Chương 42: Chapter 41

Wu Zetian allowed for a couple of hours to pass before calling for a break. The children got the other half of their crepes, and she fetched drinks for them and herself. Of course, cultivation wasn't like fighting or exercising. It filled you with energy more often than not. And Wu Lin wasn't one for sitting still.

"Let's go out! Come on! I want to show you how hard I worked, Grandma!" Wu Zetian allowed it. It was time for something more physical anyway, The children preceded her outside, the little girl all but jumping with excitement. It was quite contagious: even Zhao's usually subdued expression had given way to a smile. As she followed them, keeping to her pace because she was always an Immortal, Wu Zetian allowed herself an amused smile. Wu Lin could barely hold herself back.

Flushed with excitement, she jumped and cartwheeled, turning into a ball of darkness and then back into her shape as she ran circles over the grass, laughing. Zhao looked startled at the open ground. He tried to hide in the grass, but he wasn't in luck: Lin harried him like an imp, making him run and yelp like a rabbit flushed from his den. Almost enough to make me forget this weather. Was there something more annoying than that glare?

She hadn't known Wu Zhan, but this was enough to tell her how far the apple had fallen from the tree. No true Nightborn would have set their mansion to that endless midday. Wu Zetian paused right where the stone foundations gave way to the outside gardens. These were mostly left untouched by tools, the grass growing tall except where tiled paths wound their way through the slopes, flanked by the odd ancestral statue.

Two fields of beaten dirt had been carved in their middle and provided with straw and wooden targets for practice. It was a modest setting, very distant from the massive solemnity of the Sect's main grounds. And yet… Wu Zetian felt something stir at watching it. This… a place filled with memory. No, a recreation of one such place. Recollections, both alien and familiar, rose, and suddenly she was in another place, in another time. A green sea filled her sight. The breeze brushed her cheeks and rustled her hair.

All around, the stalks rippled as though under the caress of a great hand. The scent of grass and expectation filled the air. Above, a great moon watched. The world was a question of shadows and silver, and she shared in it, her mind filled with awe and anticipation. The strangest tree loomed in the distance. The right side of it, roots, trunk and canopy, was black, its leaves the color of tar. The left side was white, canopy, trunk and roots, the leaves the color of milk.

And an old man stood beneath it, beckoning. Wu Zetian stumbled, catching on a doorframe, blinking afterimages away. A memory from… how long ago? One thousand, two thousand… thirty thousand years ago. From when she was a child herself, before the path's start, before power and glory and immortality. Before… everything. She pressed a hand to her forehead, working to steady her breath. So long ago, and still such a powerful response? To recreate a place so striking for her…

Her previous self hadn't been very smart, had she? Yet again, maybe she hadn't had much in the way of choice. My tree… It was surprisingly difficult to raise her gaze where the tree – the replica, the replica of it – was supposed to be. Except… that it wasn't there. A palace stood in its place, an ugly thing that tried incredibly hard to look luxurious and only managed to be a gaudy stab in the eye. Wu Zetian sucked in a breath. My tree…

"Grandma?" She hadn't noticed Wu Lin getting close. The little girl was holding her hand, watching her with concern.

"Are you okay?" Wu Zetian wanted to rip her fingers away. She wanted to yell and deny and chase her away. She wanted to hide the moment of weakness under lock and key, bury it, and forget about it. But that would have been treading the same road, wouldn't it? And she had sworn an oath. She smiled weakly.

"Just memories, child." She looked toward the palace, feeling as though her heart was being squeezed.

"Do… do you know what happened to the tree?" Wu Lin searched her expression with a focused frown, before slowly following her gaze.

"Oh," she said.

"Well, that's Father's new palace. His gardens are in there, and that's where he wasted all his time." She spoke slowly and carefully, keeping an eye on her like a hawk.

"A tree…" Her features scrunched as she struggled to remember.

"I… don't know?" She admitted, radiating with frustration. Her face lit up.

"But Blue may? He's older than me, and he may remember." She jumped up, looking ready to go and look for her brother right away.

"I'll go ask him!" Wu Zetian was feeling better. The wave of emotions, thick and wide enough even to overwhelm her self-control, was slowly receding. Before the little girl could zip away, she gently took her hand, stalling her.

"I needed an excuse to make him take a break," she said.

"That is a good one." Wu Lin didn't look convinced. Still, she didn't dash away, so that was something. She held Wu Zetian's hand with both of her own, tracing the back with her thumbs.

"Grandma? Is it an important tree?" Wu Zetian hesitated. She wouldn't have opened up before. But these were her memories now, her life, and she wanted to be different.

"Very important, dear. I planted it myself when I built this house."

"…a long time ago."

"A long time ago." For a long moment, Wu Lin didn't say anything. She watched her palm, her lower lip jutting out in a frown.

"Grandma?"

"Yes, dear?"

