Heaven's Golden Finger - Chapter 7: Chapter 7

The first thing Shirong had to do was fight back panic. That last move hadn't come from his training. A blow like that could kill a normal human being, even protected by padding. He was lucky, damned lucky, his opponent had been a demon. She might look fragile and delicate, but she was immensely strong and immensely tough. He shuddered to think of the consequences if she hadn't been.
"Master? Do you have orders for Mo Qingshe?"
The demoness' name wasn't particularly imaginative. Demon Green Snake. Exactly What It Says On the Label. He probably shouldn't have spent quite so much time on TV Tropes. This world was just full of them and it wasn't doing his state of mind any good to realize it. Realizing he was becoming distracted, he tried to focus. "Possibly a change of clothing? Something less revealing?"
"Doesn't Master like what he sees? Perhaps Master would be happier if this slave changed her shape? Would he prefer more bust?" Her breasts enlarged. "Or less?" They shrank. Then shrank to flatness as she became he. "Or maybe you'd prefer a man?"
"I don't want a slave at all, to be honest."
"You should have thought of that before you took the ring, boy." Mo Qingshe's voice was darker, deeper, in his masculine form.
"If I'd known what the ring was, I would have given it straight back to Shun Shixiong," he snapped in return.
"Thus hurrying my descent to Hell? Why thank you, Shidi." For some reason Shun Shixiong was enjoying his embarrassment. Something in his eyes suggested he was scared and determined to wring what little enjoyment he could from the situation.
Shirong forced himself to focus. "Is there a way I can free you?"
"Want to die?" Said in a man's voice, the words came out a great deal more threatening than it would have from the demon's female form. He clearly reveled in it, too, looking down at Shirong with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
Thoughtfully, Shirong examined Mo Qingshe's face. "How would you kill me, if you were free?"
A startled expression crossed the demon's handsome features. "Flay the skin from your flesh. Disembowel you slowly. Fry you in boiling oil."
The list went on. All hideously painful. None quite as bad as having your own organs turn on you, your own flesh devour itself. Shirong nodded his head politely, waiting. When Mo Qingshe ran out of ideas, or perhaps breath, he said, "Interesting. Why?"
That made both Mo Qingshe and Shun Shixiong stare at him. "Why?" Shun repeated. "She... he's a demon. Does there need to be another reason?"
"Not really. But I'd like to know if there's something beyond a desire to cause pain here. I mean, from what I know of demons, they're the way they are because they exist through magic." At Shun's raised brow, he added, "Apparently I did pay attention to some lessons."
"Congratulations," Shun Shixiong muttered. "Am I supposed to be impressed?"
Shirong smiled. "No. I'm still too ignorant to know what I'm doing here." He returned his attention to Mo Qingshe, who'd gone back to her female form again. "I'd like to free you. I don't want a slave. I also don't want you killing me."
From the look on the demoness' face, she didn't believe him. Well, he probably wouldn't either. "It doesn't matter what you want. You've proved yourself stronger, so I acknowledge you as master and obey. But the one who bound me, the same one who bound my sister in the ice, is the only one who can end my servitude to that damned ring."
Accepting the inevitable, Shirong turned to his Shixiong. Shu Shun looked back at him, one brow raised. "What? You're the prophesized hero, the blessed child of Heaven and Earth. Why ask me for guidance?"
"He's the prophesized one?" Quite suddenly Mo Qingshe's haughty attitude slipped. "Really? Him?" She actually sounded a little scared.
This world's attitude towards prophecy was just as irritating as his Golden Finger. Shirong ignored her reaction to ask his Shixiong, "I know it's probably not something you want to talk about...."
"Then don't."
"...but the more I understand, the better chance I have of finding an answer to this mess we're in. Please, tell me why she calls you Young Lord. I can tell you know."
Dark eyes met his, filled with some unknown bitterness. "You should know. Shidi is the one who got it out of Fifth Elder Li Tsui."
Now Shun Shixiong said that, the memory popped to the front of Shirong's thoughts. A story, a rumor, one firmly squelched by Leifeng's Elders. One Fifth Elder Li had accidentally - or was it intentionally? - mentioned in front of Xu Shirong earlier that year. One which the old Xu Shirong would have happily shared with the entire sect if their Shizun hadn't found out and stopped him.
