Nine paths were t to guard these nine forks. Here, this humble archivist fields his questions.
Were the righteous nine Sages, Spears and Pilgrims before Heaven’s will was known?
Make clear, reader, that this humble archivist offers no offense to the great myths of the [Cherry River Inheritors], chasing only the mystery of his thoughts and nothing more.
And yet, if the Cherry River made Fools from mortals and Spears from wanderers, then what might stop these venerables from doing the sa?
Might one inherit from the inheritors?
“A Tale of Cherries,” by One Humble Archivist of the Ancestral Quill Sect
Hollow.
How vexing this word had beco. Of [Splinters]. Of [Constellation Seeds]. And now, what else?
Fu might curse the Heavens for the complexity of his task. How convoluted did [Karma] weave to deny him this simple journey ho? Must he encounter immortals, secrets and the intricacies of blood just to see his family once more?
“The Hollow Throne Misery,” he repeated, holding certainty in his tone.
Doubtless, the river ahead was the river. Of immortal blossoms and indescribable pink. The Cherry River.
For how many thousand moons had this [Cherry River Fool] gazed upon it?
She still did, speaking softly. “I see she has not shared it. Speak her tale, Gao Fu, that precious words are not wasted.”
“Venerable Shengcang Bulu, what can be said and what cannot is a matter for Grandmother Hau. A fool such as I might reveal more than she intends. The [Dao Oath] upon my heart and the will of my spirit could not have act against family.”
Pink flared in her irises. “A fool indeed. To deny , yes, why I should grant you the title instead.”
“Apologies once more,” he bowed.
Bulu humd. “Two fools talk loud, and what occurs? No leaves stir. No waters ripple. Who would hear them? Who would listen?”
Power fled from Fu’s [Spirit]. A queerness of tal, for within him the great twin chains of his [Dao Oaths] suddenly slackened.
His [Clouded Ghost Arts] faded, unsuppressing his [Core] to leave him bare and exposed.
“Fools and beggars escape the [Boundless Dao], at tis. For all else, know that I am blood of your blood, thin and veiled as your connection is. Na Aunty, kin of kin and family.”
Fu smiled thinly. “Then I na you Aunty, and state all families squabble.”
“Twice denied? More the fool.”
Her words gave him pause, and Shuidi a cold thrill.
An Empress of Fools.
Without the constraints of his [Dao Oaths], there was an impulse to answer all she had said. A desire to reveal secrets.
The Heavens know that to deny her is foolish. Thus I beco the fool. An Empress would hold authority over such, would she not? I must share Hau’s tale, and curate what I say.
Hushi agreed.
“Grandmother Hua appeared mortal when first we t,” he said. “An aged woman with greying hair and limp. So it was through my shallow courtship with i. Her [Spirit Beast] was absent until the Cloudy Serpent Sect attacked.”
“Appeared, Gao Fu?”
“Appeared, venerable fool,” he returned. “Our Path had not begun when her power first showed. At her partner’s return. Her intervention stalled [Gleeful Viper’s] wrath, and the rest is history. What you seek was not shared with , or so I fear.”
The [Cherry River Fool] laughed. “Yes, yes, I am sure you fear it greatly. Such politeness is endearing, she would like that. How humorous that you walk beneath the serpent’s moon, is it not? The doting father hides blackened deeds beneath pleasantry! Ge-he-he, and her grandchildren are surely not blind.”
“Hmm,” stuttered Fu, for her blade struck true. “A truth untold is no lie.”
“Take care of this well you descend, Gao Fu, the water is not so far as you think. Jinghui Hau’s mortality is of great interest. To her, up is up and down is down. It is as it is and is not what it isn’t. Yes, yes, an unwilling actor. Was she pained?”
Fu could almost feel Hua’s cane rapping behind him. “A limp and complaints of old bones.”
