Beware Of Chicken

The good mood after our little celebration was short-lived. Early the following morning the Shrouded Mountain Sect’s chariot came back.

The disciples of the Shrouded Mountain Sect looked like death warmed over as they showed me the barrel that they had collected. The corpse inside was disgusting, but they had found the body and that was the important part. Then they requested we exchange Yingwen for two more of their number. Yingwen was apparently the most familiar with the Elders, and the eldest, so he would be the one to give their report.

It had taken some negotiation to settle on the official story. About an hour of me standing with my arms crossed and either nodding or shaking my head. Zang Li, tired of the Azure Hills, had wandered off without an escort to Yellow Rock Plateau where he was slain by a Demonic Cultivator. A wandering cultivator witnessed this atrocity and slayed the demonic cultivator in retaliation. Originally they wanted to say it was the noble Cloudy Sword Sect who had done it, but the fewer things that could get them involved, the better.

It was a coverup, a blatant one that only worked if everybody agreed to it, but what could we do? Shouting to the world that the Shrouded Mountain Sect had completely missed a demonic cultivator after being warned the first time? It would completely trash their reputation and credibility.

Easy to see why Yingwen wanted to avoid that. But why would I want to avoid that? Blackmail.

Or at least the threat of blackmail. To a sect, reputation was all-consuming. Anything that could damage the aura of righteousness built up around the Shrouded Mountain Sect was a threat. It was like a gun to the head.

They were cultivators, so their first reaction would probably be to try to kill whatever threatened them. A peasant who knew a dirty secret would quickly become a dead peasant.

But I wasn’t a peasant.

I didn’t know if a Shrouded Mountain Sect Elder could kill me. I knew I was strong. I didn’t know how strong still, but people in the Profound Realm don’t immediately capitulate and start serving you tea unless you can splatter them across the landscape.

If they couldn’t remove the threat… well, then they would have to play nice. My presence would force them to the table. They would honour their agreements, lest something unpleasant leaked out.

It was a dangerous game.

All I could do was wait as the carriage pulled by blue swirling spirits in the shape of six-legged horses sped away. Wait and hope.

=======================

“This is a mess, is it not?” Jian Chongyun, Elder of the Shrouded Mountain Sect, asked pleasantly. His companion did not answer verbally. He absently raised his hand as a lightning bolt lashed out, deflecting it and shaking out the charge. He raised an eyebrow reproachfully at the woman beside him, a murderous aura around her body so intense that poor disciple Yingwen had fallen unconscious after delivering his report.

Zang Shenhe’s face was completely steady, even as lightning sparked and crackled around her. Her blonde hair rose like a halo around her head and her storm-grey eyes were burning with rage. She wore intricate dark robes punctuated by electric blue sashes, trimmed with fox fur collars, the regalia of an Elder, untouched by the raging lightning. A testament to her control.

Chongyun flattened some of his hair, which was rising up through the static fury that was pouring off his fellow Elder. Though she had not been especially close to Zang Li, she had cared for the boy in her own way. She saw in Zang Li’s struggles with his cultivation, the injury that had stunted his growth, a parallel journey to her own troubles. The blood of the Arch Traitor Wen flowed in her veins, and she had had to prove herself a hundred times more than any other just to show that she was not like the one who had betrayed them all to the foxes.

There was a soft cough from one of their servants. An Inquisitor, one who examined the mind and body for the foxs’ corruption, shuffled forward. His body was encased in black clothing and his face covered completely by black cloth. The man stepped away from the barrel that contained their once-disciple’s remains and held his hands raised in front of him, bowing his head.

“Report,” Shenhe ground out, her normally soft and musical voice rumbling like thunder.

“It has been hollowed out for quite some time, Honoured Elders,” the aged man stated immediately. “This one has not seen this manner of possession before, though it bears some resemblance to the body-eater techniques told of in the restricted scrolls. Such things were supposedly rendered extinct thousands of years ago during the Blood Arts Purge.”

Chongyun frowned. That was most concerning. “So it was an imposter the whole time?” he asked, clarifying.

The inquisitor bowed again. “As far as this one can tell, yes. The formations speak true. Young Master Zang Li was lost to us near a year ago, his soul tortured and his body devoured.”

There was silence. Abruptly, the sparks around Shenhe stilled. The scent of blood filled the room as she bit down on her lip, forcefully calming herself.

