Bulls on Parade

Mayor Chen was at a loss after hearing the question, because he had heard of this store before when the top families came to him to complain. He sent out his assistants out to gather information about this pavilion, and its location. While he awaited answers, he had his chefs prepare a feast to stall for time.

"Lord Rui", the mayor said as he guided his guest to the dining hall, "I'm a little embarrassed, apparently this store is located in the outer farmlands. I don't know much about, so give me a moment to ask around. I'll arrange a carriage to take us there once my subordinates return with its location."

Lord Rui looked suspiciously at the mayor, "This store has even reached my ears, yet you are unaware of its presence?"

The mayor did his best to hid his feelings, "My apologies Lord Rui, but this is truly my oversight. I've been focused on communicating with the surroundings sects in preparation to face a possible beast tide, and neglected to investigate a small shop in the outer city."

"No, it is rude of me to question how you lead your city", Lord Rui decided to drop the subject, "That being said, I still wish to visit this store to find out more about the one who watches over it."

An attendant quietly made his way over, and whispered into Mayor Chen's ear.

The mayor nodded and turned towards his guests, "You've had a long trip and need some time to rest, but my subordinates have found the store so when you're ready to visit, just inform me and we will leave."

Lord Rui noticed his daughter staring at him, and cleared his throat, "There is no reason to wait, I thank you for your hospitality but I believe we are ready to go see this store."

Lord Rui, Rui Lan, and Xue Jian finished their meal and stood up before Lord Rui spoke, "Sorry to burden you, Mayor Chen. Could you please lead the way?"

The mayor nodded to his attendant and rose from his seat, "Of course, please follow me."

The mayor led the three guests to awaiting carriages as both their entourages followed behind. The mayor sat in his carriage as the Rui family boarded their own before the line of carriages left the mayor's residence. Mayor Chen slumped in his seat wishing that this problem would disappear, and questioning why this had to happen now of all times. As he tried to plan on what to do when they arrived, he felt like his head was pounding. After a few moments, he realized that it wasn't his head that was pounding but that what he was hearing was the large drums that sat on the city walls.

The mayor immediately recognized the rhythm of the drums to signify what he was dreading, a beast tide. He slid a small panel open that allowed his to speak with his driver.

"Stop the carriage", he ordered.

The driver stopped the carriage, and the mayor exited it before heading to the next one. He gave some instructions to the driver of the second carriage before moving to the Rui family's carriage.

"Lord Rui", the mayor said, "I believe you hear the beast tide drums right now. I have to speak with the city guard now, so I recommend you return to my residence. If you wish to continue, I'll have my attendants guide you the rest of the way."

"We will take your offer then", Lord Rui replied, "I believe that Xue Jian and myself can ensure our safety, so there is no need to return."

As Lord Rui watched Mayor Chen's carriage leave towards the main gate, he also saw a shimmer in the air as the town's protective formation was activated.

"Father, will we be ok?", Rui Lan looked nervous for the first time.

"It's fine, Lan'er", Rui Zhong assured her, "Beast tides in this part of the world aren't particularly dangerous to cultivators like me and Xue Jian. If something happens, we will make sure to protect you and leave this place. I already feel uncomfortable with the lack of qi here, and we need to handle this before going."

Rui Zhong nodded to the driver who called out to the mayor's attendants.

"The lord is ready to travel", the driver stated.

The attendants quickly bowed before returning to their carriage, and soon the convey got moving again. It didn't take long to reach the pavilion as the citizens of the city had swiftly rushed home in fear leaving the streets bare.

This was to be expected, but what surprised Rui Zhong, Rui Lan, and Xue Jian was when they reached the pavilion, there were still a large of amount of people still there. Confused, the three of them exited the carriage, and walked through the gate to evaluate the situation. Rui Zhong immediately noticed two things right off the bat: The qi in the air now longer felt lacking, and he could no longer hear the warning drums beating.

As the group entered the main store, Rui Zhong noticed cultivators walking around checking the products, heading to the counter to checkout, or walking through the store to another floor or building. None of the people present seemed concerned about the warning being broadcast to the city at all.

Rui Zhong walked up to the counter where Fang Shi sat, "Clerk, get your boss. The city is in danger and is putting all of you in danger."

Fang Shi perked up as this strange man in nice clothes walked over, "What are you talking about? Anyways there is no need to find the boss, I'm the owner of this store."

Then Fang Shi recognized the young girl next to the man, "Oh, I didn't think you would return. Are you still harboring thoughts of revenge against me? Better let those thoughts go, or the punishment will be more severe."

Rui Zhong looked to see his daughter seething as she stared at the young man.

"What happened the the last time you were here, Lan'er", he asked.

"It was just as I told you before, father", Rui Lan nervously answered, "I came here to determine the fate of our slaves, and the owner of this store unceremoniously removed us from the property."

"That sounds much different than reality", Fang Shi snorted, "As I remember it, you burst in with your bodyguard demanding to the owner, and wanted me to sell my store without consent. You even tried to use your family's name to threaten me."

"How can a little Qi Gathering realm cultivator like you be the owner of this place?", she snapped back, "Obviously, there has to be someone stronger watching over this place to give you the confidence to oppose me."

"If you don't want to believe this is my store", Fang Shi nonchalantly replied, "That is your business."

Rui Zhong had gotten tired of hearing both sides argue, so he went to raise his voice and his aura to take control of the situation. Only, when he went to do so, everything immediately felt strange.