“All the while, a tiger prowled your ho. How foolish that you thought it a cat! Ge-he-he. Yes indeed! Gao Fool, no?” she laughed, and this was sincerest of all. “The [Cherry River Sage]. The Sage of Crossroads. Where-Stars-Fork. Scorned of [Ostensible Rooster]. Ge-he. But are these re ramblings? The moon has not touched : at least not where this [Cherry River Fool] wishes it might!”
Her wink was so lascivious it had Fu warm. “Again, this is all I might say. Your Hollow Throne Malady has gone unntioned.”
“Malady? I suppose it is and I suppose it has. But do not be clever, this is a eting of fools! The Hollow Throne Misery. Know now, Gao Fu, that the fool is nothing. Thus, everything. Endless potential cos from untouched clay, despite the stain upon handling! Potential is possibility, and I ask you, child, because one possibility is that you knew.”
Shuidi clenched her pincers, for these words were myriad and painful to follow.
“Alas I do not.”
Bulu clapped. “Do the youth not say ‘to stake all on a single throw’? Indeed it seems the Heavens have cursed with poor aim. Regardless. Irregardless. This [Cherry River Fool] has her question answered. A woman of my grand and secretive nature might, however, wonder aloud! Do the profound not wax in this way?”
A fool might believe themselves able to steer this conversation. A fisherman knew it was all but fruitless to paddle brittle oars against a hurricane.
If there was a small benefit however, it was how Bulu accepted a small query. With his pipe withdrawn, he gestured to the Cherry River.
Her reply was a shrug, and then a flicker of so strange curiosity. “Do you think a river to have owners, Gao Fu?”
Hushi approximated a smirk.
“To one of the Cherry River I would say yes, for this is your nasake and domain,” he said, truthfully.
“Otherwise?”
“To another I would say to give chase, for their river seems to run from them.” Fu almost smiled, filling the reservoir of his pipe with Cherry River waters. “The [Dao] I know speak of this, and so I an nothing of it, revered Shengcang Bulu.”
The fool’s attention was rapt.
The river’s attention was her mirror.
What petals had ceaselessly flowed aside them now stalled, and in a softened swell drew closer to the bank where he and his partners so neared.
Bulu’s laugh seed to surprise even herself. "Ge-he-he,” she snorted, “he-he-ge. Oh the trouble I might sow here! Ge-he-he. No, no. No. I am wondering aloud!”
Fu turned his fresh waters into fus, and drew. Its accompanint was a burn upon his spectral lungs, for this Qi’s purity was unrivalled. The liquid rely held the appearance of water, for in truth it was no less than immaculate, flowing energy.
His [Core] swelled.
“The Hollow Throne Misery. The great ga. The great lie! How would the Jianghu shake to know it? Could it? Should it? A single number spoken by those who stood above us. That of five thousand. Ample ti, no? No.”
Old master. All these words, we must record them.
“Yes, yes! Old master, record them all!” cried Bulu.
Impossibly, Fu spluttered on his pipe. Then, despite it all, barked out a laugh. Through the [Heartplu of Clouded Schisms], he allowed the catfish to manifest.
“Noble cultivator. An honor, to et a wizened fool,” erged the cloud of their Old Master, bowing within the Cherry River’s air.
Bulu ceased… being herself, and clasped her hands high. “An exalted existence you are, child of constellations. This [Cherry River Fool] knows the honor. Your beneficiaries masked you well, Old Master.”
“Benefactors, fool, you do them injustice.”
“Truly? Ge-he-he. Perhaps then, they are worthy of plain words and conversation?” she mused. “Old Master. Young to many, I should think. Old enough, to so. And that is the subject of all I sing.”
Face went unnoticed here. Propriety failed. This conversation was fools was but that, and Fu’s finally instincts told him to treat it as such.
“What is the Hollow Throne Misery?” he asked.
The [Cherry River Fool] asured him well before speaking. “Sothing just, Gao Fu. An edict well needed. The Jianghu’s greatest lie. That which allows you to level accusation against all nad immortal with a weighty finger, crying falsehood, charlatan and fool before your existence is swiftly erased.”
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Fu did not interject.
