It was, Lu thought, just a bit like being underwater.
With each second, their surroundings became a thicker and thicker soup of conflicting energies. Tai Sho’s concealing illusions had blown away like fog confronting a swift wind, leaving them bare and visible to all the warriors down below even as it began to impact their physical movements.
It hadn’t yet caused them any trouble – if anyone bothered to glance up, they were too mired in their own struggles to care – but with so many people it was inevitable someone would decide to take a shot at the obvious foreigners. Hopefully they were close enough it wouldn’t matter.
“How much farther?” Lu’s eyes scanned over the moving clusters of people, the ki version of Eagle Eye just good enough he was confident he would know Bull when he saw him.
“Not far.” Lu couldn’t see Tai Sho’s face, but he could easily imagine his expression. “He’s somewhere in the arc of our vision. Right in front of us.”
Ah, so now that we’re ninety-nine hundredths of the way there, your mighty divinations have suddenly stopped working? Very convenient, senior!
The thought was equal parts reasonable and paranoid, Lu could admit to himself; while the core disciple’s actions had become increasingly suspicious, Lu could also feel his arts dissolving in the caustic environment. Threads of qi were barely making it from the man’s dantian to the blood, let alone surviving the return journey. It was so thick that the small cracks in Lu’s boots were being forced open; in this environment, he estimated there was less than an hour before his dantian filled up with too much ki to remain stable.
But the divinations must have been doing something, because the next moment Tai Sho swooped lower, fluctuations from his spells washing through Lu’s body in new patterns. “There! Look, that structure!”
He gestured, and Lu’s eyes immediately caught what he was talking about. Below, perhaps a fifth of a kilometre away, sandwiched between a marching line of yellow-skinned warriors and a trio of monstrous creatures, there was…
“Is that ice?” In this heat? There’s no way that’s natural – it’s a spell effect! “Lower, Tai Sho! Go lower!” He wasn’t close enough to use his spiritual sense, but he was completely certain.
They plummeted towards the translucent boxy object, accelerating beyond the point where air resistance equalled gravity. The air was thick, but Tai Sho burned qi to push them with incredible force; Lu’s grip on his forearms was such that he could feel his fingers bruising under his gauntlets. But the pain was meaningless. His vision narrowed even as he allowed his technique to collapse, adrenaline flooding his brain.
The beast pulling the ice-fort – no, it was clothed if only slightly, that was probably a woman – noticed them first, a blindfolded visage crowned with two gently back-curving horns turning skyward. It drew a naked sword from the belt of its loincloth – no, definitely not an animal – and put herself between them and the edifice of frozen water she was dragging.
For a split second Lu was afraid they would smash into the ground, but then he felt the familiar feeling of space twisting. Of course, of course. Let’s not lose our head at the last moment. He matched the spell with his own technique, and he and Tai Sho went from diving at one-hundred metres a second to standing casually on the sand.
The woman raised her sword, taking a smooth stance like a veteran duellist despite her inhumanly-shaped body, and in a moment of brilliant clarity Lu suddenly understood exactly who he was looking at.
His stores of ki emptied to a worrisome point, but it didn’t matter; they shouldn’t be in any danger. “[Hello, Stingy.]” He wasn’t entirely sure what kind of expression was on his face, but he hoped it was a pleasant one. “[It’s been a while. You haven’t happened to see a man who looks a bit like me around, have you?]”
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It was disturbing how easy it was. When the idea had first come to him, it had been as a desperation move; after all, the notion was easily dismissed for a number of reasons. They were two different species, using different systems of cultivation, from different realities entirely.
Neither of them could even be called cultivators. So what were the chances they could dual cultivate?
The answer was, apparently, very high. Cobo’s alien dantian didn’t seem to even notice his tangled circuit wasn’t a part of it, accepting qi instantly and without reservation. And his circuit, in turn, didn’t much care what was put into it, circulating refined qi just as easily as the wild stuff it sucked up from the surrounding environment. Sitting back-to-back, their spirits had begun feeding into each other almost without effort.
He had recoiled instantly, shaken. It wasn’t meant to be easy. But then he mastered himself.
Now… Well, it wasn’t exactly comfortable, but he was dealing with it. It was the best option, and his emotions could fuck off if they disagreed.
