(Author Note: I return! if you have read this story before I strongly suggest you re-read from the start, significant changes have been made in re-editing. Next chapter will be out in a week!)

Dong Hua wasn't a compassionate or holy being, that fact had never changed. – Pillow Book

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Words: 4,700

High Goddess Ru Zhong was a footnote at best in the grand pages of history, and that was exactly how she preferred it. Despite being one of the legendary seventy two generals that had helped pacify the chaos of the past, there were few books that mentioned her. In those that did mention her, it was primarily as an organiser of supply lines and other mundane tasks. In only one book was anything else mentioned, and even then it was incorrect, suggesting her role was something of an assistant to her fellow general Tu Jian. Even her name was relatively unknown, despite being a High Goddess. Her near complete lack of any historical or political presence was exactly what she needed it to be.

After all, no one had ever thought it odd that she would be summoned first before the other generals when her lord went to war. Organising and planning supply routes was a critical aspect of any prolonged engagement, of course such things would need to be addressed first. In truth it was Tu Jian that managed such things, freeing Ru Zhong to act in the shadows. None outside of her fellow generals knew the truth behind the façade.

Infiltration, assassination, political manipulations and other less savoury methods of information gathering, this was where she and her people provided use to her lord. Lord Shaoyang had seen worth in her all those years ago. She, a half-starved waif from a tribe that had betrayed the Shaoyang Sovereign's armies of heaven at a crucial moment. He had spared her, and she had worshipped the deity ever since. Her quick mind and willingness to do anything to survive, and later provide some use to her saviour proved valuable. She would happily carve out her heart in offering if he asked it of her, he or his children, they were parts of him after all, living aspects of his divinity.

Which brought her thoughts back to the unhappy realisation that Bai Fengjiu was dead. Someone or something had killed the person her god had loved above all beings. She would gladly offer herself and all her people to death if it would bring back her lord's beloved. But she could not, and such thoughts of whimsy were not becoming of her.

She had never failed any task her lord had set her or her people, this would be no different. But she would not lie and say this did not feel somewhat personal. Still, she was a professional and so she tucked away any feelings she had about the matter and focused on completing her task.

Ru Zhong's true form was that of a turtle, but the waves of the sea and the winds of heaven held no love for her, nor she for them. But the land loved and listened, and so she asked the earth to share its memory.

Normally it was impossible to see residual energy, spells or souls so clearly, but the eyes of Ru Zhong and this specific section of her people were special. The eyes of all of them had been replaced with those she had personally crafted. The sight she and her servants possessed was completely normal. The only difference was the fact that they could activate what she liked to call soul-sight, to be able to see the more intangible side of existence.

Her lord's wife had a rather beautiful soul colour, a red-white mix that resulted in a soft pink colour. Ru Zhong could see her lord's little daughter glowing softly within. The child soul was the same colour as the spirit nourishing and sustaining it, a pale pink. Once the child was born their soul and magic would naturally gain its own unique colouration. Perhaps when the little one grew up it would become the same shade of purple that her lord possessed. She hoped so; she'd always thought her lord's soul was the most beautiful in all creation.

Bai Fengjiu's soul contrasted brightly against the black mist-like characteristic of ghost souls. It made the fight extremely easy to follow. She and her people flew to avoid touching any of the evidence, taking notes as the battle replayed itself.

She saw her lord's wife pushed into the Ghost Realm, and further still, saw the blade that sliced her calf and watched as the three ghosts fled. She currently saw souls and spirits, not flesh and blood, but she imagined the removal of the child was quite bloody.

There was a small murmur of confusion from some of her people as Bai Fengjiu seemingly cut off part of her soul. Ru Zhong watched as the soul fragment changed form into a magical golden chariot with wheels of yellow flame, pulled by a red horse. She continued to watch as her lord's wife made it across the border, the chariot lost its form and it disappeared from Ru Zhong's magic sight.

Ah, that explained the fox tail they had found.

