Chapter 8 – Corruption

Sher took in the scene unfolding before her in the dining room. Her first reaction was to prepare for combat, but as she continued observing the townsfolk, tortured as they were, they didn’t seem crazed—not yet, at least.

Li Meilien took the lead, heading for the door. Sher followed behind.

“Senior Sister, do you recognize what is happening to these people?” Sher had several guesses but confirming them would necessitate displaying more knowledge than she was willing.

“I have seen a body once, its state significantly more deteriorated. The… Qi, or whatever is corrupting them, was gone by then. We have never discovered what happened. Nor the cause.”

“Was it recently?”

“Several years ago, far from here. You think I suspect Lars?” Senior Li turned to Sher, as she opened the door.

Sher shrugged. “I don’t believe in coincidences. But I don’t think Lars caused whatever this is.” She peeked outside, and continued. “This would be too reckless. Rather, I think it’s a distraction, or a measure to sow suspicions among us.”

Li gave her an appreciative look. “Follow me into the town. Let’s find out what is going on.”

Li Meilien strode forward, and a wave of Divine Sense, originating from her Senior Sister, enveloped Sherenna, spreading through their surroundings.

In the late night hours the town was quiet, not a soul wandering the streets, no lights visible through the nearby windows. The weather remained clear, a full moon in the sky illuminating the night.

As they walked through the town, nothing indicated similar horrors outside the inn.

“Have you sensed anything Senior Sister? Maybe Elder Feng’s presence?”

“I can’t reach into the manor on the other riverbank. The town seems safe, and it would be best if you returned to the inn, Junior Sister.” Li Meilien didn’t seem calmed by the supposed safety.

“Perhaps, but I would rather accompany you. I am not fond of staying put and waiting for danger to come. I’d rather face it on my own terms.”

“Would you now? Well, you can come along then, but I can’t promise I’ll be able to protect you.”

Senior Sister Li continued scanning the surroundings as the two women made their way towards the river.

As they reached it, Li Meilien controlled her sword to hover at her feet and stepped onto the flat of its blade. She reached out her hand towards Sher, but to her surprise, her Junior Sister also controlled her own sword. As Li watched, Sher flew slowly over the river, keeping balance on her flying sword.

Bewildered, it took her a moment to follow.

The manor on the other bank was well maintained, the building was clean and the bushes around it were neatly trimmed. There was nothing sinister or ominous about it to indicate it as the source of some horrific practices.

Walking through the gardens, Sher felt Senior Sister’s Divine Sense fade until it finally could not spread farther than Li’s immediate vicinity.

The doors to the manor were left ajar. Li Meilien pushed them open and started to step inside but abruptly leapt back. A sword blade slammed into the door frame, level with her neck.

Two men came out of the manor, swords in hands. Dark purple Qi pulsated through their bodies, twisting and distorting their flesh. But unlike the poor souls in the inn, they seemed lucid. At least conscious enough to act if not speak.

A sword met Li’s blade with a clang. Before the man could strike again, Li’s left hand shot forward, striking his solar plexus. The man grunted, but didn’t go down.

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Sher didn’t follow the rest of the exchange, as the other man came at her.

With a quick incantation gesture her sword shot at the man. He easily blocked and advanced. Sher backed away, controlling her sword to deliver further strikes against the man, all in vain.

As the man drew nearer, he finally leapt forward. His sword poised to block her last desperate attack, before delivering the killing blow. Her attack came at the sword, but there was no ring of steel striking steel.

As the swords were about to clash, Sher formed her fingers into an incantation gesture. Her sword flickered, now beyond the man’s guard.

His head flew off his shoulders.

Sher looked at her Senior Sister. Li Meilien stood with her hand stuck into her opponent’s chest. A shape flew towards her side. At the last moment Li reacted and sidestepped.

Alerted, Sher spun around, searching for danger.

Two hounds were stalking towards her from the back. Familiar deep purple Qi veins bulging beneath their fur.

