Unintended Cultivator-Book 11 Challenge
There was a burst of objections, mostly from the officers hovering around Jing. Sen lifted a hand and snapped his fingers while weaving qi throughout the room. He was careful to shield everyone’s ears as the sound shook the very walls and rattled their bones. Despite protecting their hearing, he saw or felt almost half the people in the room stagger. There were pale faces even among those who had managed to maintain their positions. Satisfied that he’d made his point, Sen turned to General Mo again.
“I apologize, General Mo. I’m afraid that I wasn’t able to hear you over all of that shouting. What were you saying?”
Mo Kegong looked as though he didn’t feel entirely well, but didn’t let that stop him.
“I said that I would like to challenge this man,” answered the grizzled man.
He spared the other general a contemptuous look when the man started trying to raise mostly incoherent objections. One of the other people who had clustered around Jing strode across the room. He also wore the overly ornate robes, but seemed better at hiding behind an expression of almost genuine respect. His silvering hair was pulled back into a topknot and secured in place with a gaudy gold symbol that Sen suspected belonged to some noble house. Likely a minor one or one found in some other part of the kingdom.
“Lord Lu,” said the new General. “I am General Kang Dongyang.”
“General,” said Sen in a decidedly neutral tone.
General Kang straightened and gestured, “General Li is a valuable resource. I’m sure that—”
“To whom?” asked Sen, cutting off the doublespeak before it could really get going.
King blinked a few times before he said, “I’m not sure I understand, Lord Lu.”
“You claim he’s a valuable resource. A valuable resource to whom?”
“To you, of course,” said Kang, if a little hesitantly.
“Really? And what invaluable skill does he possess that makes him such a valuable resource to me?”
Kang seemed to realize that he wasn’t going to be able to simply smooth this over with vacuous, pretty words. Sen could see the tension gather around the man’s eyes and mouth. General Li’s wide eyes moved between Sen and General Kang. He looked like he might try to run for the door at any moment. Yes, thought Sen bitterly. Cowardice is such an invaluable resource. I wonder how many people this man has gotten killed for nothing. Both Kang and Li seemed to sense that Sen’s mood was turning against them. Li flinched back while Kang hurried to speak again.
“General Li brings years of leadership experience that cannot be easily replaced.”
“Interesting,” said Sen, feigning consideration.
Kang and Li exchanged a quick glance of relief.
“I take it that General Li’s subordinates can attest to his leadership on the city walls during the battle,” said Sen.
Sen was fully aware that it was a completely unfair question in one respect. He knew that most generals didn’t lead from the front. There was a very valid argument that their leadership skills and years of experience honestly did make them too valuable for that kind of combat. On the other hand, Sen didn’t care that it wasn’t a fair question. He was a cultivator. That was a life that required people to directly risk their own lives. Plus, he had sincere doubts that General Li had any experience that was of legitimate value.
“General Li was needed to help coordinate—” started Kang.
“A simple no would have sufficed,” said Sen.
“Of course, Lord Lu,” said Kang.
“So,” said Sen, “am I to take it that in acquiring all of this irreplaceable leadership experience, General Li somehow forgot basic courtesy?”
Kang, apparently smarter than Li, changed tactics when it was clear that Sen was not going to simply give up on this plan of his.
“Lord Lu. It will take some time to make arrangements for such a challenge. I will be happy to take on the responsibility for—”
“No,” said Sen. “There will be no need for that. The challenge will proceed immediately.”
“I’m unarmed!” General Li almost shrieked. “I cannot fight unarmed!” freёweɓnovel.com
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Sen glanced at General Mo, who had a dao saber at his hip. The other officers who had gathered in Mo’s vicinity were also armed.
“If you are a general, why are you unarmed? Death can come at any moment.”
General Li’s mouth worked like a fish in the water, opening and closing with no sound coming out. Sen briefly wondered if the man knew how to fight with any weapon. Had someone just appointed him to the post? He grew tired of waiting for the doomed general to think of something to say.
“You’re right, of course. You cannot fight unarmed,” said Sen with a nod.
He lifted a hand and accessed one of his storage rings. Weapons of all kinds clattered to the floor in a pile. There were spears, jian, dao sabers, guandao, and even a few axes and war hammers. Sen frowned at the axes and hammers as he tried to remember where he might have gotten them. Probably the Twisted Blade Sect, he thought. A flood of awful memories attempted to swarm his mind, but he pushed them away. He’d done it. He couldn’t take it back. And he wouldn’t even if he could. He gestured at the pile of weapons.
“Choose one,” he commanded General Li.
