Tian and Liren swiftly agreed that there was no good answer to that question, at least, not in the sense of providing peace of mind. Not that the day seemed to bring much peace of any sort. The tension in the air had been building in the city, and it had finally reached the point where the Heavenly Immortals noticed it. The sudden infusion of food and money were welcome, but they didn’t change the fundamental situation. Battle was coming. Everyone could taste it on the wind. The cook fires smelled like burning buildings. Fresh meat, often a rare treat these days, was losing its popularity. Something about the screams of the animals in the slaughter house, or the way their bodies hung on hooks before being chopped with heavy cleavers.
In the Broadsky Kingdom, only the very poorest or most devout were vegetarians, a synonym for weakness. “Vegitarian” wasn’t a human condition amongst the Yuu. And yet, there was a sudden fad of it. Everyone knew it would be passing soon. Once the violence began, once the siege was actually at the city walls, then people would be desperate to fill their bellies with meat.
Tian had seen it before. The anticipation of the pain hurt, sometimes worse than the pain itself. The pain of the feared pain could become so dreadful, it forced people to act. Usually by lashing out at the wrong moment, or trying to run away when it was too late. Fear and anxiety were dry words for conditions that knotted the bowels, that dried the mouth and frayed tempers down to nothing. Muscles cramped. Jaws clenched to the point of pain, often without their owners noticing until the pain became overwhelming. People would have no appetite to eat, then grow even shorter tempered because they had not eaten. They would strike each other, beat their children, their pets, their servants, their friends. They would swear, curse, and humiliate each other. Debts, real or imagined, were called to account. Old friendships were forgotten.
Not everywhere. Not by everyone. Not all at once. There were those who tried to keep morale up, keep the peace. Most just kept their heads down and tried to get through the day. But you could feel it. The fear was eating up the people of the city. The imagined blows were beating them down, the feared whips were scourging their backs, even while the walls stood and the gates held. Even when there wasn’t a single Yuu in sight of the city.
Though, there were some people who just couldn’t seem to catch the city’s rhythm.
“Forty lamb and leek skewers, Granny.”
“Forty? Forty?”
“Yes please, Granny.”
“Are you having a party or something, boy?”
“Well, I don’t know when I could get them later, so I thought it would be best to stock up now and save them.”
“Might as well ask for a hundred!”
“Oh, that’s a good idea! Could you make a hundred?”
“Boy, do you think I sell a hundred skewers a day?”
“I really have no idea, Granny. They are tasty enough to sell that many.”
“Hrmph! Sweet mouth! Maybe before the siege I could sell a hundred. Now, even if I could get the lamb, who would buy it?”
“Well, if I got you the lamb, would you cook it for me?”
“Eh? Boy, you…” Rheumy eyes narrowed. “I know you. Normally it’s your tall… sister… that buys the skewers. You both usually hide your faces. Or at least you hide your hair under a hat.”
“That’s right. Thank you for remembering us, Granny.”
“Decided to stop playing pretend?”
“More or less. Though asking Sis’ Liren to buy things is more of a personal quirk of mine than… you know?”
“Never understood why you lot do that. Hide, I mean. You don’t see generals and ministers hiding.”
“Don’t you?” Tian grinned. “When was the last time you saw the City Lord, Grannie? And… it’s not good for you all if we are around too much. Not good for us either, actually.”
“Eh?”
Tian just shook his head. “Can you cook a lamb for me? And make skewers out of it, with leek, and then use the rest of the lamb to cook whatever you think would be good.”
“I could. I’d do it for cheaper, too, since you are providing the lamb, but cooking a whole lamb will take most of the day. Don’t think you can bully an old lady into working for free just because you are an immortal!”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. I wasn’t going to pay in copper or silver, though. I can hear coughing from the house behind you, and I can hear fluid starting to build up in your lungs.” Tian smiled. “I am not the best doctor, or even a very good one by my own standards, but I am likely the best one you will ever meet. And I’ll even throw in the medicine. Do we have a bargain?”
Once the deal was struck and the lamb provided, Tian ministered to his new patients and headed home. Their illnesses were ordinary, but potentially fatal for an old couple in a city under siege. Worse, they were all too likely to spread. A better doctor than him would be needed to figure out the hows and whys of it all, beyond demons and poor nutrition. He’d just do his best to treat the afflicted, while letting them preserve their dignity.
“A generous bargain, your Eminence.” Daoist Ma had been lingering nearby, clearly wanting to talk to him. Tian nodded lightly at the sallow faced man. He hadn’t seemed quite right ever since they returned from the grassland, though he was happy to see the damage to his meridians had been repaired. Nonetheless, his vital energy was disturbed, and his cultivation had, if anything, faintly regressed.
“Yes, she is rather kind that way. I’ve seen her grumping at people all day, then turning scraps into soup for the orphanage. Not many people care about orphans. I rather like her for that.”
Ma blinked. “She does?”
Tian smiled. “Or I just really like skewers and am worried about my favorite vendor dying in the next week or two.”
“Ah… I suppose that’s one way to look at it. Mortal medicine is basically just food, after all.”
“Not quite, but close enough. You found me for a reason, Daoist Ma. Speak, please.”
Ma’s breathing hitched for a moment, and he reflexively bowed. “I apologize to his Eminence!”
“For what?” Tian raised Ma up. “We have some familiarity now, please, ask what is on your mind.”
Ma was sweating. “I’m no stranger to battle. Your Eminence knows I am not cowardly before blades or bows, or gu and curses for that matter. But not one person has yet told me the strategy the city will rely on to overcome this situation.”
