Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Forsworn: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 3

by M. H. Johnson

“We were separated when fighting for our lives in the Deepwoods. Whether he fell to those infernalists or did indeed ascend to Gold, his was a noble soul, and I will always be honored to have worked under him.”

  “Quite right,” the older cultivator said, before leading Alex to the heart of his modest residence, his home more a cottage than a grand manor, though kept in pristine condition with actual glass windows and marbled stone walls, and his garden was nothing short of exquisite, if also modest in size, Alex seeing a profusion of flowers and herbs every bit as potent as Lady Ning Jing’s.

  Unfortunately, his garden was absolutely choked by numerous weeds that had no spiritual value whatsoever, save a rapacious hunger for the same soil that the far more precious plants were competing for.

  Qin Shi flashed a cynical smile. “Before you, you see a plot of land filled with plants I most definitely do not deliberately tend to. I can only imagine what a proper herbalist would think.”

  He then turned to an exquisitely carved hardwood bench upon which were numerous silken bags and boxes with the names of various herbs placed upon them. “How odd that someone left named containers on the bench there, even a formless brown sack, as if an appropriate receptacle for weeds which have no value at all. I don’t suppose you’re skilled in pruning spiritual herbs such that cuttings are removed without killing the host?”

  Alex solemnly nodded, thankful for Liu Jian’s lessons anew. For all that most of his time had been spent mastering the basics of kung fu, cultivation, and proper compounding, his former mentor had spent more than enough time teaching him the basics of tending to a spiritual garden of his own. And with his internal interface and Biochemical Mastery skill, it had all come together far faster than any other subject he had studied a lifetime ago. Nearly as fast as learning skills in a game where his interface almost acted as a cheat code, for all that he was now damned certain that this was all painfully real.

  Qin Shi gave a pleased smile. “Good. Because purely by coincidence, I have a number of finely made gift bags and boxes I shall soon be gifting to various friends and acquaintances. I am most definitely not asking you to fill those boxes with carefully pruned cuttings, or to fill the hemp bag with weeds and refuse. But for the sake of your old master who I always held in the highest regard, you are more than welcome to do whatever you like in the garden for the next, say, handful of hours. And since I most definitely do not tend to the garden in any way… you are free to do what you like.”

  Intent eyes met his own. “I trust we understand each other?” he asked, a powerful hand clasping Alex’s own, palming a number of coins in his own.

  Alex smiled. “I shall enjoy relaxing in this garden, Master Qin Shi. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. I’m sure my former mentor would approve of your gracious nature as well.”

  The cultivator nodded, turning around and heading inside his house without another word.

  A surreptitious glance revealed not credits but silver. Alex chuckled softly to himself after making sure absolutely no servant or other onlooker was glancing his way, slipping the silver into his storage space with a thought before getting to work weeding the garden and diligent bagging a number of carefully plucked cuttings from plants he sensed would be no worse for ware from his ministrations. If anything, most would benefit from his pruning.

  He gave a satisfied nod several hours later, feeling a strange sort of contentment as he brought the garden to order, enjoying the feel of working with the earth and his hands, of creating order and beauty where there had been none before.

  For all that one would think cultivating on a far higher level than the supposed drudgery of gardening and farm-work, he had a growing appreciation for just how fulfilling and calming such pursuits could be.

  At last he returned to the house, knocking softly on the door. “Thank you for allowing me to meditate in your garden in honor of my former master. I will trouble you with my presence no further.”

  Qin Shi immediately pulled open the door and strode toward the garden, carefully not looking at Alex’s handiwork or checking inside the various fine-grained hardwood containers, merely picking each wooden box and silken back with thoughtful weighing hands, flashing a pleased smile. “It’s amazing how much heavier good quality hardwood is. And I believe I owe you several official credits, don’t I? Having allowed me to practice my techniques on such a willing test dummy.”

  The softest mock punch that still managed to double Alex over was the last Alex saw of the man, glancing down at the trio of credit chips at his feet. “Be sure to let everyone know how unreasonable I was, abusing you when least expected, if anyone asks.”

