Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty One - [Karma's] Footprint

The Golden Merchant Canton unfolded before Fu, and there surfaced myriad screams as he arrived upon the visceral form of Gon Ma. This Elder had been taken for assurance, keeping his silver-scaled partner beholden to a true translocation and not a swift delivery into the jaws of myriad serpents.

For all his strength upon reaching equilibrium, he could not slay an ancient immortal. To cripple one, however, was more manageable. [Pull] was their highest talent by several li, owed to the diligence of both former halves.

[Everlasting Scales Upon Canvas] raged at the withdrawal of his last [Constellation Seeds] with eyeless vitriol, seeming unperturbed by the slaughter of his physical form. He was a cultivator of [Insight] and [Push], of [External Arts] and [Dao Principles], leaving his [Resilience] more vulnerable to the meagre attacks of a peak [Core Formation] such as they.

Fu set a final palm to his brow. “[Dao of Four Horizons],” he uttered, blurring the pair of them into open skies wherein he simply released his hold.

The same breath delivered him home.

Here he did not linger before the outer gate, but erupted in a gale upon the inner lawn. Already were Shuidi’s [Senses] at work, as swift as Fu’s roaring voice. “Family! My children! Feng! Yuqi! Yuling! An!”

A blur left and reappeared as Hushi brought Yuling, Nuwang, An, Feng and Paxing front and center in various states of disarray.

Mid-read, mid-bite, mid-laundry fold.

“Father!” rose in concert, and trailed off with confused inflection when all saw the haste written across his face.

“Was this the time for embrace, I would not let go. As it stands, we are to leave. Disaster falls Divine Clouded Mountain. The serpents are to destroy it all,” he said, already conjuring the winds that would carry them away. “Where are Yuqi and Yiji?”

Yuling drew her saber, inverting the grip as she bowed. “What might we do, Father?”

His hand cupped her cheek, bidding her to a gentle rise. “Here I will softly crush your spirit, daughter. There is nothing I would have any of you do but leave. Shuidi is retrieving our family possessions now, but the house must be abandoned. Now, where are they?”

Feng and Yuling shared a look. “She and Grandfather are fishing, but we do not know where,” delivered the son. “When last we went, time and place held little meaning.”

“[Barefoot Emperor],” firmed Hushi. “He is not enough.”

Paxing grunted in agreement, and Nuwang shared a low growl.

In a blur, Shuidi returned. The [Shrine of Final Skies] felt fuller having stripped their home of all affects, and with a small smirk, Fu saw that the patterned doors of each quarters had been drawn from their walls.

It conjured thoughts of Zhu and Hau.

Of all he had done.

Fu withdrew his douli, placing it upon Yuling’s head. “My eldest. When you arrive-” A moment occurred then wherein his [Senses] adjusted to the world about him, and the skies above split in glaring light. A show indeed, as if a Lunar Festival’s fireworks had detonated at once.

The full spectrum of [Spatial Arrays] possessed infinite hues, trails and methods, but what yawned from their mouths were serpents one and all.

World-swallowing constrictors. Star-crushing boas. Sun-wrecking Vipers. Many immortals held partners the scale of buildings, yet these arrivals- these Elders and Matriarchs possessed those that rivalled horizons.

So was the mirror true.

Not in eastern skies to their west, but amidst the arriving host did the Unorthodox burst, delivering a fable of raptor-beaked birds, apes, shoals and more, holding each beast beneath the Heavens in their fleet.

Shuidi thought the Warships negligible beside them.

He turned, but Feng spoke first. “It is just like that day. A repeat of Thousand Shore City. Father, we can’t- we cannot have this happen again.”

Only the Fatherly [Asura] turned as fresh disturbances entered the garden. Two disparate voices as one.

“Well said, grandson,” clucked Chuangkuai.

“Well said, grandson,” chirped Ershiba.

Mubu, Yuqi and Yiji arrived in dramatic fashion, heralded by three crumpled ghosts as they were slung onto the perfectly tended grass in heaps. Conscious, yet visibly pained.

Across arrived Hua, Zhu and Tanshuai.

The chicken and cuckoo met to the side of the downed ghosts and their [Spirit Serpents], and pressed their necks together in comfort. Words exchanged there that were not meant for any ears but their own. Tender things and tender impressions. Long unspoken whispers.

