Chapter 39:

Chapter 39

~~~~Tai Su~~~~

There was a saying in my past life ‘Fear is the mind killer.’ and it is an apt one because fear takes your ability to act, to think for yourself when faced with danger and it removes all logic from your mind and leaves behind nothing but your self preservation instinct and I have enough experience with fear to see the wisdom in it.

In the Empire of the Blazing Sun there was another saying, one that is also correct, that being that ‘Fear is the cure for foolishness’. This too is correct, as fools rarely feel fear and a bit of fear will dissuade idiots from doing something foolish most of the time.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to solve the inherent contradiction between these two sayings, because medicine in too great a quantity turns into poison and so too does too much fear poison the mind and not enough of it turns one foolish.

Unfortunately for me, I am quite scared and I don’t know if my fear has passed the threshold from medicine to poison because that damn river has started to haunt me and now I am heading towards it.

There are twelve of us here and only I am not carrying a large amount of waterskins on me, because I am not going near it again.

It is an area where just by being near I get debilitated, existence turns into pain due to strange particles in the air and if I somehow absorb them wrong then my entrails might start traveling through my bloodstream.

I don’t want to get anywhere near close to it, but I now have to do it for multiple reasons, even if I thankfully don’t have to get too close to it.

The first is instinct, my friends and subordinates are going somewhere dangerous and so must I. A life at the side of my father who acted as the semi-official guardian of the village and helping him with handling crises made it so that going into danger after those I am supposed to protect is something I can’t not do.

The second reason is more complex, but it relates to Feng Shan’s camp. Leadership is a precarious balancing act where one needs to manage their influence, other people’s desire to do things their own way and the need to get things done and in a short time I have upended Feng Shan’s carefully managed balance. The more I act without him, especially if he isn’t directly present, then the harder the life of the group will be as people start doubting him and looking towards me for answers.

Or worse, they just stop looking at him for answers entirely after I am gone and think they can handle things on their own. My help, despite being well meaning, does remove the need of the group to rely on Feng Shan for guidance, and despite me bringing wealth and safety to the group it destabilized the social fabric that’s been made to a certain extent. Feng Shan, despite being grateful for my help, can’t afford to leave me alone with his group, lest they start coming to me for help.

“So, good weather we’re having, right?” Huang said in a poor attempt to diffuse the tension between the two of us.

The third reason is that I needed to talk with Huang and this is the only opportunity I managed to get to approach him. Today had been full, and my hands were too busy from arranging things with Feng Shan, preparing weapons, training people on how to hold their weapons and so on to talk to the man.

The most memorable thing I did today was looking in wonder at the absolutely glorious madman that brought a shovel with him and teaching him how to dig a latrine because for some reason he had never dug a hole in his life before coming to the Trial. That was the only thing that truly stuck to me during the haze of constant activity.

“That’s the sort of words that in a story would cause the weather to change and thunder and lightning to fall from the sky.” I replied wryly.

“I am not that bad with words!” The man replied in mock offense.

Thunder took the occasion to make itself heard in the distance. It did so on a clear sky with no cloud we could see in the distance.

The trees might be covering large parts of the sky, but even when we were gone, there were no clouds in the sky and I doubt any came since then.

“Huang, stop digging your hole with your tongue!” Feng Shan shouted, much to the chuckles of everyone around us.

The man winced which only turned our chuckles louder.

There was some strange nonsense going on, either that or the sect elders looking over us decided to play a prank on Huang because they too found this whole thing funny.

The man sighed and looked tiredly at me.

“Even the Heavens are mocking me. We’re doing this now?” He asked.

I nodded and the two of us proceeded to slow our pace through the forest and put ourselves a few steps behind the rest of the group. We would be far enough to get a small measure of privacy without the rest of the expedition falling out of my eyesight.

I trusted Da Xiu and Mei Lin to shout if something decided to attack or bar our way.

“Do you understand what you did that needed me to talk with you in private?” I asked him.

Feng Shan probably explained things to him, but it didn’t hurt to check.

“I tried to get your friend back to the camp so that she’s not attacked by the cherry bannermen and fucked it up somehow.” He explained tiredly.

