371 A Snowy Nigh (1/2)
The freezing winter had come up north. Thick layers of snow blanketed the landscape outside the old temple, and crunching footsteps filled the silence as people stepped on them.
A group of members of the Jianghu were traveling across the snowfield with luggage on their backs. There were men and women, both young and old, strong and shriveled. Reaching the temple, their leader shouted to the rest, ”It is difficult to make our way through the dark of a snowy night. We shall rest here tonight, and resume our journey at the break of day tomorrow.”
His breath escaped his mouth in white as he spoke, and he shivered at the icy touch of the chilling weather.
”Sure. I almost can't feel of my hands or feet. It seems I am no longer the young and energetic young man I was so many winters before,” agreed a bald old man, smiling at the thought of warmth and rest.
The rest followed with murmurs and nods of agreement. They split into smaller groups and climbed the steps of the temple one after another.
”Halt!” Their leader was a middle-aged man in a fur cloak. He carried a sword by his side. ”I saw some firelight inside. I'll go in first and check,” he said warily.
The others were on their guard instantly and looked inside the temple. Warm and comforting rays of light escaped the gaps of the tightly-closed doors and windows.
Drawing his sword, the middle-aged leader slowly pushed the temple door open with his other hand. He cautiously peered inside with intense concentration. Not seeing anyone, he whispered, ”Why isn't there anybody here?”
Hesitant to let his guard down, he remained at the entrance observing. It took him a moment for him to make out the silhouette of Meng Qi on the floor, curled up between the altar and the burning fire.
The figure lying on the floor was in Taoist garb with his hair tied in a bun. There was a sword and a saber by his side. The leader could sense that he was alive despite not hearing any breathing.
”There's a young Taoist disciple asleep inside.” The middle-aged leader breathed a sigh of relief. They could ill suffer a clash with enemies, bandits, or any disciples from the Moon Village. ”We shall remain quiet and not disturb him. Let's light a fire further from him.”
The group followed their leader through the door of the temple. The door was shut to keep out the freezing, bone-piercing winds of the cruel blizzard. A huge fire was raised at the center. The travelers huddled around in separated groups around the fire. They seemed to be a collective of different groups of travellers that shared a common path.
Silently, they curled up in their robes without any chatting or discussion. The bitter wind whistled outside as they munched silently on the dry rations they brought with them. They were all pre-occupied with deep thoughts swirling in their minds. The fire crackled cheerily, roasting the ration cooking in the fire.
Without any gesture or regard to the newcomers, Meng Qi paid them no mind as he continued practicing the 13 stances from the first volume of the Muscle-bone Strengthening Scripture. Each stance would require about 10 to 15 minutes.
”Father, look! The posture of the young Taoist disciple is strange!” exclaimed a little girl with braided hair to her father as she poked at his arm with excitement and curiosity. Her words made all that were present shift their gazes to the Taoist disciple lying by the fire.
Her father was the leader of the travelers who had first inspected the temple earlier. Glancing over at Meng Qi, he explained with a light cough, ”Peek not at the private affairs of others, especially when they are practicing Kung Fu. There are people who would take offense and find fault.”
”Practice? Father, is this how one practices Kung Fu?” The father's warning had done little to quell the inquisitiveness and enthusiasm of his young daughter.
The leader looked around, as if fearful of prying ears in the stuffy temple chamber. He whispered solemnly, ”I heard there are prominent schools and sects that have series of breathing exercises. The postures and stances of these exercises are most peculiar.”
”We have all seen our fair share of the apostles of the Shrine of Probity. Their stances were nowhere as bizarre as this...” mumbled a young man with freckles on his face.
The sound of the relentless, unforgiving winds overshadowed the murmur of his voice. The chilling winds whistled through the holes and cracks of the temple, and the windows and door shuddered each time a gale of ice assaulted the decrepit structure that granted them their only protection from the harsh frost outside.
The bald elder coughed and added, ”Mr. Wen is right. We are all together in this company by chance. Let us speak no further of the young Taoist disciple here. We should set our gazes upon our own well-being and our journeys ahead as the night grows old in this snowy darkness.”
Gloom blanketed the company once more as the atmosphere which had barely turned merry plummeted into somberness at the mention of ”journeys ahead”. The air of despair and concern plagued them once more into a melancholy silence.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the temple door.
”Knock Knock!” The loud knocking resounded loudly to the darkness of the cold, snowy night.
”Who's there?” Mr. Wen asked loudly as he tightened his grip on his sword. He did not realize that someone had approached during their conversation, and the sudden appearance of an unknown guest had unsettled him greatly. The stranger must have an outstanding grasp on the techniques of Lightness Skill in order to traverse the thick snow without any sound!
”A female of 20 summers or more in a plain white, cotton tunic and cloak, she came out of the forest while you were busy bickering over my posture. She has made almost no sound as she walked on the snow, leaving only a faint trail of her footprints which were blanketed by the falling snow immediately. She came with an older man. Tall, strong and slightly hunchbacked, he's wearing a cyan-colored cloak and possesses Protective Upstanding Qi...” Meng Qi answered their questions to himself as he ended the first round of his practice.
During his training in the Muscle-bone Strengthening Scripture, Meng Qi felt a sensation reminiscent of the Oneness of Heaven and Men. It was like having returned to his mother's womb, where the acuteness of his senses seemed to have peaked to a level he had never felt before. His heightened senses allowed him to ”see” incidents as far as a hundred of meters away as if they were taking place right before him.
”A wanderer who has lost her way in a snowy night.” A female voice was heard from outside the door. Her soft words held a slight of Southern accent.
Without letting down his guard, Mr. Wen laughed airily and said, ”This place has no owner. Come in if you please.”
Despite being behind a door, he was close enough to tell that she was not alone.
Gusts of cold wind rushed from outside as the doors of the temple opened. Two strangers walked through the threshold. They were exactly as Meng Qi had sensed. The oval-faced lady with arched eyebrows and a well-groomed appearance shook her cloak and dusted off the snow. A thin, red string was fastened to her sword, Meng Qi noticed as the lady walked to the side of the temple with the old man.
Strangely, Mr. Wen's and the bald old man's expressions changed suddenly. One could not tell if they were afraid or embarrassed at the sight of the pair that had just joined them in taking refuge in the temple.
The redrope lady and the hunchback old man did not light a fire. They sat on the floor and observed the wandering group, most prominently Mr. Wen and the bald old man. There was an initial confused expression and then a sudden realization. The tinge of contempt that surfaced thereafter hinted at a former enmity between them.
However, none of them had spoken a word. An unspeakable silence filled the temple amidst the boisterous din of the blizzard outside.
”Another group is approaching. They are moving stealthily, hiding their breath...” Meng Qi sensed as he shifted his stance.
He was able to examine his Inner Qi Force, bladesmanship and sword skills from a different perspective in his current condition. It allowed him a greater depth to assessing the abilities of his adversaries, allowing him an increased ascendacy for future encounters.
His heightened awareness allowed him to notice changes in the flow of Qi energies. The routes of his meridian channeling shifted slightly without him noticing. By the shift of the vague sensation which he could not yet determine, Meng Qi made miniscule adjustments. Yet the sensation pervaded him with impressions of incomprehensible surreality and ethereality.
”Holy Hunchback Beyond the Great Wall and Redline Lady. May I have the pleasure of being informed of your intended objectives?” A deep voice broke the silence and shuddered through the air. The voice rang from all directions, sounding distant and yet close. Mr. Wen and the rest of the wandering company looked around aghast, a terrible fear struck upon them as they could not determine the origin of the voice.