Honestly many of them arelikely going to die even if Hua Yin does nothing given that loads of them are wounded and in the wild, plus there's the punishment for failure. Their lives aren't really being weighed on a scale for me, it's whether or not Hua Yin should kill them to secure his identity and if that's good for him.
The Dao of the Awakened, a Xianxia/Cultivation Quest
- Thread starter warumono
- Start date
the rest were there, and did not challenge their commander. are they heroes? no. do they deserve to be excecuted? not either.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
This is basically the 'just following orders' excuse, and I don't buy it.
Never said they were good people but do they deserve to die?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
For standing by while their superior officer murdered innocent people? Maybe. For all their other likely crimes including the certainty of them being involved in the slave trade? Yes. Now, whether we are the ones who should kill them is a different question, but they're slavers and murderers, them dying is entirely justified morally.
Yeah at this point we've established they are dying and it's almost certain it will be traced back to Hua Yin.
This is about which direction we want to take Hua Yin morally moving forward. The further down this path we go Hua Yin will more readily jump to murder whenever someone goes against his morals.
This is about which direction we want to take Hua Yin morally moving forward. The further down this path we go Hua Yin will more readily jump to murder whenever someone goes against his morals.
Hex
A Lingering Curse
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/They
Exactly. I don't see the point in trying to save people who are objectively bad, but I don't want to see Hua Yin starting to react with murder when there are other options. We put in hard work to keep our sword from thinking like that already.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
We'll likely have future opportunities to fine tune his morals. "Killing slavers is okay" is easy enough to build on.
Well, that's the issue isn't it, Hua Yin doesn't really have any other options but to kill or let them go, he doesn't have any kind of network or capability to monitor what they do afterwards.
The moral argument is not just whether to kill or not, it's also about whether or not you're willing to accept some level of responsibility for what those you spare end up doing afterwards. It's not Hua Yin's 'fault' exactly if someone he spares here today kills some kid in the future that saw something they shouldn't have. But it would have been a possibility he was aware of and chose not to prevent.
- Location
- United Kingdom
[X] Prisoners: Kill the remaining prisoners.
If there's a risk this can blow back on people connected to us, then we probably want to kill them. It sucks for Hua Yin, but it'd suck more for whoever these guys go after next (whichever ones survive their injuries) considering we have no way of ensuring their rehabilitation.
If there's a risk this can blow back on people connected to us, then we probably want to kill them. It sucks for Hua Yin, but it'd suck more for whoever these guys go after next (whichever ones survive their injuries) considering we have no way of ensuring their rehabilitation.
[X] Prisoners: Kill the remaining prisoners.
Oh well, I know a loosing battle when I see it. hopefully Hua Yin and his mates do an actually good job gutting and killing every last one of them so they don't bite us in the ass and will have to start a revenge ark of slaughtering every last Bei man, women, and child.
Hua Yin really does need training from a butcher if peeps really want assurance he won't do child stuff again.
Oh well, I know a loosing battle when I see it. hopefully Hua Yin and his mates do an actually good job gutting and killing every last one of them so they don't bite us in the ass and will have to start a revenge ark of slaughtering every last Bei man, women, and child.
Hua Yin really does need training from a butcher if peeps really want assurance he won't do child stuff again.
Either way, I hope we can find some time at the sect to speak to our Senior brothers and sisters about all the murder so we don't end up with a bunch of long-term trauma. Hopefully the nightmares don't impact training for the tournament too much.
On further thought, I have a feeling the Archives not only has a need for "Adventuring types" as previously mentioned but perhaps also hardened killers so it's not so bad to get the experience now I suppose. Maybe Hua Yin ends up being the bogeyman living in the library.
On further thought, I have a feeling the Archives not only has a need for "Adventuring types" as previously mentioned but perhaps also hardened killers so it's not so bad to get the experience now I suppose. Maybe Hua Yin ends up being the bogeyman living in the library.
- Pronouns
- They/He
[X] Prisoners: Leave them as they are.
I think the less murder we have to do the better. Also Fong does not at all seem comfortable participating in this, and I don't wanna put him on the spot like this
I think the less murder we have to do the better. Also Fong does not at all seem comfortable participating in this, and I don't wanna put him on the spot like this
Week 44 pt 12 - Executing Prisoners
Hua Yin pursed his lips as he thought about the fate of the prisoners. It was a weighty decision, a literal question of life and death. There was no way that he would not be meditating on his actions today in the weeks and months ahead. Life. Death. Execution or murder or maybe, no difference between the two.
These were not raiders that he'd caught red handed, raiders that he'd released only to have them sin again. No, these were guards doing their job. But they were involved with slavers. They had been willing to kill him. They were not good men. But they were helpless now. Most of them were completely incapacitated. The two who were conscious had gags in their mouths and were crying, their eyes full of tears as they silently begged for their lives. They had seen his face. They could identify him and bring hell upon him and his friends. Maybe even his family in Xiaoming. And none of these men were innocents. Even if they weren't slavers themselves, they worked for slavers. That was enough. The thoughts kept repeating themselves, over and over again. Eternities in the span of heartbeats. But all roads led to the same destination. Hua Yin had decided that these men had to die today.
Hua Yin drew Jianshu, who trilled in anticipation that he was going to be used. Hua Yin approached the prisoners with a naked blade, but then Fong Zhou called out, "Are you sure we need to do this? They're completely helpless. And considering how badly messed up they are, it's not like they're ever going to hurt anyone ever again."
Hua Yin's voice was without inflection as he stated, "They're bad guys who participate in the slave trade. They've seen my face. And on some level, this is even a mercy for them."
"You're wrong brother Hua Yin. I'm not comfortable with this" Fong Zhou shook his head and walked away, refusing to look back.
Gao Jin looked over, concerned for Hua Yin, and asked softly, "Maybe this ain't right, Yin. I'll do it. You ain't looking too hot there."
