"I'd protect you, but you, you don't need protection." - Lin Si, 6, to her sister, when she asked why she didn't stand up for her earlier
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The lord's sons, one tall, one short, both with stark light brown eyes finally came in, he burnt the letter with his qi, the ashes falling and blending between the planks coating the ground. He greeted the two of them, they led him down to the basement, where the infamous Zhang dungeon was.
They came to a certain cell. A man knelt inside, blood dripping from his body, his hair shaved from his head, chains forcing his hands, bear of any nails up.
"This is the demonic cultivator?" Li Junlong walked up. "How did you get him? I thought they all committed suicide immediately upon capture."
The younger of them was quick to reply. "We actually got him from someone even higher up with better forces, after some bargaining and discussions, we were able to bring him into our hands, afterall, we are well known for our inescapable prisons and successful interrogations. I don't know how they kept him from suiciding originally."
Li Junlong turned to smirk at them. "Was it the emperor?" He questioned directly.
The younger one jumped, but the older kept his cool. "Yes, how did you know? The emperor has long since supported you and is very thankful for what you've done for our kingdom."
"Our," Li Junlong smirked. 'Our.' That's all he said. The older's face turned green. He realized he'd made a mistake. Li Junlong strode forward. "11 years ago, was it? Yes, an adventurer returned with news of a unique find, on the top of a mountain, he had sighted the long thought to be extinct lihuo flower." Everyone knew this, of course this young man did, but as Li Junlong spoke, the older had already caught on, the younger still in confusion.
He asked, perplexed, "Why bring this up? Shouldn't you interrogate the prisoner?"
Li Junlong chuckled. His smile and chuckle both appeared incredibly sinister. They'd never seen him laugh, much less smile before, and yet here he was doing just that, and yet all they could feel was terror from it.
"Yes, I should interrogate him, right? What will he say, yes, he will tell me the lihuo flower is heavily guarded, but that most of the forces will move out soon due to an attack they have planned in the near future. Yes, he'll want me to go over and start a battle, perhaps to the death, and yes, let's see, the distraction, to draw out their forces, won't it be some mysterious force, from the mountains in the north. Innocent people, I presume, just ordered by a big man." He turned to glare at them. "A big man on a golden chair. Say, those years ago, when the demonic cult and the emperor went for the lihuo flower, why was it that rather than taking the whole bush, harvesting each season, they instead only both left with a couple flowers?" He strode over. "Or, perhaps, was there more, perhaps? Or perhaps, after that bloody battle, even with three of the 5 heavenly kings, the Fallen Star, and Sage Gongli on the emperor's side, a deal had had to be struck, leaving three flowers with the demonic cult, and two in the emperor's along with the bush? What if everything revealed to the public was wrong? Wouldn't that be strange?"
They both understood, backing off in fear. How did he find out?
"Isn't it strange, that the man escorting the emperor home, should ask for just one flower of the two on the bush he'd carried north, how sad would it be, were the emperor to turn him down, wishing to plant the bush in the middle of his palace, with both the flowers intact?"
They were making their way toward the door, but a wave of qi swept out from Li Junlong, slamming the door shut. They both cowered.
"How interesting would it be if the escort had decided to get a little greedy, for the sake of his unfortunate ill son, would sneak into the carriage holding it, and would take but one flower? Wouldn't it be strange if the emperor were to catch him, a battle take place, and seeing that he could not escape, that he burn the carriage down with himself and the bush then, out of rage, the emperor might've sent his most loyal men after the man's family, wishing to wipe them out of existence.
Only, there is one thing I don't understand." He gripped his sword, taking it out slowly to point it toward them. "The emperor, why was he so greedy to have both the flowers, didn't he just need one for his palace?"
The men trembled, the younger brother had already wet himself, from the waves of killing intent, and was sobbing, the older one was a little better, but still trembling uncontrollably, he spoke desperately. "The Lin family! They, they have years of history, their knowledge isn't to be underestimated! When the emperor had married and had several concubines, but his sons kept dying before 18 from strange illnesses or misfortunes, the Lin family had mentioned an old pill that could right any wrong to a body, similar to the one he had crafted for your own father! He had just stated in disappointment that he couldn't recreate it, since the lihuo flower was long gone."
