185. Death & Sunset, V (Patreon)

He took five men with him into death before the poison wound up killing him, although to be honest it was a pretty near thing. With his left arm sheared off by a sword-strike that he hadn't managed to block, nearly blind due to repeated blasts of light, and reeling from the poison, he might not have been able to block the spear thrust to his throat, so it was good timing that his heart had simply exploded before he'd reached that point.

The poison really should have acted quicker, but he chalked that up to the fact that he'd gotten Drug Resistance I at some point already. He didn't blame the Tang or anything, he thought the blackness came and swept him away into its waiting embrace.

And maybe he was just delusional from pain at the moment, but he thought it almost seemed eager to greet him again.

You have been killed by a poison for the second time. Obtained Drug Resistance II as a reward.

Wu Hao came to and gasped a quick breath before sagging back against the warm wood of the carriage. One day ago, he thought to himself. They were still on the way to the Diancang Sect.

No one had been slapped yet. There had been no duel. Du Linglong was still alive.

"What happened?" Master Shu asked, his eyes alert all of a sudden. He'd snapped out of his contemplation and was regarding Wu Hao with some surprise.

"I don't know," Wu Hao said, leaning back, trying to make himself comfortable. "Nothing happened."

Master Shu raised an eyebrow. "You started flailing around, then break out into cold sweats, and gasp for air. That's all because of nothing happening? The books you're reading are not the sort of thing that makes you gasp in appreciation, by any means."

"You don't know that," Wu Hao said.

"I've read them myself," Master Shu said. "In fact, tell me a chapter number from any of them and I'll recite the contents, word for word."

"Fine," Wu Hao snapped. "Laws and Regulations of the Martial Alliance, the third chapter."

Master Shu closed his eyes, nodding once, and then spoke without hesitation.

"The third category of laws," he recites, "pertains to the sects' ability to govern themselves. The Alliance makes no demands of its member sects in how punishment is delivered in any category: murder, robbery, rape, and so on. However, there are two cases in which the Alliance holds the power to intervene: one being any crime which started a conflict between two major sects in which significant harm was done as defined in the second chapter, which requires the convention of a council of delegated elders from all of the major sects; the second of these cases being collaboration with the Demon Cult in someone from the major sects, the discovery of which may, if presented to someone with the title of Sovereign or deputized to take care of their business, be sufficient to seal a death sentence, to be executed by all members presuming..."

He could have continued on this for a bit, but he'd clearly made his point. Master Shu opened his eyes, staring smugly down at Wu Hao.

"Well?" he asked. "And don't think I haven't noticed you haven't given me an answer to my first question, boy. What happened?"

"It's nothing," Wu Hao mumbled.

"It is something," Master Shu said. "I tire of these games, boy. Tell me."

Damnit. Fine, then. If the old man wanted to know, then Wu Hao would tell just have to make something up.

Wu Hao let his head hang theatrically. "I'm worried."

He actually wasn't that worried, or at least not more worried than he'd been the last few days. Frankly, now that he had an idea of what to expect, he was less nervous, even.

No. Most of all, he was angry at himself, for failing to predict any of this. It didn't really matter at the moment considering he'd turned back time, but he couldn't believe how much of an idiot he'd been.

"Over what we're about to do?" Master Shu asked. "Frankly, I would be the worried one if you didn't have doubts at all. We're stepping into the den of the lion."

"That doesn't make me feel better," Wu Hao muttered.

"I cannot take any of the danger away," Master Shu said. More quietly, he added: "But I can take the brunt of the blows for you, in any case. I can promise you that much. And anything you do wind up suffering, that is my responsibility. I take that extremely seriously."

"Right," Wu Hao said. "And what if it's not just me?"

Master Shu grunted, before a mischievous look entered his eyes.

"Ah," he said knowingly.

"What's that look supposed to mean?" Wu Hao demanded.

"You're not worried for yourself, are you?" Master Shu said. "And you don't strike me as the type of fool to want to save the adherents of the Demon Cult from themselves, either. You're worried about that girl, then."

Wu Hao flinched.

"What?" he sputtered. "I mean, I guess?"

