Sky Pride

It seemed Tian had spoiled the fun. The Fried Dough Daoists stomped off. Oily fanned himself in a silent fury, while Doughy looked like he was sulking. The women from the Courtyard were giving him distinctly strange looks, though Daoist Mei slipped him a secret thumbs up and a silent giggle. The party came to a silent agreement that their break was over, and they returned to the march.

“So… Daoist Tian… What, exactly, do you do for the Ancient Crane Monastery? I can’t figure you out.”

One of the female daoists from the courtyard approached him. He could see she was making an effort to be pleasant, so he returned the kindness.

“Oh, I’m a hospital orderly. Mopping floors, changing sheets, I’m told my pillow fluffing skills are second to none. Ah… these days I’m also looking after the Snow Grace Crane, of course. But that’s more or less it at the moment. I’m still a very junior junior, after all.” He smiled politely. “How about yourself Daoist… it was Daoist Gongsung, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right.” Her smile suddenly became a lot more genuine. Tian spotted the Fried Dough Daoists twitching out of the corner of his eye. “It is the calling of every disciple of the Five Elements Courtyard to become an array master. Right now, I am studying in the Hall of Pure Water.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“About what it sounds like. We focus on arrays that are built around enhancing water elemental magics.” She shrugged. Tian noticed the waves carefully traced into her hair. “Every array balances all the elements as well as yin and yang, obviously, but… forgive me, how much do you know about arrays?”

“Close enough to nothing. Please, Daoist Gongsung, explain further. I am eager to learn more about how arrays are made.”

“Well, like any spell or art, an array is about using the five elements in a particular balance to produce a specific effect…”

Tian got the distinct impression that he was hearing the first-day-at-the-sect introduction to arrays, but that suited him fine. All he knew about them was that they were complicated, expensive to install, generally ran on spirit stones, and the sect really didn’t have a lot of them. At least, not at Depot Four.

“Though I am a little surprised to hear that you don’t know much about arrays. You had no trouble destroying them in your bouts.” She smiled wryly.

“I don’t have to understand something to break it, I’m afraid. You may have the wrong impression of me- I actually appreciate arrays a lot. Intensely, in fact.” Tian’s voice shifted from wry to somber.

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Ever been on the other side of an array from a horde of heretics and zombies, watching them batter away at it and seeing the ranged attacks slipping through, cursing and melting your comrades and friends as you rush them to the hospital from the wall, hoping the purification talismans buy you enough time, then just hoping they can keep the curses from tainting you before you can get the body into an incinerator…”

Tian felt the world suddenly slip and he was back at depot four, he was seeing Poetry Saint Zhu sliding down the chute into the furnace, he was seeing the charm papers burning as he stuck them to foreheads.

“Daoist Tian?!”

“Step back! Don’t touch him! Brother Zihao, COME BACK.”

Hong’s voice shook with vital energy, yang fire burning like the noon sun through the clouds and fog descending on Tian’s mind.

Tian found himself half crouching, one hand holding his invisible darts between his fingers, the other in an open palmed guard. His rope dart writhed around him like a living serpent. Even the Snow Grace Crane was disturbed, flying up into the air, screeching with alarm.

“I apologize, Daoist Gongsun. It seems the wasteland is still… more with me than I had hoped. And thank you, Sister Liren. Brother Su used to do that for me. I didn’t know you knew the trick.”

“I figured it out. And no thanks are needed between us.” She flicked the awkward moment away with strong fingers.

Tian suddenly felt very tired, and very seedy. He started cultivating Advent of Spring as he tidied himself up. A quick splash of cold water on his face helped, as did a long drink of yet more water. At the next break, he would make some tea.

“I apologize as well, Daoist Tian. I had… no idea. I knew what our defensive arrays were for, of course, but… I apologize. And no. I have never been on the other side of a defensive array during a major assault. A smaller raid, yes. But not what you are describing.”

They set off again, a little more slowly. The cloud forest seemed to alternate between mist and sudden rain without rhyme or reason. It was rather instructive to see how the different parties handled the weather. Tian, Hong and Lin opted for wide brimmed straw hats and straw rain cloaks. Sister Su chose an umbrella, but a remarkably short handled one she could, by means of a few straps, mount on her chest.

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Brother Wang produced an absolutely enormous umbrella, painted with a scene of drifting cherry blossoms… and immediately shared it with Daoist Mei. Who giggled, and grabbed his arm. She didn’t need the umbrella. All the other members of the Five Elements Courtyard ostentatiously pinned a medal to their chest and tapped the spirit stone at its center. Small swirls of water qi surrounded them, guiding the rain away. They were bone dry in the middle of a rain shower, immortals unstained by the mortal waters.

A similar scene repeated when they stopped for the evening. The campsite was quickly surveyed, then the disciples from the Courtyard placed formation flags with carefully causal aplomb. An array snapped into place. That was how it felt to Tian- little nodes of energy suddenly pressed together and an entirely new shape emerged.

