by Jeremy Bai
“Sect Leader Sunan, are you safe?”
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he sat up and mumbled, “I’m fine. What happened?”
“An intruder was lurking near your window! Lieutenant Yuwen is chasing after him right now.”
“Keep me posted.”
With that, Sunan lay back down and stared up into the darkness of the ceiling, thinking about Lady Yan.
***
The following morning, Yuwen Huo reported that he had chased a mysterious intruder out of the compound and across the rooftops of Daolu. Yuwen Huo was convinced that it was a woman. He said that she wore a gray robe and was definitely a qi user. She moved with incredible quickness, and at one point she even flew through the air like a bird. She eventually disappeared over the walls of the temple of Supreme Judge Yu.
The entire thing was mysterious enough to begin with, but when Yuwen Huo said it was a woman in a gray robe, a strange feeling rose up in Sunan’s heart. This wasn’t the first time he’d been told a woman in a gray robe had been seen lurking around him at night. Sun Mai had also mentioned something similar, though that had been quite some time ago.
Taking both Sun Mai and Yuwen Huo with him, he headed over the temple to make some inquiries, only to find that it was closed to the public. According to the priest at the gate, a red star had been spotted recently, which the abbot of the temple took to be an ill omen. As such, the temple was closed while the priests performed various rituals to beseech Supreme Judge Yu for protection.
It seemed too suspicious to Sunan and Sun Mai, so after night fell, they decided to do some investigating of their own. The temple of Supreme Judge Yu was located roughly in the center of the city, with the southern half of the temple being a lush vegetated area called the Cypress and Hibiscus Garden. Considering how far away it was from the living quarters, Sunan and Sun Mai decided that it would be the best place to surreptitiously sneak into the temple. The moon hung low in the sky as they climbed up the southern wall of the temple, clad in black garments from head to toe.
Crouching on the wall, they looked out over the Cypress and Hibiscus Garden, and Sunan immediately noticed that a fire was burning in the center of the garden.
“Sun Mai, do you see that?”
Sun Mai nodded. “Let’s go.”
Sun Mai hopped off the wall into the garden first, and just as Sunan was about to follow him, something flickered in his peripheral vision. He turned his head and was sure that he saw someone in a gray robe leaping over the far eastern wall. Frowning, he dropped down and began to follow Sun Mai as he ran through the trees in the direction of the fire.
Moments later, they found themselves standing outside a small pagoda. A brazier had been set up outside, within which burned a small fire. When Sunan realized that what was burning were a few pieces of paper, he immediately lunged over and pulled them out, throwing them to the ground and stamping on them to put out the fire.
Meanwhile, Sun Mai stepped closer to the pagoda. “There’s a bedroll in here. A bowl. A cup. Someone’s been sleeping here.”
Frowning, Sunan squatted and looked down at what remained of the papers he’d rescued from the fire. One of them was a crudely drawn map of the mansion he and Sun Mai lived in. Another was a list of names, many of whom he recognized as his own disciples. A third, which had been badly damaged and was mostly destroyed, seemed to contain some poetry.
The graceful Bird due south takes wing,
From north to east the clouds surge forth,
From south to west fair feathers sing.
The fiends, a tempest dark and foul,
A shining pillar paints the sky,
Golden droplets spin and—
He handed the scrap of paper over to Sun Mai. “You’re the scholar. Does this look familiar?”
Sun Mai looked at the poetry for a moment before shaking his head. “I’ve memorized all the classic poetry and have never seen those lines before. They’re not even composed in the traditional manner. Amateurish at best.”
They looked through the items in the pagoda but didn’t find anything of note. Neither did they find anything in the rest of the garden after snooping around for an hour or so. The other areas of the temple seemed too well-lit, so they eventually abandoned their search and returned to the mansion.
Tie Gangwen was waiting for them.
“Sect Leader. Chief Minister. I have grave news. Some men on patrol outside the city were killed.”
“Killed?” Sun Mai exclaimed. “How?”
