Shi ZhenXian was sitting on the patio
attached to his quarters. He sat cross-legged, with his hands resting on his
knees. From the outside, it might have looked like he was meditating, but every
now and then his arms would tremble. Or maybe it was more like a shiver.
"Ahh…" he exhaled. His hot breath creating
a small cloud of steam.
He was sitting so composed but he had his
mouth open, while watching the wind rustle through the leaves.
What could that old man be thinking
about?
After the events of the last few days, the
sect had not yet reached a state of stability. On the surface, everything
seemed so calm as the colors of dawn were starting to lighten the sky.
He had spent the whole night thinking over
and over the words of the Sect Leader but he could not give him an explanation.
"It's beyond all logic!"
Shi ZhenXian jumped up and held his head in his hands. He started pacing around the patio, not even realizing he had lost a
shoe.
The Sect Leader was not someone who liked
to joke. The words that came out of his mouth were always well calculated.
This was a terrible time to leave the sect.
He had learned how many of his comrades had died that day, not to mention all
of those who had preceded them in the past months.
It's not like there were many of them left
on the mountain, probably a few hundred. If he were to leave and something
happened, who would take care of the Sect?
"How could the Sect Leader not have thought
about this?"
He scratched his head for the umpteenth
time. He had been doing this all night, until his scalp had turned into a
tangled nest of hair that added a touch of comedy to the scene.
It was too dangerous, what if someone came
back to seek revenge? A survivor of the Laughing Mist Sect??
There had to be an explanation for that
thoughtlessness since the sect leader had always been an extremely cautious
person. It wasn't like him to make such choices.
But why hadn't he told him anything? Was he
hiding something from him?
Shi ZhenXian felt a shiver run through him
again. He couldn't even say if it was because of the cold or the anxiety that
the situation was causing him.
As if he were waking up from a dream he
noticed that the sun had already risen. He ran into the house to tidy himself
up and then at the speed of light he rushed out and run to the sect leader's
quarters.
"Master, are you awake!?"
He said, throwing open the door.
"What the hell were you thinking, do
you know what time it is? You could have at least waited for me to go to the
common room." The sect leader almost jumped from his chair. He had sensed
someone's presence, but Shi ZhenXian ways always left everyone speechless.
"Sect Leader I-I can't understand, why do
you want to send me there? Don't tell me you really believe him. How can I
leave you all here and wander around aimlessly! And if something were to happen
in my absence, I would never be able to forgive myself!"
He blew it all out in one breath, his face
was red and drops of cold sweat were running down his forehead. He hadn't even
noticed that he was still in the doorway.
"Shi ZhenXian, calm down" The sect leader
said calmly, motioning for him to come in, while he poured himself a cup of
water.
"How can I stay calm, you gave me such an
order that goes against all logic! Master, tell me the truth… these aren't the
first signs of dementia- Ah!"
A flying cup hit him right in the forehead.
"WHEN WILL YOU LEARN!" "And who's your master anyway! Don't you
dare call me that anymore!"
Shi ZhenXian rubbed his forehead and looked
at the Sect Leader with a beaten dog face.
"Ahh…" exhaled the elder.
"I made a promise more than twenty years
ago."
"Promise?" Shi ZhenXian turned to him and
gave him his full attention.
"My Shixiong, when he destroyed that key,
he recommended one thing to me. To protect the pieces with my own life and even
at the cost of the entire Sect."
"At the cost of the Sect…" Shi ZhenXian was
somewhat perplexed by such strong words. How important that key must be. Twenty
years ago he was just a child.
"I didn't think that someone would actually
try to rebuild it one day… Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't believe that man's
words either." The Sect Leader continued.
"But I don't think Li HengYuan would have
thrown away the work that was the fruit of his own labor." Shi ZhenXian blurted
out quickly.
"I think there is some truth to that, too."
"But they are still just assumptions, we
can't act on them alone."
"Oh and there is another thing." The Sect
Leader took a scroll from inside his sleeve.
"It was given to me yesterday shortly after
we left prison. Li HengYuan carried it with him."
The yellowed scroll was an old map. From
the drawings and the title, it was easy to tell that it was a map of the
desert. Some places were marked with large, dark brush strokes.
Shi ZhenXian had never seen that map
before, yet it seemed familiar.
"This old map was drawn by my shixiong, I
am sure of it, I recognize his signature as well as his stroke. But there are
no other maps of the same place among the ones he left us."
"Oh, that's why I felt like I had seen it
before."
The famous Shixiong, Xin ShenZhi, had been,
in addition to being a skilled martial artist, a scholar of many disciplines,
including geography and science. Many of the books, maps, and scrolls contained
in the sect's library had been produced by him. He was also the first Shizun of
Shi ZhenXian, when he was just a child.
"How did he get hold of it... what
if?"
"What if he was alive?"
Shi ZhenXian stared at him in silence.
"Ahaha, don't look at this poor old
man with that face. I know my hopes are vain."
"I know how important he was to
you."
Sect Leader gave him a weak smile and
patted him on the shoulder.
