Book 1: War
Chapter 4: Of Conquerors and Guardians Part 2: The Siege of Guandi
Trigger Warning: One of the characters in the story, Lao Piao is mentioned to have raped a minor in a brothel. There is no scene inside this chapter where said character rapes the minor, only vague descriptions from what the character who encounters the old dude discovers. The main character is forced to disrobe but it has nothing to do with rape, it's part of the Ancient Chinese Five Punishments and without ruining the story I'm being vague here. The punishment isn't public nude humiliation either. Nu Xing another character also disrobes requested by a procurer of a business for purposes of employment.
TW: Vague gore.
The men trained all day, or it would seem so in reality, they were exhausted from the day before. Only four hours have passed since day two of training began. Today they were going to learn something new. Baoshou and Shuaige stood side-by-side across from the soldiers, the First Lieutenant started to, "We've arrived in my favorite part of the training, hand-to-hand combat something that our earthbender friends seem to have trouble with; while we non-benders excel at it, partner together with your bender and non-bender friends in pairs of two."
"We're going to teach you the Killing Fist style; the Wang Mu warrior cult is native to the Wang-Mu Summit in Kunlun province. They're a pious cult of non-benders who study martial arts on their mountain top cathedral. Their style has proven to aid us in close-quarters combat with barbarians," explained Baohsou.
"We will demonstrate as we instruct you on stances and strikes. Pay close attention!" Shuaige added, Avani pointed at Zuqiu to partner up with him. Shuaige shook his head and intervened, "No, Zuqiu, you're going to partner up with Wei. I'm leaving Avani to Taobing."
Captain Qishi pointed behind him with his thumb to a terrifying look of a man. He was muscular and adorned with several scars. His skin was tanned, his eyes were light brown, his hair was black with strands of gray here and there. His face invaded by very few wrinkles; his hair was long and grew past his shoulders. His hands were wrapped in hand wraps; he carried a nefarious look in his eyes. Avani slouched and clopped over to the man sighing. She wanted a more comfortable partner, but Avani felt that Captain Qishi wanted to make things more difficult simply because she was the Avatar.
The brutish man gawked at the young woman for a brief moment as she neared him. He extended his hand to shake hers, but she ignored him. She murmured to him in a dull tone, "Hey."
They stood across from each other when training began; he removed his tunic, which revealed a chest tattoo. On his left pectoral, Avani read "亡命," and on his right pectoral it read "之徒," this was his punishment by the Haijun Kingdom. Besides the lashing scars that marked his back, the tattoo read "runaway." Avani took a step back, shocked when she recognized the tattoo on his chest. She brought it up, "You... you're a deserter..."
"That was the old me...when I was a boy. Now I want to fight for my kingdom," he grinned, although even he knew the man didn't mean what he said. She said nothing in return but thought to herself, "You're lying through your teeth!" she did squint at him with hostility.
"When your opponent strikes with either their right or left, use your blocking arm to push their strike away. Then use your free hand to poke them in the eyes. Once they're blind, you clench their throat and use your entire weight to knock them down and strangle them. However, with your partner, you'll be practicing the moves slowly, so we don't accidentally kill our friends," described Baoshou.
"Like so," he said, Captain Qishi threw a right strike, but Baoshou used his left to push the Captain's right fist away. He pretended to strike Qishi in the eyes with his left, Shuaige covered his eyes, pretending to be blinded. Baoshou used his right and lightly squeezed his superior's throat and forced him to the ground.
"Once you're down here, you're open to strangle them with both hands. They call this move the 'Side Grab Claw,' it is used for hand pushing and breaking, incapacitating your attacker, then crushing their throat and sealing the breath," explained the First Lieutenant.
All the trainees slowly repeated the demonstration they spectated some failed to remember the next step while others resumed and successfully forced their partners to the ground. After several minutes of practice, Baoushou moved on, "This next move is known as, 'Double Backfist,' it's used to incapacitate the attacker by punching them in the diaphragm, and then once they're on the ground gasping for breath mounting onto them, and striking them in the face until they're unconscious or dead."
Baoshou lightly uppercut Captain Qishi right in the center of his torso. When Shuaige fell to his knees, Baohsou mounted him and used both hands to gently smack him across his face. He glanced back and added, "You won't be slapping your enemies; aim straight for the center of the face. The stronger the hit, the more likely you are to kill your target."
Meanwhile, Gan's team assembled and mounted their ostrich horses; all of them wore disguises. Gan was dressed as a Yanzhao agent; this was needed to get closer to the Governor. The agent they kidnapped and killed had a meeting scheduled with the Governor of Zhoukou province on behalf of the Earth King and the Spymaster of the Yanzhao.
Gan's team consisted of three men and one woman. All five of them traveled down the mountain pass to the valley below. As they reached the city's northern entrance walls, they saw a military checkpoint in the distance. An added addition of security ordered by the Earth King himself, just beyond it, was the capital city's bazaar section. All five entered at different times to not raise suspicion, but they've been the only five travelers in days coming through the north.
The first two to enter were Gan and Fen Mo Fu, their leader was dressed in the traditional black garb worn by the Yanzhao agents. His conical hat was dyed black and strapped to his head, a jian held on his waist's left side. The gentleman to his right was disguised as a Haijunese soldier. The golden lamellar armor glistened in the sunlight and bounced off, reflecting on the far wall. He was pale-skinned, with dark brown eyes and the rarely seen dark auburn-colored hair. It was wrapped in a topknot; he wore a sort of heavy facial hair, a thick mustache, bushy sideburns, and a tuft of chin hairs.
