Chapter 20 - Iron Cage

“So I have a question for you, since you might know how the Wintersweet Sect works,” Lu Na said. “Why are they chasing after me? I am a nobody. I have nothing. Why me?”

“Amituofo. I don’t know the exact reason. Over the last few weeks, I have seen them invite many young women like you to their sect. Most went with them as they were being pressured by a powerful sect. It was only a few days ago have I have seen them kidnap young women off the streets. So the only reason I can think of is that they’ve either started practicing evil spirit techniques that required young maidens or they received a divination of some sort that commanded them to do so.

“As a member of the sect, I was given orders that made little sense much of the time. But sometime later, it would be a part of a much bigger scheme by the sect leader that gave the Sect a great boost.”

“Summoner sects are so strange. Why would they do something like that?”

Hen Li smiled.

“Oh, to be so young and unaffiliated with any real troubles in the world. You must be some Young Miss from a rich family, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, so what? It’s not like my life is all that glamorous either.”

“Well, a quick explanation: every summoner sect out there is competing against others for resources. They grow big and create more opportunities to become stronger. If any sect doesn’t build their strength well enough, they collapse. Just like any other business. The only difference is, they don’t deal only in goods bought and sold, but also in the mysticism of the spirits.”

Lu Na nodded. It was just like her father’s business. He didn’t travel abroad so often in order to buy new goods. He went around to make sure he was closing down his competitors.

“But there is one thing I am curious though. Your techniques are not yours nor are they your spirits. How do you use them?”

Lu Na looked over at the constable, making sure he wasn’t paying attention. She pulled out a tiny Buddhist talisman wrapped in red paper.

“This. My mother taught me how to make these years ago and I have used it to make techniques like earth walls and spirit walls possible without using my spirit.”

“May I look at it?” Hen Li held out his hand.

Lu Na dropped it into his palm and the talisman burned to ash. Hen Li pulled his hand back and clenched it.

“I’m so sorry. That’s never happened before.”

“No, that’s okay. I didn’t expect that either.”

“What’s going on spirit? That never happened to anyone else. Sun Ren has examined my wards before without issues.”

Her spirit was silent. Of course, Lu Na’s spirit chose this time to be quiet instead of explaining anything. All they heard was the metal rocking from the cage as the horse pulled them on.

“Sorry, normally my spirit is more helpful than this. I don’t know why that happened,” Lu Na said.

Hen Li smiled and waved it off.

“Don’t worry, these things happen. What is your level as a summoner?”

“I… don’t know. I have had none formal training, as my father thought it was useless for a woman to become a summoner. He always thought that I was more useful to marry off to one of his partners like a business exchange.”

“Oh, so your father never trained you, yet you can communicate with your spirit?”

Lu Na nodded.

“That’s odd because usually you have to reach late into the first stage of being a summoner before you can do that. But from the looks of it, I doubt you’ve reached the first level of being a summoner, let alone the second stage. This is fascinating. In all my travels, I’ve seen no one like you.”

“Sun Ren, my friend, said something similar to me. But I still do not know why.”

Hen Li smiled again and he was quite handsome, despite the gray hair making him look much older. Lu Na wanted to ask him about that, but thought it was too rude.

“Well, now that I’ve seen what you can do, I have a better idea for why the Wintersweet Sect might try to kidnap you. These inventions of yours are unique. I’ve seen other spirit inventions but the Imperial Forces usually issued them. The only thing I can think of is that the Wintersweet members might have seen someone use these inventions, but didn’t know it was you, so they tried to capture all women that matched your description.”

“That’s a stretch. Lu Na has been practicing with these inventions for years,” Lu Na’s spirit said.

“Amituofo. Your humble spirit is back.”

“I had to go deal with something. But yes, I’m back. All I can think of is that your sect has turned into evil summoners that wish to use maidens for their evil purposes. Why else kidnap women?”

“Former sect. And you’re right, I do not know why they are doing it. But since you’re back, I am curious. How are you able to connect with Lu Na?”

“That’s a secret that is between me and Lu Na’s mother.”

