Bao was tracking Liang through her footsteps when the blizzard came. It was near impossible to follow the exorcist’s scent with the volatile winds and the cold temperature. Bao only had Liang’s footsteps on the snow to follow and it was rapidly erased by the snowstorm. They were closer to each other than Bao had anticipated when he heard Liang’s voice calling out.
“Hey! Over here!” she shouted and Bao rushed to her aid, thundering hooves against the screaming gale. But he stopped just as he was close enough to see two figures in a standoff.
The first he saw was that of a large and stout Guren boar, carrying an inextinguishable torch overhead. The light burned as though it was untouched by the snowstorm and there were several others that marched not far ahead. Before the boar was Liang’s silhouette. The hood of her cloak bared her head, letting loose tentacles of hair violently whipping through the wind.
That was the last time Bao saw Liang. He followed the caravan closely behind to wherever it was headed. The march was long and harsh. They braved through the storm without stop, feeling ice winds cut like razor blades. Bao withstood the calamity but his horse was not so fortunate. An hour before arriving at Yofune, Bao’s horse had perished and so he continued the rest of the march by foot. Had it gone any longer, Bao would have found himself the in the same state as his horse but he stopped his pursuit when the caravan entered the gates of Shinsou’s manse. He stopped at a safe distance and watched as the wooden doors lock behind him.
The storm was not stopping any time soon and Bao swore to himself that he would not leave the village without the exorcist. So he went to the only safe place that would house him until the storm passed.
The house was three levels and seated by the river that intersected the village. The first floor was a noodle restaurant famous among the villagers but Bao doubted that it would be crowded while in the mid of a storm. Most establishments in the village, save the households, were already shut and locked.
When Bao arrived at the front patio, he shook himself clean of the snow and began knocking on the door. A faint melody of strings resonated from inside, playing slow, melancholic tunes. It stopped as soon as Bao announced his presence with a knock and after a while, the sliding door parted just enough for a red eye to peek at him.
“I’m sorry but we are closed until the storm passes,” the white wolf said.
“I am a friend of your father,” Bao said. “And I was looking for a place to pass the storm.”
The white wolf looked at Bao from head to toe and did not open the door any further. “Truly, I’m sorry, but my father would never associate himself with a snow leopard…nor I. And we do not want any trouble from the enforcers or from anyone outside.” She tried to close the door but Bao held it still with his hand.
He was surprised that Takeshi did not tell his daughter about him. But Bao did not want to get involved with familial matters so he did not bother explaining anything further.
“Please,” Bao said. “I will remain outside until your father himself allows me to enter. I only ask that you announce to him my presence.”
The white wolf slightly calmed down but the trouble on her face was still apparent.
“And what name should I use to address you?” she asked.
“Just tell him that a snow leopard waits outside his porch,” Bao replied.
The door slid closed and was followed by the click of a lock. Bao stepped back and waited, rubbing his shoulders from the cold that was beginning to permeate his skin. A while later, the door opened once again and he was greeted by Takeshi.
They exchanged stoic glances without words to accompany their reunion. The gray wolf, clad in a loose, black robe merely curt nodded his head to permit Bao’s entrance and Takeshi did not allow the snow leopard to go any further than the tables of the small restaurant.
Bao seated at corner of the room where he faced a small platform. The paper wall was painted with cherry blossoms and mountain sceneries. A thirteen-stringed koto was idly placed at the center of the tatami-matted stage. The white wolf from earlier picked up the instrument and went backstage through the same paper wall which doubled as a sliding door.
Takeshi then occupied the seat in front of Bao.
“Eika,” Takeshi said loudly, sternly. “Prepare a hot soup for our guest.”
His daughter Eika went out of the small room behind the stage and climbed to the second floor.
“She’s listening,” said Takeshi.
“So she doesn’t know…” Bao trailed off.
“What brings you here, Bao? Is it the same as what brought your B’koli comrade here? Half dead.”
Bao shifted on his seat, squinting his eyes in wonder. “Makaskas was here?”
