by Wong, Tao
“Good. We should eat, rest up, and leave.” Wu Ying glanced again at Wang Min, noting that her eyes were a little red and puffy. “I’m sorry. About your instrument.”
“It is fine,” Wang Min said automatically. Then, drawing a breath, she continued. “It will be fine. My Master warned me that taking part in expeditions would risk it. That we must all risk what we love to improve.”
Wu Ying nodded, then gestured back to where she had sat. He noted that the remnants of the guzheng were gone. “Did it have particular importance to you?”
The cultivator stayed silent as they walked around the dead corpse, forced to tread carefully as they moved along the water’s edge. Wu Ying kept a hand on his sword, eyeing the water for potential dangers, limping carefully as his shoulder ached from the newly scabbed over wound. They managed to traverse the distance with little trouble to spot the fire and Tou Hei.
“It was my first instrument. It was given to me by my mother,” Wang Min said softly. “It was her first guzheng too. I had hoped…” She shook her head. “Hope is for a fickle future that betrays us at every turn.”
The bitterness in her voice made Wu Ying frown. In truth, unlike Yu Kun, he knew little of her. When she was not practicing, Lei Hui had taken up her time. On rare occasions when Lei Hui had not been by her side, she had spent that time with Fairy Yang. Add her usual reticence and even months of journey together had revealed little. Wu Ying knew she was the daughter of a nobleman’s second wife. But beyond that, he knew little else.
“I see,” Wu Ying said. “Your mother…?”
“Lives, and is treasured,” Wang Min said, shooting a look at Wu Ying. “She bore my father two sons after me.” Wang Min shrugged. “As for me… I am best suited as a cultivator.”
“Ah.” Wu Ying fell silent. “Perhaps not all hope is a betrayal though. Like you and Lei Hui?” He flashed her a smile, trying for levity.
“Mmm… perhaps. He is… intense. But my mother always says the passionate studious ones are the least likely to stray.”
Wu Ying blinked. Thankfully, their steps had carried them close to the fire and he was saved by Tou Hei turning around and thrusting cooked meat sticks at them. As she moved to the opposite side of the fire, Wu Ying could not help but sigh in gratitude. Were all women that mercenary in the choice of their affections?
“You good?” Wu Ying said, choosing a simpler concern.
“Tired,” Tou Hei said. “I might not be… well…” The ex-monk shrugged. “I won’t be able to fight at my full strength for a bit.”
“Good thing that we aren’t expecting any more fights.” Growing grimmer, he eyed his friend. “Your dantian?”
“Drained. I might have… I might have damaged a meridian or two.”
Wu Ying winced. He mentally checked his storage ring, wondering if he had anything for that. Overdrawing one’s chi and damaging your meridians was a common injury. Common enough that such medicine was often kept on-hand. Except, of course, he hadn’t the funds or contribution points to own such things just in case.
“I have some raw herbs. If you chewed it…” Wu Ying trailed off as Tou Hei shook his head.
“I have a Two-Color Spring Harvest Meridian Healing Pill,” Tou Hei said. “Once I’ve healed further, I will take it.”
“What colors?”
“Red and white.”
“Oh, those are good.” Wu Ying nodded. The Two-Color pills’ strength varied, both on the strength of the pill itself and its interaction with the consumer’s chi-aspect. A red pill would work very well with Tou Hei’s flame aspect.
“Worry less. Eat more,” Tou Hei said, pushing another piece of meat at Wu Ying. “We should leave soon. So best to finish what we can.”
“Right, right,” Wu Ying replied. “When you go to get your… well… for anything…”
“I’ll ask.”
“Good.”
They were leaving the majority of the large toad behind, its house-sized body a prize for the scavengers. They had no way to store so much meat, nor any desire to do so. While its flesh was strong and filled with chi, it would do them little good by the time they reached civilization. They could bring enough for their own meals for a few days and store some of the more valuable portions, but that was it.
Chowing down, Wu Ying could not help but feel a small smile creep across his face. After all this time, they had succeeded. Now, so long as Lei Hui was fine or they met another Ben, his Master would be saved. And as for his martial sister… well, she’d be fine. She was the Fairy after all.
