The disciples sent by the sect arrived nearly exactly at noon, at the point where the sun was highest and the dark forest allowed a small trickle of light to drip down and pool on the ground level. Because of that light, and the assistance of the Eagle Eye art, Lu was able to detect them from a surprisingly long distance despite the massive tree trunks obscuring everything.
The approaching group consisted of three distinct cliques, altogether numbering just under twenty. They were obviously not travelling separately, but social mass had urged each disciple to cluster with their peers like dust gradually forming into asteroids in the depths of space. They wove around the trees gracefully, three separate currents within the same rushing river.
Leading the pack was Elder White Knuckle, nine adherents of the martial path trailing in his wake. Some of them had swords sheathed at their sides, and one a massive longbow strung with enchanted wire, but the majority of them were simple fistfighters.
Then in the middle was another Elder, Persimmon, leading five array masters. Their robes were more restrictive than the martial artists’, but it would be foolish to assume their battle power was inferior; each of them bore patterns engraved or woven into their garb, obvious formations ready to unleash spell effects at the brush of the wearer’s spiritual sense.
And then there was the smallest faction; three men, not led by an Elder, anxiety evident in their movements. And why should they not be anxious? Of all the disciples, they were obviously standing out, separate from the other two factions. Their cultivation also seemed lower than the average, though Lu couldn’t tell the exact realms from so far away.
As they drew even closer, close enough that the rest of the breach-closing team began preparing to receive them, Lu was able to make out each individual face – and ignoring the Elders, who were obvious from any distance, Lu saw a person in each group that he recognised.
And they recognised him in turn. “Lu!” Bull broke off from his martial siblings, leaving decorum behind to rush ahead of even White Knuckle in a move that made Lu wince. Bull, don’t do that! Even if the Elder has a thick enough skin to not take it personally, there are lines that aren’t worth crossing! Just wait the extra three seconds, you oaf!
But his thoughts couldn’t stop a smile forming on his face. “Bull.” As the stout and scarred man bounded into the camp, he did not slow down even a little. He plowed into Lu, drawing a strangled yelp from his much taller friend as he compressed him in a crushing hug. “Ack! Bull, what’s gotten into you? It’s been a few days, a few days! Nothing to get worked up over!”
Bull released him, and Lu could swear he felt a bruise forming along both sides of his ribs. “Your student is insufferable, Lu. Not even beating him twice a day can make him bite his tongue; I had to get away.”
Lu laughed once, lightly, his breath still uncaught. “Ah, come on. He isn't that bad.” They’re both violent barbarians, though – I can’t imagine them alone together without it turning into a brawl every five minutes. “How are things in the sect going? And Jiendao and the rest?”
Bull snorted, but his expression became more serious. “Ask the scholar if you want news about them, not me. As for the sect in general…” He turned back, to where the rest of the reinforcements were being greeted by Winding Wind and Seventh Wheel. “I’m sure they’ll want to talk to you about that. You should get over there.”
Ah, me? I suppose… “They want to talk with me? Has something happened?”
Bull nodded, his grin diminishing even further as more seriousness crept in. “There’s no need for you to hear it twice. Go.” He gave Lu a push on the shoulder, forcing him towards the Elders a step.
Lu looked back, but he could see that Bull was serious. He only nodded, his own face taking on a touch of grimness. “Right. I’ll be back in a moment…” Bull did not move as he stepped away, standing like a solid pillar of muscle – but as he moved towards the conversing Elders, Lu couldn’t help but worry. I don’t want to leave him near Tai Sho. Obviously the others wouldn’t let anything happen, but I still don’t want to! Bull is a man who follows his instincts wherever they might lead; he might start a fight without thinking of the consequences. But it wasn’t as though he could just stand next to the man every moment until they departed, so Lu could only square his shoulders and walk forward.
----------------------------------------
Due to his short conversation with Bull, by the time Lu arrived the formalities were mostly over. White Knuckle had taken Seventh Wheel a bit away to discuss something under the cover of a minor illusion, their words becoming garbled and indistinct. The remaining Elders – excepting Goldenseed, who was off in the corner of camp with her cauldron – were together, the other disciples mingling together in a handful of groups.
