The Third Cut - Chapter 36 preview (Patreon)

It was a battered and weary group that managed to make it to their destination two days later. Rather than stop in the evening and be beset by demonic beasts not drawn into the major conflict in the north, the group had chosen to forge ahead. As cultivators, ignoring the effects of sleeplessness was simple. Between bodies that had transcended the limits of normal humanity, practice after years of constant cultivation and the refined chi within their cores, the matter was simple enough.

Even so, the constant battles, the struggle through the undergrowth that grew more tangled and corrupted as they neared taxed the group. They had to keep a constant state of concentration running at all times, their auras hardened against the corruptive influences that resided within the very air and earth themselves now.

No mere Energy Storage cultivator could have survived this trek. As it stood, even the Core Formation cultivators were finding their energy levels dangerously depleted. All but Tou He, whose aura no longer stayed quiescent but flared and burnt on the regular. The ex-monk had to control that same aura however, ensuring that it stayed benign around the cultivators as it hungrily consumed all that it came into contact with.

Of the remainder, both Minh Trac and Be Long were the most exhausted, the formation master having utilized too much of his energy in the initial escape and Be Long due to a lack of training. On the other hand, Yang Mu seemed the most upbeat of the group, utilizing the vast stores of alchemical pills that she owned – each tailored to her own constitution by her parents – to ensure she was alert and filled with energy. She would often take the middle watch late at night, walking the perimeter and gauging the flow of formations that were placed, reinforcing them and making minor adjustments that Minh Trac grousing about in the morning.

Wu Ying too was exhausted, a constant pounding headache making him grouchy, as did the indignity of having to trek through the forest without his winds. The pressure of the corrupted air pressed upon him constantly, the whispering of the winds he had so grown used to muted. Only the occasional murmur of their voices could be heard near his friend, though the heavenly cleansing flame and its resultant wind offered naught but an insistent refrain that they continue their quest.

In the end, when they stumbled clear of the choked and twisted jungle into a clearing, not a single cultivator failed to react with joy at reaching their destination. That moment of delight quickly soured, as the reason for the clearing and a clear sight of their objective came to them.

What had to be an abandoned monastery or temple lay before them, situated upon a slight rise in the surroundings. Around it, Wu Ying’s trained eyes picked out the remnants of fallow fields, left untended for years – perhaps decades – where the occasional young tree dominated the otherwise flat land. Drainage ditches and earth embankments to separate the fields cut the ground ahead, the earth lying twisted with low-lying bushes and twisted shrubbery. Even the occasional stalk of old rice could be noted, though none of the plants were vegetation that the gatherer would willingly introduce to his World Spirit Ring.

Outside the nearby twisted vegetation, around the abandoned multi-walled, stepped temple that rose above with its green stone walls was the blasted and shrivelled land. No vegetation, twisted or not, lay along those steps and hills. As though the very corruptive forces that seeped out from within the monastery itself was anathema to life itself.

“It’s inside,” Minh Trac said, unnecessarily. Holding his compass upwards, he stared at the twitching end and the myriad glowing runes around it.  “I can’t see the formation from here. But it’s definitely a formation.”

“I still say we should destroy it from here,” Be Long said, lips curling up. “We have enough formations to do that, do we not? The City Lord even gave me something in case…”

“They did what?” Bich Trang turned now, eyes narrowing. “You have not mentioned this, in all this time.”

Be Long blinked, realizing the mistake he had made. He wilted under her demanding, until the Captain of the Guards admitted, “It was not meant to be used unless necessary. Ha Jin’s Mirror of Infinite Reflections never stood up to its name, though perhaps if the City Lord’s ancestor had not caught the Coqui Frog’s cry and contained it, it might have lasted longer.”

“A sound attack, trapped in an enchanted mirror.” Bich Trang repeated, slowly. “And you carried that fragile item with you, through all this.”

“It’s in a special storage pouch,” Be Long patted his chest, on the opposite side of his heart. “It will not be damaged by mere travel.”

Still looking furious, Bich Trang turned away from the Captain. Her words were so low in that any other company, none would have heard it. Amongst a group of Core Formation cultivators, she might as well have shouted.

“This is why I hate working with outsiders.”

Be Long did not reply to her provocation, though he also did not attempt to deploy the mirror.

“We go in?” Dinh Don said, cutting through the tension with his usual afallibility. “If we can deal with the guardians, of course.”

“Guardians?” Wu Ying said, peering closer. He saw nothing, though he knew better than to trust in his impaired senses.

“Two within,” Dinh Don pointed to the temple, then traced his finger downwards to point at the ground ahead of them about halfway across the distance. “And one there. I can barely sense one of those within and the one under the ground is completely hidden to my spiritual sense. If not for its displacement of the earth…”

“How strong?” Bich Trang asked.

“And why are they not coming for us?” Yang Mu asked, curiously. “Surely they can sense us.”

“They are guardians. Tasked to stay here,” Phuong Vy replied. “I doubt they will bother us if we choose not to engage with them.”

