Book 5: Chapter 17: In the Emperor's Name, Leave None Alive

Book 5: Chapter 17: In the Emperor's Name, Leave None Alive

A solemn silence surrounded Bi De as they rode upon the backs of Master Forest Sweeper’s constructs towards the Sleeping Hollow. Bi De was in his natural form for this occasion. Master Forest Sweeper’s declaration last night, the great Thunderhoof’s mien, and the fact that they were departing today silenced any thoughts of idle chatter. All of them were ‘locked in’ as his Great Master would say. Focused and prepared for the arduous journey ahead, even as they traveled toward the secret heart of the forest.

‘We will arrive shortly. Brace yourselves. The formation is unkind even to guests,’ Master Forest Sweeper commanded, and he received nods.

Again, the intensifying cold first heralded that they were getting closer—then Master Forest Sweeper stepped over some invisible boundary line.

And Bi De realised why Master Forest Sweeper told them to brace themselves. For a brief instant, something brushed against their Qi. It was something ancient, and so powerful Bi De had trouble comprehending its vastness.

The cold here was alive. It gazed upon them, it touched them, and Bi De felt its intent. He could feel the cold’s desire to wick away all his warmth. To freeze him and turn him into a statue like the army at Forlorn Sculpture Pass, never to move again. His breath caught in his throat as he beheld an ocean—it was like interacting with Tianlan, or Shen Yu, with how mighty it was.

It was trying to seal him. It was trying to seal everything that wasn’t a Thunderhoof, freezing them for all eternity.

Bi De’s muscles all seized at that instant. Yun Ren doubled over. Ri Zu shuddered. Han and Yushang stopped breathing, their faces contorted. Yingwen grabbed his leg, the one that had been transplanted, and his mouth opened in silent anguish. Shao Heng and Fenxian simply didn’t move, only their scared eyes betraying the fact that they had reacted at all.

Even Nezan and Shen Yu reacted. Nezan’s ears flattened against his skull, while Shen Yu frowned.

Yet the ocean of might stopped and its attention waned; Master Forest Sweeper’s power gently turned the ravenous, inevitable thing away from them, and once more, it was merely cold.

Suddenly, all of them could breathe again.

“Quite bracing,” Shen Yu said as he rolled his shoulders. “But that is not yours.”

‘It is not,’ Master Forest Sweeper agreed. ‘It is the legacy of the First Forest Sweeper. Now, we continue on foot.’

Shen Yu was looking around with consideration as they dismounted and the constructs disappeared. Master Forest Sweeper once more took the lead as they headed deeper into the forest.

The stone cairns, ubiquitous throughout the forest, became more and more numerous.

Though instead of sticks made to merely look like antlers... each cairn was topped with an enormous bleached skull of a Thunderhoof. Some were large enough that entire mortal families could live in them, and the cairns themselves could house hundreds if they were hollowed out. Bi De stared into those empty eye sockets and bowed his head.

It was clear what this place was meant to be, the Sleeping Hollow of the Iceheart Forest.

“A tomb,” Bi De’s voice was soft as he looked to Spooks. “Do all of your people return here to rest?”

‘Most do, yes,’ Spooks whispered back. ‘But... they are laid to rest elsewhere. This is for those who died during the Black Times. During the Demon War.’

That caught Shen Yu’s attention, who had been considering the sky more than the graves. The man had seemed utterly relaxed, but as soon as he heard those words... he changed. His steps became more purposeful and his polite disinterest turned into what seemed to be genuine respect.

Ten cairns became hundreds. The hundreds became thousands. The cairns got bigger and bigger, the skulls atop them reaching proportions that nearly matched the truly titanic form of Master Forest Sweeper, yet was still dwarfed by the surrounding trees.

‘My young Apprentice speaks true,’ Master Forest Sweeper rumbled, as their stride slowed. ‘Many demons came from their northern gates; and against the Iceheart Forest they led their assaults. Though they charged out from the frozen north, the killing cold was too much for all but the most determined. We fought. We died. And the Thunderhooves nearly perished. But at the hour of our doom, a great cataclysm rocked the world. The demon gates broke—and the backlash slew millions of the beasts. What little did not die to that, we slew, trampled, and destroyed. Yet even in victory, we were cursed.’

Bi De did not know what to say— so instead he bowed before Master Forest Sweeper, holding his wings like clasped hands.

“Bi De pays his respects to the honoured dead of the north, and Master Forest Sweeper,” he whispered. The others followed, their voices barely above whispers. Only Shen Yu remained standing, his arms crossed.

He then nodded at Master Forest Sweeper.

The true body of Master Forest Sweeper sucked in a laboured breath and then exhaled, mist drifting out from his nostrils. It touched Bi De.

The frozen Qi filled him, surrounded him, and then layered over his skin and organs like armor.

‘The cold shall never again be your enemy; you shall see through the driving snow like it is not there and the cutting winds shall blunt themselves against you, as long as you remain within the Sea of Snow.’

“Thank you, Master Forest Sweeper,” Bi De once again whispered. “We shall do our best to slay them all.”

‘Then go, and slay every demon you find,’ Master Forest Sweeper commanded.

They rose and turned to leave... but Shen Yu made no move to come with them. He looked at the Thunderhoof for a moment before he spoke.

“It is a long forgotten question of the old scholars of the Empire: where did the demons attacking from the north and west come from?” Shen Yu began, his eyes locked onto Master Forest Sweeper. “All signs pointed to the Sea of Snow. Yet when they arrived, they found no portals or corpses. They concluded that the demons from the eastern gates must have gone up and around—or that there had been gates in the northern oceans, destroyed by dragons. Instead... they are sealed here.”

The old man took two steps forward and then clasped his hands together, an open palm over a fist.

“Shen Yu pays his respects to the Heroes and Martyrs of the North. He swears upon his blade: he shall purge every demonic cultivator that makes their home here.”

His oath seemed to make the world pulse with his Qi.

“He Who Sweeps the Forest Floor Of Snow and Opens the Way, I thank you for your hospitality. I shall return with some of my grandson’s finest when this is over, so that we may share a drink,” Shen Yu said as he rose from his deep bow.

‘I look forward to it,’ the Thunderhoof said, looking at Shen Yu with new eyes. The man nodded to the Spirit Beast, and Shen Yu’s burning gaze fixed upon them all.

“Now, we depart,” he stated solemnly. “To war, Cultivators of the Crimson Phoenix Empire.”

Bi De stared at Shen Yu, and behind him, the tombs of thousands.

For the first time, in a long while, he found that he truly hated something. He hated the demons. For what they did to Tianlan. For what they did to everybody and thing they touched.

“To war,” Bi De echoed, the cold Qi of this place mixing with a tightly contained fire that was burning in his breast.

They marched into a raging storm that refused to touch them, their eyes fixed upon the horizon.

And behind them, just outside of Master Forest Sweeper’s home, was a small golem made of snow. Bi De and Ri Zu had created it, as one last protective charm for the forest.