WiFu dipped his head. “A fair point, General Shalu. But what do we have in greater supply than time?”
“No mortal soul should have been able to survive that trial!” Zheng Yi roared.
Long Wang nodded. “Twice he has tasted oblivion, slipping into the River of Souls. I would have even allowed him rebirth, brother, had he accepted his fate.” The giant squeezed an angry fist. “But he somehow pulled himself free! You know what that means, WiFu!”
WiFu nodded. “Even as little more than a worm, he now walks the very same path we do. For what are we, really, but ancient souls who refuse to die, accruing power ever since our transcendence?”
Zheng Yi paled, lightning crackling in his silver-white goatee. “Blasphemy! We are the epitome of ideals, Fox! That is what gives us vitality, strength, purpose!”
WiFu’s cold laughter rang through the impossibly vast chamber. “And what will Alex’s ideal be, I wonder, when he one day strides bold as day into this very chamber?” His gaze hardened. “Dare you even guess what attribute my daughters will embrace, when they finally transcend your murderous bloodthirst?”
Zheng Yi snarled. “I have sealed all the cracks within Qing Bai’s garden walls, Fox! When next her offspring perishes, they will be reborn by her side, and never be permitted to slip into the mortal realms again!”
Long Wang slammed a black jade piece upon WiFu’s ivory card.
WiFu’s features paled, though he hid it with a chuckle. “You have so few of those left. You would waste one on Alex? Truly?”
Long Wang glared down at the far smaller man. “Your pawn has grown far too dangerous, Fox! Daring to walk our path. When your tool finally succumbs to the River’s Call, he will not be reborn.”
WiFu’s tone grew soft and quiet as death. “You may not claim him until after he makes his choice.”
Zheng Yi’s laughter was cruel. “Really? Do you think he will be spared anything but agony when he next crashes into the river? The torment of having to reforge every cell of his being before he can emerge once more? To suffer so, when the cool soothing depths promises eternal surcease, if only he lets himself slip beneath the surface?”
The elder god gave a pitying shake of his head. “You have tormented your piece for countless centuries, WiFu. He will understand the bitter truth in those final moments.” The elder flashed an icy grin. “I will make sure of it. If anything, he will thank me for an end to his pain. And if you recall, abeyance was only promised for so long as that particular pawn was in play. You had thought to skirt the rules by perpetually reincarnating him exactly as he was, the very moment we had forged our pact, countless years ago, daring to assume that his cloned immortality would assure the Ruidian’s continued existence as well. How many times has he refused my ring? A hundredfold!”
Zheng Yi slammed the world-sized game board with a fist crackling with lightning in time to the thunder Alex sensed echoing in the distance.
“And now your pawn has committed the ultimate transgression. Daring to forge a divine meridian pattern. His blasphemy ends now! Never again will I allow you to interfere in our pantheon, WiFu. Once his piece is finally removed, I will make sure the rest of that damned race is purged, as well as every trueblood who dares to worship the Fox!”
WiFu’s eyes widened. The soft cries of the far-off egret and the golden notes of perfectly forged wind pipes were replaced by the desperate shrieks of the abandoned and forgotten. All the souls that had slipped forevermore into the cracks between rebirth and renewal as callous gods above made the universe dance to their tune.
The brilliant, sourceless golden sunlight illuminating the divine chamber, so vast it nearly encompassed an entire realm, suddenly faded to inky twilight as a hideous pressure filled the air, WiFu’s fellow players suddenly paling before him.
The God of Chaos and Destruction crackled with sudden killing fury when he pulled out a deck of cards the color of midnight and blood.
Even as Zheng Yi and Long Wang paled, WiFu was stopped cold when a slender, milky white hand touched his own, the Fox God gasping with surprise before turning to gaze at the strikingly beautiful woman now before him, glowing with all the glory of nectar and wine to a man dying of thirst, or the first rays of sun to a land locked in winter’s endless night.
“Stay Armageddon’s hand, as you swore to me you would when first you tempted me with night’s caress, a thousand years ago.”
WiFu paled, hand dropping helplessly to his side. “Qing Bai.”