“Recount history and you will see its spots. The pages burned and the billions silenced. Those that preach a tenure of millenia are not false until the count of five. For after this, be it [Season], wick of incense or heartbeat, they are dood. Foreign to the Qi and the [Boundless Dao].”
Foreign? Is this their doom? To be unknown by it?
“Five millenia spanning immortals yet stand, noble fool. Axes of plum. Queens of serpents. Peaks among the One Hundred and Eight. A sapling of cherry rivers.”
Bulu swept her hand into the current. “Heaven’s defiant. Na these as those not against the grain, but before it. Those of hearts that knew her will, his will, and dared act outside it.”
“The [Empress Above All].”
The waters rippled.
“Who else? For it was at her seat this edict spawned. The [Sumr of Sorrow], where [Season] t end. Decided second in blade and first in spirit. Tales speak of the [True Golden Demon], their clash and the enmity of Qi that could not strike either of their beloveds down. Even this [Cherry River Fool] cannot convince Heaven’s lips to whisper on it.”
Shuidi climbed higher, and entranced, had Fu as her mouthpiece. “There are Heavens beyond Heavens, but how could the [Empress Above All] put in place this Misery?”
“The [Boundless Dao] nad her Empress before the shadow of Sects and citizens had yet co to pass. A hegemony over [Season] and land,” and then Bulu smiled. “Only a fool would guess. Yet she did, and she has, and upon her final throne decreed it true. Five thousand moons and all Paths end the sa.”
“Why?”
“Why, Gao Fu? You need not ask this, even fresh as you are. The [Empress Above All]. [Seasons] manifest. Her embodint is the greater to your shallow understanding, is it not?”
Exhalation pooled a great font of mist from his pipe, dispersing into the Cherry River’s skies till naught remained.
“Change.”
“Change,” confird the [Cherry River Fool]. “For all under Heaven would suffer the nurture of stagnant rains from stagnant peaks were this not so. See now her kindness, Gao Fu. The land’s mother, guiding even in absence. Ward against all that would defy this will.”
“JInghui Hua is great indeed, if the venerable fool believes her to contend this Misery,” parsed the Old One. “Stray threads make poor blankets. There is more. The [Cherry River Sage] is not of Heaven’s Defiant for you to ask such a question.”
Bulu lifted her hand from the waters. “Temporary mortality should not pause this hourglass. Slow, yes, deceive, yes. No more. Thus this venerable fool hedges her great guess- sister Hua seeks not her salvation, but the ripening of your fruit Gao Fu. A mantle-taker, disciple and inheritor all. One to make use of those [Splinters], no?”
My children as inheritors to the Cherry River? However, one title speaks of one child. If the fool speaks true… then Feng is free from this fate. Her interest in him, Yuqi said that it had waned when last I visited.
First ca thoughts of his children.
“These [Splinters] are [Karma’s] products. No order from JInghui Hua. Gao Fu’s debt is prodigious, yes, and in rumination the Sage of Crossroads wove it well. For this plot? Indeed, who might guess better than her kin?”
“Venerable Shengcang Bulu,” interrupted Fu. “These [Splinters] lead ever in circles. To speak of Heavenly Miseries, Empresses and her mandate of doom is beyond . All I would know is how these treasures might harm my children and if I am to cast them aside to spare the trouble that might co.”
The Cherry River laughed alongside its fool. Each petal trembled and each bough quivered to know such mirth as Bulu’s outburst.
“Ge-he-he-he! Truly? To defy Heaven or defy Hua, which fate is worse? Welled therein is no less than the plum’s escape and queen serpent’s longevity. Parent to what stars sprout in your fledgling gate. [Divine Qi], Gao Fu, to shadow the [Primordial Qi] of these [Constellation Seeds] you so covet. But where the anchors of ten thousand realms might crumble for a single mory of a droplet, each [Splinter] contains a spring. No, Gao Fu, no no no. Cast none aside.”
Deep was the draw of his pipe.
