Immortal Paladin

272 Return to New Willow

[POV: Gu Jie]

It had been more than a month since Gu Jie last spoke with her father through the Night Blades. The sea stretched endlessly beneath her as the flying boat hummed with spiritual power, and on the horizon a small speck shimmered… New Willow, her new home. She let out a slow breath. The journey back had been a winding one; they had trekked over mountains, endured long marches, fought off wild beasts, bribed passage on river boats, and finally built this crude flying vessel with what little resources she had left. Her eyes lingered on the wood and spirit stones patched together from scraps, and she thought bitterly of the wealth they had once spent on the False Earth, constructing the massive floating platform her father used to storm the Heavenly Alliance’s capital. Compared to that feat, this vessel was but a child’s toy, yet it had carried them this far.

Ru Qiu stood at the prow, his gaze sharp on the horizon, before he spoke in a tone equal parts arrogance and curiosity. “So, to get this straight, I was a fearsome figure in the False Earth, a sovereign without equal. All bowed before me?”

Gu Jie folded her arms, correcting him with a level voice. “Or so the legends say. But you had rivals, Ancient Souls, like yourself. All of you were trapped, struggling for the Ascension Throne. That throne was your only chance to break free from that cursed world.”

He gave a booming laugh, throwing his head back as though victory was a given. “Then since I stand here, it means I won!”

Gu Jie’s lips curved in faint amusement, though her tone carried steel. “In a way, yes. But you weren’t alone. Without Father, and without Alice, the result would have been different. They broke the chains as much as you did.”

The Heavenly Demon pouted like a sulking child denied his prize, muttering under his breath. Gu Jie only shook her head at the sight of such a fearsome being behaving so absurdly.

A sudden commotion interrupted the quiet hum of the vessel. Several cultivators in white-and-green sashes soared into view, flanking the flying boat with wary eyes. One shouted with official sternness, “Flying boats are restricted in the next hundred li! You are in violation of New Willow’s airspace. State your affiliation immediately!”

Another cultivator gave him a nudge, recognition dawning. “Wait, wait, do you know who this is?”

His colleague scowled. “I don’t care if her father, mother, or ancestor is a dragon, she’s breaking the law. Don’t think connections save you here.”

Ru Qiu leaned toward Gu Jie with visible eagerness. “Civilians?” His hands itched for flame, and his eyes gleamed with menace.

“Don’t you dare,” Gu Jie hissed through clenched teeth. “Not one spark.”

The second cultivator looked exasperated and pointed at her directly. “Idiot! That’s the Great Guard’s daughter!”

The first barked back with disbelief. “Bullshit! Since when did the Great Guard have a daughter?”

Their argument spiraled, with the second snapping, “Buy the Chronicles, you moron! She’s written there plain as day!”

“I have the Chronicles,” the first snarled, waving his arms. “No daughter’s mentioned—”

“Yes, she is! Sacred Groves, the Great War, Guardians at her side, Volume Twelve!” the second shouted, his voice cracking.

The first cultivator blinked. “There’s a Volume Eleven already?”

Before their squabble grew into fists, a ripple of authority cut the air. A man clad in lacquered armor descended from above, his polished shield shining as it pushed between the bickering men. He landed on the bow of Gu Jie’s vessel, cleared his throat with a deliberate cough, and announced in a low, commanding tone, “Enough. I will handle this.”

The two cultivators who had been arguing earlier immediately stiffened, snapping into nervous bows as they tried to explain themselves. “We weren’t slacking, Commander! We were only verifying identities!” one stammered. The other echoed him, his voice cracking, “Yes! No negligence here, sir! None at all!”

Gu Jie offered a faint smile and turned her gaze toward the armored man. “Long time no see, Commander Ding.”

Ding Shan’s stern expression softened into an easy smile. “Same goes for you, Lady Gu.” His tone carried both warmth and relief, though the weight of authority never left his posture.

The two cultivators blinked at each other, slack-jawed, before Ding Shan’s glare burned through their excuses. “Enough of your nonsense. Away with you, before I find reason to dock your pay and your patrol rights.” Chastened, they scrambled to flee, their qi trails streaking into the horizon with the speed of startled birds.

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With them gone, Ding Shan exhaled and bowed apologetically. “Forgive their behavior. The aerial police are young and overzealous. Too eager to prove themselves, not enough wisdom to temper it.”

Gu Jie waved it off. “It’s fine. They’re only doing their duty.”

Still, Ding Shan’s eyes lingered on Ru Qiu, unease tightening his jaw. In a flicker of Qi Speech, he whispered across the spiritual link, “If you’re being held hostage, blink twice.”

Gu Jie nearly laughed at the suggestion. “He’s harmless,” she answered aloud, though her tone carried a weight that told Ru Qiu not to take offense.

Ding Shan, however, remained doubtful, his gaze sharp and wary, as though trying to decide whether she truly believed those words or was forced to utter them.

