Chapter 68: Bronze Drum

Chapter 68: Bronze Drum

I, Fan Sunan, hereby swear that I will devote my life to the downfall of the Demon Emperor. Be it by sword or flame, be it by fair means or foul, he shall die. As Sect Leader of the Golden Dragon Sect, I hereby swear loyalty to Chieftess Shangguan Bao and the Pure Phoenix Sect. Henceforth, we shall strive relentlessly toward our mutual goal of bringing peace and justice to all of Qi Xien!

I, Shangguan Bao, hereby swear to devote my life to the death of the Demon Emperor. Be it be sword or flame, be it by fair means or foul, he will be exterminated. As Chieftess of the Pure Phoenix Sect, I hereby swear loyalty to Sect Leader Fan Sunan and the Golden Dragon Sect. Henceforth, we shall live with one goal in mind: bringing peace and justice to Qi Xien, and bringing destruction to the Demon Emperor!

Those were the words that had been spoken by Sunan and Bao years ago in Daolu. Neither of them had forgotten the oaths they had given voice to that night, but never had they been presented with a chance to actively pursue the goals they had both sworn to pursue.

Now, the Timeless Master was essentially expressing the same sentiments that already existed in their hearts: the Demon Emperor must be brought to an end!

After reading the letter, Sunan put it down on the table and looked at Bao. “Do we even need to discuss our answer?”

She shook her head. “This fight against the Demon Emperor needs a leader, and I have the feeling this Timeless Master is just that leader.”

“At some point we need to meet him in person.”

“Agreed.”

Bao wrote the response to the Timeless Master, which they handed over to Ping Fangrou to deliver back to him.

Then, Bao set about burning the letter from the Timeless Master, with Ping Fangrou present to witness it.

“Dragon Sovereign, Phoenix Sovereign, may I presume so much as to ask the nature of your response? Although I didn’t read Master Li’s letter to you, I’m aware of the request he made. As for your letter, it will remain sealed of course, but my heart already itches to know how you have responded.”

Bao smiled. “Of course we agree.”

A grin broke out on Ping Fangrou’s face. “Wonderful!”

“Heroine Ping,” Bao continued, “I truly hope that we can meet again soon. I’m going to ponder the drunken martial arts you use, and next time, let’s see if you manage to get another blow past my defenses!”

“I can hardly wait, Phoenix Sovereign.” Ping Fangrou clasped hands and bowed deeply, then turned and left.

Bao rose to her feet to leave, and Sunan followed suit. However, before she could walk out, Sunan said, “Bao, um….”

She turned. “Yes?”

“I, well… I made something for you. Kind of silly, I know, but back where I grew up, we used to make things like this a lot.” He pulled out the bracelet he’d made and handed it her.

Bao blinked and took the bracelet. “You made this?” she asked, looking down at it.

Sunan cleared his throat. “Yeah, I know it’s silly, you don’t have to wear it or anything.”

“I don’t think anyone ever made me anything before. I mean, not as a gift.” She looked up into his eyes. “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” he said. “Alright, I have some packing to do. I’ll see you again in a bit.” With that, he hurried past her and left the tent.

Bao looked back down at the bracelet and a faint smile appeared on her face.

**

Sunan hurried through the bustling camp toward his own tent. The entire way, he could feel his face burning, and was convinced that it was as red as an apple.

That was so stupid! She’s definitely laughing at me now!

Before he could put any more thought into it, he arrived at his tent and found Sun Mai standing there waiting for him.

Sun Mai smiled, and as soon as Sunan saw that smile, his heart flip-flopped. It wasn’t Sun Mai’s usual smile. There was something profound to it, something both sad and happy at the same time.

“What’s wrong?” Sunan asked.

Sun Mai took a deep breath. “I think the time has come for me to leave.”

Although Sunan was surprised, he wasn’t quite shocked. He had suspected for some time that something like this would happen eventually, especially after Sun Mai stepped down as Chief Minister to work on his scripture, which he then went on to complete shortly after. “Where will you go?”

Sun Mai’s gaze shifted toward the southeast. “I want to go to Rong Shan.”

“Mount Rong?” Sunan understood instantly. “One of the five peaks….”

“Yes. I’ve been to Zhifu Shan and Zun Shan. The remaining five peaks are Gor Shan, Lu Shan, and Rong Shan. I feel that to truly understand the world, I should climb all five of them.”

“And after that?”

“I don’t know. I need to spread word about my teachings, and I can’t do that unless I move around. By the way, what message did the Timeless Master send?”

“He wants to join forces to fight the Demon Emperor.”

Sun Mai nodded. “I guessed as much. When the time comes to strike the final blow, I hope to be there as well.”

“Me too. Are you going out alone?”

“I would like to take a few of my pupils with me, as long as you and Bao agree. Mao Mei is one of the brightest, but she’s a Dragon Lieutenant, so she will stay behind. A few of my other students such as Shisan and Guo Fu have already expressed interest in joining me.”

“Of course. Take anything you need from the supplies.”

Sun Mai reached into his robe and pulled out a bamboo scroll. “Take this, Sunan. It’s a copy of my scripture that I personally transcribed.”

Sunan accepted it. “You know, Sun Mai, even though we never swore any oaths, I feel like we are brothers.”

