Chapter 3: Tai Clan’s Town

Jin found his spot in the caravan. Same as every year, the caravan wasn’t there just to transport him and his peers, the village always had its own produce to trade or sell at the main clan’s town, and this trip was “buy one and get one free” as far as the village’s elder was concerned.

Jin decided to occupy the last wagon. He figured he might be lucky enough to not share it with anybody. The trip is going to take the whole night, so he might as well get comfortable. The caravan started moving, and as he had hoped, nobody joined him. This was a good sign in his mind. Perhaps this was his day, he thought, as he lied comfortably on some hay.

Then, the door to his wagon opened.

“Jin, my friend, what a coincidence.” - A thin, tall boy with long black hair entered the wagon and shut the door.

Jin sneered. What coincidence.

“Not even a word of greeting for your closest friend? How cold.” Bei shrugged.

Jin kept silent, not even sparing the intruder a glance. He really didn’t want to bicker again with this guy. He already was angry enough with him. Adding more coals to the fire is going to help nobody.

“And there I thought I was smart by starting to look for you from the front, I thought it too obvious for a loner like you to pick the last wagon and you’ll just make things difficult to spite me.” - Bei continued, in a cheery tone - “Though now that I think of it, it’s not unexpected for you to want to be joined by your best friend and choose the obvious option.” - Bei grinned, He was already constructing his own hay bed for the journey.

“What best friend? I think you got the wrong wagon. That stinker Zahn must be probably up the very front, where you started and should have stayed.” - Jin sneered angrily.

“That’s not very nice of you Jin, talking about your peers like that. Behind their back to boot, of all things... then again, he always flails his fists when anybody calls him that in front of him.”

“Just gives the nickname more legitimacy if anybody were to ask me. And is also why you should have stayed there.”

“Don’t worry, nobody would ask a fool for an opinion.” Bei jeered.

Jin paused a little before rebutting, calming down a notch.

“I must say, I look forward to never seeing you again.”

“What makes you think you’ll never see me? You think I won’t qualify for enrollment?”

“I’m sure you’ll do great given your dog shit luck.” said Jin, as he slowly sunk into thoughts. It was him who was unlikely to have any talent. There was never a gusu expert in his family, unlike Bei’s whose both parents were talented. The talent was not always a hereditary thing, but odds were better the more affluent the family was. He could tell from mother’s countenance that she’s expecting to see him among the kid’s returning from the town.

Bei said nothing to do that. He just smiled and took out his Guqin and started to play some charming music.

Jin slowly sunk deeper and deeper into his thoughts, with some anxiety and excitement within him. Finally, he fell asleep.

---

Jin woke up. The caravan had stopped and Bei also was gone. They must’ve already arrived. Jin stood up, took his bag and left the wagon.

*thump* The door’s locked?

He pushed the door a couple more times but it didn’t give in.

Crap.

“LET ME OUT!” Jin screamed, fear and anxiety was spreading all over his body, as he panicked.

“LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!” He continued for a couple minutes.

No response.

“CRAP”.

He promptly started kicking the door. It didn’t really budge. He didn’t have the strength.

He continued for a better part of an hour. Finally he heard somebody trying to open the door.

It was the old man from the village.

“Jin? The hell are you still doing here?”

“I WAS LOCKED IN HERE, WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE.” He screamed, almost crying.

“Hell, did nobody check on your wagon? We arrived very early in the morning and all wagon’s were supposed to be checked. Its door was all barricaded too...” - the man thought for a couple seconds - “No matter, go and join everyone in at the square” - the old man finally said.

Jin thanked the man profusely and started jogging. His brows furrowed. He had a good idea of what must have happened for him to end up like this. But this was not the time to muddle over things. He needed to do his best now. The enrollment area was supposed to be at the square. He didn’t really know how to get there, so he’ll need to ask somebody for directions.

The recruitment area was quite big, and there were lots of people wandering about.