***
When the group exited the safe ground Wang Min had created by deploying the talismans, Wu Ying was startled to spot a number of scavenger beasts attempting to locate and track down the delectable aroma they had escaped. Thankfully, the group had used additional aura- and scent-suppressing talismans on themselves, allowing them to sneak past the monsters.
Under the guise of the talismans, the group left the marshlands, burning taels rather than risk another encounter. They took their time as they exited, preferring caution over speed now. Only a single, semi-sapient plant attacked them, wrapping Yu Kun in its branches before Wu Ying’s shouted warning could arrive.
They’d had to chop down the monstrous, blood-drinking tree, then had to wait longer as Wu Ying extracted pottery jars to store the bleeding sap. The Blood Drinking Water Asp sap could be used in apothecarist pills to help bind healing type pills together. It was one of many preferred binding agents, and a rarer type due to its great demand. It was a great find, even if it came at the cost of additional injuries to Yu Kun.
Eventually, the group found themselves by their horses. To their relief, their equine companions were safe and unharmed, though somewhat hungry and bored. Releasing the beasts, the group began their long ride back to civilization, wary of additional attacks. The plan was to get an hour away from the marsh and its dangerous denizens before they would camp and rest for the evening.
Over the next few days, the group moved with a lightness to their movements, a sense of peace and happiness. They took extra care with their travel, only shifting course once in a while when they found potential locations for the Ben. Once, they even encountered a flock of the creatures. But the flock was safeguarded by a Core-level pair of mated Ben, and the group chose to avoid the confrontation.
As they rode, they slowly healed, their wounds stitching together. The most grievous of their wounds scabbed over, minor injuries disappearing as the days ran on. Occasional encounters with monsters left the group tired, but luckily, no one received any further major injuries.
Once they reached the road on Wu Ying’s map, they rode faster. A few days on the road and they would be at the city it led to, where they would alight on the fastest passenger ship they could locate. From there, they would travel back to the Sect, potentially meeting with Lei Hui, Elder Yang, or any incoming Elders. Once they had reached the road, Wu Ying released a spirit messenger to Elder Yang and the Sect, relating their success.
The evenings by the road were quieter, conversations lighter and more relaxed. Deep in the wilderness as they were, rest stops were hard to find and on one occasion, lay abandoned. Rather than practicing, the team spoke, recuperated and healed their wounds, and refilled their dantians while contemplating their recent experiences. Two evenings in, Tou Hei took his pill and spent the evening tossing and turning in pain as it forcefully healed his meridians.
The next morning, they rose early with excitement thrumming through their veins. At Wang Min’s suggestion, the group changed into their last set of Sect robes, the only clean and presentable clothing they had. They were half a day away from their destination city and had to arrive with some dignity. As they rode, their spirits were light, laughter and idle conversations filling in the hours.
Hours later, before them on the road, a small group of cultivators sat waiting. And in their midst was a familiar apothecarist, trussed up, his thin, scholar’s face beaten black and blue.
C
hapter 32
Wu Ying slowed his horse with a gentle tug of his reins. His eyes swept over the half dozen cultivators before him on the road to the city. A single farmer was between Wu Ying and the cultivators before them, driving his produce to the side of the road and casting fearful glances back and forth between the groups of cultivators.
Neither party spoke as Wu Ying brought his horse to a halt a distance away, waiting for the farmer to clear out. As they sat, leaves rustled on the trees and bushes that hemmed in the dirt road on either side, the silence only broken by the nickering of their rides and the creak of the farmer’s wagon. Wu Ying’s team joined him in his regard of their opponents.
Wang Min eventually broke the leaden silence, whispering, “Lei Hui…”
The thin, scholarly apothecarist sat on his horse in the middle of the cultivators, his face bruised and beaten, his hands strapped to the saddle. Even from this distance, Wu Ying saw the fear and shame in the apothecarist’s eyes, the way his too-red hands trembled. They looked wrong, twisted in a way that made Wu Ying’s stomach fall.
