Feng Yu in Action!

Thing is, I have to attack them. If I report the numbers to Huoyun Sect, they will send out most disciples to the forest, leaving the eastern perimeter of the city unguarded for at least a day, during which the enemy will plant their traps. My hope is that they will wait for the posts to be deserted to move in, but if they are never deserted, they might not? I’ll have to carry out an inspection of the city walls by myself later to make sure. Another night without sleep. Ugh. I eye the water once more. Gui owes me so much.

“These dog-like monsters aren’t common around here, but since mother is ill, they are moving in from the south. I can’t maintain the wards as well as she does.”

“It’s not your fault,” I say quickly. “Sect Leader Dai is a rare talent.”

Dai Xuan smiles. “That she is. I can only aspire to reach her level.”

“With some time you’ll be there, diligent as you are.”

“Diligent for the wrong reasons, you mean.”

I know her only from the drama, where her storyline was mostly centred around her aspirations to become as strong as her mother while also furthering her training as a doctor. While the poisoning gave her a moment to shine as a medical practitioner, it also served to make it clear that she couldn’t pursue both paths with equal determination. While she had almost decided to become a doctor, the threat of potentially losing her mother and being responsible for the sect threw her whole plan sideways.

“Sect Leader Dai is getting better, isn’t she? She’ll be so grateful to you for treating her, there won’t be any more complaints.”

Dai Xuan laughs and pats my back. “Since when did you get so candid? I hope you don’t talk like this to anyone else…”

I put a hand over my mouth. Oh. I always forget this isn’t the modern world. Well, it is modern for their standards, I suppose.

“I just want the best for you,” I deflect and it seems to work as I receive a hug in return.

We follow the river as it meanders through the forest. The main road going south follows it in part, and we pass travellers and farmers on their way. Horse riders and the occasional carriage are also on their way, taking advantage of the daylight hours to travel. The night is really dark and scary when there’s no street lanterns. When I walked to Lake Yueji I regretted not taking my sword, especially since I knew that enemy spies were likely positioned all around the city. But as someone not used to carrying a weapon it just slipped my mind. Not today, though. I grab the sheath of my short sword a bit closer.

“Nervous?” Dai Xuan asks when she notices.

“Not much sleep.”

“Unfortunately I have to ask you to detect the monsters. I know it takes a lot of energy.”

I nod. It’s something Murong Zhiyu was also able to do in the drama. Something to do with her dragon people lineage, but Dai Xuan doesn’t know about that. Everyone has a talent for something and this is Murong Zhiyu’s. I close my eyes and hope the skill comes as easily to me as the shifting. I try to think about it, about the energy around me. In the drama it was shown like a net of glowing strands, but it doesn’t appear to me like it. It feels more like attraction… magnetic attraction, if you will. I feel pulled into all directions, until I think about Dai Xuan and feel her presence like gravity pulling at me. Then I think about the dog monsters and it takes a moment until I feel it… prickling on my skin.

“This way,” I say, take a step, and immediately stumble.

Dai Xuan grabs my arm to stable me and I sink to my knees in a more controlled way, suddenly exhausted. She wasn’t kidding about this using a lot of energy.

“Thank you. I suppose it would’ve been a lot easier had I actually gotten some sleep…”

“Irresponsible until the end. Why are you always like this?”

I shrug. Dai Xuan places her hands on my back and I feel the transfer of power like a physical thing, seeping into my body. I just can’t get used to the feeling of this qi, surging along my muscles, running though my core. Still, beats being a dragon. Now that was awkward.

“Did you find them?”

“Their direction, yes.”

“Then let’s go… and keep quiet.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

“What?”

“I mean yes, of course.”

Dai Xuan frowns at me as she pulls me upright. I still feel slightly shaky, but I internally thank Murong Zhiyu for being so diligent with her training, as I feel the flow of qi correcting itself, without me even consciously trying to influence anything. I wonder if she is still there, in the back of my mind, constantly judging me. Even if she is, I think I’m doing quite well for someone who at most went for a walk in the park before this whole stunt. Still, it’s one thing to have a trained body at your disposal and another to use it properly…

I lead Dai Xuan along the river, in the direction my senses pulled me, when suddenly I hear someone scream in panic. We switch into action mode in a heartbeat, running towards the noise. In the distance I can hear the metallic clang of weapons, somehow duller than the sounds from the drama made me believe, but no less heavy. The unnatural screech following a loud crash confirms my suspicion: Someone is already fighting the monsters. I look at Dai Xuan as we run and she nods at me. No matter our earlier plan to observe, if there are people in trouble, it’s our duty to help.

