>>4737591

Having then infiltrated the Celestial Incarnation Palace, the black heart of the corruption that had long bedeviled and tormented the people of the Yan Kingdom, you saved many victims of the predations of the Yan Dynasty and their court, and gave merciful death to those too wounded or far gone to survive to see the coming dawn of a new era.

One by one, you hunted and brought justified death and judgement to the six abominable princes of Yan. The man with appetite to defile and consume the flesh of maidens, the psychotic who hunted men like animals, the lack wit drunkard, the lunatic painter who used human lives as his pigment, the incestuous and martially skilled twin princes all fell to your hand, as their evil was finally purged from the world.

However, you were denied your final prize, Lord Yan himself, Yan Weizha, the final bloated boil of the Yan Dynasty to rule the land and abuse its people. For, the true source of all of the Yan Kingdoms suffering and degeneration had abandoned the king as you approached.

The concubine Huli Jing. An ancient malevolence that had long hid beneath the stolen skin of beautiful maidens, the beguiler of dynasties, the corrupting golden fire, the fox devil with nine tails, matron of excess, ruiner of bloodlines and legacy, and the messenger in flames. This evil spirit, was the source of the decadence and sinful ways of the Yan dynasty and the noble lines who served beneath them, and the cause of all prior the dynasties' fall.

Abandoning the Yan who wore her visage and colors as all her other puppets had before, she had twisted Yan Weizha's body into a form more befitting a wretch like himself, mutating him into a barely mobile amorphous blob of blubber and soft fur dotted with drooling, heavy lipped mouths, Huli Jing had stolen your final quarry and denied his uncountable victims the retribution they had deserved.

For she sought a far worthier prize than the bloated king she had long served, a more potent and effective tool to enact her wicked whims and deplorable wiles upon the world. Yourself.

Seeking to corrupt your noble spirit and virtuous mind, to subvert your journey's lesson and render all your labor and struggle meaningless, she met you in a brutal battle.

One that you continue to fight now. The Hellish Concubine, Huli Jing, has proven to be the most dangerous adversary you have yet faced. The living construct of dark emotion, has wounded you more gravely than any other opponent you have faced before.

However the master of the witchfire and sorcerous flames, is not without her weaknesses, and has endured injuries that would have crippled or outright slain a creature of purely material nature.

Having retreated and escaped from the pitched battle momentarily, you have studied the wretched creature and discovered the weaknesses inherent in an existence of a spirit such as herself.
cont

>>4737592

Devising a cunning scheme, you prepared to launch another and hopefully final attack against the origin of depraved degeneration...
-
<Music for the ongoing boss battle: https://youtu.be/wm6vU23R2Qo)

Remaining in the shadows, beneath the branches of the bronze leafed tree you began your assault upon Huli Jing's mind. Throwing and echoing your voice to hide mask your presence and hide your true location, you began to torment the tormenter by attacking the very essences of her being via the only method that could inflict deeper wounds than the words of the Journey itself.

A creature born of pride and indulgence, woven into life through such weak willed desires would of course be vulnerable to such expressions of excess being denied and entirely denounced with the same fervor and faith of which you speak the lessons of your journey.

Already consumed by mindless wrath and disgust inspired by your unshakeable beliefs in the teachings you spread, Huli Jing would easily deceived and tricked by such childish pestering and insults. But this approach was yet most cunning and genius, for the fox spirit was in many ways your equal and in other ways your better. To believe the duel with her should remain solely martial in nature, was a folly most deadly.

Utilizing the acoustics of the garden's architecture, you made your voice carry and fly upon the wind, echoing upon walls and jade encrusted towers alike. Your wounds danced upon the bubbling streams, frolicked in the flowering trees and bushes before completing their flight upon Huli Jing's vulpine ears.

For a moment, her five remaining eyes of amber softened as if the pleasure she felt of hearing you speak of such wanton whims and vile impulse had managed to intoxicate her, despite her purely spiritual nature. Your words became as the most tantilizing and soothing song this ancient being of evil had ever heard. Hope welled in her twisted, inhuman heart blacked by untold eons of unrestrained indulgences of the worst kind.

For this brief serenade, listing all of life's fleeting and ultimately pointless pleasures, passions, treasures and desires, Huli Jing believed the touch of her mind warping flames had at last bested your indomitable will.

And you were most delighted, to see the sheer depth of her fury, as she realized you spoke such foulness to deliver and insult, not only to her lifestyle but to the very core of her being! Venom dripped from your lips, the poison of the unavoidable truth that even the blind could see, fell like a caustic rain upon Huli Jing's treacherous mind. One by one, you denounced each fleeting pleasure, each unfulfilling desire, and every meaningless excess with such vitriol and hatred it felt as if your tongue burned to speak such spiteful words.
cont

>>4737593

Huli Jing howled to the silent night sky, her shriek joined by the distant sounds of battle, before being drowned by the crackling war of her tri colored flames. Waves of golden brilliance, white fury and pink hued spite roiled from beneath the Devil's gold colored hide, scorching the life from the garden the two you stalked each other within.

The water boiled to steam, the grasses and trees were consumed by a fog so black it made the light appear as morning, specters of long lost souls floundered and stumbled in the burning shroud that poured out of the abominable monstrosity's fur. The natural fog of the world was replaced by the incarnation of her uncontrolled fury and madness.

The healing wounds upon her flesh, began to bleed a new. Black oil and sludge tearing the flesh that had began to stitch her hide back together, flowing and boiling upon her chest and thighs as she continued to scream and rage in tongues long dead or yet unborn!

Wielding the mighty Chendao, stolen from your own hands earlier in the battle, she began to rampage and vent her frustration and mind boiling anger upon the world around her. A pointless show of power and devastation, the fine steel that bears your fallen friend's name and a fraction of his legacy, was used to carve deep trenches into the flame consumed garden's ashen soil. Swinging the weapon with wild abandon, its blade cut through stone and foliage alike, sending sparks and embers to join the burning storm that surrounded its tantruming wielder.

Stomping her feet impetuously, the tail upon your sighed bristled and began to burn with the same scorching brilliance as its eight brothers did upon the end of the spirit's spine. Smothering it against the trunk of the tree that served as your hiding place, you watched on, as The devil began to fire round after round into the darkness, destroying her surroundings and rendering most of the garden and nearby structures to naught but rubble and dust.

She was chasing your voice, too furious to perceive its true source. Lying still and in wait, you continued observing the maddened beast's pique driven rampage as she unleashed increasingly pointless destructions and savagerys upon any object that entered her reach.

"WITLESS DOG! LORD OF ALL SIMPLETONS AND FOOLS! HE WHO TRAVELS AND SPEAKS NOT BUT LIES! WORTHLESS WORM FROM NOTHING. IMPUDENT WRETCH! FRIEND OF BEGGARS AND FODDER! FATHER OF IMBECILES! GUARDIAN OF DUNG! MEEKEST SON OF THE WILDS! TRANSIENT KING! HEAR ME! HEAAAAR ME AND SHOW YOURSELF! SHOOOOOOW YOURSELF!" Huli Jing howled, as her body was completely shrouded by the flames she commanded, her burning cloak turning into a legion of gnashing jaws and gritted teeth as she marched forth, swinging her stolen weapon at the air that surrounded it, twirling it as she searched for the specific shadow that concealed you from her magical sight
cont

>>4737594

"CEASE THIS CRAVENESS! CEASE THIS COWARDICE! FACE ME, YOUR BETTER IN ALL REGARDS AND FIELDS! FACE ME AND RECIEVE PUNISHMENT! COME OUT AND DIE, SON OF THE ANATHAME!" She continue to shriek and whine impotently, unknowingly nearing ever closer to her perch.

Shifting, you ready yourself to attack. Her neck is exposed, with one well place strike her head may be taken and this centuries long nightmare may at last come to an end.

However, you are not able to resist the impulse to direct one more, hopefully final, insult towards you most hateful and contemptible of enemies.

So, you begin to sing, your chanting song echoing in all corners of the garden, further infuriating the already rage consumed Huli Jing as she began to swing with wilder abandon and further spiteful passion.

"Oh little fox why do you sour,
Scheming fox was this not your hour?
-
Lieren's path overturned your home,
Burned your den and golden throne.
-
Oh little fox why so grim?
Did you not enjoy your life of sin?
-
Prideful fox do you not see?
The mists are mine and show you to me
-
Oh little fox you hunt no mouse pure and sweet,
This is a panthers den now and you are but meat.
-
This is a mighty hunt don't so say?
A shame it's to late for you the prey."

You chant calmly, serenely, as you stand to your feet and press the twin prince's Daos together at the edge, the wind begins to whip around you. A cool breeze shudders and banishes the sweltering heat summoned forth by the devil you face. A confident grin crosses your lips, as your golden eyes flash in the darkness.

Iron hued hair flying behind your head, you leap from the tree that sheltered you, breaking it in twain as you take to the skies. Pressing down the handles, you call forth the power with the treasures of the last Yan princes, brilliant white energy banishing the gloom of the night and darkness of the smoke that had surrounded you.

The natural fog returns, as Huli Jing turns to face you a moment too late.

"LIEREN!!!!" She shrieks in impotent anger, eyes bulging from her skull as the flames surrounding her recede and wane

"HULI JING!!!!" You below in response, wrists twitching as you begin your attack, lining the glowing sabers parallel with the evil spirit's bulging neck. Hopefully, this shall end this monster's reign upon the material world at last and forever more.
-
The moment froze. In a world unimaginable by the mortal minds of the sane and well, a prince of darkness at upon her throne of silver, angrily tapping his fingers both dainty and robust upon its gilded rests. The Courtiers attending the prince of excess had long since fled to the safety of further reaches of her palace of pleasures halls. Beneath his feet, lay the brutalized remains of those too slow witted to sense the danger their liege now presented to them, so consumed by irritation and disgust.
cont

>>4737596

A plan that had spanned eons. A favored servant upon a defenseless world, poised to overcome the rivals sent by the other three. It had all been turned to ruin in but a night, but the sheer incompetence of her champion. Given all the tools and aid available to succeed, she now stood, a tattered, bloody and most of all disgraced mess of a daemon. Growling, and grinding his alabaster teeth upon the soulstones of fallen Aeldari, She who thirst settled back into his throne and watched in silence.

The battle may yet turn in her favor. However, victory would taste ever so bitter even if his child were to succeeded in taming the wild heart of the hunter.

In the delayed moment, a heroic scene sat before the eyes of a god to its great distaste. An Iron haired man, falling through the air like a living bolt of retribution, cloaked in charred robes of silk dyed azure and plum, coated in torn steel and battered armor with twin blades in hand, crackling with power and fury.

Unseen to the man's own eyes, a great golden light burned within his eyes and surrounded him like a sun's cornea. The fog of his world surrounded him like a mother's loving embrace. His hair, released of its binding, feel to his back in a great flowing mane.

And Unseen to the eyes of the god witnessing this battle and growing ever more annoyed, a shadow danced by the lights of the soul fed flames surrounding it, a voiceless cackle leaving its nonexistent lips as it mocked its unknowing sibling, mirthfully watching the match like a spectator at a martial tournament.
-
<Theme for Huli Jing's boss fight against Lieren: https://youtu.be/8nW-IPrzM1g>

Striking decisively, you lash the twin blades forwards, slicing the air in an cross shape as your knees collide with Huli Jing's cut open chest. Black blood sprinkles the air, boiling alongside the pure scarlet water that flowers from your own veins. Your two golden eyes meet the devil's own five amber eyes, fire erupting from socket that contains the remain of the sixth.

The stolen tale seizes and shudders, struggling to escape from its confines at your sides.

The pale light of the moon pierces the fire, the smoke and the fog, shining down upon the two of you like a distant beacon.

A sting pain washes across your fate, by claw or blade, she's marred your visage. But that is meaningless. As the flowing warmth of spilt blood crawls across your cheeks like summer rain, the sabers in your hands meet flesh.

And bite deeply into it, black bile boiling upon their edge as both sink their fangs deeply into Huli Jing's flesh. A flash of golden light accompanies the cut, pouring from the fox demon's wounds as a torrent of sickening sludge flows from her wound.

The edges of the blade reach her spine and halt. Caught by her bone. The devil begins to fall backwards, clawing and grasping for your neck as she descends towards the earth.

Then she stands, stomping the ground to halt her fall. With an enraged howl, she bellows
cont

>>4737597

"NOT LIKE THIS! I REFUSE TO BE DEFEATED SO IGNOMINIOUSLY!" She screams, despite her throat being torn in half "THIS SHALL BE MY VICTORY WHELP! YOU WILL NOT STEAL AWAY THE REWARD THAT AWAITS ME FOR MY MILLIENUMS OF TOIL! IT SHALL NOT BE!"

Fire begins to flare around her, as she twirls the Chendao. She has reserved a few rounds, despite her earlier rampage.

This fight isn't won yet, but you have dealt a serious blow to the spirit.

What is your sixth move, Lieren?
>Use the dao's as a grip, and flip over Huli Jing's head, attempting to pull her to the ground and finish the cut.
>Let go of the twin blades, kicking off of the devil's chest. And throw the Six fanged spear into her breast
>"Do not fear death, do not hate death...." Stare emotionlessly into her eyes as you pull the daos free and attempt to blind her with them
>Use the stuck blades as leverage, and repeatedly headbutt Huli Jing while repeating the song you sang
>Write in

>>4737599
>Use the dao's as a grip, and flip over Huli Jing's head, attempting to pull her to the ground and finish the cut.
>Start to chant our teachings about death, emphasise it being inevitable.

>>4737599
>Use the dao's as a grip, and flip over Huli Jing's head, attempting to pull her to the ground and finish the cut.

>>4737599
>Use the dao as a grip
>"Do not fear death, do not hate death"

Malal, that cheeky bastard, is probably laughing his ass off.

>Use the dao's as a grip, and flip over Huli Jing's head, attempting to pull her to the ground and finish the cut.
>Start to chant our teachings about death, emphasise it being inevitable.

I wonder if we can repay the favor to Malal and help him in truly existing again, maybe turning him in a truly benevolent chaos God along the way.

>>4737693
Malal can never be benevolent, its against the very premise of his being. So no, unforchunately not.

>>4737599
>Use the dao's as a grip, and flip over Huli Jing's head, attempting to pull her to the ground and finish the cut.

I like the quest

>>4737599
>>Write in
Furious as she is she has forgotten the most simple of rules, we are to close so she must hold the staff close to the head. This is her doom, for if we kick the lower side of the staff despite her strength we will have sheer leverage from the longer side and make the gun point towards her head the moment she pulls the trigger and even if we fail the shot will miss us. We end her with the weapon we started with, if she falls from it catch the weapon from her loosened grip.

if that don't kill her using one Dao as a step while gripping the other as its embedded and circle her neck with it removing he head entirely

"Do not fear death little fox it comes to all even you
Do not fear death little fox for your is long due
Do not fear death little fox your schemes are through"

>>4737599
>Use the dao's as a grip, and flip over Huli Jing's head, attempting to pull her to the ground and finish the cut.

