how she ought to hold the weapon in her hand. This happened so fast, she almost didn't notice it.

"Who's Erlang Shen?" She couldn't help asking while staring at the blade in puzzled amazement.

"Erlang Shen is a Warrior God," Lady Cha explained, still holding the sheath. "The stories say that he cleaved a mountain in two and slew a thousand Demons and ten thousand Monsters. He's one of the top five Warrior Gods in the Heavens."

"Wow…" Mei Hua held the sword up a little higher. "So this is a god's sword?"

Jin snorted, a skeptical look on his face.

Lady Cha raised an eyebrow. "Does his Imperial Highness doubt these claims?"

"Very much so."

Jin had dealt with Demons and Monsters, and had indirect dealings with Devils, but he'd never met a God. Even though he himself was a spirit and he could see mankind's souls, he didn't know where those souls went after the body died. Or if they went anywhere at all. When something died, even himself, they could simply cease to exist. He didn't know, and since he'd seen no proof otherwise, he leaned towards skepticism.

"Lady Cha's word may not seem like much to the Fairy Emperor, but rest assured, Lady Cha is knowledgeable in such matters." She paused, her face showing absolute confidence. "Even if His Highness doubts the claims of godly ownership, rest assured that this is a Divine Sword. This much, Imperial Majesty can likely sense with some small effort."

It was true that this sword seemed to emanate a very clean energy. It was something like the Bloodstone Seal's aura, but stronger and more pure…. More like the feeling the Mountains gave, now that he thought about it.

Seeing the hard look of disbelief on Jin's face lessen somewhat, Lady Cha gave a small smile.

"Divine Weapons are very rare and owning such a weapon would give many benefits to the Queen Consort."

"Such as?"

"Answering to his Imperial Majesty: Firstly, this sword can take the most unskilled person and turn them into a Master Swordsman. The stronger the user, the better the results. Secondly, it can instantly kill Monsters with a simple slice, and Demons will die even without destroying their cores. Lastly and most impressively, this sword can send send Devils to King Yama."

"Who?"

"Perhaps you've heard of him as Yan Wang? His wife is the Phoenix Goddess?" Seeing Jin give her a blank stare, she gave a small sigh and continued, "He rules Hell and all human souls go through his courts to be judged."

"Ah…" He gave a slight nod. Jin never paid attention to the names of the gods, but he had some understanding of Hell at least. That place was something humans talked about frequently enough for him to remember. "How is that impressive? If it can kill Monsters and Demons, why not Devils?"

Lady Cha went to answer but was interrupted by Shuya.

"How have you lived so long and remained so ignorant?!" Shuya cried out in frustration, "Devils are fallen gods! This is well known! Just because they're fallen doesn't make them any less gods, ah! You think a sword can kill a god? Only the Heavenly Dao can do that!"

Lady Cha gave a graceful nod. "Indeed, only the Heavenly Dao can snuff out the soul of a true Immortal. Even other gods lack the strength. The best thing any weapon can do is wound them so severely they can no longer fight. Divine weapons have the added benefit of sending them to King Yama. Devils fear Divine weapons, not for the weapons themselves, but knowing they'll face the King of Hell."

"Why would I care about gods? They've never bothered with me, why should I bother with them?" Jin spat back at Shuya, then glanced at the sword with crinkled brow. "However, if the claims you're making are true—"

"Of course they're true!" Shuya gave an offended snort at being questioned.

Mei Hua was still holding the sword while they continued bickering. She was secretly proud of herself for following this conversation. When it came to religion, to gods, to devils, to most spiritual things, well if it didn't directly relate to Xuiying and Jin, she had been entirely ignorant until recently.

The Spirits of the Mountain had always been strangely apathetic about outside spiritual matters. That is to say, they didn't question their own existence and struggled to understand why humans obsessed over such questions. Xuiying did talk about the topic in passing, since it was related to humans, but even her writings were tinted with skepticism. She even said as much, writing in one place: "There is some force out there, that much must be true. But as to gods and devils… If they exist, why haven't I seen them?"

All of Mei Hua's education had initially come from Xuiying's scrolls, with Ye adding his opinion now and then. Later, she was among humans, but only for two years. Those particular humans, perhaps because they were descendants of the Blue Flower Village, had not been very religious.

If she broached the topic to Jin, he'd give a similar response as his Sister, thus shutting down any further discussion. So until Shuya came along, everything about the Heavenly Realms had been a very vague, distant topic that had nothing to do with her life.

But now she could hold her head high and say she knew who King Yama was, all about Hell, even Devils and Gods. She even knew about famous Ascended Immortals and Minor Gods.

