Chapter Six: A Thousand Blades

Warning! Scenes of violence in this chapter. Read at your own risk!

This chapter is a bit shorter than the rest, but so much happens in it. I couldn't add anything else more to it.

Once the volcano erupted, the people panicked and started flooding the bridge. Bai Xu, of course, wasn't ready. His vassals tried controlling the crowds, but they rushed past them and the bridge grew more and more unstable. Bai Xu didn't have enough spiritual powers to keep the bridge together. 

"Something's wrong!" Bai Xu cried out to his friends. "Make them stop!"

"They won't listen!" Bao Xian cried out to him. 

"Turn around! Turn around!" the other three cried to the people, but it was absolute mayhem. The swarm grew bigger and bigger, draining any spiritual energy Bai Xu had left. 

The bridge collapsed just like that, bringing the people with it. Bai Xu watched in terror as his people burned in a sea of flames. He wanted to scream, to reach out and save them. Yet he couldn't save them all. The volcano was taking anyone who hadn't fallen off the bridge. All the prince could feel was complete regret.

Bao Xian wrapped his arms around him, trying to comfort him. But Bai Xu wasn't having any of it. His whole kingdom has collapsed before his very eyes. He worked so hard to protect them, but it was for naught. He had failed tremendously. 

"Let's go," Bao Xian whispered into his ear. "Come on, you shouldn't watch this."

Bao Xian pulled him away, pulling him into a temple that had been destroyed a couple of years ago. Bai Xu was almost inconsolable at the moment. He was shaking in anger and despair, and he was acting completely erratic. He thrashed in Bao Xian's arms, trying to get away from him. 

"Let me go! Let me go!" he shouted, elbowing Bao Xian hard in the chest. Bao Xian wouldn't release him, so Bai Xu took matters into his own hands and punched his face. You could hear bones crack, and Bao Xian cried out in pain. He let go of the prince, placing his hand on his own face in shock.

"Bai Xu–"

"Leave me alone!" Bai Xu screamed and turned away, storming out of the temple. Bao Xian removed his hand, staring at it in shock. It was soaked in blood. 

"Bao Xian!" Mu Chen cried as the other three rushed in. "What happened?!"

"Why are you bleeding?!" Zhong Ran asked, running to him to check out his injury. "Who did this?"

"It had to be His Highness," Mu Chen said, narrowing his eyes in worry. "Why did he hurt you?"

"It's fine," Bao Xian lied. It really wasn't fine. Bai Xu was out there, completely unhinged. His biggest nightmare took place, and he needed to blame someone for it.

"Why do you love him?" Guan Qi asked, shocking the entire group. Guan Qi was never one to speak out like that. Yet anyone could see the worry and fear written all over his face. "Why would you let him hurt you like this? Gege, he's never once treated you well! How can you believe in someone who only ends up turning on you? That's not the same Bai Xu we grew up with! It doesn't matter how upset he is! We're all upset! Our people, our friends, our family- They're all gone! But that doesn't mean we turn on our own!"

"It's okay, Guan Qi," Bao Xian said, giving him a small smile. "I'll be okay."

Zhong Ran sighed and took out a vial of medication, opening it up and allowing green smoke to envelope Bao Xian's face. Once the bleeding stopped and the pain went away, Bao Xian thanked his friends and dismissed himself. He had to find Bai Xu and stop him from making the situation worse than it already was. 

"Where are you going?" Zhong Ran asked.

"To find His Highness!"

The eruption luckily didn't reach the capital and the outskirts of the Kingdom of Wuyong. The people who were left in the Kingdom started toppling all of Bai Xu's statues, setting fires to his temples. Word spread across the lands of Bai Xu's failure, and even more of his believers burned down his remaining temples. Bai Xu had no believers left.

Grief-stricken, Bai Xu descended to confront his old believers. Angered by his appearance, the people charged him, spearing him in the heart with arrows. Bai Xu fell to the ground in shock, grabbing onto his heart. Everyone formed a line and stabbed his chest with blades, cursing him for the misfortune he brought the kingdom.

When Bao Xian arrived, he saw the cruelty of the people. He couldn't believe his eyes as one after the other, the people brutally mutilated the prince until his heart was mush. Bao Xian screamed, trying to pull people away. He couldn't stand the pain filled wailings of his prince and the blood covered scene. His heart ached just witnessing the scene. Soon the other vassals arrived and shoo-ed off the crowd. The four of them took Bai Xu to a private location.

Bao Xian pulled Bai Xu into his arms, hugging him to himself. He was careful not to disrupt the man's wounds. Bao Xian has never cried in front of anyone, but at that moment he wept for his prince. The younger's pain and suffering overtook him. It was like he could feel every single bit of pain the other had. 

"Help! I need medicine! Now!" he screamed to the other three. Zhong Ran sighed and walked over, bending down next to the two of them and immediately attending to Bai Xu's wounds. Guan Qi was standing far from them, his face contorted in horror. He had never seen something so vulgar before. It made it even worse that it happened to someone so close to him.

"My sweet Highness," Bao Xian whispered, his voice cracking. He grabbed onto his cheeks, looking into his eyes. "My love. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you. I couldn't stop them. I did everything I could. I failed you, my love. I am so so sorry!"

"Gege," Bai Xu breathed out, shakily reaching up and placing his hand on his cheek. "It's not your fault."

"My love," Bao Xian said, tears flowing down his cheeks. Bai Xu slowly sat up, looking at the others. 