"BEGONE EVIL SPIRIT ! WHEREVER ME, MY COMPANIONS OR MY PEOPLE SHALL STAND, EVIL DEFEAT WILL BE INEVITABLE ! AND IN YOUR DESTRUCTION KNOW THIS, THAT THE REST OF YOUR KIN SHALL FACE DOOM SOON ENOUGH AS WELL !"

A booming defiance and declaration of war to Huli jing and all other evil spirits

>>4737715
Sounds based let's do it

>>4737599
>Use the dao's as a grip, and flip over Huli Jing's head, attempting to pull her to the ground and finish the cut.
>Start to chant our teachings about death, emphasise it being inevitable.
>Write in
Call upon the souls of the slain. Let them bear witness as retribution is at hand.

>>4737697
Why not? Hes not born yet, and it's not like the nature of chaos is entirely stagnant. Maybe its wishful thinking, but I'm gonna hold out a little hope that it's maybe possible.

>7 chapters in
>Lieren is taking a massive steaming shit on a literal prince of chaos
Based Lieren.

>>4737693
We shouldn't do that. Malal is a fundamentally evil being like the rest of them and the embodiment of "some men just want to watch the world burn"

>>4737715
>>4737697
Supporting

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>>4737599
Write in:
"These blades avoided your neck, spawn of the underworld,
I will not miss nor wreck my chance two-fold."

>Use the dao's as a grip, and flip over Huli Jing's head, attempting to pull her to the ground and finish the cut.
>Headbutt the demon back into the immaterium.

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>>4737599

>"Do not fear death, do not hate death...." Stare emotionlessly into her eyes as you pull the daos free and attempt to blind her with them
>Maneuver to her back and try to remove the other tails.
Ended up falling sleep before finishing the last two schemes, and when I woke up a new thread appeared.
RIP the 2k dream.

>>4737599
Supporting this.
>>4737621
Also
>Your wounds danced upon the bubbling streams, frolicked in the flowering trees and bushes before completing their flight upon Huli Jing's vulpine ears.
While I know this is a typo, it sounds like something from Nurgle's domain with all the dancing wounds.
>the pleasure she felt of hearing you speak of such wanton whims and vile impulse had managed to intoxicate her
so daemons get their fix from people talking about the things that embody them? This means a chaos worshiper who is a good orator is the equivalent to a back alley drug dealer for starving daemons.

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>>4737813
And here's the last one.

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830 KB PNG

>>4737823
Didn't edit the symbol properly.
So a fix.

>>4737822
It is also funny how the things that Lieren disliked about the six princes were that one was a man who "defiled and consumed the flesh of maidens", another a "psychotic who hunted men like animals", a third a "lunatic painter who used human lives as his pigment" and the other three were a "lack wit drunkard" and the "incestuous and martially skilled twins". Some of these are not like the others although I'm waiting to hear what the guards of the twins have to say about them and Jie I guess allowed tortures to happen in his party.
>>4737813
>>4737823
>>4737831
Good job. They all look great. We can get the two thousand posts in this thread so look forward to it.

>>4737847
I would not put much trust in what the guards say, they seemed to be fanatically loyal to them, they might ignore or brush off things that would be less savory.
Now if we could get some honest servants to spill the beans about their dirty secrets, that would be better.
And it for me it read less like the fat drunk ignored torture and more like he activaly encouraged it as entertaiment and music.

>>4737856
If they are blinded by loyalty Lieren's eyes will see that but I see no reason not to ask the servants. Maybe you're right about Jie but I saw him more as a guy who just said "organize a party for all the nobles and what they want and don't bother me with the details", so he didn't care about what was happening around him so much as long as he was indulging himself.

>>4737867
Oh, I wasn't saying that they would lie to us, but that the ones that stayed and countinued being loyal wouldn't actually give a thought about any of the twins odd activities or sadism of it existed.
Like for example say they did a petty duel for a made up rule, they would say that they valued honour highly.
Or if said duel was against someone that could barely fight and they did a prolonged and brutal fight just so they could do their perfect and fancy moves, they would say they were expert, unbeatle swordmen.
Or they afterwards would fuck still covered in the blood, they would either ignore it or say they were truly in love with eachother.
I don't know if our truth vison can detect lies if the other person believe it to be true, so unless we find one of the guards that had a bit of a doubt, something hard considering the how one of the virtous we found was so filled with zeal, than the best bet would be a servant.

>>4737886
Well we can see both the servants and guards(and deal with any surviving or hidden tyrants) when we finish the fight. I had the impression though that Lieren's vision detects more than the existence of lies(since to me virtue is more than the absence of lies) so he could tell if the guards simply disregarded the twins cruelty.

>>4737898
Fair enough.
And there is no problem being thorough when investigating, given we probably will have to deal with judging a bunch of nobles we simply didn't get to, so just add interviewing the guards and servant in that list.
But that's all after we deal with the bitch in heat anyway.

>>4737599
>>"Do not fear death, do not hate death...." Stare emotionlessly into her eyes as you pull the daos free and attempt to blind her with them

>>4737902
>bitch in heat
Hehehe. I wonder if there were any depraved rulers who preferred Huli Jing in her natural form.
Maybe if we finish the fight soon, we might be able to send a message to the armies in the war that the Dynasty is dead and the war is over so you should stop fighting to prevent more deaths in the battles being raged. I highly doubt it but maybe we could try it.

>>4737923
If the Yan dynasty has any special banner or crown or something like the mandate of heaven, it could add legitimacy to the claim.

>>4737923
I'd enjoy the old fox bending the knee. If he could be turned, he would be a useful ally but I fear we would have to remove him.

Root and stem, as they say, Root and stem.

>>4738067
Like what we did with Gao Dayu and her siblings? Now I wonder if Gao's wives that had their tongues cut also survived.

>>4738025
I meant I was doubting if the message would reach them before the conclusion of the battle. After the battle they were already supposed to go to the capital(as Lieren wrote to them in the letter) to join him anyway.

>>4738094
Like what we did to the house of Gao. I mean maybe he isn't corrupted but his nephew was a step away from becoming a daemon prince. So it's best we be utterly sure he isn't depraved.

And nah, the records say that his wives were killed by Liewe.

>>4738102
Really? I don't remember them getting killed. I'll have to re-read the archives then. I only remember meeting them in the throne room of Gao then almost no mention of them afterwards(there was an oath that Dayu made that spoke of her mother I think but not if she was alive or not).

>>4738112
We found family records to assess how many were alive and how many were dead, and we found like some 60+ kids died of "natural causes and accidents" which Lieren then goes on to say 'At least the wives had the true cause of death listed: killed of orders of Gao Liewe'

The one's in his room, I don't think they ever were mentioned again but about 2-3 years had passed between our inaugeration and murder of Gao. So I doubt they survived.

>>4738132
I thought that implied the previous wives were killed. He could have been remarrying constantly considering his lifestyle and personality but maybe you're right.

>>4738138
yeah that's the stated fact, that he was constantly re-marrying and having more children.

I'm saying that I think that those wives we saw were used up before we killed him, so logically it follows that he had them killed like he had the others.

>>4738101
Well that makes sense.
Even if we wrap up this fight next update, immediatly find evidence and sprint to the battle, I doubt we wpuld reach it in time.
But who knows, maybe the Yan will sense that the whore died and surrender. Not very unlikely though, given that she still has the other 8 tails, so they probably weren't trusted or corrupted enough.

>>4738149
Not very likely, not unlikely.
Also they could fight even harder if it happens, so better not bank on hypothesys.

>>4738141
Oh okay. Emperor rest their souls then.
>>4738149
If only we could make a fast moving craft for delivering messages but as previously people have pointed out, a world covered in fog doesn't help with flying around it and we are still away from making cars. At least not fast enough to prevent this battle.

>>4737599
>Use the dao's as a grip, and flip over Huli Jing's head, attempting to pull her to the ground and finish the cut.

>>4737599
>>Use the dao's as a grip, and flip over Huli Jing's head, attempting to pull her to the ground and finish the cut.

>>4737745
And we aren't even in our teens yet

Are there 3 other champion daemon on this planet that we must purge?

Because that update makes it look like that is the case, or that there are 3 other Planets in the cosmos experiencing the same fate that this planet was meant for?

>>4737695
>>4737746
Do not doubt the greatness of our lord, for he is the freedom against existence's tyranny.
What better way to spite chaos than to become anathema yourself?
>>4737744
A true believer.

>>4738695
A leopard cannot change his spots, even if he wishes too with all his heart.

>>4738687
the other champions on this world got their power base and crap crippled. Slannesh had almost won here thanks to Hue jing's machinations. So we need to stamp those out.

>>4738687
We know there are 3 other civilizations on the planet, so we now know that the Vishnu High King will have a Khornate daemon with him.
And if the tzeentchian daemon lived below the mountains possessing the puppeteer, than it means that between the basque and the shunni, one is nurglite and the other is pure.

>>4738676
8-9 years old right now so no, not yet.

>>4737745
Isnt she just an daemonette? Inhabitting a meat puppet?

>>4738745
Slannesh is seething cause we ruined their plans for the planet, and Malal is having the time of his unlife. It's in the middle of the update, after the break in perspective.
Also Hui Ling seems to be way more powerful than just a daemonette.

>>4738760
Yeah, but Slaneesh is seething because her plan was ruined. Huli Jing is not as nearly as powerful as an daemon prince. If she was, she wouldnt even have needed to corrupt the leaders, she'd just use chaos powers to enslave him.

>>4738773
That's not exactly true. Corruption is a prefered tactic to mind control, since mortals doing shit of their own free will frees up a lot of energy and time.

And Yan was about to become a prince.

>>4738773
I think the original anon said a prince of chaos in the meaning of a chaos god, because that's one of the titles of Slannesh, Prince of Pleasure, and not an actual Daemon Prince, and completly ruining their plans we would be akin to taking a shit on their lap (although Slannesh probably would like the, the sick fucker).
Unless he meant stopping the Yan Kings ascencion to princehood and his transformation into a worthless chaos spawn.
He didn't even get any good mutations, poor guy.

>>4738745
We don't know anything in-character, but irl there was a chinese pseudo-myth where a woman named Daji was on her way to the capitol only to be possessed by a fox demon and then became the King's favorite concubine. She's a piece of work.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daji

>>4738812
Might be a variant of Ruination of Imperfect Beauty type daemon?

https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Ruination_of_Imperfect_Beauty

>>4738880
It doesn't seem to be, given that it's true form looks nothing alike.
Maybe it's just like it in that it's a special daemon that arouse to tempt a specific planet.
Otherwise it would be a Keeper of Secrets, and there would be no way that one would get it's ass kicked so easily.

>>4738880
Similar type, at least. Maybe she's a particularly favored one, or one born of the excess present in Yan society for generations. Or maybe she's just a unique daemon that Malal came up with, either are likely, I think.

>>4738702
> And if the tzeentchian daemon lived below the mountains possessing the puppeteer, than it means that between the basque and the shunni, one is nurglite and the other is pure.
Not even close. A better assumption is that each faction is controlled by one of the gods and the others have agents in place attempting to usurp them.

>Use the dao's as a grip, and flip over Huli Jing's head, attempting to pull her to the ground and finish the cut.

>>4739273
Don't squash my hopes that there are some uncorrupted cultures in this world.

>>4739414
Fear not.

We shall tear them all down and replace them with one that venerates malal.

>>4739707
Please no I just want to spread prosperity and peace.

Little fox a hoe
So I burnt it's plans to ash
Now it has no chance

So I drive it mad
boot upon the other paw
It's bad at hunting

Call yourself a fox
Your wit is just like a stone
Beneath mind and sight

Three more Haiku for the Fox

>>4737813
Support

>Horus
Oh my first brother
First found and first conqueror
Do guide the young well

>Leman Russ
Oh Second brother
Makers Executioner
King of Wolves and Ice

>Ourselves
Here I am the Third
A scholar and warrior
Born among the mists

>Ferrus Manus
Oh stern fourth Brother
Silver hands and Iron Will
Please do learn to smile

>Fulgrim
Graceful brother fifth
Chaser of true Perfection
Don't forget the now

>Vulkan
So kind brother sixth
Your heart a hearth but beware
The fire still burns all

>Rogal Dorn
Something new for you
dutiful Seventh brother
Don't share needless pain

>Roboute Guilliman
My dear Eighth brother
Please also tend to your heart
Victorious son

>Magnus the Red
Ninth Brother of mine
Your pursuits are so daring
Beware Maker's Wrath

>Sanguinius
My Tenth dear Brother
The Brightest star of us all
Please help rise us all

Some Haiku for our brothers

Calling the vote now.

Use the dao's as a grip, and flip over Huli Jing's head, attempting to pull her to the ground and finish the cut:13

Start to chant our teachings about death, emphasize it being inevitable.:8
-Attempt to blind huli jing:3

Attempt to kick the Chendao and fire it into Huli Jing's head (+the two other parts of that right in):3

"BEGONE EVIL SPIRIT ! WHEREVER ME, MY COMPANIONS OR MY PEOPLE SHALL STAND, EVIL'S DEFEAT WILL BE INEVITABLE!:1

Call upon the souls of the slain. Let them bear witness as retribution is at hand:1

"These blades avoided your neck, spawn of the underworld,
I will not miss nor wreck my chance two-fold.":1

Maneuver to her back and try to remove the other tails.:2

Headbutt the demon back into the immaterium:1

Total votes 17

Alright, so Lieren will begin to chant about death and its inevitability, as he flips over Huli Jing's head, using the twin Daos as leverage and his weight to attempt to fully sever the devil's foul head from her neck

Writing now

>>4737813
>>4737831
Bang up job as always amigo. I think the second looks especially stylish

>>4739982
>It was a dark day for Chaos when Lieren discovered rapping

Good haikus though.

>>4737697
and I am glad you're enjoying it

>>4740007
They are absolutely beautiful, and sound exactly like what Lieren would say. All so fitting for their subjects as well.

Wonder how they'd react to being gifted such lovely poems.

>>4740015
>>It was a dark day for Chaos when Lieren discovered rapping

Now I'm patiently awaiting the Lieren X Nujabes collaboration album.

>>4740021
Don't forget his tracks with the Wu Tang Clan.

>>4740029
Now you got me thinking of Lieren running a 36 chambers style shaolin temple. Perhaps we'll establish something of the sort when we "retire" as the leader of the planet.

