I crouched, silent, watching the western gate.
An annoyed cultivator sat on a simple wooden chair, unbothered by the snow and the cold, reading a small novel.
He turned a page, and the torch blew out.
He leapt up, eyes narrowed.
He was likely alerting others that their quarry was in the area with his chi.
“Hello slowpoke.
Care to let a busty babe like me through for the night?” Bing walked up with her guandao in hand, and stanced up.
A sword appeared in the man’s hands, and a look of fury on his face.
“Hua Bing, your crimes end here!”
He rushed at her, and she fought them as I allowed her to use her chi and techniques.
Then another three cultivators appeared, and she disengaged.
“Ah, four against one?
That’s not fair!” She retreated into the dark night, using her Qigong technique to erratically flit about, like the snowflakes that swirled through the dark of night.
The cultivators naturally chased her.
This was my chance.
Once they were out of sight, I dashed out, invisible, and streaked through the gate.
I threw a look over my shoulder, only to see no one was left at the gate.
They had all gone after Bing.
I was through, I dashed down a small alley as described by Bing.
Once I was away from the main throughfare, I stopped.
Whew.
Now I just had to wait for Bing.
A few minutes later, I heard the breath of someone running fast.
I took off my invisibility.
The breathing stopped and I cut off Bing’s chi again and stored her weapon away.
“Did they catch on?”
She shook her head, taking a few breaths to steady her.
“No, they’re still chasing the paper tiger you gave me.
You’re pretty good with illusions.”
Well, it was the first skill I picked up.
Disguises could only go so far when you’re two monkeys trying to pass as humans.
I looked around the alley for the first time.
Wooden walls rather than stone.
Wood seemed to be the material of choice for buildings in this city.
The buildings were clustered close together too.
There was only about three feet of space in this alleyway.
Most of the snow on the ground had melted because of the heat emanating from the buildings.
“Now, where’s the sect compound?
Lead me there.”
Bing swore.
“Shit, are you sure you want to do this?
This is a whole sect we’re talking about.
If you piss them off, they aren’t just gonna let it go.
They’ll hunt you down.”
“Seems to me you’ve already pissed them off.
And then you dragged my husband into it.”
She winced.
“Look, I’m really sorry about that.
I just picked a fight with someone I shouldn’t have.
I had no idea they would do… all of this.”
“Well, it happened anyway, and you’re going to take some responsibility for your actions and help me get Zhi back if I have to make you.
Now, which way to the sect compound.”
“… Fine.
Follow me.”
Xuegong was a thick mass of houses packed as tightly as possible to conserve heat.
We slipped through cracks I could just barely squeeze through as we made our way to the eastern side of the city.
I allowed Bing a little bit of chi to muffle our footsteps in the snow.
Luckily, no one was out.
Whether it was the miserable cold or the occasional cultivator on the street, it was hard to tell.
But we eventually made it to the nice section of town, and a large walled compound with multiple houses and even stores inside.
The sect compound.
The front gate was guarded, naturally.
“Where would they keep Zhi?”
She shrugged.
“Hell if I know.
I’ve never been within fifty feet of this place.”
She was being supremely unhelpful.
“Use your Qigong techniques to fly up to a roof and let a rope down for me.”
I gave her another length of rope and let her use her Qigong technique to get up.
The rope came down, and I shut off her chi again before climbing up.
At the top, I stored my rope and took out a telescope, another treasure I had made.
And I scanned the compound through the lens.
Rather than seeing the walls and guards, I saw the chi flowing through the area, congregating inside cultivators.
Most of it was the pale blue of ice chi, but as I kept scanning, I saw the brilliant five-color rainbow of Zhi.
I compared the location of the telescope to the outside.
Once I was certain, I pointed.
“He’s in that small building over by the big one.”
“Huh.
Are you sure?”
I glared at her, but she remained undaunted.
“Yes.
I’m sure.
What do you know about security?”
“Not much, but if I had to guess, I’d say they have treasures to sense the use of any chi besides ice chi.
Oh, and the guards probably use their chi senses to sweep their areas.
That’s why they’re not moving.
They don’t have to.”
Shit.
I bit my lip, trying to come up with a plan.
Okay.
I don’t think we have to worry about the sensors too much.
