บท 145: Days of Madness - Forced March
Walking back to the Cultivator's camp, between Chénli and the Healer later that afternoon, under an overcast sky shot through with red, pink and orange as the crow-light from the settling Golden Crow filtered through the clouds, Dàilán was silent, thinking hard as the other women discussed in low angry voices about what the Yāoguǐ Medicine Woman had explained to them.
They had ended up spending the remainder of the morning and the remainder of that afternoon in the tent; several times, various members of both camps were summoned over to verify or contribute their own knowledge or viewpoint on issues that were brought up, leading to little groups wandering out of the tent and talking across each other excitedly as the two groups started to realise just how much had changed since the Yāoguǐ had gone into hiding.
"Well, once again, mistress," Chénli remarked with an affectionate lilt painting the title, "you seemed to have stirred things up."
"It was not intentional," answered the young Heiress, "it is disturbing how much has been lost through the millennia."
"It is unfortunate that this was not brought up earlier," sighed the Healer, "we could have used the last week to investigate what each group is aware of that the other does not."
"It is likely that some of those travelling with us will have knowledge we do not - and I am sure there have been developments over the time they have been asleep that they would be interested in," Dàilán pointed out.
"Like how they are planning to move so many people through the forest without damaging the concealment that the Sage laid along the route," suggested Chénli.
"I do not think that is a concern anymore, actually," Dàilán disagreed as they walked slowly across the short grass of the protected clearing, "more people on foot should hardly make a difference - and even if it did, I doubt that any concealment Formations would still be functioning after being pounded by the Essence Storm for so long."
"Monitor Leng did say the Formations the Sage is using are different," pointed out the bodyguard, "I wonder if the Yāoguǐ would recognise them?"
"A good question," agreed Dàilán, "the communication jades are still not functioning, so that should mean the Essence disturbances in this area are still preventing long range techniques - which would include anything anyone could use to find our group - if they are even looking for us at this point."
"It would be good if any enemies have given up," pointed out the Healer, reminding Dàilán that she had originally been a Knife Sect member; the Heiress nodded in agreement, but Dàilán added, "although if my Cousins are searching for us - or Ài and the other maids - they must be very concerned."
"Hujian was in chaos when we escaped, it has been less than three weeks - then the Essence went mad - I suspect they have their hands full," consoled Chénli, "once we get to this Village you mentioned, we can find a trader to send a message back - although we will have to be very careful," she looked thoughtful, "I wonder if that old field agent managed to survive the mess - he knows we were headed for the village…"
"The peddler with his Essence Herbs that started all this?" asked Dàilán, "hopefully - we could use more experienced Knife members - but even if he does not turn up, we will find a way."
She lifted her chin resolutely, "however, I think with everything that got stirred up today we should have a 'council' meeting before tonight's send off."
"Is that because of what the BloodWitch wanted to talk to you about?" asked Chénli and Dàilán nodded agreement as she added, "although, we should also make sure everyone is up to speed on everything else that was discussed and discovered as well," she added, glancing over to the Healer who was nodding in vigorous agreement.
The three women walked into the Cultivator camp and Dàilán looked at the other two, "Could you two find as many of the Council as possible for a quick meeting, before we have to attend the celebration? I will be doing the same."
"Yes, Mistress/Heir," chorused the other women, moving quickly off into the mass of tents as Dàilán did the same.
---
"...so that is why we had to discuss the possibility of encountering a Wraith Wave - separately from the Yāoguǐ - as we continue towards the mountain village," explained Dàilán to the council who had assembled in the central tent of the Cultivator camp, after the privacy Formations that Monitor Leng had set up had been activated.
"The whole thing is ridiculous, in my opinion," muttered Chénli after a quick glance around to make sure no one else was about to speak.
"If it were Cultivator Wraiths, you might feel differently," the Healer pointed out.
"Why does that not happen?" asked Dàilán in curiosity as Chénli made a face, "Cultivator bodies returning as Wraith, I mean."
