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

by M. H. Johnson

  Alex’s eyes widened. “Jidihu really is well informed.” His brow furrowed. “And it seems like she’s taken you under her wing.”

  Hao Chan smirked. “Of course she has. She’s made it more than clear how much she favors you, Alex, and she seems positively ecstatic that Yinzi and I would far rather spend our days sparring and laughing and practicing Eternal Fox together, and just bonding like you do with people you care about, than forcing our cores in directions we find exquisitely painful. And were it not for Ning Jing finally recovering that Silver Swan treatise, I doubt she’d even pressure me to study any tome at all. In fact, most days my cousin and every other kitsune girl in the entire compound are joining us as well, ignoring their supposed lessons entirely.”

  A soft hand squeezed Alex’s own. “Jidihu was the shadow head of the Yidushian Jianghu sect for how many years? And you’re not the only promising student she’s eager to bring into the fold. Besides, we already knew she was thinking of challenging for Baidushi, before we found out that helping you get there in any way might doom us all.” She sighed and looked away.

  Alex nodded. “With any luck, I’ll be there in a few days, and that Fate Card will be nullified.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why everyone’s so interested in Cuijing province or, well...”

  “A newly-revealed princess of mixed decent who isn’t in line to inherit anything, despite having a father who achieved Gold rank?”

  Hao Chan nodded. “Exactly.”

  Alex locked gazes with the girl he adored. “Before I met you, I was something of an apprentice apothecary.”

  Hao Chan grinned. “I figured that much out already.”

  “My teacher was a man known as Liu Jian, who, along with his daughter Liu Li, did me the great honor of allowing a confused, shipwrecked boy into their homes. They gave me shelter, friendship, and taught me almost everything I know about alchemy.”

  Hao Chan’s eyes were locked on Alex’s own. “Don’t tell me...”

  “While hunting for rare herbs and beast cores, we took on more than we could handle, and it almost killed Liu Li. We found a means of saving her, but it required me surrendering one of my most precious possessions.”

  Alex squeezed Hao Chan’s hand. “A divine cultivation tome. A tome any kitsune can use to transcend to deepest Jade.”

  Hao Chan’s eyes widened. “Alex, that means...”

  Alex sighed. “Yes. My first friend in this world, Liu Li, was the daughter of royalty and had no idea. I’m hoping she fully healed and has ascended with a strong cultivation base with the help of my manual. But I think it also means the Emperor knows about the existence of at least one Divine tome, even if suited primarily for kitsune. And since she has royal blood in her veins...”

  “The emperor won’t kill her. But he will arrange for someone in his extended family to marry her. Is that what you think?”

  Alex nodded. “Imperial offspring with kitsune blood in their veins would probably be the only souls the emperor would want touching that Divine tome in any case, is my best guess. And I can only imagine the amount of intrigue going on around that palace at this very moment.”

  Hao Chan nodded, gazing at her visualized map with what Alex thought of as laser-like intensity, scribbling carefully written notes that didn’t waver even a bit, as if Hao Chan’s dreams were as solid and visceral as reality itself.

  “Hao Chan?”

  “Yes?”

  “Do you have a photographic memory?”

  She gave a distracted shrug. “Not for things I hear. But sometimes, when I’m peering at something I find absolutely fascinating, or if I’m reading something I really find interesting, I remember it long after a change of scenery, or I put the tome away.”

  Alex swallowed, bowing his head. “Your scholarship is far, far higher than mine is, I think.”

  She beamed at his praise. “And I can paint, too. This map? I drew it myself.”

  Alex’s eyes widened. “Really?”

  She nodded with pride. “My mother was training me to be a cartographer before, well...”

  “Hao Kong came into your life and enticed your mother with promises of cultivation and what a fine dancer you would be?”

  She flushed and looked away. “Just thinking of that monster and what he almost did to me...”

  Alex held her close, kissing her forehead. “But we beat him. We beat him at his own game. Remember that, Hao Chan. The vile plan he and Lady Laobao cooked up failed, and instead of prostitution and enslavement, you and your cousins got an all-expenses-paid tuition into the most prestigious academy in all of Yidushi.”