“It looks like things didn’t start yet.” - thought Jin, after which he gave out a sigh of relief. He now needed to find out how to get accepted into any of the three houses, it’d be best if he found some familiar faces.

He noticed that on the opposite side of the square there was a large podium, on which three figures were sitting, scanning the area. “These must be the representatives” - thought Jin, his heart shook a bit. One of the figures stood up and approached the front of the podium.

“We will be starting shortly, please gather in front of the podium if you are interested in applying to any of the cultivation houses. If you aren’t, please keep out of the center area of the square.” - The voice unexpectedly resounded with a booming strength, startling everyone and causing the people close to the podium to flinch involuntarily. Jin jogged towards the podium. The man who made the announcement kept still at the same spot. He was a fully grown, sturdy young man. If Jin was to judge his age it’d probably be around 21 years old. After a couple more minutes the crowd stabilised, the square area was pretty much clear, and soon the man spoke again, this time less loud.

“First of all, allow me to introduce myself. I am He Yuan Ju, and I arrived today as a representative of the Southern Alliance cultivation house, in particular the Nan Liang Mountain branch house. As you may or may not know, our continent is not strongly unified, and one of the primary goals of our Southern Alliance is to bring the entire Southern Continent under one umbrella for the betterment of all. The Nan Liang Mountain branch is honored to be invited by the Tai clan, and is willing to take in any talented and ambitious youngsters who wish to step onto the path of cultivation.” - the man bowed, signaling that he had finished his introduction, after which he turned around and took a seat. The introduction was quite short, Jin hoped to get more information about cultivation, especially any specific differences between each house.

Another person has taken the position at the center of the podium. This time it was a young woman dressed in green robes.

“I am Ji Qin Chi, and I am representing the Valley Gale cultivation house. We are honored to be invited by the Tai clan and are willing to take in any young and talented students.” She bowed and retook her spot again.

“That was uncannily short. Either we already are supposed to know something about these houses, or we’re supposed to gather the information in some way.” - thought Jin.

Lastly, a well built yet still lean, tall, bald man approached the front of the podium. Although he was leaner than the expert from the Southern Alliance, he gave off a very sturdy, unbreakable kind of look. He wore very loose, black robes that shimmered eerily in the light.

“I am Bu Zhen from the Beast Mountain cultivation house. We thank the Tai clan for the confidence in our ability to groom their young generation. We accept all courageous and strong enough to step onto our mountain.”

Jin immediately perked up. Courageous and strong sounded much, much simpler and more realistic to him than “talented”.

The bald man withdrew from the front and at the same the man from the Southern Alliance replaced him.

“I’m sure not all of you have decided which house you would like to join. Old thought dictates that there’s no better indication than the results and growth of the students who the house took the responsibility for. Therefore, the next part consists of short exhibition matches between the three representatives gathered here on the podium. For all three of us this is the last year of traditional guidance provided by the house. This is the level of commitment every house here is promising to fulfill to anyone accepted as a student disciple. Once the traditional guidance period is over, whether you want to stay in the house or return to your clan is your and your clan’s choice.”

A moment of pause.

“We’ll commence the matches now.”

Jin just realized he’s mouth was wide open. He looked around, there were a couple people who were just as surprised as he was, but most of the others were just excited to see the show. The main clan town is accustomed to the event, likely only people from branch villages didn’t know of this, and even then it’d not be unexpected to hear of it.

The first duel was between Bu Zhen and Qin Chi, which was fair seeing how Yuan Ju took on the role of a coordinator.

Both experts gave each other a curtly bow.

“Begin the first exchange.” - Yuan Ju announced.