"For one it requires high levels of ambient Essence," pointed out the Healer, "which until the last couple of weeks were unusual outside of the Secret Lands of Major Clans or Sects. Secondly, Essence Beasts Cultivate by developing cores rather than dantians - it is those cores that provide the Essence to heal and reanimate Essence Beasts who have been killed or wounded."
She paused and collected her thoughts before continuing, "thirdly, while there are some Cultivation Techniques used by some Cultivators that have similar effects as that of an Essence Beast's Cultivation, there is a reason why cremation is widely practiced by Cultivators - well, besides the fact that there are Evil Cultivation Techniques practiced by some groups that utilise Cultivator corpses."
Dàilán shuddered, remembering the threats that the Grass spy had made as he had hunted her.
"Which we do not talk about," realised Chénli aloud, "just like the Yāoguǐ do not like talking about the fact that if they had not managed to Advance, they could be the ones attacking in a mindless frenzy, controlled by the very Essence that is supposed to keep them alive."
"If they survive as Wraiths long enough for the Essence in their Core to restore their mind, an Essence Beast with a high enough Cultivation can fully restore itself from death," pointed out the Healer, "it means their Core is consumed as part of the process, so they will lose Cultivation Levels, but it does make them very hard to kill once they have Advanced far enough. That is part of why Essence Stones - which are usually Essence Beast Cores - are prized, that much Essence in one place is valuable."
"Still, if the BloodWitch is sure there is going to be a problem," remarked one of the other older Guan refugees, "the beasts should have warned us directly."
"None of that, if you please," Dàilán's Father stated pleasantly, but there was an underlying steel in his voice, "we have the information, that is what matters."
"We should not be cooperating with…" the woman trailed off as her father glared at her.
"It has become clear over the last week that the stories about the Yāoguǐ neglect the fact that they are not much different than humans; some can be reasoned with and can live with others - while undoubtedly others, just like humans, some are violent and unreasonable," the Guan Clan Head enunciated clearly, "we have fortunately encountered some of the former. We are light on allies at the present moment, let us not jeopardize that because of claims made by people who have never done us any favours."
"Given the amount of information that appears to have been deliberately destroyed or hidden - if our recent discoveries are any indication," pointed out another younger, Guan woman, one who Dàilán recalled as having been called in to be consulted for some time with the Yāoguǐ Medicine Woman earlier in the afternoon, "maybe those who spread what is accepted as 'common knowledge' are doing more than just - doing us no favours."
Her voice was bitter and clipped, setting off a wave of harshly murmured agreements. Dàilán noticed her father frowning deeply before he nodded jerkily, "I doubt it has been completely lost. I would bet that the Major Clans and Sects with large inheritances have kept information such as we have found to themselves. Knowledge you have, that others do not, is power, after all."
"Well at least we have a safe and painless way to regulate cycles now," remarked the Healer, causing her father and the couple of other men around the table to flush - even as a relieved laughter came from everyone else, "make sure the Eclipse Technique is shared to all the girls as soon as possible - as well as the Essence herb mixture that accompanies it."
"Because that is much more important than facing a potential Wraith Wave," quipped another woman, to general, knowing laughter, "I was not looking forward to restarting a full cycle along with everyone in the camp. Cultivation does not play nice with periods."
There was a collective wince from everyone as the Healer clicked her tongue, "Enough trying to petrify our male compatriots. I would ask that everyone spread the word that everyone is to keep a careful rein on their celebration tonight - we have to travel tomorrow and I do not have that many hangover remedies made up."
Her father looked across the table at her, "Dàilán, if you can make sure that the younger girls especially, do not have more than the minimum required amount of alcohol - I am certain there will be some ceremonial drinking required from everyone above Earth Level Cultivation and I believe that includes everyone in our camp at this point - but please discourage the youngest from drinking more than they must."
