Liu-Ken stepped back and pushed Aurora. "Watch what you can do when you can control both your chi and the mana around," he said.
He stuck the metal tip on the floor and took a deep breath. Without leaving his place, he cast a series of circular movements with his hands. They swayed through the air, tearing it, opening gaps and air pockets along the way, absorbing the little mana around it. The ambient energy bonded with the water chi that moistened Liu-Ken's fingertips. Aurora had her eyes on her mentor, this time seeing the reality behind the farce. White particles, invisible to untrained eyes, drew closer to Liu-Ken, invigorating both his hands. His movements became faster. By combining both chi and mana, the white blood cells hovering in the air, over Liu's hands, turned bluish. They now had a translucent color that was spreading throughout his body.
"He just wants to scare us. Don't stop!" the leader shouted again as soon as he saw some of the members hesitating, "Think of your families. If they eat well and have survived so far it is because you have not been afraid to do what must be done," he added. He raised the spear and waved it, shouting a battle cry that was copied by the dozens of men who followed him.
Liu-Ken stopped. He put his hands next to his clothes and took another deep breath. The meridians were as calm as a river on a sunny evening. Blue highlights appeared amid his white hair. His feet left the ground. He kept gazing at all the men before him, closing in on him, bloodthirst in their eyes.
"One of the techniques passed down from generation to generation of the Mizu school, the fluid water technique," Liu-Ken said, grabbing the handle of the sword with both hands. All the energy he had accumulated in the previous moments flowed throughout the blade. He tossed it into the air with his left hand, spun himself around, grasped it with his right hand, and shredded the air from one end to the other. A bluish half-arc crossed the path that separated him from the gang, dragging all the sand and rocks that rested along the way.
All the gang members were thrown across the air, mutilated, and soaked. They collapsed on the ground, except for the leader who remained upright, bleeding from the cuts on his muscular chest, where he also had a tattoo of a red skull.
"This is not over," the leader said, having trouble taking a step forward. "Let's fight one-on-one," he said and removed the dagger from his belt.
"It wouldn't be fair. You can't even move. Let's just stop right there," Liu-Ken said, putting the sword in his back sheath.
"No. No way! You won't disrespect us like that. It's not over yet. I'm going to wipe that grin off your mouth and then I'm going to take it out on the girl," he said and winked at Aurora.
Liu-Ken yawned, "I admire your boldness and strength. You would have made a great cultivator. But that's enough. If you take one more step, I'll be forced to respond," he said.
The man ignored the threat and moved forward. He dropped the spear and closed his hands, continuing to walk, sweat running down his forehead. He could not show fear, much less give up. There were dozens of people watching. If they saw how easily they could be defeated by one man, they would never respect them again. And he knew it.
The truth that every man hide; respect matters more than power. Power can be taken away, it can be overcome, but respect is admired. Fear was a bonus to them. After all, it was that same respect that had brought him there. He, Hu-Mei, the former responsible for the manufacture of low-end weapons in the city, was replaced by the young masters who had come from larger cities since the clandestine world had decided to create a station there. Longtime clients had replaced him without a single word.
They willingly accepted the coming of strangers, boys with the wisdom of hardware schools and weapons construction from the big cities, instead of supporting an old friend. Without customers, unable to feed his wife and two daughters, he ended up fighting in the same place that stole his life, striving until his feet gave way until his hands became sore and soaked in blood. All for a few bucks at the end of every night, amidst songs of glory and people booing. It was that very ferocity and courage that had joined him to a group of men who were also trying to regain their city's glory. And even if the group had become a gang, feared by the people, accused of robberies and deaths, he lacked the courage he once had to stop them and steer them in a new direction. He did not agree with the direction they had taken, but he had become one of them, and, having the future of so many people on his hands, including his family, how could he throw everything away for a utopian ideal?
He took another step, wielding the dagger, his body swinging both ways.