Bu Zhen started dashing towards Qin Chi. She started from creating gusts of wind. These were powerful enough to lift Bu Zhen from the ground. Once he felt he’s going to be swept away by the wind, he activated a transformation. He transformed into an obsidian armoured boar. It was a huge creature size of half the elephant, had exceptionally tough scales which shimmered blue in the sun. Bu Zhen continued charging, while Qin Chi stopped creating gusts and instead took off into the air. The boar seeing this just sneered. His mane turned into flames and the boar started hurling fireballs. Each fireball was deflected by a gust that Qin Chi produced. After the last fireball was removed, A flash bright light appeared, together with a lightning and next a thundering sound. The thunder was aimed at the boar and it seemed to have hit, but there was no effect. It seemed like the scales have absorbed it without a problem. Both looked at each other for a couple seconds ready for the other person’s move.

“Cease” - Yuan Ju announced.

Huge wave of reactions erupted between the audience. Jin was soaking in the experience. It seems like the exchange finished very quickly, and there was no clear winner. Perhaps Bu Zhen could reach Qin Chi in the air, but considering all things, he decided it was not a wise move. He probably lacked a method to force his opponent back on the ground. Qin Chi definitely didn’t dare to get into close Quarters with Bu Zhen. Above all, it was just an exhibition for the Tai clan, there was no need to take things further than just displaying a couple of eye-catching moves. All that being said, the strength of these experts was not small. It’s unlikely that the houses have sent average pupils to fight for the new blood, but the Tai clan was neither big nor small, there were many like it, so it’s also unlikely that they sent their very best here.

Next up was Yuan Ju taking the stage vs Bu Zhen. Again, they began by curtly bowing to each other.

“Begin” - announced Qin Chi

This time, the match was started by Yuan Ju. He made a stomping motion with his leg, and the stones responded by taking the form of a wall in front of him. Next he pointed his hand towards the wall, which caused it to shatter. The chunks of stone and rock didn’t simply crumble down, though they were launched towards Bu Zhen. The range of the attack was great, and so was its spread. Bu Zhen activated the same transformation he did before and started charging towards Yuan Ju. Although it looked like the barrage of stones hurled at the boar didn’t do much damage, Jin could see it wasn’t like the armour was unscathed by the collision. Nevertheless, if the boar reaches Yuan Ju, that’d be the end of the match, at least from the looks of it. Seeing the incoming enemy, Yuan Ju lightly jumped into the small crater that came into existence when the stone flooring was terraformed into a wall. The crater didn’t look deep enough to cover a fully grown man, yet when Yuan Ju was about to land, he sank into the ground completely, disappearing on the spot. Bu Zhen arrived at the spot, and started to use his tusks to dig Yuan Ju out, but as he was digging, he started sinking into the ground. The stone flooring now seemed to terraform into some sort of shifting sands, and the boar ended up being trapped. While it was struggling to shift its position, Yuan Ju emerged from the ground with high velocity. He stood next to the trapped boar and looked at Qin Chi.

“Cease” - she announced.

The shifting sands were quickly stabilized, the boar quickly recovered its footing, and transformed back into the human form. Yuan Ju helped Bu Zhen out of his position, and leveled out the ground to make it at least resemble what it used to look like before, but it certainly was up to the clan to put new stone flooring and fix the square back to its previous form.

The comments and cheers were just as loud after this match as they were after another. This match actually had a clear victor, it was Yuan Ju of the Southern Alliance. He has certainly outclassed his opponent when it came to using various methods. Then again, it might have been a poor match up for Bu Zhen, who didn’t happen to have the methods that’d help him in predicaments of the sort that Yuan Ju put him in.

Soon after, the third match was about to start. It was between Yuan Ju and Qin Chi.

“Begin” - Bu Zhen announced.

Qin Chi immediately took to the air this time, as Yuan Ju again conjured a curved wall made of stone. He didn’t Conjure just one this time, he was actually making one after another, moving very carefully, as he probably was wary of Qin Chi’s thunder. Qin Chi herself was swiftly adjusting her position to get a clear shot at Yuan Ju.

