Chapter 333 - To Beseech an Angel

In the depths of the Yonge Mountains, at the border between NianXing and their neighbour LingNan to the east, was the ruins of small village at the top of a solitary peak.

A narrow broken path wound its way through rubble and debris, flanked on all sides by thousands of tombstones that formed endless rows on the steep and harsh terrain.

At the very top of the village was a broken staircase that ended in the sky. Far below the remains of a temple could be seen, crushed beneath the collapsed cliffs that had once held it.

Long ago, Li Ru had secluded himself to this peak, preserving the destroyed temple in the immaterial planes.

Today, Li Ru looked down at the village from the broken staircase for the first time in nearly a thousand years. His eyes were solemn and contemplative, his posture straight and sagely as he took in the sight.

He had dug each of those thousands upon thousands of graves, buried a body within each, and placed each tombstone at their head.

It had been so long, yet his sin still felt as fresh as the day of that massacre.

As he stood silently thinking about the past, Li Ru’s eyes were drawn to motion below. 

A man with a noble disposition stepped out from behind the pillars of the gate at the bottom of the staircase. He wore a long flowing black dove tailed coat, a silken dress shirt with a bold yellow and blue pattern, tailored slacks and leather shoes. He had short, curly brown hair and rough stubble peppered with greys. His eyes were fiercely intelligent. They looked up at Li Ru with calm familiarity.

He had arrived without triggering Li Ru’s spiritual intuition, but this was no surprise to Li Ru. After all, that man was the current Lord of SpaceTime.

“It’s been a while, old friend.” Lord Noga said.

Li Ru frowned deeply, holding back his words.

“Don’t be like that, I didn’t break my promise.” Lord Noga said with raised hands while shaking his head, “You broke your seclusion, not me.”

“And I shall henceforth resume it.” Li Ru replied stiffly, making a motion to leave up the stairs.

“A thousand years is penance enough, isn’t it?” Lord Noga rebuked with a strong tone.

Li Ru paused, turning his head to glance at Lord Noga behind his shoulder, “A thousand years is but a drop from the litres of blood I spilled. Were I to pay one year for each year I have taken, still that would not make amends.”

“And you have done a commendable job of squandering those years you owe for nothing.” Lord Noga said sharply.

Li Ru’s calm disposition broke as a killing aura flared out from Lord Noga’s words. The colours drained from the surroundings as the scholar’s skin turned translucent, revealing his skeleton. His eyes glimmered with a demonic light from the sockets of his skull.

“The villagers and soldiers buried here were my people. I was hurt by their deaths as much as you.” Lord Noga kept his hands casually in his pockets, unperturbed, “As their lord, I bear this responsibility, not you.”

“It’s not your place to speak for those souls! Nor can you absolve me of my sins!” Li Ru snapped, “You are hurt by their deaths? There are far more soldiers from across the border buried here, who never returned home!”

“Oh, cut the pathos, you drama-llama!” Lord Noga snuffed, “I’ve let you mope for a thousand years, it’s enough!”

“Dr..drama-llama?” Li Ru stuttered, caught off guard.

“And don’t try to pretend you haven’t been keeping an eye on Kumin with your worshipers— Yes, I know you have worshipers.“

“I don’t know what you’re talking about—“ Li Ru muttered.

“A cult worshiping an Angel of Death, that cherishes the living and holds sacred the unfulfilled wishes of the dead, who else could it be?” Noga rolled his eyes, “Your demonic cultists are more tame than Yuima’s Nature sects.”

“I warned you about her—“

“And I know you’ve been personally interfering in my affairs.” Lord Noga continued, “First with Prince Deka, and now again in Hasan.”

“…Extenuating circumstances.” The corner of Li Ru’s mouth twitched.

“Who is the White Maiden?” Lord Noga asked.

“She is, of course, the White Maiden.” Li Ru answered circularly.

“You know what I mean.” Lord Noga frowned, “Is she with Akahi?”

“Akahi is long dead.” Li Ru replied.

“The White Maiden is attuned to Fate and uses Akahi’s shrines. She interfered in Noga City and in Hasan. I do not believe your involvement in the same events is coincidence.” Lord Noga replied, his tone serious, “I must know what you know.”

Li Ru paused, contemplating Lord Noga’s words as he understood Lord Noga’s real reason for approaching him this day. The aura of death subsided as his flesh returned to its normal pale complexion.