She'd died, when otherwise she wouldn't have. That meant it was his fault that she died. Maybe not directly and definitely not on purpose, but he'd caused her to die. He felt an obligation to her, and that was all.

Master Shu chuckled, before his face became serious again.

"No, you're right," he said. He folded his hands across his chest. "And, however difficult this must be to hear. Trust me, boy. I don't know what you think will happen, exactly, but my plan will not fail."

"Right," Wu Hao said, utterly unconvinced.

"What's with that look?" Master Shu asked. "Another ploy to try and get me to spill my plans, perhaps?"

"No," Wu Hao said. "I'm just thinking. If you won't tell me your plan then I'll need my own plan, won't I?"

The look on Master Shu's face was... honestly, Wu Hao wasn't quite how sure to describe it. Skeptical on one hand, bizarrely intrigued on the other.

"You will come up with a plan," he said. "A plan to take down a Sovereign who you suspect of being affiliated with the Demon Cult."

Wu Hao nodded. He had all the time in the world, after all. Dying and returning back in time gave him the luxury of being able to try, rethink his approach, and give it another attempt, or to perfect the approach he already had. That was the way he had managed to do everything so far.

"Go on, then," Master Shu said, smiling patiently. "Tell me of this plan of yours."

"I don't think I can," Wu Hao said. "Don't think it'd be safe."

Master Shu's eyebrow twitched.

"I see," he said, somewhat more coolly. "That leaves us at an impasse, then."

"There's one thing I need, though," Wu Hao said. Now it was his turn to lean forward. "Teach me your Heaven-grade technique."

"You want to learn the Mountain-Shaking Staff Art?" Master Shu asked. "How does that figure into your plan, exactly?"

Wu Hao shrugged.

"I won't know until I've learned it," he said.

But, actually, he did have a good idea. He didn't have a Heaven-tier Spear Art, and he had no real way of figuring out what sort of image that could connect to. Mastering a Heaven-grade Staff Art would be the quickest way of augmenting his own strength.

Not just because of the technique itself, but because of the insights it would give him into the rest of his techniques. The lines that had manifested during his fights in the tournament were still with him, after all, and those were insights that he was trying to mix into his other techniques as well. Even if he hadn't had much progress yet.

Which, in turn, would help him beat the shit out of Ke Shuang.

"You think you can learn it in a single day?" Master Shu asked, skeptically. "You're a decent martial artist, brat. I'll admit that much. You are not, however, that good. No one is. It's not humanly possible. Not in a few hours."

"Maybe," Wu Hao said.

"Do you even know how difficult it is to learn multiple Heaven-grade Arts?" Master Shu asked, exasperated. "From multiple weapons, at that?"

"No," Wu Hao said. That did give him a little pause, at least. "Is it that difficult?"

"From multiple weapons?" Master Shu asked. "It's not impossible. The Kunlun master both fist and the sword, after all, and have at least one Heaven-grade technique for each. However, their training is specialized in preparing students for one, not both, and there's only one in a generation who can master both."

Master Shu's eyes narrowed as he looked at Wu Hao.

"You still think you can do it, despite that?"

Saying nothing, Wu Hao nodded.

"Fine," the old man said. "But you should be aware that the training will not be easy. You're a few months early before learning it, I think, which will make it all the more difficult. Is this really what you want?"

"How many more times do I have to say yes before you'll teach me?" Wu Hao grumbled. "Isn't the job of a teacher to teach?"

That earned him a swift hand to the back of the head.

"Be that way, then," Master Shu said. "But don't come crying to me later."

Wu Hao had never cried, at least not unless he was literally dying. That didn't count, anyway. Put another way, in his entire lifetime up until this point from anyone else's perspective, he'd never shed a single tear.

"Bring it," Wu Hao said. "Whatever sort of training you're planning on, I'll have you know I never backed down from a challenge."

"Oh?" Master Shu said. "Well, well. You're walking the thin line between bravery and stupidity, boy."

Their stares met in the middle of the cabin. Wu Hao wasn't stupid. He knew that Master Shu was just humoring him, both in indulging this sort of stupid banter as in teaching him the Mountain-Shaking Staff Art. He did appreciate it, in a way, but that didn't mean he was going to back down.