She saw her lord's soul find his wife and disappear seconds later. She waited another minute and cancelled the spell when nothing of further significance occurred. The child's soul had been distressingly dim at the end, but she was not concerned. Her lord surely would have mentioned if the child had died.

Bai Fengjiu's fatal mistake had been seeking to escape rather than fully committing to destroying her enemies from the start. Ru Zhong would never be a mother, but she had an academic understanding of the instinct all mother's had to protect their children. The error was understandable, if regrettable. Regardless of Bai Fengjiu's errors, someone had dared to take something from her lord, her god, and that was an insult she was not kind enough to ignore.

Of the two male survivors one had left an arm and a blood trail behind, and the other their sword. All three of them would be far too easy to hunt down, how disappointing. She assigned two of her hunters to track the male ghosts and bring them back to Shenji manor for interrogation.

Given what she had seen and the poisoned blade in her hand, it was clear the female ghost had been the direct cause of death of Bai Fengjiu. Ru Zhong would have to hunt her down personally.

She absently twirled the blade in her hand for a moment before she passed it to a servant to analyse. She ordered her people to finish their tasks, clear up the area and begin writing their respective reports ready for her to review before dawn.

With everything else well in hand her focus was now to capture the uppity insect that had dared to kill her lord's joy.

"No challenge at all." She sighed.

------------------ Same Day, Late Morning

"-that is what this humble one concludes."

Ru Zhong heard her voice echo slightly through the hall as she finished speaking. She was seated on a cushion in one of the smaller halls of Taichen Palace, which was still cavernous by any other standard. She had just finished giving her personal analysis of the events that resulted in the death of Bai Fengjiu on the border of the Ghost Realm. The cool marble floor of this hall would have caused her to feel uncomfortably chill, but her lord's housekeeper Zhong Lin offered her tea at just the right moment. He informed her that tea had been hand grown and picked by her lord. It almost felt like sacrilege to consume the work of her lord's hand, but it would be a far greater sin to decline it.

This head steward of Taichen Palace was perceptive, perhaps too much so. There would be a risk for him to remain in the room as she and her lord discussed the true reason she had been summoned in person, when all relevant information on Bai Fengjiu's death was contained within the report resting in her lord's hand. But perhaps her lord would allow the little hummingbird spirit to stay, Ru Zhong knew of the loyalty this housekeeper had toward her lord and his family. But then again, this matter was not so much a matter of loyalty as it was about morality. She supposed it would be cruel to burden a kind heart with dark knowledge when it was not needed.

She brought the cup to her lips and used the movement to disguise the fact she was watching with half lidded eyes as her lord wave a hand and silently dismissed Zhong Lin. She hid a small reverent smile behind the cup as she drank the beautifully blended tea, her lord was often so benevolent when circumstances allowed. Her lord was unique among all beings, neither good nor evil, deity or demon, but greater. A being well worthy of the worship bestowed upon him by lesser beings.

In the silence of the hall the sound of her placing her cup on the table beside her was distinctive. It acted almost like a drumbeat during a play, separating one act from another. With no one else present but the two of them, there was no need to keep acting.

To the world at large she was summoned to begin the process of preparing for potential action to be taken in the Ghost Realm. In truth it was a beautifully choreographed ruse, a smokescreen to hide far more delicate discussions.

The report she had written had stated that Bai Fengjiu had fought valiantly and made no mention of any survivors. There was no reason for anyone to think her presence in Taichen Palace today was for any other reason but her role as a General.

"Continue." Came the order from her lord as he placed the report back on the table beside him.

She and her lord had always had an understanding. This part was a delicate dance of words and intent, hidden meaning unspoken command, she had missed this the most.

"In addition my lord, there are three surv-"

"Are there? I find that to be unlikely." It was a statement, not a question.

"I apologise, of course there were none, I misspoke." There was no further information she could gain from the three ghost's her people had hunted down and interrogated. There were few reasons why someone might desire to hide their existence from the world. But her lord was the same now as he was three hundred thousand years ago, and his wife lay dead; she could guess.

