Legend of The Young Master

Chapter 177: Hangover

"You are too modest," the Pavilion Mistress said bitterly.

"I tricked him, as you well know," Xilai said. "I could never have even hoped to match him power to power even when I reached Qi master. And less so now, when he has sold himself to the Demonics and I have languished in a prison of his making for a decade, at least."

The warriors and the merchant watched these exchanges—back and forth—like spectators at a joust. Even Wuyi, whose precious anonymity had teetered at the edge of extinction, was lost.

"Let me understand this," he said. "Our Enemy is really a man?"

"Not anymore," Xilai said. "Now he is an entity called Luding. His powers used to be as righteous as mine are to the lady Pavilion Mistress. But things have changed; now neither I am purely righteous, nor is the lady, and certainly not him."

The Monk at the end of the table had stopped writing. Now he looked at them all in horror for some reason.

Wuyi leaned forward. "Can we stop the flood of reminiscence and revelation and try to dwell on the siege?" he asked.

"He underestimated you, and you hurt him, and that's over now," Xilai said. "Now he'll hurt us, in turn."

"Thanks for that," Wuyi said.

"Now that he"s closed off our access to the outside world, there will be no more surprise attacks, no more victories." Xilai sat back. "Nor can you

imagine that I can face him, because I can"t. Although my presence here will make him hungrier to take this place."

"We can still make group attacks outside with every prospect of success," Wuyi insisted. "With the addition of Zhenying"s convoy, we have more warriors and more archers than we had at the start."

Xilai shook his head. "I don"t doubt it. I mean no disrespect—you have done nobly. But the trick with the falcons and the dogs won"t work again, and his intellect—pardon me, Young Master—is staggering. He"ll have traitors inside the walls and he"ll be working to get traitors within the ranks of your warriors and your merchants. He also has the power to reach out to any person among us who can use Qi.

How strong is your conscious will, my lady?" he asked.

"Never very strong," she answered levelly, "but where he is concerned, it is like a fortress."

Xilai smiled. "I imagine that's true, my lady," he admitted.

"Even if he has us locked in a box," Wuyi insisted, "even if he threw his allies at the walls every day—" He shrugged. "We can last."

"He won't," Xilai said. He leaned forward, and it was as if he deflated, the change was so sudden. "What he will do is seek to undermine us, because that is how he works. He will use craft and misdirection—he prefers to use a traitor to open the gate, because that excuses his own betrayal. And because he likes to imagine his intellect is superior to any other."

Wuyi managed a smile. "My old master used to say that a good swordsman likes not just to win, but to do it his own way," he said.

"Very true," Xilai said. "pridefull, but true."

Wuyi nodded. "pride—a common failing in your profession too, surely?"

Xilai smiled bitterly.

Wuyi leaned forward. "I have two questions, and here you are to answer them," he said. "Can he attack the walls directly? With large skill?"

"Never," the Pavilion Mistress said. "These walls have an array made by our old ancestors; it might be millennia old, but it has strength no power in demonic—"

"Yes," Xilai said. He shrugged at the Pavilion Mistress. "He is not Qingzhao Shulin, righteous Qi Lord, my lady, just dressed up in feathers and gone a bit bad. He is Luding. He is a Power of the demonic. If he puts himself to it, he can assault the very walls of this ancient fortress with his powers, and he will, in time, break them."

He turned to Wuyi. "But in my estimation, and I might be horribly wrong, he won't take that option unless all else fails, because the cost would be staggering."

Wuyi nodded. "Not very different from the answer I expected. Second question: you are the King's advisor. Do you have the power to distract him? Or to defeat him?"

Xilai nodded. "I can distract him, I think. Once at little risk to myself, and once at great risk to myself."

He laughed. "I can feel him all around us, my lords. He seeks to know our minds and, so far, the array of this fortress and in the fortress walls has stopped him. He knows I am here, but as yet I do not think he knows who I am." Xilai shook his head and seemed, once again, to shrink. "Yet until a few days ago, I didn't really know who I was myself. By heavens, the extent to which he cozened me."

Wuyi sat back, already thinking hard. "Can you imagine any circumstance under which he would abandon the siege?" he asked. "If the king comes, will he simply retire?"

Xilai looked at all of them for a long time. "You really have no idea what you are dealing with, here," he said. "Do you seriously think the king will reach us?" he asked.

Wuyi made a face. "You are the all-knowing scholar and advisor, and I"m just the young pup commanding the Qi warriors, but it seems to me—"

"Spare us your false humility," Xilai snapped.

"Spare us your overweening arrogance, then! It seems to me this is not a carefully wrought plan, and with due respect, King"s advisor, this Luding is not as staggeringly intelligent as you seem to think." Wuyi looked around.

Shen nodded. "I agree. He makes beginner mistakes. He knows nothing of war."

He shrugged. "At least, not of the war of men."

Xilai started to react and then pulled on his ample beard. There was a heavy silence. The men around the table realized they were prepared for the Xilai to react.

But he shook his head. "That is—a very interesting point. And quite possibly a valid one."

The meeting concluded just like that. Without any clear strategy. How to go ahead.

With this, he came back to his accommodation and decided to meditate. He decided to give chamber a visit first.

When he entered. He looked around; his statues were glowing. They had been in constant war with the entity who had been trying to pry his consciousness open. When Wuyi entered, the statues alerted him.

"When you enter, he becomes aware," the Statue of Knowledge communicated.

Wuyi sighed; this could not continue, even if the being was an enemy. He had to know what the being wanted.

He walked toward the wall where the entity's shadow had been seen before he reinforced the wall. He touched the wall.

"Don't do it..." the Statue of Harmony and Statue of Knowledge communicated to Wuyi. But there was curiosity in their words.

Wuyi touched the wall of the chamber. Some arcane sigils lit up on the wall and Wuyi communicated, "What do you want?"

There was a response, "DARK SUN?!"

A solid power attacked the walls. It was like a thunderstorm; all the statues lit up. The chamber shook almost violently. Wuyi felt the Qi draining; he felt the statues using all their might. The storm stayed for a while.

Finally, when it passed, he could feel all the statues talking to him.

"Child, you need to listen," said the Statue of Knowledge.

"Child, you need to listen when asked," said the Statue of Harmony.

"Child, you need to listen," said the Statue of Light too.

"Wuyi, you fool," said Valor.

Laughing noises came from the Statue of Shadow.

Wuyi was beyond exhausted. He willed it and left the chamber.

He had almost lost consciousness when he came out.He was back in his fort chamber, lying crumpled in the corner of his balcony.

At some point Xilai had arrived stood over him; he had a staff in hand, glowing, and wisps of fire played along its length. "Well, well," the old man said. "That would be your clan"s power in you, I suspect."

Wuyi tried to get to his feet and found himself boneless and almost unable to move his arms. "You have the advantage over me," he said softly.

The old man offered him a hand. "So I do. I am Xilai, Royal Advisor, and you, I believe, are Yuanjing —Heir to Yuanjing, I presume." He smiled grimly. "The Young Master Yuanjing. Don"t try and deny it, you little imp. I can smell Yuanjing bloodline from afar, but I knew who you were the moment I saw you, not because of that foolish cousin of yours.

I have met your grandfather and your father. You have their features." He got Wuyi to his feet and led him across the room to a cushion.

Yun Ming came and took out his sword. It was smoothly done—

Xilai had no chance to react.

"Say the word, my lord, and he"s dead," Yun Ming said.

"You heard," Wuyi said. He felt as if he had the worst hangover of his life.