The Fourth Wall - Chapter 33 preview

“Much of what I will relate, it is only taken from what I have learnt afterwards. The events are - were - long in the past, before my parents became the Platinum Sages of the Inn, before my sister and I were born.”

The pair nodded in understanding, waiting for Yang Mu to continue.

“What do you know of my mother’s background? Her past?” she said, instead.

“Not much,” Wu Ying replied. “Only that she was part of a heretical sect before meeting your father. And afterwards, they had many adventures before choosing to settle down and have a family.”

“Not just any heretical sect,” Yang Mu said. “They were the Two True Immortals sect of Yuen province.” She looked between the pair, curious to see if they would recognize the name. When neither reacted, she smiled a small satisfied smile that confused them. “Once, it was an infamous sect. Over a century ago, they were at the peak of their power.

“They walked the line, many felt, between heretical and dark. Though the sect was balanced – almost obsessively so – between the genders, women and those who were inherently more yin-based led the sect.” Yang Mu paused, rearranging what she had to say. “My mother was a protégé, lauded by the Elders and designated as the Sect Head’s heir, the flower of the next generation. When she achieved Peak Energy Storage, she was taken into the full confidence of the Sect Head. She was informed of the requirements of the next stage, the necessary steps to not just progress in Core Formation but Nascent Soul as well.”

She stuttered to a stop, and continued to stare at the curtain. Refusing to look at the pair. Wu Ying reached over, squeezing her hand, lowering his voice. “You do not have to tell me, if it is too hard. Or just the details of who we face. Not the private history of your family.”

A bitter smile crossed her lips then when he said that. She turned, meeting the silent gaze of Chun Fu and then Wu Ying. “That is it, is it not? That my family history is not private. It is being write large now, across the kingdoms in fire and blood. Silence will not aid us, no matter how the truth looks.” A breath, taken deeply before she plunged ahead. “The truth was not enough to turn my mother from the sect. Distasteful as it might have been, she was still a loyal daughter of the Two True Immortals.” 

“How do you know?” Chun Fu asked. “Did she tell you…?”

“Would you tell your child of your most shameful decisions? Could you?” she scoffed at the delicate singer. “No, I know this from the events, from the timeline and conversations overheard. From her silence. For three more years, she stayed with them, till it was time to find her next partner.

“It was then that they found my father.”

Wu Ying could see the shape of the story forming now. It was a familiar one. 

“He was, even then, more scholar and artist than martial cultivator. A generous and charismatic soul that sought the good in all and gave, without guard or guarantee. When he met my mother, traveling as he was on his own, he never had a chance. In a month, she had him picking weevils from rice by hand for her.” A small smile crossed her lips, as though she recalled better times and stories. Her gaze softened, her lips smoothed out. Then, softer, sadder she added. “In a month, she used him to elevate herself to Core Formation.”

“Used him?” Wu Ying repeated, then asked. “This dual cultivation method, is it the same one they utilize to this day?”

“It is,” Yang Mu said. “They stole it, from the Sect Head, when they escaped. But I skip ahead.” She added the last before Chun Fu could protest. “She used my father to progress her cultivation, but to her – and her sect’s surprise – he survived the process. Survived… and grew stronger. He broke through too, in the process.”

Wu Ying held a hand up, stopping her. “Perhaps you can explain this cultivation technique further? It sounds… different, from what I envisioned your parents using.”

“That is because they are using it as it should have been used,” she said, firmly and heatedly. “The Two True Immortals sect perverted the technique and intent of the founders.” Then, she paused, forcibly calming herself. Looked down at the meal that had grown cold as they spoke and speared a drumstick. She tore into it savagely, and the pair copied her motions when they realized she would not speak further for a bit. Only when she had consumed a quarter of her rice bowl and assorted meats and vegetables did she pause, traces of her anger still leaking through her demeanor.

Watching her through lidded eyes, Wu Ying could not help but note how volatile she had grown. Understandable, after the shock, talking of matters long guarded. Still, he made note to not pressure her, not this day. Pity he had never studied acupuncture, to help relieve some of these negative emotions.

 “The way my mother was taught the technique, initially it was an exchange of power. A transfer of Yang energy between the two cultivators, bolstering the necessary Yang energy in the woman to allow her to burst through her blocked meridians. “ Yang Mu shrugged. “This transfer of energy, the way it is done is what placed them on the heretic status. Partners were rotated constantly, no true bond allowed to form between man and woman even as the men were drained. Of course, as Yang-based individuals, that reduction in energy in the men would allow them to grow stronger, faster. Once they recovered.”

