Beware Of Chicken

And so Bi De dove into the glimmering memories within the crystal. He watched as Xiaoshi and Tianlan traveled the Azure Empire’s furthest reaches bringing Xiaoshi’s plans to fruition. Bit by bit, together, they brought Tianlan’s Dragon Veins to the surface.

The pair briefly considered returning to their village, but in the end, decided against it. It was too dangerous. They would not bring the Emperor’s men to their home’s doorstep.

Xiaoshi made a rough circuit of the interior of the Empire, with its grand mountains jutting proudly to the heavens. It was most strange to see the differences in the landscape. The mountains were taller. They all had pointy peaks, even Cloudrest Peak, that was nearly a third taller than Bi De remembered it being.

He kept the changes in mind, as he observed their path, and their actions.

Bi De approved of those, at least. They fought against the wicked excesses of the Azure Emperor. Bi De could not comprehend why the Emperor had allowed such things. It seemed counterintuitive. Cruelty for cruelties sake. What would drive the Emperor to such excess?

He did not know... and it seemed that Xiaoshi and Tianlan didn’t care.

They were wholly focused upon their goal. They grew in strength, day by day, as more places were found where golden roads could be pulled to the surface.

But despite the grim nature of their task, and the determination with which they set about it… both still held a small sense of wonder. They were curious about the world the Emperor ruled… the world that they hoped to save.

Together, an Earth Spirit who knew little, and a man who had spent most of his life in a little village ventured out into the world, and learned of the land and its people.

And that the Emperor's cruelty affected everyone.

==============================

The first time Xiaoshi laid eyes upon a “vicious tribal” he had to confess that he was quite disappointed. Stories told that they had tusks and horns, or other animal parts. Others said that they were cannibals and rapists one and all. He had been conflicted, at first, in intervening on their behalf, when he had found them taken by Imperial soldiers.

Of course, that information was spread by the criers of the Emperor… Xiaoshi had resolved himself to disregard everything that they had said.

What he found instead were just people. Slightly darker in complexion with clothing of differing styles and cuts and thick accents. Their expressions had been the same as people in the Empire’s, when he had torn off their shackles.

“I really like that lady’s tattoos.” Tianlan said, directing his eyes to a woman, who had an interesting design that looked like beautiful rings around her fingers, and a flower-shaped design on the back of her hand.

Xiaoshi agreed that it looked quite fetching. Honestly, that was the thing that was the most different, as far as Xiaoshi could tell. To have tattoos was the mark of gang members and criminals, but even old aunties had them here.

In the end, they were little different from his own people.

He kept an eye on the men and women below from the rock he was seated on. He had, with his new companion, rescued them from bondage, and spirited them safely away, back to lands where the emperor held less sway.

He turned to the man beside him. He had a bandanna that covered his hair and the top of his forehead. Sharp eyes peered out from beneath it, and a blade attached to a rope was his weapon. He had used it to great effect, spiriting away the people, and tying up soldiers.

Guo Daxian, legendary bandit, scourge of this area, who preyed on all under his eyes.

At least that's what the Emperor's criers declared. But Xiaoshi was beginning to get the feeling that he preyed less on people than the tales would tell.

No true savage bandit would look people over with such concern.

“Why do you name yourself bandit?” Xiaoshi asked the other man, at Tianlan’s prodding.

The man with the bandana turned to him in surprise at his question. After a moment mulling it over, he answered.

“If I'm an outlaw even to my own people, they can’t ever accuse them of horbouring me.” He said. “I swore. I would have no name to lead me back to my kin. I would die a thousand deaths, and shoulder every dishonour, before I let them be hurt.” Guo Daxian’s words were full of conviction. Xiaoshi could feel his Qi and his intent pouring off him like a wave, and bowed his head in acknowledgement.

It was, after a fashion, what Xiaoshi was doing. He would shoulder everything, so his little village would never have to worry again.

He would follow this lonely path until the end.

