by Jace Kang
His heart leaped into his throat at the warmth of her touch, and he let himself be pulled along. He looked over his shoulder to find Aya frowning.
The air shifted around them, and there was Master Ryu sitting in lotus position under a tree.
“You’re back,” he said, without opening his eyes.
“You’re still here.” Siena sashayed over and sat down beside him.
A ping of jealousy twisted in Ken’s gut.
“Yes, your Qi and Essence is so strong, it took me a long time to integrate it. It not only replenished me, it has also allowed me to fortify my Core. It will be easier to complete my mission.”
Ken scratched his head. The master had mentioned needing pills from his robe to close off the portals between here and the World of Rivers and Lakes. Hopefully, he’d take Ken with him.
Master Ryu’s eyes opened and locked first on Ken, then Aya. “Now, Ken.”
Ken perked up. “Yes?”
“What did you sense during my friendly duel with Siena?”
Did he mean when they were fighting, or when they were engaged in a more intimate battle? Ken tapped his chin. “Energy.”
“Sure. But…” Frowning, Master Ryu turned away from Ken and looked to Aya. “Did you feel the push and pull of combat?”
Ken had noticed the push and pull of something.
The girl shrugged. “I guess?”
“No guessing. Either you did, or you didn’t.”
Aya shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
Ken didn’t think so either. Maybe Master Ryu wasn’t that good of a teacher. He hadn’t said what to look out for.
“So, no.”
“Yes,” Ken said. “I mean, no. Definitely not.”
“Good.” Master Ryu smiled.
“Good?” This wasn’t making any sense.
“Good, because there really is no such thing that you can feel, unless you are the one fighting.”
What? Ken scowled. “That was a trick question.”
“Yes. Why do you think I wanted you to watch?”
Because he was a showoff? Ken exchanged looks with Aya.
Master Ryu chuckled. “I wanted you to see how martial forms transition from one to another based on the situation. It’s the first step to learning to feel the flow.”
Ken nodded slowly. “Yes, I did see it, but it looked like you used more than Xingyi Fist.”
“You have a good eye.” Master Ryu smiled broadly. “I tried to use just Xingyi Fist, but Siena was too fast. I resorted to Liu He Ba Fa—Six Harmonies and Eight Ways, also known as Water Boxing, as well as Tempest Fist.”
“Tempest Fist?” Aya asked. “I searched and found Liu He Ba Fa, but I couldn’t find anything about Tempest Fist.”
Searched? Ken stared at her.
“It’s a Yang Water style that belongs to the Land of River and Lakes,” Master Ryu said. “Mastering it will allow you to achieve Third Rank in the Water Path.”
“You used the same skills against the shocktroopers.” Aya held up a small black cube in her open palm. It cast a projection of two miniature versions of the master, one from yesterday and the other from this morning. They moved as if fighting opponents, and every now and then, red circles connected by lines flashed on both, indicating the same technique.
Ken could only gawk.
“Fascinating.” Master Ryu nodded. “Splashing Hands, the Water Whip. You captured it all.”
“My AI recorded and analyzed it.” Aya tapped the neural interface on her head. “I’ve already uploaded it to my neural pathways.”
What? Ken’s stomach sank. That would explain how fast she learned.
“Oh?” Master Ryu grinned. “Show me.”
Aya flushed so red she could’ve competed with the sun to light up the sky. She took a deep breath and started moving. While much slower than Master Ryu, her body executed the techniques perfectly—at least to Ken’s untrained eyes. The Xingyi Fist forms which had taken him hours to learn, she was already able to do.
A mix of jealousy and anger made Ken want to vomit. This just wasn’t fair. As a Purebred, he didn’t have a neural interface.
“This is good,” Master Ryu said, “but without Cultivation supporting it, it’s like a Picasso knock-off.”
Whatever that meant, it made Ken feel a little better.
“Picasso, the painter?” Aya asked, voice trembling. “I don’t understand.”
