Unintended Cultivator

Sen could see the indecision on the man’s face. There was the desperation to save his cultivation on the one side, but that prospect meant fighting a battle that would almost certainly end in destruction. On the other side was the guarantee of life, a potent spur for anyone, but it was the kind of life that no cultivator wanted. To give up their hard-won power, the prestige of being a cultivator and of being in a sect, all to live as farmers or merchants? To surrender control in a world they knew all too well was hostile? That was barely a life, but it was still life, however uncertain. In their situation, Sen thought he would fight. Of course, he also had a lot of enemies. If ever lost his cultivation, he doubted he’d survive a month. It’d be nothing for even a qi-condensing cultivator to kill him. Since he had so many people depending on him at the moment, he’d basically have no choice but to fight. If these cultivators hadn’t made a hobby of infuriating powerful people, though, mortal life would be navigable if not especially pleasant.

He'd almost expected the ones who had been hiding to run away. It seemed that they were waiting for the one who’d been bargaining to make a decision. Maybe he was someone important in the sect, thought Sen. If that was the case, it made sense that they would wait for him to choose before committing one way or the other. They might also just be waiting to do the whole group attack, he mused. Sen wouldn’t mind that, at all. He wanted them to decide to fight. He was still angry about what had happened to Falling Leaf. Plus, if they fought it…well, it wouldn’t exactly free him from guilt, but it would make killing them easier on his conscience. He was happy to let a bad decision on their part serve two goals for him.

When the man in front of him started to cycle qi, it was all the answer Sen needed. He sent lightning into the shadows where the other sect cultivators were hiding. He didn’t really expect them to hit. He hadn’t been aiming them all that carefully. He just wanted them distracted enough not to be launching techniques immediately, and lightning was always distracting. Sen had a theory that most cultivators were irrationally afraid of lightning on some level. Given that it was the way that the heavens tested and sometimes killed cultivators, it was an understandable fear. That and getting hit by any lightning was incredibly painful even if it didn’t manage to kill you.

Once he’d sent his distractions at the lackeys, he focused on the one in front of him. Sen had been certain that he was going to be the most problematic of the three. It seemed that withstanding his killing intent was proving more of a challenge than Sen had credited. The other cultivator tried and failed to form a technique. Sen sent a wind blade at him to keep him occupied, activated his qinggong technique, and shot toward one of the hiding cultivators. That one at least had the wherewithal to have a weapon in hand. There was a swift exchange of blades before he cut her down. He moved back onto the path long enough to send another wind blade at the cultivator who had mostly managed to block the first one before he went after the second hiding cultivator.

Rather, he went after the second hiding cultivator who had decided to take their chances by running away with a qinggong technique that Sen didn’t recognize. It wasn’t as good as his, but it wasn’t bad. They felt him coming and managed to put together one of those twisted blade techniques to fling at Sen. He twisted out of the way and brought his jian down on the technique. It held for a fraction of a second before it cracked. He heard the fleeing cultivator cry out in pain from the backlash. He watched as they lost control of their movement technique and stumbled. Seeming to realize that escape wasn’t an option, they summoned a spear. It was a fine thing. Sen made a mental note to grab it when they were done with this duel. The other cultivator gave him a baleful look.

“Judgment’s Gale. The hero. You’re no hero,” sneered the man.

Sen nodded in agreement.

“Hero? There are no cultivator heroes,” said Sen before he paused for a moment. “Except for Righteous Wu Gang. He’s actually a hero.”

The other cultivator stared at Sen like he’d lost his mind.

“Heroes. If you want a hero, you need Righteous Wu Gang. He’s the only one I know.”

The cultivator shook his head as if to get rid of a confusing thought.

“You can’t think you’ll get away with this. We have allies.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

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“Are you delusional? I have gotten away with this. Your inner sect members and core members are dead or will be soon. Your elders are dead. I expect your patriarch is dead or wishing he was. As for your allies, do you honestly think they’d risk something like this happening to them? To avenge your sect? I know how many sects you’ve wiped out. I know some of them were allies you decided were too weak. Frankly, I’d be amazed if your current allies don’t send me thank you gifts,” said Sen before storing his jian and summoning a spear. “Now, let’s get on with it.”

