The Path Unending (A Cultivation Quest)

A/N: A big thanks to the 32 people who have pledged to me on Patreon! If you'd like to join them, you can do so here. Or, if you'd like to support me without the monthly commitment, you can buy me a cup of Ko-Fi here.
-------------------
As Zhuan Kun surveys the crab's earthly possessions, I move past him towards a small stack of driftwood bundled up near the wall of sand. Just the presence of such a bundle raises… questions. Did the crab go out and scavenge driftwood regularly, or did it just grab more whenever it happened upon some? It bundled the driftwood together with a thick leather thong; where did the leather come from? Did the crab find it somewhere or is it also a tanner? And why did it bind the driftwood together in the first place? Was it to make it easier to move or simply to keep its home uncluttered?

All those questions and more race through my mind, but I push them aside. They may be worthy of consideration when my mind needs something to occupy it, but I've quite enough going on right now without wondering what kind of animal a crab would even make leather out of.

I heft the bundle of driftwood up and inspect it carefully. Some pieces are too short for the crab's likely intended purposes, while others are gnarled and weathered to the point where they're as structurally sound as dry straw. But each piece has a small trace of anam in it from its exposure to the salt and surf. They would be most useful in adding just a trace of anam to a greater work, or could serve as the basis to a lesser one should I start another small project.

The aspect itself is a difficult one to comprehend. My face twists into a deep scowl as I sweep in the driftwood with my Sixth Sense. There are notes of earth in the aspect, certainly enough to serve as the anam's basis, but water and wind have come to dwell within the driftwood in equal amounts. There is surprisingly little wood; any trace of the forests these branches came from has long since been ground away. What remains is something rough yet nourishing, solid yet biddable, hard as stone but breakable if hit with any suitable force.

Something tickles at the back of my mind as I consider the aspect. I've not felt its like before, but something about it seems oddly familiar. Did… did someone back at the Heart use this aspect regularly? It certainly isn't in Fa's or Nokai's repertoires, but thinking of Xu Yun's face feels a bit more accurate. Not only him; it also seems similar to some things I've felt from Ming Hui's cooking. What aspect could Ming Hui and Xu Yun have in common? One is a sailor, the other a chef. The two paths have little in-

I pause as I stare down at the wood, realization hitting me. Is this… is this salt aspected? Interesting. What applications could that have? It could have a preservative effect that pairs with wood or life- or maybe it could enhance something else like salt enhances a dishes flavor? Perhaps I should pick Ming Hui's brain for other uses before I use the driftwood.

Acquired: Brother Crab's Driftwood (Salt 9)!

Regardless, it is more than tempting enough to join my collection of materials. I pull it into the Estate and turn to Zhuan Kun, who is contemplating the molts the crab left behind. He stares at the enormous shells and shakes his head before turning back to me. A note of satisfaction enters his voice as he says, "If our martial rival continues to eschew transformation, by the time they have discovered themselves, they will be worthy of another fight."

I glance from Zhuan Kun to the shells then back to the noble. Ancestors above, he seems honestly excited by the prospect of fighting Brother Crab once they've grown- and Brother Crab is already quite large enough!

The noble does not wait for a response, thankfully. Instead he turns to the rest of the Crab's belongings. "When next it returns," Zhuan Kun says as he begins taking everything into his own stasis ring. "It will doubtless enjoy seeing what it once cherished- either to regain it, or to marvel at how it has outgrown such things. Regardless, they will be returned to it when we next meet."

A snort of amusement pulls itself from my nose and I shake my head. "Just like the school signs will be returned to their disciples? Like how the Warden's Key will be returned to the Resolute March?" I tease, turning back towards the burrow's exit.

Perhaps I am imagining it, but I swear there's the ghost of an honest, actual smile on Zhuan Kun's face as he falls into step beside me. "Exactly," is his answer, and together the two of us pull ourselves free from the crab's home.

Our return isn't noticed right away. Daiyu is with the Clerk, leaning over to get a better look at his maps. Clerk Ni is in the middle of the most animated explanation I've ever seen him give, and Daiyu is nodding along with an interest that is only, at most, half feigned.

I move towards them and reclaim Quishu's reins. The loamwalker bites at my head, but her eternal bloodthirst is at least partially sated for now. The attempt is half hearted at best. I bat her fanged maw to the side and turn to Daiyu. "Dare I ask what has you so interested in the maps?" I ask.

"I am not that invested," comes Daiyu's automatic answer, but the way her eyes are still trained on Clerk Ni's scrolls. "It is simply… it is frustrating! That's all!"

On my other side, Zhuan Kun regains his own mount and hops into the mare's saddle. I follow suit and swing easily into my normal position atop Quishu before staring blankly down at my partner. "You may have to give me more information," I say dryly. "What, precisely, is frustrating?"