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>>4740033
36 chambers is far too few for all the wonderful things Lieren would have to teach.
I'm thinking we keep it in the tradition of the fictionalized accounts of the Shaolin temple, where anybody can live and train at the monastery so long as they're willing to do their part.
We could divide the broad categories of teaching into sects of however many chambers each would need.
There would be the martial sect, the spiritual sect, the engineering sect, the artistic sect, etc.
A place for anybody who's willing to learn and broaden their horizons, being able to build on those teachings and spread them across the Imperium

>>4740015
>>4740007
>Lion El'Jonson
Eleventh Brother
The patient knight of secrets
Do not lose yourself

>Perturabo
Oh my Twelfth Brother
The breaker of walls and keeps
Give your spirit rest

>Mortarion
My Thirteenth brother
let go of hate and bile
it will consume you

>Lorgar
My Fourteenth brother
A fellow of faith and word
Let the not cloud you

>Jaghatai Khan
A fifteen brother
You who lives fast and so free
Hold close family

>Konrad Curze
My sixteenth Brother
Your not alone in the night
Brothers by your side

>Angron
Seventeenth Brother
He who hold honour and bonds
Guide your reaching sons

>Corvus Corax
My dear Eighteenth Kin
My fellow liberator
A flock together

>[Data removed]
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

>Alpharius Omegon
So fond of riddles
My Brothers the Twentieth
Or are they truly

Phew ok all done

>>4740062
Second half is just as good as the first. Absolutely Amazing work!

>>4740007
>>4740062
Now how would Lieren go about presenting these senryu to his brothers?
Obviously a postcard won't suffice.
Maybe we could make the poems inscriptions on personalized gifts for each them.

>>4740069
Most likely as an inscription on the bottom of a hand carved jade statuette accompanied by a bottle of Dragon's Spit. Both made by Lieren of course.

>>4740074
Almost forgot about Dragon's Spit, still mad that we wasted a bottle of the stuff on that jackass.
I will say it's a testament to it's quality that Lieren hasn't written off as shit.
Though that's probably because it's the only thing besides water on this planet that isn't excessively sweet or strong enough to disinfect Nurgle's taint.

>Horus and Russ first meeting Lieren
Horus: "I like him, reasonable disciplined and understands the importance of the chain of command!"
Russ: "uugh so tranquil and peaceful even their martial displays look like dances"

>Horus and Russ at the party
Horus: "What the fuck are with the Tiger people! Why is someone riding a cow?! ARE THOSE FUCKING GHOSTS DRINKING?!
Russ: *getting blasted on Dragons Spit* "Ive changed my mind this place is pretty cool hang on someone's set up a wrestling ring (A)WOOOOO"

Struggling to maintain your grip upon the hilt's of the twin Daos against Huli Jing's wild and rabid thrashing. Leaning and swaying side to side, you narrowly avoid the spirit's jaws as she bites and gnashes. A splinter of a second later and her fangs would've been locked onto your head and neck. A most unsavory prospect to be sure. Multicolored flames flare and rise just beneath your feet, taking on the appearance of countless grasping and pulling hands seeking to rip you from their controller's body like a bloated tick.

Even as you are forced to allow your legs to hang freely, swinging upon the grips of the blades to avoid both fire and lead. The roar of the Chendao send tremors so deeply into your body they reach the very marrow of your bones. Huli Jing takes several unsteady, staggered steps forward in a desperate attempt to weaken your grip and throw you from your chest. Despite all the devil's attempts to free herself from your clutches, you hold firm and steady, golden eyes never straying from the spirit's own amber gaze.

The air grows heavy and tense with the sheer potency of mutual spite and contempt. Disgust becomes as tangible as a scent upon the wind, fury itself replaces the heat of the flames while convictions usurps the chill of the night air. Raw emotion overtakes reality as the atmosphere bristles and trembles in the presences of two unnatural forces meeting in pitched and truly desperate combat.

Yet you still hold firm, resolve and a sense of responsibility to bring this ages long nightmare at last to an end reinforcing your already unbreakable force of will. Clenching your jaw, you twist the blades of the sabers stuck upon Huli Jing's spine, further burrowing their edge into her flesh and bone. Black blood washes across you chest, as crimson rivers streak across your face and arms.

"Do not fear death" You mutter quietly, before your demands you raise your voice to an audacious shout, chanting the passage of the Journey directly into Huli Jing's snarling visage. Burning fumes flow from her lips to wash over your body, stinging and burning like an acidic concoction, the stench of spilt blood, nauseating perfumes and spoilt wine spilled upon wet leather.

"BE SILENT!" Huli Jing snarls, fire spilling from the depths of her gullet, spilling from her lips and across her gilded fangs. Using her chest as a springboard, you kick yourself into the air. Then using the Dao's now firmly stuck into the meat of her neck as a grip, you flip your body over not only the flames spewing from your enemy, but her head as well.

"DO NOT HATE DEATH!" You shout as the world turns upside down, as Huli Jing shakes her head and shoulders, trying to throw you off in one last desperate attempt to defend herself, to save herself.

Momentum and weight carries you the rest of the way, as the world returns to its proper position and you begin to fall down the devil's back.
cont

>>4740096

"All things are transient and will one day end, but they shall remain!" You shout as gravity itself lends its aid in ending the affront to nature you battle again. Black oil and incandescent, shimmering fire of a myriad of colors unknown to your eyes spew from the ever widening wound upon the fox's neck.


However, there is a complication. You have to shift your grip upon the daos, the very moment you vault over your opponents head. And that is all the opportunity she requires. Falling to the ground, she stands as a true fox would, and charges forward blindly. You are cloaked by flame and fire, as the two of you become as a star falling across the heavens. Grinding your teeth, one of the twin daos tears cleaning through her flesh.

The over becomes lodge fast yet again, caught between two of her vertebrae, as her flesh and hide begin to knit over it like a sickening spider's web. In mere moments, the sprinting devil will have thrown you from her back and deprived you of yet another of your weapons. Acting quickly and decisively, you roll and wrap your legs around the base of her neck. Stabbing the freed saber between her shoulder blade and the trunk of her neck, you start sawing its brother through the regenerating meat and bone it has become caught in.

If Huli Jing was a living creature, she would be dead from the wounds she bears now. Her head rolls and flops like a fish left upon a sun baked river bank, yet she still speaks and shrieks in a thousand stolen voices. She also continues her panicked charge forward, the intensity of her sorcerous flames growing with each drunken, clumsy step forward she takes.

"A mountain may be ground to dust, but the field that stands where it once stood remains!" You shout, blood and flames lashing against you cheeks as you are throne and jostled from your seat upon the back of you enemy's neck and shoulders.

All of your experience riding Cui Fu's steed has prepared you well for mounting an evil spirit like an unbroken horse. Despite the difficulties in remaining seated upon a steed that truly wishes to throw you from its back and maul you as you fall, you hold firm and steady to preform your grisly work. Cutting and stabbing deeper into her neck's flesh and bone, you continue to rock the stuck Dao back and forth, gradually inching through the bone and marrow that still holds Huli Jing's head to her shoulders.

"A farmer may die in his field, but his children will tend it.!" You snarl, stabbing the free blade between the same vertebrae that have caught it's twin.

Huli Jing wails.

Then suddenly stops. You fall to the ground, landing on your back. All the air in your lungs are forced out, like a waterskin squeezed harshly. Breathing in a mouthful of air that stabs your throat and burns your tongue, you leap to your feet. Pain surges from your shoulders down, like the ceaseless torrent of a waterfall. Blinking, you stare into the darkness ahead and understand what had just happened.
cont

>>4740101

Huli Jing rammed the wall of the sixth palace in a final gambit to escape the doom that was rapidly approaching her, and throw you at last from her back.

A tactic so simple and mundane it almost became brilliant. Struggling to breath properly, the palms of your hands bleed. They were rubbed bare by the friction produced between your hands and the hilts of the twin daos. Which have left your hands.

Oh dear, that is quite troublesome indeed. As in the darkness and gloom ahead, you can hear Huli Jing struggle to breath, gurgling on her own fluids as she forces her mangled body to stand once more. In stygian shadows, you can just make out the two swords stuck firmly in her head. Two more of her eyes have been pulped and rendered useless.

Staggering forward, she claws and pulls at the weapons stuck in her flesh, The Chendao laying abandoned by her side.

"L..Llll" She groans, her voice crackling like ice dropped in boiling oil "Lllliiiiiiieeeeeeeeerrrrrghaaaaahn"

She pulls one of the blades free, and contemptuously tosses it to the ground, as a new river of blood flows from the horrific wound you had inflicted

"I will feast upon your flesh and become drunk upon your blood!" She howls madly, voice wavering from the agony coursing through her immaterial flesh, soaking so deeply it dyes the very core of her being with pain.


Licking the blood and sweat from your lips, you approach the broken demon, walking between the trail of golden fire she left behind as slid across the floor. A great groove of melted stone and burning carpets lines the path you walk. Never averting your glare from hers, you speak again, lingering aches and pains doing nothing to weaken the power and conviction of your voice.

"A warrior may die, but his final breath can change the course of nations!" You chant, smashing your fists together as you continue your march to meet your terrible foe, for what will hopefully be the final clash "Remember this, and know that while you will one day be forgotten, your actions no matter how small, shall shake the heavens themselves!"

"I will pull your tongue from your throat, and make you watch as I devour all who have named your savior!" She hisses, as she throws herself forward again, completely consumed by the fury roiling within her perhaps literally burning blood.

Calmly, you stretch one of your legs, and slam its foot to the floor, pressing a hand upon its knee. Repeating the action with the other, you lean back, stretching your back as you grip your skinned palms together and hold your bleeding, burnt arms above your head.

Now properly prepared and free of rigidness and stalled joints, you are readied for the battle to begin anew yet again.
cont

>>4740104

What is your seventh move, Lieren?
>Hold your ground, and stab the six fanged spear directly into Huli Jing's chest, beneath her ribcage as she pounces upon you.
>Lower your stance, and wrestle with the devil, using knee strikes, palm strikes, headbutts and every other dirty trick in the book to put her down.
>Adopt the fog Panther stance, and pierce your hand directly into her throat, grip her spine and toss her to the ground.
>With a crescent kick, trip her to the ground and then kick her head as hard as you are able to
>write in

>>4740106
>With a crescent kick, trip her to the ground and then kick her head as hard as you are able to
She's shaky, this could work. Lieren's about to break his foot off in her skull.

>>4740106
>Lower your stance, and wrestle with the devil, using knee strikes, palm strikes, headbutts and every other dirty trick in the book to put her down

into the materium now, bitch.

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535 KB PNG

>>4740121
...immaterium. And forgot my pic.

>>4740106
>>write in
Charge forward and as she charges to meet us slam our foot upon the base of the discarded Chendao so it rises up and impales her the other side embedded in the ground. Then just pull the trigger.

Should we be unable to reach the handle to fire pull it free from her tearing from open/splitting her head if its in her mouth

(full Mortal Kombat)

>Adopt the fog Panther stance, and pierce your hand directly into her throat, grip her spine and toss her to the ground.
Pull the whole damned thing out!

>>4740106
>With a crescent kick, trip her to the ground and then kick her head as hard as you are able to
>write in
with the spirit for the moment down cut the tails in one single strike, even the one at our side. then jump on the spirit until it is reduced to pulp on the floor.

>>4740106
>>Adopt the fog Panther stance, and pierce your hand directly into her throat, grip her spine and toss her to the ground.

I trust in our style as much as any weapon. To have any less faith would be wrong if we wished to teach it to our students.

>>4740106
>Adopt the fog Panther stance, and pierce your hand directly into her throat, grip her spine and toss her to the ground.
changing to this, slamming somebody by their fucking spine is too metal to pass up.

>>4740106
>Adopt the fog Panther stance, and pierce your hand directly into her throat, grip her spine and toss her to the ground.
GET OVER HERE!

>>4740106
>Kick the Chendao up and into her chest
>Adopt fog Panther style and go for the spine.

“Welcome to my age; 31 000 AD,
First had my pops and now ya got me.
Crawled out a dragon egg so you know I spit fire,
Saw a world in ruin; streets state was dire.

Started up Nowhere and gathered a crew,
I got Hunters by the dozen and we bringing something new.
Now we're on the rise dropping Tyrant left and right,
Built a new road to enjoy Lieren's wild ride.

Last to fall is the Fox she think she all that,
But the girl went made at the sick words a spat.
Now she's bleedin on the floor he throne alight,
But that'll all you'll hear from me this was Lieren! Goodnight!”


(i should probs stick to Haiku)

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39 KB JPG

>>4740189
I've seen worse, so at least there's that.

>>4740189
Reminds me of Del the funky homosapien really. and Lieren fits with the album 3030

>>4739707
Good, only through the Grand Anarch can one become truly free.

>>4740106
>>Hold your ground, and stab the six fanged spear directly into Huli Jing's chest, beneath her ribcage as she pounces upon you.

Let's maybe not fight a demon with fire powers bare handed.

>>4740106
>Hold your ground, and stab the six fanged spear directly into Huli Jing's chest, beneath her ribcage as she pounces upon you.
We have a bunch of weapons, might as well use them all.

>>4740106
>>Hold your ground, and stab the six fanged spear directly into Huli Jing's chest, beneath her ribcage as she pounces upon you.

I feel as if Lieren is getting a bit too cocky in this fight .

>>4740188
I will add driving the six fanged spear into her chest, We can throw it like a javelin can't we.

>>4740106
>>Adopt the fog Panther stance, and pierce your hand directly into her throat, grip her spine and toss her to the ground.

>>4740470
This but I got a write in. The Malal Option.

As we chant
"With this thrust I end your schemes and trickery.
" With your own spear I end the your reign of blood and war"
"With your own implement I cut away the cancerous and corrupt disease that you spread"
"With this final blow I end your zealous quest of perfection and destroy the mindless self indulgence you have wrought!"

We should also destroy the spear after.


the quest is looking awesome! I hope you are enjoying the surprising path Kolinasi is taking! And you indirectly helped me get an interview for my dream job, your update kept me up long enough to apply for it as I wasn't expecting it so soon.

>>4740106
>Hold your ground, and stab the six fanged spear directly into Huli Jing's chest, beneath her ribcage as she pounces upon you.

>>4740106
>>Adopt the fog Panther stance, and pierce your hand directly into her throat, grip her spine and toss her to the ground.

>>4740052
It's never a good idea to separate scholars from warriors, if they are to train their minds then our followers must accept training their bodies as well

>>4740106
>>With a crescent kick, trip her to the ground and then kick her head as hard as you are able to
Man this fight’s been pretty brutal and it’s only been against a Slaaneshi daemon, makes me wonder how a fight against a Khornate daemon will look

>>4740634
Hopefully we save that one for after puberty, I say we take down the tzeench daemon next, nerds are always easy to bully

>>4740634
Worse. If we have to fight something like that, I'd rather we not ever consider going into melee combat with one, unless Lieren is significantly older. And in power armor.

>>4740634
When we do that, we should probably stop trying to coup de grace in every update and try to weaken the daemon first.
Or just do an artillery strike for a few hours with shell tied with copies of the journey.

>>Hold your ground, and stab the six fanged spear directly into Huli Jing's chest, beneath her ribcage as she pounces upon you.

>>4740106
>>Hold your ground, and stab the six fanged spear directly into Huli Jing's chest, beneath her ribcage as she pounces upon you.

>>4740106
>Adopt the fog Panther stance, and pierce your hand directly into her throat, grip her spine and toss her to the ground.

