by Jeremy Bai
“Sheng’er?” she said. “Ling’er? Mother? Father?”
There was no response.
Keeping her knife ready, she stepped into the courtyard. As she did, she detected a blur of motion within her peripheral vision, coming from the left. However, despite her modest abilities in martial arts, she was completely incapable of reacting. In the blink of an eye, the figure to her left stabbed his finger into her wrist and then her neck. Her hand loosened, and even as the knife fell to the ground, she began to collapse.
Before she fell to the ground, the figure reached out and caught her.
Suddenly, she found herself staring into the face of a man wearing a set of bone armor.
“A feisty one, huh?” the man said. Chuckling, he threw her over his shoulder, which was when she caught sight of her children and her parents, bound, gagged, and leaning up against the far wall of the courtyard, flanked by two tough-looking men in grayish garments.
The man holding Liu Shasha crouched down and then leapt into the air, flying up until he was on the courtyard wall. “Grab the rest of them and let’s get going,” he said. “We have two more sets of targets in Zun City before we leave for the north.”
***
In the dense forest north of Huisheng was a lake whose shores were covered with black and white stones. Close to the lake was a small encampment occupied by a few of the wives of some lower-ranking members of the Dragon-Phoenix Sect, as well as their children and a few old-timers. They had only been camped here for a few months. The location had been selected mostly because it was a few days outside of the city, a place that few people would ever visit for casual purposes.
The lake teemed with fish, and there were plenty of berries, roots, vegetables, and even fruits available for foraging in the forest. Combined with a few pigs and chickens brought from the city, it was the perfect location to get away from the world for a short time.
However, when three men in bone armor showed up, flanked by a group of ten muscular fellows in gray clothing, the little camp devolved into terror.
Within minutes, the entire group of nearly two dozen women, children, and old-timers were bound and thrown over the shoulders of the men, who disappeared into the forest.
***
In locations all over the empire, from Yu Zhing and Xuanlu to the Zhaoze Swamp and the depths of the Banyan Region, similar scenes played out. In a single day, hundreds if not thousands of women, children, and elderly folks were snatched up and taken away.
Chapter 83: Pulses
When the first report of a kidnapping came in, Wang Tian didn’t pay it much heed. Over the years, the Dragon-Phoenix Sect had become one of the largest and most powerful organizations in the martial world, with nearly six thousand disciples split among the two divisions. As such, there were always bound to be minor incidents among members.
But almost within the hour of the first report, a second report came in. It was only the previous year that the Dragon-Phoenix Sect had taken to using birds to send messages, something that was not common in Qi Xien.
When the third report came in, Wang Tian brought the matter to Sunan and Bao’s attention. Things only got worse as the day wore on.
One of the reports caused Wang Tian’s face to drain of blood. “Shasha,” he murmured, his eyes widening.
“Wang Tian?” Bao said.
He slowly rolled the small strip of paper up. “They took her. And my children.”
There was little need to wonder who they were.
By the end of the day, fourteen reports had come in regarding kidnappings of family members of the Dragon-Phoenix Sect.
“We have to do something!” Bao exclaimed. When she thought about how she would feel if Jinlong and Chunfeng had been taken by the Bone Slicers, it caused her to shudder in terror.
“We don’t even know where they’ve been taken, Bao,” Sunan said.
“But we will eventually, and being stuck down here in Zhe Valley will only delay how long it will be before we can act.”
Sunan looked over at Li Runfa. After fifteen years, Li Runfa’s hair was mostly gray, but his eyes were as sharp as ever. “You’re probably right, Phoenix Sovereign.” He looked down at the maps that were spread out on the table. “It might not be a bad idea to relocate to somewhere closer to the heart of the empire.”
After a moment passed, Sun Mai reached out and put his finger down on one of the maps. “What about here?” he said.
Li Runfa’s eyes narrowed. “That’s where the Purple Cavern Killer and his apprentice challenged the Twin Giants to a duel, isn’t it?”