Hua Yin shook his head, "I made the call, I should do the deed."
Ming Xue nodded at that sentiment but her eyes were sad as she continued to look on.
Hua Yin started with the men who were unconscious first. He stabbed the first man in the throat, an easy thrust of the blade that was almost invited by the waiting flesh. There was tension and then there was none.
It was hard, but Hua Yin did it.
He moved on to the next. A simple stab. A feeling of his insides revolting. And the next. A quick slash. The sensation of blood dripping down a blade. And the next. A fast, economical thrust that he could have been proud of at any other time. And the next. Throughout, he kept an entirely stone cold face, his iron control over his emotions, all the strength of his will was focused on not deviating at all. Jianshu's excitement grew at being used, reaching greater crescendos as the spirit sword bathed in more blood. After the third kill, something about Jianshu changed, and it almost seemed that the blade, once nothing but shining steel, had been tinted red.
And then finally there were two. The two guards who were still conscious. Tears leaked from eyes that bugged out of their sockets. It was obvious that they were trying to scream, maybe to curse Hua Yin out, maybe to beg for their lives. No one would ever know. Hua Yin took a deep breath and slashed the first across the throat, blood spraying forth. Jianshu's blade took on more of a reddish tint.
As the spurt of blood slowed to nothing but a drip, Hua Yin turned away. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath of air reeking of iron. He still had one more kill left, but by this point, his hands were shaking. He turned back to his last victim. He looked the older man in the eye. And all of a sudden, he vomited on the man, even as tears grew heavy in his eyes.
Gao Jin moved towards Hua Yin and said again, "Yin. Let me take care of it. You ain't lookin' right."
Hua Yin barked out, "No! I can do this." Hua Yin heaved again, but he forced himself to stand upright, his free hand extended to ward away his friend.
Gao Jin stepped back. There was less helplessness in his eyes, but one couldn't tell by the hard expression he forced onto his face. In Gao Jin's mind, a man had to take care of his own business. He'd offered to help. That was all he could do, no matter that he saw how much this weighed on his friend's mind.
Hua Yin walked over to the final victim and pointed his spirit sword at the tied up man. Tears fell as Hua Yin slashed, just a simple slash, clean and showing off his impeccable technique. He felt it as his innocence died, a counterpoint to Jianshu's trills of joy. In his chest, he felt something emerge, the flesh of his heart ripping, and the sensation of shadows dancing across his innards. Dark voices whispered sweet nothings into his ears.
Hua Yin flicked the blood off Jianshu and then wiped it down with a rag. He hadn't been imagining it. There was just a hint of scarlet coloration in the blade that hadn't been there before. There was a feeling of bloodlust in the air. When he sheathed Jianshu, the feeling died down. When he unsheathed the spirit blade, it came up again.
Ming Xue grimaced. Her voice was soft and had a slight tremor as she remarked, "Your blade kind of gives me a bad feeling brother Hua Yin."
Insight + 1
Jianshu has developed the Trait: Aura of Blood: Every time Jianshu is drawn, there will be a palpable sense of bloodlust and killing intent in the air. It is not enough to suppress or stop anyone, but it will disturb everyone around, including the wielder. Hua Yin, when wielding Jianshu, will project danger, making him a higher priority target.
After the drama, a pall hung heavy over the team. However, they had a job to do, so they filled their bags with charleaves. When they realized they had more space, they had no idea what else to take. Fong Zhou was extra quiet and had to be prompted a few times till he would answer questions about the plants. Though Fong Zhou came from a farming background, his family grew millet. And though he recognized herbs generally, he knew nothing about cultivator materials such as these. Gao Jin was a city boy, as was Hua Yin. And Hua Yin could not remember any of these materials being discussed in the alchemy course. Ming Xue was also a musclehead. In retrospect, it might have been useful to bring someone with more herb lore, but it was too late to do anything about it at this point. Instead, the disciples ended up guessing value by how much Qi was in the herbs, not caring about any other property. They stuffed the remainder of their bags with a pinkish grey root, hoping that they could be traded for a goodly number of points.
To finish the mission, they drove the cart with the remaining ingredients a few miles into the woods. The cart had been packed heavy. Gao Jin had made the effort to put the corpses of the guards on the cart so they wouldn't be left for the animals. There, they let the horses go and set fire to what remained, making sure to keep far away from the fumes. The group was almost completely silent throughout. Fong Zhou looked sick. Ming Xue looked introspective, while Gao Jin had a guilty expression on. Hua Yin was just in his own little world, going through the motions.
By this point, it was dawn, and the gate of Baoxing was open. While his fellow disciples went back to the Dancing Fairy to retrieve their belongings, Hua Yin went to a store to buy a large envelope and some sealing wax. He put in the documents he had retrieved from the Bei outpost and hired one of the beggar children to deliver it to Master Li's place. With that business done, he headed out of the town to meet his friends.
Once they gathered, the group set out using their movement techniques. At first they used the road, but then a few miles from Chixing, Hua Yin led them into the woods. The group of disciples made a huge detour around the village and its fields of millet and herbs. They were deep enough into the woods that they couldn't be spotted. It was not a comfortable trip. The urgency of last night had made it less apparent just how difficult and annoying traveling through the woods at speed was, even in daylight. With the sun hanging overhead, the air became more humid. The disciples' clothes stuck to their bodies as they sweated in the increasingly hot day. They were constantly scratched by brushes and branches. Though they stumbled less than they had the night before, their clothes nevertheless continued to suffer. By the time they came close to their destination, they all looked ragged. It didn't help that none of them had slept the night before, even if it wasn't actually necessary given their cultivation.
The disciples stopped when they got to the edge of the woods near the target farm. They did not proceed further because going forward would break them from cover. The farm was to the north. If they traveled north, they would first cross the road and then they'd have to cross a field of soybeans, all of which were short and close to the ground. It would be easy to spot them from the farmhouse in the center of the fields.