“Your movement is a copy without true form or function.” Master Ryu shook his head, and pointed to the building beside them. “It would be as if that skyscraper didn’t have a framework supporting it. If you tried Splashing Hands, it would break several bones in your hands.”
Her shoulders slumped.
“More importantly, it will never help your lungs.” He pressed on her upper back and stomach to adjust her stance. “Keep your spine straight. It’s not hopeless. You just need to purify your meridians and replace it with good Qi. And the same goes with you, Ken.”
Ken sighed. “If only there were an easier way.”
Master Ryu sighed, too. “If I had my pills…”
“Could the effect of the pills be replicated by Siena’s channeling?” Ken turned to the Elestrae, who was leaning against Master Ryu. Again, that sensation knotted in his stomach.
“Pills?” she asked. “Do you mean the ones that were from your robes?”
“Yes.” Ken nodded.
“My pills?” Master Ryu’s eyes fluttered open. “Where?”
“We were invited by the Peacekeepers to look at them,” she said. “They didn’t let us remove them from their headquarters, but we did study their chemical makeup.”
“And?” Aya asked, edging closer.
“Simply amazing. Dense bioenergy, with several chemical compounds we’d never seen before. And my people have seen a lot in this galaxy. How are they made?”
Climbing to his feet, Master Ryu helped Siena up. “They’re composed of several herbs harvested at specific phases of the moon or certain days of the year. They also contain minerals mined from special locations. All are only found in the World of Rivers and Lakes. Then, the ingredients are refined and processed by high-ranking Qi-smiths.”
“Can you go back to get another?” Ken asked.
The master shuffled his feet. “No.”
Just no? All three looked at him, waiting for an explanation, but none was forthcoming.
Instead, he turned to Aya. “Can you download the Peacekeeper’s research?”
“Not while their headquarters are in lockdown, unless you can get me inside.”
“I have access.” Siena fingered one of her beads.
Master Ryu beamed at her. “From what you saw, do you think you could replicate its energy?”
“On Earth?” She leaned into him. “Probably not. There’s not enough istrium, aquaryl, or titanide left on this planet. Maybe if you could obtain the core of a starship that can fold space.”
Ken looked at the crescent moon, which was pale in the early morning sky. Space-folding starfighters and cruisers were docked in lunar orbit. Master Ryu would have a better chance of penetrating Peacekeeper Headquarters than making his way to the moon without permission; and the news reported that the bulk of the fleet had deployed on a classified mission a week ago, anyway. Shipyards in low orbit around Earth would be another possibility, but istrium supply was so low, they might not find any cores.
“From your expressions, I’m guessing that isn’t possible.” Master Ryu scratched his chin.
Aya and Ken both shook their heads.
“I have another idea. May I feel your pulse?” the master asked the Elestrae. When she nodded, he placed three fingers on each of her wrists and closed his eyes. After a moment, he nodded to Ken and Aya. “You feel her pulse now.”
They exchanged glances, then followed his command. Ken took Siena’s right wrist with his left hand, while Aya felt her left pulse with her right hand. At the same time, the master took their free arms and placed pr
essure on their wrists.
“The right side reflects the organs of Qi and Yang,” Master Ryu said. “Under your index finger, you feel the Lung; your middle finger, the Spleen, your ring finger, Kidney Yang.”
His words could’ve been high-level math, for all that Ken could understand them. He just nodded.
“The left represents the organs of Blood and Yin. Heart under the index finger, Liver under the middle finger, Kidney Yin under the ring finger. Siena has strong, even pulses.”
The force thrummed beneath Ken’s fingers, though without anyone to compare it to, it was impossible to tell if it was strong or weak…
“Now,” Master Ryu said. “Feel Aya’s Lung and Spleen pulse.”
Ken pondered. Right side, under the index and middle fingers. “May I?” he asked Aya.
Frowning, she offered her wrist.
The sensations beneath his fingers didn’t feel any different from Siena’s. Just what was he trying to feel?
“Aya’s Lung pulse is weak, her Spleen pulse slippery. The first should be obvious—”
It wasn’t.
