by Jeremy Bai
“By Ruan?”
“By another. I only know that his surname is Du, and that he is a man of vast intelligence and cunning. As we followed him across the lands, we soon realized that his destination was Mount Fohe, and considering that was the case, it was obvious that he sought Ruan the Flamingo. Ruan is known to us; his skills border on inhuman.
“The truth is that we only arrived here shortly before you did, and we found that both Ruan and Du were gone, presumably having fled to parts unknown.
“So now you know the whole story. The time has come to live up to your end of the bargain.”
Bao swung the meteor hammer back and forth slowly. “How do we know you’re telling us the truth?”
Blackleaf frowned. “Search the area. I would wager my life that you’ll evidence of the passage of Ruan and Du. Du came here on horseback. Presumably Ruan had a horse or mule as well. My guess is that they headed west. The passage to the Demon Maelstrom is southeast, in the Southern Desert, so Du will obviously not return to the east or the south. The way north is mountainous and inhospitable to travelers. The Kushen Basin, however, is the perfect place for a fugitive like Du. From there, he could easily head to Naqan or somewhere else in the east.”
Bao slowly lowered the meteor hammer to the ground and looked over at Sunan. “I’ll go find Wang Tian.”
After being promoted to Claw of the Phoenix, one of Wang Tian’s first acts had been to gather some of the best hunters, scouts, and trackers in the sect to form a special team that, with Bao’s permission, he called the Eyes of the Phoenix.
It only took minutes from the moment they were mustered until they found Du and Ruan’s tracks. Just as Blackleaf had surmised, they had fled to the west, Du on horseback, Ruan riding a mule.
Wang Tian immediately assigned two of the Eyes of the Phoenix to begin following the trail. Meanwhile, Bao returned to Sunan and Blackleaf.
“He was right,” Bao announced.
A sneer flickered on Blackleaf’s face, but it vanished just as quickly as it appeared. “Now you owe me my freedom,” he said.
Sunan nodded. “You’ll have it. You’ll be escorted south and then set free with no weapons. If we see you near our camp again, we won’t be so merciful.”
With that, Sunan and Bao left to confer with their advisors and the other leaders of the two sects.
In the end, it was agreed that Sun Mai and Mao Yun would lead a group of ten to try to catch up to Du and Ruan. They would leave the following morning at the crack of dawn, with the fastest horses available. Bao and Sunan would remain behind to continue to consolidate the newly reorganized sects and focus on training.
***
Things were a bit chaotic as the Golden Dragon Sect and the Pure Phoenix Sect made a temporary home in the caves at the foot of Mount Fohe. After the cave assignments were doled out and everyone settled in, fan-maker An Jian set out to explore.
Shouldn’t this mountain be called Fone, not Fohe? he thought. It was true that in later times, this mountain would come to be called Fone, instead of its current name of Fohe. However, despite all the knowledge that rested in An Jian’s head, he couldn’t come up with any theories why that might be. If I had even the slightest martial arts ability, I might have been able to get close enough to them to use poison. Sadly, he’d lost all of that on the journey here.
The caves were lit by lamp or candle, and most of them were very cold. However, not every place could be described as chilly. For example, one side cave had been set up as a kitchen. Fires were stoked and cauldrons hung to stew meat and vegetables. In another location was a room that the previous owner of the cave had used as a forge. Already, the sects were expanding the forge and using the existing setup to repair equipment and craft new weapons, especially sabers, as well as spears and arrowheads.
It was toward the forges that An Jian headed. Upon arrival, he found that luck was with him. Dragon Lord Zhou, one of the newly promoted leaders of the Golden Dragon Sect, was currently presiding over the activities. The cave was already very hot, and Dragon Lord Zhou, a stout, middle-aged man with a scraggly beard, was sweating profusely.
An Jian hurried over and offered formal greetings.
“You’re An Jian, right?” Dragon Lord Zhou said.
“I am!” An Jian replied. “I’m honored you would remember my name.”
