v5c56: The Truth Laid Bare Part 1

To Zang Zeng’s great surprise, he was not dead. It had not been something he was expecting.

The last thing he remembered was giving it his all to defy that… thing in his head using him like a lance at the man on the ground. He had asked the man to grant him an honourable death… yet it appeared that had been denied to him. For a moment, his gut clenched. Had he killed the expert and then been recaptured?!

He strained his senses, dull as they were. His meridians shook as he channeled the paltry amount of Qi he had, his reserves gone and his dantian barely functioned. His sense of touch and hearing were likewise dulled. Straining himself, he caughtindistinct noises, struggling to hear until they suddenly sharpened into something he could understand.

“He should be waking up. Remain beside him please, something familiar may prevent him from lashing out,” a female voice instructed.

“Yes, Lady Meiling,” Shenhe’s voice stated. Zang paused at the voice and the feeling of Qi nearby. Shenhe? Here? What the Hells was she doing here?

Zeng paused. Had she not been hunting demons in the north? When he had left, he thought it had been a worthless endeavour, something that would not bear fruit. Yet she was here…and her Qi was not at her maximum.

Had his messenger arrived? Had the Sect been warned? That could be the only true option—at least a part of his plan had succeeded.

Nearby there were several additional standout signatures. The closest were some manner of Spiritual Doctors—one was more powerful, and the other was likely their apprentice. Next was the one who had defeated him. Zeng had been skeptical initially that the one who had slain his son was a member of the Cloudy Sword Sect, but in that battle he had learned the truth—there was no other thing he could be, to defeat him without killing him. The man’s Qi was already full, it felt to him, some legendary technique allowing him to recover from the battle with apparent ease.

Yet somehow, he was not the most powerful expert in the room. Another, whose Qi was low yet had an unrelenting weight to their presence, was nearby. It straddled the line between Sky and Imperial—a sheathed blade.

As he concentrated, he could feel other signatures—his entire task force was revealed to him, as well as more signatures of the Shrouded Mountain Sect.

It was a great loss of face, for them to see him like this—how utterly shameful. Yet it also meant vengeance. The Cloudy Sword Sect was now here, and vengeance would wipe away this stain. The Demonic Cultivators would surely all be put to the sword, and that brought him some satisfaction.

“He is awake. I can feel his Qi patterns, he is probing,” an aged voice stated, and he felt the powerful expert’s intent settle on him. “But if he can move his body, that is another matter.”

Zang Zeng made to answer in the affirmative… but nothing happened. His body did not move, could not move. He grimaced internally at the damage the parasite had done to him. Again, he was shamed.

“What say you, granddaughter? Is there any aid to be rendered?” the older man asked.

“I don’t know…this is beyond me,” a female voice, the Spiritual Doctor, answered, before pausing. “Wait… if he can use his Qi and its lightning nature… Jin, didn’t you say our bodies’ muscles are all controlled by electricity?”

“Yes, electrical impulses through our nerves. If the damage is to where the connection from his brain to the rest of his body is, but he can still move his Qi, perhaps that is the answer? Use his own energy to puppet himself. Or at least bypass the damage,” the one who had defeated Zeng mused.

…that was not entirely news to a member of the Zang Clan. In fact, it was a secret of theirs that the body was controlled by lightning, something the First Patriarch had discovered. But… he had never thought of it like that. He flared his Qi twice, in what was a sign of acknowledgement amongst the outriders.

“He understands,” Shenhe answered for him, which was galling. He focused within himself, mapping out his own body with his Qi, and began.

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With his Qi as depleted as it was, it took Zeng an hour of meditation to fully figure out what to do—and he was only successful due to the powerful reagents the Spiritual Doctor was expending on him.

He ended up not needing to puppet his body around with his Qi—he simply needed to create a small “bridge” to the rest of his body. It would be woefully inadequate for combat, but it would suffice for now.

With a flex of his Qi, he opened his eyes. He was in a stone room. Shenhe was to his right, seated on her knees on the ground like a servant, which said all he needed to know about how he should approach the coming situation.

With as much dignity as he could, he rose so that he could look at the members of the Cloudy Sword Sect and show them what strength he had, little as it was.

“Zang Zeng greets the Experts of the Cloudy Sword Sect,” he stated, his voice raspy. The one who had defeated him was leaning against the wall, his arms covered in bandages, but otherwise looking no worse for wear.

“Good. You are up, and you didn’t take too long,” the eldest and most powerful of the cultivators in the room said. He was a man who drew the eye instantly—a pillar of absolute strength that could not be denied, even while he too had bandages beneath his robes. His eyes were steel-grey pits, weighing and judging him. Zeng swallowed thickly at the intent. Even obviously injured and diminished, he was still as strong as the Patriarch. “For your conduct in the battle against my grandson, and fighting against the Puppet Worm’s control, this Shen Yu shall praise you, Zang Zeng.”

Zeng felt cold dread creeping up his guts. Shen Yu, the one who had seduced his great aunt and had suppressed the previous Patriarch with a single blow? The Unconquered Blade?!

“Zang Zeng thanks the great expert for his praise,” he replied, his mind reeling. The whore had wanted them in conflict with this beast? She must have truly needed to destroy their Sect then, for whatever schemes they had.

“Now that everyone is assembled and awake, the truth shall be laid bare,” the titan of a cultivator stated. “We shall begin with you, Zang Zeng. Yours is the only tale we have left to hear. How exactly did you come to be captured by the Demonic Cultivators? The whole story… including why you were in the Azure Hills in the first place. Your men were quite forthcoming.”

Zang Zeng paled. Shen Yu’s frown was mighty. A word of praise in one breath, and the silent fact of his execution in the other should his tale prove not to be satisfactory. The story was not a flattering one. Having to admit to being… duped, especially in front of Shenhe, made him want to writhe in embarrassment and shame.

He briefly considered lying, to make himself look better… but the old monster before him was clearly too canny for that.

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He had cheated death once already, best not to tempt the Heavens twice. Zang Zeng swallowed his shame down.

“After the death of my son, and the letter we received from Lord Rou, I was… unconvinced of his ties to the Cloudy Sword Sect. It just seemed too convenient for such a thing to happen. My son, just when he started to get strong, was killed, and in a way to which I could not retaliate. It was an enormous loss of face for our Sect,” he began, only for Shenhe to glare at him. He knew her… issues, the soft-hearted fool. “But with the Patriarch in Closed Door Cultivation, matters were decided amongst the Elders… and the other Elders were convinced. The Inquisitors were deployed, and Shenhe took command of the disciples to head north. I remained in the Sect for a time, as I was under some suspicion, since it was my son who was taken. I was cleared by the Inquisitors within the month, but I was deeply dissatisfied with the decision, so I sought to relieve some of that stress by visiting a woman—there I met the whore.”

His entire body cracked with lightning at the mere memory of the bitch.

“Continue,” the old monster said, his intent shrouded.