Chương 85: Book 2, Chapter 7: Darkness of the Sima Clan

The ruins looming out of the rain could be mistaken for a grand mansion at first glance. Wide outer walls stretched out into the mists, well-made with thick white plaster and finely wrought red clay tile roofs. But closer inspection revealed the truth. Black marks from fire marred their surface, shattered tiles and broken stone eaves told of great violence that had been wrought upon them. Their party skirted around the walls rather than trying to climb over them, seeking the main entrance to the estate.

They found it a few hundred paces clockwise – a broken and twisted iron gate, half reduced to slag. A sign hung forlornly upon it, held up by a frayed piece of decaying rope. By Imperial Edict none may disturb this place Let the bones of those who rebelled against the Emperor rot here And stand as evidence of the Sima Clan's crimes Until even the stones have forgotten their vile name There was complete silence as everyone read the placard. Even the horses and Tae said not a word.

The only sound was the whistling of wind and the patter of rain on the mottled stone tiles that lead into the estate. ["What is this place?"] Cyrus asked. Song nearly jumped off of his horse as the Canadian continued, ["It's creepy as all hell."] ["Just over two hundred years ago, the Sima Clan, along with the Kongtong Sect rebelled against the Emperor."] Song explained, happy for the distraction for once. ["They were one of the wealthiest clans in the Empire – one of the Five Great Houses. They practiced cultivation arts of the Crimson Hunger. This is one of their old estates."] Eunji raised her hand to call for a stop, and they all dismounted and tied their horses to a few stakes that had been hammered into the hard ground at the entryway. The inside of the estate was somehow worse than the outside. Burned out husks of buildings and dead grasses stood amongst shattered granite tiles that had once served as roads.

Dark splashes of colour spattered the cobbles and walls, and everywhere was the evidence of fire, from the charcoal beams to the melted cladding. Up ahead, the main house came into view, a two-storey affair that was at least two hundred paces wide. The entire front of the building had been shorn off with jagged edges, like a bite had been taken out of it. The image of a grasswolf, it's maw open as it leapt, flashed through Song's mind and he shivered.

Evidence of recent organized human habitation was strewn all over the place. Bags and refuse, uneaten sodden food, bedrolls, and unlit cookfires sat here and there, waiting for an owner who'd never come to reclaim them.

"It appears someone was here," Jii commented.

"But where'd they go?" Eunji shook her head and pointed ahead to where a faint billow of smoke could be seen coming from behind the main house.

"Over there, I suspect. Everyone, move quietly." Cyrus's curiosity clearly hadn't been sated, as he asked. ["So, why'd they do it?"] ["Power. Control. And the whispered temptations of the Crimson Hunger."] Song shrugged. ["The Sima Clan was strongly tied to the Imperial academies and they provided many of the army's tacticians. But even with all that, they'd always chaffed that clans like the Namgoongs were still given precedence by the Empire just because they were tied to the Golden Emperor. The Imperial family worships Him, you see. They claim the Emperor is His child in spirit– the First Son Under Heaven."] ["The Crimson Hunger and Golden Emperor? I thought they were just, like, Elder God things that didn't really get involved. Cultivators just siphon their power to grow stronger, and their qi makes up the world or something. So how are they tied up in this??"] This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

["The Crimson Hunger,"] Song replied seriously, ["covets and desires all things, even the worship of Man. If the Golden Emperor provides form, the Azure Scholar knowledge, and the Verdant mother life, the Crimson Hunger brings desire. It's in His nature to be more direct, and His followers are more likely to receive His attention and affection."] Song remembered that endless dark, and the forest filled with the bleating of countless mouths.

He didn't even want to think what the direct attention of one of the Great Ones would be like. ["So how does that tie in with your Lee family?"] ["The Sima Clan worked with the Kongtong Sect, and brought ruin to many parts of the Empire. The Kongtong Sect can call the fires of heaven with their techniques, and it's devastating in battle. There was a long and bloody war to get rid of them, and even then all we were able to do was drive them to the eastern continent of Huoyan. When it came time to pick up the pieces, many clans were driven out from the capital, either because they were connected to the Simas or had done business with them in the past, our Lee clan among them."] They passed by a central square, where a stone plinth stood. It'd once held the statue of some hero of the Sima clan, now broken and scattered around the sodden earth.

Song nudged a large round stone with his foot and it rolled over to reveal the handsome face of an Imperial nobleman, his gaze fixed with pride and power. But it was now weathered by rain and spattered with mud, and worms squirmed upon its surface. Song kicked the stone away. ["They were the reason my Lee family herds horses and kowtows before imperial censors. I wanted to see the evidence of their destruction with my own eyes."] ["What happened to them?"] Cyrus asked, more quietly this time.

["They bored into the deserts of the east like greedy badger-furred sandmoles. They managed to take over a few cities on the coast, and then the smaller nations and city-states of the continent fell one by one, swallowed up by their appetites. They were only stopped by the forces of the Heavenly Demonic Sect, who rule the southern peninsula. We still have skirmishes with their forces, from time to time; the Simas have never forgotten their old grudge and send ships and troops to harry our ports and coastal cities."] Cyrus fell silent once more as they passed the plinth and continued forward into a small gate house just before the manor. The burned out single-room hut had more recently served as a storage space. Sacks of grain and shoddy weaponry sat against the walls, along with paintings, books, and other valuables.

"No wonder the peasants think this place is haunted," Tae complained into the silence.

"Does anyone else smell blood? Or hear whispers?"

"Does your tongue ever stop wagging, Lee Taeyang? Do you have a dog's rear end for a mouth!?" Eunji hissed, whirling on him.

"That is blood. Look more closely." Song turned his attention to the dark splashes of colour on the walls and ground. Now that he was looking more closely, he could see the deep dark red to it, and how the rain was slowly washing it away, one crimson dribbling stream by another. Jii approached one such mark and examined it clinically, positioning himself to try and see where the victim and attacker would've stood.

"It's shoddy work," he eventually remarked.

"I don't recognize the style."

"The Emei Sect's martial arts would be pinprick clean, and there's no evidence of talismans or formations, so probably not the Qincheng Sect either," Eunji said, coming up beside him.

"Tang?" Eunji scoffed.

"Tang wouldn't leave evidence at all. This just looks like violence. Pure, unadulterated, violence. Like something a complete novice would do."

"Or a Demonic Cultivator," Tae whispered hoarsely. All the younger members of their party looked ahead to where the plume of smoke rose behind the main manor. Tae took a step backwards, and even Wook looked unsure.

"Well, if it is a rogue Demonic Cultivator, it's our responsibility as noble cultivators of the Empire to deal with them," Jii sighed, rising to his feet and cracking his back. His four tentacles snaked out from behind his back to stretch out like feelers, undulating and twisting, seemingly sniffing the air for prey.

"Shall we, Lee Eunji?" Eunji frowned.

"Will you listen to my orders?"

"You're leading," Jii shrugged.

"I agreed to that when we joined this little jaunt."

"Good, then you're with me." Eunji nodded. She looked over at the rest of them.

"Move quietly, and stay behind the elder Yu and myself. Wook, you hold up the back; keep Dami, Song, and Jinu in the middle. Tae… just stick next to Song and keep your mouth shut." Tae moved up beside Song. He nodded mutely, but Song could see his elder brother's eyes and ears drinking everything in. There'd probably be a poem about this by tomorrow night, and they'd all be subjected to it for a week. Assuming they survived the day.

Eunji motioned them forward, and they slowly slunk past the jagged wooden beams and shattered front wall, into the heart of the Sima estate.