Liu-Ken snapped his fingers and called the mana back to him. He slid his left foot back, and moved one hand in the same direction, stretching the other forward. Blue chi and mana strands sailed across the air, reshaping themselves before prying eyes, until only one thick, blue arrow remained between Liu's two arms. He pulled a finger back as if it were the trigger of a bow and got ready to shoot. A docile breeze blew on his forehead, stirring up the hair strands that had stuck to it.
He was about to fire when a horn cracked the momentum. A dozen armed soldiers burst into the street. They marched until they reached the epicenter of the mayhem. Liu-Ken lowered his arms and the arrow dissipated. Unlike the men at the entrance to the city, they had leather armor and one of them wore a straw hat, the flaps protecting his green eyes from the sun, strands of hair cascading on both sides.
"I want to know now what's going on here," this same man said, in a loud and haughty voice. As soon as he spoke, most of the people dispersed throughout the parallel streets, "Who hurt these men? I want to know everything. Hu-Mei, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" the man asked the gang leader.
"These two came here and attacked my people. I only decided to show them that we protect our own here. Isn't that what you always preach from up there, sheltered up to the teeth?" Hu-Mei replied, wrapping the dagger tighter.
"Don't stretch it. Just because we've known each other since we were kids doesn't mean I'll accept your disrespect," the leader said. He would never admit it, but he wondered how strong someone would be to have brought Hu-Mei almost to his knees, "Who are you?" he asked Liu-Ken and Aurora.
"We're just passing through. We don't want any trouble," Liu-Ken repeated, placing his body between Aurora and the man. "We apologize for the inconvenience caused," he said.
"They're cultivators," Hu-Mei said. "they belong to the crooks to whom you gave our city."
"Hu-Mei, I won't warn you again. You are crossing the line. That's enough," the man said and moved towards Liu-Ken. The rest of the soldiers removed the curved blades from their scabbard, "to which school do you belong?"
"To none. We're just passing through," Liu-Ken replied and stepped forward. "We better get going."
"Wait, wait, wait. Come with me. It is a pleasure to receive cultivators in our humble city," the man said, taking off his hat and almost bowing, the hat descending through his fingers like going down steps, "I know the governor would be delighted to meet you. It's almost lunchtime, I'm sure you must be hungry after all this mess," he said.
"Actually..." Aurora started, but she was interrupted by the deadly look that Liu-Ken gave him.
"Is it a request or an order?" Liu asked. He kept his voice still. The soldiers scattered around them.
"Both," the captain of the soldiers replied. "I'd appreciate it if you'd come with us without causing any more trouble," he said.
"We will," Liu-Ken replied, "however, we will only stay for lunch."
"As you wish. The master will love meeting you. I do not doubt that" he said, before focusing on his old friend. "Take your boys and get out of here. Don't mess with cultivators or important people and we'll keep looking the other way," he said.
The gang leader finally fell to his knees and punched the ground, lifting a mini typhoon of sand before him, the dust browning his clothes and his sweaty face. His intense and flickering eyes did not let go of Liu-Ken and Aurora as they crossed the street under the scrutiny of the citizens and merc
hants. They had five soldiers behind them and five ahead, lined up, covering the entire street. Before them, a slope led them to the governor's castle. Men and women occupied their places in the rice fields. The foremen roamed the different levels, dragging the leather whip across the ground, frightening the workers, or rather the slaves, each time they tripped or broke loose.
Before they began to climb, Liu-Ken stopped and took a gold coin out of his pocket. He turned around, looking at the gang leader, and threw it. The coin spun through the air until it fell in the palm of his hand.
"Your guts should be rewarded, even if you don't use them for a good reason," Liu-Ken said. "I think you've known that for a long time."
The man did not answer him. He kept the coin in his pocket and stood up. His hair fluttered due to the wind breezes that had grown stronger. After a short minute in silence, he joined hands and leaned forward. A gesture accepted by Liu-Ken who smiled in return.
