(Day 255)

More than five weeks of milling about the sect aimlessly had come to an end.  The splint bracing his right arm was gone, the nightmare of wearing the uncomfortable wrap at an end.  Chen Lei had approved the healing of the forearm and side.  Permission had finally been given to rejoin the daily training regimen.  

The first rush of excitement had been short lived.  The morning run had put an end to it.  On one hand, a month only practicing neigong had increased the internal energy Pengfei could bring to bear in his qinggong.  On the other hand, the long period of inactivity had robbed him of much of his physical fitness.  He had returned to the Medicine Hall before breakfast, only to be reassured that the renewed ache in his ribs was not a cause for concern.

The time spent with Chen Ji and the other students belonging to the Discipline Hall had been a rest physically, and a trial mentally.  During Pengfei’s convalescence the elder had set aside grueling exercises in favor of instructions on sect regulations.  All the laws and dictates they would need to know and enforce throughout the grounds of Kunlun.  Violations and their corresponding punishments.  

The dictates of the sect were highly complex and the lectures from Chen Ji quickly became technical as he explored the underpinnings of each statute.  Confucian ideals, Taoist and Buddhist doctrine, and Legalist precepts were all discussed.  The interplay between the various creeds became relevant as the elder discussed highly theoretical scenarios. 

‘A nun from Emei, a scholar, and a government official each destroy a document from Kunlun’s Scripture Hall.  Decide appropriate punishments for each individual, discuss possible mitigating factors based on creed, and explore possible diplomatic ramifications for the sect.’  

The lessons with Chen Ji were reminiscent of the time when all the sect’s disciples had studied academics together.  Those classes had also been full of theological material that bored Pengfei to tears, thankfully coming to an end when the Sect Leader announced a shift in focus.  A dedication to the martial arts as they prepared for a return to the Central Plains. 

Now, Pengfei could only hope Chen Ji would have a sudden mood change.  The disciple would gladly accept a raving outburst from the man and a tyrannical punishment.  Climbing the mountain on hands and knees, perhaps.  Anything to get away from the dry philosophical texts.

The group training in the afternoon was a welcome return to martial arts, but uneventful.  Forms and drills for the ‘Heaven Shaking Fist’.  Pengfei delighted in his body’s movement as he drove his knuckles through the air.  He even took some pleasure in the jian practice, though he quietly hoped that day would be the last time he needed to pick up the wooden training sword.  

He avoided all interactions with Neng, on the training ground and beyond.  Yet another of his fellow disciples that he did his best to ignore.  Luckily, Neng was in a different dormitory, so the extreme vigilance was only necessary during morning exercise, the afternoon practice, and meals. 

The twins kept Pengfei company at the dinner table, though silently.  He ate hurriedly and left them to do… whatever the brothers did when they kept each other company.  He walked quickly through the sect compound, toward the private training hall reserved for the elders.

Chen Rulan was already waiting for him.  The Taoist master sat on the wooden floor, but instead of reading a book, he was meditating in the lotus position.   The man opened his eyes when the disciple gently closed the door.  

Pengfei knelt in front of his teacher excitedly and the moment he had been waiting to experience for forty days finally occurred.  Chen Rulan slid a large box across the floor to the space between them.

“I’ve been dreaming of these at night.”  Pengfei said candidly.  He opened the box to find the twin short swords the elder had shown him in the sect’s clinic.  “What are they exactly?”

“I’m not sure.  I met a southerner who used them when I was young, before Kunlun closed its gates.  His technique made an impression, but I never caught the name of the weapon.  You can call them whatever you want.”

Pengfei smiled.  “Whatever they’re called, I’m excited to learn how to use them.  See how they complement the empty-handed martial arts.”

Chen Rulan reached into the box and picked up the swords.  He held them in his hands and took a stance, arms only slightly more extended than when he was bare-handed. 

“It’s definitely not a battlefield weapon.  And it won’t do much better in a duel.  The blades are short so the range is poor, but you’ll learn to gauge the distance quickly since it is so similar to the fist.”   

The elder held one blade in a block over his head while the other reached out front in a slash, then brought the guard forward for a follow up attack.  

“Two blades means simultaneous attack and defense.  And more flexibility in footwork.”  

Pengfei nodded along, already seeing some similarities with the ‘Heaven Shaking Fist’ and Shaolin’s ‘Arhat Fist’.  

