Chapter 739

Chapter 739

In war, generals lead and soldiers fight, but ultimately, it's the civilians caught in the crossfire who pay the most costly price.

LuZhuo, Meng Sha, Dong Jiang, and Huang Hai. Four critical harbours taken by my forces in a single night, a feat which previously was estimated to take two weeks of bitter fighting at a minimum. Sounds impressive on paper, but in reality, the victory rings hollow and has left my fury unspent thanks to Zhen Shis murderous, cowardly tactics. The ruins of Huang Hai are all that greet my conquering force of Peak Experts and Runic Cannons, their aristocratic bearing brought low by the long nights work and the charnel house weve stumbled into. Unlike in LuZhuo, where the bodies of the dead had all been meticulously posed to present a panorama of anger, hatred, and general butchery, the scene inside Huang Hai paints a picture of cold and impersonal cruelty. The captive prisoners of the West were simply slaughtered where they slept, pierced through by spear and sword or trampled underfoot as the Defiled made their retreat, running with their tails between their legs and killing everyone they couldnt bring along. Husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, grandparents and children alike, the innocents of the Empire lie dead here because our enemy is a spiteful bastard who would rather burn the fields, salt the earth, and poison the wells than leave anyone or anything of value behind.

But while there is little I can do to stop Zhen Shi from doing this again, I can at least avenge the poor people who died here tonight.

Imperial soldiers, secure the harbour, I utter, my tone somehow emotionless and detached despite my unhinged rage. Aspirants and Death Corps, with me.

The Enemy stood and fought in Meng Sha and Dong Jiang, or at least they tried to before the symphony of cannons rang out, but as impressive as those weapons of war might be, they are a demanding and draining weapon to use. The Ascendants switched out for Sentinel cannoneers while securing Dong Jiang, and now it's the Aspirants turn to use them, led by familiar faces lacking names or the ability to share them due to the stringent Oaths they subjected themselves to before removing their own tongues and setting out to kill me. Though theyve long since come around and stopped trying to take my life, their Oaths still prevent them from communicating in any practical way, limited to simple gestures like nods and salutes to prevent them from giving away any sort of information should they ever be captured and interrogated. They never intended on surviving the first attempt on my life, but now that they have, theyve found themselves socially isolated despite being a part of a community, and so theyve turned all their social fixation towards me. A heavy burden to bear, but Ill take any loyal Warrior I can get, especially considering their remarkable mental fortitude born from enduring such a bleak and joyless existence in a world as miserable as this.

Which makes them perfect for the job at hand. Not glorious battle, but wholesale slaughter, a righteous cleansing of the Enemy to ensure these particular Defiled can commit no more crimes in the future.

Ignoring the Sendings from my family and advisors telling me I should wait, I Cloud-Step up into the air for the umpteenth time tonight and spot my quarry off in the distance, a herd of frightened Defiled fleeing due west to seek safety and shelter amidst the sandy desert dunes. The Heavens are on my side however, because even though Zhen Shi must have given the order to retreat while I was still in Dong Jiang, the clear, starry night sky illuminates the Enemy forces well enough for even standard Imperial eyes, to say nothing of my enhanced night-vision of dubious origin. Make these bastards pay for their crimes, I command, not bothering to lower my voice or even hide my intent, and though the Enemy is too far to hear even my Chi-enhanced voice, they pick up the pace as if able to sense their death soon approaching, no doubt warned by Zhen Shi or the Spectres lurking within their very souls.

Souls which I will set free from their turmoil, cut loose from this mortal coil by sword and cannon.

Travelling as the crow flies, we close the distance between predator and prey in a matter of minutes. Once were in range, the cannoneers take turns bombarding the fleeing rats two at a time so as not to overtax themselves or their weapons. Talented though OuYang YuHuan might be, it still takes her the better part of two weeks to finish a Runic Cannon, assuming she makes no mistakes at any point in the process and has to start all over. Considering the dragon shaped barrels each bear hundreds of detailed, life-like scales etched across every inch of their frames, bearing some scribblings so fine you almost need a magnifying glass to make out, her current success rate is understandably low, so we cannot afford to overuse the cannons we have and ruin them through heat and warping. That being said, the damage wrought by two firing cannons is nothing to sneeze at and the thousands of common Defiled are helpless to react, abandoned by their own Chieftains and Champions who might have otherwise put up a fight. Hoping to speed things along, I draw deep on my own experiences of helplessness and suffering to unleash an Aura of despair upon these murderous savages, for it is only right that they experience the same emotions their victims experienced earlier when they drew their blades upon those poor innocents.