"Any non essential tents and other items not required for use overnight should be packed before the ceremonies start," Monitor Leng reminded everyone briskly as Dàilán nodded acknowledgment to her Father's request, "we do not want to take up tomorrow morning in preparations to leave - ideally we will be ready to go by crow-rise…"
---
Dàilán walked through the Cultivator's side of the clearing the next morning wishing she could enjoy the first clear skies and crow-light she had seen for weeks. Unfortunately, the effects of the previous nights celebrations were leaving her wincing and wishing the clouds would return, if but for a short while.
Doing her best to ignore the discomfort the bright morning and loud noises caused, she did her best to focus on supervising and issuing gentle reminders to people who had become distracted from their tasks as the last of the semi permanent structures - tents, fire pits, drying racks and so on - that had been erected over the last few weeks were dismantled and where necessary stowed for travelling or deconstructed - the clearing quickly returning to a pristine state with the use of various Techniques.
The bustle of the clearing as everyone in both camps completed final preparations for the caravan to set out was hectic, a counterpoint to her own heavy thoughts. While the majority of the Yāoguǐ were staying in the clearing, almost twenty or so were going to travel with the caravan - some as part of the group assigned to patrol the border of the Herd's territory, some assigned to act as ambassadors - both to the other Yāoguǐ territories they were planning to cross and the 'Ancient' that Dàilán's group was traveling to.
The rest were hoping to re-establish trade between the territories and were taking advantage of the presence of the warriors in the larger group for safety.
This still left the Yāoguǐ camp busy with the people leaving running about with last moment preparations, especially the traders, but that paled in comparison to the organised chaos of the Cultivator camp as all their remaining tents and possessions were packed up and every Cultivator prepared to resume their journey.
The Council had made sure every member of the ex-Guan and Knife was informed of the potential dangers that they would likely be walking into before the previous nights send off celebration. Despite the warning - including an offer from the Mówáng to allow anyone who wanted to stay with the Yāoguǐ until escort could be arranged back to human territory - every Cultivator had elected to continue the journey.
Most had protested any consideration of changing their path and chosen to continue, claiming the gains in their Cultivation so far had outweighed the dangers in their opinion - especially now that they were travelling with such a large and well armed party; whereas the remainder, while not completely happy with the situation, were both uncomfortable remaining with the Yāoguǐ if only a few stayed behind and unsure of what would happen to them if they returned to Hujian or another human controlled settlement.
For herself, Dàilán found the fervent assertion of some of the younger Guan women that they were going to follow wherever she led - and their optimistic confidence in her ability to negate any danger - to be more than a little disturbing.
She was much more comfortable and understanding of the guarded agreement and concern of the older Cultivators, although she had to admit even the ex-Knives now seemed strangely accepting of having a woman not yet past her majority as the nominal 'leader' - even considering all of the automatic deference that came with assuming the position of the Sect Head.
The Heiress sighed and rubbed her forehead as she walked. Her efforts not to overdo it during the previous night's celebrations had failed, despite initially intending to only attend the minimum polite amount of time.
She frowned, remembering - she had danced with a few Elders as required, played her bāwū - after a great many requests - then ate some excellent food and participated in a ceremony to formalise their alliance with the Yāoguǐ. It had involved a little ceremonial wine and smoking something sacred with a lot of Essence herbs in it to signify the official pact of alliance with the Herd.
After that, she had hazy memories of having a great time, eating, drinking, laughing and singing… a lot of singing.
Despite her Sky Level Cultivation she was feeling a little the worse for wear this morning. She suspected she had only managed a couple Shí of sleep after the party had ended and she was not the only one; looking around she could see that most of the women looked pale and red eyed, wincing at loud noises and most of them actively minimising interaction.
"There must have been something different in that wine or that smoke," she grumbled to herself as she dodged a couple of women carrying large bundles of something, then felt the urge to rub her glabella - of course it had, it was made by the Yāoguǐ who had relatively high levels of Cultivation themselves - and they were drinking and smoking it.
What would be the point of making wine that one could not enjoy? Add that to the fact that the Yāoguǐ had access to all sorts of rare Essence Plants and herbs that could affect Cultivators, it became obvious that it was likely wine that could affect Cultivators without needing to overhinhibe.
