~~~

“It seems I will be going to the Dead Plains.”

The words are so plainly spoken it takes a while for Lei Kong’s brain to fully grasp their meaning. It takes some more time to confirm his Lord is not making a joke and more time still to realize he cannot convince his Lord to flee the Eternal Flame Clan and look elsewhere for ways to accomplish his goals.

Days later, the roar of thunder echoes across a valley.

It is a sure sign Lei Kong is not executing Thousand Steps of the Thunder God properly. Sacrificing too much control in exchange for distance and speed. That does not matter. Thousand Steps of the Thunder God is not a technique made for combat. The technique’s purpose has always been to cover vast stretches of land as quickly as possible.

The early forms of Thousand Steps of the Thunder God were developed back when the Storm Dragon Empire was healthy and strong, and border skirmishes with the Crimson Cloud Empire were common. The Lei Clan distinguished themselves as scouts and messengers, gradually rising through the ranks until they became known as stalwart defenders of the Storm Dragon Empire. All manner of honors were given to the Lei Clan for their service, including ownership of the Thunder Blade Fortress.

Those days are long gone.

Whether there was any truth to his accusations mattered little. The Black Storm Dragon killed most of their men, took their riches, and left them the Thunder Blade Fortress only because he knew it cost more to maintain than what they had. The civil wars that followed the Black Storm Dragon’s disappearance only worsened things. The enemies of the Lei Clan did not fail to take advantage of their weakened state.

However, there was hope.

Lei Kong was that hope.

Lei Kong was the greatest talent the Lei Clan had seen in generations. He was a prodigy child that would surely overturn their fortune and restore the clan to its former glory. That is what he was raised to believe. Every day, he heard it, and every day, he trained to make that goal a reality.

To restore the Lei Clan was his reason for being.

The roar of thunder echoes up in the mountain.

A bitter smile appears on Lei Kong’s face. His metal arm suddenly feels heavy. A training accident, they called it. Unfortunate, they said. Utterly tragic.

What tripe.

Even back then, he knew the truth. Certainly, horrible accidents can happen during heated sparring matches, but the way in which Lei Kong’s meridians were damaged is nothing short of deliberate. To this day, Lei Kong is in the Seventh Level of the True Realm due to the wounds he suffered back then.

By all accounts, it makes no sense. They should all have banded together for the good of the Lei Clan. Surely, that should have been the path to success? All must be done for the sake of the Lei Clan. It is what Lei Kong was raised to believe. Yet, when the time came, some were too attached to their meager scraps of power. They would rather see the clan stay in its decaying shape than ever give it up.

The roar of thunder echoes across the plains.

No one would have blamed Lei Kong for leaving. Overnight, he was reduced to little more than a servant without friends or allies to call his own.

Lei Kong didn’t flee.

He was raised to serve at the pleasure of the Lei Clan. What else was there for him to do? A life outside the Lei Clan was not one he had ever considered. Lei Kong stayed and what followed were days of suffering and humiliation, though even that was pleasant compared to what came next.

Murong Bang.

Lei Kong shivers. Even in the safety of his own mind, the name still has power over him.

Lacking any prospects, the Lei Clan accepted Murong Bang’s offer of protection in exchange for supporting him with men and weapons.

Lei Yu was given to Murong Bang as a token trust.

Lei Kong was sent so that he might die in battle.

He was resigned to his fate back then. Serving Murong Bang was the only thing he could do for the Lei Clan. Those had been his thoughts. The arrangement even worked out for the Lei Clan. The mighty specter of Murong Bang allowed them to bully their neighbors, who had once taken advantage of their weakened stage, and devour them.

The clan prospered. For a certain definition of the word.

Lei Kong hated every second of it.

The taunts and jeers from his cousin, he could live with. Menial and demeaning tasks were something he had long gotten used to. Dangerous missions evoked no fear from him. The possibility of dying in battle was one he had long since accepted.

But Murong Bang… that man was a monster.

It was all for the sake of the Lei Clan.

He told himself that again and again. That was the reason he was born. What else was there for him to do? What was honor but a word in comparison to fulfilling one’s purpose? What was fairness? What was peace?

Nothing but words.

Again and again, Lei Kong told himself that, and each time he believed it a little less. Each time, it felt a little more hollow. He felt more hollow. Mere platitudes could not hide how each fresh horror wore down his soul.

Until that day.

How gutless. How cowardly. How craven.

To repay good with evil… and not just any good but the first disinterested act of kindness that had ever been shown to him.

“...He looked at me, and he knew...”

Oh, if only those words were true.

The roar of thunder echoes across the river. Lei Kong’s hysterical laughter accompanies it.

How absolutely wretched is he. He had been ready to die at his Lord’s hands. He was willing to offer himself for a suicide mission. However, he was not willing to tell him the truth of his treachery. He’d talked. He’d been scared and had revealed the existence of the Empyrean Crystal while being tortured.

He’d been seeking death to escape his own wretchedness.

His Lord made him live instead.

It was scary. Terrifying. Lei Kong placed his life in the hands of someone who had every reason to hate him, yet his Lord never once descended to the depths most would take for granted. He used him as a tool, but he cared for him as one as well.

Serving Lord Liu Jin is unspeakably worrying. Not because of what he will do to him, but because Lord Liu’s ideas and thoughts are not the thoughts of normal men. Their scope is too vast, their depths profound,

As surely as Lei Kong breathes, there is no man greater than his Lord.

The roar of thunder echoes across the forest.

He cannot let him die.

Lord Liu Jin cannot die as a mere casualty in some twisted game. Lei Kong has seen this sort of thing play out before. He has even been a victim of it. Foolish men who’d rather ruin generations of work if it means someone else will not be able to take it from them.

To die like that is unworthy of his Lord.

Lei Kong has never been to the Dead Plains, but he has heard the stories. Everyone has.

The Dead Plains are where the continent ends. If there is anything beyond the Dead Plains, Lei Kong does not know of it, for no one has gone beyond them. They are brutal lands with little in the way of resources where the weather is wild and ever-changing. Rare and dangerous Spirit Beasts call the place home, which has prompted much speculation about what else may lie there.

The many kingdoms of the Vermillion Continent have launched several expeditions into the Dead Plains. Only a lucky few have come out of the place alive. Fewer still have done so bearing unimaginable treasures. Sadly, those successes serve to fuel ill-thought expeditions with predictable results.

That is not the worst of it.

The Dead Plains are where Renegades go to die.

Those who enter the Renegade Realm court death, and not all Sects have the resources to provide a suitable place for a Renegade to isolate themselves. It is not uncommon for Renegades to seek remote places removed from civilization. It is also not uncommon for them to head into the Dead Plains once they realize overcoming the Renegade Realm is beyond their capabilities.

Lei Kong has seen it happen. Murong Bang does not believe in letting his men stay in the Heaven Realm. On the rare occasions someone reaches the Ninth Level of the Heaven Realm, Murong Bang will do his best to bring them over into the Renegade Realm. A tragic chain of events that always ends with Murong Bang leaving them in the Dead Plains.

Not one of those men came back.

The Dead Plains are a place of wild beasts and mad Renegades. It is where fools go to die.

Lei Kong cannot let that happen to his Lord.

Lei Kong’s deepest wish is to see the man Liu Jin will become one day. Once he does, he will reveal it all. He will probably die once that happens. Lei Kong has long since accepted that.

As long as he can see the matured form of his Lord, it will have been a good life.

One better than someone like him deserves.

~~~