The screams of panic and terror echo through the night, interspersed with roaring cannon fire and the death cries of the dying, but there is no mercy in my heart. Perhaps the Mother or some other benevolent being will take pity on their eternal souls, though the darker part of me hopes not, for the Defiled deserve far worse than this justice we mete out here. To say their deaths bring me no satisfaction would be a lie, but I will pay for this soon enough, as the gruesome scenes of this one-sided slaughter embed themselves deep into my memory to torment me another night.

The first Demon spawns before the tenth volley is unleashed, the wrongness in the world multiplied as its host opens its soul up to the Void and the Spectres hiding within, only to be ripped and savaged apart by thousands of voracious spiritual predators seeking a return to the world of the living. The Spectres are a virus on the souls of humanity, a malignant infection that has plagued us for far too long, but until someone comes up with a method to treat the root of the problem, I have only my weapons to rely on. Peace sings as it cuts through the air and the half-formed Demons head explodes into a mist of Ichor, blood, bone, and brain thanks to the Mountain Collapsing strike unleashed through my weapon from afar. Overkill perhaps, given how weak these newly formed Demons have proven to be, but I am unwilling to allow the Spectres even the slightest taste of freedom and life if I have the means to deny it. Zhen Shi isnt the only petty one, and even if he does twist circumstances to damage my Spiritual Weapons again like he did in Meng Sha, repairing them is only a matter of Chi and focus, of which I have more than enough to spare.

Ill have a headache for days to come, but thats a small price to pay for retribution.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

As the minutes pass and Defiled die in droves, three more Demons form and I strike each down as it emerges, but just as with the first, their corpses are lacking in Heavenly Energy for me to Devour. Ive been wracking my brain all night trying to figure out how this is possible, and while I have some suspicions, I have no substantial leads just yet. The problem is that while I now possess the full catalogue of Zhen Shis notes and have gone through them time and time again, the first half had most of the useful information, while the second half is more of autobiography detailing his descent into gibbering madness. In it, he goes into more detail about what he does and dedicates pages to describing the scenes of his carnage, with lines like how blood billows up scarlet red only to lose lustre and brilliance, to the melodic silent screams of a man unable to draw breath, and other such snippets of madness. Its easy to see why the second half was kept secret from the public, because not only is it a disturbing look into the mind of a Defiled lunatic, if you read between the lines, it reveals one extremely disturbing fact, something which should have been apparent from the start.

Zhen Shis research notes were not written for his own perusal.

Why would they be? The man was a Peak Expert with a Natal Palace and could easily have committed everything to memory. Not just the events that took place, but also the emotions and sensations he experienced in the moment as well as every detail both large and small in a way mere words could never convey. Why would he need to write about the colour of blood or the sound of screams if he could just relive them in memory, immerse himself in the past and experience it all again? Once the clinical, analytical tone of the writing devolved into more stream of thought ramblings, I noticed Zhen Shi would often refer to questions that he never asked or make excuses for his lack of progress. Like in experiment #7485, which Gen Shi mentioned in reference to my New Path way back in Sinuji, before I shattered my Core. The experiment itself had a scattering of useful details referencing the melding of the physical and metaphysical, but what caught my eye was the closing statement itself. Though the Dao is far from ineffable, there are too many gaps in our understanding to properly draw conclusions from this experiment, like a child who just learned their numbers looking through an accountants ledger. Familiar, yet incomprehensible, and lacking a proper teacher, this one can only stumble ever forwards until the pieces all come together.

Which aside from being relevant to my current predicament, sounds like a prideful genius making excuses for his own failures. Combined with the humble self-reference, that leads me to believe the notes were a written report for his superiors. Not all that surprising really, as I should have put two and two together long before, since I already knew that he was once an Imperial Scion and that Zhen Shi is not his real name, but rather part of a title conferred upon him for excellence in a field. Unless he picked the name Shen Zhen Shi himself, which loosely translates to Divine True Corpse, I find it difficult to believe the Emperor of eight-hundred years ago was unaware of Zhen Shis heinous experiments before awarding him so high an honour, meaning at some point, his heinous experiments were not only sanctioned by members of the Imperial Clan, but he was also rewarded for carrying out so very many atrocities.

