INTERLUDE​

INTERLUDE​

The moon hung like a pale, ghostly lantern in the night sky, its light casting eerie shadows over the Prince's lavish courtyard. Above them, the dome-like formation barrier Elder Qingfeng deployed shimmered like a film of oil, blocking all perception of the courtyard from the outside world.

Lin Jiao, or Head Librarian Jiao as he was more commonly known within the sect, knew something was wrong the moment they arrived. An ill omen, he felt, was festering, yet he couldn't put a finger on the source. He exchanged glances with the still-veiled Jing-ner by his side. Ahead of them, his master, Elder Qingfeng, paused the moment before he crossed the threshold into the compound. Eyebrows creased into a frown, the ancient alchemist stared at the flimsy door standing between them and their quarry with a suspicion that sent a shiver running down Lin Jiao's spine.

He must have felt the same ill-omen Lin Jiao felt.

Something was not right.

"Greetings," the elder declared suddenly. "This one is Daoist QingFeng of the White Orchid, Honoured Alchemist and Master of the East Cauldron Archives. May I enter? I have some business with your master."

A figure materialized from the shadows, lingering in one corner of the compound in response. Another materialized further behind the first from the side of the building. "Greetings, Honoured Alchemist," said the first guard. "This one is Wuxin, Honoured Guardian to the Imperial Son, Prince Na Wei. His Highness is not available at the moment; I pray you return at a later time."

"...Is that so?" Elder Qingfeng asked as he clasped his arms together across his chest. "May I be granted an audience with the mortal he keeps as his plaything instead while we await His Highness's return?"

The guards' expressions did not change in the slightest as they placed one hand on the Jians by their waists. The sword of the first slid an inch out of its sheath as he spoke. "I am afraid I must escort you out, Honoured Elder."

"You dare!" The second guard bellowed suddenly as Jing-ner moved to retrieve something from her spatial ring.

"Stop—"

Two arcs of swordlight screamed towards them, interrupting the Elder's response. Lin Jiao watched with no minor trepidation as his master intercepted the attack, his arm shooting out as a miniature cauldron flew from his sleeves. The mystic artefact rapidly grew in size, expanding to form a barrier that stopped the swordlights in their paths. The forces collided explosively, causing the cauldron to ring like a great gong as it was struck.

Lin Jiao took a step back, eyes squinted in alarm as the shockwaves buffered him. Distracted as he was, he failed to see the veiled woman by his side retrieving a dagger from her spatial ring. Glowing runes inscribed unto the weapon's stone blade suppressed the ominous aura that the weapon naturally emitted.

And so, it was with wide eyes that Lin Jiao turned to see a dagger of refined anupata plunge into the back of his distracted master.

Time seemed to stall as the corruption instantly overwhelmed the pseudo-sage. Black tendrils of vile energies rippled across Elder Qingfeng's body, transforming his skin to a sickly grey, and the white sclera of his eyes, pitch black.

"...What have you done?" Lin Jiao said into the resultant silence as he stared at the traitorous bitch he had once admired. The great cauldron fell from the Elder's grasp, crashing into the earth with the force of two dozen tons.

Before them, the guards watched with growing alarm as the bone spikes and ridges burst out of Elder Qingfeng's body, black blood leaking from the gouges they made and slowly pooling on the floor beneath him.

Jing-ner pulled the blade free of her victim as she turned to face Lin Jiao. "Kill the guards," she ordered before finally addressing the increasingly enraged librarian before her. And as if to add salt to injury, Lin Jiao could only stand and watch as his beloved master screamed in torment before racing forth to do her bidding like an obedient dog.

"I trusted you!" he snarled as he also pulled free a massive cauldron from his spatial ring.

"...I am sorry, old friend," Jing-ner replied coolly, dagger in hand, "but if this is the price not to spend another eternity as a plaything to that demon, it is one I am more than willing to pay."

***​

Ma Yili quivered in a corner of the Prince's room as the thunderous explosions outside suddenly stalled.

For a moment, she thought to pray to the heavens before remembering no god was coming to spare her from her fate. They never had, and they never will. That much was certain.

Yet, the doors to the bedroom burst open, revealing the bloodied, lithe form of a strange woman, who in beauty could only be compared to that of a goddess. The veil on her face was torn and her robes were shredded as to expose perfect symmetry and jade-like skin. "Come," the woman said simply between panting breaths, "we don't have much time. The prince and his goons—with those monstrous steeds of theirs—might return anytime soon."

Ma Yili almost couldn't believe her ears. For a moment, she imagined it all to be some elaborate ploy by the prince to teach her a lesson not to attempt to escape from him under any circumstance, before promptly dismissing the thought. Plots be damned! She did not yet fear the bastard enough to not even attempt to grasp at freedom when it was laid so bare before her eyes.

Ma Yili scrambled to her feet after the strange woman. Outside was a scene of devastation greater than anything she had ever seen before. The two guards tasked with imprisoning her in this glided cage lay on the floor, their limbs and heads brutally torn from their torsos and crushed to paste. The only reason Ma Yili recognised them at all was because of the uniform they wore.

A third corpse lay further away, its sickly pale body was covered in black veins and the sclera of its eyes were pitch black. Also ominous was the fact that it was rotting fast enough to be visible to the naked eye. A single stab wound leaving black blood marred the corpse's otherwise pristine garments. Ma Yili expected it to have been reduced to ashes in a few hours at most at the rate at which it was decaying.

Two massive cauldrons sat in the centre of the compound which the strange woman disappeared with a mere wave of her hand.

At the entrance to the courtyard stood a blood-drenched figure that once might have been a man. Bone ridges and spikes jutted out of the monstrosity's veined form as it twitched and moaned occasionally in what sounded like agony.

"Go wreck havoc in the sect," the strange woman commanded the thing. "Make sure you are loud and attention-grabbing; we need a good distraction to make sure we make it out of here alive. You need not follow us, so you may find solace in death at the hands of a friend ... Forgive me, Old Feng. I had no choice"

The thing groaned, then snarled, sputum flying from its mouth before turning to bound off into the distance.

"...Who are you?" Ma Yili asked her benefactor, terrified that she might have just stepped out of the wok into the fireplace.

The woman stared at her for a moment before turning back to face the exit. "Come," she said. "We will talk later."

Ma Yili followed her hesitantly, unsure if she was making the right choice or not.