"You did misspeak," Her lord agreed, "As penance you can clean up the refuse that was left from the ambush."

Ru Zhong could not help it when her lips parted slightly in surprise. Not quite believing she had understood correctly she sought confirmation with her next words.

"It will be a quick matter lord, less than a day, I am thankful that you have entrusted the task to me."

Her lord merely gave the smallest of incline of his head as confirmation. It was enough for her to be sure of his intent.

"I understand."

She, Ru Zhong had been chosen as the vessel of her lords' retribution, pass judgement in his place. She was deeply honoured. Her lord would never know the shape his vengeance had taken, he trusted her to deliver it. She was determined to honour that trust, and do justice to her lord's wife.

"If you understand, why are you still here?"

They would never speak of this matter again.

"My apologies Lord, with your permission, by your leave?"

"You may go." Came the permission to rise and leave, as she rose from her seated position her lord spoke again. "Ah, wait," her lord drawled, as she turned and began to bow to her lord, her hand moved instinctively and caught something, "don't get caught up."

She looked down to see a scroll and froze.

The scroll was sealed with a wax crest of two colours. On a field of purple sat a silver sun with twenty four points, bright and defiant.

The symbol of her lord at war.

Something she had not seen for over three hundred thousand years.

Momentarily overcome with emotion she knelt down, and bowed until her forehead touched the floor. In reverence she held the bow and did not raise her head as she greeted her lord once more.

"General Ru Zhong greets the Monarch of the Purple Manor, Lord Shaoyang" She was smiling, but as her head was lowered he could not see that she was being so unseemly, "I serve".

"Rise and go." She rose and saw that her lord was already busy writing something.

She nearly skipped out of the hall. There were so many things to prepare, so much to do. She returned to Shenji manor and only then did she open the scroll. A smaller roll of vellum was inside, but she read the scroll first.

As expected, it was a formal invitation to her lord's war council to be held in the coming week at the Holy Blue Sea.

She traced a finger across the elegant characters written by her lord, and allowed herself a small small of contentment and joy. She had never given up hope her lord would be active in the world again. Many of her fellow generals had ceased cultivating and had passed from old age, their lives seemingly empty and pointless if they could not be of use to Lord Shaoyang. The battle of Ruoshui a hundred thousand years ago had been the death-knell of their hopes. For if their lord did not involve himself in that event, what event or war could bring him from Taichen Palace? She was one of few outside of the Dragon and Fox Clans that knew the true reason he had not appeared at that crucial battle. She was glad her own faith had been rewarded, and wondered how many of her old contemporaries were left. Which of had kept faith, and would now have the honour of fighting under the silversun banner of Lord Shaoyang once more?

Ru Zhong was still musing on the past as she unrolled the smaller vellum scroll and almost let a frown crease her brow as she read it. What did this instruction mean for the upcoming war? How did this fit? Her lord rarely gave such specific orders; one did not become a general of Lord Shaoyang by needing their hand held at every moment.

She had already been tracking and keeping tabs on those two, she kept careful track of all potential people of influence or note. Indeed the only place she did not have eyes, ears and blades was Taichen Palace and those that had close contact with her lord. Still he'd send someone to trail them full-time to ensure nothing happened to them in the next three weeks.

Most believed that the lord of the green demon clan Yan Chiwu had the greatest information and spy network in all the realms. But then most people were idiots. Anyone who was known to have an information network was really not good at their job.

Her thought turned to how she would tidy up the remnants from the ambush. It wouldn't do to have any unsightly or inconvenient mess lying around after all. Not when there was a war to prepare for.

She felt young again.

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Almost immediately on returning to her manor, Ru Zhong got to work. She had spent very little time dealing with the two male ghosts they had captured. She had fed them to the multi-headed snake beast that lived beneath the lake her manor was built beside. No one approached the place where her manor was hidden thanks to the beast, and she made sure to occasionally keep it happy by feeding it the occasional treat.

