The sea folk were not weak opponents. The Bai knew this, though their great foes were the barbarians of the jungle. Always, the violet caste kept an eye upon the shores and the shallows. The sea folk were not regular raiders, but they were opportunistic, taking after the few ships which sailed from their ports.

Xiao Wen was not surprised when the four meters-tall man with the gray skin and jagged teeth of a shark spun to face him before his dampened boots touched the deck of the ship. Nor did he falter when the trident of coral in the man’s hands spun, deflecting his palm strike, nor when the tines sought his chest.

Yes, the sea folk were worthy opponents, and Xiao Wen would treat them appropriately. The tines of the trident jabbed through his chest, dispersing the afterimage already dissolving in the rain, and he was then inside the man’s reach. One blow pulverized his opponent’s kneecap with a wet crunch audible over the storm, a rising knee met a falling torso, and a needle of black fire entered the other’s stomach through the meridian that coiled there. The man’s body spasmed, the weapon falling from his hand, and Xiao Wen’s third strike punched through his throat and out the back of his neck in a shower of bone and blood.

Xiao Wen stood impassively as the giant collapsed behind him, unruffled save for the droplets of blood which fell from his stiffly held fingers, swiftly washed away by the rain. His eyes flicked to the rest of the battlefield, taking in all who were present.

He stood on the upper deck, surrounded by sea folk who were beginning to react, turning toward him and away from the foreign sailors they had been menacing. Dawning realization shone upon their twisted faces.

Below, on the lower deck, a shockwave erupted, blasting away the rain as the sea folk’s champion and the many limbed warrior who seemed to lead this foreign ship clashed in a blurring whirlwind of weapons outside the miniature palace which occupied the ship’s center.

Of the three great warriors of the sea folk, two clashed with the warrior below while the third was up here, hefting a great stone staff the size of a small ship’s mast. The third warrior bellowed an imprecation in his barbaric tongue, and Xiao Wen felt the sea under them surge. Grimly, he began to draw upon the shallow trickle of shen which he had cultivated.

Bai Guzhen arrived on a tide of ink and seaspray. A tremendous liquid tail that glittered wetly in the rain rocked the ship and swept the deck, drawing screams as the victims struck found themselves bitten, clawed, and mauled by the horde of deep sea horrors that swam beneath the surface. The tail was halted only by the sea lord’s stone staff striking it with enough force to splinter the deck beneath their feet. His mistress towered, meters off the ground, imperious and unflinching. Her golden gaze turned to Xiao Wen.

“I said that I was the head of the spear, Xiao Wen,” she said harshly.

“If the captain wishes to arrive first, perhaps she should consider eating less of the daily catch,” Xiao Wen said blandly as their foes began to get back up.

“Insolent. To think that you would speak to me so, Xiao—”

The head of a massive staff, filled with a law of weight and pressure, crushed her skull in a liquid spray.

A hand twisted into a claw lashed out, seizing the staff’s head before it could be pulled back, and from the churning ink where Bai Guzhen’s head had been, tendrils, pincers, and jaws erupted, snapping shut around the weapon. There was a deep and guttural laugh. A slash formed in the churning mass of flesh that rose around the entrapped weapon, and it filled with teeth.

“BUt thIs FIRst,” she hissed.

Xiao Wen smiled and turned to the sea lord’s supporters.

***​

The Sea Folk were worthy opponents, and that was why Xiao Wen did not feel any surprise when their presence shortly caused a rout. Their war doctrine was opportunism, and they valued the lives of their men. Three warriors of equal realm to overwhelm the enemy’s leader was a calculation swiftly changed by their presence. Only his captain with her meditations in the abyss of Lake Hei had any ability to chase them back into the deeps.

Still, they had reaped a toll. He had cut down half a dozen warriors of the third realm, and his captain had badly wounded the third lord before he had leapt back into the sea. Well within his estimates.

Unfortunately, he had also predicted their current situation.

They stood on the blood-stained deck of the foreign ship, surrounded by frightened but resolute men in elaborate armors. The great twelve-armed warrior’s weapons now bristled in their direction. He spoke in a foreign tongue, crossing two of his spears over his chest, and a sword held in his third right hand gestured toward the rail of the deck and the tiny silhouette of their own ship.

“I am not merely going to leave,” Bai Guzhen declared imperiously. Captain Guzhen maintained her mantle, the dark waters that formed a coiling tail raising her to the eye level of the giant. She crossed her arms over her chest, the silhouettes of leviathans and slain seafolk swimming across her skin in ink. “I need to speak with the one who rules you, warrior.”

She repeated her demand, first in the tongue of the Xuan, and then that of the sea folk, and finally, that of the Garden.

With each attempt, the giant blue-skinned warrior’s brows furrowed further and the grip on his weapons tightened. Not an untoward reaction to the words of the Red Garden, Xiao Wen thought, observing the men around them. He began to plan his movements for the combat brewing. His captain could be so impetuous.

The warrior spoke again, this time in a tongue which sounded similar to that of the Red Garden but different in cadence. He gestured more fiercely to the ship’s rail, and her captain’s frown grew more fierce. The waves tattooed on her skin began to churn.

The clear chime of a tiny bell rang out, cutting through the sound of the dispersing storm. In front of them, Xiao Wen saw the eyes of the giant widen, and he immediately stepped to the side and knelt, exposing the front of the miniature palace of gold and jewels. The front of the structure was a red curtain of rich cloth, dry despite the storm and blood, like that which would hide the inside of a noble’s palanquin.

