“Headmaster Panheu, yes? And these would be your two disciples who have proven themselves uniquely gifted as both cultivators and performers,” Dongfang Hong said, amber eyes feasting upon the sight of Hao Chan and Yinzi wearing performer’s makeup and attire, at the very edge of scandalous which cultivators alone could skirt with social impunity. “Your disciples impressed us with their exquisite mastery over spiritual energy, and we are pleased you accepted our invitation for a more private performance this evening.”

The eyes of everyone present had turned to the girls the moment the play ended, the performers on the stage too professional to do anything but bow and quietly leave as Hao Chan and Yinzi made their way to the stage. Alex thought it a miracle neither flinched before the weight of so many Golds staring at them like hungry wolves.

Jidihu squeezed his hand but Alex waited long, anxious moments, doing all he could to catch Liu Li’s gaze while so many captivated gazes were locked upon the spectacle of his disciple’s well-rehearsed dance.

Yet no matter how he implored with his eyes, Liu Li didn’t move an inch, eyes so firmly fixated upon the performance that she didn’t even blink.

And Xian Hong was much the same.

“Alex...”

He gave the tiniest shake of his head at Jidihu’s urging. He knew that what they were doing was beyond perilous, for so many reasons. But if his hunch was right, then it didn’t matter how well they hid themselves in the palatial compound, they had no hope of rescuing anyone at all.

“Alex, we have to move!”

One final attempt. Only this time, he closed his eyes, recalling perfectly where everyone on that raised dias was sitting.

And that’s when he sensed it. That’s when he understood.

Understood the odd taste of Shadow Qi on top of something dark and twisted. A spiritual corona around all three women present… but that didn’t touch Dongfang Hong at all.

Jidihu squeezed his wrist with sudden urgency and he allowed himself to be all but yanked deeper in shadow, catching a final glimpse of Dongfang Hong gazing so hungrily at his disciples as they did their best to mirror their miraculous earlier performance, both on and off the stands.

“This way,” Jidihu whispered as they allowed themselves to sink into the gloom, Alex immediately feeling hot eyed regard of someone now intently scanning the courtyard.

He and Jidihu rapidly picked up the pace, as they flowed with the shadows past the courtyard and into the palatial complex proper. But there was still too much open space, and they had to move now!

Bullrush!

Jidihu didn’t even have time to gasp as Alex grabbed her and darted right around a corner, just as the gaze of a hostile fox gazed their way.

Alex took a deep breath, heart hammering in the gloom as Jidihu gazed at Alex in wide-eyed disbelief. “How?”

Alex smirked. “It turns out I can Bullrush with someone in my arms. First time I did it was with another kitsune, actually, and you wouldn’t believe how fast we blinked through the air, all without any cracking of air displacement. So perfect castling every time.”

Jidihu’s eyes crinkled in confusion before giving a frustrated shake of her head. “You took too long, Alex. Dongfang Hong clearly has someone like me at his beck and call, and that delay could cost us everything!”

Alex’s smile hardened. When she pointed towards the royal palatial quarters, Alex shook his head. “That won’t work.”

Her eyes bulged and Alex winced under her sudden killing attack. “You foolish boy! You put us all at risk, our daughter at risk trying to save your friends, with grandiose dreams of coming to the rescue of an entire kingdom, and now you dare to dither when foes will be breathing down our neck in seconds?”

Alex felt the sudden urge to apologize, to acknowledge that he was being foolish, still more a boy than a man, and it was absurd to think he could do any better than a consummate professional who had been dancing in arenas like this one for a century or more.

Instead Alex swallowed the impulse and darted through the shadows when his heart began hammering with the sense of a looming threat, far more interested in putting added space between any pursuers than continuing the argument, saying only… “If there was anyone who knows how to get to the dungeons… it would be you.”

Jidihu scowled, but didn’t hesitate to yank him into a discrete alcove as a brace of guards passed by on their rounds. She glared at Alex for long moments before pointing to a plain-looking doorway across what were now flagstone tiles, just a short distance off.

