Chương 30: Seeking a Different Death, V

Wu Hao had absolutely no idea where they were going, but Uncle Bai seemed to know well enough. After their thrill run down the mountainside they'd settled into a more steady run, one which might have been anywhere from half an hour to an hour or more. It wasn't as exciting. There was no danger there, just bare rock everywhere they looked which eventually formed into plains, which were equally boring.

Uncle Bai had taken only a single stop, not because any of the deathsworn needed rest but because he needed to amble off into the woods on "personal business". That was one of the things that martial masters didn't actually need to do anymore. One of the less important advantages, Wu Hao had always thought - certainly less important than being able to tread through the sky, being able to stay under water for hours at a time, or the sheer power at their disposal.

He still thought that, but seeing Uncle Bai adjust the band that kept his robe straining across his belly had made it clear that it might be a greater advantage than Wu Hao had thought. Then they were off again, before any of them had managed to actually get their breathing back under control. Uncle Bai kept them on a tight tempo, his feet moving unhurriedly even as theirs moved frantically and doggedly, and he easily outsped them.

Soon the occasional sparse tree that they ran across on the plains changed; instead they found more and more of them before they abruptly found themselves in an entire forest. The trees were made of a darker wood than Wu Hao had seen before, and there was a scent in the air that he didn't recognize. It didn't put him at ease and he slowed slightly, wondering if maybe this was an ambush. Was this smell natural, or was it qi? He didn't know.

None of the others looked twice before entering the forest, so there was nothing he could do but follow. Uncle didn't seem worried. He just kept going, and without being able to voice his concerns Wu Hao was forced to keep going as well, following after the man's footsteps as he dodged trees and jumped across fallen trunks. Little hills had formed in the earth and he had to leap up each, using up just a little bit of qi each time. He really, really wanted a movement technique.

Uncle would absolutely notice it, he knew, but still the thought refused to leave him behind. Finally - after each of their backs was wet with sweat and their breaths rasped in their throats - Uncle slowed, then stopped.

"We're here," he said, though he didn't turn.

"This'll do." Uncle peered up at the sky, as if trying to read something from the position of the sun. Or just trying to ignore the wheezing from the boys behind him as they all tried to get themselves under control again. He felt several glares pushing their way into his back and knew that the entire run hadn't been taken all that gratefully by the rest. That was their problem, though.

He'd only ever made himself the Brother because it was useful to his goals, and otherwise the position held nothing of interest for him, and he had neither the desire nor the knowledge to be a good leader. Even if he had, his only examples of leadership were Father, 726, or Huo Shanliang. It said something that the last one was part of a cult bent on war and still seemed the best leader of the three. When Uncle had finished with a quick inspection of the route, he turned to Wu Hao.

"Send one of them out," Uncle Bai ordered.

"Have them scout ahead over there. Come back in half an hour if you don't find anything." It took Wu Hao a few breaths to realize that the command was directed at him specifically. If he'd waited any longer Uncle Bai might actually have slapped him, so he turned quickly.

"729," Wu Hao said.

"Go." A sharp nod, one of those tiny half-smirks, and then 729 set off at a fast trot, not complaining about having had less rest than the others. Something told Wu Hao that the other boy would find a reason to slow down once he was out of sight. It didn't matter to him either way, though he hoped Uncle didn't realize that. Uncle Bai grunted.

"Another one, in the other direction. Just in case." This time, Wu Hao took a little longer to decide.

"732," he finally said, receiving a look in return that clearly meant: "why me?" There was no reason, really. The first decision had been easy: 729 had a talent for scouting, probably because he seemed to like being alone. On the other hand, 732 mostly stuck out in Wu Hao's mind for having had moments that had been surprisingly human. He'd figured to himself that he'd puzzle that out some day, but first he needed to stop dying.

So in response Wu Hao made a small movement with his shoulders that could have been called a shrug, and 732 took that as answer enough. He ran off as well, without Uncle Bai having to repeat his orders.

"The rest of you," Uncle Bai said, turning around and looking at the surrounding foliage.

"Hide."

"Uncle?" Wu Hao asked, risking the man's displeasure.

"Hide behind the trees," Uncle Bai ordered, gesturing vaguely at a section of trees that had survived the efforts to carve out a path through the forest. His eyes snapped to Wu Hao's.

"Unless you've got a better plan?" He didn't. Nonetheless, it would have been nice to know what they were hiding from. So they hid. 720 went forward quietly, the way he always did anything. It was easy to forget that he even was there, with how little presence he had. 723 shuffled behind one of the thicker trees - he wouldn't have fit any of the smaller ones. When Wu Hao had checked and seen that none of them were visible, he gave a quick nod and hoped that it'd be enough.

726 moved forward to join them but Uncle grunted. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Hide in the bushes," he growled.