"I know that you're an Immortal, and Immortals have lots of things to think about. Just… don't be sad, alright? Lin is here for you if you need her. We'll eat crepes together and cultivate again. Next time, I'll show you the best places back home where I like to go to have fun. That dummy Zhao will come too. Blue too, even if he's stupid and gets lost too much in his things. We'll go looking for your tree together. So don't be sad, okay?"

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The little girl watched her with a mix of pleading and determination. Wu Zetian felt something give way in her chest. A part of her wanted to laugh. The great Immortal, being consoled by a little girl not even fifteen yet, for a memory that technically wasn't hers. There was great irony to be found on the Dao's road.

"I'll remember it." She held Lin's hand, squeezing it gently.

"I promise." That was all. Lin searched her face for a moment, looking for lies. She must have found none because her expression opened in that big, wide grin of hers.

"Come on then!" She pulled her toward the closest field, and Wu Zetian let her, secretly being thankful for having a granddaughter so resilient. As for that memory… not the time yet. Yes, it had been her old self's excuse for thirty millennia. Using it again felt like a bad prophecy. But she didn't intend to follow the same road. If her own will was too weak, the memory of that little hand holding hers would see that it was so. And that was it.

She pushed it all away, in the deepest corner of her mind, where it wouldn't risk ruining the day again. Wu Zetian was back in the present. Zhao waited for them by the second field. The little boy poked his head from the grass, watching them questioningly. Wu Zetian glanced sideways at Lin. She nodded, and the little girl's grin turned devious. Turning into her sphere-shaped form, she dove into the grass and disappeared. Zhao had enough time to blink and look concerned before she tackled him from behind.

"Gotcha, you dummy!" She cheered, the poor boy's protests falling on deaf ears.

"Out of the grass already! You're not a mouse!" Wu Zetian smiled gently as they bickered. She was very lucky, wasn't she? For all its looking modest, the fields were filled with containment and safety arrays for heavy training. As she sat cross-legged on the side, her robes floating around her, Wu Zetian sent a trail of Qi into them. Instantly, circles of gleaming characters appeared around the field, before disappearing once again.

"Go ahead," she said, sliding back into her calm teacher persona.

"Show your worth, children." Wu Lin was the first to step forward. She grinned, but there was a focused glint in her eyes. Spreading her arms and legs, she spun, looking like she wanted to embrace the whole of sky and earth. As she finished her spin, her limbs fell into a stance: the lead foot pointed straight toward Zhao. The rear foot was slightly turned, heel barely touching the ground. Her knees were slightly bent, so that her weight was slightly more tilted forward rather than backward.

Her spine was upright with a slight forward lean starting from the ankle. The lead hand was extended forward, chest-height, the palm angled inward. The rear fist hung near the ribs, fingers barely shy from closing. Spear Gate Stance. The physical arts of the Sect were notoriously aggressive. That default stance, the basis of everything that came after, screamed just that. Wu Zetian watched as Qi leaked from her skin.

It emerged as dark fog streaked with deep blue, swathing her legs and arms and making her look like heavy steam surrounded her. She stamped with a loud yell, and the Qi snapped around her wrists and ankles, solidifying into solid circles of semi-liquid black. Wu Lin kept a serious face for one whole second.

"Focus, please," Wu Zetian chided, amused despite herself. Lin's grin didn't flag, but her stance was solid. In comparison, Zhao was… interesting. The child fidgeted for a few moments before settling into his stance. If you could call it that. Feet wider than shoulders. Lead foot pointing straight forward. Rear foot almost sideways. Knees deeply bent. Back rounded slightly. One hand hanging low near the knee. The other floating at chest height. Eyes flickering with a guarded yet attentive light.

Interestingly, he kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Compared to Lin's elegant, firm stance, it looked almost careless. And yet… The self-taught style of someone who had learned while fighting with beasts. Difficult to interpret. And those eyes… He didn't tuck his chin as one should, and he kept swaying and making small movements, like a critter sniffing the wind. A master would have called the stance sloppy. Wu Zetian decided on a name: Wild Root. Mmh…

Wu Zetian waited for Zhao to summon his own Qi, but the child never did. Evidently, he couldn't. Not surprising: that manual of his was all about body cultivation and nothing about the Shadow Arts.

"Begin." Wu Lin's eyes had been glimmering with excitement. Clearly, it wasn't the first time she had been clashing with her friend. Maybe that's how they had met? Instead of an answer, Wu Zetian had Lin explode into motion. The little girl glided rather than stepped, her feet flowing over the ground as they chased each other. Her palm darted for his face, trying to slap his guard aside.

If she succeeded, Wu Zetian knew she would have followed aggressively with a punch to the solar plexus, before pressing forward with a shoulder check and finishing with a rising elbow to the jaw. Pierce The Gate. Zhao gave ground, quickly stepping back. He didn't stop at the first, hopping and jumping as he struggled to keep away from her fists. Lin's punch brushed against his cheek as he threw his head to the side, her fingers grazed his wrist.