Of the five remaining cultivators facing them, three were in the mid-stage Energy Storage like Wu Ying and his friends. The other two had closed off their auras, hiding their levels. One of those forgot—or perhaps did not know—how to stop his chi from emanating and staining the air, allowing Wu Ying to peg him in the lower stages of Energy Storage and an earth chi wielder. The last, the leader who sat with his jian resting casually on his saddle pointing at Lei Hui, Wu Ying could sense nothing from.
When the farmer had left and those behind them had moved out of the way, Wu Ying gently kicked his feet into his horse. The mare plodded forward while Wu Ying kept a hand on his sword. A muttered word of caution was all he managed to force out of his dry mouth as his gaze locked on the scared Lei Hui. As he rode closer, his guts twisted and churned, bile threatening to erupt. The other group of cultivators rode forward too, closing the distance until a bare twenty feet kept them apart.
Wu Ying raised his free hand, keeping the other hand on his jian. “That’s close enough.”
“Or what?” The leader smirked, his voluminous mustache and eyebrows twitching. He kicked his horse again, forcing it to take a few steps closer.
Wu Ying’s hand clenched on his sword and Yu Kun raised his nocked bow. Tension grew between the groups as weapons were readied. As if his goading had done its job, the leader had his horse stop with a tug of his reins. Lei Hui’s horse was guided forward to join the rest, leaving the groups to stare at one another again.
“Who are you?” Wu Ying said. “What do you want?”
“Did you think we’d just tell you our names?” The leader laughed mockingly. “And you know what we want. If you hand it over, we won’t even have to kill your friend.”
“Why do you need it?” Wu Ying said, shaking his head. “Haven’t you taken what you need from Lei Hui?”
Lei Hui ducked his head low, his face burning. Shame that redoubled when the opposing group laughed. He clenched his tied fists then released them with a hiss, broken fingers and hand bones hurting.
“Oh, it was easy getting it from him. We barely had to beat him much,” one of the other cultivators spoke up, patting his fat stomach. He licked his lips, leaning over his saddle to stare at Lei Hui. “I was looking forward to tasting his flesh too. Apothecarists all have a different flavor, depending on what pills they specialize in.”
Disgusted looks flashed across Wu Ying and his team’s faces. Interestingly enough, so did they on the opposition leader’s and another of the other group’s, while one nodded in thought and the last two just stoically stared ahead.
“You didn’t answer the question.” Wu Ying pushed down his disgust and fear, talking to buy time. He caught Wang Min looking between him and the leader, her eyes creased in worry.
“Because it’s no business of yours. You just have to hand over what you have,” the leader said. “Stop stalling. Or else I’ll chop off a hand.”
Lei Hui let out an involuntary utteration of negation, while the fat cultivator licked his lips.
“If you hurt him again, we fight,” Wu Ying stated, his mind spinning with possibilities.
They were too far apart to launch a surprise attack and catch the others unguarded. Wu Ying could try it when they did a handover—if they let him get that close. But he doubted they would do that. They also outnumbered the expedition group, and Wu Ying’s team was tired and still injured from their fights.
Their chances of winning were low. But not meaningless. Which was most likely why the other group was offering the trade. Better to cripple their chances this way, wait for reinforcements, and attack later than risk a close battle or deaths. They had little to lose, making this offer of trade.
“Then give us what we want,” the leader reiterated. He gestured behind Wu Ying’s group, and while Wu Ying did not take his gaze from his opponents, he saw Yu Kun shift to look behind. “Or do you intend to sit here, holding up the commoners all day?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“Wu Ying…” Wang Min murmured, her voice plaintive.
Lei Hui looked at Wu Ying, jaw clenched tight. Wu Ying had to admire the thin apothecarist, that he was refusing to beg for aid or demand that he make the deal. It made Wu Ying’s job harder, deciding what to do. Who to betray. His friend, his teammate, or his Master? The man who had placed him on the path of true cultivation?
“Well?” The mustached leader shifted his hand a little, pushing the edge of the blade into Lei Hui’s side. It pricked the skin of his arm, drawing blood before Lei Hui shied away from the blade.