At the same time, Dinh Don was answering Bich Trang. “Nascent Soul.”

“All of them?” Thien Giang asked, eyebrow rising in surprise as she unconsciously shifted her guandao between her and the temple.p

“I believe so.”

“Three.” Be Long licked his lips. “Three Nascent Soul guardians. How can there be so many?”

“One of them, the one I can sense within the mansion… it feels strange. Its aura trembles, shifting in strength,” Dinh Don said. “If it was a cultivator, I would say they just broke through and are reinforcing their cultivation.”

“But spirit beasts – even demonic beasts – are not like that,” Wu Ying said. “They just grow into their strength. There are no stages for them, just a progression of strength and understanding.”

“Yes,” Dinh Don said. “That’s why I said, strange.”

“It matters no,” Bich Trang said, firmly. “We have a job, we shall finish it. Striking at them now, with a Nascent Soul guardian in place is not going to work. We shall have to deal with our enemies.”

“A formation?” Minh Trac said, slowly. “For the one out here?”

“That seems best.”

Now the formation master hesitated. Phuong Vy who was beside him leaned over, whispering something into his ear, twisting the threads of chi so no one else could hear her. He brushed her away, angrily but, reluctantly, added. “I cannot do it. Not and help analyse the formation within and take it down for Vy.”

“Then it is a good thing we have a second formation master, is it not? One that insisted on coming out,” Bich Trang said, turning to Yang Mu.

“It is. What formation would you have me emplace?” She looked right at Minh Trac, holding a hand out as though expecting him to supply it.

The formation master looked unhappy, but receiving a firm nod from Bich Trang extracted a number of formation flags and their plates from his storage ring. The pair moved a short distance away to discuss details, even as Dinh Don kept an eye on the temple.

“She’ll need protection.” Thien Giang muttered. “I don’t trust that worm to not attack once she begins.”

“Or the ones within,” Wu Ying added. “Even if the formation can handle a single Nascent Soul beast, that leaves two.”

“Three. The formation we have left will trap it, indefinitely,” Bich Trang said. “We were to utilize other formations and our skills to finish the fight if necessary. Or bring back the culprit.”

Wu Ying nodded. He understood why the other clarified the point. Still… “Two is still two too many. We barely handled one the last time.”

“Sao Choi has been conserving its energy,” the Colonel said, looking upwards. Somewhere up there, the raptor flew, unseen. “It will act, when we need it to.”

“Fine. One.” Wu Ying shook his head. “Still too much, if we have to protect her and fight it off.” He hesitated, then added. “And there’s no telling what else is in there. Charging is in a bad idea.”

“Yet, here we are,” Bich Trang said. “We must go in, we must finish this battle. Your friend must come with us. The best I can do is offer you Thien Giang and Dinh Don. You will have to hold this time, whilst we do the job.”

“Hold,” Wu Ying said, flatly. “Why not just fight them together?”

“Because there are three Nascent Soul demonic beasts.”

Wu Ying stared into the Colonel’s eyes and realised, that her focus, her dedication was unwavering. She had a job to do and that meant learning what was within and destroying it, even if she had to sacrifice most of their lives. All of them, perhaps.

He wanted to object, to suggest a return at a later date with greater reinforcements. But he knew, seeing the resolution in her gaze that she was not going to accept his suggestion. That they would go in, with or without him and his friends.

For that matter, looking at Tou He who was nodding firmly, whose aura flickered and twitched, listened to the wind of the heavens that blew through him and the resolute nature of its dictates, that his friend was of the same mind.

“So we split up, and try to hold them off.”

Wu Ying looked up again, searching for the bird. Hoping that it was up there. Three Core Formation cultivators against a Nascent Soul beast, two if they attacked immediately. There was just no way this was going to work. Not without some finagling.

***

“We’re ready,” Yang Mu said, walking back minutes later. Minh Trac followed after her, wringing his hands and muttering last minute admonishments about the use of the formation flag.

The rest of the group had kept close together, resting and swallowing down food and pills. They kept casting worried glances towards the temple, but so far, no movement had occurred. The quiet pressure from three Nascent Soul beasts also kept the surroundings quiet, and now that Wu Ying knew to look for it, he too sensed the low level dread that permeated the air.

Wu Ying had clamped down so hard on his own aura that he had numbed himself to such sensations, and even the minor flexing and relaxation he had done had almost made him want to retch. An unpleasant aspect of being a Body Cultivator, of being so intensely tied physically to the Dao. Almost immediately, he had to contain his energy once more, pushing back the corrupted chi.

“How long will you need?” Wu Ying asked. “How far do you need to go?”

“This is a seven star formation, so I’ll need to emplace fifty six flags across the surroundings,” Yang Mu began.

“It should be one hundred and twelve,” Minh Trac muttered.

