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Cultivating Chaos 5 -ch 26-
🕑 Added 2024-04-14 00:46:11 +0000 UTCAsh stared down into the crypt entrance.
“I don’t know who the Lord of Graves is. Or was,” Ash murmured. “Nor do I know if whatever is happening here has anything to do with me and my people.
“What I do know, is I want good relations with both sides of your conflict, except for the Shadows. I’m fairly certain that they’re part of a group that has aligned themselves against me.
“So while I would like to have positive relations with the Lions and Pigs, I would not extend that to the Shadows.”
Ash had said the last and turned to look at the two Tribes he had mentioned. Looking between the big Hog and the terrifying Lion.
Only now did Ash realize that it was easily three times the size of what he’d expect for a lion.
Being atop the rather large horse Ash was riding had given him a false sense of size.
Even the Pig was easily the size of a very large horse.
“I…” the Lion began, growled, let out a huff, then sighed. “I suppose it’s time to have a conference. After what’s happened over the last few days and… yes.
“A conference should be held between the Tribes.
“For you, Ash. For you and your people I would offer friendship, invite and welcome trade, as well as a low-grade immortal core if you would be willing to enter the crypt and tell us what’s going on.”
“We of course match the offer,” the Chimpanzee murmured. “We also welcome a Tribal Conference. It would be good to review the situation and discuss what might be done about the current state of affairs.”
Ash took in a short breath and then looked to his people who were all nearby.
“Personally, I think it’s a good deal,” Mei offered in English. “We could do a lot with all the cores they’re offering.”
“It’ll also give us a chance to truly ask questions of everyone,” said Hui energetically in English as well. Ash assumed everyone would speak in English. “We’ll be able to ask awkward and ugly questions without them being able to be upset about them.”
“Yes, that’s a very good point,” Chunhua confirmed. “I’m also noticing some different types of Qi around us. Qi that feels similar to what we felt on that plane of deities.”
“I’ve noticed it as well,” murmured Rou with a click of her tongue. “It’s so hard for me to feel it though. My senses in this is so much lesser than yours.”
“That’s why we’re partners. In the end, when Ash becomes the Emperor, you and I shall stand side by side to him. A peerless Sorceress and their Qi-Healer.”
Na chuckled at that and tilted her head to one side.
“The Handmaiden and the Strategist will be there you mean,” Na countered and put a hand on Hui’s shoulder. “His loyal and willing wife who shall be there in everything and the wife who helps him command the forces of the realms. She and I will tell you two where to go and what to do.”
“It seems we are being overlooked again,” Jia lamented and sighed, looking at Mei.
“It’s normal. They just don’t realize I was his first love and you were his first crush, we hold special places,” said Mei soothingly with a laugh. “Alright. We’re in agreement then?
“We go tomb raiding and see what’s what? Collect our earnings and then ask our questions.”
“Yes,” Tala affirmed. “Though… you should all remember this moment.”
As it was said, everyone turned and looked at Tala.
“Remember this moment when you all overlooked myself and Moira,” declared Tala with a wide smile. “Remember when my Cuddly Bunny-Wife Self told you that you’re thinking of it wrong.
“Told you that none of you understand Ashley. You want to, you try, but you don’t get it.
“Get him.
“I do. Because of Moira. I understand him very well now.
“In the end, I’ll be there with him as well as Moira. So will you all. We’ll all be there.
“He’ll do everything in his power to prolong our lives until he himself passes on because he truly loves us all.
“Foolish girls. You Cultivators.
“Maybe Moira and I will steal the most of his affection outside of perhaps Locke, if only because we understand him the best.”
Tala then unleashed a beautiful smile on everyone.
“We should accept,” Moira murmured, gently patting Tala on the back. The lovely owl was wearing a smile from ear to ear even as everyone else stared at Tala in an entirely different way. “We should also move back into a language they understand.”
Ash cleared his throat, looked to the Tribe heads, and nodded once.
