v4c41: The Rumbling on the Horizon

“…In this case, demonic corruption cannot be countered conventionally. The only recourse is for the patient to excise it themselves, barring the use of Rebirth Lotus Petals. Such a treasure cannot normally be sourced, however…”

Hong Ri Zu put down the scroll, leaned back in her chair, and stretched. Her arms rose above her head and her spine made a small popping sound, belying the amount of time she had already spent hunched over this desk.

Master Lishu had been as good as his word. He had allowed her access to a whole host of scrolls on demonic corruption, and additionally had let her examine all the patient records of the Shrouded Mountain Sect.

It was an absolute wealth of knowledge spanning thousands of years of collected records, going all the way back to something called ‘The Blood Arts Purge.’

Ri Zu had skimmed those ancient scrolls, and after the first paragraph… well if what had been written was even remotely true, then Ri Zu was glad there had been a purge. She did have some reason to doubt, though. Yun Ren had been particularly angry that night after he requested Ri Zu come to him in her rat form.

Ri Zu had been similarly appalled. The Inquisitors… they disturbed her.

Ri Zu sighed as she looked down at the most important scroll on the desk.

Master Lishu had handwritten this one. It detailed a few injuries from an expedition led by an Elder Shenhe, with all of the dates removed. One thing, however, was clear. Members of the Shrouded Mountain Sect were fighting demons. Recently.

And now, as a full member of the Medical Pavillion, Ri Zu had been allowed to see one of the injured men, in a locked and private ward. He had been poisoned… but that was the only information that had been given. He had spoken not a word about what he had been doing.

Combined with the rumours Bi De had discovered about an altercation in the north, and Yun Ren’s own story about why the Inquisitors wanted his powers, all of them had finalized their conclusion that they were to present to Shen Yu.

As far as any of them could tell, the Shrouded Mountain Sect was free of demonic taint. Of course, Ri Zu and her friends could be too weak or too blind to see it, but Ri Zu had her doubts.

The sect had been infiltrated, Master Jin had destroyed the infiltrator, and now the Shrouded Mountain Sect had gone on a rampage trying to find the demonic taint, apparently under orders from what they thought had been the Cloudy Sword Sect.

They had concrete information that there were some kind of demon activity, and the Shrouded Mountain Sect, contrary to being in league with them, were actively fighting against the incursion.

It all seemed fairly straightforward, in her opinion. However, things felt… well, unsatisfying for some reason.

Ri Zu carefully gathered up the scrolls she had been examining and put them away before exiting and locking the doors behind her. She headed to the break room, in dire need of some tea.

Senior Sister Hutao was already there, her eyes closed, and the older woman looked up when she noticed Ri Zu’s entrance.

“My pot is still half full, Junior Sister,” the woman stated simply.

Ri Zu smiled and took a seat beside her fellow doctor. She reached into her robes and produced a few hard candies that Master Jin had taught her to make and placed the sweets on the now empty plate of her Senior Sister.

Hutao smiled at her, picked up a candy with one hand, and pulled out a scroll with her other. “Fortuitous timing, Junior Sister. I would like your opinion on this method of treating a shattered knee. How many assistants would you think is the correct number?”

Ri Zu leaned forwards, ready to give her opinion. “Well, Ri Zu thinks one should suffice, if only to hold the skin out of the way—”

They spoke for an hour. More of their colleagues came and went, asking questions, or chuckling about having to give some poor fool a toxin purge after he knocked his pill furnace off a shelf and onto his head.

It was fun. Ri Zu felt slightly sorry for her friends.

Bi De had to sit alone in his mansion. Yushang and Fat Han had their own menial duties. Yun Ren had the most dangerous job out of all of them, and she constantly worried for his safety.

Ri Zu got to pursue her passion—and when there were no patients, she got to sit in the break room and drink tea with her fellow doctors who were proving remarkably forthcoming with their knowledge.

She had learned so much already; she couldn’t wait to show her Master. To give back to the person who had taught her so much. If Master Jin was their father… then Ri Zu’s Master was most assuredly their mother. Or Ri Zu supposed, technically her Master was her older sister. Uncle Xian had adopted her as an additional daughter, after all.

Ri Zu smiled to herself as she imagined the look on her Master’s face when Ri Zu showed her her human form. They certainly looked like sisters now. Ri Zu had been especially careful to have freckles for that reason.

Well, that and to annoy Tigu.

She shook her head and returned to the conversation, talking and laughing and joking for a little longer, and then returned to her task of studying.

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She really was enjoying her time with them.

As she walked into the Archives once more Ri Zu stopped and blinked, realising why things felt so unsatisfying.

They had come here expecting to render judgement upon the whole sect, to find their dirty secrets and crush this obvious enemy. But that seemed not to be the case. Bi De didn’t particularly like the Inner Sect disciples, and thought they were wasteful, but he could not say that most were outright evil.

Yun Ren had the worst of their assignments, and he clearly didn’t like the Inquisitors. What he had found was shameful but hardly uncommon in the world of cultivation from what she had learned. Was indolence, pride and arrogance enough to consign the whole sect to death? It would mean they would be crushing people like Yushang, Fat Han, or thousands of their mortal servants.

Ri Zu herself couldn’t condemn the Medical Pavilion. Master Lishu, though rather jaded and bitter, was a fine doctor—as were all her colleagues. They took their duties seriously, and were even treating the new assistants Ri Zu had trained well.

Could she judge them all? It was a hard question to ask.

Ri Zu didn’t want the whole mountain destroyed, but she also didn’t want them to continue as they were.

There was no clear, obvious path forwards at the moment. That was why it felt unsatisfying. Their war against the foxes was abhorrent. Their inquisitors’ treatment of the Che family was appalling.

And yet they were fighting the demons in the north.

Ri Zu was still thinking about it hours later, after dinner. It had been a simple fare of rice and mountain goat, but Yushang somehow made it taste great. Ri Zu had smacked her over the head with a spoon when Yushang had said the secret ingredient was love.

It was rather humbling that despite her Master’s skills, Ri Zu was actually the worst cook out of the four of them. Yun Ren and Yushang made hearty meals, while Fat Han could impart delicate flavours that even Ri Zu’s Master would appreciate.

But now, in the night, Ri Zu could do nothing but think. Yushang was a quiet sleeper, thankfully, if an uncouth one. She laid sprawled over her blankets with one hand on her bare stomach, and her chest practically spilling from her clothes.

Ri Zu chuckled at Yushang’s sleeping habits before turning back and staring at the ceiling.

What to do, what to do….

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