Meddle not in the affairs of the Immortals. Doing so is always guaranteed to end with a splitting headache which can only be cured by ten galleons full of rum. - Old Cold Cohl, Captain of the Ghost Ship

The main room of the inn was in ruins. Splinters of tables were spread across the floor, and several of the floorboards and supporting pillars still sizzled as traces of void qi ate through the varnish and wood underneath. At the center of it all, Ishida Sumiko sat under her tree, meditating in the silence.

At our approach, she raised her head. "I figured they'd find their way to you. I'm glad you found them before they found the inside of a monster's stomach."

"You look like you had your hands full here," I answered, nodding at the room.

"I managed."

From the looks of things, she more than managed. Ishida's hair was ruffled, and her clothes were disorderly, but otherwise, she showed no major injuries. The tree that had sprang from the counter sported several broken branches. No doubt it had taken several blows for her.

Her gaze immediately tracked to Xiaolong, whose head was resting on my shoulder. Rather than ask, she instead followed me up the stairs and into the room where I set the boy down on a spare bed. Ishida sat at his bedside, her qi already beginning to flow to heal his injuries. Only after the golden cut had been sealed and Xiaolong's eyes closed in sleep, did she speak again.

"How many saw him?" she asked softly.

"Not many," I answered honestly. "I rather suspect they were too busy looking at the fixed armillary than our little dragon friend."

She sighed. "Let's hope that is true. I really don't wish to have to move him again." After a deep breath, she tucked Xiaolong under a comforter and stood. We left the room in peace. "Has he said why he left the inn?" she asked once we were in the hall.

"He did not. Xinya insists it was all her idea," Lin provided. "Given her spirit, I'm inclined to believe her, but it falls to Yoru to determine her punishment, not me."

Ishida's expression darkened. "She's protecting him from responsibility, but he left this building just as surely as she did when my back was turned. Tsuyuki, your niece is willful, and I do hope you see to her punishment swiftly. Xiaolong, however, will be mine to discipline once he recovers."

"I'll speak to her."

"See that you do." She sighed, rubbing her temples in stress. "I could use a drink. Lady Huang would kill me if she knew he got hurt."

A snicker preceded Satoro walking down the hall, a jar of wine already in his hand. "Huang Meilong wouldn't just kill you. She might even eat you," he corrected with a chuckle.

"You know her?"

"Of course, I'm not out of the demonic loop like Xiao-ru is." He winked at me, but I refused to meet his gaze. "Meilong is the Dragon of the Depths, the Demon of Cruelty, and Xiaolong's mother."

"And all of us being here is coincidence, I'm sure," I said.

"All roads lead to the Black City...eventually," he rubbed his nose, "and also because I was looking for you both."

"You were looking for Xiaolong?" Ishida bristled at the idea of the sour oni looking for her ward. I didn't blame her. I wasn't much a fan of him looking for me either. After all, he was one of my oldest enemies, even if he wasn't the most hated one on that list.

"Meilong asked me to." His expression darkened with deep regret. "I had to leave her behind in order to escape from Yi Mingyue's clutches."

Ishida paled, and I looked between them. I had only heard rumors of this Yi Mingyue person. She was one of the modern ascendents. Lian Liu had worked for one of her sects, yet Kansi Ren, my own martial niece, had nothing good to say about her, despite the fact that the Sword Saint supposedly worked with her on at least one occasion. I had a very hard time believing that Jinshi of all people would work with someone wicked, but perhaps the situation had demanded it.

"Should we move this conversation downstairs?" Lin suggested.

I nodded in agreement, but before I could join them, I ducked into the room I shared with Lin and Xinya and closed the door behind me. Xinya waited on the bed, her hands folded solemnly in her lap.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" I asked softly as I sat beside her.

"I shouldn't have let Xiaolong come with me."

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

I bit my lip. That wasn't quite the lesson I wanted her to learn, but knowing her, she knew that. To my surprise, I wasn't as mad as I expected to be. Lin had told me on the way how she insisted it was all her idea and that she should bear the punishment alone.

The whole situation reminded me all too much of myself when I was Bronze. I was a reckless disciple, and nearly all the sect masters had given up on me. Only the sect leader had taken the time to ask me why I was so much trouble. He listened, he heard my reasons, and he corrected my path. It was only thanks to him that I became a cultivator at all.

"Why did you leave?" The question was gentle. She didn't answer it for a long time, but I waited patiently.

"I want to take care of my own problems," she answered carefully.

She was hiding something. I didn't know what it was, but something about her words was more mature than I expected from her. She'd considered both her actions and her answers. She knew that she was in trouble.

"I promised we'd continue your cultivation once you recovered from the fever."

"I…there was something I needed to do," she answered. "It was wrong to involve Xiaolong."

"And what did you need to do?"

