v6c57: Shadows and Light

As Bi De and his companions continued southeast, they heard more of the same rumours. The Shrouded Mountain Sect had stopped most patrols for a time, before restarting them.

 

Thankfully, in spite of what they had heard in the first town they had stopped at, the entire province hadn’t exploded with the sudden retreat of the sect. Bandits were still few and wary enough from the past culls from the sect that the roads were still relatively safe; the same with the local Spirit Beast population. Some outposts had even continued to perform their duties while they waited for news from the main sect.

 

But still, the rumours abounded. Everyone knew someone who had heard from a friend of a friend about a destroyed village… and eventually, Bi De and his companions came across one of these savaged places.

 

They wandered through the empty village, walls smashed, doors torn off hinges, and roofs collapsed. Some places still had food frozen on the tables. It was too cold for the corpses to decompose, so they sat still and unmoving, pieces of them chewed off by scavengers.

 

In this forlorn place, all that was left was the haunting sound of the wind howling through empty homes.

 

They gave what burials they could to the fallen, their cultivation letting them dig into the frozen ground.

 

Bi De knew he would be seeing the body of a little girl and her doll in his dreams for a while yet.

 

In the next town, they found the survivors of the attack. Many were covered in bandages and still healing wounds. Others were missing arms and legs, and still others were blinded entirely.

 

But the worst were the Beast Cursed, six of them. They were wracked with lingering, chronic sickness from being too close to Qi techniques. The ailment was a pervasive feeling of being unable to get warm—one and all these poor souls were bundled in blankets and furs, huddled by the hearths or fire crystals, yet still shivering. The worst afflicted had to be physically restrained from jumping into open flames in a desperate attempt to rid themselves of the maddening cold.

 

They did what they could for those they encountered, Ri Zu applying the Healing Sage’s formation to draw out the Beast-Qi that was within them, gnawing on their inner fire.

 

Yet in spite of the damage to the province, the mortals did not seem to blame the Shrouded Mountain Sect. In fact, the people only seemed to have more faith in the sect than ever before, in spite of everything.

 

“They were doing something for His Majesty! It’s not their fault. I hear they fought off an entire demonic incursion by themselves!” a woman who was clad in bandages and had barely healed claw marks on her chest exclaimed.

 

“T-they st-st-st-started the p-patrols back up as s-s-s-soon as they c-could,” a man grit out between his chattering teeth while Ri Zu worked on ridding him of the foreign Qi in his system. “It’s the F-frozen Cloud Sect’s fault, the b-bastards!”

 

“Greedy, grasping, underhanded scum,” a second woman stated, her voice full of scorn. “I had family up in their territory, and they got the hell out of that shithole. The roads are atrocious, and you need to wait a week to get them to move if a Spirit Beast attacks. A week! You send an emergency transmission to the Shrouded Mountain Sect and they’re here within the hour… or at least they used to be, no thanks to the Frozen Cloud Sect!”

 

“If they think they can waltz in here, attack our heroes, and then say we belong to them, they got another thing coming,” another person chimed in, glaring at the mountains in the distance.

 

There were several sounds of agreement.

 

“Do you know anything about what’s happening?” Yun Ren asked.

 

“Not really. The Shrouded Mountain Sect pulled back completely, and the Frozen Cloud is following them. I heard there were a few skirmishes, but we don’t know who won,” the second woman replied, a grimace on her face. “It’s surely just a plan! They’re doing it on purpose to lure the Frozen Cloud in, all smart like!”

 

Several people echoed this opinion… But Bi De could tell that it was more to convince themselves.

 

==========================

 

They camped together with Shen Yu and Spooks that night on a mountainside, staying in the town felt too uncomfortable with all the thanks they were receiving from the populace.

 

“…did I even do the right thing, if it led to this?” Yun Ren muttered.

 

Bi De had no answer for him. It was Yun Ren’s revelations that had caused the disruption.

 

Shen Yu, who was watching, sighed.

 

“Do not look away from it. Your actions did contribute to what happened here,” the old man stated. “Acknowledge, but do not regret. If one regrets, then they have inflicted suffering upon mortals for an unworthy reason. You shame yourself, and you shame them. Those are the words of the Honoured Founders of the Cloudy Sword Sect.”

 

Yun Ren sucked in a breath and grimaced.

 

“It’s a cold comfort, for those suffering,” he muttered.

 

“It is,” Shen Yu agreed. “But it is something that you must understand. You were once mortal, and now you are a cultivator. Your actions, whether you wish them to or not, affect more than a single village. So, you must decide if your actions were worth the outcome.”

 

Bi De put a hand on Yun Ren’s shoulder while the man worked his jaw.

 

“…I don’t know quite yet. I thought they were worth it when I was with the foxes. but…” he trailed off and heaved another sigh. “Well, everything would have been fine, it seems, if the Frozen Cloud Sect hadn’t attacked. Wasn’t there some kind of pendant thing from the Emperor that Shenhe got that should have stopped people gettin’ ideas?”

 

“There is indeed such a thing,” Shen Yu replied. “But that’s likely the only reason why more sects aren’t attacking the weakened hegemon of the region. The Heavens are high, and the Emperor is far away. The only thing they have right now is their own might.”

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Bi De frowned. “…will we be joining them in battle?”

 

“No,” Shen Yu replied. “This is one of those moments where our interference will make things worse. Continue your mission as you were.”

 

They all had trouble sleeping that night.

 

===================

 

They picked up the pace, and the rumours got more detailed the closer they travelled to the Shrouded Mountain Sect.

 

Rumours of skirmishes, of retreats by the Shrouded Mountain Sect, of the Frozen Cloud Sect pressing forward.

 

But they also heard some rumours that brought hope.

 

“Even in the midst of war, a Fulmination Squadron came to our aid!” a Town Elder declared. “Captain Shao Heng arrived on a bolt of lightning and saved us all from that Frost Wolf!”

 

Ri Zu brightened up.

 

“I heard that Lady Yushang defeated an entire team of Frozen Cloud cultivators—she’s the personal disciple of Sect Master Shenhe!”

 

Bi De couldn’t help his smile.

 

In spite of these small moments, the mood amongst the people they met got more and more tense.

 

“The Elders met under a banner of truce, but Elder Chang Guozhi of the Frozen Cloud Sect said that Sect Master Shenhe was a liar and a charlatan, and they were going to ‘rid the province from the tyranny of the Shrouded Mountain Sect’.”

 

“It’s inevitable now.”

 

And then came the moment Bi De had been dreading.

 

“There was a fight. A big one. We heard the thunder from here. The mountains shook like they were trees.”