Chapter 64: Flying Crocodiles?
When Sun Mai and Du Qian returned from the lake, Du Qian was by no ans convinced of anything that Sun Mai had been trying to persuade him of. However, he no longer wanted to kill Sun Mai. Furthermore, they reached an agreent whereby every day for the following month, they would have a public debate about one of the topics raised by Sun Mai in his scripture.
During that month, the debates were attended by virtually all mbers of the Dragon Phoenix Sect. In so of the debates, Du Qian ca out the clear winner, in others, he was completely flummoxed by Sun Mai’s confounding logic, or lack thereof. As a result of the debates, many mbers of the Dragon Phoenix Sect grew more firm in their belief of the traditional Dehuan teachings. However, many people were swayed by Sun Mai.
Sothing else happened during the month of debates. News and stories reached the sect about the exploits of other famous martial artists throughout the empire.
For example, a feud had developed between the Purple Cavern Killer and the Twin Giants of the Zhaoze Swamp. According to stories brought back to the camp by the Eyes of the Phoenix, the Purple Cavern Killer and his apprentice eventually challenged the Twin Giants to a duel. The four of them t in the salt mines south of Zun Valley, where they fought for three days and three nights. No one was present to witness the duel, but it ended in a shocking turn of events: the Twin Giants and the Purple Cavern Killer beca sworn siblings.
Traders from the Dai Bien Forest brought tales of Hua Pi the Skin Dancer, tales so fantastic that many people refused to believe them. Furthermore, not all the stories were consistent. In so versions, Hua Pi was a midget who had stolen shapeshifting powers from a Demon. In other versions, Hua Pi was no midget at all, but rather, a beautiful woman with a dented soul who relished the screams of the victims whom she skinned alive. The only common the was that Hua Pi was a terrifying figure whom no one dared to offend.
One of the most popular figures in the stories was the hero Qian Chengsi, who was also called the Stone Footed King. He had supposedly traveled south from the Yangu Plains on a mission to bring justice to those who trembled under the iron fist of the Demon Emperor. Stories about his exploits reached the sect via information gathered by the Eyes of the Phoenix, as well as from a group of passing refugees. There were multiple stories about Qian Chengsi, but the most sensational was how he had robbed the treasury of Tung-On, then fled to Mount Dao, where he was tracked down by three Lions of Peace, whom he then killed in a fight on top of a cliff.
However, the most sensational tales to reach the camp were about the Tiless Master, who was becoming a figure so well-known that many people considered him to be even more famous than Sunan and Bao. The Tiless Master already had a group of heroes following him that was almost as large as the Dragon Phoenix Sect. He had a sworn brother now, a great hero nad Pei Fu. Rumor had it that the two of them had begun work on a palace sowhere in the southern Banyan Region. Recently, they had led a force of disciples to execute the corrupt magistrate of Zun City. Not only did they succeed in their mission, on their way out of the city, they ran into a squadron of Demon Emperor soldiers led by none other than the Hate General. A bloody battle was fought in which the Hate General’s squadron was completely routed. As for the Hate General, he fled for his life into the swamp north of Zun City, barely escaping with his life.
When Bao heard about the Tiless Master defeating an Ogre General, she felt both jealous and irritated, but at the sa ti, couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration. Of course, little did Bao know that stories of her own exploits, as well as Sunan’s, had a similar impact on many people who heard them.
As the month of debates between Du Qian and Sun Mai drew to a close, the Eyes of the Phoenix finally brought back word about the Shan people.
The Shan was actually a blanket term for a large group of smaller tribes scattered through the north, and mostly the northwest, of the Banyan Region. From what the Eyes of the Phoenix had seen, most of them looked like normal people, nothing like the bizarre depiction in the Classic of Mountains and Rivers. One of the Eyes of the Phoenix insisted that she had glimpsed a headless man among a group of tribesn she’d spotted, although many of her fellow scouts made fun of her story.
Considering that there was little to do in the temporary camp other than train and spar, it took little convincing for Sunan to persuade Bao to join him on a trip down the Southern Fei River to look for the mythical Shan people.
Preparations took more than a week, mostly because they needed to prepare a large raft upon which to travel down the river. Traveling on foot through the thick jungle would have added an elent of danger that they preferred to avoid. After word ca through that the raft had been acquired, a small group set off, including Bao, Sunan, Mao Yun, Wang Tian, Ruan the Flamingo as well as five lower-ranking mbers of each division of the sect. The goal of the journey was to move quickly and without fanfare down the river to Shan territory, and determine once and for all whether the mythical version of the Shan people could be found.
They set out from the temporary sect headquarters on a bright, sunlit morning, traveling in a
roughly southeasterly direction toward the Southern Fei River. After a full day of travel, they were completely out of the foothills of the mountains, and well into the jungle that was the Jian Shu Forest.
