The Fourth Wall - Chapter 16 preview

“You are disturbingly familiar with this,” Tou He complained to Wu Ying, arms crossed.

Wu Ying shrugged as he finished stripping and patting down the corpse, extracting the jewelry and storage rings from fingers, toes and in almost every case, a pouch tied to the small clothes. He raised a hand and sent a small pulse of energy through the body beneath him, grimacing at the twinge of pain and also the results.

“You might want to look away,” he said.

“Why?” Yang Mu asked, not that she was looking anyway. She was not being idle, instead floating over discarded weaponry and lifting up the dead horse using her chi, stripping the enchanted saddle from it and inspecting the thing with her eyes and chi in turn. 

“He inserted a storage item in a place that will require some indelicate work.” When Tou He made no move to look aside, Wu Ying shrugged and rolled the man over, tugging down his pants. Detaching his mind from his actions, much like when he had to pluck and skin beasts, he spoke to Tou He who looked a little green. “It is disgusting work, but generally quite productive. Especially when they take extra precautions. As for being familiar… You remember when the dark sect was after me much more? I determined it was best to be thorough if they were going to throw themselves at me after all.”

“Still…” Tou He trailed off. They were not people anymore, just bodies. Nor was Wu Ying actually desecrating the corpses. In fact, he was the one who had insisted that Tou He dig a hole for them to bury the bodies, grumbling all the while about lacking the appropriate plants to ensure the corrupt chip dispersed properly. In the end, Tou He would have to burn the corpses all, and let his friend help the earth rejuvenate the ground with the remains.

“It’s not what most people think of, when they hear about such attacks.” Wu Ying shrugged. “It’s not very heroic. Or upstanding. Just practical.” Done, he offered the sealed pouch to Tou He. At the man’s disgusted look, Wu Ying clarified. “Purifying flame.”

“Ah…” More than eager, he allowed his flame to lick over the pouch and his friend’s hand, eradicating the filth and smell. 

After that, together, they dropped the bodies down the hole. Before he could begin burning them though, Wu Ying held up a hand.

“Now what?”

“Now we check if there’s anything else that needs to go in,” Wu Ying said. He scanned the storage rings one last time, nodding to himself and handing them to Tou He. “You should check, but I’m quite certain there are no traps.”

“Traps?” Tou He said.

“Very uncommon,” Yang Mu, having turned back and come over said and plucked a storage ring from Wu Ying’s outstretched hand. “Trap formations on storage rings destabilize the ring themselves, which are already rare enough. Adding in the necessary knowledge and time for minor paranoia is entirely uncommon.” Lips pursed at the pouch that Tou He was holding, she continued as she edged aside. “It’s more common to just trap the containers.”

That, of course, caused Tou He to pause in his attempts to untie the string. Attempts only, for so far, the knot refused to open. "Do you want to do this then, Cultivator Yang? Since you seem so much more familiar with the matter." 

Wu Ying snorted, idly noting how he was not even consideration. His friends were still taking care, even unconsciously, to make sure he he was not placed in danger. Of course, there was good reason for all that, but it did annoy him a little. Which was why he chose not to discuss his own findings. 

"It's fine. It's only a small bag. Probably no stronger than an Energy Storage attack, imbued within. Which makes sense, since the person that Wu Ying took it from, he was only Core Formation." A small surprise, that she still kept that close an eye on his actions, even if she was choosing not to view it directly. "Makes perfect sense."

"To you perhaps. Care to elucidate the rest of us, Merchant Yang?" Tou He said.

"The pouch is minorly enchanted, to allow access to items within." Yang Mu said. "It meant the cultivator could access its contents without removing it. Which, considering its placement, was probably necessary and made it more comfortable overall. However, such pouches are expensive. They are not as expensive as storage rings, but they're also less... well, commonly made. So the prices go up the more powerful they are." She shrugged. "Add in a trap formation on top of that, and the material and would not, could not, contain anything more powerful."