“My daughter fished him out of the river.” Takeshi pressed his hands on his thighs and leaned closer to Bao. “And ever since he was arrested, Eika has been brooding. Gods, you know I try my best not to involve her with these dangerous things. What happened?”
Bao sighed. “A lot has happened, Takeshi, and it is still happening.”
“So you finally need our help.” The gray wolf turned smug.
“I only need your help,” Bao corrected. “Allow me to pass the storm here and I’ll be out of your coat in no time.”
Takeshi chortled. “And how’s your plan collecting a bunch of children going along? How long have you been at it, four—five years? You must have accumulated quite aplenty by now, haven’t you?”
Bao growled but he took a deep breath and released it. “The plan continues,” he said nonchalantly. “By the end of winter, we venture to Maalon and have a few white shamans teach the children magic. Or…” Bao emphasized, “If I could convince the dragon to impart her knowledge, then we would not need to travel so far.”
Takeshi’s eyes widened at the realization. “You have a northern exorcist?”
Bao nodded once.
“Forget teaching those children,” Takeshi said a little too loudly. Enthusiasm filled his actions. “We have recruited quite the number of shadows who are willing to join the opposition. There are eldritch kin among them. With the number of children you’ve collected and a dragon by our side, we could create an elite army—”
“No, Takeshi!” Bao exclaimed. “This is the reason why I could never join your cause.”
“Our cause is the same as yours.” Takeshi bared his teeth. “Overthrow the Tiger and this is a means that could end his sovereign.”
“How would you be any different from what Zhaohu did twenty years ago?”
“How is our mortal existence any different from what the Tiger did—from what we’re about to do?” Takeshi returned. “Humans sacrificed a few of their kind so we could join the war and with just a few more could end it.”
Bao nodded his head absently. His mind dwelled in the past and left him lingering for moments in silence. “The world is saturated with enough Guren. This is the world of humans—the gift of the primordial gods to the human kind and we usurped it from them. Has mortality thwarted your heavenly virtues, Takeshi? When have you stopped thinking like a deity?”
Takeshi’s eyes turned feral and it eyed Bao with much contempt. “To the shadow realms with being a deity. Your logic justifies the abstinence of the gods in heaven to care but your physical existence is the ultimate contradiction. You do not want to win the war by sacrificing a few humans yet you devoured one to be flaunting your hypocritical beliefs.”
Bao held back the urge to retaliate and just let the gray wolf speak his mind.
Takeshi was flailing his arms around in the air as though it might help deliver his point. “The moment we became mortal, we have already forfeited our heavenly virtues. I was distracted enough during the war to realize that I have been fooling myself that I was a deity walking the earth just like how you keep on fooling yourself until now, Wei Bao.” Takeshi stopped for a moment, reluctant to continue. His voice calmed after a while. “I admit that I have lost my true purpose when I became mortal. I thought fighting in the war was my whole mortal existence…”
When it became too quiet, Bao finally spoke. “And it should be. You should not lose sight of why we physically existed in the first place.”
“But it’s not,” Takeshi intercepted. “And I have. Lost. Sight.” The gray wolf did not want to continue any more than he was embarrassed to share but if it meant driving a few senses inside Bao’s thick head, then he did so gladly. “Falling in love as a deity is not quite the same as falling in love as a mortal. To have children that you love, to fear for the weather and the vulnerability of life, to know your days are limited—all of these things made me lose sight of the purpose I thought I had. And if it’s true that you have a northern exorcist with you, then I would fight for my place in the reincarnation cycle. I will not return to being a Yang spirit.”
Bao folded his arms. He knew that mortality has its toll on spirits. He’s witnessed it one too many times. To become mortal means to be subjected by mortal consequences. That is why the heavenly virtues must be strictly obeyed. The moment a Guren succumbs to these desires is the moment of their failure.
“Why do you still fight against the oppression then?” Bao asked. “You have built yourself a comfortable life. You have good children and a loving wife—a safe place here in Yofune. Why?”
“Knowing my true purpose does not necessarily mean I would give up on what I thought it was,” Takeshi said. “I fight because I am against Zhaohu and right now, the only way I could see his downfall is with stronger kin on our side—something that could overwhelm his armies. What of your reason, Bao? Why do you fight in the first place? Is it simply because you’re a deity?”
