Heaven's Golden Finger - Chapter 32: Chapter 32

They returned to the tent just barely in time. That was the one problem with hiding away in their spiritual space. They'd no way to tell if their disappearance was noticed. Shun made a note to talk to Craft Master Feng about the things. Surely there was some way to tell what was happening outside?
The tent flap shook as one of the guards flung it open, as if he expected to catch the two of them in some mischief. Instead he found Shirong Shidi carefully dressing Shun's hair in a more feminine style. Thank goodness Shun's slight build and soft features made the pretense possible. Even if their captors worked out he was a man they'd think him a weakling.
Barely a month earlier, Shun would have been infuriated at being seen as weak. Even now he didn't like the pretense. It was necessary, however. They had to get away from this place and that needed the General to believe their story. With luck, they might even persuade him to escort them to safety.
"You come." The guard's Imperial was stilted but comprehensible. Likely he couldn't carry on a conversation but at least he had enough to tell them what they had to do.
Shun gathered his 'robes' around him and wondered if it was his bad fortune or Shirong Shidi's good that'd provided him with an appropriate costume for his rôle. The curtains in his mother's palace were covered in delicate embroidery, exactly the sort of thing a performer would wear. He was just glad there'd been some spare clothes in their tent. He really didn't want to show off what lay beneath.
The guard led them back to the General's big tent, where a dozen or so of the General's officers had gathered, dishes of heavily sauced meats and flat breads placed between them. They ate and squabbled genially, paying little mind to the small outsiders in their midst.
Over half of the officers had brownish-red hair. One was blond and still another had hair so white she would have looked like an old woman if not for her smooth cheeks. She watched Shun with an interested look, leaving him wondering if she realized he was a man or if she preferred women. Either way she'd be disappointed.
Focusing his gaze on General Ishalan, Shun approached the center of the tent. "This A-Li has come to perform. Will General Ishalan hear her song?"
The General swallowed whatever wine he was drinking and smiled that overly sure smile of his. "Of course. Isn't that why I sent for you?"
Bowing, Shun closed his eyes momentarily, long enough to gather his wits and prepare himself. Then he sang, starting soft and low but slowly increasing the power of his voice. Instinctively, he drew on his qi, weaving it into the song and supporting the tones.
His audience quieted, their gazes startled and intent. At the same time the air seemed to shimmer around Shun, faint images forming around him. That scene Shirong Shidi had described; chill night air, snow drifting from the mountains, and a scarred warrior crying out in pain.
As the song ended and the image disappeared, General Ishalan stared down at Shun. "How did you...."
To be honest, Shun hadn't expected what'd happened, though he suspected his nature as the Adversary had something to do with it. He was going to have to learn to use this new power properly, before he made a mistake and injured someone.
Bowing, he said, "General? This A-Li doesn't understand." Best to pretend ignorance for the moment.
"That was Shu Duan! How did you bring his image here? Why would you bring it here, when he's been lost to the shadows for years now?"
Lost to the shadows? Shun's father? No one had told Shun what'd happened to his father after he'd left Shun at Leifeng Sect. A part of Shun wanted to catch hold of the General's collar and demand the truth. The other part didn't dare. This surely wasn't the time or place to reveal himself.
The General gazed at Shun searchingly, clearly waiting for an answer and slowly coming to his own conclusions. "You aren't a singer at all," he said. "I know those eyes. You're Shu Duan's boy, his and Queen Xing's son."
Before Shun could think of an answer, or even prepare to defend himself, a shout from outside interrupted. "General! The enemy is on the move!"
Everything around them was chaos and Shun couldn't help feeling to blame. He dodged between the rushing soldiers, Shirong Shidi at his side without needing to be told. At least Shun's junior brother had learned that much from his experiences. They were best off together.
"You! Don't go running off. I want to talk to you!"
