Fatherly Asura

A plum falls.

It carries but one seed.

One sapling.

In one [Spring], a thousand, and the next, half.

Pollen grows it, the Qi sustains it, and the sun nourishes all.

What if one seed replenishes the tree?

What yield is harvested when it needs not one [Winter] to blossom, but an absent thought some nine [Seasons] later?

In harvest, the trees’ Patriarchs might sodden a forest floor.

Age empowers yield as equal to rain and shine.

What then, if this trunk has grown for longer than mountains have stood?

Immortal boughs reach far indeed.

“The Many Zhus of Zhu,” by Zhu Zhu, Scholar of the Plum Owl Sect

Tanshuai’s opposite took stage atop this axe’s haft, and so it began.

The looming of blades.

WIth barely so much as a peripheral view of this cultivator and her partner, Fu felt an immediacy of presence upon his neck. A threat equal parts noose and axe, daring his movement against what could be no less than a mountain’s strength.

He stole a breath.

His head rolled from his shoulders.

Sweat slickened his brow, and the mere thought of dabbing it aside had this violence repeat.

[Killing Intent], honed.

In the moments after this plum-eyed Vajra had delivered her first words, his mind had shown his death some dozen times. It brought him to worry over Zhu, who stood in similar stillness to he.

Indeed-

“I’ve no love for this association,” he sighed. “Go, plum-blind girl. Whatever you seek is not within our possession.”

His sister was not amused. “Bold little brother, perhaps you are deaf? Tales of the lesser children are of no consequence, but to think you are so defective. Almost a pity. Kowtowbefore your betters.”

Fu could not suppress a garbled cry as he felt his neck sever twice, alongside all the pain this might inflict.

Mental trickery. A monster indeed.

“Venerable cultivator,” Fu choked, and the ground embraced him.

“Filth, that I lower myself to speak to him does not grant you leave to address me,” she snapped.

[Killing Intent] buried Fu’s face within the ash, invoking lungfuls to further choke him.

Zhu’s next words were muffled for it. “You act out of turn. What fool dares do such amidst a sea of foes? Begone with you, I’ll not repeat myself.”

That transgression saw Fu suffer further, for he then faced an onslaught of mental blows with each crueler than the last.

Flashes. Blood. Pain. Pressure.

These moments passed and his very being trembled against the winnowing.

We cannot be unmade so swiftly after escape- what fresh trial is this? For what purpose and for why?

Ash clumped as Fu brought his fingers together, foisting his own [Intent] into the surrounding space so he might breath.

The woman looked down with disdain, and then, beyond. “Oh? This is clearly no ally of you, little brother.”

Fu could do naught but struggle as a fresh force arrived at their standstill. Through blearing eyes and the madness of this day, he saw the man.

Two ivory [Spirit Stoats] accompanied him, playful and abound in orbit of their cultivator. A beast carved from pristine ice, so regal was his bearing and so perfect were his features. When he breathed, snow fell from his lips.

“It cannot be you,” he shook, his volume that of shattering bergs. “Yet a confrontation stands here? Greetings, children of the [Plum Axe]. Unknown friend.”

Zhu’s sister brought her axe closer. “We hold private talks, cultivator.”

“Ah, ah!” the man corrected casually. “I mean no disrespect, friends. The solitude of these [Imperial Realms] have lost much of my manners, and for that I offer apology. I am Shuang.”

If a treasure exists to have Clear Sky Cultivators emerge here, then it is surely the [Splinter’s] presence.

Fu put a hand to Kavya’s prone form, and produced a flask to nourish her cracked lips.

Withdrawal from his suppressed spatial ring clearly drew the plum sister’s eye, but other matters held her occupied. “Shuang. Twin [Spirit Stoats]. You are the personal disciple of the [Cherry River Sword]. To know all that I know, we have arrived for the same reason.”

Shuang was currently displacing ash from his ear. “Many hands make light work! Though I will say that this treasure is of personal interest to me, I would be gracious if you three might stand aside when we come upon it.”

Cherry River. Plum Axe. Two pillars stand here, and we, lesser fragments of the greatest among five.

“We would first have to come to an understanding, friend Shuang,” interjected Fu. “Familial or no, this Mistress of Plums had waylaid us with violence. Uncertainty is a common currency within this [True Orchid Path]. Sadly, our trust wears thin.”

A sudden burst of [Killing Intent] rose with Fu as its target, only to be… severed.

Cut by the air itself.

“You dare! The Maiden of Snow-Dappled Plums will not be second guessed. Cultivator Shuang, place no trust in this moon-facing mortal.”

The [Dao] have not named her. A moniker then. Yet useless if we cannot find a way from this situation.

“There is enough incivility here, Maiden of Snow-Dappled Plums. I cannot claim to know you, but [Karma] weaves strangely, and I think this matter above the business of families. You seek what I seek, no? Marking us as rivals.”