Tian smiled. “You want to know our plans? I don’t know what the City Protector intends, but I can tell you what I intend. Will that help?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“I will do nothing.”
Ma staggered. “Pardon?!”
“Nothing. Not one thing. Well, I’ll do things like this, but if you are asking about grand enchantments, enormous workings or top secret super powerful heavenly rituals… none of that.” Not for nothing had he read all those books. He thought he knew how to guide Daoist Ma.
“But-”
“Daoist Ma, you never joined a sect, am I right?”
“Well. Not a sect as such. I learned from a few wandering experts who noticed I had a spirit root once they tested me a bit. That’s how I inherited my cultivation art.”
Tian nodded. “Your understanding of the world is still rooted in the mortal soil. It’s normal, but it’s limiting your vision.” Another memorized phrase that sounded austere and wise, and faintly domineering, but he meant it nonetheless. “You lack sufficient understanding of both the dao and the way of daoist warfare.”
“Please, enlighten me, Senior.”
“Learn with your body. Stretch out your hands. Perhaps you have played this game before?” Tian led them into an alley.
“Never, Senior.”
“When I push, you retreat. When you push, I retreat. In either case, we keep our wrists in contact and our feet planted.”
“Is this a martial art?”
Tian could only smile and shake his head. He started guiding their hands back and forth, the motions slow, gentle, and continuous. If Ma was paying attention, he would notice that the two sides practically mirrored each other. When the left hand went back, the right one went forward. Up on the right, down on the left. Constant motion, yes, but when viewed from outside, it was static. The gains and losses canceled each other out. There was only oneness. Always moving, always still.
“This Ma is a bit slow, Eminence. I don’t understand.”
“Force the rhythm. Try to touch my chest.”
Ma shoved his right hand forward. Tian’s left flowed back as his body twisted, gently diverting the hand away. And as his left hand went backward, his right went forward. Ma grunted. He had managed to slam his chest into Tian’s hand.
“Again. Repeat it until you understand.”
Ma repeated his pushing attempts three times, never successfully. “Counter-strking?”
“You may think of it like that. The Yuu rely on mobility, high speed, and explosive assaults. Yang, very. The city defends statically, with high walls and deep food reserves. Yin. The Shamans gather the tribes, straining themselves to summon spirits and bind them in service. I just breathe.” Tian caught Ma’s eyes. “Do you understand? We are immortality cultivating daoists. Every second of every day, we get stronger. Every second of every day, they get weaker. Age is slitting their throats. We can afford to wait, Daoist Ma, because we get stronger when we do nothing. Let them attack. They can do it now, or later. In either case, I will flow, and return what I am given.”
He let their hands fall away. “We are not mortals, Daoist Ma. We may eventually die, but on a timeline that is at least twice, and up to four times the average mortal life for you, and closer to… hmmm… fifteen times for me? Something like that. We don’t need to rush. We don’t need a complicated plan. We don’t need to know what schemes Wuusan has. We have prepared our whole lives. Now we wait, and flow with what comes.”
Tian could see Ma didn’t get it. It seemed he really had read all those books, and attended all those lectures, for nothing. He snorted lightly and patted the sallow man on the shoulder. “Worst case scenario is that we die. I don’t know about you, but I don’t intend to wait eighteen years before I am a good man once more. Reckon I can do it in twelve. You?”
Ma shook his head, laughing awkwardly. Tian looked away from his lowered face, letting his awareness drift out over the rooftops. It was blue skies and streaky white clouds today, but he could see thunderheads gathering on the horizon.
As the day wore on, the storm stopped being something you could only see coming across the steppes, you could smell it. Rain, and lightning, and the indefinable scent of a new wind stirring once-still air. You could feel it on your skin before the rain reached the dry moat around the city. You could hear it in the susurration that ran before the sound of the raindrops themselves. It gained a special sound in the city- people hauling in laundry, rushing to collect rations and bring them home, safe and dry. Soldiers squaring away any stray equipment, making sure all the fodder was safely under roofs, yelling at each other to pick up the pace. City workers checked to make sure the gutters running to the city cisterns were clear, and that what didn’t go into the cistern would safely flow out of the city. Even the most hardened merchants and street vendors packed up early, no more eager to stand in the storm than their customers.
“It’s going to hit right around sunset, or a little after.” Tian murmured.
“A little after. Not a good night to be out.” Liren gave him a half smile over her shoulder, still working on her secret project.
Tian kept his eyes on the heavens. “Do you feel that?”
“En.”
The thunderheads stretched high, unimaginably high. Even though he could fly now, they seemed impossibly tall. He had flown through clouds, but these seemed like mountain ranges floating in the sky. Still things of wonder and reverence.
“I love you.” He murmured. “I don’t know if I will hold on to that after drinking Granny Meng’s elixir, but for as long as we can know each other, I want you to know that.”
“I love you too. Fool. Lowering our morale before the battle.”
“Who’s lowering morale? It should be cheering you up. A heartfelt declaration should be very inspiring.” Tian gave Liren a severe look, which she ignored with a disdainful sniff and returned to her project.
“Definately a morale lowering statement. What about offering me the head of Wuutan or the Dire Wolf Shaman as a token of your martial valor and affection?”
“That sounds incredibly unhygienic. What would you even do with them? Thread them on a necklace?” Tian paused. “Actually, I never saw the sisters at the Convent do that, but the more I think about it, at least one of them must have done something like that, right? At least one.”
The two fell into comfortable bickering. Tian watching the sky, Liren working on her project. Both waiting for the storm to fall on them.