“Oh, a legacy binding. That’s even rarer. Most summoners can’t pass down their spirits to their offspring. Otherwise summoner sects would have been passing down their ancestor’s spirit, making each sect leader as strong as the previous one instantly. But sadly this won’t work as without using special body tempering practices, the younger body can’t handle the old spirit. You two are getting more and more interesting. No wonder the Wintersweet Sect are after you.”

“I’m nobody special,” Lu Na said. “All my inventions can’t do much and my spirit is a nuisance at best. I just wish I had the chance to learn to be a stronger summoner. No one gave me a chance.”

“Amituofo. I’m sorry to hear that. If you were born in a sect, they would treasure and train you.”

Lu Na thought about that for a moment. She would have liked to have the training, but she wasn’t sure if she would have enjoyed being a part of a sect that did evil things like the Wintersweet Sect. That sounded like a bad deal.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Why don’t you train us?” Lu Na’s spirit asked. “You seem to be a powerful summoner to take on all those disciples of the Wintersweet Sect. I’m sure even their elders would have difficulty taking on so many at once.”

Hen Li laughed.

“Amituofo. Your flattery is nice, but I’m not sure about that. While I would love to see the heights you could achieve as a summoner, I have promised my sifu to put down all my earthly desires and connections in seeking enlightenment on the path of Buddhism. Teaching you the summoner arts would stop me from that promise.”

While Lu Na herself didn’t think about learning the summoner arts, there was a powerful summoner right here with no true affiliation with the sects that she could learn from.

“But there are plenty of monks that teach the summoner arts to others and are still monks,” Lu Na said. “If you teach me, I wouldn’t be in your way on your path. Not only that, I know there are plenty of people who also donate to the temples and monks so that they can continue on their path of Buddhism. I’m sure I can get my father to donate enough to your temple, especially if you could also teach my younger brothers.”

Hen Li’s smile disappeared. He looked deep in thought.

“Amituofo. I’ll consider it, and I will ask my sifu first. If he agrees, then we can discuss this later. Your generous offer to help my temple would be appreciated, as I have been nothing but a burden for my sifu after he accepted me. I would like nothing more than to repay him for his kindness.”

“Truly? You’ll consider teaching me? You’re not lying, right?” Lu Na said.

“Amituofo. Buddhist monks don’t lie.”

“But you’re not a true monk yet,” Lu Na’s spirit said.

“Amituofo. While I have not taken the vestments and proclamations on my path, Buddha lives in my heart. I am as much of a true monk in spirit as any other.”

“Probably more so than some,” Lu Na said. “I’ve seen some Buddhist monks do some outrageous things, supposedly as a true monk.”

“Amituofo, that is unfortunate.”

The cart paused. The constable got off his horse and tied it to a post. But they weren’t at the magistrate’s yamen. They were in front of a tea shop.

“Hey, what about us?” Lu Na asked.

“I’ll come back in a few minutes. It’s noon. I need my tea.”

“Can we get some water too, then?”

“Prisoners get nothing.”

“Please? I’m very thirsty and hungry. You know my brother, Lu Fengxian. Could you give us a little water on his behalf?”

“Lu Fengxian is your brother?” The constable stared at Lu Na’s face. “Hmmm, I can see the resemblance. You both have the same nose. Fine, I’ll get you some water when I come back. But don’t start making a fuss while I’m in there or else.”

“Okay.”

After the constable went inside the tea shop, Lu Na looked around. She had never been on this street before. There were a few vendors hawking their wares. There were few people on the streets and absolutely no children.

“This is a sad Mid-Autumn Festival. The Wintersweet Sect has made everyone scared. There should be kids running around and firecrackers going off.”

Hen Li looked around.

“Amituofo. It is unfortunate to see the sect affecting the people of Jianye. Normally they wouldn’t do such a thing, but the Imperial Government has become weakened over the years and the individual sects or warlords throughout the country have taken advantage of that.”

Lu Na looked at the sign on the tea shop. The district number was worn off, but it looked like an eight.

“Wait, do you know what district this is?”

“This is the eighth district.”

“Are you sure?”

Hen Li nodded.

“Then we might be saved. Sun Ren told me to come to the eighth district to find her brother. He can help us.” Lu Na looked around the tea shop. There might not be children here, but there were always plenty of a certain type of people around businesses.