Alex didn’t hesitate, Qi Perception making it clear no one was nearby as they slipped in ever deeper shadows, making a beeline for the doorway, before stopping cold when the shadows before them coalesced into a blue-eyed cultivator with a jewel on his forehead and the powers of Shadow in his step. He wielded ebony dao darting through the air in a series of flickering moulinets, radiating the power of a skilled Silver, much like Jidihu herself.

Alex froze where he stood in sheer horror, recognizing so many things he wished he could unsee.

“I do believe I see a wayward fox looking for fat pheasant to poach,” the youth said with a sibilant smile.

“Just as I see a fox who surrendered his freedom to wear the collar of a dog,” Jidihu sniped back. “

“Tell me, boy, what enticement could any man offer that’s worth the price of your Freedom?”

The mixed-blood kitsune blanched, eyes reddening with bitter heat, Alex instantly spotting the band underneath the collar of his changshan tunic. “You know not of what you speak, woman. But soon you will!”

Quickness check made!

Jidihu’s smile was all teeth. But a heartbeat before she could draw her blade, Alex was holding her wrist and gently pulling her behind him, ignoring her sputtering gasp of rage.

“Peace!” Alex hissed, gazing into eyes that were the mirror of his own. “Tell me, did your parents or perhaps grandparents ever tell you stories of exotic relatives who came from lands far more distant than what any boat could reach from the Sea of Ghosts?” The youth froze at those words. Heart racing, Alex quickly spoke on, desperate to avert tragedy that no doubt would have his nemesis chortling with darkest mirth. “Deep dish pizza. Root-beer floats. His mother’s chocolate chip cookies were his favorite treat!” Seeing that those words elicited nothing but a puzzled glare, he rapidly spoke on. “Perhaps your grandmother told you stories of a boy who woke up in the bowels of a pirate ship filled with naptha and countless poisons before doing all he could to sink that fleet with a fox-eared mentor by his side. Maybe he woke up in a strange garden and fell in love with an ancestor of your clan.” Alex flashed a bitter sweet smile. “Maybe he showed a knack for finding priceless Qi-infused plants that alchemists would pay your farming commune a fortune for, or perhaps he was an apothecary himself. A blond haired, blue-eyed Ruidian, so different from the redheaded green-eyed Ruidians that make up so many farming communities in CuiJing Province and elsewhere. Someone who might have told wondrous tales of vast, concrete cities, and flying chariots of tin and steel where you could look down as they raced across the cloudy heavens and spy entire continents covered in brilliant lights, without a shred of Qi anywhere in the world.”

Their opponent was now gazing at Alex in stunned disbelief. “No. There is no way...” The youth stumbled back. “You couldn’t possibly be him!” Trembling hands reached for the collar cruelly fastened to his neck. Alex could sense the black cords of infernal taint whipping through the air. His hatred for Dongfang Hong grew to a furious crescendo, though he was careful to keep it out of his voice and gaze as he instead offered another path for the youth before him.

Horrified dismay turned to a look of wonder. “This… this is a palace! A golden palace, just like in grandmother’s stories.”

Alex blinked back a tear with his smile. “I know. I made it with those stories in mind.”

The boy gazed back at him in disbelief. “How is this even possible?”

Alex shrugged. “That is a good question, isn’t it? Maybe WiFu is laughing at us all. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have a collar around your neck that needs to come off, and if you’re willing to give your oath to cause no malicious harm to any guest within my realm, you’re welcome to stay. For as long as you like.” Alex swallowed, ignoring the roaring in his ears. “You, and any family you might need to protect.”

The youth flashed a bitter smile. Before he gasped in surprise when Alex was already behind him. “Trust me,” he said, and before the youth who looked so painfully familiar could say a word… Dark Qi had popped the lock and Alex furiously flung the collar through a second portal leading to the impossibly distant horizon of the Sea of Ghosts, and if there had been a flash of light and explosion that caused the youth to flinch and pale, Alex had closed the portal in the blink of an eye.

