by Jace Kang
A few hours later, after sunset, they ate some food Siena had bought and Aya took a minute of real time to jack into EtherCloud and secure their path to Ginkakuji.
Though it wasn’t particularly late, very few people were out. The murders had the populace on edge, and the government was recommending that everyone stay indoors.
Their group avoided the Peacekeepers, sometimes taking back roads or ducking behind the corners of buildings. Aya had remotely hacked every camera between the park and the temple to keep security algorithms from detecting Ryusuke, and Siena wore a hat to cover her pointed ears.
After just a couple of days of Cultivation, Aya’s endurance had improved. She would’ve been winded walking from her room to the kitchen before. Now, even during the brisk walk from the Kujo Ward, through Central, then along the Kamo River to Ginkakuji, she only had to clear her lungs every fifteen minutes. It was a significant improvement from having to do so every ten minutes when doing nothing. Ai reported that her lung efficiency had improved by sixty percent.
Considering how low it’d started, that wasn’t necessarily good. Still, it meant she could stay jacked into the EtherCloud for sixteen minutes instead of ten before having to jack out and cough up mucous.
Halfway there, on the main road running along the Kamo River, Siena gestured them into the shadows of a building.
“What is it?” Kentaro asked.
“Shhhh.” Holding her necklace in one hand, Siena scowled and pointed somewhere across the river.
“What is it?” he whispered, squinting.
Aya tried to see as well, but all she could make out were six large, dark bipedal shapes. Shocktroopers in uniform, perhaps?
“What are they?” Ryusuke asked.
The awe in his voice prompted her to jack in and hack into a nearby camera, behind the looping code she’d inserted to conceal their own passage. With its lowlight functions, the camera provided a clear shot of three turquoise-skinned humanoids with sharp features. Tusks protruded from their lower jaws, but they were otherwise quite handsome, meaning they belonged to the Tivari nobility. They wore black uniforms and appeared to be unarmed.
They must be part of the peace delegation, but trusted only so much, since the camera picked up tracking beams from both Peacekeeper and MoD drones.
Aya jacked out. Her brain was acclimating more quickly to the shift in time. She pointed to the sky, indicating the drones, then held up a hand to tell them to wait. After the Tivari passed, she nodded.
“What were they?” Kentaro asked.
“Members of the Tivari peace delegation,” Aya said.
Ryusuke peered off in the direction they’d disappeared. “The news said they were in San Francisco. What are they doing in Kyoto?”
“Nothing good,” Siena scoffed. Reaching into her interdimensional space, she drew a sleek gun and started to go after them.
“Wait.” Aya grabbed the Elestrae’s arm. “MoD and Peacekeeper drones are monitoring them.”
“Can you hack them?” Siena asked.
So much hatred! Perhaps twenty thousand years of war could do that. Aya shook her head. “It would be difficult, and we don’t have much time left.”
They continued in awkward silence while Aya considered the Tivari. History books claimed they’d once controlled a secret source of istrium, which had fueled the rapid expansion of their galactic empire for millennia. They’d lost that source a thousand years ago, leading to their decline. Siena had said something about their failed attempt to retake an istrium source a week ago.
She shook the thoughts out of her head when they arrived at the old temple. The clock in her head showed it was 22:47, just thirteen minutes before the attacks the previous nights.
“Remember the strategy,” Ryusuke said. “Ken-kun will engage the Tofu-Kozo. If it looks like he’ll be harmed, Siena will intervene. In the very unlikely event she can’t beat it, I’ll take over. By no means should Aya fight.”
Aya was fine with that. Even if she’d programmed several of the martial routines into her neural pathways, she still lacked the strength and stamina to perform them.
With only an easily hacked security camera system guarding the grounds, they strolled right through the main gates.
The Silver Pavilion’s grounds were almost exactly the same as the Kinkakuji Gold Pavilion, where Koji Johnson had been murdered the night before: a two-story temple overlooking a pond and Zen sand garden. While Kinkakuji’s roof and walls were plated with gold leaf, the Silver Pavilion’s were plain wood. History recorded that the warlord who’d commissioned its construction had run out of funds to cover it in silver.