Rui Zhong had the understanding that when a cultivator walked the path of cultivation, it was akin to a traveler walking a lighted path through the darkness. But when the strange feeling overcame him, he suddenly felt like the path had disappeared and he was floating in darkness.

"Father, what happened?", Rui Lan had noticed that her father was going to intimidate the clerk, but suddenly his face had become pale.

"Daoist", Rui Zhong heard, "I know that where you're from, it's normal for you to suppress others when you feel like you lost control. But this is my store and if you insist on causing trouble here, I will remove you the same way I did the young lady a few weeks ago.

Rui Zhong felt like a feeble mortal, and was frightened for the first time in a long time as he looked at Fang Shi.

"I'm sorry, Owner", he said, "It does seem I have forgotten my place."

Fang Shi smiled, and Rui Zhong felt his cultivation level return, relieving the latter.

"Since we got off to a bad start, let's introduce ourselves", Fang Shi suggested, "I'm Fang Shi, Owner of the Heaven & Earth pavilion."

"I am Lord Rui Zhong, and this is my daughter Rui Lan", he introduced himself and his daughter, "I run a branch of the Rui Golden Hall, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Why did you look so lost when you first entered the store?", Fang Shi inquired.

"I didn't understand why sound of the warning drums was absent", Rui Zhong explained.

"Oh, those loud drums", Fang Shi remembered feeling irritated when multiple drums suddenly started being beat, "I had the formation block the noise."

"Owner Fang, is that wise?", Rui Zhong was concerned, "That was a warning that the city will be attacked by a beast tide. Shouldn't you be seeking safety?"

Fang Shi's face went expressionless, but internally he was embarrassed. As a transmigrator, he had lived in this world for 13 years but had been poor. He had spent all his time trying to survive, and learning about his immediate surroundings. Once the system activated, he had never tried to learn more about the city just because he had always been busy on the store.

When customers heard the exchange between the two men, they immediately started spreading the news.

Meanwhile, Mayor Chen had arrived at the main gate of the city. As he exited his carriage, he was greeted by his guard captain, Lan Yue.

"Captain Lan", the mayor said when he saw the captain, "What is the current situation?"

"Please follow me", the Captain requested, "I'll discuss everything as we move."

"Let's go then", Mayor Chen agreed.

"Our guards were on duty as usual when they spotted an unusual sight", Captain Lan explained, "They saw a giant dust cloud in the plains northwest of here, and after using an eye technique to observe the situation, they found spirit wolves driving a large herd of stone hide buffalo our way."

"I assume from the warning issued by the drums, that the herd is of a significant number?", the mayor asked.

"Of course", the captain replied, "Our protection formation will be able to shoulder the initial assault, but a stampede by these beast will drain our resources very quickly. And that's not the only news."

Mayor Chen felt a bad premonition, "What else happened?"

Shortly after the northwestern guard tower reported the buffalo, the western station is currently defending the wall against boars and deer that we suspect also were driven to us by the wolves."

'How could this worse?', the mayor thought, 'Although this beast tide wasn't as large as some of the ones recorded in the town's history, the fact that it was coordinated by another spirit beast was frightening.'

"What is your plan?", the mayor asked in curiosity.

"We need to strengthen the formation at these two points", Captain Lan directed the mayor's attention by pointing at the theoretical points of battle, "If we can have for formation masters adjust the array to give use the strength to resist, we should be able to hold out."

Mayor Chen liked the idea at first also, but something bothered him.

"If the stampede were to change directions, and attack a weakened area of the barrier", the mayor asked, "Can we strengthen that section fast enough to protect the wall?"

"We should be able to", Captain Lan answered, "We should prioritize the north over the south if that does happen."

"Why?", Mayor Chen had to ask.

"That area is all barren farmland while the north can still produce spirit rice", the captain explained, "The stampede can't damage barren farmland, also the population there is smaller and they can evacuate easily."

The mayor agreed with the logic, so he pat the captain on the shoulder.

"Let's go to the west wall to see how bad the fighting is", he suggested.

"Of course", the guard captain agreed, "Give me a moment to instruct the formation masters, and the. We will go."

Several minutes later, Captain Lan returned and two set off towards the west wall with their subordinates. The mayor watched as the defenders were using techniques to attack the spirit beasts while others were using the crossbows mounted on the wall to do the same.

The mayor couldn't see who had the advantage in the battle as he would see multiple spirit beasts killed, but also with their sheer numbers, some would breakthrough smashing into the array formation. He knew that each time they could attack the barrier, it would mean more spirit stones used to maintain the formation.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking causing both men to look north, the direction of the buffalo herd. They could see the herd had come this way instead of attacking the northwest corner.

"Damn!", Captain Lan cursed, "Those blasted wolves must have directed the herd this way."

The deer and boars also noticed the buffalo headed their way, and stopped their current attacks. Frightened of being gored and trampled, the spirit beasts turned south to escape the herd. The western wall guards began to cheer when they as the beasts were running but the two leaders were worried. They watched the fleeing animals as the recklessly moved, and some of them either accidentally crashed into the barrier, or were driven into by others. The other beast seem to realize that this side of the wall was much easier to attack than the other sides, and to the horror of the mayor and guard Captain, they stopped running and renewed their attack on the wall.

"Captain", the mayor yelled, "Send a message to the array masters to fortify that side."

"I'm on it", Captain Lan saluted, "But we lucked out, the only thing that wall protects is barren farmland and some new store that opened there a year ago. Heaven & Earth pavilion, I think that's its name."

"Captain Lan", The mayor grew scared, "That's where the Rui family is visiting right now!"