A Peasant’s Guide To Sorcerery: 21

A Peasant’s Guide To Sorcerery: 21

…

Commissioned by Ichypa

Wordcount: 2500

…

Interlude: Su

…

“Oh, they’re bad people. They need to go.”

The words were simple, but they were undoubtedly the death knell of the whole Ba Clan.

Lady Ying was swift to speak up.

“Lord Zhang, we cannot simply assault a whole clan. It would too easily invite the whole city to come after you, and force you to fight them as well. Many will suffer with so many clans destroyed.” Her words echoed within me. Even as the shock refused to fade at Lord Zhang’s support, I realized that I may have unleashed something great and terrible. Lord Zhang moved swiftly, decisively, and left ruin in his wake. Like a living calamity that would lay waste to a region, that is how Lord Zhang moved against his foes. “Please, give me time to gather information on their wrongdoings. We can work with the Fei’yen clan to rout them.”

Lord Zhang shook his head.

“That would mean people getting hurt. After I’ve been told what is wrong, and after I could do something about it.” The logic was simple, but not childlike. It spat in the face of common sense and convention. However, it was true. Lord Zhang can act against the Ba Clan. He has decided to act against them. To not deal with them now, as he is capable, is to permit them to continue doing their work. His sense of justice was blindingly, frighteningly pure. “I won’t let them hurt more people.”

Lady Yuen intervened.

“We can find other survivors and records. In fact, I’ll start as soon as we’re done here. Just need a list.” The dragon-blooded woman looked at me. I expected an accusatory glare. An assertion that I was manipulating Lord Zhang. Instead, I received a nod of understanding from the short-haired, fake archivist. “Meanwhile, keep watch on the villages that they’re trying to pry money from. Boot the enforcers away, while keeping the villages safe, too. No one gets hurt starting now, and we can keep everything nice and tidy.”

The matter seemed to be settled and Lord Zhang seemed pleased, but Lady Bai spoke having taken the first seat to his right.

“My honored creator needs not waste his time and efforts in such matters. My esteemed lord, give me the order, and the fate of this Ba Clan will make it so none come forth to their aid.” Despite the veneer of a long-haired and graceful woman clad in fine robes, Lady Bai was a creature made to rule over war. She spoke as a general would to her emperor. No. That is wrong. She spoke as a zealot would to her beloved god. Emperors ruled, while Zhang created. “Give me the order my lord, and they will be destroyed within the hour.”

Lady Bai was the most tempestuous and fervent of the group. She disregarded many things as beneath Lord Zhang.

In this case, it was fretting about the chaos that would follow his power being unleashed.

Despite my fear and concerns of interrupting her efforts, I spoke.

“Lord Zhang, I would not wish for the life you have not to be changed. Please, consider Lady Yuen’s plan. Let everything be done by Lady Bai and her soldiers, while Lady Ying and I beseech the Fei’yen clan.” It was arrogant to even suggest a thing, and the gazes all three sent my way were heavy indeed. However, I had voiced my concerns. It was my right to give a proposal. Though I wanted the Ba Clan destroyed, I did not wish to compromise what was here now. I shuddered at the thought of this idyllic life changing and Lord Zhang being unleashed upon the world. Even dying a thousand deaths would not allow me to forgive myself for being the cause of such a thing. “I understand your wish to see them brought to justice more than anyone, but I would not foist my vengeance upon you. I would rather destroy the Clan by my own hands and leave forevermore, than have the peace here be disrupted.”

I spoke as well as I was able, and silence resounded through the dining room.

Then, Lord Zhang spoke after the longest moment of contemplation.

“Okay. Let’s go with Yuen’s plan. As long as they can’t hurt any more people, I can be patient. Father said that pests should be dealt with quickly, but never while getting hurt yourself.” Zhang gave a nod at his words and his satisfaction was apparent. Lady Bai beamed when he looked her way. “Bai, please go and protect all the nearby villages with everyone below. If you’re protectors, they’ll challenge you. Defeat them and capture them.”