Gan chose this man for his creative mind that permitted him to create things out of everyday objects. Like his leader, he could adapt to any situation; the bonus was that Mo Fu was also an explosives and traps expert. One of the men at the checkpoint called out to them, "Papers!"
Another soldier one believed to be of higher rank studied both men from his post and shouted to private, "Let them through, don't you see it's a Yanzhao agent and his lowly serviceman?"
The disguised Oma Kingsmen soldier remained silent but nodded; ten minutes passed, and another rode in. He, too, was halted with a hand signal. This man was tall, wiry, with sun-kissed skin, brown eyes, he shaved his head, and eyebrows save for the clump of hair that rested where his hairline would've been. A scar ran from the back of his head and ended on his right temple. He wore sandy-colored robes and sandals woven from straw. His mount was fitted with sacks and chests that hid his tools in secret compartments. The pack was filled with parchment rolled up, but that contained no writing. The soldier approached him and inquired, "What brings you to Guandi?"
"I've come from Kunlun province, Sir. I came to share my teachings to those eager to learn the Way of the Killing Fist," he responded.
"Way of the Killing Fist, huh?" wondered the serviceman.
"You've heard of the Wang-Mu Warriors, yes?" he asked the trooper.
"Eh...no," the man declined.
"The Wang-Mu warriors of Kunlun's Wang-Mu Summit? My organization has been around for thousands of years. How could you not know?!" hissed the monk. He pretended to be offended with the idiotic lackey that was stationed at the checkpoint.
"Wang-Mu Warriors? I thought you were an airbender," assumed the soldier; he was confused because he's indeed never heard of the warrior cult.
He angrily handed the man his papers, "How dare you compare me to one of those arrowheads!"
After he received his identification papers, he raised his chin and turned to face the entrance, "Hmph!"
He was disguised as a monk from the pious cult from Kunlun province; he wasn't a soldier. He was a thief picked up from another province by Gan. His skillset was something that benefitted the champion of the Meng clan. Thievery, stealth, forgery, lockpicking, and pickpocketing. To top it off, he also had a silver tongue.
Through the inspection post came another noblewoman she had flawless pale skin, dark brown hair styled in a tossed-up bun. Her eyes were golden-colored like the coins that nobles carried in their coin purses. She wore a loose-sleeved teal green dress, while her blouse and over-dress were green with floral designs. Her vest, short-sleeved jacket, and coat were different shades of green. Her lower skirt was light green with lotus designs that encircled the dress in a spiral.
She wore a silver hairpin that held her bun in place, a small pink-petaled lotus flower decorated on one end of the pin. Her skirt was so low that it hid her unbound feet, a feature that would've thrown off her disguise if the soldier checked her feet. In the Haijun Kingdom, it was common for noblewomen to have bound feet.
She handed her papers to the serviceman, who paced toward the beautiful woman. He stared at her identification, and then every blink of an eye, he gazed upon her sharp face. He scratched his head and commented, "It says here your name is Bian Nu Xing, that's commonly a man's name."
She bore her eyes into him with displeasure and questioned the soldier's rude behavior, "Are my parents not allowed to name as they please?!"
"Apologies, go on ahead," he apologized when he noticed he crossed a line; when the woman entered the city, the man in the post called out to him, "Hey Shu."
The soldier turned around to face the other, "Not cool."
Gan chose her because she was alluring and charming; she had her own way of extracting information. Often, she drugged her victims because she concocted her own poisons, she was an alchemical expert he met back in Mao Shu Hu province. The woman was smooth-spoken and eloquent; she once worked with a triad in her home province's capital.
Lastly, a chubby, tan-skinned individual with light green eyes, dashing black hair that rested on his shoulders, and his face had a patchy beard accompanied by whiskers at the ends above his upper lip. He wore a flamboyant robe with pretty colors, a combination of orange, pink, and purple. A pipa was strapped to his back, a haladie hidden in the pendant around his neck. Gan made sure this man was in his team, a skilled weapon master. He could grab anything in sight and use it proficiently as a fighting tool. He carried a water gourd fastened to his waist crafted in the Fire Nation, inside it contained alcohol. For the purposes of merriment and debauchery, although outside alcohol was illegal in Guandi.
He pulled the reigns on his ostrich horse, halting in front of the military inspection point. The bard handed the inspection guard his identification papers, the soldier pointed at the pipa on his back, "May I?"
The bard removed the instrument from his back and handed it to the serviceman, who then proceeded to shake it, thinking something would fall out. He inspected the sack of food brought by the bard and then was about to uncork his water gourd when the minstrel made a snarky comment, "It's water; I'm not hiding a dragon in there."
"Don't get snarky with me, ren zha. I'm just doing my job," disapproved the soldier, bothered he gestured the traveling musician to go on through. He joined his team inside the bazaar once he was out of sight of the man at the military roadblock.
The attractive tricenarian woman carried a deep secret within her. She was elegant and mysterious. She'd walk in a room to find eyes that'd never look at another woman staring straight at her. Eyes followed where she walked.
She casually sat on her mount and complained, "I didn't come all this way to have an ignorant man tell me that my name isn't feminine. The tedious process of changing one's name is far worse than getting a new identity from the Mother of Faces."
Gan studied the map further attempting to memorize the entire city's districts, "The noble estate is southwest of us, the governor's siheyuan is far to the west near the wall," said Gan.
He faced the bard, "Lin Xi, you've been here, correct?" he wondered.
"Er...well no, I've only been to Fengtai, the city we've conquered in the north before coming here," answered the bard.
"This might be slightly more difficult than I thought," noted Gan.
