~~~

Rumbling Thunder City is by far the most populous of all the cities in the Storm Dragon Empire. As countless died in Murang Bang’s territory and the nobles indulged in empty decadence under He Bin, Rumbling Thunder City only grew. It became a bastion of order and safety in an otherwise wartorn land. From the foot of Rumbling Thunder Mountain to its summit, there is not a square foot that is not being put to use in some way.

It is the domain of General Nie Dan.

The Heavenly General soars high above the skies. When he passes over Rumbling Thunder City, the people stop what they are doing to point at his glowing form. He feels their presence, the many millions of people whose lives are under his command, and clenches his fist. His face is one of absolute resolve.

A single breath passes. Multiple miles go by.

General Nie Dan stops above a vast, empty plain and allows his Qi to flow out in a giant wave. His senses expand. There are none who can escape the touch of his Qi.

He finds them.

In the blink of an eye, General Nie Dan slams into the ground, and the earth is torn asunder. People in Rumbling Thunder City are shocked by the sudden and violent earthquake. Even those in Grand Storm City feel a sudden tremor that afternoon. As the land collapses into an empty abyss, thousands of shapes rise from under it. They are all covered in tattered cloaks, yet General Nie Dan can see their wooden limbs and metal joints. An army of puppets is suddenly lined up in front of him, ready to do battle.

“Kneel,” he commands.

At once, the knees of every puppet hit the ground. He feels their owners attempt to reassert their control, but there is nothing they can do. Their puppets are nothing more than contraptions made to do the bidding of others.

They cannot possibly resist his commands.

“Be crushed.”

As if an invisible fist suddenly fell on top of the entire army, the puppets are abruptly squashed into rubble. Of the whole giant army, only two people remain standing.

“I must admit that I did not expect this,” Firm Shadow says. He tries to sound calm, but Nie Dan can sense his fear. His companion, Alarming Shadow, hisses at him like an angry dog. “I did not think one as esteemed as you would bother with the likes of us.”

“You are invaders,” Nie Dan states with blunt simplicity. “You have been hiding near my city with your army of puppets, ready to do harm to my people. Did you believe such brazenness would not merit a response?”

The two disciples do not bother with words. Instead, two large ogres rise from their shadows, a blue and a red one. The red ogre rushes at General Nie Dan. The blue ogre melts away like water and surges behind him. A blade appears in its hands.

Nie Dan raises a hand to block. The blue ogre’s sword breaks on it.

“Stop your insolent legs.”

The command is given. The red ogre trips as its legs stop working. Alarming Shadows looks at him with rage.

“You dare command what is my own soul?!” Alarming Shadow roars.

His Qi rises, and his ogre disperses into red mist. It swirls around him and seeps into his body. Immediately, his muscles bulge dramatically, and his skin grows red. His body grows in size, and yellow fills his eyes. A white horn sprouts from his forehead as his brow becomes more pronounced, his lower jaw enlarges, and his teeth become fangs. Red shadows swirl in his hand and turn into a large mace.

That is the true form of a disciple of the Temple of the Thousand Shadows, one completely overshadowed by their Heart Demon. When Alarming Shadow runs, his speed is a magnitude greater. The mere strength of his stomps sends tremors throughout the land. It is impressive. There can be no doubt about that.

Nie Dan brings down a single fist against Alarming Shadow’s mace.

[Break]

The mace shatters, and the ensuing shockwave blows away every piece of rubble in the area. As Alarming Shadow is blown back, Nie Dan takes a step that carries him right in front of his foe. His fist is about to slam into his face.

Firm Shadow intercepts him. Just like his ally, his appearance has changed. His hair has turned white, and his skin has become blue and rugged. He wields twin swords against him.

They shatter against Nie Dan’s skin.

The general turns around and grabs Firm Shadow by the face.

[Lose]

Another tremor is felt over the whole country as General Nie Dan smashes the two into the ground. Their transformation fades away, leaving behind their broken and bruised bodies. General Nie Dan’s Qi pins them down, rendering them immobile.

Alarming Shadows manages to bring himself to chuckle. It’s a very weak sound that leaves his mouth through broken teeth and blood. Still, the man glares defiantly at him.

“What’s…the matter…? Not strong enough to kill us?”

“Every breath you take is an affront to the Emperor’s rule. Few things would please me more than to end that affront,” Nie Dan says, each of his words slamming into his defeated foes with the weight of his resolve. “However, I have been given an order. The Emperor wishes for you to draw breath, so that your ignorant ears may hear his words. You breathe at his leisure. Be thankful.”

