For more than three months, Cao Yun stayed barely conscious. From time to time, he would wake up but it never lasted more than a few minutes at a time. However, Xixue saw it as improvement. During all this time, she cared for him along with many others from the Sand Wolves Tribe. Even Sha Chai Gan came in person to watch over him. Many of the slaves who had been freed during the battle also wanted to pay him a visit.
Considering his current condition, the Sand Wolves Tribe were forced to put guards around his tent to keep others out. There were some tensions but thankfully, Chieftain Sha Chai Ren was highly respected. Despite his age, he was the strongest cultivator among all the chieftains of all the tribes, not just in the Crimson Ashes Basin.
Of course, they would have preferred to see him, but people coule accept to simply kowtow around his tent. Somehow, his condition and the mystery around him made him even more important in their eyes. He had truly risked his life and almost gave all his blood for them. In their eyes, he was a savior who would finally help them against the tyrant Lord Wanghuo. To be fair, the tribes were still officially doing business with the Nalupu Kingdom and they truly needed the Nalupu Kingdom to ensure their survival in the long run. But the previous years had been more and more tense. Some form of revolt would have already happened if Lord Wanghuo wasn't a 7th-grade Accomplished Demon. Against such an enemy, with a powerful army to assist him too, they would simply be crushed. Some thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad considering the fear they were living in. Many were starting to prefer death to slavery. Hopefully, Tie Po would end the conflict one way or another.
In fact, some now believed that his survival was proof that he would succeed where the original Tie Po had failed. After all, he had been killed in his endeavor while Cao Yun had survived death. He might even be invincible... Some small tribes who really needed hope were starting to imagine unbelievable stories. Maybe he had the blood of Tie Po, or even the ancestral blood of the Weaver of Souls. Mystical claims kept getting bolder. And yet, they were believed by a few.
These claims even caused a lot of frictions with the Sand Wolves Tribe as they were keeping others away from him. Furthermore, since he was too weak to be moved, they were also forced to stay where they were, in the Crimson Ashes Basin. Unfortunately, City Lord Sihe probably knew where their settlements were now. Well, he might not have learned all of their locations since the slaves had tried to keep them secret as much as they could and that Xin Zhe was dead. But some mercenaries, and even a few soldiers, had escaped.
As soon as Cao Yun would be strong enough to leave, they would leave. But until then, they were forced to accept the help of all the tribes, even tribes from other regions of the Desolate Dune Desert. The closest region was the Green Star Desert and they had sent a lot of reinforcements. They had been severely affected by the slavery trade. But their tormentor wasn't City Lord Sihe, it was Boss Gui.
With more tribes holding different views on various things, including Tie Po, tensions were arising more and more frequently. As a consequence, Chieftain Sha Chai Ren was forced to be as active as ever, worrying his daughter. Besides those tensions, other chieftains were slowly making their way toward the Sand Wolves Tribe and she knew it would increase the pressure on her father. It wasn't a good thing at all.
-
In Duma City, the Blazing Swallow was managed by Dan Yao and Nie Pian. Thankfully, he had learned his lesson, more or less. Xixue had given some authority to several people to check things. Dan Yao was always making sure of the quality of both the alchemists and the pills sold. Since their business had expanded, they had other experts to make sure that everything was as was announced in the shops. Besides, Xixue had also bought the services of a few appraisers to be absolutely independent. Even if Nie Pian tried to cheat, he wouldn't be able to deceive them and he couldn't buy them either.
Thankfully, their relationship with Boss Gui was also very good. Moreover, even Weiji Nian stayed quiet and didn't cause any problem for the company. They had grown larger and richer than Cao Yun had hoped. To be honest, he didn't really care as the company was just a means for his ends. He could literally discard it without batting an eye if it became more nuisance than it was worth. But Xixue's organization had allowed the company to function without Cao Yun's presence at all. That being said, it had almost been a full year since his departure.
Cao Yun had thought about making enough pills to last a long while. And Dan Yao had truly progressed. Although he wasn't an exceptional alchemist, he was now extremely talented when it came to the particular pills Cao Yun had taught him how to refine. Teaching them to other himself had helped him improve significantly faster. Thanks to his presence, the company was able to produce pills that Boss Gui could use to improve her own slave warriors. However, she was becoming impatient when it came to the larger promises of Cao Yun. That being said, she wasn't ready to abandon doing business with the Blazing Swallow. On the other hand, she was planning to look for Cao Yun herself if he kept being away.
Almost three to four months after the battle in the desert, several reports reached Boss Gui. And she learned about Cao Yun's current situation. Obviously, she didn't have all the details, but she learned that he had killed Xin Zhe, one of the most trusted lieutenants of City Lord Sihe. Her first reaction was to smile, it was a genuine smile. Anything that could weaken her enemy was a positive thing. But then, she thought more about that. Since Cao Yun was affiliated to her through his Blazing Swallow, it could be construed as an attack by her. But she could also control the narrative. After all, Xin Zhe had been sent in the desert to enslave and kill the members of the Sand Wolves Tribe.
Hopefully, considering the distances, she had learned this news before City Lord Sihe. She might be able to petition Lord Wanghuo and even the Xinian Confederation ahead of City Lord Sihe. At the very least, she could throw some shade on his word. She simply had to paint it as an attempt by City Lord Sihe to disrupt her own business. Cao Yun was trying to form commercial relationships with the Sand Wolves Tribe and City Lord had mobilized his army to try and stop it. Cao Yun had been heavily injured in the conflict and had been forced to defend himself. Truth be told, she didn't even know whether Cao Yun was injured or not. But given the delay between messages, it could easily be faked anyway.
