Chapter 379 - Sweet Tooth

  The frog had a white underbelly and a rough ruddy green body that blended in well with the reeds. It was unremarkable in appearance, and Yuzu would have easily missed it if its string had not directly twisted around hers.

  “Tell me a little more about that frog spirit you mentioned.” Yuzu interrupted the conversation between her companions without taking her eyes off the frog.

  “Mm? The Kaesei? Let’s see, it’s a good luck frog that enjoys spring water and light rain. If you tell it your desires after feeding it sweets, it will guide you to them.” Char Char tapped her lips with her finger while trying to recall what she knew, “There’s a lot of stories where they help children find their way home. What else…”

  “Here, this is sweet.” Yuzu tore her remainder sweet bun into half, holding out a quarter of the pastry to Char Char, “Why don’t you try going over there with it?”

  The pink-robed girl accepted the food with a confused look on her face, that quickly changed to understanding as she realized why Yuzu had asked specifically about the Kaesei and then given her a sweet item. Her eyes went wide as she realized that she was likely about to make contact with an actual spirit.

  She quickly bounded off in the direction that Yuzu had pointed to while Kai and Firuzeh watched on, not quite sure what was happening.

  ~

  As Char Char reached the shore she slowed down, approaching the water calmly. She paused at the edge of the water, her eyes staring into the reeds trying to find the frog. Unfortunately, though she had some sembnce of a sixth sense when it came to Exalted and spiritual items in her vicinity, it didn’t seem to extend to spirits.

  “Is it close?” She asked in a whisper, knowing that Yuzu was likely watching her.

  “It’s directly across the stream from you.” Yuzu’s ethereal voice came through on the strings. She paused, then added, “You’re too powerful now. I can’t affect your string at all, so you’re going to have to figure out how to attract the frog spirit yourself.”

  “Okay.” Char Char nodded, inhaling deeply.

  Char Char had read many, many books on spirits and monsters in her childhood, and as luck would have it, most of those books had been written about Huan. Spirits were extremely varied both in form and intellect, but the one constant about dealing with spirits was that every spirit had a specific thing that it desired. Knowing how to please a spirit meant winning its assistance. Even the most dangerous spirits could be turned into an ally with the right actions, at least temporarily.

  Lucky for her, she already knew what a Kaesei most desired! Sweets!

  The reeds grew thick along the far shore, slowing down the flow of the water that passed through it. Moss covered rocks were scattered across the section, providing a path for Char Char to hop her way over to the other side. Soon she found herself in the midst of the waist-high reeds.

  “Straight ahead. I think it’s spotted the bun in your hand.” Yuzu’s voice came in steadily, “See that big clump of white flowers just ahead to your left? If you look a bit to the right, there are some lily pads hidden behind the reeds there...”

  Char Char’s eyes lit up as she spotted a small round amphibian hidden in the vegetation.

  Careful, now. Char Char muttered to herself. Don’t want to scare it away…

  She slowed her pace and stepped into the stream. The pristine water babbled gently as it flowed around her, tiny silver fish darting back and forth around her legs. There was a clear, pyful energy in the stream that reminded her of when she used to py in the forest with Yuzu, years ago.

  This wasn't just a feeling, either. Char Char could directly sense the spiritual energy flowing through the valley itself, something she never could have perceived in her previous life. It made her wonder whether she’d passed through spiritually rich areas in the past and never even noticed. This realization made her even more excited to finally make contact with a spirit for the very first time.

  The reeds swayed gently in the breeze, giving way to her movements as she slowly crossed the midpoint of the river, keeping her gaze firmly on the frog. It looked just like any other frog to her, and it didn’t seem to have any interest in Char Char’s half of the sweet bun.

  As Char Char came within three meters of the frog it suddenly tensed up, and even as she froze in pce it hopped off its lily pad and plopped into the water.

  “Um, I think… I scared it off…” Char Char mumbled quietly, just in case Yuzu was able to hear her.

  A moment ter she heard Yuzu’s sigh in her mind, “You can come back, the frog just took my bun from me.”

  ~

  Inextricably, despite her efforts Yuzu found herself in the company of the spirit frog. The small amphibian had appeared seemingly out of thin air right next to Yuzu, looking up at her with disproportionately big and strangely globur eyes. Its silver thread faded back into her spiritual view as it escaped the clouding influence of Char Char’s thread.

  Yuzu’s eyebrows knit together in mild frustration. She really would have preferred Char Char being the one to interact with the spirit, but it seemed that it really tched on to the piece of sweet bun in Yuzu’s hands.

  Holding back a scowl Yuzu flicked the half bun across the surface of the rge stone that served as her seat, letting it roll next to the frog. At first it didn’t seem to register the action, staring straight ahead at Yuzu with a bnk, dumb expression. Then, its mouth opened wide and it swallowed the bun in one gulp.

