6.35 - Trials of the Four Symbols Pt. III

Yi Xiurong kept her hands folded in the sleeves of her gown as she listened to the two disciples below make their cases. Most of her attention, however, was focused on He Yu. For someone as young and idealistic as he was, he paid close attention to the proceedings. Although he’d advanced rapidly, she’d assumed he would lack experience and wisdom. He hadn’t quite lived out a full sixty-year cycle yet, if her memory was correct. Yet he showed uncommon judgment, navigating the trials of the first two guardian beasts with judgment far beyond his years. She was curious as to how he would handle this one.

As the two cultivators, a man and a woman, both spoke and argued their cases, Yi Xiurong quickly saw the shape of things. Even from her earliest days in the Shrouded Peaks, she had served in the sect’s administration in some capacity or other. She had first worked in the assignment hall in the outer sect. She did the same as an inner disciple, and when she attained her rank as the Sixth Core disciple, she only took on greater responsibility. For nearly a hundred years she had served as the First Disciple of the Shrouded Peaks Sect and had been largely responsible for its day-to-day operations. It was a position of both great privilege and responsibility—as were all positions of power. Such was the order handed down by heaven, and such were the demands of her Dao of Radiance.

The sect was in chaos. At first it had begun simply enough. Disputes between disciples had, over time, exceeded the bounds of sect competition. Even the Shrouded Peaks—notoriously lax in its permissiveness toward conflict—drew the line at permanent maiming and killing of fellow disciples. The disciples of this nameless sect had long since crossed those lines. It continued, she learned, because at the same time the sect leadership was too preoccupied with external threats to properly enforce discipline.

A rival sect encroached on this one’s territory. They stole resources from sect lands and terrorized those under the sect’s protection. As the clashes with the rival continued to escalate, the sect’s ability to resist was degraded by the strife from within. Talented disciples fell, both from unsanctioned duels, and from attacks by the sect’s rival. Now all that they had left was the pathetic gathering in this very hall, along with a few hundred outer disciples she deemed mostly worthless.

All four of them, of course, listened to these tales and more. The others, Zhang Lifen and Ren Huang, remained silent. Zhang Lifen had never cared for the “boring” administrative duties of her position, preferring to be out in the world following whatever whims drove her. When she wasn’t sitting at home painting, that was. Ren Huang, at least, had taken to training their sect’s future generations. He wasn’t suited for administration, but at least he had still contributed. But this was different.

Neither of them interrupted, not out of disinterest or unsuitability, as they would have in times past. No, they were just as intent on He Yu as she was. Yi Xiurong couldn’t blame them. From the way he intently listened to both the cultivators, to the way he headed off and smoothed over their disagreements—he showed true ability to navigate this problem.

The two disciples pushed for opposed solutions. The man wanted to strike quickly. Deliver a decisive blow to their enemies, then retake what they’d lost. He seemed to care little for the sect’s internal strife. The woman wanted to crack down on the rule-breakers. Enforce order and then focus on defending what they still had. There was a certain merit in both paths.

Between the sect patriarch and the four “elders,” Yi Xiurong gathered they had enough strength left to strike at the rival sect. It was the riskier option, but if it worked, their external struggles would end. Enforcing order, however, meant strengthening their foundation. It was the longer path, but the safer one.

When the two disciples at the base of the dais had finally exhausted what useful information they had, He Yu addressed the patriarch. “Our first priority is to restore harmony within the sect. Any enemies from without pale in comparison to the divisions within.” Unsurprisingly, the male disciple balked at He Yu’s suggestion, and the female disciple smiled in her apparent triumph. Then he continued. “But that doesn’t mean we should allow ourselves to be taken advantage of while we rally our strength. I have seen too many times where that leads. The elders must not sit idly by while enemies close in, and the sect suffers. We must take an active hand in protecting our juniors. Such is the order of this world, is it not?”

The patriarch spent some minutes considering. Yi Xiurong had seen this sort of thing enough times. He couldn’t immediately be seen to agree with He Yu, even if the council was sound. Of course, the way his eyes lit up with approval told her all she needed, well before the patriarch deigned to actually speak.

“To pursue a course of harmony within is wise. Especially if it lets us better resist the forces without. So, too, is it wise to show that, despite our troubles, we are not without strength. As the elders of this sect, I expect the four of you to aid in our chosen course.”

The next months saw Yi Xiurong and the others working both within and without the sect. It reminded her more of the first trial, while they rebuild the village after the fire. She took on the sort of duties she was most inclined to. Mostly, that meant enforcing order within the sect. Still, she went on excursions with the others and contributed to the all-important show of force again the rival sect’s incursions.

One day at a time, and one issue after another, they clawed back harmony under He Yu’s direction. The sect flourished. Order was restored first within the disciples’ ranks, then in the lands without. The maimings and killings among the disciples stopped, and frivolous duels soon followed. As the attacks were repeatedly beaten back, they slowed. With order restored, they set about to ensuring such disaster could never strike again.

It was a long process, but Yi Xiurong suspected the passage of time within these trials was an illusion. At least, she hoped. The years they spent restoring this broken sect to its former glory would have been far better spent advancing their fight to reclaim the empire outside. But they were here, and she’d long since accepted that the way out lay beyond these trials.