Like groundwater feeding a deep well, he passed all his qi over to his partner, letting his incredible regeneration feed Cobo’s much deeper reserves. Then, it got passed back so he could feed the qi-hungry Marching Song, the only thing keeping them ahead of the tremor-inducing thing bearing down on them.
Stinger-Tail, of course, was doing her part by actually carrying them while they meditated; for all that it seemed effortless, Bull didn’t want to attempt doing it while running.
But it was so, so easy. So easy, it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. This can’t be working so well. There has to be some hidden downside I’m not seeing – otherwise, why aren’t they using it at all hours of the day?
…Maybe they are? At several points in Lu’s adventure, he’d described points where the Junk Dog Clan seemed to be eerily in-sync. Is that something they can do? Dual cultivate instinctively, in big groups?
It certainly explained what was happening to him now. It wasn’t anything like what he had had with Tai Sho; there was no sense of intimacy, like they were two souls becoming one. Less… spiritually visceral, and instead just plain old physically visceral.
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Maybe if I had a proper spiritual stomach it would be different. The circuit is a hacked together, unnatural thing built out of humanities uniqueness in this strange world. I doubt it’s properly connected to my soul at all – ripping it apart to vent waste doesn’t hurt me at all. So maybe this distressing ease was the exception, rather than the rule.
…Hah, I’m being an idiot. I should stop inspecting this horse’s teeth, and just ride the damn thing.
It was a thought he had had several times by this point. Circulating his qi and keeping Marching Song going weren’t easy tasks, but neither were they so hard that it kept his mind from wandering. He had been sitting next to Cobo in their little fortress for hours now, feeling the tremors vibrate through the wooden floor, and the monotony was mind-numbing even in the face of very real peril. Wish we could actually talk properly. I should have-
The thought was cut off by Stinger-Tail’s voice rising in alarm. “[Something’s dawning.]”
He felt Cobo’s eyes shoot open through his sense, his expression going from concentrated to alert. “[Yeah?”]
“[Two, I’m here.]”
His sense detached from Cobo’s torso, and for a moment it was like he had taken a step only to find himself legless – but it passed in less than a second, his soul re-affirming its own shape, and Bull stood without trouble. Not like it should be at all. Not like-
This time, he cut the thought off himself. “[What’s happening?]” What idiot is trying to pick a fight mid-apocalypse?
Cobo dashed to the window, while he contented himself with extending his sense through the translucent walls. The sled ground to a halt as Stinger-Tail stopped pulling, one sword leaping into her hand. She was looking up, so he extended his sense upwards as well…
Just in time to catch the impact, if you could call it that. His shoulders flexed with emotion as he took in the ceramic armours, shaped differently from what he knew but still so obviously the same.
With a surge of mental effort, the walls of ice came down. They changed the helmet. Not what I’d do; the lack of eye-holes was intimidating.
There were two men, both of which he recognised instantly.
Even as his Path roared like a dragon, he gently nudged it to the side. Not yet. The reunion, first.
Lu stepped forward. The man had tears in his eyes as he let out something that was caught between a cough and a laugh.
“How in all the Hells did you manage to keep that ridiculous hat?”
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Success. Absolute, perfect success.
Whatever fears Lu had been holding on to, whatever anxieties or ill feelings, he immediately cast them into the wind. Bull was there, real, in front of him. His best friend grinned viciously and laughed, that absurd headpiece – bells fully intact and jingling – writhing like a two-headed snake. It was hideous, and the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
It was exactly the way he would have wanted it to go. Yes, Bull was thinner than Lu recalled, more haggard than the Bull he remembered in his mind’s eye – but still the same man. Scars and all. At least he didn’t pick up too many new ones; he doesn’t have much skin left to lose.
Bull’s loud, brash laughter petered out, and he spared a glance at the man to Lu’s right.
Lu swallowed. “Bull, I know you probably-“
A raised hand silenced him. “I know. You don’t have to say anything – it can wait ‘till we’re home.”
Can it? Not that I exactly want to explain myself, but I feel that leaving this alone is an unwise decision.
Tai Sho stepped forward before he could speak, and Lu’s heart clenched. This is it. Whatever nefarious plan he has, this is most likely where it comes to fruition. He held a Space Ripper in his mind, ready to go off at the drop of a pin. I have the firearms, and healing pills, and a few tricks with spacial ki. And Bull, of course. If Stingy and Cobo – that is Cobo, right? Yes, it must be – join us, then we might be able to overpower him. His qi reserves must be bottoming out, so…
While Lu planned, Tai Sho took another step forward. The core disciple’s face had a serenity to it, his beauty arts amplifying his appearance until he was hard to look at. “Guanyin.”