“I have no other reason beside that,” Bao admitted confidently. “I was a deity but in heart, I still am and it is part of my heavenly duties to look over humanity.”
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“Oh, Wei Bao,” Takeshi said.
They paused their conversation when Eika arrived with the tray of hot soup. The white wolf added hot tea and pork buns with the meal. Bao could tell that there was a lot going on inside her mind. Her silence was forced.
After the white wolf served Bao’s meal, Takeshi got up and embraced his daughter tightly.
“Is everything all right, father?” she asked.
“Yes, my child,” Takeshi said. “It’s just a wolf’s winter sorrows. Now go back up and tuck your brothers to sleep.”
“They’re already sleeping…”
“Help your mother weave tapestries then.”
Eika slightly pushed away. “She already went to bed, father.”
Takeshi pulled her close again. “Just a little while, Eika. You have been brooding as of late. Would you mind sleeping beside your brothers just this night? There is a storm out and it would be colder than usual.”
Eika withdrew from her father’s hug. Her eyes occasionally looked to Bao’s direction. “Father, is he a rogue clansman? Is he…Wei Bao?”
“Goodness, no, Eika.” Takeshi lied. “We would never house that fugitive. This is…” he paused trying to come up with a name. “An old friend of mine back in Haeguk. Oh Daehan.”
Eika smiled wryly. “Ah, I see…”
“You don’t believe me, do you?” Takeshi bent down to meet Eika’s eyes. “Is it because I took too long with the name? Papa is already old. I’m having memory problems. Now go.”
Eika bowed in acknowledgment and walked to the stairs but she stopped before climbing up. “Father, I would like to visit Makaskas.” She said sternly. “After the storm ends.”
Bao saw Takeshi’s spirit dissipate through his exasperated sigh. The gray wolf sat down bleakly, running both hands on the temples of his head.
“It is not a place for young ladies like you,” Takeshi said. “I do not want you near the dungeons or any of the wolf enforcers. I have told you about Juugo, have I not?”
“It is precisely why I want to go there.”
“You will not. That is final. Do you want to be arrested with that clouded leopard? If any of the enforcers see you associating yourself with that rebel, they could accuse you of conspiracy.”
“They will not,” Eika retaliated. “They know me. I grew up here in Yofune same as them. They’re about my age and they know that I’m not a rebel.”
“Eika, I have made my decision,” Takeshi raised his voice and shortly after, an infant cry sounded from upstairs. Eika said no more after that and raced up to the second floor with heavy steps.
Takeshi sighed for the uncounted time. Then he looked at Bao who was nearly done with the bowl of soup.
“Are you going to rescue your ally?” he asked.
Bao wiped his mouth with his forearm. “Eventually. First, I have to wait for the exorcist.”
“He is in Yofune?”
“As ridiculous as it may be, she is,” Bao said. “In Shinsou’s manse no less. Along with Guren boars.”
“She’s been captured?” Takeshi’s voice rose.
“I am unclear on that part,” Bao said and rubbed the back of his neck. “Personally, I think she may have outwitted the boars to put herself on the situation but if all else fails, she is a dragon among wolves and I’ll follow her trail of chaos to catch her in time.”
Takeshi nodded his head left and right. “I’m certain she’s helpless. Guren boars, you say? The past few months there have been Guren lions, Guren bears, Guren monkeys and others coming from different kingdoms. All of them were escorts to shamans.”
Bao slammed his fist on the table and cursed. Broth and tea spilled on the wooden surface.
Takeshi continued, “That naïve boy, Suirou, has been inviting shamans to rid his father of what they think to be a curse. All of the shamans come in but they don’t come out. Not even their escorts. I swear that Suirou is twofold vicious than his half-insane father.”
“Then…” Bao swallowed. “She might have been slain already.”
“Do not fret,” Takeshi assured. “Your exorcist is not as much of a secret as you think. Without confirmation, I did not believe the rumors myself but according to our spies, they sent a bird to Zhaohu. Until the Tiger replies, they will not kill her. She’ll most likely be sent to the dungeons.”
