Pangu was beautiful, but broken.
The large peninsula was home to vast stretches of untouched nature, dense forests marked with groves of trees that grew the most delicious fruit. Farmers lived in the high hills and low valleys, cultivating the land as a way of life. But it wasn't an easy place to reach, or an easy place for the empire to control. A jagged mountain range separated it from the mainland and the seas that bordered the other three sides were notoriously hard to navigate. There were only two ways one could reach Pangu - an icy trek over the hostile northern mountains, or a two week ship ride across violent, churning waves. Neither had a high success rate.
The province was split off from the larger empire in almost all ways. There had been attempts to establish a small local government in Pangu, but without the emperor's direct management, they failed every time. Instead, the peninsula had fallen under the control of several martial arts sects.
Martial arts sects were common across the empire. In most places, they were just structured communities of cultivators, people seeking to improve their physical abilities and train in qi techniques. They operated separate from the government, respecting the laws of the land while sometimes clashing with other sects. But in Pangu, the sects had become the government. Where they ruled, they decided the law and enforced it as well. And when they fought, it was war.
There were six in the region, each with their own slice of territory. The Holy Crane Sect, Blood Mask Sect, and Rolling Thunder Sect claimed pieces of the north, while the south was property of the Guillotine Sect, Iron Body Sect, and Blue Sun Sect. All six had existed for over a century, and in that time alliances and rivalries formed. The northern sects had a loose unity, but fought with the southern sects, who all shared in a mutual hatred of one another. Conflicts between them were violent and often, and the civilians always found themselves caught in the crossfire.
The young drifter named Li Wei had never meant to come to Pangu. Never the type to stay in one place, the long-haired twenty-two year old had been wandering around the empire as long as he could remember. It was a simple existence. When he grew hungry, he either hunted for his food or took up an odd job, with the wage he earned going towards his meal for the day.
One of those little day jobs had been sweeping the deck of a small merchant ship. The sun had been hot that day, and Wei had quickly grown exhausted. He decided to spend his half-hour break napping in the cargo area. Suffice it to say, he overslept... by a lot. Somehow the sailing crew hadn't noticed him when they set off, and when they had found him wandering around the boat they weren't too happy. It was too late to turn around though, so he tried his best to make himself useful on the voyage. The ship came close to sinking about a hundred times, but after two weeks on the sea, they finally arrived at their destination: Pangu.
Wei could've stayed for the boat ride back to the mainland. But the young man liked to go with the flow... and he also figured there was no way the ship was making the return trip in one piece. He had reached a place most considered unreachable completely by accident.
It was a week into his time in Pangu when Li Wei decided to go hunting.
Like usual, he had been wandering around from place to place, stopping in small towns or camping out in the wilderness. He was somewhere up north, close to a low mountain of dark gray stone and a wide lake. Fish of many kinds filled the clear water, constantly jumping up from the surface just to flop back down with a splash.
Wei wasn't hungry for fish that day. He wanted duck. Luckily, ducks were always hungry for fish.
The young man kept a small amount of tools on him. A bow, a compact quiver of arrows, a small knife for preparing the animals he caught, and a short metal sword, small enough to be easily carried but long enough to still make a good weapon. The bow and arrow were kept on straps on his back and his sword in a sheath on the back of his belt. Those items and a small sleeve of water were all he really needed to stay in the wilderness as long as he pleased. He had picked up on survival skills from his dad: how to start a fire, how to gut a fish, what plants could be eaten or used to make medicine, anything that could be useful out in the woods.
Nocking an arrow, Wei crouched down behind some shrubs close to the edge of the lake. There were many ducks swimming across the surface, colorful males and duller brown females. He watched closely as they tried to hunt down the small leaping fish. One duck plunged their head into the water, coming back up with a little carp wriggling around in his bill.
Holding the arrow in place with one hand, his other searched for a stone and found one. With an underhand throw, he lobbed it into the lake, right next to a particularly large female. The stone broke the water - kerplunk! - and the duck predictably flew up into the air in surprise. Wei fired quickly. The arrow pierced right into the bird's wing, sending it tumbling to the ground in a crash of feathers. More ducks scattered as Wei walked up to his kill, drawing out the arrow and finishing the still-writhing duck off by quickly stabbing his knife into its head.