“I remember you ran a fan shop back in Daolu, right? Delightful Breeze or something like that?”
“The Delightful Wind Shop.”
“Right, right. You don’t happen to have any fans for sale right now, do you?”
“For sale? Dragon Lord, do you really think I would deign to sell things to fellow members of my sect? I’m a member of the outer sect now! Here…” He pulled a fan out. “Dragon Lord, the poem on this fan is special. I came across it in a scroll that merchants brought from the distant lands of Naqan. By luck, a friend of mine back in Daolu was able to translate the original poem. Well, in any case, it might provide you a bit of respite from this hellish heat!”
He handed the fan over to Dragon Lord Zhou, who took it in hand and examined the poem.
“‘The wind, snapping trees, dissolving mountains, serenity.’ What does it mean?”
An Jian chuckled. “I’m just a simple fan-maker, not a poet. All I know is that it sounds lovely to the ear and looks beautiful when put to the pen. Good luck, Dragon Lord Zhou!”
As An Jian left, Dragon Lord Zhou began to fan himself.
An Jian smiled. “Thus it begins,” he murmured to himself. “Next, I need to find some sulfur. Sulfur. Saltpeter. Charcoal. Although Divine Fire has not yet been invented in this era, all the ingredients exist. Bao and Sunan won’t have any idea what hit them.”
Chapter 52: Doors and Padlocks
Days passed, and slowly life in the cave fell into a rhythm. The newly organized sects focused on training the new disciples and helping the long-time disciples push toward breakthroughs. Temporary fighting platforms were built out of wood and hide, set up outside of the cave for training purposes. Dragon Lord Sima Zikang ran drills with various battlefield formations.
A guard station was erected higher up on the slopes of Mount Fohe, a location from which much of the lands to the west were visible. In addition to that, mounted patrols were sent out regularly to patrol the area within a two-day ride of the cave. Bao and Sunan wanted as much advance notice as possible if the Demon Emperor decided to send a force against them, be it large or small.
Roughly two weeks later, a discovery was made.
Bao and Sunan were having a casual sparring match on one of the fighting platforms when Li Runfa hurried up. During the reorganization of the Pure Phoenix Sect, Li Runfa had refused to publicly accept any title or position. However, as a member of one of the original groups led by Bao from the south, he was well respected, and his words carried almost the same weight as the Dragon Lords, if not more.
Li Runfa leaned up against the side of the platform and watched Bao and Sunan exchange blows for a minute or two. When they stopped to rest, he said, “Chieftainess, Sect Leader, I found something interesting.”
Taking a drink of water from a skin bottle, Bao hopped down to the ground and looked over at him expectantly. Sunan jumped down to stand next to her.
“It’s…” Li Runfa hesitated for a moment. “Well, I think it would be better if you saw it yourself.”
Bao handed the skin bottle to Sunan. “Very well, lead the way.”
With a nod, Li Runfa headed back into the cave entrance. It took a few minutes for them to wind their way through the main parts of the cave toward one of the deeper caverns. There were quite a few shafts leading farther into the depths of the earth, and at Li Runfa’s suggestion, they had been slowly exploring those shafts and the smaller caverns they led to.
At a certain point, Li Runfa reached an area where two young men in the garb of the Pure Phoenix Sect waited, holding oil lamps. One of the young men handed a lamp to Li Runfa, who then continued down into the dark
ness.
As they proceeded, the tunnel grew narrower and shorter, until they were forced to duck their heads down. The tunnel twisted and turned and even branched off a few times. At one point, they had to squeeze through a crevice so narrow that it almost required them to hold their breath, lest they get stuck.
The entire time, both Bao and Sunan could tell that they were climbing ever downward into the bowels of the earth. It was an unnerving feeling.
Eventually the tunnel opened into a cavern so large that the lamplight didn’t reach the ends.
The sound of dripping water echoed about, and a shallow lake spread out in front of them.
“I sure hope you know the way back, Master Li,” Sunan said.
