Heaven's Golden Finger - Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Jingling Forest was a gigantic mound of gold and silver leaves nestled in the valley pass between the Khai and Bazi Kingdoms. Legend had it that it was the birthplace of the God of Dreams and Madness, Meng Huang Xiang. From the feel of the place, the legend could be right. It swirled with spiritual and magical energy, transforming plants and animals from normal mundane things to founts of energy.
Shun had seen a single silverleaf tree growing in the garden of the Bazi King. Said to have been a gift from the Forest King to one of the heroes who'd promised to defend Jingling from outsiders, it'd seemed huge to his young eyes. Now he knew it was a weak and sickly thing compared to these trees. It'd barely stood a few dozen feet tall, its wisteria like branches glittering pale green in the sunlight.
Silverleaf trees here raised slender, delicate arms a great taller. Great strands of branches flowed down, covered in the glittering leaves that gave them their name, flowers of all colors glittering amid the branches all year round. Their scent filled the air, competing with the warmer scent of the stands of golden bamboo growing in isolated patches amid the bigger trees. A sound, like flutes playing a tuneless harmony, echoed in the shadowy distance, the wind blowing through the golden bamboo's branches.
One could travel the forest's twisted main path between the hills and mountains of Kunlun ridge. Sorcerers and cultivationists had built a protective array that kept the worst of the energies from reaching the road. It wasn't safe by any stretch of the imagination but it wasn't nearly as dangerous as the surrounding forest would be.
Hunters, knowing the riches the forest concealed, were often foolhardy enough to leave the safety of the path. They could find spiritual and demonic beasts here. Creatures whose bodies could be turned to huge profit for those fortunate enough to survive the forest's dangers. It was a fool's errand, though. The Forest King protected his hunting ground jealously, guarding it against outsiders.
"I trust you have no plans beyond traveling from here to Bazi," Shun remarked as he and his companions paused to gaze at the imposing sight.
"Our only purpose is travel," Lan Shizhong agreed. Then sent a chill up Shun's spine when he added, "Though time constraints being what they are, we'll need to take another path to do it."
Startled, more than a little scared, Shun snapped, "Are you out of your minds?"
"I've often been accused of such." The man's admission didn't make Shun feel any better. "We could have taken the main path without your aid, Shun."
Shun couldn't think how he could help. Granted he was the son of Demon King Xing Baishe, but he'd only just come into his inheritance. Granted he was a disciple of Leifeng and had recently increased his cultivation, but he'd yet to fully establish his foundation. "What are you expecting of me?"
"Your presence alone will be a deterrent. And don't worry too much about us. We're not helpless," Bai Xiang reassured him. "And as long as we don't hunt anything in there, old Helang won't bother us."
Most people didn't refer to the Forest King with such familiarity. But Shun was beginning to suspect Bai Xiang and Lan Shizhong weren't most people; not by any stretch of the imagination. "I agreed to this," he said, trying to sound calm. "I won't renege on my side of the bargain. But I don't know how I'll be much use in there."
"Oh, you'll be surprised." Without bothering to continue the argument, Lan Shizhong resettled his pack on his shoulder and headed into the forest.
It wasn't long before Shun found himself running into an unexpected problem. As soon as they entered the forest he found his body trying to shift back to his snake form. He had to fight to retain his humanity and it was a great deal harder than he'd expected. He'd spent all his life with two legs and a smooth light-skinned hide, all his life with arms and a broad flat tongue. He shouldn't have so much trouble staying that way.
Shouldn't have, yet was. He kept finding himself changing to a serpentine form, so he'd be forced to stop moving until he could get his body back into shape. "Why does this keep happening?" he demanded as he shifted back, then yelped as he bit his tongue.
"Possibly the forest's nature makes it more difficult?" Bai Xiang suggested, stepping around a few slender trunks of golden bamboo. "There's a great deal of magical energy here in Jingling." She patted the bamboo lightly, adding, "And spiritual, of course."
"I've lived right next to one of the entrances to the Abyss most of my life," Shun complained. "So why would it suddenly be a problem?"
The young woman smiled indulgently. "But when were you unsealed?"
Oh. Yes, that was true. Shun hadn't needed to control his body's shape until now because the seal had done it for him. And really, what right had he to complain when things became hard? He was sounding a bit too much like the real Shirong used to, whenever he had trouble with something.
Instead of complaining, Shun focused on how he felt when his body shifted. There was the trouble. As a Leifeng Sect disciple, he'd spent his life training to use spiritual energy. He was accustomed to adjusting his Self through the ebb and flow of such energies. Magic, though similar to spiritual energy in many ways, was something he'd no practice in sensing.
Demons were creatures of magic, though, and the more there was around them, the more easily they could be physically affected. Jingling Forest had grown up around the birthplace of the Mad God and magic flowed through it in a constantly shifting flood. One he hadn't noticed because he'd been too busy focusing on the place's vast spiritual energy.
Now he was paying attention, Shun realized how similar magic and spiritual energy really was. He couldn't quite lay a finger on what made them different, but he could adjust the techniques he'd learned as a Leifeng disciple to allow him to keep the magic swirling around him from forcing his body out of shape.