How did it go? Shun Shixiong's father run away from the Sect after falling in love with a demon called Baishe. The current Sect Master had managed to drive the demon away, but not before she'd given birth and left Shu Shun's father with a baby. Shu Duan had left his son with Shizun before going in search of a way to save his wife from whatever it was the Sect Master had done to her.
The story was terribly familiar. "Wait. Leifeng isn't a Buddhist sect."
"Seemingly knowledge?" Shun Shixiong looked confused. "This is another of your strange terms, isn't it?"
Apparently it was. "Monks who follow Buddha? They shave their head and wear yellow robes?" Both his companions just stared at him and he sighed. "All right. Buddhism doesn't exist here." Whether that meant the time was too early or if this world just wasn't his own, wasn't a thing he could answer. "Suffice it to say they're monks following a religion you haven't heard of."
"That doesn't explain why you thought these Seemingly Knowledge people would have anything to do with Leifeng sect."
Shirong waved off the question. Posed one of his own. "The baby was you, right? Was your mother a white snake?"
"Oh, the boy's so terribly smart. He should be proud of himself."
Shun shushed Mo Qingshe with a gesture. "Yes. And she's my mother's sworn sister."
The whole thing was getting worse. Shirong wasn't terribly fond of the legend of Lady White Snake. He hadn't cared for the monk's insistence that she had no right to love just because she was a demon. Especially since most versions of the legend had her be a kindly woman who just wanted to be with her beloved. "And heaven bound her somewhere to do penance for her sins?"
That made Mo Qingshe scoff. "Penance? Sins? She never hurt anyone. She was the gentlest lady of all of us. Besides, it wasn't heaven bound her. It was that damned Qiong Lou did it. Locked her in the ice for eternity."
Well, if nothing else, Shirong better understood what he was involved with. Understood, too, why Shun Shixiong had so readily accepted his fate. It wasn't just because of the prophecy. It was because he'd already known he was half-demon.
"All right," Shirong sighed. "Then the plan has to be the same. We find the Revered Predecessor and we find out just what might be done about that prophecy of his."
Because he refused to repeat that damned story a second time.
Shirong's first order for his new and unwanted slave was a change of clothing. The ring giving him mastery over her held more than enough alternatives to sheer green robes, after all. She complained but obediently accepted the heavier cotton inner clothing he found for her.
The ring held manuals and cultivation tools as well as clothing, most of which Shirong wasn't advanced enough to make use of. He described what he found to his Shixiong. "Do you need any of it?"
"I don't need your charity."
It was a good reminder. A fair one. One Shirong needed, even though the reaction stung. "All right," he said meekly. He didn't know his Shixiong well, but he was beginning to understand the prickly pride that drove him. Knowing what fate supposedly had in store for him had to make things worse. Shu Shun didn't want Heaven's Chosen's pity.
Not that Shirong felt pity for him at all. There was nothing pitiful about Shu Shun. Despite all the strikes against him, despite his sect Elders' refusal to acknowledge his many talents, he'd persisted. Likely that persistence and pride would be what drove him down, if down he had to go, but there was no way Shirong could fault him for either.
"Don't act like such a coward. You're Shizun Quan's disciple. Act like it."
"I'm not afraid of you." More like afraid for his Shixiong. "I just don't know how to talk to you." Certainly his predecessor's ways wouldn't work. For one thing, arrogantly assuming unearned rights was one of the reasons Xu Shirong had first offended his Shixiong.
For a moment it looked like Shu Shun was going to tell him not to talk at all. Then, with a sigh, the older boy said, "If nothing else, you're so unlike the real Shirong I have no problem telling you apart. Just... stop acting like you can save me from my fate. You don't even know if you can."
Mo Qingshe eyed them both as she finished dressing. "Real Shirong? Save you from your fate? Master, Young Lord, I hope you will share with this slave what you mean?"