Li Runfa chuckled. “Don’t worry, I have a very good sense of direction. Come on, we’re almost there.”
He strode out into the lake, which started out ankle deep but soon reached their calves.
At the far end of the cavern, the rock floor rose up again, and they stepped out of the water. That was when they saw the door.
There in the wall of the cave was a door made of stone. The door appeared to have been crafted from stone hewn from the wall itself. No hinges were visible, which indicated that the door would likely open inward. Securing the door was a sturdy-looking padlock, roughly the size of a melon.
The surface of the door was ordinary, with no decorations whatsoever. In fact, were it not for the large padlock, it would have been difficult to spot the door to begin with.
Bao peered at the door. “How did you manage to find this, Li Runfa?”
“Luck, I suppose. I really can’t say how far down the tunnels and caverns go, but I can say that we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s down here. My lamplight just happened to touch this door earlier this morning. If my head hadn’t been turned in the right direction in that moment, I would have passed it by.”
Sunan stepped forward. Grasping the padlock, he tugged it back and forth a bit. “Seems sturdy.”
“It is,” Li Runfa said. “I toyed with it earlier for a minute or two. Although it looks plain on the outside, the inner workings are complex. I didn’t have the tools at the time, though, so I couldn’t perform a true assessment.”
“Presumably you have the tools now?” Bao asked.
He grinned. “Of course. Shall I?”
Sunan stepped back and took the lamp while Li Runfa pulled out a set of tools.
Sure enough, the padlock was no simple piece of machinery. Time ticked by, although it was difficult to say how much, considering they were surrounded by nothing but darkness and the sound of dripping water.
After what was surely an hour or so, Li Runfa shook his head. “This lock is… almost godlike. I can tell that it’s going to take me time. How about I take you back to the surface and then come back to work on it alone?”
The others nodded.
***
It wasn’t until the next day that it occurred to Bao that they hadn’t heard from Li Runfa since he’d escorted them to the surface. After inquiring, she was told that he had been working on the lock for the entire time since.
The next day, the news was the same.
An entire week went by.
News was starting to spread through the camp, until eventually everyone was talking about it.
On the ninth day, a disciple came to find Bao and Sunan and gave them the news.
“Master Li opened the lock!”
After climbing back down into the darkness, through the tunnels, and across the lake, they found themselves standing once again in front of the door. Li Runfa looked exhausted, his hair disheveled, his clothing rumpled. But he was smiling.
“Just as I said before, godlike.” He hefted the huge padlock in his right hand a few times. “I’m going to have to take this back up and study it well.”
“Excellent work, Master Li,” Sunan said.
Li Runfa clasped his hands respectfully. “Many thanks, Sect Leader Sunan.” Then he placed his palm on the surface of the door and asked, “May I have the honor?”
“Go ahead,” Bao said.
With that, he pushed the door open. It slid open quietly, without the slightest creak or moan. Behind it was a corridor, clearly hewn by human hands, which sloped down and to the left.
Since Sunan currently had the lamp, he led the way, and they followed the corridor down. It seemed to have been carved in a spiral, which led down several meters to another door and another padlock.
“Interesting,” Li Runfa said, stepping forward to examine the lock. “The other lock was made from lead, this one seems to be iron.” Without another word, he produced a long metal hook and slowly inserted it into the lock. After moving it around a few times, he looked back at Bao and Sunan. “This is going to take some time.”
The days marched by. One day. Three days. Seven days. The camp was abuzz with rumors about what lay behind the door.
“I bet it’s a treasure. Our sects are going to be rich!”
“What if it’s actually a passage to the underworld?”
“Maybe it’s a prison! What if there’s some kind of ancient monster inside?”
On the ninth day, word came.
“Master Li opened the lock!”
Behind the door with the iron lock was another tunnel that spiraled down, just like the first one had. This second tunnel led to another door and another padlock. This padlock was made from copper.
