Fates Parallel Chapter 378 - Army

After how much hassle Zheng Long had given Yoshika about it, healing Yu Xiang wasn’t even particularly difficult.

Eui had dramatically underestimated Yu Xiang when she made her estimations. While he paled in comparison to the rest of them, he was still an elite cultivator hand-picked for the mission by one of the most prestigious sects in the empire. Hand-picked to be cannon-fodder, but hand-picked nevertheless.

He was no stranger to complicated meditation techniques, and invasively pushing qi into someone’s body was already common practice as a rudimentary method of rooting out Yamato spies. With less than an hour of practice, he was able to keep himself centered while gently allowing Yoshika to push a thread of essence through his body.

Only his body. And only one way. It would be up to him to remain serene once he lost bodily sensation, and Yoshika was neither accessing nor allowing him to access any other part of their unsteady triumvirate.

From the outside, it was a strictly predatory technique. Yoshika had full control of his body, while he was helpless against her until she gave up that control. His fear and distrust was unavoidable, and gave her a time limit to do the repairs before he fell to panic.

But again, she underestimated him. Yu Xian remained perfectly still throughout the procedure, in body, mind, and soul.

Yoshika had underestimated herself, too. The body was more than just the physical manifestation of a person. The ki pathways matched with blood vessels, tendons, and nerves. Through them, the flesh knew how to take form, and all it took was some gentle guidance and a hefty dose of Wood essence from Yoshika.

She was certain she wouldn’t have been able to do it at all a year ago, but now it was easy. A sign of her experience perhaps, but it felt like there was something else. She wasn’t certain what exactly it was—just a vague intuition.

“How do you feel?”

Yu Xiang shook his head to regain his bearings, staring down at his restored leg with wonder.

“I feel fine. Amazing, actually—like this one foot is stronger than the rest of my body. It’s a little strange.”

“It is stronger. You’re only a first stage martial artist, but I had to reform your limb out of pure ki, similar to a third stage body.”

He blinked.

“Is that...bad? Is it going to wear off or something?”

Jia shook her head.

“No, your body’s natural healing will take over and replace it with regular flesh over time. If you plan on taking your martial studies seriously though, you should meditate on that leg while you can. You’ll have to learn how to embody your ki by yourself eventually, and that’s a good head start.”

Yu Xiang stood and tested his new leg gingerly before setting his weight down and bowing deeply.

“I will take that under advisement, Lady Ambassador. Thank you for giving this unworthy junior a second chance.”

When someone from Qin used that phrase, it usually meant ‘thanks for the advice, but I’m going to ignore it,’ but from Yu Xiang it sounded genuine. Yoshika waved him off.

“It was nothing. We all have to work together if we’re going to survive this place.”

He hesitated, glancing back at the entrance of the hut. They’d been given privacy for the healing, but Yoshika had left instructions to interrupt in the case of an emergency.

“Even the Demon? Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but after what she did to Brother Liu...”

Eui scoffed.

“I hate to say it, but especially her. If she could just behave she’d be worth ten of you—no offense.”

“None taken, I’m well aware of how out of place I am. Brother Fang and I are the only inner disciples left, and we’re lucky to have even made it this far. You have my gratitude, it’s just...is she really so powerful? Lady Yan handled her with ease, and she couldn’t even touch you.”

Jia bit her lip.

“Don’t tell anyone I said this, but we got pretty lucky. She’s unrefined and relies on the power from her core, but in terms of raw power Xiao Chong is the strongest one here by far.”

Yu Xiang whistled.

“Present company excluded, I assume?”

Jia looked him in the eyes flatly, and the smile gradually fell from his face.

“You’re joking.”

Eui shook her head.

“She’s insanely strong, she just sucks at fighting. Yue was a terrible match for her, and we didn’t let her touch us because we couldn’t afford to. I doubt she has more than a year of fighting experience, but she packs a serious punch.”

“Haven’t you only been cultivating for a few years yourselves? I still struggle to believe it.”

Jia shrugged.

“Between the two of us, we basically have ten years at this point.”

“I’m not sure it works that way, and even if it did, that’s hardly a blip in the life of a cultivator. I’ve been training for over thirty myself.”

Eui did a double-take at that.

“I’m sorry, what? I thought you were like twenty.”

“I get that a lot.”

“No, seriously. You’re the most baby-faced man I’ve ever met, and you’re thirty?!”

He sighed.

“Thirty-five, in fact. Yes, I know I look younger.”

“Like a reverse Guan Yi.”

“Are you finished?”

Jia chuckled.

“Sorry. Anyway, Xiao Chong is too dangerous to be left alone, but too strong of an asset for us to throw away. It’s awkward, but we’ve got her under control for now.”

“If you say so. Personally, I think she’s a blade with no handle. But you haven’t led us astray yet, and I’m grateful for what you’ve done, so I won’t argue. I should warn you, however, that as grateful as I am, my loyalty still remains with Senior Zheng Long. Ultimately, his word will take precedence over yours.”

Eui frowned.

“You didn’t seem to mind going against his orders when we insisted on healing you.”

“As a matter of fact, I did. He told me to come here.”

“I’ll never understand how you can devote yourself to someone who would throw your life away to save himself a sliver of pride.”

