Chapter 23- A Yin Man

“We can start with the obvious- we must cross the river to progress. The river is covered with an explosive haze that condenses approximately six feet above the surface, while the ‘water’ is tiny snakes that explode with clinging, poisonous fire if removed from the river. Or possibly if they are disturbed at all.” Su began dissecting the problem.

“But we don’t know if just disturbing the snakes is enough to make them explode. Also, it is important to note that the explosion of the snakes that left the river didn’t trigger an explosion from the snakes still in the river.” Liren looked thoughtfully in the direction of the river, then picked up a small stone. “I propose an experiment.”

“Hang on.” Brother Wang put away his cooking setup and pulled out a mattock. With a few quick hacks he had a berm rising. “Soft as hell. Weird.”

“Not really. Everything here is bone dry. No rain, ever, so no compaction.” Tian shook his head.

“Huh. Think there are different biomes? There must be. Fire and Water Path, it would make sense, and those monkeys have to be drinking something.” Brother Wang raised and thickened the berm, creating a little trench behind it. “Right. Everyone, get behind cover. Sister Hong, I’ll leave the rock throwing to you.”

Liren controlled a flinch. It was small, but Tian spotted it. He gave her an encouraging smile, while concealing a sigh. But there was nothing he could say that he hadn’t already said.

Everyone got set and Liren gently lofted the small stone into the river. It sank without a splash. She grunted and through a larger stone, a bit harder. There was a woomph, then a second later, a sharp CRACK, followed by an unpleasant sizzling sound.

“Looks like the little snakes are fragile. If they are jostled a little, they will flow around, but anything more than ‘a little’ and they blow up. Followed by a bigger blast when the fumes from the first explosion reach the haze over the river. Then you get the fire. Which… goes out almost immediately once it hits the snakes.” Liren reported.

Tian shrugged. “So it’s easy. We just walk across. Moon Crossing the Lake is practically made for this, and I know everyone else practices a light body art too.”

“Well. About that.” Wang grinned sheepishly. “While I do practice something called a light body art, it’s more like a body reinforcement spell that also lets me grip things better with my feet. That’s why I can run up trees and things- muscle, body reinforcement and my vital energy grabbing things through my feet.”

“Similarly, while my light body art is suitable for short range evasion, it is merely adequate for long distance travel and provides very little ‘lightening.’” Su’s expression twitched.

Tian groaned. “Sister Lin?”

“In terms of arts, I’m fine. Horseman’s Leg is quite good at weight adjustment. What isn’t so good is my actual leg.” She flexed her foot and gingerly moved her lower leg. “The numbing ointment is working, but using the art would be hard. And I don’t think walking with a cane on the explosive snakes is going to do me any favors.”

Tian suppressed a sigh. “I don’t suppose you can talk to the snakes and get them to make a gap?”

“No, on account of they aren’t real snakes. Also, I don’t speak snake. When you get right down to it, who does speak snake?”

“I dunno. Someone must.” Tian muttered. “It seems like it could be useful.”

“Not so much. Learning mammalian languages is much easier and more productive. You meet someone who can talk snake, they are guaranteed to be a pretentious villain.”

“Is that so?” Tian nodded, already trying to think of alternatives.

“Let’s go back to those fundamentals. Scumbag test administrators. Some need to get their kin a job, but they also want to recruit exploitable talents from the masses. If completing the test requires mastering a specific type of light body art, they would screen out too many people. And that’s assuming that everyone who takes the test has some degree of cultivation in the first place.” Brother Wang rubbed his hands together.

“So what does this river test? Courage, I suppose. It would take some guts to cross it, whatever way you came up with.” Liren drummed her fingers on the ground. “Brains, because you have to figure out the puzzle, and… I dunno, compatibility or something. Demonstrating an ability to make use of the teachings of the Eight Directions Palace.”

“Makes sense.” Tian nodded. “So?”

“So there is some kind of trick to it, and it’s one you can figure out by looking at the river or the surroundings.”

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