by Tao Wong
“We’ve been taking turns on the formation as best we can. But”—Tou He shrugged—“it is hard. I do not have the same amount of chi as the others.”
“How long did you last?”
“About three hours at a time,” Tou He said. “We had to meditate and regain our chi as fast as we could before the next person failed.”
Wu Ying could not help but feel a flush of warmth at the idea of beating his friend at something. Then he mentally kicked himself for the thought. “You were injured?”
“A cracked rib and a sprained wrist,” Tou He said, holding up his left hand. Wu Ying could tell the inflammation had mostly disappeared, leaving a slight discoloration on the wrist itself. As for Tou He’s chest, Wu Ying saw the remnants of the bruises. “I was far away from the taotei when it arrived. Barely got a hit in myself. It still shattered my tong fa.”
Before he could ask additional questions, Wu Ying’s stomach rumbled, reminding him of his initial plans. In short order, the pair were seated a short distance away with bowls full of stewed meat, yams, wild mushrooms, and cabbage.
“We must have just missed speaking to each other earlier,” Wu Ying commented after he had finished half his bowl.
“Probably.”
“This taotei. How bad is it?” Wu Ying said, dropping his voice so as not to disturb the others.
Tou He gained a haunted expression. The ex-monk ran a hand across his bald head, pausing as he felt the beginning of scruff on it before he repeated the motion. “Bad. It’s strong. Fast. But most of all, it’s hungry.”
“How is that bad?”
“It wants you. Your chi. Your soul. It looks at you and you know it wants to eat you. To tear you apart and consume you. It frightens me,” Tou He confessed.
Wu Ying frowned, still not understanding, but fell silent as Tou He did not seem to desire to speak further. After spooning in a mouthful of stew, Wu Ying chewed and thought of another topic. Or at least, a related topic. “Did the Elders decide what we’re going to do?”
“Nothing,” Tou He said.
“Pardon?”
“We are to wait here, enforcing the formation until the flowers bloom. At that time, Elder Li will harvest the flower and Elder Wei will make the pills as planned.”
“But the taotei—”
“Cannot get in so long as the formation holds. With your reinforcements, the Elders believe we can hold on long enough for the kurinji flower to bloom. When the Elders have consumed the pills, they will grow even stronger and will take on the demon then,” Tou He said.
Wu Ying looked at the frowning face of his normally happy friend. “You sound worried.”
“I am. It is at least six more days before it’s expected to bloom. Maybe longer,” Tou He said. “And we’re already tired. What if we cannot hold the formation?”
“Then we all die,” Elder Wei’s cold voice crackled through the night air. The old pill refiner looked at Wu Ying then Tou He, sniffing. “Are you not a Buddhist?”
“Yes—”
“Then what are you concerned about? You will reincarnate. Or are you concerned all that meat you have eaten will make you a meal too?” Elder Wei cackled after she spoke. “There are no guarantees in cultivation.”
“Yes, Elder,” the pair chorused together.
“Do you think a fight between us and the monster would not be harmful? How many of these flowers would be damaged? What if it damages the one we need?” Elder Wei said with disdain. “If we lost the flower, would not all this be a waste?”
Tou He said, “But if we die—”
“We die.”
Tou He clamped his mouth shut while Wu Ying looked between the two. Elder Wei looked at Wu Ying, her eyes boring into the cultivator. He offered her a respectful nod. Whatever he thought, Wu Ying understood the necessities that drove the decision. Neither choice was optimal. And since the decision had been made, he could not change it. All he could do…
“Better eat up, Tou He,” Wu Ying said, bumping his friend with his shoulder. “We’re going to need the energy.”
Elder Wei nodded curtly at Wu Ying before walking off, making the rounds around their small encampment. As Wu Ying watched, she stopped by Chao Kun, unwrapped his arm, applied a salve, and rewrapped the damaged limb before moving on.
Together, Wu Ying and Tou He exhaled in resignation and got more food. The next few days would be long and tiring.