Despite the increase in the quality of metal, this new lock took Li Runfa exactly nine days to open, just like the other locks. After that was another lock, this time one of steel. It also took nine days to pick.
Time blurred and rumors swirled.
Eighty-one days later, Li Runfa opened the ninth lock. Each lock was a progression of increasingly precious metals. The first was lead, then iron. After that, copper, bronze, and steel. The final four locks were made from metals that no one could identify, and yet all of them took nine days to pick.
On the eighty-first day, Bao and Sunan took Tie Gangwen and Sima Zikang along with them to meet Li Runfa in the depths of the earth beneath Mount Fohe.
Li Runfa stood in front of the door, holding a padlock made of strange greenish metal that actually glowed with soft light. He seemed mesmerized as he stared at the lock, running his finger slowly in a circle around the keyhole.
As Bao and Sunan approached, he looked up.
“I’m quite certain that this is the last lock and the last door,” he said. “I can’t say why. It just… feels that way.” He reached out and placed his hand on the surface of the door. “May I have the honor?”
Bao nodded.
He pushed the door, and something like a sigh could be heard, a sigh originating in ancient times.
Behind the door was a cavern, and as they stepped in, they could sense that it was even bigger than the lake cavern up above.
They had come prepared with the most powerful lamps they had, which they now lit. Everyone present, including Bao, Sunan, Sima Zikang, Tie Gangwen, and Li Runfa, held up shining lamps, sending flickering light out in all directions.
The cavern floor was mostly smooth, and unlike the other caverns, there were few stalactites or stalagmites visible, and those that were there seemed relatively newly formed.
They proceeded into the cavern, and moments later, Tie Gangwen said, “Look, up ahead.”
A pit became visible, and as they neared its edge and looked down, they gasped.
Bones could be seen at the bottom of the pit. At first they assumed the bones were simply jumbled at the bottom, but as the lamp light spread out, they realized that they were looking at a skeleton. No, not a skeleton. Skeletons.
Two enormous skeletons filled the bottom of the pit, intertwined almost in an embrace. They formed a circle, with the torso of one of the skeletons resting within the tail of the other, and vice versa.
“Is that the skeleton of… a dragon?” Sima Zikang asked.
“I think it is,” breathed Tie Gangwen.
“And that other creature. It’s…”
“A phoenix,” Li Runfa said.
Chapter 53: The Timeless Master
Sunan and Bao both had the same reaction. Their eyes glazed over, and without a word, they placed their lamps on the ground and then sat down cross-legged. In unison, they closed their eyes and began to meditate.
Nine days passed.
At the beginning of the nine days, everything in the cavern remained as dark and silent as before. But then fluctuations began to roll out from Sunan and Bao, something like vibrations that stirred the blood and qi of anyone present.
Bao and Sunan’s closest friends and advisors took shifts to stand guard over them.
After nine days, the fluctuations became so intense that the air around Bao and Sunan began to distort. By the eighteenth day, they were surrounded by something that looked like an enormous shimmering circle.
After the eighteenth day, the circle began to glow, casting light out into the cavern and more fully illuminating the skeletons.
“Where did they come from?” Tie Gangwen asked.
He and Liu Jiahui were currently sitting cross-legged at the mouth of the cavern.
“You know the legend of the five peaks, right?”
“How the five tallest mountains in the realm were created by a specific dragon and phoenix?”
“Exactly.”
“But Mount Fohe isn’t one of those five peaks…”
Lie Jiahui shrugged. “Maybe there are more than five mountains that were created by dragons and phoenixes.”
Tie Gangwen grunted in response.
After twenty-seven days, the distortions surrounding Bao and Sunan seemed to divide into two sections, like two interlocked teardrops.
After thirty-six days, the two divided sections began to slowly rotate in an endless cycle. The light shining out from the distortions grew more intense.
On the forty-fifth day, smaller individual distortions appeared within each side of the symbol, as if the two sides were beginning to change shape.
After fifty-four days, blurry figures became visible within the sections that made up the symbol.