“We’ll accept the deal and go into the crypt,” Ash offered and then gently pet the horse several more times. Then paused to rub at it’s head and ears and really get into the base of them.
Pulling his leg over the horse’s back he walked up to the head of it and pat it on the shoulder then ran his hands back and forth across it’s face several times.
With a smile he patted it on the jaw then looked around.
The Tribe leaders were all staring at him and seemed much larger now that he was on foot. They were enormous, really.
“We’ll be heading in immediately,” Ash said. “Is there anything we should know? What was the Lord of Graves known for?”
“He made graves,” answered the Chimpanzee. “I was not among the Tribe when he walked the the lands, though I did meet him several times.
“He made many graves. Many, many graves. Buried many people after defeating them personally.”
Great.
So they’re an extreme cultivator.
That’s just what I need.
Patting the horse one more time, Ash moved toward the crypt.
Na and Chunhua forcibly went ahead of him. The latter forming a ball of fire and the former withdrawing a small lantern from her storage.
They headed in quickly followed by Ash and Hui, then Tala and Moira.
Rou and Xiuying came next with Mei, Siu, and Jia trailing along at the rear.
“I’ve had so much fun with all of us being together,” Mei said as they began walking down into the darkness of the crypt.
Rou had summoned a fireball as well, while Tala lit her hand on fire since it did nothing to her.
Jia held a lantern similar to Na’s.
“It has certainly been enjoyable,” Jia agreed. “I enjoy traveling. A great deal. Though our poor Ashley would rather sit down and be an ant. Built a colony. Store for the seasons.”
Xiuying laughed at that and clapped her hands together.
“I want to be an ant, too! That sounds a lot more… uhm… safe,” she said while continuing to laugh. “Can we please go be ants, Sisters? I could play mom to all the kids you end up having? I really don’t mind.”
Hui chuckled at that, one hand held low, the other above her head. There was a continual flow of Qi between them, the raised one being black, and the low one being gold.
“I’ll decline. I plan on raising my child personally with Ashley,” Hui stated firmly. “I’m genuinely looking forward to it. My mother was a terrible waste of a human being. My father viewed me as a tool. I shall be better than both.”
“They sound lovely in comparison to mine,” Mei blurted out as they kept walking down the stairs.
“Yes, our original family was terrible,” agreed Na. “I would also like to offer being a mother to any and all children you have. As the Handmaiden, it’s my duty.”
“I don’t think anyone will agree,” Rou interjected with a laugh. “Every single one of you has asked me to learn how to deliver children and want me to be your personal doctor.
“I’m flattered and I’ve of course agreed to each and every request. Even a number of the Brides who are close to the inner-circle have asked and I’ve agreed.
“Though, in so doing, I know you all wish to be mothers. I don’t think anyone will let another handle them.”
“I guess I’ll just have to have Ashley put one in me then to be a mom,” deadpanned Xiuying with a nervous laugh.
Is that her way of signaling she’ll be getting into a bed at some point?
“I’d say yes that it sounds about right. I’ll talk to her later. I can never tell though.
“Her thoughts are very different than most Cultivators but she isn’t entirely outside of the mind set. Given that she’s a bit of a free spirit as well and it’s just… it’s hard
“I mean, you remember, she stuck her boobs right in your face and started feeding you.”
“Just sit in my lap, feed me by hand, put your boobs in my face again, and I’ll give you anything you want my pretty Xiu,” Ash blurted out, Locke’s words giving him his own line of thought.
Xiuying immediately tripped, just about fell face forward, and ended up slamming into Ash’s back.
Knocking him down the stairs in the movement.
Within a single stumbling step, Ash knew he was not going to recover. He was going to be heading to the bottom.
Activating Spring-Step, Ash still tried to recover his balance. Planting his foot firmly and stabilizing himself.
Only for Xiuying to slap into him again. She herself was falling as well.