“A noble goal.” Xiaoshi said, and the other man startled.

“An imperial, callin me noble?! Hah!” The tribesman burst out laughing, drawing the attention of the people below, before he trailed off, sighing. “Things… things didn’t used to be this bad. Before, it was only the occasional bad seed that I would have to deal with. You imperials stayed in your valleys, and left the ranges and the ravines to us. But now…”

He gestured at the people. The people who had feared for their lives, just hours earlier. Xiaoshi sighed.

“....I aim to end this. This senselessness. If it requires the Emperor being knocked off his throne, then so be it.” Xiaoshi said simply.

Daxian turned to him, his eyes wide as he stared at Xiaoshi. Xiaoshi for his part kept his eyes on the people. Why were they even fighting? What use was calling them savages? They clearly weren’t. It was stupid.

He could feel Tianlan nodding her head, deep in his soul.

“You’re rebelling against the Emperor.” Daxian asked, in a strangled voice.

“Yes.” Xiaoshi stated simply, letting his and Tianlan’s Qi fill the air. The other man’s pupils dilated, as he felt the very earth tremble. “I will stop this madness that the Emperor has commanded.”

The other man gaped… before his mouth snapped shut. He took a breath. And looked shiftily from one side to the other.

Then, he pressed a fist against his heart.

“The name of my forefathers is Chengis. The name that is my own is Atlan. By the Earth and by the Sky I greet you, Xiaoshi. If you need my help, I will answer.”

Xiaoshi smiled, and clasped arms with the man, as fellow warriors.

They both turned back to the mortals below them, as they finished their meal, and made a strange gesture they touched the earth, and then reached to the sky.

“Why do they do that?” Xiaoshi asked.

“They give thanks to the sky and the earth.” Atlan replied, as he touched the rock beneath him, then raised his hand. “We thank Father Sky and Mother Earth for the bounty we have received.”

“Oh, you thank me, huh?” Tianlan mused, giggling. “I like these guys, Xiaoshi. They treat me right!”

Xiaoshi smiled at the excitement… and then copied the gesture, touching the ground.

“Thank you always for your help, Tianlan.” he whispered, and he felt his companion flush.

“Will you show me how you live?” he asked. The man looked surprised again, and his sharp eyes softened. Xiaoshi felt a bit bad, that his intentions were simply to access more land to pull up Tianlan’s Dragon Veins… but he was interested in them. Tianlan was too.

“Of course. You’ll see the way the Ravine folk do things, my friend!”

He hoped to visit again, when this was all over.

============================

Guo Daxian. A name still used millenia later, and a culture still thriving. The bandana looked similar to the one on the man at the Dueling Peaks, the one whose tattoos Tigu had liked.

Not all of their adventures were those of battle and violence. Most of the time, their path was uninterrupted, as they walked the Azure Mountains. Bi De watched with silent amazement at the sheer amount of cultivation resources they stumbled across on their path… and disregarded. His past self would have been aghast at the waste, and even now he was stunned by the quality and amount of Qi-infused items they found.

Once, Xiaoshi tried a pill, yet it had no effect. It was like a drop of water entering an ocean. Tianlan’s Qi was too vast and powerful for even a hundred thousand pills to affect.

So they collected them to barter and trade, as they continued onward.

To the land of rivers and lakes their feet took them, the area that would be known as the Grass Sea. The heart of the Empire, in most senses. There were few mountains here, and the land was mostly flat, though criss-crossed with a hundred thousand rivers and lakes. The fertile valleys beside the rivers, and Li upon Li of rice fed the people of the Empire. In that respect, it had changed little. But it was still shocking to see the sheer extent of what had occurred. The Dueling Peaks, stil whole back in this time, was situated on an island.

Thus came the second, familiar person.

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Xiaoshi bowed to a carp twice the size of a forest bear lazing in the pool, attended to by priests and shrine maidens. They scrubbed his scales, and preened his whiskers, and fed him choice delicacies. His vault was beautifully adorned, proclaiming his power and wealth.

