“Abbot Lokenatha wants to collect the entire set with us, especially since he couldn’t kill the prince,” Yu Di said.

  “Ugh, that feeble old man.” Ying Fusu said. “I’m going to end his life before we leave this city. Instruct the men to break down the inn and flee to our main site. These two will be coming with us.”

  Ying Fusu frowned at Yu Di. “As guests. So release the bonds on him.”

  Yu Di felt the previous Qi technique holding onto his limbs dissipate. He could finally move with ease again.

  “Wait,” Vimala said. “If you truly love me Fusu, then you will also help me reclaim my powers.”

  “We can talk about that later,” Ying Fusu got up with the help of the maid and two other servants.

  “No, there’s an entrance to the Goddess power here at the inn. We can go in from here.”

  Ying Fusu slapped his forehead. “Of course. Why else would you beg me to build an inn at this location? You have been playing from the start, haven’t you?”

  A chill accompanied those words.

  “Let it go, your highness,” Yu Di said. He stood in front of Vimala. “This is not the time. She finally told you her secrets. Maybe give her a little grace especially since she was the former Goddess that vowed to protect the city from all invaders.”

  “But I’m not an invader!” Ying Fusu coughed.

  “You have an army outside the city,” Yu Di said.

  “I wasn’t. I never meant to…” Ying Fusu sighed.

  “Do you still love her?”

  Ying Fusu nodded.

  “Then enough talk. Let’s get this over with so that I can go home to my daughter. Lead the way Vimala.”

  The woman nodded and walked to the far corner of the room. She felt along the walls until she pushed a stone. It clicked and a door opened.

  Yu Di was amazed. Even with his Demigod senses, he never could have found the entrance.

  “Gather all our men from above and burn the inn,” Ying Fusu ordered.

  The bodyguard from earlier nodded and raced up the trapdoor.

  “This is the fabled Goddess secret,” Ying Fusu said. “This was what you were looking for all this time, Yu Di?”

  Yu Di peeked through the door. The light from the secret room couldn’t penetrate the tunnels, but he could already feel the dense Qi rolling out of it. All these years of looking for the secret and it was here the whole time.

  “It’s safe to come in,” Vimala called behind.

  “I didn’t know it wasn’t,” Yu Di said.

  “I had to set a few traps in case anyone accidentally wandered in.”

  Yu Di stepped past the threshold into the tunnels. Again he was greeted with the same design as the two other tunnels he traveled with Vimala. He wondered if they were all connected.

  “How did we not find these tunnels from all the ones we’ve dug so far?” Ying Fusu asked his bodyguard.

  The bodyguard looked to Vimala, but kept quiet.

  “Again, you have fooled me over and over, Vim. You’re the one that told me where to dig and how deep to dig. I thought you were helping me this whole time.”

  “I was,” Vimala said. “You managed to dig through many sensitive areas, haven’t you? I know you used the tunnels to send your spies throughout the city.”

  “Please argue later,” Yu Di said. “I can smell the inn burning. It’ll only be a matter of time before it gets down here and suffocates us.”

  Vimala swiveled around. “What about my camels?” She looked about ready to rush back up there to save the face spitting bastards.

  “They’re fine. We sold them to another inn when we were first chased,” Ying Fusu said. “For once I agree with the irritating Demigod that we should get this secret as soon as possible so that I can leave this forsaken city as soon as possible”

  Vimala grimaced. She continued leading the way.

  “With your highness’ help, I’m certain we’ll can get Vimala’s powers back much sooner,” Yu Di said. “I was afraid that I would have had to take on all the challenges myself.”

  Ying Fusu stopped. “What challenges?”

  “The path to the Goddess’ secret is littered with traps within a maze,” Vimala said. “Each trap is a challenge to see if you are worthy of the Goddess’ love and power.”

  “Tell him the rest,” Yu Di said.

  “The deeper we go into the maze, the stronger the effects are. Most people tend to break before they reach the center.”

  “How did you overcome these the first time to become a Goddess?” Ying Fusu asked.

  “When the previous Goddess dies, the power first goes into a type of hibernation within the Pavilion of Seven Phoenixes. Usually the high priestesses then choose the next Goddess to take up the mantle.”

  “That sounds brutal,” Yu Di said.

  “It’s how we’ve protected the city for over a thousand years. We priestesses and handmaidens were trained for this.”

  “Sacrificing the few for the many,” Ying Fusu said. “That’s a foolish way to go. At least you get to live for thousands of years as a Demigod.”

  “That’s not—”

  Vimala cut Yu Di off by grabbing his arm. This earned an eye raise by Ying Fusu, but he let it go.

