The spring waters of the Yong were warming. More than ten days had passed since Qin Mu and Wu Nu shattered the ice dam, and the riverbanks were now shaded by green willows, alive with birdsong and flowers. The ice tide was gone.
Out in mid-river, Qin Mu was sprinting across the surface when he halted. His feet did not sink — instead, rippling rings of water bloomed beneath his soles, spreading outward in elegant concentric circles. He was using Black Tortoise qi to command the current, standing atop the water as though it were solid ground. He had long since mastered the knack of water-control, wielding it with ease.
Ssss—
The whine of a blade splitting air rang out. In mid-river Qin Mu formed a sword-finger and drove the Shao Bao Sword: thrust upward, level slash, downward cleave. His body moved with the blade, executing the simplest of techniques.
For weeks he had been drilling the most elementary sword strokes under the Village Chief's tutelage — not only the thrust, but the cleave, the lift, the hook, the cloud, the tap, the snap, the intercept, the scissor, and the smear. Yet the Chief had not taught him a single set pattern, only bade him repeat these plain moves, day after day.
On the riverbank the Blind One leaned on his bamboo staff, motionless as a statue.
After parting from Wu Nu in the gorge, Qin Mu had returned to the village and told the others about freeing her and about the Little Thunderclap Monastery. Old Ma and the rest had promptly forbidden him from leaving the village — and even when he stepped outside, a villager was required to accompany him.
On the river the wind grew louder with every stroke. Each time Qin Mu thrust, a gale and a wave rose in its wake. The simplest motions the Chief had drilled into him now erupted with startling power in his hands. As he trained again and again, the waves swelled and quickened. A single thrust split the river's surface for over a dozen zhang and gouged it more than a zhang deep; the great fish and river beasts below dared not approach.
A lift sent a pillar of water skyward, breaking into a cascade of spray that rained down like a storm. A sweeping upslope hurled a dragon of water slanting into the air. Though this was nothing more than driving the sword with qi, the force he wielded was terrifying.
He had practiced these basic movements for more than two years — they were etched into his bones. Yet the Village Chief still refused to teach him any finished technique.
Suddenly the Blind One's ear twitched. "Mu'er, stop — a boat is coming."
Qin Mu sheathed the Shao Bao Sword and looked upstream. A towered boat was drifting down the current. He recognized it: the very vessel that had been charting the waterways of the Yong River.
It was returning from upstream, its survey presumably complete. He sidestepped to give the vessel clear passage.
The towered boat shot downstream at speed and soon drew abreast of him. A voice of admiration called from the deck: "Standing on the current without moving — fine skill, deep qi."
Qin Mu looked up. General Qin stood at the prow, and beside him a plump-faced youth holding a folding fan was studying him with open curiosity.
"Mystic ice of the Dragon Palace!"
Qin Mu's eyes narrowed. He could see a great slab of mystic ice. Within it hung a dragon pearl, and a hand gripped that pearl. Below the waterline the rest was hidden by the hull, but he already knew where the ice and the hand had come from.
While charting the river, the General's expedition must have discovered the sunken Dragon Palace, found their way inside, and located Gu Linuan and the dragonling sealed by the dragon pearl. Presumably the dragonling was still inside the ice. The General had not destroyed the dragon mother's spirit — he had merely sealed it away, keeping the mystic ice from melting. His aim was the dragonling within: if the ice melted, the creature would die. He presumably meant to carry it back to the State of Yankang and have an expert heal the young dragon. Gu Linuan had simply been left behind.
"That is the boy who stood on the hilltop with the demon ape," the plump youth said in surprise. "I didn't expect his qi to be so formidable — stronger than mine, even."
From inside the ice, Gu Linuan's voice suddenly rang out: "I can feel my Shao Bao Sword! General Qin Feiyue, stop the boat! My Shao Bao Sword is nearby — and so is that lying little brat who tricked me!"
The towered boat halted. General Qin's gaze fell on Qin Mu. "You swindled the Guardian of the Hereditary Prince out of the Shao Bao Sword?"
Qin Mu answered, "He tried to eat me, so I took his sword. You pulled him out of the Dragon Palace — can you retrieve the scabbard as well? A sword without a scabbard is incomplete."
Qin Feiyue's eyes flickered. "Give it to you? This is a court blade. Impossible. Return the Shao Bao Sword to the State."
Qin Mu shook his head. "I won it by my own wits. Why should I give it back?"
The plump youth — the "Seventh Young Master" — burst out laughing. "This boy has a way with words."
Qin Feiyue snorted coldly. "Deceiving a court officer and seizing his treasure — do you have any idea how grave a crime that is?"
"There is no court in the Great Ruins," Qin Mu said, puzzled. "A lawless place — who could convict me?"
"You seem confident. You must have backing."
Qin Feiyue glanced toward the riverbank, and his pupils contracted. "Junior Qin Feiyue, disciple of the State Preceptor of Yankang, Fourth-Rank Loyalty-and-Valor General of Yankang. Senior on the bank — how shall I address you?"
The Blind One leaned on his bamboo staff, smiling genially. "Just a blind man, what is there to call me? An old cripple, nothing more."