Zhu was motionless, and Tanshuai mirrored this. Enterrored still, to foreign eyes. His brother knew better, reading the smallness of his lips.

“Poison,” they moved.

Shuidi’s prior attempt as [Senses] had proved painful, but perhaps in distraction…

“Disciple of [Cherry River Spear], Plum Maiden,” he called, gaining at least half the reaction he sought. “I plead we move elsewhere. My junior weakens by the moment.”

Horror was the heartbeat that brought Shuang to Kavya’s side, swifter than light. A coldness of blue hummed from his palm, and again when he lowered a [Pill] into her mouth. “Forgive my oversight, friends, greed must not come before righteousness! And my master is the [Cherry River Sword], I bid you not forget twice.”

Kavya was replenished in mere moments, proving joyous as she rose.

The Plum Maiden was incensed. “Plum Maiden,” she intoned. “My magnanimity spares you, fool, but I will take that other arm if such disrespect continues.”

“This conversation reflects the [Seasons] well, Maiden of Snow-Dappled Plums, but a cycle is not what I seek,” Shuang announced, granting ample room once Kavya’s health was certain. “Where is the-”

Sister, search swiftly, lest our fate be sealed. I wish to know of this poison.

“-essence of [Primordial Law]?”

Vocation spared the assassins from reaction. But might it have been joy?

Zhu spoke immediately. “[Primordial Law]. I’d seek answers.”

“[Primordial Law]? Akin to a [Law of Origin]?” said Fu with the same immediacy.

Shuang and the Plum Maiden held eyes only for each other. “The young hold no falsehood I might sense,” said the former.

“Yet it was here. A fragment of its true power. That they stand after their ordeal proves that it was not employed against them. Do not be fooled by their fake innocence.”

“Ordeal?” said Shuang, scratching his chin.

Is this man truly a disciple of the [Cherry River Sword]? Thousand Shore City held farmers with more bite.

“An encounter of little consequence,” scoffed the Plum Maiden.

Finally, Shuidi recoiled, and the pain shared through their link was excruciating. Fu found himself doubled over swiftly, coughing blood upon the ash.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Poison. This is what Zhu did not understand. She holds Imperial poison within her, enough for a lifetime.

“Little consequence to a Green,” spat Fu. “Venerable Shuang. We beseech you, knowing nothing of this [Primordial Law]. All we seek is to return to hiding.”

An arm braced Fu from beneath, and Zhu levelled his tong fa with the other. “The [Plum Axe] casts his seed far. That lustful bastard- No. I’ve no care for these implications. Friend Shuang, that foreign sister is Imperial and plum-marked both.”

“Truly?” remarked Shuang.

His [Spirit Stoats] ceased bounding, and came to stand erect.

All ash ceased blowing as the Plum Maiden’s [Spirit Butterfly] flew from her haft, a severity of cold stretching forth.

“Perceptive little rats, are you not?” she cursed. “No matter. I have little love for mystery and games. All will be answered soon.”

A calamity of ice immediately crossed the intervening distance, jagged as if a sea of frozen blades. It rushed, leaving Fu’s lacking [Might] little time to-

Shuang was there, a palm outstretched to part the Plum Maiden’s devastation. “A matter for your elder, friends. Fly, and I will have words with this oddity.”

Fu expelled a long breath.

Have the Heavens known more madness than this day?

“Gratitude, venerable Shuang,” he finally managed, collecting the attention of his Wayward Winds. “May we meet again in less interesting times.”

🀦

The [Northwind Passing] had not relented, nor could the passage of time be marked while ash continued to spill across the realm.

For this reason, and all others, Fu sought refuge.

At a bathhouse some few li from the currently inert [Paifang], an attendant was made impossibly wealthier. The servers within shared this same fate, ecstatic, for their wages were meagre during the quiet period of the festivities.

Closed for twenty four days, as this [Celestial Event] demanded each passing moon.

“Gratitude once more, sisters,” Fu bowed to the Yellows. “We were caught short by this passing storm, it is my lack of prudence that has brought trouble to your door.”

Youthful and pleasant, the lead attendant bowed. “Amitabha. It is no trouble.”

“Blessings of [Spring] upon you,” he shared, holding the screen until these helpful souls had left down a long corridor.

His Wayward Winds entered thereafter.

Among the bathhouses this former fisherman had frequented in his time, this held no special amenities. A place of expense, for he saw glass at the vast bath’s flooring, and a river of well-heated liquid beneath.

Zhu unrobed within moments, prompting Kavya’s head to turn faster in a fashion that belied her current [Might].

But not averted.

“Disciple, while there’s no harm in looking, the Sect frowns on such things,” he shared, posturing until his junior’s expression showed her cup was filled. “The bath is large, regardless.”

