Chapter 52 - Another Outbreak

After two days of hard riding on their horses, Ao Wen and her companions reached the capital city of the Mao Kingdom. Nestled in a river valley, the city itself was split by the wide Shang River. In normal times, countless colorful sails would crowd the river as fishers, traders and ordinary travelers mingled on the city's many waterways. Vast gleaming bridges connected the two halves of the city to a number of large islands in the river, the largest of which held a vast palace complex belonging to the reigning monarch of the Mao kingdom.

None of that, however, mattered to Ao Wen or her companions. Instead, their eyes were drawn to a smaller island at the southern tip of the city. While the sun shone brightly in a cloudless azure sky, this lone island was cloaked in dark fog that obscured the once immaculate landscaping, graceful buildings, and beautiful courtyards of the Royal Mao Academy. Even from here, they could see the remains of several people who had been teachers or students, bodies twisted by the illness that had killed them. Some, a minority of the bodies they could see, also showed signs of being ravaged by some kind of beast. At the moment all of them were relieved to not be able to smell the scents that were sure to be drifting with that dark and malevolent fog.

"At least the formation is still holding," Shi Tan said hopefully. "That fog looks anything but ordinary, but you can see it accumulating at the western edge where the wind has blown it against the formation barrier."

"That's good," Ao Wen said, suppressing memories of the horrors she had seen in cities where clouds like this had covered the entire city. "Will you be able to get us inside the formation without letting that fog out?" she asked.

"That shouldn't be a problem," Shi Tan said confidently. "The formation itself is a Five Phases Four Walls barrier. It draws power from the phases of the moon and stores the power in the formation core for use when the island is under attack. The strength of the formation is that it lasts a very long time and it recharges naturally over the course of the month. If you need a formation to hold off an assault for a few days until help can arrive, it's a very good formation for that. It was probably intended as a method of protecting the wealthy young masters studying there should any conflict erupt that might turn them into valuable hostages," she explained. "It reflects the arrogance of mortal kings," she added with a trace of disdain in her icy voice. "They're not afraid of powerful elites, they have alliances and complex relationships even among their enemies that prevent outright hostility against the children of their enemies. What they're afraid of is an uprising of the common folk."

"Good that we aren't common then!" Alchemist Chu said only to receive a disapproving stare from Feng Hou the Sun Blade. "I meant only that no one in the city has any reason to defend against us," he explained, suppressing his indignation for what felt like the hundredth time on this trip. While he spoke to Feng Hou, his words intended to placate, his dark eyes never left the fog-shrouded academy that he'd come so far to reach.

"We'll need to get a boat," Ao Wen said as she began to make plans. "Chu, make yourself useful," she said, observing the other Alchemist's reaction to the dark yin-shrouded island. "Head into town and buy us a small boat. Pay twice the price the seller is asking for. It doesn't need to be big enough to carry our horses," she continued, her eyes not leaving his the entire time she spelled out her requirements. "We'll be leaving the horses in the city. Actually, you should see to that too, find a place to stable them," she said, finishing with her instructions and gesturing for him to depart.

"Ah," he said, his pride continually pricked by each reminder that he wouldn't be treated as anything more than a common servant on this mission. "As the Celestial Fairy commands," he said with cupped hands before riding off into the city, a dark cloud of wounded pride all but visible around him as he departed.

"Does Celestial Fairy intend to leave him behind when we reach the island?" Champion Bo asked in a deep, gravelly voice. "Forgive me for saying so, but I don't see why we would need to bring him with us."

"We should definitely keep him with us," Ao Wen said, frowning after the departing Alchemist. "And Champion Bo," she added, trepidation settling into her stomach like a lump of stone. "Remember what I said about him before we left the sect. The same goes for the rest of you," she said, glancing at Feng Hou and Shi Tan.

"Celestial Fairy, is there something we should know?" Shi Tan asked, furrowing her brow as she looked from Ao Wen's face to the direction the alchemist departed in.

"I don't know anything you don't," Ao Wen said simply, trying to shake off the feeling that wouldn't release its icy grip on her stomach. "But I do find the good Alchemist to be a little odd," she said. "I don't think he'll cause any trouble right now, but be on your guard all the same," she finished.

Since the moment they'd met in the sect, Ao Wen had bullied and insulted the Independent Alchemist. She'd hinted strongly and even outright told him that he could return to the sect at any time if he found serving as her medicine boy to be beneath him, after all, she hadn't requested or required his presence on this mission. Every time, he'd swallow his pride, sometimes making an excuse to stay, sometimes reiterating his desire to see the methods of the Medical Saintess firsthand, but no matter how correct his words might be, the story his eyes told spoke much louder than the one told by his lips and the second story was the one that left Ao Wen concerned.