As the smell of spilled blood stained the air, the fat cultivator grinned wide.
“Stop it!” Wang Min cried, then turned to Wu Ying. “You can’t. You can’t let them eat him.”
“Wang Min,” Tou Hei spoke up, laying a hand on her arm.
She jerked, surprised at the ex-monk’s touch, and saw his placid gaze. Rather than calming her, she grew even more agitated. “No! I won’t be quiet. You can’t just give up one of our own. That’s wrong!” Her eyes grew teary. “Look what they’ve done to him already. You know they’ll kill him if you refuse.”
“I know,” Wu Ying said flatly. He did his best to keep his voice calm, but he could not help the trace of anger that ran through it. “But I can’t just give them the materials. There’s nothing stopping them from killing him and leaving with it then.”
“There is a simple solution. Give us half of what you have. We will hand you your friend, and you can give us the other half. We know you have two of the materials you need,” the leader said, having pulled back the sword.
Wu Ying glared but eventually nodded. He could not see another option. And as much as he wanted to save his Master, he couldn’t just let them kill Lei Hui. He had to do something…
Wu Ying reached into his world spirit ring, extracting the jade box that contained the Sun Lotus. He hefted it in the air, and at the leader’s insistence, opened it to showcase the contents. After verification, the leader beckoned Wu Ying to hand over the box. A simple underhand toss and the leader pocketed and stored the box.
“Let him go.” When his men hesitated, the leader growled. “I said, let him go.”
Reins were dropped and Lei Hui used his knees to guide his horse forward. Tension rose as the horse ambled through the gap between the groups, the opposing parties fingering their weapons, wary of betrayal. To Wang Min’s and Wu Ying’s relief, Lei Hui arrived without further trouble. Immediately, she cut his hands free with a small knife, then fed the apothecarist a healing pill.
“I’m sorry. They caught me when I was waiting for the Sect to arrive. They got me while I was sleeping in the inn. I tried to stop them, but there were so many… I really did. I’m sorry. I tried,” Lei Hui blathered once he was free.
“It’s okay. I should never have split the party,” Wu Ying said. Now, his overabundance of caution, his double-guessing at the future, had resulted i
n them losing not just one precious ingredient but all of them. Lei Hui had nothing to feel guilty about. The fault was all his. He could not help but glance at Lei Hui’s broken hands. “I’m sorry. I know you did your best.”
“All right, all right. Enough. Now, hand over the second ingredient.” Even as the leader spoke, his group tensed, ready to attack.
This was the most dangerous time for the other group since Wu Ying had Lei Hui now. He could launch an attack against the other party and maybe win back the materials. But he hesitated, switching his gaze from them to Lei Hui, who slumped in his saddle. He traced his gaze across the apothecarist, noting how his robes were slightly disarrayed, the scent coming from the other.
“Open your robes, Lei Hui.”
“My robes?” Lei Hui said, puzzled.
“Stop wasting time,” the leader called. But there was a hint of concern in his voice, one that even Lei Hui caught.
The apothecarist fumbled with his robes before Wang Min leaned over to help. That caused the pale apothecarist to flush, but she didn’t notice. For beneath the outer robes, stuck to his inner robes, were talismans that glowed with the light of chi activation.
“Damn. I guess you’re not that dumb.”
“What is this?” Wu Ying said even as he shifted his horse away from Lei Hui. The others did as well, leaving only Wang Min next to Lei Hui.
“Insurance.”
“These are… they’re… explosive charms,” Lei Hui got out, his voice breaking with fear as he stared at the talismans covering his body. “I didn’t know. You have to believe me.”
“I do,” Wang Min assured him.
“Are they timed or…?”
“Chi-activated,” she replied.
Wu Ying made a face, though he had guessed as much. Metal chi was imbued into the talismans, stinking up his nostrils even further. His eyes narrowed as the leader smirked. He held all the cards, for he had the material and Lei Hui as hostage still. What could Wu Ying do? Extracting the charms was not a simple matter. He didn’t even have a clue how to do so, though from what he recalled, Wang Min had a little knowledge.