Today I will give a shout out to the people in Germany reading this. Guten Tag!

Chapter 24 Wei's Opening Moves

"My Lord, being of a generous and patient nature will give you a chance to apologize for your insolence and answer exactly who you are and from where you hail," the nasal, condescending voice of the retainer explained. He was not in armor, instead wearing a flowing blue hitatare with a golden flower (Wei assumed it was the family crest of his lord's household) and the monk to his left wore kimono like brown robes with white underneath and a straw hat which kept his face inscrutable. Across his lap a prayer staff lay with golden rings.

The monk knew something was wrong; Wei could feel his spiritual probes trying to unsuccessfully caress him, as Wei turned his gentle but persistent inquiries aside. You will know soon enough all that I am, just be patient a short while longer.

Behind the retainer and the monk sat the lord and on each flank half a dozen fully armed and armored samurai sat astride steeds. To the peasants of the day they probably would have presented an imposing sight. To Wei they were toys of flesh to twist and to break.

"Well I thank your lord for his charitable nature then," Wei said sneeringly. "I will tell you all that you wish to know, though it will be much to your sorrow and regret. My name is Wei Cheng and I come from the mainland. More specifically I come from Nanking to collect a debt your people owe mine." Wei grated out and allowed the monk's probes to examine him, provoking a sharp intake of breath and shudder of terror from him.

"I AM THE SCOURGE OF CHINA COME TO HOLD JAPAN TO ACCOUNT FOR ITS CRIMES AGAINST US." Wei shouted, as the atmosphere around him and the lord's entourage crackled with the strength of his hate and grew heavy and darkened as his power flooded out from him. "I AM CHINA'S VENGEANCE! I AM JAPAN'S DEATH!"

"HE IS COMPLETELY MAD MY LORD," the retainer cried over the terrified whinnying of his horse which was trying frantically to back away from Wei.

"THAT MAN IS NOT ALIVE MY LORD," the monk added over the din of stamping hooves and equine squeals "HE IS A SPECTER AND I WILL DEAL WITH HIM."

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA JUST HOW WRONG YOU ARE MONK!" Wei thundered "LET ME SHOW YOU THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OUR RESPECTIVE POWERS!"

Wei tightened his control over his spiritual presence, converting it from an omni directional flood to something more like a funnel with the monk caught in its mouth. Wei force-fed his power into the monk, and in a moment blood began to pour from the monks eyes, nose, and ears.

"YOU CANNOT IMAGINE JUST HOW MUCH WE HATE YOU!" Wei declared, as he continued to cram his power into the monk. A loud, wet, ripping sound ensued and the monk exploded and showered gore over the retainer, his lord and the accompanying samurai.

Wei smiled hideously and wiped away a flap of skin that had landed on his face. "Who's next?"

The next hour and a half passed much too quickly for Wei's taste, but he knew it was a truism that time flew when one has enjoying themselves.

And enjoy himself he did.

To their credit the samurai and their lord were amazingly strong willed and kept their tongues still as he twisted their bodies into grotesque shapes, charred their flesh and showed them their intestines as he slit them open. While they gritted their teeth, strangled cries did occasionally escape them, though none begged for mercy or did more than offer their defiance.

The retainer he bound and forced to watch as he went about torturing, mutilating and eventually murdering the samurai.

When at last he finished the last of them off, Wei turned to the retainer, his hands dark with blood and dripping black drops of it onto the road and grass.

"Now it's finally your turn." Wei beamed at him, speaking with a voice that was soft with ecstasy.

"What do you want from us?" the retainer stuttered "If you are truly dead then this world is not for you."

Wei, with a startling level of tenderness, placed his fingers on the man's temples, savoring the acrid smell of fear.

"Shhhhhh," Wei responded; his dark pitiless eyes bored into the retainer's. "I need to know where your lord was heading. My goals require some place defensible and I am willing to bet your lord was on his way to a fortress; his, most likely. Am I right?"

As Wei asked this he gently probed the man's mind. He was not actually telepathic, but the tortures he had forced the retainer to watch and his own fear of imminent death made his mental state ragged and easier to pick answers from.

The texture of the retainer's thoughts changed and Wei picked up the sense of going east. "I will never tell you. You may torture me for the next 10,000 years but I will never tell you."

"Oh I'm afraid it's too late for that," Wei whispered, as he placed his right thumb over the corresponding eye of the retainer and pressed inwards.

A shuddering gasp came from the man as blood poured out of his ruined eye. His mental state became more agitated and less coherent.

Wei asked, "Is it near?"

The texture of the thoughts turned black with fear and Wei knew it was. He guessed from the strength of the fear that he could reach it while the sun was still high overhead. Wei's left thumb circled over the man's remaining eye, like a hawk circling prey from overhead. The pupil of the eye in question was dilated to the maximum, so that only the smallest green of his iris could be seen.

"One last question my good man," Wei twisted the right thumb slightly causing the retainer to bite back a scream. "I noticed that you were heading east. Is that where I can find the lord's residence?"

The retainer's fear was almost palpable now and thoughts of his wife and children came to the fore.

"Thank you." Wei whispered joyfully as he sank his left thumb into the man's pupil and popped his eye. A minute spray of clear liquid erupted from the organ and landed on his lips which Wei eagerly lapped up. "You can die now."

Wei plunged both his thumbs deep into the eye sockets of the retainer and ripped his skull apart, revealing the red pulpy mass of the brain. Wei tore it out completely and crushed it between the palms of his hands.

"Well that was rewarding," Wei said to no one in particular.