Bing was an ice cultivator, which wouldn’t set them off, and as long as I was careful with my divine chi, it shouldn’t sense it either.
Divine chi was everywhere after all.
But the guards were a problem. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
I took note of where they were, summoning a normal telescope.
I counted at least twenty.
Four were around the building Zhi was being kept in.
The hidey rings could disguise our cultivation, but they would still sense us.
We needed some kind of distraction…
I scanned for the least guarded building in the compound, far away from Zhi.
Some kind of storage building near the outer wall.
Okay.
I had something for this.
I tucked the telescope back in my ring and pulled out my alchemy cauldron.
Bing looked at me like I was crazy, but I ignored her as I summoned by ingredients.
Add the flameroot, shield it with some ice water, and boost with some wood-aligned bark, and add enough chi to create a just-barely-stable solution.
I created a barrier to shield it from the air and bottled it carefully to ensure it didn’t make contact and explode in my hands.
I now had a very volatile and explosive bomb.
I handed it to Bing, and she looked at it curiously as I stashed my cauldron away.
“How far can you throw?”
“Me?
Uh… about forty feet.”
“Let’s get closer then.
Your target is that building over there.” I pointed to a large warehouse at the corner of the compound.
It had the fewest guards surrounding it.
“Take this hidey ring, and this invisibility ring.
Throw that bottle onto the building once I give you your chi back.”
She looked at the bottle a lot more alarmed.
“What are you going to do while I’m fire-bombing that warehouse?”
“I’ll sneak inside and get Zhi.
Make sure the guards see you, and you distract them.
Oh, and if you don’t and I die, your cultivation will break.”
She swallowed.
“No pressure then.
Okay.
I’ll go to that building over there and get ready to throw.
Where should we meet up?”
“Back at the alley.
And you better pray I have Zhi with me.”
“Understood.” Bing sounded miserable as she slipped the invisibility ring back on.
She vanished and I threw the rope back down and climbed down.
We went our separate ways.
I headed for the gate, getting my illusion ring off and slipping my invisibility and hidey rings on.
I stayed out of the light and stayed well away from the border of the guard’s chi senses.
I was in position.
I gave Bing her chi back.
A few seconds later, a massive explosion ripped the left side of the compound.
There was shouting, and I watched the guards leave their post through my telescope.
Okay, now!
I ran as hard as I could, climbing over the closed gate with ease and sprinting towards where Zhi was on the other side.
There were shouts and screams throughout the compound, the guards in disarray.
They all rushed towards the fire, none taking note of one tiny monkey-shaped blob of weak chi.
I reached the big building that was next to where Zhi was being held and peeked around the corner.
Fuck.
One guard stayed.
He nervously looked towards the fire while gripping his spear.
Okay, I could do this.
I could fucking do this.
I took a deep breath and summoned another treasure.
A dagger.
I hid it with an illusion and vanished my clothes back into my ring.
Go time.
I held my arm like it was injured and limped around the corner.
I whimpered, catching the guard’s attention, and he jumped, then jutted the spear at me.
I jumped too and screeched, still holding my arm.
The man looked at me, utterly confused.
“A-A monkey?
What the…” He seemed at loss for words as I whimpered and limped towards him.
He shook himself and lifted his spear away from me.
“Shoo monkey.
Go away.” He tried to wave me off, but I gingerly took another step towards him.
Okay.
I was within jumping range.
“Monkey, go away or I’ll—Aaaaaah!” I leapt at him with my dagger, and he screamed and tried to bring his spear around, but I was too close.
I slashed across his chest, and he staggered, the poison working fast.
He collapsed, me still on top of him, out cold.
Xiu wasn’t kidding, that drug was potent.
I rushed for the door, only to find it locked.
I looked over the guard again and saw the keys on his belt.
I grabbed them and managed to find the key that opened the door.
The inside was made of wood as well, but it was a different kind of wood from the rest of the buildings.
It was stronger, more like iron.
I could sense the chi inside of it, giving it strength.
I threw out my chi senses.
There were a few other prisoners, but I ignored them and headed straight for the cell holding Zhi, his chi unmistakable to me.
I felt it jump when it met mine and it tangled with it like he was reaching out and holding my hand.
I used the keys until I found the right one and opened his cell.