“All this for a fish?” Tianlan asked, curious.

Xiaoshi studiously ignored her questions, even as she prodded at him.

“Most would think to use this treasure for themselves. Yet you offered it to us without a thought.” The giant fish rumbled.

“I merely return what was stolen, Great Lord of the Misty Lake.” Xiaoshi replied, referring to a stolen pearl of great power. Honestly, he had just stumbled across the thing after poking his head into a cave.

The carp nodded his enormous head. “What boon do you ask, boy?” the great carp demanded.

“I merely wish to be able to see your domain, in all its glory.” Xiaoshi replied. It was a bit misleading since they needed to dredge the Veins in this area, and the lake was truly massive. He hoped he sounded respectful enough. He barely knew how to deal with courtly types.

The Great carp’s eyes locked upon him, before he began to boom with laughter. “A fine wish! Our realm is truly a sight to behold, and you have a discerning eye to be able to tell it will be something wondrous! I don’t hate it, little human!”

With a crack of energy, the carp shifted, and in his palace sat a dragon. He had four toes and a magnificent mane, revealing his status as a prince of the heavens.

“Ah. A fish like that was weird. A dragon? Yeah, I can see it.” Tianlan mused, as she stared through Xiaoshis eyes at the giant beast.

“Liusei! Escort our guest around our glorious lake!” The great lord of the Misty Lake commanded.

A woman approached, clad in the vestments of a priestess. Her hair was wavy and dark blue, and she had a willowy figure. Her eyes were the colour of storm clouds, and two draconic horns peaked out from the back of her skull.

“Yes, Honoured Ancestor.” the girl responded demurely.

Xiaoshi was expecting a small riverboat.

Instead, what they boarded was palatial, as they were taken into the enormous, misty lake, and were waited on hand and foot by an attentive set of servants who operated the boat.

Xiaoshi had to admit, he enjoyed himself probably more than he should have, especially when the priestess, Liusei, hung onto his arm and smiled prettily at him.

Tianlan was distracted not by the woman’s… soft hands, but instead by something else.

“Touch her horns. What do her horns feel like?” she demanded.

=========================

Throughout the entire tour, Bi De kept expecting the woman to burst into boisterous laughter. Instead, the ancestor of Liu Xianghua was prim, proper, and nearly silent, as she showed Xiaoshi the formations that controlled the mist around the lake, and turned it solid. Apparently, they could even ward off the might of the Emperor’s armies, if need be.

But Xiaoshi did not ask them to join him. The pair connected to the land in the lake.. And then bid the Dragon goodbye, asking for nothing.

From the lakes, they traveled north. Past the Cloudcatcher forest, and to the area that Bi De was most familiar with.

The north.

The ground steamed with heat and great geysers erupted, spewing water thousands of Li into the air. Hot springs bubbled and burbled, feeding into lakes hot enough to cook eggs in. It was a sparsely populated, desolate landscape. Perpetually misty, as the fire of the land combatted the chill of the north, burning away the snow until it could only settle on mountaintops. Here the tunnels into the ground led to great magma vaults, and the Spirit Beasts that lived within them.

In this land of fire were another familiar group of people. The Ancestors of Yun Ren.

==============================

The rumors that the barbarians were collecting a grand host turned out to be true. They were gathered in their thousands—yet instead of a great, screaming army intent on reaving the Empire of the Azure, they were all just… leaving.

“Where will you go? Xiaoshi asked their leader. A prophet whose milky eyes stared into his soul. Their clothes were a riot of colour, of reds and blue with geometric designs, similar to those of Atlan’s tribe.

“Our Kin to the south will not leave their valley. And we will respect their choice. We go to the bare edge of the Mist Wall and try to ride the storm. Dark times are ahead, child.”

Xiaoshi bowed his head.

“Then I will cover your retreat. None from the empire shall harm you.”

The prophet smiled. “Thank you, Xiaoshi. Go with the light of the heavens.”