Yu Xiang shrugged helplessly.

“I don’t expect you to, Lady An. But it’s the way I was raised, and I hope you will give me and my principles the same respect that I have for you.”

He bowed and turned to leave, but Ja Yun appeared in the doorway, blocking his path. She had a panicked expression and she was out of breath from sprinting over.

“It’s here! They’re here! The army is attacking!”

—-

Yoshika was impressed by Ja Yun’s fortifications. Though she’d demurred about the strength of her magic, in only a short time she’d managed to construct a solid stone wall surrounding the entire ‘village.’ There were no gates to assault, but she’d even managed to work in sets of staircases at regular intervals and walkways along the top of the wall. Now they stood at the top of those walkways, peering out at the approaching enemy.

Unlike the farmers of the previous trial, the ‘soldiers’ of the army were faceless and inhuman. They held swords and spears, and wore crude armor, and had only passing similarities to human physiology.

It was as though someone who’d never seen a human had drawn one from a description. They had the right number of limbs in the right places, but they were out of proportion. Too long in places, and squished in others. Their skin was pure white, and the only facial feature on their heads was an enormous maw that hinged half of the head open.

From the looks of it, they couldn’t fly, nor were they demonstrating the same kind of earth-rending attacks that the farmers had demonstrated before, but the sheer number of them was overwhelming.

They had the town surrounded, and wherever Yoshika stood on the walls she could see the endless tide of the army stretching from one horizon to the next, carrying their siege engines forward.

The army hadn’t attacked immediately, taking the time to surround them first. Now, they were advancing forward at a steady march, closing in on them from all sides.

Zheng Long grimaced.

“I don’t think these walls will hold against those numbers. We need to thin the horde proactively.”

Jia gave him a sidelong glance.

“What do you suggest?”

“Long ranged attackers at each quadrant—Long Ruiling, your mage friend, Yan Yue, and I—can attack from a distance and provide support for an assault force. Letting them attack us on their terms is foolish. We should take the fight to them.”

Eui frowned.

“Easy to say when you’re one of the ones staying back.”

“I’m just suggesting where I think I can make the most difference.”

Ja Yun raised her hand, and Jia chuckled.

“You can just speak if you have something to say.”

She blushed.

“R-right, sorry! I can make artillery formations. Even first stage mages should be able to use them.”

Zheng Long nodded.

“Good. That will give Yu Xiang and Fang Guang something to contribute.”

Jia crossed her arms.

“Which just leaves me, Eui, Melati, Sukarto, and Xiao Chong.”

“You forgot Han Yu.”

“No I didn’t. I don’t care how much you’ve trained since we last met, but I know he’s going to be useless in battle.”

Zheng Long grimace.

“You may have gotten the wrong idea from our previous encounters. He’s an accomplished cultivator in his own right.”

“Let him keep making his pills. We’ll need all the qi restoration medicines we can get to deal with an army this big.”

“Fair enough. I was actually going to recommend against sending you out to the front lines. Powerful as you are, it may be best to hold you in reserve as a sort of trump card, in case something unexpected happens.”

Jia frowned.

“You want me to send the fiends out alone with Xiao Chong? Just because we’ve got her cowed doesn’t mean we trust her.”

He shrugged.

“The fiends are among our most mobile assets, and I’d rather have the demon wreaking havoc outside the walls than within.”

“I’ll have to run the idea by Ruiling.”

“I thought you were supposed to be asserting yourself as the leader.”

Eui flipped him a rude gesture.

“Fuck off, Zheng Long. We’re taking your advice aren’t we? We can take hers too.”

“If you say so. Do hurry, though. The enemy isn’t going to wait for you to make up your mind.”

—-

Ruiling furrowed her brows upon hearing the plan.

“I don’t know about this...”

Jia nodded.

“I know, I’m not sure I like it either, but he has a point. Karto and Mel are the fastest, which makes them ideal for shock assaults, and Xiao Chong can’t cause nearly as much trouble from outside the walls.”

Sukarto reared up on his hind legs and crossed his arms.

“I’ll do it. If the demon double-crosses us, she’ll never catch me anyway.”

Melati buzzed in agreement.

“Melati won’t die even if we’re killed! We can fight!”

Ruiling sighed.

“Mel, you know you shouldn’t rely on that. What if your core gets shattered, or the demon eats your soul?”

“The mean girl won’t hurt us! Yoshika showed her who’s boss!”

The dragon girl shook her head, turning to Sukarto.

“And you?”

The quadrupedal chimera shrugged.

“If things get too difficult, I’ll just run away. Mel can take care of herselves.”

She sighed.

“Alright. But Yoshika, you promise me that you’ll step in to help them the moment anything go’s awry, okay?”

Jia nodded.

“Of course! Not to brag, but if we push ourselves I don’t think even Sukarto can outspeed us.”

That left only Xiao Chong. She’d been holed up in a hut under Yue’s watchful eye ever since Yoshika reprimanded her. As it turned out, she didn’t need any convincing at all. Her eyes lit up with glee, and she shot Yoshika a jagged smile as they explained the plan.

“You got it, boss. Just point me in a direction and tell me who to kill.”