As confidently as possible, Lu walked straight towards the duo of Elders Winding Wind and Persimmon. Act neither conceited nor meek, Lu. Confidence! Moderate confidence! As he went he passed the other two people he recognised, Gu Gian and Lan. Thought they were both mere fourth realms surrounded by seniors, Gu Gian was holding herself upright and stoically, the very image of a dutiful scholar. She gave Lu a small nod, but otherwise did not acknowledge him as she conversed with her peers – and as he passed, he caught a few snippets of the discussion. Dimensional lock, terrain impediments- ah, they must be deciding where to place the boundaries of the closed space.
I’m sure that would be fascinating to listen in on, but duty is calling. Maybe I can watch as it goes up, later.
Lan, by contrast, seemed even more anxious than usual. He actually broke off from his group, walking beside Lu for a few paces. “Speak with me as soon as possible, please.”
Lu opened his mouth, but before he could utter a single word Lan had already peeled away. Oh dear, he seemed extremely troubled. What’s happened? Did someone die? He could only ponder it a few seconds, before he reached the Elders and was forced to pay them his full attention.
“…So that’s what your juniors are reporting, but everything is becoming muddled. At least we have the support of the other sects- ah, young Lu. Please, join us.” Persimmon had not changed so much as a hair on his head since the last time Lu had seen him, his eyes slightly vacant as though a thousand thoughts were running through his mind at every moment. Now that White Knuckle had been unnaturally weathered by his experience in Salt, it fell to his junior the array master to be the most stereotypical Elder; the man may as well have stepped out of a painting with his long white beard and receding-but-voluminous hair, his robes clean but rumpled with neglect.
Lu bowed. “Greetings, Elder Persimmon. I’m told you would wish to speak with me?”
The Elder nodded, then beckoned to someone behind Lu’s back. Turning, Lu found Lan’s two companions walking towards them. “Things are beginning to move entirely too fast. These two are from our neighbours in the southeast – please, introduce yourselves.”
Now that his attention had been drawn to them, Lu could indeed see that they weren’t members of the Steadfast Heart. Their robes are tailored differently, and their faces have a slightly foreign shape, more round than most people in the central province. From the southeast… The coast, perhaps?
The two of them bowed. They were both men, but that was where any similarity ended; one wore blue robes with a fish scale pattern, the enchanted fabric mildly iridescent. He was tall and willowy, with his hair bound up in elaborate braids, and Lu immediately felt a kinship with the stranger. “Disciple Bianyan, representing the Leaping Trout Sect.”
The other was short, and more than a bit fat. His robes were pale red and plain, and his head was shaved bald. With his rounded figure and buck teeth, Lu had the unflattering thought that he looked a bit like a mole. “Disciple Hoss’in Ra, representing the Unrelenting Vigour Sect.”
The two men looked to Elder Persimmon expectantly, but he only waved them off. “Go on then, tell Lu what has occurred.” When their faces became dubious, he added, “Though his realm is low, he should be considered an important figure in these matters. Speak to him properly.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Ah, Elder, I appreciate the vote of confidence, but perhaps that’s a bit much..? These men are two and three realms above me, forcing them to defer…
The complimentary pair turned Lu’s way, and he gave them a slightly deeper than necessary bow. “Disciple Lu, of the Steadfast Heart Sect. For you to have journeyed all this way, this must be a matter of great import – perhaps something has happened which has caused your sects to take our warnings more seriously?” I don’t recognise the sect names off the top of my head, but one of the breaches was definitely to the southeast, near the eastern tip of the Great Bay. It isn’t exactly difficult to put things together.