  By this time Char Char had already returned from her failed attempt and stood next to Firuzeh and Kai who were watching the interaction a healthy distance away.

  Yuzu and Char Char met each others eyes and shared a brief, wordless exchange, ending with a nonplussed shrug on both sides.

  With a sigh, Yuzu looked down at the spirit, seeing that it had thoroughly accepted her offering and didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave. “Little frog, I am looking for the Heaven’s Gate Monastery. Can you help us find it?”

  The ruddy green amphibian stayed in pce, its throat bulging in and out rhythmically. It didn’t give any indication that it had heard her, or even understand her. However its silver thread changed on the tapestry, responding to the question by leading into the mountains.

  “Good enough, I guess…” Yuzu muttered under her breath.

  She gently held out her palm, offering it to the frog. Moments ter it was perched happily on her shoulder, leading the group into the Zhongshan mountain range.

  The Zhongshan mountains were far denser than the surrounding mountains, forming steep, impenetrable lines that twisted and wrapped around each other like the walls of a maze. The mountains at the center of the range were the tallest, and even though they generally travelled in the valleys between the cliffs, they were always hiking upward. This meant the further into the range they walked, the higher the valleys between the walls were, though it was hard to tell since their view was limited by the tall cliff walls, and the endless, brilliant green canopy of bamboo groves that appeared to be the predominant pnts in the region. The light green, segmented bamboo grew over ten metres in height, fluttering pleasantly in the wind. The forest floor was clear and easy to traverse, with plenty of space between each bamboo trunk and hardly any other vegetation to speak of.

  The forest was alive with bright, vibrant bird song and insect chirps, many of which were spirits with silver strings. Though Yuzu did not intentionally seek out any of the spirits, she found that the threads of herself and her three companions were quickly intertwined with dozens of silver threads. The entrance of four strangers into the mountain range was something rather interesting to spirits, it seemed, who seemed to gravitate toward them simply out of curiosity.

  Since the spirits did not appear hostile in any way, Yuzu let them be, focusing instead on where the frog spirit was taking them. The image of a pristine mountain ke appeared in her spiritual vision, complete with a picturesque waterfall feeding into it from above. If they could fly, it wouldn’t take them long to reach it at all, but because they had to wind through the valleys they wouldn’t reach it for a good six to eight hours. Even then, they wouldn’t even be a third of the way to peak at the Zhongshan mountain’s centre.

  However, as peaceful as the start of their journey seemed, Yuzu quickly discovered that even this idyllic mountain range was not spared from the disease that pgued the wilderness of Huan. The golden tapestry was blotted with corruption like ink bleeding through fabric. The further into the mountains they went, the harder it would be to avoid the owners of the corrupted threads.

  Hovering her hands over the thread, Yuzu caught glimpses of the dangers ahead. She saw a wraith with the pale face of a woman wandering a mist-choked valley, white silk robes flowing from her neck, But below the fabric, there was no body. Only a glistening spinal cord, vertebrae clicking wetly as it dragged across the ground, weaving side to side like a serpent.

  Elsewhere, a group of lemurs foraged peacefully through bamboo thicket, their tiny hands sorting through shoots. The forest was silent. Too silent. Without warning the bamboo moved, not swaying but reaching. Stalks split open, leaves struck down like razors. The lemurs’ screams were brief, their limbs tumbled into the undergrowth. From their corpses and where their blood seeped into the soil, new bamboo roots budded from the earth, creaking and groaning, and then growing still, once more waiting for new prey to approach.

  On a distant mountain, a deer staggered along a lonely path, eyes gzed and empty. It moved with a slow, mechanical gait of something sleepwalking, unaware of the steep drop on its side, or of any its surroundings at all. Step by step it climbed toward the peak. At the edge, it didn’t pause or hesitate. It simply walked off into the open air.

  There was no cry, no struggle. Just the heavy crunch of bone and flesh on the rocks below, where dozens of other bodies y broken and still.

  Everywhere Yuzu looked, she saw signs of spirits and creatures suffering and dying helplessly. Worse yet, she could tell that many of the darkest spots were new, indicating that it wasn’t just the Weeping that had increased in frequency and intensity tely.

  No, the entire nation of Huan was succumbing to corruption.

  Their spirit guide knew these mountains well, weaving them through paths that avoided the worst corruption. But knowledge of danger didn't erase it. The deeper they traveled, the heavier the air grew. Char Char's cheerfulness died away. Firuzeh's eyes never stopped moving, searching every shadow. Even Kai abandoned his casual demeanor, his gaze drawn again and again to the path behind them.

  Three hours in, Yuzu stopped walking suddenly, a look of grim frustration on her face.

  “Something wrong?” Char Char came up beside her, her voice nearly a whisper.

  Yuzu frowned, then sighed.

  “We have a problem.” She pointed at the spirit on her shoulder, “This stupid little frog has been lying to us!”