I shook my head. Some private conversations with his leader told me that this was normal for him. The man was genuinely that bad at socializing properly and unless told exactly how to behave he can and will make life worse for himself.

How he survived this long and got here is a mystery to me, but Huang did it and now he made it my problem.

“No, you tried to do that, what you actually did was threaten my wife and all but extorted medicine from her to let her leave peacefully when you noticed she was capable of beating up your entire group.” I explained.

His eyes widened as he looked at me as if I was about to kill him.

“I don’t want to die.” He said back hurriedly.

He was scared yes, this I could both smell and see, but he did not beg for his life and I could respect that. His eyes were moving rapidly around, he started sweating and I could see a slight shiver in his left arm and yet he maintained pace.

“You won’t.” I replied in my most serious tone and looked at him intently.

He started sweating and looking to the side and in front of us as we continued to walk. He was looking for help but none would come and we both knew that.

They wouldn’t be able to help him even if they tried and he knew it.

“That somehow sounds worse.” He mumbled back at me.

I chuckled and his fear spiked even further as I put my hand across his back.

“Now you know how other people feel.” I declared and squeezed tightly and lifted him up.

I continue to walk as I held him up and while it wasn’t enough to harm him, but it was enough for him to feel it and freeze up and his legs left the ground. He fell on his butt after I let him go and I then proceeded to leave him behind, my warning sent.

I wasn’t about to harm him for trying to help Bao, but a scare deserved another.

“Thank your leader for being willing to vouch for you, it’s the only reason you didn’t earn yourself a beating this time. Learn to act properly or next time his words won’t save you.” I declared and left him behind.

I had no interest in beating people up if I didn’t have to and thankfully here I didn’t, especially as Bao told me he gave a very scripted apology someone else told him exactly how to give.

I shook my head, some people just can’t act by themselves in society. I pity whatever woman he’ll marry and will have to speak for him.

“You handled the issue?” Da Xiu asked as I returned near the group.

Huang came back a few seconds after me and was noticeably frightened when he looked at me.

“He understood my message, hopefully he’ll learn in the sect how to act civilized.” I answered.

Da Xiu scoffed at that, but that was the end of his words on that topic. I don’t intervene in how he handles his household and he doesn’t intervene in mine, and while he would have beaten Huang as a warning by his own admission, my family was mine to look after.

“So what’s the plan?” He asked bluntly.

Everyone’s interest perked up at his words.

‘I suppose I didn’t have the time to properly explain things did I?’ I thought to myself.

Fair enough, Feng Shan and I have already planned everything, no reason to keep it hidden and I doubt he had the time to explain things either.

“We follow the cuts on the trees and Mei Lin will continue to draw an arrow over each of them. Once we reach the place where there’s no more cuts, we see if there’s any trees nearby we can climb to find out roughly where to go to make sure we reach the river. If we’re lucky I can sense it and we go towards it and once it becomes too much I stop and you go towards it, refill the waterskins and we go back to camp.” I answered

Mei Lin silently placed another arrow after painting over the previous one, one showing where we cam from and the other where we’re going because they only put one arrow on each of the trees.

Feng Shan’s group did them a lot more often than we did to overcome the fact that just because you have a rough idea of where you’re going, you can still get lost if you don’t know where you came from or take a wrong turn by accident.

“How can you smell it?” One of Feng Shan’s men asked.

“I have Water Meridians, I am more sensitive to Qi, too sensitive I might say, considering that just being too close to the river is enough to leave me on the ground crying in pain, which is why I am not moving too close to it or carrying any waterskin myself.” I answered.

The other men started muttering among themselves. Some were commenting about how the plan seemed too simple, while others were grateful for it and some were wondering if the smell was that bad.

My eyes narrowed slightly at their comments, they all seemed to know that it was the smell that was affecting me for some reason and not other senses and none of them questioned it. All of them were city dwellers too judging by their blue shirts, so it might be something they read somewhere.

Villagers primarily wear shades of brown and green while city dwellers wear shades of blue and blacks. It wasn’t any law I was able to find as those in towns wore both of those combinations, but it was as if by unspoken agreement everyone decided to wear a specific type of clothing or color depending on where they lived.