"Do you think there are any survivors in there?" Feng Hou asked. "I've heard that it's impossible to save mortals from Yin Fiend Transformation," he added, his eyes grim as he looked at the haunting island.

"There might be survivors," Ao Wen said, her voice thick with memories. "There might even be mortal survivors. It's true that there's no way to save the life of a mortal who is infected with Yin Fiend Transformation, but I've seen whole cities ravaged by this sickness where pockets of mortals managed to escape infection. As for cultivators, since this was an alchemy contest, there are likely to be more than a few cultivators here. That's good and bad news," she explained. "If the transformation hasn't progressed very far, there's an up to fifty percent chance that they can recover."

"That low?" Shi Tan asked, her delicate brows creasing. "Is that because Medical Saintess couldn't come?"

"No," Ao Wen said. "You may not know this," she said, holding up her left arm where only the faintest trace of a scar could be seen. "I was once afflicted by Yin Fiend Transformation. Mother, the Medical Saintess," she corrected herself, "personally attended to me. She told me that the odds that I would survive the treatment from her were at best fifty percent."

Champion Bo's eyes widened in shock when he saw the scar on Ao Wen's arm. Raising the hem of his robes he revealed a similar but much more severe scar that ran up the entire length of his right leg. "I didn't expect to have something in common with a Celestial Fairy," he said. "Though I was healed by Master Alchemist Huang last year."

Ao Wen smiled at meeting someone who could truly understand. "Senior Brother Huang taught me many things when he and Medical Saintess found me in Salt Flats City almost three years ago. Without them, I would have died an orphan in an unmarked grave," she said gently, reaching out to gently touch Champion Bo's arm. "If it pleases you, you may call me Sister Cong and I will call you Brother Bo."

"This Bo is honored Sister Cong," he said, his face playing host to the first genuine smile they'd seen from him in the days the group had been traveling together. Somehow, the wide toothy grin didn't feel incongruous on the towering body cultivator, instead, it felt like they'd gained a rare glimpse at the real man beneath all the muscle and scars.

"You see," Ao Wen said with a smile towards Feng Hou and Shi Tan. "Two of us here have survived. That doesn't mean you can be careless though. When a person transforms into a Yin Fiend they slowly cease the use of their cultivation or weapons and rely on their powerful and twisted bodies to fight. A Yin Fiend with a sword is less dangerous than one with claws. The sword is unlikely to infect you," she said looking into the eyes of both the Champion and Formation Master. "Claws, body spikes, and especially teeth are all more likely to inflict you with Yin Poison. I have several Elixirs with me to help resist the effects of the Yin Fog, medicines that can help purge a wound, and other methods as well but you MUST tell me if you're injured. No toughing it out, no hiding it. An hour or two can make a difference between keeping and losing a limb, an hour or two beyond that can be the difference between living and dying. Does everyone understand?"

"Yes Celestial Fairy," the group replied to her orders.

"Good. Once we have our boat we'll head towards the east side of the island where the fog is thinnest," Ao Wen said, beginning to lay out her plan. "Our first mission is to kill any Yin Fiends or infected mortals. Don't kill anyone until I tell you what they're suffering from. Enough days have passed since the outbreak that some people may be suffering from ordinary diseases that can still be quite revolting," she cautioned.

"You said that our first mission is to kill Yin Fiends and infected mortals," Shi Tan said. "What other mission do we have?"

"This," Ao Wen said, passing over a folded piece of parchment to the Formation Master. "I trust you can assemble that formation in a large enough area to cover the entire island?"

Looking over the parchment, Shi Tan's eyes widened. "This formation…"

"Was designed by my mother," Ao Wen said. "Consider it a gift, though I'm not sure how useful you'll find a formation that spreads dragon flames over a wide area."

"Dragon flames?" Feng Hou asked, suddenly interested. "I thought the dragon clans prohibited anyone outside of their clans from touching things like formations that could affect their flames."

"They do," Ao Wen said simply. "That's why the only people who know that Formation Master Shi has been provided with that formation are you three. If I had announced it as part of the reward for participating in this mission, you can imagine the chaos that would have resulted. I trust the three of you to keep quiet about it. This isn't the only hidden reward for this mission," she added. "It's just the only one that's relevant at the moment."

Before any of the trio could speak, Alchemist Chu returned with a look on his face as though he'd just done something distasteful. "Celestial Fairy," he said, cupping his hands and bowing in a manner that carried little of the respect the gesture should. "As you've commanded, I've secured a boat for us at twice the asking price. I also found a suitable place to stable our horses. Given the Celestial Fairy's previous instructions, I also paid more than was required to the owner of the stable," he said, doing little to hide his irritation at the orders he'd been given.

"Well done Alchemist Chu," Ao Wain said, praising him in the tone one would use to praise a small child. "Everyone, the sooner we move, the better our odds. Let's go."