A sickening discovery if there ever was one, with all too many different implications which makes me all the more determined to one day stand apart from the Empire, if not overthrow it completely, but the more pressing question is this: did Zhen Shi lose his marbles and slip his leash, or is he still a mad dog of the Empire?

A matter to look into another day however, as I must see my way through this trial first. How is Zhen Shi denying me usable Heavenly Energy? Well, assuming the Spectres are where Im getting said usable Heavenly Energy from, then it stands to reason that Zhen Shi has found some way to not only direct the Spectres to remain in the void, where I cannot Devour them freely, but also discovered a method to induce Demonic transformation without allowing the Spectres to cross over into our world, not entirely at least. From what I can gather from Zhen Shis notes and my own musings, the physical world and the void are akin to overlapping dimensions, essentially two worlds existing in the same metaphysical space, or at least close enough that they can affect one another most notably though Heavenly Energy. Maybe the Void is the barrier to Nirvana, a higher plane of existence devoid of all suffering, or it could be a world of nihility which Monk Vyakhya seeks to replicate, or maybe its some sort of afterlife where the souls of the dead go to be reborn or suffer for their karmic sins. Regardless of what it might be, I believe that Zhen Shi has confined the Spectres to the Void in order to prevent me from Devouring them, and the effects have spilled out over into these Demonic births.

Granted, my understanding on the subject of alternate dimensions stems from pop culture and comic books, so theres a good chance Im basing all this on the completely wrong premise, but it makes just enough sense for me to move on, not to mention how I dont know enough about anything to refute this conclusion. It makes sense from what Ive seen thus far, as I know Spectres turn their hosts bodies into something akin to a Spiritual Heart, a process which involves linking the physical and metaphysical, the real and the immaterial, maybe even the body and soul together to create something that exists in ways that go beyond what we mere mortals can perceive. Why limit it to mortals you ask? Because the next step is to the Shatter the Void and ascend to Divinity, even if it is a false Divinity that falls short of actual Godhood, but I can only imagine that Zhen Shis workings here touch upon those higher secrets.

A brief pulse of warning from Pong Pong almost goes unheeded until Dad straightens up in alarm. Moving faster than I can follow, he turns around with sword in hand while standing between me and the still unseen threat, and then time slows to a crawl. The alarm sounds and the tent flap moves aside as the Death Corps Guards rush in to protect me, but despite standing only a few footsteps away, I can see they are far too late. The tip of a glimmering black bolt emerges from before my eyes, and I am transfixed by the crimson droplets dripping from its tip, stuck in a moment of time as I refuse to accept what is happening in the here and now.

For the bolt was not aimed at me, nor is the blood mine, as Dad utters a weak gasp of pain as his heart is pierced clean through.

No, no, no, no...

The world blurs and shifts around me and I find myself catching Dad as he topples over in place, his clear blue eyes fading fast as he stares up into mine. A shaky smile stretches across his lips, a helpless acceptance of fate, and he squeezes my hand with a feeble grasp that is so unexpected from one of the strongest men I know. He has no last words for me, no final farewell, only a shuddering wheeze and a gaze full of love as his body goes into extreme shock and his mind shuts down to spare him the suffering. The sounds of fighting outside tell me that the chances of assistance are slim, but even though I fear we have come under concentrated attack, I cannot bring myself to look away from my helpless, dying Dad.

My father is dying because of me.

There is no hope without him.

His death is only the first of many.

My mother. My wives. My siblings. My grandparents. My friends.

They will all pay the ultimate price, because I dared to overstep my bounds.

The deluge of blame and hatred rolls off me like water off a duck as I find clarity of purpose in this moment of crisis, knowing I have no time to indulge in anger or grief if I am to have any hope of saving him. Odd as it sounds, the destruction of the human heart does not result in instant death, not like decapitation would, but unless a Healer arrives in the next few seconds to stem the loss of blood and prevent widespread organ failure, then all hope is lost. My Death Corps Guards will be here in time, but while some of them are capable of Healing, none of them have the skill to save Dad. Maybe Taduk could do it, but I dont think hes here given how he shares Lin-Lins love of sleep and has probably long since gone to bed. Monk Happy might be able to do it, and I Send word asking him to get here, but he responds with a frantic message telling me hes under attack. Precious seconds were lost seeking outside assistance, and while famed Healers like Taiyi Zhushen and Taokang Geyan might be able to save Dad life, reconstructing a human heart in a short enough time to matter is beyond the skill of most, including the Healers here with me now.