It still took a great deal more concentration than he liked. "I feel as if I'm not much use here. If I can't stay human, how can I help protect you? I've never fought in my snake form before." Nor, for that matter, did he want to start learning to do so in this place.
A quick smile from Lan Shizhong was accompanied by a gesture into the darker parts of the forest. "Haven't you noticed? Human or snake, your royal aura is a deterrent all by itself."
Noticed? Shun glanced around them. Spotted movement. Spirit and demonic beasts watched them, unblinking eyes staring emotionlessly back. Except his gaze made them back further away, as if they feared to meet it. They were afraid? Afraid of him? Really afraid? "Because of my bloodline?" he asked.
"Yes." Bai Xiang patted him on the shoulder, a light squeeze that felt oddly comforting. "Your mother's blood in you alone would make them nervous. That you are a cultivator almost as powerful as your father only makes you more dangerous to them."
Shun was startled. "You know my father?"
"We've met. He's impressive."
That made Lan Shizhong snort for some reason but he didn't explain why, only said, "Shu Duan and his sworn brother Xu Sheng were Qiong Luo's best students. If Shu Duan hadn't had the temerity to fall in love with your mother and defy his teacher's will, he'd be one of Leifeng's master's by now."
Wait. Xu Sheng was Xu Shirong, the real Xu Shirong's father. He'd been Shun's father's sworn brother? No one had told him any of this. Shun came to a halt. Stared at Lan Shizhong. "Did you just say my father and my Shidi's father were sworn brothers? But Xu Sheng tried to kill my mother."
"He did," Lan Shizhong agreed and sounded oddly sad and even regretful. "Fool that he was."
Something about the man's tone made Shun all the more curious. But before he could ask another question, Bai Xiang interrupted. "I suggest you focus on learning to stay human, child. You just grew a good dozen scales and while they're quite pretty, I don't think you meant to do that."
Recognizing a distraction when he heard one, Shun still accepted the advice. These two were stranger than he'd first thought and he'd a feeling they had much to tell him. But not if he tried to force answers. "I'll do that," he agreed, returning to the task of keeping himself in his proper shape.
Sooner or later, however, he'd find out what secrets these two had to tell him.
According to Lan Shizhong, they were barely a third of the way into the forest when they stopped for the night. According to Shun, they'd be almost halfway there if they'd stayed on the main road. The main road might twist and knot itself up, might even be longer, but it was smoother and in excellent condition because this was the only way through the Kunlun range.
This road, on the other hand, was an old and abandoned path that appeared and disappeared with alarming frequency. Lan Shizhong always found the paving stones again, but sometimes they had to clamber up a rough rockface to get to the next section. Once upon a time there'd been wooden stairs, but they were long since decayed.
"Say again why we're going this way?" Shun asked and wished he didn't sound quite so much like Shirong Shidi. He watched his two 'masters' prepare camp. "And is there anything I can do to help?"
"If you'd start a small fire, that'd be delightful," Bai Xiang told him. "Do you know how to cook? I'm terrible at it."
Shirong Shidi had been the one handling all the cooking during their recent travels. Shun freely admitted he mostly practiced inedia rather than bother when he was alone. He wasn't much of a cook either. At Bai Xing's look of disappointment, he added, "I can grill meat over the fire at least."
That made her happier and she pulled a package from her storage ring that smelled of mutton. "Here. I'll skewer it and you get the fire going."
While he did so, he asked again, "Why did you choose this path? And please don't tell me because it's faster. I won't believe you."
Lan Shizhong tied the tent's rope down. "There's someone we need to meet and he never approaches the main road."
Someone? "A spirit? A demon?" Shun couldn't think of anyone else it might be. Not out here in the wildest part of Jingling Forest.
"He was human once. Not anymore." Again that faint regretful note in Lan Shizhong's voice. "It's a long story and not mine to tell."
Another of those mysterious statements that Shun knew his 'master' wouldn't explain. A little sulkily, he sat in front of the fire and set the meat grilling, watching the flames with a distant expression.
This whole trip shouldn't have been necessary at all. Yet again he tried to understand why Priest Housu had kidnapped him. For that matter, why had she sold him to that auction house? Given she had. What if she'd taken him, only to lose him to another in her travels?
The scent of cooking meat drew Shun's attention. The mutton had been marinated in a salted bean mix and the scent set him salivating despite himself. He wasn't so far along his cultivation that he could go forever without food, after all, and he obviously hadn't been fed while he was unconscious.
"Shirong Shidi, the meat...." He stopped himself. Shirong Shidi wasn't there. A feeling of sharp loneliness overcame him, quickly overturned by the realization that someone was sitting beside him, just as interested in the food as he, himself, was. Someone who was neither Lan Shizhong, nor Bai Xiang, both of whom were busy setting up the tent while he cooked.
He looked at the newcomer, fighting back panic. Shadow within shadow turned and moved, looking at him with eyes like the full moon hidden among the trees. Teeth sharp as Shun's snake fangs flashed in an almost canine mouth as a voice whispered, "Hello boy. You gonna eat that?"