Chapter 21
A hand landed on Wu Ying’s shoulder, jolting him from his cultivation. Four days later, the entire process had become automated for Wu Ying. Sit down, channel chi at the bare minimum required to ensure the formation did not break. When you feel the hand on your shoulder, move aside and allow the next person to take over. Rest, eat. Cultivate to restore your chi levels. Rest more. Take over when it was your turn.
Simple. But not easy. Wu Ying rolled out of the way with a surge of energy then lay on the ground beside the cultivator who had taken his place. This time, to Wu Ying’s surprise, it was Li Yao. The female martial specialist was too tired to speak, though she flashed him a quick smile. All of them were too tired.
Each rotation, the cultivators entered the formation anchor points a little more exhausted. Each time, they struggled to stay focused, to keep the chi to the right amount without wasting. Even as they all gained greater experience and practice, exhausted minds and souls slipped. When the formation nearly failed when Tou He collapsed on the third day, the Elders had started rotating in. The addition of the Elders helped stabilize the formation and allow the cultivators more time to rest, as the Elders’ greater chi amounts allowed them to stay in the formation longer.
Twice, the taotei had attempted to breach the formation. Each time, its presence had forced a significant and painful increase in chi expenditure. Each time it tested the formation, the cultivators exhausted themselves even faster. If not for the taotei’s greed and impatience, coupled with its lack of tactical thinking, the formation would have fallen long ago.
As Wu Ying pushed himself to his feet, he stumbled, the sudden motion sending his head spinning. He tottered unsteadily till he regained his balance and stumbled over to the unending cooking fire. Once he spooned food into his bowl from the seemingly bottomless pot of stew and rice, he sat down hard. Bleary eyes traced the simple fire-aspected demon stone Elder Wei had donated to make the cookfire, the poor peasant within him marveling at the waste of taels. The exhausted cultivator who ruled his body quieted the whining peasant within with a mouthful of food.
As Wu Ying finished his meal and moved to get another bowl, Ru Ping arrived next to Wu Ying, his bandaged face somber. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired.”
“Hold out your hand.”
“What?”
“Hold out your hand and keep it steady,” Ru Ping commanded again.
Too exhausted to argue, Wu Ying removed one hand from his bowl and held it out for Ru Ping. Ru Ping stared, eyebrows sloping together before he allowed Wu Ying to retrieve his hand and more food.
When Wu Ying sat back down with his meal, Ru Ping spoke up. “Your hand is trembling.”
“A little,” Wu Ying admitted.
Cultivating and channeling chi was not supposed to be a physically demanding act. But doing so for four days straight with little break would take a toll on most bodies. The constant churn of chi through meridians and dantian would affect the physical body in the same way channeling chi could increase a body’s strength or agility as a directed effect.
“You will not take your place at the next rotation,” Ru Ping said.
“I won’t?”
“No. Elder Li has determined she requires someone with both working eyes. Eat, rest, cultivate.” Ru Ping fished in his robe and pulled out a pill. “Take this when you have finished eating. It will dissolve while you sleep and provide nourishment for your body and increase your passive absorption rates.”
“What is it?” Wu Ying said, taking the bottle with both hands and turning it a
round to see no label attached.
“A Yang Metal Water Chestnut Pill,” Ru Ping said. “The yang chi within increases your passive chi absorption while the metal aspects help to cleanse your body.”
“And the water chestnut?”
“Tastes good.”
Wu Ying blinked and looked at Ru Ping. The other cultivator’s face was bland, offering no clue if he was joking. In the end, Wu Ying thanked the other for his aid and returned to his food. Even the brief surge of energy from a full stomach had faded as his body hungrily drew on whatever source of energy it could to fill the gaping maw in his dantian.
In short order, Wu Ying stumbled away from the cookpot, stuffed. He swallowed the pill before he collapsed on his bedroll, a part of him grateful for the balmy summer evenings before he fell asleep.
***
The next day, Wu Ying woke to the high morning sun beating down on his eyelids. Wu Ying threw a hand over his eyes before memory returned. Shooting up from his bedroll, Wu Ying was surprised to find his muscles moved without the usual aches and pains that had plagued him the last few days. Even more surprising was the extent his dantian had filled overnight. He was nearly half full, the highest amount he had been from a night’s sleep since they started this process.