"Luckily, I have a connection here; his name is Fan Jiandie, he goes by 'Jian' for short. He hangs out in the University District. Apparently, the triad he's in now has a compound there. Nu Xing, this is your specialty. Jian is a former Yanzhao agent; I had him keep tabs on the Governor's steward. He's agreed to meet a fountain in front of a printing business. Jian should know about the whereabouts of our first target," explained Gan.
"Once you find the steward, extract the necessary information off of him, find out the Governor's family's names, where his bunker is, and the Governor's schedule. I'm hoping by pure chance that Lin Xin and I catch the Governor at home," finished Gan.
She bowed to the champion of the Meng, "I will not fail you, edzen."
She spanked the hind of her ostrich horse, and they galloped off toward the southeast, she didn't need a map as resourceful as she was. She was intelligent to follow directions and read signs that led directly to where she needed to be.
Gan faced t. Heexplosives expert Mo Fu," Take Pi Dao Suo with you; He can unlock any door, safe, or gate. Here's the map. I've marked the area that you can hit for explosives.
After you've gathered the materials, meet here this is the Governor's estate's service entrance. I'll make sure to let you in that way; we can go on from there."
"And if unnecessary eyes bear down on a soldier and a monk carrying a cart of explosives?" worried Mo Fu.
"Those fake papers you're carrying also provide the seal of approval of a Yanzhao officer. State your orders and present a guard, soldier, or an agent with that seal and they'll leave you alone," explained Gan.
"What of the thief? A monk seems unlikely to associate themselves with a soldier," asked Mo Fu.
"He can hide within the carriage, if you're worried about it, fabricate a story if you need to; perhaps he's your assistant," suggested Gan.
They both saluted him, "We'll meet you soon, best of luck to you and Lin Xi, Ezen," said Pi Dao Suo as he excused himself.
"I suppose that leaves us two; what will you have me do?" blurted out the weapon master.
"You'll be an entertainer I hired to play for the Governor. I have a meeting with him for an assignment straight from the Earth King himself," divulged Gan.
"He's invited me for tea at his estate," added Gan.
"Hmm, my job seems more laid back than I thought," commented Lin Xi.
The elusive assassin finally reached the printing business after about an hour of riding through the city. In front of the establishment was a water fountain where Gan believed the former agent agreed to meet. She waited for someone, although she had no idea of their appearance. Out of the shadows appeared a man, his skin was pale, his stature short, dark green eyes and light brown hair. He was wiry and wore a lovely black tunic with black pantaloons with an embroidery of a spider snake around the waist. A scar marked his left cheek, a tuft of facial hair under his lower lip while a stubble filled the bottom half of his face.'
"You must be Jian," she guessed.
"Who's asking?" he questioned the stranger.
"Edzen Gan, he told me you have information on the target's steward," she answered.
The former agent stared at her for a moment, "Your accent tells me you're not from here. Oma Kingsmen just like him, I reckon?"
"Fire Nationalist, actually," she corrected him.
Jian smiled, "Ahh, I never would've guessed. Your target is Lao Piao; he frequents a spot in the Noble District known as the House of Ravishing Flowers. It's a brothel that only the rich and powerful go-to for services."
Jian walked back into the shadows; as spies and assassins, Nu Xing knew well that saying less when giving information was better than asking questions. She snapped the reigns on her beast and headed east.
Two Hours Later; Somewhere in the War District, Guandi City
Mo Fu and Pi Dao found themselves at a warehouse; two men guarded the entrance. The warehouse was surrounded by a wall and guards near its gates. Both men walked up to them, and one of the guardsmen barked, "Halt! Who goes there?"
Mo Fu handed the man his papers, the guard saw the seal of a Yanzhao officer, then he peeped up to eye the monk alongside the soldier. He questioned the thief, "You, who are you?"
"Yanzhao officers always assign scribes to their servicemen; the scribes keep a record of what we do daily," lied Mo Fu.
"I didn't ask you, I asked him," said the guardsman.
"He's deaf; he can't hear you," added Mo Fu.
"Ahh, he's one of those, very well then. You may proceed," nodded the guardsman. They both pulled onto the reigns of their ostrich horses and led them into the storage house. The guardsmen shoved the gates open and permitted the men inside. Once inside, Mo Fu secured a carriage, "By order of the Yanzhao, I need you to prepare this carriage for my assistant and me," he commanded to one of the workers.
"Yes, milord," bowed the worker.
"I'd like it near the entrance of the warehouse. It'd make it easier to carry things from the building and into the cart," Mo Fu requested.
Pi Dao Suo treaded behind the heels of Mo Fu, both of them hurried into the warehouse. A worker that exited the warehouse kept the door open for them. Inside was more extensive than they expected; an inventory clerk worked behind a desk. His job was to markdown and write off everything that entered or left the warehouse.
"That guy is going to be a thorn on our sides," muttered Pi Dao.
"We're here to collect the baopo xiang, upon orders from Agent Si Ling," said Mo Fu.
"You'll have to wait until our inventory manager, Jingli, returns," responded the inventory associate.
"This cannot wait; we're on strict orders from the Yanzhao," pressed the soldier.
The associate gasped and trembled in fear, "The Yanzhao?! Why didn't you say so?" he was frightened at the mere mention of the Eyes of the King. Perhaps he's had a history with them before.
"Right this way," he whispered; he got off his chair and led them toward the chamber that stored the blasting crates. They padded through halls and passed an endless amount of rooms to reach a walled iron chamber. A padlock kept it locked up tight; the thief and the mercenary exchanged looks, and then their eyes stared over at the associate whose back was turned to them. The mercenary slightly nodded, and the thief grabbed his blackjack and slammed it on the worker's nape.
