The Fourth Fall - Chapter 35 preview

“Elder Long. Or do you prefer your title, Verdant Gatherer?” Lord Shi Mu, uncle to the First Prince of Wei, brother of the queen and thus a man of great importance and no importance at all. A portly older man, one who rode his magnificent steed with all the grace of a country bumpkin. A man who, if Wu Ying was to listen to the rumors around him, was both a strategic genius and a man who’d managed to anger the King twice - and survived it. A remarkable thing, for any individual.

“If it pleases the Lord Shi, Elder Long is my preference” Wu Ying said. There were other titles that the man was entitled to, but being neither a nobleman or a man of Wei, Wu Ying was not required to use them. Especially not as an Elder of the Verdant Green Waters. Even if, in its utilisation, it might have been politick.

“Then, Elder Long it is.” Again that supercilious smile, one that never reached the man’s eyes. He nudged his horse with his feet, then yanked hard on the reins, forcing the creature to come closer to Wu Ying’s own placcid mare. The mare turned its head to look dolefully at Lord Shi at his actions before it turns aside again, discarding the man from consideration. Lord Shi seemed to entirely miss the movements of the creatures or the growing discontent in his mares. “I am pleased to meet the Verdant Gatherer in any case. Tales of your travels have reached even the borders of the Wei. Though, you have never visited us.”

“Oh, I have. Twice, in fact.” A small, tight smile. “Though not under favorable circumstances.”

A flicker of confusion, then anger that ran through the man’s aura. Wu Ying wondered, if he was allowing these changes to leak through his aura. He had great control after all, but emotional control was different from physical control. “Ah, yes. The unfortunate recent period. I understand that you lost your Master during that period. A great loss to the jianghu. The dark sect’s have much to answer for.”

“And they have,” Wu Ying said. “Though I hear there is much more work to do in the Wei?”

“And who says that?” Lord Shi asked, eyes narrowed. “Because that is news to me.”

“My martial sister. She says that the large scale purges necessary, the interrogation and review of the sects affected have not been conducted in the Wei,” Wu Ying said, easily.

The Cai general, having let his own horse fall back, joined them then. He said nothing though, just nodding in greeting to Wu Ying. Obviously, he saw no reason to step into what was a brewing confrontation.

“I must admit, such things are a mystery to me,” Lord Shi said, surprisingly not angry at the insinuation. “The purges and the dealings with the sects in the Wei have been something the King and his men have handled themselves.” He opened his hands, then waved it around, nearly dropping his reins as he did so and startling his horse. It jerked its head and Lord Shi grabbed at the reins, shifting with the movement of the horse to stay on it. “My own place was on the borders, facing the Cai.”

“Yes. So I hear. Is that how you know the second general?” Wu Ying asked, turning to the man who rode beside them easily.

“No, no!” General Woo said. “This is the first time Lord Shi and I have ever met.”

Strange, considering how well the two had gotten along through this hunt. Then again, it sometimes was like that. Wu Ying’s own relationship with Tou He had been somewhat similar. Somewhat.

“Ah, of course. But the General was stationed on this border, were you not?” Wu Ying asked.

“Only in the last year. Before that, I was tasked with subduing some of the barbaric tribes in the foothills.” General Woo chuckled softly. “Persistent and cowardly snakes. Good fighters, but they refused to stand and fight, so we have to hunt them into the hills and burn their villages out.”

“Burn their villages?” Wu Ying asked, making sure to keep his voice flat and neutral.

“Of course. Only way to deal with guerilla fighters properly. You destroy their support systems, terrorise their followers into abandoning them and get traitors to tell you their secrets. Starve them all out, and they’ll eventually succumb.”

“To what?” Wu Ying said. “What is it that they were objecting to?”

“The conscription, of course.” At Wu Ying’s on-going expression of ignorance, the man continued. “All villages, all families must send their adults for service in the government. We train them up, teach them some proper civilized cultivation techniques and martial styles - if they’re part of the army, that is - and keep them for about five years. Then they can go back. In turn, we pay them so they can send money back to their villages and we even give the villages that contribute the most number to the cause tax deductions.”

“How ingenious. You subtly encourage your populace to have larger families that way,” Lord Shi said, curiously. “We always have trouble with our own populace. Even those that put out a lot of children - and manage to raise them to adults - ,so few of them make anything of themselves. This seems to take care of both issues.”

Wu Ying, child of the villages and the general populace, could not help but speak up. “And during such periods like this?” He jerked his head around at the foliage that surrounded them, the wilted leaves, the dry branches and the plants that were even now struggling to survive in the drought. “Do you perhaps provide food for your populace then? Or do you just leave them to struggle on alone?”

“Ah, my apologies. I forget, the Cultivator Long was a farmer too, was he not? But you see, you have managed to transcend your initial disadvantages. You have grown, made something of yourself. I would even say, would you not agree, that your background is what has given you some unique advantages.” Lord Shi sniffed. “If we were to provide you aid in the way you speak, to make your road smoother, why; I do not think you would be the man you are. Or whatever cultivator that might end up coming from your humble beginnings.”

“So, in the hope of getting another Verdant Gatherer, you suggest doing nothing?” Wu Ying said.

