Sorrow In Autumn

Chapter 9. Nothing Like An Old Enemy

In a Chinese period drama it is important to always threaten your enemies, especially in a bar.

Zhao Xin Ci loves his son and we all know Zhang Shi does as well.

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To a man devoted there was no challenge great enough that could shake his faith. Anything was possible.

The jade pendant at his throat was warm with promise and his heart was fearless as he led his small army into the city. His path and the answers he sought took him to one location, directly in the middle of the hustle of early evening.

Here and there were remnants of the Memory of Peace festival but the atmosphere was subdued, perhaps due to the recent attack at the Palace.

As they had entered the gates, passersby glanced at them, eying the plain black robes of his soldiers and the dark blue of Ling Jing's tribal wear, backing away from the chill that followed the lead rider. So Shen Wei dismounted and ordered his reluctant soldiers to find them an inn for the night.

Battle Commander Tu Qiuyue looked horrified and Kunlun no doubt would have laughed. "My King," She began, her voice soft but urgent.

"Both you and Li Qian may follow if you wish." He allowed. "Mo Bingqing, make sure we have an exit should we need one. Everyone else, find an inn."

The crowd parted around them and he led the way to a lavish inn opposite a brothel, with a courtyard and stable. Here, Shen Wei marched forward pushing open the doors even as he gathered dark energy to his hands, but he remained in the shadow of the doorway, hidden from sight.

At the back near the largest tables were seven Southern Haixing soldiers attempting to blend in by pretending to be traders, but their boots were too expensive. The Dixingian innkeeper was filling cups with a strained expression, but the patrons gathered around were fierce in their willful ignorance.

Shaohou City was a border town and a peaceful population, but they were mostly Dixingian. Penalties for killing or harming each other were high, a consequence of trying to maintain the peace Kunlun gave everything for. Shen Wei thought as he moved closer.

At his nod, Li Qian moved forward lowering her hood. She wore a simple mask of blue but as Shen Wei expected the Southern Haixingren soldiers looked directly at her, not as a threat but as a beautiful woman seemingly on her own. As she came to innkeeper ostensibly to rent a room, one of the grabbed her shoulder with a leer, his friends laughing.

Li Qian was an excellent warrior trained since birth, but she knew her Emperor well enough, to see through the simple staging. With the soldiers here, no one would be able to make it to the stairs without bloodshed. Whoever they guarded, the emperor was in no mood to wait for an audience.

Shen Wei moved a hand in a sharp arc and power erupted. Lighting seemed to spark to life in his hand and it wrapped around the soldier's neck.

Tu Qiuyue drew her dao ready to die for her Emperor, but Shen Wei lifted his left hand, the Emperor's famed dao shimmering into his hand, frost tracing its icy patterns along the gleaming edge. From within his hood, cold eyes stared at them. "Call your master and tell him, his 'request' has been answered."

When none of them moved, the lightning pulled the solider higher off the ground, "Now!"

The innkeeper pressed himself back against the wall and the patrons either froze or tried to escape past Tu Qiuyue. One of the soldiers, the oldest of the group, said "Threatening us is against the peace treaty. We will have penalty against you."