From the top of the mountain, as he gazed over the side of the mountain path, Elder Bai sighed loudly in a mix of exhaustion and annoyance.
"So they’ve really co... With a group like theirs, letting the formation take them out would be trivial. But activating the defence chanisms drains so much Qi from the mountain. It’s just not sustainable... If the master doesn’t have enough Qi to feed on, he’ll find... other... sources," he mumbled, a sense of dread overcoming him.
Looking behind him, where a group of young n were hard at work, training martial arts and Qi techniques, he couldn’t fathom letting them fall prey to the master’s hunger.
He couldn’t in good conscience use the formation to deal with the trespassers.
Spinning a hundred and eighty degrees, he clapped his hand to gather his students’ attention.
"Alright, disciples. This is enough for today. Go wash up and prepare for Elder Zhang’s lessons."
"Yes, Elder!" the young n chanted, bowing to him.
With a proud smile, he watched them file away from his yard, which spanned the east side of their base. This batch of disciples was exceptional, even by their ancient standards, and he was glad he got to train them.
But he could only surmise why the kids were this strong in Qi. Sothing was happening in the world, and the world was already reacting to make its inhabitants stronger.
’The necromancer was right. And now, he cos here, as he said he would. I can only hope he doesn’t want to fight...’
Leaving the yard through the opposite gate the kids did, Elder Bai headed toward a small path that led to the mountain peak.
Reaching the peak, a small hut greeted him, with a pergola at its side, where a single seat was set to overlook the rising sun.
But its usual occupant was nowhere to be seen.
Bai Feng looked at the hut and sighed.
"He’s inside the Tiless Pagoda. When we need his advice the most, he is unreachable..."
Cursing under his breath, Elder Bai left the mountain peak, heading to the southern side of their base, and knocked on the door of a small but luxurious ho.
A voice ca from inside, soft but confident.
"Co in, Elder Bai."
Pushing the door open, Bai Feng took his shoes off before proceeding inside the house, which seed larger inside than outside.
"I see you are still progressing in your array studies, Elder Nuwa. It was a blessing that the master entrusted you with this knowledge."
Reaching a room at the back of the house, Elder Bai stopped at the entrance, as a large circle floated at chest height in the room, and he didn’t want to disturb it.
"Your flattery is as sly as usual, Elder Bai. But I doubt you ca here to flirt with . What is it that you want?" a woman asked, her face calm as she controlled glowing symbols with her hands, filling in empty spots on her array.
Elder Bai chuckled, rembering the last ti he ca here, trying to court the young woman, only to be shot down almost instantly. Even though he was twenty years her senior, he believed his charms were still ever-present, and the rejection had surprised him.
"I still believe children from our union would be a force to reckon with within the Zhong Kui," he joked.
"Do away the unnecessary talk, Feng. I have things I would rather do than reject you again," she said, her tone growing colder.
Elder Bai nodded, but kept a smile on his face.
"Fine. I ca here to ask you sothing."
The woman sighed, knowing it would be important if he ca directly to her without announcing his visit beforehand. So she let her hands down, making the incomplete formation vanish around her, and sat on a couch, grabbing an urn where liquid could be heard sloshing around.
"Sit," she said, her face scrunching after her first sip.
Bai Feng sat across from her on a similar couch and rested his elbow on the armrest.
"What was that formation you were working on? I’ve never seen those symbols before," he asked, curious about her project.
"Get to the point, please, Elder Bai. Ti is a luxury we don’t have," she responded, dodging his question.
"Yes, yes. Always so business-oriented. When we took you from your job as a researcher ten years ago, I knew that you would be hard to deal with. But the master could sll your potential from a province away.
"I’ll get straight to it, then. The defence formation protecting our base and hiding it from the world: How much of it can we activate without draining the mountain’s Qi?" he asked, getting to the point.
Elder Nuwa stopped the sip she was about to take, her face turning serious.
"Why are you asking this? What threat could we possibly have from ten kids, most of which are barely out of their diapers?"
Elder Bai chuckled at her description of them, realizing the woman had not kept apprised of their situation, most likely because of her multiple projects taking all her attention.
"I wouldn’t dismiss those kids so quickly, especially since one of them was strong enough to keep and Elder Zhang in check in a fight. Plus, even the younger ones are not to be underestimated," he comnted, thinking about the reports he had read about the small group.
She waved her free hand dismissively, feeling like he was exaggerating.
"In any case, there aren’t many of the formation defences that can be activated without causing a drain on the mountain’s natural Qi. It is already running at its maximum efficiency. If we activate anything more, you can expect an expense. That is only natural."
Elder Bai nodded, his face becoming gloomy. This was what he had expected, but he needed to ask in case sothing could be done.
"The only way to supplent this would be to have one of our elders power the formation themselves. But I wouldn’t recomnd this," she added before taking another sip of her urn.
Elder Bai raised an eyebrow.
"Power the formation ourselves? Since when can we do that?" he asked, confused.
"It’s a recent addition, one I made to it last month. I connected a node to my house and can add power to the defence formation from there, in case of. But like I said, I don’t recomnd it."
"Why so?" Elder Bai asked, seeing a glimr of hope.
"Because I powered the formation for ten minutes and felt tired for a week. I cannot imagine staying on for any longer. It drains so much Qi that the threat of death is very much present," she said, looking at him with a deadpan expression.
Elder Bai clicked his tongue.
This wasn’t ideal, either. If he took her option, he wouldn’t be able to be there if they still made it through.
Getting up from the cough, Bai Fend nodded toward the woman and started heading toward the door.
"Thank you for your ti, Elder Nuwa. I’m sorry if I disturbed your project," he said, disappointnt in his tone.
She nodded, continuing to drink as he walked away.
’What’s with him? He is rarely this down about intruders. Can’t he just deal with them himself? They’ll already be weakened inside the formation. It should compensate for any difference in power,’ she mused.
But she shook her head, throwing the thought away. Her mind was instantly refocused on her earlier project, trying to find solutions to her problems.
Elder Bai knew that she would have returned to her work the mont he left the room, and couldn’t fault her.
She was the one who had made the formation so much more viable in the last decade. Her work was as important to them as his strength or Elder Zhang’s martial prowess.
The only other Elder he could go to that might be able to do sothing about their situation was the fourth Elder of the Zhong Kui; Elder Yang.
With his specialty, he might be able to at least weaken the trespassers enough for them not to be a threat once they reached the top.
’But Elder Yang doesn’t like being asked to do anything by any other than the master... And the master is in seclusion... Why does everything happen at the sa ti, in the worst timing possible...’
He could only try to reason with Elder Yang. Even if that ant promising favours.
***
While this happened on Huashan’s peak, Alexander and his group kept steadily advancing in the fog below, the earplugs in their ears covering the hypnotic tune whistling in the wind, but doing little t cover them of the frightening sounds echoing around them.
Tension was at its peak, and the group progression, albeit steady, was much slower than they had anticipated.
At this pace, Alexander didn’t believe they would be out of this fog before nightfall.
And go forbid they stay there until after nightfall, when everything would beco pitch black. He had a feeling the fog would swallow the moon’s glow, and didn’t want to tempt fate on this arduous path.
’I want to accelerate so much... But so of us can barely see a few feet in front of ourselves... What can I do to make the situation more favourable?’ he mused.
’If only I had a way to break this stupid formation...’
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