Hua Yin used the [Earth-Defying Path] to hop to the top of the highest tree in the area, depending on his luck to not be spotted. After all, he'd only be seen if he was unlucky enough for someone to look at that specific section of the woods at that specific time.
From his high vantage point, Hua Yin surveyed the ground in front of him. There was a path through fields of crops to a farming complex. It consisted of a large main building, what looked to be two warehouses, and a barn. Unusually, there was also a high lookout tower that was currently manned. Thankfully for Hua Yin and crew, the bowman in the tower was looking in the opposite direction. It seemed as if the caravan of slaves had already arrived, as there were four covered carriages in the yard. They did not look like your typical passenger carriages. No, instead, they resembled prisoner transports that Hua Yin had seen in Xiaoming.
There were guards posted around the carriages, spearmen, but more heavily armored than the Beis had hired. Hua Yin's spirit senses were not perceptive enough to tell if anyone had any cultivation. Including the lookout in the tower, Hua Yin since a total of six spear wielding guards on duty and another pair of men patrolling who were armed with bows. That almost certainly meant that there were more than that in the buildings. Hua Yin noted that these men, at least from what he could tell at this distance, seemed to be more professional than the Bei guards. They weren't lazing around and moved with the casual competence of long training They looked alert and had their weapons in hand even though there was no one around.
Hua Yin flipped backwards, his fall slowed by the [Earth-Defying Path]. He reported what he had seen to the others. ". . . And that's the situation. Any suggestions on how we approach?"
Gao Jin growled, "Ain't like we got options. We charge with movement techniques, close ground as much as possible and smash."
Ming Xue nodded. "There's no real stealth with that much open ground. If we try to go slow and get spotted, we'll eat arrows on our way in. A full charge at full speed will get us across the killing ground quickly. Then we just smash through any resistance."
Fong Zhou shook his head. "I think we can still use some trickery. Travelers sometimes come to farmsteads looking to buy a meal that's not hardtack. We approach openly and act like simple travelers. And then we do what we need to do."
Ming Xue shook her head in disagreement. "It's a slave shipment that they're trying to keep quiet. They'll shoot first and ask questions later. If we just walk forward, we'll be sitting ducks for their arrows. We won't have the momentum if we try to attack under fire."
Gao Jin, being the gangster that he was, suggested, "We could wait for them to leave. Ambush 'em when they get back to the road."
Fong Zhou disagreed, saying, "Who knows how long that'll take? I don't want those people to be captured any longer than they have to be. And if the herbs don't arrive, they'll be more on guard than they already are."
Ming Xue added, "Another problem is that someone's going to find out about the attack we did on that outpost. If they report it to these guys, they'll be ready for us."
Gao Jin looked to Hua Yin, saying, "Ain't no good options. Pick ya poison. Either way, if they got their shit together like ya said, it's gon' be a fight."
This is the culminating fight so it's going to be epic. Please make your choices in PLAN format.
How does the group approach?
[ ] Approach: Full charge. Using movement techniques, charge the farming complex, with the understanding that the faster the disciples move, the less likely they are to be shot full of arrows. If they are spotted early, they will likely be shot at.
[ ] Approach: Open and not-s-honest. Act like just another group of travelers trying to get a meal and approach openly down the path. Hua Yin will try to persuade his way into the compound. Be aware, this will give the archers time to aim, but they might get fewer shots off depending on how close Hua Yin and company get.
[ ] Approach: Sneaky sneak. Hua Yin and company will try their best to sneak towards the farm through the fields of short crops. This will require sneak tests with maluses.
[ ] Approach: Ambush. Wait until the slavers leave the farm, whenever that is. The slavers will likely be on high alert when they leave.
[ ] Approach: Write-in.
What is Hua Yin's strategy? Notably, these guards look significantly more together than the Bei guards or raiders you've fought more recently. These are competent, well-equipped guards that significantly outnumber the group. It is unclear whether they have cultivation. But there are likely more guards inside the buildings, and it would be very unlikely for there to be absolutely no cultivators.
[ ] Strategy: Full aggression. Attack with everything you have, constantly. Alpha-strikes will be with full force. By taking out enemies quickly, this will prevent the group from being encircled and then taken out piecemeal. It might be nice to save Qi just in case, but you have to be able to survive until the just in case happens.
[ ] Strategy: Conservative. Throw out the bare minimum of Qi attacks and techniques possible at any given moment and only against the strongest enemy. Draw out the enemy to see their true strength and slowly grind them down over time. Notably, this might let the enemy build up in numbers that can overwhelm the group.
[ ] Strategy: Headhunter. Hua Yin will identify the single toughest enemy. He will attack only those he needs to in order to get to the toughest enemy, but he will attack them full force so he can cut his way through to the target.
[ ] Strategy: Write-in
What is the team's formation?
[ ] Formation: Dispersed. The group will approach in a line with significant amounts of separation between them. This will prevent AOE attacks from hitting more than one of the group, as well as allow for attacking the enemy formation from multiple angles. However, it will be harder to actually support one another quickly. Finally, this will make it less likely that you will be able to blast through if the guards set up a spear wall.
[ ] Formation: Arrowhead (Gao Jin): Gao Jin will lead the group in a tight arrowhead formation. This will allow the group to combine attacks on Gao Jin's target and possibly punch through their spear wall. Gao Jin is likely to take the brunt of the enemy's attacks.
[ ] Formation: Arrowhead (Hua Yin): Same as the previous, but Hua Yin takes the lead.
[ ] Formation: Solid center, flexible wings. Hua Yin and Gao Jin will charge in together as the main force and to draw attention. Ming Xue and Fong Zhou will circle to the flanks and attack that way. Most of the attacks will be split between Hua Yin and Gao Jin.
[ ] Formation: Write-in
4-hour moratorium.
Also, there's going to be lots of rolling so the next chapter will likely take longer than usual to come out.