“—compared to Siena, it feels frail.”
Perhaps so? It tapped against his fingers.
“Now, her Spleen pulse feels as if a smooth pebble is rolling beneath your finger.”
Maybe? It—
Aya swatted his hand away, and used her left fingers to feel her pulse.
“Come from underneath,” Master Ryu said, adjusting her position.
Her eyes widened. “I feel what you mean.”
“That’s a sign that your Spleen is creating phlegm.”
Aya shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense. Phlegm comes from—”
“Yes, yes, it’s an inflammatory response.” The master covered his chest. “We are speaking in metaphors. Four thousand years ago, our ancestors couldn’t see a cell or hormone or enzyme, so they came up with a logical system for understanding the body.”
“Our ancestors could.” Siena winked at Ken, who had reclaimed his spot on Aya’s wrist.
And there it was, the rolling sensation in her pulse.
“In the Path of Five Elements, we say the Spleen takes food and divides it into good and bad parts.” Master Ryu swept his hands apart, like a demigod parting the sea. “The good goes towards creating energy, which merges with the energy from the lungs to create Qi. The bad gets expelled. However, if your Spleen is weak, some of the bad gets stuck in with the good. That’s phlegm and dampness. Aya’s Spleen Qi is too weak to filter food well, and her Lung Qi is too weak to disperse the phlegm.”
“What about me?” Ken asked.
“Your Heart pulse jitters, and your Liver pulse is wiry. That’s why you’re so excitable.”
Ken felt his wrist. The sensation—
“See how the Liver pulse feels like a guitar string vibrating under your finger?”
“What’s a guitar?”
The master rolled his eyes. “A stringed instrument. Don’t you have those?”
Aya and Ken exchanged glances. In fact, they didn’t. He’d seen strings in the old movies, and like in The Hero with Jet Li, they snapped when wet. Modern sensors and synthesizers could replicate sound fidelity perfectly.
With a chuckle, Siena uttered those words again. When the air shimmered, she reached in and pulled out a wooden box with strings made of what looked to be twisted hair. She ran her finger across one, and a melodious sound came out.
“Oooooh.” Master Ryu closed his eyes. “Even your instrument influences the energy of the world.”
“Feel the string.” Siena beamed at Ken.
His heart fluttered at her smile. None of the XHumans ever smiled at Purebreds. He reached out and felt the string. It buzzed against his finger. Did his pulse feel like that? He tried again, and still couldn’t tell the difference.
“In any case,” Master Ryu said, closing his eyes, “this is all basic. Later, you will be able to extend your Qi and sense all the way to someone’s Core. Siena’s Core is so dense. It’s also recovered exponentially faster than I could. How is that?”
Siena shrugged. “I still don’t know what a Core is, exactly.”
“How do you replenish your energy for fighting, or opening that portal?” he asked.
“We just do. It’s just like breathing. It’s faster with rest, cleaner air, and fortifying food.”
“Amazing.” Master Ryu looked her up and down.
“Our species developed around a white giant.” She pantomimed shading her eyes. “With all that ultraviolet light, we evolved to heal quickly.”
Ken snorted. As much as XHumans wanted to emulate Elestrae through gene manipulation, their DNA was just too complex in comparison.
“Wait,” Ken said. “This is all fascinating, but how does Siena’s health help us acquire your pills?”
“Her Core already has as much capacity as a Fifth-Ranked master’s.” Master Ryu placed his hand on her belly. “And it isn’t even solid. If she can Cultivate to First Rank, her potential will expand by orders of magnitude.”
“What does that mean?” Aya asked.
Master Ryu rubbed his chin. “Imagine you could give Cores a score. With no training, the average human has a score of ten. At First Rank, their Core solidifies, and will have a score of one hundred. At Second Rank, it would be a thousand. On that scale, Siena is already a million.”
“A hundred thousand times greater than us,” Ken muttered.
“At least you have the potential.” The master patted him on the head. “None of these XHumans do. As Siena said, they must’ve edited it out of their genome.”