Bull’s answering smile couldn’t have been sharper if he filed his teeth to a point. “Tai Sho.” A violent aura surrounded the man, almost overpowering the various pressures bearing down on them from all around. For all that he was half-starved, Bull still must have outweighed the other man by a hefty margin. He looked strong, like an old tiger; weathered, but wiser for it. And yet, he’s a mortal – one with a ki circuit, but still! I can’t allow them the one-on-one fight Bull would want right now.
But Lu’s expectations failed to represent reality. Rather than turn to strike Lu down, or pull some hidden item from out of his closed space, Tai Sho retreated, taking a step backwards. “I am glad to see you well. You’ve certainly had an interesting trip, haven’t you?”
The feeling of impending violence didn’t recede, so much as compress. Bull’s smile still promised blood, but when he turned away Lu could tell he had restrained himself. “…You could say that.” He stood with his back to the pair for a moment, before raising an arm and pointing west. “Let’s get a move on, yeah? Plenty of ground to cover.”
Lu shook off the rapid shifting of atmosphere. “Actually, we can breach through right here- [yes, Cobo, I hear you yelling, give me one moment.]” The angry noises cut off, though from affront or appeasement, he couldn’t say. “[As I was saying, I can take us through to the liminal space right here. Won’t take more than a moment.]”
Bull’s expression softened a touch. “Oh? Do they have portable gate arrays now?”
The blue-on-black field was already in his mind’s eye, flickering rapidly as he searched. “[Something like that. Give me a few seconds…]” Even as he was saying it, the correct angle revealed itself. Don’t need as much as last time; even Stingy isn’t as big as a Swamp Clansman.
But it seemed Cobo had had enough of being ignored. He strode forward, his bare feet sizzling on the hot sand, and grabbed Lu’s upper arm in an iron grip.
“[You’re not leaving again! You’re staying right here and explaining-]” A tremor, and his eyes darted to the east for a fraction of a second. “[…You’re going to come with us, and explain things. I got exiled because of what you pulled!]”
Lu’s concentration shook, but held. “[You..?]” Not now, not now! We’re surrounded by potential enemies! The troupe of yellow devil-looking men had overtaken them, the backs of their multi-horned heads receding into the distance, but the three monsters – women, probably, now that he thought about it – had slowed to give the quintet a closer look.
“[I’ll explain everything, I promise. Whatever you ask – but not here. Let me take us somewhere safe, first.]”
Cobo’s expression was hard to read, but he let go of Lu’s arm. “[…I’m a fucking idiot for this, but you get one chance.]” Under his breath he added, “[You’re lucky your techniques are kind of not shit.]”
…Okay, I’ll take it.
The breach formed, the wavering sphere of opalescence trembling under the weight of the surrounding ki. “[Everybody in! You first, Sir Tai Sho!]”
The man hesitated, and so Lu spent some of his rapidly draining ki on a small illusion. In bright red light that only the other disciple could see, letters formed.
I DON’T TRUST YOU
GO NOW, OR I’LL LEAVE YOU BEHIND
His eyes flashed with an emotion Lu was too busy to catch, and then with a smooth motion Tai Sho touched the breach and was sucked in.
His ki drained precipitously. “[Everyone, please!]” His stomach felt like it was eating itself. Those Eagle Eyes were a mistake; I should have been more conservative.
Bull went without a word, brushing Lu with his shoulder on the way. Then Cobo, his expression still unreadable.
“[Young lady!]” I can’t hold it-! The pain mounted, a sucking hole in his gut.
“[Are we going to the Steadfast Heart Sect?]”
Yes, yes! “[No time! Touch the thing!]”
She was still for a moment, taking in his pleading expression. Then, with a shrug, she stabbed toward the wavering gateway with one sharp finger, and disappeared like water down a drain.
Finally! He had only been holding for ten seconds, but somehow it felt like an eternity. Already connected to the gate, a small exertion of will was all that was necessary to send himself through.
Lu folded out of existence, the bubble following him not even a half-second after.
The trio of Stingy-Eye priestesses tilted their heads, then wrote it off as none of their concern and continued on their way. They had a war to join, after all.