She nodded once, soft fingertips caressing WiFu’s awe-struck features.
“Wife, why are you here?” roared Long Wang, glaring daggers of hate at a deflated WiFu. “Why must you touch chaos for even a moment? My order is all you will ever need!”
His bluster instantly faded when she looked his way. Long Wang lowered his head, trembling with sudden shame.
She paid him no further mind, gazing curiously at the board. “I see you fools have put my daughters in harm’s way, yet again.”
“Yes, granddaughter, it must be done,” insisted Zheng Yi, the elder god turning his stormy gaze, brimming with hate, WiFu’s way. “I will destroy you and your damned pawns once and for all, ancient god of chaos and discord!” He glared at the horrid deck of blood and blackness WiFu had let slacken in his grip. “But for your single act of forbearance, I will turn my doom into a warning. Only those pieces that dare to advance, will I destroy.”
Zheng Yi peered down upon the vast panoramic view that was somehow both a game board and the world in truth. For long moments, the elder god furrowed his brow in growing consternation, before his face lit up with triumph. Alex felt soul-chilling dread when the panoramic view narrowed, spinning forward at a dizzying speed, and then it was as if they were all riding silent passenger upon a carriage of shadow and gloom, racing between waves of storm and shadow, night and day, the heavens above and darker realms below.
But what chilled the wisp of shadow and dream that was Alex most of all was to see his own sleeping form, curled up in Hao Chan’s arms, upon the carriage rooftop.
Fierce eyes alight with vindication glared into WiFu’s solemn orbs of silver and jade. “Should your kitsune pawns advance no further upon our board, I will call off all hunts for their heads.”
Alex could sense Qing Bai’s horror at her grandfather admitting such dark intentions aloud, yet the desperate gaze she speared WiFu with pierced even Alex’s soul.
The ancient god’s smile grew as he sensed WiFu’s sudden vulnerability. “How many centuries have you claimed to adore my granddaughter? Her husband by moonlight, even as Long Wang claims her by day?”
Long Wang glared. “He is nothing but a thief in the night—” Words abruptly cut off by Zheng Yi’s clenched fist.
“I know you have our own people among your pawns as well, Crafty Fox. And the same holds true for them. So long as no true child of this realm moves another deliberate step forward at cross-purposes to me on the gameboard before us, I will forestall my inquisitors, who even now eagerly hunt down any and all who dare to worship the Fox in any form!”
“Madness!” WiFu hissed. “You would slaughter millions simply for revering our culture, our shared faith?”
“Not madness at all, but purity in absolution! The fundamental core of our pantheon is all they need ever embrace from this day forward!” Zheng Yi’s eyes blazed with a fanatic’s hate, before becoming those of a jaded merchant, well aware that he had already gotten the best of the opponent he faced. “Should such fools exercise prudence and temperance sufficient that they act as your pawns no longer, none daring to enter the city where the sacrifice must take place, then they too shall be forgiven.”
The god loomed over a strangely diminutive-looking WiFu, teeth flashing like the sun. “And finally, should you defer sending even one Ruidian as your agent into Baidushi, even those devotees will enjoy lives unmolested by the purge they all so richly deserve!”
Qing Bai paled. “Baidushi… so you would cut down my daughter aft
er all, Grandfather!?”
“Only one!” her hard-eyed grandfather insisted. “Only one daughter must you surrender even as I sacrifice an entire city to advance our cause!”
“Grandfather, you swore...”
“Silence! It was your folly that led us to this! You know why this has to be!”
WiFu’s eyes flashed with sudden heat. Yet when the elder god spun back around to face him, his face was void of all emotion.
Zheng Yi glared into WiFu’s expressionless features. “Well, Fox? Do we have an understanding?”
WiFu bowed his head. “So long as no kitsune, Ruidian, or trueblood enters Baidushi, you will forbear any purges against them.”
Zheng Yi snorted. “Enters Baidushi with the intention of interfering with what must come to pass with the least of all my great granddaughters, or provides your despised pawn with any deliberate aid to that effect. I will not have you trick me into leaving my city a ghost town!”
Long Wang glared. “Such a damned trickster!”