Fu did not know what to address first. Above the Heavens were at war, assassins lay at his feet, and… his arms closed swiftly about Yuqi, squeezing tight. From her shoulder he met Zhu’s steady gaze.

He paced over to Yuling and Feng, setting hands on their shoulders. “Nieces, nephews.” His stance put them a step behind, and posture was set to ward all.

Warmth touched the Fatherly [Asura’s] heart. “That is worth the next twenty dinners,” Fu smiled. “At least.”

Zhu looked to Hua’s bruised hand, regrown yet blackened like rotten peaches. “Dinners? If Grandmother lets you live long enough to repay it, yes.”

Chaos reigned, yet still the meeting was not complete. A silence hung as Hua met Mubu, and for once she did not hum. Heavy were her eyes, her shoulders and step. Guilt. Sorrow. Joy. Rage. Perhaps she held all.

Perhaps she held none.

But the [Cherry River Sage] was not present in that moment, only a heartbroken mother ready to accept whatever words might come.

Mubu took her by both hands, setting them upon his chest as he did hers. “How wondrous a sound these make together. Though we’ve lost much, it exists threefold now. When the wind has blown this day, we’ll speak on it. Our grandchildren need us,” he said, allowing her hands to slip first. “Son-in-law. These little serpents had collapsed on the garden wall. Conflicted.”

“Not by your hand?” he asked.

“Harm these diligent souls? They’ve not trespassed against us. On the contrary, from what I’m told son-in-law, they’re candidates for the adoption you seem to offer to all!” Mubu laughed. “Within, their [Spirit] wars between loyalty to you and the [Dao Oaths] engraved on them.”

Shuidi hummed pleasantly. “Father-in-law. [Freedom] would suit them well.”

So convoluted was the [Primordial Lord of Freedom’s] domain that one could not ask nor demand a thing of him. To bend his mind- to influence, often set him against the notion entirely. It seemed where family was concerned, however, he would do anything.

Four [Dao-Chains] were wrenched from the spectres, and they collapsed as the change overcame them. Hua’s eyes glittered brighter as her [Law of Crossroads] awoke. “In the future they will speak of orders. Of how the Cloudy Serpent Sect ordered them to abandon their duty here and defend the vast [Arrays] that the Orthodox have embedded within the bones of this city. As do the Unorthodox hold their own. That is the plight we face.”

The Gao children held no notion of what was happening. “An [Array] in the bones of this city?” asked Feng.

“A final attempt to subjugate the Heavens, dear grandson. [Divine Qi] exists in the carcass of this floating beast. When one cultivates enough of it, reality cannot stand in their way. Bah. To brute force the [Hollow Throne’s] archway… impetuous youths,” chastised Hua. “If they succeed, Long’s victory cannot be assured.”

“Long?” snarled Nuwang. “Father spoke of him.”

“Peace, daughter. Much has changed,” he said. “Come what may, Hua, we must vacate our family. Divine Clouded Mountain is not safe.”

“Father! The people!” burst Feng and Yuqi in tandem.

Fu nodded. “I know son, daughter. However-”

Both Paxing and Feng grunted. “Enough! Once you told me that it was not our duty to believe ourselves burdens. That a Father has failed if mortal worries fall to his children. We are children no longer. My choice is to aid those here, where we have named home! Father, spare us the lecture of safety and familial duty, I will remain as long as I am able.”

The [Spirit Ape] punctuated this with a whoop.

Eight arms wrapped about the son’s shoulders. “Rowdy. We have done well then.”

“However,” repeated Fu. “A limit will arrive. The good we do cannot outweigh your safety. Grandmother, what is our course?”

With a glance upwards, Hua gleaned the hidden stars. “The [Divine Serpent’s] residual Qi. All of it is required. To remove even one link will weaken both serpent’s enterprises. We will begin by moving this Canton from their reach.”

Zhu swigged his wine, and tossed it to Mubu. “A small task then. That chain trick, Uncle, I’d ask for pointers. To aid this move of the Golden Merchant Canton-. No. There are people I care for that I would not lose. Better that they’re not guided to the end by anyone’s choice but their own.”

🀧

Mists ever hung upon Divine Clouded Mountain, muddying each thousandfold ridge- each island of the great serpent’s carcass. To pierce it had long been a triviality for Fu, and thus he saw [Thrice Clouded Boa’s] descent to the very peak.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The divine maw.

