Chapter 82: Women, Children, and Elderly Folks
The meeting began with each Claw of the Phoenix and each Dragon Lord providing a detailed report of their division, including the martial arts skills of all their key disciples, where those disciples were hiding in the Banyan, and any developments in those areas.
Secret codes and methods of communication had been established whereby the entire sect could be mobilized within days, and meet in any number of predetermined meeting points, including Zun Shan, Chrysanthemum Lake, the Falls of Sura, or even more distant locations such as Zun City, Huisheng, or Xuanlu.
Li Runfa was the last to present his report. Being the spymaster of the sect, he naturally had access to deeper resources than the other leaders.
“After the death of the Timeless Master, the Demon Emperor turned his attention to other powerful martial artists in the empire, and issued warrants calling for their arrest or death. In fact, he already captured the Twin Giants of the Zhaoze Swamp. All of the top martial artists have gone into hiding, and unfortunately, since the Timeless Master was the one taking the lead, we don’t have any way of contacting them all. In fact, we don’t even know the full extent of how many martial artists were part of the alliance.
“What I find even more worrisome is that almost immediately after the Grotto of the Timeless Master fell, the Bone Slicers began to recruit heavily. Although I don’t have precise figures, their numbers have likely quadrupled in the recent months.
“I fear that they are planning something….”
“That monster Geng Long is still the Bone General?” Bao asked.
“Yes, Phoenix Sovereign. No attempts to take his life have been successful. According to my reports, I suspect he’s long since reached the Profound Master level.”
Bao frowned. “Kill one Bone General and another worse one pops up in his place.”
“Indeed.”
After a moment of silence, Sunan said, “What about Sun Mai?”
“His teachings grow more popular with every new scripture that he puts into circulation. However, the fact that Sun Mai himself is such a powerful martial artist makes him just as much a target of the Demon Emperor as any of us. He tends to stick to the more remote parts of the empire, preaching and gathering followers for his religion.”
“Gathering followers?” Sunan said, sounding a bit surprised. “Religion?”
Li Runfa chuckled. “Yes, only a few years ago, he began to call his teachings by the name Qi Zhao. In Classical Fei, that means--”
“Rising light?” Bao said. “Something like that?”
“That’s right,” Li Runfa said. “According to my latest reports, Sun Mai was last seen in the western parts of the Dai Bien Forest, not too far from here, actually.”
Sunan looked over at Wang Tian. “Is there any way we could reach out to him? I have some important matters I wish to discuss….”
**
Somewhere beneath the streets of Yu Zhing was a wide corridor, in the middle of which was a channel filled with flowing water. At the end of the corridor was a wooden door, heavily guarded by burly men in bone armor. Beyond the door, which was bolted and barred from the inside, was a chamber that had been decorated with countless bone sculptures.
In the middle of the chamber was an enormous bone table, seated around which were several men all wearing bone armor far more ornate than that worn by the guards outside. Only one person at the table wasn’t clad in armor. He was the rather handsome man who lounged in the seat of honor, wearing black silk robes and a crown that appeared to be made from interlocking fingerbones.
One of the other men at the table was middle-aged, with a long scar running down the side of his neck. “Bone General Geng,” he said, “the recruitment quotas have all been met, and the training is going well.”
“How much longer until the plan can be carried out?” Geng Long asked.
“In terms of training,” the man with the scar said, “immediately. Each squad will be led by one of the Bone Slicer Elites, with the new recruits mostly serving as muscle and extra hands.”
Another man at the table was young, with cold eyes and thin lips. Leafing through a pile of paper in front of him, he said, “The Bone Slicer Elites are all here in Yu Zhing. From the time you issue the order to execute the operation, until they all reach their target destinations, and then strike, I would say less than a month. Presumably, the best thing would be to set a specific date upon which to act. Give them plenty of time to arrive in the destination and scout things out.”
Geng Long nodded. “Any developments with the Dragon-Phoenix Sect?”
The cold-eyed young man shook his head. “They remain in hiding, and we only have tabs on about a quarter of their disciples. As for the leaders, we are fairly certain they fled south, either to join the Scorpion Swordsman in Zhe Valley, or Hua Pi the Skin Dancer in the Dai Bien Forest.”
“No word of Bao or Sunan?”
The only response was another shake of the head.
“Dammit,” Geng Long said. “I was sure that the death of that scum Li Buwei would draw them out of hiding. They must have had children. That’s the only explanation for why they would leave for so long.” A sinister gleam appeared in his eyes. “If we could include those children in this plan, then everything would be perfect.”
“Bone General,” said the man with the scar, “after the first stage of the plan is carried out, and we move onto the second, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dragon Sovereign and the Phoenix Sovereign show their faces.”
“If they don’t,” said the cold-eyed young man, “then by the time they do, it will be too late.”
**
Fifteen years of absence couldn’t be made up for in a single afternoon meeting. Days began to speed by in which Bao and Sunan were brought up to speed on all the details of things happening in the empire.
