Chapter 41- One Line Between Life and Death, Then and Now

The tongue was covered with spines, all pointing down towards the throat. The centipedes writhed and twisted, thrashing and biting each other as they fell. Tian had a good look at them passing. The bird was so huge, he was thirty feet above them. Only a desperate stretch of his arms, a violent gust of inhaled wind, and the full extension of his rope dart let him barely hang from the back of the bird’s mouth. And he was running Light Body Heavy Hands as hard as he could. Trying to think light thoughts, even.

It was a Heavenly Person Realm bird. The dart hadn’t pierced that deep.

Mmm. Tricky.

“Grandpa?” The throat lining rippled. Tian clung to the rope with a seizure tight grip as the whole thing jerked. The bird swerved to the side, banking in a long curve. Tian slammed into the wall of the throat. He desperately scrambled for a grip on the mucus covered lining, with absolutely no luck. The bird flapped hard, and he nearly lost his grip on the rope again. He willed Snake Head Vine Body to twist the rope around his arm, giving him a better sense of security.

Which was useful when the bird swung in the opposite direction and this time he was simply suspended over the void of the bird’s throat. A void becoming more perfectly dark as what light there was from the open mouth vanished.

This is why I wanted you to go to that sect. Free stuff and, sure, it’s nothing amazing, but it’s good starter gear and introduces you to the key concepts. Well, that and your emotional, physical and social development, education, trauma management, and trying to get you some friends and mentors. You had some really good luck there.

“I love the Temple too, Grandpa, but is now really the time?!”

Sure, because this is the other part of why I wanted you to go. This kind of thing happens to cultivators a lot. It’s how they make their biggest breakthroughs, or die. And like your brother Su said, they mostly die. You are on the literal brink of death, Tian. But there is a piece of immense good fortune for you here. If you can figure out what it is and how to get it.

“Oh good. So about the whole not dying thing-

You will figure something out. I truly do believe in you. But anyway, onto the important stuff- your homework. According to On the Origin of Supreme Forces, there is a guiding principle that governs yin-yang interactions. What was it?

The bird banked again, more gently this time. Tian was swinging back and forth like a pendulum, sickly certain that the dart was working loose.

Incidentally, and no pressure, but I am pretty sure this bird is headed for the Depot. I’ve been keeping track of the turns and, yeah. Bad things are about to happen for everyone, yourself included. So, you know. Before the bird gets there. Tick tock.

Tick tock? The hell does that mean? Tian thought wildly. “Uhh… there is no such thing as pure yin or pure yang. One always has at least some trace of the other.”

Good. Correct. And what happens when the concentration of one intensifies?

“Imbalance. Disease, or other bad things. Um. Um.” The bird glided down a bit which left Tian briefly blank with terror.

Think! You are almost there.

“Generation! Like with the elements! Extreme yin gives birth to yang, and extreme yang gives birth to yin!”

Correct! And what is a demon?

“I don’t know!”

Yin or Yang.

“Yin!”

Correct.

The demonized bird clearly was sick of whatever it was dangling in its throat. It shook its head from side to side and the spine covered tongue thrashed around. Tian felt the dart slip out of the fleshy wall.

Don’t try to stay in here, that’s hopeless. Your opportunity will come. Just remember the games we used to play. And… don’t panic. I’m with you, always.

Tian fell down, into the darkness, and was swallowed. The crushing muscles of the throat were simultaneously soft and inescapable, squeezing him downward into the bird’s stomach. Tian couldn’t move, pressed on every side, unable to breathe. Everything was cold, and wet, and faintly burned his skin. And the stink! The burning stink!

He started hearing screaming. Screaming of a kind he had never heard before, high pitched, furious, terrified, suffering. That unmistakable fishy stench of centipede venom. His feet were no longer being pressed by the throat muscles. Tian knew he would have a fraction of a second. Every nerve tensed. The constant pressure on him opened up and he lashed out with his rope dart, throwing it up and pinning it to the roof of the stomach!