The uphill climb started slowly. The higher they got, the more the wind scraped off their skin, the cheap fabric clothes rubbing against their bodies and reddening it. Aurora wanted to scratch herself, but she was afraid someone would notice the marks on her body.
"Are we really going to have lunch with them?" she whispered.
"Yes, we've caused enough trouble. We still have to find my old friend. If we have the whole world on our tail, we won't get far. Let's enjoy lunch. I also need to recharge my energies. Using that technique tired me out," Liu-Ken replied.
"Why didn't you ever teach me anything like that?"
"It's still early. I told you. The road to a successful cultivator is a long one. The very desire to manipulate mana and achieve immortality is a challenge to the heavens. Dao only rewards those who work hard for it," Liu-Ken told her, "And, remember, don't talk unless I say so," Liu-Ken said.
"It’s not funny to be treated like a child," Aurora replied, tired of not even being able to reply to others. "I'm not as stupid as you think."
"I don't think you're stupid. I just don’t think you can control what might come out of your mouth. Two different things, Aurora," Liu-Ken told her, "You'll have time to talk. You're still young," he said.
"We'll see," Aurora replied, twisting the corner of her lip, slightly sullen. She put both hands on the back of her neck and took a deep breath. "Do you agree with what they're doing here? He completely ignored everything the gang did,"
"No. But that is how the world is. Just because you lived in a peaceful village does not mean they all are. Most of them are not. A long time ago, everything was better. But since the leader of the Kaji School came to power, everything changed. They became greedy and manipulative, imposing rules on other schools. Their soldiers became arrogant and complacent. Use what you have seen here to strengthen your dream of changing the world," he said.
"The gang will torment the city again and we didn't even pick up the boy," she said.
"I know, Aurora. But, believe me, it seems to me that he will be safer there than with us. I doubt that after what happened there, they'll bother him again," Liu-Ken replied.
Chapter 25
They were already halfway up the hill. The sun was at its peak and the soldiers sunburnt. At the top of the hill, meters before the stone wall that surrounded the castle, two half-naked men, their genitals covered only with a paper cloth, unloaded two buckets of water from a well. They had built a useful device there. One of them pulled the lever and the other removed the buckets from the hook. Their backs were red and swollen. The nape of their necks covered with white bubbles, as were their hands. Aurora tried to avoid looking at them but could not. Other people's misfortune fulminated her like a sting on her back and spurred her repulsion. The mana around her arose from nature and headed towards her. Liu-Ken foresaw the abrupt change in the environment and elbowed her.
Aurora retreated two steps back, tripping over a loose rock, and fell on her ass, letting his backpack dribble across the ground. The distraction was enough for the mana to disperse. The soldiers' captain wondered what had happened. He approached them, his eyebrows bent, looking like two arrows pointing to his nose.
"Is everything alright?" he asked, his gaze bearing suspicion, bouncing from Aurora to Liu-Ken.
"Yes, yes. The fool stumbled. Get up, Aurora. Apologize to them for the inconvenience. We have to keep going," Liu-Ken said. "She's fine. Don't worry," he added, helping Aurora stand up.
"Let's continue," the man said, and the soldiers obeyed without the slightest hesitation.
The wall, built of stones piled up on top of each other, fortified with cement in between, an agglomerate that had recently arrived in that area, brought by the most nefarious traders, those who traveled the world in search of materials and items that they could sell at excessive prices, held the structure. There, before that, it was only possible to see the last three floors of the castle and the two wooden watchtowers, military towers used to oversee the neighboring land. A wooden door, located in the middle of the wall, divided them from the rest of the city. The captain removed the golden key, with three forks, from one of his pockets and opened the door. He beckoned Aurora and Liu-Ken to enter as he held the door, whose damaged mechanism prevented it from remaining open for longer than a few seconds.
The beaten earthen floor was replaced by a green lawn, without weeds or drought, sunflower beds on the right and left that preceded a staircase of a dozen steps leading to the castle's balcony and used to hide the stone base. The castle had five floors and the last one had a triangular shape.