With my sword drawn, I jump out of the brush and onto a wider road, slashing at a dark, misshapen creature. Black, steaming blood drips onto the floor, hissing where it hits the earth. It smells acrid and foul. The creature lunges at me once more and I manage to deflect its attack with a targeted strike. The impact vibrates through my arm. I almost drop my weapon in shock. Dai Xuan strikes the monster down. As it yelps, it fades into nothingness, leaving behind a pile of ash.

Behind me, someone yells and I turn to look at the scene. A large carriage lies toppled to the side, crates and bags in disarray around it. Of the horses, one is injured on the ground, the other seems to have bolted. Several people make their stand around the carriage, fending off the monsters as well as they can. Most of them look like regular tradespeople, but there are only a few guards. Another dog leaps out of the forest line and just as I jump to intercept it, a fireball meets it halfway and burns it into ash. I look at the group again and then I see him: Feng Yu, standing on the side of the toppled carriage, sword in hand. The very air around him seems to burn, flickering menacingly. Another dog jumps out and meets the same fate. Then… Feng Yu collapses.

I rush forward to meet him, drawing him with me to the ground behind the vehicle, just as another dog lunges at us. Dai Xuan follows me closely, slashing at the monster, which dissipates with a yelp. For practised cultivators, these monsters are a nuisance at best, but for regular people, they are deadly.

“Gongzi!” someone yells, but I can’t make out the direction as I tumble.

Feng Yu groans beneath me, his sleeve soaked in blood. He’s not a bad fighter, but I don’t know how many of these he’s already had to fight off. I grab my weapon tighter and block another one of the accursed dogs. This time I direct some genuine qi into my arm to cushion the blow, which seems to work. If only I could channel the dragon’s power…

“Murong-xiaojie! Why are you here?”

Flames lash out to my side, scorching another attacker, making it draw back.

“To find these monsters… Don’t expect you’ll get a reward for stealing my work.”

Feng Yu barks a laugh, his lips bloodstained. His eyes are wild and when he grins, he looks unfairly handsome.

“My reward is right here,” he says and leans forward to kiss my cheek before he releases another wave of fire.

The energy this costs him is clearly written on his face as he coughs and leans on his sword for balance.

“Stay. Protect who you can. Shimei and I will take care of the rest.”

He nods at me and I jump up with more confidence than I’m feeling. It’s one thing to say heroic things, it’s another to be able to follow through with them. The other people have grouped up around the wounded and I can see three armed guards trying their utmost to keep them alive. Together with Dai Xuan I move in to cut them off before they can reach the group. These small animalic monsters are fierce and hungry, but seldom smart. They are certainly not organised, but they have the numbers on their side. How many were released to the south? If they reach the city, every defender will be called to quell the attack. The onslaught isn’t stopping. For every dog we strike down, two more appear from the forest. At least I can be reasonably sure the threat is dealt with when we’re done here.

My legs and arms feel heavy, not only because I’m exhausted. Murong Zhiyu’s body is trained, but it’s still my mind, my reactions controlling it. I’m not used to it. At all. There’s movement on all sides, people and monsters alike, unknown sounds and screams. I can only react, slashing at everything coming close to me. It’s only a matter of time until one of them manages to hurt me.

“Xiaojie! Look out! Ah… curses… I’m almost out of stones!”

A monster bursts into flames as it speeds towards me, disintegrating into fluttering ashes mid-run. I look back to see Feng Yu, still with the other people, rummaging through a small bag on his hip. The lapse in attention costs me immediately, as a dog manages to sink its foul teeth into my leg.

“Aaaaaahhhh!!!” I screech.

It hurts! IT HURTS!!

What is this??

