The Variable

Wei Yuan summoned Yun Feifei and had her take the young masters and young ladies to Sun Yu first to treat their injuries. Xu Wan'er was somewhat puzzled and asked in a whisper, "The guards' injuries are far more severe; a few are on the brink of death. These nobles have flesh wounds at most—why treat them first?" Wei Yuan replied, "If they aren't treated, the guards won't dare accept treatment." The dozen or so young masters and ladies truly had no major injuries; the most heavily wounded among them was actually Cui Yu. Wei Yuan had intended to personally treat Cui Yu's wounds, but upon learning that Sun Yu from the Hall of Xuanming was also here, Cui Yu insisted on waiting until Sun Yu was free no matter what, preferring to endure the pain rather than let Wei Yuan lay a hand on him. Cui Yu knew Wei Yuan inside and out. It had taken the fellow ten full years just to cast his Dao Foundation—where would he have found the time to study medicine? When it came to Theory of Arts back in the day, Wei Yuan's grades had been worse than Cui Yu's. There were indeed several guards critically wounded and near death, but Wei Yuan used Jia Wood Life-Mystic to sustain their lives, so waiting a little longer posed no mortal danger. Wei Yuan then had Xu Wan'er prepare armor and equipment for the young masters and ladies, as well as pick out a batch of warhorses. Sun Yu's medical skills were naturally formidable. For each person, the treatment took only a few breaths at fastest, or half a cup of tea's time at slowest; all told, it took less than an hour. Once the young masters and ladies finished having their injuries tended to, Wei Yuan led them to an open clearing and pointed to the piles of heavy armor on the ground. "Everyone pick a set. If it truly doesn't fit, tell Wan'er, and it can be modified slightly. Over to the right are weapons; pick one each as well." Looking at the heavy armor, spears, and sabers on the ground, the group found themselves in a bind. One girl wore a tearful, miserable face and asked, "Can I not choose?" "No!" The one who answered was not Wei Yuan, but Cui Yu. He took the lead by grabbing a suit of heavy armor and putting it on right there, then picked up an artifact spear, weighed it in his hand, and made his choice. Fully armored, Cui Yu turned around and said, "We came here to fight a war. Since none of us want to leave, we must follow orders. Junior Martial Brother Wei is currently the Realm Lord here. By the Palace's rules, we must all obey his command. Therefore, from now on, there is no 'Big Brother Cui,' only 'Realm Lord Wei'!" Wei Yuan hastily said, "Brother Cui, you make it sound too serious. We are still martial brothers. It's just that since Brother Cui brought everyone to my territory, I can't let you all make the trip in vain. This heavy armor is vital—it can save your lives on the battlefield, far better than Dao robes and the like. So you must adapt quickly. If you hesitate, the better-looking and well-fitting ones will be snatched up by others." Hearing this, several of the young ladies immediately sprang into action, grabbing the sets of heavy armor that looked most pleasing to the eye, regardless of fit. With someone taking the lead, the rest followed suit and took heavy armor, trying them on on the spot. Wherever something didn't fit, they went to Xu Wan'er, who noted down every detail with utmost care. Once suited in heavy armor, choosing weapons and warhorses followed naturally. The domain didn't have many warhorses; the dozen or so prepared were all mortal horses, with only two being exceptionally tall and sturdy, already considered fine steeds. These two were ones that Xu Wenwu had each taken for a ride once. Further off, there was also a large blood-red horse. Someone was riding atop it, leisurely strolling past the young masters and ladies. Everyone watched, somewhat dazed. They knew this horse was Wei Yuan's mount, an extraordinarily magnificent beast. In the battle just now, it had trampled a Shaman Dao Foundation warrior to death. The spiritual senses and divine awareness of these young scions were not low; the moment they swept over the horse, they felt a faint, stinging ache, telling them that this was an extraordinary spiritual beast whose strength surpassed their own. How could such a spiritual horse allow a mortal to ride it? While everyone was bewildered, the person and horse had already ridden far off, leaving behind only their retreating backs. Only after seeing to their gear did Wei