Cries rang out across the myriad streets as the Gao children brought clarity to the ensuing madness, rushing stall to stall, gathering to gathering to share news of the Cloudy Serpent Sect’s portentous machinations.

Elders gathered aside vagrant cultivators, retired matriarchs gathered aside shopkeepers, children gathered under the shielding arm of fretting parents, and all held some manner of armament at half-stance.

Explosions neared.

“Hmm, yes, yes. A good soul you are Gao Feng,” mulched a wizened man and his wrinkled [Spirit Yak]. “This talk of the Sect however, ah, the imaginations of youth.”

Feng dipped in respect, mid-rush. “Perhaps a seat, senior. Why weary your legs when the display will last all night?”

The older cultivator nodded, unhurriedly off to find the nearest bench. He was oblivious to the look his daughter shared with Feng, one of concern and promise, fading swiftly as he reached the next group of skyward-looking citizens.

[Senses] felt upon the distant forms of Hushi and Shuidi, each following the remaining Gao children as they moved to their respective locales. Ten avenues were crossed, and a further ten, all the while those with reason fled indoors to activate defensive formations and arm themselves for what might come next.

Upon a great, serpent adorned pagoda’s roof Fu suddenly turned as if his head were a pendulum.

At either end of Divine Clouded Mountain the terrible [Arrays] had begun to manifest. The scale was an omen itself, for even its fledgling display of light was enough to make pale the sun in contrast. He saw it at north and south, above and below, seen only across the billions of li distant by its grandeur and his stage of cultivation.

As it had started, so too did it culminate the same. Twinned serpents of world-swallowing scale were borne of this light, one hinging maw upon each end of this city. One bright in crimson and the other the perfect grey of stormclouds.

[Array] formations drowned each intervening isle between them in sequence-

Fu blurred from the pagoda as an incinerating light of characters tore it asunder. With three rotations he conjured a tempest, rushing it and the tidal mists it contained upwards to stall the thousand, thousand structures that had suddenly exploded about this canton.

“Son!” he called, seeing that Feng and Paxing had manifested [Force Qi] in an adequate dome about the nearest citizens.

Those distraught cries that surfaced from the unshielded citizenry could chill an assassin’s blood. Keening, wailing screams for daughters, fathers and all in between.

[Three Wisps From Breath].

“Son,” met Fu, curling a fist so that his [Primordial Mist Qi] became spears, making dust of the great weight above it. “This first blow was greatest, but that does not lessen the tragedy to come.”

Already had [Thrice Clouded Boa’s] serpent consumed a second island.

Too swiftly.

I do not see [Gleeful Viper], only the effects of her serpentine [Array] as it transports [Divine Qi] elsewhere. Does she remain in the Heavenly Roaming Prefecture?

The Golden Merchant Canton was blessed in that few island-cantons existed above it, and so the deluge of bodies was a light rain opposed to the downpour that would occur below or beside them. Still, some semblance of corpses fell, though if any might call the smear and paste upon marble slabs such they would be named for lunacy.

“To see such sights again… my wish was that none of you should harden your heart,” he said to Feng, whose hand trembled beneath the weight of his [External Art]. “You do well, my son.”

Feng dismissed his [Force Qi]. “Can we truly not tell the people any more than to prepare? This [Array]... it’s- it is beyond possibility. Father, I would not doubt Grandmother, but…” He shook his head vigorously, as if dislodging salt from his hair. “What must we do?”

Characters flowed in river-like fashion, scouring all above their surface so that the inscriptions flowed across perfect flatness. The ruins of this Golden Merchant Canton collapsed and shifted in the space between them, forming concentric rings and odd formations between.

Old Master.

From the Heavens descended the Old One’s clouded gestalt, nigh a match for Samudra’s scale when the great [Spirit Whale] was angered. So panicked were the citizens that his appearance drew the raised points of a thousand weapons.

“Singular in purpose, young Feng and Paxing. Conflate not scale with superiority. A [Qi Absorption Array] possessing merely of serpentine names and Heavenly bloat. Hmm. Yes. A child might disrupt this, let alone [Cherry River Sage].”

Paxing humorously tapped his hair-tufted chest.

Twice.

“Just so. Concern rises when we consider what occurs when the ambient Qi is depleted. Villainy will ensue.”

“Depleted?” asked Feng. “They would feed the formation by alternate means? [Dao Treasures] to supplement the strength? [Spirit Cores]?”