All Ash did was end up making himself smack against the wall on his way down.
When he hit the bottom he hit with a heavy thud. His shoulders striking the ground first and sliding a few feet on his back, looking back the way he came.
A second after that and Xiuying landed atop him. Her head landed neatly atop his chest with a thump.
Ash’s arms went around Xiuying and he just laid there holding her.
He genuinely felt fine from the fall given his constitution. It wasn’t as if the materials of the crypt were special either.
Stone and earth and little else.
“Ahhh, I’m sorry,” mumbled Xiuying, peering up at him through her bangs.
“If you wanted to be on top, all you had to do was ask,” Ash teased with a laugh.
“Ah… yes? Yes. No! Bottom, please. Uh… wait, no, this is the wrong… wrong conversation,” Xiuying got out in a grunt and then pushed herself up to her feet. Then she held her hand out to him.
Taking it, Ash pulled himself up and then put his hand to the wall to steady himself.
The brick he pushed on gave way and fell inward. The mortar had given loose easily and crumbled apart.
Looking to the darkened hole the brick had been in, Ash really didn’t have anything to say. This wasn’t even a surprise really.
When it came to random luck, things happening out of coincidence, there was no greater cause than Xiuying.
“You know, I bet if we had sex, regardless of Rou getting involved, you would, or wouldn’t, get pregnant based entirely on what would be best for you,” whispered Ash. Moving to the wall and pushing at the bricks there.
“Ahhhh, that does-does seem likely. It’s one of the reasons I haven’t asked to visit you so far,” Xiuying admitted. “But then I was wondering if I should ask anyways and do other fun stuff. I’m really curious about sex and all.”
Ash had mostly tuned her out by now. He was systematically tapping and pushing at bricks.
“So what’d she find this time?” Mei asked from above. “Because my beloved Sister never fails to find something when she tumbles that badly.”
“I’m sorry, Xiu, I didn’t think it would happen then. Otherwise I would have had a hand on you,” apologized Rou. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. I landed on Ashley,” Xiuying answered as Rou and Mei met her at the bottom. The former immediately laying a hand to Xiuying’s face and staring into her eyes.
Mei was quickly brushing her off while Jia gave her a once over.
“She did,” Ash agreed and then spread his Qi into the hole. Letting it move into the darkened interior.
It quickly began to fill in the edges and he found it was a sink-hole.
One that went downward a significant distance.
The top of the hole wasn’t far and seemed to only be ten feet from the surface.
“It’s a hollow,” Mei murmured coming up to stand next to him. “I can feel it through the hole. A very large one. It feels like… like it goes…”
Mei left the words hanging as Ash found where the sinkhole ended.
“The burial chamber at the bottom,” Ash remarked with a chuckle and looked to Xiuying. She was currently being coddled by Jia and Na, who was gently dabbing at the woman’s face with a handkerchief. “Xiu, you’re my lovely and beautiful luck charm. I’ll attribute every good thing that ever happens to me, to you, and never blame you for the bad. Please never leave my side.”
“Of-of course? How else would I get a baby,” Xiuying said as Na wiped forcefully at the woman’s cheeks, getting the dirt and smudges off her.
Mei pulled back a hand and slammed it through the wall. The stones breaking and shattering apart.
Most of them fell inward into the hole and down past Ash’s Qi as it expanded.
Ash glanced back to Xiuying and saw Hui, Tala, Moira, and even Siu had all checked her over by this point. All of them making sure Xiuying was alright.
No sooner than Siu had gently combed Xiuying’s hair back then she moved over to Ash. A hand pressed to his chest was all he needed to have the lingering thoughts of Xiuying pulled from him.
Mei was peering down into the much larger hole now.
“Chu, come take a look at this? I can’t see so well,” Mei asked.
Ash had reached the bottom now with his Qi.
“Can you also expand the hole a bit as well, Chu?” Ash asked. “We’ll be taking the route our dear Xiu has given us.”