From there, the pace slowed. It took about two days to reach a bend in the river where the raft was waiting. Once aboard, their pace quickened as they floated down the Southern Fei.
Occasionally they caught sight of local tribes on the banks of the river, fishing, hunting, or washing. Sotis there were children playing.
As evening was falling on the first day of travel, Sunan sat by himself at the edge of the raft, fingering a bracelet made of cloth and bead. He had put the bracelet together himself recently; it was a traditional craft that most children in his ho village had been adept at creating.
Should I give it to her? he thought. He looked down at the bracelet for a long mont. It reminded him of his mother and sisters, for whom he had made such bracelets every sumr growing up. It’s silly, isn’t it? Why would she want a stupid bracelet like this?
A mont later Wang Tian approached and sat down next to him. Sunan quickly put the bracelet away.
“We’ll need to set up camp soon,” Wang Tian said. “Thankfully this part of the forest is relatively safe.”
“What do you an relatively?”
Wang Tian chuckled. “Well, for one thing, there are no flying crocodiles.”
Sunan laughed out loud for a mont. Then, noticing Wang Tian’s expression, he said, “Wait, you’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Of course. You haven’t heard the stories of the flying crocodiles further down south?”
“No, I haven’t....”
“From everything I’ve heard, flying crocodiles can only be found south of the Zun River, so we shouldn’t see any up here.”
They camped upon the river bank, and woke early to proceed on their way. An overland trip through the forest would have taken at least ten days in perfect travel conditions, but using rafts cut the travel ti down significantly. It was roughly noonti on the third day when they concealed the rafts and then proceeded inland on foot. Travel progressed rather slowly because of Ruan the Flamingo, but with the assistance of other mbers of the sect, they managed to set a decent pace.
“My scout spotted that headless man about a day’s travel from here,” Wang Tian explained.
He led them up a tributary of the Southern Fei, more of a stream than a river. After they had walked along for about two hours, they reached a small pond where they stopped for a short rest.
Bao knelt down next to the pond, and had reached her hands into the water when a strange grunt-like clicking sound suddenly echoed out.
Sunan looked up into the trees on the opposite side of the pond, and the blood drained from his face. Sitting there in the branch of a tall tree was an enormous crocodile, staring directly at Bao!
Even as Bao looked up from the water, the crocodile suddenly dropped out of the tree and began to fly directly toward her. Before anyone could even react, the beast was only about two ters away from her, its jaws opening to reveal a mouthful of sharp teeth.
There was no ti to ponder the situation. Sunan quickly leaped into the air toward the flying crocodile, simultaneously unleashing Rebuke of the Dragon.
Just when the crocodile’s jaws were about to snap down onto the shocked Bao, two illusory dragons slamd into it, knocking it out of the air to splash down into the pond.
Sunan landed right next to Bao, drawing his Ox-Tail Dao as he did. Bao rose to her feet, stepping back and pulling out two daggers. The rest of the party also drew their weapons.
That was when more grunting and clicking sounds filled the air. Upon looking up into the surrounding trees, they realized that there were three more flying crocodiles looking at them from within the canopy above.
“Dammit, Wang Tian,” Sunan said. “I thought you said the flying crocodiles lived south of the Zun River!”
“They do!” Wang Tian replied. “These things shouldn’t be here.”
At that point, a raspy voice spoke out from further within the trees. “They’re mine.”
As the words were spoken, an old man stepped out into the open. He wore hide garnts, and his white hair hung long and loose over his shoulders. His clothing was embroidered with deep blue cloth, and his right arm was covered with a complicated tattoo. At first, Sunan assud he was one of the local tribesn, but Wang Tian’s words quickly proved him wrong.
“You’re from Zhaozhe Swamp, aren’t you?” he said.
The old man smiled, reaching up to stroke his scraggly white beard. “You’re a sharp one, aren’t you. That’s right, I’m originally from the swamp. Enough with the chit-chat. Hand over your valuables and then I’ll be on my way.”
Mao Yun’s eyes went wide. “You’re trying to rob us?”
The old man let out a low whistle, and the flying crocodiles made more grunting sounds. As for the crocodile which had landed in the pond, it remained under the surface of the water, staring up at Bao.
“I’d prefer to think of it as you people donating to my traveling expenses,” he responded with a crooked grin.
Bao took a step forward. “Look, old man. We don’t have the ti for this. Take your lizards and scram.”
Within the wooden travel pack strapped to Bao’s pack was her Phoenix Crown, but before she could even consider taking it out and putting it on, a cold gleam flickered in the old man’s eyes, and he said, “Wrong answer.”
Then he made a clicking sound, and the crocodiles all flew into the air.
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