A Beginning's Continuation

by Tony Tran

  Soon enough, Tang Wei gradually opened up to Zhang after seeing how resourceful Zhang was. Zhang in return learned Tang Wei’s character and circumstances.

  Tang Wei’s father, the current provincial lord, had married into the family of the provincial lord before him, since the previous provincial lord did not have male heirs. Roughly three years after marrying into the Tang clan and producing a male heir, Tang Wei’s father met his first love and childhood friend who he had lost contact with for many years., Tang Wei’s mother.

  Of course, since he had married into the Tang Clan he did not have the right to marry more wives or take any concubines. So, although their love was rekindled and they declared their undying feelings for each other, Tang Wei’s mother and father could not publicly show their affection of each other.

  “My father who could not bear to part from my mother had her work in the provincial lord’s mansion as a maid and shortly after she began to live her, I was conceived. But of course, like all secrets, father and mother's affair was soon discovered and mother was forced to leave by Tang Shiang’s mother. With only the clothes on her back and a small amount of money she left as father could do nothing to keep her.” Tang Wei said with a saddened tone.

  “Working day and night, mother and I lived a humble life in a small village. Perhaps a simple life is a better life because at least all we had to worry about was having enough to feed ourselves. However, a great famine happened and food became scarce, whatever the village had stored away was quickly depleted and to make things worse there were even people coming from other places to beg for food.”

  “I remember as if it was yesterday, I had just turned fifteen and to celebrate mother and I went into the mountains to dig for potatoes. Of course, we did not find any but after heading back home our lives as we knew it would completely change. That was the first time I saw him, sitting atop a large white stallion, clad in gleaming silver armor and surrounded by dozens of mighty looking guards. That was the day when I met father.”

  “It turns out that a few years after mother left, father had become the provincial lord and had slowly gained the respect of those who ran the city, with his intelligence and kindness he had become a great ruler. A ruler who the people adored, a ruler who everyone looked up to, and a ruler who yearned to find what he had lost.”

  “Perhaps it was the heavens who led him to us but while father was distributing rations to the common folk, one of his men suddenly feel ill so, his escort had rested near where we went to dig for potatoes.” Tang Wei recalled as a smile appeared on his face as he reminisced about the past.

  Once he had met his father, Tang Wei and his mother were brought back to Red Thorn City and into the Provincial lord’s mansion, where his mother was officially married with his father. But Tang Shiang’s mother and her son obviously were very much against this and tried to create as many problems for Tang Wei and his mother as much as they could.

  To protect himself, his mother and to show to his father that he was an able person, Tang Wei practiced martial arts and cultivated day and night while regularly attending classes that taught etiquette, battle strategies and the likes. As he continued to try to climb closer to his father, the more obstacles he met and sadly when he had finally proved himself and named the next provincial lord, his father fell ill.

  The very moment his father fell ill, all of the officials and people of power within the Red Thorn Province one by one turned their backs on Tang Wei and banded together with his older half-brother. So, in the end Tang Wei simply only had the title of next provincial lord but no power to speak of, besides a few retainers who are loyal to his father.

  “We are here.” Tang Wei said as he, Zhang and Ai reached a room with four guards stationed outside.

  “Has anyone visited father?” Tang Wei asked the guards.

  “Only Lord Tang Shiang, my lord.” One of the guards replied as he helped open the door for Tang Wei.

  “Thank you for your hard work.” Tang Wei said to the guards as he entered the room with Zhang and Ai following behind him.

  The instant they entered the room Zhang caught sight of a middle-aged women sitting beside a large bed where a frail looking man with many sores visible on his face.

  “Mother.” Tang Wei said in a happy tone.

  Upon hearing Tang Wei’s voice the woman looked away from the frail looking man and looked toward where Zhang, Ai and Tang Wei were standing. With delicate features, and a smile that could brighten a dark room, it was no wonder Tang Wei’s father was so, in love with his mother.

  “Wei your back, come here and greet your father.” The woman said, but once she noticed Zhang and Ai she got up and curtsied.

  “Are you two perhaps my Little Wei’s friends?” She asked in a kind tone.

  “Mother, Brother Lee Ming here might be able to cure father's illness!” Tang Wei said in an excited voice.

  “Really?! If you can then I, Sheng Yi, will forever be grateful.” Tang Wei’s mother said.

  “Madam, I fear my medical skills may be lacking, however if I can help someone then I will try my very best.” Zhang said as he arrived at the Tang Wei’s father’s bedside and began to assess his condition.

  “Don’t worry, this disease is not contagious at all.” Tang Wei said, assuring Zhang it was safe.

  “Please do not resist or else implications may occur.” Zhang said as he extended his hand and placed it atop Tang Wei’s father’s forehead, Zhang sent a pulse of essence throughout the man’s body to inspect it to see what was wrong after pulling off the blanket that had covered the frail man’s body.

