Chương 22: Into the Blue Night Mountains

"What's with all the moping?" Hao nudged Sister Fu, who rode atop the medicinal cabin with him. Both were still recovering from their wounds as they approached the initial valleys of the Blue Night Mountains. At her questioning glance, he motioned at Master Wan's apprentices, who all trudged on next to the caravan with red-rimmed eyes.

"I understand the mortals. Have my juniors been like this the whole time? No one even died. Well, none of us."

"As long as I've known them," Sister Fu said, grimacing as she sipped from some healing draught which she'd mixed. Cultivation and an intensive medical regimen had wiped away her superficial injuries, though Hao expected it to take another three or four days for her leg to properly heal.

"I've never seen such a sullen bunch of Calcinators. Also, your juniors?"

"My juniors," Hao reiterated, considering his words. Master Wan and his students had embraced him with open arms. It was only right that he did the same. He still shook his head as he watched Junior Mei and Brother Li dragging their feet as they guarded the wagon.

"Honestly, they're acting like they've never killed before!" Sister Xing appeared behind them, hearty and hale. She ambled onto the wagon and perched upon its back, hovering over their shoulders. Their fellow Distillator regarded them with faint disapproval.

"Most haven't. Our juniors fight, but Master Wan and I see to executions... when permissible, that is." Hao and Sister Fu blinked at each other.

"Really?" Hao sputtered, motioning at the Calcinators patrolling around the caravan.

"But look at them! They're all old enough. The youngest, Junior Feng … fourteen, yes? More than old enough to have some blood on his blade." Fu nodded.

"Their foundations are sturdy enough. How else will they learn the value of life if they don't know death?"

"They know how to defend themselves. We just don't have them finish the job!" Sister Xing protested. She looked at them both as she would a Four Winds barbarian. Master Wan just shook his head from his wagon ahead, clearly listening in.

"You act like that's unusual!"

"It is unusual," Sister Fu retorted. She stared off at the approaching black walls of the Blue Night Mountains, her eyes cold as a serpent's.

"To cultivate is to fight fate. To challenge the Heavens themselves. The exalted will always have challengers for their thrones. Best to hone one's edge while still young. I remember when Master Ren brought me my first, a prisoner due for execution. It was … educational, especially seeing what the Four Regrets Tincture that I'd just brewed could do to a mind laden with countless sins." Sister Xing looked despairingly between the two White Rivers cultivators.

"What is wrong with the Great Nine? I was going to ask you your opinions, Brother Xiao, but based on your expression I'm preparing myself to be disappointed. You're a bit of a brute, after all. Albeit a noble one." Hao grinned.

"I'm honored by your kind words. You know me so well, Sister Xing."

"You wear your heart on your sleeve," Sister Fu remarked.

"Or was it your lung?" Sister Xing groused, some of her frustration boiling over. Both Hao and Fu turned to stare at her. Once she realized what had slipped out, Sister Xing covered her face with her voluminous silk sleeves.

"Apologies!" For a moment, Hao remembered the icy cold of Yuchen's fist plunging through his chest, turning his internal organs to mulch. Then he thought of Yuchen burning away to nothing on the pyre, feeding Hao his strength, and laughed.

"Why apologize? Yuchen died. I lived."

"Oh, I like her," Sister Fu said, a sly smile curving across her lips once she saw that Hao wasn't offended.

"You'll fit right in, Sister Xing. But to sate your curiosity, Brother Xiao was … thirteen? I just remember you missing the Inner Disciple Contests. Your master took you outside the city, yes?" Sister Xing mouthed, ' thirteen' to herself. Hao's heart hardened as he remembered those days. He barely noticed his fingers clasping the rabbit feet still hanging from around his neck, though Sister Fu did.

"Autumn's Grace Village," Hao recounted.

"A villager ascended to Calcination and succumbed to its mania. The Challenge of Fire, the Curse of Calcination, whatever you want to call it."

"It's a common sight in the Lonely Plains," Sister Xing commiserated.

"New Calcinators drunk on their passions, thinking they can just take whatever they want because of the fire running through their veins."