>>4740106
>Adopt the fog Panther stance, and pierce your hand directly into her throat, grip her spine and toss her to the ground

>>4740658
Support

So I have a question. You guys want to bring the crippled to Kanzeon so she can heal them right? How are you guys going to get them past the daemon?

>>4741541
Tell the demon to fuck off.

More seriously, that was never the plan, the plan was to devise our own cybernetics and medicine with the industrial base we plan to build.

File: Lieren discussing the Jou(...).gif (6.51 MB, 640x268)

6.51 MB GIF

>>4740106
>Adopt the fog Panther stance, and pierce your hand directly into her throat, grip her spine and toss her to the ground.
then
>[Write-in] Now bereft of our daos and chendao we must resort to our most holy of weapons
>The Journey, our personal copy, strike her down with it
>"The Journey I write of, the road I suggest, and way I guide you down, is not one to be forced onto any man, nor is any other way of life."

>>4741550
>the plan was to devise our own cybernetics and medicine with the industrial base we plan to build.
That’s not practical, at all. It would take years for Lieren to build up an industrial base to that level.

>>4740106
>Adopt the fog Panther stance, and pierce your hand directly into her throat, grip her spine and toss her to the ground

>>4741573
That's still the plan. And to make it an "easy access industrial effort" sure that's impractical. For two individuals as a test run it's going to be slightly expensive but nothing prohibitively so.

>>4741541
Just keep beatting him again until he learns his lesson and leaves.

>>4741573
And you think that just using an untested, thousands of year old ship buried inside a mountain is better?

>>4741621
Admittidly it is DAOT tech. That crap is miles better than literally anything humanity has produced since, save perhaps the primarchs.

>>4741621
>And you think that just using an untested, thousands of year old ship buried inside a mountain is better?
Absolutely. Archeotech in 40k is magic for all intents and purposes.

>>4741658
That's the problem, it's a dangerous crutch. Remember it was literally buried under a chaos cult. What if the healing pods turn them into cronenberg abominations?

>>4741672
Kanzeon doesn’t like daemons for one and is still an AI from the DAOT. Lieren doesn’t need to build up the industry when he could just compile a bunch of books with the relevent information along side Kanzeon then distribute them throughout the nation into the hands of people that can do it for us. This is all assuming that she has no manufactorum or cloning vat.
>crutch
Oh fuck off. Using her to immediately fix people that are crippled for life isn’t a “crutch”. Many of them will be an active drain on resources because they are crippled, fixing that creates a bigger labor pool to build up the industry.

>>4741693
Kanzeon doesn't even really know what daemons are. Her personality core is safe sure, but are you CERTAIN her healing bay will work? That it is not corupted? It's a high risk.

Also, I say crutch because I don't want Shangrala to have those disgusting manufactorums that are needed to produce DAOT shit.

>>4741701
Kanzeon is a DAOT colony ship. She has tech to make a primitive world into a high tech world in years at worst. She has a medbay, she has pretty much anything Lieren would want to learn, and would probably research the egg and all of it's knowledge in days/weeks. She also has a friendly and particularly smart primarch to help her. With the insane ammount of resources we'll have after unifiying the Yan kingdom and with a lot of free time to go full prosperity if we pick Jinhai as emperor/world governor of Shangrala, we'll be able to do general upgrades to literally every aspect of Shangralan society. Then we go full conquest, ejem, liberation

Btw, let's make some theories about Lieren Terran sons. How will they be based on what Malal has allowed us to know? Will they be like Lieren? Will they fall right into selfrighteousness and holier than thou bitching? Will they scare even Angron sons by being top fucking savage berserker murderblenders? We can all agree that they will dab on their oponents, both verbally and physically, at the same time, thats a given

>>4741738
>How will they be based on what Malal has allowed us to know?
Legion culture seems to draw from the Old Hundred regiments they serve with more than from wherever their recruitment pool is, if the two are separate. I hope it gets really ingrained within the legion, I want to see how Lieren's space china upbringing reacts with the cultures of Terra. But since they seem so close to their allies, I can see their attitude towards baseline humans being similar to the Salamanders or Thousand Sons.
>Will they be like Lieren?
I almost hope they aren't, I've always found the dynamic between primarchs and Terran-born marines to be interesting. How Lieren deals with people who are very different than he is, despite them being his "sons" and people he's stuck with until every human world is reunited would be interesting to play, especially since most of our brothers usually took the less-than-benevolent route and sent them all into FUBAR situations so they'd be killed off.
>Will they fall right into selfrighteousness and holier than thou bitching?
Almost all astartes do at some level. But maybe less than any of their cousins.
>Will they scare even Angron sons by being top fucking savage berserker murderblenders?
Probably not, but I'd be surprised if all of them take to Lieren's view of violence being something only to be used as a last resort. We might discover our own Sigismund or Sevatar or Corswain somewhere.

>>4741738
>>4741889
We've already seen them. Malal did a thing where he swapped to them fighting on Terra. Their whole gimmick as a legion is "Not one step back" and they have a kinda noblebright resolve.

>>4741621
Anon you're vastly underestimating a DAOT ship, and the vastly overestimating that chaos cult. Remember Lieren can /see/ corruption and he didn't see any in the bowls of the ship.

>>4741958
Do recall that when we saw them they were feeling the effects of our psychic bonding enlightenment, like Jin hair and Lady Gao did.

>>4741541
We have intentions to purge it, the same intentions we have for Huli Jing.
Thankfully we both had experience in fighting against the sorcerer slave as well against another evil spirit, so if it has not run away in fear and is still there doing peek-a-boo in the stone of the temple halls, he is going to get destroyed.

>>4741621
In regard to the cripple, we can give them a heal here first. Before we ask Kazeon, we need to secure the mountain and do other things.

>>4741998
Yeah, but it was Jinhai and the Black General not our lady.

>>4742031
Feng and Gao Daiyu also got affected and one of the brothers on door duty. Same for the old man.

We only summoned those two for their aid in cutting through the palace, but they were not the only one's effected.

Alright. Calling the vote now.

With a crescent kick, trip her to the ground and then kick her head as hard as you are able to:2

Lower your stance, and wrestle with the devil, using knee strikes, palm strikes, headbutts and every other dirty trick in the book to put her down:1

Mock charge and kick the Chendao at the devil's head:2

Adopt the fog Panther stance, and pierce your hand directly into her throat, grip her spine and toss her to the ground.:11


Attempt to sever Huli Jing's tails:1

Hold your ground, and stab the six fanged spear directly into Huli Jing's chest, beneath her ribcage as she pounces upon you.:9

"With this thrust I end your schemes and trickery" etc:1

Now bereft of our daos and chendao we must resort to our most holy of weapons, THE JOURNEY ITSELF:1

Total votes:22

So Lieren shall use the fog panther style, piercing his hand into the wound upon Huli Jing's neck to grab ahold of her spine and attempt to throw her to the ground.

Writing now.

>>4740511
Oh wow that's an amazing example of the butterfly effect. I'm real happy for you

>>4740189
Well I liked it at least

However, you do not move from where you had stomped your feet. Instead, you steady your stance, lowering your center of gravity while subtly shifting your legs and shoulders to mimic the movements of a panther just prior to pouncing. Sliding and circling your hands through the air, you press the bleeding fingers of your left hand into a spear of flesh and bone as hard as steel while forcing the muscles of your right to contract tightly, turning that hand into a claw as deadly as any true panther's claws.

Holding the claw hand forward, you slowly draw your "spear" arm back to your side, resting it mere inches away from the twitching tail still tied to your hip. Standing as still as a stone figurine, you snarl, your expression contorting to a fearsome grimace not too dissimilar from the visage of an enraged feline. Barring your teeth like fangs, the air escaping from your lungs becomes a wordless battle cry. Feral, primitive, yet easily understood by all men and beasts. Huli Jing is of beastly, wicked nature so you shall challenge the spirit as one of her kin doubtlessly would.

With barred fangs and a hissing tongue. It is more of a ceremonial gesture than anything else, as you are already fighting the devil and she herself is already held under the sway of the rage your words have inspired within her. Indeed, as you utter the unspoken challenge, she has already began to charge towards you again, sputtering flames flowing from the spaces between her golden claws and smoke billowing from her gilded jaws. Abandoning the final vestige of her civilized trappings and façade of cultured manner and etiquette, she now intends to battle as a mere beast would. Showing her true self as she struggles to remain standing upon the boundary between life and death.

Brute force, replacing graceful skill. Her maddened mind weakening her ability to control the flames that still cloak her bloody form. However, a storm of fire even when lessened and waned remains a most deadly obstacle and even if wielded blindly remains a most effective weapon. No matter that intellect that guides it, sorcerous fire is a threat not only to the flesh, not only to the mind, but to the very soul as well.

It would be foolish to underestimate Huli Jing, even if she has adopted a further wild and untamed form, her ferocity and power has not been lessened. All that has been, is her self control and wit. A rabid beast is often a more treacherous foe than its healthy counterpart, as a madman is far more threatening than a sane man ever could be. Insanity and blind rage merely replace skill and grace with unpredictability and unrestrained power.

Caution must be applied. A wounded dog fights more fiercely, a cornered panther fears not death, as it is often said. You must remained focused and above all else calm. The opening you are awaiting shall only last for a fraction of a moment and missing the chance to exploit it will be utterly devastating.

Cont

>>4742194

And you well know what you risk by remaining still and passive and gambling everything on a single attack that must be committed to utterly, while only being able to preform the strike properly in a span of time that can scarcely be measured. A mauling will await you should you be fail to perform the movement correctly. Bloody images flash through your minds eye, primarily of your dear friend Feng's hunting accident. But you banish such illusions from the depths of your mind, and order serenity to remain in the void that supplants such grim imaginings.

The strike must be performed accurately, there is no allowance for mistakes or missteps. A mere centimeter off, and the strike with flounder and fail to accomplish what you intend it to. The simplest of miscalculations, and you'll be at Huli Jing's mercy. A most unsavory proposition to be sure.

Silencing your mind of all thought, a sigh passes by your lips. Glaring into the raging inferno that flies towards you like a star descended from the heavens, you use the time still afforded to you to apply miniscule and nigh unnoticeable adjustments to your stance.

Amber eyes flash beneath the shroud of smoke that covers Huli Jing's face, drool boils and turns to steam before your eyes, golden fangs glow in fire light like shards of fallen sun. The three claws still upon her hands turn to flashes of burning metal. The sound of blades cutting through the air rings in your ears, as the ground quakes and once more begins to melt and run as if it were made of common wax.

Wearing an unchanging, stoic expression you raise your head. Huli Jing stands before you, in all her terrible glory. An avatar of the indulgent, wastrel lifestyle you have battled against for all of your short life. The very incarnation of wicked sadism and pointless excess, The cruelty of the Yan nobility standing as a living creature of flesh and blood. All the evils in the world given an earthly vessel. Sin, vileness, abomination, monstrosity. Your eyes water to stare so deeply into her being, but you endure the minor irritation to gaze upon the value of your foe fully for the first time since you began to battle against her.

As you had seen before, the very core of her being is hubris. Where men would have a soul, the fox devil has a core forged purely of pride and a bloated sense of superiority. A golden ball of light from which all of her essence originates. But scratch away at the surface, and golden pride turns to fear and panic.

Panic that reality shall overcome and prove her delusions of invincibility for what they truly are. A pleasant lie she has constructed for herself, over the centuries, over the eons.

Huli Jing shall learn the truth of your words, and understand that death comes from all things. Even spirits and devils!.

Now allowing yourself to blink, as such a transient blindness may throw off your aim, you strike.
cont

>>4742198

First, a feint. Swiping with your right hand, Huli Jing reacts to the "claw", moving to bite clean through your wrist. As you hoped she would, for leaning forward has brought her neck well within the range of your "spear" hand and the lunge has left her wounded throat exposed. And thus, utterly undefended.

Huli Jing's eyes widen to the width of a extravagant drinking dish, as she understands her folly as it occurs. But it is too late for her to right her misstep or retaliate. The core of being cracks, as her pride finally breaks and is forced to look upon and truly comprehend her failings and realize that all of her wounds were inflicted solely by her own bloated ego.

Your nails cut through her torn flesh like a spear through a panther's hide, slicing the sinew that is already attempt to mend her wound. The momentum of your foes charge proves to be a great boon, as it lends itself to aid in driving your hand deeper into Huli Jing's body and with greater haste.

Curling the fingers forming your "spear", you crack the already weakened vertebrae of the foxes neck, and then slide your degloved palm over her spine and grip it tightly in a stranglehold. Taking a hold of her, you tighten your grip and hear the unmistakable sound of bones cracking, muffled by flesh and monstrously thick hide.

Pivoting on the heel of your backmost foot, you lift the other as you turn and use all of your strength and weight in tandem, to lift the gigantic beast from the ground and the fires that surround her. Despite the difference in stature between the two of you, you manage to lift Huli Jing like a kitten. Her body tenses, the muscles surrounding your hand crushing and grinding against it as she begins to flail and claw in a blind panic, using every part of her body in a desperate bid to free herself from your grasp.

But the struggles of the devil of the Yan are both pointless and impotent. All they succeed in, is depriving her of what remains of her dignity.

Rolling your shoulders, you twist your body at your hips. Utilizing a throw Small Chen taught you when you first befriended him, you slam the evil spirt to the ground with such force and so violently, her back breaks the stone foundations of the sixth palace. And thus reveals a hidden that functions both as a catacombs and a wine cellar.

Huli Jing falls like a tatter doll, her gangly, unnatural limbs contorting further as they break against statues of former kings, her own puppets. Their smiling, sneering faces are broken as the devil that ruined their bloodline with the rot of extravagance and sickness of cruelty falls upon them, bones snapping like twigs as she falls further. Her broken body comes to rest upon a cast of aged peach brandy, shattering the vessel and spilling the potent liquor over her open wounds, soaking and staining her golden hide the color of rust and chestnuts.
cont

>>4742201

Crouching low to the ground, you peer through the crater you've created, and look upon the evil spirit's shattered form. Her eyes move wildly, desperately searching for a means of salvation or escape. Her tails twitch periodically, without rhythm or control, like dying snakes or eels tossed into boiling water. Her mighty legs kick and jolt, her arms lay limp as he jaws shudder and struggle to speak.

The throw may not have been enough to fully sever the wretch's foul head from her shoulders, but it was powerful enough to break her neck and thus paralyze her body nearly completely. Pillars, tongues and snapping jaws of flames fly through the hole in the ground, trying to scare you from their mistress' defenseless form.

Snorting, you stand to your full height and cross your arms. Bowing your head, you begin to ponder. What means are required to ensure Huli Jing's death?

