The Magistrate: Chapter 59

Chapter 59

A Lesson in Death

Xu Feng had an arsenal. He'd buried a defensive array under their feet and three offensive lightning arrays nearby that would kill anything within range. There were also enough talismans to annoy a core realm cultivator. On top of that, he had numerous artifacts with mystical effects and several floating shields that could expand and contract in size to intercept techniques, spells, and weapons.

Tobias felt like he was reasonably aware of what most foundation realm cultivators were capable of. He was also aware of how many cultivation weapons they would carry. Xu Feng's collection did not fit those trends. He was a walking armoury, with more tricks than anyone with his cultivation would normally possess.

The sight of so many artifacts gave Tobias insight into why his friend was struggling with his cultivation. Xu Feng didn't practice the Wandering Minstrel Cultivation Method. He practiced something that looked like the Wandering Minstrel Cultivation Method. Tobias didn't bring it up because they had more pressing matters, but the moment this confrontation was over, they would speak.

Tobias stood with his hands behind his back, watching the eleven foundation realm officers of the Fifth Imperial Army cross the barren landscape. Four should have been enough to confront him and Magistrate Chi safely. Six would have been considered overly cautious. Eleven foundation realm cultivators was both wasteful and foolish. It also made Xu Feng's arsenal necessary.

"You were right," Tobias whispered, using his chi to prevent his voice from carrying. "The bounty for taking me alive was enough to make them abandon their post and responsibilities."

Xu Feng squinted in their direction, wearing an illusion that made him appear as Magistrate Chi. It was so flawless that Tobias couldn't sense anything was out of place.

"This is still more than I expected," Xu Feng replied. "Field Marshal Kang is careful with the officers he promotes. There shouldn't be this many spies in his ranks…Ah, I see why there are so many. The four at the back are members of the 2nd Emperor's spy network. They are cultivators pretending to be soldiers. They practice assassin techniques, so be careful. They can make themselves invisible to all senses and use various forms of poison."

Tobias had read many manuals with similar techniques. They were all highly flawed, which was the only reason Tobias was given them. "Do you have a Star Mist talisman to counter their invisibility?"

"Several, but watch out for their movement techniques. They can cross short distances in an instant. However, the foundation realm version of the technique has a slight delay between the moment they appear and when they can attack. It will be your only opening."

"Anything else you can tell me?"

"Nothing you don't already know."

Tobias waited in silence for them to arrive.

The cultivation world was built on reputation. Tobias's reputation for understanding cultivation was exceptional. His reputation as a warrior was nonexistent. Without that reputation, Tobias would have trouble convincing the Great Clans and sects to learn his killing techniques, so instead of running and informing Field Marshal Kang of those who were disloyal to him, Tobias was going to build his reputation.

Tobias cupped his hands and bowed as they arrived, because no one was using defensive techniques or holding weapons, and it was the proper thing to do. The expected thing to do. The best way to make them overconfident.

"Magistrate Finch greets the officers of the Fifth Imperial Army. How may I be of assistance?"

There was no warning, no introductions. The moment he finished his greeting, the spies attacked. Tobias sensed the four of them vanish and reappear on either side of him and Xu Feng. Tobias instantly formed weakened chi grenades with each palm and flicked his wrists, sending them into the spies' faces as he leapt backwards.

The explosions flicked back the spies' heads and peppered their faces with shrapnel, distracting them. Pressure flashed across Tobias's hands as shrapnel from his chi grenades cut his skin, but his actions provided an opening for a second attack.

Tobias formed a proper chi grenade with his right hand as he continued his retreat and sent it into the right spy's face before he could recover. Most of his head vanished as several more pieces of chi shrapnel struck Tobias's body.

Tobias ignored the pain and formed another chi grenade with his left hand, launching it at the other spy. The fraction of a second was enough time for the second spy to orient himself and begin to raise his defences.

The spy blocked the chi grenade with his arms, like the disciple from Cloud Sect, but his higher cultivation prevented a life-threatening injury. The second chi grenade immediately followed, and then a third and a fourth. Each one exploded so quickly that he didn't have time to respond. When the fifth strike removed his head, Tobias turned to the seven officers who were standing there, stunned and continued his attack, ignoring Xu Feng's fight.

The officers were not cultivators. They did not have the chi that true cultivators had. They did not have the skill for single combat, so Tobias killed two before they could raise their defences. The moment the survivors raised their defences, Tobias changed targets and launched a chi grenade into the nearest spy's back.