"They could sell that and make a fortune," she chuckled ruefully to herself, thinking back to the wine shops in Hujian that sold 'Cultivator's Wine' in enormous jars for ridiculous prices - the amount of high quality wine normally required to effect a Cultivator was a stupendous volume.
"~heav~y ~head?" came the BloodWitch's singsong voice from behind her and Dàilán winced as her tones drove a dull spike of pain into her temple.
"Yes," she admitted as she stopped walking and turned around, "I probably drank more of the wine than I should have," she massaged her neck in embarrassment as she continued, "I did not stop to think it could affect me."
She sighed as the Senior Cultivator laughed at her discomfort, no sign of a hangover visible in her body language, "have you been circulating your Cultivation?"
"Yes," Dàilán resisted the urge to snap at the tiny woman, "even my tàijíquán practice this morning has not helped as much as it should have."
"Drink more w~ater," replied the maniacally grinning 'girl', "it will go a~way even~tually."
"I am aware," the heiress snapped dryly, then sagged as the BloodWitched cackled in amusement, "you are keyed up this morning," she observed.
Thankfully, the woman accepted the change in subject, her body language shifting to what Dàilán thought as her Enforcer mode, her voice becoming cold and language clipped, "Reporting to Sect Head, this next leg of the trip is going to be a battle."
"The Council told everyone about the Wraith wave," Dàilán answered carefully, "everyone has decided to take the risk anyway. Should I be insisting that the youngest stay behind…?"
The BloodWitch shook her head, "Not a good idea. The Yāoguǐ have been on their best behaviour while you are here - but they still managed to get you mildly intoxicated and involved you in a no holds barred spar. Sure, it could be passed off as part of the celebration, or partially your responsibility for the latter, but you should not forget those old stories about Yāoguǐ, especially when it comes to human men and women - even Cultivators - and especially younger children."
"Father said those might be exaggerated or even fabricated stories," Dàilán pointed out, "it has become increasingly clear the higher level Cultivators and Clans have been working to keep everything under them."
"True enough," agreed the BloodWitch, "b~ut I have managed to make some real fri~ends with some of the people I have patrolled with - like the ones I brought to talk to you - and they are the ones that warned me that some Yāoguǐ are not to be trusted around young and beautiful humans. So I would not be leaving any of the children behind."
She paused and then smiled crookedly, "~every story has a grain of ~truth, Heir."
"As if some Cultivators are any different," grumbled Dàilán, rubbing her forehead in frustration, "interesting that some of them would tell you that though. And I do not see why they are staying on their best behaviour because of me."
"They are scared of your friend, the 'Ancient'," the 'girl' replied, adjusting the giant slab of metal she called a sword behind her, "and some of them are good people."
Dàilán snorted, "it always comes back to - him - does it not? I am starting to feel like a love interest in a hero's story."
"As long as you do not wind up ~dying tragically…" the BloodWitch grinned at her, her tone switching to light teasing, "the heroine always gets ~good Cultivation techniques and treasures ~after all," the other woman glanced significantly at Dàilán's Essence Silk robes.
Dàilán rolled her eyes at the unsubtle dig and decided to return to the original subject, "you said it is going to be a battle - how bad." She started moving again as she spoke, heading towards the location where the head of the caravan was starting to assemble.
"We are going to lose people," the Bloodwitch answered bluntly, flicking back to formal tones, "there is no way we can go through the jungle in the state it is in without an army or a Peak Sky and not expect casualties."
"We have a few higher level Cultivators in the Yāoguǐ that are traveling with us - between them and the three of us - not enough?" asked Dàilán.
"No. I went out for a patrol earlier and went as far in as I dared. The Yin Essence is much thicker with the Storm's passing. Some of the women from your clan - will - die," the BloodWitch replied flatly.
"Any solutions," asked Dàilán desperately, "Can I ask the Mówáng for more warriors?"