Daiyu pauses, clearly going through her last words once again. Her cheeks flush and she shakes her head. When she speaks, it is with the casual air of a cat who has just fallen on its face and is trying desperately to pretend it never happened. "The maps are giving us conflicting information," she answers primly. "And each new one we consult is further muddying the waters."

Clerk Ni grumbles something that does not sound flattering about the mapmakers as he takes to his own mount, and Daiyu is quick to follow suit. She lets Sunswift fall behind to ride alongside me as she continues. "Look at this," she says, brandishing another map. I take it and glance down as Daiyu begins pointing at specific places on it. "Here is Jingyi's Summit. Judging from our travel time and speed, that would put us around… here." Her finger jabs at a spot halfway down the coast between the Summit and Twelve Fields."

"Our next destination is out here," Daiyu continues, tapping one finger against a small point in the coast. If I squint, I can see the shadow of what might be a small dot, one that could easily be a scribe's error or simply ink soaking through from other papers. "It is a small village that hasn't been visited in at least a dozen traditional testing cycles, and certainly not during the Grand Examination. And ancestors above, it seems that no one can decide on what it's called!"

Another map joins the first, this one labeled. "This one has it called Shoalwater," she states, glaring at the map as if it has done her a personal wrong. "Yet this one-" a third map joins the first two. "-dubs it Yin Chang. And this one-" another map is thrown on the pile. "-names it Shulin's Wake! No two maps have the same name for it!"

From his position up front, near the Clerk, Zhuan Kun turns to glance back at us. "Answering such a question is a simple matter," he states. "All relevant details about every settlement are recorded in the archives of the major cities. Consulting the most recent map from Jingyi's Summit should be all you need to end your confusion."

"I've tried that!" comes Daiyu's quick response. "You need to have a word with your record keeper, because the village is not even on your maps!"

A deep scowl steals its way across the noble's face. "All records are kept and recorded by agents of His Imperial Glory with minimal oversight by any of the governing households," Zhuan Kun answers as if by rote. "Regardless, the record keepers our household supports are held to the necessary standard. If they do not have records of a village, that village does not exist."

Beside Zhuan Kun, Clerk Ni lets out a chuckle, a broad smile on his face. "Then I will speak with my superiors when I return to the central bureaucracy," he says through his laughter. "For that is where I found records of this nameless place. Between the archivists your family supports and the ones that serve His Imperial Glory directly, I know which ones I would place my trust in."

Still, Zhuan Kun is not deterred. "All records and census data are held to scrupulous standards and are subject to frequent independent review. If the Summit does not have records of a village at the location you speak of, it is not there."

"We will see soon enough," Clerk Ni answers, his smile undiminished. "For we should reach the village with an unclear name before the sun begins to set. If it is not there, then your archivists have the right of the matter."

Zhuan Kun is far from convinced. His ire is well and truly roused by the aspersions cast upon the archivists of Jingyi's Summit, and he makes his feelings known as we resume our ride along the coast. For his part, Clerk Ni seems more than happy to prod at the noble, always responding to Zhuan Kun's blunt declarations with sly nudges and the occasional jibe. Both of them seemingly quiet down after a few stern words from Daiyu- but they are back at it within the hour, much to her frustration.

For my part, I simply ride behind them, keeping watch for anything out of the ordinary. There could be no better moment for a threat to make itself known than now, while we're distracted. But the only threat that makes an appearance is Quishu, who snaps at a passing bird. She finds only feathers, though, and the bird vanishes in a trill of offended song.

The course Clerk Ni sets us on is one that I doubt any normal map would show. We move steadily down the coast before turning slightly, cutting back inland as the ground beneath us begins to rise is gentle hills and slopes. The grass thickens into some semblance of White Daylight Fields' splendor, rustling with life that makes Quishu perk up with excitement. Trees sprout around us in a small copse that almost seems quaint after our time in the Forest of Hill, and the noontime sun glistens off the Emberflow Abyss as we peak at it through the grove.

Soon, the rising and falling of hills becomes simply rising. We set a slow yet steady pace up a gradual incline as songbirds almost seem to mock Quishu with their merriment. Before long, we are looking down off of a small cliff at the Abyss, enjoying a new breeze that stirs the trees and carries the soothing scent of the coming rain. Hopefully, if there is no village at our destination, there will at least be something to shelter the Clerk and horses beneath.

I pause as a new thought occurs to me. How will Quishu deal with a storm? So far, the weather has been remarkably calm for early spring, and I've yet to witness the loamwalker in anything worse than a slight drizzle. It could prove… no, it will be fine. Loamwalkers were born to walk the Trackless Marsh, after all. They've surely dealt with more than some rain.

