There was a part of Lu that felt stretched, pulled by an unbearable tension, almost screaming this is the end, so surely something’s going to go wrong. It always has before, right?
He did his best to shake it off as he fell, but the paranoia wasn’t easily dispelled – and not at all helped by the soft but clearly audible crunch his damaged boot made is it touched down. Really, now? Right at the last moment?
The finest possible wisps of ki touched the skin of his leg, and were drawn into his body. He could feel it moving through his spiritual veins, heading for his dantian. That’s… that’s fine. It’s such a small amount, it’ll be hours before my dantian fails.
…Assuming that the huge crack doesn’t weaken the structure. Damn.
He grimaced and worried his lip, but in the end there wasn’t anything he could do. I just have to keep moving. Maybe my stomach will swallow some of the energy. He stepped out of the elevator, and looked at the ‘civilized’ portion of the Junk Pit for the first time in over a year.
It was eerie, even more so than the rest; in the upper levels, things were always some combination of cramped and barren and utilitarian, but down here it was obvious that effort had been put in to making each room livable and aesthetically pleasing. The floors were tiled and polished, the walls decorated with paints and panelling and carved patterns, and it was basically the only place he had seen proper, comfortable furniture.
It made everything seem as though it had been abandoned just moments ago, unlike above where he could squint and imagine he was traversing some ancient ruin. That wasn’t what had happened, obviously – the citizens were just up on the surface, and it wasn’t like there was the clutter one would expect from people fleeing abruptly. No food left out in the public cafeterias, or valuables trampled in the halls.
But it was still unsettling. As Lu dashed from room to room, he kept coming across signs that there had been people here mere hours earlier. There’s a bowl of stew. Clothing laid down on a bed. Whoever lived here looked to enjoy collecting little metal sculptures…
Searching these floors was both easier and more strenuous; they were more sensibly laid out, but that came at the cost of being larger and especially denser, with rooms packed together right next to each other. More like a giant building than an underground tunnel system. He abused Space Ripper to ignore walls as he went through the first few floors, but by the time he reached the mid-point his ki reserves started to dwindle.
Ha, it’s almost the opposite of how it was when I first came here. Back then, with the ki circuit I could regenerate freely but had shallow reserves. Now it’s the opposite; my stomach can hold an immense amount of ki, but generates it slowly. I’ll need to be careful to conserve the last bit, make sure I have enough to open a breach.
So the latter part of the habitation floors went slower. And with each empty floor, he moved even slower as defeat overpowered desperation.
“Nothing…” Completely empty. Not a single person, or even an empty cell or scrap of fabric or anything.
The workshops, the housing, the high-end shops and open-air stalls, none of it had anything he would label a clue as to Bull’s location – or even why everyone had picked up and left. The most valuable things are missing, but only that. Is that evidence that they’re not abandoning the Pit permanently, or were they just in a hurry? As he got closer to rock-bottom, the heavy rattling thump became even louder, as he seemingly approached whatever mechanism it was coming from. Am I going to have to rely on Tai Sho? I wanted to do it without him, but… I’m out of ideas. The lower realms don’t have any useful divination arts; finding Bull without an obvious trail is beyond me.
He passed through the administrative areas for the Tunnel Dogs and Holy Smoke, sparing the huge libraries a single glance. Then, finally, the raw and unrefined tunnels of the mining area.
…Empty. No lights at all, nothing alive, nothing useful. Lu sat with his back against the rough tool-worked stone and sighed, Tai Sho’s armour tinkling like glass bells as it slipped from his grip and rolled across the hard stone. What do I do now? Search the nurseries? There’s no way they’d have stashed him there…
He felt drained. “Bull… Where are you? Did you escape on your own, and just get lost..?” That was the least terrible scenario he could think of, and it wasn’t comforting in the least. His dantian would have shattered pretty quickly- no, he would have dispersed it himself, he knew about the danger ahead of time. Assuming he figured out how to form a ki circuit, could he survive out in the desert for this long?
Lu didn’t think so – there simply wasn’t enough to eat. Maybe if he continually healed himself..? Or found another clan. Or…
His pushed himself up from the wall. Whatever the reality of the situation is, Bull isn’t here. I’ve… failed. I need help.
And there was really only one person he could turn to. He reached into the closed space inlaid into his armour, casting around with his spiritual sense.
“I suppose you’ll get whatever it is you want, senior.”
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There were many types of expanded and closed spaces, and they were very much not equal. In particular, some of them were much better at supporting life than others.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The kind that the sect had equipped the Sealed Beast Coffin Armours with was fairly mediocre, as far as living conditions went. It didn’t attempt to suspend time for objects inside, a feature that would absolutely play havoc with living systems, but it also didn’t provide its own air or regulate its temperature.
It was basically an amorphous area of blank space, with whatever objects were stored inside strewn about – in this instance, the space was empty save for himself. It was not a vacuum like outer space, but was otherwise rather similar; there was no gravity, or light, or anything. It had obviously been designed with higher realm disciples in mind; a mortal would find the space quite unpleasant, and eventually lethal. Tai Sho had been floating in the void for at least two hours at this point, deep in meditation.
…Or attempting to meditate, anyway. Something about being simultaneously so close and so far from Bu Guanyin was agitating his mind, calling up that sleeping thing he tried so hard not to wake.