“Ming!” Zhi had lost his illusion ring, his storage ring, his sword, and he was pretty beat up.
But he was alive.
That was the most important thing.
He was chained to the wall in thick cuffs that likely blocked him from using any techniques.
I rushed to his side and fumbled with the keys to unlock his cuffs.
“Zhi!
Are you okay?!”
“I’m a lot better now that you’re here.
Uh, do you know you’re naked?”
I rolled my eyes.
“We have bigger problems right now. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Yes!” I got the right key!
His manacles dropped off and he rubbed his wrists before picking me up into a big hug.
“Ming!
Oh, thank the gods you came for me!”
I laughed as he swung me around.
“Zhi, we need to go!
You can hug me all you want once we’re safe!”
“Right!” He set me down.
“What’s the plan for getting out of here?”
“Run like fucking hell.
Let’s go!” I took his hand and we both ran as hard as we could out of the building.
I squeezed on Bing’s chi to let her know we were out.
The fire was almost gone, not that I expected it to last for long given this place was full of ice cultivators.
But the guards were still sparse enough for the two of us to make it to the wall of the compound.
I gave Zhi a rope and he used his technique to climb it, setting off the alarms, but as soon as I was over too, I stashed the rope and we both vanished into the tight alleyways of the east district.
We ran, long and hard, feet pounding against the cold, icy ground.
Winding through the narrow alleyways and side streets which were a maze.
Finally, once we were well away from the Frozen Glaive Sect compound, I panted and stopped for a moment in a side street, exhausted.
Zhi stopped too, looking over our shoulders to see if we were being followed yet.
Once I caught my breath, I summoned my clothes and my illusion ring again.
“What happened to your treasures?”
“Hell if I know.
They’re probably in some treasure pavilion by now.
Or in the pocket of the cultivator who captured me.”
“Shit.
You had some good stuff in there.”
Zhi sighed.
“I know.
My sword is gone too.
Damn it!
All the treasures you gave me are gone.”
At least we still had my ring.
It should be enough to get us through.
“Well, I don’t want to stick around and try to get it back.
Come on.
We’re meeting Bing in an alley near the wall to the west.”
“I liked that sword.
Fuck.”
I led him back towards the alleyway I agreed to meet Bing, giving Zhi a spare illusion, hidey, and storage ring.
He disguised himself as human again.
And as the shouts of cultivators flooded the streets, we added some invisibility rings to the mix.
We made it back to the alley, and we stopped, exhausted.
I slid down to sit, and I felt Zhi do the same next to me.
I felt his hand bump into mine and I reached for his too.
We held hands, invisible, finally coming down from the adrenaline rush.
“So, that coward Bing decided to help rescue me?”
I snorted.
“No.
She was going to run off.
I convinced her otherwise by giving her a slave collar disguised as a storage ring.”
“Oh.
Good.
I can’t believe she just abandoned me at the top of that tower.
Not to mention there were like five cultivators at the top!
I barely had time to shout before they jumped me.” His thumb stroked my hand.
“I’m… I’m really happy you saved me.
Thank you, Ming.”
I squeezed back.
“Of course I saved you.
I would never leave you behind.”
“I know.
But still.
Thanks.” I felt a smile climb onto my face.
I got him back.
Zhi was right next to me, a little banged up but okay.
“Oh gag.
Will the two of you please quit flirting?”
Fuck.
I slammed Bing’s collar cutting off her chi and storing all her treasures away.
She suddenly reappeared, standing across from us in the alleyway.
I stopped my invisibility and got up.
Zhi did too, glaring at her.
“Isn’t it such a joy to see you again.
Coward.”
She threw her hands up.
“We were outnumbered!
And more would have shown up if we put up a fight!
And I helped get you back, doesn’t that count for something?”
I snorted.
“You only helped because I made you, now, let’s get out of the city and keep heading north.”
Bing’s eyes widened.
“What?!
Hold on, aren’t ‘we’ done here?
Take this stupid collar off me!”
Me and Zhi glanced at each other and smiled.
“We do have to get as far away from the sect as possible.
Traveling in the north during the winter would be horrible, unless…” Zhi finished my thought for me.
“We have an ice cultivator traveling with us.”
We looked back at Bing and smiled.
She shivered.
And then groaned.
“Why did I decide to try and rob you guys?”