Purple Moon Pavilion courtyard was in ruins. Its formerly clean stones were broken and covered with blood. The smell of the air was acrid with the burnt qi, and the low buzz was phoned out like a dead charm.
Sect Master Feng--he was by some named Feng Qingshan--was standing with Elder Bai and a few disciples in a haggard semicircle. They were staring at Feng Tianlan, the ancestor of the pavilion.
Feng Tianlan was on his knees in front of the section leaders of the alliance. His rags were loose, robe-like, and he was beaten up because of his confrontation with the black-robes unknown. He used to be a legend of the Third Realm, but now he was kneeling with his head almost touching the ground.
I am guilty, I said, with an old jade weight in his voice. I was blinded by the threats and promises made by Shen Wuji. I will vow with my dao heart that it was not greed. It was dread--dread to my sect, dread for three generations. He designed no trail behind him but submission.
Sect Master Feng came out, and his voice broke. ancestor, you do not need to do this! You have been on our long journey! You have been!
"Be still!" Feng Tianlan snapped, tired, but stiff. "I've failed you all. I struggled with that shade, and at that accursed pill, I scalded my soul. It was as though a mantis to a chariot. He's beyond this realm. My spirit is broken."
The hands of Elder Bai shuddered, and her face was wet with tears. You were our ancestor, Feng Tianlan. How can we stand without you?"
Disciples wept openly. "Ancestor, don't!" a young inner disciple cried. "You're our heaven and earth!"
Feng Tianlan shook his head. "I am a broken sword now. Had I not been exhausted with qi, I would have covered this pavilion. But that man..." He looked at the black-robed figure, with an expression it was impossible to read. "He's a dragon among clouds. I couldn't touch his shadow."
The leaders of the alliances, Elder Chen of the Golden Tiger Sect, Matriarch Su of the Silver Phoenix Sect, Elder Qin of the Heavenly Sword Sect, and Elder Zhang of the Storm Phoenix Sect, had cold eyes. The distance was threatened by their weapons, which shone faintly.
The voice of old Chen was the growling of a tiger. Ho, Senior Feng Tianlan, would you have me swallow this story? You hoarded cursed pills and cursed stones, and they made you so strong and our sects like grass in winter!
The look on Matriarch Su was a stabbing one. There is reality in the embarrassment of Senior, though words are as cheap as blood. Open your dungeons, Senior Feng Tianlan. Bring out all the pills, all the stones. Does your innocence demonstrate through actions?
Elder Qin scowled, and his face displayed scars of battle. And this black-girdled guest, Senior? You call him your savior, and he comes like a ghost about the Yellow Springs. Is this a trick? Is he your ally?"
Rumors were flying down the alliance lines. One of the disciples shouted, He is one of them! Why then should he spare the pavilion? There was the other voice of greed, and it said, Crush them now, and their treasures are ours! Artifacts, think of it! Spirit stones.
The hope of the richness of the pavilion was the scent of blood to the alliance of the wolf. The eyes of some of the older ones flashed in thought of old-time methods and of spirit stones.
The voice of the black-robed person cut through the noise as a blade cuts through silk. "Enough."
The word froze the courtyard. The rulers stood on their heels in danger. The gallantry of the disciples faded under his gaze.
You are calling yourselves an alliance? Saying that, the figure spoke with the cold as the grave in winter. You are like dogs fussing over bones; you do not see the real enemy. You accuse me of lying, yet your avarice chains your hearts.
Elder Chen took his warhammer in his hand, and his face was defiant. Who are thou to preach us, thou nameless ghost? You believe you scare us with your tricks? We had wars you can never dream of!
"Chen, hold your tongue!" His arm was taken by his matriarch, Su, hissing. "Can't you feel it? He's no ordinary cultivator!"
His sword shook in the hand of Elder Qin. You are not the ally of Senior Feng Tianlan, are you? Say thy peace, or we think betrayal!
The figure raised a hand. The heavens seemed to break open, and the white light poured down like broken jade. The earth quailed, and a tremendous pressure came along, and it was like a mountain upon the shoulders of a man.
The Heavenly Dao shivered over, and its voice was but a faint echo in sensitive ears. "Exalted One, spare this realm! And these idiots have roused a slumbering dragon!
Disciples who had screamed at him were picked up in the air, in a vortex unseen. Their shrieks faded away, and they melted into pinpoints of light. One-third of the alliance disappeared within seconds, and only the smell of burnt qi remained.