Plans were hatched, and strategies outlined, as the Dragon-Phoenix Sect prepared to pick up where the Timeless Master had so tragically left off.
Wang Tian left to track down Sun Mai, and in a very strange turn of events, returned only a week later.
Sun Mai was with him, as well as a few of Sun Mai’s disciples.
He and Sunan embraced, and then Sunan clasped his shoulder. “What are you doing here?!”
Sun Mai smiled. “Last month I had a dream in which I learned of your imminent return. How could I not come to see my brother?”
“You couldn’t have come at a better time. Bao and I have some dreams to discuss with you, and some poetry.”
“Ah.” Sun Mai’s eyes glittered. “The poem is done?”
Sunan nodded.
“Excellent,” Sun Mai said. “Over the years, I’ve meditated on the subject quite a bit, and I have some insights you’ll find particularly interesting.”
“We can talk more later, first let’s catch up on years past. Are you almost finished with your scripture?”
“I’m reaching the end. Look.” He pulled a bamboo scroll out of his sleeve. “The latest volume. I’ve yet to share it publicly.”
**
When Liu Shasha sold her last steamed bun of the day, she packed up her vendor’s cart and began to push it through the cramped streets of Zun City toward her little house on the edge of the city. Tucked into the palm of her left hand was a tiny roll of paper that a random customer had handed her along with a few spades for a bag of buns.
After pushing her cart some distance away from her usual selling spot, she ducked into an alley, looked around to make sure she was alone, and then unrolled the tiny slip of paper.
A tiny line of characters appeared, which she couldn’t even read without putting the piece of paper right in front of her nose.
Shasha, I hope you are well. Good news! Momentous events are coming, and we may be reunited soon. Please kiss the children for me. - Tian
Liu Shasha sighed as she ripped the paper into tiny bits and scattered them in the alley. “Stay safe, husband,” she murmured. “Come back to us soon.”
With that, she continued pushing her cart down the street until she arrived at home.
Liu Shasha sold steamed buns, but she was not just a simple street vendor. Her husband was Wang Tian, who led the Eyes of the Phoenix for the Dragon-Phoenix Sect. Although Liu Shasha was only a member of the outer sect, her husband had taught her a bit of martial arts. She had even made a breakthrough with Qi cultivation, which made her far tougher and able to take care of herself than the average woman.
Furthermore, she was cautious by nature, and was not the type to blithely stroll through life unawares. As such, she immediately noticed that the main gate of the residence was open. Considering that her parents were responsible for watching over her two-year-old toddler and five-year-old child, that gate was normally kept shut and barred from the inside.
But here it was cracked open, as though someone had just entered or left.
Eyes narrowing, Liu Shasha reached into the fold of her robe and pulled out a curved knife from Dhamma that her husband had given her as a gift years ago.
Abandoning her vendor’s cart, she stepped forward carefully, knife held in a ready position.
After pushing the gate open carefully, she looked into the courtyard beyond it, but didn’t see anyone or anything.
“Sheng’er?” she said. “Ling’er? Mother? Father?”
There was no response.
Keeping her knife ready, she stepped into the courtyard. As she did, she detected a blur of motion with her peripheral vision, coming from the left. However, despite her modest abilities in martial arts, she was completely incapable of reacting. In the blink of an eye, the figure to her left stabbed his finger into her wrist and then her neck. Her hand loosened, and even as the knife fell to the ground, she began to collapse downward.
Before she fell to the ground, the figure reached out and caught her.
Suddenly, she found herself staring into the face of a man wearing a set of bone armor.
“A feisty one, huh?” the man said. Chuckling, he threw her over his shoulder, which was when she caught sight of her children and her parents, bound, gagged, and leaning up against the far wall of the courtyard, flanked by two tough-looking men in grayish garments.
The man holding Liu Shasha crouched down and then leaped into the air, flying up until he was on the courtyard wall. “Grab the rest of them and let’s get going,” he said. “We have two more set of targets in Zun City before we leave for the north.”
**
In the dense forest north of Huisheng was a lake whose shores were covered with black and white stones. Close to the lake was a small encampment occupied by a few of the wives of some lower-ranking members of the Dragon-Phoenix Sect, as well as their children, and a few old-timers. They had only been camped here for a few months. The location had been selected mostly because it was a few days outside of the city, a place that few people would ever visit for casual purposes.
The lake teemed with fish, and there were plenty of berries, roots, vegetables, and even fruits available for foraging in the forest. Combined with a few pigs and chickens brought from the city, it was the perfect location to get away from the world for a short time.
However, when three men in bone armor showed up, flanked by a group of ten muscular fellows in gray clothing, the little camp devolved into terror.
Within minutes, the entire group of nearly two dozen women, children and old-timers were bound and thrown over the shoulders of the men, who disappeared into the forest.
**
In locations all over the empire, from Yu Zhing and Xuanlu to the Zhaoze Swamp and depths of the Banyan Region, similar scenes played out. In a single day, hundreds if not thousands of women, children, and elderly folks were snatched up and taken away.