The beauty of Tobias's technique was that it was fast, extremely fast. Much faster than most cultivators could respond. It was also deceptively weak. The chi required was just a fraction of what was usually required to produce so much destructive force.

The chi grenade severed the spy's spine and covered Xu Feng and his other opponent in blood and guts. Tobias sent his next chi grenade into the downed spy's head, knowing he was going to injure Xu Feng and the other spy, but preferring to finish the spy off. Many cultivators had suicide techniques for taking their opponents with them.

Sensing his vulnerability, the remaining spy tried to flee, leaping away. Xu Feng let him, because all he was going to do was give Tobias an easier target. Tobias launched three chi grenades in quick succession, while the spy was still in the air. The problem with such leaps in Tobias's opinion was that while they did allow you to disengage quickly, they did not allow for easy movement while airborne, not before the core realm.

The fourth spy was dead before he landed.

Tobias turned to the five remaining officers behind their barriers. They were all inside the lightning array. Xu Feng sent a pulse of chi into the ground, and lightning immediately filled the area, striking their barriers over and over.

Lightning was a flashy technique in Tobias's opinion.

The way most techniques created lightning didn't take advantage of the environment or the laws of electricity. Producing such a powerful effect without doing so was chi-intensive, so producing powerful lightning techniques and spells was only for those with deep chi reserves. The reason many cultivators preferred these attacks was that, despite their cost, they rarely missed and moved so quickly that your opponent couldn't dodge.

Only three of the officers were dead when the array ran out of chi. The other two were on the ground, barely alive, so Tobias threw a pair of chi grenades to finish them off.

Xu Feng sent another burst of chi into the ground, activating the defensive array and then pulled out a Star Mist talisman and filled the inside with flowing sparks to ensure no spies had approached using a stealth technique.

The moment they were safe, Xu Feng turned to Tobias. "You are far more dangerous than I imagined."

"And you could have taken those two spies without my aid, which doesn't align with your dao."

"I have my tricks."

"No. You've lied about your cultivation method. You don't follow the path of the Wandering Minstrel. You follow something that looks like it. This is not an accusation. It is merely a statement of fact. You may keep your secrets, but Xu Ling and I cannot help you unless we know what you practice."

Xu Feng sighed. "It's better that you don't."

Tobias took a calculated guess. "There's no shame in being a spy or assassin, only an indiscriminate one."

"Xu Ling will not see it that way."

Tobias found his reply so funny that he laughed out loud. "Your daughter knew me the moment she met me. Your daughter knew you the moment she was born. You've told me that she looked into your eyes and smiled. Whatever secrets you might have will not change who you are to her, because she knows you better than words can ever express."

"I have done things I'm not proud of."

Tobias motioned to the dead men around them. "These men came here to capture me and deliver me to a man who would have me tortured into insanity. I used that as a justification to kill them to build my reputation. Am I proud of what I've done here? No. But it was necessary. And my actions were not indiscriminate. You may have taken actions which bring you shame, but I do not believe those actions were ever unnecessary. Now I have said my peace, and I will say no more on this matter unless you broach the subject first."

Xu Feng cupped his hands and bowed. "You are a true man of honour and a mighty warrior."

Tobias shook his head as he expelled the chi shards from his body so he could begin to heal. "It's merely a trick."

"You killed two cultivators and two officers of the imperial army with significantly higher cultivation in less time than is needed for a breath, and then proceeded to kill another two cultivators attacking your ally. That is no mere trick."

"It is when your enemy can easily counter you when they understand the technique."

"Magistrate Finch, whether it is a trick or superior combat ability, they are dead, and you are alive. In the cultivation world, this is all that matters."

Tobias didn't agree, but he didn't have a reasonable objection either, so he pulled out a spirit stone. "Allow me to recover my chi, then we can bury the dead, and collect Magistrate Chi to continue our journey."

***

Tobias's movement technique was so effective that it threw off Xu Feng's original schedule. The ten-day journey through the khans' territory was completed in four days, leaving him with six extra days to reach his next location. This was problematic because Xu Feng was meeting an informant at a designated time and place in a dangerous area and couldn't risk spending more time there, so he decided to escort Tobias and Magistrate Chi across the Golden Plains.

In the midafternoon of the third day, they reached the foot of the Golden Plains’ mountain range and turned east following the base searching for the current entrance to the Forgotten Valley. The network of caverns and tunnels crisscrossed the mountains with multiple access points. Over the centuries every one of these access points had been trapped and Peace Master So frequently changed where it was safe to enter. Not that anywhere was safe. You needed a guide.

Xu Feng spotted the current entrance before sunset and signalled for them stop.

