Voidlight Rising (A Xianxia Cultivation Adventure)

Though it's said that the yokai scourge was brought to heel under the reign of the Lunar Prince, this was simply a period of détente. Yokai in the days of the Oni Prince were savage, vicious monsters. Yokai in the days after the Darkened Moon were much the same, having reverted to their savage nature after the passing of their so called "protector." This proves that they're little more than monsters, fit for little more than harvest by a good hunter. -Renowned Monster Hunter and Traveler, Jackson Fordelle of the Summoned Isle.

"Three weeks, he's been like this," I complained to anyone who'd listen…which was only Satoro. The oni really lived up to his title as a regular and spent most of his days drinking at his favorite table by the window.

"So, you've said," he answered with a sigh. "Tsuyuki, at this rate, I'm going to have to find another drinking spot. This one used to be so quiet."

"It's the silence that I'm worried about!" I continued, glad to hear that he saw the problem, too. "Lin has barely spoken ten words to me in the last two days! He's always busy balancing the books or counting the stores!"

Satoro began muttering into his cups. "Damned moon-struck void spirit."

"Hey, I'm not moon-struck." I sat up straight and huffed. "I know moon struck. This is not that."

Moon struck would be the way I used to talk about Jinshi to Chouko and Reili in the days before we'd formally begun courting. Who could blame me, though? He was a fine specimen of a cultivator! Ruggedly handsome, good cultivation, and a heart of gold, the only thing he didn't have was a strong family background, but who was I to complain about that? My father was a drunkard and my mother died shortly after my younger sister was born. The three Tsuyuki children had only themselves to rely on, which was why we were so keen to bring Jinshi and Reili into the fold.

Satoro sighed and downed another cup of wine. "You're lucky that your wine is cheap."

"And you're lucky that we're lenient with your tab," I countered. Satoro chuckled at that, pouring himself another cup and downing it in a single gulp.

"Are you trying to get that rotten oni to pay for his wine for a change?" said another voice from the doorway. I looked up to see another pair of regulars enter. I stood immediately to welcome them in.

"Mistress Ishida, Young Master Xiaolong, how are you both today?" I asked politely as I gestured to their favorite table on the far side from Satoro.

The pair nearly always stopped by for the mid-day meal. Ishida Sumiko ran an apothecary across the street from the inn. She was a fairly unassuming woman, wearing a green veil over her face. Only after she sat down and I brought her a small pot of tea did she take it off to reveal that she was human. In fact, besides Xinya and Lin, she was the only human I'd seen in the Black City so far.

The young man who sat next to her, definitely was not. Di Xiaolong looked like a young human boy of about 12 or 13, but the resemblance was superficial. His dark hair was tucked neatly under a black hat that I suspected also hid some variant of horns poking from his skull. He was nice, and clearly had a gentle spirit, but several times, I'd seen his eyes change color to reflect his mood. Though I didn't know what kind of creature he really was, I was quite sure that he was some form of yokai or spirit beast.

Ishida sipped her tea. "Well enough. I caught three Void shades tearing up my gardens this morning. The plants fought back, but it took Xiaolong and I nearly an hour to clean everything up."

"That's the second time this week, right?" I asked. She nodded.

Void shades were a rather common problem in the Black City, from what it seemed. Any person who died during a blackout was raised as one, though no one knew why. However, though the method of creation was unknown, it was clear what they wanted. The shades craved void qi in all its forms, and, since one of the most efficient ways to create void qi was to destroy objects, property, and people; they'd become quite the dangerous nuisance.

Yet, what frustrated me most was that none of them had appeared in the inn! I was a walking beacon of void qi, yet none of them ever came to drain my power or break my things. They left us alone, presumably because they were afraid of a greater spirit of the void…otherwise known as me.

"Let me know next time they attack," I offered. "I'll come help!"

Ishida raised an eyebrow. "Bored, young cultivator?" I rolled my eyes at her assumption of my age. She winked back, knowing full well that we'd had that very conversation before, and that I was particularly touchy about people claiming to be my elders.

Only a few months ago, I thought long and hard about settling down in Saikan. It was peaceful, quiet, and filled with good people. However, I'd discarded the idea after realizing that I would slowly fall into madness the longer I went with only the mundane to entertain me. This experience running the inn only further proved my conclusion.

"There's just not very much to do," I answered. At that moment, Lin stepped from the back room.

"There is plenty to do," he said.

"Nothing you'll let me help with," I countered, sulking slightly as I retreated back to Satoro's table.

Lin rolled his eyes. "I doubt you'd be much help with the logistics, given how much you scoffed at administrative work back in Saikan."

I glared at him before pouring myself a cup from Satoro's jug of wine.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

He was being unreasonable. Did he realize that I once ran this very city? It might be a villainous hive of yokai now, but it wasn't always that way. Half-Moon Hearth was a high point in yokai history, a time where the chaos of the Oni Prince's reign had been smoothed out and peace had been forged between man and monster. It only fell apart after I was imprisoned, but that was hardly my fault.

"Miss Ishida, would you like your usual?" Lin asked. "Double the pepper?"

She nodded. "That would be nice, thank you."

Lin bowed and disappeared into the back room once more. Not many people came for our food. Apparently, the last innkeeper had been a middling chef at best, which was fine for us. Xinya and I were categorically banned from the kitchen on account of our past efforts to make even the simplest things. Xinya's food was always too spicy, and Lin was sure that I would somehow manage to burn water if given the chance.

"And how is young Xinya doing with the medicines I gave you?" Ishida continued.

"Quite well," I answered. "She's upstairs sleeping, but yesterday she seemed much more alert."