Now, the area was utterly quiet. While the others went deeper into the compound, Aya paused to enjoy the moon reflecting in the pond. It was quite beautiful, really, compared to her regular existence in the confines of her room, or even in the virtual world of the EtherCloud.
The air shimmered in front of her.
A little Tofu-Kozo appeared and bowed. “Would you like some tofu?”
She’d been right about the location, wrong about him attacking only males.
“Help!” she yelled.
The Tofu-Kozo’s smile transformed into a snarl of sharp teeth, and it lunged at her with a flurry of punches.
All attacks she knew. She’d either fought against them when sparring with Ryusuke, or recorded them from earlier fights she’d had Ai analyze.
The Chen Taiji motions came automatically, her Wave Hands Like Clouds technique brushing aside the first barrage. Still, she lost ground.
“Ai, create a combat solution for Chen Taiji to defeat The Way of the Thunder Fist.”
Analyzing, Ai’s voice droned in her mind.
“Hurry!” Aya’s Six Sealing, Four Closing technique slowed down the Tofu-Kozo’s lunge, but she failed to lock its arm up and take control of his center of gravity.
Integrating.
Without conscious thought, her Brush Knee sweep of the hand redirected its hooking punch aimed at her flank, while the expanding of her arms in White Crane Spreads Its Wings parried its overhand wheel strike. It overextended itself, and she landed both palms across its back with Buddha Warrior Pounds Mortar.
Her hands stung, but it sprawled into the dirt.
“I’m here!” Kentaro said, driving his heel into its head with a Xingyi Water stomp.
Though Aya’s techniques had worked perfectly, she still lacked the stamina to fight. She squatted down, fighting for breath, even as the Tofu-Kozo staggered to its feet. Thankfully, it turned from her and attacked Kentaro.
Its Thunder Fist techniques surged in rapid succession—straight punch, wheel punch, spinning windmill punch—yet Kentaro kept pace with the simple parries of the Xingyi Water Form. He followed through with a stomp and a punch that knocked the Tofu-Kozo back.
Unrelenting, Kentaro followed through with rapid-fire punches that looked more Fire than Water. The Tofu-Kozo tumbled to the ground, scrabbled back, and started to flee.
Right toward her.
She rose from her hunched position with Blue Dragon Flies out of the Water, coming up underneath him with one arm while slamming down with the other. Though the strain of the technique on her frail body caused every muscle to scream with pain, the Tofu-Kozu crashed to the ground.
It didn’t move. Was it alive? Did it breathe air in the first place? None of the video footage suggested it did.
“Kill it!” Ryusuke said as he rushed over, Siena on his heels.
She shuddered. The Tofu-Kozo had attacked her, and had killed three people over the past few nights, but could she murder it while it lay there helpless? She met Kentaro’s gaze. He, too, looked horrified at the idea. Neither of them moved to finish it off.
It stirred, and Ryusuke came over and crashed down on its chest with an open palm. The cracking sound reverberated, and a bright light flashed.
Aya shielded her eyes, but the flare left an orange afterimage. When she blinked it away, expecting to see a bloody mess, al
l that remained was a tiny red gemstone, no larger than a data bead, sparkling in the moonlight.
“What is that?” she asked.
Ryusuke plucked it up between his index finger and thumb. “Its Core.”
“What happened to its body?” Kentaro scanned the area, expression perplexed.
“Some yokai, like the Tofu-Kozo, project a solid form around a Core when they cross into this world. Their true self remains back in the World of Rivers and Lakes.”
Good. Aya wasn’t sure if her stomach could take seeing its bloody remains splattered over the sand.
“Is that how its Core is still here?” Siena asked, peering at the gemstone. “I can feel its strong bioenergetic properties.”
Ryusuke nodded. “Yes. And the Tofu-Kozo must Cultivate a new Core in order to come back into this world.”
“Then hopefully, the nightly murders will stop,” Ken said.
Ryusuke shook his head. “More portals are opening, so more yokai will wander in. Some are benign, but many others are not. If anything, more people will die on this side.”
