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Interlude - Sha Xiang
🕑 Added 2024-03-07 23:00:01 +0000 UTCSha Xiang leaned up against one of the trees in the copse and waited. She’d been waiting for the better part of a day, now. The longer she waited, the angrier she grew. That bastard, Xiao Jun, had told her over and over again how important it was that she was on time. Told her when she needed to leave, how long it would take to get here, and what she needed to do when the Emissary arrived. And now, Xiao Jun was late.
Anger rolled off her in waves.
Cui Bao glanced over at her from where he’d been tossing one of his hatchets into a fallen log, sensing her irritation. Bao sighed and stood. “I’m leaving,” he announced. “This is pointless.”
Part of her wanted to agree with him. They could be training right now. The tournament was only two weeks out, and while she was certain she was going to qualify for the inner sect, she wanted the top spot. She wanted to win.
“Sit down,” she said. “We’ll give him ‘til sunset. Then we can leave.” The darkness wrapped around her core stirred, dissatisfied that she was still listening to Xiao Jun. After, she told it. Once we win the tournament, we’ll deal with him.
That seemed to calm it down.
“I don’t think he’s coming,” Qiao Xia said from the edge of the copse.
“Nobody asked you,” Sha Xiang snapped.
The other girl drew in on herself. Just seeing her act so meek made Sha Xiang’s stomach turn. Why had she ever allowed Qiao Xia to latch on to her in the first place? She was weak. Keeping Qiao Xia around was only holding her back. The darkness cackled its agreement.
Just then, Xiao Jun emerged from the wood. “Good, you’re all here,” he said.
Sha Xiang’s disgust turned to anger, all of it now directed at Xiao Jun. The darkness whispered. Just wait. A little longer. Soon.
She wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about the fact that it could almost form words, almost talk back to her. She pushed those thoughts from her mind. If Xiao Jun was here, it meant that the Emissary would arrive soon. About time.
Xiao Jun’s head snapped up, and he stared into the growing evening gloom. “Down,” he said. “He’s come.”
Grudgingly, she did as she’d been instructed, and got down to her knees. In the dirt.
A moment later, the Emissary stepped into view. He wore black robes embroidered with silver and gold, and his hair was bound in a crown hairpin wrought from black metal and set with a large ruby. Sha Xiang couldn’t sense anything at all from his spirit, but Xiao Jun had stressed that this man was supposed to be in the Fifth Realm—Nascent Soul. From what she could see, he looked like one of those soft nobles, always acting like they were better than her.
But she did as she’d been told. She kowtowed to this man and kept her mouth shut. Regardless of whether Xiao Jun had been bullshitting her about this man’s advancement, he was apparently the one who’d been supplying them with advancement resources.
So what if he was sneaking around, hiding his spirit? They were in sect lands still, and while she didn’t think someone who was supposedly as powerful as he was should hide, she wasn’t about to say anything. Especially if he had more pills.
“This one greets Kong Huizhong, Her Honored Emissary,” Xiao Jun intoned.
Sha Xiang and the others remained silent, as they’d been instructed. Xiao Jun had stressed that they should not speak unless they were directly addressed by Emissary Kong himself.
“You have not increased your cultivation base,” Kong Huizhong said. His voice was shot through with steel, and Sha Xiang felt a cold sweat break out on the back of her neck even though his words weren’t directed at her. “Only one of your subordinates has reached middle Body Refining, and barely so at that.”
“This one—” Xiao Jun began, his voice meek and sounding very far away.
“I did not bid you speak,” Emissary Kong said, his voice still calm despite its hardness. “Failure. You have been given so much, and yet you fail. I am not interested in your excuses, Xiao Jun.” The following silence hung over the group like an executioner’s blade.
After some time, Kong Huizhong spoke again. “The sect has learned of the Court’s activities. I fought a disciple past the northern border who knew of us. How was this possible?”
“This one cannot say,” Xiao Jun said, practically a whimper.
Unbidden, Sha Xiang’s anger and disgust rose once more. It stilled when, only for a moment, she felt the weight of Kong Huizhong’s attention on her. She held her breath until he’d turned back to Xiao Jun.
“When I discover how the sect gained this information, I will act appropriately. Do you understand, Xiao Jun?”
