by Tao Wong
Chapter 18
Late on the fourth night in the spirit lands, Wu Ying and the guards were harvesting herbs, as had fast become the routine. In the deep darkness of an overcast night, Wu Ying grimaced as he held up the lantern and shone it across the ground. Still seeing nothing, he turned to Ru Ping.
“Senior, we seem to have traveled farther from the camp than normal,” Wu Ying said.
“We have. The Yu Fire Exploding Cucumber[24] can send its seeds up to two hundred feet away,” Ru Ping said. “If you had taken better care, we would not be looking for them. Now, keep shining the light. They will glow when the seeds encounter the light.”
“I’m sorry. My hand slipped,” Wu Ying said.
The darkness, an errant wind, and exhaustion meant that the back of Wu Ying’s hand had brushed against the cucumber pod, making the plant explode and send its seeds flying. Wu Ying had managed to catch a few, but a few was insufficient for Ru Ping, which led to them traversing the undergrowth, searching for the fire-aspected seeds.
“Each of those seeds is worth a hundred taels,” Ru Ping said.
“A hundred taels! Liu, you could even—” one of the three guards exclaimed. He turned to where his friend had been, only to realize his friend was missing. “Liu? Liu!”
“Quiet,” Li Yao snapped as she shifted her spear closer to her body. She looked around cautiously and moved to where they’d last seen the guard, crouching low as she spotted something. “Light!”
Wu Ying complied, shifting the beam of light to where Li Yao looked. The light reflected off a dark wetness.
Li Yao touched the spot, her finger sinking into the deep red before she raised her stained finger and rubbed it with her thumb. “Blood.”
Wu Ying felt the dread that had taken root in his stomach clench harder. As he watched, another drop fell onto the spot. Li Yao hissed, jerking backward and raising her head to stare at the dense foliage above. Seeing nothing, she gestured for more light, but she never completed the action as Wu Ying was already moving.
In the branches of the tree, the remains of the missing guard lay. His body was torn apart, half-eaten. To Wu Ying’s surprise, there was little blood, even as intestines and other innards spilled from the figure. Wu Ying frowned and drew a deeper breath, realizing the smell of charred and cauterized meat came not from the distant cooking fires but from the corpse.
“What could have done that?” Wu Ying said softly.
Li Yao, much more practical, gestured for the team to pull in close, directing the guards to shine their lights into the branches as well. However, whatever creature had managed to abduct, kill, and eat their friend right above them was nowhere to be seen.
As Li Yao guided the team back to the encampment, Wu Ying shuddered at the martial cultivator’s ignoble death. From what Wu Ying could recall, the cultivator had been in the lower end of the Energy Storage stage and had still died without a sound. If it had been him, Wu Ying could not imagine he would have fared any better.
The danger in the spirit lands was not to be underestimated.
Over the next few days, their monstrous attacker stalked the team. More than once, the guards or Elders caught a glimpse of the creature’s silhouette as the day darkened. Each time, it was a glimpse of black fur and a creature that moved on all fours as it prowled the tops of the trees, stalking the expedition.
Even under the increased threat, Elder Li insisted they harvest as they traveled. While no one had spotted the creature during the day, no one could guarantee the creature only hunted at night. As such, even during the day, Wu Ying found the number of guards who joined them on the gathering expeditions increased. Moving in the cordon of wary sentries, Wu Ying found himself making more mistakes.
“Stop worrying about the demon beast,” Ru Ping chided Wu Ying later in the encampment.
“Demon?”
“Of course. Did you think a normal spirit beast would hunt us like this?” Ru Ping shook his head. “It must be a demon beast. But that is beside the point.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just… hard,” Wu Ying said.
“It is not your job to be on guard,” Ru Ping said. “Your job is to harvest the herbs competently. It is your job to help ensure Elder Li can pay for this expedition.”
“We can’t pay for it?” Wu Ying said, horrified.
Ru Ping’s eyes widened and he sliced his hand parallel to the ground, as if he was chopping his words apart. “No, no. We can pay for the expedition. We already have. But we want to make a profit on this expedition, not break even. Do you understand?”