Three shadows were reflected through the yellowish shoji. They tilted their heads close to the bowls and used two chopsticks to roll the dough.
"They are already having lunch. It’s better if you wait here," the leader of the soldiers said.
He knocked three times on the wooden frame and, only then, pulled the door panel, sliding it halfway through.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but..." he started but a scream interrupted him.
"What do you think you're doing? You know how I hate being interrupted while I am eating," a woman with a choked voice grumbled.
"Again, sorry, Mrs. Liau, but we have two cultivators here. They were passing through our humble city and I thought you'd like to meet them," the man said.
"Did you say cultivators? Bring them here," she said, her voice thawing, getting docile.
Aurora and Liu-Ken asked for permission and stepped in. The woman did not bother to stand up to greet them. She stretched out her hand and waited for them to come to her. She had a luxurious red kimono with white and fine silk stripes that matched the excessive makeup she had on her cheeks to hide the pimples' peaks. Her long, straight hair, almost up to her hips, was impeccable, with not even a damaged tip or a tuft of snails. She was someone who appreciated and struggled to achieve a certain ideal of beauty. Before her, two young boys, between fifteen and seventeen years old, kept eating. They were both thin and wore elegant, practical samurai clothes, covering their legs, with half a dozen folds.
"Boys, have some respect for the new guests. Say hello to them," the woman said. "I apologize. As you may have heard, I am the governor of this city. You can call me Mrs. Liau," she said.
"Hello," the two boys said in unison, still chewing bits of food.
"Forgive their lack of respect. They are not used to the presence of people as important as you," she said and forced a smile. The corners of her mouth trembled, her lips shrunk to denote the reddish gums and some of the yellow teeth that she immediately tried to hide by covering her mouth and pretending she was coughing.
"It's okay. We are nobody either. We're just passing through. Thank you for receiving us," Liu-Ken replied. "The city has changed a lot since the last time I was here," he added.
"If it was a long time ago, it must have been when my husband ruled," Mrs. Liau replied, "the poor man died about five years ago and since then I have had to take over the reins of the city. I did the best I could, you know? It's hard for a single woman to take
care of her children and control a city where no one respects her... oh, if only I could find a strong husband everything would be better," she said, her voice changing once again. It had returned to the high-pitched tone. Every word that came out of her mouth sounded false and overdramatic.
Aurora gave Liu-Ken a baffled look. "What the hell are we getting ourselves into?" she thought to herself.
"Yeah, I understand. It must be complicated," Liu-Ken said.
The conversation was trivial to him. He did not want anything to do with it. He knew that the woman was lying and that she was most likely the one who had the idea of paying the Kaji school so they would pretend not to know what was going on there. Nor would it be surprising if her husband had been killed by her own hands. She exuded mistrust and the years spent wandering the continent had taught Liu to fathom when he was on unstable ground.
They sat on two of the empty zabuton, large soft cushions. The tatami that covered that room was new, still having a greenish color, the green standing out each time the sun rays pierced through the translucent paper.
The maids, two small women, already around fifty years old, wrinkled skin disguised only with a light layer of pink powder, using kimonos two sizes above, appeared shortly after, with two steaming bowls. They placed them on the ground in front of Aurora and Liu-Ken and bowed despite the difficulties in tilting forward. Both thanked them. Aurora breathed in the dough's smell before picking up the two chopsticks.
"So, tell me, what is your final destination?" Mrs. Lau asked, moving her head to the left as a sign for the maids to leave the room.
The soldiers had already dispersed except for their leader and another young boy with orange sideburns, on the other side of the shoji. The gentle breeze grazed on the wood and paper and produced a long whistle. Aurora remembered Liu-Ken playing the flute under the moon. The memory comforted her. She felt that it was there where she should be: watching the moon's slowly moving and evolving, the background music numbing her. She was awakened to reality by Liu-Ken's docile voice.
Awakening: (The Necromancer's Legacy Book 1) Page 13