And with those words, the tribes of the north left, heading for the Mist Wall and the perpetual cold.

Xiaoshi closed his eyes, and let them go, praying for their fortunes, as he turned.

“Tianlan.” He requested.

His dearest companion answered his call.

An army of the Emperor, numbering in the thousands, went north. Enough to utterly crush anything that they would face. The barbarian tribals would be no match for them.

Instead, they found a wall as tall as the tallest mountains blocking their path.

===========================

They travelled for over a year. Bi De observed the change in the seasons. He witnessed Xiaoshi and Tianlan constructing a home, deep within her realm. A veritable palace for her… though it was done more as a joke than anything.

And then Xiaoshi was alone. Bi De felt the sucking loneliness, as Xiaoshi counted the days until she woke up. How he spent nearly every day, working alone on the Golden Roads.

It was exhausting. He had to drag himself to continue, a testimate to just how much work Tianlan did for the both of them.

He hated the silence of her absence. She was no longer there nattering his ear off, or making stupid jokes or obvious comments.

But Xiaoshi seemed to think that being alone would not stop him. He was a pillar. He could work just fine without her, too.

Things were getting more dangerous as time passed. Word was getting out of a lone wanderer, the arch rebel of the Empire. The man was to be slain on sight, and any who travelled alone on the roads were questioned harshly.

To disguise himself and his work Xiaoshi took the mantle of a gem merchant. It was rather easy when one could command the earth to yield its fruits.

His lonely path took him to the great “Shield” of the northeast. Here the ground was near solid rock, and there were mountains of pure marble. Artisans slaved day and night, carving runes of power into the rock upon the Emperor's orders.

Like in Pale Moon Village, the people were discontent, but they could do little. The emperor’s armies were ever present and it was heavily patrolled.

So Xiaoshi laid low, selling his wares to throw off suspicion. He sold his goods to the irritated looking chief, one Tie Delan, who glared at the soldiers quartered in his household.

Bi De thought that Tigu was right. He was rather aesthetically pleasing.

Xiaoshi didn’t think he could kick out an entire garrison, just yet, without bringing undue harm to its people.

So instead, he looked for quarters for the night. Something to relax, and take his mind off things.

He had heard tales of an opera troupe. And so, having never seen an opera, he decided to go and see it. Maybe it would give Tianlan good dreams?

===========================

Xiaoshi found himself entranced at the movements of the veiled woman. Ruolan was her name, the leader of this opera troupe. They said she had achieved mastery of Opera at eleven—and now at eighteen led one of the most respected troupes in the land.

The way she moved drew every eye, man and woman alike. It made butterflies erupt in his stomach, like she was hypnotizing him.

Her voice only added to the effect. When she sang the purity and sweetness of the sound was completely enthralling.

Xiaoshi would have been happy to lose himself to the song and the dance of the Opera Troupe… if the subject of her performance wasn’t something that set him on edge.

The veiled woman sang of a man who righted wrongs, and defied the heavens. It could have been a song about any cultivator. If one were blind and deaf to her references.

She directly referenced one of his ambushes on a guard caravan.

Everybody in the room knew what she was singing about, with just the bare minimum for her to say she wasn’t outright praising a man who was fighting against the Emperor.

Xiaoshi grimaced. Is this how things were spreading so quickly? He had hoped that he could travel more freely, and the woman was kind of ruining that.

So that night, after her performance, he decided to pay her a visit.

He was going to ask her for tea, and try to discuss things like that… but Tianlan always did like scaring people, and the woman deserved it for making his life harder than it had to be. It was a simple task, to gain entry into the singer’s room.

It was a little bit awkward, waiting around in her quarters behind the door. In the tales, the cultivators were just suddenly there. Instead, he had to wait for over an hour, while wondering if he had the right room, until Ruolan finally walked in.

At least she didn’t notice him.

“An interesting song choice.” Xiaoshi began, looking on from behind her. The woman startled, part-way between taking off her veil.