She pulled a necklace over her head and handed it to me. "I found this on an oni in the black out. He looked like he was watching the armillary. He didn't seem very nice."

I took the necklace. The silver pendent showed a moon with a jagged fracture through the center. Looking at Xinya, I didn't know how she knew of the watcher in the dark, but what she'd done was unquestionably useful to us. This belonged to the Shattered Moon Sect.

"I see. Get some rest. I'll be up later with something to eat." I stood, beckoning to Chiho to return to me. The pin did so, pausing briefly to investigate the large moths that still rested on my shoulders and sleeves before slipping into my ponytail.

"Wait, Uncle Yoru," Xinya called when I was at the door. "What about my punishment?"

"You'll help us repair the inn and get back to working order."

"But that's not," I glared at her, and she paused, "nevermind. Yes, Uncle." She bowed her head. I nodded and stepped out, hiding the smile that threatened to shine in my eyes.

The truth was I was proud of her. She was a little reckless, but I was hardly one to judge. The important thing was that she was willing to take responsibility for her actions. After that, only giving her the power to defend herself would keep her out of harm's way in the future.

I descended the stairs and entered the storeroom. The other adults had gathered there, since it was the only room free of debris. Lin had pulled up a small crate that served as our table, and each of us knelt at one side…except for Satoro, who lounged against the wall, nursing his jug of wine.

"Spirited little girl, that one," he noted. "Might be deserving of a name, soon."

"She has a name," I said with a scowl. Satoro just shrugged.

"You said the same thing years ago when a cute little moon artist at Salt appeared at my palace asking for pointers." He grinned at me and took a swig of his jug.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. "Your memory is going, old man. I didn't ask for anything."

"Really? I seem to remember you daring to look me in the eye after daring to be in my way," he continued with a sneer.

"In your way? I happened to be in the same room as you for one event!"

He shrugged. "Semantics."

"Perhaps, if you two are done bickering, we can get to the matter at hand?" Ishida asked after clearing her throat. "Namely, what Demon Kaishin is doing here."

Satoro took a long sip of his wine, emptying it completely. Tossing aside the jar, he grabbed another one, and tossed a coin to Lin. When he was ready, he set the jar aside and sighed.

"Mingyue the Mind Bender is after us. She wants to use all five demons to power her own cultivation and ascend beyond a mere Ascendent." He shook his head sadly. "After my…tragedy…I locked myself in a tomb and let the years pass me by. Mingyue found that tomb, broke the spell I placed on myself, and replaced it with a control charm. For years, I was convinced that she was my love, not the Princess of Ren."

His eyes flashed with dark red malice. For the first time, I found a kernel of sympathy within me for the Oni Prince. If the roles had been swapped, and I'd been forced to forget about Jinshi, I might just have listened to the void's darker whispers, inflicting them on the one responsible.

"Later, I regained my mind, at least," he continued. "But I spent decades as her servant, unable to escape her wicked claws. When Huang Meilong was captured, we worked together to try and break our bindings and escape. I severed my mind from most of my core, leaving my powers behind to slip out unnoticed. Meilong was not as lucky."

"She's still in Lady Yi's control?" Ishida asked. "Heavens help us. Only the Phoenix Emperor and his five sages can challenge the dragon."

"As long as Yi Mingyue's feeding on her essence, she won't be at full strength," Satoro explained. "But, if even one more of the demons is captured, the balance will tip, and she will grow far stronger than we can deal with."

I sighed. "You say that like you have power, and I'm not stuck at Iron."

"Which is why you were the most exposed and in need of my help." He sneered at me again.

"I don't need-"

"Well, too bad. You're stuck with me. Captain Cohl, the Demon of Ruthlessness is at sea, and the identity of The Demon of Tyranny is still unknown to all but the Captain herself."

Silence fell over the group as I tried to calm my temper before I snapped at the Oni Prince. It wasn't like I didn't want to advance. I'd give anything to be free of the wretched iron band that kept me at low level, but I couldn't advance without Lin. It took me months to adjust to living life as a low-ranked cultivator. Even now, I still sometimes found myself giving commands to change reality around me, only to be surprised when nothing happened.

"We need to advance, don't we?" Lin whispered. I didn't answer. No one could force him to advance, no matter how much I wished otherwise.

"They can't breach the Black City," I said instead. "No one above Quartz could enter this dimension without destabilizing the city, and they'd risk being shredded along with the rest of us."

"And the lesser disciples?"

"They haven't found us yet," I said. "This city is defensible. It took five Ascendents working together last time to draw me out, and that was after I was on my own. If we keep our heads down while we stabilize the city, then we'll have a base of operations to work out of while we gather our strength."

"And how do we stabilize this shit hole?" Satoro asked.

I tossed the Shattered Moon necklace on the crate. "We stop those who would extinguish our lights."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.