“From the beginning, Inquisitor. Everything you and your fellows have found,” Shenhe commanded, blood dripping down her lip. The Inquisitor had been part of the flurry of activity that had taken place, ever since the first emergency transmission. As such he would be well placed to report the details to the two Elders.

The Inquisitor bowed a third time and cleared his throat.

“Zang Li. Youngest Son of the Zang Clan. Inheritor of the Fulmination Meridians and Fulmination Bloodline. Noticeably slow cultivation growth. Two years ago, he finally broke into the Profound Realm. After this accomplishment he requested a leave of absence, ostensibly to gather resources for his continued advancement. It was granted as par for the course,” the Inquisitor recited. “He travelled northeast towards Blackfire Fang City. He was there for several days, then left north towards the Sea of Snow.”

“Why was he in the Azure Hills then? Did no one find it worthy of investigation?” Elder Shenhe asked.

“Verdant Hill, the town where he was found, is northernmost in the Hills…” the Inquisitor said lightly. Chongyun knew what he was implying.

“He was taken by a Howl?” It was the name of the fearsome windstorms generated by the Northern Tempest.

“Yes, Elder. While most aren't blown quite that far, there are those who are blown into the milder climes near the Azure Hills. Most attempt to return immediately once the snows and winds die down, but they are usually on missions and thus bound to leave. It was plausible that one on personal leave simply decided to explore, which was this imposter’s story when asked upon it.”

Elder Shenhe said nothing, though Chongyun could feel her seething rage.

“In this town, as the Elders know, he was defeated by an unknown cultivator and deemed an Imposter for being too weak. Zang Li claimed to have been attacked without provocation… though this was not examined too closely. The boy lost and shamed the Sect, thus he was confined and ridiculed by the Inner Disciples. There is a report that there were two others with him, but Outrider Jian had them disposed of for shaming the Sect,” the Inquisitor continued.

Chongyun just sighed, inwardly cursing their most accomplished scout and executor. Normally his swift judgement was considered a necessity, but now… Chongyun thought that the man was getting a bit too hasty with consigning those who displeased him to death. The punishment should have been confinement and corporal punishment.

“How did we not notice?” Elder Shenhe finally asked aloud.

“There were three light examinations of the Young Master, and one deeper to check for illusions of the Enemy upon his mind. All said the same thing. It was Young Master Zang Li’s body and there was no influence upon his mind,” the Inquisitor’s voice quavered a bit as he reported.

Chongyun knew that such examinations were difficult to fool. They had thousands of years to perfect them, and to have them all come up clean was proof of the power of the demonic cultivator’s technique.

“We asked others who knew him if they had noticed any changes. They reported that Zang Li was more vindictive and had acquired a sudden taste for the finer sex, but this one speculates such things could have been dismissed as emerging due to the ridicule he received from the Inner Disciples. By all accounts he was an exemplary, if aggressive, member of the Shrouded Mountain Sect. A true son of the Shrouded Mountain.”

The last remark was chilling. Silence filled the room, only punctuated by breathing.

“Leave us,” Shenhe commanded after a moment. The Inquisitor bowed immediately and departed after resealing the barrel.

Chongyun sighed, pondering the words of the Inquisitor. Chongyun himself had become suspicious of the boy due to his sudden and unnatural growth. Zang Li had struggled all his life. He was quieter than most. He rarely offered insult. Then all of a sudden he began lashing out at all who opposed him. It had seemed… off to Chongyun.

“How did Zeng not notice?” Chongyun muttered in exasperation.

Shenhe snorted. “Cousin Zeng cared little for his youngest. The weakest and slowest of his offspring received little of his attention. I would have been more surprised if he did notice.” She idly ran her fingers along the sheath of her sword, glaring hatefully at the barrel. “His eyes were too greedy. I knew little Li’s eyes. They were purer than that. His was an honest desire for strength, to prove himself to his father and his Sect.” The words were wistful. “And now he’s dead, eaten by a parasite, and we can’t do anything about it,” she finished. Shenhe turned her eyes to the scroll that was sitting open on the table beside them.

The other problem in the room. The one that had to be handled most delicately.

“The Cloudy Sword Sect… Out of everything in this tale, that is the most unbelievable.” Chongyun mused.

“He shames us with these demands. He equates the might and worth of the Shrouded Mountain Sect to that of mortals,” Shenhe bit out.