“You have a good memory,” Sun Mai said. “The salt mines there were once owned by a rather rich tribe that controlled most of the northern tributary of the Ghezhong River. However, they resisted Hua Pi the Skin Dancer as he attempted to unify the Dai Bien Forest, and they were eventually wiped out. The mines were abandoned about ten years ago, and have been ever since.”
Li Runfa leaned closer to the map. “That would put us within about two days of the Zun River. Definitely an ideal location.” He looked up at Bao. “However, once we leave this villa, it will be much more difficult to get any news. At the moment, all reports are sent to this location, and that will continue until we issue orders for the sect to regroup.”
Bao ground her teeth in frustration, and a long moment passed.
“We wait a few more days,” Sunan said. “If we don’t get any news by then, we can head to those salt mines.”
Wang Tian’s hands were clenched into fists. “Phoenix Sovereign, I hereby request leave to—”
“Denied,” Bao interrupted, trying to keep a stern look on her face despite how her heart ached. She thought back to when Sunan had been kidnapped by the Bone General and how she had barely been able to stand still because of the anxiety. And that had only lasted for a few short hours. “Running off on your own won’t do any good. There’s obviously a purpose behind all of this. We need to figure out what it is so that we can get your family back safely, and the families of all the other members of the Dragon-Phoenix Sect. Then we can go in prepared.”
Lips pursed tightly, Wang Tian nodded. Of course, everyone in the room knew that if Wang Tian had expressed such a desire, other lower-ranking members of the sect scattered about in the world would likely have the same urge to take action.
The news they were waiting for came in two days later.
“Heart’s Ridge,” Li Runfa said. “That’s where they’re going, I’m almost certain of it. I got three separate reports all indicating the same thing.”
“Heart’s Ridge?” Sunan looked down at the map. “I haven’t heard of it before.”
“About five years ago, the Demon Emperor began construction of a fortress here.” He pointed to a location on the map where the Banyan Mountains dropped down toward the Mei Lien Sea. “It’s about two days south of Yu Zhing and never really had a name before. But when they started building the fortress, they uncovered a large, heart-shaped rock, and thus the name.”
“It’s a huge structure,” he continued, “one of the largest fortresses ever built by the Demon Emperor, perhaps the only larger one being Yao Gong Palace itself.”
“Fortress?” Dragon Lord Lin Cuirou said. “Or prison?”
Li Runfa looked up. “If I recall, it was your man who infiltrated the construction team, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right. He said that the depths of the fortress are filled with countless tunnels and corridors with cages and barred chambers. Dungeons the likes of which don’t exist anywhere in Qi Xien.”
Li Runfa looked back down at the map. “Yes, I always wondered what use the Demon Emperor would have for so many cells. He doesn’t tend to keep prisoners alive for very long. Now it all makes sense.”
Bao reached up to massage the bridge of her nose. “Are you telling me they’ve been planning this for five years?”
“It’s hard to say,” Li Runfa replied. “Dragon Lord Lin, how much do you know about the fortress itself?”<
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“The reason my man infiltrated the construction team,” Lin Cuirou replied, “is because my division of the sect was in charge of the roads connecting Yu Zhing, Xuanlu, and Huisheng. Heart’s Ridge overlooks the path between Xuanlu and Yu Zhing, so it was only natural for me to try to keep tabs on what was being built there. Furthermore, I had my man create a rough map of the entire structure. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have some detailed information about the Demon Emperor’s second-largest fortification, one that essentially controls the land path between south and north.”
All eyes in the room were focused on Lin Cuirou. A moment later, Bao broke the silence. “Go get that map.”
***
They set out the following day. Other than Sunan and Bao, the forces of the Dragon-Phoenix Sect included seven Dragon Lords, seven Claws of the Phoenix, Phoenix General Mao Yun, Dragon General Tie Gangwen, and the spymaster, Li Runfa, a total of seventeen.