  Hao Chan smirked. “Cut abruptly short, because a certain headmaster went mad with hate.”

  Alex nodded. “Pretty much.”

  Hao Chan shuddered. “He’s a Gold, Alex. I know that, even now, Jidihu and Ning Jing worry about that monster finding us and burning us all to ash, even with all our defenses.”

  Alex flashed a cold smile. “Feel free to tell them both that no one will ever have to worry about Headmaster Bingwen ever again.”

  Hao Chan’s eyes widened. “Alex, even the new Headmaster Panheu, and thank the gods he actually survived that duel, warned his wife to be careful, just in case. It was the only message he dared send for obvious reasons.”

  Alex nodded. “You don’t have to worry about him anymore, Chan. I promise you that.”

  “But how can you be sure? I mean, really sure? That man hated you with a passion.”

  “He’s dead.”

  Hao Chan was speechless. “How?”

  Alex sighed. “Alright, I’ll tell you and you alone. Because I think I love you, and I’m trusting you never to tell another soul.”

  The beautiful girl before him squeezed his hand. “You know I will be true to you.”

  Alex smiled. “Remember that massive spirit bull I killed back when we were first traveling to Yidushi?”

  Hao Chan breathlessly nodded. “Back before I realized what a monster my stepfather was.”

  “And did you note the way I seemed to blink in and out of existence?”

  Hao Chan lowered her gaze. “Maybe I did catch sight of you performing that impossible feat once or twice. But as fast as you can Bullrush, I thought maybe it was that?”

  Alex shook his head. “I jumped from the real world to the world within my ring. The bull moved forward. In that split second, I jumped back, displacing crucial organs within its body, just as if someone had stuck an Alex-sized weapon right into our foe. My storage artifact suddenly had over a hundred pounds worth of spirit bull meat, and I was covered in caustic glop Eternal Fox thankfully gave me complete immunity to, after repeated exposure.”

  Hao Chan’s eyes were filled with awe. “Alex, something like that? That’s beyond priceless. Kings would make you a noble or kill you on the spot to get their hands on that artifact!”

  “Especially since it can be used to castle through any foe, no matter how strong their wards, killing them instantly, so long as you time absolutely everything perfectly.” Alex gave a rueful shake of his head. “Of course, I almost died battling for control of my body and my artifact when Bingwen’s soul realized I had slain his body. And even after surviving the ordeal, my priceless Divine-ranked artifact was permanently destroyed. So yes, I took out a Gold, but there was a cost.”

  Hao Chan’s eyes were filled with concern. “Alex, please, you have to be careful! Just the thought of losing you...”

  Alex winked, kissing her cheek. “I should go, arrow of my heart. You best study that map and all the notes upon it, so you can draw out all the key points for Jidihu to look at without saying a single word aloud, the moment you wake up. Because if I stay any longer, I think we’re both going to be in heaps of trouble.”

  She flashed a grin, not being at all shy at showcasing her naked voluptuousness before him, incredibly ripe in all the ways a man could desire, with a powerful dancer’s body just underneath soft, sensual curves Alex ached to touch and caress
even now. And her teasing smile made it clear that she sensed his hunger and hungered for him in turn. And she was far bolder, now that they were both safely ensconced in dream, than she had ever been with him in the waking world. “I’d almost be willing to give it all up Alex, to hold you in my arms.”

  Alex smirked. “Which would be a stupid move to make, when we’re both so close to Silver.”

  She chuckled softly. “Alex, I have yet to even break through to Bronze.”

  “If I can get all my ideas together and actually make it work, you’ll hit Silver in record time. You and Yinzi both.”

  Hao Chan flashed a hopeful smile at that. “Get to Baidushi as soon as you can, Alex. Lift that curse, and let me know. I’ll be over there and in your arms before you know it.” She flashed an arch smile. “And you better not be falling in love with any old flames newly risen to the rank of princess while I’m gone.”

