Author note; Holidays coming up and I do most my writing at work. We either get super busy or super slow so I can''t promise 2-3 chapters a week, but I''ll do my best. Thanks for the support both here and reddit.


    ---


    <I really don''t think we should kill her. She sent us here to save everything. EVERYTHING. Including us.>


    <Bullshit. What''s stopping her from coming here to do it herself? The damn bitch is just a lazy slut.>


    As Sun Jiao was watching the buildings pass by his eyebrow twitched. The carriage continued to travel for a few more blocks before he gave up thinking of excuses for her.


    <I guess she could couldn''t she.>


    <Damn straight. She made everything of course she could just make something to fix it.>


    <Wait how are we supposed to kill her then? Isn''t she the maker of everything>


    <Haha who cares! We''ll think of something along the way. Now that we''ve agreed to that; don''t you have some questions?>


    <Yes, but I never agre->


    <...>


    <I''m going back to sleep then.>


    <Wait. Ok. First how is this carriage moving? I didn''t see a driver or anything.>


    <HA. That''s your first question? Not about how ki works or your crazy sister or what you''re going to do, but the fucking carriage? Oh this is fucking rich. Ghosts move it. Next question.>


    <Wait ghosts?>


    <Close enough. Ask your sister if you find the balls too. Though to be fair if you find em and ask you''ll probably lose em. hehe.>


    <Ghosts huh. What about the horses are they ghosts?>


    <No that''s stupid. Stop asking about the stupid carriage.>


    <But we''re in the carriage now and I have plenty of time to ask about other stuff later. It''s definitely relevant.>


    <You''re fucking with me aren''t you. You have to be. There is no way you''re actually this retarded.>


    <You do deserve it.>


    <Fucking next question.>


    <It''s about Sun Qing.>


    <Yes?>


    Sun Jiao felt a bit of anticipation in Xiaobo''s reply and couldn''t resist.


    <Does she control the ghosts that run the carriage or...?>


    <...>


    The carriage had been nearing the golden palace wall while they were talking. While it was possible to talk quickly using thought-speak it did require some effort, so they had been chatting at a normal pace.


    Sun Qing had started rambling again, this time talking to Xu Rong about something. Sun Jiao hadn''t been paying attention to the conversation but realized her voice had been relaxing him as she spoke; it was truly a pleasant sound.


    <Xiaobo?>


    <No. Fuck you. No fucking questions until we get out of this shitty carriage.>


    Sun Jiao chuckled to himself before noticing that the carriage was beginning to slow.


    As they passed the last building before the wall Sun Jiao caught sight of the golden palace wall and froze as if struck by lightning. Sun Jiao had seen the largest dam on Earth that was over 1000 feet tall and this wall put it to shame. It looked as though it had been crafted by giants.


    The wall, instead of reflecting the sunlight, glowed with a golden light as if drawing power from the sun. Sun Jiao was thankful for that as the surface was so smooth and shiny the reflected sunlight would have blinded him instead of leaving him with a feeling of awe.


    As they passed under the wall the light didn''t fade and instead intensified. The glow of the wall brightened and it was as bright outside the tunnel as it was inside. Along with the golden light there were silver symbols scrawled on the wall at regular intervals and between each set of symbols there were arrowslits for archers to assault the invading army as they passed through the wall. Every once in awhile he would see shadowy movements behind the slits that made him feel uncomfortable as though they weren''t human.


    They traveled under the wall much longer than Sun Jiao would have thought; he was again struck by how large the wall must be for it to take so long.


    Just as he was about to ask Xiaobo how much farther they had the wall ended and they entered the city center.


    <We''ll find you a map since you need to familiarize yourself with the palace grounds. Left is the diplomats, right is the imperial family and the center is the palace as well as direct dicendants of the current emperor, your father.>


    Xiaobo sounded as though he was still annoyed so Sun Jiao kept quiet and remembered the general layout. To the left and right of the road were water gardens and a pathway lined with trees. Behind the trees was a wall about a story and a half tall. Eventually the wall turned down a road and continued on into the distance. A ways down there was a gate followed by more wall and eventually another gate and more wall. Even with Sun Jiao''s improved vision he couldn''t see the end of the street as it continued into the distance.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ''How can I not see the golden wall in the distance? As big as it is I should be able to see it from here. The palace grounds must be enormous.''