It reminded me of my past life and the old black suits everyone agreed you were a highly paid and educated professional but applied to colors instead. It made me wonder if this was a universal thing and humans will always pick a design or color to represent an occupation.

My silent introspection was quickly shattered as the smell of roses started hitting my nostrils.

“It started smelling of roses.” I declared.

Everyone froze up and started trying to smell it too. One man put his hand to the side of his head to hear better, probably hoping to hear the water.

“We are not where the signs stop.” Feng Shan declared.

That made even me look around suspiciously.

‘Have they chosen an indirect path that took them parallel to the river?’ I wondered.

That’s a possibility, one that was hopefully correct.

“I am not hearing anything.” Mei Lin said and picked up her axe.

“Get your weapons out and move slowly. Da Xiu by my side, Mei Lin in the center, everyone else move closer together around Mei Lin.” I shouted.

“Do it, do it now! Listen to the bannermen!” Feng Shan also ordered shortly after me.

That got them to immediately stop wasting time and do as they should and held their weapons out. Feng Shan stood in the front, while every other one of his men arranged themselves behind him and kept Mei Lin safe. Mei Lin’s ice blooded condition means she can hear things, better than me even, without being overwhelmed by the sensations, but I still retain a keener nose for Qi.

That being said, she is still inexperienced in anything related to combat and is still little better than just a fit young woman, while everyone here was a man and still stronger and faster than her. It also didn’t hurt that by having her behind the men, now they were less likely to run.

It’s one thing to run when you’re in danger and you’re alone or your friends and comrades are running with you. It’s another thing entirely to run when you have a beautiful woman behind you and those same friends are looking at you. In combat one needs to use any method that will keep your men fighting and if I need to use Mei Lin to shame civilians into staying and fighting then that’s what I am going to do.

Everyone stopped as we looked around and listened for any sign of the beast or cultivator near us.

“Maybe it’s a false alarm?” Huang asked.

I clicked my tongue and I wasn’t the only one.

“Stop tempting the Heavens Huang.” Another man said before I or Feng Shan could do so.

Whatever retort the Huang wished to say stopped as Mei Lin hissed at him as if she was a cat.

“Be silent, I heard the sound of a branch breaking.” Mei Lin declared.

That only made everyone to curse Huang in our minds. I am unsure if it’s all of us, but I am doing it deep in my heart and everyone else is probably doing it in theirs too.

You don’t tempt the Heavens like that!

The smell was getting stronger and I heard one branch break too and held my spear tighter from the back of the formation.

“I am seeing it, there in the trees!” Huang shouted.

Huang said and pointed to the left and all of us turned to see it. It was a water deer, it’s saber like fangs the color of blood.

It’s eyes were pure black and devoid of all emotion, and it’s face was the same as any other of its kind back north. The only thing that was different was the fact that it did not have tusks like the rest of its kind.

No, water deer tusks are cute little things that can be be dangerous if you’re not careful with the otherwise harmless animal or scare a male during rutting season. This creature had no tusks, it had fangs.

It’s fangs were as long as my arms and looked incredibly sharp and most importantly, they were still red from whatever it killed before coming here..

A single drop of blood fell from its fangs to the forest floor.

“Continue towards the river, Mei Lin if you start hearing the river lead everyone towards it. Da Xiu, make sure the civilians don’t die, someone tie Huang’s mouth if he speaks again.” I ordered sharply.

“What are you doing Tai Su?” Da Xiu asked outraged even as he started moving with the others as Feng Shan started walking.

Da Xiu listened to me still, even as my mind was no longer fully listening to my soul, or perhaps it was the other way around?

I could feel a part of me screaming at me to use Mei Lin and Da Xiu to corner the beast, to kill it with the oldest trick in the book, multiple bodies and pointy sticks, but my heart refused.

I smirked and the creature made a click of amusement that mirrored it. I could feel my blood sing, my heart beat faster and faster as I responded to the first challenge in my new cultivator life and my blood roared.

“Catching our diner, now go, the faster you go get us some water the faster we can eat some venison at dinner.” I declared with a laugh.

This beast thought it could challenge me, it saw itself as my equal and all it will earn for that is a place of honor on my plate.