  Yu Di understood why she wouldn’t tell Ying Fusu that the ultimate price was overloading her body to wield the power in defense of the city. If the prince found out, they would be half way out of the region by now.

  Maybe there was a way for Yu Di to help these pair of tragic lovers.

  The tunnels opened up into different branches. Vimala walked with the same assured confidence as if she was walking in her home.

  Yu Di wasn’t how though. It was so dark he kept tripping over the different slope of the ground. One moment they felt like they were walking down into the depths of hell while the next they were climbing a mountain.

  “Let’s take a break here,” one bodyguard said. “Prince Ying needs a break.”

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  Yu Di thanked the bodyguard in his mind. He couldn’t take much more of the walking either. The narrow tunnels made it hard to breathe.

  “Fusu, can you tell your army to save my city?” Vimala asked.

  Ying Fusu took a long sip from his water skin. His eyes focused on Vimala. Eventually they softened. “I can’t give them any orders, if that’s what you’re thinking. The general might be my brother, but he’s got his own orders. All I can do is protect you should they breach the city.”

  Yu Di expected as much from an exiled prince. “What’s the situation out there then?”

  “They’re actively assaulting the Shah’s barrier. It will only be a matter of time before they break through.”

  “How long do you estimate?”

  “The last message I got from my brother said they were at most three days away from breaching.”

  “Abbot Lokenatha is using human shields,” Vimala said. “If your brother’s army breaks through, the Shah will push into the city. Or worse, your army will do so. Either way, many of my people will die.”

  Ying Fusu frowned. “You should have let me know about this secret earlier. We could have retrieved it by now. Your distrust caused this.”

  Vimala didn’t say anything.

  Yu Di wanted to tell the brat why, but knew that it wasn’t his secret to tell. Except it would still be a problem if they did reach the Goddess’ power. Vimala would have to take the power into her body and then it would kill her in a moment. She might think that’s worth it to save her city, but what would happen to the prince? More importantly, what would happen to Yu Di when he finds out that he knew this from the start?

  Yu Di took out his jade tablet:

  Current Power: Realm 2, Stage 1, Level 10 (Manipulation)

  Remaining Lifespan: 1 years, 4 months.

  Current Status: Cursed (24.1% lifted)

  Overall Power: Fourth Realm, End Stage, Peak level (Demigod)

  Damn, it was as he guessed. Even with almost a quarter of his curse unlocked and juiced by the Goddess, he was only at the end of the first stage in the second realm. It was expected as the gap between realms was as vast as the space between planets. At least in this realm. He remembered the true vastness when breaking through to the fourth realm. He would need half of the Goddess’ power to reach that again.

  “You look like you’re thinking about doing something foolish again,” Ying Fusu said. His voice sounded better.

  “No, nothing like that.”

  “If he does something stupid, you all have my permission to kill him.”

  Yu Di cupped his hands and bowed his head. “I promise my prince that I won’t do anything so foolish again. This is the word of a Demigod.”

  Ying Fusu rolled his eyes. “Don’t make me execute you again.”

  Yu Di nodded. This was absolute power. He not only had the Imperial mandate of his Demigod father, but he also had the actual power from the bodyguards. It reminded Yu Di to stop slacking off and start cultivating at all times. He couldn’t keep hoping that a Goddess would top him up again like a wine cup.

  Yu Di focused his mental energies and activated his most consistent cultivation method. It cycled his Qi throughout his body constantly without any active effort. As long as he was breathing, Qi would enter through his nose, become processed in his dantian, and then fill his core. Even after it was full, it would make his Qi denser and denser.

  Hopefully after doing it for so long, he’ll naturally break through to the next stage as soon as he unlocks his curse. Yu Di had a feeling that he was about to unlock a lot of his curse soon. A princely lover and a self-sacrificing martyr in a city under siege? He would surprised if he didn’t break through his curse over the next few days.

  Who was he kidding? Yu Di knew that the gods had other things in place for him. Why else would he meet with one of them? More importantly, what did they have to do with his curse? They might be gods, but he doubted they were omniscient. For these two to know about his curse, there had to be something that he was missing.

  “Let’s start moving again before Yu Di brings the tunnel down on us or something worse.” Ying Fusu got up and dusted himself off as best as he could.

  “Sir, are you sure you’re well enough to move on?” the bodyguard asked.

  “I don’t think I stuttered, did I?” Ying Fusu moved ahead of everyone, walking with a slight limp.

  Yu Di could tell the hanging was the least the abbot’s men did to him. For men willing to choose women and children as shields, he wouldn’t put it past him to order immense torture. He felt sorry for the brat, but he was a prince. He’d get over it. The thing Yu Di worried about more was his change in behavior. Was this permanent or was did he hide it better before?