Chen Rulan concluded his short demonstration and held out the swords.  Pengfei stood and took the proffered weapons with a bow, then said “I’m excited to learn, sir.”

The elder nodded.

Teacher and pupil each looked at the other expectantly

“…”

“…”

“What?”  Chen Rulan arched his brow at Pengfei.

“…I’m, I’m ready to learn, sir.  Where should we start?”

“We?  What do you mean we?”

“Aren’t you going to teach me how to use these, Elder Rulan?”

“I don’t have any idea how to use them.”

Pengfei couldn’t help it.  His mouth fell open in disbelief.  The elder bristled at the boy’s display.

“I never said – “

“You said I should learn these swords – “

“Yes, I said you should try them, but I never said I would teach you.”

Pengfei found his voice rising, his face flushing in exasperation.

“Wasn’t the whole point of switching to these short swords that they’d be easier for me to learn while studying the fist?  That’s not true if I have to figure it out myself, invent a new style from scratch!” 

“Watch your tone, you little shit.  You have a bad habit of forgetting you’re not a young lord anymore.” The elder chided with a mild annoyance, but no real anger.  

“Sorry, elder.  I forgot myself for a moment.”

Pengfei bowed.

–Does everyone know I came from money?– 

As the disciple wondered just how transparent his past was, the elder softened his gaze and offered a bit of wisdom.  “The progress with this new weapon might be slower in the beginning.  But in the long it will be much more efficient.

“If I can figure it out myself.”

“Every martial artist must figure some things out for themselves.  Or be relegated to mediocrity.  These swords are just the start of your problems.  Now, put them away and practice something I can actually offer advice on.”

Pengfei bent to replace the swords in their wooden box and found two more pieces of new equipment. Leather sheaths for the swords, previously hidden by the blades themselves.  He slid the swords home, then set them down in the box.  

Chen Rulan observed as the disciple cleared his mind with a deep breath and began the first form of the ‘Arhat Fist’. 

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(Day 263)

Pengfei sat in his saddle, circulating his internal energy.   A horse’s back was an unusual place to practice neigong.  Generally, the animals needed too much supervision.  You had to pull them this way and that, yank their heads away from tufts of grass, or catch yourself when the animal shied away from a stick that happened to look a bit like a snake.

But Horse was different.  She was surefooted, moving with a regular gait no matter the terrain.  Utterly unflappable.  If she suddenly bucked, it would not be out of surprise or fear, but a deliberate choice to dislodge her rider.  And while she and Pengfei still had their moments of conflict, she ceased hostilities when the disciple moved his qi through his body.

He had first this strange compliance from Horse a few nights ago.  He had sat on the ground to circulate his energy as the herds grazed about him.  When he opened his eyes again, he found the mare sitting on her rear in a peculiar imitation of his own pose.  

At first alarming, since that posture was normally a symptom of pain or weakness in the animals.  But closer inspection could not reveal any underlying complaint.  The animal’s motivation genuinely seemed to be tied to Pengfei’s practice.  An imitation?  Guarding him during his time of vulnerability?  Or maybe just observing.  

The strange behavior led to experimentation.  Neigong as they rode at a walk.  Short stints but increasing in length each time.  Today had been the longest journey yet.  Pengfei ceased his practice now and found himself at the mouth of the canyon where he had fought Guoyu.  

He had closed his eyes just outside of camp and opened them again here.  At the stable pace Horse kept, it would have taken a few hours.  And when he came back to the reality of the external world, the mare was just standing quietly with him atop her back.  Allowing him to conclude his practice in his own time. 

–Wonder how long we’ve been here?–

Night had fallen, giving some small indication of the passage of hours.  Pengfei reached down and patted Horse’s neck in appreciation of her indulgence.

A whistle from behind took both mount and rider by surprise.  Horse wheeled around and Pengfei reached for the short swords he had tucked into a saddle bag.

Nanxi held up his hands in faux surrender.   He stood several paces away, his own horse grazing under the moonlight a bit further off. 

“If you’re that skittish, maybe you should pay more attention.”

“Fair enough.  Why’d you follow me?”  Pengfei relaxed, letting the blades in his hands drop back down into his satchel.  

“Thought it was strange you were leaving camp so late in the day.  What are you doing out here?”

Pengfei turned in his saddle to look back toward the canyon.  The high reaches of the snowcapped mountains had begun to thaw slightly in the late summer sun.  Now, the icy waters flowed through the high rock walls and what had been a dry streambed only a month ago.  It trickled along the valley floor and joined the larger river flowing north. 

