Immortal Connections - Chapter 20 preview

Chapter 20 - Tou He

Rolling hills and clay soil had changed to scrublands and desert plains, one kingdom shifting to another and then a third as the pair chased down the culprits. Borders of kingdoms this far out were more theoretical than practical, lines drawn on competing maps that neither party felt the need to contest as yet. Few enough mortals dared to live out here, for this was all the deep wilderness.

Unlike the deep wilds of the bamboo forest or southern wilderness, the lands here were untamed in a different way. One could see for miles in every direction, low prairie grass and simple bushes hiding deceptive dips and rises in the ground, depressions that could hide dozens of individuals. 

Out here, settlements were sparse and the outlying villages existed by concealing their presence from the predators of the prairie. Large herds of moving deer, horses and sheep traversed the land, mature guardian alphas stomping along and warding against the hunters. Wild dogs and hunting cats, freshwater crocodiles and massive, overgrown snakes that had achieved their next step of evolution. Demonic beasts from wild hogs to snarling lynxes, all of them seeking their next meal.

Powerful formations and deceptive architectural practices kept the small settlements hidden, the residents of such places having more than one reason to keep their presence lowkey. Some desired the solitude of such lifestyles, others eked out a living hunting the herds or supplying the hunters. A few guards and other scouts kept watch for the local governments while a not disproportionate number were bandits or individuals escaping slavery or debts in more civilized lands.

Out here, where few came, a new form of freedom was available – one paid for in a lack of security and everyday comforts. It was an ascetic lifestyle that appealed to Tou He in theory, though he knew practically; such existences were more hard scrabble and a litany of loss and death. Without access to doctors and herbs, with few cultivation resources to improve an individual’s base or even regular foodstuff, existence on the frontier was harsh.

Natural calamities were not uncommon, but it was the unnatural that drew the pair to this land.

“They burned the land to slow you,” Hao Feng said, eyeing the plains fire that had swept through a day ago. They had spotted the smoke a day ago, hurried to meet and cut-off the unnatural flames. In the last day, Tou He had poured the full strength of his flames into the earth and along the same burnt land, cleansing the taint that the unnatural flames had left behind and ensuring it would not spread further. “You should let me go ahead.”

“And what do you think you’d manage by yourself?” Tou He said, grumpily. He was tired, his energy stores low. He needed time to cultivate and restore his store of energy, time that they could not afford to lose. On the other hand, leaving this taint alone sat ill with him. Such corruption would eventually spread to the surrounding. Even what he had done, as costly as it had been on his energy stores, had only contained it. Further work by other cultivators was required to finish the cleanse. 

“Locate them. Guide the kingdom’s guards to them,” Hao Feng said. 

“What guards?” Tou He said.

“The ones on the way.”

A gesture, hand rising and closing as he pulled the flames inwards. Smoke still rose from the earth, a slight miasma of corruption drifting through the air but he had larger problems to deal with. “You told the local government-”

“The Mao.”

“-even after we discussed not doing so.”

“I do not answer to you, Cultivator Liu.” A slight inclination of the head. “Your aid in tracking them down has been invaluable, but my duty is to ensure the destruction of the demons. Not coddle your instincts.”

“My instincts.” Tou He stepped close, the same hand clenched tight. “You mean my desire not to see innocents – if there are any – slaughtered?”

“They are invaders to this land. Their very presence corrupts it. They are too alien, their needs too different to allow co-existence between us both.” Hao Feng gestured to the burnt lands. “This is but the start of what they must do, to continue living here.”

“So you would see them all dead?”

“What other option is there?”

“I do not know, but I wish to try to find it. Do you not?” 

Hao Feng shook his head. “And what do you intend to do? You think your mercy is merciful? We know we must slay their fighters, their killers. There is no doubt about that, yes?” At Tou He’s reluctant nod, the investigator continued. “Then, what? You’ll protect them from demonic and spirit beast that sense them? What will you do about the environment, their energy stores? You know their rituals, the actions they’ve taken is to provide them demonic chi. Surely you don’t condone the creation of more of such.”

“I do not. Such corruption is dangerous,” Tou He admitted.

“Then how will you feed them?” Hao Feng said. “Or will you let them starve, slowly? In your mercy, will you trade a fast and painless death for a slow, agonizing one of starvation? Will you let them choke on our air, as they find themselves unable to breathe? Or will you compromise then, and step off heaven’s path to provide aid to demons in the name of mercy?”

Tou He had no answer to that. He understood the man’s point, that the path forwards was treacherous. Even filled with good intentions, even if he sought to reduce the suffering of all, hard decisions were necessary. 

“You speak as though I have an answer. I can only commit to trying to find one.” Tou He opened his hands. “I believe that in the trying is the virtue, though no success is guaranteed. I am no buddha, with the strength to guarantee peace for others. But it is the path I walk.”

Exhaling, looking at the ground, he added. “Tell the kingdom when they come that this land must be cleansed properly. Priests and monks must be sent, talismans of cleansing and formations of demonic purging should be utilized. Do not let it grow further.”

“Why tell, what are you doing?”

In answer, Tou He lifted off. He could not wait, not any longer. If there was any chance of saving the demons, of finding a peaceful resolution – or one that did not involve full genocide – it was now, before the kingdom guards arrived. For when the greater politics and needs of a kingdom clashed with the moral, all too often the merciful and ethical choice was discarded for expediency.

Perhaps rulers had to think like that, accept such decisions. But he was no ruler, just a simple cultivator who was once a monk. 

On the winds of calamity and corruption, Tou He drifted after his prey, picking up speed with each moment. Hoping that something, some way forward would showcase itself when he arrived.

If not, he prayed that he had the strength to show true mercy to those he came across.