“Yet, it proves that it is the Cloudy Sword Sect making these demands. Only they would be so... arrogant. I do not doubt Disciple Yingwen's assessment that this, Jin Rou, was powerful. But to completely disregard what we would give for this? No, that, more than any show of force, is a sign of his strength.” Upon the offending scroll that Yingwen had presented was written a list of demands, demands that were very light by most standards. Insultingly light. Whoever had penned this scroll had such little regard for the Shrouded Mountain Sect that Chongyun believed he could feel the disdain from the page. “Yet at the same time he is lenient. He has allowed us to keep our honour. This set of demands keeps us upon our mountain with the majority of our strength intact. Why?”

Shenhe froze at the question, her scowl deepening. Chongyun had an inkling. An inkling of what this was about, and he wasn’t sure he liked it.

Chongyun’s eyes narrowed. “Think. For what reason would a member of the Cloudy Sword be in the Azure Hills, even stooping to raising his daughter within their Qi-starved confines?”

“He would not be. Not unless there was something there that attracted him,” Shenhe whispered, her lightning fizzling out. “At first, he specifically called us instead of destroying the creature himself. It was young and weak, and he did not remain in one place according to the mortals. He immediately left—you think he could have been on the trail of another such creature?”

It was a bit of a jump, but it was plausible. Could this be a precursor to invasion? The Lost Blood Arts coming from the Sea of Snow and the Northern Tempest? That Shenhe had so quickly reached the same conclusion he had made his blood turn to ice in his veins.

“We are famed for our ability to peel back the lies of tricksters and thieves and reveal them for what they truly are. If this line of thinking is correct… he gave the beast to us in confidence. The Cloudy Sword Sect had expectations for us, and we failed to meet them.” Chongyun grimaced. “Now he has given us enough rope to hang ourselves with.”

“I suppose we go and meet him in person to properly bow our heads for the favours he has done us,” Shenhe said finally.

“I would recommend caution. The last demand on the scroll is that no member of the Shrouded Mountain Sect may set foot in the Azure Hills without permission. Only Yingwen is listed as being able to bring back the reparations. Besides, what would you do if your daughter was abducted by a demonic cultivator that you had trusted another to deal with?”

Shenhe’s silence was an answer in itself.

“I shall inform the Patriarch,” Shenhe finally said.

“I shall prepare our recompense,” Chongyun stated.

The Elders stood, nodding at each other. Then Shenhe disappeared in a flash of light.

================================

The days passed. I got my tour of the Dueling Peaks. I had tea with a couple of the Elders, a tense experience I had no desire to repeat again, especially when they started politely asking about cultivation advice. I had spent most of my time hanging out with the rest of the crew.

I tried to enjoy myself, but in the end I kind of failed. Things were just too tense. I needed something to occupy my mind.

So I started wandering around town thinking things over. Looking for something, though I wasn’t sure what until I found somebody familiar working at a forge.

“So, what do you think of something like this?” I asked “Handsome Man” with a little smile. I’d brought my designs with me so I decided to show him, figuring he might be able to help. The guy was stiff as a board, his eyes fixed entirely on the pipe drawing I was showing him.

I had thought teasing the guy would be a bit of fun, but I was already regretting it. He looked like he wanted to crap his pants.

“It is not my expertise, Master Jin, but this Tie Delun will do his best or die trying,” he projected his voice, determination in his eyes. “I will prove myself to you!”

I sighed. Really, the guy was fixated on Tigu. Most people seemed to like her, but “Handsome Man” here gave her mushy eyes every time they met. He seemed to be a good kid. He had jumped in to help protect her and I didn’t want either him or Tigu to get hurt.

But what could I say? I watched the guy for a second, and he seemed to shrink into himself.

“Listen, Tie Delun… You don’t need to prove yourself to me,” I said, and the guy immediately perked up. “But! I don’t think Tigu’er thinks about things that way.”

He paused, confused.

“She’s still immature. Young. She sees you as her friend. Perhaps, in a few years, she might consider it, but right now… Right now she just needs a friend, do you understand?”

The boy swallowed and nodded.

“You can come visit if you want. We’ll go fishing and I may have some commission work. Does that sound good to you?”

Tentatively, Tie Delun nodded.

‘Good man—” I started, when I was cut off.

“Master Rou! Master Rou, the Shrouded Mountain Sect’s carriage is approaching!” a voice shouted.

I took in a breath. Showtime.