As angry as the Twisted Sect cultivator was, he didn’t let it make him stupid. He used cautious, probing attacks to try to get a feel for Sen’s style and strength. Sen met those attacks with about the same strength and speed. He didn’t want to damage that spear if he didn’t have to. The other cultivator decided to go for a furious frontal assault with a series of brutal thrusts and slashes. Sen deflected some and simply sidestepped the rest. The man’s eyes glowed with fury.

“Are you toying with me? Is this some kind of game to you?”

“I thought I might learn something from you,” said Sen. “I see now that I won’t.”

Sen brought his spear down so fast that the other man didn’t even seem to register it before the spray of blood from his own severed arm struck the man’s face. A second slash removed his head. Sen picked up the other man’s spear, admired its craftsmanship briefly, and put it into a storage ring. He didn’t think it was quite up to Uncle Kho’s standards, but the elder cultivator might find it interesting. Sen walked back to the path where he had been. He eyed the other cultivator who still standing there. Based on the deep wound in the man’s chest, it seemed he’d been less successful in blocking the second wind blade.

“I thought you would have run,” observed Sen.

“Run?” asked the man. “From you? Where would I go?”

“I suppose that’s fair,” said Sen, waiting to see what the man would do.

“I can’t beat you,” said the man with defeat in his voice. “There’s no point in fighting.”

“I’ll make it quick,” said Sen. “I’ve no interest in torturing you.”

Dropping his sword, the man crouched down next to the prone figure again.

“If I begged, would you spare her?” asked the man as he pressed his hand to the prone woman’s face.

Sen was silent for so long that the man looked up at him.

“Do you honestly think she’d be grateful for that?” asked Sen.

“No,” laughed the man. “She’d damn me a thousand times for it.”

Sen hadn’t expected this. He should have, but he just hadn’t considered it. Then again, he hadn’t actually planned on talking to anyone either.

“What kind of person is she?” asked Sen.

“She’s focused, driven—”

“That isn’t what I meant,” said Sen. “Every cultivator is focused and driven. What kind of person is she?”

The man thought hard for most of a minute before he finally said, “She’s a better person than me. Better than everyone in this damned sect. She’s not some kind of battle maniac like most of the people here. She… She wanted to leave. She begged me to leave. She said we should become wandering cultivators or at least find another sect. It’s like she knew something like this would happen. I always said no. I said we’d worked too hard to advance here. That leaving would mean throwing all of that away.

“Leaving would have been better for her. She tends the plants. She’s good at it. We could have gone anywhere. I knew what kind of place this was, but we’d just invested so much time and work here. Hells, I probably deserve this, but I swear to you that she doesn’t. I swear to the heavens and on my cultivation that she doesn’t deserve to die here today. So, I’m begging you. Let her live.”

Sen watched as the telltale glow of the heavens affirming an oath shone around the man. Damn it, thought Sen. It was one thing to kill people he didn’t know anything about. It was something entirely different to kill someone that even the heavens agreed didn’t deserve to die. This sect was going to declare war on him, so the negative karma from culling the sect in general wasn’t going to be as bad. Killing that woman now, though? After seeing the heavens confirm her worthiness to live, there would be no end to the negative karma. Sighing to himself, he summoned a vial from a storage ring and walked over to the man. He held out the vial to him.

“Drink that,” said Sen. “It’ll be painless. You’ll just fall asleep. I’ll see to it that she lives. My oath on it.”

The man slumped in relief. Sen thought that man might actually weep. Straightening up, the Twisted Sect cultivator snatched the vial and drank the contents. It was like he was afraid Sen would change his mind if he didn’t do it. Sen summoned a blue token from his storage ring and gently placed it on the woman’s stomach. The man blinked down at it in confusion.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“A sign to my companions. They’ll understand that it means she’s under my protection for now. They’ll leave her be if they come across her.”

“Thank you,” said the man, his eyes on the woman.

“Don’t thank me. Loathe as I am to say it, you should thank the heavens. They affirmed your oath. If they think she deserves to live, I’m not going to argue with that.”

Sen waited a few minutes for the elixir to take effect. The man slumped over. Shaking his head, Sen settled the man on the ground next to the woman. He stared down at the pair for a long time before he summoned a second blue token and dropped it on the man’s stomach. Then, he turned his gaze skyward.

“I’m holding you responsible if I come to regret this,” Sen admonished the heavens.