by Tao Wong
“Why are you here?” Wu Ying said to the group, hands away from his jian so that he did not look like a threat. Not immediately at least. He let his gaze stay unfocused, though the bow wielder stayed in his peripheral vision.
“We’re… robbing you?” one of the bandits spoke, someone from the second row. The moment he did, the others parted and he was shoved forward. Wu Ying eyed the man, saw how thin he was, how ratty and dirty his clothing had become, the way his eyes shifted from side to side as he swayed on his feet from nervousness and exhaustion.
“Was that a question or a demand?” Wu Ying said.
“A… demand?” the swaying bandit said.
“I am Long Wu Ying, inner sect member of the Verdant Green Waters Sect. This Lee Li Yao, my Senior.” Wu Ying said. Their robes should have already informed these desperate peasants. Hunger and desperation must have driven them to try their hand against the cultivators. “Who are we speaking with?”
“I am Tang Bu…” Tang stopped, realizing he was introducing himself to a man he intended to rob. “Why…”
“Well, friend Tang, it seems you have a choice here,” Wu Ying said gently. “You can put your weapons down and come with us to the next village. They’ll hang you there, but we’ll feed you and you can sleep safely. Or you can charge us and die here.”
“There’s more of us than there are you!” Tang said, his voice trembling like his hand.
“Yes. There are,” Wu Ying replied. Still he stood there, hands away from his jian, waiting.
“I don’t want to die…” another of the bandits said.
Beside him, his friend stared at the crude spear in his hand. “You’ll feed us?”
“Yes.”
“Wu Ying…” Li Yao called out tentatively.
Wu Ying turned toward her, offering her a half smile. Perhaps it was the momentary show of weakness. Perhaps they had been waiting for this. But the talkative bandit yelled and jumped forward, swinging his sickle at Wu Ying.
Dragon unsheathes his Claws. A flash of light as Wu Ying stepped past the falling body, blood exploding from the wound across his attacker’s chest. Even as Wu Ying finished his step, an arrow lodged in the bow-wielding bandit’s neck, sending him sprawling and choking on his own blood. Galvanized by the deaths, the group exploded into action.
It was not a fight. How could it be? The pair of inner sect members tore through the starving, barely trained ex-farmers like a scythe through rice stalks. In mere seconds, the massacre was over, leaving Wu Ying standing amidst the corpses. Once the pair had moved the bodies off the main roadway and marked their location, Wu Ying and Li Yao restarted their journey.
Only then did Li Yao broach the question in her mind. “Why?”
“Why what?” Wu Ying said.
“Why did you offer to bring them with us?” Li Yao said.
“I… it was a small mercy. The best I could offer,” Wu Ying said softly.
When Li Yao opened her mouth to inquire further, Wu Ying kicked his horse into a trot, leaving the female cultivator. How could he explain to her when he did not know why himself? How could he explain that he’d seen himself, his friends in them? How easy it was to have a bad year and be kicked off your farm? How it was such a small step from farmer to bandit for so many? And yet, Wu Ying could not let them go. How many travelers had they waylaid already? How many would they kill if left alone? The sentence for banditry was death. The moment they chose to become bandits, they signed their own death warrants.
All Wu Ying could offer was the smallest mercy. A warm meal. A quick death. And a name remembered.
Chapter 14
The remainder of the journey had been prosaic─boring. Like before, the village elder had greeted them with a smile and all the courtesy he could muster. They had been given the village elder’s house, the man and his family vacating to live with another family. Then they’d been given the detailed list of attacks and the actions the village had taken to stem the dholes. As the dholes were diurnal hunters, the pair had partaken of a quiet meal in the evening and rested early, getting up long before dawn broke.
That was how the pair found themselves seated in the branches of two trees in the early morning, staring at the staked-out demon piglet. Grown specifically to feed cultivators, the creature had a cultivation of Body Cleansing 2, bordering on 3. Given enough time, it might reach even the apex of Body Cleansing 3 as a demon beast. A tempting enough target, the pair hoped, for the dhole. Better than having them attack and tear through flimsy mud walls to take another villager. Or, worse, their child.
