Bygone Days: Burning Webs
To be a human was to wear a mask. To be a Hui was to wear three. Hui Shaoxi knew this well, it was why multiple houses were recorded in his name. Of course he had never seen any of them, let alone spent any time there. Instead it was a small nodule resting between branches that he called home. Hidden by shadows at all times of the day, and warded by years of effort, this complex was the perfect place for his craft.
Fumes circled the ceiling, passing through webs and dreams with the steady pace of a heartbeat. Feeble light, emerging from a single crystal buried under sheaves of paper, struggled against the fumes, casting the room in ever shifting shadows. There were no sounds, even as multihued liquids in tall beakers, lined up in vast racks encircling the room, bubbled and frothed. A normal cultivator would have choked long ago as their lungs filled with the noxious fumes. Yet Hui Shaoxi moved with careless confidence. His long hair, black as night, never touched a beaker or the ground, and his deep purple robe, inlaid with golden spiderwebs and tied with a black sash, never wrinkled or twisted. Everything here was under his control, as it should be.
"Enter." Hui Shaoxi said with minute flexes of qi. A crawl space door eased open with the word, and the qi. If an incorrect qi pattern had been given the crawl space would flood with fumes that boiled lungs, and liquids that seared flesh. Even then Hui Shaoxi thought that this indulgence of his was too large a security risk, at least it would be if his so-called peers were capable of anything but the simplest plans. For now he was content with a rotating cypher, a rather complex thing even for him, but after two failures he had memorized it.
Out of the crawlspace two pale hands appeared and a small figure clothed in green robes emerged from the crawlspace. Hui Shaoxi paid little attention to the servant as he poured out a measured cup of frothing liquid.
"Drink." He said, and with steady hands the servant took the cup. Through oaths Hui Shaoxi could feel the man's little mind, with it's dull muddy intelligence. Nothing was there that shouldn't be, only blind obedience. As it should be.
The servant drank the cup.
With his piercing eyes Hui Shaoxi watched the drink tear through the man's stomach, rupture meridians, and pulp the dantain. It took one second. With a single twitch the servant collapsed, blood beginning to leak from the eyes and nose as the drink forced its way through veins towards the brain.
"Clean." He said, and smaller hands, just as pale as the first, reached out from the crawl space and gently pulled the body through it. Emotions wafted from the entrance and Hui Shaoxi wrinkled his nose. Sorrow, and sadness. Who dared express such unseemly emotions? It could affect his work, and that was intolerable. Servants were only worth it if they remained unseen and unfelt. He would have to set an example.
"Close." He said, and smiled at the sound of hurried scurrying. Better. Stepping away as defense after defense triggered in the crawl space, Hui Shaoxi sat down at his desk. Dozens of cyphers ran through his head before he picked one. Alchemical symbols altered by an erroneous star map. For his personal journal there was no need for anything too complex.
As he wrote he pondered his work. One second was far too short of a time for his product. Far too short. It should linger, causing pain for days, weeks, perhaps even years, before finally killing the afflicted. The horror of gently losing cultivation progress would pull his victims into despair, and the longer the process the greater the despair. Things were so much more enjoyable if there was time to savor the emotions. What could slow everything down? Ground and pureed Southern Two Headed Newts? Yes, that would be a perfect agent to slow the effect. Didn't he have a case of the things secreted in with the junk his peers ordered? Now, where was it?
Hui Shaoxi stood up and cabinets opened and closed, each one responding to his qi. A brief moment passed as the cabinets opened and closed, faster and faster. Then there was a shudder as, at the same time, every cabinet closed soundless. There was no Southern Two Headed Newt, none in his workshop. An accounting was needed. With a fluid motion he rose from his chair and walked out of his inner sanctum. Behind him the door shut itself and began to hum with wards and locks, dreams and blood.
Before him was a young, no older than ten years old, servant kneeling on the rich carpet with his head pressed against the ground.
"Shipment?" Hui Shaoxi said, hands clasped behind his back as he stared into the space above the servant.
"Your lordship, the shipments have been delayed." The servant said.
"Unacceptable." With a twitch of his qi Hui Shaoxi triggered the servants oaths, and the man's blood began to turn against him. Tearing him apart. "Displeasure." Then Hui Shaoxi eased his qi away, his unending mercy allowing the servant respite while enforcing his will upon the worm.
