Chapter 130: A lot

Rilu’s smile faded from his face. Floating upside down across from him in his dining hall was Yamish. The gaunt cultivator watched him, dead eyes boring into Rilu.“Yamish,” Rilu said, little decorum in his voice. “Is there something we need to speak of?”

“You are interfering,” Yamish said. His head twisted on his neck unnaturally, rotating until it was upright – unlike the rest of Yamish’s body. “Bold. Far bolder than before.”

“Things change. There are times when the universe demands I do nothing, but this was not one of those times. Do you object? He is your apprentice, Yamish. You accepted him. It should be your responsibility to shield him from any threats as great as Vex. He should have an opportunity to grow. Striking the boy down with overwhelming power will be nothing but a waste.”

“The reasons for your interference are not any concern to me.” The rest of Yamish’s body twisted around and he finally stood on the ground like a normal person. “I had simply wondered what reason spurred you to act.”

“I acted for the same reason I always do. It increased the good Karma and reduce the bad Karma in the universe.”

“There is no such thing. For every act of good, there is evil. You have made no difference.”

“We disagree on that front, but I doubt you’ve come here to discuss theology,” Rilu said. He interlaced his fingers before him. “Or was this just a social visit?”

Yamish gave Rilu a thin-lipped smile, revealing his rows of pointed teeth. “No. I simply wished to inquire if you had plans of interfering further with my apprentice.”

“I cannot say what the future holds. All things are possible. But I must ask – if you care about your apprentice, why weren’t you the one to interfere?”

“Perhaps I already did.”

The two cultivators studied each other. Rilu’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. Of all the cultivators he’d ever interacted with, Yamish was one of the few where he actually had to tread carefully. Even though he was only faced with a clone of the true being, Yamish was a terrifying existence that Rilu couldn’t afford to make an enemy of. Not more than what they already were, at least.

“I doubt that, but I suppose we’ll never find out. Is that really all you came here about? A complaint that I gave your apprentice a small gift?”

“That was not all you did.”

Rilu laughed. “It’s not my fault the boy figured out he could cause Karmic debt between Vex and I if he put the gift in Vex’s way.”

“That was indeed him,” Yamish said, inclining his head. “I refer to the girl.”

The smile vanished from Rilu’s features. He leaned forward and braced his hands against the table, peering down the bridge of his nose at Yamish. “What of it? I simply gave her some guidance.”

“I felt the ripple of Karma. You did far more than that.”

Rilu blinked. Slowly, the smile returned to his face. “You don’t know what I did. That’s it, isn’t it?”

“Tell me.”

“I already did. I simply gave her a little push in the right direction. Everything else is her. Why do you have a problem with that? Shouldn’t you be happy that your apprentice will have powerful allies in the future? Or were you hoping that he’d have to rely entirely on you so he had no alternatives?”

Yamish didn’t respond, but the subtle shift in his expression told Rilu everything that he needed to know.

“How about one more good act? It wouldn’t cause any trouble for you, since you’re so confident that all good is repaid in evil.”

Yamish tilted his head to the side. “What do you speak of?” S~ᴇaʀᴄh the ɴovᴇlꜰirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Some advice. Free of charge.”

Rilu didn’t receive a response to that, which he took as a resounding agreement.

“I don’t think you understand Chance at all. Do you really think keeping his allies weak will hold him back or make him turn to you?”

“Yes. When cornered, the mouse will pray to the cat, even knowing that what lies in wait is death.”

A bark of laughter escaped Rilu’s mouth. “Yeah, you don’t get him at all. Come on. Even I know him better than that, and I’ve been watching from the sidelines. Chance wouldn’t pray to the cat. He’d make friends with the damn thing. And, if that didn’t work, he’d find another way. If you weaken his allies, he won’t leave them behind. He’ll stay with them. All you’ll do is slow his growth.”

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Yamish watched Rilu silently. It was impossible to tell what was going on within the cultivator’s eyes, but his lack of response spoke volumes – and Rilu took it as a request to keep talking.

“You want to make him strong? Stop treating him like some random cultivator. He repeatedly puts his life on the line for people he cares about, not himself. You should be encouraging that. They’ll literally get themselves into situations where they need your help on their own – and then Chance will come to you, because he knows you weren’t the one that put them there. Why do you think he didn’t call out for you, even when Vex was moments from killing them?”

“He trusted in your powers. You interfered.”

“No. If I hadn’t done anything, he still wouldn’t have reached out to you. He doesn’t trust you, Yamish. Why would he? You’ve tried to manipulate him at every turn. Calling to you might have landed Bella in the same position that she was in before – and Chance knows she’d rather die than return to that.”

