She walks, and it occurs to her that she does not know where she is. She is surrounded by hedges, walls of green that rise high above her head. Sometimes, the hedges make narrow corridors for her to walk through. Sometimes, they’ll lead her into fields of beautiful flowers. No matter what, the path never seems to end.
Eventually, Su Daji realizes that the paths made by the hedges bifurcate at certain points. When that happens, she can choose to go left or to go right. She can even choose between going back and going forward. It never occurred to her that she could do that. At first, she alternates. She picks left, then right, then left again. Then she starts picking left all the time. Finally, she settles on right.
It occurs to Su Daji that she does not know how much time has passed. Has it been minutes? Hours? Days? It is probably more. She cannot see any sun going up or down, but Su Daji knows she has been walking for a long time, enough to cross several countries on foot.
It occurs to her that she should be angry about this. Waking up in a strange place and forced to wander for days. These hedges…it’s a maze, isn’t it? Someone has trapped her in a maze! Why has she been going along with it! She should have jumped over the silly hedges from the start! As she realizes she can do it, Su Daji tries to leap over the hedges.
No matter how high she jumps, which is not that high for some reason, the hedges rise alongside her, denying her passage. The innocuous walls of green suddenly seem as imposing as the wall her father guarded when he was alive. Angry, she tries to tear down the hedges with her hands, but no matter how many leaves she rips out, there is always more.
Su Daji screams and stomps in anger. This should not be so difficult! Mere plants should be nothing against her power!
It feels so right, so natural, that Su Daji cannot believe it has taken her this long to call upon it. The torn leaves and small branches are scattered to the winds. She raises her hand, and her qi moves in tune with it. Her will pushes it outward, crashing against the hedge blocking her way.
It doesn’t do a thing.
Su Daji stares in disbelief. That makes no sense. A stupid hedge should not be capable of blocking her way. She can bring down entire nations! This is... This is…
Slowly, Su Daji takes a step back. With her Qi back, she can finally see the world for what it is. This labyrinth of hedges. This world with light yet no sun. The ever-present wind that is so faint only now she can sense it.
“Who is responsible for this?” She shouts, using her voice to form words for the first time. “Who dares cage me?! Answer!”
“You can talk now. I suppose that is a good thing.”
The wind stops blowing, and Su Daji immediately goes silent. The presence that falls upon her is not that impressive. At least, that’s what she keeps trying to tell herself. A more primal part of her being does not share that opinion. This person is beyond her, unreachable like the endless sky above her head. There can be no fight or struggle here.
“The Wandering Wind,” she breathes out before she realizes what she has done. She did not know that name before, but she does now. The Wandering Wind’s power is such that it reveals her identity to all she meets.
“That is what I am,” the green-cloaked woman says. “I used to have a different name once, but I never cared much for it. What shall I call you?”
“Su Daji,” she replies at once.
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“Interesting,” the Wandering Wind says. “He might not be happy about that.”
“He? Who are you talking about?!” She asks at the same time as a sharp pain stabs at her head. She winces and drops down on one knee, holding her head between her hands.
“Careful,” the Wandering Wind says. “You are still not well.”
“Why would you care?” Su Daji snaps, the pain making her forget caution. “You’re the one who trapped me here!”
“That is not inaccurate,” the Wandering Wind says, nodding. “However, you should consider your situation carefully, girl. Where exactly do you think you are right now? You have rediscovered your Qi. Use it. ”
Su Daji glares at the Wandering Wind through the pain. Nevertheless, she does as she’s told. Part of her thinks it is pointless. She already understands this place is not real. Most likely, it is an illusory realm or maybe even a spatial realm created by the Wandering Wind. However, the more her senses reach out, the deeper the frown on her face becomes.
“No…” she whispers as her Qi finally goes beyond the endless maze and feels the Wandering Wind’s hand holding the entire place together in the middle of a vast emptiness that should not be.
This place… It is not a spatial realm. It is not an illusory realm.
“Correct,” the Wandering Wind tells her. “This is your soul. At least, what’s left of it. You should be thanking me for holding it together.”
The Wandering Wind favors her with a smile, but Su Daji sees nothing to smile about. The pain in her head is suddenly not as important. She looks at the tall hedges around her in confusion.
“This?” She asks. “How can a place be my soul?”
Her soul should look nothing . It should be far grander! This silly maze is hardly fitting at all! Mazes are for little kids to play! She is a respected disciple of the Xiao Sect!
“Your soul was greatly damaged during an incident,” the Wandering Wind says, distracting her from her suddenly confusing thoughts. “I took it upon myself to help it mend, and the landscape you see before you is the result.”
The Wandering Wind waves a hand, and the hedges fade away, leaving behind a field full of flowers.
“You had no sense of self left, so I gave your soul this interpretation. Once your soul had an interpretation, you regained consciousness. As you wandered the maze, you took notice of the world around you and discovered choice. You noticed the passage of time and gained impatience. Impatience gave you anger, and anger gave you power. You speak, think, and recognize yourself now. However, that is still not enough.”
The field of flowers is suddenly replaced by a white marble floor. Su Daji looks around and realizes they are standing on a stage atop a tall peak surrounded by several smaller but very sharp rock formations. A gust of wind blows across the land, creating different sounds as it travels through the gaps between the rocks.
“Do you like it?” the Wandering Wind asks her. “I made it in the image of one of the training grounds of the Endlessly Raging Valley. I spent a lot of time here as a child. During the day, the sun shines so brightly that it can become blinding. At night, the temperatures drop drastically. Of course, the real foe is the wind.”
As soon as the Wandering Wind says it, a fierce gust of wind slams into them. Su Daji braces herself, but to her horror, the wind is so strong that it lifts her off her feet. Using half-remembered instincts, a single tail made of violet Qi pierces through the ground and anchors her to the ground.
“Very good,” the Wandering Wind says. “ If you’re not careful, the wind might carry you off. However, we might not need to spend much time here if you’re already capable of molding your Qi like that.”
“Why would we need to spend any time here at all?!” Su Daji yells while struggling to remain on the platform.
“I said it already, didn’t I? Your soul is damaged. I gave you time to find yourself, but the next step requires you to be placed in stressful situations,” the Wandering Wind tells her. “Haven’t you heard? People reveal their true selves during adversity.”
“That’s just a saying!” Su Daji yells, trying to make her voice heard over the wind. At that exact moment, the wind stops blowing. Without anything to keep her in the air, she falls on her face.
“But no less true because of it,” the Wandering Wind counters. “People make several choices throughout their lives, and those choices mold their souls. You have already made those choices. Some might say you have made them twice over. It would do you harm if we pretend that never happened.”
Su Daji takes a nervous step back. The air feels thinner now.
“That’s why I want you to think very carefully now,” the Wandering Wind says, casually walking towards her. “Who are you? What do you value? What do you want? We’ll push and push, and by the end of it all, we’ll know who you chose to be.”
With every step the Wandering Wind takes, Su Daji takes a mirror step back until she has her back to the edge. She can feel the emptiness behind her. She glances back and sees the long fall and the spiky rocks.
She looks to the front and sees the Wandering Wind and the wholly uninspiring smile on her face.
Her Qi blazes around her, fashioning itself into tails of Qi that wrap around her body to cushion her falls.
The fall never comes.
“That was an interesting choice,” the Wandering Wind says. She is floating in the air, holding her by her robes. “Let’s move to the next one.”