The hag raised the knife high above her head, seemingly smiling as she did so. Buff Baby frowned and grimaced and despite his paralysis, unleashed one final roar. The knife came rushing down toward the center of his chest… but was cut a finger width short of his body when a figure clad in faded yellow and brown came crashing down upon the hag feet first.
Zuo Shilong dove to grasp his metal staff and rolled onto his feet, already in a fighting position. He jumped and spun to slam the weapon onto the floor but the monster scurried out of the way like a rodent, hastily dashing on all four limbs away from the weapon’s range. The stone tiles cracked and shattered beneath the force of the blow. Despite her disfigured frame, she was surprisingly nimble and quick, and for the first time, actually spoke. She released a deep throaty growl or purr with her breathing, like some beast waiting to roar. She began cussing and swearing under her breath, spouting all sorts of perverted gibberish.
“Enough of this, you filth! You will conduct this monstrous behavior no more,” he declared. He charged at her, staff twirling and spinning. The weapon spun at a downward diagonal angle but she raised an arm to deflect the blow— a blow that would have shattered a brick wall. She jumped at him with hands and filed nails directed toward his face. He ducked beneath the attack and rolled away and immediately counter attacked with his own barrage of offensive maneuvers. The staff found its mark all over her body. She was hit once, twice, thrice, and a fourth time with the force of each blow completely unrestrained in an attempt to overwhelm her with his martial fury. She blocked some more blows and evaded others, but the length of her arm was far too short to reach him for a counter attack. Even a direct blow to the head did little to slow her movements. Even Zuo Shilong, a fully trained monk of the Shaolin sect, was stunned at the hag’s ability to absorb his attacks. There was little doubt in his mind that the creature he faced was far beyond what was meant to be natural.
Finally, she scampered out of the way, the impact of his blows seemingly insufficient to wear her down. She mumbled more gibberish, dashed to a nearby wall, and scurried up its surface like a spider. The movements were eerie and inhuman. It became more so when she crawled onto the ceiling completely upside down. She shrieked and swore and uttered additional profanities then dove full force at Zuo Shilong. In quick reflex, he leaped out of the way with a backhand spring, and reached for an item tied beneath his waist sash. He gripped a small terracotta sphere in his hand and flung it directly at her face. It shattered upon impact, and the contents within the sphere splashed all over her face like an acid, sizzling and simmering through the skin. She flailed about and grasped her face and staggered around the room blinded until she was right beneath a large stone column that no longer even extended to the ceiling. It was already cracked and crumbling on all sides.
Zuo Shilong charged full speed, spun his staff several times around his head and swung at the support column with all his might and momentum. The column shuddered and shook as the deeper, bigger cracks snaked their way all around its frame. Zuo Shilong dashed out of the way to steer clear of the destruction. It all came crumbling down, with chunks of stone the size of oxen raining down upon her; within moments, she was smashed under a pile of massive rocks. It was a fate no creature could survive. Only her filthy hand stuck out from beneath the debris, motionless and lifeless.
After the choking dust had settled, Zuo Shilong twirled his staff around and slung it right across his back right next to his wooded one, and tightened the strap across his chest, satisfied to have the weapon back in its rightful place—in his possession. He took a moment to find his breath and took a drink of water from his calabash canteen. Buff Baby still lay on the altar unable to move or speak, but he bore witness to the entire altercation. Zuo Shilong casually approached him with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes staring him down. He shook his head at Buff Baby like a disapproving parent. He placed his hands upon him felt for the pressure points, and released Buff Baby from his paralysis with successive strikes to his vital points.
Buff Baby gasped for air and flexed his body. He rolled off the altar and fell to the floor on his knees. He felt sick, nauseated, and dizzied. He hurled and vomited what little there was in his stomach. After a short session of coughing, he sat upon the floor still in disbelief of what had transpired.
“Took your sweet time, did ya? You spoiled little brat, we’re both in this mess because I went out looking for your sorry butt!” Buff Baby exclaimed. Zuo Shilong maintained his stare and said nothing. “But…” he grunted as he stood to his feet. “You have my thanks, monk. I will never forget this.” He reached out and grabbed Zuo Shilong up and off his feet for a big, bone-crunching embrace.