WiFu tilted his head. “Not damned at all. I only wish I could say the same for the fools that would so callously throw away the lives of countless millions for the sake of a war we might not even win!”
A looming Zheng Yi snarled down at WiFu. “If you would preserve your dwindling tribe, then best you accept the terms, Fox. None of your followers are permitted to interfere with the sacrifice in any way. Furthermore, no one of any race may knowingly give your vile pawn any aid in reaching Baidushi at all, or they and theirs will pay a blood price the likes of which you’ve never seen!”
And much to Alex’s surprise, the god of chaos and mischief bowed his head in defeated ascent. “Very well, Grandfather. It will be as you say.” His eyes flashed. “But you too are bound to that oath. So long as no kitsune, Ruidian, or trueblood deliberately interferes with the sacrifice of my granddaughter before the hour it is to occur, and so long as no one makes Alex’s journey to Baidushi any easier than it would be for a mercenary or stranger, then you may enact no purges. Any bloodbath instigated by you, directly or indirectly, against my offspring or my followers, will invite a debt of black Karma squarely at your feet.”
“Agreed,” said Zheng Yi, flashing a cold, predatory smile that did nothing to abate the hate in his gaze.
The bloated deity beside Zheng Yi and Long Wang, dressed in shimmering lamellar armor eerily similar to that once worn by Qin generals of the Warring States period that Alex had once seen on display a lifetime ago, gave a pitying shake of his head. “Are you truly so foolish, Fox? Best you give up the game and surrender your pieces right now. For you have just conceded that even your favorite piece is forbidden from interfering with what is to come!”
WiFu flashed the strangest of smiles. “Did I, General Shalu? And do you truly think a single intervention is the only reason why my piece is heading towards the provincial capital?”
Long Wang’s gaze widened, powerful hands suddenly squeezing the hilt of the massive warhammer he now held, golden dragon runes upon each side of its obsidian head glowing with the same hot fires blazing from his eyes. “It’s a bluff. All of your concern for a single girl, your railing against the glorious battles to come, was all just a ruse. Your real goal is Royal Phoenix Academy!”
Zheng Yi snorted, flicking imaginary dust off his impossibly grand silk robes. “With all hands soon to be turned against him, WiFu’s favored piece will die long before he reaches that academy, and few other monasteries or temples within ZhengTu kingdom have cultivation manuals that could possibly enable that vermin’s ascension. We have cut him off from all of Dragon Academy’s resources as well, even if he’s too foolish to understand before it’s too late. Now the only question that remains is how far a friendless Ruidian can get before he’s crushed by the Fates he dared to cross!”
Zheng Yi share a cold chuckle with the other gods before turning to glare at a defeated-looking WiFu. “We are done here, Fox, and I have no more time for vermin. Be gone!” His roaring voice did not fade but echoed endlessly, growing in pitch and volume until it was the roar of a cyclone, blowing his unwanted guest away. Yet a smirking WiFu’s tricorn hat and perfectly creased attire were ruffled not at all in the storm as he sat comfortably upon his chair, for all that he was being spun about through the midnight sky. Then he tilted his head, utterly ignoring the howling storm, focusing only on the whirling blob of shadow that was Alex’s soul.
Looks like the game is once more afoot, wouldn’t you agree, disciple?
Then he winked and faded from sight.
But not before slipping a gold fox pendant into Alex’s hand. Alex shivered, instantly sensing the contents within, already knowing what his next move had to be, and hating it with all his heart.
10
Alex woke up when the carriage eased to a halt, warm shafts of golden light spearing his blinking eyes, forcing him awake with sleepy yawns even as it warmed his skin. He gazed fondly down at a still sleeping Hao Chan, caressing her lips with the lightest of butterfly kisses, flushing when he saw her lush red lips curve into a pleased smile.
He took a deep steadying breath, instinctively drawing in the storm of Light Qi he now sensed all around him, feeling it infuse his peripheral channels and fill him with calm. Now was not the time to let fury catalyze the wildest of storms, but rather to take in the warm contentment of the perfect spring day as he turned to face the kitsune he knew would be there.
“How are you feeling, Alex? Did you get a good night’s rest?”