"Ah, the Curse of Calcination," Sister Fu mocked.

"One little taste of power and they think they're a proper cultivator." The first five cultivation stages belonged to the Yin Phase, in which a cultivator accumulated power and internalized wisdom to refine themselves and advance, with the philosophy of each stage following the flow of the Five Elements. If Filtration embodied Wood, full of nascent potential and endless possibilities as one grew their initial foundation, then Calcination was of Fire, setting oneself ablaze to release that strength.

Just as Filtrators wrestled with indecision, Calcinators struggled with the mania of new passions and the allure of power. It was only through surpassing the Curse of Calcination and learning discipline, tempering their wild spirit into a controlled flame, that a Calcinator could ever hope to focus their power and distill their first droplet of liquid qi.

"Master Bolin sent me after the fool. I found him—" Hao cut off, grimacing at the memory. He stared at the approaching walls of mountains, losing himself.

"Well, it doesn't matter what I found him doing. What mattered is that I stopped him. Just a little spear thrust and there was one less monster in the world." Master Bolin had been pleased. It was one of his better lessons, Hao thought, even if he'd imagined Master Bolin writhing on the tip of his spear rather than that foul, weaselly Calcinator.

"The world is cruel, particularly to the weak," Hao said, glancing over the fragile Calcinators and then up at the sheer vastness of the heaven-scraping peaks of the Blue Night Mountains. Most ascended so high into the sky that they were crowned with thick white clouds. How little they were next to those earthly titans!

"They teach us that lesson young: be the scythe, not the harvest. It's one of the few gifts our masters gave us."

"The world is cruel, yes," Sister Xing said, her eyes troubled. The rising sun painted their backs golden.

"You might think the Lonely Plains a wasteland compared to your home in the Corelands. You've grown up around giants who could squash you with a finger. But littler folk can be just as vicious. Our juniors know that, and they're ready to fight for their own. Don't think of them as weak just because they haven't shed rivers of blood." Hao inclined his head. The Calcinators were certainly skilled enough, even if unblooded.

He hadn't gotten to see their battle against the Four Winds or its aftermath, but they'd killed them to a man, even the puny Distillator that had abandoned Hao and Sister Xing in favor of weaker prey. They were strong. Just fragile.

"They'll bud, they'll blossom, and then they'll help build a brighter world for the Emperor!" Sister Xing continued, a slight fervor coloring her words.

"The world may be harsh, Brother Hao, but enough light will make it kinder." Perhaps. But Hao wasn't so sure. There were an awful lot of monsters that had to go first… When one looked upon a map of the Sunbeam Empire, the Blue Night Mountains appeared as a little blot. They stretched a mere thousand miles east to west and roughly half that distance from north to south. Just one more humble land ruled over by an even more minor sect, though the region earned some fame from its proximity to Sun Wall City.

The Blue Night Mountains weren't quite as backwater as the Lonely Plains, but population centers were far rarer here. Much of the mountain range's valleys were isolated and distant from any hint of civilization, with only small, sparsely populated towns eking out a harsh existence. While the Blue Night Mountains were fairly safe thanks to the diligence of the Azure Tigers—despite the high number of cunning beasts and spirits which roamed the nightstricken lands—they weren't especially kind to settlers.

The Azure Tigers didn't care much for company. They enforced their boundaries with sharp claws and sharper steel. Hao knew the mountains and valleys were just a petty fiefdom of the Azure Tiger Sect, but it was difficult to remember as the caravan trawled between the towering walls of black mountains studded with star-like stones. The mountains were vast enough to blot out the sun itself, creating a cradle which nurtured yin-aspected powers, though the Emperor's spirit still flowed through the earth.

Qi filled the crisp air, rich and soft, nourishing everything that grew here. Every last breath was delicious after suffering through the Lonely Plains, laced with the sharp sweetness of pine and the soothing scents of mountain air. The Blue Night Mountains rose up all around, cradling enormous fog-filled valleys blanketed with dark forests and shining silver rivers which shone as if struck by moonlight.

