Volume 3 Chapter 25.2: The Cave and the Crystal (2)

Bi De was walking along a road of churned dirt, a ribbon that stretched haphazardly over the hills, just wide enough for two carts to pass side by side. The breeze that gently flowed over him held the sweet scent of flowers and wild grass that grew along the roadside. At the end of the road was his destination. He anticipated no problems, and was rather enjoying himself on his jaunt out of the office. It was about time he got away from all the paperwork.

Looking down at the tilled soil he was walking on, the highway of the realm, he smiled in satisfaction. For a moment Bi De paused to feel the warmth of the warm sun, high in the sky, and the breeze on his face.

...wait. Sun?

Bi De kept walking, letting his worries melt away. He knew his friend had to be around here somewhere—

Ah. Near here. Bi De smiled as he stepped forwards just slightly, his foot pressing down on the road.

The churned earth gave away, revealing a pit trap. Bi De fell, landing on his feet easily. Those little rascals. They dared? He thought with amusement.

Immediately, a child and a small Roadspinner burst from some bushes and poked their heads down into the pit. The armadillo-like creature looked as eager as the child, hopping up and down with glee. The little, wild looking boy was grinning widely, but his blank, milky eyes were looking too far to the left. The blind boy was not really seeing him.

Roadspinner? This felt odd. Familiar.

"Ha! I told you we'd get him!" the child, Dulou, enthused. His companion, Dizhou, tapped his thick claws on the side of the pit in agreement.

Bi De chuckled at the enthusiastic children.

"Yes, yes, you got me. A very good pit! I give it an eight out of ten!"

Doulu laughed happily and held out his fist for his companion to bump... pointing it in the complete wrong direction. Dizhou scrambled over himself to get to the other side of the boy and headbutted his hand.

"Mission successful!" The boy boasted.

"You do realise that I must retaliate now, no?" Bi De proclaimed, and with a single leap, he was out of the pit. He landed in front of the two. The boy and the Roadspinner fell on their asses in surprise.

Then they looked at each other and nodded. The Roadspinner curled up into a ball and shot off in one direction, the boy racing along after him... looking entirely too coordinated and sure of himself for a blind boy.

Bi De rolled his eyes and gave chase.

The children shrieked as he did so, herding them in the direction he wanted them to go before finally catching the two grubby little beasts.

"So how is old Rumblin' Yao, anyway?" He asked.

"He's good! He's not far now!" Doulu said even as he hung from his ankle. The Roadspinner in his other hand waved at Bi De and he rolled his eyes.

Bi De smiled, hoisting the child and the Spirit Beast onto his back. The boy giggled in delight while the spinner vibrated in pleasure. He always liked children."Then let's get going you little Wreckerballs!"

That was... not right at all. Children were... strange. He wasn't good with children.

Things suddenly snapped into clarity. Bi De metaphorically shook his head as the images, the memory, fuzzed and frayed slightly. Suddenly he wasn't in the man's body anymore.

He had felt this before. He had been this man before, when he first touched the crystal.

He was inside a memory.

Unlike last time though, the memory did not just eject him once he recognized it for what it was. Instead he was an observer now. The man, not Bi De, was walking down the churned earth path, carrying both a child and what looked like a Wreckerball without the spines.

There was a spike of unpleasant worry. He... he honestly had no clue what to do in this moment. But the feeling of being this man was... Intense. If he hadn't felt it before, he likely wouldn't have been able to tell for hours yet. Hours. Hours he did not know if he had.

His worry deepened as something within him twinged, the crystal drawing out some of his Qi. It was subtle, very subtle, but the small drain was there.

His thoughts and concerns were not for himself, but for his Great Master, Miantiao, Yin, and the monkeys. His Master was in some manner of trance, while his companions were weaker than he. He could only pray that their lives were not snuffed out by this crystal.

If they were hurt in any way, he would have his vengeance upon this wicked crystal, and the witch who had given him its location.

Assuming he survived, of course.

He had no body, just a mass of Qi trapped in a recording. He took a metaphorical breath and spread his awareness out. The memory fuzzed slightly. It twinged as his Qi quested through it, the colours melting like wax and running. The recording itself began to skip, moving forward and back oddly. Bi De caught a glimpse of a giant, curled up Roadspinner, its shell big enough to house most of a village within, before the memory stuttered again, leaping back in time, and replaying what Bi De had just seen.

Bi De hit the confining edges of the memory. His Qi felt forwards carefully.

It was like a bubble. A thin film surrounding the memory.

He pressed up against it, probing for a weakness, searching for anything that would let him escape.

The walls of the bubble resisted, pressing back, but Bi De would not be denied.The walls of the memory shuddered and rumbled as he bore down on it. For a moment, it felt as if he would not succeed but his will was stronger than the walls of this prison. A breach formed and Bi De pushed free.