“Me too.” He reached out and clasped Sunan’s arm. “Forever.”

“Forever.” Sunan said.

**

The Dragon-Phoenix Sect settled into their new headquarters. The official name was Dragon Phoenix Temple, but most disciples in the sect took to calling it the Palace of Sunan and Bao.

Days went by, and the sect began to fall into routines. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months.

Seasons came and went.

Eventually the seasons turned into years. At first, Sunan and Bao had assumed the True Shan would eventually send them a message, but no word ever came.

The sect continued to grow slowly, and it didn’t take long before Sunan and Bao did exactly as the Timeless Master had suggested, and began to actively resist the Demon Emperor. Teams of disciples numbering 3-5 were sent to most of the major cities, including Huisheng, Zun City, Xuanlu, Yu Zhing, Fan, and Nansun. They even sent teams to the more distant locations like Qi Fao and Ti Fan. Of course, far to the north in Daolu, spies had been left behind after the city fell, and contact had long since been established with them.

The tasks assigned to such teams were to destabilize the Demon Emperor’s organization. Weapon supplies were stolen, treasuries raided, key buildings burned to the ground. There were even certain cases of important officials suddenly dying in the middle of the night….

Sunan and Bao went out on some of the most difficult tasks and missions of all. Although they itched to meet with the Timeless Master in person, the time was never right, and their paths never crossed.

Stories of martial heroes swept through the lands. More powerful fighters were rising up everywhere, and the Dragon Phoenix Sect wasn’t the only one causing problems for the empire. The Timeless Master had made contact with many in the martial arts world, and thanks to his leadership, the resistance was relatively organized. Rumors were also spreading that the nomadic tribes in the Yangu Plains were uniting under the influence of a powerful leader, and that raiding parties were beginning to harass the north.

Something else happened that caught everyone off guard. The teachings of Sun Mai caused a huge upheaval, from the common people, to the martial arts circles, to the scholars. For generations the teachings of Kong Zhi were the guiding spiritual force in Qi Xien, as embodied in the religion known as Dehua. According to Dehua, the world of man was imperfect, but humans could aspire to perfection by emulating the principles of the Perfect Realm and by following the will of Xian Nu Shen, also called the Enlightened Goddess.

However, Sun Mai’s scripture provided a very strong argument that the Perfect Realm was a mental construct. The mere concept was viewed as heretical by many, especially the traditionalist Dehua priests and the scholars. As for the Demon Emperor, he cared little for the religious beliefs of the populace, as long as it didn’t interfere with his rule. Therefore, nothing was done to suppress the new teachings and beliefs that were spreading like wildfire.

Sun Mai even produced a second scripture devoted to the subject of dialogue, and why having open conversations with people of all sorts was important. That was another huge deviation from Dehua, which emphasized etiquette, strictly defined social roles, and following traditions.

In some ways, this religious revolution was more momentous than the struggles between the martial artists and the Demon Emperor.

In addition to advancing in their martial arts, Sunan and Bao spent more and more time with each other. Hardly a day went by that they didn’t dine together, and their sparring sessions often lasted entire mornings. This did not go unnoticed by the members of the sect.

“I heard a rumor that Dragon Sovereign Sunan and Phoenix Sovereign Bao are going to get engaged soon!”

“Back in Daolu they weren’t enemies, but they definitely weren’t friends. Who would have thought this would happen one day?”

“You people are thinking too much into it. They’re just carrying out their duties as leaders of the sect….”

“They didn’t look like they were carrying out any duties when they went on that moonlit stroll the other night….”

Although few people took note, Bao often wore a cloth bracelet….

**

The Bone General was sipping tea when the Golden Immortal rushed into the room.

“The opportunity has finally come!” the Golden Immortal said.

The Bone General looked up. “It’s about damned time!”

“This just came from my contact in the Dragon Phoenix Sect.” The Golden Immortal put an opened envelope onto the table, which the Bone General picked up.

After reading the letter in the envelope, the Bone General chuckled. “They’re going to Zhaoze Lake to see the pearl tigers? Are they children?”

The Golden Immortal snorted coldly. “More like fools.”

“It doesn’t matter. This the perfect opportunity. Zhaoze Lake is only about three days from here. Prepare the bronze drum. We leave immediately.”

**

As Hui descended the mountain she now knew to be Shenshi Shan, she held a weathered sea shell in her hand. She had spent months in Zhen Shan Village with the True Shan, and had experienced mind-opening enlightenment the likes of which she had never before experienced in life.

But now she faced a cross-roads.

“Do I go back and finish my work with Bao and Sunan?” she murmured. “Or follow the advice of the True Shan? What would Master have done?”

She hiked through the jungle for some distance until she was back at the Southern Fei River, and the small boat she had procured from some local tribesmen.

Climbing into the boat, she looked to the west. “Zun Shan and the Palace of Sunan and Bao?” Then she looked east. “Or the Eastern Archipelagos? The Defeat at Hearts Ridge will come eventually, and if the True Shan are right, those islands are very likely the key to success. The Kun-Peng Pipes. I could be gone for years….”

After a long moment of contemplation, she shoved her boat off the riverbank and turned it to the east….

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