“Your will shall be done, my creator.” Lady Bai bowed her head and preened at the command. Those powerful beings will be more than enough to disrupt Clan Bai’s current plans from bearing any more fruit. “Should we make an effort to take what they’ve stolen back?”

Lady Ying spoke up at that.

“Restitution can be taken from Clan Ba. This path will allow us to seize their assets, instead of see it all lost to those who take them over.” The Beggar’s Sect was used to such matters. Their people worked against the corrupt and worked with the just. They took donations for their work, to ensure the growth of their own people, and to continue to oppose the depravities of those who have used power to their own ends. Lady Ying, one of its aspiring heirs, knew the right path to tread. “Lady Yuen, do you know how to contact the record keepers of the city?”

“Of course. That’s still my job, after all.” Yuen gave a nod and I let a sigh of relief leave my lips. This was shaping up well. No. It was rapidly becoming more than I could’ve ever hoped for. My vengeance was turning into something else: justice. Not only will the Ba Clan be destroyed, avenging all those they’ve killed, those they currently threaten will be protected and see their lives restored. The people who I wished would come to save my family long ago were here now, and I contributed to their creation.  “What’s our timetable, Zhang?”

Zhang gave a hum.

“Would a month be fine? I want Bai and everyone back for a big harvest before the season ends.”

I almost laughed at his words.

The Ba Clan will be gone within thirty days, because Lord Zhang wanted help with a large harvest.

…

Lady Ying sighed once we were alone.

“You should’ve come to me first. Clans like the Ba, I have dealt with time and time again. I could’ve helped you, Su.” The words would’ve sounded like platitudes from anyone else, but from Lady Ying, I knew that they were completely true. The heiress of the Beggar Sect was an honest and true soul. A person that was truly just. “Why go straight to Lord Zhang?”

I told her the truth.

“It was the only way to calm myself. To stop me from acting on my own. Knowing that he is tending to the matter has calmed my heart.” Lady Ying’s brow furrowed at my words, but she understood. My heart was a dark and heavy thing that plagued my every move. She noticed my anger and disgust long ago as she trained me. I held no secrets in her eyes. “You know me, my teacher.”

“…I do. You must temper yourself in the future. The power you hold is immense and your potential without question.” Lady Ying took a calming breath, then nodded in my direction. “You know yourself, and you have acted against yourself. I praise you for it, Su. You could have done better by coming to me, but you saw your own limits and went to Lord Zhang to stop yourself. That is praiseworthy, indeed.”

I bowed my head in thanks.

“I only wish that I could have relied only on you, but I fear that the path I walked earlier in my life has changed me.” Perhaps, if I was a true, raised member of the Beggar’s Sect, I could have chosen the correct path. Instead of placing an indomitable titan before myself, I could have entrusted my teacher. But I was not. I spent my childhood years stealing from others to survive, and I have even taken innocent lives. “Master, when this has passed, I place all my crimes in your hands for judgement. I entrust my life and my new power to the Beggar’s sect to seek some semblance of forgiveness for all that I have done.”

I could hear the smile on Lady Ying’s face as she spoke.

“Long have I awaited to hear those words. The hatred and pain you held against Clan Ba must have stopped you from speaking them. I knew mere days into your training that you’ve aspired to be just, but your path was set for you.”

Her words struck me harder than any blow.

“…I hurt many people and took their lives. I don’t know if I can be redeemed, but I will try.” I have killed seven people. Guards and merchants. They had families. They were husbands, brothers, and sons. People who were doing their duty. I’ve hurt dozens more for the sake of gaining money for food and shelter. I told myself that I had to do it, because if the Ba Clan heard of me, then I would perish as a witness. I wouldn’t have been able to stay quiet, if I had tried to live a normal life. In choosing my path, I chose my life over others again and again. “I don’t know how I could apologize. No matter how many people I save and help, I will have always harmed and killed those who I did.”

Lady Ying was silent at my admission.