Before Bao could reply, Takeshi got up from his seat. “Come. There’s no better time to visit the clan than amid a snowstorm. You’re going to need help rescuing your friend and the exorcist.”
“Takeshi…”
“I know you want nothing to do with us but two precious lives are at stake here, Bao,” Takeshi interjected. “If you are as detached to mortal affairs as you make yourself to be, then swallow your pride for the exorcist’s mere value. She is unrivaled in these trying times and we cannot afford to lose her.”
Bao said no more after that. Takeshi opened the door and a gust of wind and snow blew inside. Bao got up and with Takeshi, ventured into the frozen squall.
~
The rogue clan’s hideout was not as far away as the enemy might think. It was well hidden from the Guren and unseen by the shadows who might try to trade information for a mortal passage.
East of Yofune and following the length of the river lead to what once a farming village. The current of the river lead to a half-frozen waterfalls where a steep and dangerous cliff lead to the clan’s entrance. Many wolf enforcers in the past investigated the area in an attempt to search for the rebels’ hideout and many of them fell to their deaths by simply not knowing the proper passage.
When Takeshi and Bao arrived at the ledge, the shoving winds was the least of their worries and the last thing that would kill them. If anything, it would be the Nun’no that would determine their fate. The mischievous earth sprites resided in the stones of the slope and would not hesitate to trip or push someone to their deaths if they did not recite the rogue clan’s password.
Takeshi coughed to adjust his voice and knelt on the ground, clearing an area of snow just enough that he could knock on it. He recited in the Maalonian tongue, “Irarom, irarom, bi’tis koh mid’vid.”
From the stone, there emerged a blue light that took the form of a translucent humanoid the size of two thumbs. It had pointed ears and large eyes like beads of black ink.
“Master Takeshi, welcome,” it greeted then looked at Bao. “Master Bao, it has been a long time.”
“Indeed. I never thought I would be back here,” Bao said.
“We need safe passage,” Takeshi said.
“It shall be done,” the Nu’no bowed. The small Yang spirit returned to the stone and after a while, the ledge began to grumble. The slippery and uneven stones began to align until it formed descending steps along the side of the cliff, leading to a hollow cave in the middle of the precipice.
Takeshi and Bao walked down until they arrived at the cave and the stone steps behind them receded back in the mountain sides removing access to the entrance. The cavern was dark but certainly not empty. Bao could hear distant toasts and jolly celebrations.
They stopped before a self-operated pulley machine assembled from wood and thick rope. Takeshi maneuvered their descent until they were back in the light of torches and the deafening cacophony of drunken men and Guren. Many of which were former deities and overthrown nobles.
The place had not changed the slightest, Bao thought. The rogue clan operated the same way as Bao had, robbing Shinsou’s transports and claiming it as their own. Crates of stolen food and supplies stacked all around the cave. Makeshift tables filled a vast hall and hammock beds dangled wherever it was possible to dangle.
When Takeshi said that they had made shadow allies, he was not jesting. The entire place was heavy with the aura of Yin spirits and there might have been a few Yang spirits as well that balanced the atmosphere.
Bao and Takeshi walked across the celebration, looking for the head of the clan.
“Takeshi, come join us! You have been away most nights,” said one Guren monkey then his eyes went to Bao, stopping in surprise. “If it isn’t Wei Bao.”
“Perhaps another time, Kai,” Takeshi replied without so much as looking at the monkey’s direction. “We are not here to celebrate whatever it is you’re celebrating. Where is Kiba?”
“In the war room,” Kai replied and returned to the celebration with a random toast.
Takeshi and Bao continued walking until the fervent noises were distant once again and they saw the war room. It was another compartment in the cave, blocked by two Guren bears. They parted at the sight of Bao and Takeshi and they entered the silent room.
Five sets of eyes turned to their direction and all were surprised at the sight of the snow leopard’s return.
“This is highly unexpected,” said a small Tanuki. He was about half the size of an adult man, dressed in clean white robes. He was sitting on top of an apothecary cabinet placed on the wide stone table where a giant map of Hatsukochi was sprawled.