Yuan Ju’s worries were justified, as soon as Qin Chi spotted a chance, she summoned a thunder, aiming at Yuan Ju. Just before the thunder appeared though, Yuan Ju moved through the wall he was clinging to. The huge bolt had hit the other side of the wall, it was unable to zoom in on Yuan Ju behind the wall, who ended up protected by his sturdy barrier. The thunder didn’t manage to do any damage to the wall whatsoever, though the scorched marks indicated how powerful it was.

It was Yuan Ju’s turn to attack. He used the same technique as he used in the previous match to hurl stones and rocks toward Bu Zhen, this time they were aimed against Qin Chi, who seemed to have much weaker defense than the armoured boar. Unfortunately for her, the gust she could produce wasn’t affecting the trajectory of the heavy and fast projectiles hurled by Ju. Qin Chi finally looked at Bu Zhen, as she realized she was in a losing position and didn’t want to get injured in the exhibition.

“Cease” - Bu Zhen announced.

The cheers have erupted again. It seemed like Yuan Ju was better prepared than his two associates. There will be plenty of Tai clansmen trying to enroll in the Southern Alliance house this year, and the other two houses will likely have a chance to enroll the less talented and the Alliance’s rejects for the most part.

It took a little time to clean up the square again. Then Yuan Ju announced that they’ll be starting the recrutation in 15 minutes and pointed to the positions for each of the house’s pavilion where the selection process will be taking place.

Jin was excited and anxious at the same time. It was his chance. He absolutely needs to join a cultivation House. Which one should he apply for? The answer was simple in his mind.

With exhibitions finished and 15 minutes gone, it was time to apply to the houses. Jin went straight to Beast Mountain House Pavilion, and he felt hopeful. He was walking with a group of like-minded people.

“Jin” - Jin suddenly felt a hand on his arm. He turned his head. It was Bei.

“I’m happy you have made it, I was getting a little worried before exhibitions that my closest friend is going to miss out on the recruitment.” - Bei said, giving him an innocent, wholesome smile. Jin slapped his hand away.

“If I missed out on the recruitment, I’d make sure you’d miss out on the rest of your crapping life! Get your hand off me and get out! I’m joining the Beast Mountain House, you go and apply to your ‘talented-only’ Houses.” Jin was screaming in a hushed tone to avoid making a scene.

“Fool. No, we’re joining the Southern Alliance.” - Bei sneered.

“And who the hell are you to decide that? Stop following me like an annoying little sister, go away!” - the group realized the two of them were acting weirdly and started casting curious glances.

“Idiot, you’re making a scene. Stop being a disgrace or even I will be ashamed.” - Bei said nonchalantly - Jin wanted to retort but he had enough. Bei knew no shame, and Jin was getting hot headed again. No matter. If Bei wants to apply to Beast Mountain, that’s not his business, he had no right to stop him.

The group arrived, Jin pushed his way to the front of the group and he saw the man from the exhibition match there.

“Sir, I’d like to apply to join the Beast Mountain Sect” - Jin spoke up resolutely.

“Good.” Replied the man. “Come here.”

The man put his hand on top of Jin's head.

“Hmm. Not much talent, but you have a good body. That’s good. What’s your name?”

“Tai Zhen Jin.”

“Zhen Jin, let’s test your strength against one of your peers.”

Jin thanked the man for the chance. He’s not afraid of anybody. He was quite proficient in kicking butt compared against his peers, so there was nothing to worry about. Almost nothing.

“Listen to me carefully, youngsters. If you prove yourself to me today you will be accepted into the house, so long as your talent is salvageable. I just need to see you fight. Be it victory or defeat, if I see a potential in you, if I see the spark in your eyes, you’re accepted. Now this young man took the initiative first, who wishes to challenge him?”

“Me!” - Of course, who else? It was Bei.

Jin’s brows furrowed.

“Come here young man, let me check on you.” - Bu Zhen repeated the procedure he used on Jin. The man whistled.

“Boy, you’re plenty talented. And your body is no worse than this kid here. What's your name?”