Li Junlong suddenly stiffened. He was shocked. Why was he this shocked? Did he really believe Lin Si was on his side? No, no, why, why, why was he this sad? For the first time since that day when he was 18, he felt threatened to cry. No, he would not cry, he'd promised to never cry again, not till the blood of his enemies coated the ground red.
"The Lin famil…" he finally asked, but his voice stumbled, he restarted,"The Lin family, were they always on the emperor's side?"
The older man was confused. "Of course? How do you think they could live so peacefully all these years with so much wealth and influence! If the Xu family is the emperor's right hand, the Lin is the left!"
What? No. no. he wouldn't believe it. He had told her he would trust her. He would. He would. He snarled at them, blade raised. "I don't believe you."
Before he could descend, the younger one called out. "Even if you kill us now, it's too late!"
The older one glared at him.
Li Junlong paused. "Did you know I'd find out?"
The younger, despite his older brother, didn't care, he just wanted to live, he sobbed out, "We had reason to believe the demon cult would use dark means to try to bring you to their side, we have precautions in place in the case of this. The Xu family will soon be here too."
He suddenly realized something. Ah. I'm an idiot. I'm an utter fool. Was Ru Tuo on the emperor's side this entire time then? He'd called him here, he'd said he'd gotten a tip off from his ally, the Zhang's, that they'd caught a demon. They must have heard about the demonic cultivator trying to talk to him the other day. He had thrown the man out. Now he regretted not listening earlier. But if they knew he would find out no matter what they did to block the information, now that the demonic cult had sent out their second strongest, the White Hare, they must have come up with a plan. He knew better than they how much the emperor needed him to hold back the demonic city, with the current head of it having recently transcended into the second level of grandmaster like himself. Only Li Junlong could stop him, but if the White Hare got involved, even Li Junlong could't guarantee his life, after all, he had a feeling from their previous meetings that he was also a grandmaster and Gongli, the only ancient in the central plains in contact with the emperor, was getting older by the day, nearing his deathbed. They claimed Li Junlong was the strongest, but he was only the strongest outside of some of the retired ancients. Plus, there was the tattered ghost, whose fame had spread far and wide, although he hadn't yet entered the central plains, he would murder spontaneously and was incredibly powerful, known for slaughtering armies and overlords in the south, and was seen near the border recently.
No matter how many men under the emperor, they needed Jingsheng, the only one that had a chance against the demon lord and white hare, to protect them.
But if he knew about the emperor's pettiness and how he'd chosen not to gift a flower simply because he wanted to save his dying son, and another in the future, rather than sharing with his most loyal subordinate, why would he help them? Why not join with the demonic cult, although he didn't like them, they had murdered his sister in cold blood, but that had merely been some small subordinates of theirs and they could provide the lihuo flower to heal his brother, and make right a wrong done by the emperor. Right. His brother.
Suddenly a horrific thought entered his mind, staring at the two in front of him. "The Xu family will soon arrive." Echoed out in his head.
What if his brother was dead? Would he have a reason to align with the demonic city? Even if he wouldn't help the court, he would definitely not help the demonic cult who killed the common people like livestock. He would still protect the innocents. Which meant…. "No." He spoke, his voice shaking. His blade moved so fast, neither could react before they were dead on the ground, necks slit, and Li Junlong sprinted out, only to find the door leading out of the dungeon locked shut. He didn't stop, sending out all his qi, he slashed his blade into the thick door. It didn't budge. It was well made, several plates of steel thick. No! He must make it home! His brother! His only family left!
He didn't dare think of anything else. He summoned the power from deep within himself. Qi that would not be defeated! Qi that would not bow! Qi that would never be halted in its path of devastation! His blade curved outward again, this time, it split into the crack between the double doors, the bolts were instantly pulverized. With a momentous kick, the doors were spread wide.