Wu Ying’s eyes narrowed, but he chose to say nothing. The profitability, or lack of it, of the expedition was not his problem. “I’ll do better.”
“Make sure you do.”
As the expedition traveled deeper into the spirit lands, the number of spirit herbs grew more plentiful. For the first time, Ru Ping became selective of what they harvested. As they traversed the undergrowth, shining light on the surroundings, the guards warily watched for their unseen predator.
Two hours of tense foraging ended with the group returning to the encampment and the defense of the hastily constructed formation flags. As they neared the flags, the cultivators relaxed—a touch too early. The demon beast launched itself from a tree outside the boundary created by the formation flags, targeting the second guard in line.
As it fell, Wu Ying caught his first clear glimpse of the creature. A feline presence, larger than any he had ever seen before. Short black fur and a cropped ear flashed by as it slammed into the guard, its sharp claws piercing the cultivator’s armor. Wu Ying, who was directly behind the man, had stepped aside as the creature bore its prey to the ground, his hand falling to his sheathed jian.
The Dragon unsheathes its Claws.
The cut caught the demon cat along its back, tearing at wiry fur. Yet the monster ignored the attack as it clamped its jaws around the cultivator’s throat. Legs bunched and released as the creature bounded forward, carrying the guard, the cultivator’s lifeblood falling on the ground.
Wu Ying threw another cut, the jian skipping along the monster’s hindquarters as it left. Ahead of the demon beast, Senior Ge forsook his weapon and threw a fist strike at the monster. The attack forced the monster to jerk away, the sudden movement tearing open the cultivator’s wounds even further. A follow-up punch glanced off the beast’s body, forcing its jaws open. A spear strike from the side caught the creature along its chest before it gave up its prey, disappearing into the dark.
The entire attack had happened in seconds, so quickly finished that the cultivators within the encampment had no time to react. Senior Ge snarled, facing the direction the monster left, while Ru Ping dropped to his knees and pressed bandages on the guard’s wounds. Wu Ying hurried over as he sheathed his jian, scrambling for bandages too.
“I’ve got it. You there!” Ru Ping called to another guard, who had just fumbled his dao out. “Help us carry your friend in.”
As they lifted the body, the lights in the encampment increased, bobbing lanterns and torches moving toward the harvesting group. Wu Ying and the dao-wielding guard carried the injured cultivator into the camp, where they were met by Elder Li. Directed by the old woman’s cane, they deposited the bleeding man near the fire, where another cultivator readied boiled water. Elder Li barked orders at Ru Ping, who removed his hands from the wounds and fished out needles and thread for the Elder. Together, the pair worked on cleaning and sewing the wounds of the dying guard.
Long minutes of desperate work, supplemented by a powerful healing pill, paid off as the cultivator stabilized. His once-pale face grew rosy, the torn wounds in his throat and chest clotting. Satisfied, Elder Li left the cultivator alone, her bloody hands held before her. Ru Ping gestured for additional help in completing the man’s cleaning and bandaging. Wu Ying found himself breathing easier when he realized the guard would survive, and he walked a short a distance away to sit, his feet giving way as he lowered himself.
“Close,” Tou He said as he joined his friend.
“Yes.” Wu Ying turned his hands over in front of him, crusted blood flaking off his skin as he flexed his fingers. “If I had been ahead…”
“If, if, if,” Tou He said, shaking his head. “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
“A little too wise for you, isn’t it?”
“Did I say it was mine?” Tou He flashed a smile. “I did live in a monastery most of life.”
Wu Ying offered his friend a wan smile then flexed his bloody hands once more. With a shake of his head, he stood. “I should clean up. And give Elder Li the harvest.”
“Of course. Be careful.”
The next few days were quiet, the group continuing their harvest even under the protests of the guards. The number of members in the harvesting group increased again, but finally decreased when Elder Po declared the creature had stopped stalking them.