[Air Qi]. [Water Qi]. [Mist Qi]. [Soul Qi]. [Spectral Qi]. Composite Qi. An immortal’s [Origin Qi]. [Primordial Qi], of which Zhu and I pondered much over. Then, what is this but another form. The greater unknown.
Fu stroked his whisker. “The Heavens beyond Heaven are too grand for this re father. An excitent to be sure. Peerless. This conversation- this privilege and honor: rarer than phoenix feathers. But, venerable [Cherry River Fool], a thousand apologies. My children await, and for that these [Splinters] hold no bearing.”
“Youngling?”
A rush of gold flew through the Cherry River and in a breath he felt his [Dao Oaths] constrict about his [Core].
“Wisdom indeed,” nodded Bulu. “Yes. This fool had neglected to put in her eyes. Old One, do not trouble Gao Fu with what secrets these lips were to spill. My sche is complete. My foolishness, spread. For this necessary trouble I will aid you, should it be wished. The waters of the Cherry River span all corners, and all corners return. Its hospitality will ensure you reach your destination if only you allow it to carry you.”
As one, the four partners bowed low.
“Gratitude, venerable fool. Aunty Bulu,” Fu bowed a second ti. “My haste is tempered only by the fate of my companions.”
“Oh? The plum-boy wakes. A stubborn talent, yes, or a blind fool. Carry the others if you wish, ride them downstream perhaps? Mridul’s daughter is dense. Seaworthy indeed!” Bulu mused. “Carry only a ssage for , Gao Fu, and pay no mind to its weight. It will not sink you.”
Petals stirred upon the bank, knitting to form the hull of a lesser vessel. Oarless, but of a shape Fu was well versed in.
“As you will it, I will carry it.”
Bulu turned to the river. “Speak softly when given, Gao Fu,” she said, relaying the ssage in faintest whisper.
🀧
[RIDIAN CLEANSED]
[Control] 15
[Capacity] 15,
[Might] 20
[Harmony] 1
[Spirit] 1
To drink so deep of the Cherry River was indeed fateful. To believe the [Cherry River Fool], an encounter of forces more profound than [Karma] and…
His [Ink] faded.
Fu’s pipe trailed in the wake of their vessel, uplifting all worries into the breeze. His will had it avoid Yasodhara and Samudra: at rest to his rear.
“A thousand wines could not be greater than this.”
Tanshaui drew her tongue back from the river, slick in vibrant Qi. Such power had the plum patternage on her wings glow bright and her cultivator in whimsical spirits.
Gentle was the noise of Zhu’s hand, fluttering through the waters. “The fool took as much as she gave. Her insights into Heaven’s mandate… no. This ancestral mandate, are enough to sprout [Heart Demons]. I’m glad you’ve not dwelled on it.”
“Dwell. I do and I do not. There is-” his words petered out. “Bulu spoke at length, brother. A secret to cripple the Jianghu. The importance is yet to be engraved in my spirit, and despite it: the Cherry River, its inheritor, these benefits and opportunity- what shone brightest was the curse of it all.”
Zhu’s hand retracted, sealing the urn he had collected aside Kang Jae’s folded form. His [Epiphany] incomplete.
“I’ve not spoken with her, Fu,” Zhu reminded.
“Bingbai’s disassociation, and ti. Immortals. Is this all they chase? My cultivation is of importance, but more occurs between monts of progress than thoughts of progress itself. Of a hundred secrets we seek mastery of a dozen, and in this ti of peace,” he gestured, highlighting the serenity of the passing banks, “I reflect that I wish to complete one before fresh Paths are added.”
Laughter was becoming less rare since their vacation’s inception, and the plum-eyed cultivator did, loudly. “Cultivation beget the [Dao], and the [Dao] beco who we are. They arise mutually. We’ve surrounded ourself in the need for swift improvent, thus you see all as this. But ti? Brother, you’ve a poor mask.”
The vessel of petals hastened, caught on a fresh current.
Hushi stirred in response, moving to the bow.
“Oh, I do?”