“People, innocent Feng. [Demonic Arts] are feared for a reason. The benefit and cost are equal mountains.”

The son flashed pale, eyes darting between the hundreds of dust-coated bodies uncertainly milling about him. “We have the means to disrupt it. Master Bhaswar’s tutelage has us well prepared,” he then gestured south. “Father, will you take us there?”

Fu smiled. “There is an unwritten rule in the Gao, my son. Can you recall what it is?”

Madness indeed dominated the Heavens, reducing the splendor to a polluted haze of cultivators and their manifested Paths.

One figure rose, however. Something regal in all hues of a cherry blossom.

Ershiba’s form had transformed into fable- into something greater than a phoenix. The patternage on her radiant wings could scarcely be traced by his [Senses], for in that vast wingspan there seemed to flow myriad river forks, branching roads and oscillating constellations in sequence and yet at once. These trailed from her plumage to the starry eyelets upon her ribboned tail, ending in gentle talons that seemed more for grasping truth than the forms of their foes.

Atop her Hua flew, hoisting a branch, gun-like above her head.

“Do not oppose Grandmother,” said Feng.

“Do not oppose Grandmother,” agreed Fu, grinning upward.

🀧

[Clouded Serpent’s Mandate].

So prodigious an [Array] was needed to cover the very ends of Divine Clouded Mountain. One of impossible scale and ancient heritage.

Grandmother Hua was yet older.

Untold minutes had passed since first she had ascended, and from her mundane branch came the unmaking of it all. Those endless, flowing inscriptions had stuttered first, then flowed inwards. As if the draining of a great river, done by each droplet. [Cherry River Sage] lifted this wood and the characters ran like wet ink, spiralling to collect at its tip.

An outline gently wisped skyward. A fledgling constellation with the makings of a grand sign, holding four points for four directions.

Only the first star filled as [Divine Qi] set the sky ablaze.

Medicinal herbs of myriad colours emerged from the [Shrine of Final Skies], as Yuling, Yuqi, Feng and their partners distributed aid amongst the ailing citizens in the shattered foundations of a market pavilion. A vast construct indeed, yet barely able to compose the ailing tide of those that rushed them.

[Hundred Poisons Synthesis] went far in restoring lesser wounds, for indeed he held a variety of [Affinity]-based poisons in their extremities. Poor for immortal combat, yet enough for aid when called upon by non-martial cultivators.

Shuidi sutured shut an adolescent of [Spirit Cat] partnership whose arm hung limp and bloody at the shoulder. The [Wood Qi] given would minimize the damage until-

“You dare?” came for the third time in as many minutes, as did a breaking of crowds as dishevelled, formerly noble cultivators intruded upon the scene. Lackeys and fools parted the ailing, putting forth their self-righteous step. “The [Life Qi] attuned. A Path for weaklings. Best that I, Forty Second Bhiya offer you my flesh to work on first. Such noble work could only help you. Alas, this forty-second rate mistress would not be surprised if upon seeing such beauty-”

The strings of a circular [Array] formation hummed beneath Yuqi and Yiji, transmuting the ambient Qi into shapable Qi. It broke as this haughty scion scuffed the sustaining materials held in each corner.

Thus the daughter rose. “Aid will arrive for all, in turn. There is a line, mistress.”

Some dozen of the Vajra scion’s cultivators snorted with indignation. “The medicine girl courts death, surely. Do you know to whom you speak? The honor of-”

Ever sweet Yuqi smiled warmly, dipping her head. “No disrespect is offered, cultivators. Yet, it has been said. The moments we waste in discussion are of detriment to those that require the most aid. No doubt one of your radiant gestalt can weather small misfortunes, mistress. Or have I misjudged? Has the great mistress of the Forty Second fallen to injury?”

Fu’s hand was readied, but it need not be.

Enraged as all prideful fools often were, the scion drew back her hand to strike. A child in tantrum, no less and no more.

Yuqi stood taller. “Enough of this!” she declared. “The paltry scratches upon your arm are worth less than these scratches to your pride! Why flaunt station now? What perverse need have you and these others to ring the last scraps of humanity from this dry rag? Put in your eyes, mistress- no, child, for only the innocence of babes might explain such judgement! Rejoin the line, or better yet, offer aid. However, know this, little girl. If you are not here to grant respite then you are merely another fleck to add to our troubles..”