  “There seems to be something living inside of his body, it should be located right about here. If memory serves and my guess is right, there should be an adolescent Corpse Eating Silkworm inside your father.” Zhang said as he pointed toward Tang Wei’s father’s abdomen.

  “What!?” Tang Wei and his mother said in disbelief.

  “It had hatched and began to gorge itself inside your father's stomach and once it finished eating his insides, it’ll hatch out of his body like it’s a cocoon and become a Blood Moth. From my examination, it’s consumed roughly half of his insides.”

  “So, there's nothing you can do?” Tang Wei said with a grim look on his face.

  “The question here is how it got into his body, since Corpse Eating Silkworms generally only are found in bodies of the deceased and do not even live anywhere near this region.” Zhang said, not replying to Tang Wei’s question.

  “Someone probably infected his lordship with it.” Ai pointed out.

  “It has to be him…” Tang Wei mumbled as his brow creased.

  “You couldn’t mean…” Sheng Yi, Tang Wei’s mother said as if she had a suspect in mind.

  “Tang Shiang… Father fell ill only days after he announced for me to be his successor and as if he was prepared, Tang Shiang was able to gather all of the influential people in the province under his banner in the matter of days.” Tang Wei said.

  “Sorry to interrupt but if I act now I may be able to save him.” Zhang said, interrupting Tang Wei and his mother.

  “What?!”

  “If you can get me some much-needed supplies, I can extract the Corpse Eater Silkworm out of his body and give him some medicine to help him get better.”

  “But you said that thing has already consumed nearly half of my father’s insides.” Tang Wei said.

  “Half is not all and with proper medication and help. Your father will be able to live for countless more years.” Zhang said with a smile.

  “I’ll have someone lead you to our medicinal store room, everything in there you can use at will.” Tang Wei said to Zhang as hope ignited in his eyes.

  “If I save his father then Tang Wei will definitely be indebted to me and as long as he fights his brother then chaos would surely ensue so, my objective would have been met. If I take things a step further and help him take care of his brother, then there’s also a chance that I can bring Tang Wei to my
side and have him cooperate with me once the girls arrive.” Zhang thought.

  In the end, Zhang’s goal was still to aid Lingqi, Yuying, and Ling once they arrive, so, as long as things that were occurring could possibly benefit his plans in the future, Zhang was ready to act.

  Chapter 55: Hold the Door

  As the sun looked down from above and gleamed down upon the countless shields and swords below, a flurry of yells broke out.

  “Surrender or perish!” Hundreds of thousands of soldiers chanted over and over as the forces under Yuying, Lingqi and Ling’s command surrounded Rainbow Rock city.

  Lingqi’s fifty thousand conscripted soldiers were situated at the front of the army and acted as the vanguard. Yuying had a massive siege ram built and given to the conscripted soldiers so, they can fulfill their task of gathering as much attention from the enemy as possible. Of course, if they just so, happen to manage to break through the city gates then it would serve as a bonus.

  The soldiers above the city walls watched in horror as all possible exits in and out of the city were teaming with enemy soldiers clad in black armor. As the forces of Aurora continued to chant “surrender or perish” the soldiers of the Rainbow Rock Army could not help but tremble.

  “Vanguard, move out! Head for the western gate!” Yuying commanded as she sat atop a throne of skulls.

  Soon enough the rumbling sound of wheels could be heard as the conscripted soldiers pushed their massive siege ram toward the city’s main gate.

  “Tho-those are our men down there!” Someone yelled from atop the walls as they spotted Lingqi’s conscripted soldiers who were still wearing the Rainbow Rock Army’s standard grey armor with blue trim.

  “It doesn’t matter! Archers fire at will! If that siege ram reaches the gate, then the city will fall!” The Rainbow Rock Army’s general said.

  “But General Hong Yang if we open the gates and allow them in, we would gain a substantial number of troops to defend the city with. Considering how the enemy is only sending our former soldiers to test the waters.” A soldier said.

  “Fool have you not heard the ruthlessness and cunning the enemy generals possess? You think they would be dumb enough to simply send in our former soldiers without planning for a scenario such as that?” General Hong Yang said.

  “Archers fire!” General Hong Yan commanded once more.

  Soon the skies were filled with countless arrows and the sun was blocked out from view as the soldiers atop Rainbow Rock City’s western wall fired arrow after arrow at their former comrades.

  “Move the catapults into range.”, Lingqi commanded. And before long, dozens of catapults appeared and were loaded with large clay pots filled with poison.

  “Launch!!!” Lingqi said with a wave of her hand.

  With Lingqi’s orders being passed down, the catapults fired one after the another, sending dozens of earthen pots into the air. Some of these pots smashed into the city walls while others impacted directly on the soldiers atop the walls, covering them in a thick purplish goo.

  “This poison only reacts when in sunlight and will turn into a thick mist in about three seconds. One… Two… Three…” Lingqi said as a cloud of purplish mist formed atop the city walls. As a cloud of poison covered the top of the city walls, one by one, soldiers began to fall over as all of the fresh, uncontaminated air was gone.

