Chapter 66: On the Mountain Path
Having successfully concluded his business with Yuelong, Wuzhi spent the next few days at Lorden City making preparations for his journey to the Hielands. He stocked up on necessary provisions, made repairs to the carriage, collected information, etc. It was only on the fifth day in the city did Wuzhi and Alexandros leave.
It went without saying that during this period, Yuelong tried to have Wuzhi tailed. Unfortunately, however, all such attempts were rendered meaningless against the young scholar's concealment technique. His [Information Path Technique] seemed to have undergone advancement as it had grown even more reclusive and enigmatic. It sufficed to say, if Wuzhi did not want someone to find him then it would be impossible for that person to discover Wuzhi even if the young scholar stood right before their eyes.
Unsuccessful in his attempts, Yuelong quickly gave up and went into closed cultivation to study the notes given to him by Wuzhi. He left his aide, Steward Zu, in charge of all affairs of the Mu Household. And since the Young Lord's cultivation came first, Steward Zu had no complaints and obeyed.
With that, Wuzhi's episode in Lorden City had more or less finished. Next up came the negotiations with the Hielanders. If the weapon's technology poached from the Mu Household gave the South Aislan Empire a fighting chance in the war, then the result of the negotiations with the Hielanders would decide whether Alexandros' camp within the Empire's faction emerged as the final victor or not.
Once again, the fate of the empire was in the hands of Wuzhi and Alexandros; this pair of student and mentor.
---
A week passed.
A simple yet comfortably-decorated carriage found itself slowly hiking up a mountain trail. Walls of rock extended on both sides of the trail, creating a narrow pass called the 'Pass of No Return.'
"Wuzhi, why does this pass possess such an ominous name?" Pushing his small head outside of the window behind Wuzhi's back, Alexandros asked.
"It is named such because of its history, your majesty," replied Wuzhi. He then deliberately lowered his voice and solemnly said, "From what I managed to learn from the city, it is rumored that nine out of ten people that venture into this pass are doomed to never return. And even those that managed to miraculously return have been known to disappear in less than three months!"
Alexandros shivered. He felt a cold chill caress his spine. Lowering his voice, he whispered, "Wuzhi, nothing will happen to us, right?"
"For as long as I walk this earth, I shall allow no harm to come to your majesty," Wuzhi unabashedly boasted. "Besides, I highly doubt the authenticity of such rumors, your majesty. I have no doubt that these rumors are but tall tales invented by the city's drunkards to earn a free drink from ignorant travelers."
"It is said that there is no smoke without fire, Wuzhi. It would do good for us to remain prudent of our surroundings," opined the boy emperor.
The two spoke no more and held their silence.
As the carriage hiked further up, frost began to settle in the surrounding air. The winds turned chilly and patches of white snow began appearing in their surroundings. A faint white mist also became prevalent, veiling the surroundings and preventing one from seeing too far ahead.
Prepared, Wuzhi pulled on the reign and slowed the carriage. He then proceeded to light the lantern that he had prepared and hung it at the carriage's mast. With greater caution and lower speed, the carriage continued its climb.
Exactly three-quarters of an hour later, Alexandros heard a distant shrill scream. He instantly straightened up and questioned, "Did you hear that, Wuzhi!?"
"It must have been the wind, your majesty. Wind forced through narrow corridors often produces a shrill sound," explained the young scholar.
Alexandros did not appear convinced by Wuzhi's explanation. However, unwilling to get into an argument and distract the older man, he chose to bottle his questions and furtively scanned the surroundings outside through the small window in the carriage. Unfortunately, the mist had thickened quite considerably at this point. The boy emperor's efforts were fruitless.
Another ten minutes went by. The mist thickened once again and this time, Wuzhi found it difficult to even see his own hands. He began having doubts. With such thick mist, it would be impossible to venture further.
Just as he had decided to stop here and set up camp, Wuzhi's sharp ears caught the sound of a shrill whistle. His mind sensed danger and sent an order to move his body. Unfortunately, he ended up being too late.
