Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Redeemed: A LitRPG/Wuxian Novel - Book 5

by M. H. Johnson

  With that, he expertly flicked his silken pouch Alex’s way.

  Alex hissed and caught it, reflexively leaping back just in case... but nothing. No trap, just the farewell smile of someone who, in another place and time, Alex would have gladly called friend.

  Of course, the moment his eyes flickered from the pouch in his hand back to the trio of siblings, they were gone.

  “Sha Shou! Wait! I might be able to help!” He turned around, more than a bit surprised to find his Qi Perception showing him absolutely nothing. And the rustling forest had no secrets to reveal to him at all.

  18

  “Are they truly gone?” This from a pale-faced Fangsu, eyes wide with fright, all too aware of how close she had come to losing her freedom forever, and perhaps her life as well.

  Alex’s eyes widened to see the naginata she held in hands that hardly shook, using it almost as a crutch, in fact.

  Tung was gazing at Alex with amazement, even as Yan solemnly bowed low before Alex, who noted their clothes were definitely the worse for wear. Fangsu’s elegant qipao was in tatters, the children’s flesh scraped by countless thorns and burrs that had left no mark upon Yan’s strengthened frame. Obviously, they had done all they could to deter pursuit, not even having time to don armor, and they had paid the price.

  “Thank you, Alex. I can scarce put into words just how grateful we are for your intervention. I do hope we can count on having you by our side until we make it to Baidushi?” Alex could see the haunted look in the man’s eyes beneath his gratitude, and understood what it cost for the man to dare the request.

  Knew the man had sensed it when Alex had briefly taken control.

  Slave node accessed.

  Slave node given full autonomy.

  Alex felt a wince of shame at the messages flashing across his interface, pretending his mind didn’t mirror whatever race so terrified the Ruidians that they had fled their home world in a desperate bid to escape enslavement, Yan’s eyes making it clear he’d pretend it hadn’t happened as well.

  But they both knew it had, and that Yan, for all that he looked pure-blooded Han, had Ruidian blood flowing through his veins.

  Alex slowly nodded. “Of course I’ll accompany you... if you’re sure you want me to.” He met the man’s gaze. “I can understand if you don’t.”

  Yan flinched, and Alex found it so strange to see such a powerfully-built man looking so nervous around him. “You’re a good man, Alex, risking your neck to save us. I’d be honored to have you by our side, at least until we arrive at Baidushi.”

  Alex smiled. “Then I’d be glad to.” He gazed up at the ravine wall, then down at the injured students. “But first, I think you should both take a sip of this.”

  Yan frowned at the potion Alex handed a wide-eyed Fangsu. “What is it?”

  “A healing potion I grabbed off the Red Prince’s wujen scout.”

  Yan paled. “By all the gods... they’re involved too?”

  Alex nodded. “A full company,” he said, gazing intently at Fangsu who took a tentative sip, eyes alighting with wonder.

  “My ankle already feels better! Yan, this is no basic tincture. This is something my mother...” She paled, eyes widening as Alex’s words sunk in. “Alex! Did you say a full company?”

  Yan cursed when Alex nodded.

  Fangsu’s hopeful smile crumpled. “Then we’re good as dead,” she said, handing the ruby flask to her cousin who took a cautious sip, smiling in relief as his pain faded.

  “Not necessarily,” Alex assured. “I get the feeling that, deadly as they are, they’re doing their best to act covertly. Once we make it to Baidushi, I’m hoping you three will be safe.” His gaze hardened. “So long as you head to the palace as fast as you can.”

  Tung furrowed his brow. “We’re not going to the palace. We’re going to Thunderbird Academy. They can protect us there, right, master?”

  Yan sighed, Fangsu gazing almost pityingly at her cousin. “Tung?”

  He turned his puzzled gaze to Fangsu. “What’s going on, Fang?”

  She smiled. “Do you remember those stories I’d tell you whenever my mother and I came to visit?”

  He slowly nodded. “Yes, I...” He blinked. “Those stories about a magical princess hiding in plain sight. Wait, you’re not saying...” He swallowed. “But how? I mean, your dad is my uncle, and my father and I are as common as dirt.”

