Voidlight Rising (A Xianxia Cultivation Adventure)

Lunar Fever: The moon variant of qi-sickness, this illness expresses the typical signs of fever. Lack of appetite, and qi-disturbance are, of course, present. Lunar Fever expresses itself uniquely, however, in the fitful sleeps it imposes on its victims. In my experience, the dreams the victims experience can range all the way between prophecy and madness, though more of the latter than the former. – From "Expeditions in Medicine: A Doctor's Evaluation"

"These are the finest mooncaps I've ever seen!" Zhao exclaimed for the third time since we'd returned to her, arms laden with as many mushrooms as we could carry. Even Chiho had skewered one and carried it along to add to Zhao's sack. "We'll be able to make medicine for the entire village and then some! I'll have to send word to the other villages that we have a surplus!"

"Are you sure you have enough?" I asked. "There are more deeper in." Fewer mushrooms meant fewer people to stumble on the Labyrinth entrance. As long as they were there, I may as well be putting up signs pointing every wandering scavenger to my front door.

To my dismay, Tenri scoffed and rolled his eyes. "We couldn't carry all the mushrooms with a full cart."

"But, perhaps we could-"

"These will be more than enough," Zhao Jaili said with a smile. "We should get back. My patients are waiting."

I couldn't stop dread from forming in my heart as we walked towards the cave entrance. We were deep underground, which would make it difficult for others to find me, but it wasn't impossible. How long before someone found my prison? How long before someone found that I'd escaped?

For a small comfort, we passed several dead monsters along the way with vines and small roots holding them in death's embrace. Perhaps in time, there would be more monsters guarding the gates to the Labyrinth. It was a shame I couldn't see how much qi remained in the corpses at my current advancement. Even weak monsters would be more protection than none, and it would have been nice to judge Tenri's strength based on the trail of dead monsters left in his wake.

He was a concern. He was clearly capable, but he was still only Bronze. As an ascendant, I'd interposed a reality where I was free of the labyrinth. That reality was anchored on Tenri, and, if he were to have his core injured or worse, I honestly wasn't sure what would happen to me. Would my reality fizzle out? Would I be sucked back into the Labyrinth? I didn't know, and I didn't want to find out. Even now, just thinking about my prison, the whispers of its walls clawed at the edges of my mind. I pushed these and all thoughts of that horrible place away.

Instead, I focused on the smell of salt water. The air was humid, and I could hear the waves lapping against stone not far away.

Tenri Lin thought he might be sick. A deep kernel of uncertainty churned in his stomach as he watched the cultivator walking ahead of him, giving him a nauseating sense of vertigo. There were just so many ways this could go wrong.

Every lesson Tenri had learned in his short life said that letting that artist free was a terrible idea. First, the man had appeared as some kind of shadowy monster with vicious horns and wicked teeth when he'd first appeared. Even if he had reverted to a much more human form shortly thereafter, there was no mistaking him for some manner of shade or yokai. That alone should have been enough for Tenri to turn him away for the safety of the town.

Yet, he hadn't.

With suspicions lingering, he had followed this Tsuyuki fellow, certain that he was only pretending to help collect the mushrooms. The wandering cultivator had led him straight to a grand door, the likes of which Tenri knew were only the sort behind which ancient evils dwelled. Even if there was the slightest chance that Tsuyuki was who he claimed to be, that he was the wicked Darkened Moon from ancient legend, was it not Tenri's duty as a cultivator and protector of the Moon-Soaked Shore to eliminate the threat before he had a chance to recover his strength?

Yet, he hadn't.

Tenri thought for certain that he must have caught the madness that was said to follow the Darkened Moon like a plague. Yet…something stayed his hand. It would have been so easy to take Tsuyuki by the collar, throw him at that ancient and mystical door, and wash his hands of the issue. Surely that would have solved the problem, given the complexity of ancient prisons. Smarter minds than his had created it.

Yet…he couldn't bring himself to do it. There was something about Tsuyuki that didn't match with what Tenri knew. He was handsome, with silky dark hair, piercing silver eyes, and skin as pale as the moon itself. When he walked, it was with purpose and elegance. When he spoke, his voice was clear and smooth, and bearing none of the supposed insanity that was a staple in every version of the Legend of the Darkened Moon.

Tenri would almost believe him to be a normal cultivator. Sure, he talked to the hairpin that flitted around his head and seemed to hold whole conversations with it despite the fact it only trilled and chirped in response. That could be argued as normal if the pin was some kind of ancient qi treasure. Even the monstrous form he'd taken during the fight could be explained as some kind of spiritual curse. The only thing that couldn't be explained was Tenri himself.