A report had come in indicating that at least one of the Scorpion Swordsman’s disciples’ family had been kidnapped, so the Scorpion Swordsman himself joined them, bringing thirty of his top fighters.
Sun Mai also joined them, and he had five disciples with him.
As such, it was a group of over fifty of the top martial artists in the lands who set out from Scorpion Villa toward Heart’s Ridge.
Scorpion Villa itself was located in the mountains north of Zhe Valley and also overlooked the westernmost stretches of the Ghezhong River, which ran through the north of Dai Bien Forest. Since the Scorpion Swordsman often had dealings with Hua Pi the Skin Dancer, he maintained a small travel hub on the river, only two days’ march from the villa. Normally manned by two of his disciples, it was stocked with travel supplies and also had a cache of ten large bamboo rafts, each one large enough to hold ten people.
Soon, they were speeding down the Ghezhong River into Dai Bien Forest.
On the second morning of what was likely going to be a seven-day journey to the salt mines, Sunan, Bao, and Sun Mai finally discussed the matter of the dreams and poems.
“For more than ten years, I had almost no dreams,” Sunan explained to Sun Mai, “at least not the dreams of gold. The dreams I did have seemed more like memories of previous dreams. When they returned, they were stronger and clearer than before. Like true visions of another time and place.
“For a period of months, I had the same dream over and over again, until the details were burned into my mind as if by a branding iron. By now, I can recall each part in complete detail.
“I am looking down at the ground, where numerous colored dots swirl into a shape that looks very much like the dragon-phoenix symbol that makes up the insignia of our sect. A black hurricane sweeps across the symbol, which begins to emanate golden light. The light causes golden clouds to form, and then golden rain begins to fall. A wind screams, and a vortex springs up to cover the symbol and the hurricane. Meanwhile, the sun, the moon, and two stars in the heavens form a perfect square overhead. Golden light connects the four heavenly bodies, which descend to the earth in that square form. Black and white lightning crash, and in the end, two golden lions are all that are left behind.”
Sun Mai nodded. “And the poem?”
Bao immediately recited the poem:
The shining Wyrm strides ever north,
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 howl,
The sun, the moon, two stars align.
Heaven and Earth turned inside out,
The crash and clash of night and day,
All compass points unite and shout,
The Lions seal the fiends away.
Sun Mai nodded, then closed his eyes for six hours straight. When he opened them, he sighed.
“There are many similar elements between the poem and the dream, and some elements which are not possible to reconcile at the moment. For example, what are the ‘colored dots’ in the dream, and what are the ‘compass points’ mentioned in the poem?
“In any case, there is something I’ve come to suspect over the years. It only hit me after Du Qian and I took that journey on the chariot. Afterward, my meditations on the subject of time led me to certain speculations. Sunan, do you mind if I check your pulse?”
The way Sun Mai seemed to suddenly change conversation topics in the middle of his sentence reminded Sunan of the old Sun Mai, and he smiled. Pulling back his sleeve, he extended his wrist, which Sun Mai reached out and grabbed lightly with his thumb and forefinger.
A moment later, Sunan felt a soft energy enter through his wrist, slowly spreading out through his meridians until it filled his entire body. An hour later, the energy dissipated, and Sun Mai opened his eyes and looked at Bao.
“Bao?”
She nodded, pulled back her sleeve, and extended her wrist.
Another hour passed.
Finally, Sun Mai released Bao’s wrist and opened his eyes again.
“As I suspected,” he said. “The evidence is almost impossible to detect. Only a profound master who has made multiple breakthroughs would notice that…”
Chapter 84: A Potion in a Vial
Sun Mai’s eyes flashed. “Both of your meridians have been… touched.”
“Touched?” Sunan said.
“Perhaps manipulated is a better word, although I don’t think there was any ill intent involved.”
Rubbing her wrist, Bao said, “So you’re saying that my poem and Sunan’s dreams are the result of someone manipulating the qi in our bodies?”
