Crown of the Starry Sky: Book 11 of Painting the Mists

by Patrick Laplante

  The rakshasa bled. The half man, half tiger fought with everything he had. One wooden pole finally impaled him in the chest, bringing him to an abrupt halt. And after the first, the others followed, completely entrapping him and skewering his own manifestation. Then, with hate in his eyes, he began to burn away.

  It’s done, Cha Ming thought as he felt the last of the rakshasa’s strength leave the cut on his chest. The hateful white energy disappeared with the last of the tiger demon. Following its disappearance, ambient demonic qi flooded and purified the area. A plot that was decades in the making had been uncovered, and its perpetrator was destroyed.

  “I’m afraid I’ll need you to pick up the pieces,” Cha Ming said to Clever Dusk, who could finally move now that the battle was over. She was clearly shaken, but she composed herself. She was a queen, and she needed to be strong. Cha Ming nodded to the First Feather. “They will send others. Be careful. Protect those who know how to detect them.”

  “I don’t think we’re the ones who need to worry,” Clever Dusk said. “But we’ll watch our backs. Will you be returning to the human city?”

  “My mission isn’t over yet,” Cha Ming said. He summoned their standard Kingfisher Guard mission ship and sent a message to Killjoy.

  Let’s go back, he sent. We need to clean this up before the two prefecture lords decide to ruin everything.

  Chapter 35: The Weight of an Empire

  The streets were abuzz as Cha Ming’s team entered through the city gates. It wasn’t something that needed to be heard—it was obvious from body language and the way people clustered together. This feeling was reinforced by the presence of an escort, ships from the prefectural government sent to see them safely in.

  Every faction in the city was tense. And why wouldn’t they be? After all, Cha Ming had asked Captain Xing for an unthinkable thing: The Li Clan, one of the five great clans of the Burning Lake Prefecture, had been arrested. That included full clansmen and employees.

  The Li Clan might not be the strongest in military might, but it was financially powerful. Money talked, and already there was pushback from politicians and mighty businessmen. There were protests in the streets incited by their many hidden and open agents. Allied families, including the Mi Clan and the Cao Clan, were restless. The Xia Clan was begging for blood. As for the Wei Clan, it was conspicuously silent, an appropriate response from a clan who prided themselves as administrators of justice.

  The many sects in the city were also involved, of course, but Cha Ming knew little of them. Sect politics and clan politics were two completely different animals. He’d happened to befriend members of influential clans and hadn’t needed to interact much with them.

  “Given the size of the crowd, you’d think we got caught eating newborns in public,” Cha Ming said from his vantage point on their large mission ship.

  “Twisting and manipulating public opinion is second nature to the great clans,” Mi Fei said. “Very few are like Special Night’s clan, who fall completely under the radar.”

  “They’ll disperse as soon as it looks like they’re losing,” Killjoy said. “Assuming they are losing. Tell me you’re sure of this.”

  “Ninety-five percent?” Cha Ming said uncertainly.

  “I’ve taken worse gambles for a fortune,” Crying Toad said.

  “How about the both of you?” Cha Ming asked the others.

  “We’re with the boss, and he’s with you,” Silverwing said.

  “This is the right course of action,” said Shneraz. “Given the weight of the allegations.”

  “If we’re wrong, I’m dead,” said Serrendil with a shrug.

  “I might be dead even if we are right,” said Silver Fish. His situation was unique. Should they succeed, he would be in immediate danger.

  They landed in front of the main gates of the Kingfisher Guard Station, which had been completely sealed off to the public. Even regular guardsmen weren’t allowed in or out unless explicitly on duty. They walked in brusquely, bypassing guards who looked relieved to see them. They took the stairs several floors down into a secret facility.

  The doors opened up into an exceptionally large holding room. It was plain and unadorned, and meant for emergencies or mass incarcerations. The entire Li Clan, including its employees, was here. Thousands of them. Many of them just remotely related. Angry yelling began as soon as they arrived.

  Captain Xing greeted Cha Ming with a smile. “You have a wonderfully large audience. I read your partial report, and I confess myself intrigued.”