“That’s good,” Wu Ying remarked to Liu Tsong as they jogged through the spirit lands. Even if Wu Ying had spent his days training, the constant exercise over the last week or so had increased his physical fitness even further, allowing Wu Ying to take occasional moments to just run.
“Not necessarily,” Liu Tsong said. “Demon beasts that stalk and hunt their prey will leave for only a few reasons. I do not think we injured it enough to scare it away. Which means we have likely entered the hunting grounds of a predator the demon beast fears.”
Wu Ying stumbled on an upturned root, his attention on the implications of her rather distressing news. As he recovered, Wu Ying sighed and offered his friend a tight smile. If they were facing ever more danger, then he needed to expand his meager cultivation. After he’d relayed that, Liu Tsong made a face and waved goodbye before taking a position upwind of the cultivator.
Ignoring her actions, Wu Ying deepened his breathing and focused within, sensing the chi coursing through the environment. He pulled it toward his dantian, cleansing it and making the chi his own even as he used a portion of the chi to aid his stamina. As he inhaled, Wu Ying drew in the wild ambient chi, and as he exhaled, he sent the dregs, elements, and impurities out of his body.
Hour after hour, Wu Ying’s feet pounded the earth as he cultivated. All to get strong.
A day later, Wu Ying was jolted out of his run when the group ahead slowed and stopped. Wu Ying frowned, relaxing his cultivation as he settled his chi. As Wu Ying gained full control of his senses, he realized the guards had spread out across the tiny clearing they had stopped in.
In front of the line of guards and Elders, a group of xing tian stood, barring the way. In one hand, each headless, eight-foot-tall creature held an axe, and in the other, a wicker shield. The score of xing tian stared at the cultivators with rage, shaking their axes, as the eyes where their nipples should be switched from target to target and the mouths in the creatures’ stomach-regions wordlessly screamed.
“Stay back,” Liu Tsong warned Wu Ying as she fell back to join him. “Let the guards and Elders fight.”
Wu Ying knew she was saying that for his sake. Even from this distance, Wu Ying felt the pressure of the monsters’ cultivation, the way they warped the ambient chi with their presence. At the least, a pair of those xing tian were in the Core cultivation stage, while the others were all in the Energy Storage stage. Their innate bloodlines made the monsters more powerful by default, though they would struggle to grow in cultivation as they reached the extent of their bloodlines’ strength.
As Wu Ying drew his jian, he eyed the Elders confronting the Core cultivation monsters. Elder Li stood, back bent, cane in hand as she faced them. Beside her, Elder Wei stood before a glowing pill cauldron, the spinning cauldron controlled by her chi. Elder Po was bare-fisted at the front of the group, his body gaining a metallic golden sheen that covered him from head-to-toe as he channeled his metal-aspected chi. And beside Elder Po, Elder Dong was armed with a pair of axes that glowed red.
The battle began with the lesser xing tian charging the cultivators. The guards intercepted the monsters as the Elders watched the pair of Core-level monsters. Upon meeting one another, the two combatant groups exchanged blows of compressed and aspected chi from swords, axes, fists, and feet. In the clash of conflicting chi, the air stirred and gusted, blown apart by the conflicting chi. The gusts of wind brushed against Wu Ying’s face and brought with it the sting of burning earth and the stink of corrupted demonic chi.
In one corner, Chao Kun fought a pair of xing tian alone, his fists flying and striking like departing meteorites. Each impact against their wooden shields resounded through the clearing. So powerful was each of his blows, the monsters he faced were forced to fight on their back feet and stay on the defense.
In another portion of the battlefield, Li Yao and Tou He fought together, their spear and quarterstaff combination upsetting and tripping a trio of demon beasts. Close by the pair, a group of five dao-wielding martial specialists suppressd a half dozen xing tian of higher cultivation, providing defense and safety to each other as they fought.
As the battle heated up, the two Core cultivation xing tian roared and made their move. As if they had planned it, the pair combined their attacks and lashed out with their axes, sending a shrieking lash of compressed fire- and metal-aspected chi toward the Elders. The chi was intercepted by Elder Po, his robes tearing under the assault but his golden metal body left unscarred. Elder Po rushed the pair as the other Elders completed their preparations.