“Yes,” Xiao Jun said.
While she couldn’t be certain, Sha Xiang didn’t think that “acting appropriately” would be anything she wanted to experience.
“Rise. All of you.”
Sha Xiang practically leaped to her feet along with the others. By now any doubt as to Kong Huizhong’s power had vanished—and he still hadn’t revealed even the tiniest sliver of his spirit.
Kong Huizhong flicked his sleeve, and a pill box appeared before each of them floating on nothing.
“Were it my decision, I would cripple your cultivation base as punishment for your failures. You would receive nothing, and I would find other, more capable, servants to carry out the Empress’s will. You are fortunate that the Court has stayed my hand.
“These pills will greatly improve your cultivation and should allow the stragglers to reach middle Body Refining before the tournament. I expect all of you to qualify for the inner sect. Do not disappoint me, Xiao Jun.”
The darkness in Sha Xiang hissed its displeasure at Xiao Jun. He’d failed. He didn’t deserve anything more from the Emissary. Let him fall. Let him be crippled. Allow her to take his place, to rise to the greatness she deserved.
Kong Huizhong suddenly stood before her, and once more she trembled under the full weight of his attention. “I see,” he said. “So you are the one who received the demon core. I had assumed Xiao Jun would make use of it himself. No matter. Tell me your name.”
“This one is called Sha Xiang,” she said, careful to keep her eyes averted. Demon core. A part of her wanted to rip Xiao Jun’s throat out over that. He’d told her this was simply an advanced, living art. A necessary component of cultivating the Four Demon Fists art. More like a symbiote, or perhaps a highly advanced treasure, than a conscious thing in and of itself. She’d believed him, like a fool. And now she learns that she has some sort of demon living inside her?
Another part of her was simply relieved—it explained so much. All the doubts about the core that she’d pushed to the side because of how strong it made her. All the tiny whispers of mistrust towards Xiao Jun that intruded in her meditations. With two simple words, so many questions had simply vanished, answered in an instant.
“You have been given a rare resource, Lady Sha. Do not allow it to go to waste.” As he spoke the last, Kong Huizhong flicked his eyes towards Xiao Jun.
“This one thanks the Emissary,” Sha Xiang said as she bowed over a salute. Her mood shifted, and it was a struggle to keep the excited tremble out of her voice. Kong Huizhong hadn’t needed to spell it out for her. Her demon core howled. Excitement. Delight. It preened—the Emissary had recognized it. Seen it. Acknowledged it.
“The rest of you,” Kong Huizhong said, turning his attention away from her. “Do not disappoint me.” Without another word, he turned and left, his passage fading into shadow.
The moment he was gone, Xiao Jun wheeled on them. “You nearly got me killed,” he spat.
“Us?” Cui Bao flexed his spirit. Heat lapped against Sha Xiang’s skin as she caught the scent of embers. “You’re the one who fucked up when you sent us after the desert rat of a princess. You’re the one who hasn’t advanced, and you’re the one who’s been off doing whatever for months while the rest of us actually got stronger. You want to try all three of us at once?”
Sha Xiang couldn’t have agreed more. Xiao Jun had stalled. He’d been at the same level of advancement since they’d met him. Sure, he could push them around when they were all just Second Realm weaklings, but that gap had narrowed considerably. If he didn’t watch himself…
“This isn’t about me,” Xiao Jun said, his voice low. “What do you think will happen if you don’t place in the tournament? Do you think I’ll be the only one to suffer? Every single one of you needs to qualify.”
Bao scoffed. “See to your own house, Jun. I know where I stand, and from here, it looks like your time is about up.”
Qiao Xia just stood there like the dumb spoiled piece of trash she was. Well, they’d be leaving her behind soon enough too, for all Sha Xiang cared.
Sha Xiang grinned. “I’m with Bao,” she said, as she slid an arm around his waist. “Watch out, because there’s a lot more on the line with this tournament than just the inner sect.”
Together, she and Cui Bao left the other two. Her thoughts turned to the demon core as they left the copse together. Xiao Jun was finished, even if he didn’t know it yet. Like hell she would let an opportunity like this go to waste. Together they would grow strong. Together they would defy the heavens.
