Jin Muyi/Ferenike (Mushroom Dust, Road Trip pt 2)
"....Qing Yun moved to defend me and I was waiting for a chance to throw myself on their spears so that the big lug will leave when you showed up and put a stop to the whole disaster."
The recounting of his experience had been distracting, now fully looking around at the streets and shops within Pleuron, Muyi found himself surprised by just how much it had changed over the past 10 years.
"Ho! Evildoer, I am Rina Callista and you shall stop!"
"Why do you get to be Rina? I want to be Rina as well!"
"Ninth Prince says NO! No more Rinas today! We should be the other members of the 13!"
"14!! Lord Wajo Counts! He did a Great thing as wel!!"
The sight of children bickering in what seemed to be mini-outfits of the 13 was a Interesting experience. It more than anything showed just how much an Impact the Stand at Pleuron had in the Clan's psyche. The sole young child in a bear costume fighting on Wajo's behalf was perhaps the clearest example of how much of a legend each of them had become
The stalls that littered the streets were filled with vendors selling trinkets proclaiming to be shards of armor from Ferenike, arrowheads from Tasos arrows and many other such items. All to tap into the Legend of the stand and the constant stream of Clansmen visiting the City for the first time.
To Muyi's mild embarrassment, not only were there children role playing as him taking out the group of 5th Sea hunters, there were also stalls selling vines and fruits claiming to "contain the Qi Essence of the Slain Hunters". Feeling thankful for the cloak Ferenike had thrown over his shoulders, Muyi attempted to slither behind her as fast as he could to the local Clan Administrative office to report on his status.
Just as the building came within sight, and they made their way into the building, a shout caught his attention.
"HEY! Are you blind? Can't you see us queuing to enter the building? Get to the back of the line!"
"And I'm a Centurion, shut your gob you moron. Come on Muyi." Ferenike grumped and pulled him into the front door.
As he was brought to one of the open counters within the building and found himself recounting his story to the bored looking Junior seating behind it, Muyi couldn't help but miss his issued Clan Token that used to allow him to skip through all these bureaucratic hoops.
"I see. Welcome back Senior. Let me run a check for you. It will only take me a moment."
Hearing the listless tone of the Junior and watching the languid way he checked the Contribution Board Terminal, Qing Yun decided to 'encourage' the Junior with a growl. Miraculously, everything seemed to speed up at that point, with the Junior pulling up the information and presenting it to Muyi in a matter of seconds.
"I've checked the records Senior, it looks like you've been listed as DEAD and your residence has been given away to another cultivator. I'll help you put in a request to get that overturned, but it's going to take at least a year before it's cleared.
Unfortunately, because you were marked as DEAD, the resources and Spirit Stones that you should have been allocated with have been redistributed out and your Clan Contribution Account has been deleted. Once again it's going to take at least a year before we can get everything back for you.
I'm sorry, but there's nothing else i can do for you at the moment. NEXT."
There was a pause. "Really?" Ferenike asked darkly.
The junior, in a fit of possibly suicidal bravery or sheer inability to care responded. "Yes Centurion. Nothing I can do."
Ferenike leaned over the counter, placing her hand on it as she leaned over the junior and smiled. "There is something you can do junior. Put him down as sharing my residence then. Shouldn't take you more then a day."
The junior blinked, then paled like a ghost. "A-ah, yes ma'am!"
Slithering away as he swayed back and forth out of the building, Ferenike clanking behind him, Muyi couldn't help but wonder if he did the right thing to come back from being a forest. Once they got a bit away from the office and the line Ferenike looked over at him. "I do hope Senior doesn't mind me giving you a roof for a while till you can sort that mess out?"
"Ah, yes. I will be grateful for your hospitality. Also so is Qing Yun, look at how hard he's wagging his tail."
Gesturing to the excited Qilin, with a wave that sent his vines coiling around Qing Yun's horns. After reaching Ferenike's estate in Pleuron and getting Qing Yun settled in with ample supply of his favourite oats, Muyi found himself at a loss of what to do.
Heeding Ferenike's advice to "Go move around, haven't you spent enough time as a tree?", Muyi found himself wandering aimlessly within the city hidden under the biggest cloak he could find in Ferenike's wardrobe.
The dramatic ups and downs since he made his way towards Pleuron was taking its toll on Muyi, and he found himself making his way to the Training Grounds out of sheer nostalgia at the memories of training without rest during the early days.
Gazing out at the ranks of Juniors drilling in unison at the shouted commands of their Centurions brought him back to a better time, a time like now, where the Trials came to an end and the Clan was recovering from it's loss. When the Clan was on the rise after Elder Manuel made it to Mid Nascent Soul and was made the Grand Elder. When tributes from the vassals flowed into the Clan Treasury without respite.