She had chosen the order of their deaths carefully. The male who had not directly harmed Fengjiu had been fed to it headfirst, a quick death as the creature's sharp fangs and spiny throat pierced his head. The other who had sliced Fengjiu's arm had been fed to it second and feet first. It had taken the half-full beast a good hour to eat that one, but the screams had only died off at the end.

The beast saliva had an interesting property, it kept one awake and alert for many hours. A good amount of her wealth had come from selling concoctions crafted with that saliva to desperate students and scholars hoping to impress the higher lords of heaven into becoming ministers and servants of the heavenly palaces. Though she doubted the ghost had been particularly appreciative of its effects.

Still, such work made her hungry and she had not eaten since she had been summoned to her lord's palace. She had just started to eat a wonderful late lunch when her last unwilling guest started to wake. The chains that pinned her guest to the wall rattled as the woman stirred. She and her guest were the only two beings in the small room. It was a cube of roughly cut rock, with a single door, and no decorations or furniture, save the rock table and chair she had summoned.

There was confusion in the woman's eyes and wariness tinged with fear. Likely a result of her earlier treatment. There were many methods of memory extraction, all of them uncomfortable, most of them painful. Her people had extracted all useful information from the woman's memories, and had not been particularly delicate about it. Disappointingly there was no terror in the woman's eyes, but that would come later. She noticed a slight tremor run through the woman's frame, but that was likely just a physical reaction to being cold, as the woman had not been provided new clothing since her servants had taken the woman's garments to analyse.

"I pity you, a little. How unlucky you are that fate chose you as its unwitting tool." Ru Zhong spoke into the silence, not particularly caring if her guest was coherent enough to understand her yet or not.

She selected the largest clam on the plate in front of her, taking care to scoop some runaway chilli onto the meat before she ate it. The meal was delicious and she was savouring it, but it was not the meal before her that she had been looking forward to enjoying the most. The torment of the creature before her? That was a much more delicious prospect. The woman now seemed slightly more lucid, and so Ru Zhong continued to speak.

"The fact that she was killed by a weakling such as you is unacceptable. It's an insult to our lord, and we generals are not known to take such things lightly. You see, if you were an extremely powerful High God, with armies spanning across the world, there'd be some risk to keeping you alive, and I'd have to kill you."

Here she used the empty clam shell in her hand to gesture at the woman, "But you are little more than an insect with arms, you pose no threat at all." She paused here for a few moments, for no other reason than to give the fool hope that she might be released.

"Unfortunately for you, that means I get to keep you alive as long as I wish." She then turned her attention back to the plate at her side and selected the main element of the dish. Before her was the delicately prepared breast meat from a wild crow. The true form of nearly all ghost tribe members was often some species of black bird, crow's chief among them. She enjoyed the symbolism almost as much as she enjoyed the gamy taste and hummed, pleased.

"Pleas-" Came the attempted plea. But she was not in the mood to listen to such ramblings, not yet. She waved a hand at the woman and watched the panic rise in the woman's eyes as her mouth began to knit together, sealing it shut.

"Insects should not chitter so freely, and it's rude to interrupt," She 'tsk'd and waggled a finger in reprimand. She cleaned her hands with the lemon scented bowl of water, and leisurely wiped them dry before she turned her attention back to the woman once more.

"Ah! But I've been very rude and not introduced myself; my name is Ru Zhong, nice to meet you." Here she offered a warm, genial smile to the woman in greeting. Outwardly she ignored the panic and fear that had etched its way on to the woman's face, but internally she savoured it.

"don't worry about introducing yourself Ju Li, I know all about you." She was grateful the woman had no family or friends, thanks to the turmoil in the Ghost Realm. Ru Zhong would not have been able to resist the poetic justice of slowly killing them while making the ghost woman watch. Her lord would disapprove of such excess if he found out. He often preferred simpler and tidier solutions, and so she was glad the temptation was removed.

"But as you don't know about me, I'll be gracious and tell you a little bit, just so we're even." Here she rose from her seat, grabbed a few nuts from the bowl to eat while she explained.

