Chương 18: Chapter 17

The breeze was nice in the Night Domain. Cool, caressing, with a hint of spices and faint smoke. While falling from the cliff, Wu Zetian wondered at it. Her previous incarnation had known such nights, during her childhood days. Here they were again, recreated from the depths of soul and memory. Think of that. A world that revolved around you instead of the other way around. Why, there was enough to make one go mad with power. Two flying spirit-beasts passed her by.

They guessed her presence, but couldn't see her, wrapped as she was in the shadows. Wu Zetian gathered speed, enjoying the way the wind tried and failed to slap against her, then took hold of the shadows and pulled herself through it. She stepped onto the bluff from a blooming darkness. The ground glazed a little under her feet, before she reined her Qi back. Shadow Step. Shadow Call. The basics of the Shadow Arts. How to hide yourself into the shadows. How to gather them, fold them.

Finally, how to travel through them, through the secret paths of darkness and possibility. Among the novices of the Sect, this would be taught first, through old games of hide-and-seek and by measuring the richness of the darkness one managed to summon. Wu Zetian did the same, only to a level so incommensurably higher that… well, the comparison was quite unfair. Beneath her, Horseshoe Peak bustled with activity.

The name couldn't have been more literal: the lower slopes formed an ample curve around the main peak, giving it its moniker. Like an armchair with a thin backrest, with fields of violet heather in place of leather. The ruins of the Outer Sect still clung to the slopes like barnacles after a downpour. Ragged teeth of masonry and roofless fences was all that remained of once powerful forts. The main palace was gone, leaving the top bare apart from the nest of the tyrant beast that had taken command of the place.

Which was now destroyed in turn. Wu Zetian thought about impermanence and the turning of fortunes. For a moment. She had other things with which to occupy herself. The Devouring Horde had been hard at work. Most of the beasts thet squatted among the ruins had been slain. The carcasses were gathered in great piles or strung from rafters above stone basins. Carved chopping blocks thumped with the cleavers of massively fat cultivators in bloodstained aprons while young bucks waited salivating. The smell was…

something. Like it was proper, Chief Stonehorn came to her. The Nascent Soul cultivator was a giant. With his massive, ragged beard, trunk-sized arms and intricate tattoos, he was the picture of the barbarian. Add the great horns that sprouted from his temples and the carcass he dragged behind him and you had the successful hunter chief and unorthodox cultivator from the wild lands. His face was flat and rough, like it had been moulded with a hammer.

The big nose showed the many, many times it had been broken despite the wonders of higher cultivation. And the scars… they carved their own story on that giant. Which now looked down at her with all the wariness of a predator who knew he was very much outmatched.

"Lady," he grumbled, dipping the massive head in a bow. The spiritbeast was some kind of feline. It had to be magnificent once, its fur and long whiskers alive with motion. Now, the only impressive thing about it was how much of a bludgeoning it had taken. Eyeing the gnawed corpse, Wu Zetian was reminded of a cat presenting its owners with the fruits of its hunt. Well, no point in being discourteous, was it? She always liked cats. Why, she had a small herd of rare ones back in the day.

"Have you been settling well?" She asked, waving. The carcass disappeard in a fold of shadows. Abyss-Weaving. To be able to create your own space, hidden in the nooks and crannies of shadows. To be used as a storehouse, a cage, or even a hiding spot for yourself. Or a death-trap. She thought of prey caught in darkness, attacked from all sides from all the wicked things the mind could conjure…

"As well as an exile can," grumbled the big man. There was something pitiful about him, like a kicked dog.

"We long for the days and the heat of our home." He eyed her warily. Wu Zetian looked at the bustle beneath. The cultivators walked slightly stooped, pausing often to throw concerned looks at the night sky. Like they feared it could fall on their heads. A bit endearing, she had to admit. Let nobody said she didn't care for the well-beings of her dependants.

"It can be arranged. After your loyalty is confirmed, that is." The closest thing to hope bloomed on the giant's craggy face. He nodded, eager and vaguely childish, then seemed to remember manners and bowed, cupping his hands. Wu Zetian kept the smile inside. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

"What I asked?" Stonehorn's expression fell. He nodded, stiffly, and turned to whistle over his shoulder. The girl was something to behold. Tall and well-muscled, she was on the statuesque side, with a wild mane of crimson that went down her back like a lava flow. You could think she was pretty, in a wild, untamed way, an amazon come alive. Too bad she was completely caked in blood and worse, skin and clothes lost in the stickiness.

And judging from the spikes her hair had been styled into, it likely wasn't unintential either. Wu Zetian examined her with her eyes and from the darkness around them. Foundation Estabilishment, mid-grade, talented enough, mid-quality Roots compensated by a steady diet of quality spirit food. Body structure reforged three times and good body cultivation. Strong martial form and battle experience. Wu Zetian picked all of it in a few moments, her senses compounded by the Night Qi pulsing in the air. Shadow Sense.

To meld your perceptions with those of the Night. To enlarge your perceptions and see deeper and faster than you should be able to. Another of the Shadow Arts, one for advanced disciples. What she didn't need Shadow Sense for was to notice her scowling look. She glanced Stonehorn's way, noticing his start. Not expected, mh? So it's a challenge. Very… headstrong. If it was, it didn't go beyond appearances. The girl bowed dutifully, cupping her fist.