How shall you execute the Beguiler of Dynasties, Lieren?
> As you have most criminals, a sturdy rope and a sudden drop
>Light her ninth tail with mundane flames, and toss it to her, immolating the alcohol that has soaked into her fur.
>Grab one of your weapons and use it to sever her head. Even a spirit cannot survive a decapitation.
>Leap down upon her, and stomp her head until it is turned to a greasy smear upon the floor
>Write in?
+
What do you feel as you kill her, Lieren?
>Relief and satisfaction
>Contempt and disgust
>Sorrow and Pity.
>Serenity and Hope for the coming dawn
>write in?

>>4742205
>Draw the spear and drive it into her heart
>Leap down and smash the head to a smear
>Light the remains alight with mundane flames.

There is no such thing as overkill here.
>Contempt and digust for the demon, Serenity and hope for the inhabitants of the kingdom of Yan after having to suffer her machinations.

I think that while Lieren may hate demons with a passion, his thoughts would be on the wider world and how much better it will be now that she is dead.

>>4742227
To further elaborate on why she doesn't get any pity or sorrow. While Yan and other tyrants may have made choices that could have been changed, this creature never had any chance of being anything but what she is as far as we can tell. There was no "what if" to contemplate.

Unless others think that the journey says we should mourn for a hypothetical impossibility that has no actual chance of being true.

>>4742205
>>Leap down upon her, and stomp her head until it is turned to a greasy smear upon the floor
>>Serenity and Hope for the coming dawn

>>4742205
>> As you have most criminals, a sturdy rope and a sudden drop
I NAME THE TYRANT. A VORTEX OF DEBAUCHERY AND EXCESS THAT HAS CONSUMED COUNTLESS MEN OF VIRTUE. MAY THE GODS HAVE MERCY ON YOU, FOR I HAVE ONLY ROPE.

>Sorrow and Pity.
Pity for a being that was doomed to fail from it's very inception. Reality is as we will it and it shall be good for all.

>>4742205
>Panic that reality shall overcome and prove her delusions of invincibility for what they truly are. A pleasant lie she has constructed for herself, over the centuries, over the eons.
>Huli Jing shall learn the truth of your words, and understand that death comes from all things. Even spirits and devils!.
It's almost worth pitying over.

>Write in?
Sing to her a song, with lyrics inspired by her own hubris and failings. This is her funeral, and the wine soaked Catacombs shall be her grave.
Like all things be they material, and apparently now proven to apply to the spiritual as well, all things will end (ex: the monks). Huli Jing is dying and will become no more, and she needs to accept this. She has failed her master, and if she's anything like the negative qualities she had fostered within the Yan kingdom, she will be tortured, maimed, and double killed if she returns to whomever they are.

I feel like those four after killing choices might related to one of the four chaos gods
>Khorne or Slannesh
>Khone
>Maybe Nurgle
>Tzzetch

my vote is Pity.

>>4742205
>Draw the spear and drive it into her heart
>Leap down and smash the head to a smear
>Light the remains and the ninth flame alight with mundane flames.
>Recite verses of the Journey and tell it that it shall not exist anymore, neither in life or death. An evil spirit and evil, don t deserve either.
>Also kill and launch the pig king in the fire.

(avoid that this fire spreads through the palace we have stuff to do)

>Contempt and digust for the demon, Serenity and hope for the inhabitants of the kingdom of Yan after having to suffer her machinations.

>>4742205
>Light her ninth tail with mundane flames, and toss it to her, immolating the alcohol that has soaked into her fur.
>Exhaustion and melancholy for those who gave their lives for your cause this night

>>4742205

>Light her ninth tail with mundane flames, and toss it to her, immolating the alcohol that has soaked into her fur.

>Relief and satisfaction
When the daemon is finally dead.
>Contempt and disgust
For the daemon’s existence is a repulsive one.
>Sorrow and Pity.
For all of the people it twisted and lives it destroyed.
>Serenity and Hope for the coming dawn
Because now there is a chance for a better future

>>4742251
+1 for the melancholy

>>4742251
>>4742248
>>4742227
Why the fire? Didn't we want to keep a tail sample for study?

>>4742205
> As you have most criminals, a sturdy rope and a sudden drop
There are no alternatives. She is a Tyrant, a Tyrant's death she will receive.
>Serenity and Hope for the coming dawn
This is proof that the daemons CAN be slain and they CAN be beaten.

>>4742248
I think we can kill the Yan king in a bit, lets deal with her now.

The verse idea is good though. We can probably use this to devise funerary rites, so I'll ad it to my vote.>>4742227

>>4742256
Some people did, I however am going to be one of those paranoid people and want her to be dead dead dead dead dead DEAD! since she is apparently still partially alive in her tail judging by it's movements and actions. Helpless but alive.

>>4742256
>Why the fire? Didn't we want to keep a tail sample for study?
Hell the fuck no. We have concluded over the past 20 minutes (and several days) that this daemon in particular is to be exterminated without a trace.

>>4742248
Also to add to my post, don t call her by her name. She doesn't deserve even a name, evil spirit will suffice. Neutral and bland.


>>4742256
i, for me, voted for keep it back then for better understand if it was connected to something. Now i have that confirmation and i know exactly what it is. I want to deny her even a dumb existance on her last tail.


>>4742258
personally i like the idea of throwing them in the trash together, master and servant. Even if the king hate the guts of the spirit right now which is funny.
Beside we can t do a proper public execution with a fur and meat blob, which is what he would have deserve and would have give the yang people some smiles to see it die.

Test

While she is burning we should probably pray for her soul/essance to reincarnate into a better life/mortal life. Itd be a good precident for compassion, even if undeserved.

Also: emotions and belief shape the warp. If you entrench an idea of evil warp entities who are slain and given rights being forced into the cycle of reincarnation as new 'pure' souls then you might have a way to take their power away from their master forever. But thats just conjecture.

>>4742205
Her head is still flopping around and her neck is only now broken right? I'm making sure I'm keeping up here.

>How shall you execute the Beguiler of Dynasties, Lieren?
Can we retrieve the Chendao from her tail and use it to execute her as a priority? Seems fitting.

Elsewise, suggest:
>Grab one of your weapons and use it to sever her head. Even a spirit cannot survive a decapitation.
Using the Dao power swords for becoming a symbol of cleansing, and reinforcing the sword bonus to demons.

She's still on fire, will burn the rope, plus her neck is already broken. I don't think a rope will avail us any use unless we tie her tails to a pillar and pull her neck off with the rope. That seems.. inefficient.

>What do you feel as you kill her, Lieren?
Relief and satisfaction at surviving our most fierce contest of arms.
>Serenity and Hope for the coming dawn

>>4742258
Yan King was snoo-snooed in death by Huli Jing.

>>4742378
Thought he was spawned, not snoo snood

We cannot forget to save the maimed Journeywoman that we found.

>>4742205
>>Light her ninth tail with mundane flames, and toss it to her, immolating the alcohol that has soaked into her fur.

>Serenity and Hope for the coming dawn

File: commissar.jpg (218 KB, 900x728)

218 KB JPG

>>4742405
>In her six amber eyes, contempt and glee intermingled. Drool washed across her gilded fangs as she used your body as a plow upon the wall, cutting a deep trench with it as she sprinted across the corpse strewn throne room. The mewling flesh pile that was Yan Weizha cries out with a mixture of maddened delight and impotent distress.

Apologies, you're right. I had assumed it was the final gasps of his corpse but I missed the delight/distress bit.

This is most distressing that he still lives.

>>4742205
> As you have most criminals, a sturdy rope and a sudden drop
The biggest insult to her pride, to die as a common criminal.
>Contempt and disgust
>Serenity and Hope for the coming dawn
Comtempt that the being would let itself be blinded by it's own pride. Disgust that it would lead a existance of extravagance. Serenity for the return of the natural order. Hope for a better future for all.
All of the cornerstones of the Journey, together in harmony for the betterment of men. As it should be.

>>4742205
>Light her ninth tail with mundane flames, and toss it to her, immolating the alcohol that has soaked into her fur.
>Write in
Crotch down for a moment to watch but also catch our breath being wary, we will sing to her, sing her to her final sleep.

"Goodbye scheming fox your trickster days are through
Sleep well wily fox dream of something new.
Your schemes are lost and now it's your time to burn.

But let me tell you this for whatever worth you had,
I will not take joy, i will not feel sad.
Your kingdom is no more taken by cleansing flame
yet from the pure ashes the world can grow again."

>write in?
We don't feel a wellspring of joy or pride nor a sink of disgust. We see a thing of emotion flit away in embers like so many other fleeting things, we see vindication in our belief and Journey. Like knowing something to be true no matter personal thoughts upon the issue.

Y'know, it was fun the first time, but now you people are just trying to put in purple prose everywhere. We're not fockin fulgrim.

>>4742205
>>Grab one of your weapons and use it to sever her head. Even a spirit cannot survive a decapitation.
>>>Exhaustion and melancholy for those who gave their lives for your cause this night

>4742821
Lieren talks like that anyway. It was funny watching Kaz try to stop it, despite mimicking the Yan way of speaking.

Ironically enough, Fulgrim probably speaks with much less prose and pomp.

I'm starting to believe that this quest size and setting has attracted a few of TG's shitposters, given the rise in attempted trolling that have happened in the last 3 threads.
The reason I believe they come specificaly from /tg/ is the apperant hatred for anything original that anons write.
If someone posts Ribbon and than samefags to say woya, say to stop playing dnd or post a local lord copypasta, then I will have concrete proof.

>>4742913
Wot?

>>4742913
I wouldn't be too concerned. The /tg/ posters who like quests are already here and the ones who don't are sperging out over collaborative writing projects right now. 40k isekai stories are currently in the vogue.

>>4742205
>>Write in?
>>Grab one of your weapons and use it to sever her head. Even a spirit cannot survive a decapitation. Then toss the ninth tail on the body and immolate it with alcohol.

>Sorrow and Pity.

>>4742205
I’ll support >>4742251

>>4742951
I hope it's just paranoia, because /tg/ shitposters are stubborn and relentless.
Cryptekanon is the most based of the isekai 40k writers

>>4742982
Sorta by default. Cupanon is MIA and Eldarbro is on hiatus.

>>4742913
Telling people to stop playing D&D is good advice though.

>>4742821
You're right

We're better

I kind of agree with >>4742821 the first poetry votes were great, but after several anticlimatic haikus it lost it's spark. When you look more of a tryhard than Bel'akor you know that whatever it's causing it needs to stop.

>>4743130
No doubt, but the poetry is alredy excessive and makes the quest less serious and "authentic" 40k and more neckbeard hype notebook.

>>4742913
Are you making a critic of the people writing poetry or a critic of the people complaining about poetry? Or something different... perhaps...something entirely new.

>>4743330
Just noticing a recent trend of people trying to shit on any creativity on the quest without actually giving actual reasons or criticism, normally ID that post only 4 to 5 times and disappear, only for another new ID to appear and keep trying to bait, everytime creating a small shitstorm.
And that reminded me of the shitposter over at /tg/, and their buthurt of the ressurection of actual original content on the board, so my paranoia connected the dots and came to a conclusion that some of those sad beings could have migrated here smelling a new hunting ground.
So a reminder for everyone, only interact if the other person actually makes an argument, atleast that way if they are baiting, it won't just be a bunch of insults or gaslighting, but a semblance of a conversation.
And if the person is doing it in good faith, than it's just businnes as usual.

>>4743330
And you seem genuine, since you actually bottered to give reasons, and even good ones at that, so keep on doing what you do my dude.

How many primarch have been known to kill the beings from the warp before big E showed up?

>>4744230
From what I remember, Lion was killing Chaos spawns on Caliban all day erry day and Magnus drove the Psychneuein to extinction on Prospero. Leman may also have done some stuff.

>>4744230
Mostly just the Lion, who spent his formative years like Lieren did, except all of them alone. On a death world with malicious forests and chaos spawn the size of tanks.

>>4744264
TBF on calliban they did have knights wearing powered armour and wielding bolters and chainswords.

>>4744280
how the fuck did they get that tech?

>>4744486
Oddly, they’ve always had them. Probably leftovers from the DAOT.

>>4744486
Just like all other worlds, they had an advanced tech level. Tech levels across the isolated age of strife worlds really differed. Some places, like Shangrala, went straight up back to the middle ages, while others like Rogal Dorn's Inwit had gigantic Hive Cities.

>>4742205
>Light her ninth tail with mundane flames, and toss it to her, immolating the alcohol that has soaked into her fur.

Malal, did you ever say which Alpharius Omegon backstory you're going to go with? With things kinda shaken up after his Primarch novel released, you have a much less ambiguous one to use, if it isn't an outright lie. Or are you keep it secret, as befits the Twins?

>>4744893
I'm not Malal but I think I already know the answer. His response will be "I'm going with one of them, none of them, and all of them, I am Alpharius and this is a lie."

>>4744748
And Gorillaman landed on an interstellar empire in its own right, Fulgrim on a polluted industrial hellhole, Corvus on a penal mining colony for an Admech-equivalent civilization etc.

>>4745644
Speaking of AdMech, i wonder if there's going to be any AdMech close to us. I don't know, Space Japan?

I mean, we're going to need some more loyal cogboys of our own if we want to keep our 'land' the way we want to, but i wonder if there's an forge world that's already close. That could either be good, or bad.

>>4745091
Yeah, that would be on-brand.

Calling the vote now. Sorry for the wait.

Total votes:15

Draw the spear and drive it into her heart:2

Leap down and smash the head to a smear:3

Light her ninth tail with mundane flames, and toss it to her, immolating the alcohol that has soaked into her fur:7

Fully sever the devil's head by hanging her like a common criminal:3

Sing to her a funerary song:2


Recite verses of the Journey and tell it that it shall not exist anymore, neither in life or death. An evil spirit and evil, don t deserve either:1

Also kill the remenants of Yan Weizha:1

Use one of your weapons to decapitate Huli Jing:3
-Execute her with the Chendao:1
-Power swords:1

-
EMOTION vote

Contempt/ Disgust:4
Serenity/Hope:8
Sorrow/pity:3
Exhaustion/ Melancholy:4
Relief/ Satisfaction:2
Vindication:1

So Lieren shall simply immolate the paralyzed demon, using her stolen tail as a torch to set her motionless form ablaze.

With serene and hopeful thoughts as he does so.

Writing now.

Also to the lads who voted to capture the tail when Yin Aiguo was slain, good foresight. Not having it attached weakened Huli Jing, as some of you guessed earlier.

>>4744893
You will see eventually. Spoilers are gay after all

>>4746863
>Think happy thoughts as we burn the daemoness

>>4746863
FOR THE JOURNEY
CLEANSE THEIR INIQUITY

>>4746865
>Fortunate son plays as Lieren does a vietnam on a demon world

>>4746882
I dunno, Red Sun makes more sense~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jynTNYSKNuk

Big change coming in paradise.

>>4746865
If she breaths she's a thot

-
The Daemon that had worn the mask named Huli Jing tried to scream. To roar and bellow in rage and defiance, to spit venomous insults and poisonous lies with its final breath upon the Materium. But her truest desire, as her incarnate body lay broken and shamefully crippled surrounded by dust, moldering bones and aged wine, was to cry out and whimper in a show of blind fear and panic. She understood, the emotion that dominated her ancient mind and essence was one that was not merely entirely abhorrent to her being, but one that completely conflicted with the nature of her existence.