For the past minute, Gu Jie’s own focus had been elsewhere. Her Destiny Seeking Eyes opened wide, their inner light tracing unseen lines across the world. Visions poured into her mind, drawing forth the structure of New Willow in intricate detail. She glimpsed the Guardians, the city’s backbone, each one a transcendent force balanced between power and longevity, their auras shining like stars above the sea. Around them spread the constabulary: patrolmen on the streets, the aerial police in their fresh robes of authority, their cultivation barely Third Realm but burning with youthful pride as they guarded the skies and seas.

Her vision drifted further, brushing the Engineering Pavilion, and excitement welled in her chest. Since acquiring both her father’s teachings and Emperor Nongmin’s legacy, invention had become her quiet obsession. Schematics glimmered before her inner sight from flying devices, energy conduits, and weapons of ingenuity. It stirred her heart like no blade ever could.

The strands shifted again. She saw her alternate selves crossing paths with Jia Yun and Chen Wei, self-styled ministers of rites, voices of faith and tradition. They anchored New Willow’s people with ceremonies and doctrine, ensuring the city did not drift too far from its spiritual moorings.

At last, her vision pressed toward the center, where authority gathered like a storm. There sat the prime decision maker of New Willow. She expected her father’s steady presence, but instead found something stranger… a miniature ghost Da Wei hunched over a mountain of paperwork, weeping miserably into his ink-stained hands.

“Father?” she whispered to herself in disbelief.

The Ghost Soul’s head jerked up. His tear-streaked face froze as he turned to stare back at her. For a heartbeat, their eyes met, and Gu Jie’s breath hitched. The Destiny Seeking Eyes were one thing, but for Da Wei’s Ghost Soul to perceive her was beyond explanation.

The vision shattered. She blinked, jolted back to the creak of the flying boat. Yet before she could even piece together what she had seen, another vision struck without warning.

Dark clouds gathered. Mercenaries, dozens, perhaps hundreds, descended upon New Willow like wolves on prey, steel flashing, and murderous intent smothering the air. The city shook in her mind’s eye, cries echoing, and banners torn in the sea wind.

Her eyes snapped open, her face paling. She turned sharply toward Ding Shan, her voice steady but urgent. “Commander, take me to my father. Now.”

From what Gu Jie had gathered, her father was away on an expedition deep into the Empire, seeking to unravel whatever calamity had befallen them… or so the Night Blades had told her. Yet from her visions, it became clear that only a handful within New Willow truly knew Da Wei’s absence. To most, the Great Guard remained present, steady, and watchful. That fact alone convinced Gu Jie that the looming attack was no random raid but a carefully planned maneuver, laced with political motives. She could not say for certain who orchestrated it, but caution demanded she treat it as no less than a conspiracy.

When she stepped into her father’s office, the sight that greeted her was enough to unsettle anyone unused to the surreal. The Ghost Soul, Da Wei’s smaller, spectral counterpart, was already seated comfortably on a couch. A tea set lay before him, steam curling lazily into the air. His eyes lit up as he waved her in with an oddly cheerful grin. “Please, sit!”

Ru Qiu obeyed without hesitation, plucking a cup and sipping as though nothing about this scene was out of place. He seemed content to play the role of Gu Jie’s shadow, his presence blending into the room despite his nature. Gu Jie herself sat more slowly, watching both of them with a guarded calm. “An attack is going to happen soon,” she warned.

“I know,” the Ghost Soul answered at once.

Her eyes widened in surprise, but before she could speak further, he added with an almost childish glee, “And you are going to destroy them. Then you’ll finish the paperwork. And then… then I get to play outside!”

Gu Jie blinked, thrown off by the sudden turn of logic. “What?”

The Ghost Soul groaned dramatically, throwing his tiny arms in the air. “Doesn’t the progenitor understand that the greatest meaning of existence is playing? If you’re always sad, then what’s the point? You might as well die!”

Gu Jie winced at his bluntness, while Ru Qiu chuckled into his cup. “I already like him,” Ru Qiu remarked with genuine amusement.

“Of course you do,” Gu Jie muttered under her breath.

The Ghost Soul leaned forward, brimming with restless energy. “Anyway! I have this thousand-step plan—yes, a thousand steps!—to secure my slow living. But now that you’re here, we can shorten it into, say, a hundred steps.”

Gu Jie resisted the instinct to summon her Destiny Seeking Eyes for clarity. Something about this fragment of her father demanded she face him directly. There was a magnetic pull to his presence, equal parts absurd and frightening, as he spoke with a grin too wide for his face.

“I’ve arranged matters so that factions incompatible with us—ideals, systems, everything—will be lured into joining forces to attack the city. That’s what’s about to happen.” He said it gleefully, as if describing a festival rather than an impending siege. “But, as countermeasures, I’ve built protocols that will crush them so thoroughly they’ll never dare lift their heads against us again! And then—” his eyes gleamed, “—I get to play outside!”

Gu Jie froze, struggling to decide whether to be impressed or horrified.

“Without you,” he continued, bouncing lightly on the couch, “it would take me ages to put everything in motion. But with you around? Oh, it’ll be perfect.”

Then, with all the solemnity of a commander and the mischief of a child, the Ghost Soul leapt to his feet, stomping his small leg against the table for emphasis. “We gonna fold them, you hear me?”

Gu Jie could only wince, pressing a hand to her forehead.