Book 6: Chapter 25: Diplomacy
Sen tried to work up some anger, but all that he could come up with was an overwhelming sense of not caring. He shook his head.
Ive been working on being a fraction more diplomatic, said Sen, so please just say what you need to say and be done with it. I still have more work to do.
So, you dont mean to heed my words even after I speak them.
Of course not. Thats what being diplomatic is. I pretend to listen so you cant pretend offense. Then, I do what I was going to do anyway.
That isnt what being diplomatic means, said the stranger in a very unamused tone.
Isnt it? Well, I guess I could have thrown in something about lying a lot, but I havent gotten to that yet. Im still working on pretending to care. So, Ill listen to your story.
You arent taking this seriously.
I always take it seriously when assassins come calling, said Sen.
Im not an assassin.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com
Yeah, they never are. Its totally normal and nonthreatening to sneak up on someone in a wildly hostile environment.
The stranger gave Sen a narrow-eyed look. You were hiding your presence.
Sure, from spirit beasts and that enormous mass of evil roaming around out there, said Sen, waving in the general direction of the temple. You were hiding from me. There is a difference.
Youre trying to distract me.
No, Im trying to make this conversation so aggravating that you give up and leave. Believe it or not, this is actually an improvement over what I used to do.
The androgynous stranger seemed to weigh those words. What did you used to do?
Instant hostility. Threats of violence. Actual violence. You know, the usual.
You dont consider that lightning-infused sword hostile or a threat?
I havent stabbed you with it, have I? I even said Id pretend to listen.
I dont want you to pretend to listen. I want you to actually listen.
No. That isnt what you want. Thats never what anyone like you wants. At the end of all of this, you want me to do what you want. The problem is that I dont know you, which means I have no reason to trust you.
Sen started with what he expected would be the simplest way to expose the true fox. He blanketed the immediate area with his killing intent. Five of them froze in place while one off to Sens left cried out and stumbled back. Sen darted toward that one, bringing his jian around in a short, efficient slash. He had to give the fox credit. They got their jian up in time to deflect the blow. At least, thats what Sen thought would happen. Instead, his sword passed through the illusory fox. Sen let his momentum spin him around. He felt a hot pain across his shoulder but didnt let it distract him. As his spin brought him completely around, he thrust at where he knew the fox had to be. The fox looked shocked that Sen was counterattacking so fast, but it might have been residual pain from Sens killing intent. There was blood running from the corners of the foxs eyes.
The fox lurched to one side, avoiding a lethal strike in favor of a shallower cut on an arm. Both were off balance and took a few stumbling steps away from each other. The fox eyed Sen warily as it took on a more stable stance.
That was clever, said Sen. You used my expectations against me.
Thats me, said the fox. Clever. Doesnt seem to hold up well against that kind of speed. Body cultivator?
Sen shrugged. Oh, you know us cultivators. Were just full of tricks.
Sen launched an earth qi attack that had served him very well on more than one occasion. Slender spears of rock lanced upward where the fox was supposed to be standing. They passed straight through the illusion. Damn it, thought Sen. This is going to be more work than I thought. The illusion grinned at him.
You didnt think itd be that easy, did you?
A boy can dream, said Sen.
As that illusion vanished, Sen scanned the area around him. The other illusions were gone. All he saw was undisturbed forest around him. Playing a hunch, Sen cycled for water and sent a spray out in every direction, then leapt straight up to catch a limb overhead. For a split second, he saw a figure outlined in water. Switching to wind qi, he sent a small wind blade at that spot. There was a muted grunt of pain and a small splash of red, but even that splash of red disappeared before long. That gave Sen pause. It was one thing to hide yourself, but something else entirely to mask environmental features. Sen realized that the way he was managing the fight wasnt going to work. Everything was too static. He needed to keep the conditions shifting. Force the fox to continually adapt to new environments. Force flaws in the illusion. Most importantly, he needed to create a situation where he could put his hands on the fox.
