Chương 39: Chapter 36 - The Yu Family

The three friends headed away from the guanz with Dami in the lead. The Yu family compound lay just slightly downhill from the Lees, and was easily spotted by their distinctive bright blue roofs. The closer they got, the more nervous Song became. The Yu's, Lee's, and Jos's weren't enemies in any shape of the word, but that didn't mean they weren't on-again off-again rivals.

So when Dami walked them straight through the center of the circle of yurts and directly to the medical tent, not all the questioning looks they got were friendly. Still, Song walked with his back held straight. Even if it caused the welt on his belly to ache. Their destination was a yurtwagon nearly as large as Song's Uncle's – a solid thirty-footer. Dami entered first, then motioned them to come in a moment later. The inside had the acrid scent of medicine, and was split up by a series of cloth dividers.

The sounds of pain and sickness could be heard over the din of regular conversation. Physicians walked to and fro with their disciples, carrying washbasins, vials, and various other medicinal tools.

"Jinu, sit here and let me get a look at that black eye." Dami said, pointing at a cot.

"I'm fiiiine," Jinu whined. Dami's purple tentacle extended menacingly from her sleeve.

"Just let me see!" For his part, Song looked around with interest. He'd spent many a day in the Lee family medicine tent, under the careful ministrations of elder Minsu. He saw things he recognized, like the meridian charts, and drawings depicting the various organs and acupoints of the human body. But what drew his eye was a stone statue tucked into a dark corner of the room. It was of a humanoid figure with webbed arms hugging its spindly legs tight.

A long bulbous head transitioned into a mouth of long tentacles that hung low over its knees. Two batlike wings jutted out from its shoulders, too small to possibly be useful. Jinu noticed it too, pointing at it to try and distract Dami's attention "I thought you didn't worship the Azure Scholar! So why do you have a statue of Simhae-nim?"

"That thing? Ugh. I hate it. Father makes us study it. He says it's important, but it makes my head hurt." Dami turned back to Jinu, who was trying to escape.

"Stay still!!" Song stared, his eyes following the lines of the statue. A symbol, not unlike three overlapping stars with the inset constellation of an eye was etched into its forehead. There was an oddly wet quality to the stone, and its deep blue contours shimmered with a slimy green tinge. ["What is it?"] Cyrus asked. ["Something about it's kinda… familiar."]"Simhae-nim," Song whispered.

"The Divine Beast of the North." ["I think – Hey, there's someone behind you. It's – oh my God."] Cyrus's tone turned oddly reverential. ["It's Doc Ock."] Doc-what? Song spun around. A few paces behind him was Yu Jii, the Patriarch of the Yu clan. Dami's father was as small as his daughter, with a close-cropped salt and pepper goatee and long straight black hair. He had nose-spectacles and always looked like he was squinting.

As a Foundation level cultivator, Yu Jii had six purple tentacles – two that he kept up his sleeves, and four more that emerged from slits in the back of his dark blue deel. They snaked around and over him in a constant undulating motion. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Song bowed low.

"Patriarch Yu, this Lee Song greets you." Jii gave a thin smile to his rival clan's youngest.

"Lee Song. Did you enjoy the airag we sent? It was our finest vintage." ["It was ggggrreeeat!"] Cyrus snickered. ["You shoulda tried it, Song!"]"This Lee Song thanks the Yu clan for its generosity," Song said, ignoring Cyrus.

"I'm glad that my daughter's friend shows so much promise, now, if you would follow me?" A purple tentacle snaked over Jii's shoulder and pointed towards one of the private partitions. Song bowed.

"Yes, Patriarch." The majority of the space behind the divider was dominated by a worktable covered in alchemical tools, a bubbling cauldron, and a large rack packed with several dozen vials. Most of the glass baubles were filled with a bright orange undulating liquid. Jii's tentacle gently guided Song to a chair and his back tentacles immediately went to work, the many suckered tips deftly applying salves and bandages.

The ointments both stung and soothed at the same time, and Song felt pain he hadn't even realized was there slowly dissipating. He closed his eyes and relaxed into the chair, letting his staff lean against his knee. Cyrus retched. ["Dude, this is so creepy to watch. He's got all those tentacles squirming all over you. Ech, I threw up a little in my mouth."] When he was done, Jii patted Song on the head with a tentacle.

"Now, stay still. The salves need some time to fully absorb." With that, the Yu clan patriarch turned to his workstation. His tentacles moved to and fro, mixing new pots of salves from ingredients labeled in ancient hanja. The suckers seemed more deft than fingers, easily picking items up and placing them down. Song couldn't contain his curiosity.

"May I ask, Patriarch Yu, what's in those vials?" A tentacle snaked over to the rack and carried a piece of glasswork to Song, giving him a better look at the oozing orange liquid inside.

"It's a vial of poison – a herbicide for grasswolves. It also has a corrosive effect on the eyes and skin of normal animals, causing terrible itching."

"Really! Can I have some?" Song's fingers were a hair's breadth away from the vial when Patriarch Yu snapped it back.

"No," The patriarch sighed. He leaned his weight on the table with both hands and his tentacle lifted the vial in front of his face, swirling it around.

"Unfortunately it's still not quite ready. We're not the Tang Noble Clan, or the Jaegals, hidden weapons and poisons are not our warrior's style - and it aerosolizes quickly, so you can't be nearby when the vial opens. Back to the drawing board, I'm afraid." Song's hand wandered down to his staff. His fingers played with the strings as he idly recalled tossing bowls of soup barely an hour ago. Soup that now stained the deels of a dozen Lee family warriors.

["Hey Song,"] Cyrus said, ["Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"] Song nodded.

"Patriarch Yu… do you think you could make those vials into spheres?" Jii turned around and examined Song.

"I suppose. Why?" Song passed his sling staff to a proffered tentacle.

"This weapon is made to throw stones accurately at a long distance. I've used it in hunting to good effect."

"And you're thinking you could throw the poison instead?" Jii slowly turned the staff over in his tentacles, examining it. He ran his fingers through his goatee, and hmm'd. The tentacle holding the vial snaked back over his shoulder and placed it in the sling.

"This shape isn't right. But I could make something that would work. Interesting." Song's eyes sparkled with anticipation, which was quickly doused as the old alchemist shook his head.

"No, it won't work. The poison is meant to be doused over the target. It's unlikely that a shattered orb would properly apply it."

"Oh…" Song's face fell.

"But!" Jii grinned.

"If I mix it with some smokeroot, and ghost bane powder, I can get it to disperse into a wider cloud. The effect would be reduced, but it would also block your opponents vision. I think this might work, Lee Song!" A tentacle came down and smacked Song on the shoulder, as Jii continued, "Of course, I'll need to send a Yu physician along with you for a while, to make sure you don't misuse it, and in case of accidents. And I happen to know just who to send!" Song blinked. Surely he couldn't mean…