Chapter 45: Freeing Shizun
Shirong didn't like being left to stand outside and wait. He especially didn't like letting Shun take such a huge risk, even if his Shixiong was the right person for the job. He wanted to follow behind, trailing along like the foolish duckling he'd been in the past.
It occurred to him that that was how he'd gotten Shun in trouble in the first place. So this time he'd stay back and only interfere if it looked like he had to. Besides, Shun was right. He needed someone to guide him from outside the array.
Panic fluttered round Shirong suddenly, for no reason he could see. The seclusion chamber was empty aside from himself, his Shixiong and his Shizun. So why was he suddenly afraid? He turned frightened eyes on Shun, who was just about to step onto the wrong line.
Realizing the fear came from Shun, via their link, Shirong called out, "Step left."
"There's a pit!"
The terror in Shun's voice hurt, not least because it was partly Shirong's fault that Shun feared the array so much. Forcing his voice to stay steady, Shirong told him, "You're about to step off the path. You need to get further left somehow."
Shun paused, steadying himself. Jumped left and forward. Gods knew if he was evading a real pit or if it was all in his head. Gods knew if it even mattered. The main point was he was properly on the path again.
Steadying himself, Shun asked, "Now?"
"Three steps straight forward, then prepare for a curve to the right."
Shaking, starting sideways every so often, but keeping to the path despite his obvious fear, Shun followed Shirong's instructions to the letter. He spiraled inwards towards the man meditating at the center, each step barely moving him forward at all.
Shirong was about to ask why Shun was shuffling when he realized the problem. From outside, the array only looked a few dozen yards wide. It obviously was a great deal bigger to Shun. Still, he made good speed, only coming to a sudden halt when he reached the central circle. "Oh Gods...."
"What is it?"
"There's a pit all around him. Spikes at the bottom and... wait a minute... snakes?"
Shirong forced himself not to ask why it had to be snakes. Yet another thing his Shixiong wouldn't get. Yet another thing that'd just annoy him. Not to mention this was not the time. "Can you get past them?"
"Past? Hell, I can command them." Shun glared down at the floor and Shirong spotted faint movement in the array. Something writhing, like a box of earthworms or a nest of garter snakes. "That's it, little kinsmen. Come to me. Obey me."
The faint movement shifted. Tightened together. Became clearer. Ah, that was what Shun was doing, making the snakes carry him across to their Shizun. Now he appeared to float slowly across the circle, until at last he stepped off and knelt beside Master Quan.
"Shizun."
Their Shizun's eyes shot open, a devastated expression twisting his face. "No. They haven't... you were supposed to be safe."
Hearing that voice, usually strong and calm and wise, shaking like a trembling leaf, Shirong bit his lip. This was also his fault. If he hadn't run off the way he had, Shizun wouldn't have had to send Shun after him and Qiong Lou wouldn't have been given a reason to punish him.
"I am safe, Shizun. I've come to fetch you out."
"Not safe. Not safe at all." Quite suddenly Shizun grasped hold of Shun's robes. "Don't you see it's a trap?"
A sound shuddered through the room, a clang of metal on stone. But nothing moved and nothing changed. At least nothing Shirong could see changed. But Shun looked up, staring around him angrily, expression fierce and perhaps a little frightened. "Shirong. Has anything changed in the array?"
Shirong looked. Even if he'd paid proper attention to training, arrays weren't his area of study. But he didn't need them to be to notice the way the inner circle of the array had changed. When Shun entered the room there'd been a dozen openings in the circle, each leading to different paths of the array. Now there was only one and that one hadn't been open just a moment earlier.
"Shun! Get into our space! Hurry!" Shirong wasn't sure what that passage opened to, nor what would come through it, but he was sure it wouldn't be good.
Shun didn't argue, possibly because he could see the danger Shirong couldn't. He wrapped his arms around their Shizun, glaring at something ahead of him, and disappeared. At the same time Shirong felt his qi flicker as their shared space opened up inside his head.
No need to be told what to do. Shirong reached into that space and felt his Shixiong's warm hand grasp his. He tugged lightly, drawing Shun and their Shizun out.
As the entire building set to shaking, Shun handed Master Quan to Shirong. "Out of here. Now. Before the protections kick in." Then, grabbing Shirong's free hand, he set off running for the door.
They leapt through just before the things slammed shut.
#
It took Shun and Master Quan several minutes before they were ready to stand up properly. Shun was in better condition but just making it through the array to Shizun had been stressful for him. Gods knew what Master Quan had been through.
Not wanting to hurry the pair of them, Shirong kept an eye out for Qiong Lou's allies. No way they weren't going to be coming out of their holes now Master Quan had escaped.
As a dozen or so men wearing guard uniforms rushed into the courtyard outside the seclusion chamber, Shirong reflected that this was pretty near inevitable. His father might be able to keep Qiong Lou's allies in the Sect under control, but he couldn't account for the servants and guards as well.
"Sect Master Quan, your orders?" Now they were back at Lei Feng Sect, now that Master Quan was free, now he was the chosen Sect Master, it was up to him to decide what to do with these people.
Master Quan looked up, haggard, drawn but gathering himself. "Sect Master," he repeated, as the guards moved towards them. "Sect Master?"
"Respect, Shizun. Reporting the Revered Predecessor's orders," Shun told him, on his feet as well and prepared to fight. "Qiong Lou has been cast from the sect. You are to take the position the Revered Predecessor intended for you."
Their Shizun blinked. Considered the news carefully. Then stood, hands forming seals, his earth base and rising movement setting the ground shaking. "Stand down."
No surprise the guards did nothing of the sort. One, their leader, laughed... no, cackled. He sounded rather like a monkey, his lips curling back from yellowed teeth that reminded Shirong of something from a David Attenborough documentary.