Yuan finally breathe a sigh of relief. Earlier, based on Cui Yu's account and cross-referencing the ambushes Cui Yu had encountered along the way on the map, Wei Yuan knew the Shamans had already sent forces to penetrate to the east, cutting off the route between the domain and Hanyang Pass. Qingming was now surrounded. Wei Yuan suddenly felt an intuitive premonition and looked up at the sky. At this moment, the setting sun was like blood, and evening clouds filled the heavens, half the sky red as if dripping blood. Ordinary people could not discern anything from this anomaly, but Wei Yuan was well versed in feng shui and had the empowerment of Qingming, so he saw it with utter clarity. Wei Yuan's heart tightened, knowing that when such an omen appeared, it most likely meant a Great Shaman had arrived. *** Several thousand li to the west, inside a Shaman encampment, a Great Shaman sat at the center of an altar, gazing up at the firmament. Just then, another Great Shaman stepped onto the altar. Its posture was bizarre; its long robes trailed across the ground, and rather than walking, it seemed to slither up. The Great Shaman seated in the center frowned with displeasure and said, "The stench of low-born mongrels on you grows stronger and stronger. Doing this will enrage Heaven." The Great Shaman who had just climbed the altar let out a low, eerie chuckle. "If Heaven were enraged, I would sense it myself; there is no need for you to speak for it." The two Great Shamans fell silent, each occupying a side. Moments later, an old man stepped onto the altar. He looked like an ordinary human elder, bearing no resemblance to a Shaman. Yet he was able to step onto an already activated altar, and the altar showed no reaction whatsoever. Having reached the top, the old man formed a tripartite stance with the two Great Shamans and said, "Blood Eye, Phantom, it has been ten years." The Great Shaman seated at the center said, "Mu Shang, instead of staying properly on the human side, what brings you suddenly to us?" The old man said, "Recently, a lad appeared on the human side who is somewhat unusual. My intuition tells me he might cause trouble for the Master's plans. Since you are here, cast a curse in passing to eliminate the boy. Once this is done, I can even collect a bounty from the human side." Blood Eye, seated at the center of the altar, grew somewhat irritated. "I do the work, and you take the reward?" "You don't have to if you don't want to. The trouble he brings you is far greater than what he brings me. If you fail again this time, I fear the Master won't let you off as easily as last time." "Who is he? Let me see first." The old man waved his hand, sending over a mass of fresh blood. "His name is Li Zhi. This is the karma connected to him." Blood Eye drew the blood mass over, sucked it into his mouth, and spat out a cloud of blood mist a moment later. This time, the blood mist condensed automatically into several clumps. The vast majority of the blood clumps were small yet dense, clustering in one place. But the largest clump was far off in a completely different direction, and it was also the most tenuous; however, it was far larger than all the other clumps combined. Seeing the distribution of the blood clumps, Blood Eye snorted and said, "This lad is cunning indeed. Although he left many karmic traces here, his greatest karmic mass is currently hundreds of thousands of li away. Over there is his true body." Beneath his hood, a bloody light shone from the shadows as he stared at Mu Shang. "Are you sure you didn't give me the wrong thing? How could his true body be so far? Could he have traveled hundreds of thousands of li in two days?" "There is absolutely no mistake! In the Dao of Karma, this old man could easily teach your master; who are you to question this old man!" the elder responded forcefully. "'This old man'? Have you been playing human for too long?" "Humans are treacherous and cunning; if one is careless in the slightest detail, they will notice. If it were you, Blood Eye, could you disguise yourself for six hours without being discovered? If you could, I would concede ten thousand supreme offerings to you!" Blood Eye snorted. "It's best you haven't made a mistake. Being so far away, casting this curse will cost me a considerable extra price." The elder said, "This location is in the southwest of the human State of Zhao, nearing the border of the State of Ji. Could your blood curse tracking have made an error?" Blood Eye let out a