"Bring me to the Palace of Divine Might," he said.

"You can't possibly want to start something else," Zhong Ran said with a frown. 

"Take me there," Bai Xu repeated himself.

Bao Xian hastily wiped his own tears and stood up, helping him up. Before the others could say anything else, they both vanished. Despite not being part of the Upper Court, Bao Xian still helped his prince into the palace. A crowd of Heavenly Officials were convened inside, turning to watch them as they made their way through. Bai Xu was clenching his chest, leaning heavily on Bao Xian.

"Your Highness Bai Xu," the heavenly emperor, Tian Qi, said. Anyone could see the disappointment that laced his features as when he saw the prince's face. "Why have you come?"

"Why do you think I came?" Bai Xu hissed out through clenched teeth. "Why, you ask?! You didn't help me! I always believed in you and you didn't help! You didn't help my people! They all perished because my god didn't offer a hand!"

"You know very well why our Lord didn't help!" a heavenly official piped up. Bai Xu turned on him, fury overtaking him. Bao Xian held tightly onto him to keep him from doing anything else that would hurt him. 

"None of you helped! You all just sat and let this happen! How could you not care for the people?! What kind of monsters are you?!" he screamed. If he was at full strength, he would have blasted all of the heavenly officials away. "Why?! Just why?!"

"Bai Xu," the heavenly emperor said, bringing the prince's attention back to himself. "We are all under strict restrictions from helping in mortal affairs! The volcano is not of magical elements. It was a natural disaster only the humans could handle. You have broken a thousand heavenly laws in order to stop something you had no business stopping. You started by descending and punishing mortals for starting a war. That was your first strike. We can not hurt mortals, no matter what your reasoning is! And then you tried to build a bridge between the two realms. Bringing mortals to the heavenly realm? That's your second strike. And now you're here, questioning the morals of your fellow Heavenly Officials? Disrespecting them as well as myself? If you were at full strength, you would have attacked us as well. For that, I can not allow you to stay in the Heavenly Realm."

"W-what?" Bai Xu breathed out, freezing in Bao Xian's hold. "H-how am I wrong. What's wrong about my morals?"

"You are banished from the Heavenly Realm. Your powers will be sealed," Tian Qi said. He snapped his fingers and a black band appeared around Bai Xu's neck. Tian Qi looked at Bao Xian, his gaze softening. 

"You and your friends need not worry," he told Bao Xian. "You will stay immortal. And should you or your friends want to ascend, this incident will not block your path from following your fate."

Bao Xian cleared his throat, unsure of how to respond. His friends would appreciate these words, but he could care less. If Bai Xu wasn't a god, then he didn't want to be here either. His only purpose is to serve his prince. 

"Thank you," Bai Xian said, kowtowing awkwardly before turning and leading his prince away. Bai Xu screamed curses at the other gods, but his friend continued to lead him away. They weren't wanted there anymore. Bao Xian chose to avoid any more conflict. 

The fall from grace was a terrible blow for Bai Xu. He had lost the support of his entire Kingdom. His own parents shunned him and wouldn't allow him to return. Mu Chen, Zhong Ran and Guan Qi didn't see him the same and rarely talked to him. Only Bao Xian stood by his side. He lost everything.

He and his four vassals took refuge in the lang of Ling Ye. Bao Xian assured him it was the best way for him to cultivate if he wanted to ascend again. And no one would bug them. He wouldn't be cursed at by the people of Wuyong. They would be at complete peace. 

"What's the plan now?" Guan Qi asked one night, hugging his knees to his chest. He stared over at Bai Xu, who was still recovering from the thousands of blades that had pierced through his heart. 

"I need to cultivate," Bai Xu breathed out, leaning against Bao Xian. "I need to ascend again."

"Why do you still want to ascend after everything that happened?" Mu Chen asked, frowning deeply at his words. "I don't understand you."

Bai Xu stayed silent. No one would agree with his reasoning for wanting to ascend again. He wanted to make everyone suffer. The only people who offered a hand to his people were the four standing before him. He wanted to wipe out the entire Heavenly Court. He would bring his four friends up and they would create a new Heavenly Court together. People who cared would stand together and create a better world. That was his new dream. 

"We must go back to Wuyong," Bai Xu said. "We need to help out everyone who survived the eruption."

"You're not strong enough," Bao Xian said, shaking his head. "Just stay here and recuperate."

"He's going to have a hard time trying to cultivate," Zhong Ran spoke up after a while. "He lost all his devotees. Even if he cultivates, who is going to welcome him as a god?"

"He can try," Bao Xian told him. "Enough of this. We do need to help our people. This isn't the time to give up on them!"

"Why should we want to help them anymore?" Guan Qi asked, his eyes red. "Look at the state of His Highness! They did that to him! Why would I want to help those kind of people? Why should you guys want to help those kind of people?"

"Guan Qi," Mu Chen said, but the youngest boy shook his head.

"I know I questioned why we were following His Highness before, but that was a mistake," Guan Qi said. He looked over at the prince with a sad smile. "No one deserves to be hurt like this. It's true, all he wanted to do was save his people. But his people could care less. Why help those jerks?"

"Because those jerks are my people, regardless of what they did," Bai Xu told him. "Come on. Let's head down to Wuyong. We must offer aid as soon as possible."

"You're in no condition to help them," Bao Xian said, softly. "Please, get some more rest."

"No," Bai Xu said, finality laced in his tone. "Let's go."