"This humble one will bring your enlightened words to the caravans himself." The servant said, blood trailing as tears down his face.
Hui Shaoxi didn't respond, simply turning around and reentering his sanctum. A shipment delayed, this was the second one in as many weeks. Fingers tapped against his desk as he sat down. A simpleton's conclusion would be that the troubles with this Cai were the cause. Hui Shaoxi knew better than that of course. Still, he thought with a sigh, the Elders would hopefully wrap up whatever ploy was going on with this "unrest". It was giving opportunities for so many otherwise braindead ploys.
Time passed as ploys and counter strategies spun in his head. There was a simple answer, loath as Hui Shaoxi was to admit it. If one of his peers, or more likely a coalition of them, had realized his potential, then the safest place to be was away from Xiangmen. At least for a time. Yes. Yes, that could work. Reorganizing shipments and watching for sabotage would reveal who was moving against him, all while allowing him to make final preparations. Leaving Xiangmen, for however short, would ache, but it was an ache he could endure to ensure his unseen rival was put in their place.
Moving fast would be key. During this relocation he would be at his most exposed. With a single order sent upon a pulse of qi he sent his servants to work. Regents and beakers were stored away in special storage rings. Within the hour Hui Shaoxi knew everything was set. A final pulse of qi destroyed every beaker around him. Liquids crashed and pooled together, their fumes thickening and blackening. A memorable gift for anyone thinking to strike him here, Hui Shaoxi thought with a smile. With that parting present he left Xiangmen.
*** One Year Later ***
An unopened letter rested on Hui Shaoxi's desk. Unopened, but not unread. Learning how to read letters without touching them was a skill children learned and it was only through the control Hui children were also taught that Hui Shaoxi remained standing. Xiangmen pillaged. Contained within the letter were methods in communicating with other safehouses. Xiangmen pillaged. Instructions laid bare with hurried writing. Xiangmen pillaged. Xiangmen pillaged. XIANGMEN PILLAGED.
No. Hui Shaoxi took a shuddering breath. No. This was clearly a ploy by his rival to draw him out of hiding. Some elder must have taken pity on the oaf. Yes. This was clearly misinformation, and a poor attempt at that. Xiangmen couldn't fall. It couldn't. Still, if an elder was assisting then even greater care would need to be taken. Even greater care.
*** Twenty Years Later ***
"Any news?" Geng Chao said as he stood inside the entrance of the safehouse's tunnel. Before him were two guards.
"Spies in the village report a White Plume squad bunking down there. The Lord won't want to hear that report, but it does mean we need to be extra careful. Can't lose more."
There were less of them now Geng Chao thought as he nodded to the servants on watch. On his back was a wicker basket holding a live Southern Two Headed Newt. A quarter had disappeared in the swamps trying to catch the damn things. The creature's desperate attempts to escape almost made him stumble as he walked further down into the safehouse. Stumbling now would be deadly. Traps laid thick in the tunnel, along with the bones of those who stumbled into them. A quarter had been taken that way. Finally he was able to haul the basket off and hand it off to a servant in charge of processing the creature. For a moment he stared at the inner sanctum, its sealed doors humming with power, before turning back. A third had been taken by the Lord.
Today he was in charge of cleaning beakers, and to his surprise, but not displeasure, he found Lin Zhi already working.
"Lin Zhi. Why are you here? You are not scheduled for beaker cleaning today." Geng Chao said, fingers twitching in clear exhaustion.
"Apologies Geng Chao." Lin Zhi said, fingers twitching in clear exhaustion. "I must have forgotten the schedule."
Geng Chao froze, staring at the still twitching fingers of the clearly exhausted girl. "I see." He said, fingers twitching in clear exhaustion. "Memorize the schedule more thoroughly. In fact you are dismissed so you can."
"I thank you for your lenicany." Lin Zhi said, fingers twitching in clear exhaustion and tears brimming in the corners of her eyes.
"Attend to your task." Geng Chao said, fingers twitching in clear exhaustion.
Lin Zhi nodded, dabbed the corners of her eyes with her tattered robe, and then smiled that brave smile. That brave smile, the one Geng Chao had fallen in love with so long ago in a different world. It didn't matter that the Lord had scarred her that day they left Xiangmen. She was still beautiful.