My father is going to die, and theres nothing I can do to save him.

Shut the fuck up you decrepit old bastard!

A wall of fury rises up within my mind, blocking out Zhen Shis insidious whispers meant to twist the blade in my heart, because I have more pressing matters to deal with than his shit. Dad is dying, and theres no one available to save him, but where there is life, there is hope. Reaching for every scrap of love and affection I bear for the man who saved me, I funnel it all into my Chi, Aura, and Domain in a desperate attempt to Heal his injuries the same way I Healed Song, but Dads mind has shut down in preparation for death, and his body and Soul automatically reject my efforts to Heal him. Its a defensive mechanism similar to the immune system, rejecting all foreign matter and Chi, but right now, its preventing me from saving him and I have no idea how to circumvent it with Dad being in no state to accept my love and help.

No, not just love, but fear, desperation, panic, and anger, all of it emanating off me in pulsating waves of dynamic emotions. Thats why Dads body is rejecting my help, because my unstable state of mind is tainting my efforts to Heal him. I need to divest myself of emotion, but even taking the time for a single deep breath is a luxury I cannot afford as my mind grasps at straws in hopes of helping Dad. A Keystone, thats what I need, a neutral, impartial, Healing Keystone that works quickly and autonomously without my thoughts and emotions influencing the process. A huge ask, but I have some Energy of the Heavens stored up from the Demon Zhen Shis used to damage my Spiritual Weapons earlier tonight, so I just need to figure out the proper way to use it.

What can I Visualize to represent so monumental a Keystone? The med-kit again? No, thats too... singular, too personal, an icon that represents Healing myself, because thats what it was in memory. I need something that Heals anyone and everyone I deem an ally so long as they enter into range, and it needs to do it quickly. An image pops into mind and somehow it just feels right, so I Visualize my Intent and set my Will to work creating this Keystone within my Natal Palace. The foundation forms atop the concrete docks, where I spent many a night playing with Lin-Lin and the floofs, a central fixture for us to see and admire the next time were there. Three stone basins of differing sizes emerge, overlapping one another with the smallest at the top and the widest on the bottom, while a square sigil forms at its feet, one bearing the bow-tied bunny that so many others believe is a Cloud Chaser Hare. A deviation from my original intent when creating the emblem, but one that has changed in perception over time, for what better representation of Healing than one based on my Medical Saint of a Teacher and Father in Law? Water bubbles up from the topmost basin and soon overflows into the basins below, water which represents all the usable Heavenly Energy available to me. Its precious little, and I pray that it is enough as I activate the Keystone and open myself to the Energy of the Heavens to Devour as much Chi as I possibly can, because if the usable Heavenly Energy is not enough, then I will need all the Chi I can get.

The fountain of Healing, from some stupid game or another, where heroes recalled back to so they could top up on Health and Mana, and there is no hero more deserving than Dad.

Divorced from the Healing process, I can only watch and wait as my Chi and Heavenly Energy pour into Dads comatose frame, unable to see or affect the Healing process. Hell, I dont even know if its working, or if Dad is still alive, as Im too afraid to touch him for fear of messing everything up. Thats the problem, my fear, holding me back as it always has, but since I cannot get away from it, I must find ways to work around it. The blood continues to pool out from underneath him as his pale complexion takes on the shade of death, but still I cling to hope and persevere because I cannot bring myself to do anything else. The seconds pass as my Core empties time and time again as even my Devouring capability is unable to bear the strain of fuelling my newest, most powerful Keystone yet, nor is my metaphysical Chi system capable of sustaining it for long. My Divine Senses scream in intuitive alarm as pain wracks my mind and spirit, telling me this Healing is costing me more than I know, but I dont care. This is my Dad, my Mentor, my pillar, and my hero, so I will pay any price to save him.

The world fades to black, but I hold fast to hope and pray that this was enough, because even if I were to wash the world in Defiled blood, it would still not be enough to avenge Dads death.

Chapter Meme

Bonus Song