“I know nothing.” Li Ru said softly, turning to walk back up the steps, “I have no desire to get involved in your troubles and plots. Leave me alone.”

Lord Noga had a conflicted expression as he saw the scholar retreat. He knew that tone of voice, knew those words. Li Ru had said the exact same thing when Lord Noga had last spoken to him, a millennia ago.

Li Ru stepped off the edge at the top of the broken staircase, onto a spectral staircase that shimmered into existence, leading the way up to his temple.

“You saved my people.” Lord Noga said hastily.

Li Ru paused.

Lord Noga bowed low, not in the modern style used by his people, but in the traditional one from their youth. His arms outstretched, hands clasped together, bowing deeply at the waist with his head lowered.

“You saved my people today. And—“ Lord Noga hesitated, “You saved them a thousand years ago, at this pass.”

“I was angry, then. I blamed you for the deaths of my men. I blamed you for not acting sooner. I said many things I should not have, that I have regretted for the past thousand years.” Lord Noga said with passion, “You halted LingNan’s invasion at a critical time, acting against your philosophy and ideals which you hold with such import. Because of that Touma and I secured victory against the south and won the war.”

Touma Matsuhara was Lord Noga’s sworn brother, and the current lord of Huan, the province to the west of Kumin.

“Our nation, which we brought to peace through much blood and sacrifice, is under fire from many sides.” Lord Noga said, “Were the situation not so dire, I would not beseech your assistance. But if there were some price I could pay to be benefitted by your counsel once again, as you so generously provided in the past, I would not hesitate pay it a hundred times.”

Li Ru frowned, walking back down to the broken staircase again, the spectral stairs fading into the void. He glared down at Lord Noga’s deeply bent form, not speaking.

“Touma made that speech for you, didn’t he.” Li Ru stated, gesturing at Noga’s posture, “Told you to bow in this way.”

Lord Noga held his tongue, maintaining the bow with utmost sincerity.

“You sound like a fool, stuttering over flowery verse like that.” Li Ru snapped, “And look one, too. You always held such disdain for the old ways.”

Lord Noga remained still as stone.

“Still, despite speaking someone else’s words, you sound sincere.” Finally Li Ru sighed, shaking his head, “You must have practiced this speech many times.”

“Eight hundred and sixty three times,” Lord Noga replied without changing his posture, “And whipped by Touma no fewer than double that amount, for each mistake I made!”

Li Ru couldn’t help the grin that pulled up the edge of his lips. He raised his hand to his mouth to hide it as he shook his head. 

“Well, stop that nonsense. Stand up straight.” Li Ru sighed, “The proud Lord Noga, reduced to bowing to a dried up skeleton from the past. I never thought I’d see the day.”

Lord Noga slowly raised up to stand straight, though he kept his hands clasped in front in respect. His steely eyes looked straight into Li Ru’s, showing sincere determination, “Thank you, Li Ru.”

“So, what is it?” Li Ru asked, brushing his robes with a scholarly sweep of his arms as he descended down the steps, “That made you resort to such tactics?”

“Touma is in trouble.” Noga said, “He is succumbing to corruption.”

“Yuima can’t save him?” Li Ru asked.

“She tried, it is getting worse. I’ve tried as well, but these distractions in my land are taking their toll.” Noga replied, “We have kept Touma’s condition a secret, but his weakness has resulted in rumours about his fitness to lead. There is discord spreading within his officials and governers. Furthermore, there is a strange plague that has surfaced in Huan, which only adds to the tension.”

“If even the Goddess of Nature can’t help him, what use can I be?” Li Ru asked, but then immediately added, “Ah. The White Maiden.”

“I spoke wrongly previously. I dare not pry into your connection with Her.” Lord Noga replied, bowing again deeply in the same extreme posture, “I beseech you to provide your wisdom and assista-“

“Oh, shut up.” Li Ru growled in exasperation, “Continue acting that way and I will presume you are mocking me.”

“As you wish.” Lord Noga stood straight, immediately losing the formality in his voice, “Then will you help us?”

“Let me think about it. But, before that… I must ask.” Li Ru rubbed his chin in a sagely manner, “…Drama llama?”

“It’s slang from Tenyuan, apparently named after a very temperamental beast in the cracked lands.” Noga replied seriously, “Apparently the youth picked it up from sailors and now everyone uses it.”

“Strange.”

“Strange, indeed.”