Chapter 20- A Question of Will

The two immortals stood over the body of the Foggy Night Witch, staring up at the night sky, lost in their own thoughts. Liren sighed and flicked a paper talisman onto the head of the dead heretic. “We should tidy up the battlefield.”
Tian shook loose of his thoughts, and nodded. “Yeah. What were you thinking just now?”
“That for some, life is to be endured. And that’s a damn tragedy.”
Tian smiled softly. “Yes. That’s very true.”
“And you?”
“That the dao is inhumane. Literally inhumane. But it still created humans.”
“So?”
“So there must be a use for our humanity. The dao is indifferent, we are not. The dao is inhumane, we are not. Or at least we try not to be. Maybe that’s what we are for. That damn struggle. It’s not about winning, but the fight.”
The two started working their way around the circle of the dead, destroying the bodies and carefully storing any treasures or rings. Heretics picked up all sorts of random things. You never knew when you would find something good.
“Spirit of the Horse. You think the red horse over near Vermilion Bird might be the horse spirit?” Liren asked.
“Dunno, but it’s worth another look. It will give the heretics some time to gather and make arrangements, which means more for us to kill.”
“How far do you want to follow this bunch?”
“A couple of days at least. We have equipment, but now we need time. So long as Han is safe, there is no rush.”
“Mmm. Might make sense to make a quick trip back to Burning Flag City, then. They might decide the time is right to strike.” Liren shrugged. “It’s just a couple hours flying, no big deal.”
“Fair point. Lets.”
The two flew across the moonlight dappled steppes. There were no threats to the fleeing band within a few days travel for mortals. It would do. When they reached the city, they didn’t head straight for the courtyard. Instead, they flew high over the roofs, observing the situation below.
“Daoist Sweetdove is back.” Liren smiled. “She can finish the work on the robes.”
“Nice.” Tian nodded. “Looks like a fair bit of fighting is going on. All very quiet. Those mortal grandmasters seem to be getting active.”
“Looks like merchant guards and Yuu. No idea where they found the guts.”
“Well, the Yuu at least can take a punch and throw one back. Oh, nasty. Look at that grapple.” The Yuu they were observing was a muscular young man, who declined to box and instead dropped practically to his knees and rushed at the Grandmaster’s legs. He ate a sharp kick in the process, but he was able to block some of it with his arm. Once he reached the old martial artist, he grabbed him around the knees and quickly slammed the elder onto his back. Then he was on him, swarming up the older man’s body and grabbing ahold of his right arm. A moment later, and it looked like that arm was going to be dislocated, if not entirely removed.
At which point the master demonstrated how he earned such a title by contorting his body to the point where he could kick the young man in the back of the head. Not very powerfully, but enough to distract him for a split second. The older man got his left hand free, and swung his open palm around.
“Ah, missed. Slapped his ear, not- Oh hoh!” Tian pointed. “I was wrong. He wasn’t trying to shake his brain, he was attacking the eardrum. My brothers told me about that. It’s one of those so-called easy self defense moves that fails more often than it works.”
“Look at the wrestler howling! I’d say it worked.” Liren sniggered. The Yuu swung a fist, but the grandmaster leapt up off the floor with ample grace, then delivered his own punches straight back.
“Hmm. I favor the old master.” Tian stroked his chin, the other hand behind his back. He reckoned it was about as good a “Wise Elder” pose as could be managed. Doing it while on a flying sword was, likewise, quite domineering.
Liren gave him a glance and a grin. “Me too. His internal energy is a lot better and, yep, there we go. His right arm is strained, but his left works fine, and so do his legs. Low kick, low kick, low kick, the wrestler’s legs are half dead. This fight’s over. Where’s Han?”
They looked around the city, eventually finding Han sitting on the roof of a shuttered tailor’s store. The sign still hung proudly, over heavy wooden shutters nailed shut. The dust of the city had gathered on the step, with no one to brush it. Han looked up at the stars, then pulled out the flute Tian had gifted to him. With ginger breaths, he started blowing over the hole.
It was terrible. Of course it was terrible. But to Tian’s supreme irritation, it wasn’t nearly as terrible as he might have expected from someone with just a few days practice.
“Isn’t that bamboo from the Mountain?” Liren asked. “It’s not strictly an earthly realm herb, but it’s not far off either.”
“I needed bamboo, and that was the best piece for the job. Do you think he needs evasion training? I think he needs some evasion training, followed by endurance training and a few rounds of boxing. Maybe we can see how he does in a grapple. The Yuu seem to favor wrestling. We should train him for that.”
Liren’s eyes creased into little arcs. “He’s not carrying his spear. That’s definitely worthy of a few hidden weapon drills, as well as some sword-on-spear practice.”
Tian’s head hammered up and down like a carpenter trying to finish before dinner. “Exactly, exactly. Gone for two days,”
“About a week…”
“Some irrelevant length of time, and he’s already disregarding our teachings. Unfilial. Deserving death by a thousand flying rice-flour bags.”
“What have I told you about playing around up there? Do you know how late it is?” A young woman came out onto the street and started scolding Han. “Come down here this instant, you!”
