The Fourth Wall - Chapter 20 preview

Amusingly, though they had spoken as though Wu Ying was to leave immediately, they delayed for a day so that Yang Mu could finish her initial discussions she had begun. Meeting up with other merchant groups, trading what basic mundane materials she had on-hand and learning about other goods that might be purchased took most of the day. Not that it matter in many ways, for Tou He had dragged the trio of submissive elders away.

Joining the caravan, the pair sat on the middle wagon, relaxed. The covered wagon allowed the pair to rest without being seen. 

“Do you think he can change them?” Wu Ying asked as the caravan swayed under their feet and the light rumble of wooden wheels on paved stone rolled on behind him.

“If anyone can, Ah He can.” Yang Mu finished pouring the tea, handing Wu Ying a cup and then taking one of her own. She made sure to secure the pot properly before continuing. “I have never seen him so enraged before.”

“Tou He has very clear beliefs about how we should act to one another,” Wu Ying said. “More so, when it is cultivator to mortal. He has an eloquent way of putting it, but I can’t recall it at the moment. Something about how we, who have the greatest strength and supposed authority have the greatest obligation to act for the greater good.”

“Yes, our monk does see the world in sharp contrasts many times,” Yang Mu said, a little perturbed.

“And you do not?” 

A hand raised and for a brief moment, he saw shifting colours, not a skein or ball of connections but a palette of colors that floated through the air. As though a living rainbow had appeared over her hand, altering in size and shape and weight. It was only his own sense of the Dao that allowed Wu Ying to send the multiple dimensions that were brought to life for a brief moment.

A world of possibilities and connections.

“And yet, he’s the one with connections to demons,” Wu Ying said, wryly.

“He sees people, not races. Hearts and actions, rather than the superficial boundaries we place upon one another.” A shake of her head a little. “He is closer to walking the path of Buddha than he believes, though he would never admit to that.”

“You can see that?” He gestured at her hand, to indicate he meant more than just the general view of the man, but via her dao. At her nod, he sat back, surprised once again. It continued to surprise him, how vast and powerful her dao was. If, admittedly, also difficult to grasp and utilize and ascend.

That was, of course, the danger in the end. To pull ahead, utilizing only the dao and one’s level of enlightenment and conception of it, making themselves a factor in it, embodying it; it was a mixture of strength and understanding. Grasp too widely, and you would fail. Grasp too narrowly, and one might never be able to bear the weight of heaven’s disapproval and the curse of immortality.

Yet, at the same time, if you were part and parcel of the same dao as others; how much strength would you have? How great a weight could one wield? Could you rise at all, if it was a conception that was taken. There was a God of War - did his very presence break away all Gods of War, or could you, as a God of Justified War ascend? Would you then be at odds with a God of Vengeful War? 

At the same time, it was clear that others, like the kitchen gods were numerous and plentiful. If, in many ways, extremely limited in their domain and strength. Within the kitchen itself, within the household they might have some degree of power - but outside, they would be trampled upon by others with more expansive daos.

This failure, to grasp and contain and wield the entirety of his dao had been part and parcel of Wu Ying’s own fall. He had attempted to grasp the dao of the winds - seven winds, and failed. Building a chair with seven legs, when one leg was cracked and broken had seen him cast aside when the weight of the heavens had fallen. 

Perhaps if he had chosen only the mortal winds, he might have been fine.

Or perhaps, with only five winds, he would never have been able to ascend. Never make it past the heavenly tribulation that awaited him, as the depth of his ignorance was showcased, when the variety and full breadth of the winds - in all their forms - demanded more than he could provide.

For a time, he sat, pondering the matter. Staring into space, as he turned over this minor moment of enlightenment. It was no breakthrough, no greater moment of satori; just a small truth of the world unveiling. One he had seen a dozen times before, but only now, with his own experiences, grasping further.

Funny, how old age and experience could make the same event seem so vastly different.

***

Travel over the next few weeks was slow but steady. With the aid of the cultivators and their silent presence, demonic beasts kept away from the caravan. Even the most desperate knew better than to test Yang Mu, for those near such regular arteries of commerce were the least powerful of ther kind. Only in the deep wilds were the creatures that could have tested her, but it was also because of that, that the pair took the caravan.

It amused Wu Ying, to travel in this manner. It was at once both frustrating - for trips that would have taken him days would take weeks, as the caravan followed the course of the road. Not only did the path take into account the geography that less nimble and stately animals of burden and caravans required to ascend hills or move across rivers, but also they followed the borders of powerful spirit beasts within.

Where he would have strolled through such locations, hiding his aura, the caravans could not do so. They had to move carefully, utilizing talismans and distance to avoid the detection and awareness of the such creatures. Many might not care, but like a coming storm, it only required a moment’s inattention or annoyance by such a creature to see the loss of the caravan.