Seated in the closer tree, Wu Ying had the crossbow on his knees. Unlike Li Yao, he had little experience with archery. He had played and practiced with the bows and crossbows in the village. It had been part of their regular training, the necessity of a land always at war. But a few hours every few months was obviously not sufficient for real competence.
The piglet squealed and shivered in the cold of a winter morning, staked on the flat, level ground near the rice fields, where rice stalks and grain would be stored. Wu Ying was grateful the trees that shaded the area rarely shed their leaves, unlike the stories he had heard of plants in the north. How strange would it be? To have bare trees, frozen rivers, and snow that refused to leave until spring returned.
Shaking his head, Wu Ying brought his attention back to the surroundings. Being on watch was boring. No matter how often you told yourself to focus, idle thoughts and boredom would win and you would find yourself distracted. More frustrating was the fact he could not even cultivate. Doing so would change the flow of chi in the surroundings. While Wu Ying was not certain what kind of expanded senses the dhole had, it could easily include the ability to sense ambient chi.
That was also why Li Yao was farther away. Unlike Wu Ying, she had not trained to contain her aura, making her presence more notable. Unfortunately, all their caution would be of little use if Wu Ying did not pay attention and catch the dhole as they sneaked up on the piglet.
Like now.
Wu Ying tensed as he realized the dark brown spots moving in the long shadows of early morning light were his targets. He flicked his gaze across the clearing, searching for the others. If there were two, there must be more. One more, in the corner near the ditch. And perhaps one in the ditch itself.
Wu Ying slowly moved his hand in the pre-assigned signal to Li Yao. He would turn back, but previous attempts to spot her had failed, so he would not attempt it again. Better to hope she saw his signal. Wu Ying cocked the crossbow and raised it to his chest, keeping his movement slow and smooth. Once he had it snugly against his shoulder, he looked down the sights and adjusted his aim.
Already, one of the dhole had crept to within ten feet of the piglet. The piglet was frozen in fear, a primal sense telling it of the danger it faced, but unable to escape. As Wu Ying watched, the other two demon beasts he had noticed crept forward, completing the encirclement.
The arrow that sprouted from one of the dhole was a vicious surprise. It took the monster in the side, making the dhole stagger in its crouch as it got ready to spring forward. The pig thrashed, pulling at the rope that held it fast, but Wu Ying ignore the distraction as he targeted and pulled on the trigger of his crossbow. The bolt shot forward, only to be dodged by the dhole he had targeted. The monster threw itself at the piglet, intent on finishing off its prey.
Forced to choose, Wu Ying discarded his spent crossbow and jumped down, already drawing his sword as he darted forward. The three surviving dhole rushed their prey, tearing into the staked piglet and killing it. Closer, Wu Ying could see the demon beasts in greater detail. The dhole looked like a larger variant of its mortal cousin, with its body nearly the size of an adult wolf but with a flatter and longer skull, reminiscent of a fox. Like the fox, it had a tawny, red coat but had a stripe of colour alongside its backbone that glittered in the dark.
As Wu Ying closed in on the group, the lead dhole clamped its mouth around the piglet and worried the body, attempting
to retrieve the remains from the collar. Each jerk moved the stake up an inch or so. While their fellow pack member worked the corpse, the other two faced the charging cultivator.
A quick swipe and a proper lunge later, Wu Ying had one of the dhole skewered. As he recovered forward, lead foot shifting and rising to kick aside the other leaping monster, an arrow flickered by Wu Ying’s gaze. This one caught the leaping dhole high up on its body, throwing the monster away from Wu Ying.
Startled by the sudden loss of his packmates, the remaining monster dropped the corpse and turned to run. Wu Ying threw himself forward, only to cut the edge of the monster’s back leg as it darted away. In short seconds, the monster was gone, lost in the low brush and ditch, leaving the pair of cultivators with three corpses and their dead bait.
“Did you mark it?” Li Yao asked Wu Ying as she walked up.
“Yes.” Wu Ying looked at the tip of his sword. Blooded, the monster should be easy enough to track.
“Good.”