After completing his morning ablutions and dealing with an overfull bladder, Wu Ying returned to the campfire. To his surprise, Wu Ying saw Elder Li working the campfire, frying up sticks of dough and warming a pot of soybean. Wu Ying scratched his head, surprised to see the civilized meal, and even more surprised when Elder Li made a stick of marinated meat appear in her hand to roast over the fire.
“Come, help me turn these,” Elder Li said without turning around.
“Yes, Elder,” Wu Ying said and hurried over.
Together, the pair cooked then handed out the fried bread sticks, warmed soybean drinks, and when it was ready, the barbecued meat.
When the initial rush was done, Elder Li turned to Wu Ying. “Eat. Then we’ll talk.”
Doing as he was commanded, Wu Ying scarfed down his meal before he was forced to raise his hands again, showing them off to Elder Li. Next, she ran him through his aura suppression exercises. As Wu Ying did his best to contain his chi, the Elder scowled.
“Pitiful,” Elder Li said. “If your cultivation was not as low as it was, I would rather use Ru Ping. Do not cultivate further. The less chi you have, the less you will affect the kurinji. Go practice your aura suppression until it is time. When you are reaching for your aura to strengthen it, make sure to not overreach. You must imagine the aura…”
Over the next few minutes, Elder Li detailed the numerous things Wu Ying had done wrong. From overreaching to the inept way he had smoothed his aura, the Elder offered criticism and solutions. By the time Elder Li was done and Wu Ying had time to consider her words, he realized by using both her knowledge and his own, he would likely reach the Greater Achievement level in the exercise.
Excited as he was by the accomplishment, Wu Ying could not help but look into the distance where the three Elders stood. A short distance from them was the reason for their entire expedition—a single bush that had altered its own destiny. The bush sat all by itself, the other nearby kurinji plants having died off due to the mutated plant hogging all of the chi in its surroundings.
Wu Ying let his eyes narrow on the plant, staring at the still closed buds. Wu Ying looked around and noted how other plants were close to flowering and in some cases, were flowering. If the mutated plant followed the same timeline, he had less than six hours to put his new learning into practice.
Moving a short distance away from the campfire, Wu Ying took a seat and cycled his breathing until he calmed down. Then, taking into account what Elder Li had said, he practiced, tightening his aura and smoothing out the imperfections in it. Working to make his presence ever smaller, ever more mundane. Ever more… mortal.
***
Hours passed in a flash, Wu Ying achieving minor gains through the process. Increased understanding or not, only through the process of practicing could Wu Ying gain a proper understanding and, most importantly, affect the change in his aura. Each minute, each pass over his aura saw an improvement, a gradual tightening that reduced his presence and decreased the leak. To Wu Ying’s surprise, the addition of the strenuous four days of channeling practice was what allowed him to make further strides. The constant flow of chi through and out of his body allowed Wu Ying to sense his acupoints with even greater precision. That allowed him to more closely tighten those acupoints and sense the outflow of chi to the aura membrane.
After hours, Wu Ying was awoken from his training. Ru Ping jerked his head toward where the Elders stood, at the edges of the boundary of the mutant kurinji flower. Even here, Wu Ying could sense the difference, the way the chi flow in the clearing had changed. As he turned his head, Wu Ying spotted how some of the other flowers in the meadow had already opened, others on the cusp of blooming.
“Go. Keep tight hold of your aura,” Ru Ping said.
“What will you be doing, Senior?” Wu Ying said.
“Harvesting. The other kurinji flowers are not as valuable, but they are rare. We can use them for a variety of pills.”
“Of course, Senior,” Wu Ying said. “There will be a lot of work.”
“I know. I’ve already started. I best get back to it. The flowers are only valuable when they have bloomed.”
“Good luck, Senior,” Wu Ying said. He walked forward, letting his gaze dart around the clearing.
