BOOK 12: CHAPTER 32: EVERYONE IS THAT PETTY

Sen remained sprawled where he was for a while. That had taken a lot more out of him than he’d expected. He remained silent until he felt steady enough to stand up. It was only after she could see him that he chose to answer.

“I think what you meant to say was, thank you for doing the impossible for me.”

She glared at him and said, “Thank you? For what? I didn’t intend to survive that battle.”

Sen ignored her long enough to wet a piece of cloth and wipe the blood from his face.

“Next time, you should tell someone that. It would have saved me a great deal of effort. But it’s done now. Congratulations. You’re going to live.”

That got him another cold glare.

“Do you talk like that to every injured person you help?” asked the Matriarch. “If so, you’re not much of a healer.”

“I never claimed to be. I am, however, an exceptional alchemist. Besides, you’re not much on gratitude. I’d say that makes us even on any failure of politeness.”

The Matriarch’s expression hardened, as though she wanted to lash out at him. As quickly as it had come, the expression softened. She sat up on the bed. Sen took that opportunity to summon a chair that he most certainly did not collapse into. It was a dignified descent, appropriate for his current station. At least, that’s how he intended to tell the tale if and when the moment came. The Matriarch took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“You’re right. Doing this clearly wasn’t easy for you. I don’t even know how you restored my vital qi, let alone advanced my cultivation. We’re lucky you didn’t trigger a tribulation. I don’t know that either of us would have survived it.”

Sen sat very still before he asked, “Your cultivation advanced?”

“You didn’t know?” she asked, eyeing him like she thought he was trying to trick her.

“I didn’t. I only intended to restore your vital qi. I wouldn’t even know where to start with advancing someone else’s cultivation.”

“Well, apparently, you do know where to start. If anything, my foundation feels steadier. What did you do to me?”

Sen thought over everything he’d done. Any one of dozens upon dozens of things could be responsible for that unintended side effect. Since he didn’t feel like going through the whole process step by agonizing step with her, he just shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I disagree.”

“You’re free to disagree. Nonetheless, I’m telling you it doesn’t matter, because I don’t intend to do it for anyone else,” said Sen, holding up the bloody cloth. “If I’d known in advance how taxing this would be, I’m not sure I would have done it for you.”

“And why did you do it, King Lu? Or is it, Emperor Lu?” asked the Matriarch.

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He shrugged and said, “I’ve been using Lord Lu since it’s clear people need to call me something other than Sen.”

“That didn’t answer my question. Although, you’ve become a nascent soul cultivator since last we met. The heavens only know how you managed that miracle. I suppose that means you aren’t obligated to answer my questions anymore.”

“I assure you, it didn’t feel miraculous while it was happening,” said Sen.

He shuddered as memories of tribulations and slowly dying thanks to his insane body cultivation method filled his mind. He pushed all of that old and not-so-old pain down.

“As for your question,” he continued, “there were several reasons. Most of which I’m sure you’ll dislike. You might even be offended by one or two of them.”

“You want me to fight in your war.”

“I can’t make you fight in it. Even if I wanted to force you to do it, I don’t have that kind of power.”

“Not yet,” she muttered.

“Not yet,” conceded Sen. “Maybe not ever. Someone or something might kill me before then. It is a war. Anything can happen. If I keep trying to do things like what I did for you, I might end up killing myself. But, yes, I do want you to fight in the war. The good news is that I suspect my goals and your goals aren’t too far apart at the moment. I want the spirit beasts gone, but I’m pretty sure that’s impossible. So, I’ll settle for culling them to the point that it will be ten thousand years before they dare try something like this again.”

“And what do you think I get out of fighting in your war?”

“Revenge, obviously.”

“Do you think I’m that petty?”

“Everyone is that petty when their homes and families are destroyed.”

She gave him a bleak smile and said, “That sounds like the voice of experience.”

“Not my experience. I’ve seen plenty of refugees, though. I’ve seen the looks in their eyes. The hopelessness. The despair. The rage. The desperate desire to revisit some of that horror on those who attacked them. I didn’t need to experience it myself to draw the right conclusion.”

“And what about after this war of yours? What am I to do then? My disciples are dead. My home is destroyed. You, Lord Lu, will return to rule an empire. What will I

do in this empire of yours?”

“Teach. Rebuild if you wish. Pursue ascension. You’re a nascent soul cultivator. You have choices.”

“You speak of these choices as though they’re easy to do.”

“Do you imagine ruling an empire I never wanted will be easy?” asked Sen in a bitter tone. “Do you imagine slaughtering my way across a continent while my daughter grows up without me will be easy? We will all pay a price. Nothing on the road ahead will be easy. Nothing.”

The Matriarch seemed taken aback by the acid in Sen’s words.

“I occasionally forget that hard times are hardest on the young,” she said. “And, yes, to me, you are very young. You don’t have all those centuries of experience to help numb you to harsh truths.”

Sen didn’t have a response to that, nor did he think she really wanted one from him. She had her own concerns at the moment.

“I can feel the others outside this room. Who are they?”

“One is my friend. The others are—” he struggled with how to phrase it. “The others are survivors from your Order.”

She stared at him for a very long time before she whispered, “Survivors?”

“Yes, they were attending to you when I arrived. I don’t know if they survived the attack or arrived afterward. I didn’t think they would welcome questions in either case. I know that I wouldn’t have.”

The Matriarch nodded in understanding before she stood. She walked over to the sealed door, which Sen unsealed. Hand on the door, she looked back at him.

“Where will you go from here?”

“Back to my army. I intend to march to Emperor’s Bay. We’ll secure the city. Then, we march south.”

“You truly mean to conquer all the lands this side of the Mountains of Sorrow?”

“I mean to start with that,” corrected Sen. “The threat won’t end until we purge the continent.”

“Emperor Lu Sen,” she murmured. “I suppose I’ve heard worse.”

With that, she opened the door and stepped through. Sen heard the joyous shouts of the Order members, but he didn’t join them. He was exhausted from what he’d done and the conversation.

“Emperor Lu Sen,” he repeated. “Emperor Lu Sen. How much of my life will be sacrificed to that name?”