Statuses
Hua Yin
Phys Health: 31/31
Stun Health: 27/27
Qi: 25/25
Status Effect: Tripping Balls (-1)
Gao Jin
Phys Health: 34/34
Stun Health: 28/28
Qi: 24/24
Fong Zhou
Phys Health: 29/29
Stun Health: 23/23
Qi: 14/14
Status Effect: Disturbed (-1)
Ming Xue
Phys Health: 27/27
Stun Health: 23/23
Qi: 14/14
Mo Xiang Interlude
Mo Xiang read the latest letter from home. It was more of the same as the last three letters he'd received from his father. The Assessment was continuing, and it was not going well for the sons of Harrow. Mo Xiang hated to admit it, even to himself, but his father, while being a great man, was a shit manager. The investments he'd made, thinking they were sure things, ended up being nothing but scams and money pits. New initiatives and quotas at old businesses had turned what had been mildly profitable into great losses. And of course, the damn bureaucrats the Mo family had hired to administer their estates had all embezzled large amounts before absconding elsewhere. Even worse, the family had faced sanctions and demerits after their last two deliveries of boots to the Imperial legions had been determined to be deficient. According to his father, the bureaucrats had said the quality had fallen below the required benchmarks, and both orders, worth hundreds of golds each, had been rejected. If the next shipment was also rejected, then the entire contract, worth tens of thousands of gold would be canceled. Worst of all, it wasn't even the Mo family's fault! Someone must have bribed the bureaucratic inspectors to reject the shipments!
If that was the extent of the Mo family's troubles, it would have been bad enough. But an even greater problem was that there was a distinct lack of merits to make up for the demerits. In the past ten years, the Marquisate of Harrow had had no military victories against bandits or raiders. It had managed to capture no outlaws. When its banners had been called to help punish trade violations by one of the Southern Free Cities, Harrow's troops had not acquitted themselves well, losing the two battles they participated in and having been judged wanting by the Duke of the Sandy Marches. There had been no great heroes, no Names coming from the Mo or from its vassal families. No scion had gone on to earn accolades in the Great Sects or in the Golden Legions. In the Empire, a little graft could be forgiven in the name of fostering heroes, but when none arose, the Empire had to have its due.
The Mo family had coasted on the strength and reputation of his father and his grandfather, both of whom were Awakened cultivators who had earned Names. But it was rumored that would not be enough in this Assessment and that the Mo would fall into the Middle Chamber. If that happened, their prestige would plummet, business opportunities would dry up or become unfavorable, and interest rates would rise. The quality of their military forces would also degrade, as those of talent fled to join houses that were rising.
It was no surprise then, that when he and Bao Lam had both been revealed to Awakened, the entire hope of the family had been put on their heads. Mo Xiang, a concubine's son, had been made heir, jumping over all three of his older brothers, only two of whom were even mortal cultivators. Rather than be trained at home, his family had shipped him to the Broken Tree because there were more merits earned when the Awakened joined one of the Great Sects. He was also told it was a place for him to network and build connections, including with one of the sons of the Duke of the Sandy Marches, who was an Inner Disciple in the sect.
Mo Xiang resented it. He resented carrying the weight of his family's hopes and expectations and how precarious their position was, being judged by fucking commoner bureaucrats. He resented being torn away from his home, from his mother and sent to a foreign place that was too damned cold all the time. He resented that the Broken Tree made him treat peasants and even bureaucrats like equals. And he resented the fact that he was not the best.
It all came down to that in the end. Who was the best? His father had given Mo Xiang everything and said that to keep it, he'd always had to be the best. Mo Xiang took that lesson to heart. He trained. He meditated. He cultivated. He hit pells till his body shook from exhaustion. He practiced his Qi techniques until he passed out. He studied the inane texts that the Broken Tree told him to read. He popped pills until his insides rebelled.
But somehow, he was still not the best. And worse, it had gotten back to his father. His class year had the heir to the heir of Sun's Rest, of course it was the topic of gossip and intelligence reports. She had been known to be a genius even before she came to the sect. And then she had excelled, having the fastest and strongest cultivation in her generation. For Heavens' sake, none of the Awakened in the School on the Lonely Mountain had even broken through to the Spirit Realm yet!
If it had just been Yang Genji that had beaten him, then it would have been fine. Maybe even expected. By keeping up with her, he already showed himself to be a rising star in the youngest generation. It was not so bad to be second best to someone like Yang Genji. He even had hopes that he could win her heart and grow even more powerful that way. Something like that wasn't uncommon… two rivals, striving neck and neck, falling in love. He might have no romantic feelings towards women, but he did like all the power she represented.
But that was not the story being told. No, instead, Mo Xiang found himself trailing behind a fucking thug and a fucking bureaucrat. Instead of his name being spoken of in the Imperial Court, it was Gao Jin and Hua Yin. How he hated those two. How dare peasant trash upstage him? How dare they cultivate more quickly than him. He had even suppressed them both by showing them his superiority in the sparring ring. But they hadn't given up like they should have. Instead, they had gotten even stronger and grown even faster. And now, it was all he could do to try to suppress them socially with his Retinue. But even there, he had begun to fall behind. His followers were mostly trash. And though they were enough to suppress most of the other trash, Gao Jin and his Heavens-damned Ducklings had proven to be a tougher nut to crack. Gao Jin fought like a mad dog and even Bao Lam was hesitant to face him in a real fight. The thug had taught his juniors to fight the same way, biting, scratching, going for the eyes, fighting like vicious animals rather than honorable warriors. And then Hua Yin had begun to unite the rest of the class together to suppress the Retinue. Bastard son of three fathers. Bao Lam had forced Mo Xiang to see that not making peace would cause them to confront Hua Yin and Gao Jin before they were ready.