“Do you all play a lot of Go?” Tian asked Daoist Gongsung.

“Yes, actually. The Nation Defending Manor uses Go as a test for members, and many of the Heaven Watching Scholars, what you would call Inner Court members, require their Book Carrying Students to hold a certain ranking on the Courtyard’s Go leaderboard. Technically it’s not mandatory that everyone learns Go to a high level, but as a practical matter, it very much is.”

“Nation Defending Manor?”

“Very wealthy scions can form private factions based around a manor. They become a powerful network and means of support, and competition between the manors is encouraged by the sect within certain bounds. The Nation Defending Manor is one of the most famous of them, and many followed their lead. The Manor Lord, Scholar-General Tong, founded it to ensure our Three Rivers Kingdom always had capable generals and strategists.”

“Impressive. Did it work?”

“Oh yes.” She nodded grimly. “He’s the only senior with the title of Scholar-General in the sect. He is also the one controlling a large swath of the joint battlefront against Black Iron Gorge, or so I hear.”

Tian shook his head in wonder. Heaven Watching Scholars, who master Go and mathematics, and disdain fighting directly. Brother Long would love it here. Had he finally escaped the misery of his cell? Or was he still unable to step out and see the sky?

“Out of curiosity, Daoist Tian, how did you guess that?” Daoist Gongsung 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“Lots of little spots making shapes.” He shrugged. Hong snorted, but nodded. She was wearing the headscarf again, Tian noticed, and the long gloves. They must have been quite uncomfortable in the humidity and rain.

“Huh.” Daoist Gongsung realized she had made a less than ladylike sound and quickly pivoted. “This will keep away rain, insects, and most animals. If necessary, it can be empowered to stop greater threats. It is a highly practical camping array.”

Tian nodded amiably, and set to work setting up his tent. He still had the same tent he used in the desert. It remained an awkward sort of triangle shape, but it was adequate for his needs.

“Brother Wang, do you have your notes prepared?” Tian heard Sister Su ask.

“On balancing the legitimate interests of the state in distributing resources and the interests of the people in trading freely to maximize their own benefits? I do, but I warn you, it rehashes a lot of the same ground we covered in other discussions. Very similar to the question of ‘Can absolute freedom exist even in abstract?’”

“Eeeh?” Tian could somehow see Daoist Mei tilting her head and blinking her big eyes in confusion through the walls of the tent. He really wanted to know how she managed to get on this expedition. Even a spy should be somewhat capable, right? Wait-

“Grandpa, didn’t you say anyone who is friendly, helpful, capable, and encourages me to do crimes is a spy or an undercover member of the Disciplinary Squad?”

Yes. And I stand by that one hundred percent.

“So… Daoist Mei…”

This Mei girl is glued to your Brother Wang’s side. He’s not going to do a single thing she doesn’t know about, and if she does something a bit naughty, the big fella isn’t going to make a peep.

There was a pause, then a ghostly cough. Incidentally, you might take a moment and just… refresh your recollection of what you just learned about arrays, the complexity of setting them up, the significant background in mathematics and the sciences involved, then mentally draw a line from that to the fact that anyone you are meeting here is considered roughly on your level in another nation-dominating sect, and then finally connect that to the young lady in question. Who, I admit, looks like she would struggle to write her own name without taking her clothes off.

“Grandpa, what do her clothes-”

Absolutely nothing. Use your brain.

It didn’t take long. “She is a lot more competent, and smarter, than she looks? And her superiors know it?”

Yep. But Su is the interesting one to watch.

“Why?”

Not telling.

“It would take energy? Telling me about Sister Su would take energy?!”

No, not at all. I just want you to watch the show. It’s going to be spectacular.

Tian watched the acerbic, cool Su sitting on a camp stool. The relief in her aching body was subtle, but Tian knew her well enough to spot it. She was very glad to be off her crutches and getting stuck into her favorite hobby- verbal warfare with Brother Wang. He was grinning and enjoying the argument too. Especially since Mei was peeling tangerines and feeding Brother Wang the occasional slice.

She wasn’t being awful about it. She put some peeled fruit on a tray and passed it over to Sister Su. It’s just that Sister Su refused to even look at them. Was she afraid that they were poisoned?

Tian sighed and set out to ask the others if anyone knew how to cook. The crane looked as perplexed as he did. No food, strange noises, not much in the way of nesting material, Tian could feel her confusion.

“Sister Lin, I don’t suppose-”

“I don’t cook.” She cut him off hard. He sighed, and looked hopefully at the Daoists from the courtyard.

“Hungry, Daoist Tian? Not to worry. We brought a feast!”

The Courtyard had set out a long table with ten main dishes and fifty sides, to say nothing of the gem-like rice and flagons of wine in delicate porcelain bottles.

All naturally supported by illusion arrays. Tian smiled, cupped his hands, and ate a cold bun from his storage ring. That, at least, wouldn’t stab him in the back.