Shirong considered her. Even with heavier inner clothes to conceal her body, she was shapely enough to draw attention. He hoped her appearance didn't mean she was supposed to be part of his so-called harem. He also hoped it wouldn't get attention where they were going.
"Shun Shixiong? Should I explain?"
"She's your slave. The only way she'll stop being your slave is if you find a way to free her from the ring or if you die. Either way, she won't be telling anyone any time soon."
A good point. Awkwardly, hoping he wouldn't have to repeat the story too many more times, Shirong explained who he was and about that damned prophecy. "I'd like to get us out of this mess if possible. Shun Shixiong doesn't think it can be done."
"No one has ever broken Revered Predecessor's prophecies," Shun Shixiong pointed out.
"Always a first time. And if I really am Heaven's Chosen...," Shirong tried not to spit at the thought, "then I'm the one with the best chance."
The expression on Shun Shixiong's face blended real amusement with disbelief. He didn't argue the point, though. "We should eat and go, then. I doubt even the Chosen One's vaunted luck will cause the Revered Predecessor to materialize right here in front of us."
They both paused, half-expecting Shun Shixiong's words to be proved immediately false. When they weren't, they sighed in relief and settled down to follow his advice.
Now that Mo Qingshe was with them, traveling became a bit safer. She could sense ill intent a great deal better than Shirong. She even cooperated with him better than he'd feared. Most likely that was because she approved of his plans to protect Shun Shixiong from the fate the Revered Predecessor had prophesized for him. At least he hoped that was why. He just wished she'd stop looking at him with big fluttering eyes.
"What will you do if you do break the prophecy?" she asked. "Go back to your old body?"
The thought sent a chill down Shirong's spine. "I'd rather not." He fell silent, thinking about the long empty days with nothing to do but read or watch videos. And that was given he hadn't died before transmigrating to this world. He suspected he had. He'd been pretty near the end, with no hope of a cure in sight.
"If you break the prophecy do you think you'll still have Heaven's Blessing?"
"I don't want Heaven's Blessing. I never asked for it in the first place." He found himself glancing at Shun Shixiong and forced himself to look away before the older boy noticed. Damnit, he didn't want to act like a lovestruck hormone driven teenager on his first date. No matter how much he liked Shun Shixiong's looks, he knew better than to form an attachment. Not when he had no idea where things would lead.
The demoness was confused. "Why wouldn't you want Heaven's Blessing? Being the Chosen One means getting whatever you want."
Not when what he wanted ran counter to the thing that made him the Chosen One. Again he had to force himself not to look at his Shixiong. Damnit, he might not be an adult yet, but he ought to have better control over himself than this. Thank the Gods Shun Shixiong didn't realize. It'd be ten times as embarrassing if the older boy understood what was going on in his head. And how do they treat cut-sleeves in this world, anyway?
"I just don't want it," Shirong told the demoness finally. "If I'm allowed to stay, I'll stay and be content with what I do get out of it." He doubted it'd be much. Heaven might not like his unwillingness to bow to its designs.
By this time they were just about to the main road not far from the city of Ganzhou, according to Shun Shixiong. Shirong wasn't sure this was the same Ganzhou as in his time's China, but his geography wasn't good anyway. For that matter, he supposed it didn't matter. Ancient China or some fantastical version thereof, it was a whole new world to him. "Shun Shixiong, do you have any idea how we can find the Revered Predecessor?"
No surprise his Shixiong gave him a look of mild disgust. "You just came wandering off the mountain without a single thought on what you were doing, didn't you?"
"I was hoping that'd get me away from you," Shirong admitted. "Hoping that'd be enough to break the connection. I know, it was silly of me."
A shake of the head, combined with an oddly tolerant scoff. "Your predecessor was a brat. You're just ignorant."
"Yes, Shixiong."
"And annoyingly good tempered."
"Sorry, Shixiong."
With a sigh, Shun Shixiong pointed towards the distant walls of Ganzhou. "The Revered Predecessor wanders where he wills. But he has a friend at Xiaolian Flower Palace." A slightly malicious expression crossed the older boy's face as he added, "The city's underground battle arena, just in case you're wondering."
Becauseof course there had to be a martial contest of some sort in a Golden FingerHarem story.