The 20 years where he gave personalized lectures to the few chosen ones and the first missions assigned during that period that were all successes. Compared to now, where the Grand Elder was wounded, the Core Formation Elders were wiped out and the Legions filled with leaders promoted too fast and too soon so that the Command Structure could be maintained.
Perhaps the only bright side from how the Trials ended this time was in the renewed sense of hope and purpose that filled the Juniors. Their willingness to temper themselves over and over again to reenact a second Pleuron in the Trials to come. The potent mix of optimism and naivety that ironically meant that for all the disadvantages, this was the best batch of Juniors he had ever seen from the past century.
The sound of Axe blades chopping wood broke Muyi from his musings, focusing his attention found him locating Demetrius Ceres, one of the fellow talents from the early days and according to Qing Yun, someone who had also stumbled upon the Temple To The Dammed in the Qiguai Secret Realm.
Slithering his way to greet him, Muyi was shocked to find the vines that currently made up his body trembling. The closer he got to Demetrius, the more they trembled, sending to him messages to attack the Accused One, to bind him and tear him into strips to nourish the forest.
The constant insistent plea to attack Demetrius was incessant, more than any other instant Muyi could recall, even when he was within the Darkness and it attacked the group of 5th Sea Trial Hunters. The message his vines were sending to him were along the lines of if forced to choose between attacking the hunters and obtaining freedom OR attacking Demetrius and dying in the attempt, they would still attack Demetrius.
Feeling utterly perplexed at the sheer hate the vines had for Demetrius, Muyi called out to him as the other cultivator made his way to meet the wiggling robed figure Muyi had become.
"Stop Demetrius. I'm Xiao Yi, although I go by Jin Muyi now. My Vines are screaming for me to attack you and I cannot tell why!? Even now it's taking every inch of my willpower to prevent them from attacking, and if you get any closer I might lose control.
"My apologies, but we would have to catch up another time when I finally get them under control. It was good to see you again, my own death was greatly exaggerated."
Forcefully wrenching himself away from Demetrius who had gone into a battle stance the moment he mentioned 'Vines', Muyi tried to give Demetrius a nod and gave up when he found the attempt to nod his head was being used to send messages to his vines to rip Demetrius' head off.
This attempt by the Vines to seize control from him was the Final Straw. The slightly depressed state from realising he had nothing left had been converted into a steel-like desire to gain control over the vines, to prove both to the Clan and to himself that it was him, Jin Muyi that had control over the Darkness and not the Darkness having control over him.
"Let's go Qing Yun, I have some work to do."
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Gaining control over the Darkness was not an easy task, it required Muyi to not only focus without letting up for hours at a time, it also required him to devour books on Plant behavior as well as books on Demonic possession.
One particular volume Ferenike had offered had been the
Magnificent Liao Tzu's Meditations Upon Demon Plants, even as she called it a truly evil book. The behavior and growth cycle noted down in the volume had been intriguing. While the Darkness did not require the same exact environment mentioned in the book to grow and flourish, some of the listed behaviors mentioned in the book fit chillingly to the tee. Such as the hunting for prey via strangulation and of the semi-hivemind consisting of the plant and it's subordinate vines.
But the greatest help he had was from Ferenike's experience with her own bloodline. She too had experience with having what seemed to be living entities beneath her skin. And while hers were a disciplined legion working in unison to achieve great things kept in line by her position as Commander of this inner legion, his was more along the lines of a pack of beasts taking advantage of every stray thought or moment of weakness to escape and cause havoc.
However, with her aid and experience, Muyi found himself gradually tightening his control over the pack, gripping them with an Iron grip that allowed for no deviation. With any stray wisp that challenged his rule being snuffed off even at the cost of weakening the Darkness until it recovered.
This purposeful extermination of rebels and his tightening grip over the Darkness allowed Muyi to gradually reclaim his appearance from before the Trials, until without intense scrutiny being brought to bear, his current inhumanity would remain concealed even among the rigors of Combat. And yet, despite how he looked, the clearest sign that the changes were appearance only was in Muyi's utter lack of ability to taste any food and drink to his mild displeasure and to Ferenike's great sorrow.
Not even the most pungent food nor the most concentrated alcohol could bring to him a sensation more than feeling and absorbing the Qi used to prepare them.
This led to the current situation. Ferenike lay splayed out on her kitchen table, hat cast to the side, a haunted look upon her face as she murmured despondently. "You couldn't
taste my wine gifts… Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggggggghhh! Muyi! This is an atrocity against all good sense!" She whined.
