Corrupted Crimson

by Patrick Laplante

  A shadowy door opened in the king’s dimly lit chamber. Cha Ming, Wang Jun, the third prince, and Li Yin walked out from it and toward the king’s bed. The dying man was much thinner than before, and his life force much dimmer.

  “Who is this?” a voice said from above the king’s bed.

  “It’s a fifth opinion,” Prince Lei said. “Cha Ming found some help and has someone else working on a cure to the king’s poison.”

  “Very well,” the king’s protector said. “Same rules as before, but this time, I’ll have your head if anything happens.”

  Cha Ming immediately approached the bed and laid down a healing formation. Then he projected the situation to Li Yin. “See here, how the healing runes disintegrate on contact? That’s the effect of the venom. I have someone else working on that issue, so you don’t need to worry about it. However, as you can see, his blood toxicity is extremely high. He’s being poisoned to death, and if his body hadn’t been strengthened by his core-formation cultivation base, he would already be dead.”

  “Interesting,” Li Yin said. “Can you magnify a cross section of the kidney? I want to inspect the cause of its malfunction.”

  Cha Ming shifted the formation’s focus. The many interlinked capillaries and fibrous exchange centers were brought up on the projection screen. To Cha Ming, it looked like a perfectly normal kidney, albeit one that ran much slower than it should. It didn’t appear damaged in any way.

  “There is nothing medically wrong with this kidney,” Li Yin concluded. “It’s running slowly, but it must be due to some other reason. The qi-restraining venom you described doesn’t have this power.”

  Cha Ming frowned. “Then how can we cure him?”

  “We can only take it one step at a time,” Li Yin said. “Once the venom is cured, we can inspect the situation further. For now, we need to reduce the strain on his body so that he can recover some energy.” Li Yin then took out a small storage vial from his coat pocket. It was a cooled storage treasure which carried a solution Li Yin had invented, the blood-plasma solution. “Do you remember our discussion about semipermeable membranes? I want you to build one that won’t let blood pass.”

  “Of course,” Cha Ming said. “Prince Lei, we’ll be purifying the king’s blood, but for this, we need to take it out of his body a little at a time. Would you be so kind as to remove his bandage?”

  Prince Lei frowned but did as he was told. There was no response from the king’s protectors. Soon a small dripping wound appeared. Cha Ming quickly used his resplendent force to quell the bleeding. Then he took out the Clear Sky Brush and began painting a tiny but complex structure. To ensure success, he magnified it with the healing formation and precisely controlled his every brushstroke. A thin, clear membrane began to take shape.

  Cha Ming flicked his finger and willed over a droplet of blood. The cells were misshapen and clearly unhealthy. He pushed it against the membrane, which gave way to it.

  “Too big,” he muttered. He willed his qi to contract, and the pores in the tiny matrix tightened. Then he used much broader brushstrokes to expand the existing structure.

  Cha Ming produced a thin, clothlike sheet of unknown materials that spread out for fifty feet before doubling back. He rolled the one-inch sheet into a tube less than an eight of an inch wide. Then he created a much thicker clear sheet. This time, he didn’t bother magnifying it. He wrapped it around the inner tube and filled the gap with baffles to compartmentalize flow.

  “Now fill the membrane with the plasma,” Li Yin said. He handed him the vial, which contained a clear fluid. Cha Ming filled both the inner and outer walls with the clear liquid. “You know what to do next,” Li Yin said.

  Cha Ming nodded and directed the inner tube, which was now full of fluid, to the tiny wound on the king’s body. He used his qi to form a seal. The king’s blood began displacing the clear fluid, which Cha Ming dumped into an empty vial. This continued until the entire inner tube was filled with blood. “My apologies, Prince Lei, but I’ll need to create another wound on his body.”

  Prince Lei sighed but waved for him to continue. With so much blood having left his father’s body, he was committed to this treatment method. Cha Ming went ahead and made a small incision right next to the original one. He used his resplendent force to separate the inflow and outflow of blood. Then he willed the blood in the king’s body to circulate.

