Chapter 114 - Moments Of No Return

A quarter of a moon after the banquet, the rain had finally ceased, or at least paused for some time and the remnant lightning energy had begun to dissipate from the Thundercloud forest. The City Lord had sent to the Alchemy Consortium in Red Moon City for a replacement alchemist and the Alchemy Consortium had issued the stunning response of requiring the City Lord to appear personally in Red Moon City to resolve the matter. Two days ago the City Lord and his wife Ju Tse had left for Red Moon City with the captured Mao Ailum in tow, leaving the City Engineer Zhang Yao temporarily in charge of Turning Leaf town. 

Around town, Ao Wen had become a central part of most gossip, and if not her, then at least three parts in five of the remainder mentioned her companions or their families. Many people spoke cheerfully of Feng Lieren visiting their shops, accompanied by his daughter who had begun carrying a long elegant bow in the same style as her famous archer father. Others chattered with excitement at the news that the City Lord had pronounced judgment against the absent Mo family for their part in destroying the Four Garden's House and that a portion of the seized assets of the Mo family was being used to fund the reconstruction of a new Eight Garden's Pavilion at the site of what had once been the Mo family residence. 

Some still told stories about the explosive banquet and the confrontation between alchemists that had been unexpectedly bloody and violent. Some of those who were there spoke in horrified tones, convinced that the outside world where the large sects contended had to be an unspeakably cruel place to produce such violent traditions and to treat such brutality as a matter of course. Others spoke wistfully in admiration of the courage they'd seen, praising Young Lord Zhang Bai as a future protector of Turning Leaf. 

Several who had attended focused more on the rising number of eligible young men reaching the second stage without becoming properly married and speculated about their own chances of obtaining such a desirable husband! Even if Zhang Bai was out of reach, Tang Jin certainly cut a charming figure, particularly with the aura of danger and mild savagery he'd acquired on breaking through. Others still pointed at the two remaining brawlers who'd stood for Ao Wen and wondered if they would be making their own breakthroughs in the days to come. After all, the young Alchemist certainly seemed to be capable of producing miracles for her allies and staunch defenders!

Elsewhere, on a hilltop that overlooked the Long family residence, Long Ma crouched low over a memorial tablet, opening a bottle of sweet wine and pouring a generous splash over the tablet before sitting leisurely beside it. "This must be enough to wake you from your rest, isn't it Brother?" Long Ma said, taking a swallow of wine directly from the bottle. Gazing up at the rare azure sky on this cold autumn day, he spoke as though the deceased Long Ming could hear him from the mythic heavens above. 

"You sacrificed so much for our family to rise," he said bitterly. "I know you didn't want to. You were always content to be the mightiest of sea serpents. You had everything you ever wanted. You had a beautiful wife. You had the adorable children. What need did you have to push your cultivation further when you already had what you desired?" Long Ma continued, taking another swallow of the sweet wine. 

"But you know, our family wouldn't have survived what's coming like that," he chided, taking the tone of a wise elder brother. "That's only good enough if Turning Leaf stays like it always was. Quiet. Sleepy. Too remote and too isolated by the storms to be worth bothering with. But it won't always be like this Brother," he said with a sigh and another swallow of wine. "Sometimes I wonder, if you'd seen the wider world, if you'd had a taste of the power of Blood and Slaughter if you'd been the one to encounter the Clan instead of me… would you have done the same?" 

Never in his long life had Long Ma felt as helpless as he had when encountering the mysterious ancient clan that kept their gaze on Turning Leaf. Forget Brawlers, even Soldiers, and Warriors meant nothing to the men who steeped themselves in Blood and Slaughter like tea that nurtured their souls. If there was something they wanted, who could stop such people from obtaining it? Faced with that overwhelming strength, would Long Ming truly have done anything different?

"Fate sure is cruel isn't it Brother? Even after I refined every drop of blood in your body, harvested all of the potential of your marrow, and devoured your five viscera, it was only enough to stimulate our latent bloodline to become a late-stage soldier," he said mockingly. 

"The City Lord won't give me control of anything without becoming a Warrior. The Clan can't be resisted with anything less than the strength of a Hero," he said with a self-deprecating snort. "Within twenty years, there won't be anything left of our ancestral home and no one will care enough to tend our poor broken memorials," he added, pouring another splash over his slain brother's memorial tablet. 

"But the people love their new hero," he mocked. "Only a defective peacock like Zhang Bai would find the muscle-bound laborer girl to be remotely attractive but in the words of the people, she's somehow become a unique heavenly swan, gracing us with her transcendent skills and holy healing. Soon, she'll have made me and every other Soldier irrelevant. Isn't that the greatest insult to your sacrifice Brother? You died, your wife lost a husband, your children lost a father and our family gained what? An increasingly irrelevant relic of an era when Soldiers still mattered to Turning Leaf."

Bitterly, Long Ma turned his gaze to look out over the town his family had called home for countless generations. He imagined hollowed-out buildings, disciplined soldiers in dark armor marching down deserted streets, and an evergrowing pile of corpses offered up to whatever mysterious ritual the Clan intended for this place. "It's not that much of a sacrifice when you think about it. The Zhang family would never accept it though. They'd fight till the end and more people would suffer. At least you understand Brother," he said, pouring another splash over the memorial tablet. "You understand that sometimes the ones you love have to be sacrificed so the chosen few can continue to live, even thrive. If only you could help me teach them now."

"Uncle," a young voice called from the bottom of the hill. "Uncle, your guest is here!" 

"I'll be just a moment," Long Ma called back. "Just let me say farewell to your father. Tell Master Ao Yang that I'll be with him in a moment and offer him a cup of tea from the red jade box in my study. I won't be long."

Seeing that the youth had understood his instructions, Long Ma stood slowly, wiping away the flecks of dirt and grass that had collected on his ocean-blue robes while he sat on the ground. "There's still an opportunity though Brother. Remember what I promised you that day? I'll keep your family safe no matter what. I just have to obtain the strength to do it!"