Eh, but wait a moment… now that she thought on it, why WAS it so important for her to have a Divine Sword? Shuya seemed to think she needed it and, while Jin was skeptical of its origin, he hadn't opposed her keeping the sword either. The sword plus the questions Jin asked the fox kit…

"…Jin, Shuya."

The two stopped squabbling and turned to her.

"Hn?" "Yes?"

"Are you… are we… fighting Demons or Devils perhaps? Is that why I need a sword like this?"

Shuya glanced at Jin, whose whole face had darkened at Mei Hua's question. When Jin reached out and gently touched his wife's face, Shuya decided to let him take the lead in answering.

"Mei… that poison… I traced its origin. While humans used it to hurt you, to plot against our family, it was a Devil who created it. Those humans must be held responsible, but the source, the Devil, must also be held to account."

Mei lowered the sword in her hand and looked at him in confusion. "Plot against..? Why would anyone…? And using a Devil-made poison..?"

"Humans are stupid, Mountain Flower. For the most petty reasons, they'll lash out and call it 'justice'." His hand lowered, his eyes sweeping across the crowd below. Despite knowing they weren't the target of his anger, even those humans from Lotus Valley Sect instinctively shivered under his hard gaze. "They wanted to hurt me, they wanted to hurt Shan Hui. They viewed you as… simply the bait to get to us. But they didn't understand my nature, or your son's nature, and made a fatal error."

Hearing this, Mei Hua tightened her grip on her sword, hand shaking slightly. "They wanted to hurt Shan Hui? Why? Wait, where IS Shan Hui? Is he alright? They didn't hurt him, did they?"

Her voice rose slightly inpanic. Too many things had happened all at once. Even though she'd noticed Shan Hui missing, her still muddled mind hadn't worried. He was notorious for leaving for long stretches of time. But now that she thought about, if her other sons were here, surely her oldest should be too.

Jin patted her on the head softly to reassure her while laughing, "He's fine, he's fine.".

"Don't laugh!" If her hands weren't full of a sword and a fox while balancing on a roof, she'd have hit him.

"How can I not? You're worrying about that Brat but I guarantee you he's the last one you need to worry about. He's not here because he's off somewhere… hm… even to Jianghu itself I think… wreaking havoc on our enemies."

"…he left the mountain?" Her eyes widened in astonishment. Because they were half-mountain spirit, they'd always been uncertain if they could leave. Since they might die, no one had felt inclined to test and find out.

"All our sons can leave."

For a moment, she couldn't help feel intensely relieved. It had always bothered her, the idea that they couldn't leave. She'd promised to stay, it had been her choice, but if they couldn't simply because of what they were… how sad would that be?

"Oh…" Her brows furrowed and then lowered, her face dark. "What's this about enemies? And they dared to go after my son?"

She raised the sword in her hand threateningly. In her anger, she didn't notice how easily her body moved with it, almost as if she was well practiced carrying one. The tip pointed at Jin's face.

Jin leaned back, not wanting to risk accidentally getting poked. "Why aren't you mad that they went after your husband?"

"Why be angry? Why be worried? It's not like you'd die even if someone cut you into a thousand pieces. And if anyone tried something that stupid, wouldn't you make them wish they were dead for even daring? But Shan Hui is different from you!"

'Ha!' Ye and Mei's other three sons thought simultaneously with a great deal of sarcasm. Shan Hui took after Jin the most out of all the sons, both in personality and in power. Mothers really were blinded by their love for their children!

Jin shook his head helplessly and pushed the blade away from his face.

"Mei… rest assured, Shan Hui is alive and well. He left his heart here on the mountains. Once he learns you've woken up, I'm sure he'll make his way back here to see you."

She squinted her eyes at him. "You're not lying?"

"Didn't I promise not to lie?"

He felt a little guilty not explaining that when he said Shan Hui had 'left his heart', he wasn't speaking metaphorically. Just by concentrating, he could hear that Brat's heart beating strongly. He was definitely still alive. But that was something he'd explain later, when they didn't have an audience watching. If he meant to clarify eventually, it didn't count as a lie right?

She harrumphed, finally lowering her sword. She stared at it for a moment and then nodded firmly.

"If we've enemies that dare harm my son… dare to use me to hurt my family… then… the more ways to fight back, the better. I'll definitely keep this sword."

At her words, there was a loud ringing sound, like a deep bell. The sword's blade shone brightly and then seemed to let out a deep, contented sigh.

Lady Cha gave a slight bow. "To Queen Consort, the Divine Sword acknowledges you as its Master. No matter where you are, if you call its name, it will come to you."

"What's its name?"

"Zheng Yi."

Mei Hua smiled slightly, whispering to the sword, "Let's work well together, Zheng Yi."

The sword responded with a happy hum.