In short order, the group had packed up and was ready to go. True to Ru Ping’s word, the expedition moved at a slower pace, allowing the injured cultivators and those still exhausted from the fight to keep up. Once again, the guards spread out to scout the surroundings, leaving Wu Ying and the other non-combatants to plod along on the trail.
Hours passed, with a break for a leisurely lunch, before tension crept into the group again. As Wu Ying jogged by a nearby fallen tree, his lips curled down. Along the edges of the trunk, Wu Ying spotted the deep gouges left by a claw the size of his wrist. The broken portion of the trunk showcased the rest of the claw gouges, conducted with such strength the entire tree had broken.
“Cat,” Wu Ying said to Li Yao, who jogged beside him.
“Or something with a feline body,” Li Yao corrected.
“Or something with a feline body,” Wu Ying agreed.
He did wonder what it meant for so many creatures to be mixtures of others. Demonic blood gone wrong? A certain heavenly mandate that creatures could only have so many forms? After all, even Sun Wukong[26], that master of shapeshifting, could never get rid of his tail. Idle thoughts to pass the hours as he ran and cultivated, thoughts which required or provided no answer.
On and on, the group ran. When night arrived, Wu Ying went out once more to harvest. Days passed without incident, a factor that made the entire expedition ever more concerned. Eventually, as they neared their destination, words of warning were passed back. The group slowed down as they entered a clearing.
Before them, standing as tall as a building and as wide as one too, a pixiu stared at the trespassers. The pixiu was a creature with the body of a lion that had long antlered horns jutting from its head and soft, downy wings furled up along its torso. Tawny golden fur with bright streaks of red and lighter yellow ran along the monster’s body. As first the creature stared at the group in silence, until Elder Po strode forth with Elder Li.
“Greetings, honored pixiu,” Elder Po said, bowing low. “And our deepest apologies. We had not known this was your demesne.”
“Good that you acknowledge your mistakes.” The pixiu’s voice was a low, throaty growl, feline and yet cultured. “Turn around and I will only eat one of you.”
“We cannot do that, honored pixiu,” Elder Po said. As the pixiu bristled, Elder Po waved and a simple wooden table appeared, followed by silk-wrapped packages. A half-dozen packages appeared on the table as Elder Po bowed low. “We beg you to allow us to continue our journey through your lands. We are not far from where we need be—a meadow high above on the mountain with three rings.”
“I know the place. It is outside my grounds,” the pixiu said.
It prowled forward to sniff at the packages and its feline face wrinkled, giant paws rising to claw apart the packaging and release the contents. The smell of smoked and marinated demon boar strips erupted from the first package. From the next, roast spirit duck, soaked in rice wine. Each package held a different delicacy, their aromas making Wu Ying’s mouth water and his stomach growl.
“I’ve never tasted any of those,” Tou He said jealously. “Not prepared like that.”
“I doubt most of us have,” Wu Ying replied. “I recognize the packaging. It’s from the Jade Garden restaurant.”
“Mmmhmmm…” Li Yao audibly swallowed overflowing saliva.
The pixiu bent its head forward, biting into each offered package and sampling the food. It let out a happy roar before it stuffed its face, rumbles of contentment erupting from its chest as it ate. The pixiu finished consuming half of the contents before it turned to the waiting Elders. “This is sufficient for your trespass thus far. Another dozen to let you go farther. And the same for the return. And the five Core demon cores you collected from the xing tian.”
Wu Ying could not help but wince at the declaration, even as the Elders bowed low to the creature. The cost of the meal offered was in the hundreds of taels. Add in the demon cores and the additional meals and the cost of passage would be in the thousands of taels. On the other hand, Wu Ying stretched his senses out again then retracted them immediately, the burning sensation in his perception making him wince as he encountered the pixiu’s aura. The pixiu glowed from the suppressed power it contained.
“What is it?” Wu Ying asked Li Yao, jerking his head toward the creature. “I’ve never felt something so powerful before.”
“The pixiu is a Nascent Soul Primary beast. It has ascended to the most basic level of immortality,” Li Yao whispered.
“Nascent soul? But—”
“Pixiu are descendants of the original long[27]. They carry the bloodline of dragons in them. Of course they are strong,” Tou He remarked. “For them, achieving immortality is as easy as breathing for us. Only time bars their way.”
The Elders took their leave of the feasting creature, regrouping to have a quick discussion. In short order, Elder Po returned to the pixiu with a storage ring. The pixiu levitated the ring toward itself with the skillful use of chi, sliding the ring around its antler, where it joined two others.
“Go. But be careful,” the pixiu said. “There is something wrong with the mountain.”
“Something, honored pixiu?”
“Something.” The pixiu chuffed out loud. “My instincts tell me not to near it. Nor does it hold anything of interest to me.”
After letting out a wide yawn, the pixiu swallowed the last of the delicacies and lay down next to the table before Elder Po made it disappear into his ring. Stretching out lazily in the clearing, the pixiu basked in the sun, no longer interested in the humans or their expedition.
“Come quickly. And make sure to thank the honored pixiu,” Chao Kun ordered the rest of the party.
The party moved past the resting pixiu, bowing low as they traversed the clearing. The line of bobbing sect members was of no interest to the creature.
Until Wu Ying. A single slitted eye, brilliant gold, cracked open as Wu Ying passed by. It regarded Wu Ying with predatory consideration, freezing Wu Ying in a half-bow.
“You. You smell familiar.”
“Honored elder?” Wu Ying said.
“Your name.”
“Long Wu Ying, honored elder,” Wu Ying said.
“Ah. That is why.” The eye drifted closed, Wu Ying dismissed as its curiosity was assuaged.
Wu Ying stayed bent over till he decided the pixiu was no longer interested in him. Together, Wu Ying and the expedition group left the clearing, the pixiu still basking in the sunlight and reveling in the delicacies it had eaten. Wu Ying’s last glimpse of the pixiu was of the golden-furred creature, eyes closed, relaxing in the sunlight. Content only the way a cat could be.
When the group had left the lazy creature a distance behind, Wu Ying was accosted by his friends and Chao Kun.
“What did it mean, you smell familiar?” Chao Kun started.
“I don’t know, Senior.”
“Do you have the blood of dragons in you?” Tou He asked.
“No.”
“Have you met dragons before?” Li Yao said.
“No.”
“Then why would it say ‘that is why’?” Chao Kun said.
“I don’t know!”
“Can I have some of your blood?” Liu Tsong said.
“No!”
“I just want to test it,” Liu Tsong tried again, batting long eyelashes at him.
Li Yao frowned at Liu Tsong when she did this.
“No!”
“Fine, fine,” Liu Tsong said. “But if you have a dragon’s blood, your family would be due a significant amount of support. Bloodlines, even weakened bloodlines, are precious resources for the kingdom.”
“We don’t!” Wu Ying snapped at them as the uncertainty the creature had engendered in him and the persistent questions broke through his calm. He raised his voice, knowing the Elders were listening too, even if they were not making a show of it. “If we did, don’t you think we’d be more than a peasant family? That we’d make use of it so we wouldn’t ever have to count the number of cups of rice till the end of winter? Share a single piece of meat, boiled in the soup till it is tasteless, among all three of us? Do you think we like being poor?”