The youth flinched, his gaze caught between hope and disbelief. “You removed that damn nightmare faster than I could blink!” He swallowed once, clenching his fists. “Are you really him?”

Alex shrugged. “Who can say? But if you’re looking for a fresh start, it’s only a single oath away.”

“My public name is Ji Qing.” The youth swallowed, gazing at Alex for long painful moments. “Though my mother named me Ji Qing Hammer.”

Jidihu gasped at those words.

“Alex,” Alex said in turn. “My last name you already know.”

Ji Qing’s eyes grew suddenly intent. “Let me help you.”

Alex didn’t hesitate, and he didn’t care what anyone thought. He gave the surprised youth a hug. “I’d rather you didn’t. I already came so fucking close to losing the only other descendants I could find, and the gods would love absolutely nothing better than your needless death, even should everything else go according to plan. Besides,” he said, squeezing the shoulder of a youth who was probably a couple years older than him. “You’re covered in strands of infernal Qi.”

Ji Qing flinched in horror at those words. “No. That vile contract he forced us all to sign, after drugging us to the point of insensibility. I thought… I had prayed it was just a dream!” He gave a bitter chuckle. “As if those bastards even needed it, after fixing these collars to our necks.”

Alex nodded his head. “I have good news for you, Ji Qing. The minute you give your oath and step through the gate, all infernal bindings and the burdens of this world’s karma are what you will leave behind.”

The boy’s eyes widened. “Wait, you mean...”

Alex smirked. “That’s right. A complete do-over.”

Ji Qing’s sky blue eyes gazed longingly through the portal.

Alex felt his guts clench, wondering if by some horrid chance the gods above, somehow knowing all his secrets, and so devious as to use his own blood against him, had subtly shifted his stance and balance. He quickly stepped back from the portal he now felt eagerly trying to draw him in. He shook away the momentary dizziness only to catch Ji Qing’s gaze as he flashed a tear-filled smile, bowed his head… and stepped through the gate.

“Seneschal Dong Xiao. A new guest has entered. Please keep a close eye on Ji Qing and have Aiko Tanaka take a very close look as well.”

A too long pause, and a horrified Alex wondered if his overcharged status made even this perilous, or perhaps impossible. But just a second later his seneschal’s soothing voice filled his mind. “Of course, Child of the Heavens.”

“Hopefully it’s nothing. In fact, I’m sure of it. But no matter what, no matter how far he goes… don’t hurt him. If the worst happens, or he simply wants to leave, just have him safely ported over to a quiet stretch of the great road with plenty of supplies.”

“Master, is there something I should know?”

Alex’s cheeks flushed. “I think maybe… I think he might have a lot in common with Zhu Bi.”

A thoughtful pause. “Ah. I think I understand. Shall I introduce them?”

“Sure. Just… carefully. I have no idea how he’ll react, or what he’s been through. I just know he’s been through a lot. And sadly, I have no time to talk any further, so please keep an eye and let me know if anything comes up.”

Alex opened his eyes, pulling out of his thoughts less than a physical second later, having already closed the perilous gate he didn’t dare touch and now always kept a short distance away from himself. Just in case.

Jidihu was gazing at him with speechless disbelief. “He was your direct descendant, and it couldn’t have been too many generations back. He even looked like you!” She swallowed, lowering her eyes in shame. “I’m sorry, Alex. I had no idea. Had I known what to look for...”

Alex flashed a pained smile. “Neither of us had a clue. Only a flash of a half-remembered epiphany clued me in. That, and something about his eyes. And maybe some dreams of sharing tall tales of my previous life with a beautiful mixed-blood wife rocking our baby to sleep.” Alex swallowed, more shaken than he wanted to admit by dreamlike flashes of memory that were hardly his own. Yet somehow completely his own. “But I should have expected some tragically twisted bullshit like this, with Shalu at the helm, taking such twisted delight in causing me as much grief as he possibly can over countless lifetimes, simply because he’s a hateful bloated fuck.”

Jidihu paled at those words. “To have gained the eternal enmity of a god… do you have any idea what might have caused it?”

