Boots
patreon
2.26 - Reflections
🕑 Added 2024-02-17 23:00:01 +0000 UTCHe Yu glanced over his shoulder, back in the direction of the bandit camp. Water and fire aspected qi clashed in a wave of power that carried the sickly scent of blood. It was so strong he could almost taste it in the air.
Activating the Sky Dragon’s Flight, he surged forward, thankful for the robes Yongnian had given him. Even with his advancement, he wouldn’t have been able to use the technique this easily, or freely. The disciples had done as they were told and fled.
All three of them used their movement techniques as freely as they could without exerting themselves so much that they’d be forced to stop before morning. As soon as they’d left the bandit camp, they had agreed they would travel the entire night. With the potent qi of the clash behind them, He Yu could see them pushing through the rest of the next day as well.
Li Heng used the White Hare Dance in small bursts, flashing ahead and allowing the others to catch up before using his technique again. Yan Shirong hauled himself along on his shadow tendrils, swinging from tree branches in more wooded terrain and loping along like some qi-infused spider over more open ground.
Sunset came and was followed by night. The moon rose and moved across the sky. It must have been nearing dawn when the strain of the day, the battle with the bandits, and their subsequent flight finally began to show its toll. They slowed their pace, but only to a quick jog. Never had He Yu ever imagined he would one day be thankful for Ren Huang’s grueling runs around the outer sect mountain.
“What do you think happened,” He Yu asked to nobody in particular. The clash of powerful qi had long since faded behind them. He couldn't have said whether it was due to the fight ending or simply being too far away. The legends said that battles between powerful cultivators could last for days, or even weeks.
“Something far beyond us,” Yan Shirong said. He was breathing the heaviest out of all three of them. Something that, under better circumstances, would have made He Yu marvel at how far he’d come. Now, it was just a reminder that behind them lay a threat they were wholly incapable of dealing with.
“I won’t disagree with that,” Li Heng added. It still didn’t answer He Yu’s question.
“King Hao said something about an Empress,” He Yu said. It had been stuck in his head ever since they’d left, and he’d had a good long while to think about it. “Li Heng, you mentioned that your family keeps lots of historical records, right?” It had been a passing comment, months ago, but He Yu had always meant to follow up on it.
“We do, why?”
“Remember how you mentioned they tried to make Elder Cai the leader of the sect? I did some digging in the sect archives, and I think I know why. He used the Cloud Emperor’s Heavenly Palace to seal some formation. The Dawn Palace.”
“Okay,” Li Heng said. “What does this have to do with what happened today?”
“Zhang Lifen mentioned something about a ‘she’ waking up soon,” He Yu said. “I think whoever this she is, it’s the Empress that King Hao called out to.”
“And you think this Empress is sealed inside Elder Cai’s Dawn Palace formation,” Yan Shirong said.
He Yu indicated as much. “I’ve tried to get more from Zhang Lifen a couple of times, but she always changed the subject.”
“Some things aren’t meant for the lower realms,” Li Heng said, but he didn’t sound wholly convinced. The three of them had since come to a stop at the edge of a more open area and now stood in a circle as they talked.
“She’s always pretty open, otherwise,” He Yu said. Then he recalled something else. “She also mentioned that some sort of conflict was coming. Great powers were stirring. It was right after my fight with Sha Xiang, when she took me aside.”
“I’ll send word to my father once we return to the sect,” Li Heng said. His features were drawn, and his concern was evident in his voice.
“I can ask my family, too,” Yan Shirong offered. “We are rather placed within the Ministry of Information, after all.”
The offers of support, small as they were, made He Yu feel a bit better about what had happened. Yan Shirong had certainly been right about one thing—whatever was going on was far beyond them. At least for the time being.
“We should stop and cultivate for a bit,” he said, glancing back to the east where the breaking dawn was just beginning to lighten the sky.
“I’ll watch over us while you two restore yourselves,” Li Heng said. “It is the duty of nobles to guard the empire’s citizens.”
“I’m a noble, too,” Yan Shirong said, even as he settled into a seated position.