The opera singer jerked to the side, turning to face him in shock.

She gasped. Xiaoshi hoped this conversation would go the way he wanted to—

“Oh! Oh, you’re him!” The woman gushed with her musical voice. Xiaoshi was taken aback at the sheer enthusiasm in the woman’s voice. “Did you like it, sir? This Ruolan hopes she did your exploits justice.”

Her hands once more reached for her veil, and she pulled it off. Xiaoshi found himself stunned.

Ruolan was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. The soft curves of her face, and her creamy white skin were enticing, and he could lose himself in her crystal blue eyes.

The woman noticed his stare, and her smile turned just so slightly predatory.

Shaking his head, he coughed into his hand. “I… would actually like to ask you to stop. You’re making it a bit hard to move around, if you keep spreading that story.”

Ruolan paused at his request. Her face froze

“This Ruolan apologises, sir. But she cannot.” she stated bluntly. “Even if it cost her her life, she will not stop singing this tale.”

“Why?”

“The song brings hope.” she stated simply. “It brings hope to the downtrodden. It spreads the news that there is one fighting, and winning. The era is changing. Tell me, have you heard the whispers of the people? The songs they sing, when the guards are not watching?”

Xiaoshi grimaced. He did. The world was boiling over, and if not for him being the catalyst, something else would have been.

“I can hear it in my dreams. The beat of the world is dancing to different steps. The Emperor sits light on his throne. I shall capture the essence of this age…even if it costs me my life.”

Ruolan’s eyes were practically glowing with Qi at her declaration. Resolve firm as a mountain.

“...You’re a rather strange woman, Ruolan.” Xiaoshi decided. Despite all his power, this pretty flower was… intimidating.

Ruolan laughed, the wonderful sound making his heart beat faster.

“Everything for the art… And I do so love singing about heroes.”

Her face pressed towards Xiaoshi, and he found himself tongue-tied by her beauty. She walked two fingers up his chest, seeming to delight in his reactions.

“Tell me. How can this Ruolan…aid you?” The woman practically purred.

Xiaoshi really, really wished Tianlan was awake at that moment, to say something dumb and distract him. He thought desperately of Linlin… but did not think that would be much of a defence.

Ruolan looked like the sort of woman who would not be denied.

==================

The coquettish smirk and outright flirting coming from a woman that looked exactly like Disciple Xiulan knocked Bi De out of the memory.

He stared blankly, trying to reconcile Xiulan’s normal soft smile with… that. She had a look in her eye more reminiscent of the Healing Sage than his fellow disciple.

“Gimmie that Butt! Gimmie that Butt!” An imagined disciple Xiulan shouted eagerly, her hands grasping.

The rooster shook his head, dispelling the frightening image. They already had one Healing Sage, and though he loved her dearly… they certainly didn’t need a second.

But Xiaoshi did need a woman like Ruolan aiding him.

Xiaoshi originally had no real intention of gathering a great host to go up against the Emperor. Such was the man’s strength that any he tried to ask to help battle the madman would surely perish.

But after Ruolan, he noticed it more. He noticed the people starting to arm themselves. They would rebel, piecemeal, and get slaughtered, piecemeal.

So he had to control it. The war of his was no longer a secret.

And so it was carried, in the alleys and on stages. The tale spread and spread, rushing through the hearts and minds of the people of the Azure Hills.

The Song against the Heavens.

A song that found increasing reach, as black, corrupted land started appearing across the realm.

Imperial soldiers were always found around it when it appeared, along with strange formations and barrier stones. They said they were sent to contain the outbreaks… but the people were having none of it.

The cold, quiet war suddenly ignited as all across the province the people raised their banners in rebellion.

Yet even as the battles raged, Bi De realised that the Emperor couldn’t be the one behind the black, dead land.

Increased taxes. Drawing on more manpower. Draining the land dry.

For what reason would a man do such a thing?

Bi De… felt he knew the answer.