“We still need to get out of here, Buff,” Zuo Shilong said, his head turning red from the massive hug.
“Yes, right,” Buff Baby said. He shook off his disorientation and looked to the large pile of debris. “That creature, I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life. First, it’s an army of drugged government officers, and then it’s a massive horde of the undead controlled by that accursed doggone necromancer. Then now of all things, we run into to-to- whatever that was!” he said pointing to the pile of rubble. “If she had not paralyzed me, oh, I would have squashed her head like an overripe melon.”
“I am sure you would have,” said Zuo Shilong. “But, I was glad I arrived in time. I have never encountered such a foe who could withstand such attacks. This is truly alarming. There is little doubt we live in especially dark times.”
“What was it that you smashed into her face?” Buff Baby asked.
“It was an herbal tincture. It is quite useful for fending off bears and tigers and such. It appeared to have worked well against that… hag,” answered Zuo Shilong.
“How did you find me? How did you lose your staff?”
“That night when you went out looking for me, I saw you but I did not want to make myself known. I had just caught a fish and had finished roasting it over the fire— ”
“Wait, you eat meat? All this time I’ve only seen you eat rice buns, noodles, and fruit and— ”
“I no longer live according to the precepts of my previous life. I, in particular, enjoy fish,” Zuo Shilong answered before he could finish. “You were tracking my footprints but you did not realize why they had ceased to appear. I was atop a tree eating my fill, but after I had not seen you return I went out in search of you. That was when I had seen evidence of a struggle that I tracked you down here, some one thousand paces from the site. She ambushed me from behind, but in my fright and attempt to evade her, I lost my staff and she took it before I could recover. Now, we are both inside a large cliff in the ruins of ancient sect. The only discernable entry was inaccessible but I managed to break into the architecture and find you… on your way to becoming skewered meat. The bad news is that we cannot exit the way I came in. Not even I can scale those walls.”
Buff Baby shook his head as he took a moment to absorb what Zuo Shilong had told him. “Well, if that ugly old hag can get in and out of this accursed place, then so can us. I find this place unnerving to say the least. It’s a site of horrors,” remarked Buff Baby.
“I thought you were the scariest thing around for many leagues?” Zuo Shilong questioned in jest.
Buff Baby paused for a moment then looked at him, then looked at the pile of rubble. “After what I’ve witnessed and experienced in these past days, monk… I know now there are things in this world far more frightening.”
Zuo Shilong did not say anything, but instead stood in silent agreement to his words. “I am curious about this creature. I wonder if there’s anything we can discover about her origin.”
“I happened upon some old documentation and personal belongings there. They belonged to a woman from the Northern Song Dynasty. That’s hundreds of years before the initial Menggu conquests,” Buff Baby said, pointing to the chests he had just looted.
; “Intriguing,” replied Zuo Shilong as he walked over to an open box full of curiosities. The scrolls and books in the box were all subjects catering to what society considered taboo. “Shamanism, spirit mediation, and alchemy and interpretations of the use of trigrams, hmm… Now, there is little wonder. She has destroyed both mind and body through prolonged overfamiliarity with Wu Jiao black arts. I have heard many legends concerning such people who delve into them. It also appears that she has just recently resumed the murders, probably at the first appearance of the Pale Foreigners. That hag may have been a demoniac for centuries.”
“Bah, I believe not in such nonsense of demons and spirits. She had simply gone mad trying to learn the skills of charlatans and superstitious country folk, ingesting all sorts of filth that changed her for the worst. Maybe she should have taken notes from the Terukk alchemists,” Buff Baby said in spite, as he fixed his attire and gathered his belongings.
“You have seen the dead walk in hordes yet still you doubt the participation of spiritual powers upon this world?” asked Zuo Shilong.
“I’ve little doubt that the Jiangshi we fought has an explanation that we can learn of and understand. Spirits, ghosts, demons—that’s all a load of poppycock,” said Buff Baby.