The hit knocked the man unconscious; Mo Fu tore a strap from the man's uniform to tie his hands together. Then another to gag their victim while Pi Dao inspected the lock, he reached into his pocket and grabbed two rocks that he loosened into sand. Pi Dao used them to feel the pin tumblers inside to understand the way they are. He removed the sand and formed it into a unique solid key that could open the lock. The padlock clicked and hit the ground with a thud; he used earthbending to unlock it.
The mercenary commented, "Wow, Gan was right. You do carry a master key."
Mo Fu was impressed with the skills of the thief; he believed there was no other. They pushed the iron door open together, inside sat containers of blasting crates. Mo Fu carried two containers while the thief took one. Each box held a total of three blasting crates inside. When they jogged by the desk, the inventory manager was still nowhere to be found. The thief, quicker than his partner, returned faster to grab another before he used earthbending to force the door shut. Placing the lock back onto it as if nothing happened.
He dashed to the exit once more with the fourth crate in hand, they stuffed them inside. Pi Dao called out the mercenary, "Wait."
"I want their list; they'll never know who was here," he said as he entered the building for the last time.
He snatched the list off of the desk and darted back out, and then boarded the carriage. Mo Fu grasped the reins and snapped the hind of the ostrich horses they used to arrive at the storehouse. The gates opened again, allowing them to exit. With the map in Mo Fu's pocket, they now headed for the Governor's estate.
Two Hours Later; Northern Noble Estates, Guandi, City
Nu Xing pulled on the reins of her mount she believed to have found the location Jian told her about. It wasn't a prominent structure, but it was two stories tall. On the front-side of the building, a black sign with the characters carved into the wood and painted in gold read, "花的房子" or "House of Ravishing Flowers."
She entered the cathouse; the front had a counter made of birch wood with an older woman behind it. A quill and inkpot were placed to her left, parchment, a pair of wooden dividers to flatten the parchment to her right. Her robes were a light pink color with floral embroideries, the material of her robes was nylon silk. She wore another set of clothing underneath her see-through over robes. Her hair was woven into a bumble fly hive, a hairstyle commonly worn by older noblewomen; she looked to be in her sixties.
She was surprised that a woman entered the establishment most often. Their customers were men. They didn't have male workers for the women who came in. Perhaps she sought this as an opportunity to call forth the Yanzhao. She greeted the curious woman that entered, but in her mind, she thought, "I should call the Yanzhao to rid of this daozhi filth from my presence."
"It is not often we get a female customer; what can I assist you with, Qinai de?" the older woman asked her customer. She squinted her eyes and gave a slight warm smile; the woman's makeup didn't break when her face wrinkled as she smiled.
"I'd like to seek employment here," the young woman answered.
"Oh...well, let me check you out in the room behind me, and we'll see if you're xiaojie material, Qinai de," said the old woman.
Nu Xing nodded and followed the older woman into the room that she pointed behind her. The tricenarian woman removed her robes; once they dropped to her ankles, the older woman was captivated by her beauty. She grabbed her spectacles because she thought she wasn't seeing correctly and thought her eyesight was tricking her. The old woman complimented her, "By Yue Lao's beard! Your body was crafted to perfection by Yun herself! A body like this isn't usually carried by a woman of your age. The younger ones tend to have bodies sculpted this well. We usually obtain them the year they become of age."
"Does this mean I pass?" she questioned the old lady.
"That means you can begin today," she laughed.
A bell rang in the background as the door creaked open, as Nu Xing dressed. The procurer leaned out of the room to see who walked in. A short older gentleman with tan skin, a bald crown, and long white hair that grew past his shoulders stood by the counter. His beard was short and groomed. It didn't extend past half an inch at best. His green eyes reflected in the candlelight; although he was clean, he was quite hideous and fat. But of course, the belly was hard to avoid at such an old age; his robes were of a seafoam green color. It had embroideries of sea kelp that ran from the coat down to the lower half of it, ending near his knees. The embroideries were dyed a sage green color, the sash wrapped around his waist was dark green.
"Good afternoon, Zhe Caigou; it is always a pleasure to see you!" smiled the sexagenarian gentleman.
The old man was also in his sixties; most of the riches he obtained were because he was Governor Luyou Bei's steward. The procurer chuckled, "Lao Piao, you are too good to me; you are our valued customer after all!" She gave the man a toothy smile.
"I'd like to buy an hour with my beloved Nu Ying as always," grinned the perverted old man.
"I apologize for the issue, but Nu Ying is very ill today. However, we have a new worker. This is..." she apologized to the old man, then she introduced him to the newest prostitute. She paused because she never learned the woman's name.
The Madam elbowed Nu Xing, "Oh, I'm Nu Xing, milord."
He creepily gazed at her and then rubbed her soft hand in between his bony, wrinkly, and liver-spotted hands. He slid his left hand into her robe sleeve while he seemed entranced with the newest worker. His invasive cold hand brought chills to Nu Xing's skin; she felt a sense of unease when the nobleman invaded her personal space.
Caigou interrupted him, "Lao drop the coin purse on the counter and take the girl for a spin!"
He snapped out of whatever state he was in and felt embarrassed, "Right, yes...of course!"
He unlatched a coin purse from his sash and dropped it on the counter. Coins spilled out, and onto the counter, the sack was filled to the brim with a silver coin. He led the new girl to a room on the second floor, which was his favorite. The room was more significant than others; he personally called it 'his dungeon,' there were all sorts of tools for the workers.