Immediately, he was assaulted.

Colours assaulted his eyes and a hundred thousand voices and the clash of weapons rang in his ears. A cacophony of scents filled his nose, causing him to grimace. One moment, the sweet smell of flowers, another the scent of death so powerful it made his eyes water. Tastes, from delicious food the equal of blessed Fa Ram, to things so foul that they had no description, making him want to void his stomach. Even his own feelings were not spared as the crystal forced him to feel the heights of triumph and the depths of despair.

Bi De's questing Qi recoiled from the sundered gap in the memories wall. He was slammed back into the bottom of the memory as the entire thing warped and twisted like a nightmare, as more and more of the sheer, raw emotion from the void outside flowed towards him through the tear.

The first disciple of Fa Ram would not be defeated. Bi De charged back into it, gathering his will, and pushed against the encroaching darkness that was attempting to tear this memory bubble apart. His silver Qi grew like a net and captured it, holding it at bay. He knew not what to do, only that he had to hold it still. The rent in the sky, exposing the howling darkness, pressed against him... until it started to close.

Slowly, inch by inch, the rent sealed shut, and the memory stabilized.

Bi De managed a sigh of relief as the memory stabilized and restarted, this time, deep into the night.

===============

Bi De pondered his failure. Brute force had not worked in favour but he was undeterred. He would experiment.

The words of the Great Master were clear in regards to experimentation. One must study the world carefully, and form a hypothesis.

He may be able to leap into the maelstrom of memories, but if he did that he could not find his companions. Or if he could find them, what could he do, peirce into their memory bubbles and then leap back into the void with them? No, that was unfeasible. He could attempt to find his Great Master, but he too had been held in some manner of trance. Bi De doubted his ability to wake his lord if whatever was happening was strong enough to affect him.

Bi De pondered his predicament as he turned his contemplations to the contents of the bubble. The man drew what looked like a rough map in the dirt, and the blind boy nodded happily as he pointed something out.

The slight twinge in his Qi occurred again.

He had to escape. But how to collect everybody? He pondered, searching for an answer, and observed as the man accepted some herbs from the Roadspinner The little creature's nose twitched in a way that reminded of Sister Ri Zu.

Bi De paused. Ri Zu.

Sister Ri Zu used a needle as her tool of choice. A needle that could pierce, that was hardened and durable... designed to be precise.

Bi De, inspired, once more gathered his Qi. He compressed it like his blades, but concentrating it to a point instead of a line, forging silver light into a needle.

Slowly, he approached the walls of the memory. A tiny needle of silver Qi pressed into the edges of the memory. Slowly, carefully, Bi De pressed against the walls. A tiny part of himself, attached to a thread.

He pierced the side of the bubble. Immediately, he was struck by the void, but his will was strong and he was prepared for it this time. The little silver needle ventured into the void.

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Yin's day had been going alright. She got started on her rounds early, sweeping the streets. Pale Moon was beautiful early in the morning, before the forges started belching smoke into the air. The town was completely geared towards its mining operations, supplying the Emperor of the Azure's soldiers with weapons and finished goods. After the discovery of what was being called Pale Moon ore, her little town was growing fast.

It was strange to watch so many people come in, but they had such neat stories!

After she was done sweeping, she would be off to the Overseer's Palace for her martial training. She had managed to complete the first form of the Iron Skin technique last night, and she had been looking forward to perhaps moving up a rank.

Then, of course, everything had been ruined, because Wu had to be an ass.

"You court death, boy." Wu Feng snarled. Yin grimaced, as the older boy advanced on her. "Look at you, dirt sweeper. How dare you even exist in my presence, let alone accost me with your foul smell?"

All she had done was bump into this bastard! And she had tried to avoid him too! He had been the one who changed direction!

Fuck off, asshole, Yin wanted to say, but instead she kept backing up, waving her hands in a conciliatory manner. This was a fight she couldn't win.

"I'm sorry, Master Wu! A thousand apologies!" She knew how it was going to end, though. Wu was in the Spiritual Realm, while she was only into the Profound. The son of Pale Moon's Overseer would utterly flatten her.

But she had to try anyway.

"Take your guard, peasant." the man demanded. Yin swallowed, as she got into her form. It felt a bit strange, but not completely off.

Wu smirked at her. The first blow landed on her, slamming her to the side. She felt her ribs creak.

But the fight was on. Her strikes were slow and halting. Defensive. Like she wanted to retreat.

Fight, damn it! She had to fight! What use was a weapon that didn't fight?! She was getting her ass kicked!

The sun in her chest burned. It pulsed angrily, thrumming and reverberating against something, like a beating heart.

