The Hateful Discovery

While Shu Zhijing had a rather magnificent room in his own pavilion, so too did the eldest son and next in line to be the Sect Leader, Shu Ganmao. Shu Ganmao had once been everything that a Wood Sect disciple should be, like a tree, firm and unyielding, but also patient and willing to adjust when given the right motivation. He had learned cultivation quickly, and as expected, he had fallen in love even easier. Only he had fallen in love with the wrong person, a woman of poor standing, a woman who was known for unsavoury things but with an enchanting beauty that just barely saved her reputation. Shu Zhijing had been of the mind that they had been poison to one another, and turned each other just as bad as the other, but the sect blamed the woman for Shu Ganmao's sudden change in behaviour. Shu Ganmao had only been twenty when it happened, and Shu Zhijing had been thirteen when he watched his brother go off with that woman, only to come a year later with a baby in his arms and an empty pocket of air by his side.

When Shu Zhijing's nephew, Shu Xiaolin, had gone missing when he was only four, Shu Zhijing had never before or since felt such loss. It was worse than when his brother ran away, it was… he had no way to describe the loneliness and the fear he felt. Not even the poetry in their library had done it justice. Still, he had spent time teaching Shu Xiaolin how to write some characters, enough to recognize the words around their territory, and he had hoped he would maybe find something left, some message, but he found less than nothing. No word, and after searching for two years, his father got sick, and he had to return to take care of him.

So, Shu Zhijing walked to the Kuqishu (Weeping Tree) Room in which his brother resided and knocked gently on the door. It opened and Shu Ganmao nodded and let him close the doors behind him.

"Shufu's ill, as you're aware," Shu Ganmao said. "I want you to resume your search for Shu Xiaolin, and bring him back home, bring him to me. I want my heir here, where he can learn properly, if I am to become sect leader soon."

"He could be anywhere now," Shu Zhijing said, just imagining the distant lands his nephew could have been taken to for so many horrible reasons.

"Of course that's what you would say, but you're going to do it, because if not, I'll tell father and the elders what I caught you doing that servant-boy you consort with."

The fact his brother so blatantly flung his wrongness in his face, left him bitter, but he wasn't about to disrespect his elder, his brother at that. A brother, who years and years earlier, had been his best friend and strongest ally. Just thinking back to the horrible moment that Shu Ganmao had stumbled upon him and Qiaodan, born Li Huo, left Shu Zhijing feeling sick in his stomach.

***

One Month Prior

Shu Zhijing had never been in trouble with his sect or his sect leader/father. He was a dutiful son that took care of his ill family, and bolstered his da-ge, Shu Ganmao, without asking for anything in return. His help to the outside world, and for the rest of his sect, earned him respect from the elders who all claimed him to be the embodiment of their altruistic motto instated by their founder Shu Mengya, Shu Zhijing's ancestor from a thousand years past.

"Shu-da-gongzi," servants said, and they bowed to him as he passed. He paused to bow back and continued to walk down the winding roads of their sect village. Very few people were awake, since it was late, and the servants were all rushing to tend to their last duties before curfew struck. Shu Zhijing awaited the time and took care in his nightly rounds to ensure everyone was where they needed to be. Despite Shu Zhijing's gestures of respect, and his deep love for his sect and their rules, he also knew that the nights that he patrolled to assist others back to their rooms gave him some power, it allowed him freedom he could otherwise never grasp.

"A-Jing!" a sweet voice called out, a whispered shout. Shu Zhijing looked down at the ground to hide his growing smile and flushing cheeks.

"Li Huo," he whispered back. "You can't be out here. It's--" he looked to the center of their village and saw the candle, now burned down to the plate it rested on and extinguished by itself-- "past curfew. You could get into trouble." Despite his words, Shu Zhijing couldn't hide his own excitement or his sweet smile that he reserved for only a few people.

"You're the only one who's seen me. Come, take me to the fairy tree," Qiaodan whisper-shouted to him once more. He held up a hand and quickly went to the center of the village to replace the burning candle before he held the sword, Huayu, at his side more tightly. He found Qiaodan waiting, hiding behind the seemingly empty Kuqishi Room, and he held Qiaodan's hand as he dragged him towards the forested areas reserved for the elders and the Shu clan's descendants.