  Alex gasped, catching his breath. “Of course, Master Qin Shi.”

  Alex felt a pat on his shoulder. “Good man. The gate’s open. Shut it behind you when you leave.”

  Alex heard the click of the cottage door shutting while he picked up the credits and put them into their designated bag, finding himself in a thoughtful mood as he left Qin Shi’s residence and strode into the night, thinking of all he had seen and experienced by the end of his first official week of class while making his way through the winding paths of the residential district.

  He couldn’t help smiling, filled with excitement at the thought of finally being able to borrow some cultivation manuals from the library and perhaps, hopefully, take those first steps to devising a meridian cycling technique of his own so he could finally advance to Bronze.

  Of course, he had a massive blockage to cultivate away, but considering how piss poor his progress had been so far, he feared he had all the time in the world to devise an advanced technique that would work for him, unique as his eight-element configuration was.

  And that was when he heard the mocking laughter that chilled him to the core, and he realized what a complete and utter fool he had been. Wandering down winding paths, lost in his own thoughts late at night, in a school filled with cultivators who wanted to see him fall.

  10

  Alex’s Qi Perception suddenly picked up the handful of young cultivators closing in on him at this residential intersection, only now sensing the hulking presence of a Bronze Ogre who had been tailing him, some distance behind.

  He braced himself as the hooded cultivators loomed in front of him, all of them dropping their hoods as one, eyes glittering with cruel vindictive glee as they surrounded him, though none more so than the smirking countenance of one Lai Wei, nephew of Lai Leng, Alex’s former mentor’s most bitter rival, and the man who had bet a fortune on Alex’s death in the arena matches just past.

  And Lai Wei had hated Alex from the moment they had met, before later ambushing him, scalping him, and leaving him for dead, accompanied by the exact same crew of cronies who were with him now.

  “Well, well. If it isn’t the same obnoxious Ruidian who once dared to insult me back at Liu Jian’s old shop, now daring to mock the entire academy with his presence here. You have a knack for making powerful enemies, don’t you, Ruidian? And noble enemies at that.”

  His companion’s smirks turned ugly.

  Alex felt a lurch in his gut, debating whether now was the time to reveal secrets he’d far rather keep hidden, the crowd of bullying cultivators parting forth to reveal none other than the hate-filled gaze of Sheng Jie himself.

  “There he is! That’s the bastard that dared to assault me! He must be made to pay for daring to assault a noble!”

  “And you’ll get it,” said Lai Wei, hand caressing the hilt of his dao, pressing into Alex’s space with a smirk. “This fool thinks he’s actually someone. He thinks he can actually hold his own against a cultivator who is aware of his tricks.”

  Cold eyes glared into Alex’s own. “I take offense, Ruidian. I take offense at you daring to strike a nobleman without just cause or provocation, having the gall to stand before me as if you were my equal, daring to inhale the air I breathe!”

  He spat at Alex’s feet. “I challenge you for your purse, Lesser, as is my right as nobleborn. Best me
in combat, or your purse, and all pathetic credits you think to earn, are mine!”

  He smirked as Alex slowly stepped back, shaking his head. “Insult me all you like. I’m not interested in fighting you, Lai Wei.”

  Quickness check failed!

  Alex blinked in wide-eyed agony as he crumpled to the ground, his tormentor from before chuckling over him, having struck him so fast Alex didn’t even see it coming.

  He had no sense of Lai Wei’s capability, no read on him. Wei’s inhuman speed and strength had caught him completely off guard.

  “What was that, Ruidian? You actually think you get to refuse me?” He chuckled cruelly. “What a fool you are.”

  Alex wheezed and gasped, unable to say a word, surprised and relieved when Lai Wei deliberately turned around and began to walk off.

  “Challenge accepted. Sharpened sabers will decide the winner!” said a voice so similar to Alex’s own it sent chills down his spine even as he fought just to breathe.