Proud evergreens stretched into the sky for hundreds of feet, their needles weaving a thick canopy which little light could penetrate, shrouding the forests in an eternal night. Each valley was dominated by enormous black banyan trees which towered in the forest centers, their trunks shaped from hundreds of interwoven lesser trees, dwarfing the pines around, leaving them looking like little arrows next to a looming spear. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Eerie, isn't it?" Hao nudged Sister Fu as she sat beside him on the medical wagon's top. She'd spent the last day admiring the strange flora and fauna which sprouted up along the rainslick path. The Lonely Road lived up to its name as they trawled along the foggy forests and bogs, hearing the hair-raising cries of strange creatures on the horizon. Sister Xing was off hunting some sort of bloated corpse possessed by a foul spirit which had assaulted the caravan minutes ago, leaving him and Fu alone.

"Do you—""Lady Fu!" A Calcinator, Junior Li, cried, interrupting Hao. He quivered beneath Hao's arched eyebrow. The Calcinators whispered stories of Hao's duel against Yuchen around the campfire at night, watching him, Sister Fu, and Sister Xing with utter awe.

"Apologies for the interruption, Senior Xiao!" Hao just waved Junior Li along.

"I'll take my apologies in the training ring tonight, Junior Li." Junior Li groaned. Hao was still downright delicate compared to his previous state, but every passing day brought back more of his old strength. He could manhandle a Calcinator, at any rate, even if the Wildfire was more temperamental since rekindling it with the Four Winds. Sister Fu leaned forward, eyes intent upon some strange leathery mass that Junior Li clutched desperately. Mud and muck stained the Calcinator's robes with a slippery, oily mess.

Then it uttered a long, warbling croak that sounded like the squelching of feet through mud. Two luminous yellow eyes opened to slits, staring unblinkingly at Hao. A huge sticky pink tongue flicked up and licked the eyes. Hao's nose wrinkled, wrestling with the frantic urge to punt whatever that thing was away.

"You found one?" Sister Fu's eyes glimmered.

"Here, boy. Give it to me!" She practically snatched the ugly thing away from Brother Li, grinning as she wiped the still creature's back with the silk sleeve of her robes, uncaring of dirtying the precious material. Hao blinked, realizing that the beast was a bulbous, spectacularly fat frog rather than some overgrown tumor like he'd suspected.

"You've done well," Sister Fu told Junior Li, who shone at the beautiful cultivator's approval. A flush that Hao recognized all too well from his own younger years burned on the boy's cheeks. Poor bastard—Fu knew all too well how to wrap her admirers around her finger. Besotted boys were an excellent source of unpaid labor.

"You'll have to tell me how you discovered it later …" Hao decided to save Sister Fu the trouble of sending her newest minion away. He waved his hand to dismiss Junior Li, who practically skipped off to tell the story to some of his eager companions.

"He's a nice enough lad. Don't be too cruel to him." Sister Fu batted her eyelashes at Hao.

"Me, cruel?" He snorted as Sister Fu focused her attention on wiping the muck off her little horror. Sister Fu's attentive cleaning revealed dozens of surprisingly beautiful markings that glittered on the ugly amphibian's back like stars twinkling in the night sky. It stood in stark contrast to the frog's greasy skin which was the color of peat.

"Look!" Sister Fu crowed, holding up the unresisting toad to Hao. It continued to stare unblinkingly, following him even as Fu cradled it in the crook of her elbow as if it were a puppy. Her robes were filthy.

"Do you see this magnificent creature?"

"It's hard to miss," Hao said, wishing he were off killing something instead of watching Sister Fu pet the oily frog like a beloved companion. Damn his recovering constitution!

"What is it, exactly?"

"A Midnight-Speckled Frog!" There was none of the viper to be found in Sister Fu now, just genuine excitement over her discovery. She crooned over the frog, which proved itself to be a true yin beast. It croaked only once, otherwise content with its new circumstances.

"They're spectacularly rare in the Empire. They don't fare well in high concentrations of yang qi, you see. Midnight-Speckled Frogs are practically impossible to find in the Corelands! I've only ever seen pictures in Master Ren's scrolls."