“So I can’t?” Aya’s eyes glistened.
“Here’s the thing: I think you can, because of the modification that gave you that hair, and the glitch that gave you cystic fibrosis.”
She wiped her tears away.
“In any case,” the master continued, “if I can train Siena to First Rank, and then she is still willing to transfer energy several times, I might be able to close the portal without the need for the pills. If she’s willing.”
“We can start now.” Siena started fiddling with the master’s clothes.
Ken’s gut knotted again.
“Not yet.” Master Ryu licked his lips nervously. “First, you need to learn to Cultivate.”
Chapter 17:
The Cultivator
D espite the old Confucian saying, Ryu was realizing it wasn’t always the father’s fault that a child couldn’t learn. Or in this case, it wasn’t the teacher’s fault a student couldn’t Cultivate.
After all, Kentaro and Aya had already made progress in their respective paths in two days. They’d cleared their meridians enough that Qi was trickling through the pathways. Whether Aya noticed it or not through all the metal in her brain, she was having to clear her lungs out less frequently.
Siena, on the other hand, was just too flighty. Easily distracted by pretty clouds, the occasional bird flying over the park, or some XHuman walking by in a garish outfit, she could barely hold a stance.
It was hard to believe she was a science envoy from an alien species. She’d told her colleagues she was doing research in the field; what she hadn’t told them was that he was apparently the research.
He adjusted her position yet again, pressing her hips forward.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s hard for us. There’s just so much diversity in color.”
Aya eyed the crow that had broken her focus. “It’s black.”
“Oh, no.” She shook her head. “It’s many shades of black. I don’t think human eyes can see the difference.”
Ryu shrugged. A First Rank Wood Path practitioner, with their enhanced eyesight, could.
She flashed him a suggestive smile. “How about if we practice that other style?”
Which of course meant sex. They’d engaged in intercourse on three more occasions, each time allowing Ryu to enhance his Core. It might go against the Code of the World of Rivers and Lakes to sleep with
a student, but really, she was much more powerful than him. Plus they’d already done it before he started teaching her.
Shit. He was just rationalizing. This was so wrong.
Yet it might be the only way to accomplish his mission. How much more time did he have?
Adopting a stern expression, he said, “Only after you hold the stance for ten minutes.”
“I—”
“Attention all citizens,” that female voice filled the air. “This is Peacekeeper Headquarters.”
Ryu looked up to the same skyscraper near Central as he always did with these announcements.
A holographic scene appeared, this time with the backdrop of Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion.
His heart sank. Another portal location.
“Last night, there were two more murders.” The image panned in on yet another body, lying in the concentric circles of a Zen garden. “The victim was thirty-two-year-old Koji Johnson, who was last seen by his wife yesterday at 23:00, when he went out for a walk. He was discovered at 6:00. As with the other crimes, the cameras in the vicinity shorted out.”
“Another?” Kentaro shook his head.
“That’s four murders in three days,” Aya said. “In a city which hasn’t had a murder in centuries.”
The voice continued. “The next victim is Michiko Zhang, forty-three, whose remains were discovered at Kiyomizudera. Time of death is estimated at 20:00. We warn you, the next scene might be disturbing.”
The image shifted to the latticed columns of the famous temple. Blood streaks and chunks of flesh, bone, hair, and cloth were scattered across a walkway.
In the corner of his eye, Aya’s complexion turned green as she covered her mouth.
“The first three looked similar. Bodies intact, blood beneath the navel.” Kentaro squinted at the scene. “This one is different, as if whoever did it shredded the poor woman.”
“Blood beneath the navel?” Ryu looked at him.
“Yes, we noticed that with the first.” Kentaro nodded at Aya.
“I have footage,” Aya said, voice shaky.
“Let’s see it.”
“Give me a moment.”
“In other news,” the announcer continued, “Ryusuke Ishihara has still not been located. As of yet, nothing connects him to these other crimes, but Peacekeepers are exploring the idea that he could possibly be the perpetrator.”