  Vimala led them down a bit further before they saw bright lights coming from the end of the tunnel. She stopped.

  “Why did we stop?” Ying Fusu asked.

  “This is supposed to be a pitch dark part of the path,” Vimala said. “There shouldn’t be any lights up ahead at all.”

  “Let’s retreat for now.” Ying Fusu turned, but stopped.

  Yu Di felt the pressure coming from all sides. He had a feeling the gods weren’t on his side. Worse was, he recognized the Qi.

  A woman wearing a jade green face mask rose from the ground as if she was a ghost. She wore a dark green robe that blended in with the darkness. The flames from their lanterns couldn’t penetrate it as if throwing the light back to its source. On her hands she wore ten golden rings, all glowing with an eerie green light, the only source of illumination coming from the woman.

  “Fatima,” Yu Di said. He didn’t need to see under that mask again to tell that she was smiling from ear to ear. Her eyes practically twinkled as she looked down at him while floating a few inches in the air.

  “I told you I’d get you,” Fatima said. “This time you won’t have that high priestess helping you.”

  “Faouzia? What happened to her?” Vimala asked.

  “That’s what that little girl’s name was?” Fatima chuckled, sounding like a young girl. “She wouldn’t tell us her name no matter how much we threw at her. As for what happened to her, I wouldn’t know. I handed her over to Abbot Lokenatha and his weasel.”

  Vimala cried heavy tears. “They’re going to drain her dry and kill her. We have to help her.” She looked to Yu Di first and then to Ying Fusu.

  “I believe we’ll be the one needing help, Vim,” Ying Fusu said. “She’s not alone.”

  “Always so perceptive, merchant Ying,” Kutan said. “Or should I call you Prince Ying?”

  “Here to finish the job?”

  Kutan’s smile showed off all his white teeth, flickering with the lantern’s flames. “I was hasty in our first meeting. I apologize for not showing proper deference to a prince of the Celestial Jade Empire.” He made salute across his chest and bowed deeply. “However, since I know of who you are and your value to our cause, I humbly invite you and your entourage to stay at the Pavilion until the conflict is over.”

  “Only if you let Vimala go,” Ying Fusu said.

  Vimala tugged the prince’s sleeve.

  Ying Fusu rolled his eyes again. “And Yu Di.”

  Kutan peered over them to look at Yu Di. “Your servant? He’s not ours to claim.”

  “He’s mine,” Fatima said. She grabbed Yu Di by the back of his robes and lifted him into the air with her. Why were these women treating him like a wayward dog?

  “With this, our transaction is complete,” Kutan said.

  Fatima narrowed her eyes at Kutan. “Don’t let me see you on the battlefield weasel. Otherwise I’ll send you to your Goddess in pieces.”

  Kutan chuckled. “We’ll see who sends who to their deity after this.”

  Fatima activated her ability over herself and Yu Di. Together they flew straight up through the tunnel out into the open streets of the market. It had gotten dark by now so there were no people. She didn’t stop as she kept climbing higher and higher into the air.

  The barrier shimmered above them for a second before Fatima glared at it. The barrier calmed down instantly. Was that all it took to fly again? Give it a mean glare. Maybe Yu Di could try that later. He had a pretty mean glare too.

  “Wait Fatima, we can’t leave them,” Yu Di said.

  “Shut up,” Fatima said.

  “If you leave them with that weasel you won’t just lose this war, you’ll all die.”

  Fatima ignored him and kept flying higher.

  “That woman you saw was the former Goddess of Miryana and they need her to retrieve the lost Goddess’ power. Once they get it, do you think they will think twice to wipe your army from the map? Miryana didn’t get its reputation for its defense from idle speculation.”

  Fatima paused and hovered in the night air.

  Yu Di felt the cool air flowing through his robes. He swore that once this was all over, he was going to go flying just to get this feeling again.

  “Are you lying to me?” Fatima asked.

  “You’ve reached the third realm. You should be able to tell if I am lying to you.”

  Fatima picked Yu Di up to face her like a puppy that did something wrong. Her brown eyes studied his face under the moonlight. “You better be telling the actual truth and not one you eastern bastards give that are both true and false.”

  “I swear on my daughter’s life that if Abbot Lokenatha gets that power, he will wipe you all out like refuse. He wouldn’t even give you a chance to retreat.”

  “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

  Yu Di gritted his teeth. “If you help Vimala regain her Goddess power, I swear on my daughter’s life and my cultivation that she won’t destroy your army and your beloved Shah.”

  “This will be going back on our agreement with the abbot.”

  “Just blame me,” Yu Di laughed. “After all, I am the Menace of Miryana. What’s a little more menacing?”

  Curse unlocked: .7% lifted.