  As quick as an eyeblink, Lai Wei had turned back around. “I just heard you accept.” He flashed a cold smile at his chuckling companions. “As everyone else did too. We heard your voice, Ruidian, and can swear an oath upon it. Even you will be forced to admit you did!” He flashed a chilling smile. “Poor Alex. It seems like you forgot to bring a sword.”

  “Give him yours!” he snapped at Sheng Jie who unsheathed his hilt with a cold smile.

  “No excuses now, Ruidian,” he sneered, tossing Alex his blade, spinning through the air. Alex’s eyes widened, gasping as he lurched to his feet, just barely snagging the hilt before the blade itself could cut him.

  And just when Alex thought this nightmare couldn’t get any worse, he saw none other than Hao Hai, the infernal merchant Hao Zei’s powerfully-built son glaring so intently at him, eyes crackling with hate, fleshy lips curving in the cruelest of smiles.

  You have been exposed to Poison Toadwort compound. You have 100% immunity to Poison Toadwort compound.

  Alex’s eyes widened, noting the fine silk gloves Sheng Jie alone wore. The fools hadn’t been content to just rely on an ambush and Lai Wei’s skills. They had stooped so low as to poison the hilt of the donated weapon. But even with his immunity, he knew he was in dire straits.

  Lai Wei’s dao danced and spun through the air, leaving trails of fire in its wake.

  His enemy’s smile grew. “I see how you shake and tremble. Don’t worry. I promise not to kill you. And that’s all I will promise vermin such as you.”

  Soul Sight skill check unsuccessful! Find Weakness skill check failed!

  And before Alex could do more than blink, Lai Wei was all over him, his blade moving so fast he could barely keep track of the flaming afterimage as the wild-eyed cultivator before him flashed a bone-chilling grin.

  Alex quickly backed up, only to find himself shoved from behind, sent flying into his opponent’s deadly swarm of strikes.

  Dao skill check failed! You are unable to parry your enemy’s assault!

  Screaming as hot fire seared his flesh with the blade’s passing, a wicked gash on his left thigh spraying blood.

  Alex hissed and lurched back, heart hammering with terror, understanding with exquisite horror what his enemy had planned. “I yield, I yield!” he cried, left hand grasping for the pouch he was expected to carry his officially earned credits in at all times.

  Dao skill check failed! You have taken a Medium Wound!

  “What was that, Ruidian? I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you!” mocked his enemy before he charged in, face curled in a snarl, absolutely pummeling Alex with a vicious series of cross-cuts and slashes from all angels, Alex desperately parrying with his hanging guard before crying out when his enemy managed to slice open his forearm, leaving Alex’s arm too weak to properly hold his blade.

  Quickness skill check made! By some miracle, he was able to switch hands before his opponent could finish him off, forced to face the fact that he was in dire peril and, as bitterly unfair as it was, he’d soon have to hide inside his ring and accept the fact that his enemies would know of his most precious secret and no doubt do everything in their power to take it from him.

  Lai Wei laughed. “Wonderful! A couple more seconds of sport before you’re forced to surrender, broken and bleeding at my feet!”

  Even as he said the words, he darted forward so fast Alex almost thought he saw fiery afterimages, his saber kissing Alex’s own before trapping it in the bind and abruptly twisting it free while slashing open Alex’s left wrist. And before Alex could do more than gasp, Lai Wei’s blade snaked forth one more time, tearing open Alex’s belly.

  Alex crumpled to the ground as hideous pain tore through him, hardly feeling the abrupt yank and tear as the pouch containing every credit Alex had earned that week was torn free with a mocking chuckle.

  “The fool lost the duel and paid the price,” mocked Lai Wei before bending down to spit in Alex’s face before smashing his nose with his fist. “You work for me now. You got that, Ruidian fool? Even disemboweled at my feet, I will show you no mercy. Should you actually survive this night, all the future credits you make are mine. All of them! I own you now, worm. You’re my slave in all but name! And once you’re kicked out of this school, you’ll be my slave in name as well. Not that you’ll be worth much with a single hand!”

  He then smashed his foot down upon Alex’s forearm, his terrible blade flicking forth one last time before he stepped back, laughing at Alex’s ghastly shriek.

