“You’re leaving again, Master?!”
“Yup.”
“But… but… Didn’t you say that was a bad idea, Master?”
“I did.” Suwan nods while thoughtfully rubbing her chin as if she were some wise long-bearded sage. “To instill a sense of caution in each of you.”
Turning on her heel she waves over her shoulder and saunters out the door. “Sense of caution instilled. I'll be back soon. Bye!”
“Sister Suwan. This one has forgotten thine instructions. What reasoning for your departure was this one supposed to explain?” Twelve lies while sending smug laughter straight into the blonde’s head. Snapping her fingers as she remembers Suwan turns around again and puts An’s map down on the table.
“Right, right. An explanation. Anyway, take a look at this.” Suwan gestures, waving her hand over the densest clusters of points atop the map. “Most of these are southwest of where we are now so I’m gonna meet up with an acquaintance to take care of those.”
“So, lahk, we ‘ead to Golden Carp City while you do that?” Zhi asks timidly.
“Yah, go get the mirror Mu found. I’ll catch up, see ya.”
Before they can ask any further questions the map is back in her spatial ring and she’s out the door. For a moment Mu furrows her brow before looking at Twelve with a questioning gaze. The doll’s head slowly clicks her way until they are looking straight at each other
“Yes, Disciple Mu?”
“Uhm, there’s a lot of routes there aren’t there? What if we miss each other on the way? Did Master say which roads we should take?”
“Sister Suwan has not.”
“Then… How is she going to find us?”
“This one knows not.”
Silence pervades the room while the group exchanges glances.
-----
With a thin coat of qi around her feet dampening her steps Tenzan stalks through the forest. The setting sun’s rays color the surrounding mist in a twilight gloom giving the treeline an almost ethereal look. Slowly and carefully she creeps inch by inch towards the clearing from which the traces of demonic qi she’s been chasing originate.
To the eyes it looks like nothing more than an open space amidst the trees. In fact, every single one of Tenzan’s senses, whether mundane or spiritual, are telling her the clearing is empty and checking it would be a waste of time. It is that feeling that she latches on to. Channeling qi through her eyes the sensation stays, her sight failing to discern a thing. Reaching deeper into her core she directs True Qi into them instead lighting the inside of her hood with an amber glow.
There. A ripple not unlike a heat haze, not present in reality but visible to her nonetheless. Faintly she feels as if there are shapes behind the invisible barrier, the sensation not unlike a stray thought or a gut feeling, intuition serving as a guide where other senses fail.
With utmost caution she proceeds towards the edge of the clearing. Until the very last moment she remains hidden behind the trees. Then all at once she bursts forth. The layer of qi around her feet changes function to boosting speed instead of reducing sound. Her veins churn as her cultivation roars through it, her every muscle on a hair trigger to react instantly to whatever she may find on the other side. With one hand supporting the frame and the other inching towards the trigger Tenzan raises her crossbow to shoulder height.
She can see the tip of her bolt disappear through the invisible curtain for the briefest moment before the rest of her passes through.
Before she can scan her surroundings for even a fraction of a second she spots movement to her left. Planting the ball of her foot on the ground she pivots, aims and fires without conscious input, the smell of sulfur and burning fresh only pervading her senses a second later.
The bolt is swatted aside by the flat of a jagged blade with contemptuous ease, the flash of steel on steel nearly as radiant as the pearly smile behind it.
“Hey, fancy meeting you here.”
“Lady Song?”
“I’d say the one and only but there’s another around that predates me by a few million years.” Suwan jokes, her head suddenly swinging to the side midway through her sentence. “Jokes aside it’s not quite a coincidence. I was looking for you but you didn’t come show up to our meeting today so I figured I’d check some nearby bases.”
“Did we not schedule our meet-up for yesterday, Venerable Song?”
“That explains it.” The blonde replies with a snap of her fingers. “Anyway, let’s not talk here. Do you know any good bars in the area?”
The reminder of where they are causes Tenzan’s eyes to widen and her repeater crossbow to snap back up. Scanning the surroundings what greets her is death and destruction. Ramshackle buildings smolder, hints of golden flames still visible where the wood still burns. Once engraved stones lay melted and shattered beyond the point of recognition. Throughout it all lay charred bodies, each more grotesque than the last. Her breath catches in her throat at the sight.
“I take it that’s a no?” Suwan snorts. “I mean, I don’t think looking around here will help you find any. I’ve thoroughly razed this place.”
Amber eyes narrow causing the glow beneath Tenzan’s hood to diminish. A single thought echoes through her. If this ‘Song Suwan’ can find and clear cults with such ease, why would she be looking for her? Her train of thought is interrupted by a wide swath of golden flames reducing the surroundings to a blackened field, not a trace of what was once here remaining. When the Nascent Soul grandmaster in front of her extends a hand towards her time seems to slow and she feels her end near.
“You coming?”
“Huh?”
“Wow, you really zoned out there didn’tcha?”
"A- apologies, senior. Where are we headed?"