  “Thank you for arranging this,” Cha Ming said. “I hope I haven’t made a big mistake. Did you bring the truth watchers?”

  “They’re here,” Captain Xing said. “One is even at the middle of the rune-gathering realm. I pulled a few strings to get him here. I assume we’re thinking much the same thing. If so, I’m the one who’ll be in your debt.” He looked over to the prefecture lords, where all the powerful cultivators were gathered. “Shall we?”

  “Let’s,” Cha Ming said. They made their way to the group of rune-gathering-realm cultivators. Two of them glared as he approached—Lords Dripping Blade and Burning Lake. Others were intrigued. The heads of all the great clans and sects were in attendance. This situation didn’t just concern the Li Clan; it concerned all of them.

  “So this is the one?” a man asked when they arrived. “The one who provoked our unlawful incarceration?” He was the head of the Li Clan. “I demand our immediate release and his punishment.”

  “Please restrain yourself,” said Prefecture Lord Burning Lake. “As you may know, I have a personal grudge with this one. I would love nothing more than to dismember him. If it was only his words keeping you here, things would be different.”

  “Justice will be served, one way or another,” the Kingfisher Guard Captain said. It was this older man, not Captain Xing, who controlled the local guard. He was the one who’d summoned the gold-ranked guardsmen.

  “I suppose you’ll be wanting to make a great speech?” Captain Xing asked.

  “I’m not one to grandstand,” Cha Ming said. “Just give me a moment.” He quickly inspected the men present and found nothing amiss. That didn’t mean they were innocent—that would be verified later—but for now, it was a good precaution. “Please excuse me. I’d like to walk around.”

  “You will address this now!” said the Li Clan Patriarch.

  “Quiet, you,” said Captain Xing, and the Patriarch shut up, eyeing Cha Ming as he walked along the line of prisoners.

  In truth, Cha Ming was worried. He’d waited to the last possible moment to ask Captain Xing to strike. “A little help, Crying Toad?” Cha Ming asked.

  “Right away, boss,” Crying Toad said. He took out a large satchel and began to spray dust into the room. Silverwing summoned a breeze that spread it to everyone present. It clung to everyone in the room, revealing varying shades of red. Some were unaffected, while others were dyed a deep crimson.

  “What’s this?” demanded the Li Clan Patriarch.

  “Quiet,” Cha Ming said. He focused on the strongest in the room, the ones with the most exposure, whether direct or indirect, to Crying Toad’s disease. Not all of them had been affected, but it wasn’t something definitive.

  Found one, Cha Ming thought as he inspected the tangle of karma. Two. Three. He paled as he discovered twenty more cases. He wasn’t sure about the depth of their infiltration, or if they’d gotten to the more powerful clan leaders, but it was a start. Finally, he made his way back to the group of leaders.

  “Prefecture Lord,” Cha Ming said to Lord Burning Lake.

  “Clear Sky,” said the prefecture lord with a nod, not even bothering to hide his disdain.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you, Guard Captain,” Cha Ming said to the older leader of the Kingfisher Guard.

  “We’ll see how you feel when this is all over,” the guard captain replied grimly.

  “Then I suppose I’ll start with the least-concerning news,” Cha M
ing said. “The bandits have been eradicated. Their goals have been uncovered.”

  “Welcome news,” Lord Burning Lake said. “But not worthy of this gathering.”

  “In related news, Stargazer City almost came to blows with Shimmerwing City,” Cha Ming said. “War was prevented, but in the course of the investigation, we discovered that those manipulating the Li Clan had instigated the entire thing. They were also responsible for the bandit group as well.”

  “Bold claims,” said Prefecture Lord Dripping Blade. “Claims that will require proof. And while I sympathize with your wanting to get to the bottom of this case, I’d like something to be explained. Why should warring demons concern humans like us? How does this concern the prefecture?”

  “Lord Dripping Blade,” Cha Ming said. “I almost forgot you were there. I believe I only asked to have you here as a witness.” And to check if you were one of them.