Something was off about that, but Yin didn't spare it any thought. She had to fight. So she fought.

The first time, she lost. Fists slammed her into the dirt. They smashed her, and broke her bones. It was agony. It hurt so much, so much she wanted to give up.

But Yin wouldn't give up. She glared up at her tormentor. The sun rose like a crescendo. The world twisted, as Wu started to age rapidly. The world bled, as something pulled on her Qi, bringing up another version of Wu.

Yin snarled at him, as the world wobbled strangely. Like it was moments from destabilizing.

Emotions poured into her as she felt something break, the world grasping for something outside it, and tearing itself to pieces.

And then there was a silver light. It pierced into the destabilizing world, and threaded through it, tying off any rents, and calming the storm that raged at its ragged edges.

Yin blinked, as Bi De, or at least a part of him was suddenly there. The world stopped breaking, and the older version of Wu faded away leaving her staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.

'It is only a memory. Hold fast. I will find the others.' She heard Bi De's voice and intentions as they were transmitted to her.

She let his memories explain what he had done. The link he had forged. Yin understood he could not take her with him, not without tearing a massive hole, and disturbing every memory within this place... and then he didn't know if he could find everyone afterwards.

But a needle and thread, tying each separate memory together? Slowly pulling them together until they touched, and then extracting everybody into one place?

'Let's do this!' she demanded, thumping her feet against the floor.

Sun and moon touched, holding fast. Their Qi threaded together. One band of silver light connected two memories.

Yin closed her eyes, as the memory kept playing.

=======================

Miantiao was seated in a place of honour. The merchants came to him with wine and gifts, plying him and begging for his patronage. Beautiful flowers poured him his drinks, and whispered about the kind of wares their noble fathers had.

The room was beautifully appointed with silk and gold, the food was scrumptious, and it was a truly fantastic evening.

The final merchant of the night came in, his men carrying a hundred cloth covered wares. Miantiao leaned forward, interested.

"My Lord, behold!" the merchant began. "I bring you the finest glasswares in the Azure Mountains!"

With a flourish, he took the cover off the first of his pieces. It was a bright green vessel.

The world around Miantiao cracked, as he took in all the minor imperfections, and the inexpertly applied colour.

You dare? Maintiao wanted to demand, as everything twisted oddly. There was no way any maker worth their salt would have dared to peddle this refuse. Miantiao would have plucked out his other eye before he tried to sell glass of this quality. Impure copper oxide colouring?!

"This is fantastic. How did you get it so pure?" Miantiao said instead, feeling impressed.

Miantiao froze. There was something wrong here. What....?

And then he realised it. It hit him, slamming into his mind.

He felt happy, and at peace with the world. He felt fulfilled.

The illusion cracked like so much cheap glass.

The guilt and the hurt touched his mind once more, and he clung to them. The memories of his Master and Yin, so bittersweet, brought him back to his senses.

Miantiao's eyes narrowed. His senses expanded, disregarding the fools in front of them, and their glass. Hells thay had figured out how to fix the greening issue centuries ago.

Yet.. this palace was strange. His senses ghosted along the edges of the bubble, and the void outside.

He frowned. It was too thick for him to even attempt to get out. His Qi formed into a lens, and he gazed into the void, trying to find something, anything that could aid him. Perhaps he would see Yin's sun?

Instead, he found a silver needle, it sliced through the void, searching, and Miantiao angled his Qi.

He caught the rooster's attention.

Bi De was surprised, as the needle entered the memory. 'Glass? I would have thought that this would have consumed your attention, yet you broke out?'' he sounded impressed as he caught hold of Miantiao's Qi.

'The method they use is inferior to my Master'ssss' he said dismissively.

Some of the tenseness in his body faded, as he felt the warmth of Yin's Qi.

'Are we to attempt to leave together then?' Miantiao questioned. They had the three of them. It was time to leave, in his opinion. Or at least attempt to.

'No. Not yet. I will not leave any behind.' Bi De replied.

Maintiao paused at the words. They owed the monkeys little. Sure it was the crystal they had brought at fault but it would be smarter to leave them to their fates, and take care of themselves.

He nearly voiced his concern. But Bi De's convictions were clear. His eyes were pure.

And Miantiao had had enough of hurting others, so that he could benefit.

'Do not spread yourself too thin.'

The rooster smiled. 'Fear not. I shall return triumphant.'

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Back into the maelstrom, Bi De went. A single silver needle, backed up by the sun, and magnified by a pane of glass.

Still further Bi De pushed his Qi, pushing through the jumbled chaos of assorted memories. Now... it wasn't as clear. He could not feel the monkey's' Qi as well as his companions.

But he would not give up on them, not one.