Mortal dread. The fear experienced by the living as they stared into the abyssal waters of oblivion. An feeling that should have no foundation to find root within the heart of an existence like herself. And yet it remained, screaming like an abandoned babe, drowning out all other impotent impulses and defiant desires. In the mind that had planned and seen to commit countless atrocities and depravities so foul they were unnamed in mortal tongue, one voice screamed louder than all the others. A desire that brought shame to a being bred from such sordid emotions. A wayward hope to be saved, the same felt by a child abandon upon a winter's road side, or a pup deprived of its mother.

The nameless fear experienced by all things living. The fear of the unavoidable end that awaited all beings, inflicted by a cyclopean god that fed upon the stars themselves. The terror of truly being left alone. Such shameful feelings crippled Huli Jing worse the damage the Giant had inflicted upon her. These traitorous thoughts that went against the very core of her being, the primary essences of her existence, became unfading scars upon flesh and mind.

In the dark, trapped in her own material form. Huli Jing had been rendered to a child afraid of the monster that stood at the edge of her vision. What had once been a mortal soul, quivered and cried for its uncaring mother to pluck it from the jaws of the cruel predator that stood before it. But no answer came, the silent pleas passed unheard.

And then a sight observed singularly by the crying daemon's panicked eyes, passed by. Reality flickered, the shifting of the world centered upon the would be pawn that had bested her and brought her so low.

Realization danced upon the edges of Huli Jing's fury and fear frayed mind. The Celestial Incarnation Palace was constructed to serve as great ritualistic sigil, that was once destined to tear down the veils between the realm of souls and the world of the living. The winds of the warp surrounded the unhallowed ground the daemon had prepared and carefully cultivated over the passing of generations and dynasties. The fabric of reality was thin within the grounds of her lair by its very design and it had been weakened further by the deeds and hungers of its passing stable of inhabitants.
cont

>>4746946

Lieren's words chimed, cutting a forceful feeling of serenity and calm into the once struggling Daemon's mind. The blinding, painful light of gold that poured freely from his essence chimed. Paradoxically both mocking and pitying.

"The cycle is without end and beginning and with it's power these threats will be made unreal"

Reality began to be painted by the immature Primarch's power, fed upon by and in turn feeding upon thousands of devoted souls and the belief of ardent followers and friends. The corked vessel spilled outwards. And Reality continued to flicker, as the Empyrean sea was briefly stained by the indomitable will of the Hunter. Who subconsciously commanded the raging storm that unknowingly surrounded him to calm and reflect the world within himself. Warm intensity washed over Huli Jing, as the scene before her eyes for a moment shifted and truly changed.

There, Lieren stood, now a stooped and crooked old man mundanely sized. Walking along roads of flowers, so simple and dully colored they had become brilliant and beautiful naturally. The colors of nature, the hues of simple pleasures and joys. The view of a calm mind. Aged Lieren stood by the mouth of a serene lake, his back turned to the rising dawn as night's terror was banished away by its glow. His eyes were closed, as he enjoyed the gentle spring breeze and cooling air rising from the lake's waters. Tombs of the dead dotted the field of flowers, surrounding the serene lake within his mind.

As the sun breeched the horizon Lieren opened his eyes, revealing their golden gaze. Yet it was gentle and hopeful, the kindly eyes of a father watching his son grow to be a man.

"Father Wenyan, it is done." the illusionary Lieren muttered, as the chaos of the warp overtook the hopeful dream imposed upon it by the Giant's untarnished heart "For nothing is real but what you create and what we create is reality."

Huli Jing saw reality again, her sense of self returning to her, as she realized the flower in the Giant's hands was in fact her missing ninth tail he had stolen days before, no set alight like a common torch.

The Indignity of such a sight, briefly buried the small child crying for help and mercy within her heart. But that same fear quickly returned to her heart, as the Giant with no grand speech or proper ceremony, dropped her tail down the hole he stood over.

Huli Jing wailed as the falling flame danced for a moment, before righting itself and flying like an arrow to return to her body. Immolated by a portion of her own body, Huli Jing cried out.

"I curse your name and legacy, Lieren! I shall not forgive such indignity" She cried out, but her words could not leave her lips, for the flames had already consumed her mouth and throat.

Instead, Huli Jing felt herself banished, banished back to the place of her birth, returned to the court of the dark prince of pleasure.
cont

>>4746947

The tapping of nails upon silver and the clicking of a god's tongue, greeted Huli Jing upon her arrival

-
Staring down, you carefully observe the great subterranean inferno, watching it consume every inch of Huli Jing's hide and flesh. Life has fled that vessel she inhabited, but you fear she may yet exist within the world of the living. So you stood guard, arms crossed over each other, as you ensured that the beguiler of dynasties would not escape her deserved punishment and reward of death. The devil burned unusually fast, her hide burning like oil soaked paper, her flesh breaking apart like mulched wood, her bones crumbling like cheap clay. All that remained after a few minutes within the crucible of cleansing fire, were her nine tails. They burned much more gradually and ponderously. But eventually, they to were rendered to naught by ember and ash.

The fire spread to consume other fuel, when Huli Jing's corporeal form was fully consumed. Nothing was left behind beside black, wine soaked ash, tinted with flecks of gold and ember. All of her manipulation, seductions, deceptions, treachery and corruption had amounted to naught but dust, ash and spilt wine.

Smiling, a single thought ran through your mind, as the wounds you had endured finally brought you to your knees.

"Oh honored father" You thought outloud, speaking your mind plainly and truthfully "It is at last done. The dawn of a new age is upon us. A spring of hope and prosperity can finally wash over all corners of the kingdom, the dream I began at your home can at last spread and be shared unopposed by tyrants and fools"

Sighing, you keep from collapsing by using one of your arms as support, and maintain your dignity in the dim firelight of your most terrible enemy's funeral pyre.

Your wounds would heal, though a memory would be left in their place. Doubtlessly, you would walk bearing a few new scars after this night of horror. But, scars too, would eventually fade as all things eventually must. Though the cut beneath your left eye, would doubtlessly linger longer than others.

Once you had found the strength to stand yet again, you set about the work that remained to be done. After all, the Yan family and their mistress cloaked in fire, were not the only criminals that needed to be judged within this palace and the surrounding city. And there were many innocent who still remained captive or endangered by the servants and guests that remained. Much work remained, labor without end.

But you had survived to see the coming dawn. You could only hope the valiant, noble and most importantly virtuous souls who fought to bring about that dawn, would also live to see its gentle glow.
cont

>>4746950

What work would you set about doing first, Lieren?
>Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace. See if the Faithful woman, the little girl in the woods and her father, and Fa have survived the night specifically
>Track Down Cao Yunru, to congratulate him or bury his honorable corpse. Begin work to ensure that chaos and anarchy will not consume the capital.
>Find rope, begin the hangings. Justice shall be given to the nameless dead who suffered hear, but court must be held first.
>This place is too terrible to be allowed to exist. All of it must be torn down and returned to nature. Not a single stone of the capital or palace shall be left standing
>Write in?

>>4746952
Get a messanger out to send to our army. Inform them we had succeeded, and the demon fox lady is no more.
This is more or less important. I think some anons mentioned that the uncle might not be as bad or something. If anything it'll give everyone time to recover and celebrate before marching to the old fox.

>Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace. See if the Faithful woman, the little girl in the woods and her father, and Fa have survived the night specifically
>Track Down Cao Yunru, to congratulate him or bury his honorable corpse. Begin work to ensure that chaos and anarchy will not consume the capital.
We need to ensure no more innocent and virtuous souls perish this day. We should also contact our monk friend(s) to let him know that we succeeded.

>>4746952
>Write-In

After having cleanse ourselves, from the foulness of the palace in one of the ponds proceed to go to the city. Take over the capital, from the soldiers of the city and the citizens. Show our proof of victory and start giving orders.

- Send a messenger out to our army to deliver the victory.
- take out the servants still alive
- take out the brutalized corpses of servants and dissidents from the palace and give them burial
- take out anything that can be of use. (coins, food stuff untouched by drugs or not drowned in spices, simple furniture and equipment and so on). Anything vulgar or wicked will be left inside, so that it can be destroyed alongside the palace. The untouched palace food will be distributed to the city people, as well the nearby settlements in equal measure.
- Set up a medical camp in an open area to heal the numerous wounded palace servants, as well most of the people that got in the fights.
- Capture the wicked to give them Judgement.

When our army arrives
- Begin destroying the king palace, as well any symbol of Yang rule across the capital or the state.
- Destroy or Purify the relic weapons that used the Yang. Guozhi will be called to aid us, we will need to wait for him to arrive before proceeding, perhaps we can learn his own methods (If they can be pure again and forever, these weapons could be gifted to our loyal companions or we can keep them).
- Send other messengers outside, this time to the remaining yang vassals. An order of immediate pacification of the provinces. Last judgments and purges of the remaining corrupted and wicked lords will be done, afterwards with their surrenders. Opposition will be met by us and our army.

>>4746952
>Track down Cao Yunru to congradulate him then take over the city, prevent chaos
Once order achieved and we have others to aid us.
>Treat the victims
Then
>Start the hangings

basically a stripped down version of >>4746967 Since if we can prevent chaos then we will have a force of people to help us take hold of the fleeing noblemen and get the aid these people need.
Destroying the palace can wait.

>>4746952
>Write in?
>Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace. See if the Faithful woman, the little girl in the woods and her father, and Fa have survived the night specifically
Seek out those we saved and make a speech to those rising in rebellion against the Tyrants, capture all those whom abused and were cruel, all of then find them and imprison them to await judgement! We leave Fa in command if he is able to do so until we return. Offer a prayer of thinks to those monks now no doubt truly gone, their hand saved many this day. Specifically keep an eye on those guards whom were with the twins, let them see the battle we fought as a warrior and maybe get in their books enough to keep the peace.

>Write in
We must make haste to where the great battle is about to go down that our friends will no lose hope and know all is well!

>>4746973
I think the great battle will be over by the time we get there.

>>4746950
>The tapping of nails upon silver and the clicking of a god's tongue, greeted Huli Jing upon her arrival
Fuck I'm spooked. Do you think Slaanesh destroyed Huli Jing outright or is torturing them?

>>4746967
I'll support this. It seems very reasonable and is about what we need to be doing.

>>4746989
Probably demotion, ie having large parts of the soul torn out to weaken her for her failure.

>>4746952
>>Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace. See if the Faithful woman, the little girl in the woods and her father, and Fa have survived the night specifically
>>Track Down Cao Yunru, to congratulate him or bury his honorable corpse. Begin work to ensure that chaos and anarchy will not consume the capital.

>>4747099
maybe in a couple thousand years we can fight it again

>>4747124
I look forward to that rematch.

>>4746971
This looks like the proper way to do this.

Also we need to, in the future, have an eye out for corruption like this city and any further daemonic interlopers.

>>4746967
I support this.

>>4746967

Will support, but also throwing my vote behind
>>Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace. See if the Faithful woman, the little girl in the woods and her father, and Fa have survived the night specifically

As I feel we owe the woman/girl/father and Fa a debt that needs to be paid.

>>4746952
>Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace. See if the Faithful woman, the little girl in the woods and her father, and Fa have survived the night specifically
>Track Down Cao Yunru, to congratulate him or bury his honorable corpse. Begin work to ensure that chaos and anarchy will not consume the capital.
>Try to commune with Ghonzi and his spirit students, see if they succeded in protecting the innocents.
We can tear down the palace and hang the nobles when the rest of the army arrives.

>>4747366
I dont actually follow your line of logic there, Fa I can see it but the girl who we protected from the 5th prince? The journey lay woman who we excavated and then healed ourselves?

What exactly do we owe them for? They deserve our help and attention but we dont owe them shit.

Is hulu jong going to become our kabandah?

>>4746952
>>Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace. See if the Faithful woman, the little girl in the woods and her father, and Fa have survived the night specifically
>>Track Down Cao Yunru, to congratulate him or bury his honorable corpse. Begin work to ensure that chaos and anarchy will not consume the capital.
>>Find rope, begin the hangings. Justice shall be given to the nameless dead who suffered hear, but court must be held first.
>>4747423
I think we're gonna get a Ka'Bandha from each of the Chaos gods.

>>4746952
>Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace. See if the Faithful woman, the little girl in the woods and her father, and Fa have survived the night specifically
>Track Down Cao Yunru, to congratulate him or bury his honorable corpse. Begin work to ensure that chaos and anarchy will not consume the capital.
>Find rope, begin the hangings. Justice shall be given to the nameless dead who suffered hear, but court must be held first.

>>4746952


>Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace. See if the Faithful woman, the little girl in the woods and her father, and Fa have survived the night specifically
>Track Down Cao Yunru, to congratulate him or bury his honorable corpse. Begin work to ensure that chaos and anarchy will not consume the capital.
>Find rope, begin the hangings. Justice shall be given to the nameless dead who suffered hear, but court must be held first.

>>4746952
>Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace. See if the Faithful woman, the little girl in the woods and her father, and Fa have survived the night specifically
>Track Down Cao Yunru, to congratulate him or bury his honorable corpse. Begin work to ensure that chaos and anarchy will not consume the capital.

>>4746952
>>Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace. See if the Faithful woman, the little girl in the woods and her father, and Fa have survived the night specifically
>>Track Down Cao Yunru, to congratulate him or bury his honorable corpse. Begin work to ensure that chaos and anarchy will not consume the capital.

>>4746952
>Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace. See if the Faithful woman, the little girl in the woods and her father, and Fa have survived the night specifically
>Track Down Cao Yunru, to congratulate him or bury his honorable corpse. Begin work to ensure that chaos and anarchy will not consume the capital.

>>4746950
Time for the victory dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldzzIJlKOlA

>>4746863
I preordered the book. I am waiting on it. I kinda want to know how you go, for my Eleventh primarch quest {sorry for switching IDs back to house internet} but it's a headscratcher. This could change years of fluff in my mind. Or not. Because it's Alpharius and who really knows.

>>4746967
Support

Calling the vote now:

Send a messenger to your army: 6

Attempt to meet your army upon the road:1

Treating and tending to the victims of the Yan still within and without the palace (counting the part of the detailed write in concerning the victims/ surviving servants/ medical camp as part of this choice): 16

Track Down Cao Yunru, to congratulate him or bury his honorable corpse. Begin work to ensure that chaos and anarchy will not consume the capital.:10

Take over the capital, from the soldiers of the city and the citizens. Show our proof of victory and start giving orders:5

Capture the wicked to give them Judgement and begin the hangings:9

Begin destroying the king palace, as well any symbol of Yan Across the capital or state:5

Destroy or Purify the relic weapons that The Yan Used:5

Send other messengers outside, this time to the remaining yang vassals. An order of immediate pacification of the provinces:5

Try to contact Guozhi and the spirits he seemingly summoned to aid in your quest: 1

total votes: 16

So Lieren will focus foremost on treating the injured and burying the dead within and without the palace, to ensure no more shall fall victim to the fallen dynasty.