“You’re from a comital family. As the individual of the highest rank present, the duty falls to me,” Li Heng said. There was a seriousness to his words that made He Yu think of the times over the past months when Li Heng had acted strangely. Like when He Yu had taken the lead in their fight with the serpent, or when he’d suggested they attack King Hao before breaking through.
Whatever was bothering Li Heng, He Yu could talk to him about it later. The noble likely wouldn’t want to discuss anything personal in front of Yan Shirong anyway. As he nodded to his housemate and settled into his cultivation, he let himself feel a measure of gratitude for Li Heng’s offer. He was bone tired, and while it would be better to actually sleep, a couple of hours’ worth of cultivation would keep him going through the day easily enough.
As soon as he’d fallen into the familiar pattern of cycling his qi in accordance to the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment, he saw the face of that first bandit he’d slain. He saw the fear as the boy froze, looking up at death made manifest. All the stories of the great heroes spun around in his meditations, circling that one image of a boy his own age.
Was what he’d done heroic? Or was he no different than the bandits he’d killed under the guise of justice? He recalled the sight of a burnt-out village, littered with corpses. He recalled the corpse birds perched and their feasting. The stench of burnt and rotting flesh. Those people hadn’t stood a chance. What was avenging them, if not justice?
A small voice spoke up in the back of his meditations. That boy hadn’t stood a chance, either. None of those bandits had. He Yu and his companions had cut through a bunch of people who could barely be considered cultivators. Even the early Second Realm bandits hadn’t put up anything resembling a fight. The truth was, they had slaughtered several dozen people who were far weaker than themselves. And they’d done it without hardly even a second thought at the time.
Was that heroism?
He didn’t have an answer. That was the part that bothered him the most. If what he had done was right, then there was no problem. If he was wrong, he could simply do better in the future. But this—this uncertainty. It was unsettling. Answers like this were supposed to be easy. There was right, and there was wrong. At least that’s what he’d always believed.
As he struggled to make sense of the flood of insights, a gentle word and a nudge brought him back to awareness of the world. Li Heng crouched in front of him, frowning.
“Is everything alright, Little Brother?” he asked.
“Yeah,” He Yu said. He glanced over at Yan Shirong who was still deep in cultivation. “I’m fine.”
“Sure?”
He Yu nodded. “Here, I’ll take over. Restore yourself.”
Li Heng eyed him but didn’t object. As the noble settled in to cultivate, He Yu perched on a low-hanging tree branch. Morning had finally come, and there was still no sign of the battle that, for all he knew, could still be going on back at the bandit camp. He thought back to that worry he’d felt when Zhang Lifen had sent them away.
It made all the frustration he’d had towards her for ignoring him feel a bit childish. She’d been clear from the beginning that sect rules prevented her from interfering with the development of the outer sect disciples, and there was no reason he’d be excluded from that prohibition. Besides, she clearly had other, more important things she had to deal with. What had he thought someone like her would do all day?
Sure, she probably spent a substantial amount of her time in cultivation and training, but she’d been pretty clear that his stipend from the sect wouldn’t be enough to cover his expenses, so the same likely held true for her. From what he’d learned, each core disciple represented a significant portion of the sect’s combat strength. The sorts of assignments she took were likely all similar to the battle she likely still fought.
Well, if he’d been selfish, he just needed to prove himself deserving of her tutelage. She’d been clear on her instructions, besides. He was to return to the sect and work on his advancement. As much as he didn’t have any clear answers on what it really meant to be a hero, he could say one thing for certain—if he wanted to be one, he needed to get stronger.
Zhang Lifen had told him that great powers were stirring. That someone was coming. And while she hadn’t said it in so many words, she expected him to be ready. So he needed to get stronger.
He had a clear path ahead of him. The tournament for placement in the inner sect was coming at the height of summer. Zhang Lifen had already said she expected him to gain entrance. So that’s what he needed to do. Once he returned to the sect he would advance. Then he’d have roughly five months to gather as much strength as he could. At least that was simple—a clear path. He could figure out the rest along the way.
