Trapped in the form of Lanying, Yuyan could do nothing but stare in shock as she – or rather, someone who looked just like her – stabbed Wubian.

The dagger sank into the wayang’s chest up to the hilt, blood gushing out as the imposter twisted the blade, causing Wubian to shudder before going still, his eyes rolling back in his head.

But the false Yuyan didn’t seem content to let things end there, her expression contorting into a vicious expression of hate as she ripped the dagger free. Blood poured out, but she didn’t seem to care, immediately reversing the motion of her arm as she brought it back around for a second strike-

Which was when Guang’s horns began to glow as his spell took effect.

An instant later, the false Yuyan gave a hiss as her dagger began to glow as well, the metal suddenly red-hot. Reflexively dropping the weapon, she let go of the wayang as well, his body falling bonelessly back onto his chair as the six-tails shot the qilin a furious look.

That was the opening Carnelia needed, activating the spell inside the diamond she’d retrieved.

An instant later, a ripple of force shot out. Striking the false Yuyan with the strength of an avalanche, the impact flung her through the air, impacting a wooden pillar on the opposite side of the pavilion with such force that – although the wood was thick and freshly-cut – it still snapped in half. The six-tails herself gave a pained groan as she slumped to the ground, blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth.

Staggering to her feet, Yuyan – still wearing Lanying’s appearance – took a step toward Wubian, intent on trying to stimulate his ki passageways in an effort to save his life.

But she’d barely moved before chaos descended in force.

Already, Chun and Bai – Guang’s new concubines – were screaming in terror, stumbling back to place the qilin between themselves and Wubian unmoving form. Outside the pavilion, the chiao at each of the paifang were roaring in rage at the attack, guandaos held high as they charged toward the building. The only exceptions were the tiger-men standing guard over the earth mares, pointing their weapons at the horses and shouting at them to stay back even as the equines cursed and shrieked and tried to get around them.

Nor was that all that was happening. The crimson moths that had been lazily fluttering around the air were beginning to swarm toward the pavilion, the beating of their wings causing lightning to crackle between them. The lotus flowers planted around the sides of the building were also taking action, the vaguely-humanoid stems – shorter than Wubian but twice as thick – uprooting themselves and starting to circle the pavilion. And further back, the ring of mist that encircled the place was beginning to dissipate, revealing a circle of giants who’d been hidden in the fog, already beginning to stride toward the pavilion.

The bedlam deterred Yuyan for only a moment, however, and she resumed moving toward Wubian immediately.

She was halfway there when her fallen double’s eyes fluttered open.

Out of her peripheral vision, Yuyan saw her other self glance around, taking stock of what was happening, and a moment later the imposter’s gaze met her own.

Then the six-tails smiled at her.

An instant later, another bank of fog descended, this time inside the pavilion itself.

Blinking as she suddenly found herself unable to see more than a few feet in front of her, Yuyan took an unsteady step forward, aware that in the unfolding chaos it would be all too easy for one of Wubian’s protectors to strike her by accident. Even so, she needed to help him before-

Stop.

Carnelia’s telepathic warning reached Yuyan’s mind just as the devil grasped her wrist, keeping her from advancing. We have to fall back immediately.

What are you talking about?! Yuyan tried to tug her wrist free, but Carnelia was stronger than she appeared, easily defeating the kumiho’s attempt to pull away. We have to save Wubian before-

It’s too late for that, answered Carnelia immediately, the fingers of her other hand plunging back into the valley of her chest and fishing out another diamond. He’s almost certainly dead already. And even if he’s not, it doesn’t matter. You’re being set up, which means we-, damn it!

What’s wrong?!

You’re back to normal! swore Carnelia, immediately replacing the diamond she’d withdrawn back into her cleavage before pulling out a different one. The illusion’s worn off!

Blinking, Yuyan glanced at herself. Despite the swirling mist around them, she could see that the devil was correct; rather than wearing Lanying’s appearance, she looked like herself again.

The new development left her nonplussed. Although Yuyan had received a broad education growing up – studying history, politics, religion, and numerous other disciplines expected of a future leader of a noble house, as well as learning how to control ki in herself and others – she wasn’t a warrior. The chaos, violence, and pandemonium of a battlefield were all foreign to her.

Much like when their clan had lost Mei Li to the semi-regular violence of the Thousand Kingdoms – the realm they’d fled to after their declining fortunes made staying at their ancestral home in Panas untenable – Yuyan found herself struggling to figure out what to do next. Helping Wubian seemed like the obvious course of action, much like she’d done for her niece when Lex Legis’s distress had unleashed a similar calamity upon the adlet village.

But if what Carnelia had said was correct, then that was exactly the wrong thing to do.