Shun had no intention of doing anything of the sort. The General obviously knew something about his father and Shun wanted answers. He tossed his outer 'robes' aside, so all he wore were the cotton trousers and underrobe he'd found in the tent. There wasn't any point in pretending to be a woman anymore. Not when the General knew who he was.
The white-haired woman appeared at Shun and Shirong Shidi's side. "Can you fight?"
"This isn't our war."
"True, but you're in our camp and that damned stone monkey will think you're our allies."
"Monkey? Stone Monkey... Sun Wukong?"
Shun shushed his Shidi. Obviously this was another of those future knowledge things of his. Sohn Wuakan was the leader of a band of Houttan robbers. Rumor said he and they were monkey spirits and that he was particularly powerful because he'd been born from a stone pillar at the border of Houttan and Pamir. He didn't tend to be murderous, but he loved making trouble for everyone.
"Little bastard stole our King's wind fan. We're here to get it back. You two aren't part of this unless you want to be." The woman grimaced. "You don't want to be. That brat's more than you can handle."
Likely she was right. Chosen and Adversary though they might be, Shirong Shidi and Shun hadn't come into their powers yet. Besides, this wasn't their business. Not unless Sohn Wuakan made it theirs. "We'll hide," he agreed, catching Shirong Shidi's hand and heading the opposite direction from the fight.
Soldiers ran past them as they escaped, too busy with their own business to pay attention to two weak seaming youngsters with no weapons. It only took a minute for them to reach the far end of the camp. "The trouble is, there's no place to hide," Shirong Shidi said. "Unless you want to go back into our spiritual space?"
That would be risky. They didn't know how long the fight would last and they wouldn't be able to tell when it was over. Given the way things kept going, they'd return to the world right in the middle of the fight. "No. Let's just stay back."
"Oh, but that's no fun at all." The speaker was a man in light armor, his black eyes bright with interest. He was tall, thin and rangy, with narrow features and thin brows. That alone didn't prove him one of the Pamir camps' enemy, however. His tail, a slender appendage covered in fine brown fur, on the other hand, made his nature clear. "Wouldn't you like to fight, instead?" A half dozen more of their kind leaped into view, coming to stand behind their comrade with bright and dangerous grins.
If Shun were still wearing his embroidered 'robe' he might have tried to fool these two the way he'd fooled the Pamir soldiers earlier. Instead he said, "We're not involved in your fight. Don't force us."
"What if we refuse?" the monkey spirit asked gleefully. "It's not as if you have anywhere to go. Nowhere to hide, either, now we have your scent, little snake."
Shun sighed. "Shirong Shidi, get back."
"But...."
"I'm about to show them just how 'little' a snake I am. I don't want to land on top of you."
That made Shirong Shidi move. He also drew his weapons, saying, "I don't want to fight either, but I won't let you touch my Shixiong."
The monkey spirits giggled, confident they had the advantage. Which they did, if you went by numbers. By strength? That was another question. Shun drew on his newly learned gifts, sliding out of his borrowed clothes then taking his largest snake form and rearing over the monkey spirits' heads as they shrieked in panic.
Something hit Shun in the tail, a braver than most monkey spirit, trying to find a weak spot in Shun's scales. He failed and Shun lowered his head to glare down at his attacker. "Scram!" he hissed. "I haven't had breakfast yet and I'm hungry!"
That did it. The monkey spirit fell on his butt. Rolled around. Struggled to his feet. At last he ran as fast as he could, back to his companions. Satisfied, Shun turned his attention on his Shidi. "On my back."
"Er... are you sure? I don't want to hurt you."
At Shun's current size, it'd be difficult for any normal human to hurt him. Shirong Shidi might be Chosen and might have more cultivation than he should have given his age, but he was still human and still comparatively small and frail. Shun didn't want him hurt in the coming fight.