“Tai Bei, Sir”

The man furrowed his brows for a second, letting it go as if it was never there.

“Have a go at it you two then.” The man pointed where they should spar.

Jin took a deep breath. This is not the first time he’s going to toss himself against Bei. Bei was not an easy opponent. He never fought him without a disadvantage. Even now he knew he wasn’t in his top form due to amount of kicking, punching and screaming he did to get out of the stupid wagon that Bei barricaded him in. It was no time for rage now though, Bei always seemed to know all the tricks in the book and getting overly angry now would just hand Bei more tools to make fun of Jin in front of everyone, including the instructor. That’s not acceptable. Jin’s brows relaxed.

“Begin.” Bu Zhen instructed.

Jin was looking at Bei like a hawk. Bei only had a grin on his face, he was totally calm. “He’s plotting something.” - thought Jin, but there was no use overthinking things now.

Jin jumped at Bei. He never learned proper fighting, but you don’t need to know much if your opponent doesn’t know either.

Bei anticipated Jin’s move, smoothly adjusted his body and repelled his offense easily. Bei didn’t give Jin much time to respond, as Bei has already clutched on him.

In a second Jin was laying on the floor, having both his arm and wrist locked.

Unfortunately for Jin, Bei was better than he let on in the past.

Jin couldn’t move. He’s heart has darkened. His anxiety and panic made him struggle as if his life was on the line. But Bei held a firm grip on him, never showing a moment of weakness.

Jin continued to struggle but there were no results at all.

“Cease.”

Jin’s expression darkened completely once he heard the word. It was a total humiliation on his part. He didn’t manage to put as much as a scratch on Bei, he didn’t even pose a sliver of threat to his opponent. He was totally dominated.

Doom and gloom has filled his heart. He was paralyzed in the moment, not knowing how to face this reality.

“Very good. I want both of you in.” - The instructor announced.

Jin for a moment was confused and couldn’t believe it. He lost. The instructor mentioned that he doesn’t need to win, but he lost in such a terrible manner, he couldn’t do anything to Bei at all.

He bowed profusely to Bu Zhen expressing his thanks as soon as his wits recovered.

“There’s nothing to thank me for. I said it before. You have fighting spirit aplenty, your opponent here though is uncannily good for his age. Not that this is that unusual in real life” - he paused for a second, probably thinking about his own match - ”But again, there is no reason to fault you for your poor luck.”

“And Bei” Bu Zhen paused, giving the youngster a good look before continuing “I’m impressed. I honestly can’t remember anybody pulling this sort of thing at your age. This batch of youngins is looking promising! I’m going to get bonus rewards for sure! HAHAHA!” - the man laughed cheerfully.

Jin caught Bei stealing a glance at him while Bu Zhen was laughing out loud.

A big, nasty, smug grin showed on Jin’s face, “What Southern Alliance crap, the future is on Beast Mountain. You can at most follow me there like a dog, but I sincerely hope you will not.” - Jin thought, still happily grinning at Bei.

Bei raised his eyebrows in amusement, as if reading all thoughts behind Jin’s expression. After a moment, he turned towards the instructor again.

“Sir Bu Zhen, forgive me for saying this, but I must say it.” Bei said as Bu Zhen finally stopped laughing.

“I will not join the same house as him.” - he pointed at Jin - ”This here Zhen Jin has been bullying me since a long time ago, we’re living in the same village outside the main town. Today is the first time I could get my revenge fair and square under Sir’s scornful eye. This bandit would always pull heartless pranks and jokes on me, and made fun of me in public because of my situation. I practiced hard everyday, I finally got stronger but it was all for naught in the end. He always had his goons with him. Only today the mother goddess smiled upon me, she blessed me with cultivation talent and gave me this duel opportunity. I sincerely hope Sir will make the right decision, I have wanted to make Beast Mountain my home since I first heard of it.” - Bei bowed deeply as he finished speaking.