“That’s not...” Chun Fu started, then stopped. “Oh.”

“Yes. But for some men, it was explanation enough. After all, there are those who are so confident in their strength, in their self-importance that they would believe such lies.” Yang Mu shrugged. “They were the burning heart of the jianghu. What did it matter, to have a small amount of Yang chi taken from them?”

Wu Ying grimaced, for he knew such people. Understood how such thought processes could form. 

“It was not even, in the early stages, that wrong. It weakened the men, of course, but how many cultivators fail at that stage anyway?” she shrugged. “Or at least, I hope that was my mother thought. But at the higher stages, to progress to Core Formation and more, the amount of energy drawn was more. Much more.”

“Your father was never meant to survive, was he?” 

She shook her head to Wu Ying’s question, sadly. “His recovery, his growth was a surprise. A pleasant surprise. They feted him, treated him like the protege that he was. Convinced him to stay, though he was not a member of the sect.” A small smile then. “To hear my father tell it, it did not require much asking.”

“That was the beginning of the end, wasn’t it?” Chun Fu asked.

Yang Mu nodded in acknowledgment. Before she continued, the trio froze as commotion ahead made itself known. Chun Fu sighed, beating Wu Ying to the door. 

“Just this once. Because I must hear the rest of this.”

Then the opera singer was gone, blurring away as the door of the carriage swung open, leaving the pair within alone and bemused. 

“So...” Wu Ying trailed off. He could sense the incident at the front of the carriage, the massive chimera that had arrived to harry them. Powerful but no match for the Nascent Soul cultivator, though care had to be taken to safeguard the caravan from the clash. The handling of the matter would take time for sure.

“Well, he did bring a meal. And it is growing cold.” Suiting words to action, she returned to eating, ignoring the crashing and squawks and cries of astonishment from outside. She did, however, twitch a finger to cause the door to close, sealing the swirling dust outside. No one wanted to eat sandy rice after all.

***

By the time Chun Fu returned, the caravan had already started moving again. A small group were being left behind to finish the butchering of the massive animal, though even then, only the choicest cuts would be taken. Spirit messages had flown to inform nearby villages of the sudden bounty, allowing the caravan to continue their journey in good order and better spirits. Stepping into the small carriage, the man frowned as he stared at the empty series of plates that greeted him before he smoothed out his visage. A single swing of his hands and empty plates had disappeared into his storage ring, leaving the compartment more spacious.

“You changed,” Wu Ying commented idly.

“It bled more than I expected,” Chun Fu replied. “It is why I do hate getting involved in such uncouth behavior.”

“Because you hate doing laundry?”

“Because it’s so costly!” Chun Fu said. “Blood never truly leaves the cloth.”

The former farmer rolled his eyes, and Yang Mu cut in before the pair could get into fashion choices.

“As I was saying-” she began and the pair quietened. “My father was a prodigy in his own way. Or perhaps he was fortunate, for his dao and understanding benefited him during this period. It allowed him to recover, to reinforce his core. Three times more, each time my mother growing stronger, layering her own core. But...”

Playing his part well, Chun Fu prompted her with an agreeable noise in his throat. 

“But she was taking too much. Even with my father’s incredible recovery, his own progress, he could not keep up.” Yang Mu shook her head. “When it came time for her next stage, when she was ready to layer again, she was told to take it all. To drain him completely, like all the other Elders did.”

“Heretic?” Wu Ying repeated in disbelief. “I’m pretty sure that is what a Dark Sect does.”

“Yes. It is.” Yang Mu smiled a little then, the bitter sadness fading. “She refused. To hear my father tell it, it was because he was too charming to kill. My mother, of course, disagrees and instead speaks of her soul and lines of morality. That she took pity on the fool that had stayed, even after all that she had put him through. He counters with declarations of love, and then... well, then there’s a lot of kissing.” 

Wu Ying snerked at the end for he could just imagine the scene. How her parents would argue about who saved who and why and the eventual loving agreement.

“And what do you think?” Chun Fu asked, leaning forwards, hands clasped together, intent on her answer.

“I think, that it was a combination of both. I would like to think that my mother was not entirely corrupt, that she would have stopped for any other. But with my father, she had more motivation than ever.” She tilted her hand sideways. “I am rather certain she would have stolen the original manual, if not for him.”