    They continued along the center road for a lengthy amount of time causing Sun Jiao to lose interest in the side streets.


    <Do we really have to wait? I promise not to ask any more questions about the carriage.>


    <You better fucking not. Since your last question I''ve been working on a way to kill you and I think I almost got it.>


    <You wouldn''t actually kill me right?>


    <Nah just destroy your soul and take over the body.>


    <...>


    In a much happier tone Xiaobo continued;


    <How about I just explain this shit ya? Your insane sister is a pra->


    <She''s not that insane. Sure she got carried away with the maid, but she didn''t seem that dangerous to me.>


    <First, the maid was the one that got carried away. Second, you have no idea how close you came to dying. Watch this shit.>


    Sun Jiao''s vision shifted and as though he was in a dream he saw from a distance a hazy vision of himself in the carriage with Sun Qing hugging him. Only he didn''t return the hug and the carriage stopped. A while passed and he finally heard himself "Please get off we''re here." Sun Qing froze for a moment and then began to squeeze. He saw his face turn purple then his life fade away. The carriage turned around and began to return to the palace. Sun Qing continued her usual ramblings the vision faded; "I wonder what the imposter did to my brother. I hope he''s alright. The body is a good copy though...hehe. I''ll hide the body and then find brother. I can''t way to play with it!"


    The next vision was of Xu Rong on his lap as Sun Qing entered the room. The Sun Jiao in the vision turned to his sister and began to explain himself. "This is..." before he could even start though Sun Qing disappeared and reappeared in front of Xu Rong with bright red hair. With a slap Xu Rong''s brains exploded and pieces of bone flew to the right smashing into the maid who had been standing to the side of the chairs. The bone fragments riddled her body and then continued into the wall. The force of the slap had been controlled perfectly so not even a drop of blood landed on Sun Jiao. Sun Qing then began to murmur in a crazed voice "That fucking fat fuck gave my brother some fucking slut and then had the audacity to die before I could inflict him with punishment for it. Let''s send him his fat fucking family so they can tell the fatass all about what his punishement would have been." With a giggle she disappeared out the door and the vision faded.


    A brief moment of darkness and another vision began. Sun Qing had just thrown the maid out and turned around to see Sun Jiao''s reaction.


    <Enough I get it.>


    Sun Jiao''s vision returned to the present.


    <HAHA. Do you? That one is pretty fucking impressive even by my standards. She kills the entire coliseum and everyone within a couple of blocks because you had been carried away by the crowd''s excitement. Can you believe that? Crazy bitch killed the people nearby because they COULD have been in the crowd.>


    <I didn''t realize she was so unstable.>


    <Unstable? Maybe for a bitch ass world like yours, but that kind of shit happens all the time here. She''s insane because she killed people nearby. Killing the coliseum wasn''t crazy though.>


    <If you say so.>


    <I do. And you will as well. Back to your sister... and I guess the fucking carriage now that I think about it. Fuck. Well she practices a soul art and can control the spirits of the dead. That''s how the fucking carriage moves and also why she has so many ''fiances'' as she calls them. Really she just wanders around luring foolish boys with potential so she can kill them and turn them into puppets. She also has a method to harvest a bit of their power which is why she''s so much stronger than you even though she''s younger than you by a couple of months.>


    <Wait months? Don''t you mean years?>


    <Are you fucking deaf? I said months I meant months. Her art keeps her body like that and only idiots judge people by how they look. You for example. Your body looks like a badass motherfucker but inside is a bald little kitten shriveled in a corner.>


    <Fuck you I''m not that bad. I''m actually looking forward to fighting.>


    <Are you? Good. That''s the next point I was going to make how to use Ki and Will.>


    <Awesome.>


    <Thanks.>


    <...>


    <hr />


    Slow chapter and the next one will probably be too. Need to take a break from arrogance to build up a world. If there isn''t a world how can you look down on it?