Mo Xiang put the letter away. He put his head in his hands and tried to breathe. He would win this fucking tournament coming up, he would get promoted to being an Inner Disciple, and he would earn his family merits. They depended on him. His mother depended on him. His baby sister depended on him. If he did not, they would suffer. He would sweep the world aside rather than see them cry. If Hua Yin and Gao Jin wanted to stand in his way, he would crush them both beneath his heel. Nothing mattered more than his family. And he had plans. Hua Yin and Gao Jin would not beat him for a position as an Inner Disciple, he would damn well make sure of that.
But Mo Xiang was so exhausted. Tears of frustration and fatigue filled his eyes, though he was a man and would not cry. His father had told him that he needed to have shoulders wide enough to carry the weight of the family. But there were voices in him that told him he did not have that ability, that he was not strong enough to do so. He was pushing himself to his breaking point and even farther still, but he was still trying to play catch up with the stupid thug and damned bureaucrat. If he'd gone to any other sect, they would have hailed him as the genius he was. Here, he was just another horse in the running. Him, Mo Xiang, heir to Harrow, just another fucking horse.
Mo Xiang slammed a fist against the table. Not realizing how much strength he put in, he began to curse as the table cracked. He hated it here. He just wanted to go home.
These were not raiders that he'd caught red handed, raiders that he'd released only to have them sin again. No, these were guards doing their job. But they were involved with slavers. They had been willing to kill him. They were not good men. But they were helpless now. Most of them were completely incapacitated. The two who were conscious had gags in their mouths and were crying, their eyes full of tears as they silently begged for their lives. They had seen his face. They could identify him and bring hell upon him and his friends. Maybe even his family in Xiaoming. And none of these men were innocents. Even if they weren't slavers themselves, they worked for slavers. That was enough. The thoughts kept repeating themselves, over and over again. Eternities in the span of heartbeats. But all roads led to the same destination. Hua Yin had decided that these men had to die today.
Hua Yin drew Jianshu, who trilled in anticipation that he was going to be used. Hua Yin approached the prisoners with a naked blade, but then Fong Zhou called out, "Are you sure we need to do this? They're completely helpless. And considering how badly messed up they are, it's not like they're ever going to hurt anyone ever again."
Hua Yin's voice was without inflection as he stated, "They're bad guys who participate in the slave trade. They've seen my face. And on some level, this is even a mercy for them."
"You're wrong brother Hua Yin. I'm not comfortable with this" Fong Zhou shook his head and walked away, refusing to look back.
Gao Jin looked over, concerned for Hua Yin, and asked softly, "Maybe this ain't right, Yin. I'll do it. You ain't looking too hot there."
Hua Yin shook his head, "I made the call, I should do the deed."
Ming Xue nodded at that sentiment but her eyes were sad as she continued to look on.
Hua Yin started with the men who were unconscious first. He stabbed the first man in the throat, an easy thrust of the blade that was almost invited by the waiting flesh. There was tension and then there was none.
It was hard, but Hua Yin did it.
He moved on to the next. A simple stab. A feeling of his insides revolting. And the next. A quick slash. The sensation of blood dripping down a blade. And the next. A fast, economical thrust that he could have been proud of at any other time. And the next. Throughout, he kept an entirely stone cold face, his iron control over his emotions, all the strength of his will was focused on not deviating at all. Jianshu's excitement grew at being used, reaching greater crescendos as the spirit sword bathed in more blood. After the third kill, something about Jianshu changed, and it almost seemed that the blade, once nothing but shining steel, had been tinted red.
And then finally there were two. The two guards who were still conscious. Tears leaked from eyes that bugged out of their sockets. It was obvious that they were trying to scream, maybe to curse Hua Yin out, maybe to beg for their lives. No one would ever know. Hua Yin took a deep breath and slashed the first across the throat, blood spraying forth. Jianshu's blade took on more of a reddish tint.
As the spurt of blood slowed to nothing but a drip, Hua Yin turned away. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath of air reeking of iron. He still had one more kill left, but by this point, his hands were shaking. He turned back to his last victim. He looked the older man in the eye. And all of a sudden, he vomited on the man, even as tears grew heavy in his eyes.
Gao Jin moved towards Hua Yin and said again, "Yin. Let me take care of it. You ain't lookin' right."
Hua Yin barked out, "No! I can do this." Hua Yin heaved again, but he forced himself to stand upright, his free hand extended to ward away his friend.
Gao Jin stepped back. There was less helplessness in his eyes, but one couldn't tell by the hard expression he forced onto his face. In Gao Jin's mind, a man had to take care of his own business. He'd offered to help. That was all he could do, no matter that he saw how much this weighed on his friend's mind.
Hua Yin walked over to the final victim and pointed his spirit sword at the tied up man. Tears fell as Hua Yin slashed, just a simple slash, clean and showing off his impeccable technique. He felt it as his innocence died, a counterpoint to Jianshu's trills of joy. In his chest, he felt something emerge, the flesh of his heart ripping, and the sensation of shadows dancing across his innards. Dark voices whispered sweet nothings into his ears.
Hua Yin flicked the blood off Jianshu and then wiped it down with a rag. He hadn't been imagining it. There was just a hint of scarlet coloration in the blade that hadn't been there before. There was a feeling of bloodlust in the air. When he sheathed Jianshu, the feeling died down. When he unsheathed the spirit blade, it came up again.
Ming Xue grimaced. Her voice was soft and had a slight tremor as she remarked, "Your blade kind of gives me a bad feeling brother Hua Yin."
Insight + 1
Jianshu has developed the Trait: Aura of Blood: Every time Jianshu is drawn, there will be a palpable sense of bloodlust and killing intent in the air. It is not enough to suppress or stop anyone, but it will disturb everyone around, including the wielder. Hua Yin, when wielding Jianshu, will project danger, making him a higher priority target.