"I'm made out of
metal, my tongue is literally hard enough to resist a knife's blade but I can still
taste. Gods dammit." She flopped back and ran her hands over her face.
"The nutrients from the food still works? Although I find myself getting more energy from the Yang Qi given out by the Sun these days. I do regret not being able to taste Magnus' newest work though."
Ferenike raised her hands and pointed at him. "No, not happening, I refuse. We're going on a trip. There has to be something in this godsforsaken desert that you can actually
taste. I refuse to let one of my friends languish without one of the five senses."
Raising an eyebrow (he had eyebrows again!), Muyi found himself musing aloud on something that had been occupying his mind since he obtained control over the Darkness.
"Well... I have heard that the Clan has a vassal tribe of mushroom men. They seemed to be cultivators in their own right and yet intelligent enough to look at things from a human perspective. We could pay them a visit and see if they have any tips on living in a Human Society while being part plant."
Ferenike lit up. "Excellent idea Muyi! They're also not that far away actually, come to think of it. Maybe fortune is smiling on us…" She said idly, then snorted. "Yeah right."
She clapped her hands with a quiet clang. "Anyway let me sort out some things with the Legate. Beyond this quest I have some of my own reasons to leave Pleuron, and once this is completed my own activities in Qiguai should keep me for at least a decade." She said, renewed vigor casting away the horrified pall on her expression as she got up and prepared to leave.
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The land occupied by the Cursed Mushroom Clan was different from what Muyi expected. Unlike the land and resources needed by Human Cultivators, the land the Mushroom Clan resided in were a labyrinth of Caverns and caves of which only the largest Cavern was big enough for the Clan to entertain their visitors.
"Welcome, welcome! It's rare that we get visitors to our lands! Most people interact with us in one of the Waystations. Feeling hungry? Just go ahead and pull up any of the mushrooms here and have a munch, they're rich with spirit Qi.That batch by the pool were by yours truly, I have a good feeling on that Spore Blooming cycle, they should taste great!" The self-proclaimed mushroom chief told them.
Ferenike eyeballed the bright glowing green shrooms happily growing around the pool of water that glimmered with luminescent crystals at the bottom. Should she? Eh, fuck it. She reached over and down to pluck up one of the fist sized mushrooms. "Wonder if these could be made into a good drink…" She mused and then, after poking the qi in the mushroom to assess it and determining it wasn't harmful, took a nibble. Her brain locked up from the spike of sourness.
Watching Ferenike reach out and grab a mushroom as well as the reactions on her face after consuming one, Muyi quenched any hesitation remaining and did the same, thankful for once at his inability to taste anything.
"Erm, Yes. The Qi within the mushroom is surprisingly potent for their size. But correct me if i'm wrong, but don't your Clansmen grow from these mushrooms once they gather enough Qi?"
The Mushroom chief let out a burst of laughter that sent his cap flapping, and in a matter of seconds the sound of laughter filled the Caverns, booming and echoing off the walls as Muyi's question was spread from shroom to shroom.
Ferenike paused in her quiet coughing. "What…?" Her voice said in an absolutely confused, disbelieving tone. Her eyes widened and her expression spaced out until she was looking far away into the middle distance. "Ah." She muttered.
"Oh no worries! Go ahead and have more if you want little lassie! Like what we Shrooms always say, until they grow some legs and pay homage to Lord Shiitake, they're not one of us. If they don't want to be eaten or harvested for sale, they better grow up first and head to Lord Shiitake's Altar." The mushroom chief said happily.
Observing the confusion still on their faces, the Mushroom chief expanded on his explanation.
"Lord Shiitake is our lord and master who created us. He was a Nascent Soul Cultivator with a gift for cultivating mushrooms and a love for their taste. Over centuries of breeding, he came up with the Ultimate Qi Mushroom, rich with Qi and able to gradually replace Spirit Stones as a cultivation resource.
Unfortunately for our lord, something he did not foresee happened. Upon amassing enough Qi for the 1st Heavenstage, sentience blossomed with the First Shroom who got up and proclaimed loyalty to Lord Shiitake, volunteering itself for the Lord's Dinner." A great deal of muttering started up as the 'Lord's Dinner' was mentioned, though Ferenike could not discern what they were actually saying.
The chief continued. "Lord Shiitake was understandably confused and put the First Shroom into stasis while he investigated what happened. After multiple experiments, Lord Shiitake realized that he had created a new race of Mushrooms, ones that achieved sentience upon gathering enough Qi for the 1st Heavenstage and able to cultivate to grow. Lord Shiitake was a merciful man, and despite his love for mushrooms allowed our race to be free." There was a strange regret in the mushroom man's voice.