The uncertainty was enough to leave Yuyan paralyzed as Carnelia closed her eyes and concentrated, and a moment later the diamond in her hand darkened and crumbled to powder as the spell within it took effect, a bubble of force springing up around the two of them.

Perplexed, Yuyan reached out to touch the edges of the barrier, the fog that was inside of the dome immediately beginning to dissipate.

I don’t understand, she murmured, feeling almost dizzy. You’ve trapped us here?

It’s the best I can do for now, since those freestanding gateways we passed through are blocking teleportation and we’d be swarmed in an instant if we tried to run, replied Carnelia grimly, fingers once again reaching for something tucked between her breasts.

It was enough to make Yuyan wonder exactly how she’d managed to store so much in there.

Lanying used an illusion to switch her appearance with yours, explained Carnelia. Did you notice how the change happened at the exact moment that Guang was distracted because of his new girlfriends? She made sure to cast the spell when no one was looking, then made that declaration of rebellion so that everyone would see “you” kill Wubian. Now she’s used the mist as cover to drop the illusion-

-so that the guards here will think that I’m the killer, finished Yuyan, amazed that the devil had figured out so much so quickly.

But her appreciation of Carnelia’s acumen was short-lived, a rush of panic threatening to overwhelm her now that she new the magnitude of what was happening. We have to explain to the guards what really happened! The chiao and the ta-jen – the mist giants – are creatures of honor! They must have seen what happened-

They didn’t, answered Carnelia grimly. The tiger-men were all facing outward, away from the pavilion. They would have heard what happened, but not seen anything. And the mist giants were directing their attention outward as well; remember what I said before about picking up scrying sensors in the mist? That was them.

A cold shiver ran down Yuyan’s spine then. What about the horses? The ones we brought with us? They must have seen what happened!

I’m sure they did, but it doesn’t matter. They’re your “honor guard,” remember? They’re probably going to be treated as accomplices, just like me. I only hope they listened to what I told them before I put this force field up and ran into the forest.

You sent them away?!

Right now the guards here are focused on the pavilion. If those four get away now, before anyone remembers that they’re there, we won’t have to worry about them. Otherwise they’ll be captured or killed, and then we’d have to explain that to His Highness.

Just the thought of that was enough to make Carnelia grimace. I just hope that masked mare is smart enough not to light those fireworks she mentioned. That’d bring the guards here down on her and her friends in an instant.

But then who will testify to my innocence?! protested Yuyan. The crimson moths outside are unintelligent beasts, and are blind anyway, navigating via scent, and the xueshua lianhua – the lotus flowers – are simple plants that will entangle anyone who tries to leave with blood on them. If Guang and his concubines were distracted, the other guards saw nothing, and you and the horses will not be believed, then my entire clan will be condemned!

I know, murmured Carnelia. Lanying did an excellent job thinking this through-, ah! There it is!

Finally withdrawing her hand from her cleavage, a triumphant smile crossed Carnelia’s face as she held up a small iron flask, which seemed to twitch and jerk in her grasp.

Yuyan, however, wasn’t ready to let their previous line of discussion go. I don’t know what you’re planning to do, but we need to bring the truth to light! I came here to save the Pimao Jingzhi, not watch as it met its end!

Right now, our responsibility is to get back to His Highness, countered Carnelia. Clearing your clan’s name isn’t possible under the current circumstances. The best we can do is fall back and inform him of what’s happened.

Yuyan shuddered, lowering her head. I had hoped to spare my clan from being disgraced in his eyes.

Tightening her grip on the flask, Carnelia gave Yuyan a steady look. I haven’t known His Highness very long, but I can speak from experience when I say that he’s not the sort who blames someone for something they couldn’t have prevented. Lanying obviously had this plan ready to go if you paid off your debt, which means that this was always going to happen. Besides, maybe His Highness can resurrect Wubian; that might calm things down enough to where-

That won’t work, interrupted Yuyan, shaking her head. Wubian is a functionary of Yen-Wang-Yeh, the Celestial Bureaucracy’s god of the dead. He won’t allow a foreign power to interfere with one of his own.

She was going to say more, but in that moment a sudden breeze whipped up outside of the barrier, blowing away the mist.

The sight that greeted Yuyan then proved Carnelia right about the situation being unsalvageable.

“MY HUSBAND!!!” wailed Lanying, holding Wubian’s body close as she wept and rocked back and forth. “SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP MY HUSBAND!!!”

Standing protectively over the concubines he’d purchased – both of whom were sobbing in fear – Guang hesitated just long enough to glance around, a pained expression crossing his face as he made eye contact with Yuyan. Then he hurried over to Lanying and Wubian.

His horns glowed softly as he reached out to lay a hoof on the wayang, biting his lip. A moment later his shoulders slumped, and he shook his head, eyes closing as he stepped away.

