Chapter 4- Strangers With Familiar Faces

The room was dead silent. Elder Rui was content to let them process his words. It had been a lot. Eventually, Tian stood, bowed with clasped hands and asked “Elder Rui, if I may be so bold as to ask, why the… why are we fighting this war? What exactly do the heretics want?”

He was slightly desperate to know at this point. The semi-regular motivational speeches were long on all the terrible things the heretics would do if they won, but the motives were never really explained beyond “This is how heretics are.” But it was the crux of everything. If they needed to win the future, they needed to know why they were losing now.

“Interesting.” Elder Rui gave Tian an appraising look. “You are quite right in your implication. The information has been deliberately suppressed. The elders didn’t lie, of course, because most orthodox cultivators don’t require much more explanation than ‘The murderous bastards are coming for us!’”

Tian nodded. That did seem like a reasonably comprehensive explanation.

“Strange how, despite orthodox sects seemingly having every logistical and strategic advantage worth mentioning, we are outnumbered and being outfought, isn’t it?”

Tian nodded again. Elder Rui’s face twisted into a sort-of smile.

“I can’t tell you. I don’t have permission, and I can’t blatantly ignore the Monastery’s orders. What I can tell you is that your trip will provide ample opportunity for you to figure it out yourselves. Unsatisfying, I know, but it’s the best you are going to get. Any other questions?”

Tian was sure everyone else had lots of questions, because he had them by the bucketful. But they all recognised the Elder’s tone, so they shook their heads.

“Good. Pack what you think you will need, but you will be traveling through friendly territory for most of this trip. You will have ample opportunity to resupply, and meals will be provided. You leave tomorrow. Assemble at the main gate immediately after breakfast. Dismissed.”

Hong and Tian made their way back to the barracks together. Packing would take no time at all, but their goodbyes would. As would informing their superiors about why they wouldn’t be reporting for duty.

“Sister Hong… may I call you Sister Liren?”

She stumbled for a moment, but came up with an odd smile. “If I can call you Brother Zihao.”

“I would like it if you did. I have a shameful secret, Sister Liren.”

“Only one, Brother Zihao?”

“Only one relevant one. I don’t have the faintest idea what kind of new option I could offer the sect. I don’t even have an idea about how to get an idea.”

“Oh. Easily solved.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Wear your shame openly, and it is no longer a secret. All the guilt over hiding your incompetence will just float away.”

“Thank you, Sister Liren. I learn so much from my juniors. I assume you already know exactly what kind of sect-saving insight you will be presenting.”

“Some minor details are still being perfected, Junior Brother Zihao.” She looked demure. “So far I’m up to ‘Let me personally kick the intestines out of my ever-growing list of scumbags.’ But that’s not a sect-wide solution. I can’t be everywhere all at once.”

“Difficult. Do you think the monastery has a long distance disembowelment art that would compensate for that? Or maybe a puppet art or something?”

“Well, that’s why we are going on this trip.” Hong nodded sagely. “Solving the ‘how,’ not just finding the ‘what.’”

Tian nodded, looking serious and a touch serene.

“Did you have a load of people asking you nosy questions about your life recently?” He asked.

“Yes.” Her eyes got tight. Hong suddenly looked a lot less demure. “I didn’t hit any of them.”

“Me either. But they did help confirm something I already knew.”

She stopped and looked at him. Tian saw the same hell in her eyes that he knew were hidden in his.

“Yeah. It would be nice if we weren’t keeping pace with each other, Brother Zihao.”

They gathered at the gate after breakfast. The red sands and jagged rocks outside the base were well trodden by now. The ground was still torn up after the battle, but the desert was quickly erasing the evidence. Enormous tears in the ground were being filled by blown sand. The scorch marks and acid burns were already buried. The poisonous qi and inescapable rock dust remained.

Tian took a proper look at his new companions. Sister Su… he never had learned her personal name, just her family name. She rolled along in a rattan wheelchair, looking indifferent about the inconvenience. There were handles in the back for pushing, but some inconsiderate sod had wrapped them in thorn vines. She moved the chair along by pushing on the oversized wheels.

Sister Su cropped her hair nearly down to the scalp, like every woman in the Sect. She had opted not to shave any pictures or patterns into it. Perhaps she felt that unadorned was optimal. Thin fingers but thick wrists, Tian noticed. He wondered how you had to train to develop like that. Her robes were tidy, but it was a routine sort of cleanliness, not making a show of looking her best. The intense look in her eyes had only deepened since he first met her.