"Did you know that it was my lord that gave me this name? He named many of us generals, for in the blood-soaked fields of prehistory none but nobles had proper names. Many of us were young and nameless, slaves and vagabonds. Orphans of wars that had spanned half a million years, but we had talent and he pitied us. He took us in, and we became siblings to one another, we had names and our lives had worth and meaning. In time we rose through the ranks and became his generals, and the names he gave us were known throughout the world."

"We generals worship and love our lord, we serve only him. He is our father and mother, our lord and general, our king and god." She walked over and held Ju Li's chin, she ran a thumb over the tearstained cheek in a delicate caress. "And you killed his wife, nearly killed his daughter, and his two children are now motherless. Did you really think that mercy is something I would offer?" She asked, her tone dripping scorn.

She jerked Ju Li's chin harshly, forcing their eyes to meet. "There is nothing in this world that is not worth knowing. There are many spells I've seen in my life that I've never had the chance to replicate. Ethics. You understand?" she felt the woman attempting to nod in frantic agreement, but Ru Zhong's grip was steel.

"But here you are, ready to help." She caressed the woman's cheek with her thumb before she released her grip completely.

The woman had taken such a pretty thing from the world, it was only fair she played host to another. Her hand rose to her captive's forehead, she pressed her forefinger to the same place Bai Fengjiu's birthmark had been and set her seal. Dark purple light flashed for a moment and when she removed her finger a black tendril seal resembling a spider remained. 'pretty' was subjective, but Ru Zhong thought it was beautiful, a physical manifestation of her lord's vengeance.

Fear and worry were now truly evident in the woman's eyes, Ru Zhong stepped back to admire her work. "Don't worry, that was just a little something, I'll explain in a moment."

It was rude to eat while speaking with someone, but when did one need to show courtesy to an uppity worm? She sat back down to take a sip of her now lukewarm tea and started to tell her little story. She glossed over the who's, where's and why's of the tale, and started going into more detail when she reached the more interesting parts.

"He gouged out his eyes, bit off his tongue and tried to choke on it, his fingers were bloody stubs where he had tried to claw out his heart to make it stop. And I watched as each wound mended and he did not die." She frowned at the bowl when she realised there were no more ginkgo nuts left. She settled on a few pine nuts instead. She preferred savoury snacks, she'd never been one for sweet things. She was still eating as she continued.

"It was only a day until his mind broke, overloaded with agony and overwhelmed with horror. He simply lay drooling on the floor. Occasionally he twitched as his mind half-remembered to signal pain. As he was unable to recognise that he was suffering anymore they ended the spell and allowed him to die."

She rose and finished the last of her cold tea, grimacing slightly at the taste. A nonchalant gesture at the stone table and chair sent them melding back into the wall. The only objects in the room now were the clothes she was wearing, the cup she was holding and the chains that bound Ju Li to the wall.

She used her empty cup to gesture at the woman's head. "Which brings me to that pretty little seal I placed on your forehead."

"When your mind is about to break and relieve you of your suffering, that seal will prevent it. You will have a few seconds of clarity to understand the situation before it starts all over again."

Terrified tear streaked eyes met her own, and Ru Zhong savoured the moment. She then cast two spells in quick succession. The first bound the woman's soul to the very stones of the room, denying her soul the ability to dissipate, regardless of the damage done to body, mind and soul. The second was the spell she had wanted to test for so long, and who else was more worthy to receive it than the creature before her?

She watched in fascination as the woman quickly devolved into a creature of pure instinct, trying to do anything possible to stop the horror it was going through. Ju Li's mouth was still sealed, but the sounds coming from it were clearly those of sheer unmistakable agony. It had been only five minutes and she had already witnessed the woman try to end her life, and thus her suffering in multiple ways. Trying to crack her head against the wall was the most boring, but watching the woman try and strangle herself with the chains on her wrists was entertaining. She continued to watch, and when the woman tried for a second time to die by shoving her hand down her throat Ru Zhong decided the woman had a good understanding of the spell's effects. She herself had some lovely data to work with, it was a good day. She cancelled the spell and continued to watch how long it took for the woman to regain some semblance of coherency, minutes later the wild, animalistic look faded from the womans eyes, but the terror remained, good.

