Chapter 50- What A Good Array Can Do

It seemed Tian had spoiled the fun. The Fried Dough Daoists stomped off. Oily fanned himself in a silent fury, while Doughy looked like he was sulking. The women from the Courtyard were giving him distinctly strange looks, though Daoist Mei slipped him a secret thumbs up and a silent giggle. The party came to a silent agreement that their break was over, and they returned to the march.

“So… Daoist Tian… What, exactly, do you do for the Ancient Crane Monastery? I can’t figure you out.”

One of the female daoists from the courtyard approached him. He could see she was making an effort to be pleasant, so he returned the kindness.

“Oh, I’m a hospital orderly. Mopping floors, changing sheets, I’m told my pillow fluffing skills are second to none. Ah… these days I’m also looking after the Snow Grace Crane, of course. But that’s more or less it at the moment. I’m still a very junior junior, after all.” He smiled politely. “How about yourself Daoist… it was Daoist Gongsung, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right.” Her smile suddenly became a lot more genuine. Tian spotted the Fried Dough Daoists twitching out of the corner of his eye. “It is the calling of every disciple of the Five Elements Courtyard to become an array master. Right now, I am studying in the Hall of Pure Water.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“About what it sounds like. We focus on arrays that are built around enhancing water elemental magics.” She shrugged. Tian noticed the waves carefully traced into her hair. “Every array balances all the elements as well as yin and yang, obviously, but… forgive me, how much do you know about arrays?”

“Close enough to nothing. Please, Daoist Gongsung, explain further. I am eager to learn more about how arrays are made.”

“Well, like any spell or art, an array is about using the five elements in a particular balance to produce a specific effect…”

Tian got the distinct impression that he was hearing the first-day-at-the-sect introduction to arrays, but that suited him fine. All he knew about them was that they were complicated, expensive to install, generally ran on spirit stones, and the sect really didn’t have a lot of them. At least, not at Depot Four.

“Though I am a little surprised to hear that you don’t know much about arrays. You had no trouble destroying them in your bouts.” She smiled wryly.

“I don’t have to understand something to break it, I’m afraid. You may have the wrong impression of me- I actually appreciate arrays a lot. Intensely, in fact.” Tian’s voice shifted from wry to somber.

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Ever been on the other side of an array from a horde of heretics and zombies, watching them batter away at it and seeing the ranged attacks slipping through, cursing and melting your comrades and friends as you rush them to the hospital from the wall, hoping the purification talismans buy you enough time, then just hoping they can keep the curses from tainting you before you can get the body into an incinerator…”

Tian felt the world suddenly slip and he was back at depot four, he was seeing Poetry Saint Zhu sliding down the chute into the furnace, he was seeing the charm papers burning as he stuck them to foreheads.

“Daoist Tian?!”

“Step back! Don’t touch him! Brother Zihao, COME BACK.”

Hong’s voice shook with vital energy, yang fire burning like the noon sun through the clouds and fog descending on Tian’s mind.

Tian found himself half crouching, one hand holding his invisible darts between his fingers, the other in an open palmed guard. His rope dart writhed around him like a living serpent. Even the Snow Grace Crane was disturbed, flying up into the air, screeching with alarm.

“I apologize, Daoist Gongsun. It seems the wasteland is still… more with me than I had hoped. And thank you, Sister Liren. Brother Su used to do that for me. I didn’t know you knew the trick.”

“I figured it out. And no thanks are needed between us.” She flicked the awkward moment away with strong fingers.

Tian suddenly felt very tired, and very seedy. He started cultivating Advent of Spring as he tidied himself up. A quick splash of cold water on his face helped, as did a long drink of yet more water. At the next break, he would make some tea.

“I apologize as well, Daoist Tian. I had… no idea. I knew what our defensive arrays were for, of course, but… I apologize. And no. I have never been on the other side of a defensive array during a major assault. A smaller raid, yes. But not what you are describing.”

They set off again, a little more slowly. The cloud forest seemed to alternate between mist and sudden rain without rhyme or reason. It was rather instructive to see how the different parties handled the weather. Tian, Hong and Lin opted for wide brimmed straw hats and straw rain cloaks. Sister Su chose an umbrella, but a remarkably short handled one she could, by means of a few straps, mount on her chest.

Stolen story; please report.

Brother Wang produced an absolutely enormous umbrella, painted with a scene of drifting cherry blossoms… and immediately shared it with Daoist Mei. Who giggled, and grabbed his arm. She didn’t need the umbrella. All the other members of the Five Elements Courtyard ostentatiously pinned a medal to their chest and tapped the spirit stone at its center. Small swirls of water qi surrounded them, guiding the rain away. They were bone dry in the middle of a rain shower, immortals unstained by the mortal waters.

A similar scene repeated when they stopped for the evening. The campsite was quickly surveyed, then the disciples from the Courtyard placed formation flags with carefully causal aplomb. An array snapped into place. That was how it felt to Tian- little nodes of energy suddenly pressed together and an entirely new shape emerged.

“Do you all play a lot of Go?” Tian asked Daoist Gongsung.

“Yes, actually. The Nation Defending Manor uses Go as a test for members, and many of the Heaven Watching Scholars, what you would call Inner Court members, require their Book Carrying Students to hold a certain ranking on the Courtyard’s Go leaderboard. Technically it’s not mandatory that everyone learns Go to a high level, but as a practical matter, it very much is.”

“Nation Defending Manor?”

“Very wealthy scions can form private factions based around a manor. They become a powerful network and means of support, and competition between the manors is encouraged by the sect within certain bounds. The Nation Defending Manor is one of the most famous of them, and many followed their lead. The Manor Lord, Scholar-General Tong, founded it to ensure our Three Rivers Kingdom always had capable generals and strategists.”