  “He has a valid point,” Captain Xing cut in. “Warring demon clans mean nothing, at least as far as the empire is concerned. Unless the prefecture were to take issue with it, this point is moot.”

  “Which we don’t,” said Lord Burning Lake.

  “And the raider attacks on caravans,” Cha Ming said, “though detrimental to the city’s business, were not illegal according to prefectural or imperial law.”

  “That is correct,” said Lord Burning Lake.

  “We did happen to collect evidence, or course, both through testimony and living witnesses, of abductions of demons within the prefectural limits,” Cha Ming said. “Facilitated by the Li Clan and delivered to those same raiders.”

  “An infraction,” said Lord Burning Lake reluctantly after some reflection. “Punishable. Illegal. But not significant enough for this.”

  Which, to be fair, was reasonable. They’d arrested one of the top ten factions in the city. The entire faction, not just their leaders.

  “This matter is of importance to the empire,” Cha Ming said. “I will reveal the crimes and the culprits, but not their reasoning. For I cannot think like they do, and I do not wish to. Nevertheless, the source of this trouble is of concern to the empire. Otherwise I would never have asked for you to take such drastic actions.”

  Captain Xing nodded. “I have heard his preliminary arguments. He is here to provide evidence to support them. Please note, Clear Sky, that your actions are being judged by all those present.”

  “Then we’ll start off slowly,” Cha Ming said. “Please bring Manager Li Yang over. I would ask for the help of the venerable truth watchers.”

  Three men were standing over to the side. They wore golden robes to represent their station. They had golden eyes, and their duty was simple: to evaluate truth, take oaths, and uncover deceit.

  The senior truth watcher smiled as he walked over. He was an older, graying man with long hair tied into a topknot with a golden clip. “I have heard only a summary from Captain Xing, who claims you can show me something I might have overlooked,” the man said. “I’ll have you know that I preside over five prefectures near the Burning Lake Prefecture and came specifically to hear you out at his request.”

  “I confess that I am not fully certain you will be able to see what I see,” Cha Ming said. “But I hope you can. Truth watchers are known to have the keenest of eyesight and abnormally strong souls.”

  “We see the living and the unliving,” the truth watcher said. “We see overlapping planes and time as it affects all things, as well as karmic threads as they connect all people.”

  “Then tell me,” Cha Ming said, turning, “is this man, Li Yang, human?”

  “How could you make such an accusation, Clear Sky,” Li Yang said, “after how well I treated you?”

  “You can’t be serious,” said the Li Clan Patriarch incredulously. “We can all clearly see that he is human.”

  “I admit that I see a man before me,” said the truth watcher. “He is perhaps fifty-five years old. Gold and earth cultivator. He has a record of doing very human things.”

  “Very good,” Cha Ming said. “Then the disguise is difficult to spot. This makes the issue I bring before you significant.”

  He swept his hands and focused his vision using his Eyes of Truth. He looked through the Sage’s perspective. Karmic threads appeared—the most notable ones. He singled them out and pulled at them, tugging them tight like strings on an instrument. “You have no problem seeing these main events, I gather, senior truth watcher?”

  “I see the strings and I see their stories,” the truth watcher said. “I could trace them to the ones he’s interacted with.”

  Cha Ming waved his hand, and nine-tenths of them vanished. “And these five strings. What are they?”

  “The birth of his son and the day of his marriage,” said the truth watcher. “The time he first used a sword and decided he hated it. The first time he rode a horse. The day he decided he didn’t love his wife anymore.”

  “This is getting very personal,” Li Yang said coldly, struggling against the gold-ranked guardsmen holding him. “I was nice to you. I entertained you. And now you embarrass me?”

  “Do you see the issue yet?” Cha Ming asked.

  “Yes,” muttered the truth watcher. “This is… strange. His son was born before the day of his marriage. Though that isn’t unusual, is it?”

  “It is a known fact,” the Li Clan Patriarch chimed in. “An embarrassing one that was swept under the rug.”