Ru Zhong reached into her robe and pulled out a dagger. "Do you recognise this?" She asked the chained woman.

It took a moment for Ju Li's eyes to focus through the pain and tears but once they did she froze, eyes wide.

"That's right, it's yours, the same poisoned blade you used to kill my lord's pregnant wife."

"You will have a minute little Ju Li," She savoured the name, pausing at each part. "Speak, beg, pray to whatever god it is you think might save you. If you beg nicely I might even cut you with it and grant you the same death my lady suffered."

"Oh, but you'll have to beg very prettily, the god I worship is not known for mercy." And she was being very honest there. Her lord had been the one to set the laws of heaven, not the silly rules that the current Tianjun had set, but the laws. The punishment for breaking most of them was to be struck with heavenly lightning, which felt like one's soul was being torn apart with every strike.

She dispelled the mouth-closing spell, and proceeded to pay very little attention to the woman before her as she begged for death. 'I did not know' and various apologies and plea's glided over her like water off a turtle's back. Ha, that was an amusing thought, being as she herself was a turtle. After a minute had passed she asked the woman for silence, and like a good captive the woman instantly shut up. She was slightly disappointed, she preferred the defiant ones, they were more fun. She did have a time limit, and her lord had warned her not to get too caught up, she did have various war strategies to plan.

"Don't you remember my promise little Ju Li?" She asked, the woman desperately shook her head in a clear 'no', and opened her mouth to speak, but Ru Zhong continued before she had a chance, "So rude of you to forget."

"ru-, very rude, I'm sorry pleas-" Came the last desperate unthinking words of a tortured soul.

"Mercy was never something you were going to receive from me." Amused, she recast the spell.

Ru Zhong watched the woman's limbs begin to tense in agony, and her eyes widened in horror as the spell took hold once more.

"The stars will fall, the air will be flame. And you'll still be here, screaming." She noted aloud, but doubted the woman could understand her, perhaps she should have said that before she cast the spell? Ah well, no matter now.

Satisfied Ru Zhong rose and vanished the chains from Ju Li's wrists, chains were no longer required, the woman's very soul was bound to the room. As she left the room she waved the cup in parting at the now writhing woman on the floor.

"Congratulations on your new eternity!" She exclaimed with excessive cheer.

The first scream was cut off as the door closed and the room sealed. A moment later the door disappeared, and the smooth stone of the corridor returned. She was smiling as she exited the disused corridor and entered the more inhabited area of her manor. She stopped the first servant she saw, and placed the empty cup in the servants hand as she gave her order.

"Bring out all the tapestries we have in storage, I'd like to view them later. I've just seen a blank spot in the northwest corridor that would be perfected with one." She'd see if any of them had chrysanthemums on them, if not perhaps she'd commission one.

"At once my lady." Came the response, and the servant was gone.

As the servant vanished into another corridor she remembered that Bai Fengjiu's father Bai Yi was said to be a brilliant artist. Perhaps she could acquire a canvas piece from him. That would be fitting, Fengjiu's father would unknowingly create the piece that would mark the place where his daughter's killer lived in eternal torment.

Pleased with that idea, Ru Zhong started to hum a happy tune as she walked toward the meeting room where her commanders were assembled. Her fellow general Tu Jian had likely already sent her own people to scout the land for any areas of geographical interest in preparation for war. It would not do for her own to be delayed. Figuring out the power dynamics of a realm so wrapped in chaos would take a bit of time, even for her people. Who to impersonate, threaten, kill or turn to their side was always the most important part of her work, a mistake this early could be catastrophic.

In the last war they had fought under their lord's banner it had been Tu Jian's contributions that had played a more key role in the overall victory than her own. They were both information specialists of different sorts, and had been friendly rivals since Tu Jian had risen to the rank of a general of Lord Shaoyang.

This time it would be different, she was determined to prove her worthiness to serve her god.