121 Between Brother and Sister

Two Ascending Dawn scouts were sent out to investigate the marshes, as per the Ivory Sword Saint's instruction.

The air was thick and wet, steam coating water. They did not even wait for dawn to rise, the pressing urgency calling them to action as soon as possible. Swarms of bugs hovered about and frogs sang as they always had.

"Did you find anything?" The male cultivator asked, hovering over the wetland on his flying sword.

His eyes scanned the landscape but he had no idea what he was even looking for. A spirit light hovered around to guide his vision but all he saw was swampland and croaking frogs.

His Shimei was looking without an uttered word, focused on the ground beneath her feet.

He sighed, they'd already been at this for a solid hour.

Perhaps it was all just a false alarm.

The reason why they were even out there in the first place was all because of that letter that found its way into the Ivory Sword Saint's study. An associate of his told the tale of seeing colossal beings burying themselves in the marshes.

But how were they supposed to find evidence of that?

Coming all the way out here in a rush, but they were not even given much detail on the creatures they were supposed to be looking for. Wasn't that a problem?

The young man did not have much time to privately complain about his situation. His Shimei waved him over to a particular part of the marsh.

She was hovering over a small body of water, her eyes pointedly glaring below. "Come."

"What is it?" He asked, curiously observing the surrounding area.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that things were not quite right. For one, the water grass() in this particular area almost appeared gray, bent. No insects buzzed or swarmed around the water's surface, as though knowing about some sort of corruption that lay beneath.

It was certainly odd, but that didn't mean this was the thing that was detailed in the Ivory Sword Saint's letter, right?

"What's going on there?" The male cultivator nervously asked his Shimei, who rolled her eyes at him.

"How am I supposed to know? Let's find out." Bring her hand close to her chest she signed out a few hand seals and called upon a spell.

A blast of air shot at the water's surface and exploded with a boom.

Beneath the surface and from the muddied depth there were long locks of black that shimmered almost blue in the light, like some kind of weird seagrass. Before the water could rush back and cover the area once more, the black strands slithered and moved. The female cultivator froze with horror as a deep blue face creaked out of the mud and stared blankly at her.

She didn't have the time to scream and only snapped her head to see her stupid Shixiong. He was screeching from the water that splashed up on him from the blast.

"Run!"

Angling her sword up for a quick escape was not enough. A large blue hand circled around her ankle and pulled her under.

"Shijie!" The male cultivator screamed, his mind uncomprehending as his Shijie disappeared from sight. When he went to look at the place she was dragged down all he saw was a thick smog of red that saturated the water and all the plants there. In the midst, he saw a large dark face.

Like a coward, he fled.

…

Liu Sumeng had neither time nor opportunity to find Chen Anyue. He was in the main hall, sitting with Chen Gaoyong and Chen Jiang. An anxious silence blanketed them.

The letter that the Ivory Sword Saint received from Hui Moxiang was set out in front of him. It was crudely written but its meaning and urgency were not missed. He had seen Fallen Gods march upon the wetlands. It was likely the reason why he himself had no understanding that the danger was that the Fallen Gods had already burrowed themselves into the wetlands by then.

The scouts were told to be quick.

Chen Jiang's face was twisted into annoyance as he busied himself with brush and ink. "This isn't going to work." He mumbled in complaint but still continued to write.

"Ju'er," Chen Gaoyong sighed as he addressed his second born, "I understand your apprehension but it's better than doing nothing."

Chen Jiang sighed but added the last strokes to his letter. "Hopefully, Dage will at least have some sense to return home."

"Yes," the sect leader nodded, "I'm sure he will. I heard the north is doing a lot better… I'm sure they will have men to spare."

Liu Sumeng did not share equal amounts of optimism as the Chens. He feared that even if the north was willing to spare them manpower, they were going to arrive too late either way.

"How goes the preparations?" The Ivory Sword Saint asked.

Chen Gaoyong's shoulder sagged a little, his eyes veering away, "Ah, preparation? Right. Weren't you doing that? With my darling daughter. You would know better than me, no?"

Chen Jiang scoffed, "Don't tell me you've been slacking? To think we even counted on you!"

Liu Sumeng's brow twitched in annoyance. His mouth turned taut, holding back complaints about how a sect leader needed to have more awareness. This was not his place. Plus, it was inevitable that he did not know how things had progressed the few days he'd been away.

