Chapter 80: Gates

Chapter 80: Gates

“Uncle Gongye!”

Rushing forward, she threw her arms around Gongye Zheng.

“I couldn’t stay away from Qi Xien,” he explained, “so I came back for a visit. I ran into Mao Yun in Zun City, and managed to pry the good news out of him after a few cups of sorghum wine.”

“A few cups! That’s all?” Bao looked over disapprovingly at Mao Yun. “Are you losing your skills as you get older?”

“He drugged the wine!” Mao Yun exclaimed.

Gongye Zheng laughed heartily. “I did no such thing!”

As usual, news came in from the north. After more than a decade of fighting, a major development had occurred. The leader of the invading tribesmen had been assassinated by the Demon Emperor’s new Bone General, after which, the alliance began to fall apart. After retaking all of the major northern cities, the Fire General then led the Demon Emperor’s army north into the Yangu Plains to wreak vengeance upon the tribes there.

Some were even calling it a massacre.

Unfortunately, drought and famine had struck the lands south of the Chezou River. As such, the secret societies which had been so involved in fighting the Demon Emperor over the past decade shifted their goals to helping the populace. According to the Timeless Master, in times of tragedy, the people shouldn’t be forced to suffer.

During the dinner on the first night, Gongye Zheng gingerly brought up a topic that many members of the martial world in the north were thinking about. “You’ve been away for a long time,” he said. “Do you plan to go back?”

“Originally,” Sunan said, “we planned to go back as soon as the children could walk. But then the northern invasion started, and we feared chaos could break out if the Yangu and Chai Yun tribesmen and the Juren crossed the Chezhou River. Plus, with the Timeless Master there to coordinate the resistance against the Demon Emperor, it didn’t seem that we were needed. For the children's sake, we decided that staying outside of the empire was still the best thing.”

Mao Yun cleared his throat. “Truth be told, talk has been spreading in the sect.”

Sunan frowned. “What sort of talk?”

“Both divisions are growing… discontent. People are wondering why you’ve been away for so long. For the first decade, Li Runfa and I spun enough stories to forestall any questions. By the way, after your quest in the lands of the Hechi, you sailed to the Sea of Bing in search of an Immortal elixir. And then you went to the lands north of Naqan to confer with a guru regarding a martial arts technique. But people have begun to suspect that we aren’t being honest. I’ve even heard a few rumors that the two of you are dead.”

Bao chuckled. “Rumors of our death….”

“Bao, Sunan,” Gongye Zheng said, “I suspect that your days of peace will have to end eventually. Perhaps the martial world as a whole can do without you, but not the Dragon-Phoenix Sect. Stories have spread as far as Naqan about your exploits, you know. Despite your long absence, you are the heart and soul of the sect you founded. Unless the two of you retire outright and appoint a new Dragon Sovereign and new Phoenix Sovereign, you’ll have to go back sooner or later.”

“Father,” said Chufeng, “why don’t we just go back? Sitting around farming and fishing down here is a big waste of time!”

“It’s not safe, Chunfeng!” Bao said, her eyes flashing. “You know that.”

“Come on, Mother!” Jinlong jumped in. “Could it really be more dangerous than fighting an army of monkeys? Or bandits and monsters in the Earthly Sea?”

“That’s right, Mother,” Chunfeng said. “We’re not children anymore. We’re almost as old as you were when you left Yu Zhing!”

In a rare moment, Bao was so taken aback that she couldn’t respond.

A brief, awkward silence followed, after which Sunan laughed loudly. “We’ll go back eventually. For now, let’s just enjoy the dinner and worry about less important things. Mao Yun, have you heard anything about Sun Mai recently?”

“As a matter of fact I have. He’s completed more volumes of his scripture. As of this moment he has a total of….”

Strangely, the very night in which Gongye Zheng and Mao Yun arrived, Sunan had a dream, the first one for more than a decade. For the time being, he and Bao kept that information to themselves.

Mao Yun only stayed for two weeks as opposed to the month he usually stayed. When he went back north, he carried a formal decree hand-written by Sunan and Bao, with various instructions for the sect that they hoped would strengthen the conviction of its members. The message also implied that they would be coming back to the north soon.

Gongye Zheng stayed behind. At first, he slept in the extra room in the log cabin, but after a few weeks went by, he declared that he was going to find lodging in the city, and that he planned to stay nearby for a long period of time.

Both Bao and Sunan were delighted, and Jinlong and Chunfeng were also excited, having taken immediately to their elderly “Grand-uncle Gongye.”

A few months after Sunan’s dream, Bao slipped into a meditative trance that lasted for two whole days. Upon emerging from the trance, she did not need to ask for ink and paper, for Sunan had it prepared and waiting for her. She immediately penned the following words:

The shining Wyrm strides ever north,

The graceful Bird due south takes wing,

From north to east the clouds surge forth,

From south to west fair feathers sing.

The fiends, a tempest dark and foul,

A shining pillar paints the sky,

Golden droplets spin and howl,

The sun, the moon, two stars ally.

Heaven and Earth turned inside out,

The crash and clash of night and day,

All compass points unite and shout,

The Lions seal the fiends away.

When she finished, she put down the brush, took a deep breath, and said, “That’s it.”

Sunan looked at her, his eyebrows raised.

“It’s finished,” Bao explained. “There are no more lines to come.”

“How do you know?”

She shrugged. “I just know.”