By her count, it took them ten years to rebuild the sect. After one of their weekly meeting with the patriarch, Yi Xiurong found He Yu atop the manual pavilion, looking out over the sect lands.

“Well done,” she said, taking her place next to him. She’d long since abandoned any ideas that he might be unsuited for leadership because of his age.

“The sect flourishes. Harmony is restored, and the patriarch wants to hold a celebration.”

“So you think our work is done?” she asked.

“I don’t think this sort of work is ever truly done, but our part has come to an end, I think.”

Yi Xiurong simply nodded, as the world darkened around them, the light fading to a calm and peaceful black. He Yu was correct. Such work never truly was done. But if that was the lesson he’d been meant to take here, it seemed he’d learned it well.

*

Once again, they stood before the statue of Yunchang. The final trial awaited them at the end of a softly glowing trail of light. This time, the light was a rich blue. Unsurprising, considering. There was only one guardian beast remaining. Silently, He Yu set off along the illuminated path. The others fell in behind him.

While they walked, He Yu reflected on their tests so far. They had asked of him solutions beyond those he was most used to. Problems he couldn’t simply overwhelm with brute strength. The others had proved useful in lending their wisdom and expertise, and He Yu felt that he’d eared a certain measure of respect from them all along the way. Somehow, he couldn’t help but feel he was the one being tested rather than the group as a whole. Each of the tests, it its own way, seemed more appropriate to his Way, than it did to the others.

Each of the tests echoed the path he’d walked to arrive in this place. The trial of the Vermilion Bird had given him the chance to rebuild a ruined mortal village. A chance he’d been denied when he first learned the truth of the cultivation world when hunting the bandit, King Hao. The White Tiger showed him a battle that echoed in a way that senseless struggle unleashed by the Dawn Palace shattering, and Jin Xifeng breaking free. A chance to save those who’d otherwise been doomed to die. And the Black Tortoise had shown him that the senseless competition he’d struggled through in the Shrouded Peaks Sect wasn’t the only way to build a strong organization.

What sort of trial, then, would the Azure Dragon would have for him? It wasn’t long before they found out.

The last gate loomed out of the darkness. It was painted a brilliant blue, and the roof tiles were fashioned out of green jade. Dragons curled around the pillars as expected. Each pillar had the character for wood carved into it. As before, the light rushed forward to fill the space in the gate itself, creating a portal of swirling blue-green light.

They stepped through the portal and found themselves standing among ruin.

He Yu stood at the top of a stair with a broad plaza below. The flagstones were cracked and broken, and bodies littered the ground. A city lay beyond. Many of the buildings had collapsed, either in part or in full. Behind them rose a palace, large enough that it could very well be the imperial palace in Jiankang. It, too, lay mostly in ruin. Great holes had been ripped out of its walls, and the roof over one of the palace wings had caved in entirely.

Throughout the city, fires still burned, and the sounds of battle drifted on the air. The stench of blood and death was everywhere. He Yu looked down the broad avenue leading from the palace toward the south. There, the remains of the city wall told a tale he’d half-guessed already. There had been a battle here, and for whatever purpose, they’d arrived after its conclusion. Even now, the sounds of fighting had faded, and several of the fires around the city had been put out.

A middle-aged man in scholar’s clothes rushed up to He Yu. Bowing over a cupped fist, he said, “Grand Chancellor, the rebel forces have been routed. There are still pockets of fighting throughout our city, but the generals are directing the troops as we speak. The emperor’s wounds are severe, but the physicians claim he will live. What are your orders, Grand Chancellor?”

Grand Chancellor. He was the highest official aside from the emperor himself? It would have been nice if he’d the slightest idea what had happened here. There were enough context clues—what with the ruined city, the dead bodies, and the stench of war—but he wasn’t in any position to give specific orders. Not until he had a better understanding of things, at least.

Still, he didn’t have the luxury of self-doubt. The previous three trials had taught him at least that much. Action was expected of him, and that’s what he needed to deliver. And if this trial was similar to the previous three in its construction, he’d have plenty of time to get to grips with the situation later.

“Continue with the relief efforts, and see to the city. Once things have calmed down, we will meet in my offices so that we may decide how best to proceed.”

The scholar-bureaucrat saluted and then ran off without another word. Hopefully to carry out He Yu’s orders. With the immediate demands on his attention seen to for now, He Yu turned to the palace and to the others. All three of them looked at him expectantly. Zhang Lifen, with her usual amused expression that said nothing of what she really thought, Ren Huang with his usual stony glower, and Yi Xiurong with her cold and impassive mask.

“Seems we’ve come to the final examination, as it were,” Zhang Lifen said. “Are you ready for it, He Yu?”

Nobody disputed her. He’d stepped into the role of their informal leader without even a thought. The doubts that had plagued him in his younger days had vanished before simple need. As such, it seemed the trials had truly wrapped themselves around him. Had that been the case from the beginning? He supposed it didn’t really matter. Things were such as they were, and there was little he could do about it now. Little he could do, except push forward as he always did, trusting in himself to do the right thing, and handle whatever the world threw at him.