Han put the flute away in his robes and quickly descended. He didn’t bother climbing. He stepped off the roof, caught the edge as his arm went past, hung at full extension for a bare second, let go of the roof, landed lightly on the sign above the door (causing it to nearly fall off, but it managed to just hold) and then onto the street. He fell three stories, all told, and didn’t even bend his knees when he landed. Every movement looked casual, almost thoughtless.
He might have forgotten his spear, but even Tian would admit he hadn’t been slacking on his light body technique.
“You call that emulating the elusive moon reflected in a winecup? He dropped like a sack of barley, and nearly knocked the sign off. Training. Intensive training.”
Tian would admit Han hadn’t been slacking on his light body technique eventually. Not tonight, and probably not tomorrow, but eventually.
“Nearly gave me a heart attack! Don’t they have ladders where you are from?”
Han sighed, cupped his fist and bowed apologetically.
“Hmph! So late and you are making a ruckus. Luckily it was me who came and not the guards. You can’t stay here. Come on. I know a spot where you can practice.” The girl didn’t seem to want to look at Han, for some reason, but she waved him over imperiously anyhow.
“Far be it from me to criticise a sister for trying her luck, but has she looked in a mirror lately?” Liren snorted.
Han shook his head apologetically, and mimed needing to go. Tian realized it was too dark for him to use his cards or write on the slate. It was a startling thought. For mortals, Han became truly mute at night.
“Stinky man. Fine. Go. See if I share my secret spot with you in the future.”
“No, Sister, I think that’s exactly why he’s leaving. I know I have no basis to criticize anyone, but the phrase… you know what? No. Not going to say it.”
“Say what?” Tian asked, eyes wide and blinking.
“Nope. Not this time. Anyhow, you can see it too.”
“See what? I’m not being funny, I really don’t understand.” Han beat a hasty retreat from the alley, even slipping into his evasion art as he went.
“Tian, that girl is around average looking for a mortal. Han isn’t. Beyond height and looks, he’s got confidence. He might not be rich, but he’s better off than many. He is extremely well put together, well mannered, thinks like a scholar and moves like a fighter. Polite where he ought to be, forceful when he needs to be, and he even has a mighty background. And she… has a nice personality.”
Liren shrugged. “Incidentally, rein in that killing aura of yours before you start a city-wide panic.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about. I’m just very focused on observing our student. Intensely focused. I would never kill a student. I just need to talk to him for a minute.”
Liren caught his collar and kissed him hard. “Fool. Come on, let’s pick him up and bring him back to the courtyard. We can’t let him think we forgot about him.”
Tian had always found it easy to multitask. It was like meditation- you put one part of your mind in charge of handling a routine matter, and the other did the active brain work. Provided you were well organized, everything would flow naturally.
“If you collapse now, it will count against your break time. Just ten more laps and you are done.” Tian stood on Han’s shoulders as the young man struggled to climb the inside of the city wall. Blindfolded. With Liren launching stinging bags of rice flour at him from below if he wasn’t quick or elusive enough. Up, over the wall, then down the other side, then back again was one lap. A remarkably good whole body exercise, and it gave Tian time to read through the manuals they had collected over the last few days.
It was-
“Whoops, nearly fell there! Better move quick, Sis’ Liren’s made a new bucket of ammo and is loosening her arm. No idea why, I’ve seen her rip a person into pieces from a cold start.”
It was pretty interesting. They were all earthly realm arts, and nearly all things he didn’t care about or flat out didn’t want to learn. But there were little hints, little sources of inspiration. For example, the manual he was currently reading claimed to be the “Poison Finger Seven Seals Art, where each seal unlocked more of the “poison finger’s” power, and inflicted greater and greater harm on the enemy. What it actually was, was an art for striking acupoints. This could work, particularly if there was a significant power difference between fighters. He’d never bothered studying such arts before. One, because acupuncture done properly was hard, and, two, as his brothers put it “If you can strike an accupoint, you are close enough to punch them in the face. So why are you screwing around poking people?”
However, that was in the Earthly Realm. He was already using acupuncture needles as part of the Heavenly Imperial Swallows. Maybe he should incorporate them into his fighting strategy more directly. Or, and this was the really exciting question, what about as part of his staff arts? A remote qi attack that let him strike an acupoint with the force of a spear thrust could be very interesting.
“Whoops. Gotcha!” Tian grabbed Han’s collar when his hands gave out a few feet from the top of the wall. He more or less gently brought him back to the ground and let him lay in a gasping heap on the ground. “Looks like you need something to drink, and maybe a bit of food. I’ll throw in some massage too. Won’t that be nice?” Tian smiled, silently swearing to put an extra thick layer of Voidcatcher’s ointment on the aspiring swordsman.
“Of course, the lap count has to restart, since he fell, but it would be a waste to just keep him doing the same old things. After his break, he can start climbing with his spear slung behind him. Vital life skill, that.” Liren smiled, then frowned. “We have company.”
“Oh? Where?”
“Eagle. Way, way up.”
Tian shaded his eyes and squinted. “You want to go say Hi, or should I?”
“You go, I want to make more training aids. I think with the right ingredients, I can dye the rice flour but keep it fluffy and loose. With a bit of luck, we can have Little Han looking like a rainbow.”
“Good idea. Hold that thought.” Tian flew up into the blue, happy to look his second eagle in the eye.
“Good morning. Did you want to talk through your bird?”
“No, I was just scouting you. I would have thought you would have run away after the last time we met. Little Rabbit.”