Winds and Waves at Shu Dao Pass (1)
The current party consisted of just three: Seo Baek, Wang Yi Sam, and Yu So Un.
In contrast, their wagons had increased to four.
Wang Yi Sam gazed at the wagons with a satisfied smile.
"Four wagons now. Worth all that near-death suffering."
"It wasn't near-death suffering—you almost actually died, Senior."
"Same difference. Point is, we're still breathing, right?"
Suddenly, Wang Yi Sam tilted his head, struck by a thought.
"But with four wagons, how do we split the pay? Four wagons means four hundred taels of silver, yeah?"
"First, a hundred taels each. Then thirty-three taels more each after that."
"Leaves one tael over?"
"Impressive discovery."
"What do we do? Cut it into three pieces? Even a smithy couldn't divide a silver ingot that precisely..."
Seo Baek and Yu So Un replied in unison.
"We'll give you the extra tael, Senior."
"Just keep the one tael."
"For real? Thanks, everyone! So my share's a hundred thirty-three taels plus one—makes a hundred thirty-four!"
Wang Yi Sam whooped in delight, leaving Seo Baek and Yu So Un chuckling in sheer exasperation.
"But seriously, what's the deal with hauling all this explosives?"
Seo Baek and Yu So Un turned to eye the wagons as well.
Each one carried eight crates stuffed full of explosives.
Their power was tremendous. Back on the forest path, they'd sent mushroom clouds sky-high, gouging out massive craters that erased the trail entirely.
Only the cliff-lined Residual Path had held firm, hemmed in by rock walls on all sides.
Even so, the blasts had triggered rockslides—one martial artist had died under the rubble, and Wang Yi Sam had nearly lost his life.
Seo Baek stared at the wagons, thinking.
One wagon alone could obliterate all of Shika Manor.
Yu So Un spoke up then.
"To stop the revenants, most likely."
"Revenants? Why?"
"I saw it crossing Shu Dao Pass. From the Central Plains side, endless hordes of revenants surging toward the pass."
Seo Baek and Wang Yi Sam sobered at once.
A quantity fit for a battlefield.
Didn't that mean Shu Dao Pass was effectively a war zone overrun by revenant hordes?
Yu So Un added something utterly unexpected.
"Those are probably the explosives used to make Thunderbolt Bombs."
"You mean the Thunderbolt Bombs from Shanxi's Thunderbolt Hall?"
"Precisely."
Thunderbolt Bombs were the infamous explosives once produced by Shanxi's Thunderbolt Hall, notorious throughout the Central Plains martial world.
For the right price, they'd sell to anyone—Righteous sects, unorthodox paths, even assassins. As deaths piled up, calls grew to regulate the hall.
Then Thunderbolt Hall foolishly challenged Mount Hua Sect.
Mount Hua, seizing the moral high ground, wiped them out. After that, Thunderbolt Hall and their bombs vanished from the martial world...
"Rumor has it the Sichuan Tang Clan acquired the manufacturing method when the hall fell."
"So those explosives...?"
Wang Yi Sam gulped and rasped,
"They say don't go anywhere near a Thunderbolt Bomb within ten li..."
Seo Baek cut in dryly.
"Planning to turn back, then? Splitting four hundred taels between two would make the math easier."
"...No way! A martial artist who draws his blade has to cut something down, even if it's grass!"
"Wise choice."
Seo Baek and Yu So Un exchanged a subtle glance and smirked.
The party pressed on toward Shu Dao Pass at a slow but steady pace, matching the donkeys' gait.
* * *
Two nights passed without even torchlight to guide them.
Perhaps because no blood had been spilled in the woods. Thankfully, no revenants appeared after leaving the Residual Path.
On the third day of endless trekking through the forest...
The party reached Shu Dao Pass at dawn, just as the sun began to rise.
"Finally made it."
"Well fought, everyone."
Only three days and nights since departing the Sichuan Tang Clan's estate.
Yet they'd skirted death multiple times. Arriving brought a fresh wave of emotion.
The forest had vanished from view, replaced by rugged mountains.
Craining their necks, they beheld a majestic range stretching like a screen between heaven and earth. Nestled in its heart: Shu Dao Pass.
Seo Baek drew a deep breath, eyes wide.
This is Sichuan's gateway: Shu Dao Pass.
Gazing at the grand vista, an inexplicable heroic spirit swelled in his chest.
Since ancient times, the Central Plains boasted famed passes.
Hulao, Hangu, Jianmen, Shanhai, and more.