"Why don't we begin right now?" Master Shu asked. "As with all good lessons, however, first a bit of theory."

Wu Hao bit back a groan. He couldn't look weak now. Still, he saw the small victorious glint in Master Shu's eyes clearly enough as the old man gestured around him.

"The core of any Heaven-grade art is in what it connects to," Master Shu said. "This is a deeply personal process. Enlightenment cannot be bought, taught, or rushed. Instead, all relies on making a single leap of thought that results in intuitive understanding of a concept. You understand that much, at least?"

Wu Hao nodded.

"Good. Hence, what do you think teaching a Heaven-grade art would actually involve?"

That was a more difficult question. Connections couldn't be taught, that much was clear from what Master Shu had said. And Wu Hao's own limited experience so far. Clearly these sorts of techniques were also taught, though, so there had to be a way.

"By creating the circumstances for people to make that leap?" Wu Hao asked.

"Exactly."

"How are you going to do that, exactly?"

Master Shu grinned. It was not a nice smile.

"A method that has been passed down from master to disciple, starting in ancient times."

He peered out at the walls, eyes losing focus in a way that suggested he was staring through the walls, and after a moment he rapped at the side of the carriage.

A few moments later, the carriage began to slow, and in the end it stopped entirely.

Before it had even fully stood still, Master Shu had risen to his feet and pushed open the door, walking outside with his hands behind his back.

They'd stopped on a windy stretch of road. The Cang Mountains rose up into the distance, their sheer size so immense that even the massive Diancang Sect compound looked like a spec from this distance. Although he supposed that it was visible at all was impressive. The coachman had hopped from his post after casting a quick look at Master Shu, but after getting a command to give the horses a short break, he set about his tasks.

Master Shu turned back to Wu Hao. After a quick rummage through his spatial storage, he pulled massive iron shackles out of nowhere and lifted them slightly with one hand.

"Lighter than I remembered," he said, something nostalgic in his tone. Which was weird, considering he was looking at two shackles.

"Here," Master Shu said, handing him the shackles. "You'll need this training aid."

Wu Hao eyed the "training aids". Made of a thick iron that had thin grooves run across every available surface, they looked almost refined, somehow. Work had been put into these to make them heavy, but that weight was spread across the entirety of the shackle. More to the point, if Wu Hao was right about the thing then it had been made so that it couldn't be taken off without the help of somebody else.

"What am I supposed to do with these?"

"Put your wrists through the holes in the middle," Master Shu said. "I'll run my qi through them. After that, leave the rest to me."

"I can't do it myself?" Wu Hao asked. "You're not just going to spar with me or demonstrate any of the moves?"

"What would be the point of that?" Master Shu asked. "You've got to come by your own understanding of the core of the Mountain-Shaking Staff Art, and this is all part of that process. Demonstrating the move wouldn't help because you wouldn't understand it in enough depth."

"I really don't like this."

"Feel free to give up, then."

He liked that even less. Frowning, he shoved his wrists through the shackles' holes. It was pretty heavy even for a second-grade martial artist to hold on to, and there was little he could do to get himself loose. Even if he dislocated his wrist or something it'd be difficult, if not impossible.

Master Shu tapped the shackles. A backwash of black and white surged through the shackles, each of the grooves filling up in turn, and with each extra array that was activated Wu Hao felt the shackles get heavier and heavier.

Three arrays in, it started to take some effort to hold them up. After five, Wu Hao's muscles started to creak as his arms were forced down by the sheer weight of the iron. After seven Wu Hao bent double involuntarily, the shackles clinking as they hit the ground. Breaths tickling his chest, Wu Hao let out a surprised huff of breath.

"Now what?" he asked, once he'd gotten his breath back. "Is this all, old man?"

Master Shu was studying Wu Hao, but then made a movement Wu Hao couldn't see from his current position. There was a thick swirl of qi nearby that Wu Hao could only see out of the corner of his eye, and then Master Shu lifted the shackle with one hand. He didn't even show any strain.

His other hand was pointing at the fresh hole in the ground which he had clearly very carefully shaped not to resemble a deep, unmarked grave too much.

"Go on," Master Shu said. "Get in. We shouldn't tarry too long, should we?"