Scattered reflections stared back at him as Geng Chao cleaned the beakers. With careful motions he cleaned irreplaceable glass, and with careful minute fluctuations of qi he dulled and muddied his mind. Thoughts stood out less when they were small and unimportant.
A legacy was the last thing he ever wanted, but a legacy was something he might have. Something needed to be done. He had hoped for more time, but with the guard's warning this would be his best chance. Lin Zhi and their unborn child may not survive, but better a chance than no future at all. With a single motion a beaker disappeared into his robe.
It was dark, during the four hours of sleep servants were permitted when Geng Chao stood up. A short walk away slept Lin Zhi, precious Lin Zhi. He knelt beside her bedside and gave her one last kiss on her forehead. She stirred, but didn't wake. Good.
Walking through passages long memorized brought him to the entrance. He took a steady breath before dulling and muddying his thoughts again.
One of the guards frowned at him as he approached. "Mission?" He asked.
"Yes." Geng Chao said, with all the confidence of someone speaking the truth. "The Lord gave me a mission." It was the truth after all. There was one mission the Lord had given him that he had yet to fulfill. Tonight he would.
The frown deepened, but the guard waved him through.
Once hidden by the brushes at the front of the tunnel entrance, Geng Chao removed the glass beaker hidden earlier in the day. It broke in his hands. Glass shards dug into his hands, and blood dripped into the swamp ferns below him. Ah, how careless. Best replace it before the Lord found out. Lucky for him he was going to speak to the caravan master. He needed to express his Lord's displeasure about the shipment delays.
Given he was a clumsy worm Geng Chao made sure to place his hands on each tree he passed. It wouldn't do for him to slip and drown in the swamp before completing his mission. Deep in his mind, where the oaths resided and bound his blood to service, there was a slight pain, a slight stirring, and Geng Chao emptied his mind completely. Now he walked aimlessly, yet somehow always forward. Always towards the town.
There was another pain, an even greater stirring in his mind as he approached the town. Yet it was a known fact that the Lords of Xiangmen controlled it's caravans, so the best way to find a caravan master was to find representatives of the Lords of Xiangmen. Lucky that there were representatives of the Lords here in this town. These simple and true facts forced the oaths that bound him into a confused dormancy.
It was only when a figure with a white plume atop their helmet stopped him at the edge of town did the oaths roar awake.
"Halt. What is your business?"
Even as the blood in his veins turned on him, devouring him from the inside out, Geng Chao spoke. "Lord Hui Shaoxi wishes to…" There was a flash of steel, and a sense of freedom he had never known before. He was dead before his head hit the ground.
***
"Report." Captain Liang Zedong said in his tent.
"There was a disturbance in the village. I suspect a Hui sympathizer tried to sneak into the town." Came the report.
There was a glint of steel and then Captain Liang Zedong was beside his soldier. "Show me."
Sad. That was the word that emerged in Liang Zedong's mind as he stared down at the disheveled and emancipated figure. Blood was already being whisked away by the damp ground and as he knelt down to study the body and head he saw bloodshot eyes and disgorged veins. Clear signs of a triggered Hui blood oath. Standing up he walked over to a nearby tree and saw the bloody handprint on it.
"Sir?" His soldier said.
Captain Lian Zedong walked over to the decapitated head and closed the man's eyes. Then he stood up, helmet flashing as a steel mask appeared to cover his face. "This man will be buried with honors when we return."
He called to his squad, his message reverberating through the qi of the world. Through a special talisman he triggered a special signal. Other squads would converge now, even if his squad fell. All around him soldiers appeared, some cleaving through the air, others sparking with lightning, others emitting sparks, but all wearing the white plume.
"Tonight we hunt." There were no more words needed to be said.
Before the night was through another web was burned. Another name struck from the records. Perhaps some of the servants survived, at last turning against the oaths that bound them from birth. Perhaps they all died in a doomed defense of their Lord. What is known is that after the sun rose again no Geng or Lin would ever be born with oaths carved into their mind and blood again.
A.N
Omake for
@yrsillar
I enjoyed writing this piece so I hope you enjoyed reading it!