They analyzed the poem as best they could, but couldn’t come to any conclusions about what it meant.

After talking about it for nearly an hour, Sunan finally said, “I wish Sun Mai were here.”

Bao smiled faintly. “Me too.”

Gongye Zheng breathed new life into the family, and quickly took primary responsibility for educating Jinlong and Chunfeng, especially when it came to matters such as calligraphy, painting, music, and the like.

The children spent more time in the city than ever, giving Sunan and Bao more time to meditate and cultivate their martial arts. Although they sparred frequently, and often invited Lawat and other local Qi fighters to join them, both of them secretly yearned for a real fight.

Mao Yun didn’t return for the children’s fourteenth birthday. At first Jinlong and Chunfeng were hurt, but when they realized that their parents seemed very worried, their attitude changed. The whole family felt as if a weight had suddenly begun to tug at their hearts.

Although they had always depended on Mao Yun to bring the latest news regarding the martial world, Sunharee Machalee was not so out-of-the-way that news didn’t reach it.

Everyone was talking about how the Demon Emperor had invaded the Yangu Plains and massacred almost all of the tribes there. The gory, horrific stories which were filtering into the city were enough to make one’s heart crawl with fear, and the local Kithiri were starting to worry about what would happen if the Demon Emperor looked south.

As the children’s fifteenth birthday neared, and Mao Yun didn’t come at the usual time, the mood in the family turned very grim. Even Gongye Zheng seemed worried.

The birthday came and went, and although they celebrated, the joy of the occasion was greatly dampened.

A week after the birthday, Mao Yun finally arrived, and as soon as the family saw the look in his eyes, they knew that he did not bear good tidings. Although he smiled when he saw Jinglong and Chunfeng, nothing could hide the weariness in his expression, or the sorrow that glinted in his eyes.

Bao and Sunan prepared a curried fish dinner, and it was only after putting some food in his belly that Mao Yun began to relate the news from the north.

“After the drought ended and food became plentiful, the Timeless Master said it was time to prepare for the final assault. Even as the Demon Emperor carried out his massacre of the Yangu tribes, the secret societies in the major cities intensified recruiting efforts, and made major strikes against several important targets. Everyone in the martial world was excited. Within a few short weeks, many important officials were assassinated, leaving the heart of the empire in chaos.

“But as the major sects prepared to mobilize and march on Yao Gong Palace, something completely unexpected happened.

“The Bone General led a massive assault on the Grotto of the Timeless Master.”

Bao frowned. “But that grotto is an impregnable fortress. Unless they opened the front gates wide from the inside, no army could ever breach their defenses. At least, not by any means I can think of.”

“You’re right,” Mao Yun said. “And in fact, in the years since you visited, those defenses were even shored up and strengthened. However, no amount of defenses could have protected the Grotto from the magical gates.”

“Magical gates?” Sunan asked.

“The Demon Emperor can use magical gates to move whole armies vast distances in the blink of an eye. We only learned of this fact after the assault on the grotto. Each gate can only be used once, and there are a limited number of them at the Demon Emperor’s disposal. Apparently, the Timeless Master was aware that such gates had been used in the past, but believed there were no more in existence. Either the Demon Emperor had gates held in reserve, or he created new ones.”

Bao’s eyes flickered. “Daolu. That’s how he did it.”

Mao Yun nodded. “Yes, we realized this after learning of the gates. It was always a mystery how he surrounded us so quickly back then. I even remember arguing with Sun Mai about whether or not the Demon Emperor’s armies could fly.”

“So what happened, Uncle Mao?” Chunfeng asked. “I bet the Timeless Master fought a duel with the Bone General, didn’t he?”

“We don’t know for sure,” Mao Yun said.

Sunan frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“All we know is that the Timeless Master was defeated.”

Chunfeng and Bao both gasped. Sunan’s eyes went wide, and Jinfeng’s hands clenched into fists. As for Gongye Zheng, a grim look filled his eyes.

“The Timeless Master’s family and disciples put up a spectacular fight. According to the survivors, for every disciple who died, three Demon Emperor soldiers were killed. It was a bloodbath.”

“Survivors?” Bao asked. “Who? How many? What about Ping Fangrou? And Lady Qixia?”

Mao Yun shook his head. “Ping Fangrou didn’t make it out alive. Neither did Qian Chengsi or Lady Qixia. And the Timeless Master himself… well, no one witnessed his fall, but he was never seen after the initial assault, whereas the Bone General was. I think the result of their battle is obvious.

“A small group of survivors managed to flee with their lives, led by the Timeless Master’s sons. They fled through the jungle and made their way to Zun Shan, where we took them in. However, after learning of the gates, we didn’t feel safe, and abandoned the palace. Upon the advice of Li Runfa, all of outsiders who had in infiltrated the Dragon-Phoenix Sect over the years were either expelled or executed. Most of the lower-ranking members of the sect were dispersed, sent into hiding in various cities and locations in the Banyan, where they await a call to action. The leadership fled south to Zhe Valley, where they were taken in by the Scorpion Swordsman.

“Even now, they wait there in Zhe Valley. Dragon Sovereign. Phoenix Sovereign. You must return. The martial world as a whole is now completely leaderless. The sects have been thrown into chaos, and the Demon Emperor is rapidly consolidating his power. We fear that he might even have regained control of the Zhizhu Coral.

“If you don’t come back now, the fight may be lost for all time.”