Zhu put a hand on Fu’s shoulder. “If you wish it, I’d swear by the [Dao]. But know that I’ll not let you succumb to this, nor have I any concern that you will. Together we’ll reach the peak, Fu, and not as fools blind to all we were before.”
Only the [Epiphany]-deep cultivators lurched as their vessel broached a vast pool. Perfectly tended upon bank and surrounding foliage, for not one stem hung over the pristine waters nor one branch overstepped.
Warmth frayed Fu’s [Senses] as force made bald the canopies, shivering free myriad petals from their boughs.
“A formation that escapes understanding, youngling. No [Spatial Array] stirs here, and yet it holds the qualities of one. State your intent.”
“Divine Clouded Mountain, Golden rchant Canton,” Fu called out.
All things swirled in motion.
The petals cycled and soared, moving gently to the mirrored expanse above their pool in a stream. There it spun, becoming a taijutu of flawless pink.
Its descent was swift.
Blinded by petals, the waking cultivators embraced a subtle shift in the airs about them. A loss in ambient Qi and in the comfort that the Cherry River provided, for in re monts a bank of fresh mists blanketed the vessel underfoot.
One no longer of petals, but mortal wood.
“There cannot be such a good thing?” suggested Fu, smiling as Shuidi expanded her [Senses].
Zhu and Tanshuai’s talents put their own to sha. “The transition was flawless,” he said, fastening his hair high. “Heaven-accursed moisture will do nothing for my hair. I’ve never visited, but the sounds are those of any city.”
The mists masked this truth from Fu, but his brother had no reason to lie.
A soft thud marked their vessel’s stop and the pair disembarked upon a small jetty amidst so myriad other vessels. Excitent almost had him take a further step before he turned with small frustration. “Yasodhara and Kang Jae.”
With one look at Samudra’s scattered sands, Zhu sighed, and lifted the boat with all inside.
“We will go swiftly,” said Fu, suppressing a grin. “A run across rooftops will bring us there swiftly,”
Mirth lent well to their speed. Mist wrapped the sight from most else.
But [Might] prevailed.
One Canton of the Cloudy Serpent Sect’s seat was an impossibility of scale, for each avenue rivalled the scope of one Green realm’s cities. Structures stood here with a verticality unpossessed by [Spring’s] Empire, pressed together as each beam and tile clashed for space upon the limited area of the floating islands’ chain.
To simply move was freeing.
A flight unburdened by the appearance of his chain, that which was firmly stowed and would remain as such lest Yuling wished for a show.
The assassin found his mark before an hour had passed, and Zhu, with his shoulder-mounted rowboat and all within had shrugged his blessing. “You’ve no need to wait brother,” he smiled, setting the vessel down outside a familiar apartnt tower.
So Fu had climbed, his [Dao] unneeded.
And there upon the door read a force that had his heart know ice greater than any words the [Cherry River Fool] might bestow. “Vacant,” he read, threefold and more. “Vacant?” he exclaid, as volu was not of his concern.
Hushi stirred at a figure’s appearance.
No more than a middling crone of [Spirit Wolf] partnership. “At this ti of night! Why, boy, you’ll wake the ancestors!”
Fu drew into a low bow. “Wise mistress, forgive . My family lived here not one moon prior, and I return from duty to find it empty. Apologies for the trouble.”
“Gao Feng’s father? The apple falls far from the tree, I see,” she muttered. “Bah, an inconsiderate man has no right to such wondrous children.”
“Indeed I do not,” he bowed again. “This father is weary from duties abroad and begs forgiveness once more, though that is a pitiful excuse for rousing so young a lady. Surely you are weary from swatting aside so many suitors! Might I compensate you in so manner? I seek only the location of my children.”
The woman flushed. “Oh, perhaps it does not fall that far,” she smiled. Her [Spirit Wolf] returned to the apartnt, appearing so monts later with a teal chit and several letters suspended in Qi. “Gao Fu, is it? Here is the address, and take these ssages with you. The Gao clan moved many [Seasons] ago, and I’ve no need of it any longer.”
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