After the drama, a pall hung heavy over the team. However, they had a job to do, so they filled their bags with charleaves. When they realized they had more space, they had no idea what else to take. Fong Zhou was extra quiet and had to be prompted a few times till he would answer questions about the plants. Though Fong Zhou came from a farming background, his family grew millet. And though he recognized herbs generally, he knew nothing about cultivator materials such as these. Gao Jin was a city boy, as was Hua Yin. And Hua Yin could not remember any of these materials being discussed in the alchemy course. Ming Xue was also a musclehead. In retrospect, it might have been useful to bring someone with more herb lore, but it was too late to do anything about it at this point. Instead, the disciples ended up guessing value by how much Qi was in the herbs, not caring about any other property. They stuffed the remainder of their bags with a pinkish grey root, hoping that they could be traded for a goodly number of points.
To finish the mission, they drove the cart with the remaining ingredients a few miles into the woods. The cart had been packed heavy. Gao Jin had made the effort to put the corpses of the guards on the cart so they wouldn't be left for the animals. There, they let the horses go and set fire to what remained, making sure to keep far away from the fumes. The group was almost completely silent throughout. Fong Zhou looked sick. Ming Xue looked introspective, while Gao Jin had a guilty expression on. Hua Yin was just in his own little world, going through the motions.
By this point, it was dawn, and the gate of Baoxing was open. While his fellow disciples went back to the Dancing Fairy to retrieve their belongings, Hua Yin went to a store to buy a large envelope and some sealing wax. He put in the documents he had retrieved from the Bei outpost and hired one of the beggar children to deliver it to Master Li's place. With that business done, he headed out of the town to meet his friends.
Once they gathered, the group set out using their movement techniques. At first they used the road, but then a few miles from Chixing, Hua Yin led them into the woods. The group of disciples made a huge detour around the village and its fields of millet and herbs. They were deep enough into the woods that they couldn't be spotted. It was not a comfortable trip. The urgency of last night had made it less apparent just how difficult and annoying traveling through the woods at speed was, even in daylight. With the sun hanging overhead, the air became more humid. The disciples' clothes stuck to their bodies as they sweated in the increasingly hot day. They were constantly scratched by brushes and branches. Though they stumbled less than they had the night before, their clothes nevertheless continued to suffer. By the time they came close to their destination, they all looked ragged. It didn't help that none of them had slept the night before, even if it wasn't actually necessary given their cultivation.
The disciples stopped when they got to the edge of the woods near the target farm. They did not proceed further because going forward would break them from cover. The farm was to the north. If they traveled north, they would first cross the road and then they'd have to cross a field of soybeans, all of which were short and close to the ground. It would be easy to spot them from the farmhouse in the center of the fields.
Hua Yin used the [Earth-Defying Path] to hop to the top of the highest tree in the area, depending on his luck to not be spotted. After all, he'd only be seen if he was unlucky enough for someone to look at that specific section of the woods at that specific time.
Perception (14) – Tripping Balls (1) = 11 v. TN 4
warumonoqm rolls 11d6e5 = 2 6⊕ 5⊕ 4 2 5⊕ 1 2 6⊕ 5⊕ 5⊕ → 6 successes against 5
warumonoqm rolls 11d6e5 = 2 6⊕ 5⊕ 4 2 5⊕ 1 2 6⊕ 5⊕ 5⊕ → 6 successes against 5
From his high vantage point, Hua Yin surveyed the ground in front of him. There was a path through fields of crops to a farming complex. It consisted of a large main building, what looked to be two warehouses, and a barn. Unusually, there was also a high lookout tower that was currently manned. Thankfully for Hua Yin and crew, the bowman in the tower was looking in the opposite direction. It seemed as if the caravan of slaves had already arrived, as there were four covered carriages in the yard. They did not look like your typical passenger carriages. No, instead, they resembled prisoner transports that Hua Yin had seen in Xiaoming.
There were guards posted around the carriages, spearmen, but more heavily armored than the Beis had hired. Hua Yin's spirit senses were not perceptive enough to tell if anyone had any cultivation. Including the lookout in the tower, Hua Yin since a total of six spear wielding guards on duty and another pair of men patrolling who were armed with bows. That almost certainly meant that there were more than that in the buildings. Hua Yin noted that these men, at least from what he could tell at this distance, seemed to be more professional than the Bei guards. They weren't lazing around and moved with the casual competence of long training They looked alert and had their weapons in hand even though there was no one around.
Hua Yin flipped backwards, his fall slowed by the [Earth-Defying Path]. He reported what he had seen to the others. ". . . And that's the situation. Any suggestions on how we approach?"
Gao Jin growled, "Ain't like we got options. We charge with movement techniques, close ground as much as possible and smash."
Ming Xue nodded. "There's no real stealth with that much open ground. If we try to go slow and get spotted, we'll eat arrows on our way in. A full charge at full speed will get us across the killing ground quickly. Then we just smash through any resistance."
Fong Zhou shook his head. "I think we can still use some trickery. Travelers sometimes come to farmsteads looking to buy a meal that's not hardtack. We approach openly and act like simple travelers. And then we do what we need to do."
Ming Xue shook her head in disagreement. "It's a slave shipment that they're trying to keep quiet. They'll shoot first and ask questions later. If we just walk forward, we'll be sitting ducks for their arrows. We won't have the momentum if we try to attack under fire."
Gao Jin, being the gangster that he was, suggested, "We could wait for them to leave. Ambush 'em when they get back to the road."
Fong Zhou disagreed, saying, "Who knows how long that'll take? I don't want those people to be captured any longer than they have to be. And if the herbs don't arrive, they'll be more on guard than they already are."
Ming Xue added, "Another problem is that someone's going to find out about the attack we did on that outpost. If they report it to these guys, they'll be ready for us."
Gao Jin looked to Hua Yin, saying, "Ain't no good options. Pick ya poison. Either way, if they got their shit together like ya said, it's gon' be a fight."
This is the culminating fight so it's going to be epic. Please make your choices in PLAN format.
How does the group approach?