As he speaks, a white snake slithers out from under his pauldron.

“That was a little harsh,” the snake says with the voice of Emperor Qing Jin. It is a soul fragment, a normal one without a body. For this matter, the Emperor wisely decided that the physical presence of a Heavenly General would be all that was needed.

“I was exactly as harsh as I wanted to be,” General Nie Dan says.

“Are you here to gloat?” Alarming Shadow asks. “I never took you for the type to hide while sending others to do his dirty job.”

Words like that would usually merit having his head crushed, but that is not what he has been ordered to do. Thus, Nie Dan remains silent and watches his liege handle the situation.

“Why do you want to die?”

The softly hissed words are not a taunt but a genuine question. However, the disciples of the Temple of the Thousand Shadows refuse to answer it. They just look down, waiting for a punishment that has not yet been ordered.

Stolen novel; please report.

“You will not admit it?” the Emperor asks them. “Do you take me for a fool? You knew I had an Emperor Realm cultivator under my command, yet you chose to stay in my lands? Right next to General Nie Dan’s city? The representative of the Death Fashioning Scripture has been acting through bodies because she understood the risks. Will you honestly claim that you did not?”

Again, they refuse to answer. The Emperor sighs.

“General,” he says. Nie Dan obeys the command.

“Answer,” Nie Dan orders, and his words strike the souls of the cowardly shadows.

“Damn you…” Alarming Shadows hisses at him. He grits his teeth and tries to bite his tongue. The muscles and veins on his neck bulge as he struggles not to obey. Besides him, Firm Shadow’s body quivers from the strain of trying to keep his body still.

It’s pointless. People who have given up on living cannot match his resolve.

“You can shout your feeble insults after you have answered His Majesty’s questions,” Nie Dan says. “Speak. Now.”

Another order. Another blow. Their spirits cannot keep resisting.

“It is… as you say,” Firm Shadows says. “We knew…death was likely.”

That’s all he says. The general frowns. Quite unfortunately, that is all that is needed to answer the question. These two are strong enough that his will cannot completely suppress theirs. He can compel them to follow his commands, but they retain agency over how those commands are carried out. Doing the bare minimum is within their possibilities.

“That’s not it,” Emperor Qing Jin says. “You knew you would die if you acted like this, and you did it anyway. You were ordered to die, were you not?”

A yes or no question. Nie Dan nods approvingly. The young Emperor is quick to adapt to limitations. When the disciples struggle to contain their words, Nie Dan is ready.

“Answer,” Nie Dan orders.

“Yes,” Alarming Shadow says before his cooler-headed partner can think of a sufficiently elusive answer. Perhaps it would have been better if they had separated them before the interrogation began. This one is clearly too stupid to lie properly. That’s an excellent quality in a prisoner of war.

“I begin to understand,” Emperor Qing Jin says. “Of all the factions, the Temple of the Thousand Shadows is the one that cares most about the rules. You told me that once. Despite the threat I represent, you still need a reason to attack me. You are here to provoke me into killing you. That will give the Temple of the Thousand Shadows justification. If the other factions complain, they’ll simply say they seek reparations for your deaths.”

“It is as you say,” Firm Shadow says before General Nie Dan can compel them to speak. Most likely, he wants to stop his partner from saying something unnecessary. “It will be easier to justify our actions with a clear act of aggression on your part.”

“You sneak into a man’s house, then plan to cry foul when struck?” Nie Dan asks them. “Conniving. Gutless. Worthless. That is what you are.”

“It is as you say,” Firm Shadow says. “I have no need for virtue. I only need to see my duty done.”

“Does this matter so much more than your life?” Emperor Qing Jin asks.

“Of course, it does!” Alarming Shadow shouts at him. “If those damned teachings are given to the Death Fashioning Scripture, the balance we have worked so hard to preserve will be broken. Humanity almost lost everything during the Great War four thousand years ago! We exist because of the sacrifice of one hundred and eight people! Do you have any idea how humiliating it would be to waste it and die due to petty infighting?”

“Even if you say you do not plan to help them, something I completely believe, your mere existence poses a threat,” Firm Shadow says. “So long as you exist, the Death Fashioning Scripture can obtain what they want.”

“That’s right!” Alarming Shadow says. “You haven’t killed us yet because you think you can convince us, right? Let me tell you this now! Nothing you say can change what you are! If you won’t kill us, we’ll force you to! Even this backwater country has millions of people. Do you really think you can protect them all from us?”