As days passed, Wu Ying watched his lover interact with caravan merchants and guards alike. He studied the way they at first seemed distant before eventually succumbing to her charm. Concerns about her taking advantage of the advantages of being a cultivator – their access to spirit rings with spatial storage among the least matter – faded as they understood that Yang Mu focused upon connections and trade deals rather than the physical moving of goods.

There, as a cultivator with access to a large capital base, her ability to put together deals and pay for the movement of goods being entirely welcome. That she also purchased and acquired spirit herbs and other cultivator related items for the majority was of no concern to these mortal merchants.

Yet it was their frequent rest stops, at the waystations and tiny villages that formed around stops that he saw her work her true magic. Always on the move, always speaking with the owners or hunters or foragers, seeking local knowledge and contacts. He did the same, of course, to some extent - inquiring about local plants and herbs, seeking knowledge from others; but her methods and reach were vastly more efficient. Individuals who barely spoke to him would invite others over, elders and children who might have spotted something unique, might grow or mine a product of interest.

Herbs, vegetables, fruit from trees or even rocks were all acquired and displayed. Where his winds might have provided more details quicker, it was but a snapshot in time - and only useful for certain things. Perhaps because of his own interest, perhaps because the wind was forgetful; he knew nothing of the world below, of caves and metals dredged from ponds or even tales of older battles that once taken place and ruins avoided.

Always, she kept notes, jotting information down, making arrangements and deals to acquire new items. Those members of the caravan agreed all too often, minor outlays of coin and tael and promises of future acquisitions completed. A web of alliances and connections forming, spreading outwards as they traveled.

For Wu Ying, he who had bypassed such locations all too often, it was illuminating. Not just in how she interacted, but also the villages. The slow - and sometimes abrupt - change in individuals. Dishes that were altered by geography and temperament, the addition of a specific herb, the usage of more or less salt or soya or meat. Accents and dialects that morphed by degrees, the passage of common words and features. An intricate web of relationships and culture.

Progress, as days turned into weeks, and he learnt more of countries that he had bypassed. Seeing and feeling connections that formed between settlements and people and himself, till one day, lying on the top of a wagon at night and watching the slow wheeling of stars above him and considering the heavens, enlightenment and understanding arrived.

He had grasped onto the wind, because it had been part of his physical makeup, because it had been a path to power that had felt - intuitively - to be correct. He had taken it, while injured and seeking progress, pushing onwards in the Double Soul, Double Body sect. Lulled into a false sense of destiny when he had gained access to the full working of their prodigy master.

All understandable, all seemingly sensible. Yet, now, under these stars, with his body throbbing as soul and physical form refusing to mesh; he realised, he had been wrong. There were obvious aspects of the world, of the wind and their characteristics had been right and correct and suitable for him. He had grasped the five winds all too quickly, journeying onwards through dozens of nations, crossing thousands of li.

Gaining enlightenment and strength wtih each step.

Yet, it was also obvious, that it had not suited him. Here, now, trundling through the daily routine of mortals, he began to understand why - and why certain of his own decisions, taken intuitively, made more sense.

His refusal to fly as often as he could have, preferring to traverse the ground and walk amidst the trees. Simpler and more efficient for his gathering, certainly. Less dangerous, in some ways, as he avoided the jealous eyes of those who flew above or considered the skies their true domain. 

But also, a choice that saw him picking more mundane herbs or acquiring lower rank spirit items, fighting or avoiding more monsters and investigating matters that he could have as easily flown over. Some had been pleasant - the view of a hidden grove, looking into the sky. Rippling ponds reflecting foliage and the sky above. The loving interaction of doe and fawn, as they slept together.

Small moments, just like these ones here.

High above, floating through the wind, where the heavens lay. The world seemed peaceful for the most part, serene. Perfect in its overall quality and design. From the heavens, a structured world of rules and order, where rivers flowed from mountain to sea, of valleys and hills and the forces of nature and design played across one another in orderly fashion. From high above, the world had none of the dirt, the mud and the chaos; the struggle and fear and randomness that its intrinsic reality too.

Too easy, when you hovered it all, to miss that. To bypass the complexity of existence on the ground and in the individual.

He had rejected that, instinctively. He had grown up, with his hands dug into the earth, toiling away with his head lowered. Seeking the smallest change, while watching for the change in seasons. A farmer knew, that neither the sky nor the earth ruled over one another; but were part and parcel.

You could not fly away, always.

You could not burrow into the ground, forever.

Not if you were human.

The winds, for all their connection to the natural worlds, they were also of the tyranical and controlling heavens and the individualistic and judgmental hells. He had rejected the world of the heavens as it stood, now; found himself unable to reconcile himself to them. For they had spent too long floating, in the skies. 

Here, now, traveling through villages and towns, rolling across the pathways that connected one to another, Wu Ying grasped that truth for himself. In doing so, he found a portion of his aching body heal, immortal soul drawing in that understanding more firmly, immortal body relaxing and accepting that truth and in so doing, a portion of the dao that it had accepted was torn away and discarded. In that new understanding, the pair joined together.

Healing him a little. 

As the heavens above turned and the world beneath slept on.