Never had Fu seen his daughter so passionate. He supported her with eyes alone, beaming across the small distance of groaning forms and rushing healers.

Children no more. Indeed.

Forty Second Bhiya’s hand remained upright as disbelief blossomed. Her mouth stammered to speak, yet Yuqi was not done.

A burst of mundane Qi elevated her voice as her and Yiji projected their [Intent] throughout the crowd. No dense power given her mid [Core Formation] talents, yet warm and alerting as if a hand beside open flame.

Pleasant if close to danger.

“Hear this,” she hummed, evoking much of her [Heritage]. “This hour is dark and we are fading embers. What warmth, what light against the black we provide will only grow should we come together. Gone is my patience, and the patience of all else that toil here. Those with selfish desire are unwelcome here, and I urge them now to find their own ruin in which to let their ember go out. Aid one another, or leave. No less than this is required.”

Dissenters were tall among the crowd. Humanoid beasts of flailing arms and vile entourage, partners notwithstanding. Across the ruins of the Golden Merchant Canton Yuqi’s scene was not isolated, and myriad hues of robes and allegiance took umbrage at her words.

Then almost as one as fangs were bared, steps were attempted and Qi surfaced in mounting form, they ceased.

Fu would forgive the loudness of what followed, this once.

At the hook-nosed proprietor of Ten Rings Auction House and his looming [Spirit Vulture] flock there came a warning blade.

“The words of our senior’s daughter cannot be denied,” offered Anfang. “Even if I am the old man’s favorite.”

About the raised whips of the Winding Lotus Sect arrived two gargantuan [Spirit Bats], nigh metallic and radiant in gold. A single look quashed the Martial spirit of each enfabled [Spirit Frog] betwixt the domain of their wings.

“Fa-ha! Gao Fu, your daughter is spirited! Are all the Gao like this? My Ruoxuan’er may be trouble!” called Eighty Seventh Bhandana. To his rear spilled a dirtied household of his clan, though the filth did not diminish what impact they held.

To him, Hushi gave a mirthful nod.

The scene had shifted its pattern of repetition. In place of rising arms there came lowered blades and the submissive looks of hounds. Simpering tongues and slackened posture as one might expect when larger beasts had come to roam.

He looked beyond the pitiable dissidents to those that had conquered their will.

Eighteenth Sruti, of Yuling’s martial tutoring, merely met his eye.

A nameless smith cursed as she swatted the ear of some unruly noble, caring not for the [Spirit Serpents] partners that slithered about him and his guards. “Useless bastards. By the [Divine Snake’s] myriad nipples, this is why I don’t leave my house.”

The ghosts under his employ said nothing as they menaced those closest to Yuling and Feng, continuing their duty in silence.

Forty Second Bhiya’s jaw might well have clattered to the ground, so low it was as Zhu and Mubu’s wine bottles were waved in her face. “You’ve a face to turn this sour,” he complained, glancing her up and down. “Is this the fashion of the High Vajra Lords? Black would see that posture look better.”

As for what Yuqi might have said on this, she was well distracted. Swept underarm by the rarest of the arrivals. One, a demure young Vajra of sky-blue hair and the other a youth of [Spirit Leech] partnership that had well grown into his martial training since last they had met.

Rivaan descended on the ailing with fervor in his brow, [Blood Qi] manifesting a wheel of tools and sutures from which he began to work.

“Amituofo. This sixty-first rate doctor knows limitless joy to meet you at last, Mistress Yuqi,” swept Aarushi. “Please, use this lacking cultivator as is needed. To serve our senior’s kin is no small honor.”

Fu bowed at the waist. “Rivaan. Aarushi. A thousand gratitudes. I am your senior no longer, please. Merely, friends.”

Someone scoffed behind him, and that he could not detect her appearance was a point of curiosity. Furthermore, that he had not sensed the hundred at-scrawl lists floating about her person was shameful.

Wen Pinxui pushed him aside so that [Muqin], her swarm of [Spirit Ants] could deliver all she had noted. “[Cherry River Sage] requires your presence, as do I require the space in which you stand. Prudence, senior. All the Wayward Winds are poised to move, this once, it is only you that wastes moments. Go, lest you wish me to explain all that I have written here.”

Both Zhu and Fu exchanged a hasty look, and blurred skyward.