A thin dart struck Wuzhi on his neck. Wuzhi instantly lost feeling in all his limbs and his vision turned faint. With his last waning thoughts, he remarked. 'Ah. This is bad.'
Darkness consumed him as Wuzhi lost consciousness.
---
Pain. Wuzhi was awakened by great pain. It felt as if someone was stabbing thousands of icy needles into his nerve bundles.
Wuzhi also felt heavy. He felt as if his limbs were bound to thick iron chains which were attached to a thousand-ton rock. He tried to gather his strength and move his body but quickly found it impossible to do so. He had no strength.
Finding his efforts meaningless, Wuzhi quickly gave up. He focused on regaining control over his flickering thoughts. A minute, two minutes, ten minutes… Wuzhi slowly counted the seconds and soon he recovered control over his thoughts. His mind still felt heavy as if someone had poured buckets of lead into it and his thoughts were painfully slow.
Wuzhi ignored these things and focused on opening his eyes. It felt difficult to do so but with continued focus and perseverance he eventually succeeded. An image appeared within his mind.
A dingy, dark place that was extremely narrow. Slimy rock walls surrounded him on all sides and extended twenty feet upward, and what appeared at the very top was a slanted wooden roof. The ground was wet and a pool of ice-cold water six inches tall was present.
The images combined and an answer appeared in Wuzhi's mind; He was trapped within an extremely narrow rock pit with no way to escape. There was not enough space for him to lie down, forcing Wuzhi to sit in a semi-huddled state that was extremely uncomfortable. The only way out of this rock pit was the open entrance at the top, and that was after a dangerous and near-impossible climb.
And as if that wasn't already terrible enough, Wuzhi found that his limbs were bound by thick iron chains. The chains were anchored into the rock below making them impossible to be pulled out.
He was chained and this was a prison. He had been imprisoned.
Finding his consciousness growing faint once more, Wuzhi soon passed out.
---
It was nighttime when he woke up once again. Wuzhi wondered whether it was the nighttime of the same day or a different day. He quickly gave up wondering about such a meaningless thing as he had no way to keep time.
His head had cleared a little this time and his thoughts flowed with greater fluidity. Remembering the priorities that he had set for himself during the first time that he had woken, Wuzhi quickly checked the state of his body as best as he could.
A few scrapes here and there, and bruises all over his body. An initial check revealed no cuts, wounds, or other major lacerations. His bones felt a little stiff and fractured but fortunately, nothing seemed to be broken.
Wuzhi felt extremely cold. He checked and confirmed that the level of water in which he was submerged had doubled from the earlier six inches. Now, it was twelve inches tall: a foot in depth.
Wuzhi consciously shrunk his body and huddled together as close as he could. He then regulated his breathing and performed a breathing exercise in a bid to consciously lower the rate of his heartbeat. After a few repeated attempts, he eventually managed to succeed in regulating his breath.
He mentally recited. 'Breathe in, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7… breathe out. Breathe in, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7… breathe out. Feel the flow of your blood. Regulate it. Channel your heart…'
His recitation resulted in a self-hypnosis of sorts as he fell into a trace. Wuzhi's mind then began fading once again. He remained calm and continued to hypnotize himself until the moment he eventually fell unconscious.
Remarkably, Wuzhi's body continued to maintain his altered state of breathing! His breaths fell to a minimum and his heart pulsed with a lowered frequency. In a bid to conserve energy and heat, Wuzhi entered a semi-comatose state.
Night passed peacefully.
---
At the same time. Elsewhere.
A pailful of water fell atop Alexandros' head, rudely awakening the boy emperor from his slumber. He shivered at the terrible chill that attacked his bones and forced his mind to concentrate.
Lifting his head, he found a half-naked buff man with a tattooed upper body, wearing a grass skirt and a strange-looking face mask, gazing at him through the two holes in the mask.
In a tone that was reminiscent of two stones being rubbed against each other, he spoke. "Come. The Mountain King awaits."