"He even got us a plot of land in what is now the Gao Clan's territory. But just because he was merciful didn't mean other cultivators were! Soon after he disappeared, the Gao Clan took over the area and when they discovered us they started hunting us down for the Qi within." The chief's voice grew more and more incensed as he spoke, rising to a fever pitch.
"Once, we had Core Formation cultivators of our own… But everything changed when the Red One came. We still tell stories of him, his Red Cap, his soulless eyes and that bushy mustache….! He killed us for fun! We found our Elders squashed flat and left to die. Constantly taunting us that he was here
looking for his princess. You might not know, but we called the First Shroom the Mushroom Mother after being granted freedom. And the princess is the heir to that title, usually our most talented shroom! What else could we do? We fled to the Desert leaving our current Princess behind to stall the Red One.. Who knows what horrors she suffered? We knew from his behavior that he would kill her slowly, and that gave us the time to flee. Now, we can only hope to eventually recover and regain our strength before heading back to stomp on the Red One. DEATH TO THE RED ONE!"
As the cries of "Death To The Red One" filled the air, Muyi exchanged a long stare with Ferenike, both instantly agreeing with that glance to get out as soon as they could.
"Thank you for the explanation into your history Chief. But the main reason we're here is to seek your insight into my situation. Due to the use of a skill, I'm currently part Plant and found myself utterly unable to taste anything. I'm hoping that I could perhaps pick up the trick on how the mushroom people learn how to taste human food." Muyi asked.
"Oh! We can't do that sonny boy."
The Mushroom Chief's instant rejection left Muyi slightly stunned. Pulling out a sack of spirit stones and placing it in front of him, he continued asking for aid.
"Please Chief, I need that skill. I'm willing to trade for it with Spirit Stones!"
"You misunderstand me Sonny boy, we have no such skill. While we do interact with you humans, we either bring our own food or pack up the food presented to us so that we can process it into something we can eat. If you like, you can try some of the Boo Dust we produce for our people, they sure taste great!"
At the mushroom chief's offer, a line of Mushroom men with caps that look like chef hats stepped out from a connecting cave, each one carrying a small bag. Giving a bow to the duo, the mushroom chefs placed the sacks in front of them before disappearing back into the cave.
Casting a glance at the Mushroom Chief's encouraging nods, Muyi stuck a hand inside and used the vines within it to absorb it's contents. Instantly he was hit with a wave of Qi consisting of a mixture of emotions.
He felt Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear in rapid succession with Fear lasting the longest before fading. Reeling slightly from the assault, Muyi looked at the Chief in shock as It continued to nod and hum.
"How was it? That's our classic blend. Didn't it taste great? All those tasty emotions ending with that lingering Fear. It's our classic because it's the easiest to produce, we just need to capture a heretic and keep him for a month or so before killing him and turning him into food to generate that mixture. Some of the other sacks though. Those are the Good Stuff. I tell ya, getting the Heretics to give out emotions in a gauntlet beyond the classic isn't easy!"
Ferenike's horrified expression started shifting, becoming darker, bitter and rage filled as the light in her eyes intensified.
Exchanging another look between them, the duo got up in unison and quickly made an attempt to leave what was clearly a slaughterhouse.
"Ah, I'm afraid it's not what i was looking for, Chief. But thank you for your hospitality! We're just gonna go now. We'll have to search again and don't want to take up more of your time"
"Ohohoho, no problem my boy! Just before you go… What do you say about joining us in worshiping Lord Shiitake? He'll accept Humans as well you know. It'll be a shame if anything happened to you because Lord Shitake felt offended at your trespassing into a sacred Mushroom People Ritual Site."
Exchanging a third glance, the duo started to prepare to fight their way out of the cult when the tension that was building up was dispelled by a Qi Enhanced shout.
"SHIITAKEISTS! SURRENDER! WE HAVE YOUR CAVERNS SURROUNDED AND WE'VE TOOK OUT YOUR NETWORK OF HUNTERS! SURRENDER NOW AND WE'LL SPARE THE YOUNG ONES, THAT IS IF YOU HAVE ANY LEFT YOU CRAZY CANNIBALS!"
"The Heretics found us! Quick my brethren, prepare for battle! But first…" So saying, the chief turned towards the duo before suddenly breaking out into a wide smile.
"Sorry about that, looks like we're too busy to entertain you any further. Guess it was a sign from Lord Shiitake that you guys are not meant to know of his glory. That's a shame, still you better leave before you get caught up in our fight. Want any more Boo Dust? We'll be bad hosts if we don't let you take some of our specialty products as a gift!"