Alex blinked, then shrugged. “No idea. But after the shit I’ve been forced to recall and witness… no mercy, no forgiveness, no second chances.” His eyes flashed with furious heat. “He is now my sworn nemesis, and I won’t rest until I’ve crushed him utterly, in every way conceivable.” He flashed a bleak smile. “It’s cold comfort to know that he feels exactly the same.”

“Alex!”

“Yes, Dong Xiao?”

“Our newest guest apologizes for threatening your beloved, and wanted you to know that the prizes you seek are being kept in the lowest level of the chambers underneath the central palatial pagoda, and that you and your wife must be careful, since he’s expected to report in a quarter of a glass, and Dongfang Hong’s elite troops can be found there as well.”

Alex blinked, surprised and grateful for the serendipitous heads up, which would have seemed so damned suspicious in this world where fortuitous good fortune was in extremely short supply.

Then again, the message came from his world, not this one, and that was good enough for Alex.

“Thank you, Dong Xiao.”

“I live to serve, Child of the Heavens.”

Jidihu gave his hand a hard squeeze and him a hard glare. He didn’t blame her, after everything that had happened, and here he was, freezing up at the worst possible moment. He flashed his fingers in placation. “Sorry, I just got a heads up on where our targets are being kept. Dongfang Hong also has some seriously heavy hitters barracked here, and Ji Qing also thinks you’re my wife.”

Surprisingly youthful looking features immediately eased into a forgiving smile. “I knew there was something redeeming about that boy. I’m glad I didn’t kill him.”

“So am I,” Alex’s fingers flashed with a sardonic lilt. “You’ll be less glad to know that he’s expected in a quarter of a glass, and the moment the sand stops pouring, this place will flood with Dongfang Hong’s elite soldiers.”

Jidihu’s lips curled in a manic grin so reminiscent of Yinzi. Apparently WiFu wasn’t the only wildcard in her family tree. “Nothing like a little spice to know you’re alive. Wouldn’t you say, lieutenant? Now come. Before death looks our way, we run like the wind!”

With that they were off, slipping through forest gloom somehow superimposed over lamp-lit palatial courtyards as they slipped past multiple patrols toward the imposing central edifice, a massive marble-faced tower capped in gold soaring to the heavens that could only be the palatial hub. And for all that no other obvious female Kitsune could be seen, with males it was harder to tell, even for Jidihu, so they took no chances, always fearing the eyes of their enemies as powerfully built Silvers fully kitted in crimson lamellar, armor-cleaving guandao, and the red prince’s badge glared out into the darkness.

Alex was now definitely feeling the growing tension, constantly expecting the night air to ring with the sound of countless alarms and killing intent, but there was nothing. Nothing save the distant roars of an approving audience of Deep Silver and Royal Gold, Alex only touching upon his party interface with the gentlest of gestures, relieved to sense the excitement and exhilaration of his beloved disciples, and no signs of imminent peril.

Even though he knew that could change at any moment.

Fortunately, should worst come to worst… his disciples knew what to do.

He could only pray they could do it without being absolutely destroyed by Golds that might be confused, ambivalent, or immediately hostile. Or worse, take any confusion or chaos as an excuse to claim the exquisite treasures dancing for their amusement that half the men present had been gazing at as hungrily as any wolf eyeing its dinner.

“Alex, we’re here!”

He flinched, jolting back into the moment as Jidihu pointed to a discrete, reinforced door that was secured in the back of the palace. Out of the public eye, it was free of any gilding or ornamentation, made of thick oak reinforced with steel plates.

Alex furrowed his brow, touching the door with one Dark Qi covered fist. Frowning as he sensed just how loud a racket would be caused, if he actually smashed the door in.

Jidihu huffed, giving an angry shake of her head when she proved unequal to the task of picking the lock. “The pins are actually spiritual treasures. They will only open to a certain set of keys! Should I try to force it...”

Her eyes widened with surprise when Alex pressed his inky dark hand against the mounting plate, closed his eyes, and winked when the door creaked open.