However, Lao Piao received special treatment here, giving him the authority to use those tools on the workers. He enjoyed beating the poor girl he paid for daily for his sick sense of pleasure. She was worn out by the elderly bastard that sometimes she got ill after an intense session with him. The elderly steward chortled as he locked the door behind them.
Lao Piao praised himself and introduced the woman to the dungeon, "This is where I bring Nu Ying to; she's half your age. When you have money and power, they let you do anything in this place!"
Bian Nu Xing stood in the center of the room and stayed quiet. She felt disgusted and screamed inside herself, "By the gods, what does this disgusting monster do to that poor girl? Let alone in here unsupervised?"
The steward crept up behind Nu Xing and wrapped his arms around her; he caressed her and then removed the sash of her robes. She gasped and turned to face the vile old man.
"It's okay, baobao, I know you're new. I'll be gentle," promised Lao Piao.
He approached a small crate with tools inside; there was a crusty and old jiba ring, made of elastic goat dog eyelid, an iron yinjing cast for some play, and some other unknown things Nu Xing saw but had no idea what their uses were. He grabbed a tool made of jade, when he turned around, Nu Xing clenched at the old pervert's throat and thrust him against the wall.
"Ahh, a rough...woman...I like you...already!" breathed the old man, with what short bursts of air he was able to muster while she held his throat.
"I am your work...of erotic art, do...as you please," he panted.
"Tell me what I need to know about Governor Luyou," she pressed.
"What...would you like...t-to know?" he gasped for air; Nu Xing loosened her grip on his throat so that he may speak.
"Where he sleeps, who his family is, the presence of the guard in and around the siheyuan, where is his bunker?" she interrogated him. A series of questions escaped her mouth.
"He sleeps in the west wing of the estate; the guard presence around the exterior of the estate and interior are heavy. You won't stand a chance," he grinned wickedly.
While he spoke to her and gazed into her eyes, he reached for the iron cast of the yinjing. He struck the unsuspecting woman upside the head with it. But unsuccessfully, he failed to knock her out; he definitely surprised her. She dropped him, the steward scurried for the door and shouted for help but then quieted down when he remembered that the walls were soundproof.
This was the room where he viciously molested a barely legal harlot. He scrambled to open the lock, his head slammed against the door. One of the other call girls escorted another customer down that hall. The middle-aged man saw the door tremble, his smile curled from ear-to-ear. He beamed, "I want to have whatever he's having!"
Unaware of what happened inside, she pivoted the old man around and punched him in the face. Lao Piao spat out a loose tooth, the woman repeated, "Who are his family members?!"
She kicked the old pervert in the face, he collapsed to the ground blacked out. She dragged his body to a table in the darkest corner of the dungeon. Strapping him to the table, when she joined her in consciousness, he felt the temperature in the room changed. It felt a bit warmer than before; he also felt a tightness around his wrists and ankles. His head moved to see that he had been strapped to the table. She hid a brand from him while she worked on heating it with two fingers.
The brand was secured to a probe, and it read "变态" or which meant 'pervert.' The stamp glowed red; she extinguished the flame at the end of her fingertips.
"Who are his family members?! I'm not going to ask three times!" she shouted.
She presented the brand to the old man, "You're a firebender?! What are...you going to do with th-that?!" he implored.
"Wrong answer, Da Mo Tou!" she yelled; she compressed the hot brand onto the flesh of the client. His screams of agony echoed inside the room but went unheard from the outside. She screamed in his face, "Who are they?!"
"Their...their names... there's three...his wife, and his...fraternal twin daughters! Luyou Caihong, Luyou Chan-juan, and Luyou Chao-xing!" he cried out.
Tears welled in the elder's eyes, "Where are they?" she inquired further as she slowly pulled the brand off his forehead.
The hanzi characters were left imprinted on his forehead forever, scarring and marking him as a predator for however long he lived. People needed to know who he was, and the warning on his forehead would allow others to know this.
"Luyou Caihong is always at home, while the girls right now are in the academy where they go daily. They'll be there all day until late afternoon!" he responded.
"Where is the bunker?" she bugged him.
"I-I don't know!" he denied.
She knew the old pervert had lied to her; he was the damn steward of the Governor. She barked in his face, "What do you mean you don't know? You're part of the chain of command for the Governor, for crying out loud!"
"No, really! I don't know! Only the Governor, the Captain of the estate guard, and his family members know!" he added. He reckoned this would save his hide.
"Mr. Piao, I know you're lying!" she roared; she punched him in the nose.
He felt the sensation of a running nose, but there was no sign of blood. He coughed out the information, "When the city's under assault, the Luyou family are rushed to the park. There's a special bunker hidden under the pond only accessed with earthbending!"
"Thank you, Mr. Piao!" exclaimed Nu Xing; she turned to leave but reminded herself of something, "Hey! Aren't you going to unstrap me?" he called out to her.
She grinned wickedly at him, his body filled with a sense of dread, "I almost forgot to thank you for reminding me! This is Nu Ying's revenge!" she cackled.
She minced over to the table a dagger gripped in her hand; she tore off the trousers that were underneath the dress of his robes. Revealing that he didn't wear any underwear, and his nether regions were exposed. She cackled, "You don't get the choice of having to be loaded with medicine for this. As you said, when you have money and power, they let you do anything here!"
She severed his family jewels from his body, he urinated a mix of blood and urine on himself and all over his clothing. He fell into deep shock; she cut the binds off and left the door open as she headed out. The procurer was still at the front counter when Nu Xing reached the bottom floor. The old woman looked up from the list and said nothing when Nu Xing passed by and mentioned, "I'm going out for lunch, exciting our valued customer has exhausted me. I'll return in an hour."