Just before Tsuyuki had appeared, Tenri had been embroiled in a fierce fight with the spirit bats. Just as it seemed all hope was lost and he'd be forced to retreat with Jaili, he was struck out of nowhere by something he couldn't explain. It was as if a viper had sunk its poisoned fangs directly into his spiritual core. He thought for certain that he would die.

Only, then Tsuyuki had appeared. Perhaps that was when he was infected by the madness that stayed his hand. Or perhaps…

A gleeful laugh echoed back as Tsuyuki took off at a sprint. The cave entrance was in sight, opening its maw wide to reveal the moonlit sea beyond.

"Wait! Don't go…ahead." But the alleged Avatar of the Moon was already gone.

Jaili giggled. "He's spirited, that's for certain. You should try to keep him around."

"Why?" Tenri answered, a bitter taste forming in the back of his throat.

"Why not?" she shrugged. "Cultivators are hard to come by. Wherever he came from, however he got here, he could be an asset to Saikan."

"I'm perfectly capable of handling town affairs by myself."

"Oh, yes. So, I've heard," said Jaili, flashing him a knowing smile.

"Hanako told you, didn't she?"

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"The bond between sisters is just as strong as the bonds of marriage, Brother Lin." Her smile turned to a smirk, and Tenri just rolled his eyes. For three years he'd been married to his childhood friend. For three years, his sister-in-law had teased him mercilessly for everything she could think of. It was all in good fun. The three had known each other for as long as Tenri could remember.

By the time they reached the cave exit and climbed the rocky cliff face back to the forest above, Tsuyuki was nowhere to be found. The moon was full overhead, shining brighter than Tenri had ever seen it, illuminating the azure forest in an almost ethereal glow.

"So much for keeping him around," he muttered. "He's already disappeared." Tenri didn't blame him. If he'd been trapped underground, away from clear forest air, he probably would have run away, too.

"Don't be so sure," Jaili answered, pointing ahead.

There, staring up at the sky and stars through a break in the trees, was Tsuyuki. Tenri was immediately struck again by the quiet beauty of the ancient artist. In the moonlight, Tsuyuki's hair seemed to shimmer, shining as if he were the source of the moon's light rather than the celestial body above.

"That'll be hard to hide," he said with a sigh. "Jaili, I trust you can be discreet about our new friend?"

"You think the Lunar Hunt is going to be asking a mortal apothecary about potential moon artists in the area?" she countered. He glared at her and she put up her hands in defense. "Yes, of course. You know me. If I could keep those dogs away from my clinic, I would."

"Don't let them hear you speak that way."

"There's no one out here but us."

Tenri sighed again, this time even more deeply, and marched ahead. He shrugged off the outermost layer of his robes before throwing it over Tsuyuki's head.

"Hey! What is this for?!" he protested, trying to pull the garment off.

"Moon artists aren't welcome in the Moon-Soaked Shore," Tenri said. "Your hair gives you away."

"One doesn't get to be Avatar of the Moon without taking on a few of its traits."

"Like madness?" Tenri's tone was genial, but Tsuyuki almost seemed to flinch back. He wrinkled his nose a few times.

"Fine."

Tsuyuki didn't say much else for the rest of the walk, which gave Tenri the much-needed time to figure out how he was going to explain his guest to the guards who manned the walls of Saikan. A strange cultivator with Tenri's own clothes over his head was the sort of thing that would spark many rumors if he didn't carefully come up with an explanation.

Saikan was a quiet town, which was how many of its residents liked it. As the trio broke out of the treeline and continued down the path to town, Tenri built the image of the town in his mind's eye, the way he always assumed others could see it. Though at this distance, it was largely a blur of light and color, he knew the high stone walls wrapping the town in its embrace. He could half-way make out the docks as they jutted into the dark waters which quickly gave way to the bright reef beyond, illuminated by the qi-infused stones and pearls that the village used in their lanterns. It was the perfect place, as far as Tenri was concerned, even if his vision was too poor to see it in detail.

The well-kept dirt path brought them straight to the town gates. There, Tenri announced to the guard that the strange cultivator was a friend, and that he'd had a terrible run-in with a spirit bee and his hair was covered in honey. The guards wouldn't question Tenri, since he far outranked them, but the looks between them said they weren't fully convinced. He rushed Tsuyuki through the gates and towards the northern residential quarter where he made his home.