“A bad influence then, the rakish cultivator, your father.” Chun Fu murmured, stars in his eyes.

“Nothing so romantic or foolish. I think, at first, they just were taking whatever would keep them alive and give them an advantage. Perhaps they even thought to use the manual to trade for their safety.”

“It did not work,” Wu Ying said.

“No. They underestimated the anger their betrayal would engender. Nor the other forces in play, for when they escaped, they were soon swept up by others. Uncle Soh among them.” Yang Mu fell quiet for a time, then waved her hand. “The story goes long, and the rest is less important. I do not have the full details either, so I shall summarise.” Ignoring the unhappy noise Chun Fu made, she continued. “Others had been watching the Two True Immortals before, suspecting them of worse than heresy. I know not if it was just regular concern of the orthodox sects, or something more. But when my parents escaped and the True Immortals chased them, the watchers took action.

“What they learnt was enough for an extermination campaign to be declared.”

Wu Ying sucked in air through his teeth. Once before, an extermination campaign had been declared in his lifetime - for the very Dark Sect that had engendered a war between Shen and Wei. It was no small matter, for all orthodox sects were required to act. At least on the face of it.

“The campaign saw the Two True Immortals uprooted, their allies scattered, the Elders killed or crippled. The Sect Head escaped, at least at first. And that was the greatest cause of trouble for my parents. For it was from her mouth that details of what they had stolen, of the cultivation manual they held and its potential, was it leaked.”

“How powerful is this manual? To cause so much upheaval?” Chun Fu asked.

“Two couples and a single other immortal have risen from its use.” Yang Mu watched as the man’s eyes widened with some satisfaction. “Utilized correctly, the manual will raise a couple to the heights of immortality. If they are the right couple, if they are able to support one another properly.”

“Or drain the other of all their potential and leap upward instead,” Wu Ying sumrised.

“Yes.”

“And so, your family ran,” Chun Fu said. “They ran and acquired great resources. Even helped others to push past their blocks. Acquiring goods and resources till they needed not to any longer. And became the Platinum Sages of the Inn.”

Yang Mu quietly confirmied his words. 

Chun Fu sat back, staring at the woman for a long time. Eventually, he spoke slowly. “This cultivation manual, if it was supposedly so powerful, why did they not teach it to you and your sister?”

“I did say that it required the right people.” She gestured to Wu Ying, then herself. “It will not fit all daos. It will not fit all couples. That is what many who chase after it miss.”

“Unless you utilize it wrongly, is that not so?” Chun Fu said.

She froze then, and something passed between the pair. Wu Ying, watching the two shifted a little in his seat so that his sword was easier to draw. Not particularly needing to do so, but wanting to make sure that Chun Fu remembered him. 

“Do not worry, Cultivator Long. I am not one seeking the manual. Our meeting really was chance, though I do have interest in what your lover has to say.”

“And what if it is true?” Yang Mu asked.

“Then, some, many might wish to see such a work destroyed for the potential of abuse is too great. No one should have access to such a manual.”

“And here we come to it once again.” Yang Mu ignored Chun Fu to turn to Wu Ying. “See what I mean, about the politics of the Nascent Soul’s? How some feel they own the right to dictate progress for all?”

“I do.”

“Are you children?” Chun Fu snapped. “Do you not see the danger?”

“Do you not see the opportunity? Do you not think that others should be allowed to try, or would you treat all of the jianghu like children?” Wu Ying said. 

“Fools. The pair of you,” Chun Fu snapped. He threw the door open, stepping out. “Be glad that we have rules, or else I might consider teaching you both a lesson.”

Wu Ying almost answered the man, daring him to try but chose, in the end to be silent. Better to let him have the last word rather than do battle over bruised egos. After all, he was still recovering. Wu Ying waited until he had strode off before closing the door, turning back to his lover who just looked tired.

“And so, it reaches us. Even here.”

“True. But also...” He shrugged. “It does not, not really. Still, are you choosing not to go ahead?”

“No. I shall write my letters.” she replied. “But first, you asked who our enemies are. You’ve seen the face of one. But I have names too.”

Wu Ying nodded, leaning forward. Uncertain of how much it would matter, for his own journey was still on-going. And yet, he was unwilling to abandon her either.

Sometimes, it seemed, his pathway split and split again. Forcing him to choose over and over again what was most important. And always, always, he learnt something new. 

Even if the truth’s he learnt were about a home he had left.