She mounted her ostrich horse after leaving the business and headed to the west to meet with Gan and the others. Meanwhile, Lin Xi and Gan waited for Mo Fu and Pi Dao to arrive. The carriage eventually came by, Lin Xi assisted Mo Fu and Pi Dao with all the explosives, the minstrel handed the bomb expert a map of the estate. He said, "Here, I took this from a guard when he wasn't paying attention. You should examine this and identify the weak points within the main home."
Gan mentioned to them, "We'll be meeting the steward and the Governor in about half an hour. We will be exiting through here. Lin Xi will personally come for you. That'll be our signal to leave after you ignite the explosives."
Gan and Lin Xi entered the main home and was discovered by a guard, "Milord, the governor, is waiting for you; we were ordered to escort you to his living room," briefed the guard.
"Thank you," thanked Gan, while the bard bowed before the guardsman.
Gan and Lin Xi entered the room where a short, plump quinquagenarian sat in lotus form on his ta. His robes were white-dyed spider snake silk, the lining was golden with gold embroideries shaped like a feifei or a white fox hare. An elusive and quick creature native to the mountainous forests of northern Zhoukou. The significance of the beast is of good omen; they're popularly known to bring bad omen. The other meaning of the animal was a rebirth, whatever that meant to his family.
He saw the men that entered and rose his arms in the air with joy, "You're here, Agent Si Ling!" cheered the Governor.
"Who's your friend?" he questioned the agent.
"This is a hireling that was hired for our entertainment. A bard, I figured he could play music while we enjoyed our tea and discussed important matters," responded Gan.
"Certainly, do you know the song called, 'The Feifei of Guandi'? It's a favorite of mine," the Governor asked the bard.
Luckily, like a traveling minstrel between both kingdoms he did, he bowed to the Governor and tuned his pipa before he began to play. Gan started to, "I'm here on behalf of Earth King Shuicheng and Minister Nao Yanxian."
"Ahh yes, I believe the meeting was going to be about the discussion of an operation that will be going on here?" guessed Governor Bei.
"Aye, we are planning an operation on a veneration of daozhi here rumored to be hidden somewhere in the Guandi mountains," summarized Gan.
Lin Xi began to strum the first few strings of his pipa and released the song's intro sequence. This placed a smile on the Governor's face; simultaneously, Mo Fu and Pi Dao reached the marked areas chosen by the explosives expert. Mo Fu inquired, "How many crates do we have again?"
"We have sixteen crates," noted the thief.
He pointed and said, "Here's the first imperfection."
The explosives expert got to work using his earthbending to hide the explosives' thread in a small tunnel. Only a line could fit freely without issue. The thief returned a compliment, "That's impressive."
"Thank you, I use this method to hide the cord of the incendiary devices," revealed Mo Fu.
"Anyway, where's the next one?" requested the mercenary.
"Not far," answered the thief.
Meanwhile, Avani panted, her brown locks of hair stuck to the sides of her sweaty temples as she maintained herself during a sparring match against her opponent. Her partner earlier was her opponent, and she struggled to get an advantage on him. She was eager to beat her partner in the sparring match. Something that Shuaige failed to mention was that Taobing was a former Lei Tai champion. Without bending, she lacked in fighting; she refused to concede to the thought of losing to a non-bender.
Avani charged at the former champion, she struck him in the jaw, but it had no effect. She failed to knock him down. Taobing absorbed the hit, but to him, it felt like a bumble fly sting, "Is that all you've got, girl?" he taunted her.
He stood boastful and tall, Taobing permitted her to have a breather. He grinned because he knew the young woman had the spirit of a great fighter. While Avani panted for breath knelt beside a rock, her past life Hansuke popped into existence and chimed in, "Psst!"
She gasped, frightened at the sight of Hansuke, "Let me help you, discreetly lodge a rock out of the ground to trip your opponent. Then hit him in the face as he's falling down," suggested the past Avatar.
"Besides, if you lose to a non-bender, at least I won't be the worst Avatar anymore," joked Hansuke.
She mustered her final strength and used it to push herself to her feet. She waited for the right moment when Taobing came forward she slid her foot as quick as she could. A small rock emerged out of the ground, the unsuspecting fighter failed to spot the stone, tripping over it and falling. As he dropped to the ground, Avani slammed her fist against his face with all her might. Knocking Taobing out on unconscious before he hit the ground.
Baoshou waved down a white flag after he examined the former Lei Tai champion. He announced, "Avani wins by a knockout!"
"Woo!" she cheered as she leaped with joy, Zuqiu and Fangzhu rooted for her. Airen watched near impressed and slowly clapped for the Avatar's victory. Some of the other men, however, were dissatisfied, and few lost their bets. Shuaige, though, was angrier than those who lost their chances; he was red and furious. He approached the victor and yelled at her, "What do you think you're doing?!"
He clenched her arm and questioned her angrily, "How dare you to cheat?!"
She turned to face him offended and argued, "Cheat?! How did I cheat? You saw me beat him into the ground fair and square!"
"No, I saw what you did! You slid your foot, and a small rock came out of the earth. You used it your advantage so that you could beat him because you can't defeat him without bending!" contended Shuaige.
"What?! Y-you're just saying that because I'm a woman, and you're mad that the fighter you betted on to win lost!" she screamed.
"I don't play favorites, just like the others, you too will face punishment! And I'll be sending a report to our King. He will know what you did today!" threatened Shuaige.
Baoshou, too, expressed his anger; he gave Avani the evil eye and shook his head in disappointment. Airen bore his gaze upon her; he stared at her for a brief moment, then he turned away and left. Fangzhu and Zuqiu frowned at the Avatar and followed behind the nobleman. Shuaige wasn't going to let her off the hook, and he usually would've punished her publicly.