"They do not have enough to make a difference," responded the other woman, "the ones going with us are their border patrol, so they are the strongest they have - besides those that need to stay here to protect the main Herd."
The BloodWitch hesitated slightly, "Can you… contact the Sage?"
Dàilán shook her head, "something both of us overlooked unfortunately. I would like to be able to go back to myself of a week ago or so and ask her what she was thinking."
"Your Father and the others there - including myself - did not think of it either," the other woman murmured bitterly, "he made it sound like it would be a six day trip with comfortable stops each night."
"Maybe he thought it would be," Dàilán pointed out, "things have changed very quickly. Is there - anything - we can do?"
"If it was not for the fact that staying here longer brings an increasing risk that the conservative elements of the Yāoguǐ will convince the Mówáng to break our alliance, I would suggest staying put," the BloodWitch slumped, her body language frustrated, "but inevitably the Wraith Wave would get here and be reinforced with everything it has killed up to that point. A siege with little to no hope of reinforcement is an even worse position to be in."
"So we travel, expecting battle," summarised Dàilán, "let Monitor Leng know to have the battle Formations ready, just in case. If it comes between choosing our safety over annoying the Natural Dao, I will choose the safety. Maybe the Formations will make enough of a disturbance to let… Lin, know we need help."
The Bloodwitch laughed, "~that is more like it! By your leave..." she bowed deeply and darted off.
---
The Caravan travelled into the wilderness in heavy silence, the sounds of the group falling into a depthless, breathless, oppressive silence. Despite the morning Crow-light filtering through the canopy, the air felt cold and gloomy - almost as if there was an invisible veil between them and the light from the Golden Crow.
Looking around Dàilán noticed that she could not hear the sounds of birds or other wildlife. While it was true that a travelling group would normally startle nearby wildlife into silence or rapid relocation, she could hear no noise at all - even distantly - as if the wildlife was entirely absent.
"This is not good," muttered one of the nearby women, "guess the BloodWitch was understating things."
Dàilán nodded in response as she spun out Essence threads in an effort to find anything, growing concerned as they seemed to corrode and fray as they were sent out. Sighing she patted the Guan Clanswoman on the shoulder, "I am going to go and tell Monitor Leng to activate the defense Formations. Whatever is causing this destroys passive Essence techniques, so I think whatever the Sage was trying to keep us from breaking is probably already ruined."
"I will pass the word for everyone to go to full readiness if they have not already," the woman responded solemnly and Dàilán gave her a tight smile of acknowledgment as she moved up the line, looking for the Monitor.
The caravan did not really need someone to tell them to move to high alert; everyone was already looking around narrowly with their hands on weapons, but Dàilán could see the change ripple through as the official order was given - the women shifting into three person combat squads, each person responsible for their quarter of vision ahead of them.
Defensive and sensing techniques started up and down the line - being activated by one out of every squad as they followed the training the Council had come up with - mostly from the ex-Knives. Each squad member would rotate that duty to avoid any one Cultivator draining their Essence below what was wise in a hostile environment.
She smiled tightly to herself again; the time spent on extra drills and tactics while they were in the sanctuary had started to add a respectable level of fluidity to the hard-won experience of the previous weeks - a far cry from the bunch of loose sand they had started out with.
"We might lose people," she muttered to herself, "but it will not be because we walked into it with our eyes closed."
---
Several Shí later, things were no better. The group had been travelling swiftly - the overall uneasiness had slowly encouraged to push faster and faster along the path that Chún had marked out on his map.
More unnerving, at least to Dàilán, was the deepening gloom as the day moved into highest flight and beyond. The Golden Crow seemed more like a painting plastered on an oddly bleached sky than a source of warmth - it seemed to give little heat, its light somehow more diminished and wan the further they travelled.
The other thing that had everyone on edge was the absolute deadness of the area. It was like travelling in a silenced world. They had been travelling for almost half a day now and it felt like the only sounds they heard came from their group. It stretched everyone's nerves taunt and normal conversation had fallen off within the first couple of fēn, replaced with hushed whispers and grim silence.
