v6c43: A Bird in Hand

Biyu’s breath came out in great gasping pants. Her legs pumped as hard as she could make them. She had mistakenly thought that now she was a cultivator, running to Pale Moon Lake would be relatively easy.

Biyu had been very, very wrong. It turned out cultivation didn’t make running for hundreds of Li that much easier, especially when the only thing she had going for her was Qi. An Initiate needed a strong body. And while Biyu had been strong enough to haul around decently-sized chunks of crystal and could walk the streets of Pale Moon Lake without getting tired, she didn’t exactly run a lot.

Which she had spent this past week mostly spent doing. Running. Running through the snow. Running through the cold. Running for hours.

It had even been fun for the first fifteen minutes, before she realised she was in for over a week of this.

Well! It was something that needed to be done if she wanted to travel with Yun Ren in the future! Sure it kind of really sucked, but she was sure it would get better!

…maybe.

It said a lot that this was still better than riding in the cart. She got to see the world, the cold wasn’t quite so bad, and it was really neat that her body could do all this… mostly.

“You doin’ okay?” Yun Ren asked her. He didn’t sound out of breath at all! None of them were out of breath! Even little Torrent Rider showed no signs of being tired, and he would even occasionally shoot off ahead with Shaggy Two or disappear into the trees only to pop out later to ‘report’ to Tigu about the path they were using.

It was very annoying being the weak link, Biyu decided.

Part of her was almost stubborn enough to lie… but she knew she would get scolded by everyone if she did.

“I’m… going to… need a break… soon…” she panted out.

Of course, that’s when her legs decided to betray her and she stumbled, only for Yun Ren to catch her and pick her up, transferring her in one smooth movement to his back.

“You good like this for a bit?” he asked her. Biyu didn’t say anything, simply pressing her face into the back of his neck and grumbling while she tried to breathe.

…she had been carried a lot of the way so far. Hells, the others had offered to carry her too if she ever got tired. She had at least been able to avoid that.

“Don’t curl in like that, Biyu. Back straight, deep breaths. You’ll recover faster,” came the stern, but not unkind voice of Tie Delun. The man was normally pretty quiet, the tacturn sort, but Biyu had figured out that was just his way. He didn’t talk much, but that was because he was looking out for people.

Biyu did as she was told, forcefully straightening her spine and taking deep breaths. She knew the importance of breathing to keep one’s hands steady, but this was… well, it was harder than that.

“You’re doing very well, Sister-In-Law!” came the booming voice of Xianghua, a bright smile on her face.

“I’m impressed,” Gou Ren said, nodding to her. “You should have seen what Jin made us do when we first ignited!”

“Indeed, Biyu is doing very well, despite the recency of her ignition,” a third, smooth voice chimed in. Bi De dropped from the tree branches above to keep pace with them, a pleased sound in his voice.

‘Her muscles are developing nicely as well,’ Ri Zu the rat added.

While Biyu was headed south to talk with her boss and parents, Gou, Bi De, and Ri Zu had come with them to see the Azure Alliance and how things had developed at the Dueling Peaks since their last visit.

“I can’t wait until the spring. I want to see what you all have built, for it sounds beautiful. We have some time before we head to the Shrouded Mountain, and if that takes too long I don’t want to miss it when our Master sees it!” the rooster had declared.

Tigu and Yin had puffed their chests out with pride and started boasting.

The rest had stayed at Fa Ram with promises to travel south some time after they finished planting the crops in spring, and presumably after Gou Ren and Xianghua’s wedding.

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Which might also be Biyu’s wedding. The thought made her cheeks flush. They would be heading to the north shore of Pale Moon Lake first, then to the city, then to the Dueling Peaks.

Their ground-devouring pace continued onwards for a few more hours. After she was feeling well enough, Biyu hopped off Yun Ren’s back and started running with them again.

Her legs were very sore at the end of the day, but with Ri Zu’s help they felt better in no time… even if a lot of the pain did remain.

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Biyu’s mother and father lived on the northern shores of Pale Moon Lake these days, in a small manor house that transitioned near seamlessly to docks that normally held their small fleet of cargo vessels. Her parents typically visited her. Biyu had to admit it was beautiful, even more so than when she last visited—it had still been under construction then. It was surrounded by pine trees and walled-in with a traditional courtyard. Father had always wanted an actual house like this, and she was glad he had made it. It was a far cry from the memories of her youth, with Biyu and her mother stacked up in a cramped, drafty shack. But his hard work had paid off. He had eventually acquired his own ship, which turned into his own shipping company, and gotten his daughter a secure future with Mengde’s.

As they approached, Biyu could see the men hard at work, using sleds to take things to the pontoons further out. The lake itself rarely completely froze over, it was much too big for that, but the edges froze to the bottom. Still, cargo had places to be, so they kept working.

Gou Ren whistled. “Man, this is a nice place!” he exclaimed, his eyes on the architecture. “Very traditional… but look, see that bulge, and the chimney? It’s got trenches dug beneath the floors, and a hearth in there to keep them heated. Smart.”

Biyu chuckled at the approval in his voice, while trying to hide her own nervousness as they got closer to the manor.

Most of their group excused themselves, heading to the town that was nearby, leaving only Biyu and Yun Ren at the door to the manor.

Biyu took a deep breath.

“You ready?” she asked.

Yun Ren nodded. Surprisingly, he didn’t look nervous. Just determined.