That was enough to make Lanying let out a loud wail, crying harder as she hugged Wubian’s body.

She was still like that when the chiao pushed past the lotuses and flooded the pavilion a few seconds later.

The tiger-men immediately split into two groups. The first ushered Guang back before forming a protective cluster around the weeping four-tails, guandaos held outward as they readied themselves for an attack from any direction. The second surrounded the force field that Carnelia had raised, scowling as they pointed their blades as the barrier.

“Cowards!” spat one of the chiao after prodding the force field with his weapon, to no effect. “To spill blood in this sacred place is dishonor enough, but now you hide behind magic! Have you no shame?!”

“You made no challenge, and attacked one who held no weapon!” raged another. “All after being permitted here in peace and dignity! This disgrace will haunt your family for all time!”

“The Pimao Jingzhi are all corrupt!” spat a third. “They are the disgrace to the Celestial Bureaucracy!”

The words struck Yuyan worse than if they’d somehow managed to stab her through the force field, her face turning pale. She tried to turn away, but with how the chiao had surrounded them, there was nowhere to turn that wasn’t filled with jeering faces, spitting on her clan’s name and legacy.

Even beyond the tiger-men, the ta-jen had moved inside of the paifang, glaring down at her in undisguised disgust. Each one held an enormous shang gou – swords with hooked ends – at the ready. The mist giants were all warrior-monks, Yuyan knew, and like the chiao would spare no effort to bring them down if they tried to flee or fight back.

At least the horses seemed to have escaped, she sighed inwardly, not seeing the four mares anywhere.

“Senior, how could you?”

Lanying’s sniffling question brought Yuyan’s attention back to the pavilion’s interior, where the four-tails was looking at her through eyes that had been reddened from crying. “How could you do such a horrible thing to my poor husband? After he went out of his way to help your clan maintain its honor, this is the thanks you give him?”

Yuyan scowled. The four-tail’s acting was perfect, giving away no hint that she was anything other than a bereaved widow who’d just lost her husband. Only the fact that her tails were entirely composed, rather than being fluffed up from shock or grief, marred the performance.

And that’s not something that someone who wasn’t a fox would ever notice, Yuyan knew.

“If only my husband had known how far the Pima Jingzhi had fallen!” sobbed Lanying. “Then I wouldn’t have to endure this heartache!”

“Your words are as false as your tears, Lanying.” Yuyan knew it was a mistake to speak, that there was nothing to be gained by doing so. But she couldn’t bear to stand there and watch as the one who’d orchestrated a plot against her family pretended to be a victim. “The truth of what you’ve done will be made known to the Celestial Bureaucracy, even if I have to plead my clan’s case before the Emperor himself!”

“Such iniquity!” moaned Lanying. “To declare yourself in rebellion against the Mandate of Heaven, only to then announce that you wish the forbearance of the Celestial Bureaucracy’s highest authority! Had I known you were so shameless, I would never have called you my senior!”

She collapsed into a new round of weeping then, burying her face against Wubian’s body as her shoulders shook.

The sight made Yuyan clench her jaw, but she didn’t bother saying anything else.

Carnelia was right; the only choice now was to extricate themselves and fix things later.

I assume that flask has to do with the plan you mentioned to those horses?

The telepathic query made the devil smirk, despite the seriousness of their situation. This flask – or rather, what’s inside it – is the entire plan.

That was enough to make Yuyan quirk a brow, but she didn’t say anything else as Carnelia brought the flask close to her lips and whispered a word.

As soon as she did, the stopper flew open, and from inside of the flask emerged...

A bow.

Its frame made out of a silvery metal, and its design made each half look like feathery wing. There was no string to be seen, nor even notches on its ends for one to be wound. The size was massive, easily taller than Yuyan, to the point where it barely fit within the confines of the force field.

But most notable of all was how it was floating in the air of its own accord.

The entire thing was surreal enough that it made Yuyan blink, not sure how to react. “What-”

You devil trash! screeched a feminine voice, and Yuyan’s eyes widened as she realized it was coming from the bow. Undo that flask’s enchantment on me this instant!

Now now, answered Carnelia calmly. We can discuss that after you help us out-

NEVER! seethed the bow. I’d rather be dismantled than aid oppressors like you! In the name of Thundering Gale, the pony pantheon’s war goddess, I swear that I – Starshot, bow of the Steel Storm – will never help you!

Author's Note

With no way out, Carnelia puts her plan into action, revealing what was in the flask Vystalaran had: a living weapon belonging to the captured goddess, Thundering Gale!

How is one of the previous war goddess’s weapons there? Will Carnelia be able to force it to rescue her and Yuyan?