"I only wish I had a more definite solution," she said. "Parts of void spirits are not easy to come across, so my recipes aren't clear on how to use them."

I smiled at her. "What you've done is already more than we could have hoped."

That was the honest truth. Xinya's symptoms had gotten worse in the first days after we arrived. Some days, she could barely breathe as the nervous signals dominating her breathing were systematically severed by the Void raging through her. She slept most of the time, but when she was awake, she was in a dissociative fugue brought about by the void severing and separating pieces of her mind until her personality was so far away that I worried she'd never truly return. Any mortal child would have died long ago, but Xinya was still holding on. It made me extremely thankful that we'd taken the time to develop her cultivation back in Saikan.

With Ishida's medicines, her condition had turned for the better. The apothecary had been experimenting with the hair of void shades for some time, but they weren't strong enough to make any meaningful difference. But, the hair of a voidspawn? That was much more potent. I'd donated a variety of resources, so long as Ishida used them to make a cure for void fever. Apparently, it had been an infusion of my hair, along with my saliva and several restorative spirit herbs from Ishida's garden that had done the trick so far.

"I still say you could make a small fortune selling your hair," she said with a smirk. "Apothecaries would pay quite the weight in blood stones for access to such a high-quality reagent."

"Over my dead and discorporated body," I growled. Chiho vibrated angrily at the very idea. Meanwhile, Satoro did a poor job of hiding his laughter.

"Vain little pretty boy," he teased. I scowled at him.

Lin arrived a moment later with a tray for Ishida and Xiaolong. He set it before them, and the young boy bowed his head.

"Thank you, Master Tenri," he said politely. "It looks delicious as alw-"

The boy was interrupted by the stomping of feet and claws. Two kappas and a wolf yokai. They glowered at the spotless interior of the inn's tavern floor.

"Welcome to Half-Moon Harbor," I greeted, standing to meet with these new patrons. However, as soon as I singled myself from the crowd, the three began eyeing me with contempt.

"You the owner?" the wolf said in a gravelly voice.

Lin stepped forward to join me. Since we'd both agreed to take joint ownership, any question to the owners was a question for both of us. The kappas immediately honed in on Lin, the contempt in their eyes shifting to hunger as they smelled his human flesh. I bared my teeth at them.

"I think you'll find that this is a human-friendly establishment," I snarled. "If you'd like a table and a menu, I'd be happy to provide, but if you're here for anything else, I'll have to ask you to leave."

The wolf barked a laugh. "No, we don't need the menu. We see it just fine right here." He waved a hand to the side of the room with Lin and Ishida. "The Shattered Moon Sect is here for their protection fees."

Lin and I exchanged a look. This wasn't the first time we'd heard of them. Ishida complained frequently about the Shattered Moon Sect and their little protection racket. They claimed that they, alone, could protect people from the void shades. The truth was that failing to pay their protection would incur damages, but the jury was still out regarding whether void shades were truly responsible or not.

"I don't see Shattered Moon insignia," Lin pointed out.

"Quiet, food!" the wolf snarled, taking a threatening step forward. I pushed myself in front of Lin.

"Unless you want a mouth full of void to damage those teeth of yours, I suggest you keep a civil tongue in your head." My words were calm as I stared the wolf down with a cold look.

These yokai were hardly even worth my time. They were weak. I doubted very much that they were truly part of the Shattered Moon Sect. At best, they were outer disciples begging for the scraps of their betters. More likely, they hadn't even been accepted and were still trying to prove themselves worthy to clean up after the Sects lowest servants.

"Yoru, I think these gentlemen are ruining the atmosphere for our other guests," Lin said.

"You think you can get rid of us? You're just a fake yokai and my next meal." The wolf bared his fangs. Behind him, the kappas extended their claws, their eyes filling with glee.

"Fake yokai?" I laughed. Spirits and yokai were completely different things, but at least they'd recognized that I wasn't like them. I'd really have been upset if they'd put me on their level. "You're out of your depth. Leave now before you realize just how unqualified you are to challenge us."

The wolf lunged at Lin while the kappa on the left darted in to bury his claws in my gut. I twisted to the side, throwing a chain around the creature's neck and pulling it tight. It choked and wheezed, flailing against my suffocating grip. I yanked the chain hard, pulling him back. My hand brushed against his shell, and potent void leapt from my fingers. The kappa howled as his shell began to crack and dissolve into dust.

Meanwhile, Lin had thrown a few strawberry seeds at the wolf, urging them to grow. They filled the yokai's jaws, and he clawed at his face, trying to remove the plants before they overwhelmed him. Lin rushed forward, taking the offensive and slamming his elbow into the hulking brute's stomach. Air expelled from the wolf's jaws, forcing it to gasp and wheeze in surprise.

With two enemies incapacitated with ease, Lin and I turned to the last kappa. He trembled and hid behind his friends.

"You! Shattered Moon will hear about this!" he cried.

"See that they do," I called. "And make sure you mention that Half-Moon Harbor doesn't need their so-called protection."

They scrambled to leave. Once they were gone, Ishida sighed.

"It's so hard to find a friendly place, these days," she mused. "I thank you for removing them."

"It was our pleasure," Lin answered.

"You know they will tell the Sect, right?"

We nodded. The only reason that cultivators like her bowed to the sect was because they had numbers. Today, we met the rabble at the bottom of the sect heap. Next, they'd send capable disciples, then things would really get interesting. Though I held no illusions about us standing against the sect all by ourselves, I couldn't just let some slobbering dog drool at the thought of eating my sworn brother. We'd deal with the consequences of that at a later time. Of that, I was sure.

Ishida sipped her tea. "As long as you know. Their next agents won't be so easily fought off."