Chapter 371

Chapter 371

My moment of triumph comes to a crashing halt as I ponder the implications of my recent discoveries.

If the Legate can see into my Natal Palace, could he see the Spectres lurking in wait? I dont see why not, unless his vision is arbitrarily limited to what I create, or he doesnt see into my Natal Palace in the traditional sense of the word. If so, then why didnt he have me executed for being Tainted? Or notice Blobby hanging around the first time we met? More importantly, will he be able to see the glob of Heavenly Energy and recognize it for what it is? What will happen if he does? Will he have me captured and enslaved to force out my secrets? Will he have me killed to keep my discovery to himself, or keep me alive as his personal font of Heavenly Energy? Are the Bekhai strong enough to openly contend against the Imperial Clan? Should I even let them try? My family has sacrificed enough for me so I cant let them fight and die for me, but since I refuse to submit to slavery, what other options do I have?Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

Best case scenario is the Legate never finds out and I never have to answer any of those difficult questions. I should pass this Heavenly Energy to Taduk and tell him to use it to help Mom as soon as he can. In the meantime, maybe I can make it harder for the Legate to see into my Natal Palace...

Crafting a plain, wooden chalice, I place the Heavenly Energy inside to keep myself from accidentally using it for something silly like Insight or Enlightenment. Less of a cup and more like a bowl sitting atop a stem and base, the chalice is nothing like the smaller, stacking teacups of the Empire and seems entirely unsuitable as a receptacle for the Divine, but for some strange reason, I feel like it fits. I should ask Charok to make one for me in real life, I could use a proper chalice to drink from.

Or maybe not, considering how little it takes to get me drunk.

Leaving the chalice on Baledaghs nightstand, I turn to the void and focus my will, crafting a sphere of dense, impenetrable water, not made of the Spiritual Water which Ive already used up, but instead more like a false image of water to replace Blobbys sheltering embrace. It doesnt flow like real water should, and is closer to a portrait of water than anything else, but with luck, it will serve my purposes well enough. Worried it wont be enough since the Legate either saw through Blobby or didnt see him at all, I do the same with the space formerly occupied by my mental model of the village, crafting a veritable ocean of faux-water for Baledaghs old room to float in. To further obscure the Legates prying, perverted eyes, I conjure dozens of copies of the room and spread them all about, creating dozens of different, fancier chalices to sit on those nightstands, a clam-shell game to keep the Legate from finding the one, important room containing the most important wooden chalice. The copies lack the detailed ceiling or cozy comfort of the original, but unless the Legate inspects each one individually, it should be enough.

Hopefully.

I briefly consider conjuring a horde of naked, burly muscle-men engaging in explicit acts of coitus to taint the Legates eyes should he ever try to peer in, but to do that, Id have to imagine said acts and taint my own eyes in the process. Whats more, Im leery of crafting new personas to hang out in my Natal Palace, especially ones which might find my boyish good looks and slender body sexually appealing. Besides, crafting an entire ocean wasnt as easy as I thought itd be, leaving me drained and exhausted as I stare at my new and unimpressive Natal Palace. Its no beautiful mountain village, but itll do for now.

Conjuring a skiff for me to lie on, I float through my Natal Ocean to rest and parse through everything that just happened. Why were the Spectres lying dormant these past few days when I would have been most susceptible to their lies? Did they not get the memo regarding my mental breakdown or did they simply not care? Why do their remains yield Heavenly Energy? Its not much and I have no idea how to use it, but its something. How did I do it anyways? I didnt think too hard about it before trying, but now that it worked, Im curious to know the mechanics behind what I did.

Okay. Lets break it down step by step. What do I know?

Blobby is a drop of Heavenly Water. Blobby eats Spectres and poops (or pees... I dunno) Heavenly Energy. Blobby came across me while drifting around Western Treasures Lake and presumably helped himself to a meal of my Spectre-infested mind. Afterwards, he stuck around and shared his Heavenly Energy excretions with me to keep me alive because... I dont know why. Maybe he saw me Devouring Spectres on the beach and decided Id make for a great meal ticket, or maybe he knew about my ability to invade Natal Palaces. Wait... Does that have anything to do with the Legates Natal Palace scrying abilities? Can he do the same, dive headfirst into someone elses mindscape? I should figure out how I do that, but where would I start? Akanai, Baatar, and Taduk dont know either, so its either a unique Talent or a well-kept Imperial secret.

Im rambling again. Where was I going with this?

Right. Blobby. Why would Blobby pick little old me over an Ancestral Beast like GangShu, the Azure Ascendant? For that matter, why was Blobby even in the Lake in the first place? Then again, I doubt its a coincidence I found him so close to Butcher Bay, where a literal army of Tainted, Defiled, and Spectres were hiding in plain sight. To Blobby, it must have been like an all-you-can-eat buffet or something.

Stop it! Focus on the task at hand. I have the attention span of a god-damned goldfish...

Back to the beginning. Blobby is a drop of Heavenly Water. If my hypothesis is right, this means hes pure Heavenly Energy mimicking the properties of water. Since Chi is a bastardized version of Heavenly Energy, then it stands to reason I can create a Blobby equivalent using Chi. So Heavenly Energy plus Water equals Heavenly Water, and Chi plus Water equals... Spiritual Water? Whatever I want to call it, it serves more or less the same function as Heavenly Water, cleansing Spectres to create pure Heavenly Energy.

You know... Maybe I have solved the mystery of why Ping Ping loves drinking the water I practice with. All this time, Ive been trying to inject Chi into water so I can control it, but since I never succeeded at making water shields, swords, or bullets, I just assumed I failed every single time. Have I been making Spiritual Water this whole time? Only... Ive been doing it in reverse, leaving the water unbound while filling it with what is essentially diluted Heavenly Energy. Maybe Ping Ping loves it because it saves her the effort from binding water on her own, which explains why my other animals dont seem to care for it. They dont understand its value because they have no way of using Spiritual Water, but Ping Ping does.