Nie Dan is not a cruel man. Even so, he can think of countless punishments these two would hate far more than death.

However, that’s not his judgment to make.

“You put on a puppet show for the children of Black Stone Village,” Liu Jin says. “You did not need to do that to fulfill your mission, but you did. Such kindness is rare. Can you really bring yourself to kill those who are innocent?”

“We are shadows. Our shape is malleable. We are what we need to be and little more,” Firm Shadow says.

“The Death Fashioning Scripture plans to bring down the barrier.”

The words are cold water dropped on their prisoners. They go motionless for a full three seconds, their brains struggling to comprehend the enormity of what the Emperor has so casually shared with them.

“What?”

“You lie!”

“Did you think I revealed myself just because I wanted to?” the Emperor asks them. “It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t deemed it urgent. The Shape of Death plans to break the barrier during the next ceremony. The only way to sabotage his plan was by diverting his attention. Even so, this is just a temporary distraction.”

“That’s a bold claim to make,” Firm Shadow says.

“You already know the Death Fashioning Scripture seeks to disrupt the balance. Is it so hard to believe they would allow the continent to be overrun with demons just so they might absorb them for their arts?” Emperor Qing Jin asks them. “You saw how they attempted to harvest the heart of the Storm Dragon. You understand how dangerous that was. Why would they do something like that if not in preparation for a war?”

Alarming Shadow growls. “Those accursed Dead Ones! I knew they were not to be trusted! I knew it!”

Trusting spoken words so easily. This one really is an idiot. They really could have gotten more use out of him if they separated him from the other.

“Even if that is the case, that does not change things between us,” Firm Shadow says. His words are far more measured than his partner’s. “The potential fall of the barrier, terrifying as the prospect might be, does not change what you are. You understand that, right? If anything, it makes your execution of even greater importance.”

To his credit, it does not sound like the disciple enjoys saying it. A duty-bound mind is not a bad thing. Nie Dan will certainly not fault him for it, but it also will not stop him from killing him should the need arise.

“I know,” Emperor Qing Jin says. “I was never hopeful enough to expect anything else. However, I believe this is important enough for the Temple of the Thousand Shadows to hear. It is certainly worth pausing your mission. Do you not agree?”

“That…that might be so…” Firm Shadow says.

“Good,” Emperor Qing Jin says. “Nie Dan.”

The order is given, and he obeys. General Nie Dan releases the two from his influence. Immediately, they jump to their feet. They do not run only because they know Nie Dan would catch them easily if he wanted.

“Go to your masters, “ Emperor Qing Jin says. “Pass on what I told you and decide what should be your priority right now. If you come back here again with ill intent…I will not show you mercy. Even if it means letting you fulfill your role as sacrificial pieces.”

“For what it's worth, I truly hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“But you don’t believe that it won’t,” the Emperor says.

“No,” Firm Shadow says sadly. “I truly don’t, friend.”

The two leave with that. The soul fragment on General Nie Dan’s shoulder hisses in disappointment.

“Do you believe I was too soft on them?”

“No,” Nie Dan replies. “You weighed the alternatives carefully and chose the option you deemed best, Your Majesty. That you seriously considered killing them says enough. Of course, I would have preferred it if you let me deal with them on my own.”

The snake lets out soft hisses that Nie Dan assumes are a chuckle.

“As much as you would have enjoyed that, I believe talking to them personally was for the best,” the Emperor says. “I need them in good condition to pass the message.”

“What shall happen now?” Nie Dan asks.

“All that matters is that they start focusing on the Death Fashioning Scripture,” the Emperor replies. “I cannot face the Death Fashioning Scripture with the resources I have, but if I can force the Temple of the Thousand Shadows into conflict with them, that will be enough. It won’t matter if they’re also against me.”

Forcing tenuous allies against each other. His father also did that. Of course, his father did it out of personal satisfaction rather than any actual need. The difference is important, yet it is still striking how alike the two think.

“And after that?” Nie Dan asks.

“After that…the army is ready. Our storages are well-stocked. The reinforcements from the Eternal Flame Clan have arrived, and I had Xiao Shuang request aid from the Divine Frozen Palace. If we are lucky, one of the Five Fairies might volunteer. I prepared all those things for one reason, General. War,” replies the Emperor. “War is what comes next. Are you ready?”

Nie Dan smiles.

“I am your axe, Your Majesty. Your weapon of war. Use me to sunder as many nations as you wish.”

~~~