In reflex I hit the dog, but the angle is awkward and I miss, losing my balance. I fall backwards, but I can’t even feel the impact. The dog’s teeth are like a thousand needles, its claws ripping at my clothes, staining them red with my blood and blue with its saliva. Another dog jumps at me and I hold my left arm up in defence, which it tries to bite, but at the last moment, my right arm moves and it dissolves in front of my eyes, hot ash brushing my skin as it flickers and burns.

“You’re not going to lose my body to these creatures,” I hear myself say, my mouth moving without my control.

And it’s not the only thing. My left hand reaches behind me to touch the ground, and like an actual superhero, I catapult myself upright with a burst of energy. In the same movement, the arm that was so awkward previously, slashes the dog attached to my leg in half, and the pressure dissipates instantly as it disappears.

The next few moments are a blur, as I can literally feel power flood my body and it throws itself into the air as if it weighs nothing. I want to close my eyes, but they stay resolutely open, scanning the surrounding road.

“Watch and learn,” I say to myself and brandish the sword. “I can’t help you every time.”

“Murong Zhiyu!” I say to her inside my head.

“Who else would it be?”

I immediately feel motion sick as she manipulates her body to jump from tree to tree, catching the monsters before they can even reach the street. Her moves are elegant like drifting snow, yet powerful and harsh like clear ice. There’s no wasted movement, no unnecessary steps. The ease with which she moves betrays the decades of practice. Even with all the power in this body at my disposal, I could never use it as efficiently. I’m just glad there’s enough of it to keep even an idiot like me safe.

With the road cleared, Murong Zhiyu speeds away into the deeper forest, the vegetation rushing past me so fast I can’t even make it out.

“I know what you want to do. I’m taking all of them out as best I can. I hope you’re watching.”

“I can’t keep up.”

Murong Zhiyu dives down, sword first, nailing one of the monsters against a tree, yelping as it dissipates. “You’re responsible not only for my body, but the whole city. You have to pay attention.”

“That’s easy for you to say! You’ve been fighting like this for years!”

She makes a noise that can only be described as disappointment as she dashes forward.

“You now have what many others strive to achieve, but never will: A body with a strong cultivation base and unique skills.” As if to hammer the point home, her sword flares up with ice crystals and strikes down several monsters with one swing. “The only thing you have to learn is how to use them. Feel the energy flow as I direct it and mimic the patterns. Who else will get a demonstration within their own body? Do you know how lucky you are?”

I want to complain again, I really do, but I know she’s right and no matter how impossible this task seems, it’s something I at least have to attempt. To let an enemy win, who stoops so low as to employ these monsters, which will kill without mercy and discrimination, is not something I can stand behind. So I grind my teeth and pay attention through the nausea, through the pain. And it does hurt. Murong Zhiyu seems to be ignoring the wound on her leg, but I can feel it, pulsing and stinging, every step like a stab with a knife, red hot.

Then, finally, she comes to rest on a branch of a high tree. But my relief is only temporary, as she reaches out as I did before, feeling for the presence of these monsters. Where I could only feel a general direction, it’s as if I can suddenly see the whole area like a map in my mind’s eye. Murong Zhiyu speeds away, finishing off the stragglers. Done with this task, she sheathes her sword carefully, then collapses to the ground. The switch in body control between her and me comes so suddenly, I can’t even extend my arms to catch myself and fall painfully onto the forest floor.

“Zhiyu?” I ask.

No answer.

“Murong Zhiyu??”

Oh no. What if… no. She has to be alright. It was like that before, right? She just had to rest for a moment. It probably took a lot of energy to take over the body like this and she just needs to sleep it off, right? Please tell me if that's right. Please.

“Zhiyu…?” I try again, whispering. Still no answer.

When I try to push myself up, nothing happens. No, that’s not completely right. My arms are shaking, muscles protesting even the smallest movement and I collapse again. I try again to no avail. Fatigue sets into my bones and I can’t even raise my head. My focus narrows down to the wound on my leg, as it pulses with a dull ache, strained so much it has become numb.

The forest floor smells earthy and is a little damp, but it is not uncomfortable. Above me, I can hear bird song and the wind rustling the leaves. I’m too tired to even think. With nothing on my mind I let the sounds of the forest lure me into sleep.