The curtain drew aside, and Xiao Wen nearly found himself on his knees. A soft golden light emanated from within like the rays of the dawn, lighting the deck of the ship. Little golden steps lead up to the tiny throne of jewels within. There, a small figure sat. He could not say if they were man or woman, child or adult. Their skin was the color of gold, their scalp shaved bare, their soft and serene features expressionless, and their small hands folded in a lap wrapped only in a loose skirt the color of cinnabar.

It was all Xiao Wen could do not to reel. It felt as if chunks of himself were missing. He… Who was he? He had been thinking of something only a moment ago, but now, it seemed beyond his grasp. There was only light and peace.

But he was Xiao, and he stood with his white serpent. The primal terror which shrouded her was to him the warm blanket of home and creche. He let out a hissing breath as he straightened himself and realized what was missing. This being's very presence had nearly stripped him of all violence, all knowledge of and ability to act upon it.

The little being on the throne’s head tilted very slightly to the side.

“An interesting trick. Why did you not turn it upon your foes?” Bai Guzhen asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Violence sullies the path to ascension, even to intervene. The children of the sea are also of the realm of beasts. Their minds are beyond enlightenment in this life.”

Xiao Wen was surprised at the swift response. The being’s voice was soft and childlike, soothing as a lullaby. They also spoke in no language he could discern. Their lips moved, but his eyes hurt when he tried to follow the formation of the sounds. Instead, the meanings seemed to imprint directly upon his mind.

“It is interesting to me that you are not,” said the being. “Who are you, children of the White Terror?”

“Ah, you recognize Grandmother Serpent in me?” A smile creeped onto his captain’s lips. “How interesting.”

“Though the Hungering Abyss has slept for more than two-thirds of this kalpa, the echoes of her hunger ring in the deep places yet,” they said. “Twice I ask, who are you?”

“I am Captain Bai Guzhen, scion of the Bai clan, who are, as you guessed, the descendants of Grandmother Serpent. Who is it that I speak to?”

“My mortal name is no more. My title is Enlightened of the Dawn Flower Path. You may call me Daya. What is it you wish for, Bai Guzhen?”

“I am on a journey of discovery,” Bai Guzhen said imperiously. “I wish for safe berthing without the need to alarm or harm the people of your country and the right to stay and study your land. Do you rule here, Daya? Do not think I cannot sense the power sleeping beneath your skin.”

“I am a seeker of ascension. The realm of rule is that of warriors,” Daya replied calmly. They looked down at the bowed head of their guardian. “It would be better to introduce these to your father than risk further violence, would it not, Arthish?”

“The enlightened speaks wisdom,” the giant said, finally raising his head.

“Good. I must purify myself now. See to our guests.” The curtain fell back across and cut off their light.

For a long moment, Bai Guzhen and the warrior Arthish stared at one another, and then on some unspoken signal, both stepped back. His mistress dissolved her mantle, and the man shrunk, his weapons and additional arms dissolving into motes of light, except for a single jeweled sword at his hip. His skin retained its dark blue tinge though.

There were stranger signs of spirit blood, Xiao Wen supposed. He remained on guard even as the ship’s other sailors also began to stand down.

“You may follow us to the harbor of Arakhat,” said Arthish. “But I will still request that you return to your own ship.”

“How is it that you may speak to me now?” Bai Guzhen asked, resting a hand on her hip. “I am quite sure you could not understand me before.”

“Before the Enlightened, barriers are removed. They merely granted me this knowledge, learned from you.”

Xiao Wen felt a surge of suspicion. If that person could take such knowledge so easily, what else had they learned in that exchange?

His captain smiled confidently though, showing no unease. “In that case, how long is the remaining journey?”

“If your ship is able, it will take two days,” Arthish replied with a hint of challenge.

“My crew and ship are up to any voyage. Come, Xiao Wen. Let our companions clean and repair their decks.”

He nodded silently, following her as she leapt from the ship. His feet touched down briefly on the water before following her next leap into the sky.

“What a lethal man,” his captain mused into the rushing wind.

“He seemed pressed quite hard,” Xiao Wen objected. “He may have even lost without us.”

“No, I do not think so. He was holding back for some reason, perhaps for the sake of that creature on the throne. There is destruction in his blood.” She chuckled. “I should not mind overmuch if he offered me a foe’s head on his spear.”

“Captain,” Xiao Wen hissed, scandalized as they ran briefly along the waves.

“Oh, do lighten up, First Mate.” She turned a smoldering look his way. “You know I love you most.”

Xiao Wen stiffened and murmured something unintelligible. His mistress was far too bold, speaking words like that in the open air.

They landed on the decks of the ship, and by the time they did, there was no sign of fluster or flirtation.

“Tell me, Xiao Wen, what did you sense from that creature on the throne?”

He frowned. “Overwhelming serenity and passivity. I regret to say that it nearly overcame me. Why do you call them so? They seem only a powerful cultivator with a strange Way.”

He might expect such from any other Bai, but his mistress was always different in her polite way of referring to outsiders.

They strode across the decks, giving the sailors their new orders.

“We will need to train your senses further. I call them that because there was no trace of humanity there. A spirit of some sort, most likely. But… I find myself interested.”

He had mistook a spirit for a human? Shameful, Xiao Wen thought. “What interests you, my captain?”

“The closest comparison to what I felt from that ‘Daya’ was what I felt the day Mother allowed me into the vaults and I beheld a single gleaming spirit stone which shone with all seven colors of the rainbow,” Bai Guzhen said, gazing out toward the ship of the foreigners.

Xiao Wen sighed, knowing that look. He had a feeling that they would be here for a very long time.