Knowing better than to say as much, all Shirong did was draw his weapons. "I can knock them out or kill them, Sect Master. Which would you have me do?" He hoped he sounded bold and brave and determined. He greatly feared he sounded a fool.
Master Quan chuckled. "Leave it to me, child. This is my duty." At the same time he twisted his fingers, pulling pebbles out of dirt. They floated around the area, seemingly harmless, looking as useless as the rocks in that stupid movie.
Except that stupid movie hadn't used rocks right. Its director hadn't understood the power of moving stone. Hadn't understood how someone with such a power would use it. Master Quan stood still as his stones, eyes on the guards' leader. "The Revered Predecessor has named me successor," he said calmly. "Stand down or face me. There are no other choices."
Another cackle, followed by sudden swirl of chaotic energy heading straight for them. Except the pebbles gathered together, forming a dome over the three of them. Glittering with Master Quan's qi, the pebbles rustled when the energy struck them, but did not fall.
A moment later, Master Quan twisted his fingers in another seal, slamming his foot against the ground. The pebbles swirled around, spinning rapidly, small but rapid as bullets, tearing through the guards' armor and knocking half of them out before they could react.
Swords drawn, two flung themselves at Master Quan, but both Shirong and Shun moved to block them, weapons slicing through the plain metal the men carried. Two perfectly matched kicks sent their attackers flying backwards. When they hit the ground, it opened up to swallow them whole.
More pebbles rose, coming together to take the shape of a sword. It slashed across the leader's chest plate while sand rose to form a shield to block his chaotic qi. A low strike forced the man backwards, a high strike forced him sideways. And a single rock, lying in wait for its moment, slammed into the man's skull from behind.
The last guard stared at the carnage. Stared at Master Quan. Stared and spun around, clearly meaning to escape. Except every pebble and grain of sand in Master Quan's control rushed at him, gathering him in their embrace, coating him entirely.
Until all that was visible were his terrified eyes, staring out from inside the statue he'd become. One that proved Master Quan had a sense of humor.
Why else would he turn his enemy into the core of a huge and rather ugly armored pig?
#
As they headed back to the sect's main hall, Shun quickly explained everything that'd happened to them in the time since they'd left the mountain. "I need to find out what happened to Auntie Green," he noted. "She... Shizun, are you all right?"
"Apologies, child. I've met her in her other form." Sweat dripped down Shizun's temple and he managed a smile. "Your father's choice of wife has always confounded me, I admit."
It suddenly hit Shirong why that pit had been filled with snakes. "Master... are you...."
"I am absolutely terrified of snakes." At Shun's startled and devastated look, Master Quan added, "I have never blamed you for your ancestry, grandson. But I've been profoundly grateful that you didn't know how to shapeshift."
From Shun's expression, he was making a mental note to never, ever, take his demon shape in front of their Shizun. He managed a smile when Shizun set his hair in order. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's an unreasoning fear and one I fully intend to overcome. You are my grandson. You are the son of my beloved son. And I will never deny you, no matter what shape you take."
As relief flooded Shun's eyes, Shirong looked down at his feet, knowing his Shixiong didn't like it when people saw him being emotional. Except Shun's hand slid around his for a moment, squeezing lightly. It was gone before Shirong could react but now he was staring down to keep the idiotic grin on his face from being seen.
"In any event, I'm glad the two of you are safe." Master Quan turned his attention to Shirong. "When I learned you were Chosen, I asked Craft Master Feng what I should expect."
"But Craft Master Feng is the previous Adversary," Shun protested. "How would she know what to expect for Shirong?"
"True. But the previous Chosen was Tong Si, or rather, His Majesty Ba Qiu. One doesn't go bothering kings for minor details like that. Besides, I know that man. He just loves playing with your head. Getting a straight answer from him is almost as hard as getting an honest answer from one of the Fox Kings."
Reflecting that Shizun was likely right, Shirong asked, "What did she tell you?"
"That you'd be mostly normal up until you had your breakthrough. And that once you did, you'd have to survive a tribulation of some sort. I'd intended to prepare you for that, but you went and forced breakthrough earlier than I expected."
That would be due to the alchemical formula Shirong had found. The one that'd knocked him out and made him believe he'd been thrown back into a body not his own, from a far future time. "Was any of that real?" He felt it was, but he was still so ignorant. "For a while there I thought I wasn't me."
"Of course it was. Spiritual transmigration is a frequent form of tribulation. Although usually one remembers who one is afterwards. You did attempt it far too early."
Shirong blushed. "It was that scroll I found. That and Qiong Lou's insistence that I was supposed to be important and special. I knew I wasn't and...."
Another finger squeeze from Shun made Shirong feel a bit better. It'd take him some time before he overcame his embarrassment over how he'd been before that tribulation. But at least Shun seemed to have forgiven him.
By this time they were just about to the central building, forcing them to drop the conversation. Instead Shun and Shirong fell back a few steps, allowing Shizun to walk before them into the meeting hall.
This might have proved a mistake, however, because some of the Elders had apparently attempted to cause trouble, taking demonic forms in the process. At least that had to be why they'd been pushed into a corner and were staring wildly at Shun's mother, while Shirong's father watched the others.
All of which wouldn't have been a problem if Xing Baishe hadn't resorted to her snake form in order to keep those Elders down.
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Master Quan: Did it have to be snakes?
Shirong: It's all right, Indy. We won't let her bother you.
Shun: You're doing it again, Shidi. Why are you calling our master Silver Earth?
Shirong: I wonder if I can get Netflix this far back in time.
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The Author has Something to Say:
With luck I'll be done with this story in a few more chapters. This side-quest should be it before they head over to deal with the big boss. Now to hope we don't have another major distraction in two weeks. (Yeah, who am I kidding.)