He will try to kill you, it stated, plainly and directly. He hates you more than he loves you. You hurt him too badly to forgive.
Tai Sho wished he could simply expel the thing, cut it from his mind and start fresh… but one’s Path was not so easily discarded. That’s wrong – and I don’t want forgiveness, you know that. I want him to love me regardless of my actions… for it to be real. Not just a transaction, but something deeper. Bull will love me again, I’ll prove it to you.
The thing in his soul – he hadn’t thought of it as part of himself for over five decades now, almost a third of his life – responded in the same subtle voice it always did. Soft, and understanding, even as it painted the world in the harshest tones.
Love is an emotion; it is a product of interaction. You cannot force it into existence by will alone.
When Tai Sho failed to reply, it continued. If you desire his love, you must first beg his forgiveness. His pride demands it. When you meet-
He had heard this before, and stopped the dialog with a burst of willpower. Your advice falls on deaf ears. Leave me.
It fell silent, gliding behind to caress the back of his neck like a slight breeze. Quieted, but still present.
It was distressing that it had been so active this past day. I haven’t lost control like this since… No, I’ve never lost control to this extent. The only times it was this active was when I was leaning into it, rather than away.
The thought called up memories. When he was younger, when he saw society’s rules as something laudable, the push and pull a comfort rather than the cage he knew them to be now. If I could only go back, and pick a different path from the beginning… But no, that’s impossible. He was the sum of his life; even if he hated his Path, hated that he could see the strings hemming everything in, he could not reject it as false.
Except in this one thing. Bull is different. Bull is real. You’ll see. The outer disciple is cunning in his own way, but at some point he will need my aid. And I will give it, without reservation.
But then, at the last moment, he would pull back. Allow Lu to take the credit – because if he simply ingratiated himself with Bull, it would all be meaningless. It has to be real. Not a manipulation, or a transaction, not for any reason. It has to be pure, and true.
His Path writhed, attempting to point out his irrationality, but he held it with an iron grip. It had nothing new to say – it had been repeating itself like an incessant bird, singing the same song for a decade and a half. The world is not built on rules, beast. It is flowing, alive – I simply haven’t found the right way to look at it, yet.
So Tai Sho continued to wait, silent and unmoving, patient as a tree.
And eventually, his patience was rewarded. Light pierced the dark void, and he spilled out into reality.
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Tai Sho appeared cross-legged in the middle of the air, though he was quick enough to extend his legs and catch himself before he touched the ground. He was wearing only his under-clothes – the armour left little room for a full outfit inside – but somehow the fabric arranged itself to look dignified, despite the skimpiness.
Lu felt a light pulsing in his temples. “Senior. You are well?”
The man turned, cricking his neck from side to side. “Well enough. Was there any trouble? You took some time to release me.”
I would really have preferred to not release you at all, senior. “I had a bit of trouble with the escape treasure – but we’re safe enough now, I believe.” He smiled. “I took us to the very bottom of the Junk Pit; I figured we could search while ascending, so as to make any backtracking unnecessary once we find Bull. On that note…” He allowed the smile to sour, reflecting his actual emotional state. “Something strange seems to be going on. Usually there would be a few people down here, but in seems to be completely abandoned.”
Tai Sho knelt to retrieve the bundle of ceramic plates at his feet, still sitting where Lu had dropped them. He turned it over, and began extracting the limb pieces from where they were stuffed inside the torso section. “Completely? How much of the area have you searched?”
“All the way up to the elevator to the next floor, senior. I haven’t found a single living thing.”
Tai Sho hmmed, continuing to disassemble his armour. He doesn’t look to be concerned about the ki entering his body at all – not that I thought it would be any other way. I didn’t notice anything for several minutes after I arrived, and my dantian was – is – an order of magnitude less sturdy. He could probably take an hour dressing, and it wouldn’t affect his cultivation. “How unusual would that be given what you’ve experienced of the place?”
“Very, senior. The mining levels were not the most active place, but they would not be abandoned. I assume that the Sun setting itself down nearby might have had some additional complications, beyond just delaying our arrival.”
The core disciple quirked a brow, as if to say ah, you don’t say? But when he spoke, there was little amusement in his voice. “We should hurry, then. One moment…”
And then, between one second and the next, the man’s armour assembled itself on his body. The chestpiece first, then each limb in succession, teleported into place with a sharp snap of displaced air. Lu’s eyes widened a fraction at the display. I could… probably do something similar myself, actually. But not with the standard movement art, and not so quickly even with Space Ripper.
It was a good reminder to not underestimate Tai Sho’s spellcraft, even if he hadn’t been the flashiest member of the party on the way in.
“There we are,” he said, testing the movements of his limbs. “No damage – thank you for carrying it for me, Lu.”
“You are welcome, senior. But I agree; we should begin searching immediately. Do your divinations require any special assistance on my part, or..?”
Tai Sho’s helmeted head shook lightly. “Not presently.” Then, he passed his hand over his chestplate and drew forth a single drop of red liquid. “Come – if his trail comes within a certain distance, I will know it.”
He took off at just below his junior’s top speed, and for a moment Lu was too shocked to move. Did you… steal some of his blood, senior? Where would you have gotten- when would you have gotten that?
Then he bounded forward to follow.
Ignore it, ignore it. Until the moment we find Bull, I can put up with anything – his rescue is the most important thing.