Aya shuddered at the thought. “Can these spirits be harmed by modern weapons?”
“I don’t know. But if those weapons are energy-based, it might even make them stronger.” Ryusuke turned the Tofu-Kozo’s Core in his fingers. “Now, we need to integrate this into one of your Cores.”
While Siena looked uninterested, Kentaro’s eyes brightened. His gaze fell on Aya, and his lips pursed tight. She probably wore the same expression.
Ryusuke looked from one of them to the other.
Dread grew in her chest. He was going to give it to Kentaro. Of course he would.
“Aya,” he said. “The Core of a Fire Path creature would be like throwing gasoline on flames for Ken-kun.”
“Gasoline?” Kentaro said, shoulders slumping.
Ryusuke cocked his head. “It’s what cars, trucks, and planes ran on.”
Siena’s laugh chimed like bells. “Earth phased out that dirty technology not long after you departed for your World of Rivers and Lakes.”
“Well…” Ryusuke scratched his head. “It means that this Core would make Ken-kun’s Fire burn hotter, when he needs to learn how to contain it. You, however…” Ryusuke set a finger to Aya’s Core.
Her heart fluttered at his touch.
“You have too much Phlegm and Dampness. I’ve been teaching you a Water Path so that you can learn to drain that off and strengthen your lungs, but Fire will help evaporate the phlegm.” He looked to Kentaro. “Don’t worry, with all the yokai crossing over, we’ll find a Core you can use soon.”
Kentaro shuffled on his feet, but nodded.
Ryu patted him on the head. “This pair practice will help you, too. It’s almost like using sex to connect to each other—”
Aya gasped. There was no way she’d let Kentaro…
“—except without the sex.”
Aya’s heart pounded. “What do I need to do?”
“This is a perfect location, close to a portal.” Ryusuke offered her the Tofu-Kozo’s Core.
She took it and held it up to the moonlight. It sparked red. Kentaro came in close and peered at it. “Why is being close to the portal important?”
“Because the ambient energy in my world is more saturated. Now, sit.” Ryusuke gestured to the sand garden. “Ken-kun, you too, across from her.”
They exchanged glances, but then did as they were told, assuming the sitting meditation stance. The sand felt cool beneath her.
“Now, set the Core into your belly button.”
Aya chewed on her lip. Turning her body to the side so that Kentaro couldn’t see her, she reached down the front of her dress and pressed the Core into her navel.
“All right, both of you perform the Microcosmic Orbit.”
Kentaro’s breath sounded deep and sonorous. Aya, as always, had to push her breath past the phlegm building up, but after a few moments she settled into a pattern. With her eyes closed, the Qi sensation percolated up her spine, then down her front. Like every other time she meditated, it felt as though some of the energy entangled with the hardware in her brain.
“Very good,” Ryusuke said, his voice now coming from behind her. “As you draw your Qi down, visualize it as light passing through the Core, as if you were shining a beam through a red glass. Feel the heat as it traverses your navel. It’s like a beam of red light.”
Envisioning the energy in this way, it glowed red in her mind’s eye as it passed through the Tofu-Kozo’s Core. Heat built up in her lower abdomen.
“You feel it, good.” Ryusuke sounded as if he were now behind Kentaro. “Now, draw that heat back up, and let it warm your back. Imagine it drying up the phlegm in your lungs as it travels between your shoulder blades; and again as you sink it through your chest.”
Was her breathing coming more easily? With each inhale and exhale, the phlegm rattled less in her throat and bronchial tubes. Her lungs felt more open than they ever had in her life.
Ryusuke moved between them now, his footsteps scuffing in the sand. He continued guiding her with a lulling voice.
“You can open your eyes now.”
A line of red ran across the horizon. It was dawn already, even though it only seemed as if ten minutes had passed. Around her and Kentaro, Ryusuke had drawn a Yin-Yang symbol, with them as the dots in the divided circle. Outside of the symbol, furrows of long and short lines formed eight sets of three bars.
“What are these?” She gestured at the shapes.