He didn't stop, running as quick as feet could take him toward the stables, but following the horse's steps, as he broke into the stable yard, a sight suddenly caught his eye and a smell greeted him the moment he approached, as it dawned on him much too fast, the lifeless eyes of his greatest love besides his brother, staring back at him, body sprawled on the ground, completely still, blood barely dribbling from an open neck which had already gathering some flies who lazily licked the exposed organs, spilling across the ground. he fell to his knees before the corpse, holding it's face.
Thunder clapped overhead. A storm was brewing in the northeast.
His eyes and ears hardly made note of the troops of men that had suddenly began to appear around him, surrounding the area. His mouth was open, screaming something, he didn't recognize the voice, but he knew it was his. No one else was screaming.
His qi raced across the ground in every direction with the scream, the entire yard should've been blown to pieces, but before it even reached the first man, it slammed into a wall of yellow light. He glanced up, slowly rising to his feet, he stepped forward, his hand, red, wet with his horse's blood, the other clean, gripping his long silver sword, qi spread out from him so thickly, it forced the air to waver with a sickly grey light, turning a darker black with his simmering rage. The men that had surrounded him, right outside the cement block, all continued to chant spells. He recognized their black and yellow robes. "You…" hatred dribbling from her mouth. "Since you came to me, die…all of you." Each word held a monstrous, unforgiving weight, despite how calmly they were bespoken.
From every direction, the grey qi formed into blades, whipping toward the enemy, but as they approached, once again a golden net appeared, locking them inside with Li Junlong. He snarled.
"You want to trap me here? Dreaming!" His qi continued to swirl around him chaotically, sheaves of black appearing out the air, running rampant, but he'd never felt as strong as in this moment. The cusp of turning demonic, and yet, he had never felt more certain that he wouldn't.
Suddenly, from behind the crowd, stepped a man. His face showed no signs of anything. He was not angry, nor was he sad or delighted in the slightest, he hadn't a trace of guilt in any sense of the word, he just glanced at Junlong, as if, with some pity, in a lazy, desultory way. Yes, although a deep sense of exhausted obligation was in that gaze, but Li Junlong still recognized him. The man who stepped out, had stepped a similar way into his own home, right beside Lin Si. They had fought before. He had been quite powerful, on the cusp of grandmaster. Even Li Junlong had been shocked by his strength in only master, but…what was he doing here? With those robes…Li Junlong knew why he was there.
Who was he kidding?
His mind just didn't want to admit he'd been betrayed by the only ever second person to gather his trust in all these years. Lin Si, Lin Si, you ought to burn in hell for this! Why play with my mind and heart like this? At least let me hate you in peace, why let me develop something for you, and then betray me right after? He could only hope this all happened behind Ru Tuo's back. No, he thought. I know Ru Tuo. He would never betray me. If he was going to betray, he would've done it long ago, in the years they lived in his home. In all the years after, when he'd entrusted Li Junli into his protection.
Xu Tianwen whispered something to Xu Anqi, Patriarch of the Xu clan, general of the empire, who had organized the formation, causing him to frown. He gazed at Li Junlong seriously. And then began advising the crowd of men how to make the formation stronger. "More qi there, the words must not be stuttered, if he lets out a blade to the east, remember to adjust accordingly. You cannot fall. If you fall, know, we all die."
Li Junlong wanted to cry, but he wouldn't let himself. Why did he want to cry? Shouldn't he just be angry? Where was this sadness coming from?
'The longer you let the hatred of your enemies live inside you, control you, consume you, the more your enemies have already destroyed you.' 'You are bigger, you are better than all of them'
'Thank you, thank you for accepting me.'
Why was he so sad? Why did he remember the things she said to him now? She was horrible. He hated her. He did. She was a liar and a snake. Yet he'd allowed her to stand by his side, to protect his brother, even, allowed her into his heart. He should hate her. He does, he hates her!
And so he continued to fight, to escape the net of the Xu family tightening around him, in and effort to run as fast as he could back home, to save his brother…save him from their grip. From the entire world that cared not for his life, only the strong hand of his brother.
Was it not enough that the heavens forced him into a ruined body? Must they kill his family, must they also give him a brother so powerful, all would point their blades at him? Was his kind, gentle brother really not allowed to live in this unforgiving world? He howled in rage again.
Only the best could choose their fate, only the best could live another day