He lowered, and Kavya flinched to attention.

“Venerable Ivory Sea, if you would,” Fu smiled, seeing much of Yuling in the mask of severity she held. His mood settled as the [Shaded Vestiges Knot] unfurled, delivering their broken companion into shadow.

Contents spilled from his spatial ring, called only by the summation of ice.

Quantities spilled from the Three Intricacies vault, collections by his disciples, and that of their recent reaping of Green. All arrayed around the unconscious form of Ivory Sea.

Fu’s forefingers crushed a string of frigid cherries into her mouth, ignoring all the pain this brought. Ice spread upon the pair as he smeared their juice upon her brow, following with a vial of unnatural water. Frozen and plentiful with [Frost Qi], and the next, [Ice Qi], [Snow Qi], [Soul Qi] tinctures and thirteen individual applications.

Neither were his partners idle, for Shuidi drew in the same strokes.

[Origin Qi] flooded from her malady to offset the frigid burn of her healing treasures. Amidst it all, Fu felt how fatigued they truly were. But he would maintain this, yes, until what was required had come to pass.

Ivory Sea coughed as his sixty third pitcher vanished.

A fitting tithe.

“Peace, peace,” Fu nursed, turning her head as crystalline vomit gushed from her mouth. “Be still. Kavya, fresh robes, and clean water. The composition does not matter.”

His disciple winced upon contact, but pressed on despite the sheerness of cold that assailed her working hands. The robes were changed swiftly, and Fu’s eyes returned.

Her [Spirit] wanes in the face of this… it is deterioration. How long can she continue without cure?

What followed was grueling, and it did - follow. Fu need not describe it.

So passed their hours. So continued the ash. Set against a chorus of rhythmic breathing that finally had the Wayward Winds sit at ease.

A similar display to Ivory Sea’s rejuvenation occurred now, if in treasures and not by any fault of injury. Kavya and her [Spirit Centipede] did not vomit, but perused a litany of [Dark Qi] aligned items now released from spatial storage.

“If we are to remain, it is only right,” offered Fu. “I foresee few occasions for which you might be interrupted. Use this as a small opportunity, disciple.”

His junior bowed first, and set uncertain hands to search the treasures. Fu thought it an exercise in restraint, for he spoken a limit to what she might take. He held no use for such an [Affinity], nor Zhu, and what use were fresh nets if they never touched the water?

Propriety won out when Kavya took but three treasures. A wrap of night-black leaves, the shedding of some [Spirit Insect’s] carapace, and a set of bi shou - pristine daggers to replace the standard set she held.

Fu passed one of the Green’s spatial bracelets. “To store your future wealth, Kavya. Gratitude for all you have done thus far.”

Parting words were exchanged before she found a cordoned area of the bathhouse.

Then the impressions came.

“Strange that you’d commit unspeakable acts with your juniors, yet undressing before them is where you draw the line.”

Fu smiled. “An effort to maintain decency. Udvah has his humour, and I have manners. Clearly you hold no such ideals, brother.”

Steam fizzled from Zhu’s footsteps as he crossed the room for wine, motioning with a second bottle as his only response.

“It might ease this conversation,” agreed Fu, entering the waters. Fragrant and of enough temperature to ease the violence from his muscles.

“[Primordial Law]. My Imperial-borne kin. Our inability.”

The impressions from his partners ceased as the rejuvenating waters took hold. Hushi and Shuidi well sated now that one third of their soul became untroubled.

“When captured, Ivory Sea alluded to [Constellation Seeds]. Her words - “[Constellation Seeds]. Some Paths require their loss. To complete a [Primordial Constellation Gate] twice. Thrice,” [Intermediary Wisdom] relayed, verbatim. “Power beyond the already secreted treasures.”

“[Primordial Constellation Gate]. We’ve discussed this before. A Gate. All beneath Heaven is frustratingly vast, no? Primordial does not guarantee association. Yet, I crave whatever it might be if it’s a cousin to that ice.”

All within the waters shared this view.

“Broken as she is.”

Zhu nodded. “Yes. Even broken as she is. Could it be a [Dao Principle]? She’s spoken of her weakness, but truth is not required.”

“She shares your chambers, that is no question for me to ask.”

“The brand of truth heard within my chambers is hard to falsify,” stated Zhu. “But passion and cultivation do not align there. If I’d a notion of [Primordial Law], I wouldn’t share it with any but my brother.”

“Master Ban might. Or such knowledge might be a suitable exchange with [Of Perennial Shade].”

Tanshuai stirred at their master’s name.

“We’ve two [Splinters]. No. You hold two [Splinters]. Treat with them as you will,” said Zhu.

A blur, and one of the divine bones splashed before him.