Alex smiled back at Jidihu’s genuinely concerned gaze. “Never better,” he said, which was basically true. Whole and healthy, free of mad adrenaline, boiling Qi, and desperate energy, he took a moment just reveling in the feel of a Rank 1 Bronze physique, savoring perfect health.
As much as gamers loved going the mage route, with all the promise of unbridled elemental power, the sheer joy of inhabiting a strong, vigorous body was a sweet treasure gold just couldn’t buy. It was a glorious feeling that any teenager who had ever spent the summer training hard, feeling in the best shape of their lives come autumn, knew firsthand. And the wondrous sensation of peaking in strength as a Terran youth was absolutely nothing compared to the delicious sense of power and vitality he now felt coiled within his Rank 1 Bronze Ogre frame.
Alex took a deep breath, truly savoring just how far he had come, humbled with a sudden sense of gratitude for everyone who had helped him get this far, even if he had been forged in fire.
Far better that than to never be forged at all, left as worthless slag, slowly rusting away.
He bowed his head solemnly and low, before catching the surprised-looking kitsune’s face with a cheerful grin. “Honestly, Jidihu, I don’t think I’ve ever felt better in my entire life. And for all that you and your husband and wife have done to help me get this far? I’m sincerely grateful.”
She flashed an impish grin back, though her own cheeks were flushing slightly. “I’m glad, Alex. And we’re all grateful to have you by our side.”
She sighed forlornly. “I just hope my Panheu has survived his own trials. I don’t know if he ever considered me his wife, for all that our hearts burned sweetly together for a time, but I will always count him my friend and ally. And I shudder to think about what might happen if we overextended our hand as badly as I fear we might have.”
She gazed down at her clenched fist, and Alex saw a small band of coiled Silver glowing softly upon one finger. “At least I know my son and his father are still alive. But in case we dared too much, in case they too need shelter from the storm to come… there are certain precautions I would like to take.”
Alex said nothing for long moments, just holding her gaze.
Soft brown eyes were rueful and all too knowing as she flashed a sympathetic smile. “I could spin a grand song and dance about how we will get to Baidushi, eventually. All you need is patience and understanding while we first establish a sanctuary for our people, for those we love, so they will be safe, no matter the shifting
tides of fortune and folly. No matter how bad the storms to come. But you already know the truth of it, don’t you, Alex?”
Alex nodded. “I know. You’re not going to Baidushi. Not for all the silver and gold in the world.”
Her smile hardened. “So, you do understand, then. Excellent. Then you know a deal has been struck. So long as our master’s pawns refuse to advance upon one particular board, a violent, tyrannical player will forbear from consuming countless pieces in the fires of his hate.”
Alex took a deep breath and swallowed, gazing into eyes so filled with a mother’s tenderness, and an assassin’s fierce resolve. In that moment he both admired the sensual, deadly woman before him, and was terrified for the girl only feigning sleep at his back as Alex felt the weight of Jidihu’s gaze bear upon his soul.
“I know the terms,” he said.
Jidihu gave an approving nod. “Good. I would expect nothing less from my ultimate sire’s favored pawn. Or should I say… friend.” The cool killer’s gaze faded, an almost spritely smile alighting upon her foxlike features. Adorable and deadly all at once.
She gave a motherly tussle of his blond locks that really could use a good wash and comb. “I’m almost jealous, Alex. But when I read the stories of the trials you endured by his side, what I feel instead is fondest admiration, and yes, gratitude, for all that you have done for me and mine.”
She chuckled softly. “But of course, you remember none of it. As he no doubt intended. Forever reborn a youth of eighteen summers awakening into this world for the very first time, a year or a century after your piece was last removed from the board.”
Alex clenched his jaw, heart hammering in his chest. He felt his throat constrict, blinking away the hot sting in his eyes. And why he felt any of that was utterly beyond him, because Jidihu was right. Except for this past wondrous, terrible, tumultuous year, he recalled no more of his past lives than any soul within the Golden Realms. Save, of course, for his own past, that of a boy dying of cancer, desperate for a second chance to live once more.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior's Oath: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 4 Page 12