  Fangsu gently stroked her cousin’s hair. “Your father is a wonderful man, with the same sense of dignity and honor as the man who claimed my mother's heart.”

  Tung lurched back, his gaze an odd mixture of puzzlement and alarm. “Fangsu, what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying the succession was getting dangerous. So, Mother and I left the capital and came here, to settle near Baidushi.”

  “But wait, how can that be? Then they hardly fled at all! Baidushi is the capital of the entire province!”

  “I think she means the capital of the kingdom itself. Zhengtu,” Alex gently explained.

  Fangsu chuckled softly, eyes twinkling with playful bemusement so at odds with the desperation Alex still saw in the corner of her eyes. “Actually, you’re wrong, hero. For the first time that I can recall, about anything, which is almost a relief since it makes you seem a bit more, well…”

  “Human?” Yan snorted, though his measuring eyes made it seem like he genuinely wondered about that himself.

  Fangsu winced. “Well, since legends don’t actually spring to life just because one soul among billions happens to be in need, yes.” She turned to Alex. “I meant the capital of Yantu. The kingdom abutting your own at the very borders of Cuijing Principality. The main trade route between our nations goes straight through Baidushi.”

  Alex blinked. “So those soldiers are from an entirely different nation.”

  Fangsu dipped her head. “Yantu and Zhengtu have enjoyed peace and prosperity for years, thanks to the trade accords that have made both our nations wealthy, and few cities have benefited as much as Baidushi, serving as the hub between our two lands. That being said, I doubt your king or Cuijing’s Sovereign Princess would be pleased if they knew a company of Yantu’s elite soldiers were carrying out missions within your nation.”

  Tung swallowed. “That does sound pretty bad. So, who’s the Red Prince?”

  “One of my uncles trying to secure his throne,” Fangsu said. “I can’t think of anything that would please him more than if his temporary stewardship had the permanent blessing of the emperor himself. And since interesting things are happening here in the capital of Cuijing Principality, with lost members of the ruling family here emerging with the secrets of a divine cultivation manual at their fingertips, of course the emperor himself has made it clear that a marriage alliance with one of his direct descendants is in order. So, numerous eligible royal princes of various kingdoms with the emperor’s blood flowing through their veins are all flocking to Baidushi, eager to win Princess Cui Li’s heart.”

  Alex swallowed the lump in his throat, bittersweet memories of Liu Li’s mischievous smile, cheerful laughter, fierce determination, and pain-filled gaze all racing across his mind’s eye.

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, still adjusting to the fact that his first friend, a girl he had almost fallen in love with, was actually a princess, destined to marry into the imperial family. And considering the prize Alex had bequeathed to her, knowing how terrible and ruthless the games of kings and thrones could be in this realm, he knew he should be grateful the enticement of marriage, and not ruthless slaughter, were the tools being used to secure her prize.

  He swallowed, tilting his head to gaze up at the cloudy heavens above.

  Maybe this really was for the best. A divine tome best used by those of kitsune blood. One of the most powerful men alive intrigued by the prize, now with every reason not only to tolerate but to welcome kitsune blood mixing with imperial lines if it promised him great grandchildren that might one day achieve the highest levels of
Jade.

  Maybe, he thought, this was the path most likely to lead not only to acceptance but outright admiration of WiFu’s people, a path to power suddenly before them, with the emperor’s own blessing.

  Alex swallowed the lump in his throat and fiercely wished Liu Li all the love and happiness in the world.

  This was best for her and all her kind.

  He was a fool to feel even a moment’s bitter loss.

  Really, now that he thought about it, this might have been WiFu’s plan all along.

  And as for love? He already had a girl he adored in his life; as strong, sensual, and deadly as he could possibly hope his future wife would be, just waiting for him to ascend to Silver, and he owed her a path forward as well. A path he was on the cusp of devising, if only he could just gain the final insights and training he needed.

  For Hao Chan’s sake, Liu Li’s sake, and for the sake of the princess before him, and for everyone who would perish if disaster struck and no warning was given, Alex knew, more than ever, that he needed to arrive at Baidushi.

  Even if he had to make the trip twice, still bound by the covenant that no one was allowed to deliberately aid him in his journey there.