“Those fifty six will be the guiding flags of the formation. The formation itself requires another seven.” She flicked her hand upwards, and the fan appeared in her hand. “The initial guiding flags do not need to be placed by myself and it would be better if you all helped.” She gestured down at her feet. “So long as the placement is within the approximately right location, I can adjust for it in the control formation.”

“It’ll be slipshod and inefficient and make the entire thing weaker.”

“And if we did it your way, it’d take nearly two hours to emplace everything properly,” Yang Mu snapped, spinning to glare at Minh Trac and his sotto voce mutterings. “Now, are you going to let me do this, or am I and my friends going in instead and you all staying out here?”

“Peace. Minh Trac will be quiet,” Binh Trang held her hand up, offering a consoling smile at the same time.

Yang Mu huffed and then gestured down at their feet. “The formation will hold long for at least an hour, probably closer to two. If you cannot discern the cause and how to take down the formation keeping the split open by then, that’s your problem.”

“An hour should be sufficient,” Phuong Vy said, easily. She had a book open, index finger holding her place open in it as she waited impatiently for the conversation to be over. Wu Ying could not help but note that she had extracted the wellworn book the moment they had paused.

“If we want to do a slipshod, wasted ink survey, sure…” Minh Trac muttered.

This time, Phuong Vy was the one who shut the formation master down with a flat look that made him duck his head in chagrin.

“Thien Giang. I’ll want you with me and placing the closest flags. Dinh Don and Wu Ying can place the others,” Yang Mu continued. “We must get these emplaced before our opponents attack, so speed is of the utmost importance.”

The named trio muttered their agreement, though Wu Ying could not help but frown.

“It’ll still take time. If the worm attacks before the flag is emplaced…” Wu Ying trailed off.

“That’s where the Captain comes in. You must delay it.” Yang Mu stared at Be Long, then glanced down at his belt where a pair of manacles had hung before. “Your skills and techniques are good at that, are they not?”

“What? Fighting worms?” Be Long said.

“Delaying and hampering a cultivator’s movements.” Yang Mu said.

“Well, yes. But this is a Nascent Soul beast. And you want me to fight it, alone.”

“Delay, not kill.”

The man hesitated, looking away from Yang Mu. Only to find the Colonel staring at him expectantly. In the end, he sighed. “I’ll do my best. But it is powerful.”

Yang Mu nodded. “I can utilize some basic formations to help distract it further, whilst I wait for the flags to be emplaced.”

“Thank you.”

Bich Trang gestured at herself and Tou He before waving to the side to encompass the others. “Our team will attempt to enter the temple once the worm has begun its attack and is captured. We believe that will draw at least one, if not both of the demonic cultivators to attack us.” She inclined her head upwards, continuing. “Sao Choi will distract the next demonic beast that exits the building. It will stay outside, dealing with it and, if it finishes its task quickly, will aid the rest of you.”

“That still leaves one more,” Tou He said. “Depending on the timing of this….”

“It’s why we must wait to take action,” Bich Trang said, firmly. “So we must hold, even if it is difficult. It is why the Captain is the only one who will take on the worm when it comes.”

“And what if they choose not to follow your plan,” Wu Ying said, curiously. “What if all three of them come and attack at once.”

“Then, we will adapt. But my team has to go inside, no matter what. If the Captain must unleash his mirror, if you must show the techniques you have hidden, then do so.” Bich Trang replied. “Any other questions?”

There were, of course, a few more but they were quickly dealt with. Soon enough, the group was splitting apart, their marching orders emplaced. A series of simple defensive formations were emplaced a short distance away, talismans floating in the air to help shield the infiltration group from damage and the random attacks.

Just as Tou He was moving to leave, Yang Mu’s delicate hand dropped on his arm. He stopped, turning to her and took the red jade bracelet she handed to him.

“What is this?” Tou He said.

“Protective bracelet. Fire aspected, so it should survive your aura. Wear it,” Yang Mu said.

“Thank you.” The ex-monk wiggled his hand a little, getting the jade bracelet across his hand, thankful that the minor enchantments on it allowed it to flex and slip over his arm. He smirked a little as he saw that Wu Ying already sported a similar one, the wind cultivator having a much simpler time putting his on.

“Take care of yourself, you meat loving fool.” Wu Ying dropped his voice, twisting the chi around the trio to hide his words. “Don’t trust them to keep you alive.”

“Of course,” Tou He said. The monk hesitated for a moment before he extracted a four foot wide scroll, handing the large document to Yang Mu. The pressed bamboo paper was tied off by a simple red cord, keeping the document closed. “If you’re in danger, open this and point it at your enemy. Infuse chi through your heart seven, small intestine three and lung five as well as the inner gate while connecting to your target. It will ensure you have control.”

“Control?” Yang Mu said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. Best of luck, friends.” Putting his hands together, Tou He bowed to the pair. “Amithaba.”

Wu Ying watched the man leave, then touched the bracelet that Yang Mu had handed him. It was obvious she was taking precautions too. He only hoped that what they had done was sufficient.