Sen pulled himself up onto the limb and then started leaping from tree to tree, using his qinggong technique to effectively bounce from trunks and limbs. Moving targets were harder to hit if you didnt want to throw around big techniques. It was also an opportunity to put some distance between them and the horde. Mostly, though, he needed to find a better place to fight someone that used illusions. He needed somewhere with debris. To make matters worse, Sen couldnt take his time scouting for the right spot. True or not, he had to assume that the fox was at least as fast as he was moving through the forest. Assuming otherwise would be a great way to get himself killed. He followed a zigzagging path away from the ruins, his eyes and senses desperately searching for the right environment.
He almost missed it but launched himself in a clumsy dive at the last second. He crashed into the ground in a stand of evergreens. There were dead needles everywhere. He took one second to push himself to a standing position and then sent wind racing around the stand of trees. The wind picked up the dead needles and sent them spiraling up and around the trees and Sen. He was hoping the chaos would prove too complex for the fox to mimic immediately. It also helped that his qi was suffusing the area. It turned out that his lead was a little larger than hed thought. It was almost ten full seconds before he saw the disruption in the needles. They slapped up against something that was about the right size. Sen was moving immediately. It seemed that the fox was so distracted by the constant pelting and trying to enforce a fresh illusion, that they didnt realize that Sen was closing on them at breakneck speeds until the very last second.
Sen saw the foxs eyes go wide, and they tried to intercept him with their jian. It was too little, too late. Sen caught the foxs wrist and used his accumulated speed to carry the fox against a nearby tree. He slammed the foxs wrist against the tree over their heads and noted the jian fall away to the side in his peripheral vision. While the fox seemed stunned by the impact with the tree, they went for a dagger with their other hand. Sen caught that wrist and squeezed until the fox cried out and dropped the weapon. The other wrist joined the first over their heads. The foxs eyes danced with something. Fear. Excitement. Both. Sen wasnt sure. Their faces were mere inches apart.
Enough, said Sen.
Well now, said the fox. Isnt this sexy?
Without any warning, the fox leaned in and kissed Sen hard on the mouth. It was so far outside of Sens expectations that he jerked back from the fox. Hed almost instinctively loosened his grip on the foxs wrists. Before he had a chance to gather his wits, the fox had ripped one hand free and jabbed him with something. He felt his body instantly react and try to fend off whatever hed been dosed with, but the battle between whatever alchemical recipe or poison the fox had used and his body robbed him of his equilibrium. He staggered back, reaching for his jian, and trying to think of what might be in his storage rings to counteract whatever the fox had used. He didnt manage to pull his jian from its scabbard or summon anything from his storage ring before the fox hit him in the side of the head with something hard.
He felt himself falling, but it was disjointed, slow, and then the ground caught his body. He tried to push himself up, but his limbs only reacted with the occasional twitch or jerk. He tried to speak, but only slurred nonsense came out. There was a terrible moment of vertigo as he was flipped onto his back. His vision spun for a while before it finally came back into something akin to focus. He saw the vast limbs of the evergreens overhead and mere hints of the darkening sky through the canopy. Then, there was a weight on top of him. He managed to move his eyes enough to see the fox had straddled him and was leaning down to look at his face. That same unidentifiable something hed seen before was dancing in the foxs eyes. Sen tried to speak, but the fox put a finger on his lips.
Shhhhh. Theres no point in trying to talk right now.
The fox leaned forward a bit more, planted an elbow on Sens chest, and put their chin in their palm. They seemed to be studying him, although Sen felt himself slipping further away from true consciousness with every second.
I really should kill you, said the fox conversationally. Youre ridiculously dangerous, even for a cultivator. I mean, you had me dead to rights there. Do you have any idea how rarely that happens to a fox? That trick with the pine needles was inspired. Ill need to think long and hard about how to counter something like that in the future. I suppose I should be grateful that you showed me one of my weaknesses. Yeah, killing you would be the smart thing to do. Otherwise, youll probably wake up and make it your lifes work to track me down and end me. Still, youre just too damned pretty to murder out here in this godsforsaken place. So, you take yourself a little nap while I go kill that awful old man.
The last thing Sen remembered was a pair of lips pressing against his own and an amused whisper. Thats how you do diplomacy. With a kiss and an ambush.