Zuo Shilong simply shrugged. Buff Baby collected the documents and letters that he had found until the sounds of moving rock caught their attention. The two of them stood for a moment in brief hesitation, stunned at the possibility that the monstrosity could have survived such a calamity. The hand that should have lain still forever began to move and flex; the filthy fingers curled and extended.
“You sure you brought down that column ‘correctly,’ monk?” he asked sarcastically.
“What? Why, yes! I struck it with all my might and speed!”
“Didn’t look like it was enough, and I’m in no shape for a fight, my friend.”
The rocks began to move, the rubble started to shift, for the hag beneath it all somehow unnaturally managed to survive. With immense unusual strength, the hag crawled out from the massive weight crushing her, and clawed her way out of the rubble as it were nothing more than sand. Buff Baby and Zuo Shilong made a mad dash out of the room, desperately seeking an exit. Her shriek echoed throughout the inner complex and pierced their ears.
The two ran as quickly as they could through the hallway, hoping they would not be met with a dead end. Zuo Shilong risked looking over his shoulder and saw the hag quickly closing distance in the darkness. She crawled on all fours like a brute, skittering across the floor, onto the walls, and beneath the low ceiling. However, a glimmer of sunlight appeared straight ahead. Old lattice doors seemed to promise an exit they did not expect. Right before the hag could reach them, Zuo Shilong and Buff Baby leaped and crashed through the doors and plummeted down a deep waterfall gorge. The hag dared not to enter into the sunlight lest she be exposed for her monstrosity, and stayed within the darkness. Her shriek echoed across the valley as Buff Baby and Zuo Shilong plummeted into the water below.
9 The Gears Turn
Every time he shut his eyes, faces were all he could see. The faces of fear, hatred, anger, and even sorrow— each one flashed through his mind the faces of all those who met their deaths at the tip of his blade. Not one, he felt, deserved to live another day. They were cowards, the lot of them. They were monsters who thrived and prospered under the suffering, pain, and anguish of those crushed beneath their boots. Every experience, every contract, every operation had culminated to this very moment. Deep meditation had only ever reawakened the thirst in him… and brought back the many hues of blood that had streamed down the frosty edge of his blade. Ultimately, it all felt in vain.
The night came with the rains, and so did Sun Xin’s mental preparations for the operation. Wen Ping and his sister Wen Xiao gathered their gear and secured rope for the infiltration of the valley fortress. The Shan Gui’s surface stronghold had fallen still and silent. None but guards patrolled the roads that crisscrossed the large garrison like a grid, but the darkness of the night and deep cover would suffice for the trio to make their stealthy infiltration of the Shan Gui’s fortress. This was it: the night that Sun Xin and his team would complete the objectives of their imperial mission so the empire could brace for what the alliance of the Underworld was planning. They opened the fortress diagram for one more study. A network of tunnels had been dug deep beneath the stronghold and would serve as an escape route after their deeds had been done. There was but one access to the tunnels, and it was not easily entered.
“Once we have entered the fortress grounds, we will split. I will hunt eunuch Jin and the others while you extract Jade Lotus from the dungeons. We will rendezvous at the secret entrance to the inner tunnel networks deep beneath the fortress and wait for each other there,” said Sun Xin. “There is absolutely no room for error when you are that deep into enemy territory.”
“They’re like pests—so fond of digging holes and tunnels into the land,” commented Wen Xiao.
“The plan sounds simple enough. It’s too simple, if you ask me. Still, an evening with these weather conditions is most auspicious for such an operation,” said Wen Ping.
“Simplicity is a luxury in our line of work, Ping. Besides, any night is auspicious when stealth is involved,” said Sun Xin.
“Well, I meant that in two days of this autumn season will be my twenty ninth,” Wen Ping said.
“What does that make you? Year of the ram? Be sure to celebrate when our task is accomplished,” said Xin patting him on the back.
“We’ve the best-tasting plum wine to be served at your table, brother, just as you always like,” said Wen Xiao.