Elder Li muttered and tapped her cane against the ground, the rhythm sending small thrums of power rushing up the soles of Wu Ying’s feet. As Elder Li’s attack built, Elder Dong joined Elder Po in his charge, only to be overtaken by a swirling, lit cauldron. One of the xing tian attempted to block the cauldron with its shield before it was forced back. As the pair of charging Elders reached the xing tian, the resounding impact of cauldron and shield shook Wu Ying’s chest.
As the battle increased in fervor, more and more dust was kicked up. Cold snowflakes gathered in one corner, thanks to Li Yao. As a water-aspected cultivator, she brought the chill of winter and the cold of the depths of the ocean to her attacks, forming snow as she fought. As the snowflakes mixed with the sudden gouts of flame and smoke from other cultivators and the scattered earth, Wu Ying quickly lost full view of the battle. Unconsciously, Wu Ying stepped forward but was held back by Liu Tsong.
“Wait. We’re here as reinforcements. And to ensure we are not attacked in the back,” Liu Tsong reminded Wu Ying.
Wu Ying bit his lip in frustration but stepped back to scan their surroundings, seeing no reinforcements as yet.
As the noise of the battle reached a crescendo, a creaking roar, as if a thousand rocks had cracked, erupted from the clearing. As Wu Ying’s patience was about to end, the wind swirled once more with purpose and carried away the loose dirt, floating ice crystals, and smoke to reveal the remnants of the battle.
Surrounding the corpses of a quarter of the xing tian was fresh earth that gripped their feet and thighs. Many of those monsters showcased defensive wounds, injuries which had been dealt after they were trapped. Even one of the Core xing tian had been caught, though it had freed one foot before its chest had been caved in by a flying cauldron. Even now, the cauldron spun lazily around the dead monster.
The second Core xing tian lay a short distance away, an arm displaced, its legs broken, and where its neck would be was a deep depression from a kick. Numerous cauterized cuts crossed its body, deep wounds from Elder Dong’s paired axes.
All around were the signs of the xing tians’ desperate fight. Wu Ying walked forward, staring at the corpses of the once-imposing monsters. Creatures without a head, their torsos and limbs were crushed, cut, and burned. As Wu Ying watched, the other cultivators were digging into the bodies, extracting spirit stones and handing them to the Elders.
“Be quick about this. We do not want to be here too long,” Elder Po said. “This must be th
e xing tians’ hunting grounds. If they have established themselves, there will be more.”
At Elder Po’s warning, the cultivators sped up their actions. None wanted to repeat this fight. Even if they had won it with relative ease, it was only because they had outnumbered the xing tian. The result of the battle could easily change if the expedition group were outnumbered. Better to hurry out of the xing tians’ hunting grounds and, hopefully, enter a safer location.
The group ran, barely stopping long enough to eat. No more cooked meals, just pre-wrapped food, sometimes heated by those with fire-aspected chi but more often eaten cold. The guards spread out, keeping an eye on the flanks and their rear, while the Elders watched for problems in front.
By the time sunlight completely left the forest they traversed, the group had covered over thirty li. As they set up for the evening, the guards took even further precautions, laying out warding talismans and temporary traps. Elder Dong created a low-level security formation, one meant to disorient and hide, rather than injure potential attackers. Dinner was cold rations again—leftover, stale porridge and gummy, dried, salted sausages.
Rather than sit with the others and assault them with his stench, Wu Ying sat downwind, near the edges of the wards and behind the sole tent. To Wu Ying’s surprise, as he chewed on his stale meal, he found he could overhear the conversation being held within the tent.
“There were no xing tian here seven years ago,” Elder Li insisted. “Just like there were none ten years ago when Po passed through.”
“You say that, but the signs show a considerable-sized clan,” Elder Dong said.
“They could have been pushed here from another location,” Elder Po said.
“Does it matter?” Elder Wei said. “We still need to leave their hunting grounds as quickly as we can.”