The lack of any sort of reaction, movement or sign of threat served only to wind the stress of the group higher as each fēn passed. The last time she had checked with the caravan leaders, they had decided to enforce a stand down rotation to keep members of the caravan becoming fatigued from such a long period of time at a constant high alert.
Dàilán moved up the line again to confer with the caravan leaders for the fourth time since they had started travelling, looking over her shoulder as the BloodWitch as the Senior Cultivator slid out of the trees along their line of march to fall in beside her.
"Is this what you meant by bad?" she hissed at the older woman, "it is not what I expected."
"No - this is new," the BloodWitch responded coldly as they moved up the line, "not the Death Essence - but the absolute lack of activity…"
"We need to try and make it to the next Sanctuary before that changes," responded Dàilán, the back of her neck prickling as if sensing hostile intent, but all her Essence threads would just crumble away everytime she tried to sense anything, "I cannot get my sensing technique to work properly. I cannot tell if anyone is out there… but I just feel…"
"That is the Death Essence," the BloodWitch answered, "it breaks down external Essence. If this keeps up, the forest is going to start dying."
Dàilán looked around, noticing the signs of drooping and yellowed leaves and dulled Essence glows from the plants around them, now that the other woman had pointed it out.
"So faster is good, then. We are already halfway there, with everyone pushing like this - but I am worried about injuries or exhaustion…" she paused as they reached the head of the column.
"We need to increase our speed," the BloodWitch announced bluntly, "this complete absence of life is new, but it means nothing good. The longer we take to reach the sanctuary, the longer we are meat on the chopping board."
The Healer was travelling with the group at the front and spoke up, "as reluctant as I am to advise risking injuries or worse, I am forced to agree. This much Yin Essence is nothing good to be bathed in, especially for the younger Cultivators. It will start to have negative impacts on our health if we stay in it much longer."
"Maximum safe exposure?" questioned Dàilán's Father from where he was keeping pace nearby.
"Another Shí, maybe. After that…" the healer shook her head worriedly, "I can fix sprains, broken bones and Essence depletion. I may not be able to reverse the effects of too much yin exposure."
"There is no one and nothing ahead or to either side of us as far out as I dared range from the column," stated the BloodWitch, "I do not ~k~now how long that will last. We have to beat whatever is out there to the next Sanctuary. I do not think we have long."
A tight murmur of agreement rippled out from the head of the line and the Monitor snapped out orders, "forced march rotation. We move as fast as we can."
There was a collective nodding of heads furry, scaled or otherwise as the caravan picked up speed with stronger Cultivators dropping into prearranged Formations to tow weaker Cultivators along as those took up the defensive and watching duties - sacrificing power for strength while trying to limit the risk of injuries risked by lower level Cultivators.
Many of the Yāoguǐ went for the trees which let them move faster but basically alerted anything paying attention that something was coming through as branches and leaves shook and swayed.
"At this rate we will reach the old border of the territory within the Shí - and where the next Fortress is supposed to be - if nothing stops us," rumbled one of the Yāoguǐ who had been assigned to accompany them, "tell your women to keep up. We will pick up anyone that injures themselves, so just go…"
One of the younger girls looked up at the big lion-man, "I am smaller and faster than you - what do I do when - you - hurt yourself? I cannot carry your big carcass."
The Yāoguǐ looked down with a flash of teeth and then threw his head back with a roar of laughter, "if everyone is like you, little sprite, we do not have to worry!"
"Thank Heaven and Earth for spatial tools, or I would have to drop my goods," huffed another Yāoguǐ as he bounded through the trees.
"You sound like you need to lose some weight regardless, merchant," remarked someone else, "you cannot put that into a spatial tool."
"This is muscle - which I will be putting to good use by running away faster than you when whatever is coming catches up," retorted the slightly plump Yāoguǐ.
With mocking jibes being called out to spur each other on, waves of laughter travelled down the line as the morale raised in defiance - the group moving faster in response.
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