Book 5: Chapter 11: Shadow

Book 5: Chapter 11: Shadow

Traveling by road proved much faster for them as they headed north since it let Sen and Falling Leaf more than double their traveling time. Some of it was a simple lack of obstructions. While they encountered people, wagons, and the occasional farm animal, they weren’t constantly having to navigate around, over, or through natural obstacles. While no single change in navigation cost that much time, a hundred minor alterations in their direction every single day added up. The other part was that they weren’t required to set up camp and protections every single night. Sen didn’t begrudge that time because he knew how important shelter and protection were in the wilds, but it did cost time. On the road and at the speeds they were moving, they could usually find an inn or a farmer happy to have some extra taels.

The constant change in location also let them narrow down where Mt. Solace was actually located, rather than a general area indicated on inaccurate maps. That, more than anything else, served to ease Sen’s mind. The distances between locations on the continent had left Sen feeling ill at ease at the start of their journey. He had wondered more than once if they would have the time to get to the mountain and back again before the deadline ran out. Granted, Fu Ruolan had never actually said it was a deadline, but Sen had walked away with the distinct impression that he would find Fu Ruolan much less accommodating if he wasn’t back in three months. Much to Sen’s displeasure, though, they would run across other cultivators from time to time. Some of them had the good sense to steer clear, but some were like the ones in front of Sen who were working very hard to test his limited patience.

“You should be happy to exchange pointers with someone from the...” said a puffed-up fool with too much muscle and not enough sense.

“If you utter your sect’s name one more time,” said Sen, “I will beat you unconscious, strip you naked, and tie you to a tree for the nearest spirit beasts to eat.”

“I would think that a wandering cultivator would know their place better,” said the over-muscled sect cultivator.

“You know,” mused Sen, “I can’t actually remember anymore, but I’m fairly confident that I’ve killed just about everyone who ever uttered a sentence like that to me.”

“You’re very confident.”

“No. I’m just running out of tolerance. So, let me be clear. If you make me draw this blade, I’m going to use it to kill you and your lackeys.”Ñ00v€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

“The Swift River Sect will never allow such an affront to pass.”

“You don’t listen well,” said Sen.

“What?” asked the sect cultivator.

Sen considered that for a moment. “I guess not. I really only threatened your leader over there with that. I will be taking any weapons and storage treasures the two of you have, though. I don’t expect the rope to hold you for long, so I need to drive the lesson home another way. Come on. Hand them over.”

The cultivators grudgingly handed over another storage ring and their weapons. Sen deposited the weapons in one of his own storage rings and dropped their storage ring into a pocket. He’d look inside it later. He proceeded to tie their hands and ankles before he tied them all around the tree. After a moment of thought, he reinforced the ropes with qi. Again, it wouldn’t hold them forever, but it would probably keep them occupied for a few hours. More than long enough for Sen and Falling Leaf to put some distance between themselves and the sect cultivators. As he was getting ready to walk away and rejoin an impatient Falling Leaf on the road, the woman called out after him.

“Who are you?”

Sen gave her what he hoped looked like an enigmatic smile. “Me? I’m nobody. Just a shadow passing through.”

The woman looked wholly unsatisfied with the answer, which made Sen supremely happy with it. The less he spread his name or his stupid, stupid title around, the better. The last thing he wanted to do was start even more rumors about himself. Although, he supposed that this was probably a story that wouldn’t cause that many headaches. Sure, there was some embarrassment, but it was the middle of the day and the nearest town wasn’t that far off. Odds were good that they’d get free and run home to their sect, complaining about those mean wandering cultivators. Unless the higher-ups in that sect were complete morons, though, they’d recognize this mercy for what it was and let it go. That made Sen frown, though. Just because recognizing it as a mercy was the smart thing to do, it didn’t mean that the sect would behave that way.

Sen’s experiences with sect elders were a mixed bag. Some of them were reasonable. Some of them were stupid. Some of them were prideful to the point of madness. And some of them were unadulterated evil. As much as Sen hated to lean on that reputation he’d been building, it was the smart play for him if it could save him trouble. The problem was that he couldn’t be sure it would save him trouble. It might make trouble for him just as easily. That was assuming his reputation had spread this far north. Although, it seemed like his reputation always arrived before he did. He should have asked Master Feng about leveraging an increasingly fearsome reputation. Sighing a little to himself, he turned back to the woman.

“If your elders become insistent on a name, tell them it was Judgment’s Gale.”

The woman jerked at that, as did the one man who was still conscious. Damn, thought Sen. It did beat me here. They both stared at Sen with expressions that went back and forth from excitement to fear.

“You’re Judgment’s Gale?” asked the man. “Truly?”

“That’s what they tell me.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” asked the woman.

“Because I was trying to avoid a fight,” said Sen as he turned and walked away. “Not that it did me any good.”