The fairy tree was a large tree, taller than all of their buildings and temples alike, and the trunk was thick and sturdy. Nothing besides a full army could knock such an old stump over, or pull at the neverending root system that burrowed for upwards of a hundred chi wide. It released a heavenly scent of sweet syrup and soft florals like jasmine all year long, despite having none of those attributes naturally, and it was a primal source of qi energy just waiting to be utilized.

"I asked the other servants to sneak me something," Qiaodan whispered, despite being far away from anyone who may be sleeping. He pulled a small booklet from the inside of his shirt. The intricate vertical writing on the cover already let Shu Zhijing know exactly what was in it. It was a guide on Dual Cultivation -- sex magic. "Maybe we could try one or two things… I know I'm not as spiritually strong as my A-Jing, but…" Qiaodan muttered, but Shu Zhijing held his chin and pulled him towards his body for a kiss.

They started with the first position outlined in the book. Hidden behind the fairy tree, a sacred place full of cosmic energy, with their clothes rather haphazardly spread beneath them and their weapons discarded to the side. Brittle leaves had crunched beneath boots nearby, but Qiaodan and Shu Zhijing's heavy breathing was even louder, too loud in their own ears for them to have heard any intruders.

"What's this?" Shu Ganmao asked, peering down at the two. That anger, that rage and disgust, however, was heard by both of the men on the ground. Qiaodan struggled to push Shu Zhijing behind him, to keep him hidden as he tried to kowtow to his shixiong, but Shu Ganmao used his boot to kick Qiaodan to the side, and grabbed Shu Zhijing by the back of his head, ripping his hair as he dragged him to his feet. "Make him forget."

"No, please, I beg of you, don't make me--" Qiaodan pleaded, but Shu Zhijing's sword flew into the air, dragged his robes to him and a talisman was pulled from the front. Shu Zhijing looked upon Qiaodan with such sorrow as he threw it at the man, rendering him unconscious as he lost the past several hours worth of time for good.

"I knew it," Shu Ganmao said. "The others said you would never be so filthy, but I knew it. You've dishonoured the sect, your family, and yourself. Get dressed, you lowly thing. The next time I see you anywhere near a servant -- you couldn't even find someone worthy to corrupt! -- I will report him to his elders, and they will destroy him, and they will make a lesson out of you."

Shu Ganmao threw his brother away from him and wiped his hands on his clothes as if he were wiping away any muck his brother had left behind.

"Let me clothe him at least?" Shu Zhijing asked, bowing to his brother.

"No. Let him wake up and be embarrassed by what he can't even remember. Pathetic, the both of you."

Shu Zhijing had never wanted the brother he remembered back more than then, the brother who would have been his co conspirator, the brother that would have helped him out, because his brother was a man of love and peace. He hadn't realized just how monstrous he had become, or perhaps Shu Zhijing was really and truly just that wrong.

***

"I understand," Shu Zhijing quickly said, bowing to his brother. He didn't need a reminder of what had happened, or the mortification he felt, or the fear because of all the precepts he had practically spat on in pursuit of something as trivial as desire and passion. Shu Ganmao nodded his head.

"Good. You'll leave tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest," Shu Ganmao said.

"But father--"

"I can take care of our father just fine," Shu Ganmao said. Shu Zhijing nodded again, although he didn't think his brother could take care of his father at all.

"I didn't mean anything by it, I just told him I'd be there," Shu Zhijing said.

"I bet you did. The favourite son, always wanting to be closest to our father, always getting what you wanted… it must have been nice while it lasted, being the Sect Leader's favourite everything. How embarrassed would he be to know the truth about you? How ashamed would he be… so, you best get searching for Shu Xiaolin."

It started when his brother met that horrid woman, and suddenly his brother had changed, and he simply never went back to the person he knew. He had grown cruel and angry, and no matter what Shu Zhijing did or said, it was never what his brother wanted. Shu Zhijing bowed to his brother again, in a way brothers shouldn't have to do, and then he left the room to gather his things and prepare for a journey to try and find his nephew.

Before he left, Shu Zhijing returned to check on his father one last time, and he was just the way Shu Zhijing had left him. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, with none of the scowling from the pain in his body from his sickness, none of the sounds or gasping for breath. He left his father a note to explain that he had to find Shu Xiaolin, he had to, and then he left, clutching his sword tightly at his side.