Most of the cultivators at the seven formation flags were their strongest members. Those included Chao Kun, Liu Tsong, and Li Yao. Tou He was seated beside the fire, cultivating along with a couple of others. Another cultivator lay, sleeping. Only the Elders were up and active.
“Elders,” Wu Ying said as he bowed to the group as he arrived.
“Wu Ying. You have improved,” Elder Li said, looking the boy over. “Good.”
“Thank you, Elder.”
“I know we have spoken of this before but flet me reiterate. We enter a few minutes before it blooms, holding our auras tight to our bodies,” Elder Li said. “Once within, I will set up the harvesting material we need. I will conduct the entire harvesting process, but you will help me hold aside the branches I indicate. To store the flowers, we will place them in the chi-capturing cold jade container I have prepared. After which, you will take the container to Elder Wei as she prepares the pills.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Good. Now, remember. To begin the harvesting, we must first isolate the chi from each branch,” Elder Li said.
Wu Ying leaned forward, listening intently. Not that he had not learned this before, but Elder Li was focused on ensuring he knew each step perfectly.
Minutes passed, the petals of the flower opening at a glacial pace. After making sure Wu Ying knew his part of the plan perfectly, Elder Li stopped talking. As the tension in the atmosphere increased, Wu Ying could not help but shift and look around, searching for an escape. In doing so, Wu Ying caught sight of Tou He seated by the campfire, munching on the remnants of the barbecued pork without a care in the world. The ex-monk waved the skewer of meat at Wu Ying, making the cultivator break into a smile.
Elder Li tapped Wu Ying on the top of his foot with her cane then walked toward the flowers. Wu Ying settled his breathing and focused on his aura, double-checking it was as retracted as he could make it. Content, Wu Ying followed after Elder Li.
The mutant kurinji flower had stark blue petals with golden highlights and a pistil of light pink. It was a beautiful flower, and on a single crowded branch, multiple flowers bloomed. The shrub the pair approached pulsed as it drew in chi from the surroundings, filling the flowers with earth- and water-aspected chi.
Elder Li squatted next to the flower before she handed Wu Ying the box and laid out her tools, including talismans laid out beneath the base of the plant that would lull the plant’s natural defenses to sleep. She sat facing the flower for
long moments, judging the flow of chi. When the plant fully bloomed, Wu Ying needed no one to inform him, for the sudden shift in chi flow was apparent. As if a lock had been placed across an irrigation channel, the flow of chi being drawn into the plant cut off. In his surprise, Wu Ying did not see Elder Li move, but the next moment, a flower was in her hand, held out toward him.
Wu Ying scrambled and opened the box, allowing her to place the flower within. Again and again, Elder Li worked, harvesting the flowers using the knife and forceps she had laid out, while Wu Ying helped move branches away when needed. Never once did she touch the plant directly.
When the box was full, Wu Ying placed the second box nearby Elder Li before he moved swiftly and surely to the waiting Elders. Outside of the range of disturbance, Elder Wei had begun the process of refining the pills, the cauldron glowing with the heat of the earth flame set beneath it.
“Good. The quality is very good,” Elder Wei said when Wu Ying presented the box to her. After glancing at its contents, she set the box aside, focusing her full attention on her cauldron.
Beside her, Elder Po stood, ready to assist, as Liu Tsong sat at a formation flag.
Time passed with Wu Ying moving back and forth between the cauldron and the plant. He lingered longer each time at the cauldron, watching as Elder Wei added fresh spring water, spirit herbs, beast parts, and even crushed spirit stones. She boiled the entire concoction down multiple times, concentrating the energies of the materials and removing the dregs with a swirl of her ladle. Elder Po caught the dregs in a container that he set aside so as not to contaminate the environment.
When the entire bush had been nearly completely harvested of its flowers, Elder Li returned with Wu Ying.
It was when they had left the shrub’s immediate surroundings that Wu Ying asked, “You left some flowers behind.”
“We have enough. If it is fated, more bushes will appear,” Elder Li said. “Come. Let us store these properly and watch Elder Wei.”