A point in an official match, but Wu Zetian didn't comment, and they didn't stop. Lin cursed and insulted him, laughing, as she chased after him across the field. Zhao's footwork was difficult to predict: he took giant strides and made small adjustments. The only similarity was that, contrary to Lin's sweeping movements, his feet came down at the end of every movement, gripping the earth for an instant before moving again. Wu Zetian saw the change coming.

His rear foot came down, and suddenly he wasn't retreating anymore. Lin saw it too, but a heartbeat too late. Zhao darted sideways instead of backward. His left hand hooked behind Lin's elbow just as his shoulder collided with the palm she had raised to defend her ribs. His right foot reaped her ankle. Not a formal throw by any stretch. Someone attempting to wrestle something bigger than him. Lin recovered instantly. Her rear foot stepped wide, restoring her base.

Her elbow whipped out, but Zhao had already drawn back. In and out, like a pouncing beast. The two children broke contact, resetting their stances.

"1 on 1," Wu Zetian chimed.

"Lin. You're being nice." Wu Lin, very uncharacteristically, blushed a little.

"Erm…"

"It's okay. For now. Go ahead." Her shoulder dipped with relief. For a moment. She was back to her hellion self right after. Her foot slid over the ground as she shifted stance, pointing her right shoulder toward him. Her lead forearm floated forward, while the rear palm remained close to the jaw. Her feet narrowed just a touch, the weight balanced between them. Broken Bridge Stance. Changing tack, mh? With its slimmer profile, Broken Bridge was more defensive than Spear Gate.

But little was purely defensive in the Shadow Arts. The broken bridge may receive travellers, as they said, but it was treacherous. Zhao attacked first this time. The boy moved without warning, bursting into motion like a jackrabbit. He thrust forward with both hands, the high one fainting for her face, the low one reaching for her wrist. Ignoring the feint, Lin stepped diagonally inside. Her forearm jammed Zhao's reaching arm before it could grip her. Her left palm shot out, jabbing Zhao's shoulder.

The boy didn't allow for his balance to be compromised. His lead foot pressed down, his weight settling on it. Lin saw her chance. Her right foot stepped outside, and then she was thrusting forward with her shoulder, straight into his chest. That was a full strike. Zhao's spine straightened, and Lin's elbow snapped up for his chin. The male twisted aside, turning a finishing blow into a graze against his cheek. But his posture was open. Lin's fingers seized his wrist and pulled, just as her knee came upward.

Zhao threw both arms down, blocking it with his forearms. Lin's foot stamped. They were almost chest to chest now. Zhao understood the danger. His eyes flickered with the sharp awareness of a beast of prey. He adjusted just as fast. His arm wrapped around Lin's waist. He pushed his forehead against her shoulder and pushed with his legs. For a moment, it was like a wolf trying to drag down a stag. Lin widened her base instantly, sinking her hips and denying him momentum. Zhao switched immediately.

His arm abandoned Lin's waist and clawed for the back of her knee. Excellent instinct. Lin gasped, looking for a moment like she was about to be wrestled to the ground. At the same time, she reacted. Instead of backing down, she stepped forward, almost pressing their heads together. Suddenly, Zhao lacked the space to finish the takedown. Lin's forearm slipped around Zhao's collarbone. The kid's eyes went wide. He tried to move, and in doing so, his feet crossed for a split second. Lin didn't lose the chance.

Her lead foot hooked behind Zhao's ankle and pulled, just as she pushed with her shoulder against him. That was it. Zhao lost his balance and landed flat on his back. Before he could rise, Lin's palm settled gently against his throat. Zhao looked up, something that may have been awe flickering in his eyes. Lin grinned widely. Both children panted, flushed. They looked up at the slow clap.

"Not bad," Wu Zetian commented mildly. She folded her hands on her lap, watching them.

"Yet again… Lin. Why didn't you use any Shadow Art? You could have won handily with them. And you always went for the close contact, where Zhao had the advantage." She narrowed her eyes, but there was no heat there. Lin looked down.

"Well…" She scratched her cheek, embarrassed. She was dusty and flushed, but her grin didn't flag.

"Doesn't feel right, I guess." Turning, she helped Zhao to his feet, before patting the dust from him. The boy smiled, hopelessly grateful. Wu Zetian sighed.

"Alright. For this once. But now we'll train a little with those, alright?" Wu Lin didn't argue. Turning, she lifted her leg above her head and brought it down in a hammer kick. The Qi circling her ankle expanded as she did, elongating into a hammer that smashed into the ground. When she drew it back, there was an imprint the size of a man's torso into the dirt. Zhao may have been sweating a little, but if she saw it, Wu Zetian didn't tell on him.