Though he offered for Jaili to stay the night, she refused. She had patients to treat and medicines to mix. After a few polite farewells and the promise that she'd come visit soon, she took the bag of mooncaps and left.

Tenri led the way through the gates of his home and through the garden courtyard until he reached the main building. It was extravagant, as was afforded to a man of his position in town, but the inside was sparsely decorated. The Tenri family had few belongings of worldly value, since many of the cultivators in their lineage forswore such possessions, but it was comfortable and quaint.

As soon as Tsuyuki entered, he pulled the robe from his hair. His hairpin erupted from the cloth prison, whipping around Tenri in a frenzy that startled him. It poked and pricked him all over as it furiously trilled at him.

"What did I do?!"

"Chiho's mad that you covered it," Tsuyuki explained.

Tenri put his hands over his head. "Hey that- Ouch!"

The pin continued its irritated trills.

"Fine! Fine!" he took a deep breath before bowing. "Great and powerful Chiho, please accept this one's apologies. It was not my intention to hide your beauty, for doing so would be impossible. I simply wished to hide your master's power. I should like to make it up to you in whatever way I can."

Chiho paused, hanging in mid-air as it considered the apology. Tenri kept his head bowed. Eventually, the pin trilled once before darting back to Tsuyuki, tucking in the hairs knocked loose by the cloth.

Tenri breathed a sigh of relief before removing his shoes and stepping inside. Inside, a table was already set for three, with one position already taken up by Tenri's beautiful wife.

Hanako smiled warmly and stood. "I thought we might have a guest tonight." Then her eyes dropped to Tenri's shoulder, which was still bleeding from a bat bite. "I also thought I might be stitching some injuries. I'm glad I prepared on both fronts."

"Hanako, this is Tsuyuki Yoru. He helped us fight monsters in the caves," he explained as he sat down.

"I see," she said. "Master Tsuyuki, thank you very much for rescuing my wayward husband. Are you injured?"

Tsuyuki shook his head. "No, ma'am. I fear I arrived late to the battle and only finished the beasts off after your husband weakened them." Tenri raised an eyebrow but didn't argue with his retelling.

"Very good, then please have some tea," she insisted. Tenri sat down across from the moon artist while his wife pulled out her medicine kit and began cleaning his wound.

"You're welcome to stay the night," he told Tsuyuki. "But, I recommend you leave in the morning. Moon artists aren't welcome here."

"I see," he mused before taking a sip of tea. "However, I fear it would be best if I remain. I won't darken your door if I am unwelcome, but I'm afraid my freedom is presently dependent on your continued health."

Tenri gritted his teeth. "Forgive my impudence, but I am perfectly capable of handling myself. I'm the strongest cultivator in Saikan."

"Being the strongest by virtue of being the only one isn't quite the same thing," Tsuyuki muttered just loud enough for Tenri to hear. "You are Bronze. You have barely taken the first steps of your journey. I freed myself by binding myself and my advancement to you. I do not wish to find out what would happen to me if you were killed by a random bat in a cave."

We were fine before you, Tenri thought, but he bit back the thought. Knowing just who was sitting across from him, it was probably wise not to provoke him any further.

Tsuyuki seemed to think the issue was sorted. He stood and bowed politely before asking where he might sleep. Hanako quickly showed him the way before returning to her husband.

As soon as she rejoined him, Tenri knew that she had something to say on the subject. She always did.

"Perhaps you could use the extra hands? Wandering cultivators don't arrive every day," Hanako suggested.

Tenri rolled his eyes. "Your sister said much the same."

"Great minds think alike."

"Hanako, you don't understand," Tenri began. "That man is dangerous. He-" He took a deep breath and lowered his voice. "Hana, I did something terrible."

"Oh?" she sipped her tea as if they were discussing the weather.

"Tsuyuki…he says he's the Darkened Moon. The one from the legend."

Hanako raised an eyebrow. "Do you believe him?"

"I saw the door to his prison. I saw his moon qi. He's weakened now, but I don't think he's lying. I just…I couldn't bring myself to kill him after he helped us."

Hanako seemed to ponder the issue for a long moment. "Maybe he's the helping type?" The couple exchanged a look of frustration before she continued. "Look, if he turns out to be a wicked monster, then you can always turn him in to the Lunar Hunt. I'm sure you could convince Shen Tori that you were out of your depth and needed his help."

"And if he turns out to be decent?"

"Then you will have gained a fierce and powerful protector for Saikan."