Bu Zhen glanced at one and another a couple times with an uncomfortable look. He finally spoke towards Bei.

“You sure of this kid? With this sort of aptitude there’s no chance the other two houses will take him in. That being said, regardless of the story, if I am to pick then I’d do my house a disservice if I’d not pick you. If I were to tell the story to my master, he’d skin me alive.” - He looked straight at Bei.

Bei met his gaze and simply nodded.

Bu Zhen sighed.

“Alright.“ He turned to Jin now ”I’m sorry kid, but it’s not your day today. I’m rejecting your application.”

…

Jin was aghast.

What did just happen? His body slowly moved, grabbing his bag and leaving the pavilion, but he felt a disconnect.

He was processing.

His body slowly started walking ahead. He didn’t know where he was going. He didn’t care.

He couldn’t believe what had just happened. It was hard to swallow. It was not fair.

He took a turn, away from noisier directions.

He felt empty.

He continued to walk.

Did Bei just single-handedly destroy his dream? Just like that? Without any effort? It was hard to swallow.

Just on the cusp of reaching his goal. No --- he actually reached it. The man had said it. Jin was accepted.

But he got pushed back. He got rejected just after receiving the thing he yearned for so much, and for so long. He got pushed into a chasm.

An hour passed.

His mind still processing. churning. Feeling heavy and overstimulated.

He didn’t want to walk anymore.

He found the nearest bench and simply sat down.

He relaxed his muscles.

This is strange.

He didn’t want to move on. Like he usually did.

He didn’t want to sweep this under the rug and continue as normal.

That didn’t feel right.

He thought of the Devil.

His heart and throat felt a squeeze.

It wasn’t a good feeling.

He didn’t want to think of him.

The Devil was not wrong.

The Devil did what a Devil does.

It is himself who was wrong.

He thought that whatever the world can throw at him, he can take on, and it’ll only make him stronger.

But he severely underestimated the world.

He cannot handle a single devil pulling pranks on him.

He felt empty.

To him, this was not a simple matter of rejection.

It was not simply a lost ticket to a brighter future.

It was betrayal.

It was breaking of the rules.

Who betrayed?

His mind betrayed him.

No.

His mind is not a separate entity.

So he must’ve betrayed himself.

Always assuming. Always projecting. Always justifying.

What rules? Whose rules?

His own rules clearly.

These were the rules that kept the world together for him. Kept the mirage running. Held it together. They weaved his world so he could be effective in it. Or for him to believe it to be so.

Has he ever seen the real world?

No.

He only has his tiny projection. Produced within him. That was not the real world. That’s only an image. An image is all he had. An image made of lies and half-truths at best.

A false image is all he had. It is all he could work with.

But... how could life be built on top of such a broken thing…?

Some more time passed.

His thoughts slowed down.

He felt he couldn’t rely on anything.

He cannot rely on his mind.

Maybe it could accomplish some small things.

It was not something that could carry his life.

It was too fragile.

It can be an accessory. It can be a mirror.

A dirty, mudded mirror.

A mirror which reflects parts of the world.

Selectively.

According to his qualities.

According to the mud that is sitting on it.

It wasn’t a boat. He shouldn’t have tried to ride on top of it.

Riding a boat like that, how could life not end up messy?

It cannot be a boat. It is just an accessory. It is just a tool.

He doesn’t need it right now. Right now it was not useful.

He can keep it aside.

He didn’t want to be enchanted by the mirror’s image.

As he had been. Since he could remember.

Some more time passed.

He was sinking, deeper and deeper.

He felt empty.

Maybe it was fine like this.

Maybe it’s not so bad not being an expert.

What’s an expert anyway?

Maybe it’s not so bad not being given a chance to prove yourself.

What’s there to prove anyway?

Maybe it’s not so bad being empty.

Maybe it’s not so bad being nothing.

Maybe… ah. This emptiness…

Maybe… it is... quite... wonderful...?