Then he will seek out Cao Yunru, to congratulate or bury his honored cadaver, and use him to help prevent the rise of anarchy and chaos.

Before finally beginning his judgement of the Yan court and their servants within the city, hanging all who have been lost to the wiles of the gospel of decadence.

Writing now

>>4748316
Based

>>4748438
It's a mystery to everyone

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311 KB JPG

>>4749272
Just letting you know its gonna be a bit longer till the update is posted

Its huge, and I'm not close to being done.

Currently over 4200 words. Hope you guys will enjoy it

>>4749470
>over 4200 words
By the Emperor.

>>4749470
Gonna have to add a few new scars to that.

But I legitimately think that the greatest damage to morale that shall occur it how beat up we are. Like we are never hurt, ever.

>>4749516
True, and it's not like we can outright say the nature of what we fought other than "It was a big-ass monster"

>>4749518
I mean. . . We COULD.
"The Yan has a beast as their puppet master, as fierce as the Toaddragon lord of all rivers or the tongue lasher, It guised itself perfectly, but now it is dead."

Or hell, just say we took on the entire palace at once. It's true and more believable even if a bit less "practical minded"

File: 1617645091760.png (268 KB, 920x1220)

268 KB PNG

Okay, pretty sure this is gonna be the largest update yet.

Total characters: 36, 417
Total words: 6641
Total posts: 13

Are ya ready for it? FOR ITS SHEER AND UNMATCHED GIRTH!

Of course the most pressing matter, and the one that demanded your attention first and foremost above the other labors and duties that remained to be done, was the treatment of the still living victims and innocent servants of the Yan court and the burial of the victims of its final night. It would be arduous work, not because it was difficult or tiring, but because it would force you to once again face the numberless cruelties of reality and the tyrants that regrettably inhabit it. If anything, such merciful, kindly work would give your body time to recover and heal. Then, more physically taxing jobs could be done after your stamina has had time to return to you. After your limbs stop aching, after your head stops pounding as ferociously as your heart.

Searching through your remaining supplies, you decide which reagents and medical supplies can be allowed to your own treatment. To bind your wounds, and halt their bleeding. The best medicines and highest quality bandages shall be reserved for the direst of cases, the lowest quality and least effective of them can be set aside for your own self treatment. Your body can recover miraculously on its own, but ignoring the risk of infection be it natural or supernatural is a foolish thing indeed. As it is often said, a dying snake's venom is still as potent as when it was living.

Cleansing your wounds with dragon's spit to disinfect them, you allow the first groan of pain to escape from your lips. It's tortorous, and feels as if you've set about boiling yourself alive. The alcoholic fumes clear your head, and with a heated prod of wrought steel, you proceed to cauterize the most grievous wounds, whose number includes the gash that was a mere inch from claiming one of your invaluable golden eyes. Tears boil upon the heated piece of metal, as you set it upon the ground to cool. With such treatment, the resulting scars shall be thin and more unnoticeable than they would if they were simply stitched shut or allowed to heal on their own.

But bathing yourself in dragon's spit, while covered in open and weeping wounds, was an utterly hellish experience and one you desperately hope to never repeat again within your lifetime. Pulling off the ruin of your armor, and shedding the scorched remains of your traveling robe, you redress yourself in the plain and white regalia always kept alongside your more useful belongings and tools. It pays to prepare for any eventuality, even a sudden and forceful disrobing.

Grinning to hide the lingering pain inflicted by your own rough treatment, you gather your mane of iron hair and pull it taught into a bun atop your head. Piercing a hairpin carved of panther bone through it to hold it in place, you gather the ends of your hair and quickly tie them into loose loops and hanging braids.

The people here still think of you as a wild, untamed beast at best and a true devil from hell at worse.
cont

>>4749553

It will be wise to construct a more civilized and properly mannered appearance, to give your words and presences a courtly, refined air.

Having thus prepared yourself, you lay out all of your unnecessary belongings and tools near the wrecked remains of your armor and the three weapons you carried into the palace and then leave the site of your enemy's defeat, to commence your generous labors that shall accompany the rising dawn.

While you make your way through the palace's grounds, you pilfer and take any supplies that are not tainted or otherwise sullied by the Yan and their Courtiers, supplies that will supplement and bolster your admittedly thin supply of medicine and cleansing chemical. But, as is often said, in a drought every drop of water is a treasure from the heavens.

The first to be treated are the enslaved children and older servants who managed to survive the brawl outside of Yan Weizha's throne room. What remains of the wretch himself, mewls and cries discordantly, scaring your patients as you tend to their wounds and treat their numerous injuries.

Many of them will have to follow specific and carefully planned diets for many weeks to fully recover from malnutrition and starvation, but they shall all survive their terrbile service to the final Yan king. The children, who saw you slaughter their cruel task masters, follow behind you like a flock of Cliffjumper chicks, eyes filled with awe and hope as you continue retracting your path through the Celestial incarnation Palace.

A few servants hide away from you, as you approach their hiding places and carefully chosen sanctuaries within this hell upon earth. Many of them are confused, that before them walks no man eating ogre or sadistic lord of hell, but rather a kindly giant surrounded by children and dressed simply and humbly yet finely as well.

The sight encourages a score of the terrified former servants to meekly approach your strange entourage and plead for mercy or aid, a few lead you to grievously wounded peers or family members or the remains of such. Treating the injuries of those who can be saved and offering those who cannot solace and prayers, you continue on your path through the sixth palace.

The loyal guards of the twin princes, greet you with stern silence. Their eyes yet filled with spite and disgust, but now a sense of awe and relief paints their expressions. They had not imagined Huli Jing capable of being slain. Bowing to the man who was brave enough to speak to you, you leave them to mourn their masters. Who had managed to be both honorable and cruel, before their lives were cut short.

They were monster like the rest of their kin, but perhaps they were a lesser breed. One that could feel lover for one besides themselves, even if the pursuit of martial skill had turned them into cruel duelists and man slayers.
cont

>>4749557

"I shall have need of a valiant guard such as yourself to protect those who follow behind me, and ward away any danger to come" You say softly, gently smiling as you pass the loyal guards by "For I fear men such as yourself a far more knowledgeable of the grounds of the palace than myself. And thus will know of any dangers yet lurking within it"

"If we were to be allowed to bury own twin young masters with the dignity they deserve, then we shall lend our aid to you, oh victorious giant" the same man you spoke to earlier in the night answers, rather curtly admittedly

"I cannot hang the dead, and I have always given my enemies the proper respect afforded to them in dearh" You answer simply, keeping your head high and eyes focused ahead "If you wish to bury your fallen masters, I shall not obstruct the matter of their burial nor intrude upon your mourning. All I shall ask, is that you mind the living more than the dead"

"I thank you for this privledge, even if I find your ways detestable, I am grateful for such an allowance. And shall GIVE my word to protect those who accompany you through your palaces halls, my "liege" The man replies, his words dripping with venom and poison, but a glance at his face tells you he can be trusted to guard the innocent and defenseless, even if he finds you a detestable and honorless man.

"Weizha yet lives and I have no ambition of being a king" You answer coldly in kind, hoping to prevent the weeds of misinformation from sprouting and spreading through the minds of the common folk "The last king of Yan shall meet his end, but by my hand and my hand alone. I simply have responsibilities that take precedence over executing wretches like the pig king, tending to the weak and wounded is one of them"

"If that is what you will claim, hunter of nothing, I shall not argue with a man who could see me dead with a dismissive wave of his hand" The man replies, nodding his head as you ignore the unspoken insult he has given "I suppose them, you shall not begin your rule with trials and hangings"

"The judgement of the wicked and punishment of the vile will wait until I have finished with my chosen tasks. Healing the wounded, burying the dead, ensuring order remains. Such duties are far more important than the death of evil" You answer simply, as you leave the soldiers to mourn their masters.

Some of those who trail behind, begin to whisper and mutter among each other, theorizing and spreading rumors of the events of the night and truth of your character and existence. You wonder how many of them will go onto to paint the perceptions of future generations, and which shall spawn fantastical legends and stories of your victory against the Yan Tyrants. But such ponderings are pointless, when there is still much work left to be done.
cont

>>4749559

-
"Tell me, Young Qilin, have you ever seen an army march so calmly?" Yan Zihao question Yin Huizhong, as he sat astride his warhorse, lazily fanning himself as he turned his eyes uncharacteristically away from the raging battle before the two generals "And in such immaculate formation?".

"No" the black haired youth answered, eyes as cold as stone "However they are not controlled by their own minds, venerable general Yan, and a single mind is far less prone to panic than thousands"

The white haired uncle of the king shut his fan and shook his head.

"Oh if only such a fanciful tale were true, that by slaying the giant we would end this rebellion, that he truly is the devil my fool of a nephew has painted him to be" Zihao laughed, old amber eyes awash with disappointment "I figured your father, Yin Aiguo, would have trained you to see the tell tale signs of an army trained into a host of warriors bold"

The young zealot remained silent, those his eyes filled with a unspoken rage and indignation. He could not speak out against a member of the royal line, his breeding and teachings would not allow him to do so

"The giant's army has always been one drafted purely of men trained for warfare, while ours have been a mixture of levies and elite regiments, as is the common sense of war" The old fox said kindly as if he spoke to a favored grandson rather than a man who would drown his own daughter if his nephew commanded it "This trained and professional force marches against scared farmers and terrified laborers, who have filled their minds with the libel and babblings of Lord Weizha"

Yin Huizhong could be heard harshly grinding his teeth beneath the snarling, armored war mask he wore. The old fox had long studied the lad, and knew well that if his father had not been the grandfather of his king, the young Qilin would have long ago attempt to take his head, white beard and all.

"And who are now forced to confront the truth, as the banners of the supposedly fallen house of Gao are raised proudly to the sunrise and the fog of morning" The old fox laughed, swinging his folded fan towards the army that marched to meet his own "A crippling blow to their already low morale. Propaganda having so tattered their hopes of success and survival, having told them they march against an army populated by devils and killing spirits and beastly men"

at last Yin Huizong could hold his tongue no longer, much to the amusement of Yan Zihao.

"A simple trick, meant to break our spirits. An army of slaves marches before us. They are no match against zeal of my house's soldiers nor the glory of the Yan Kingdom" The young general spat, spitting to the ground as he spoke his hopelessly deluded beliefs "And, if I am not mistaken, they have taken the vile Vishnu as their allies, so those tales are not mere rumor, oh honored general Yan!"

"Vishnu are men like any other" Yan Zihao countered simply
cont

>>4749560
cont
"They are not creatures of the night, nor denizens of hell, even if their manner would not be out of place amongst such company. And you continue to believe we fight against a force of thralls, by watch how the regiments are moved. That is a signature of the black general himself! What honorable men we are set against, you should raise your head, boy!"

"Tch I did not say all were unwilling among the rebels, my wayward cousin is a power hungry wretch who sold his soul for glory and prestige. And even if he commands the slave herd, we are no longer outmatched in terms of weaponry" The young fool replied thoughtlessly as his elder sighed and shook his head, and went back to fanning himself. The oppressively air of summer was ever so burdensome for a man of his age.

"If you refer to the simplistic replicas and crude imitations our elite forces have been trained to handle, then you are a far greater fool than I had first thought, boy" Yan Zihao said bluntly, smiling as his old eyes danced upon the battlefield that would hopefully become his grave.

His smile began to fade as he did not spot a single glimmer of gold among the superior force raised against him.

But it returned, renewed and fresh as he spotted the banner sporting the carp and spear. The symbol of the so called "Son of the sea". Perhaps his storied career would end by the hand of a talented novice? The old fox understood the game now. A son of Gao, assisted and given council by the great generals that had rallied beneath the Giant's cause. Yes, that would explain the obvious traits of Lai, Dai, and Southern Yin tactics fielded by this army. But the carp presented an exciting unknown.

As did the burning banners in the distance, colored Tao Yellow. He had been warned of death from the heavens, and had drawn up a few ways to counter such seemingly undefeatable weaponry.

Yet again, the young Qilin audibly grinded his teeth together.

"We shall succeed" Yin Huizong snarled "We have been commanded to achieve victory or death"

Yan Zihao laughed audaciously and grinned like a Vishnu Screaming, polished teeth gleaming in the rising sun's glare.

"Then die we shall, boy!" He barked boisterously "For the entirety of the war, we have been outmatched and outplanned, if I had not been ordered to retreat in its dawn, I could have perhaps discovered a crippling vulnerability within the tactics employed by the giant. But I had only found the goal they all march to achieve. And that of course would be taking the head of the general commanding the forces they are set against. A distaste for excessive and unnecessary bloodshed and death, even though they are my enemy, they have earned my respect and admiration"

"So is that why you had commanded me to ride alongside you at the vanguard? Instead of using the fodder we've gathered to shield our true army?" Yin Huizong snarled, eyes filled with murderous intent as his bloodlust and fury became palpable upon the air
cont

>>4749561

"You traitorous dog! Were you born of any other line! I would have killed you for such treachery"

"A loyal dog as ever, Yin. Though lacking wit and cunning, it cannot be said that you are not truly loyal, Yin Huizong" Yan Zihao cackled, smiling kindly at the man he had doomed to an inglorious death beside him, consumed by the opening plays of the battle "I shall not see simple men slaughtered so we may live a few minutes more, I shall not pointlessly bloody the blade of my better. It is much more dignified this way, to die without such pointless resistance"

"I shall inform the king of this treachery" Huizong hissed in reply as the old general simply shook his head and sighed disappointedly.

"The same king who has used both of us as a flimsy armor to defend himself, so he may doubtlessly spit upon the victor's face in a final act of spite?" The old fox question, affixing a judging gaze upon his subordinate's red face "And commanded us to throw away our lives pointlessly? I doubt he will have mind to hear your complaint, Yin Huizong"

"TURN COAT SCUM!" Huizong raged. The old fox merely laughed and shook his head.

"Why do you think I had sent my family away before the eve of the battle, and kept them by my side all this time? And commanded you to do the same in twilight of our kingdom? It may be my duty to die, but I shall not drag the unspoiled branches of my family with me, nor shall I allow our most loyal of our servants to be wiped out. The giant has shown he is merciful and"

"You have gone senile with age if you believe such lies, General!" Huizong barked back "And have condemned your kin and mine to a torturous end"

"I have ensured Yan unsullied by that whore's touch shall continue our lineage. Insult me as you will, but I have kindly given your line the same mercy, Yin Huizong" Yan Zihao answered serenely, at peace with his coming demise. His long white hair and beared danced upon the morning wind "However, It would be shameful to flee myself, when I have sworn oaths to ever protect and serve my brother and his line, even if the wretch who I serve slew my fool of brother years before. I have my honor, I have my face, I shall die happy but with one regret"

"What?!"" Yin Huizong gasped, perhaps shocked about the secret the old fox had carelessly spoken or curious of what regret a man of his age, standing and wealth could possibly hold.