The remaining leaders fell on their knees. "Mercy!" Matriarch Su wept, and her voice was trembling. "We were wrong, great one! We didn't know your might! Grant us, grant us spares our own disciples, our sects!
Elder Qin leaned his forehead on the ground and forgot his sword. Like blind worms in the ground we were! Pardon our lack of knowledge, great one!
Old Chen stammered, and his opposition shattered. You were the puppet of Senior Feng Tianlan, we thought. Please, spare us!"
The elder Zhang came forward and spoke with caution. We would like to believe you, Senior Feng Tianlan. But the power of this stranger--it is disturbing to us. What is his purpose?"
Sect Master Feng put down his head. Ancestor struggled on our behalf, but we do not know why. He shattered Shen Wuji and rescued us from his intrigues. We owe him our lives."
One of the Golden Tiger Sect's disciples grumbled, "like a good fable. Why now trust Senior Feng Tianlan?
A glance of disdain was shot by Elder Qin at the disciple. "Hold your tongue, fool! Feng Tianlan is an old man whose humiliation is very obvious. But this shadow..." He turned to the figure. "Speak, great one. Are you friend or foe?"
The figure was lifeless with its eyes shut. His voice, composed, cool, and accurate, reverberated in the mental connection. "That is what happened, Master. The rest is up to you."
Waiting for something that was above the mortal realm, a slight wave of energy vibrated in the atmosphere. His eyes twitched upwards, and their stare was as bottomless as nothingness. His response was only one, mysterious nod which seemed to be the answering motion to some unspoken command of his master, Liang Zhenwu.
The figure turned to Elder Qin and the wobbling confederation, and his voice, though low, and with the depth of a thousand years of tempest, came forth. "Am I friend or foe? Listen, you ants. My lord shall liberate your world, in the name and by the command of my master. Be grateful, you ants."
The commanders of the alliances stood still, their throat muscles caught by the throats. The black-robed figure did not stand still before they could reply. His shape was lost, and he shot into the sky like a black comet. He left a shadow behind him.
His cultivators underneath exhaled at a twisting and swelling presence, dissolved in his robes as a black qi cloud. He changed in a moment and was a big, furious black dog--monstrous and savage, and looming over the courtyard. Its eyes were as twin stars, and its fangs like swords that had been made in the underworld. The presence of the beast was a nightmare in the flesh, and its aura was shaking the very foundations of the Third Realm.
Whimpering above the Heavenly Dao shook in its voice in ears that were sensitive. What is this power, Exalted One? Spare this world!"
The hideous dog opened its mouth, and a roar was heard, deafening the heavens. A faint aura of purple was slowly riddling through the courtyard of all followers of Purple Moon, even the shattered Feng Tianlan. It bled through them, like mist to a whirlpool, winding down into the gaping mouth of the monster. The violet halo, a residual pollution of Shen Wuji cursed pills and spirit stones, throbbed with some unusual power and was now being cleared out of the Third Realm.
Squeezing a chest, disciples fainted, e.g., as the aura departed. What is going on? A young pavilion disciple screamed, and his voice shook.
Sect Master Feng blustered and flushed. "Ancestor, is this… salvation?"
Elder Bai mumbled, Ancestor Feng Tianlan, he is robbing the corruption... but what price?
This shadow, still on her knees, Matriarch Su said, Senior Feng Tianlan, he is cleansing us. But why?"
Elder Chen's voice was hoarse. "Senior, is this his true form? A beast from the heavens?"
The roar of the monstrous dog died away, and the last touches of purplish aura fell on its jaws. The shape of the beast glowed decadently and reverted to its form of a clump of black qi, which scattered away into the sky. The black-robed figure had disappeared, and silence and a purged Third Realm had been left behind.
The courtyard was still. Feng Tianlan was still on his knees, shaking with fatigue. Sect Master Feng and Elder Bai were close by, shedding tears on their faces, their hearts heavy over the sacrifice of their ancestor.
The chiefs of the alliance, still on their knees, looked at each other uneasily. They had come to ruin the Purple Moon Pavilion, to possess its riches and put an end to its danger. However, at this moment, they knew the reality: the actual threat was much more serious than they supposed, and the creature they had previously encountered was not a farmer but a power out of their understanding.
The breeze is mild and sweeps away the remnants of broken barriers of the pavilion. The Third Realm was purged of its bane, and it was waiting, its destiny changed by an unknown shadow that had faded into the heavens.