Tie Gangwen took a deep breath. “A demon, Chief Minister. A river demon.”
Chapter 34: Blue
They set out the following morning at dawn. Tie Gangwen picked five men, and Yuwen Huo picked five men. Sunan donned his armor. Sun Mai wore his normal scholar’s robes.
“I don’t like armor,” he declared.
“Sun Mai, we’re going out to fight a demon…”
Sun Mai turned his chin up. “I’m a thinker, not a fighter.”
Sunan shook his head.
They headed out of the city’s Zhen Gate, which led to the south. According to the accounts, the soldiers had been ambushed by the river demon near the prawn farms west of the city. Shellfish had long been one of the primary foods for the people living along the Chezou River, and considering the sizeable population of Daolu, it was little wonder that locals had established farms to fuel the demand in the city. Sunan had often wondered how the Heavenly Meat Palace managed to get their hands on so many prawns that they could serve them endlessly, and now he knew.
Eventually they reached the spot where the fight had occurred, and sure enough, there was plenty of evidence to corroborate the soldiers’ story. However, there was no river demon present. After searching the immediate area, they decided to split up. Sun Mai and Tie Gangwen would head inland a bit while Sunan and Yuwen Huo would continue west along the river.
Unfortunately, after traveling west for about two hours, they didn’t find even a trace of the river demon. They asked a few farmers they saw for information and got conflicting reports. Apparently, rumors of the river demon were common, but few people had ever encountered it.
Soon it was noon, and Sunan called for a break. They found a shady spot along the river to dismount and eat a noon meal.
After they’d finished eating, Sunan headed down to the water to clean up. It was at that point that he noticed a young man a bit farther up the river, sitting on a rock, a fishing pole dangling into the water.
He approached the young man and called out, “Greetings, young sir!”
When the young man turned looked over, Sunan was surprised to see that he had blue eyes.
“Hello,” the young man replied.
Walking a bit closer, Sunan said, “Do you live around here?”
“I do, sir. How can I help you?”
“I’m from Daolu, here to investigate a river demon. Have you heard any stories about it?”
“Sure, everybody around here has heard of the river demon. A few people have even seen it.”
“Do you know any of those people personally?”
“Well, sure. I’m one of them.”
Sunan’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Could you tell me more about it?”
“I can do better than that, I can show you. At least, I think I can. I’m pretty sure I know where the river demon’s lair is. I’ve never gone to check, because, well, I don’t want to get killed. There’s a little grotto upriver from here, and I’d be willing to bet my livelihood on the fact that the river demon lives there.”
“What makes you so sure?”
The young man shrugged. “I used to play in that grotto when I was young, so I know what it looks like inside. Ever since the river demon showed up, though, I stayed away.”
“I see. Very well. I’d like to see this grotto of yours.”
The young man rose to his feet and pointed downriver. “Sure. It’s about a fifteen-minute walk that way.”
After securing the horse
s, Sunan, Yuwen Huo, and the five soldiers followed the young fisherman down the river. Eventually he led them to an area where a bend in the river created something like a small lake. At this point, the young fisherman stopped.
“See that?” he said, pointing up ahead. “Those rocks form the mouth of a little cave. I’m almost sure that’s where the river demon’s lair is. I don’t want to go any farther than this, though. Good luck.”
Settling his qi and clenching his fists, Sunan proceeded forward, followed by Yuwen Huo and the soldiers. He’d only gone a few meters when a faint clicking sound from behind caught his attention. He looked over his shoulder, and then time seemed to slow down.
Shockingly, standing in the exact position where the young fisherman had been was an enormous, human-sized crab. It was bright blue, with wickedly curved claws and cruel-looking eyes that glistened like morning dew. It had thick fur adorning its claws and legs, which was a darker shade of blue, as dark as the depths of the Chezou itself.
The crab’s claws were raised high up into the air, as if it were preparing to smash them down into the ground.
Sunan shouted a warning to Yuwen Huo and the soldiers and simultaneously swiveled in place.