  “That’s what you get for crossing a noble, Ruidian scum!” hissed none other than Sheng Jie before lashing out with his booted foot and stomping Alex in the gut, further tearing open the rupture and leaving his victim in such mindless pain he screamed like a tormented animal.

  Sheng Jie’s eyes widened with sadistic glee as his savagely struck Alex as hard as he could. “I hope you die, Ruidian worm. I hope you die!” Before being effortlessly pulled off by Lai Wei.

  “Don’t be an idiot. He’ll probably expire like the fool he is before the healers can even find him. Just results of a duel with live steel, no killing blow delivered, his second expected to care for him after the bout. You kill him after he’s down? You risk getting kicked out. This piece of trash isn’t worth it.”

  Sheng Jie furrowed his brow. “What second?”

  “Leave, honored cultivators. You have bested me, a lowly Ruidian worm, and my second, who is too ashamed to be seen in your presence, will tend to my wounds only when you have all left,” said that same awful voice, a perfect mimicry of Alex’s own.

  “That second,” said Lai Wei. “Who we can all swear was present, according to the voice of this Ruidian fool, because it IS the voice of this Ruidian fool, who asked us only to leave, so he may get the treatment he so obviously needs.” He smirked down at Alex. “Fare well, future slave. I do hope those wounds aren’t paining you too much. I would have so dearly loved to show you my Fire-serpent technique, but alas, the hideous scarring to your fragile body would have been far too distinctive. Of course, had your wounds been instantly cauterized as my dao melted through your flesh like warm butter, you wouldn’t be bleeding out nearly as much. Funny how things all work out in the end, isn’t it, fool?”

  Power Healing accessed. 2 Critical Wounds suffered. Left arm crippled.

  Alex could spare no thought for how violently he hated those vindictive monsters, curled up in a ball of sheerest agony, desperate only to hold in his ruptured intestines, only realizing he was doing so with one hand, his left arm ending in a spurting stump.

  It was an awful, endless waiting game, using his Power Healing to stave off the blood loss and try desperately to keep himself stable before his Qi Perception sensed no cultivator within forty feet.

  And then with a cry equal parts agony and relief, he flipped himself into his divine patron’s priceless artifact, the most worthless and tarnished loop of copper imaginable, host to a magnificent storage space he could shape to his will and stay in indefinitely.

  He ins
tantly appeared in his wondrous cultivation garden, all his cuttings and spiritual herbs blooming with verdant fecundity under the warm golden glow of his saintly fangtian ji, a weapon that, with the hate roaring inside him, he might never be worthy of holding again.

  He pushed all such thoughts away, accessing the beast core he had been using for a lesser version of the healing he could embrace only here safely, absorbing all the power and potential of the spirit beast core as his Eternal Fox technique healed at what was now a thousand-fold normal rate.

  Eternal Fox skill check made! You stay true to your cultivation, despite the pain!

  And Alex endured the most hideous torment imaginable as his body was forced not just to seal ripped open flesh, but to actually regenerate massive structural damage at the cellular level as he relived the horrific moment of Lai Wei’s mocking laughter washing over him before cutting off Alex’s hand with a single contemptuous flick of his deadly blade.

  Alex endured the pain and awful memories both, as dreams of vengeance and retribution roared through his skull.

  Until at last, after a single glass that had felt like a thousand hours’ worth of torment even as he completely regenerated a full six pounds worth of flesh, he was whole once more.

  Sobbing with remembered agony and humiliation that burned through his soul, infected by animal-like terror at the thought of encountering any shadowy cultivator who could be another monster out to maim and torture him before deliberately leaving him to die.

  And how he hated that unforgivable cowardice, the desperate flinching he exhibited when he finally left his ring, flipping out just long enough to Bullrush for the top of the nearest tree, a single flicker of his presence all any passing cultivator might have detected.

  But there was no one.

  And for all that Alex had managed to hold his secrets close, it was at bitter cost. Having been maimed, tortured, and left for dead, the ugliness of his own mortality, his own weakness, had left ugly choking fear in its wake.