The shorter, redder Hoss’in Ra answered. “…It is as you say.” The man’s voice had a bit of wheeze to it, making him sound unhealthy. “A day and a half ago, a force similar to the one your sect had warned us of began attacking. At first they seemed incredibly weak, but then suddenly it was like…”
He trailed off, seemingly at a loss for words, and Bianyan picked up the explanation. “A man appeared. The moment he stepped onto the battlefield, it was like his soldiers transformed into raging dragons… They fought our Elders to a standstill, and the mysterious man even wounded Patriarch Leaping Trout. Now we are barricaded inside our mountain, unable to do anything with our greatest combatants dead or injured.”
Hoss’in Ra found his words and added, “The Unrelenting Vigour Sect retains our strength, but after witnessing the power of these invaders, it seemed prudent to not engage without careful thought. That is why I was sent here, so that we might unite and strike as a single clenched fist.”
The round man clenched his fist in demonstration, but Lu’s lips had thinned. Ah, I see how it is. Your sects didn’t feel the need for brotherhood when it was us who were asking for aid, but now that you’re in danger it’s ‘unite’ this and ‘single fist’ that. How cowardly!
But with the continent, or even the entire world at stake… I’ll suppose we’ll have to forgive such contemptible spirit, just this once. “That’s terrible, friends.” He turned to Persimmon. “I assume we will be aiding their sects in repelling the Salt forces?” As he spoke, some of the actual content of the pair’s words began to penetrate his contempt, and he paled. Wait. Wait! The invasion has begun?! Damn, damn, we were too slow! Maybe if we had sent each of the priests off to do one breach each, or-!
How did they even sneak an army in? How big is it? Are they actually strong, or are those southern sects just pathetic? He itched to turn back to the pair and bombard them with questions, but kept his eyes on the Elder.
Persimmon nodded slowly. “Indeed. I and my subordinates will remain here, while you and your group will join with the venerable White Knuckle and his warriors. One of the breaching treasures should have been conveyed to your destination on Mount Unrelenting Vigour – I assume you will be able to move the entire group, with the Elder’s assistance?”
Lu’s jaw moved, but rather than answer right away he pulled the splinter into his hand and checked its map. As Persimmon said, there was a point of twinkling light on the eastern tip of the bay, on the edge of where the farmland would turn into sandy tidal flats. “Ordinarily I would only be able to move a handful of people, but…” With White Knuckle’s massive qi reserves, I might be able to brute force it without my brains dribbling out my ears. “…Well, I can’t promise anything, but I’ll certainly try. Are we leaving right away?”
“No, we should ensure that the area is quarantined properly first. No more than an hour, likely half that if my juniors are half as competent as they should be. I’ve been drilling them extensively on this exact procedure, so I hope things will go smoothly.” His expression changed minutely. “You should speak with White Knuckle when he’s finished. Stay nearby.”
Lu took that as a dismissal, and bowed to both him and Winding Wind before stepping away. His head was filled with a fog of thoughts as his eyes played over the camp, darting to the formation experts to the martial artists to the hazy figures of White Knuckle and Seventh Wheel.
Should I question those two further now, or..? Ah, they’re only inner disciples, messengers. And they’ve been gone from their sects for at least a few hours, so the situation has likely changed. I’ll ask some basic questions, but let’s not get our hopes up for decent information.
He beckoned to the two, and with another shared dubious look they trotted over. Scrutinising them even more thoroughly he could see the way their limbs subtly dragged with exhaustion, their dantians nearly empty. They must have either fought to break some sort of encirclement, or operated a movement art beyond their means to speed across the continent. Perhaps both.
“Junior Lu?” Hoss’in Ra questioned.
“Pardon, but I wished to ask some more about the force that attacked you. Did they have any distinguishing features?”
Bianyan’s brows arced, his voice becoming heavy with emotion. “They used fire arts, every one of them. At first it was laughably easy to fend them off – our sect has great skill with water arts, you understand – but after a few waves of them were repelled, they suddenly seemed to become resistant to our attacks. It became even worse when their patriarch or whoever it was entered the field.” His expression became a grimace, not aimed at Lu but rather something he was picturing in his head.
Fire techniques, every single one? I suppose we’ve encountered One-Man’s arm of the invasion. “And this leader? What did he look like?” What was he about again? That Holy Smoke knight gave me a whole speech, but I’m struggling to recall… He was a cowardly man, discovered fire, then later codified the basics of warfare. I think some of Bo’s simple morality tales featured him..?