low roar and said, "If you think you're better at blood curses than me, you do it!" The elder snorted and fell silent. Blood Eye's body writhed, slowly shifting shape. Great swathes of blood-qi rose from the altar, and from the heavens, green qi descended continuously. Blood Eye extended a massive claw resembling that of a beast, mixing the blood-qi with the descending green qi, and spat out a drop of his own fresh blood. Then, in an ancient tongue, he shouted: "Trace the bloodline back to its source: Clan Slaying!" With one claw, he seized that largest yet most tenuous clump of blood and crushed it violently! This was a thousand-offering blood curse. Not only would it curse and slay the target, but it would also trace along the bloodline to curse all descendants of the target, even those yet unborn. Neither the elder nor Phantom moved, quietly awaiting the result. A blood curse of this caliber would yield feedback very quickly. If the target possessed additional means to counter the curse, the three Great Shamans also had follow-up measures prepared. *** On the border between Zhao and Ji, inside a strictly disciplined military camp, Li Zhi sat upright in his tent, contemplating a map before him. Just then, a colonel entered the tent and said, "General Qu has ordered us to capture Jianming Pass within three days without fail, or face military law!" Without raising his head, Li Zhi said, "Although Jianming Pass is defended by only eight hundred men, the terrain is treacherous. Aside from throwing lives away, we have no good approach. What's more, once this pass is breached, what lies beyond is flat open plains. General Qu has many men while we have few; when his grand army rolls forward, we won't get any share of the credit anyway." "But..." Li Zhi finally raised his head and said calmly, "What is there to fear? He can't do anything to me. Besides, even if we breach the pass, it would only be to slaughter some commoners in the State of Ji, which is completely pointless. What I want to fight are the alien races, not play these petty games of slaughtering innocents to claim merit with them. It's a pity those above don't dare touch the alien races and only dare engage in infighting." "Then how do we answer to General Qu?" Li Zhi replied, "Simple. I have suddenly fallen gravely ill and cannot attend to affairs. We'll stall for ten days or a fortnight. Once his provisions run out, he'll naturally withdraw. If he still wants to take Jianming Pass, let him attack it himself." The plan was simple and effective. The colonel was about to offer a few flattering words when he suddenly saw Li Zhi's face turn paper-white in an instant, his pupils turning grayish-white. Li Zhi violently coughed up a mouthful of black blood and collapsed backward! The colonel nearly jumped in shock. Falling sick the moment he said it? General Li was truly swift and decisive, not wasting a single second. Yet there were only the two of them in the tent—who was he putting on this act for? The colonel hesitated for a moment before finally reacting. He dashed out of the tent, shouting, "Someone come quickly! The general has suffered a sudden illness! Summon the military doctors, fast!" His cries were mournful and shrill, as if Li Zhi were truly on the verge of dying. A moment later, several military doctors rushed into the tent, followed by gasps and cries of shock even more frantic than the colonel's. Inside the tent, Li Zhi lay collapsed in a pool of black blood, his breath faint as a thread. However, a jade medallion hanging from his neck and a book nestled in his robes were glowing faintly, keeping his life and soul tethered. *** Western Regions. Before the three Great Shamans, the blood clump representing Li Zhi's true body had become exceedingly faint, flickering intermittently, yet refusing to extinguish. Blood Eye's pride took a hit. He snorted and said, "Quite a few life-saving means he has. This lad truly harbors secrets. But having already been struck by my curse, does he still think he can survive?" Blood Eye spat out another whole mouthful of fresh blood, spewing it viciously onto that tenuous blood clump. Both the elder and Phantom were grave now. For this lad to withstand Blood Eye's thousand-offering curse without dying, all while leaving behind so many karmic connections locally, he was by no means simple. Now that the Master had handed down strict orders, this lad was the greatest variable and had to be obliterated—better to kill the wrong person than let him escape.