The crab’s claws came smashing down with a boom, sending an enormous blast of sand directly toward Sunan and his group. Sunan leapt to the side, somehow managing to evade the blast. Yuwen Huo was similarly quick footed, but the other soldiers weren’t as lucky. Caught completely off guard, the sand smashed into them, sending them tumbling to the ground as patches of skin were shredded completely off their bodies. Two of the soldiers’ eyes were damaged, blinding them. Bloodcurdling screams rang out into the air.
Thanks to his rigorous training in recent days, Sunan was much quicker to react than he might have been in the past. Without even thinking about it, he unleashed Slash of the Dragon’s Tail, sending a blast of energy toward the river demon.
Yuwen Huo did exactly the same thing, although his Slash of the Dragon’s Tail wasn’t quite on the same level as Sunan’s.
Unfortunately, the river demon managed to evade both attacks, and then it scuttled forward at top speed toward the fallen soldiers.
The soldiers were struggling to their feet, moaning. Before they could even draw their weapons, the gigantic crab was upon them. Its claws opened and closed with vicious clacking sounds as it attacked the two blinded soldiers at the same time.
Shockingly, one of the soldiers’ heads flew off his body, blood spraying through the air as it tumbled down in front of Sunan. As for the other soldier, the river demon’s other claw nearly cut him in half at the waist, sending blood and entrails flopping down into the sand.
Gritting his teeth, Sunan lashed out with Rebuke of the Dragon. This time, the blow hit true, smashing directly into face of the river demon. A crisp popping sound rang out as the gigantic crab staggered backward, only to be hit moments later by a second Rebuke of the Dragon from Yuwen Huo, which ripped off one of its clawed arms.
The crab bellowed and lashed out toward a third soldier, who just barely managed to dodge. The other two soldiers were scrambling backward, fear written across their faces.
In recent days of training, Sunan had reached a certain level of enlightenment regarding how to use qi in a fight, and he knew that it was possible to surpass the limitations of one’s own body. Although he had never actually resorted to such methods in training, he was certain that by cathartically drawing upon his qi, he could unleash far greater damage with his strikes than normal.
In this desperate situation, that was exactly what he did. Pushing himself past his limit, he shouted, “Rebuke of the Dragon!”
Two enormous energy blasts shot through the air like mighty dragons, a crashing wave of blades that slammed directly into the gigantic blue crab.
The river demon was almost completely smashed to pieces. Legs flew here and there, and its only remaining claw shattered. It tumbled backward along the river bank, blue blood splashing everywhere.
Eventually it rolled to a stop, where it remained, emitting painful clicking sounds.
Sunan walked over and stood above it.
“Damn you, human,” the river demon said in an odd rasping voice.
“Why did you do this?” Sunan asked. “What did I ever do to you?”
The river demon chuckled. “You humans shouldn’t be this powerful. It’s unnatural.”
“You mean the qi? How could it be unnatural? It’s part of nature itself.”
“If you pour oil into sand, it becomes part of the sand, but does that mean it is innately sand?”
Sunan frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“What you call qi is not natural. It was brought to this world by the Demon Emperor.” The crab made a gurgling sound, and its voice began to weaken. “It doesn’t matter. No matter how strong you humans get, you’ll always be fools. You think I didn’t recognize you the minute you approached me, Young Dragon Sunan? People call you Young Dragon, but you are no dragon.”
“Why can’t we just live in harmony?”
“Harmony? Ha! Damn you, Sunan. I wish I could have killed more humans than I did. At least I can take delight in knowing that your precious Daolu will soon be burned to the ground.”
“What?”
“That’s right. Even a poor little river demon like myself can tell that you’ve been infiltrated. The Demon Emperor is playing you like a zither!” It chuckled. “Prepare to be cursed for all generations to come, humans. Torment of the Crab Demons!”
The river demon began to tremble and twitch. A moment later, it exploded. Countless chunks of blue-colored carapace, white flesh, and blue viscous fluid burst in all directions.