I should really take an hour or two to pop over to the sect and ask Still Water about the rest of them. We’ve closed two breaches supervised by two different Ancestors, and now here’s a third, so it seems likely that the other three ‘belong’ to Joe and, uh, the other two.
Bianyan shuddered. “I did not see him personally, but one of my seniors… He described a thing more demon than human, a terrible figure twice as tall as a man and made of hellfire and smoke. Truly, this must be the second coming of Hell.”
----------------------------------------
Lu questioned the two further, but received little in the way of extra information. Bianyan had only seen the fighting from behind his sect’s defensive arrays, and Hoss’in Ra not even that.
Eventually he bid them farewell with a promise of support, turning away. White Knuckle was still speaking with Seventh Wheel, and there was no way he was going to interrupt that, so for the moment it seemed he was free.
He took a few steps towards the martial-artist-filled section of camp, intending to rejoin Bull, but then he recalled Lan’s insistence a few minutes prior. Right, right. That seemed urgent. His eyes scanned over the gathered disciples, eventually finding his friend in the last place he would have thought to look: exactly where he had been intending to go, standing beside Bull on the periphery of the muscular crowd.
Oh, I would have assumed he’d be with Gu Gian and the scholars – perhaps he’s simply avoiding the temptation of his former love. Yes, that makes sense.
He made his way forward, staying well clear of the bulk of the group, and approached the pair. They didn’t seem to have been conversing; when Lu stepped close, Lan hurried his way while Bull stayed in place, his arms crossed.
“Lu, there you are.”
“Lan. Has something happened? You look distressed.”
The man wrung his hands. “That Salt woman, Stinger-Tail.” Oh. I don’t like that opening line, this can’t be going anywhere good. “She’s injured Jiendao severely.”
Lu’s brows went to his hairline. “Deliberately?” I admit that Stingy is savage, but I’ve never seen her cut anything she didn’t intend to cut.
“She claimed it was a normal spar, but for reasons we can’t determine, Jiendao hasn’t woken up. Some disciples – not me, you understand – have accused her of being a saboteur. Tensions have risen quite a bit.”
Lu’s hand shot out to grip Lan’s wrist. “Tensions? If she’s been properly detained, then-”
“She hasn’t.” He swallowed, and Lu could feel the flutter of his pulse through his wrist. “They were fighting in Little Swamp Village, and the other Salt natives are keeping Stinger-Tail sequestered. Some of the Elders became enraged when they refused to hand her over for questioning, and…” He looked over to where the Elders were clustered. “Since many of the Elders most familiar with Salt are out of the sect, there are very few cool heads to deescalate. There hasn’t been any open battles, but things are heading towards a boiling point.” The man’s spectacles had slid down his nose as he spoke, but he was too flustered to even notice. “I know that what you’re doing is too important to delay, but… Please. You know the sect wouldn’t prosecute her without sufficient evidence; if there’s anything you can think of, something I could say to get her to surrender, please tell me.”
Lu could see the panic and desperation poorly concealed behind Lan’s eyes. …Is there anything like that? I’d say we’re friendly acquaintances, but I don’t know her on more than a surface level. If there’s a set of words that could convince her, I’m not the one who knows them. “Where is Cobo in all this?”
“He goes between the sect and the village. I’ve tried talking to him, but everything I say just makes him bare his teeth. I’m genuinely afraid he’ll attack someone the moment he’s pushed.”
Lu stood for a moment, not knowing what to say. Behind Lan Bull met his eyes, shrugging his shoulders. Sorry, his expression seemed to convey, I don’t know how to deal with this either.
On the periphery of his vision, Lu saw the haze of illusion obscuring the Elder’s conversation dissipate. There’s no time for this. The invasion- but Stingy- but Jiendao-!
“I’m sorry, I need to speak with White Knuckle. I’ll try to think of something, you have my word.”
Lu released the man’s wrist, before turning and walking away.