  Alex could sense the worry beneath her smile.

  Alex gave her a kiss both fierce and passionate, melting away the anxiety he sensed in her gaze. And the second their union became so much more than a single, reassuring kiss, he jolted free of his pristine six hours of sleep with a shudder, feeling more rested and refreshed than he had in ages, and grateful to find his Lower Dantian still fully intact as he sat up in his luxurious four poster bed, thanking WiFu for small blessings, knowing he had been a fool to dream by Hao Chan’s side for far too long.

  Next time, he feared he wouldn’t be nearly as strong.

  He hungered for her touch, even now.

  24

  You are enjoying the benefits of Rejuvenating Sleep! You are enjoying the benefits of Pristine Fare! You now have a +1 modifier to all inspiration and perception checks for 24 hours. You enjoy a +2 modifier to all skill checks for 24 hours!

  As scrumptiously delicious as the breakfast of golden fluffy pancakes covered in butter and syrup alongside the coldest, tallest pitcher of milk he could ask for was, filling his mouth with an explosion of flavors that brought tears to his eyes and filled his body with rejuvenating potency, he didn’t let it distract him from the trial he knew was coming, and he couldn’t escape an ugly truth he had tried so hard to bury.

  Why he had kissed Hao Chan so fiercely at the very end, surprising both of them with how much he hungered for her, and how close he had come to claiming her for all time, regardless of consequence. And her poignant gaze made it all too clear that dreams of cultivation aside, there was nothing she wanted more than for him to claim her, then and there.

  Because in her own way, she was just as savvy and clever as he.

  She must have understood why he felt the sudden need to express how much he adored her.

  Because when it came to the question of just how he felt about the delicate kitsune beauty who had first struck such a chord in his heart, who, if fate’s hand had played a different suit of cards, he could so easily have fallen head over heels for, there was no way he could give Hao Chan the answer he knew she desperately needed to hear.

  That he had absolutely no feelings for the kitsune girl he had risked his life to save.

  But Alex was no fool.

  And countless novels of high fantasy savored while he was wasting away in his hospital bed a lifetime ago had made it all too clear what would happen if he dared fall for a girl now firmly in the eyes of emperors and kings.

  He would become the catalyst for the disaster he was striving so desperately to prevent.

  His own foolish heart would somehow bring about the horrific tragedy that would doom Baidushi and assure the death of twenty million souls.

  And the bloated god of strategy would be laughing in WiFu’s face, revealing that the fox god’s favorite piece had somehow become Shalu’s own.

  Alex closed his eyes to the sting of hot tears he refused to acknowledge as an angry fist smashed the remains of his breakfast against one of the masterwork portraits of himself in a life he had never lived across the far wall.

  “Goddamned bastards. Always doing everything they can to fuck with all of us!”

  Alex choked back a sob, unable to deny any longer how much he missed Liu Li, and how much trouble he would be in if he dared open his heart to her once more.

  And that was one thing he must never do.

  He swore to himself then and there that he would forever see Liu Li as his beloved sister, and he would forever be her champion, should she, unlikely as it may be with a court full of powerful Silvers and Golds at her service, actually have need of him.

  But he wouldn’t surrender to passions that would delight his enemies and damn his friends.

  Zheng Yi, Long Wang, and the bloated General Shalu had already revealed just how petty and vindictive they were, happy for wholesale slaughter to relieve their divine boredom.

  Alex would never play the fool and dance to their tune.

  You have embraced Storm Flight! You are presently at an altitude of 300 feet over primal woodlands more than 2 miles from any major metropolis. Qi expenditure is minimal; less than current rate of passive recovery.

  For long moments Alex reveled in the sheer exhilaration of what was almost flight, racing through the heavens at speeds far greater than his racing feet might indicate, as if he were dashing along the High Road. And perhaps in a sense he was, his power echoing that of the mystic bridge connecting all the major cities of this impossibly vast empire spanning a distance many times the circumference of Earth.