Seeing Shun's determination, Shirong Shidi obediently clambered onto his neck, clinging tightly as Shun slithered through the camp towards the center of the fight. He hadn't meant to interfere but now he'd shown his true self he knew he'd no choice. Sohn Wuakan's soldiers would be sure he was General Ishalan's ally and go after him. He'd scared those half-dozen or so monkey spirits off but he doubted he'd stay lucky.
Shrieks and shouts accompanied Shun's careful progress through the camp. He could have simply slithered right over the tents but he didn't know if anyone was inside. Not to mention he didn't know if they concealed anything sharp enough to injure him. Besides, he wanted to stay on General Ishalan's good side. At least until he found out what the man knew about his father.
Within minutes they were at the center of the fight, Shun's size and presence forcing both Pamir and monkey spirits back. Only two fighters paid him no mind, General Ishalan and a small light-boned man with piercing yellow eyes and a cackling laugh.
Shun lowered his head and waited for the pair to pay him attention. It wasn't soon. Both the General and his opponent were entirely focused on their fight. General Ishalan's huge saber, easily five pounds of quenched steel, clashed with Sohn Wuakan's metal staff.
At first glance that staff seemed to give the monkey spirit the advantage. It was made of a flexible metal that let Sohn Wuakan fling himself from one side of the fight to the other with startling ease. Worse, it shifted both length and weight, so that sometimes it was barely three foot long, sometimes twelve. The General's saber either smashed against it, chipping the blade, or simply pushed it off to the side as if it were a switch of bamboo.
But where the General lacked a magic weapon or the speed and agility his opponent possessed, he was as or more flexible than Sohn Wuakan or his staff. Quickly learning when the staff would take what form, he slid his blade past the staff when it was too solid to strike and around it when it bent. Sohn Wuakan couldn't stop him from divesting him of his armor and cutting at his bared arms and legs.
"Hey! Stop. Cut it out! It's just a fan!"
"Our King's fan and not yours. Give it back."
"I just need it for a day or so."
"I don't care if you need it for half a second. Give. It. Back."
Sohn Wuakan hissed under his breath, showing his teeth in a grimace. "No."
The General moved fast, blade just barely missing slicing Sohn Wuakan's throat. "You're surrounded. Your men flee. Don't pretend you've the power to stop me from taking you down."
Bending impossibly far backwards to evade the General's next strike, Sohn Wuakan flipped and kicked the General straight in the jaw, sending him flying. The General landed on his feet, though, red hair flaring around him as he rolled forward to cut at Sohn Wuakan's ankles.
This time the monkey spirit leapt into the air. At the same time he grinned and Shun realized he'd been hoping for exactly that chance. His leap carried him far higher than ought to be possible, straight into a cloud high above them. A moment later the misty shape swooped, spun and zoomed away as if it were a bird. On its back, Sohn Wuakan hooted and howled. "Come catch me if you can!"
Then he was gone, leaving his enemies glaring furiously up as he disappeared into the mists surrounding the mountains.
General Ishalan sighed, then cleaned and sheathed his saber as his soldiers set to dealing with the mess left behind by the fight. At last he turned and looked up at Shun. "I won't ask why you didn't help," he said. "It wasn't your fight. But I do wonder, given that, why you bothered to stay."
"You mentioned my father, General Ishalan. You said he was lost to shadows." Shun slithered closer, so he could gaze directly down at the man. "I don't suppose you could tell me what you mean?"
General Ishalan's first reaction to Shun's demands was to offer Shun and Shirong Shidi a meal. "Preferably with you in your human form, Your Highness. We don't have nearly enough food to feed you as a full-grown snake demon."
A moment of panic had suffused Shun at the request. His last near failure at shape-shifting was too recent and he feared he might have trouble again. Nor did he want Shirong Shidi to help him using that doll of his. It would be entirely too embarrassing to transform without clothing again.
He managed it, however, even managing the focus required to give himself clothing, though he wasn't quite sure where their substance came from. No surprise they were identical to his disciple's robes, even though the originals were lost somewhere in all his travels.