Chunhua eased herself between Mei and Ash and looked down the hole. She made a waving of her hand and the hole made a loud grinding noise.
Then a beam of light shot down it and illuminated everything as well as the chamber below.
There wasn’t much to see.
“Alright, a bit wider. I’m going to make stairs,” Ash asked and began forming his Qi into a spiral staircase. Winding down toward the chamber below.
As he did, Chunhua widened and expanded the hole. Making it more than large enough for the stairs Ash was adding.
In no time at all, it was done.
“My Cuddly Bunny-Wife Self shall go first. I am my own torch after all,” remarked Tala. “Ah… Mei, would you move behind me?”
“Of course I will,” Mei answered and the two began moving down.
Ash couldn’t follow along. He had to keep his hand to the stairs to keep the Qi in position. As he stood there, he briefly considered a few different ways to make his Qi work even harder for him.
You think I could maybe make a machine out of it?
If I kept the Qi pure, and left it in a room, I could re-attach to it later on and make it work again. Though it’d be odd to figure out how to make a machine out of solid Qi.
“You can rotate pieces without them becoming detatched. Qi isn’t a solid. You just keep viewing it as one.”
Oh, good point.
That’s my beautiful and smart wife, you know.
Do you know her?
Her name is Locke Sheng.
She’s amazing.
And when she’s nervous she’s got this really cute smile that she can’t help but throw out and it makes me want to tease her.
There was a nervous feeling that shot through the Hall along with embarrassment. Followed by what could only be described as a deeply “pink” feeling that reminded him of Siu.
Everyone made it to the bottom of the chamber and Ash reached out and took hold of his Qi. He worked it more deeply into the wall as an anchor and pulled the rest of it back up to himself.
He formed it into a single person elevator and then drew it down. Easing himself to the bottom of the shaft by expanding the Qi in a semi-solid state.
When he reached the bottom he withdrew all the Qi back into his Qi-Sea.
Only to realize he couldn’t.
All of it had to go back into the Hall.
The moment he’d gone to put his Qi back he’d found his Brides had forcefully threw Qi his way. As if they could tell when he was using Qi.
Following it back to the chains, he saw they had indeed provided him with Qi.
He reversed it all and forced it back to them all. All while adding a feeling of protection for them and care.
Thanking them for noticing his need.
“You’re welcome,” Hui verbally stated as the light from all of them spread out.
It didn’t actually fill the chamber though.
Chunhua lifted her hand up and let loose with a large ball of light and they could now see where they were.
All around them were statues of what looked to be deities. Organized and arranged all throughout the chamber.
The walls were lined with carvings. Spanning from one side to the other.
There was a heavy door on one side, and another on the other. Each was obvious to what they were, one being an exit and the other an entrance into this chamber.
“We just… skipped like… the whole thing, didn’t we?” Ash mumbled.
“Yes,” Na agreed. “Xiu, thank you for being my Sister.”
Xiuying laughed at that, sounding nervous.
“Of course. I love you all. Though, I feel very weak and small here. Can… can I leave? Please?” asked Xiuying.
“Please, go if you feel unsafe,” Jia stated firmly. “If you feel scared, and weak, stay with us. We will protect you. If you genuinely feel that you need to go like you did previously, then do so.”
“Okay… I’ll stay. I’m just scared,” admitted Xiuying, reaching out to grab Ash’s sleeve. Her fingers were clenched in the material.
She’s oddly fearful.
“As I mentioned, she’s a Cultivator with a decent amount of talent, but she’s lived her life very differently than most. She’ll throw herself into things if it’s put upon her, but she’ll gladly move out of the way of things that make her nervous.”
She sat on my lap and fed me while making herself very… prominent… to me, if you remember.
“You don’t scare her. You excite her. I can relate.”
Then the door began to grind open. The giant stone wheel rolling to the side that led to the chamber’s approach, rather than the exit.