  And this was just one empire among many, he had long ago surmised, upon the surface of a world that just might have the circumference of Jupiter, or possibly the sun itself. And what that made the brilliant ball of light now painting the sky crimson with the first traces of dawn, he had no idea, almost positive that physics, for all that it seemed to work almost as expected among objects within a couple orders of magnitude from human norms, seemed to be vastly different from his own reality’s norms at the microscopic and cosmic level.

  The very fact that he wasn’t being crushed to a pulp by whatever force was taking on the role of gravity on the surface of this sun-sized planet was a major clue right there.

  Or that he was presently flying through the air, infused with mystic and martial power the equal of all the kung fu heroes he had once delighted in watching on the computer screen as a kid. Not that he was the equal of One Punch Hero, or anything like that, but who knew? Maybe one day, once he hit Gold...? He laughed at the sheer absurdity of his fantasy, then howled into the winds for pure joy, grateful that he was hale and healthy and able to race across the heavens like he could once only dream of, fierce and free.

  Baidushi was now just sixty miles away, his Rank 5 Forest Sense making clear that the handful of blinking reds representing the nearest cluster of the Red Prince’s invading force were a good couple miles away, apparently more worried about scanning the road for any Ruidian-containing caravans than actually patrolling the forest, and considering that none of them had any idea where Alex might be, or that he had cut down one of their strike forces, even butchering a Silver that he had managed to corner alone, staying in safe clusters near roads with good visibility was probably their best bet.

  Alex flashed a gleeful smile, suddenly knowing in his gut that he would have no problem making his way to Baidushi’s gates without encountering a single red, especially if he was prudent enough to duck under tree cover once sunrise turned to true dawn. Either way, at his current pace, he was sure to hit the city’s outermost gate sometime after nightfall.

  Which worked out perfectly, considering that his plan was to slip past any guards and sneak in, even just long enough to place a single foot behind Baidushi’s no doubt impressive walls. And he would have done it without accepting any deliberate help whatsoever, diffusing another cursed fate card intended to trip Alex up and put all his friends in peril.

  Because the moment he crossed that final barrier, he’d be free to flip into his ring and dream of his Hao Chan once more. And if he was smart, he’d avoid all awful temptation to lose
himself in her arms like a fool, sticking around only long enough to let her know that Jidihu was free to make her way to Baidushi and make a play for the Jianghu sect at her earliest convenience, if she so chose.

  Alex took an exhilarating breath of air tasting of the primal woodlands below and the crisp northern wind he raced through.

  Finally, everything was going according to his plan, better than he could have hoped.

  Which immediately made him frown, sudden paranoia making him wonder what he might be overlooking.

  Things never went completely his way. Not in this world or any other, as cancer and the violent death of his father and sisters had taught him.

  Take nothing for granted.

  Disaster was always just a single misstep away.

  The thought was so grim he could no longer enjoy the cloud running he had found so exhilarating just moments before, quickly ducking under cover of the massive trees making up these primal woodlands, just in case.

  But there was no danger. There were no spirit beasts sly and clever or fierce and imposing anywhere near his current location, and no blinking reds depicting men eager to claim the heads of whatever Ruidians they could find, save by the trade road it was so easy for him to avoid.

  He took a deep breath as he adroitly balanced in the crook of a massive redwood.

  He was safe as safe could be.

  “Damn it!” At that moment, he appreciated more than ever the benefits of the Fog of War card, so good at keeping him out of any mercurial god’s line of sight.

  But it did nothing to protect the wellbeing of all the billions of mortals utterly exposed to the mad whims of bitter gods.

  So he closed his eyes and forced his mind to reach out to whatever surviving remnants of Sun’s Caravan he could still sense in these woodlands, strangely relieved to find that whatever their fate, good or ill, they were completely out of his now-considerable range. He took a deep breath, hoping that they were okay, and releasing the lingering guilt he felt that perhaps they were not, knowing he had done everything in his power to distract the Red Prince’s men from any target, save himself.