  Soft brown eyes belonging to a very pretty face gazed into his own. “Alex?”

  “Yes, Fangsu?”

  “You look like someone just tore your heart out. What’s wrong?”

  Alex chuckled. Then his eyes widened in sudden alarm, the forest’s rustling leaves on this windless morning suddenly making sense. “The Red Prince’s men. They’re coming. We have to move, now!”

  Yan’s eyes widened, Fangsu going pale with sudden fright. “Alex, what do we—”

  “Just scale the ravine. Yan will help you. I’ll help Tung up.”

  A quick perusal of the pouch Sha Shou had tossed Alex’s way showed not only a small handful of valuable spirit pearls and rubies which he quickly put in the pouch of holding he had lifted from the fallen scout, but his spirit beast core studded leather choker as well. He flashed a bleak smile, gazing at the covenants tied about his own soul. What he had claimed were not gifts at all, but prizes of war.

  He sensed no dark reverberations from his recently claimed treasures which could spell his or his friend’s doom. Good. Had he sensed anything… but he didn’t. Alex paused only to secure his gorget about his neck before grabbing a protesting Tang and scaling the cliff face with the ease of a monkey, or a cultivator truly at home in the wilderness.

  Tang’s protest turned to curiosity when Alex gently placed him on the ground when they had made it to the top. “Why do you insist on wearing that choker all the time, Alex?”

  Alex smiled. “I like having access to my beast cores,” he said, grateful the gorget was still fully intact, flashing a satisfied smile as the skin contact meant he now had instant access to all the cores, should he need to tap into any of the half dozen still remaining.

  Fangsu, climbing up the ravine just seconds later, arms securely wrapped around Yan’s powerful neck, scowled her concern. “Channeling raw beast cores is extremely dangerous, Alex. The wild Qi can scald your meridian channels and ruin your cultivation base.”

  Alex grinned. “Is that a fact?”

  “Of course! Even the most novice cultivator knows that much.” Her gaze became apologetic. “But with your Ruidian background, perhaps no one told you?”

  “My lady, that is not always the case, especially with wild ones.” Yan said, flashing Alex an apologetic glance.

  Tang frowned. “Wild ones?”

  “Cultivators who follow their own path, like your uncle. Many of them choose to forsake urban luxuries and resources, eschewing all rigid cultivation practices, finding their own way forward, often embracing the Way of the Hunt, feasting upon the power and potential of their kills, growing their cultivation base as if they were more spirit beast than man.”

  Yan nodded his head at Alex. “The beast cores wrapped about your neck. I assume they were from your own kills?”

  Alex nodded. “Of course.”

  Fangsu blinked. “But isn’t that dangerous? A surefire way to ruin your potential forever?”

  Yan cleared his throat. “Your mother’s biases were... understandable, considering her own upbringing. This, even after she married a man every bit as unorthodox as the hero before us. But she made it clear to your stepfather that she alone was to guide your cultivation path, and he loved you both too much to dare gainsay her request. And I suspect your mother was right to do so. Orthodoxy has stood you in good stead. But you’ve seen Alex fight. Do you truly think his training was substandard? His cultivation base impaired?”

  Fangsu paled, quickly lowering her gaze after eyeing Alex a bit too boldly. “I... no. Gods, no. The way he faced down those assassins? I’m surprised we’re still alive.”

  Yan chuckled ruefully. “So am I. But if we want to stay that way, I think we’d best get moving, just as fast as we can.”

  After a quick final check to make sure everyone was ready, they quickly made their way forward, Alex keeping his pace down to a fast walk that was almost, but not quite a run, Forest Sense allowing him to place his feet free of any root or bramble, his pace almost as quick as if he were along one of the trade roads crisscrossing the kingdom.

  “Alex, wait up!”

  Alex frowned, looking behind him, surprised to see Yan gesturing for him to slow down, a panting Fangsu and Tung having to jog just to keep up. He sighed and shook his head before abruptly stiffening and turning around. Fangsu was now weaponless, neither dao or polearm on her person. “Fangsu.”

  “Yes, Alex?” gasped the panting girl, soft brown eyes gazing questioningly into his own.

  “Where’s your naginata? And your dao?”