“We hold one each,” corrected Fu.

“Hmm. This would be a poor time to chastise your efforts when captured then. How you sought to outmatch a late-stage cultivator’s [Pull]. Yes, I’ll not mention that. Instead, we’ll speak on the ceaseless list of concerns aside.”

Fu smiled. “Most kind.”

An intensity held in Zhu’s gaze, despite his flippant comment. Then silence for a time, extending until both were dry and clothed.

Without prompting, the [True Orchid Path] was opened. Zhu’s own fragment set atop a low table, aside which cushions held both cultivators still. “The [Plum Axe] has a guessable history. Nor have you ever been concerned with it- with my own or that of my thousand brothers.”

Curious of other affairs, Shuidi retrieved Fu’s spatial ring. Documents soon appeared to the side of this conversation, and faint impressions passed between she and the venerable catfish within their soul.

A patient smile had Zhu continue.

“To live beneath the [Plum Axe’s] roof is to be lavished. Childhood followed as any scion of a great clan’s might. Benefits unceasing, and his personal attention. I’ve no shame in saying that I sought it, for a time. As a father, to see him was to see the sun, and to be seen, well. If this is the same for all fathers and their spawn, then I’ve no comparison.”

“They might hope,” nodded Fu, a gesture shared by Hushi.

Zhu’s hands flexed about his bottle’s neck, but did not touch it. “[Karma], and [Dao] concerning love, connection and relationship. His Path of Severance. A single look turns man, woman and [Spirit Beasts] into lustful fools, and maddens those that aren’t chosen. The rejection is worse later, when a child is born to one of these myriad partners. I’d expect my birth mother took her own life, as the scores of others have.”

The bottle was upended.

“You need not speak on it.”

It was Tanshuai that interjected here, shaking as she landed atop his douli. Radiant in plum as her [Intent] leaked in melancholy tones.

Between brothers, such emotion would never be judged.

“The rest is sadness, and competition. We’d foster connections with siblings, those who don’t know more than the interior of his palaces and the threat of losing his affection. Such closeness weaves [Karma] finer than an immortal’s talent. A riper plum for severing when an abundance is felled in one stroke,” continued Zhu. “If your kin don’t slay you first, for this is much ingrained as a need. As a means of sealing his attention. What’s terrifying, brother, is that his reach extends even here.”

Terror. That is a word unspoken from his lips.

Fu proffered a filled saucer. “An Imperial of Plums.”

Such a term hung there, cloying like the bathhouse’s steam.

“The Plum bastard knew of Abundant [Spring]. His [Mantra of Heavenly Plums] has defiled across Empires,” Zhu said.

“Then perhaps, he was not alone in his knowing.”

A grand interruption of [Dark Qi] showed in Kavya’s corner, pulling both ghost’s faces consternate.

Their opinion might well have matched, but too many topics were parsed for another distraction.

Her absorption of the treasure… Much of the Qi held within, a purity and wealth of [Dark Qi], escaped into the ether as she consumed it.

As if a cloth wrung above half-closed lips.

Unrefined. Wasteful.

“An embodiment of concern,” said Zhu. “Unrefined. No. Wasteful. Yellow at best.”

Perhaps this was no distraction from topics after all.

Fu stroked his whisker. “All this binds together, does it not?”

“We’re no less blind than our arrival. Yes. Foolishly stumbling about all that’s not understood. A [Splinter] is divine enough to garner [Of Perennial Shade’s] attention, and with two, what might we do? [Primordial Law] surfaces, troubles us with visitations from the powerful, and still we stumble. The machinations of immortal bastards are not our concern- but we’ll not be blunted.”

The emotion shown by his brother was indeed profound. As rare as phoenix feathers. A storm across unflinching stone.

Against so heartfelt a speech, Fu returned his own. “Let us not stutter in weakness. We have taken one step into Green and found ourselves lacking. East holds fire, and west, a tempest. What might Blue hold? Plainly, brother, my limits have been reached.”

Zhu firmed his jaw. “As vice-leader, I agree. Master Ban holds no use for dead disciples, nor will I cast our lives aside. Yuqi, Yuling and Feng will not be orphaned because I’ve spared my thoughts. Our reconnaissance must end.”

“I would not deprive them of an uncle,” half-smiled Fu. “Master Ban weathered the [Twilight Lotus Expanse]. This may well be my first shame as a cultivator, but he must remain in Blue. If the [Ink] even reads as such.”

“Foundations then,” agreed Zhu.

“Seclusion. For no more than a [Season]. Long have I waylaid my [Constitution] and neglected other aspects. Ivory Sea’s recovery must become a higher priority, lest we lose a means of deciphering the powers that elude us.”

Tanshuai shook, bringing Fu to frown.

“A [Season]? Bold words from one that is no Heaven-born genius.”