  “The main issue I have is these two strings,” the truth watcher continued. “It says here he first learned to ride a horse before he learned to wield a sword…” He pulled up another string. “But here we have an event where he uses a sword, and another, later, where he had his first riding lesson. This makes no sense.”

  “And the day he decided he didn’t love his wife anymore?” Cha Ming asked.

  “Before their marriage,” the truth watcher said. “Before the birth of their son. Unusual, but not conclusive. But I see more tangles…” He brought up many other strings Cha Ming had discarded.

  “On another note, he was most heavily infected with this tracking disease,” Cha Ming said.

  “Yes, yes, ingenious,” said the distracted truth watcher. “Using a disease to bypass poison resistance. Good bit of karmic tracking involved. Aha! Here is one. This string is newer, yet it describes events from much further back than its apparent age would indicate. The events do not match the age they’ve been tethered to. This is physically impossible. Unless…”

  “Unless the karma is false,” Cha Ming concluded. He turned to the Li Clan Patriarch. “I’m afraid Li Yang is not Li Yang.”

  “On such a meaningless basis?” asked the Li Clan Patriarch.

  “He does have a point,” Captain Xing said. “The truth watcher sees issues, but he also sees a human. He sees Li Yang. This does not confirm your suspicion.”

  “Fortunately, the truth can be revealed,” Cha Ming said. “My means is not unique. It involves supressing demonic energy. There are alchemical goods and formations that can do the same, but I ask for your permission to do so to Li Yang. If he is human, this will not hurt him all.”

  “How dare y—”

  “Granted,” Captain Xing said, cutting off the Li Clan Patriarch.

  Cha Ming summoned the Tri-Sealing Pillars. He made a show of it, not working too fast or too slow. He only used the Demon-Subduing Pillar and its five supporting elements. They spread out across the floor as the pressure mounted.

  “I feel nothing,” Li Yang said. “This is a foolish waste of time.”

  “I didn’t think of that,” Cha Ming said. “Your human shell shields your demonic qi. Let’s see how long you can keep it up, however.” He erupted with Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations, and his cultivation shot up to the peak of rune carving. With the corresponding technique, his qi and soul were a half step into the rune-gathering realm—a broken shadow of four runes was already manifesting.

  “You will submit!” Cha Ming shouted and pressed down upon him. H
e summoned the Crown of the Starry Sky, using the slight boost on his qi, body, and soul to press down. He did so for a full minute until finally, something cracked, and Li Yang began to scream.

  “He’s killing him!” the Li Clan Patriarch said.

  Lord Burning Lake moved to block Cha Ming, but Captain Xing held him back. “He’s not,” Captain Xing said. “I’m not blind, you know.”

  Perhaps it was the protective shield breaking that did it, or perhaps it was because he was weaker than others before him. He lasted another thirty seconds before fainting, at which time, a familiar black-and-white-striped body appeared. He retrieved his Demon-Subduing Pillar and banished his limit-breaking technique. “One rakshasa infiltrator, ready for questioning. A shapeshifting demon who can impersonate a human or demon. There are at least twenty more here.”

  Captain Xing’s expression turned grave. “You noted all this?” he asked the truth watcher.

  “In detail,” the truth watcher said.

  “Get me demon-subduing poisons from our stores.” Captain Xing barked an order.

  “Which ones?” a gold-ranked guardswoman said.

  “All of them, fool,” the Kingfisher Guard captain shouted.

  The other prisoners were no longer quiet. Some were agitated, but others were subdued.

  “The truth watcher you secured is more effective than I am,” Cha Ming said. “I hope he can teach others. But there are the individuals I have personally spotted.” He listed off names. “Other higher-ranking members are too strong. I highly recommend screening every rune-gathering cultivator in this room.”

  “And we can only reveal them by supressing demonic qi?” Captain Xing asked.

  “No,” Cha Ming said. “They will revert to their original forms upon their death.” The moment he uttered these words, he realized he’d made a big mistake. He’d shown all his cards and given his opponents no way out. A shiver ran up his spine, and his sixth sense began tingling. “Shields up! Defend yourselves!” he yelled.