Together the trio sneaked past the open expanses of the enclosed valley, creeping and leaping from cover to cover away from lanterns and lampstands, and the torches of guard patrols. They cut through the courtyard installations by scaling its walls and briskly scurrying over the tiled rooftops. They reached the walls of the fortress fortifications and looked high above their heads to scan for any possible point of entry. The rains continued to pour while the thunder and the lightning began to strike. All three elements would do well to mask their ascension. The wall’s surface was smooth and high, making it impossible to scale with hands and feet alone.
Sun Xin secured a line to a crossbow bolt tipped with a grappling hook. He armed the crossbow and pulled it back to its maximum tension. He aimed upward and pulled the trigger. The coiled line quickly unraveled from his hip as the bolt rocketed over the wall. There was just enough energy in the bolt to clear the edge of the wall and allow the grappling hook to securely latch on to its edge. With a quick tug, Sun Xin pulled himself up on the line using the strength of his arms and back alone while his legs and feet dangled freely. However, Wen Ping and Wen Xiao followed close behind by anchoring their feet around the line. They looked like caterpillars inching their way up.
There were guards loosely stationed throughout the length of the wall, barely paying half attention to their surroundings with the cold rain beating down upon their heads and backs. “No need to trouble ourselves,” thought Sun Xin. Behind the walls, the fortress looked nothing short of a wealthy estate full of its own courtyard offices and residences, albeit darker and more militarized. The largest structure of the fortress was multi-tiered and broad, with heavily guarded entrances and walkways throughout. It was not much trouble, considering Sun Xin had ample experience breaking and entering similar compounds before. However, the guards within the fortress grounds wore different colors, and were more heavily armed and armored.
Sun Xin thought it quite bizarre that the compound and fortress were so heavily guarded since the very surface stronghold the Shan Gui possessed was supposed to have been secret to the extreme, unknown to all outsiders other than the most devout members of the order. Perhaps they had taken more precautions considering the prominent presence of other factions inside the valley. Was it some form of mistrus
t? Sun Xin decided that it was of no use to ponder on such thoughts at the moment.
“Didn’t think they’d be needing this much security. Are they supposed to be guarding this place against themselves? Their leadership must be paranoid,” commented Wen Xiao.
“Agreed. Something does not feel right about this,” added Wen Ping.
“Do not dwell on such feelings. We’ve need of a way to get inside. Little doubt the eunuchs and Jade Lotus are in that structure, so stay focused,” said Sun Xin.
The trio took a moment to study the guard patrol patterns of the compound before making good use of garden vegetation and architecture to sneak their way through. By altering their footfalls, their passage was near-silent; even the masterful control of breathing further enhanced the seamlessness of their infiltration. The guards, regardless of their level of training and discipline, overlapping fields of vision, or influence under Terukk elixirs, could not have been alerted to their presence.
Sun Xin observed the structure before them and searched for that one possible point of entry that was the inconspicuous underground passage at the base of a descending staircase. It was revealed by a high-ranking guard who proceeded through the passage when he thought no one else was looking. The guard was a bowman who sported a unique-looking bow and quiver strapped across his back and chest. A specialist of some form perhaps?
“It’s almost as if we’ve led and encouraged to enter,” whispered Xin as he observed the bowman making his entry. Again, he ignored entertaining such thoughts.
The trio approached the back door entrance and began picking at the lock. With but two or three moments of Wen Xiao’s expertise, the latch opened with a satisfying clack, and the heavy wooden door panel slid open. More flights of descending stone steps greeted them at the door, and again they proceeded into the darkness. It was not long before the team found themselves deep underground —the preferred setting of the Shan Gui. Large chambers full of soldiers were preparing for war just as those outside the fortress. Scores of them trained actively in their combative arts with weapons both traditional and unique to their order. Those who practiced in their chambers were comparable to the Shaolin warrior monks in their power and explosiveness and abilities to wield impact weapons. They practiced their forms, shouting with each powerful strike.
Clash of Alliances Page 24