Metal Qi ward has been ruptured by Dark Qi! You have successfully used Dark Qi to align all pins to shear line. You have successfully picked this lock!

Jidihu gave Alex a long look when he carefully opened the door and waved her inside.

“Useful trick, lieutenant.”

“Isn’t it?”

She snorted. “Could anyone with Water Qi learn your trick?”

Alex shrugged. “Maybe? Won’t be as good for instantly neutralizing any wards, like this one can, but other than that I don’t see why not.”

She shook her head. “No time. Follow me, and close the door slowly.”

Alex discreetly allowing the latch to click shut once more, carefully eyeing the bell hooked to the door he had managed to avoid ringing before taking his first steps down a corridor that was nothing but darkness and gloom. He couldn’t help smiling, because of course darkened corridors at night were the absolute best place for a sneaky kitsune to hide.

Unfortunately, the sound of rough laughter and the scent of strong spirits as well as the odors of wet stone, smoke, and the iron tang of steel armor long-worn in damp surroundings no matter how carefully maintained, made it clear that they had a hell of a lot more to worry about than the occasional patrol.

Jidihu hissed and frowned, glaring at the narrow corridor with a surprisingly arched stone ceiling free of any fresco or ornamentation, just more damp stone. “These corridors are narrow, Alex.”

“Yes, I know.”

“It doesn’t matter how well I hide, if two or more Silvers are walking abreast with guandao or bladed staves!”

Alex winced. Because of course Jidihu was right. No matter how thick the gloom, if your steel covered boot knocked into warm flesh, you knew something was up.

Which was of course when they heard patrolling feet rapidly approaching.

Jidihu’s eyes widened, before crackling with killing intent. “The path of blood, then.”

She cursed in surprise when Alex gently grabbed her petite waist and lifted her up.

“Why Alex, so forward! What will my Yinzi say?”

Before she quipped any further, Alex sensing her tension beneath the jests, she was cursing up a storm as her body rose up to apex of the arch itself, Alex making full use of his strength and leverage to carefully grip stone with fingers and toes between imperfectly mortared blocks as a trio of armored sentinels approached the exit.

Alex was at a poor angle to catch sight of them, though Jidihu cursed softly as the door shut behind them, fazed not at all by the ring of the door bell.

Alex then allowed himself to fall down on leather-soled feet that absorbed the shock with catlike grace and perfect silence.

Jidihu frowned thoughtfully as they proceeded down the rapidly descending corridor. “Did you notice the strength of those men?”

Alex shook his head, responding in handsign he knew she could see. “I didn’t. My angle was poor.”

“Silver! The absolute elites of any city, one in a hundred thousand, and that trio of guardsmen had all broken through to Silver!”

Alex frowned, recalling the former security in Royal Phoenix Academy’s library. “Yup. Dongfang Hong does tend to favor using elites to guard his most precious goodies.”

“Then best you step extra carefully, disciple, because those three are hardly the only ones in here, and no doubt another trio will be coming back down this way to replace the men who just left.”

It was then that they passed an archway that changed absolutely everything. Alex’s blood ran cold at the sight of no less than two dozen Silvers taking their ease, in a carpet strewn chamber with a dining table covered in victuals and casks of wine as a single musician played a soothing melody with his erhu. And for all that the men were clearly taking their ease, some few about a game board, others rolling dice, still others quietly cultivating, it was clear that all of them were armed and ready for battle at a moment’s notice. The privileged elite hit squad of Dongfang Hong himself had clearly earned far better fair and entertainment than most soldiers, but none had lost themselves to excess.

Alex had no doubt that all of them could summon forth killing intent in the blink of an eye.

Alex and Jidihu exchanged a long glance, wise enough not to start trouble that could end only in alarming the entire palace, sensing more acutely than ever that they were rapidly running out of time.

“Alex, more Silvers are heading this way!”

Alex hissed, spending a frantic moment looking for any deformities in the roofing overhead, and finding nothing. And before he could brace himself for the handful of seconds he would need to form a portal he was extremely reluctant to summon anywhere near him, a pair of hard-eyed men wearing Dongfang Hong’s colors had just rounded the corridor.