It feels horrible to admit, but its the truth. Though I was already betrothed to Lin and Mila, I had yet to fall in love with them. I had feelings for them sure enough, but not the burning passion of love and intoxication I have now, more like the smouldering affection of friendship and affinity, accepting them more out of resignation than anything else. They both wanted to marry me, or at least Lin wanted to and Mila didnt mind her mothers choice, so I figured why not? Things have changed since then and now I love them more than life itself, but back then...

Standing in the doorway, I peer around the home where sweet Qing-Qing nursed me back to health, my throat tight and eyes filled with tears. Even after all this effort, I cant bring myself to step inside, overwhelmed by the memories of our short time together. I remember the darkness and fear as I woke for the first time in ages, a man battered and broken in both body and mind, ravaged by my trip through the Lake and the truths uncovered within. I remember her soft touch against my bare chest and her gentle, yet firm insistence I remain in bed, her intentions clear as day despite my blinded eyes and deaf ears. I remember the first time I saw her, how she wiped away her tears before noticing I was awake, and how quickly she recovered from my bumbling reassurances of how I wouldnt rape her...

My other self might have come to terms with Qing-Qings death, but the pain feels fresh today as the day I lost her. I want to see her face, hold her hands, hear her sing her mournful melodies, and even though I could do all of that with a snap of my fingers, Ive already disgraced her memory enough for one day. Stepping away from the door, I will myself awake and hope no one saw my moment of weakness. Pretending to rub my eyes awake as I can wipe away the tears, I breathe deep to clear my sinuses and swallow the lump in my throat while trying to find the courage to go back and check.

Theres no winning. If Qing-Qings hut is gone, then I will be pained by its loss, and I will be similarly pained if it remains. At least if it is still there, then it means my Natal Palace needs to be modelled after a place I have strong emotional ties to, whether it be Baledaghs room, Qing-Qings hut, or the village in the mountains, though theyre all places Id rather not have to look at, day in and day out.

If strong emotional ties are whats needed, maybe I can model my Natal Palace after the Golden Swan Pavilion. Course, seeing how I havent been there in years, Id have to go back for a visit and refresh my memories... for research purposes.

Falling back into bad habits, I reach into my pouch and pull Blackjack out, giving the sweet hare a little nuzzle while delaying the inevitable. Squirming in my grasp, Blackjacks head bobs up and down, indicating it wants to go higher, and I stand up and raise the cloud chaser hare into the air. Freezing in place as I spot something on the horizon, my mouth proves faster than my brain as the question slips out. Whats that?

Its a boat. Feeling generous, Guan Suo refrains from calling me an idiot, though he turns around with a raised eyebrow in question. What have you been doing back there? We spotted it close to twenty minutes ago.

Belatedly noticing Ping Ping has finished her meal and my clothes merely soggy instead of soaked, I realize I spent quite a bit of time lost in memory. Was meditating, I lie, shrugging as I sit back down. So... any idea whos on board? The unknown vessel has a distinct lack of flags or banners and would look more at home moored to one of Nan Pings riverside docks than out here on the Azure Sea, with a sheltered living quarters in the back so one can enjoy the scenery without being subjected to the elements. A pleasure barge, essentially a little pavilion on a ship where one would drink and make merry.

Studying my red eyes and puffy cheeks with open curiosity, Guan Suo offers a shrug of his own before turning away. Well find out soon enough.

Hes not wrong. With Guard Leaders powerful strokes guiding us forward, our skiff drifts to a stop a few meters from the barge, and silence ensues, both Guard Leader and Guan Suo content to sit and wait while Taduk studies the pretty engravings on the side of their barge. Seeing how no one is willing to speak, I raise my voice and call, Hello. Is anyone up there? We mean you no harm. I am Falling Rain, Warrant Officer of the Empire and Im here with my Teacher -

Well as I live and breathe! If it aint the little hero of Sanshu. Interrupting me mid-sentence, a familiar face pops out to greet me with resounding cheer, his hair and beard as unkempt as always. Ye aint satisfied with one drop of Heavenly Water, boy? Lei Gong asks, smiling to take away the sting of his words. If yer here to steal a second one from under our noses, then mark my words boy, it aint gonna be so easy this time.

Oh wow. This is going to be awkward... but first things first.

Greetings, Lord of Thunder. Is the Azure Ascendant in? This lowly one would like to offer his greetings.

Nah, Lei Gong replies, his answer flooding me with relief. If theyve been hunting Blobby all this time and our groups come to blows, at least they wont have an Ancestral Beast in their corner. Ignorant to my rude and somewhat murderous thoughts, Lei Gong continues, Somethin came up and he ran off with Wugang about a week ago. Only me and Yuhuan here aboard, Daxian and Yelu Shi are in Nan Ping on other business. Lowering his voice to a booming whisper, he adds, Between you and me, ye might want to steer clear of the Tyrant. Shes none too happy with ye on account of killing her darling nephew and all.

In my defence, her darling nephew OuYang Yu Jin died while charging across stage to impale me on his spear, but yea, I can see why shed be upset. Before I can respond, the Tyrant in question appears next to Lei Gong and looms in all her shapely glory, her mature beauty more than enough to stir my heart. The Runic device I left with Jorani was activated last night, she says, glaring down at me as if I were an offending bug, which I find both terrifying and arousing. Tell me, what crisis warranted its usage? If that fool activated it on a lark, Ill boil him alive and use his skin as a rug, GangShus hopes be damned.

Umm... What?

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