Returned to the General's tent, Shun and Shirong Shidi were given places to sit and all the General's officers were sent off to find somewhere else to eat. "Your Highness may not wish to have your family business discussed in public," the General told him. "And my officers, while good people, are horrible gossips."
Shun took some flat bread and made sure his Shidi knew how to eat it. To his surprise, the younger boy had no problem. At a guess it had something to do with his experiences in that future time. Preferring not to discuss the matter in front of strangers, all he said was, "Try not to make a mess."
"Yes, Shixiong."
Returning his attention to General Ishalan, Shun said, "I'd rather not be called Your Highness, General. I've no plans on taking my mother's throne."
"But the prophecy?"
Startled, because Shun had thought Zhan Kui's prophecy wasn't known outside of Leifeng Sect, he said, "Prophecies can be misunderstood. I don't want to assume anything about my future as yet."
The General inclined his head. "All right." Before Shun could continue, he added, "I've no doubt you're desperately curious, so I won't waste time with niceties. You want to know where your father is, don't you?"
That was definitely part of it. "My mother as well. I know for a fact she's not imprisoned in the Demon World anymore."
"I see. I can't help with that, however. I've never met her." General Ishalan took a deep breath, clearly ordering his thoughts. "As for your father, I knew him from when we were two of the Eight Guards."
The Eight Guards were the warriors set the duty to keep watch over Kunlun Tian, the home of the four kingdoms' God and Goddess. One guard for each of the four cardinal points and one guard for the four intercardinal ones. "I thought you weren't supposed to meet?"
"Oh, come now, child. Do you really think we avoid each other when there's only eight living souls on those mountains?"
Supposing not, Shun asked, "Did you know my mother, too?"
"No. He told me about her. Showed me an image of her. Told me his Master was angry with him because he'd broken discipline and gone off to marry her without permission." The General gazed reflectively into his wine. "You know your father's Master used his absence to try and bind your mother in her palace."
"I know. I also know my father managed to get there in time to take me... to take my egg... away." He'd given that egg to Shun's grandfather to hatch and raise, so that Shun's only memory of either parent was of their voices, filled with pain, love, anger and loneliness. "I don't know what happened to him afterwards."
"He and a friend came back to his post and he climbed to the Gods temple."
That made both Shun and Shirong Shidi choke. While his Shidi coughed, Shun smacked him on the shoulders and asked, "You didn't stop him?" The whole purpose of the Eight Guards was to keep people from disturbing the God and Goddess. For one of those guards to actually be the disturber was a little shocking.
"Your father was stronger than any of us. Besides, we weren't supposed to protect anything but our own territory. So how could we band together to stop him?" A sudden wry smile. "All of which being excuses of course. He told us what happened and begged our forbearance. How could we refuse our comrade in arms?"
There were plenty who could. "You said another, though? Who?"
"He was a disciple of your sect, that's all I can be sure of." The General shrugged, "I only spoke with your father. His friend waited below."
The next question was more difficult. "What happened to him?" A mere guard should never have stepped foot on Kunlun Tian. Should never have dared to climb to the temple between the two peaks. Only the Gods were allowed in that place. Mortals had no business disturbing them.
"We half-expected the Gods to strike him down. Instead we saw a great cloud of shadow descend on the temple. A little while later something came back. I'm sure it was your father once, but it wasn't human anymore. It was as if he'd become part of the shadows. Or the shadows became part of him."
That meant something to Shun but he couldn't quite think why. "What of the other? The one who came with him?"
"The shadow spoke to him, then ran off. His friend went back to Bazi. We never saw either again." A thought occurred to the General. "I did hear your father call his companion something like A-Sheng, but that was all."
Sheng? Another thing Shun felt he ought to recognize. Another thing he didn't quite know. Before he could say anything more, however, Shirong Shidi made a slight, unnerved sound. When Shun turned to look at the younger boy, he said, "Shixiong, my father's name is Sheng."