Chapter 380 - Stupid Frog

  “Lying? What do you mean?” Char Char frowned.

  “Well, you said that the frog would guide us if we fed it sweets, and I very clearly said we wanted to go to the Heaven’s Gate Monastery. But this stupid thing…” Yuzu said, pointing at the frog sitting on her shoulder, “… is going to take us to a pond in the middle of the mountains and then abandon us as soon as we reach it.”

  No monastery sat on the edge of the ke. Nor did she see any signs of monks, shrines or gates that might lead the way.

  “Um, Yuzu—“ Char Char hesitated, “I think we should be respectful of the spirits… It would be bad if we angered one.”

  Even though Yuzu spoke freely, Char Char still kept her voice down. The creeping anxiety that had settled on the rest of the group still remained. This deep in the mountains the spirits were restless. Though unlike the others, Yuzu knew they were currently far from any real danger.

  “It’s not leading us to anything.” Yuzu grumbled.

  “Still, spirits are noble creatures.” Char Char said seriously, “We need to show respect.”

  Char Char locked eyes with the frog on Yuzu’s shoulder and bowed formally to it. The frog didn't react, seemingly oblivious to the entire conversation. It just stared bnkly ahead, throat ballooning rhythmically in and out.

  As for the pond the frog was leading them to, there was nothing particurly interesting about it except that there was an abundance of spirits in the area that would be attracted to the group. Scanning through the myriad silver threads that converged on the pond, Yuzu was at a loss for how to proceed.

  The good news was that this pond seemed to be particurly well-insuted from the pockets of corruption that bloomed throughout the area. Even the wandering monsters wouldn’t be stumbling on that secluded spot in the near future.

  The problem was that even if none of them were corrupted, there were simply too many spirits, in too many shapes and forms, and none of them were going to directly assist them in finding the monastery.

  There were strange, stick-like insects with delicate wings that gathered in the canopy above the pond. Floating, glowing wisps that phased in and out of existence; Bck birds that melded into the shadows, calling out echoes of spoken words; and many, many more. The spirits were as varied and alien as the corrupted monsters were terrible.

  Yuzu cycled through different actions at the pond’s edge. Touching the mirror-like surface caused mushroom spirits to blossom in rings around her feet. Drinking from it brought a swarm of irate fireflies. Simply standing still made the shadows creep closer, though she couldn’t figure out what cast them.

  Some of the spirits with the thickest threads simply observed her from afar, others, like the shadows, were thin and delicate but wrapped around her fate string like cobwebs.

  Yuzu simply had no idea how spirits worked. They didn’t act like humans. There were no clear channels of communication, no predictable cause and effect. They were more like wild, sentient animals, that could phase between worlds on a whim, following rules she didn’t know.Yuzu had thought that once they’d reached the Zhongshan mountains, with her wide range of spiritual sight and ability to read nearly a day into the future, it would have been a simple matter to find the monastery. Yet, they had not even stumbled upon a trace of human presence. Just an endless mountain range blotched with danger.

  And to top it all off, when threads touched or interacted with Char Char’s bck thread, they became unreadable. With Firuzeh and Kai, the threads were blurry Yuzu could still make out some details. The only workaround was direct physical contact with Char Char. This brought her thread into focus and let Yuzu’s powers work more or less normally.

  But staying in contact with Char Char all the time was not just impractical, it was too weird!

  “The thing is, once we reach the pond and the frog leaves us, I don’t really have any clue where to go.” Yuzu sighed, forced to admit her failure.

  To Yuzu’s surprise, her comment didn’t seem to be taken poorly by her three companions at all. In fact, they seemed somewhat encouraged.“A pond, you say…” Firuzeh stroked her chin, “For the spirit to guide us there, there must be some meaning.”

  “The entrance to the monastery could be nearby.” Kai said.

  “Or maybe the froggie is taking us to a monk?” Char Char piped up.

  There’s no monk, or entrance, I would’ve seen it— Yuzu was about to counter, but stopped herself. Neither Firuzeh or Kai knew exactly what Yuzu’s Exalted Pathway was, or what powers she possessed. They seemed to accept she could glimpse the future and communicate over distances, but she’d carefully kept the details vague.

  “Did the frog spirit tell you this, or perhaps you had a vision?” Firuzeh asked.

  “You could say it was a vision.” Yuzu said carefully, “Though I don’t know too much else. The future there is… unclear.”

  The group contempted the situation for a brief moment before Firuzeh nodded, “Then, there isn’t much else to do but continue toward the pond and see what we find there.”

  “Thank you for your guidance.” Char Char bowed deeply again to the frog.

  It took all of Yuzu’s self-control to not roll her eyes.

  ~

  They pressed deeper into the mountains at a quick pace, following the frog through dense bamboo forests that filled the valleys between peaks. The terrain wasn’t difficult, there were plenty of natural clearings, babbling streams and overlooks that offered sweeping views of the ndscape. Under different circumstances, it might have been pleasant.