Ducks were stupid. So, after Wei retreated into the brush, he was able to repeat the same trick twice to score two more birds. Pleased with himself, he started to walk back to his camp so he could clean the birds up.
But just then, two men showed up. They were angry, and from their silver and white robes, Wei could tell they were both cultivators. Swords hung from their hips and metal vambraces covered their forearms.
"Hey!" one shouted, a tall, muscular man with a bald head. His massive, bushy black eyebrows were almost able to distract from his cranium's blinding gleam. "Hey, you!"
Wei turned around to face the two men, offering a disarming smile. The other member of the duo was fortunate enough to have hair, but was shorter and much less fit. A tiny mustache hung above his lip. He pointed to the three ducks hanging from Wei's hand.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked.
"Just got done hunting. Was gonna go roast these up. Want some?" Wei leaned on his bow casually and held up the ducks like a peace offering. The two men's angry expressions didn't change. "Honestly, I got more than I really think I can eat in one sitting."
"Are you aware you're in Holy Crane Sect territory?" little mustache asked.
Wei shook his head no. "Whoops. Good thing these are ducks and not cranes, right?"
He laughed at his own joke, but the two cultivators were less than amused.
"No hunting in our territory without a permit," big eyebrows said, looking Wei over. "You're not from Tengmay Town, so I'm guessing you don't have one."
Wei's eyebrows knit in confusion, thinking back to something he had seen earlier. "Hold on just a second." Sliding his bow up on his shoulder, he pulled his map from his pocket and flicked it out to unfold it. The two cultivators watched as the young man's eyes scanned the parchment.
"What, you gotta look at a map to tell where you're from?" the shorter of the two asked.
"No, no, it's just..." Wei set down the ducks and turned the map to face the two men, who drew closer to get a better look. With a finger, he traced a line from one spot to another. "Your temple is all the way over there, and we're all the way over here. Your territory really stretches that far?"
There was a pause. Then the two men burst out laughing.
"Pal, are you new here?" the taller man asked incredulously.
Wei folded his map up and slid it back in his pocket.
"Err... yes?"
The men's patiences ran dry. One after the other they drew their swords, and the thin metal blades lit up with an ethereal glow. Wei stepped back. He had heard of this kind of technique before: "swordlight," or channeling inner qi into an object. It made even dull swords sharp enough to slice through iron.
"Hand over your bow and arrows, and move away from the ducks," said the taller one.
Wei complied, handing his bow to the man, then sliding his quiver off his back and turning that over too. The short man circled behind him, sword at the ready for any sudden movements. He kneeled down and snatched up the ducks that Wei had laid down earlier.
"We're going to have to take you in." From a pack that hung from his belt, the taller one took out a black cord to tie up Wei's wrists with. The young man's eyes widened.
"Take me in? You've got my bow and you've got my ducks!" Wei looked from one man to the other in shock. "What harm's been done here?"
"Just cause you don't know the laws doesn't mean you can break them!" The tall man got right up in Wei's face, raising his glowing sword so it was just an inch from his nose.
Just then, Wei understood exactly who these people were. Two guys with a little bit of authority who would take any chance to use it. There was nothing he hated more than assholes like that. This was probably the first bit of action they got in weeks, stationed in such a quiet place. They were both itching for a fight, he could tell.
Might as well give them one.
Without any windup, he threw a punch right at the tall man's gut. It was a cannonball-quick motion made from the hip. There wasn't a lot of power behind it, but the surprise factor meant the man jolted back as if he'd been hit much harder. The black cord flew out from his hand.
Striking back swiftly, the cultivator thrust forward with his gleaming sword. Wei figured it was what he'd do and had ducked right before the attack was made. It sailed over his head and right into the shoulder of the shorter man, who had rushed up to try and cut him down from behind. He fell onto his butt with a cry of pain. The sword had gone the whole way through his arm, qi-sharpened metal piercing through flesh and bone like they were wet parchment.