"Spread out, idiots." Wu Hao's heart sank, but he couldn't disagree. Even 726 didn't seem altogether enthusiastic. Still, neither of them said anything. Or maybe 726 had just realized, like Wu Hao had, that it would've been foolish to try and argue with Uncle. Both of them were on fairly thin ice already. The bushes that Uncle Bai had pointed to wasn't trees, but instead a series of bushes that had grown by the side of the trail.

Low by the ground and extending into a carpet of thorns that threatened to spill over into the footpath, they didn't make as good of a hiding place, but it'd have to do. As he crawled into place, sharp thorns and branches poked and prodded into his rags. Wu Hao wouldn't be surprised if bits and pieces of their clothes would get snagged on some unfortunate branch and torn off.

Nudeness wasn't supposed to bother him, the same way that cold, discomfort, pain and hunger weren't supposed to bother him, and in the same way he found that it was beginning to anyway. 726 squeezed in next to him, until he lay nearly skin-to-skin with Wu Hao. That bothered him, too. When they'd wriggled in, a short silence reigned as Uncle looked around. He took a few steps, and by the look on his face he wasn't quite satisfied with what he saw but didn't care enough to do anything about it.

He retreated further down the path, until he'd found a place where the light would break through the treetops that looked inviting.

"At my signal," he said loudly, "kill everyone in sight who isn't part of the Red Dawn." From across the clearing, four voices rang out.

"Yes, Uncle." Uncle Bai sat down, legs crossed. One of his hands moved towards his side, where he took up the wine bottle that'd bounced throughout the entire run over to here. He uncorked it, took a deep swallow, let out a grunt of vague pleasure, and a few breaths later let out a belch so loud that the leaves shook and birds took flight. He was utterly exposed. With his weapon out he didn't even look like a harmless beggar; he looked like a common bandit.

It wouldn't surprise Wu Hao if the man actually had been one, at some point. This was him, then. One of the men whose hands Wu Hao was expected to trust his life to. This wasn't at all like the gully had been, but Wu Hao felt a certain similarity nonetheless. Neither thought made him happy. They lay there for a while.

How long he couldn't have said - he still had no way to tell time, the way other people seemed to be able to - but there was something idyllic, almost beautiful, about laying there and watching a day spin itself into being. Around them nature went on, an occasional birdcall echoing in the distance or a faint rustling in leaves, further back. Above them the bushes rustled in the soft breeze. After a while 732 returned, shaking his head, and was swiftly pointed to go hide behind another tree.

Wu Hao made a note of that - had Uncle set him and 726 down in the bushes because they were already out of favor, or was he reading too much into it? 729, though, didn't return. Wu Hao watched the sun shift ever so slightly, felt another cold morning breeze blow past, and withstood the urge to shiver. Just as he was beginning to wonder if maybe he'd overestimated the other boy's skills, he heard a faint sound in the distance - something striking the earth repeatedly.

Hooves, he realized, his position close to the earth allowing him to almost feel it with his chest as the horses neared. It wasn't just horses. It was a carriage, led by a small group of porters who held heavy bags on their backs. Their clothes were shabby and somewhat lumpy, and Wu Hao figured that they must've slept in those clothes, at some point. To his surprise, he found that he sympathized. Which meant that these people, whoever they were, had travelled a while to get wherever they were going.

The porters wore no symbols, though, or at least none he could identify from this far, though their blue uniforms tickled at the back of his mind. They weren't just porters, though, they must have also been intended to function as guards, judging by the spears that some of them carried by their sides. Wu Hao wondered what the hell they were doing here. Not just what the caravan was doing here, but what the Red Dawn Sect was doing here, as well. Were they going to rob these people?

At the same time that they came close enough that Wu Hao could make out individual faces, they also spotted Uncle. Whatever the look on their faces had been beforehand, it made place for a wide-eyed expressions of surprise. Others took up wary expressions as they slowed down. Trading a few glances and a few whispered words, one of the men raised his voice and issued orders. They stayed focused on Uncle Bai, though, advancing cautiously throughout the footpath in a formation.

The carriage began to slow as Wu Hao saw the driver pull at the horses' reins to slow them down. Uncle Bai didn't move. He might have seemed to have fallen asleep sitting down, if not for the fact that he was still holding onto his weapon, and that his eyes were open and clearly looking at the men approaching him. The carriage came by, slowing down as its wheels ground to a halt, and Wu Hao saw the emblem clearly.

He'd thought it was a flower at first, but it actually was a symbol of the sun painted in a bright orange on a white background, its rays drawn almost like a flower's twisting petals. It matched the porters' orange uniforms, though more intense than those, and certainly less dirty. Wu Hao had to resist the temptation to curse or to look sideways as the pieces clicked, and he felt 726 next to him tense as well. So, he thought, narrowing his eyes. Why was Uncle trying to rob the Diancang Sect?