When I came to and opened my eyes, I felt like I had been run over by a bus. I groaned softly and blinked furiously to get the fuzz out of my head. It appeared I was in a barn with hay bales. I hadn’t noted anyone else in the area with me until I saw Betsy on the ground still tied up with a blindfold, and she looked like she was passed out.

  “Betsy!” I yelled and tried to pull my arms. That was when I realized my hands were bound behind the chair I was sitting in. Surprisingly, with everything else about this situation, I wasn’t gagged. In my struggle to free myself, I heard some laughing. It didn’t sound malicious or evil or anything, just someone who was happy to see me trying to fight to escape.

  “Ah, there’s no point in fighting against your restraints. You will not be able to break them. If you haven’t noticed yet, they’re cutting off your mana. The cuffs are made from iron and the enchanted salt from the heavens,” the voice explained when he was done laughing.

  I furrowed my brow and stopped fighting. I didn’t feel like anything was different or off about the mana in my channels or the aura or anything like that? Better to let the bad guy think I was definitely hindered even though I didn’t think I was.

  “Your ox is fine, and so are you. If you need a pill, I can give you one for the crack my associate gave your head. He gets a little too eager.”

  I blinked a couple more times and then centered in on where the voice was coming from. It was a youngish-looking man and looked like the definition of a “young master” from a xianxia story. His robes were fine silks and somehow both looked like this world’s version of cultivator robes, and a gangster’s pinstriped suit. Maybe I was more fucked up from the crack against my skull than I thought I was?

  His outer robe was black with white stripes, which was very unusual compared to everything I had seen so far in the world. His inner robe was more like a suit shirt. The man’s hair was freshly greased and greasy topknot, and he had deep emerald eyes that scanned me over. He was smiling, but it was a creepy smile. If Hisai’s knowing smile looked friendly, if a little conceited, this man’s smile was dark and knowing. He still gave off the air that he was full of himself, but it, well, quite frankly, it made me uneasy.

  “Jin Lao, Jin Lao,” a childish voice yelled, followed by a young, thin boy who ran into the barn.

  The gangster man frowned and closed his eyes. He was obviously annoyed the boy was calling him by his name. He was so unhappy that when the boy approached him, he raised his hand for a backhand. “Dammit, Sho, how many times have I told you?”

  The attendant was dressed kind of like a yobidashi. Yellow loose-fitting shirt that tied in the front and went down and tucked into his oversized black pants.

  The boy, Sho, flinched back before Jin Lao could follow through with the slap. “I’m sorry sir, I’m sorry.”

  “What is it?” The gangster demanded and lowered his hand.

  The boy bowed to him and apologized again. “Okami Jun said Hideo didn’t show up. We’re down a wrestler.”

  All of this unfolded as I sat there and just watched, kind of dumbfounded by everything and unsure what to say. I almost yelled when the obviously powerful cultivator was about to slap the kid, but he pulled his slap, so I stopped myself. I pulled at my wrists a little, and I could feel the chains that connected my handcuffs together give a little.

  Jin Lao looked back at me, and that dark smile returned. “You know, if the Sasuke Sumo Association found out what we were doing here, they’d be very upset.”

  I blinked. “Okay.”

  “As much as cultivators are respected, our young emperor is a very large fan of sumo wrestling, and the SSA has his ear. If the heads of that organization told him to, he’d probably send out his guard and look for us and break up our little events,” Jin Lao explained.

  I blinked again. “Okay, and what exactly is going on here?”

  Jin Lao smirked again, a genuine smirk of amusement. He flicked his hand to one of the thugs behind me, and I felt my handcuffs get released. As per everything I saw in movies, once my hands were free, I rubbed at my wrists.

  “Were they on too tight?” Jin Lao asked with a genuine hint of concern while he glared at the one who released me.

  I shrugged. “No, just I usually see people in-“

  I stopped myself. “No, I just see people do that. I’m fine. I don’t think they really affected me the way you said they would, anyway.”

  Jin Lao cocked a brow. “Is that so?”

  I shrugged. “Anyway, you were telling me what goes on here?”

  The gangster nodded. “Yeah, basically we’re just a bunch of cultivators who like sumo wrestling. So we get together at various times in various places to host a little get-together.”