“Avolar Seishi,” Bao greeted.
“Truly unexpected,” said Kiba, the former deity of Akako and now the head clansman of the rogues. “What brings you here…” he paused. “Wei Bao?”
The human Ronin, Mori Tenshi, intercepted. “Finally have a change of heart?” he asked smugly and stood in front of Bao, meeting him eye to eye. “What took you so long?”
Bao gazed at him sharply. The mere presence of the Ronin annoyed him.
“I need a small band of adept warriors,” the snow leopard announced without shame, without hesitation. “I’ll trade their services for gold and supplies.”
Takeshi grabbed Bao by the forearm and met him eye to eye. Bao merely jerked his arm away from the gray wolf.
“You left this clan five years ago,” the Kunoichi, Nakamura Akari, said. She went to Tenshi’s side and grabbed the Ronin’s arm, pulling him away from Bao. “You said you wanted nothing to do with us. Why do we find you here now?”
Takeshi spoke in Bao’s stead. “This is an urgent matter.”
“You have always been soft, Takeshi,” said the fifth party. His presence was unlike the four others and he remained in the dark, form ever shifting.
Bao was not familiar with him. “Show yourself, eldritch kin,” Bao commanded.
The eldritch shadow enveloped the entire room like black mist, drowning the torch light until Bao was overwhelmed by the presence. Its Yin energy was strong.
“The first humans called me Enmu,” it said.
“I am not here to challenge any of you,” Bao replied and the shadow mist instantly receded back to the dark corners with nothing but a pair of crimson eyes, spinning in the dark. “As I have said before, I wish to trade your service for valuables. My allies have been captured. As we speak now, he sits in Shinsou’s dungeon by the river.”
“Tsk, Bao,” Tenshi clicked his tongue. “Have you been so apart from us that you don’t even remember our primary purpose?”
“Silence,” Bao raised his voice.
“Make me.”
“Do you wish to lose again, Tenshi?”
“That was years ago. Let’s see how much I improved.”
Takeshi interjected. “Shinsou holds a northern exorcist captive.”
At his statement, the entire room fell silent. Bao was extremely disappointed that Takeshi revealing Liang’s existence.
After long moments, it was Tenshi who was the first to react. “No. That’s impossible. There are no more exorcists.”
“According to our spies, there is,” Akari said.
“No…” Tenshi scratched the back of his head repeatedly.
Avolar Seishi added, “He will be a valuable ally.” Then he looked at the clan leader, Kiba. “No doubt you’ll send men to retrieve this exorcist, lord?”
Kiba’s eyes was fixed on Bao. “How long have you come into contact with this exorcist?”
“Three days ago…” Bao looked down.
“It’s clear that you had no intention of sharing this information with us,” Kiba said. “We all share the same objective, Bao. Overthrowing Zhaohu is not a competition. Dividing ourselves would only weaken our strength.”
Bao’s breaths were imminent from the motion of his chest. A low grumble resonated in his lungs as he tried to hold the anger. “I will not sacrifice any more human souls,” he said through gritted teeth. “It was a mistake coming here.” He looked at Takeshi and walked out of the room. Unbeknownst to him, he was followed by the Ronin.
“Bao,” Tenshi called.
“My patience is thin. Say one more word and I’ll snap your neck.”
“I’ll help you,” he said.
Bao stopped on his track, whatever rage built up inside him instantly faded. He turned to Tenshi and after seeing the rogue’s face, Bao began to doubt if the Ronin was merely teasing him.
“If this is a lie—”
“It’s not,” Tenshi said before Bao could finish. “I want to help you rescue her. On the condition that it only involve the two of us.”
Bao’s ears perked up. “How did you know the exorcist was a woman?”
Tenshi’s voice was sincere. Whatever hint of arrogance was gone when he began talking about the exorcist. The Ronin walked right up to Bao. “Because there are no more exorcists other than Liang. I’m sure of it.”
Bao could not hide the awe in his face.
“Did you honestly think you are the first one to know her secret?”
Bao did not answer the question. Although he thought it was Yachi who had found out Liang’s nature, for a time, he thought they were the first people to know.