  But the ease of travel only made their predicament more frustrating.

  The mountain peaks served as ndmarks. Some were tall and stark, others rounded like gentle hills. It felt as if every view of every mountain could serve as the subject of some famous poem or painting, which meant that none of them were particurly memorable. Hours of hiking ter, they knew exactly how far they’d travelled from their entry point… and equally had no idea if they were closer to their destination.

  The oppressive awareness of corruption blooming throughout the mountains didn’t help. The dark splotches spreading across the golden tapestry pulsed like infected wounds. They were avoiding the worst of it for now, but the longer they spent in the mountains, the more likely they’d stumble into something deadly. Yuzu remained vigint. She knew better than to assume she could catch every danger on the tapestry.To make it worse, the only ndmark they had— the frog spirit’s pond— was only notable because the frog was leading them there. Otherwise it was indistinguishable from dozens of other ponds hidden throughout the mountains.

  Midway through the afternoon, Yuzu felt an ephemeral sensation, like fabric gently sliding off her shoulders. The concealing effects of the Cloak of Kapakhei had finally worn off. They were no longer protected from divination. Her eyes narrowed as she peered into the future and watched the silver threads of Lord Matsuhara’s soldiers slowly materialize around her fate string.

  They had until nightfall to find their way to safety.

  “Char Char,” Yuzu said, gesturing for her friend to come closer, “Stop for a second and close your eyes.”

  She reached out to her friend’s thread, sending a series of visions over. Even though she couldn’t read Char Char’s thread, one-way communication still worked. The images of several dozen various spirits appeared in Char Char’s mind, what they were going to find when they reached the pond.

  Shortly after they reached the pond, the frog would abandon them, leaving them with no direction at all. They might as well come up with a pn before that happened.

  “These are the spirits that I think are the most interesting over there.” Yuzu expined, “There’s hundreds of them, and honestly, I don’t really know if any of them are actually helpful to us… Do any of them stick out to you?”

  Out of the four of them, Char Char had the most knowledge of Huan spirits, even if that knowledge was rudimentary and fragmented at best. But after the st few hours of trying everything she could think of to find a way forward, Yuzu couldn’t think of any other way to parse through the spirits.

  “Mmm…” Char Char frowned, concentrating on the visions. They weren’t just images, but showed movements and locations around the pond, “Some of these are pnt spirits, I think. They don’t really interact with people, they feed on fear and worry…”

  “Ah, this one— the purple worm with the bright white markings.” Char Char paused, “There’s a famous story about them—!“

  “Yes?”

  “They uh, stain your skin if you touch them…” Char Char frowned as she drew the story out of her memory, “And then you slowly turn into a statue…”

  Ten minutes ter, Char Char had gone through all of the visions that Yuzu had originally sent through to her and then some, and still hadn’t come up with any useful information. Instead, every detail sparked another rambling tangent about folklore and spiritual connections. Yuzu considered Fate Cycling, but even that wouldn’t help because she would still have to the endure every monologue in the off-chance that Char Char’s disorganized brain actually stumbled onto something useful.

  “Wait!” Char Char excimed in sudden epiphany, for perhaps the dozenth time, “—No, never mind, I was thinking of a monster from a fantasy book…”

  Yuzu pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache beginning to pulse at her temples.

  Not far away, Firuzeh and Kai were pacing idly, keeping watch. Yuzu had also tried involving them too, but they hadn’t even had a clue where to start. The afternoon sun was still high in the sky, giving them time to come up with a pn. But once nightfall fell they’d be forced to face Matsuhara’s forces.

  I could try holding another Cloak of Kapakhei ritual, but Somm warned that holding multiple rituals in quick succession would not only cost more, but risk angering the god… Her retionship with the God of Preeminent Wisdom was good, but perhaps not good enough for back to back requests.

  Asking Renshu for another blessing might work, but such a request would likely cost more than rose oil and spiritual energy. Going into debt to the God of Knowledge was not appealing.

  Besides, running wasn’t a long-term solution.

  During the next lull in Char Char's brainstorming, Kai spoke up hesitantly. “I have a question… If we’re trying to get in touch with Lord Matsuhara, why are we avoiding his men? We’re allies with Lord Noga and are trying to help him, shouldn’t they be the perfect chance to get a direct audience with him?”

  “It’s a good question…” Yuzu paused, catching the same unspoken question on Char Char and Firuzeh’s faces, “The problem is that I’ve received a warning that they’re somehow connected to the Clockwork God.”

  “The Clockwork God…” Firuzeh muttered quietly as terrible memories fshed in her eyes.

  “If Lord Matsuhara’s own forces are dangerous to us, how are we even supposed to help him?” Char Char frowned.