  “Underground sumo fights?” I asked.

  He inclined his head.

  “Sign me up!” I looked at Betsy. “As long as you make good with Betsy.”

  “Sho, did you bring the smelling salts?” Jin Lao asked without a preamble. His eyes never left mine when he asked the kid. The kid, who must have been his…. Assistant?

  Sho nodded and moved over to Betsy while he pulled something from his pocket. He brushed it under her snout, and in only a second the ox was awake. She shook her massive head violently and snorted. I watched her whole body

  “Wait a second,” Jin Lao said, an alarm in his voice. His eyes were wide, and he even held up a hand towards the ox.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I looked at Betsy, and I could feel her insides roil. My eyes went wide as well, and I jumped to my feet. “Whoa, Betsy, whoa. It’s alright, girl.”

  I rushed over to her and put a hand on her side just as electricity started to run up and down her horns. “It’s okay, girl. It was all a misunderstanding. I think they thought we were from the SSA.”

  Betsy snorted and shook her head before she laid it back down, settling down. I patted her side and nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think they’re as bright as they think they are.”

  I stood and looked around the room. Jin Lao frowned at me, and the two men who I pictured as big, dumb thugs were just garden-variety cultivators. They dressed like Jin Lao and had topknots and dark eyes and didn’t really have anything stand outish about their looks. They were frowning as well. I just shrugged.

  “Well, I mean, c’mon. A dude climbing up the side of the building at night with an ox helping him? Doesn’t scream SSA, does it?” I explained to them as I went back over and sat down in my seat.

  Jin Lao just glowered, and I could feel the two behind me turn sheepish. The leader just stared at me. “Well, do you want to wrestle? Your ox is fine.”

  I looked at him and then looked at Betsy, who was still just lying there. When I looked back at him, I shrugged. “I told you, man, I’d be happy to fill in for your missing guy, but you need to make good with Betsy.”

  He looked back towards Betsy, who now gave off an air of authority while she lay there. He still glowered, but he seemed to be able to turn on some charm. “I’m sorry, Betsy, about the foul-up. As I explained to your friend here, it was a simple misunderstanding, and my associate acted a little too recklessly. He will be dealt with.”

  There was an audible gulp behind me.

  Betsy lifted her head to look at him, then look at the man who gulped and exhaled loudly through her nose.

  ”Betsy wants payback to the one who knocked her out,” I blurted. She didn’t feel like she was going to be willing to make peace with whoever these guys were. I could feel that she was still angry.

  “She wants what?” Jin Lao looked at me incredulously.

  ”To knock around the guy who knocked her around.”

  Another audible gulp from behind me, this time from the other side.

  Jin Lao shook his head. “No, I’m sorry I can’t allow-“

  I shrugged and interrupted him. “If she’s not happy, I’m not happy. If I’m not happy, I sure as hell ain’t sumo wrestling with cultivators.”

  ”She’ll kill me!” A shrill voice came from behind me. A very shrill voice, to be honest. Definitely not a voice I’d expect to come from some sort of hardened Japanese fantasy land gangster. Wait, was I dealing with the Yakuza?

  I turned my head and shook my head. “No, she’ll pull her hit. She wont kill you, well, not purposely.”

  “That’s not very-“

  “It’ll be fine,” Jin Lao interrupted his soldier and waved away the man’s worry. “Betsy seems like a very capable ox. She’s quite powerful.”

  ”That’s the problem!” The whiny voiced-man objected.

  “Nah, you’ll be fine. Like your boss said, she’ll pull her punches,” I confirmed Jin Lao’s statement. I could feel Betsy’s happiness radiate through our connection at the prospect of being able to gore this man. This made me pause and look at her sternly. I even raised a finger in her direction.

  “Betsy will not kill you, will you, Betsy?” I eyed her.

  She huffed and bellowed softly in annoyance but eventually nodded her head.

  “There you have it,” I said, clapping the arm of the chair I was seated in. “She’ll knock your man around, and then you’ll have a full fight card again.”

  “Agreed,” Jin Lao said with a nod.