"I suppose the Blue Night Mountains are a little more favorable to them," Hao said, glancing all around at the dark forested bog they traveled through, utterly blackened by the canopy and shadowed mists. Yin qi was thick here, obscuring everything around them with its gentle shroud. Even a Ruminator like Master Wan was barely visible to his spiritual senses, though mighty presences which must have belonged to the Azure tigers burned far to the west, shining through hundreds of miles of foggy valleys like a beacon.

Hao was suddenly very glad that Yuchen had sprung his attack while they were in the Lonely Plains. A hostile Ruminator could be lurking just off the dark path and they'd be none the wiser.

"... perhaps I'll be able to find a terrarium capable of maintaining acceptable environments in Sun Wall City. A good concentration of water qi should help to maintain the proper humidity levels, and a minor yin treasure…" Had Sister Fu been going on about her ugly frog this whole time? She really was excited about this one. The flora and fauna around West Lake City had long since grown familiar to his dear friend.

"So …" Hao said, feeling rather uncomfortable with the way the frog kept squirming in Fu's grip to get closer to him, much like a cat trying to bask in a ray of sunlight.

"What does it do?"

"What does it do?" Sister Fu sighed, shaking her head.

"Oh Brother, you poor, ignorant creature. I forget that your education consists entirely of killing, how to set things on fire, and the best ways to inspire clan heirs to homicidal rage."

"That does describe most of my years in the White Rivers," Hao said lightly, forcing away the memories of Master Bolin's training which flickered to the surface. He manifested the Cheng Spear upon his lap, stroking the weapon lovingly. A hint of warmth flowed through his fingers.

"Don't forget kleptomania."

"Of course not," Sister Fu agreed. He'd earned a subtle smile for his trouble.

"Per your earlier inquiry, my dimwitted pupil, the Midnight-Speckled Frog is a marvelous creature. Its secretions have many alchemical utilities, though when unrefined they primarily induce hallucinations and dizziness as a defense mechanism."

"Is that why Brother Li is stumbling?" Hao pointed out the Calcinator, who staggered drunkenly next to his friends. A few mortals laughed from inside their protected wagons. Only cultivators dared to stay beyond the protective formations until they'd made camp for the night, at which point the mortals would emerge.

"Oh, he just fell into that puddle. Hopefully none of those Nightborne Leeches we saw yesterday are hiding inside."

"I gave him protective gloves! Did he not wear them? Oh, that little fool. It's so hard to find reliable help these days."

"Brother Xiao!" Master Wan's voice rang throughout the caravan, though it wasn't reproachful.

"A word, if you would." Hao stood, relieved to no longer need assistance getting up, and turned to Fu.

"Make sure Brother Li doesn't come to any harm, Sister."

"He'll just need to process the toxins. They aren't lethal," Sister Fu responded, waving her hand carelessly.

"They might even be a boon to his cultivation with how spiritually potent they are. If nothing else, he'll learn a fine lesson about listening to a senior's instructions." Hao snorted as he descended the medical wagon and hurried over to Master Wan's own throne, grimacing as he hauled himself up. Normally, he'd just leap the forty feet to land like a cat next to the Ruminator. He hadn't recovered quite enough to pull off a feat like that yet.

Hao felt caged by his own weak body as he settled next to Master Wan, who companionably offered him his wine gourd.

"You look like you could use a drink, Brother Xiao."

"I don't know if I'd call the Emperor's Piss a drink," Hao groused, curling his lip as some of the foul rice wine's fumes reached him. But the wine was thick with qi and he desperately needed to rebuild his reserves of distilled qi to fuel his ascension, so he took a long draught, fighting the urge to retch.

"Ugh, definitely not!" Master Wan chuckled.

"You handle it well enough. Your Physique processes cultivation materials extraordinarily quickly, the Piss included."

"One of its advantages," Hao agreed. The Wildfire Physique's ability to break down qi-rich materials extraordinarily quickly was just as vital to his cultivation as his speed and strength were.