[ ] Approach: Full charge. Using movement techniques, charge the farming complex, with the understanding that the faster the disciples move, the less likely they are to be shot full of arrows. If they are spotted early, they will likely be shot at.
[ ] Approach: Open and not-s-honest. Act like just another group of travelers trying to get a meal and approach openly down the path. Hua Yin will try to persuade his way into the compound. Be aware, this will give the archers time to aim, but they might get fewer shots off depending on how close Hua Yin and company get.
[ ] Approach: Sneaky sneak. Hua Yin and company will try their best to sneak towards the farm through the fields of short crops. This will require sneak tests with maluses.
[ ] Approach: Ambush. Wait until the slavers leave the farm, whenever that is. The slavers will likely be on high alert when they leave.
[ ] Approach: Write-in.
What is Hua Yin's strategy? Notably, these guards look significantly more together than the Bei guards or raiders you've fought more recently. These are competent, well-equipped guards that significantly outnumber the group. It is unclear whether they have cultivation. But there are likely more guards inside the buildings, and it would be very unlikely for there to be absolutely no cultivators.
[ ] Strategy: Full aggression. Attack with everything you have, constantly. Alpha-strikes will be with full force. By taking out enemies quickly, this will prevent the group from being encircled and then taken out piecemeal. It might be nice to save Qi just in case, but you have to be able to survive until the just in case happens.
[ ] Strategy: Conservative. Throw out the bare minimum of Qi attacks and techniques possible at any given moment and only against the strongest enemy. Draw out the enemy to see their true strength and slowly grind them down over time. Notably, this might let the enemy build up in numbers that can overwhelm the group.
[ ] Strategy: Headhunter. Hua Yin will identify the single toughest enemy. He will attack only those he needs to in order to get to the toughest enemy, but he will attack them full force so he can cut his way through to the target.
[ ] Strategy: Write-in
What is the team's formation?
[ ] Formation: Dispersed. The group will approach in a line with significant amounts of separation between them. This will prevent AOE attacks from hitting more than one of the group, as well as allow for attacking the enemy formation from multiple angles. However, it will be harder to actually support one another quickly. Finally, this will make it less likely that you will be able to blast through if the guards set up a spear wall.
[ ] Formation: Arrowhead (Gao Jin): Gao Jin will lead the group in a tight arrowhead formation. This will allow the group to combine attacks on Gao Jin's target and possibly punch through their spear wall. Gao Jin is likely to take the brunt of the enemy's attacks.
[ ] Formation: Arrowhead (Hua Yin): Same as the previous, but Hua Yin takes the lead.
[ ] Formation: Solid center, flexible wings. Hua Yin and Gao Jin will charge in together as the main force and to draw attention. Ming Xue and Fong Zhou will circle to the flanks and attack that way. Most of the attacks will be split between Hua Yin and Gao Jin.
[ ] Formation: Write-in
4-hour moratorium.
Also, there's going to be lots of rolling so the next chapter will likely take longer than usual to come out.
Statuses
Hua Yin
Phys Health: 31/31
Stun Health: 27/27
Qi: 25/25
Status Effect: Tripping Balls (-1)
Gao Jin
Phys Health: 34/34
Stun Health: 28/28
Qi: 24/24
Fong Zhou
Phys Health: 29/29
Stun Health: 23/23
Qi: 14/14
Status Effect: Disturbed (-1)
Ming Xue
Phys Health: 27/27
Stun Health: 23/23
Qi: 14/14
Mo Xiang Interlude
Mo Xiang read the latest letter from home. It was more of the same as the last three letters he'd received from his father. The Assessment was continuing, and it was not going well for the sons of Harrow. Mo Xiang hated to admit it, even to himself, but his father, while being a great man, was a shit manager. The investments he'd made, thinking they were sure things, ended up being nothing but scams and money pits. New initiatives and quotas at old businesses had turned what had been mildly profitable into great losses. And of course, the damn bureaucrats the Mo family had hired to administer their estates had all embezzled large amounts before absconding elsewhere. Even worse, the family had faced sanctions and demerits after their last two deliveries of boots to the Imperial legions had been determined to be deficient. According to his father, the bureaucrats had said the quality had fallen below the required benchmarks, and both orders, worth hundreds of golds each, had been rejected. If the next shipment was also rejected, then the entire contract, worth tens of thousands of gold would be canceled. Worst of all, it wasn't even the Mo family's fault! Someone must have bribed the bureaucratic inspectors to reject the shipments!
If that was the extent of the Mo family's troubles, it would have been bad enough. But an even greater problem was that there was a distinct lack of merits to make up for the demerits. In the past ten years, the Marquisate of Harrow had had no military victories against bandits or raiders. It had managed to capture no outlaws. When its banners had been called to help punish trade violations by one of the Southern Free Cities, Harrow's troops had not acquitted themselves well, losing the two battles they participated in and having been judged wanting by the Duke of the Sandy Marches. There had been no great heroes, no Names coming from the Mo or from its vassal families. No scion had gone on to earn accolades in the Great Sects or in the Golden Legions. In the Empire, a little graft could be forgiven in the name of fostering heroes, but when none arose, the Empire had to have its due.
The Mo family had coasted on the strength and reputation of his father and his grandfather, both of whom were Awakened cultivators who had earned Names. But it was rumored that would not be enough in this Assessment and that the Mo would fall into the Middle Chamber. If that happened, their prestige would plummet, business opportunities would dry up or become unfavorable, and interest rates would rise. The quality of their military forces would also degrade, as those of talent fled to join houses that were rising.
It was no surprise then, that when he and Bao Lam had both been revealed to Awakened, the entire hope of the family had been put on their heads. Mo Xiang, a concubine's son, had been made heir, jumping over all three of his older brothers, only two of whom were even mortal cultivators. Rather than be trained at home, his family had shipped him to the Broken Tree because there were more merits earned when the Awakened joined one of the Great Sects. He was also told it was a place for him to network and build connections, including with one of the sons of the Duke of the Sandy Marches, who was an Inner Disciple in the sect.