"And all this is from your understanding of formations?" Tou He said, curiously.

"Not exactly. I know the materials, from working with my mother and selling it. You need to know the products you use. I know the formations and enchantments, because I've studied them for personal and commerce reasons. And I've seen many such items pass through our hands, or attempt to be passed through." She grimaced. "Too many crafters attempt to put too much into their earlier works, or do so to push the boundaries of their craft or material. These study pieces, they then try to pass off to us. 

"They all inevitably break down in a few years, becoming mundane pieces. If not worst."

"Worst?" Wu Ying said, blinking a little as he leaned to the side. He had moved over to the side of the road, leaning against a tree as he tried to settle the pain coursing through him. He tried to hide his actions, though he doubted he was fooling anyone. Utilizing his chi, even that little, had been a stretch for him.

"Explosive failure. Storage items that spew their contents back into this realm, or worst, into the separate dimension. All of it lost. Armour that crumples to the touch, or that crush their wearer. A sword that shatters when chi is flowed through it or a spear that extends unceasingly, stretching till the material within shatters and you have naught but toothpicks." 

"I bow to your knowledge then," Tou He said, snagging the strings one last time and tugging at them before watching the strings slip out of his fingers. He offered the bag to her by the bottom. "You open it."

"Mmmm, give me a moment." She reached out and took it from him, even as she pocketed the storage ring that she had been working on. "Nothing important in my ring. Just a bunch of basic medicinal pills, some basic talismans and a cultivation book that is restricted, but not banned."

"Oh? Which one?" Tou He asked.

"The Crawling Turtle sees the Light." 

"Ah, I don't know that one." Tou He remarked, gesturing at a ring still held in Wu Ying's hand loosely. The ring floated over, moving under the gentle empowerment of his chi. "I'll go through these then, if you don't mind, Ying. Maybe you could..." He shook his head, cutting off as he saw Wu Ying just rest. 

"I'll get the horses later. But they are tied up tight and not going anywhere." Even if his spiritual sense was no longer anything like his former state, the presence of the horses a short distance away was not hard to locate. It was not as though they were being hidden by the Nascent Soul demon's aura any longer after all. And collect them, they would have to. If nothing else, he needed a new ride and leaving the creatures tied up would be cruel.

"The saddle is unharmed, if you're curious." Yang Mu spoke up, without taking her eyes off the pouch before her, turning it from side-to-side as she regarded it and the enchanted script on the outside, only letting a trickle of chi enter the formation. 

"Oh, good. I was a little worried," Wu Ying said. Then, as Tou He took the ring, he added. "I'm suprrised you know of any demonic cultivation techniques."

"It's not a demonic one. Well, not exclusively." Tou He turned the ring over in his hands, before he delved within. Moments later, he was holding the ring over the hole, leaf wrapped packages dropping within. "Foodstuff. Indeterminate meat. Best not to try."

"But why do you know so much?" 

Tou He flicked his hand once more, a pack of talisman papers dropping before he slipped the ring into a pouch and gestured for another ring. Wu Ying tossed it this time, allowing his friend to catch it. Without any further options to delay, Tou He sighed and explained. "It's nothing too exciting. Those of us, the Buddhist sects or those with inclinations in that area, we have more contact with the demons than most orthodox sects do because we have fellow believers among the demons. Sometimes, a monk or a sympathetic cultivator is needed."

"Are you saying some demons are Buddhists?" Yang Mu said, surprised.

"Of course. Why would they not be?"

Wu Ying moved to point out the many obvious reasons why that would not be common, then shut his mouth as his thoughts caught up with his mouth. He was realising, quickly, that there was no reason for there not to be. The Middle Path was open to all, the beliefs - the desire to escape this world of suffering - was universal. Or so they believed. If anything, Wu Ying would expect the belief system to be even more appealing to demons caught in the middle realm. 