One hound charged at her, the other circling towards her side.

Sher willed her sword to come back and intercept, but it was too late.

As the hound’s jaws reached for her throat, her body took over and she struck out with Tiger Palm.

Her blow connected, slowing the hound and giving her a moment to collect herself.

Tiger Palm, performed in real combat, felt lacking. It barely stopped the hound and left no lasting damage. But Sher also felt an untapped potential in this technique, her own understanding insufficient to bring out the full potential.

She willed her flying sword at the dog leaping at her from the side. The tip of her blade piercing its flank and sinking into its flesh.

The first hound renewed its attempt to attack her. Sher responded with another Tiger Palm. This time, instead of relying solely on the Qi brought out from her Dantian, she let the Qi permeating her body flow into and enhance the strike. In a moment of inspiration, Sher refined the miniscule amount of Qi emitted as aura around her palm.

Her hand snapped forward, meeting the hound’s snout and shattering it.

Both hounds lay at her feet as quiet in death as they were eerily silent in life.

Sherenna spread a lattice of Divine Sense. Something tried to suppress it, but the effect was nowhere near strong enough. Before her Divine Sense shattered on Senior Sister’s restricted Divine Sense, Sher learned that there was no other danger in their immediate vicinity.

She moved towards Li Meilien and saw her clutching her left hand that had pierced the assailant’s body. Dark purple Qi rippled through her fingers spreading towards the palm of her hand.

Senior Sister Li’s Qi could not fight against the invasion, each second the alien Qi spread further. In act of determination and desperation, Li Meilien grabbed the blade of her sword with her bare hand.

* * *

Li Meilien had expected trouble when they approached the building.

The opponents had surprised her as the Divine Sense she had been used to rely on was restricted; however, their combat abilities and quality of their Qi didn’t extend beyond that of a late stage Qi Refinement practitioner.

She finished her opponent in seconds and readied to help her Junior Sister, who was still hopefully alive, when a corrupted beast attacked from her blind spot. In the split second as it entered her restricted Divine Sense, she reacted, pivoting to the side and dispatching the hound.

It turned out her Junior Sister had more surprises in store; Li Meilien briefly watched as Sher confidently dealt with two opponents who should had been far more powerful than her.

She did not act, as a sudden pain in her left hand caught her attention. Usually, a bit of pain would not distract her from taking action. This pain, however, was accompanied by a sudden feeling of immense dread and wrongness. She watched as dark purple veins started to bulge on her fingers.

Meilien directed her own Qi to fight back, but it was as if there was nothing there. No foreign Qi to fight against. Briefly confused, she focused more deeply, sending more Qi to her fingers. She then realized that she could not reach the very tips of her fingers with her Qi, it was as if these were no longer parts of her.

Unable to fight back in any way, unable to affect the alien Qi at all, the unnatural dread she felt before blended now with her own fear, as she felt helpless against this corruption.

Gritting her teeth, Li Meilien grabbed her blade tightly.

She closed her eyes and sliced off the upper part of her hand.

Opening her eyes, she noticed Sher staring at her. No shock nor surprise in her eyes. Just steady resolve. Her Junior Sister seemed uninjured and uninfected, only her white jacket was now spattered with the red blood of slain enemies.

“Shall we proceed?”

* * *

“Shall we proceed?” Sherenna asked. This wasn’t an injury that would hinder a cultivator as strong as her Senior Sister.

Li Meilien stared at her for a long moment. ‘Maybe I should have acted more shocked,’ Sher thought, but there were more important things at hand, and decisive actions were needed.

Though her behavior might be considered strange, their shared combat experience should foster goodwill, lessening Li Meilien’s suspicions. And in the future, if she acted unrestrained again, it wouldn’t be out of character any longer.

Senior Sister’s gaze wandered from Sher to the man’s corpse and to the slain hounds. “Yes, let’s proceed.”

The two women entered the mansion. Senior Sister Li leading and Sher following close behind, sword hovering at her side.