I'm pulled from my contemplations by a victorious "Ha!" ripping itself from Clerk Ni's throat. The bureaucrat seems beyond pleased with himself. He gestures at the ground before us and looks over at Zhuan Kun, a look of smug satisfaction on his face. "If there is no village here, how do you explain so many tracks?"

The Clerk is not wrong. I follow his gaze to the grass before us, which has been broken and trampled beyond anything the native wildlife can account for. Thin lines that can only have come from wagon wheels have been cut in the grass, and the footsteps of at least a dozen men or beasts have beaten the rest flat.

Zhuan Kun stares at the obvious traces of civilization as if they have done him a personal wrong. But he bites his tongue and instead guides his mount forward, eyes narrowed as he studies the path that shouldn't exist. Clerk Ni follows him, humming a jaunty tune all the while.

But Zhuan Kun cannot ignore the next sign of civilization. It is so subtle that at first, we almost miss it. The grass near the beaten path is simply shorter than it should be. As we move further along the path, patches of the ground have been denuded of green entirely, leaving dark patches of barren dirt. Eventually, we follow the curve of the cliff and turn, coming across an area the size of a small building.

We also find the culprit.

A lone ox stands placidly at the edge of the barren patch. It bows its head to the grass and rips out another mouthful, chewing it in the slow, lazy manner only worn by the most bored of cattle. When it finishes its bite it bends to take another, repeating the process as it stares over the cliff and towards the horizon.

Our mounts slow as we near the beast. I look around for its master or the rest of its herd, yet find nothing. Curiously, I extend my Sixth Sense. We've just encountered Brother Crab, after all. A powerful Spirit Ox akin to the old Earthroot Ox that inspired my Blooming Spear is not out of the question. Yet to my Sixth Sense, it is just a simple ox, no more powerful than some of our mounts- and far less powerful than certain, ravenous others.

A noise from Daiyu draws me out of my contemplation. She's looking beyond the Ox towards a small knot of trees. A merchant's cart sits beneath the tangled boughs. Its yoke is empty and the driver's seat bereft of anything that might steer it.

This is no burned out husk. At a glance, it seems the perfect picture of an average merchant's cart. Pennants and brightly colored streamers hang from its railings. Its bed is laden with goods and packages of all shapes and sizes. A small wooden board dangles from one side bearing a list of prices in coin and trade alike. Were it in any of the villages we've traveled through or on the street corner of any city in the Empire, I doubt I would think twice about it.

But it is not. It is alone and untouched in the middle of a small grove of trees. Not a single scorch mark decorates its sides. Not a hole nor an arrow mars its wood. It does not even look to have crashed into a tree. It is as if it was simply rolling along before deciding to come to a slow, gradual halt.

I glance towards my companions, all of whom are scanning the woods with keen eyes. Even Clerk Ni's mirth fades as it's buried beneath confusion. "Bandits?" he asks, but even he doesn't sound like he's convinced.

Daiyu shakes her head. "It… no, the cart is in far too good of a condition- and besides, nothing's been taken. What kind of bandits would stop a cart peacefully then not take anything? It is more likely that the merchant broke a wheel and went to the village for a new one."

"But the wheels are in perfect condition," I'm compelled to answer. "It could be an axle… but then the cart would likely still be in the middle of the path rather than off to the side."

My partner nods her agreement. "And there would be some splinters of the broken one at the very least. Could…" She trails off, searching for another reason for this odd sight but finding nothing.

"Could the ox have fought the reins and broke free?" Clerk Ni guesses. "And the merchant had to leave to find help pushing his cart?"

All four of us turn our attention back to the ox. It stares back at us placidly, never ceasing its grazing for an instant. Quishu lets out a loud braying noise, and though our mounts jerk their head in surprise, the ox doesn't react at all.

"That does not seem likely," Zhuan Kun replies. "The ox does not seem overburdened with spirit." Despite his words, he does not take his eyes from the beast. Daiyu turns her focus back to the cart. Clerk Ni glances at the path, his eyes following it as it winds up through the hills. I lean over to soothe Quishu.

The ox just stares blankly at us all. And chews.

A merchant's cart and an oddly tranquil ox have been discovered near the trail leading towards Clerk Ni's next stop. How does Kong Zhi react?
[] Where is the merchant? Where did the cart even come from? There must be some tracks from someone near the cart. I will search for them and follow where they lead.
[] The cart is fully laden with supplies and goods. Perhaps it also bears a clue as to what's going on. I will search it carefully- and if there is something on it that would be useful, there is no sense in not pocketing it.
[] This is not my duty, nor is it my responsibility. There will be time to investigate the cart later. I will insist we move on, and ask Clerk Ni to file another report with his messenger charm so that someone appropriate can be sent out and investigate.
[] Write-In