Over in the alleyway around the corner from a restaurant, Lu Na saw a beggar with his head bowed and his begging bowl out. She hadn’t noticed before but there were a lot of beggars nowadays. It was a lucky coincidence the first beggar she ran into was a strong summoner that helped her.

“Hey, you,” Lu Na called out to the beggar, trying to keep her voice down simultaneously for fear that the constable might hear her. “I need your help.”

The beggar didn’t stir.

“If you help me, I’ll give you this.” Lu Na reached into her chest pocket and took out two silver sycees.

The glint off the silver caught the eye of the beggar despite his bowed head. He looked around before crawling over to Lu Na.

“That’s a lot of money from someone so poor,” the beggar said. His tunic was a patchwork of shreds layered over each other. Although he had dirt all over, he didn’t smell as bad as the other beggars Lu Na had the misfortune of being around. “Are you two in here because you’re thieves?”

“Amituofo. Monks do not steal,” Hen Li said.

“No, we didn’t steal and I will give you these two if you do something for me.”

“I’m listening,” the beggar said.

“I need you to go to the Blossom Scent Parlor and find Sun Bofu. Bring him here.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes, and here, take this dagger. If you show him this dagger and tell him that Sun Ren is here, he will follow you.” Lu Na handed Sun Ren’s dagger to the beggar. “When you come back, I’ll give both sycees to you.”

“You better not be lying to me.” The beggar unsheathed the knife to look at it before putting it away. “Otherwise, I’ll come back and stab you with your own dagger.”

“Yes, of course. Hurry before the constable comes back or else you will have gained nothing but a dull dagger.”

The beggar walked away, still staring at Lu Na, probably for the two sycees she held in her hand.

Lu Na slowly put away the two sycees back into her chest pocket. She hoped the beggar could do it. It was uncomfortable depending on someone else for her freedom, especially a beggar, but she had no choice. Not only that, she was true to her word. If the beggar came back with Sun Ren’s brother, she would give him the two sycees. But that would leave her truly poor as she had nothing left on her aside from the spirit wand and yellow paper from Uncle Chen.

“Now we wait,” Hen Li said.

“Well, since we’re waiting, I might as well get something done.” Lu Na took out the yellow paper and worked on creating her wards. She had a new design with the null metal in mind. If she could change the way her wards worked, she could create a much more powerful one combined with the null metal. She saw how strong it was in the fight with Hen Li.

Now if only she had an offensive technique to combine with it. All the techniques she saw in the fights earlier were brilliant, but she didn’t have any time to see how they worked and how she might copy them.

“That’s interesting,” Hen Li said. “You’re using Buddhist texts in your talismans. Who taught you?”

“A passing monk came by one day and my father hosted him. He was famous or something, but he did little other than meditate and eat.” Lu Na drew the finishing touches on the ward and wrapped it with red string. The spirit wall ward glowed for a brief second. “And I was bored so I went to talk with him. Well, it was actually my spirit’s idea.”

“Hey, it was a learning experience wasn’t it? Besides, your boredom was getting to me. Anything was better than staring at the four walls of your room.”

“She’s right.” Lu Na started another ward. This one was going to be an earth wall. “And so I spent a few weeks with the monk and he taught me the heart sutra. I don’t know what any of it means, but it brings me a sense of peace as I recited it.”

“Amituofo. This might be fate that we met. I also practice with the heart sutra. Maybe if my sifu agrees, we could study the path of Buddhism together.”

Lu Na chuckled.

“I’m not so sure about that. Being a Buddhist monk doesn’t seem like something I’d enjoy. All that meditation and eating only vegetables. I don’t think I’d get used to that.”

“Amituofo. Life is interesting like that. We are given a chance to do many things that we never sought, but realize later that it was the thing we were doing all along.”

Lu Na shrugged as she continued working on her next ward. This next one she was going to make it much stronger and absorb a lot more spirit energy. That way, if her spirit were to warp it, it would be big enough for her to stay comfortable in there. Also, she made it so that it can easily attach to the null metal and cling onto it without Lu Na holding the hot metal.

There were blisters on her hands from the earlier fight.

“Someone’s approaching. I think the beggar found the one you were looking for,” Hen Li said.