  “This job is getting better and better.” Kai sighed, shaking his head. He grimaced, then gnced at Yuzu, “I hate to say it but it’s feeling more and more like Lord Noga’s set us up. He hires us, whisks us away to the middle of nowhere then immediately abandons us. We’re doing impossible quests for a hostile god and fighting Corrupted Ones, and even the person we’re trying to save is working with our enemy.”

  Yuzu's expression darkened as she listened. She wanted to dismiss Kai's suspicions, but when id out like that, she couldn’t find any counter argument.

  “When you put it that way, it sounds bad…” Char Char frowned.

  “This task is an agreement between Lord Noga and the White Maiden. Trapping us in this way would be an act of direct betrayal against Her.” Firuzeh countered, “Surely Lord Noga wouldn’t be so bold.”

  “That’s right!” Char Char agreed, jumping on the point, “The White Maiden saved so many people, Lord Noga has no reason to go against her.”

  “Didn’t he lock you up for helping the White Maiden?” Kai asked pointedly.

  “That’s different! And it’s already been handled! …Probably!” Char Char gnced at Yuzu, “…Right?”

  “It’s complicated.” Yuzu said, not wanting to eborate at this moment. “But regardless I don’t think Lord Noga is plotting against us. Something just isn’t adding up.”

  Though she had reached an understanding with Lord Noga, she wasn’t a mind reader. It was reasonable to think that Lord Noga might still have reservations against her. At the very least, he would still have his guard up. But she had interrogated him fairly thoroughly through Fate Cycling in the Hall of Vows, and his concern for Lord Matsuhara seemed genuine.

  Yuzu cautiously rejected the possibility that Lord Noga knew that she was the White Maiden, or that he didn’t respect Her power or authority. With Lord Noga’s direct personality if he really doubted the White Maiden or Yuzu’s identity there was no reason for him to deal with her in such a roundabout way.

  “This could be a test, perhaps.” Firuzeh stroked her chin thoughtfully, “But that in itself would be a bold move.”

  “Lord Noga and the Clockwork God are definitely enemies.” Char Char said, “And Lord Matsuhara and Lord Noga are sworn brothers. So why would the Clockwork God be working with Lord Matsuhara? It makes no sense.”

  “Even if we knew the reason, it’s not like it would help us at this moment.” Kai said, “We’re still stuck in the mountains, walking in circles with no clue where to go.”

  The bitterness in Kai's voice hung in the air. Firuzeh and Char Char both stiffened, their eyes cutting toward him before darting to Yuzu, waiting to see if she'd take offence. Even though their professional retionship hadn’t really been formally established, openly criticizing Yuzu’s decisions was definitely crossing a line. But Yuzu only pressed her lips together in reluctant agreement. He wasn’t wrong, and honestly she was feeling pretty bitter about the whole mess herself.

  “What a mess.” Kai muttered under his breath. His eyes turned to the frog spirit who was still sitting cluelessly on Yuzu’s shoulder. “What an absolute, god forsaken mess.”

  “Kai!” Firuzeh snapped, reprimanding her colleague.

  “It’s fine. Kai’s right. This is a mess.” Yuzu frowned, “I didn’t want to take this route, but I think we deserve answers. Or the option to quit, if we don’t get them.”

  With these words Yuzu reached into her bag, pulling out a small smoky crystal orb. Though she didn’t have a direct way to contact Lord Noga, she had this lodestone, and had given her spare one to Finn just before they’d parted ways. Contacting Lord Noga felt like admitting defeat, but at least this way they could get a message through Finn and find some answers.

  As Yuzu’s hands touched the lodestone the strings of the tapestry began to swirl around it, triggering her spiritual intuition. The future shifted, reacting to the spiritual energy flowing from her body into the lodestone. The charged lodestone attracted the spirits in the surrounding area and cascaded, drawing in threads from pces far beyond Yuzu’s range.

  All I did was touch it, what’s with this reaction? Yuzu’s eyes widened as she struggled to take in the sudden changes rippling through the tapestry.

  Within the flurry of changes a single white string caught Yuzu’s attention. It appeared out of thin air from somewhere deep within the Spiritual pne and wrapped firmly around her own thread. Yuzu didn’t even have time to read the thread before the future caught up to the present.

  “Something’s coming!” Firuzeh’s warning came too te.

  Their eyes shot upward to see a young boy appear above them suspended effortlessly in midair. His robes were a patchwork of vibrant colours, and though he appeared human, something about him felt distinctly off. Around him drifted a dozen elegant serpents with long trailing whiskers that moved like they were swimming through water rather than air.

  He calmly looked at the lodestone, then at Yuzu, and then at the rest of the group. His eyes flickered with pale lightning, his expression darkening with each person that he examined. Finally, he turned his eyes to the frog on Yuzu’s shoulder.

  “You dumb frog!” He excimed, eyes bzing with fury, “Why did you bring these humans here?!”