Li Yao turned to the monsters before them, quickly ending the life of the one remaining, dying dhole before she began the process of extracting the demon stones. Wu Ying followed her example, making sure to string up the creatures and cut their jugular veins. Leaving the creatures to bleed out, Wu Ying washed his hands on the offered water bottle and retrieved his crossbow. The villagers would finish the skinning, gutting, and butchering for them, but leaving the demon stones was a touch too much temptation.
By the time they were done, the dawn light had increased sufficiently that tracking the injured monster would be simple enough. Together, the pair took off, Li Yao in the lead. One of the many surprises Li Yao had sprung on Wu Ying was her competence at tracking. She did not track the same way the village hunters did, not exactly. While Li Yao used the blood, the broken branches, and other mundane signs of passage, she also relied on her ability to sense the escaping chi from the wounded monster.
Three hours later, the pair crested a hill to look down at the den. Wu Ying hissed under his breath, eyeing the clan of dhole spread before them. The dhole hunted in packs, but they lived in clans of up to twenty. Luckily, this group was only ten. But they were all demon beasts, including the monstrous dhole lying in the sun, too large to fit into the smaller holes of their original den. The dhole cavorted and played, the group barely paying attention to their injured compatriot as it returned sans meat. All around the clearing below, remnants of prior meals lay.
Wu Ying stretched his senses, allowing himself to passively soak up the chi radiating from the monster. Sensing and touching it, judging. Body Cleansing 12, pinnacle. Ready to break into Energy Storage. Dangerous. Very dangerous. The only good news was that three of the remaining dhole were pups, which meant the cultivators only had to deal with seven full-grown monsters. As Wu Ying watched, a pair of the pups worked over a piece of meat, pulling on either edge. Narrowing his eyes, Wu Ying realized the covering he’d taken to be fur was torn and dirty cloth. When Wu Ying saw the cloth, he could not help but see the rest of the hints—the torn meat, the all-too-familiar hip bones, a shattered portion of a skull. Fresh too.
The cultivator gulped, bile and rage warring within his body as he struggled for control. Drawing a deep breath, Wu Ying exhaled gently, forcing himself to take the time. Calmed, Wu Ying considered their options then looked at Li Yao, who gestured him back. The pair moved back far enough that a stray gust would not carry their voices to the dhole, then they planned their next steps.
“Can you take the larger dhole?” Wu Ying.
“Easily,” Li Yao said, smiling. “But the others will be a problem. Can you handle so many yourself?”
“We could take two out with our arrows,” Wu Ying said contemplatively.
“Three.”
Wu Ying inclined his head, accepting that Li Yao’s faster reload speed would add a third. That left four grown adults and three kids. “Maybe. I’m worried they’ll scatter and come after you.”
“Fair,” Li Yao said. Pack animals and smart hunters, the dhole were unlikely to group up on Wu Ying exclusively. “Depending on how many attack me, fighting the twelve could be tough.”
Wu Ying frowned, considering their options, then made a face. There was another option. “I’ll take the twelve when it charges. I should be able to win. If I can’t, I can delay it.”
After few brief words to hammer down the remainder of the details, the pair crept back to where they had watched the clan.
Wu Ying nocked the crossbow, sliding the bolt into place and taking aim. He saw Li Yao raise three fingers, their predesignated signal for three breaths, then counted down. Almost in unison, the pair released, Wu Ying a little faster than Li Yao. Close enough for their plan to work.
Both bolt and arrow took the resting adult dhole in their chests. Wu Ying’s dhole fell down but staggered upright, the bolt sticking out of its chest, while Li Yao’s never even let out a whimper as it died. Already, the female cultivator was nocking another arrow as the massive dhole looked around and locked on the pair of attackers. It howled and yipped, alerting the clan, which spread out. The youngest dhole ran back into the den while the adults scattered and turned towards the pair. The massive monster led a pair of adult dhole on a direct rush while the remaining pair tried to circle around.
Li Yao’s next arrow was aimed at one of the charging beasts, only to be blocked by the monster dhole, its mouth snapping shut on the arrow as it zipped by. Crossbow discarded, Wu Ying was on his feet with his jian drawn. Once again, Wu Ying lamented the lack of heft and cutting edge to his weapon, knowing that a dao or halberd would have been better suited. Once he reached Energy Storage stage, it would matter less. Already, Wu Ying was working on releasing sword chi, adding a longer and more powerful edge to his weapon. But for now, the jian was a less-than-perfect weapon.