"Why, Young Qilin, I have not seen the giant in the field! I fear I shall not be able to test my intellect against his own. That I shall be denied a final worthy foe, that I shall never be able to match my tactical genius against his own before one of his followers takes my head, as they have the Wild Boar and his lord, The Xue brothers, and that valorous lion of the east" Yan Zihao bemoaned, sighing in disappointment as Yin Huizong looked at him as if he were mad.

"You're insane!" He shouted. The old fox merely laughed.
Cont

>>4749563


"Perhaps the years have deluded my mind, but I know my place and purpose. Even if I cannot have my legendary match with Lieren, the man who in but a mere eight nearing nine years orchestrated the fall of the Yan dynasty, I shall be content with facing against the living legends who have gathered beneath his command" Yan Zihao said happily, folding his fan yet again as he grinned with the manic energy of a man a quarter of his age "For it would be unbecoming of me to survive the reign of my family. Let my legend settle alongside our era, and let us meet a glorious end"

Yin Huizong was sweating as if beset by a killing fever.

"It is against your nature to refuse my orders, is it not? If I commanded it, you would lead your "True army" directly into the open field I have predicted will be bombarded by the devastating weaponry of the rebels, would you not? Or march to meet those "Vishnu Devils" in close quarters? Would you not? You cannot leave a member of the Yan line to walk alone and unaccompanied into hell, can you? Yin Huizong, you blind, deluded fool?" Yan Zihao sneered, his amber eyes seeming to glow in the morning's light, his polished teeth gleaming like polished silver.

The old fox, laughed and laughed and laughed.

"You decrepit devil!" Yin Huizong growled through his tightly clenched teeth

"Perhaps the sins of my life have made me a devil, but I shall die as a man. And you cannot refuse to follow me in whatever manner of suicide I deem fitting for a man of my renown and standing. Perhaps we shall look for Lai song, and test our steeds against his own stock? Or directly meet the son of the sea and see how cunning he truly is? Or maybe, a direct charge for the heart of the army, to die surrounded in a valorous last stand!" Yan Zihao mocked his subordinate "Or perhaps, we shall sit here, and give no orders and speak no commands"

Yin Huizong seethed with impotent rage, as the old fox laughed boisterously and madly, his stomach quivering as he struggled to breath between his fits of cackling and giggling.
-

A sorrowful sight met you in the palace of the third prince. A grieving army of courageous servants who had thrown off the shackles of the Yan's control, to fight against the armies of the drunkard forth prince and Lunatic third. They parted before you, falling to their knees and prostrating themselves before you as you walked forward, to confirm the suspicions that had already sprouted within your mind. That the identity of the man they grieved was already known to you.

With arms folded into the sleeves of your plain robe of undyed silk, you neared the center of the mourning mask, tears burning in your eyes as you neared ever closer to the truth that awaited you. And your fears were confirmed, as you saw, laying still in the arms of crying men and women, Fa.
cont

>>4749568

The servants turned grieving warriors, tightly clung to their fallen leader who seemed as if he were simply dreaming a pleasant dream of the days to come. His eyes closed, his smile gentle and genial, his wild, ungroomed mud brown hair brushed aside. Blood had been smeared upon his cheek and chest. The spear head that snuffed out his noble life, s still buried in his chest.

Kneeling down, you blinked and felt tears crawl across your cheeks, as you gingerly and carefully touched the forehead of the virtuous, courageous and magnificent man who had led the abused and oppressed into a glorious revolt of their own. His malformation was hidden beneath the bedsheets his followers had taken to cover his body.

Crying, you held the cold hand of the man who should have stood by your side, to bask in the rays of the coming dawn, to partake in the prosperity and plenty soon to come. Instead, he had died undertaking a duty he had given onto himself, to lead and inspire those who had not the will to fight for themselves.

"Oh Fa, Oh beautiful Fa, Oh Magnificent Fa, Noble Fa. All I asked was to deliver a warning in my place, but you have done so much more than I had asked" You say sadly, brushing your hand across his blood smeared face and combing it through his muddy hair, tears falling upon him like rain "Oh, we met for but a brief moment, but how I wish we could have become friends true. That I could have unveiled your hidden genius, and showed to all your valorous heart. Oh you brave man, you courageous soul. All I asked of you was that you save as many lives as you were able, and you took such initiative, to throw away your own life in exchange for others. Oh Poor Fa, How I wish I could have called you my brother!"

Raising your head, you see all the sorrowful eyes of Fa's ragtag army have turned to look upon you, feeling the same pain that you did. Bowing their heads again, they began to pray for the man who did so much more than was asked, than what was required of him.

Then, a small boy, with the same muddy hair and freckled face, shrunken thin by starvation, commanded your attention with the determined look in his eye. A woman, his mother, with darker hair, followed close behind him as the little boy boldly approach.

"No, no, don't bother him. We aren't worthy to speak to such a man, my love" The woman whispered as the boy approached you and snorted

"You were uncles friend?" He asked, seemingly ignorant of your reputation and identity, a fact that brought a smile back to your sorrowful face.

"I'd be honored to be known as the friend of man of such quality as your uncle, but I cannot say if he considered me such" You answers gently, as the boy smiles and nods

"Uncle told me he was happy to die for your dream, after he died" The boy says proudly as his mother frets and pulls his ear
cont

>>4749569

"Great Lieren doesn't need to hear such nonsense Yingjie!" The woman scolded the boy, who barely reacted to her presence or words, as you wilted inside by how she addressed you "I am sorry my liege, my lord most benevolent and wise, he is but a scared child, confused and saddened by the loss of his"

"Let him speak" You rudely interrupt, as the boy flicks his tongue out to his own mother impudently "As you were saying, bold Yingjie, Nephew of Fa?"

Crossing his arms in an almost challenging display, the young boy raised his head and looked to match your gaze. He only endured it for a few moments, but that is far longer than most men grown can withstand looking directly into your golden eyes.

"Uncle turned blue and foggy like the old uncles that came shouting and chanting, he told me he was proud to die like he did, that he had no regrets. He told me to find and tell you, since he was worried you'd be sad when you learned he had died, and thought he wasn't worthy to be mourned by a man of your standing" The boy says, trying to match your own tone in a childish attempt to make himself seem as impressive and important as yourself.

But he had no need to puff out his chest and act as if he were, for even at such a young age, he was your peer in boldness and courage at the very least.

"Oh but he was, he was worthy of far more than just my grief" You laugh, wiping the tears still lingering upon your cheeks with the back of your sleeve "Come, Yingjie, I would feel more certain in my safety if a brave man such as yourself were to guard me in my travels through this place"

The boy beamed, think you serious. Chuckling warmly, you turned to his mother.

"And I have much to speak to you as well, but I shall allow you to bury your most valiant of kin, and mourn his passing. I shall not press the matter until the wounds left behind from his departure of this life have healed" You say to her, with a hand upon your heart "I shall take my leave, to continue my healing work"

Rising to your feet, you turn one last time to Fa, and bow your head.

"And Fa, should you return to live upon Shangrala once again. I shall find you, and right this mistake of fate. Your new life shall be spent by my side, whatever form it may be. And if you do not, I shall find you in death, alongside all the others who have left this wonderful dream before myself" You say joyously as his nephew, Yingjie, walks confidently by your side, arms still crossed like some great and prideful fighter straight out of the theater.

You could only hope, the other wayward travelers you have met as your first great journey neared its end, have not shared in noble Fa's sad fate.
-

Entering the forest once stalked by the fourth prince and his toadies, you found a rather dreadful sight. Wicked soldiers and guards, who had attempted to flee with bounties of women, wealth, wine, and slaves, butchered and scattered like broken dolls.
Cont

>>4749570

Your flock of liberated servants, laborers and turn coat guards, stopped and refused to follow you forward as you carefully studied and admired the bloody scene.

Without a doubt, this was the work of the mutated men steeds ridden by the decadent dogs of the Yan. And sure enough, a familiar, quiet cry of joy erupted from the woods. And lo there road the daughter of the man who overcame the beast he had become, riding upon the shoulders of her degenerated progenitor, who though he had been made something less than a man, could still be called human. For humanity came in many forms, both mundane and strange.

And behind the pair, road the other steeds, seemingly tamed by the daughter of their alpha. Though their eyes shone with the light of intelligence, they could not speak clearly and could only gurgle and spit out fragments of words, their minds dulled by the constant flow of narcotics and fouler chemicals yet. But they were free. and while they may be closer to simpletons than they were before, they had reclaimed their minds and will however lessened they may have become.

"Uncle grey hair! Uncle grey hair!" She chirped happily, as she hugged her father's mishappen head "Look, look, father caught more villains and punished them good! See, see?!"

Such was her youthful innocence, she did not understand that the villains around her were dead, rather than simply sleeping. Smiling mirthfully, you nod and laugh, gesturing to the strange group to the bewilderment of your gathered audience.

"Do you see? This young girl's father and his fellows have done a portion of my work for me. They have punished the sinful servants of the foxes as they fled the palace like rats upon a sinking ship" You say cheerfully as Fa's nephew boldly walks forward, trying to hide how deeply the mere sight of the twisted men before him terrifies him to his core.

"Admirable work, fellow uh...comrade of the giant" He says meekly as the girl looks at him, bemused yet happy to see a friend close to her own age.


"Fffffaaaanhk Oooouuuh" The girl father says, padding closer to you as he wears a drooling smile "Fanhk ouh, fhor prauughtactenh urgg"

"You alone saved your daughter, my good sir, there is no need to thank me. I am merely overjoyed to see a family reunited amidst such horror. I can only hope I shall one day become as fine of a father as yourself. Rest, and be at peace, the dawn of a kinder age is to come. And I promise I will do all I am able to alleviate your condition" You say, as the ape like man whimpers and grunts, trying to cry.

You are pulled into a powerful hug by the man, as his daughter giggles and pats his head like it were a drum.

"So such creatures are worthy of your mercy then?" The loyal guard of the twin prince's spits.

You ignore him and choose instead to focus on the good you have done this night, rather than all of the death you have sown.
cont

>>4749571

-
<https://youtu.be/9k1F3PjY948>

"A little calf, taken from her flock. Oh beloved child, separated from her fellows, I have returned to your side yet again, so we may leave this awful place together" You sing to the brutalized young woman you met at beginning of the night, as the army "As I have promised, I have not abandoned nor forsaken you. The time has come to abandon the nightmare that was, and awaken to the gentle light of the coming dawn"

Reaching towards you, with her mangled stumps of hands, her few remaining fingers outstretched in loving awe as she tries to kneel before you. Her twisted, crippled legs struggling to support her weight, her stitched together arms struggling to move as she commands them to. She cannot stand, and can only drag and push her ruined legs. Her tattered, torn lips break into a smile as her single eye glows with incomprehensible joy beneath the mass of bandages that cover her.

Her fellow victims begin to cry and sob openly, they thought themselves inured to the horrors of the palace, but the mere sight of this unfortunate young woman has proven otherwise.

Shaking your head, you softly press her hands together as if in prayer, and join her for a moment in her chanting. Tears wet the bandages covering her face as you take her into her arms, and carry her from the Celestial Incarnation Palace. Her slurred, barely spoken words, inspire the thousands to follow you from this place to sing in her place.

Kind Golden Eyes greets the morning sun, as an era free of the Yan's Tyranny begins.
-

Following the scent of gunpowder, you find Cao Yunru deep beneath the capital city. He's injured, and lays still besides several agressors that wreak of Huli Jing's particular foulness, and are tattooed with the same sigil that had once been carved into the forehead of the faithful Luli, as the girl who still lay in your arms was named. She blinked, and pressed her hands together slowly, intending to pray for the scholars lost soul.

The only problem was he was merely sleeping, and resting after being grievously injured. You knew the man had valor within his coward's heart, but you could not have possibly anticipated that he'd be made sturdy enough to treat his own wounds as you had earlier. It was a queer feeling, underestimating someone, a most queer feeling indeed. But it did not feel shameful, rather you felt happy that you could also make mistakes in judging a man's character.

Cao Yunru snored, and Luli pouted in embarrassment, struggling to whisper apologises as You approached your sleeping friend and sighed heavily. No, you were mistaken, upon closer inspection, he could not have treated his wounds himself. Someone else must have judging by how the bandages are tied. However, it is still impressive that he managed emerge victorious against clearly better trained, and much larger fighters than himself.
cont

>>4749572

That to, is worthy of respect.

"Cao Yunru, awaken!" You command, raising your voice just enough to rouse the scholar from his sleep

"Lieren? Have we succeeded, or perhaps are we both dead and in hell for going against the wishes of the heavenly courts?" The scholar asks, still half asleep as he turns his exhausted eyes towards the source of your voice

"Damn what the heavens think of our deeds, our actions of the prior night were moral and good. If they would decry such virtue, I would curse them with all my fervor, that is, if gods do indeed exist at all. Of which I am doubtful, considering the sights I have seen" You answer, speaking as though you were talking to an old friend, casual and merry "Rise from the ground, a man of your stature should not linger in the dust and filth"

"Ah, that is most reassuring, I would not be able to meet my father if I had failed to undo my great folly" The spindly, short, yet no longer meek scholar laughs as he stands to his feet, leaning towards his injured side as he winces and fails to hide his pain "So it is done then? has the horror come to an end? Are we free from the Yan's Tyranny? Is the dawn coming?"

"Why would I be speaking to you if we were not, had I failed, I'd be too ashamed to speak to you even as a ghost" You sneer, the man laughing at your confident humor, the shock of your words assisting in waking him completely.

"Fantastic, I can finally rest well again" He says, reaching to shake your hand, before he notices Luli laying in your arms. Their eyes meet, and his expressions falls.

"Is...is she one of their...victims?" Cao Yunru asks, guilt pouring from his every movement and word.

You nod. The scholar falls to his knees, wailing and crying, begging for forgiveness as Luli shakes her head and tries to tell him there is no need to ask for such a thing, that she doesn't blame what had happened to her upon his inaction. He of course cannot understand a word of it, and you have to read her lips to understand what she intends to say.

"My friend, you are not at fault. How could you have learned the true nature of those you served? Your shame is undone, the mistake is righted, the folly has been mended, rise to your feet, Lord Cao, and let us begin our work to ensure the coming dawn is better than the night that proceeded it" You say sternly, as the man cries and wails, smacking his forehead against the floor several times in a show of great guilt and shame.

"Of course, of course, but by my cowardice, many crimes and wicked deeds have been allowed to be carried out, redemption is still beyond my grasp. I have much work to do, to undo all of the ill I have done" Cao Yunru says stoically, rising to his feet, with tears streaking down his cheeks and a red welt upon his forehead "Tell me my place in the new era, and I shall begin my journey towards true redemption. Lead me to the forgiveness I crave, teach me how to forgive myself for my weakness, Wise Lieren"
cont