“The Beggar’s sect has taken in worse than you. Criminals who have slain whole villages. Monsters who pled for forgiveness to simply stay our blade. Some were able to turn their lives around. They took no riches, lived ascetically, and truly helped others for the rest of their days… those that did not were killed.” Lady Ying spoke, and suddenly I felt her blade rest on my neck. “When I began to teach you, I knew of your sins and misdeeds. I swore to myself that if you strayed from the righteous path that I would take your head myself. So, rest easy, Su. Live henceforth knowing that I vouch for you as your guardian and potential executioner.”

I bowed my head at her words, feeling pangs of regret deep in my chest, but also something brighter and lighter than the cloudy, dark, and stormy mass that covered my heart.

Gratitude.

The blade left my neck and was replaced by a hand, then another hand lifted up my chin.

Tears escaped my gaze and I couldn’t speak, while every breath threatened to make me sob.

Lady Ying looked upon me with a small smile, but her eyes were full of discipline and determination.

My life was in her hands.

She accepted what I’ve done, yet she holds back her sword.

“I will not permit you to leave your training or my tutelage after this matter with the Ba Clan is done. You are sworn to me. You will work to better the lives of others, take no riches, and live a life of simplicity.” I nodded with every word. Some part of me screamed that it wasn’t enough. That the only true absolution was pain and death. But I wanted to live. I wanted to help others.  Lady Ying’s words froze the dark voice telling me that I didn’t deserve to try. “As your teacher, I shall be responsible for your life. Comport yourself well, be diligent, and follow my teachings, and I shall be always by your side.”

I could only nod with gratitude at her words.

…

Lady Yuen took a seat next to me, while I looked upon the plan for the coming days.

“The Ba Clan, huh? Never thought that they’d have it in them. They’ve always just been a regular monster-hunting clan.” Yuen wore freshly laundered clothes and wore spectacles over her eyes. In her robes and with her face partially obscured, she truly did not seem to be a warrior capable of felling dozens with a single swing of her axe. “Do you think that there’s a Sect supporting them? Maybe an immortal or two? Do you remember anything from their attack?”

“Do you think that there’s an immortal in the city working with the Ba Clan?” I asked in return, and she swiftly nodded.

“There’s more than a few. They keep to themselves, work through messengers, and never come in person. But cities like that one only exist at the mercy of the Sects that surround them. If the Ba Clan did those things, that meant that they did so with permission, if they haven’t been destroyed.”

Lady Yuen’s words made her concerns clear.

“Do you believe that they will act against us, even when the whole clan is under scrutiny?”

“They’re immortals who’ve been praised for centuries. Even the humblest of souls will crumble beneath such a thing. Even a passing slight will seem like a mortal insult to them now. Showing that they permitted wrongdoing? An orthodox Sect would consider that an attack.” I listened as Yuen explained and felt a frown form on my face as her words rang true. It was the harsh reality of the matter. Something that I could’ve never known, because the realm of immortals was just so far away. “If they’re unorthodox, then they’ve been challenged, and the only way to confront a challenge is through violence in their eyes. Nothing that happens in the city in the scale you’re describing happens without the sway of the Sects. They will act against whoever slights them.”

“What can they do against Lord Zhang and us?”

At my question, with my furrowed brow, Yuen laughed.

“Against us? Nothing. And, that will be a sign of weakness. A sign of spilled blood that will have their foes come forth to do battle with them.” Yuen gestured at the skies above us. “These skies will fill with formations of immortals fighting. They’ll use decades of training and power to smash skulls like a monkey would to smash a skull with a rock.”

Yuen levelled her gaze at me.

“What’ll you do then? Will you go after the sect that permitted this?”

I shook my head.

“No, I know better than to tread too closely to the heavens. I’m content right here, especially when I need to redeem myself for all the wrongs that I’ve done.”

For a moment, Lady Yuen was silent, before she suddenly got up and turned her back to me.

Then, she gave me a friendly wave goodbye.

The first she’s ever given me.