Wei rolled along the ground, springing up to his feet a few yards from the tall cultivator. Reaching to his back, he drew his own sword. It had much less range than the cultivator's weapon, but its heftier machete-style blade allowed for more power behind individual swings. Of course, that wasn't taking into account the sheath of razor sharp qi the man had encased his blade with. One direct blow from that thing would cut his weapon in half, and probably him too.
"No way some commoner could make a move like that," the tall man said, his friend running off and clutching at his wound. The light around his sword grew brighter as he channeled more qi into it. "You must've studied at a sect."
"Nah, you guys just suck." Wei laughed. "But I did pick up a little from my dad. Plum Orchard Swordfighting, ever heard of that style?"
"You're from the mainland?" Clearly he was familiar. "You weren't lying, then!"
Still the cultivator leapt at him, but Wei had predicted his attack again and was already jumping out of the way. He threw a swing forward, the cultivator just barely managing to parry it with his silver vambrace. The blow glanced off, but the tip of Wei's sword nicked his arm. A thin red line peeked out from a slash in his sleeve. Roaring, the cultivator brought his sword around again, and this time, he managed to land a strike.
Shiiink!
Half of Wei's sword dropped to the grass with a thud. About eight inches of blade was still attached to the hilt in his grip.
"Aw, crap."
Turning up the heat of his attacks, the cultivator poured more qi onto his blade and lashed out twice. Wei predicted and ducked the first, then avoided being turned into a double amputee by jumping out of the way of the second lower swing. As the blade swung through the air, the light split off the metal and flew through the air in a shining crescent.
A sword beam technique! Wei thanked the gods he hadn't been in the way. The beam of razor light sliced through a tree behind him, which toppled down into the lake with a crash of water. Birds took to the air in a mad race to avoid being crushed.
As he stepped back and brought up what was left of his sword, Wei's foot brushed against something limp on the ground. He glanced down, seeing that it was one of the ducks he had caught.
An idea poppped into his mind.
The cultivator had paused to channel more qi into his sword, but was now running straight at Wei. The young man stepped back, hooked his foot under the duck, and flipped it up into the air. He threw a slash forward with his broken sword, slicing the dead duck in two just as the cultivator got close. The splatter of duck blood hit him right in the eyes.
"Damn it!" the man stopped in his tracks to desperately wipe at his face with his sleeve, trying to get the blood away. He only succeeded in spreading it around more.
Wei laughed out loud, both thrilled he was still in one piece and in awe at what he had just done. No way that had worked! Taking advantage of the situation, he scooped up the other two ducks and ran off into the woods. Bounding over tree roots and ducking under branches, he threw away his broken sword. It was just dead weight now.
The young man ran for what felt like hours. Every now and then he stopped to take a breather, but he knew he had to keep moving. He hadn't taken out the cultivator, just blinded him briefly, and he had either followed him (bad) or sent for reinforcements (worse). He didn't know if there were any more patrols from the Holy Crane Sect roaming the forest and he didn't want to find out.
Wei took a break to catch his breath and take a drink of water from the leather sleeve he carried with him. There wasn't much left. Walking up to a tree, he leaned against it. The sun was almost out of the sky now, the dark of night taking over. He needed to get to shelter.
He pulled out his map and studied it again. From the path he took, he should've been close to a town called Tengmay, situated on the bank of a river. He could hear rushing water from where he stood, so he knew he wasn't far.
Hm. The cultivator had mentioned that place earlier. There probably was some kind of Holy Crane presence there, then. But there wasn't anywhere else close to stay the night, and he figured it'd be safer in a town, surrounded by people, than to be caught alone in the woods. In a crowd, they'd arrest him. Alone, they'd just kill him and that'd be that. Especially if it was the bald big-eyebrows psycho.
Wei reached to the back of his belt, pulling out his small knife. It was for cleaning out animals, not fighting. But right now, it was the only weapon he had.