  She blushed prettily, lowering her head. “I... hm... I guess there’s no point in denying it.”

  Yan’s brow furrowed when Fangsu slowly held up her hand, Alex noting the bright golden ring upon it, bejeweled with sapphires, rubies, and diamonds all glittering prettily in a stray shaft of sunlight breaking through the gently swaying canopy overhead.

  She swallowed, gazing intently at Alex. “It’s worth a fortune, Alex. It could buy you the grandest manor outside the royal quarter, the envy of any of the lesser nobles in the city, complete with indentured servants sworn to your household, with sufficient coin left over to cover all household expenses for a standard twenty-year contract.”

  Tung gazed at his cousin in slack jawed amazement. “Fangsu! Are serious? You could buy and sell our entire village a dozen times over! And we’re established, with druids and everything. Mother says the forest hasn’t tried to drown us in saplings in over a century.”

  Fangsu swallowed, gaze still intently locked upon Alex. “A priceless storage artifact, with more space inside than you’ll find in any spirit treasure outside of my family’s royal coffers. Filled with gold, silver, cultivation manuals, alchemical elixirs, and spirit pearls. And it’s yours, Alex, if you can get me and my cousin to the palace alive.”

  For a moment, Alex just gazed at the prize in awe. Yet another promise of a life of luxury before him, and how bitter he was for half a second, knowing he still couldn’t enter the city by their side. Because Fangsu’s obvious influence would pave the way forward for him like nothing else, and his own desire to come to her aid and yes, earn himself a bit of glory, would jeopardize the entire city as the cards of fate slapped down by vindictive gods suddenly came into play.

  Then the rustling of the leaves overhead grew more pronounced.

  Tung frowned. “Why are the branches rustling like that if there’s no wind?”

  “They’re coming!” Alex snapped. “No time! Come on!”

  Fangsu trembled, eyes haunted by fears Alex could only guess at. Even Tung looked shaken.

  Alex exchanged a quick glance with Yan. “Carry them and run?”

  Fangsu’s obvious guardian flashed a humorless smile. “Let’s see just how strong you are, Alex. You outlast me, and I owe you a nig
ht on the town.”

  Alex chuckled softly. “You’re on.”

  Ignoring her startled gasp, Alex immediately hoisted Fangsu on his shoulders, her warm thighs now pressing against his ears. “Brace yourself, and lean into any turns I make, okay? It’ll be just like riding a motorcycle.”

  Saying no more, Alex leaned forward and raced ahead at a dead sprint, as Fangsu yelped, “What’s a motorcycle?” before instantly quieting. Alex wanted to think it was sheer exhilaration that was causing her heart to pound, but was afraid it just might be blind terror. And within seconds he paid it no more mind, happy she was instinctively leaning into his movements with a cultivator’s grace, and Alex was one with the forest once more.

  Though his feet touched forest leaves and loam as opposed to springy branches overhead, he all but flew along winding paths only he could sense, exulting in the sheer rush of racing upon inhumanly powerful legs that did not tire, more exhilarating and almost as fast as racing his bike along switchback trails on the downslope, his stride as blazingly fast and free of fatigue as if he were running in a dream.

  “Alex!” Yan’s voice, so desperate he dared use a link he and Alex were both pretending didn’t exist.

  Alex allowed himself to slip free of his glorious communion with the wondrous woodlands all around him, psyche almost instantly snapping back into the panting frame of a powerfully-built young man only now feeling the first twinges of fatigue, only tasting the flow of forest Qi flowing through his muscles as the last of it faded, Alex fully himself once more.

  He gently put down a panting Fangsu who was giving him the strangest look, caught somewhere between horror and wonder, before her throaty chuckle resonated through the tiny forest clearing they found themselves in. She beamed up at him, giving him a fierce, trembling hug, before stepping back and lowering her head, suddenly shy before him.

  “That was... something else, Alex,” she said.

  Alex grinned. “I know, wasn’t it?”

  Her eyes twinkled with something more than simple admiration, her calloused palm squeezing his own. “Please, Alex. Promise me you’ll teach me the way of it? Oh, I could all but taste the way the forest communed with you! Echoing through your soul...”