  After the first incense time, there was very little change. However, after a half hour, the clear fluid in the outer wall began to change color. It turned more and more yellow as increasing amounts of impurities were ejected from the king’s blood. Cha Ming wondered how it was even possible for Li Yin to think of dialysis, but he had rolled with it and used his own knowledge from his engineering days to suggest the counter-current extraction method.

  Li Yin’s original plan had also involved the use of sheep intestines and the like. Cha Ming, with his handy creation qi, would have none of this. Li Yin had readily agreed to each of his proposed improvements.

  Two hours later, the tube nearest to the incoming blood was filled with yellow and red-colored impurities, while the plasma fluid closest to where the blood returned was slightly yellow.

  “That’s about it for today,” Li Yin said. “You can return his blood. We need to clean his blood every three days at the latest. The lack of impurities will allow his body to heal and recover some energy. With any luck, that’s all we’ll need to do.”

  Cha Ming finished squeezing the remaining blood back into the king’s body. The man’s unhealthy red blood cells concerned him, but there was nothing they could do for now. He speculated that Li Yin’s next method involved treating the blood. Shaking his head, he used fire qi to burn the contaminated dialysis equipment.

  “I’ll make a few sets in the near future,” Cha Ming said. “I’d hate to be responsible for an infection due to improper cleaning.”

  Li Yin nodded. He was a big fan of using sterile equipment.

  “We should leave,” said Wang Jun, who had been standing to the side. He materialized a shadowy door and ushered the small crowd out of the room. Cha Ming hastily tied the bandage before leaving.

  The king’s chamber door opened just as the shadowy door vanished.

  Princess Guo quietly entered her father’s chambers like she always did. While her siblings were out fighting each other and politicking, she spent her time keeping her father company. She wrinkled her nose as a light, ashy smell came and went.

  “So strange,” she muttered. Her eyes wandered to the hastily tied bandage.

  Song Guo sighed. “Why does he always do such a sloppy job in tying even simple bandages? How can doctors be so lacking when it comes to such simple things?” She unwrapped the bandage and carefully wiped away the blood before refastening it.

  “What’s this?” she whispered as she gently touched a new wound that had appeared on her father’s arm. It hadn’t been there yesterday when she’d replaced the bandage. “Is the royal doctor performing extra treatments without telling me?” She looked at her father doubtfully. He looked just as sickly as before. “Well, it doesn’t matter what he tries, as long as he hasn’t given up.”

  She took out a wet cloth and carefully washed her father’s face. As she washed, she couldn’t help but see the shadow of a smile forming on his sickly lips.

  “It must be my imagination again,” she muttered.

  Chapter 16: Progress

  “Well, that went well,” Wang Jun said cheerfully. They’d returned to the Jade Bamboo Auction House, where Li Yin locked himself up to continue his research. “What are your plans now that you’re back? I’m afraid there’s not much demand for your energy-gathering formations now that the geomancer has entered the equation.”

  “I’m not sure,” Cha Ming said, massaging his brow. “I’ll likely pursue body refinement. There’s a fight brewing, and I need to be able to participate.”

  Wang Jun frowned. “I’m working on it, give me time,” he yelled out sudd
enly. His eyes glazed over for a moment before returning to normal.

  “Are you all right?” Cha Ming asked.

  “Never been better,” Wang Jun said. “Why?”

  “You suddenly yelled ‘I’m working on it, give me time,’” Cha Ming said.

  Wang Jun looked at him with a puzzled expression.

  “It must have been my imagination,” Cha Ming muttered.

  Wang Jun shrugged and returned to work.

  Hours passed as Cha Ming lounged around, thinking about his next course of action. During that time, he overheard many conversations from the auction house’s customers.