For many days, Boss Gui made sure that her story was straight. She had several reunions and even visited the Blazing Swallow. At first, Nie Pian was absolutely onboard, but then he decided to check with others. He didn't want to cause any more problems for his master. However, it was impossible to contact Cao Yun in any reasonable period of time. Thus, they decided to go with Boss Gui's plan which seemed sound enough. At the very least, they tried to make sure that she wouldn't throw them to the beasts. After all, if they refused, she might be forced to distance herself from them so that the Xinian Confederation and Lord Wanghuo wouldn't accuse her of attacking City Lord Sihe's interests.
Another woman received important reports, Lady Weiji.
Some of the soldiers who had deserted came to her. Given that they had abandoned the battle, they were afraid that City Lord Sihe would kill them. And they were absolutely right. With her uncle in the military, Weiji Nian knew what punishment they would receive. In fact, she used their fear to extract any bit of information they had. Even compared with Boss Gui, she had a better understanding of what had happened. In particular, she knew that Cao Yun was terribly injured and in a deep sleep. Hopefully, he would stay like that for several more months.
Hearing that, Weiji Nian also realized that the Sisters of the Abyss were not doing a thorough job. Indeed, she had not learned all of that. What she had heard from the Sisters of the Abyss had been a watered down version of those events. As much as she suspected that they were hiding the truth from her, she couldn't denounce them. First of all, she couldn't denounce the Sisters of the Abyss period. But even if she had been able to, she didn't want her husband and her uncle to learn that she was still obsessed with Cao Yun. Refusing to believe that the Sisters of the Abyss were bad at their job, the only explanation was that they had some interest in Cao Yun. This made her plans even more complicated.
Looking at the four deserters in front her her, she had a good idea. At the very least, it appeared as a good idea in her eyes. If they had learned of it, her husband and her uncle would have probably slapped some sense into her. That woman seemed to be in a hurry to destroy their household...
"You cowards! You do know what punishment is reserved for vermin like you, the Seven Punishments of the Weaver of Souls!"
Immediately, the four soldiers kowtowed as low as they could, almost lying on their stomach. They were begging Weiji Nian for her mercy.
"Fine. I might have a solution for you to regain your honor and avoid such a cruel fate. Mo Yun is hurt and unconscious. Even if he regains consciousness he should still be weaker than a Golden Blood Child. This is the perfect opportunity to kill him."
"But, Mistress, he's probably heavily guarder by the Sand Wolves Tribe. And they gained a large number of slaves to reinforce them. There is no way we can even get close to him."
Immediately, they thought that she was asking them to go kill him themselves. This was a way of dying with honor. But deserters had little honor to begin with. As long as they could keep their heads, they would be happy. They knew that to avoid the Seven Punishments of the Weaver of Souls, they would have to risk a lot. But certain death wasn't appealing to them.
"You do realize that your entire Blood will have to suffer the Seven Punishments of the Weaver of Souls, right?"
"Mistress?!"
"You did not simply dishonor yourselves, you implicated your entire bloodline. Your wives, your children, your parents. We will punish all seven generations of your Blood to cleanse your dishonor. And City Lord Sihe will be merciless. He won't just send their Blood back to the dirt, he will make them suffer the Seven Punishments of the Weaver of Souls. Have you ever witnessed such a punishment?"
Now that their eyes were filled with terror, Weiji Nian knew she had struck a chord. Thus she pressed forward, detailing the punishment. In fact, she had no idea whether City Lord Sihe would go to such extremities. Of course, the deserters would suffer this punishment. And it was almost certain that their children and spouses would be killed too. However, she didn't think that City Lord Sihe would inflict such a cruel punishment to them. And he would probably not kill all seven generations of their Blood. This was a figure of speech to refer to anyone sharing enough of their bloodline. In reality, it was difficult to draw perfect boundaries between families and bloodlines, so an arbitrary limit was always chosen.
"I only saw this punishment once and even I never wanted to see another one." Once again she lied, as she had gone to several of them, even enjoying the show with her son. "They will flay you, break the bones in your limbs and pull them out piece by piece. They will slice your appendages, grind them and feed them to you. You will feast on your own blood and flesh. By the time the punishment is over, you'll know what your entrails taste like. After that, it really depends on the imagination of your tormentor. During the Seven Punishments of the Weaver of Souls I've seen, they used maggots to devour the victim from within. By that time, he couldn't even scream because they had cut off his vocal cords."
Unable to know whether she was embellishing things or not, the four cowards were unable to move as they imagined the sensations in their own flesh.
"I'm sure that if you beg enough, they'll torture you to death before they begin on your relatives. But I can't promise you anything."
"Mistress! Please, save us! Mistress! Have mercy! We'll do anything! A moment of weakness destroyed our future, but please spare our families!"
"Do not despair. Your lives are already forfeit, but there is hope for your families yet. If you die while accomplishing a great deed for your master, no one needs know about your moment of cowardice. But for that, you must follow my instructions. I already know how you could kill Mo Yun, even without getting too close to him. For the time being, stay in my residence, I will hide you from City Lord Sihe. He won't know about your pathetic conduct until after you've earned his respect back."
The shaking men were all thanking Weiji Nian, praising her mercy. Fearful cowards were probably the easiest people to manipulate. But they would be perfect puppets to get rid of Mo Yun. After the humiliation had caused to their family, she would not spare him at all. Her son had completely recovered. As much as Cao Yun might indeed have pills to help him, she was certain he wouldn't sell them to the Weiji family. Besides, she couldn't trust a single pill of his, let alone feed one to her only son. Thus, she had decided to kill him!