  It took us a few minutes, but eventually we all filed outside, and I found out the barn they stashed us in was just on the other side of the warehouse from where me and Betsy had come from. We were at the corner of the warehouse, and if I squinted through the night, I could kind of make out where my wagon was parked. That, I admit, was a comfort. I wasn’t sure how long I had been out for, and while for the most part this world was safer, there were still bandits and, of course, this gangster group setting up underground sumo fighting rings.

  “Alright, Bao Shen. Move away from the buildings and get yourself ready,” Jin Lao said as soon as everyone was outside. He didn’t seem to want to wait for nonsense anymore.

  ”But sir!”

  I cringed a little at the whiny voice but grinned.

  ”Now. We need to get this stuff done. Okami Jun is probably already ready to slap all of us for taking so long,” Jin Lao roared.

  I furrowed my brow at the name, trying to think of where I knew the title Okami from. Was that what they called the Stablemaster’s wife in a beya? The beya mother, if you will. Was the old lady the head of this nefarious sumo plot?

  Bao Shen grunted and moved away from the barn and towards the middle of the field. When he seemed to be dragging his feet about it, Jin Lao yelled and scolded him so he moved a little quicker.

  “Ox, get ready, and by the Kami, please don’t kill him,” Jin Lao commanded.

  Betsy stared at him indignantly and exhaled through her nose.

  ”Uh, she wants you to know her name is Betsy, not Ox,” I told the man for her.

  Jin Lao groaned but nodded. “Yes, of course, sorry. Betsy, get ready and, like I said, please go easy on him. He’s only just broken through to the spiritual realm.”

  I cringed at learning that and watched Betsy take her place. She even bellowed a little in annoyance at hearing that he was much weaker than she was. Finally, she exhaled loudly through her nose and nodded her head.

  I watched and kind of wished I had some popcorn. Betsy was about to paw the dirt. Hoove the dirt? I know there was a name for it, for when an animal got ready to charge, but I was drawing a blank. Anyway, she stopped herself. She couldn’t go all out, and I could feel her holding herself back.

  ”You, uh, you said you had good healing pills, right?” I looked over at Jin Lao and asked him.

  His concern grew. “I do, but-“

  It was too late. With a loud bellow, she charged the man. There wasn’t any of the flair of electricity that I would have normally seen if she were really going all out. In fact, I didn’t even feel anything from her spiritually. She felt calm and peaceful as she ran through the field towards the man with her head lowered.

  Bao Shen, for his part, didn’t flinch or cry out or anything as the ox came charging towards him. He stood with his legs apart and arms held at his side, hands balled in fists as he readied himself for impact. Not a sound came from him until impact. All his bracing himself did little for him in the end. The cultivator flew back, and that’s when he yelled.

  Betsy hit him right in the gut at nowhere near close to top speed, and she made sure she didn’t hit him with her horns. The man flew back about a hundred feet in the air while he yelled. This, again to his credit, was a deep guttural groan. Not the whiny voice I was used to hearing from him.

  He landed with a thud, and Betsy was left standing there watching him. She felt dissatisfied. She had to pull her punches, and I knew she really wanted to let him have it.

  “You’re a good girl,” I shouted to her, and she just huffed.

  Jin Lao and his other subordinates ran after Bao Shen, and I took off a moment later towards the man on the ground. We were all a little worried since he didn’t get up. The man didn’t even move or groan after he landed. He just lay there like a pile of skin and bones.

  “Bao Shen, say something!” the other man, who I still hadn’t learned the name of yelled.

  Even the boy, Sho, was trailing behind the adults as he dug through his pockets. The boy must have been the on-scene pharmacist for the people who needed a little pick me up after a rough battle.

  “Sho, give him the strongest pill you have,” Jin Lao commanded as we got to the body.

  He was a step ahead of his boss, and the boy was on his knees force-feeding Bao Shen a glowing red pill. It wasn’t even out long enough for me to get any sort of scent or anything from it. I just knew it looked too big to be swallowed dry and glowed red.

  It took several long moments for anything to happen after that, but finally Bao Shen breathed in deep and his eyes popped open. He looked at of us before centering on Jin Lao’s other lower-level associate. “Brother, I advanced.”

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