"Maybe you're right, I misjudged the
situation. You shouldn't go, it's not the right choice. I'll dispose of the
prisoner today."
"No no no, wait... I'll go."
"I shouldn't be a burden on your
shoulders, kid."
"He was the person who saved me, I owe
him that. I think this is the least I can do to repay him for everything."
"I don't think your Shizun would agree, but
if it's your wish, I won't oppose it. But it's not a journey you can take
alone, the desert is a dangerous place and getting there won't be quick."
"I know that, that's why I'll take that
prisoner with me."
"We found the map, I don't think there's
any need anymore, and he wasn't someone to be underestimated."
"I can easily keep him under control, he
won't cause me any problems. If something were to happen, he could also be
useful as a human shield. And then we can't afford to send other people on
missions, who would be left here to monitor the sect?"
"There's no doubt about that, but do you
really think he'll cooperate? From my point of view, he'll try to escape at the
first opportunity."
"Mm no I don't think he will"
"A-Xien…" sighed the Sect Leader "I have
full faith in your abilities but I think it would only make your journey more
tiring"
"Master, trust me. If he was really Li
HengYuan's only disciple he must know something, who knows in the end he could
even come in handy."
"Ahh… do as you please. There's no point in
reasoning with you, but don't make me regret this choice." The Sect Leader
concluded, knowing that no matter what he said he would never be able to make
him change his mind.
"No, sir" Shi ZhenXian said smiling.
***
Shi ZhenXian entered the cold and humid
cave. He grabbed a torch hanging on the wall as he slowly approached the
prisoner.
"Hey."
He was still there in the exact same
position they had left him. His knees were starting to feel the weight and were
purple from bruises. Likewise, his wrists and hands that were still shackled
were red from the rubbing. Obviously, these were not ordinary chains, but
powerful artifacts that could seal the spiritual powers of those bound by them.
The Mount Qiyun Sect was known not only for being the strongest Taoist sect in
the Central Plains, but also for the immense arsenal of spiritual artifacts it
had at its disposal. Many of them were actually quite recently made.
The Shixiong of the sect leader, Xin
Shenzhi had been many things in the past. He was one of the most knowledgeable
people in many fields including astronomy, art, and spiritual engineering. He
had repeatedly gone on impossible missions to recover precious materials and
build the most disparate magical gadgets.
Of course, many of these were especially
useful in the martial field, but they were not the only things he had done.
Those chains had been forged using the lava
of a volcano that rose on an island in the middle of a lake. When Shixiong left
for these trips, in addition to collecting materials, he often stopped to study
the nature of the places he arrived in and wrote down notions and discoveries
in travel diaries. And he used to make maps of these places.
Shi ZhenXian almost got lost in memories.
He shook his head to chase away the thoughts.
"Hey wake up." He repeated.
The boy was starting to regain
consciousness.
"We found this map, what do you know about
it?" Shi ZhenXian said, showing it to him. The prisoner, still confused,
strained his eyes to see what it was. Shi ZhenXian noticed and brought the
flashlight closer to the old yellowed scroll. The other squinted before
adjusting to the light.
Indeed, it had been more than a day since
he had been locked in complete darkness in that prison.
"My master insisted that this would be the
next move." The words came out hoarsely, scratching his throat.
"What place is this?"
"I don't know… Master told me about it, but
he never showed me its contents before."
"Hmm… so in the end you are of no use."
The man swallowed nervously. It was not
clear whether he was afraid, which was unlikely considering his background. But
he still looked very young, so it wouldn't be that strange.
"Now that we have a map, we don't need you
anymore," he reiterated.
The prisoner's eyes darkened more and more.
He didn't even look afraid anymore. Was it… disappointment?
"But…" Shi ZhenXian continued.
"You should thank me, I begged the Sect
leader to spare you and let you come with me despite your uselessness. So be
cooperative."
In the dim light the boy's eyes lit up.
With that expression if he had a tail he would probably have started wagging
it.
Are you so happy that I won't kill you?
Are you really that disloyal to your cult? Someone worse than you would have
taken their own life. Maybe the cult leader is right, I'm just creating
problems for myself by bringing him with me.
"I'll come with you."
"Well not that you have any other choice"
he replied as he began to walk away. For a second his eyes fell on the tightly
bound wrists of the young cultivator.
He turned and with a flutter of sleeves he
walked out of the prison.
Within a few minutes he was there again,
this time carrying a bag on his shoulders. From inside the bag came a sturdy
rope. It didn't look like any ordinary rope, a thought that was confirmed as
soon as Shi ZhenXian began to control it remotely using his spiritual powers.
With a quick movement he freed the boy from the chains and replaced them with
that rope, allowing him to finally lower his arms that had started to lose
sensitivity.
That rope was another of the spiritual
artifacts created by Xin Shenzhi. It sealed spiritual powers, but, being made
of wool from special golden sheep that his master had found on his travels, it
didn't inflict the same wounds as those chains of volcanic lava.
"Good, I'll have you moved to a cell and
treat your wounds. Get a good night's sleep, I'll come by tomorrow to pick you
up."