  “Don’t breathe in the smoke! Don’t breathe the smoke!” Someone yelled, however they too fell over. However, due to the lack of available ingredients, Lingqi was not able to produce a lot of her poison so, only a small portion of the soldiers on the wall was affected so, there were still countless arrows that continued to rain down from above the walls.

  “Have the Shield Units move forward and form formations around the vanguard! Have the Vanguard move back and regroup with the Shield Unit!”, Yuying commanded as the conscripted soldiers began to break out of formation and suffer heavy casualties. Soon horns and flags were raised to signal and direct the soldiers out on the battlefield.

  At first, she had left the conscripted soldiers totally open to enemy attack to draw their attention and taunt them into using their arrows. However, now that the conscripted soldiers were taking unnecessary casualties and the volume of arrows being shot from the walls began to decrease it was time to have armored units move forward.

  Once the shield units and the conscripted soldiers grouped together and continued to head toward the city wall, Yuying gave the order for the rest of the soldiers under her command to move forward but stay clear of the area where the enemy’s arrows can reach them.

  “Ask the southern and northern gates to send us reinforcements!” General Hong Yang said after he had his men carry the unconscious down the walls. Although Lingqi’s poison only affect a few small sections of the wall, there were gaps that needed to be filled in.

  On the opposite side of the city, Ling could be seen standing atop a column of swirling water with thousands of soldiers standing in neat rows below.

  “Time for me to move in.” Ling murmured as she spotted the enemy soldiers above the city walls begin to move and reinforce each other.

  With their goal of diverting the enemy's forces to the western gate complete, the column of water underneath Ling’s feet began to move forward.

  Soon a bubble of water covered Ling from all sides as thousands of droplets of water rose into the air. Once Ling’s column of water closed in on the city the archers atop the walls began to fire arrows at her, but to no effect because of Ling’s water shield.

  In a flash, dozens of rays of light condensed and began to carve away at the city walls, wherever and whatever they touched instantly light aflame or began to melt.

  “Wretched invaders! Feel my wrath!” A roar could be heard echoing throughout the battlefield as a javelin whizzed through the sky and impaled Ling’s water bubble. Unlike the arrows that were caught earlier, the javelin punctured the water bubble causing it to burst into countless droplets.

  Thankfully Ling had quickly manipulated the column of water she was standing on, allowing her to dodge what would have been a deadly blow. The javelin that would have easily pierced through Ling’s neck had only left a minor scratch. However, the distraction the javelin caused had interrupted her concentration thus canceling the rays of light that were cutting through the city walls.

  Squinting her eyes and looking at the city walls, Ling could spot a soldier clad in gleaming gem-like armor with a quiver of javelins tied to his back.

  With a hmph, Ling made her water column rise higher into the sky while thickening her water bubble and then restarting her efforts to burn a hole through the city walls.

  Since Rainbow Rock City was the capital city of the province, it’s walls were reinforced, causing it to take a considerably longer time to break through it, however, once the walls could be breached and the soldiers of Aurora storm in, the city was theirs for the taking.

  Had the man clad in crystal armor been a mage then Ling would have dealt with him instantly, but since he was a warrior she doubled her efforts to take down the walls. It was not because warriors were inferior to mages, but it was due to the fact that warriors did not possess techniques or attacks that could affect large areas although warriors were more superior to mages in close range combat. A high-level warrior could easily dodge Ling’s attacks and possibly move in and kill her if given the opportunity.

  Ling’s only current advantages over a high-level warrior was that they had to take down their opponents one by one and at close range, meaning if Ling took down the city walls and her soldiers stormed in, she could use numbers to deal with the man clad in crystal armor.

  “You think I can’t get you if you stay up there?” The crystal armor clad man bellowed as he pulled out two javelins from his quiver. As the man’s muscles flexed and his grip loosened, one of the deadly looking javelins shot through the air toward Ling.

  “Not again…” Ling murmured as she watched the javelin flying straight for her without bat
ting an eye. Unlike before she had no intention of attempting to dodge but simply waited.

  Like before the javelin easily broke through the water bubble and homed in on Ling, but when it was mere inches away from her abdomen, Ling reformed the water bubble and with a thought made it freeze into ice.

  Once the water bubble froze, the javelin stopped moving forward as its tip was about to stab into Ling.

  Although she managed to stop the javelin, Ling did not even have a moment to rest because the crystal armor clad man had sent yet another javelin soaring through the skies.

  With a wave of Ling’s hand, the ice instantly turned back into water and wrapped around the javelin that had been caught moments ago. With her thoughts manipulating the water, Ling sent the javelin she caught into the air as well.

  Moments later the two javelins collided and sent sparks and shrapnel flying in all directions. Some of the shrapnel even managed to find their way into Ling’s newly formed water bubble.