Part 4, Chapter 26

Return to the immortal realm

Ch 26

Xun, Xiaomin, and Jingyi sat in the tea shop and listened.

“I heard he had 100,000 Heavenly troops at his back when…”

“Well, I heard it was a host of High Gods who…”

“It wasn’t,” broke in a numb, almost lifeless voice. “It was just him. Just him and his power. He walked through our fortifications as if they were paper.”

Xun turned to look for the source of the voice. In a corner, pushed tight against the wall sat a man in the long intricate braids of the Red Desert Tribes. His outer garments were tattered and hung limply around him, seeming more as if they had been tied on rather than sewn together as a single garment. His face was gaunt and he never lifted his eyes from his cup.

“We scattered. After all we are good at lure attacks and ambushes and it’s easier to hide in small groups rather than large. But we can’t hide from him. He hunts us down no matter how well we lay our spells. The Emperor must be part demon.”

Jingyi moved over to sit by the broken soldier. “Why don’t you retreat?” He asked gently. “The Merfolk who were your allies are already gone.”

“The Master is mad,” the other man said, still not looking up. “His daughter is dead. His grandchild is dead. He wants to hurt the Heavenly Realm as much as he can before he dies too. The other tribe leaders… they swore their allegiance to him. And they had almost defeated the Heavenly Army before the Emperor came. They tasted victory and he has convinced them that they can still get it. But the Emperor and the God of War whittle down our troops more every day.” The man stopped talking abruptly and tears ran down his cheeks. 

Jingyi moved back to the table his friends shared.

“This is enough,” he said. 

The other two looked at him, worry on their faces.

“We need to go and talk to the Chiefs of the Red Desert Tribes.”