Still, he had little choice. Wu Ying dashed down the slope to meet the monstrous twelve dhole, sword pointed toward the sky as he scrambled down. The pair of opponents closed in on one another in a rush and Wu Ying made a snap decision at the last moment, dropping low and sliding rather than risking a lunge. The instinctive decision saved his life as the dhole lunged at nearly the same time, snapping at where Wu Ying would have been. The monster’s attack left its chest and belly wide open, a fact Wu Ying used to great effect. He swung his jian to tear the tender flesh. Unfortunately, the massive monster’s fur was nowhere near as soft as it looked, having transformed into a coarser, hide-like toughness. Wu Ying’s attack scraped and scratched the creature’s body, leaving the barest of wounds.
As Wu Ying came to the end of the monster’s body, he rolled out from beneath it as hind claws thrashed the ground. A blow caught him high on the hip, flinging Wu Ying away and tearing his robes, leaving him injured. As he rolled to his feet, Wu Ying rushed after the monstrous dhole continuing its charge uphill.
“Li Yao!” Wu Ying called in warning.
The female cultivator had discarded her bow for her jade quarterstaff, using the weapon to fend off the other adult dhole. As the monstrous twelve arrived, she smashed down the end of the staff. The attack opened Li Yao to another attack though, forcing her to throw herself back in a flip, moving along the edge of the hill as the remainder dhole attempted to surround and finish her.
Li Yao’s attack was more than sufficient to delay the largest monster, allowing Wu Ying to catch up. As he closed in on the creature, Wu Ying threw himself forward with the Sword’s Truth, the lunge targeted and finding the edge of the monster’s jaw. It slid in, bypassing bone and cutting tendons and ligaments as it found the hollow of the creature’s jawline. A jerk of his arm drew out the jian, then Wu Ying kicked the monster in the side. The attack barely budged the monster, but it allowed Wu Ying to somersault away from the howling, injured creature. Landing on his feet, Wu Ying saw the glimmering, baleful eyes of the monstrous dhole leader fix on him.
He found himself smiling grimly. “Have your attention, do I?” Already, his feet were moving, circling the creatu
re.
The plan was simple. Attack with quick strikes to distract and injure, shift directions and attack types to confuse the monster. Create openings with feints and target the monster’s weaknesses—limbs, tendons, and sensory organs.
Easy.
“Come.”
Tongue lolling out of its injured jaw, the dhole glowed with a deep brown color as it activated its chi. As if it understood Wu Ying’s challenge, the monster lunged forward to meet the cultivator in battle.
***
“Owwww,” Wu Ying complained as Li Yao finished cleaning his wounds and wiped away the blood and dirt.
The fight with the monstrous dhole had been hectic and surprising. Wu Ying had finally won, only to find Li Yao still caught up in her own battle. Rather than take on the more powerful cultivator directly, the monsters had been delaying her, harassing the cultivator to allow their leader to finish off Wu Ying. Unfortunately for the monsters, the result had been the opposite of their expectation.
Together, the pair of cultivators had finished off the dhole and the final pup without adding to their injuries, leaving them to tend their wounds in peace.
“You should learn a defensive cultivation style,” Li Yao said, shaking her head as she tightly tugged the bandage. “You’re not that talented.”
“I have,” Wu Ying said, ignoring her last truthful, if hurtful, statement. “But it’s slow going.”
“What are you working on?”
Wu Ying hesitated but decided to trust her. Knowledge of another’s martial and cultivation style could be used against a cultivator, but they were from the same sect after all. “The Iron Reinforced Bones Technique.”
“Never heard of it.”
“It reinfo—”
“Bones. I understand it’s intent, but I can offer no advice,” Li Yao said. “It doesn’t seem like it’s a good technique if you are still getting this hurt.”
“All skin,” Wu Ying pointed out.
It was true he had not broken any bones, though a few likely had minor strains. The last time the massive dhole had smashed Wu Ying aside, it had done so while reinforcing its attack with chi. If Wu Ying had not blocked and rolled with the majority of the attack, he would likely have broken a lot more bones.