Ferenike does not let the mushroom man continue speaking. With a sudden
inhale and a howling
whumpf of air a red and purple flame explodes from her maw. Screaming annihilation consumes the mushroom chief.
"
Cannibals. Muyi!" She let out in a furnace blast scream as she sped forward in a red-gold blur to burst through the smoke of her flames to attack the other cultists.
Watching as Ferenike wreaked havoc on members of the cult, Muyi moved towards the same cave he spotted the Chefs exiting from, a vague suspicion of what he would find filling him with dread. Making full use of his inhuman physique, Muyi shrank down and entered the small cave and found himself confronted with a gruesome scene.
Despite the victim involved being Mushrooms, Muyi was very easily reminded of running across similar scenes during the Blood Cannibal War. A brief command to the Darkness had twin sabers sprout from his forearms and drop into his hands, and without further hesitation, Muyi began the grim work that the situation had forced him in.
It took him only minutes to cut down the wave of cultists charging at him, their cultivation levels of 5th Heavenstage and below were no match for him. In fact, what took up most of his attention was making sure the surviving victims remained safe from any attempts by the cultists to lash out in one final attempt of spite.
Exiting the cave with hostages in tow and fluids dripping down his sabers, Muyi quickly ushered them out of the slaughterhouse before tossing the two corrupted sabers into the flames created from Ferenike's wrath.
Whooooooosh. There's a rush of air and a sudden change of air pressure as the flames are sucked back into her mouth and settle upon her armor before fading away. All that's left is ashen corpses and a morose looking Ferenike, and the remaining mushroom spawn by the pool. "We need to leave. Maybe those other mushrooms are more kind?" She said as she started walking towards one of the cave exits.
"Yes, let's go." Quickly picking up a few of the smaller shrooms, Muyi moved with as much as haste as he could without hurting them. The desire to get out and feel the fresh air lending a spring to his step. Bursting out of the exit, Muyi found himself coming to a quick halt as he was confronted with the sight of Mushroom people hastily raising crossbows, swords and staffs at him. None of them had particularly potent cultivation.
"I assume that you are the group that called for them to surrender? Was that an actual threat or did you lot just plan to shout them into submission?"
The attempt to guilt the group did not succeed. Ignoring his question, they dashed towards the survivors and embraced them while fervently whispering apologies.
"Come on Muyi, let's leave these people alone and continue on our way." Ferenike murmured beside him.
"Wait! Before you go, let me thank you for what you did! I'll answer any questions you might have as well!"
Looking back at the Mushroom man that called out to them, Muyi decided to intercept him before he came within reach of Ferenike's fist. She'd moved away from the rest of them and was on the far side of the smaller cavern they were in. Knowing that it would take time for her to regain control over the emotions the cultists stirred up, he led the shroom to a small grove before he began questioning him.
Who were they?
- They were a group of extremist Shrooms, that believed that if we had voluntarily insisted on being eaten by Lord Shitake, he would have accepted and remained behind to protect us.
Why did they do what they did?
- To them all shrooms that do not worship him in the aspect of the Devourer are heretics and can be turned into feed and consumed. This way their Qi will enhance a chosen one so that they can better grow for Lord Shiitake.
Do all the shrooms eat Boo Dust?
- No! We do create similar products, but we do it from dead spirit beasts or plants, and we seek to kill them peacefully before we turn them into Dust. Admittedly dust made from ones that died violent deaths like in a fight for leadership sell for more due to the novelty.
Was the history really like what he described?
- Yes, they got that part right although the exact atrocities done by the Red One are unknown, only his appearance has been spread among us
Why did they not intervene after giving the warning?
- We heard the sounds of Combat and thought that there was infighting. We were waiting for things to stop before we went in and wiped out the survivors. We're not fighters, just people trying to recover their families.
When eventually they reunited, Ferenike was speaking with a pair of the mushroom people in quiet, sad, tones. She looked up when Muyi returned. "Shall we?" She asked.
Nodding his head in reply, Muyi gave a low whistle that brought QIng Yun bounding to them. And within moments, the trio were back on the road, only this time the atmosphere was no longer as joyous as it was when they left Pleuron.
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@occipitallobe this was suppose to be a Humor Piece but it became a Summer Horror. Oh well, i'm not giving up! I will make Part 3 FUNNY
Thanks go to
@BungieONI who provided both the Ferenike bits as well as just allround awesomeness in making the idea work. Cool parts are all Bungie, i just came up with Evil Mario or in here, Ma Ro.
Thanks also goes to
@RebelYell for giving it a quick look on how the Mushroom people are suppose to work.