But he didn't want others' staring and unwanted attention from the men while doing so. Her first offense of cheating resulted in a light discipline; this was her first time breaking the rules. As Earth King Shuicheng and the White Lotus kept her in check. How could an obedient young girl grow up to be such a rebellious young woman?
"Baoshou escorted her to the Ring of Punishment, I'll prepare the bo staff," ordered Shuaige.
Er Baoshou nodded to his orders without a second thought and padded toward the girl. She ripped her hand from his, "I'm not a child I can follow without you holding my hand," she sassed.
They were both quiet until they reached the field that he escorted her to; she asked him, "You're okay with this?"
"If I was in his position, I would've done it differently, but you have to understand you broke his rules. Shuaige only seeks to please our Tianzi; you've disrespected him, me, and those soldiers. Did you not see the face of those men when Captain Qishi called you out for cheating?" opinionated he then questioned Baoshou.
Avani lowered her head in shame, "Yes."
"Avatar or not, you have to go through the punishment. Not much I can do to save you, sorry," finished Baoshou.
They stopped in the center where Shuaige awaited with a staff in his hands; she led to a platform with three walls. The walls were tall enough to hide her entire body. Shuaige commanded her, "Disrobe."
"What?" she asked him, confused.
"I said disrobe," he repeated.
"You've spent half of your life mastering the elements around the world. Did you not learn discipline during that time?" Shuaige inquired.
Avani removed her robes; Shuaige gripped the bo staff tight in his hands. He ignored what physiological responses he might've had. She answered, "I didn't travel the world to master the elements; I trained in the Palace Ring, with my bending masters."
She faced away from the Captain; she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Shuaige felt he wasn't ready for this. But he couldn't take a step back now he gritted his teeth and flinched when he went for the first swing against her body. Avani attempted to reach a calm state during the punishment, but the first strike was an agonizing pain. Her sentence was sixty strikes with a bo staff. She shut her eyes tight and clenched her jaw as the second strike slammed against her upper back.
Shuaige felt terrible when he saw that the areas where he struck her were red. Strike after strike echoed throughout the camp, Avani screamed. Another strike and tears rolled down her face, that night Zuqiu cried himself to sleep as he overheard the shrieks of the Avatar. Airen sat in his tent along with others staring into nothingness as the Avatar was being caned. Fangzhu flinched after every strike that echoed; he sat across from Airen as he tried to drown out her screams with meditation.
Meanwhile, Lin Xi Chao ended a second song while Gan and Governor Luyou Bei enjoyed themselves a teacup. Governor Bei seemed concerned when he mentioned, "Hmm, that's odd; my steward is usually back by now. In the mid-afternoon, he fancies himself a session at the House of Ravishing Flowers. But he hasn't returned."
A retainer of his entered the living room bowing before the government official, "Governor Luyou, apologies for interrupting your meeting, but we regret to inform you that Steward Laobiao is severely wounded; he's currently in the estate infirmary," briefed the guardsman.
Gan sighed within, "I specifically told her not to do anything rash but get the information we need!"
Lin Xi pondered, "What did Bian Nu Xing do? Ooh, Gan isn't happy!"
Lin Xi cringed but tried his best not to break character. The guardsman whispered something into the Governor's ear, "Sir, there is another thing you should know."
He paused then resumed, "Laopiao was founded with a brand on his forehead with the word 'pervert,' he's losing blood from his nether regions because he was castrated!"
"What?!" shouted Governor Bei in disbelief.
"What did he say? What did he do?" bugged the Governor.
"He won't say, we believe the humiliation is enough; Madam Zhe Caigou was horrified when she discovered him in this state. She said it had to be her newest employee," he reported.
"Damn, it was her!" Gan thought to himself.
"I want this mystery woman found! She will pay for what she did to my steward!" hissed Luyou.
Fen Mo Fu waited for the Governor and the guard to leave before he entered the living room. Then he said, "Sir, we're ready to leave."
"You came in time; he's in the infirmary," commented Gan.
Lin Xi slung the pipa onto his back, then Mo Fu led both he and Gan out of the main house through the kitchens and out of the service tunnel. Nu Xing bided her time outside when Mo Fu gave the signal she shot a small ember at the explosives cord made by Mo Fu. Lin Xi, Nu Xing, and Pi Dao jumped into the carriage while Mo Fu and Gan climbed onto the coachbox.
At the same time, Governor Luyou arrived at the infirmary, on a bed rested the injured Laopiao. He was beaten and bruised, smelled of urine, and was marked with the word 'pervert' on his forehead. To top it all off, when Luyou peeked at the wound, he saw that the old man no longer had possession of his family jewels. He implored his steward, "Wha-what happened?!"
The old man shook his head and hesitated to answer; one of the other estate guards brought up, "We have the Madam here in the main house. She may be able to provide more information about what went down."
"Why do you refuse to say, I order you to tell me what happened!" he commanded the man.
"I was castrated by a w-witch! A firebending witch! Sh-she wanted information on you, your family, and the b-bunker!" cried out Laopiao.
"Oh n-" whispered Governor Luyou; he was interrupted by the explosion that killed him and everyone inside the main house. Leaving his two fraternal twin daughters orphans. When the five passed the House of Ravishing Flowers on their way out of the city, a big boom shook their carriage and echoed across the Noble Estates district.
The thunderous roar behind them rocked the nearby structures causing destruction in its wake. The watchtowers inside the Noble District went insane, and they began to beat a drum sequence, the local nobility went haywire. Some ran toward the Governor's estate while others searched for survivors. This alerted the other districts within the city; citizens within different sections heard the alarm for terrorism. Some of them reacted terribly, while most of them ran for their lives. A few ran toward the noble district.