Mo Xiang resented it. He resented carrying the weight of his family's hopes and expectations and how precarious their position was, being judged by fucking commoner bureaucrats. He resented being torn away from his home, from his mother and sent to a foreign place that was too damned cold all the time. He resented that the Broken Tree made him treat peasants and even bureaucrats like equals. And he resented the fact that he was not the best.
It all came down to that in the end. Who was the best? His father had given Mo Xiang everything and said that to keep it, he'd always had to be the best. Mo Xiang took that lesson to heart. He trained. He meditated. He cultivated. He hit pells till his body shook from exhaustion. He practiced his Qi techniques until he passed out. He studied the inane texts that the Broken Tree told him to read. He popped pills until his insides rebelled.
But somehow, he was still not the best. And worse, it had gotten back to his father. His class year had the heir to the heir of Sun's Rest, of course it was the topic of gossip and intelligence reports. She had been known to be a genius even before she came to the sect. And then she had excelled, having the fastest and strongest cultivation in her generation. For Heavens' sake, none of the Awakened in the School on the Lonely Mountain had even broken through to the Spirit Realm yet!
If it had just been Yang Genji that had beaten him, then it would have been fine. Maybe even expected. By keeping up with her, he already showed himself to be a rising star in the youngest generation. It was not so bad to be second best to someone like Yang Genji. He even had hopes that he could win her heart and grow even more powerful that way. Something like that wasn't uncommon… two rivals, striving neck and neck, falling in love. He might have no romantic feelings towards women, but he did like all the power she represented.
But that was not the story being told. No, instead, Mo Xiang found himself trailing behind a fucking thug and a fucking bureaucrat. Instead of his name being spoken of in the Imperial Court, it was Gao Jin and Hua Yin. How he hated those two. How dare peasant trash upstage him? How dare they cultivate more quickly than him. He had even suppressed them both by showing them his superiority in the sparring ring. But they hadn't given up like they should have. Instead, they had gotten even stronger and grown even faster. And now, it was all he could do to try to suppress them socially with his Retinue. But even there, he had begun to fall behind. His followers were mostly trash. And though they were enough to suppress most of the other trash, Gao Jin and his Heavens-damned Ducklings had proven to be a tougher nut to crack. Gao Jin fought like a mad dog and even Bao Lam was hesitant to face him in a real fight. The thug had taught his juniors to fight the same way, biting, scratching, going for the eyes, fighting like vicious animals rather than honorable warriors. And then Hua Yin had begun to unite the rest of the class together to suppress the Retinue. Bastard son of three fathers. Bao Lam had forced Mo Xiang to see that not making peace would cause them to confront Hua Yin and Gao Jin before they were ready.
Mo Xiang put the letter away. He put his head in his hands and tried to breathe. He would win this fucking tournament coming up, he would get promoted to being an Inner Disciple, and he would earn his family merits. They depended on him. His mother depended on him. His baby sister depended on him. If he did not, they would suffer. He would sweep the world aside rather than see them cry. If Hua Yin and Gao Jin wanted to stand in his way, he would crush them both beneath his heel. Nothing mattered more than his family. And he had plans. Hua Yin and Gao Jin would not beat him for a position as an Inner Disciple, he would damn well make sure of that.
But Mo Xiang was so exhausted. Tears of frustration and fatigue filled his eyes, though he was a man and would not cry. His father had told him that he needed to have shoulders wide enough to carry the weight of the family. But there were voices in him that told him he did not have that ability, that he was not strong enough to do so. He was pushing himself to his breaking point and even farther still, but he was still trying to play catch up with the stupid thug and damned bureaucrat. If he'd gone to any other sect, they would have hailed him as the genius he was. Here, he was just another horse in the running. Him, Mo Xiang, heir to Harrow, just another fucking horse.
Mo Xiang slammed a fist against the table. Not realizing how much strength he put in, he began to curse as the table cracked. He hated it here. He just wanted to go home.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Hm. I'm sure that won't come back to haunt us later.
MagnificentMind
To Live is to Suffer
Mo Xiang is clearly about to do something unwise soon enough.
Hex
A Lingering Curse
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/They
This is some of the worst possible timing we could have had for that. And we're heading right into another fight, where we will just feed that shadow in his heart. This is not ok.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
.........idea. We derail his shitty new plans by convincing him somehow to aim this old plan at Hua Yin.
Hmmm, that went worse than I thought, perhaps we should pull back on our combat focus for awhile before/after the tournament. We were originally a scholar and there are other ways to be an inner disciple.
Now I am absolutely not saying we stop practicing martial techniques, but perhaps don't focus so hard on it?
Talk to friends, seek advice from a senior disciple, we can ask renxiang is there is anyone we can reach out to for advice on the feeling and how to resolve it?
Edit: hau yin and no ciang(?) a true Romeo and Juliet's story, high society mo Xiang and his forbidden relationship with the son of the family who is auditing his family.
Double edit: pick up a hobby!
Now I am absolutely not saying we stop practicing martial techniques, but perhaps don't focus so hard on it?
Talk to friends, seek advice from a senior disciple, we can ask renxiang is there is anyone we can reach out to for advice on the feeling and how to resolve it?
Edit: hau yin and no ciang(?) a true Romeo and Juliet's story, high society mo Xiang and his forbidden relationship with the son of the family who is auditing his family.
Double edit: pick up a hobby!
Last edited:
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
i think Hua Yin would actually snap if someone crippled him before an exam again.
ph definately if mo xiang targets us id be both fitting and gonna trigger hua yin so much.
You know, some times murder is not the answer...
Im all for the blood of our enemies, but sometimes just not doing something could be the correct choice.
Im all for the blood of our enemies, but sometimes just not doing something could be the correct choice.