Tobias slowed their momentum and stepped off his sword, while Xu Feng remained floating on the one that he'd given him. "I assume we travel the rest of the way on foot."

"Only if you think it is wise not to approach a nascent soul realm cultivator's home while using an unknown mobility technique," Xu Feng replied.

Xu Feng held out his hand, and a beautifully decorated leather tube appeared. It was as long as Tobias's forearm and looked like an oversized carrier pigeon case. There was a cap at each end, one silver and one gold. They looked like they could be removed.

Tobias had spent enough time at Cloud Sect to identify a higher realm treasure when he saw it. This was clearly a nascent soul realm atrifact and a very rare, old, and expensive one. The craftsmanship was beyond anything The Three Kingdoms could produce today. 

Xu Feng removed the silver cap and summoned a pair of scrolls. He placed the scrolls in the tube and then threw in the storage rings they had collected from their would-be assassins. Xu Feng placed the cap back on.

"This is the Three Pigeon treasure, Magistrate Finch. As its name suggests, it is one of a set of three identical treasures." He tapped the gold cap. "If you place something in this end, someone very dear to me will be able to remove it from their treasure. If you place something in the other end, Patriarch Lee will be able to remove it from his treasure. If you discover what you need, you can place the manual inside so Patriarch Lee can claim it for your first disciple."

Tobias wasn't surprised that Xu Feng still didn't trust Magistrate Chi with his identity. Xu Ling clearly had the other treasure, and her father wanted her to begin building her foundation to ascend to the core realm the moment Tobias knew how.

Tobias paused. "I cannot take something so valuable or useful. Surely you will need this."

"Patriarch Lee wishes for us to deliver a message to Peace Master So. It is a message he cannot give us to carry or tell us, because it would be too dangerous if it fell into the hands of our enemies. This is the only safe way to deliver that message, so you must take it to him. He will recognise it."

Tobias relaxed, took the treasure, and bowed. "I will do as Patriarch Lee asks." He glanced at the treasure. "I cannot sense its power or presence, but will higher realm cultivators be able to do so?"

"No. However, I was warned not to stand next to nascent soul realm cultivators with it on me. Some may be able to sense it."

"How frequently can it be used?"

"Nascent soul realm cultivators can use it as often as they wish. You and I can only use it every five days."

Tobias made the treasure vanish into his storage ring. "I'll keep it safe."

Xu Feng cupped his hands and inclined his head. "I will take my leave."

Tobias returned the gesture. "Stay safe."

Magistrate Chi bowed. "Thank you for your guidance and protection on this journey."

Xu Feng kicked his foot against the ground and shot forward, quickly building up speed and disappearing into the distance.

Magistrate Chi watched him go. "I must assume I should never speak of meeting that man."

"It would be safer if you didn't. He goes to great lengths to protect his privacy." Tobias held his hand over his sword, and it disappeared into his ring. "Shall we continue?"

"Would you not prefer to recover your chi?"

"One does not walk up to another's house unannounced and prepared for battle. It sends the wrong message. Wouldn't you agree, Gatekeeper?"

An elderly woman appeared only a few feet away. Her invisibility spells had been flawless, so even Tobias jumped when he realised how close she was. Without the invisibility spell, her spiritual pressure announced that she was in the core realm and not happy with them.

"What gave me away?" She asked.

Tobias cupped his hands and bowed. "Magistrate Finch greets The Gatekeeper."

Magistrate Chi did the same but did not rise at the end of his bow.

She continued to scowl. "Answer the question."

"Your dao slipped through."

"In what way?"

"A sense of peace settled over me shortly after we stopped here. It could easily be mistaken for arriving at the end of the long journey, but I do not consider us to have arrived."

Her expression softened, and then she burst into laughter. "That's the first time in over a century that anyone has told me my problem is being too peaceful. Get up, Magistrate Chi. Your brother will make me spend a month in quiet contemplation if he thinks I'm bullying you."

Magistrate Chi quickly straightened.

The Gatekeeper cupped her hands and inclined her head. "I am Lu May, Gatekeeper to Peace Master So. Why are you standing at my master's gate?"

Tobias cupped his hands and bowed again. "Magistrate Chi travelled with me to provide a suitable alibi for when we ran into the khans' warriors."

"You intended to use the first disciple's connection to my master for your own protection."

"His friend, 2nd Patriarch Lee, told me to tell him if he had a problem with that, then he was not as peaceful as he claims." Tobias summoned his letter of introduction and handed it over. "This is for your master."

Lu May examined the seal and blanched. "Follow me."