“A single man of your skill is worth a dozen villages, I would say.” Turning to General Woo, Lord Shi asked. “Do you not agree?”

“To some extent.” General Woo said. “We do provide for our villages during such periods. It does the state little good, for our people to die over avoidable tragedies.”

“Like starvation.” Wu Ying tilted his head to the side. “But not wars.”

“No good General wants losses in a war. Each soldier fallen is hours, days and even months of training.” General Woo shrugged. “But they are soldiers. Death during battles, on the march, on accident - it is part of life. Just as a merchant might die, carrying his goods from town-to-town, or a woman during childbirth. Death is, in the end, unavoidable.”

“That is the difference, then. For the Wei do not believe all wars are inevitable.” A flicker of a gaze to Wu Ying, and then the other Shen citizens, before he continued. “And so, the loss of a few to strengthen the rest, that is the path we take.” A shrug, then, almost dismissively. “Or, so I believe. But, of course, I am not the King, and so my views are only important in my demesne.”

“Of course, of course,” General Woo said. “We are, of course, talking mostly philosophically. One must also attend to the needs of others within the court and kingdom.” The General shrugged. “It is the Ministry of Waterworks and Harvests who oversee the majority of such things in our kingdom, of course. Though the recent droughts have seen their popularity and influence diminish, what with the lack of proper preparations.”

“Ah, we have heard something of it. Starvation, yes?” Now Lord Shi was shaking his head. “We have been fortunate, to have sufficient stores. For a number of years still. At least, enough to make sure that those who are important do not starve. Though, of course, one never knows how much longer such droughts might last. Or if they might return, soon enough.” A long sigh. “Our astrologers and fortune tellers speak of a great contestation in the Heavens, between the dragons of wind and rain and the heavenly host. When matters might come to an end, it is not for us to know.”

Wu Ying grimaced. He had heard something similar, those families with immortals within their lineage and who were in contact - which were rare enough - all spoke of great upheaval in the Heavens. Unfortunately, there was no indication of what it consisted of, though, it was not as though they could do much to influence matters.

Heaven quarreled, but mortals could only abide.

“We have our own methods. And things are not that dire,” General Woo said. “Though they have been lean years, our populace is strong.”

“Of course,” Lord Shi replied. Wu Ying murmured his agreement as well. “Still, I look forward to the time when we are all allies and trade may flow between the borders. Peace is always preferable, is it not?”

“Oh, yes. Definitely.” General Woo chimed in, but even his words sounded a little false.

Wu Ying was still puzzling why Lord Shi had chosen to ride with him. He knew there was a reason, for political creatures like the man always had a point. Perhaps it was to stop him from stopping the other guards who had left, if the man had suspected Wu Ying of disagreeing with his position. But if so, he was seriously underestimating Wu Ying’s abilities.

For all the while they had been riding, Wu Ying had been taking action. Utilising the wind to obscure the tracks of the villagers in the far distance, many li from the village. He broke trees and sent deadfalls come crashing down along the former path, wiping away the impressions of hurried feet and moving animals. Other things, like broken branches and nibbled upon foliage were more difficult to deal with, though the slight nudging of other creatures into the path or across helped with that.

Obscuring their trail was but the first level, of course. Next, he had formed and sent a spirit messenger while they spoke. Now, he was only needing to send it off and to do that, without others knowing, he would need an excuse. Which, fortunately, there were a number.

“Gentleman, it is a pleasure. But there are a few things I must acquire. I shall return, in an incense time.” Then, bowing a little, but not bothering to wait for them to accede to his request, Wu Ying threw himself from his saddle once more, kicking off through the air.

He slowed down just a touch, enough that they could track his movement. He wasn’t trying to lose them, in fact, making Lord Shi or General Woo track his movements was the entire point. After all, while they were locked on to him and what they could see, they were not paying attention to what he had allowed to drop, to the spirit message that lay on the road.

Only when he had half-done with his Gathering, when the General and the Lord were fully focused on him, even as they had their own conversation did he send his need to the wind. Not a chi manipulation, but a dao one. In this way, it was subtler, more difficult to track unless one had the appropriate dao. Like a dao of connections, for example.

In this way, the spirit messenger was borne, by wind for multiple li, drifting through the trees like a leaf till it was time. Finally, finally it lit up as it reached the edges of Wu Ying’s own domain, chi coursing through it. It would finish the passage on its own strength, to deliver the message the villagers need hurry and split up.

He could not stop them from being found out. He understood how these soldiers and cultivators thought. If they managed to acquire nothing, they would not stop till they had found the villagers. He could delay them, give the villagers time to hide some of their people, split up and otherwise distract their pursuers. And, like all farmers, all peasants the world over, they would know how to give just enough so that they could survive while hiding the most important things.

It was all he could do, without stepping in directly. And that would be a conflict that his own Sect Head and kingdom would be loath to involve themselves in.

Still, as Wu Ying returned to the group and the hunt, as they finally neared their prey, he could not help but feel a little dirty. He could not help but feel he had failed the villagers and himself in some way.

Sometimes, when high ideals met reality, the result was a failure of both ideals and their adherents.