"Fan Yu greets the Apex. I'll be your talon if you'll have me. I'll kill and die for you, for the honor of the Horde and your will." She had a husky voice, deep to the point of raspiness. Her shoulders were stiff, and her scarred fingers tight enough to go pale. The words dropped from her mouth like iron bars, and her position had a certain awkwardness to it, as if she was unaccostumed to both. Proud and headstrong. Already pulling at her leash. A huntress and a warrior. How charming. Wu Zetian nodded pleasantly.

"Greetings, Fan Yu." She offered her hand and, after a moment of hesitation, the girl took it with both of hers.

"Do you know what it's asked of you?"

"To serve the Apex directly," she barked immediately, without raising her head. Wu Zetian could feel the way the cold of her essence scalded the girl's fingers. To her credit, apart from a slight shaking, she bore it well.

"To leave the Horde and act as the Apex's hand and eye. To be the Apex's tooth and fang. To shield the Apex with my body and strike with her fury. To receive the honor of becoming her apprentice and learn at her feet. For the glory of the Horde and her will." A memorized little speech, likely rehearsed repeatedly. For all her being headstrong, - she kept mentioning the Horde – the girl knew her duties. Wu Zetian judged her to be something between eighteen and twenty. A propitious age for improving her cultivation.

And to mould into one of her trusted servants. Yet, she wanted a glimpse behind the prepared facade.

"That will likely mean that you'll have to transfer to the plateau," she said.

"Would you be alright?" Fan Yu hesitated. She turned aside, pouting.

"Just keep the weaklings out of my way, get me food and a place to crash, and I'll be fine." Stonehorn, who had started to relaxe, made a choked sound. Wu Zetian didn't mind. When she had set out to look for a hatchet-man, or woman, who would be connected only to her, this was more or less what she had in mind. Of course, there was space for polishing, but that's why you grabbed them young. The line of thought made her pause.

Was the old Wu Zetian speaking or the CEO of a corporation who knew when to snatch promising indie projects? Did it matter? She didn't intend to mindlessly follow the same path of her previous life. She gazed down at the girl, who scowled with a mix of defiance and insolence and not a jot of fear.

"That you will have," she said.

"In exchange, you'll be my Direct Disciple. I'll teach you the Arts of Night and you'll be my hand. Serve me well all that thrive under the sky will be yours to sample." She smiled.

"What Gan Nim promised you and your father, I shall give you tenfold. Does that wet your palate?" The girl had a way of going still. Like a predator listening among the tall grass.

"By your will, Apex," she said quickly, and, despite her attempts to restrain, there was a wide, excited grin hidden there. Wu Zetian was satisfied. A good bait was worth one thousand threats. Stonehorn's gaze moved from his daughter to the one he was entrusting her. As a Disciple, of course, but obviously as a hostage too. The big man had a complicated expression, but kept his peace.

"This is our knowledge," he rumbled.

"I am sure you can make use of it." A tall woman dressed in uncured furs and with scared doe eyes stepped forward. She bowed, offering a small pile of ancient-looking bark scrolls. Wu Zetian glanced at them, and then the woman was holding nothing, whimpering a little. She would take her time going over the material later, but she had the gist already, more or less. The Devouring Horde was a tribe that had refitted beastkin arts for human use.

Theirs was a type of body cultivation that progressed by leaps and bounds through the consuming of beasts and even artifacts. All cultivators must eat well, but their secret arts let them squeeze every drop of nourishment from what they ingested, letting them inherit the powers of the beasts they ate and reinforcing what they already had.

"Come on, daughter," the chieftain rumbled.

"Show your worth." Fan Yu nodded resolutely, and both looked at her. At her nod, she stood. Wu Zetian watched as feral Qi gathered around her. The scent of fur and blood wafted in the night air. Fan Yu growled, her breath turned labored. Her arms swelled and elongated. Hands already tough enlarged, until the girl's limbs could have been used to batter down castle gates. Her thighs tensed and thickened. Bone creaked and cracked as she developed a new knee and sprouted talons from her feet.

Fan Yu let out a deep breath, steam wafting from behind rows of fangs. She smiled, delighted, admiring the thin fur crests now covering her arms. Then she remembered where she was, and bowed with a small yelp.

"At ease, at ease." Wu Zetian fluttered her sleeve. She had seen what she wanted to. These techniques… they intrigued her. Her old self had long given up on finding new material to add to her own style. She wasn't as as narrow-minded.

"Stonehorn, a word." Fan Yu bristled at being dismissed so easily after showing off, but didn't protest. She still held her nose up while marching away. Wu Zetian decided she liked her: the girl had a refreshing straightforwardness to her.

"Your tribe is respecting my will," she said once the girl was gone.

"I am pleased." The giant looked almost cute in his relief. He bowed low, offering his head in what she understood to be his clan's offer of loyalty. Wu Zetian was a bit taken aback by how natural all this respect felt. Sure, she was used at being treated in a certain way, in rooms rearrenging themselves around her like iron around a magnet. But this was a bit ridiculous. Yet again, she wouldn't say that skimping on the kowtowing was wise when dealing with someone who could erase you and your family with a gesture.

The thought sent a ripple of unease through her, one she caught and crushed mercilessly.

"Your daughter shall be well taken for." And with that, she allowed the shadows to enfold her once again, and disappeared. She really wasn't good at personal relationships, was she? With that, she could let one on something she truly thought at least.

"But have her take a bath before sending her to my palace, will you?"