"Exactly," Tou He said, hand closed on the ring in his hand. He grew passionate as he spoke, "You know how not all demon cultivators are  aggressive. In fact, numerous demonic clans live on the outer bounds of civilisation, some caught when dimensional gaps have opened linking their realms to ours. Some are exiles, their families and communities growing up here because they had no other choice. Then, of course, there are those races that we call demons that are common to this realm."

"The xingtian." Yang Mu muttered.

"One group, for sure. Though they have continued to be intractable about changing their ways," Tou He said. "In any case, there are even demons in other realms who believe in the sixfold path. Because of that, we have close ties to them. Those of us who cultivate and have not abandoned the teachings entirely are sometimes asked to aid such groups." His lips tightened. "It's a pity, but the governments and the orthodox sects propaganda have sometimes grown too strong, leading younger cultivators to attack such groups without verifying their degree of enmity first."

"And you've worked with them before?" Wu Ying said, to clarify.

"I have."

"Huh."

Yang Mu frowned, staring at the splotches of blood around them, then the pouch she held. She waggled her fingers outside of it, expectantly, only for nothing to happen. Brow furrowed, she turned the pouch in her hand further. "You say peaceful, but this isn't the first time we've head to deal with demons."

"Only some are peaceful." Tou He clarified. "The groups we've encountered, the demon in the south, Cai Weng De..." He looked troubled, as he continued. "There are groups whose path to immortality, whose beliefs are anathema to our very own existence. They see any who are not their kind as inferior, unworthy of anything but contempt. Or, worst, as no better than pigs." Then, he shook his head. "No. Not cattle. For even a farmer treats their pigs better than they do others under their yolk." 

Something in his voice had Wu Ying narrow his eyes. "You say others. You don't mean just humans, do you?"

"No." Lips compressed. "There are groups, nations and dimensions where specific races or groups have conquered others, enslaved them."

"Ah...."

"And that's what we face?" Yang Mu muttered. "That's what you think has been aggravating matters recently?"

"Perhaps." Tou He shrugged. "It is something that is, obviously, a matter of the heavens and kingdoms. We are but mere cultivators."

"Says the only Nascent Soul in our group." Wu Ying muttered, good naturedly. 

In truth, he was more amused by the fact that he had to travel so far, do battle with a whole new nation and get gravely injured and meet his friend outside of the sect to learn something so important about the other. It was fascinating, in a way, how little they knew of each other; even when one was close.

That was the nature of individuals though, a series of closed doors that a guest might be invited to visit. Each individual, a different building with different layouts, though most had rooms in common. Living rooms, kitchens, guest rooms, a place to work, a place to eat. Courtyards and gardens, some areas more private than others. 

Some houses were small and mean, dirty and disheveled. Broken down without care, the grime deepset and the roof leaking as emotions and the world itself fell within, harming the contents. Others were palatial palaces with numerous rooms, each grandoise and airy; such that any who came felt welcome. And others were hedged around, bushes and manicured lawns, mazes to hide the garden and individual behind public places, such that only the daring or the invited were ever allowed within.

No matter how much one knew of another, no matter how many rooms one walked, there were always nooks and carriers that you might miss. Sections forgotten or rarely used, closets unopened containing secrets and treasured memories. 

"Ah!" Yang Mu broke through his musings as she twirled her finger around in something that looked like the character for open, but subtly different. A similar language, perhaps, though altered through time or culture or just disuse. In either case, it was sufficient, with a touch of chi to peel the small bag open.

Leaving the cultivator to peer within. A trio of Core Formation spirit stones, in metal and two fire elements. A single tiny, pulsing Metal Nascent Soul-level spirit stone that was half the size of the Core Formation stones, but so concentrated with energy it burnt the very air once revealed. And a scroll.

The cultivator placed the stones back in the bag, hiding their presence once again and read the scroll. Each moment had her frowning deeper, till she snapped it shut. For a moment, she hesitated, before handing it to Wu Ying as she gestured for Tou He to finish cleansing the bodies.

Once he read the contents, Wu Ying understood her consternation all too well.

Then again, it suited the weather of his life.