Meanwhile, overlooking the cliff, General Yun watched the skies as the sunset, "Well, time's up!"
A scout on ostrich horseback darted up the mountain pass and toward the path, "The city is in disarray! Gan and the others surely caused the explosion!"
"Then it is done! Men, you know your orders, take this city for the Kuiwu Dynasty!" roared the officer.
The war drummers mounted their badgermoles and banged their drums, many on ostrich horses and on foot rushed to the valley's bottom. Simultaneously, some men searched through the wreckage, earthbenders tossed debris away from potential victims found underneath. The remaining members of the Luyou family were found on the way home after they heard the blast and taken to the family bunker.
Something like this hasn't happened in a long time, a governor and their steward killed through means of terrorism. Indeed, they blamed the Oma Kingdom assassins likely sent by their savage Earth King of the South. Both fraternal twins were three years too young to take up their father's seat of power. The chain of command minus the military were killed in the explosion.
However, others chanted the name of late Governor Bei's successor, another noble of high reputable status. Back at the walls, one of the watchtowers surveyed the area in front of them. It was a bit dark to really spot anything, but one of them spotted something brown in the distance, although he wasn't sure what he saw.
His partner asked, "Lee, what do you see?"
"I-I don't know, but something is coming, a mudslide from the mountains?" guessed Lee.
"Wait..." the other squinted his eyes as he leaned in to see better. All of a sudden, a rock shattered his skull, blood-spattered on his partner's body.
Lee screamed in horror and fainted; another watchtower was dumbfounded too until another shouted to his partner, "Invaders! Invaders!"
His partner grabbed the drumsticks and banged the drums to alert the city. The first guard lit the bonfire, which alarmed the towers on the wall minus one. The buildings in the northern Bazaar, Commoner's District, and Agricultural Lands also lit their fires. Bonfires simultaneously began alight as their tower co-workers banged the drums. Men who hurried toward the walls of the city saw the fires on the left tower, "Damn! They saw us!"
Inside the carriage, the three hidden inside heard the drums ringing, "They're here!" called out Pi Dao.
Lin Xi nudged Nu Xing, "What you did to that steward might have cost us this. Gan isn't happy."
"Mo Fu did the job! The Governor and his chain of command are dead!" argued the noblewoman.
"You broke the orders and allowed your emotions to get the best of you, Nu Xing," countered Lin Xi.
"What did you do?" wondered the thief.
"I branded the sick pervert with what he did on his forehead and castrated the gouzaizi! He regularly visited the brothel to molest a child!" she revealed, found herself to get choked up on the last sentence.
"It was her revenge, so yes, I let my emotions get in the way of the mission," admitted Nu Xing.
"In that case, I retract my words," apologized the minstrel.
"How are we going to get away without being caught in the crossfire?!" shouted Mo Fen from the outside.
"Hold on! We'll stay hidden somewhere until we see our armies ravage the walls, then we join them," responded Gan.
The walls trembled, and Pi Dao flinched when he heard the sound; Lin Xi giggled, "You've never been in a war before?!"
The thief shook his head, "Gan paid for my fines, back in Tuyu province.
They were going to cane me one-hundred times, I was set up by my client."
"So yes, this is my first time dealing with war," added Pi Dao.
"Were you not present when the Oma Kingdom took Xiawu?" inquired Lin Xi.
"No, I'm not even from Tuyu, I was born in Houxi province. I was kicked out by my father after I was caught stealing; that was my first offense in the Haijun Kingdom," replied Pi Dao.
"So, you're a Haijun Kingsman," guessed Lin Xi.
"Aye," nodded the thief.
The gates busted open, a trebuchet broke the gates, thirty-thousand-and-five-hundred invaders flooded the front gates to the city. The Provincial Guard already set up barricades in the Commoner's District and the bazaar's southern portion. The Naval Command deployed men as reinforcements; the militia was positioned in the Agricultural Lands, passing the time until the intruding army showed up.
A scout on a flying mount went on above the bazaar, he saw the torches from the several thousands of soldiers below. It looked like lava overtook the opening of the capital and returned to the War District.
When he stopped, he informed his commanding officer, "Sir, there's too many of them. A small portion of them is currently outside the walls. And they've destroyed most of the watchtowers on the wall and in the northern bazaar."
"What are we going to do?" he questioned the man.
The officer sighed, "Tell the watchtowers to alert the city for surrender."
"What? Sir, you're ordering me to tell the men to stand down and surrender," the scout was shocked and scared.
"Do what you are told, soldier! Lives are at stake! We don't have a governing body at the moment, and you've said it yourself there are too many of them!" the officer barked at him. The scout lowered his head then slightly nodded to his superior.
He ran to the nearest tower and gave them signs; both men read, "We're surrendering."
"Surrender?!" they repeated.
The drummer beat the drums, alerting the others within fifteen minutes the remaining towers in the city warned the servicemen and citizens to surrender. The soldiers dropped their weapons and fell to their knees. Mo Fu wondered, "What does that mean?"
"I've heard it before, the city's surrendering without their Governor they don't have a chain of command. Plus, we came in huge numbers; they knew better," Gan answered.
The army stopped in its tracks; echoes of victory filled the bazaar and the eastern part of the Commoner's District. The scout returned to his superior, "What do we do now?"
"The daughters of the Governor are protected underground, but we'll send in the ambassador to speak to their superiors. We'll have to coexist until reinforcements come to save us," explained the officer.