“I took care of them before the snowmelt” Nanxi declared.

“What?”

“The bodies.  That’s why you came out here, right?”

Pengfei nodded solemnly.  “Yeah, I’ve been freaking out while I was stuck up in the sect.  Worried someone might find them.”

“The others have been getting more comfortable riding.  Started exploring more.”  Nanxi’s words filled Pengfei with anxiety.  “I figured it was only a matter of time till they made it up here and started exploring.  Or the stream would wash a skull out into the open…  so, I cleaned up a few weeks ago.”

“You  -?”  Pengfei shot his friend a questioning look and received smiling nod in response. 

“Nanxi…thanks.  So much.  I don’t know how to – “

Nanxi held up a hand to stem the tide of gratitude, approached closer and gave Horse a pat on the flank.  “It’s fine.  They were just bones by that point.  Like picking up rocks.”

“What did you do with them?”

“Carried them up the mountain to the charnel ground.  Where the elders give bodies of the dead to the mountain.  Do you know it?”

Pengfei nodded, recalling the place.  Where his friend Neng’s corpse had been fed to the carrion birds.  A local Buddhist practice the sect had adopted.

Nanxi continued, “I burned some Joss paper, did a sword ritual.  Put some of the things Elder Zhi taught me to use.”

“Wow.  Your master is making a proper Taoist out of you.”

“Under this handsome exterior is the placid heart of one who follows the Dao.” 

They chuckled, the gravity of the place fading.  With the bodies of Guoyu and his brother gone, it was just a canyon again.  

The only thing that still gave Pengfei pause was the memory of – 

A roar sounded from above them on the ridgeline.  A chill ran up his spine and his stomach sank.  Nanxi’s mount bolted to the south at the murderous sound.

“What was – !”

“Shhh!”  Pengfei commanded to his friend, reached out his hand to steady Horse who was making ready to follow the other mare.  “Don’t move!”

He looked up slowly, not wanting to see what he knew was there. 

“I was really hoping that part of your story was bullshit!”  Nanxi hissed at him, following his gaze.

“Afraid not…”

An enormous beast was standing on top of the ridge, lit from behind by the moon. A shape against the sky, at first indiscernible from the rock except for its movement.  It descended the cliff, moving in small leaps and long strides, practically running straight down the rock.  

“We should go!”  Nanxi pleaded.

“No!  Chen Ji said not –“

“Who cares what the old bat said!”

“Running almost got me eaten last time!  Just stay still!”

Pengfei rubbed Horse’s neck soothingly, whispering to her like a restless child.  The animal shivered but held its place.  Nanxi was likewise racked with tremors.  He took a step indecisively, stopped, started again.  But the Mountain King was bounding across the valley towards them at an incredible clip.  The moment to flee had passed.  Pengfei reached out and grabbed his friend’s collar, pulled the other boy tight against Horse’s flank.

A cloud passed in front of the moon and the world went black.  They lost all trace of the approaching leopard as its mottled form was consumed by the night.  A predator, made to disappear into the dull grey tones of the mountains, given even more cover than it needed.

Seconds passed where the two young men could hear nothing except their own breathing and the wind.  

–I should just close my eyes and wait for this to be over… one way or the other.–

He knew intellectually there was nothing to be done against the beast.  If he looked, he would only see death coming with a gaping jaw and sharp teeth.  But his eyes searched the darkness nonetheless.

Seconds became a minute and then two.

“There!” Nanxi whispered, without daring to point.  But Pengfei still found the bright eyes.  They glinted against what little light was left to them.

The cloud cover passed and suddenly there he was.  The head that held the eyes was low to the ground, suspended by a powerful neck between towering shoulders.  Muscles rippled beneath black and grey fur.

The growl was so low that it was imperceptible at first, but it rose in volume and pitch until the air vibrated with it.

Pengfei swallowed dryly and darted a quick glance to Nanxi, whose chin was receding backwards into his neck and squinting his eyes against what he was seeing.

Horse took one shaking step backwards, then Pengfei grabbed a handful of mane and pulled against her motion.  

“Hold.  Still.”  he forced through his teeth.  

Time crept slowly on.  So long, that a curious desperation overrode Nanxi’s common sense.

“How …long… do we… do this?”

Pengfei took in the snow leopard.  Larger than any of its kind had a right to be.  There was only one logical answer to Nanxi’s question.

“As long… as he wants”