“You call it manipulation. It is not. It is assistance. I have been guiding him. These challenges make him more than he was before.”

“And they make sure he doesn’t trust you,” Rilu pointed out. “You’re so far gone from human that you can’t think like one anymore. In the end, it doesn’t matter. I can’t control you. You’re beyond my power and we both know it. But, if you want Chance to ever listen to a single thing you want him to do, you’d best find a way to start playing by his rules.”

Anger flashed across Yamish’s features. Essence swirled around his body, clashing against Rilu’s own Essence. The room shuddered around them before Yamish let the power fade away.

“I am the Master. I do not play by any rules but my own.”

“Then you’ll keep trying to force him to play your game until he breaks it or you break him.”

Yamish didn’t respond to that. Rilu got the feeling that he was trying to decide on if he wanted to attack or not, but Yamish hadn’t gotten to his age and power by swinging his fists around haphazardly.

“Curious. You believe Chance would be more amiable to a… softer hand?”

Rilu shuddered. “Don’t seduce him. I don’t think you could do that if you wanted to. Just let the kid live. He’ll come for help before you know it. But, the more you try to force him into anything, the more he’ll resist you. That’s all I’m saying.”

Yamish disappeared.

It was so sudden that Rilu half expected he was about to get attacked, but no such thing happened. Instead, all that greeted him was silence. His lips pressed thin and he heaved a sigh.

***

The roar of a dense crowd greeted Chance and Bella as Gleam materialized beneath their feet. It was somehow both comforting and disconcerting. It felt like so long since Chance had left Gleam with the threat of death hanging over his head that, even though Yamish had confirmed it was safe to return, he couldn’t help but feel like someone was going to try to run him through.

They’d been deposited right at the edge of the crowd around the gate, but even standing across the road from them did nothing to drown out the noise. Chance turned in a circle, taking in the city once more.

Somewhere deep within him, he felt Ocie stir slightly. It was only for an instant, and she was gone when he tried to reach out to her again, but it sent a rush of relief through his body.

“It’s really weird, isn’t it?” Bella asked. “Being back in Gleam.”

“Yeah. I was just thinking the same,” Chance admitted. He rubbed the back of his neck and stepped to the side, ducking into the shadow of an awning. “For a while, all I wanted to do was come back. Now I’m kind of terrified. What if–”

“Then we’re dead. No point worrying,” Bella interrupted. “Either Yamish lied or he didn’t. One way or another, I think I want to go home. What about you?”

“Yeah.” Chance grinned. “Fair point. We’ll have to go find Jade once we settle in. Maybe she can help us figure out where Yeo is. Wren too, for that matter. We owe him a thank you.”

“One step at a time.” Bella laughed, equal parts amusement and relief. There was a layer of weariness to her posture that only came with weeks of stress without a break in between.

They set off down the road, Bella at the lead. With Ocie in her current state, Chance didn’t want to try using the Old City. Even if it did let them in, he wasn’t certain it would actually do what he wanted it to.

Without the Old City, the trip to Shikari Lane took hours. The first few were especially nerve-wracking. Every single time Chance passed a Shikari or anyone who looked remotely like a warrior, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end and he had to resist the urge to duck away.

Nobody pulled them aside. Nobody even seemed to notice them. As time wore on, more of the fear started to fade. Gleam was an unbelievably massive city. It was far too busy to remember old events, especially when they’d been relatively minor.

Perhaps the Shikari that had actually been assigned to the job still remembered it, but they weren’t wanted criminals. There were no posters plastered on the walls with their faces. Chance and Bella were just two more passersby in the massive crowds – and it felt great.

Finally, as the sun started to set overhead, some of the buildings they passed by started to look familiar. They strode past Hound’s, and then they were on Shikari Lane. Subconsciously, both he and Bella started to walk faster.

By the time they reached the Whiteheart House, they were practically running. They raced up to the door, skidding to a stop right before they bowled through it. Bella beat Chance to knocking on it.

No more than a second later, it swung open. Pete’s kindly, wrinkled face greeted them, a huge smile spreading across his lips and he let out a booming laugh. “You kids made it back!. Barely believed my eyes when I got the letter saying the job for you had been called off this morning.”

Chance was surprised to find emotion welling within his own chest. “Yeah. We came back as soon as we could.”

“You must have been through a lot,” Pete said, his smile fading into a worried frown. He stepped back, gesturing for them to step inside. “Please. Tell me over dinner.”

“That would be great,” Bella said, mirroring Chance’s thoughts perfectly as the two of them stepped inside and Pete closed the door behind them.

They were home.