  “I heard the Shen family was won over by the crown prince’s camp this morning,” a young man said to his two friends. “Six of their storefronts and their family estate were fortified to the point that even an initial-core-formation expert couldn’t damage them in the slightest. In addition, various traps and functions have been added to each building. If chaos breaks out inside the city, they’ll be able to remain relatively unscathed.”

  “Some other families might have gotten a few formations by joining Prince Lei’s camp, but what use are they if their home gets reduced to rubble?” the second man said. “That’s the third family in two days. It looks like the struggle for the throne is settled.”

  “That’s nothing to complain about,” the third one said. “If both sides are too even, the resulting civil war would devastate us. We’d all be drafted one way or another. Even the commoners would suffer.”

  “Right, it’s better to have a clear winner,” the first man said.

  Cha Ming pulled away his resplendent force once the conversation was over. Was he really doing all he could? He was deeply worried about the people of the Song Kingdom, and despite their desire for peace, he suspected life under the crown prince would be far from ideal. As he thought, he withdrew a jade bottle from the Clear Sky Space and opened it. A faint medicinal aroma caused his qi pillars to shiver with excitement.

  “They say that haste makes waste,” the kindly Elder Bai said as he walked past. “You should make sure to consolidate your foundation before continuing. The young master said it hasn’t been long since you broke through.”

  “What’s the worst that could happen?” Cha Ming asked as he stowed away the pill and stood up.

  “In most cases, it delays one’s cultivation progress,” Elder Bai explained. “In other cases, it causes irreparable damage to one’s foundation, making cultivation extremely inefficient in the future. Why the rush? Only needing a year to reach the peak of foundation establishment is extremely quick. I’m envious.”

  “Don’t worry, Elder Bai, I’m aware of my limits,” Cha Ming said. “I feel that my recent experiences have sufficiently stabilized my qi seas. I’ll be attempting my breakthrough tonight, though I’ll be back in time for His Majesty’s treatment. Would you kindly inform Brother Jun when you see him? I want him to procure some late-grade scrolls and flags in the meantime. While a geomancer’s peak-grade buildings are a desired commodity, formations are far more useful for clans and sects. While it won’t win over everyone, it should stop the mass exodus of undecided families to the crown prince’s faction.”

  Elder Bai looked at him long and hard before nodding. “Very well. You know your condition best. I’ll inform the young master when it’s convenient.”

  Cha Ming proceeded downstairs to his cultivation chamber where he activated a built-in formation to prevent intrusion. Then he directed his attention to his qi seas. Although they were mostly clear, a few dozen specks of unconverted qi remained.

  “What difference will two weeks make?” he muttered. He popped a few pills in his mouth and willed his qi pillars to grow using the excess energy. They grew with little trouble, despite the turbidity that was slowly seeping into the pillars.

  Once they reached their maximum height, he popped three pills into his mouth. A vast energy traveled through his stomach and into his Dantian, causing his qi pillars to creak and groan as they destabilized.

  The Pillar Eruption Pills worked their magic and shattered the bindings that restrained Cha Ming’s foundation. He directed the potent qi to his foundation and willed it to grow. The pillars grew until a quarter of their surface was visible above his qi seas.

  “Consolidate,” Cha Ming whispered. A whirlpool formed around each pillar as they rapidly sucked in each of the five viscous qi seas. He squirmed with discomfort as each drop of turbid qi entered his pillars.

  He gritted his teeth as he forced his foundation to absorb every drop. His qi pathways strained under the effort, while the rumbling in his foundation threatened to tear apart the black-and-white matrix that held it together. Finally, as quickly as the rumbling started, it stopped. Every drop of qi had disappeared and was replaced with an even thicker liquid. The degree of turbidity was much greater than last time. The damage to his cultivation seemed hardly irreparable. It would likely only take him a few months reverse the effects of his rash behavior.

  “It’s a small price to pay to prevent the Song Kingdom from being overrun by devils like in Fairweather,” Cha Ming mumbled. Although it seemed like just a half hour had passed, two days had already come and gone.

  It was time for the king’s next treatment.