He could feel Jidihu’s tension in the gloom. Knew it would only be a second before the pair of men noted that their lantern was dimming oddly in the darkness. And these weren’t basic or even Bronze cultivators, but experienced Silver.

Alex’s heart began to race as time seemed to stretch, all his focus now on the men’s necks. One man had a plated gorget, the other’s neck was bare. Neither wore collars of enslavement or explosive retribution.

All he needed to know.

Bullrush!

Alex flashed a cheeky smile when Jidihu flinched and squeezed him tight, after Alex launched them at an angle just over the Silver sentinel’s heads, perfectly crouched between domed roof and open-faced helms.

Of course the Silvers were no fools, one man grumbling and swearing as he looked behind him. But Jidihu’s gifts could minimize even the sensation of airflow. Certainly their foes heard nothing as the leftmost one peered into the gloom.

“Did you feel that?”

“Feel what? Come on, we’re late as it is.”

Alex chuckled silently at Jidihu’s exasperated glare, her hands flickering before his face. “Warn me, next time. My ears are stinging from brushing the ceiling! If you had timed that any worse...”

Alex smirked. “But I didn’t.”

Then he frowned when their winding descent straightened, and it became clear that their destination wasn’t just a simple lower cellar in the palace. Because as became increasingly clear when the passageway opened up, becoming wider, better lit, and clearly more often used, that the palatial cellars had just opened up into a vast, underground compound.

A compound, as denoted by sounds of laughter, merriment, the clang and thud of people sparring with live steel, that was absolutely filled with Dongfang Hong’s elite forces. Under the very heart of Baidushi.

Jidihu glared when they passed a room filled with no less than two score men sleeping on surprisingly comfortable looking beds, all of them radiating a Silver’s powerful aura.

The pair exchanged a look, as additional chambers were passed, including eating halls, training facilities, and a well-lit dining room filled with Silver body cultivators eating their fill of fare almost identical to the delicacies once served at Royal Phoenix Academy.

The only upside was that the corridors were wide enough for Alex and Jidihu to effortlessly slip past the occasional pair of soldiers making their way through the underground encampment.

The tension Alex felt mirrored that he saw on Jidihu’s features. “Alex, we need to know what we’re dealing with. You understand, right?”

Alex gave a tense nod, feeling an odd mixture of excitement and tension as they slipped past so many soldiers casually going about their business in Jidihu’s Shadow while scouting out the rough dimensions of the massive underground barracks, finding no less than three passageways leading back to the surface just sticking to the outside corridors that seemed to stretch far beyond the confines of the palatial quarter.

“Jidihu, there are hundreds of men down here. Hundreds! And not a single Basic or Bronze, save for the cooks and a handful of servants! If a pair of Golds could take over an entire city… how much damage could five hundred Silvers do?”

Jidihu flashed a mirthless smile. “The common rule of thumb is a hundred Silvers are equal to any experienced Gold. So I’ll let you do the math yourself.”

Alex winced. “Shit.”

His fingers continued to flash, sharing his rapid-fire thoughts, should the inevitable happen.

Her ears flattened in refusal. “No, Alex. One for them, and a separate one for me, right back to the courtyard. I think it’s madness for you to dare it alone… but I’m not going anywhere unless I know my daughter is safe.”

Alex nodded. “They can handle crossing.” His gaze grew intent. “Jidihu… I’m not sure what would happen to you and Panheu, even if they carried you two. There's a chance that, well...”

"We'd fall into a catatonic stupor? Slip free of their arms as spirits writhing in torment for countless centuries as we pay off the karmic debt for our sins before finally starting our next lives?"

"Well, yeah. Pretty much."

The kitsune snorted, even though Alex could sense her sudden dread. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Literally,” Alex snarked, before they both froze in their tracks, as the faint sound of a woman’s scream cut through the air through the one major corridor they had instinctively put off scouting.

Both of them sensing the peril within.