"Though it's an expensive habit. I don't extract quite as much power from them as a more balanced Physique would, so quantity is just as important as quality."

"That explains the way you burned through my medicines," Master Wan muttered to himself.

"After the Coronal Rebirth Pill, you should have … well, no matter! How is your recovery going?" Hao clutched the Cheng Spear. His skin still felt delicate, but at least it didn't threaten to tear back open with every motion.

"I'm growing stronger. Consuming the two Ruminators helped to restore me, though I'm in no shape to fight properly just yet."

"I wouldn't expect you to be," Master Wan replied.

"I'm just pleased to see you on your feet, Brother. We still have another week or so before we reach the Azure Tigers."

"And then onto Sun Wall City," Hao said.

"I trust we won't be spending long with the Azure Tigers?"

"No. It's best to keep our visit short. You require additional treatment, and I would like you to meet my superior, Acolyte Sungaze, but the Azure Tigers are temperamental. I'd prefer to keep you and Cultivator Fu away from any challengers or blood-debts. They'll seek to challenge you." Master Wan cocked his head at Hao.

"Your distaste for them … I suppose you've encountered the Azure Tigers before?" Hao's lip curled.

"Only a few. My father's caravan never traveled through the Blue Night Mountains. Too dangerous, and the Tigers charge steep tribute. We preferred Dragonrise Vale to the south. But my father was forced to fight a few of the savages on occasion when their boasting and greed grew too brazen."

"The Azure Tigers are a minor power with the pride to match the Great Nine," Master Wan said with a sigh.

"Too drunk on their beast-blood, I suppose. Expect similar behavior when you enter the Lower Monastery, although they will respect my presence. The Azure Tigers possess many faults, but they are fiercely loyal to the Emperor. They know my nature." Hao would have to make the most of this next week, then. He wouldn't let some backwater barbarians sneer down at him! If it was a fight they wanted, it was a fight they'd get.

"Keep your spear hidden," Master Wan warned.

"Even while on the road, if you can. It's not uncommon for the Azure Tigers to scout out approaching caravans. This is not the Lonely Plains! My power only extends so far in these mountains." He nodded, though growled at the affront. His wind-fueled Wildfire lashed at his insides, leaving an unpleasant burn within his delicate meridians.

"Savages."

"They'll be the first to claim that title," Master Wan said, chuckling. He glanced at the Cheng Spear, which shone brilliantly even in the shadowed mists which curled through the bog.

"Have you made any progress?"

"Some," Hao replied, thinking of the faint tendril of awareness which he sometimes detected within the Cheng Spear, though it hadn't sent any visions like while he was unconscious. Occasionally he would dream of terrible monsters and yawning, writhing fang-filled trenches, but he couldn't be certain that it was the Cheng Spear's influence.

"But not enough."

"It will come," Master Wan said with certainty.

"You are fierce. Weapons like that respect strength, though there is far more to life than killing." The old Ruminator paused, assessing Hao for a moment.

"I see a change in you, Brother Xiao. A few of your burdens have lifted since we left the Lonely Plains." Hao snorted.

"I sent the biggest of them into his next life. Perhaps Cheng Yuchen won't be such a rancid bastard the next time around."

"One can only hope," Master Wan agreed.

"Though I suspect having your old sect mate along has helped as well. I pray that you continue to grow." Master Wan flicked his wrist, spinning qi into a white orb of light. Another swift motion scattered the white orb into countless lesser rays of light which shone into the dark forest. Every imaginable color broke from the white, even some that Hao had never seen before.

"In many ways, cultivation is simply seeking one's color. We are all fractions of a greater whole, each seeking a little sliver of infinity which is in turn the smallest shade of something more. That is the way of the Acolytes. You are at a crossroads, Brother Xiao." Hao listened intently. There was truth to Master Wan's words, a mirror to Master Bolin's own teachings. They rang with a common core.

"Seek your color, whatever it may be. Learn it. Exalt it!" Master Wan curled his fingers into a fist, smothering all but one shade of brilliant light, the one which filled the Ruminator's eyes.

"I'm partial to gold, myself."