Qin Feiyue's expression darkened. He scanned the surroundings and caught sight of the Village of Broken Elders. "Three years ago the Prefect of the Five Miao Prefecture in our Southern Borderlands, Mu Beifeng, led a large party of Li River Sect experts into the Great Ruins — said to be seeking vengeance. Later their bodies were found beneath the river. I personally examined Mu Beifeng's corpse. He had been killed by a spear-thrust, but the weapon was not a spear — it was a bamboo staff. Senior, you also carry a bamboo staff?"
The Blind One tapped his bamboo staff lightly against the ground, still smiling. "A blind man with a bamboo staff — what else would I use? It's for feeling the path, so I don't kick any hard stones."
Qin Feiyue heard the double meaning and was now certain of his guess. He sneered, "Senior, Mu Beifeng died near here, did he not? Did you witness anything at the time?"
The Blind One sighed with theatrical melancholy. "I am blind — what could I have seen? The young general jests. I have heard of Mu Beifeng, so tragic a death — it breaks my heart… 'The apes on both banks cry ceaselessly, ever making heroes weep upon their robes.' How sad, how lamentable!"
He lifted his bamboo staff and tapped the river's surface.
The great Yong heaved. The entire river shuddered several times, and on both banks waves surged up more than a dozen zhang high, crashing against the sky. The towered boat pitched wildly; the soldiers aboard staggered and could barely keep their footing.
Beneath the surface the water suddenly parted, revealing the enormous ridge of a beast — a vast expanse of dark green, as though an island had suddenly risen in midstream. The river's tremor shook the creature out of the water and into the air before it crashed back down with a thunderous boom.
Qin Mu saw that the beast was bound by chains whose other end was fastened to the towered boat. That explained the vessel's extraordinary speed.
Strange though it was, everywhere else the river churned and heaved, but the patch of water beneath Qin Mu's feet remained perfectly calm.
The Seventh Young Master gripped the gunwale to keep from being thrown overboard and called out, "Senior, the line is 'An army undone before its triumph makes heroes weep upon their robes' — you quoted it wrong!"
Qin Mu could not help correcting: "Young master, he meant that if you all died here, you would be an army undone before its triumph. Since you are still alive, you are merely the apes crying ceaselessly. If you insist on pressing the matter, you will need to die first. Grandpa Blind is actually very well-read."
The Blind One looked enormously pleased. "Mu'er understands me. If it were the Cripple or the Deaf or those other scoundrels, they'd probably mock me for being theatrical again."
The corners of Qin Feiyue's eye twitched. The Blind One's power had exceeded his expectations. Just now the Blind One had only tapped the Yong. Had he lifted instead, the entire river would have been thrown skyward!
Inside the mystic ice, Gu Linuan had fallen silent as well, having deduced from that single tap just how formidable the Blind One truly was — not someone to trifle with. If he insisted on demanding the sword, he might well die here.
"The Shao Bao Sword stays here. We are leaving — set sail!"
At Qin Feiyue's command a soldier raised a horn and blew. The deep, startling blast carried through the water. The chained beast below heard the call and began to churn the river. The water rose like a mountain, lifting the towered boat high above the surrounding surface and carrying it roaring downstream.
"General, didn't you ask which of the village elders killed Mu Beifeng? Why leave without getting an answer?" several palace maids clustered around the Seventh Young Master. The young master squeezed his head out from among them and asked curiously.
"Young master, I have already deduced it," General Qin said grimly. "Mu Beifeng was killed by that blind man. The great Spear God has become a blind hermit hiding in this tiny village — and whoever else lives there with him must be equally terrifying. I cannot crush this village alone. I must go for reinforcements."
His armor rattled; his eyes flashed like clashing blades. "Under heaven, all land belongs to the King; all who dwell on that land are his subjects. The Great Ruins are still imperial territory — not a lawless frontier! Mu Beifeng was a court official. How can he die at the hands of commoners? This village must be pacified and destroyed to display the might of our state, the might of our State Preceptor, and the majesty of His Imperial Majesty descending upon the Great Ruins!"
"What grand airs."
A voice drifted from somewhere behind him. Qin Feiyue's scalp went cold. He turned with difficulty to find the Cripple leaning against the gunwale at his back, an honest, good-natured grin on his face.
Qin Feiyue's eye twitched violently. The Cripple's figure vanished and reappeared back-to-back with him — how he had vanished and reappeared, the General could not begin to see.
Cold sweat rolled down Qin Feiyue's forehead. His hand was already on the hilt at his waist, yet he did not dare draw.
"Such a loud mouth — does the State Preceptor know?"
The Cripple bent down and examined the charts of the Yong River spread across the deck. "The State Preceptor sent you to chart the river, did he? Planning to wage war against our Great Ruins? Tsk tsk. Poor little dragon. Oh? Gu Linuan, why the sour face? I'll be taking your scabbard. This banner of yours isn't bad — I'll take that too… Young fellow, that jade pendant is lovely, and so is the fan — pah! Turns out you're a girl. Bad luck!"
Qin Feiyue seized a fleeting opening and spun in a lightning draw. But the Cripple had already vanished.
From dozens of li away the Cripple's laughter carried on the wind: "Go back and tell the State Preceptor to take good care of my leg. Don't lose it — I will come and fetch it myself!"