Zaiyuan's face was cold as he looked through the ranks of young men who were doing rounds at the fortress.  Young men who were not the hardened veterans he was hoping for.  Truly he had always stationed the harder soldiers towards the opposite of Jungpi from Caiwong as at the frontier was where the tribes were all canabalistic savages.  The grizzened generals were all gone but one who was standing behind him, Kong Bai, with a lanky son in tow, Kong Su.The son was no flower either as he had been trained by the same Master Guo.  The scars of his time were visible on his face as he twitched around the twisting scars on his face.  The skin that was supposed to cover his eye was missing and the tendons and soft tissues were stretched taunt against what had been burned and missing.  When the boy was in closer company he would take off the white jade that had been carved as it's color was close to that of skin.  Now that they were in the pres

The taste of his own blood was new to him as Ning Zhuo slipped in and out of consciousness. Some of the memories were sweet. There was the cry of a baby as he held it and someone cooed, "good girl, good girl, can you say father?" There was a garbled voice followed by a laugh as the cooing continued.  "Good girl, good girl, don't these snacks taste good?  Do you want to share them with dad when he wakes up." The blood dribbled out of his mouth and trailed down his neck as he started to remember darker things.  His wife hanging by a noose around her neck as he walked in.  How did she get so high up if there was no chair around her.  The skeletons of the side court as he entered for the first time, there was so much dirt there blowing about.  Someone really needed to sweep in there.  Why hadn't he told someone to do it regularly? Yan Sha leaving him again and again and again, her hands around his neck screaming wrenching, telli

In a pool of inky black water, the consistantly of soot, sat Yan Sha with her body contorting in inhuman shapes.  Bending and unbending as her body moved like a demented spider in a circle.  Her back arched in and around like it was a stick bending close to breaking.  All the vertabrae in her back were thrust out as the shadows on her back were shifting all around.  The lion on her back which had been poked so beautifully, now looked like a tangled web where the lion was stuck in the midst of it angrily clawing through points.All around the pool, Langhua and Yan Ming looked at her wailing form with concern as there were shadows following every movement as if Yan Sha was moving very quickly all at once instead of hardly at all.  Her back contorted with her arms running up and down her body as inky splashes poured out of her back tattoos. Yan Sha hacked and coughed out the same thick viscous fluid.  Her eyes were blown with the same black ink colo

Ning Ren licked his lips as he looked through the letters that had been intercepted by his agents. Maybe today his efforts would finally be recognized.  It was so beautiful to see the fruits of his labor in front of the only person he wanted to get praise from. In a pile in the corner were all the letters that Ning Zhuo had tried to send to Jungpi.  The emporer sat opposite who personally slid open several letters and read them."Such a good boy this child has been.  It's unfortunate that he could be ruined so."  As he kept a letter open, he turned to Ning Ren.  "Has there been any reply from the other side?  This threat needs to be removed if the dreams of our forefathers should come to be accomplished.""Wei, Yan, Jungpi . . . shall all fall by dominos.  Brother is befuddled by women.  He has really lost his touch as he pours his heart out in these letters.  It's very fortuitous that his heart--"The emporer's eyes

Ning Zhuo rushed through the doors of his brother, Ning Qi's house in the capital city of Caiwong.  He was stopped by the manor's guards and there was a brief tussle between his own guards and that of his brother's.  Both pulled out their swords and stood off against each other as they waited for orders from their respective princes.  Ning Zhuo was furious that people would even dare question why he would come here.  This was the capital city for goodness sake?  Did they not see that he was presenting his own token which was bestowed upon him by the empoer?Ning Qi rushed to the front to see what all the fuss was about but finally crossed his arms and sighed.  "All men of crown prince will wait outside.  Crown prince will only be protected by his closest servant.  Anyone who disobeys will be caned or be sent to be tortured at the palace dungeon.  I'm not kidding this time as I have a serious matter to discuss with the crown prince