Luckily, Sect Leader Chen was not a person who thrived on arguments and pointless finger-pointing. He did not like seeing his family members rioting against each other. "Now, now. I'm sure the Ivory Sword Saint had been busy with things on his mind. Please be kind to each other, my children."

The term of address was a little strange and Liu Sumeng did not feel entirely comfortable being called 'my child' by Chen Gaoyong. But he wasn't given much time to ponder the thought.

A harried young man burst into the hall, his face ghastly and breath heaving.

"Sect Leader-" He panted and almost collapsed into a kowtow, his strength failing him.

Wasn't this one of the scouts they sent?

"What is it, child?" Sect Leader Chen asked with a commanding tone.

"T-They're really there!"

Chen Jiang scrunched his face up in annoyance and distaste "What is where? Speak more clearly!"

But Liu Sumeng understood well the words that were left unsaid. He quickly rose from his seat, "The Fallen Gods are in the marshes."

…

The Ascending Dawn Manor erupted with life, people shuffling and rushing about as fortifications were made around the city. The frightened citizens were quickly gathered in an old garrison that still stood within the city walls.

Liu Sumeng was about to rush off to check on Yuan Xuelan but Sect Leader Chen stopped him in his tracks. "Wait a moment," he beckoned him back.

For a moment he feared this would be about Chen Anyue, the missing daughter that was still around town, who no doubt had received the news by now. She should be returning soon, with or without Liu Sumeng running around to look for her.

But fortunately, it was for a different reason, "About the old network of caverns you mentioned earlier."

The words caught Liu Sumeng's interest at once. He turned around fully and gave Sect Leader Chen his full attention, "Yes."

"Hm, like I had told you before, those caves were originally blocked off and sealed to protect the city from bandits and raiders that often used those caves to travel. However, that was from a time over a century ago and not many people remember them or have them documented. I have managed to unearth this old thing from the library though."

They walked over to a desk where Chen Gaoyong stretched out an old dusted sheet of parchment.

What he saw was a lot more complicated than he expected. He pulled a frown down on his face, "There are a lot of exits."

And the tunnels that wound around the mountains were meandering in design, as though it were dug by overgrown moles.

Chen Gaoyong sighed, "Yes, I suppose it's pretty obvious why we tried to seal these up in the past. Raiders prefer this kind of thing."

That was obvious. However, now that their enemy had found a way to access them, it only boded badly for Reling. Five different possible points of attack were a lot.

"Are any of these cave structures less secure than others?"

"Hmm," Chen Gaoyong squinted, "I'm not sure, but…"

They ended up talking for quite some time until morning's subtle light was bright in the sky. "Don't forget to get something to eat," Chen Gaoyong smiled as he gave the Ivory Sword Saint's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

He had long forgotten about his hunger and still needed to go meet with a myriad of people.

Right. Xuelan. He wanted to go see Xuelan.

He quickened his pace down the long golden halls of the manor only to suddenly come across an unexpected face.

"Oh!"

"..." Liu Sumeng stopped and saw Anyue before him. She blinked up at him with deep brown eyes. Today she wasn't wearing that sharp spicy perfume.

"Liu-ge!" She exclaimed. There were beads of sweat on her lovely visage that was slightly tinged with color. "You've returned. Welcome back."

"Thank you. You wanted to see me?"

"Hm?" She tilted her head before suddenly coughing.

"Anyue," Liu Sumeng said with slight alarm.

Chen Anyue shook her head, "Sorry I'm okay, just a bit tired. I don't believe I needed to see you for anything specific. Though...oh! I wanted to report that I was able to get the peach wood shipment from the Wang and Suo families. The material is being transported to our craftsman as we speak. I understand that there is urgency in the situation."

A small sigh of relief escaped Liu Sumeng's chest. "That is good to hear."

"Yes. I won't keep you for too long." She bowed a little, "I know that you're still busy with affairs. But don't forget to eat!"

He nodded at her words and bid her the same, "Take care of yourself."

Before he was off, she called to him one last time, "Liu-ge?"

"Yes?"

"When this is all over, let's have a drink, between Brother and Sister. This time it will be my treat."

A soft smile was shared between the two. "Of course."

It was a pity that the feeling of relief could not last a little longer.