“Eight Trigrams, the Ba Gua,” Ryusuke said. “They represent change. I have drawn the symbol for Fire behind you, and the symbol for Water behind Ken-kun.”
Aya nodded, even if that meant nothing to her at the moment. She’d jack in and do research on what the trigrams meant.
“Do you know why the Yin-Yang symbol has a small white circle within a larger black swirl? And why across from that is the opposite?”
Kentaro nodded, his attention as rapt as hers.
Ryusuke traced his finger around the larger circle around them. “The white represents Yang, the black Yin. The symbol represents the interplay between the two. The white dot appears in the area where Black is the largest. What do you think that means?”
“Oh, I know, I know!” Kentaro said. “When Yin is at its largest, it can only get smaller. That’s when Yang starts to grow.”
“Very good.” Ryusuke beamed. “I set this up so that Aya is the Yin dot within Yang, and Ken-kun is the Yang dot within Yin. His overactive Fire balanced by your weak Fire, his weaker Water balanced by your excess. You are the perfect pair, complementing each other.”
“I felt heat in my head draining away,” Ken said.
“Yes, you are balancing each other out.”
Aya looked at Kentaro. She would’ve never considered that a flawed XHuman could be paired with a Purebred. If not for Ryusuke crossing over into this world, she would’ve never known.
“Remember how I said that dusk and dawn are when a Cultivator can distinguish the most easily between Yin and Yang? I had you meditate as Yang energies grew from night to dawn, to maximize the Fire. This will help nurture your weak Yang energies. I’d normally have you continue to noon, but I’m sure we’ll draw attention out here in the open.” He pointed at her belly. “What about the Tofu-Kozo’s Core?”
Aya reached into her dress and pressed her index finger into her navel. The gemstone was gone, replaced by grit.
“Am I cured?” she asked, savoring the air in her lungs.
“No.” Ryusuke laughed, not unkindly. “You can only compare to what you know. You’ve only just begun.”
Chapter 19:
The Purebred
K en had always resented the XHumans, but he’d never been jealous of one…until now.
Already, Aya was able to execute the techniques of Yang Family Taiji with minimal practice. She looked perfect in the way she could imitate Master Ryu’s movements, and even apply them to fighting the Tofu-Kozo.
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Ken had had to work so much longer and harder to get the motions of Xingyi Fist to even an acceptable level.
Then, Ryusuke had given Aya the creature’s Core, and after a night’s meditation her breathing had already improved.
He looked at her now, as they climbed the path in the Ginkakuji compound into the hills. Well, her breathing still wasn’t that good, the way that she panted. Still, she had only had to cough once.
After a few minutes, they entered woods. Never before had Ken seen so many trees. Siena frolicked among them, hand brushing through overhanging limbs, occasionally hugging a trunk.
“You’d think she’d never seen a tree before,” Aya said.
Ken chuckled. Aya was turning out to be quite funny.
Siena looked over her shoulder and pouted. “My homeworld is full of them, but these! I haven’t seen them in centuries! So much color!”
Ken and Aya exchanged glances.
“The trunks are brown and the leaves are green,” Ken said.
“Oh no, there are far more colors than that.” Siena danced around a tree. “Your human eyes just can’t distinguish all the shades.”
“We can rest now.” Master Ryu gestured for them to sit. “I don’t see any human tracks, so I don’t think anyone comes up here.”
Aya nodded. “My logs of Peacekeeper activity show nothing in this area for the last several weeks.”
The master’s expression brightened. “Are you able to hack back into Peacekeeper EtherSpace again? I need my pills if I am to complete my mission.”
“No.” Aya shook her head. “They’ve ended the lockdown, but they’re burning a lot of energy to run Level Six countermeasures. I’d have to spend some time probing their defenses and practicing evading high-level Sentinels in a simulation. It would take me weeks of training. The good thing is, government chatter says your pills haven’t left Kyoto Peacekeeper Central.”
“Chatter?” Ryu asked.
“I have hacker friends, and one monitors unsecured talk among government officials. There’s plenty of speculation about what the pills do.”
None of it made any sense to Ken, but the longer Master Ryu stayed in this world, the more time there’d be to learn Cultivation.