“Lord Lu! I must protest! Treating an honored general this way is—”
“General Kang,” said Sen in a tired voice. “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that, so far, you’ve spoken with nothing but honest concern for General Li. It’s why I’ve been so tolerant of your insubordination. That tolerance is now at an end. If you speak again, I will ask if anyone here would like to challenge you.”
General Kang’s gaze shot toward someone among General Mo’s supporters. It was a younger woman with a patch over one eye. Loathing and eagerness burned in her other eye as her hand dropped to the jian belted at her waist. Kang’s lips twisted like he was having to force them to remain closed through an effort of will. Sen waited to see which way the internal struggle would go. In the end, Kang’s self-control or maybe just his desire for self-preservation won out over whatever had prompted him to come to Li’s defense in the first place. Kang bowed and withdrew.
Sen turned his attention back to General Li. The man stood there, appearing almost frozen as the reality struck home that he was not going to escape this fate. Sen didn’t care that much about Li. He’d just been an excuse to let Sen get a better sense of just how deep the divisions ran in the army’s leadership. They were, he was a little disappointed to learn, deeper than he’d realized. There were probably other, subtler divisions, but the main camps were obvious. Still, he knew now and could plan accordingly. He supposed that, if General Mo’s position wasn’t already clear, this would probably have secured the man’s loyalty more thoroughly than most other things. In the current circumstances, it was more like a gift.
“General Li,” snapped Sen.
The man flinched again, and his hands trembled as panic took hold.
“Lord Lu?” said the man in a questioning tone.
Sen pointed to the pile of weapons and said, “Choose.”
General Li’s eyes darted around the large room, no doubt looking for some kind of support. All of the overdressed officers by Jing refused to meet the man’s gaze. Jing only gave the man a mildly pitying look. As for everyone else, their expressions ranged from indifferent to satisfied. Realizing that there would be no obvious help, General Li shuffled over to the pile of weapons. He leaned down, his hand wavering between a jian and a dao saber. A bead of sweat trembled on the end of the man’s nose for a moment before it dropped free and, against all odds, missed all of the weapons to land on the floor. After another second or two of hesitation, Li picked up a jian.
“Good,” said Sen. “Let’s clear some space for them.”
Everyone moved to the edges of the room, while servants were rushed in to drag tables and chairs aside. Soon, the center of the room was nothing but empty space, the pile of weapons, and bare stone. While Sen hadn’t looked at the overdressed officers, he had been listening to them. Most of them were grumbling about the unfairness, but Kang had been whispering fiercely to someone who was no doubt an aide. He’d been whispering about how an accident might happen.
Sen reached down to put the weapons back into his storage ring, but he grabbed one of the axes and kept it out. With a move he doubted anyone could see, he threw the weapon. It tore through the aide’s chest and exploded out his back, showering the wall behind the man in blood and tissue. The ax itself was buried in the wall. There was absolute silence in the room as Sen walked over and, with no effort, ripped the weapon out of the stone.
“What a terrible accident,” said Sen before he looked directly at the horrified face of General Kang. “There will be no more accidents in this room. Am I understood?”
There was a general murmur of, “Yes, Lord Lu.”
Sen dropped the ax on the body of the aide, or possibly Kang’s personal assassin, and walked out into the empty space.
“General Li. General Mo. Step forward.”
General Mo might have been strolling through a field for all the concern he showed as he walked out to face Sen. General Li looked as if he had heavy chains affixed to his ankles for how slowly he walked. Unfortunately for Li, there was only so long he could drag it out. He never looked directly at Sen or Mo, choosing to stare at the floor. Sen didn’t bother with complicated instructions.
“To the death,” he said and stepped back.
Li started to speak, but the words died as General Mo drew his weapon. For all the buildup, it was less a duel than a leisurely execution. General Li had received training with the jian at some point in his life, but it was equally clear he hadn’t actually held a blade, let alone practiced with it, in a very long time. His movements were jerky and hesitant. General Mo knocked aside every thrust and slash while wearing the expression of a very disappointed teacher. Every once in a while, Mo would launch his own attacks that left intentionally shallow injuries on the other man.
It wasn’t long before the floor was slick with blood. Li was stumbling and heaving for breath. Mo’s face went hard. He lashed out and sent the jian flying from Li’s hand. There was a startled cry of shock or pain from the disarmed general that was cut off as Mo’s dao saber removed Li’s head. General Mo didn’t give the body so much as a second glance as he walked away, using a cloth to wipe the blood from his own sword. Sen walked over to the decapitated body and considered it for a moment. Then, he used air qi to drag a chair across the room and sat down with Li’s body at his feet.
“Now,” he said. “Let us discuss the future of the kingdom and your roles in it.”