Sunan just barely reacted in time, drawing on his qi to fly backward with inhuman speed.
Yuwen Huo wasn’t as lucky. Although he also flew away from the exploding crab, a chunk of flying carapace slashed across his cheek, opening a vicious gash.
Most of the exploding crab landed in the river, where it spread out in clouds of blue before slowly drifting downstream.
Sunan looked over at Yuwen Huo. The blood oozing out of the gash on his cheek was mostly red but tinged with spots of bright blue. Even the flesh around it was blue.
“Brother Yuwen, are you all right?”
Yuwen Huo looked at him and began to nod in agreement. However, his nod slowed down, and a moment later he fell over flat on his face.
***
The entire way back to Daolu, Sunan’s heart was pounding with fear and anger. He berated himself over and over for leading his men into an obvious trap and getting two of them killed. Then there was Yuwen Huo, his top lieutenant, who still had not regained consciousness after being slashed by the flying chunk of cursed crab carapace.
At a certain point, they ran into Sun Mai’s group. After briefly explaining the situation, they hurried back to the city as quickly as possible.
By the time they were back, Yuwen Huo’s entire left cheek was completely blue, and he was still unconscious. Sun Mai had few helpful ideas.
The following morning, the blue coloring had spread down to Yuwen Huo’s neck and didn’t seem to be stopping. Yuwen Huo would twitch and moan occasionally. Sun Mai was at a complete loss, and none of the other physicians or priests had any clue about what to do.
“What about that Smiling Luo fellow?” Sunan asked.
Sun Mai shrugged. “Call for him, I suppose.”
Unfortunately, Smiling Luo was nowhere to be found.
By noon, half of Yuwen Huo’s face was blue, and the twitching and moaning had grown more intense. Sunan was so frustrated that he wanted to break something. That was when Tie Gangwen approached with news that Lady Yan had arrived.
“What does she want?” Sunan asked, distracted.
“She says she can break the curse.”
Chapter 35: A Jade Bottle
As soon as Lady Yan saw Yuwen Huo, she began to bark orders. “Bring me a furnace immediately. I need violet ginseng rootlets,
blackberry lily, rice wine, lotus oil, underheaven lichen, numinous mushroom…” To the astonishment of everyone present, she listed ten more ingredients. Half of the list included rare ingredients that Sunan had never even heard of.
When she finished, everyone stared at her with wide eyes.
She looked around, frowning. “There’s still a chance to stop the spread of the curse. Hurry!”
It took a full hour to collect all of the ingredients and another hour for Lady Yan to concoct the medicine. Upon finishing, she forced the thick liquid down Yuwen Huo’s throat. He shuddered, then went still.
It was only after the process was complete that Lady Yan offered further explanation. “The river demon you described is more common in the south. I’m not sure what such a creature was doing up here. If the spread of the curse had not been stopped, Lieutenant Yuwen would have experienced a violent transformation and ended up becoming a crab or some other crablike creature.”
In the silence that followed. Sunan shook his head slowly. “How could I have let this happen?”
Lady Yan reached out and placed her hand atop his. “Blaming yourself for mistakes does little good, Sect Leader Sunan.”
Sun Mai eyed her hand and then cleared his throat. “It’s true. As Kong Zhi said, ‘The only true mistake is the mistake you don’t correct.’”
“And how do I correct this one?” Sunan asked.
Lady Yan pulled her hand back, and Sun Mai sniffed. “Well,” he said, “what was it the thing said about the city being infiltrated?”
“Not much, just that the Demon Emperor was coming for us.”
“Probably idle talk,” Sun Mai said.
***
Yuwen Huo woke up the following day. The bright blue discoloration on his skin remained, as did a nasty wound on his cheek, which would no doubt turn into a vicious-looking scar. Other than that, he was no worse for the wear, and in fact, he said he felt even stronger than before.
In their next sparring session, Sunan confirmed that. Yuwen Huo was significantly stronger and faster than before the incident with the river demon.