  With his new and improved cultivation base, Cha Ming continued studying formations with renewed vigor. Every three days, he stopped his studying to administer the king’s treatment. The man’s yellow complexion had improved drastically, and he now looked like a man in his nineties instead of someone at death’s door.

  In order to compete with the geomancer, Cha Ming was studying something far different than he’d experienced thus far. Seventy-two flags fluttered as they drew on the energy of heaven and earth. They were spread to each corner of the room, which was filled with hundreds of lines that moved as he willed them. Within the confines of the formation, he held absolute awareness and could attack enemies as he pleased. It would be difficult for anyone below core formation to survive the onslaught.

  Before long, the formation dimmed as the ambient world energy was exhausted. Cha Ming pulled out a high-grade spirit stone, which the formation plundered mercilessly before activating once more. This time, it lasted for an incense time before dimming again.

  “Can I eat it?” Huxian said as he walked into the room.

  “Eat what?” Cha Ming asked.

  “The formation,” Huxian said nonchalantly. “For science.” Seeing Cha Ming’s unconvinced expression, Huxian continued with his explanation. “I need data to answer the oldest unresolved question in my inherited memories. My ancestor’s lifelong companion was a great talisman artist and formation master. He could rend the heavens and sunder the earth with his arts. By accompanying him, my great ancestor devoured billions of formations. However, not all of them pleased his palate. He wasn’t sure if it was the essence of formations themselves that weren’t appetizing or if it was their construction that made the difference. For example, excellent ingredients can taste like garbage when prepared by a subpar chef, but a great chef can make a great dish from the most mundane ingredients.”

  Cha Ming looked at the small fox in disbelief. “That’s very sensical, but I still don’t understand why you would ever want to do such a thing.”

  “Because that’s what being a food enthusiast is all about,” Huxian huffed. “Eating isn’t just a hobby; it’s a way of life. It is both my pleasure and honor to uphold the bagua family tradition of eating everything under the sun. And above it. And heck, the sun itself if I get strong enough.”

  Cha Ming’s curiosity was piqued. “Can you eat it without eating the flags?”

  “Of course,” Huxian said. “My ancestors have determined that sigil focuses and flags are fundamentally untasty. However, the verdict is still out on the formation energies themselves.”

  “By all means.” Cha Ming gestured. Huxian’s shadow distorted, and with a yip of excitement, it leaped onto the Gold Slaughtering Formation. Hundreds of mouths sh
ot out and nibbled away at the many lines forming it. Eventually, it shattered.

  Cha Ming collected the flags while Huxian’s shadow collected the remaining fragments. “I gather that this one was tasty?”

  “Extremely,” Huxian said. “They’re all much tastier than many of the others I’ve sampled in the city.”

  “Wait, which formations have you been eating in the city?” Cha Ming said in a panic. He’d hate it if all his hard work had been undermined by his furry friend.

  “Oh, I just started recently,” Huxian said. “I’ve been taking bites out of the fortified buildings that have cropped up over the past two days. They were delicious, but nothing special. Don’t worry, I made sure not to destroy them. They’ll work normally—for the most part. Of course, they’re faring much better than those Lei Jiang has gotten to.” Noticeable amounts of drool were pooling on the floor below his mouth.

  Cha Ming massaged his brow. “What damage?”

  “He’s been eating those new buildings like an addict,” Huxian complained. “At first it was just holes in the walls. For the sake of verminkind, he said. However, I think he might have started eating into the foundations. Apparently the fancy materials they’re built with are very beneficial for strengthening his body. I’ve been doing my best, but he’s very difficult to rein in.”

  “And no one’s caught you both thus far?” Cha Ming asked incredulously. This was his greatest concern. After all, he was liable for all damages they caused within the city.

  “Those slowpokes?” Huxian snorted with contempt. “The city guard is basically useless, and those so-called experts inside those big families can’t even hear us, much less see us.”

  Cha Ming pondered for a moment. “Let’s talk to Wang Jun and think of a plan.”