“I’ll explain on the way.”
The woods blaze past them in a blur. Within seconds they are on the open road, villages vanishing in the distance and cities being left in their wake. To anyone below the core formation realm this speed would be a dream and even Tenzan finds herself struggling to keep up.
Gradually Suwan begins to veer off the road. Tenzan can feel the qi in the air get thinner as they head farther and farther from the nearby towns, nought but small villages or exiles choosing to establish a home in such a qi-deprived place. Even vegetation grows less dense and far hardier in desolate areas such as these.
While the causes are numerous many such zones exist upon the continent. Some such as this one are small whereas others can stretch the size of countries or more. Yet qi waxes and wanes. Even a place such as this may once upon a time have been fit to host clans, if not cities. Now little remains but desiccated ruins half-buried in sand, even the ground itself having become unable to host plant life the closer they get to the center of the zone. When they near a large ravine Suwan draws to a stop and turns to her companion.
“Found out about the locations of some cults, there should be one around here somewhere.” Suwan says while looking around. Shrugging she slides down the cliff face and extends her spiritual sense to scan the surroundings.
“You got this from that Mu you spoke of?”
“Nah, her disciple.” Suwan answers off-handedly while fiddling around with a mechanism next to a particularly suspicious rock. Losing her patience she just punches her way through instead. “Funny you mention her though, she found another map too. She’s on her way to go get it so I'm in a bit of a hurry to catch up.”
The moment the passage is no longer obscured Tenzan rushes through, her crossbow swerving left and right to check for threats. Bolts fly killing several cultists near the entrance and slamming their bodies into the walls where they hang lifelessly.
A gel-like liquid drips from shattered glass containers containing limbs and organs alike. Tenzan pays them no mind as she rushes through halls and corridors like the wind, each room scanned and cleared with practiced expertise before its occupants even realize there’s an intruder. Rushing through the compound to clear it before any demon hosts can transform she barely notices the more relaxed approach her companion is taking.
Just barely refraining from whistling Suwan follows in her wake whilst tapping her blade atop her shoulder and leisurely looking left and right, her eyes taking in the various anatomical drawings and scribbled notes attached to boards and walls alike. Her hand occasionally reaches out to collect interesting bits and bobs and send them into her spatial ring. Not to mention everything of value, of course.
Scratching her head Suwan gets the feeling she’s almost unneeded here. She washes the thought down with a swig of her gourd and decides not to worry about it. Even so a seed of doubt remains. The longer she remains here the more likely it is that her disciples will reach Mu’s stash. Without her there it would be nearly impossible for them to use the mirror she found but would that stop them?
Deciding to bury her anxieties in the thrill of battle she charges deeper into the compound. While Tenzan fires into a room Suwan matches her pace on the other side of the corridor. Her sword swings twice severing the heads of both occupants while they’re still in the midst of turning around. Their lifeblood splatters across their work tables as they collapse covering half written research papers. Suwan grimaces hoping they didn’t contain anything useful.
Crossing each other diagonally Tenzan and Suwan each rush towards the next room on the opposite side. Like a veritable whirlwind of steel they wreak havoc through the compound, not a single cultist managing to activate a formation or transform before their lifeless bodies hit the ground.
“Well, that’s that done, let’s move on to…” She begins before trailing off. Even if her disciples can’t safely find any cultists, what if any find them? Certainly their safety is not in peril with Twelve around but if she acts the remaining cultists may go deeper into hiding. And what if someone they know has already been captured by the time they arrive? Would they be able to sit still and wait for her? Would it even be the right idea?
“Senior?”
“Argh!”
“Lady Song?!”
With her hands in her hair Suwan lets out a groan. She needs to be there but she also needs to investigate the cults here. Except, does she? Isn’t Tenzan perfectly capable of taking care of herself? Letting out a loud sigh she comes to a conclusion.
“Tenzan. This is a map we’ve managed to decipher containing cult locations. Can I count on you to take care of the problem and gather their findings?”
“This one cannot refuse, Lady Song.” Tenzan replies with narrowed eyes whilst accepting An’s work. “Might I ask why you require the results of their infernal rituals?”
“To find a way to take down a threat.” Suwan replies, her hand clenching unbidden while she turns away. She can’t be everywhere at once. She just hopes she’s making the right decision trusting someone else with such a dangerous task. “Prioritize your life, Tenzan. Don’t make me come back to find you dead.
“I shall do as you say, senior.” Tenzan answers with a wistful expression whilst watching Suwan’s form recede into the distance. A quiet whisper follows in tow, almost like a prayer unheard by any.
“Stay safe, don’t fall to that monster.”
-----
Mu stealthily turns to look over her shoulder while pretending to say something to An. Just narrowly she catches the slightest movement of a figure ducking back into hiding. With a gulp she turns to face the front again and continues on as if nothing were amiss. Were it just once or twice she spotted this figure she’d still have her doubts but by now it’s abjectly clear. They’re being followed.
Thanks for the chapter
Thank you for reading!