“Something like that,” Sun Mai replied, “although I can’t be sure of the details. I suspect that someone has been reaching out from the shadows to send you a message, likely a message to do with a confrontation with the Demon Emperor. After all, you both saw images similar to Sunan’s dream when you went on that wind dream with the True Shan and got close to Yao Gong Palace. Whoever this person is, he likely views himself as your friend and ally.”
“But why wouldn’t he just speak to us directly, or even send a written message?”
Sun Mai sighed again. “Likely for the same reason that we chose to seal away that chariot all those years ago. Interfering with the streams of time is a very dangerous thing.”
“Time?” Sunan exclaimed. “You think this person, whoever he is, traveled through time?”
“Perhaps. The fluctuations in your meridians, they remind me of certain other fluctuations I’ve felt before.”
“The chariot?” Bao asked.
Sun Mai nodded. “Perhaps you have had a hidden ally on your side this entire time, slowly prodding you in the direction of victory, telling you secrets from the future.”
“I had the first dream in the Huang Mountains, decades ago…” Sunan said. Both he and Bao were clearly shaken.
After a moment, Sun Mai continued, “Sunan, the colored dots that made up that symbol, you said they were golden and silver, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“Just like the uniforms of the two divisions of the Dragon-Phoenix Sect…”
***
On one particular mountain peak in the Banyan Mountains was a cave that overlooked Heart’s Ridge and the Mei Lien Sea. That cave was where Hui had set up camp a few days before. For fear of attracting the attention of the Demon Emperor’s forces in Heart’s Ridge Prison, she chose not to light a fire, despite the fact that snow blanketed the mountain at this elevation. To stay warm, she relied on thick garments and clever manipulation of the qi in her meridians.
She was sitting at the mouth of the cave, looking down at the prison, thinking about stories she remembered from her childhood.
“The Defeat at Heart’s Ridge,” she murmured. “So much tragedy. The betrayal of Lin Cuirou. The death of far too many heroes. Mao Yun. Tie Gangwen. Wang Tian. Ma Ge
.” She sighed. As a young girl, she had heard the whispered names of those heroes who had died in the Defeat of Heart’s Ridge a thousand years in the past. At that time, they had been little more than names.
Over the years, she had seen all of those heroes with her own eyes and had even spoken with a few of them in passing. They were real people to her now, and the thought of them falling in battle in a treacherous trap was heartrending.
In the history she knew, the Defeat at Heart’s Ridge had been a crushing blow to the Dragon-Phoenix Sect. Bao and Sunan survived, but most of their closest friends and their most powerful fighters lost their lives. The resulting anguish and fury prompted Bao and Sunan to marshal the heroes of the land in a reckless assault on Yao Gong Palace that was an even worse defeat than Heart’s Ridge. Neither Bao, Sunan, nor any of the other martial heroes had returned from that assault, which had been the turning point that solidified the Demon Emperor’s power for the following millennium.
Hui looked down at the musical instrument she held in her hands, a set of pipes crafted from long, tubular shells, inlaid with pearl, jade, and gold and inscribed with tiny magical symbols.
Hui had spent a decade in the Eastern Archipelagos acquiring the pipes and had paid a heavy price to do so. She had lost a finger on her left hand, had been stabbed in the abdomen, and had even sacrificed half of the blood in her body in a ritual that nearly cost her her life. In the end, she returned to the mainland feeling battered but victorious.
“The Kun-Peng Pipes,” she murmured. “Were the True Shan right? Can these pipes really turn Heart’s Ridge into a victory instead of defeat?”
She had to believe that the pipes did possess that power. If they didn’t, then her torturous adventure in the Eastern Archipelagos would turn out to be a cruel joke on the part of fate.
“I spent so many decades holding back, refusing to interfere, terrified of causing damage to the streams of time. And now I intend to smash at them with a hammer. Is this the right thing to do? Is this what Master would have done?”