Strategic chokepoints, all ringed by treacherous terrain—no crossing without the pass.
They'd barred Xiongnu horsemen, quelled Yellow Turban rebels: bulwarks of defense.
But the revenant plague changed everything.
Folk fled beloved homes for safety, converging on the passes.
Now they blocked revenants and sheltered the living.
Two passes linked Sichuan to the Central Plains: Jianmen and Shu Dao.
Jianmen in the north had already crumbled under the hordes.
Yet past it, the revenants slowed dramatically—the pass's bitter cold sapped their momentum, as they shunned the chill.
Shu Dao Pass in the east fared differently.
Steeper peaks, but mild winters with scant snow drew endless hordes.
If it fell, Sichuan would swiftly become revenant hell.
The party, lost in awe for a moment, resumed their climb.
The road to the pass steepened sharply. The donkeys, slow but sturdy, climbed unfazed.
The gradient intensified; sheer cliffs flanked the path.
"Shu Dao Pass puts me in mind of a certain poem."
"Not your poem, Senior—Li Bai's Shu Dao Nan, right?"
"Pfft, who wrote it matters not. Poems are for reciting and enjoying."
Unexpectedly, Yu So Un joined in.
"The road to Shu is harder than climbing the blue heavens."
Seo Baek and Wang Yi Sam gaped, asking in unison:
"You know Li Bai's poems?"
"You know Li Bai?"
"I recited them often once."
The three climbed, reciting verses, oblivious to the strain.
Halfway up, four martial artists on guard halted them.
"Halt."
Clad in white robes with white turbans.
Ami Sect lay disciples— their order forbad ostentation, so plain white it was.
"State your identity."
"Transporting wagons to Shu Dao Pass on commission from the Sichuan Tang Clan."
One checked the wagons and crates' insignias.
"Sichuan Tang Clan marks confirmed."
The four split into pairs, clearing the path.
"Proceed."
As the party passed, the Ami disciples gripped their sword hilts, eyes sharp and unyielding.
Seo Baek caught on.
Checking for revenant bite marks.
Their clothes were filth-streaked, but no blood or wounds. The disciples let them through.
But inspections weren't done—twice more they stopped.
Second checkpoint: six guards. Third: eight.
"These checks are overly picky. Why stop folks three times?"
Wang Yi Sam grumbled.
Only after the third did they reach the pass fortress.
A grand bastion amid jagged peaks!
"Jaw-dropping."
"Agreed."
The main gate rivaled a building in scale. A side door creaked open nearby.
Rumble.
Large enough for a wagon, despite being "side."
Under Ami disciples' watch, they entered via the side door.
Inside: fortress walls enclosing a vast courtyard.
Hundreds of spearmen and archers stood in formation, quivers slung.
A scene straight from a battlefield.
"Wait here."
The escorting disciple vanished.
Seo Baek scanned about, spotting three wagons parked aside.
As expected.
Ten wagons left the Tang Clan.
Two lost in the forest, one on the Residual Path to blasts. Seven intact: the three ahead plus their four.
The disciple returned with a nun.
"A nun...?"
Wang Yi Sam muttered unwittingly; Seo Baek elbowed his chest sharply.
Thud.
"Cough... You little—why?!"
Seo Baek ignored him, offering a fist-and-palm salute to the nun.
"Seo Baek, arrived at Shu Dao Pass on Sichuan Tang Clan commission, pays respects to the Ami Sect leader."
Wang Yi Sam blanched, cold sweat beading—close call on a blunder.
"Yu So Un greets the leader."
"...Wang Yi Sam."
The nun smiled warmly, pressing palms together.
"You've done well. Three wagons arrived first; now four more—Ami Sect owes you greatly."
Mid-forties, but face and voice youthful as her thirties.
Yet her gaze held dagger-like sharpness, radiating an aura that forbade insolence.
Current Ami Sect leader: Jeong Su Sa Tae.
Jeong Su Sa Tae guided them.
"This way."
She led across the courtyard, up stone steps to the fortress hall opposite the entry.
From the hall, vast plains stretched into the distance.
The Central Plains.
Seo Baek gazed out, moved.
Master, I've finally reached Central Plains soil.
Still in Sichuan technically; Shaolin lay far off.
But as they say, a journey of a thousand li begins with a single step.
The fortress centered on a main keep, flanked by four towers each side, linked by long walls for patrol.
The main gate below: layered thick timber and iron plating, unyielding even to siege rams.
A lone path led from it to the plains.
Flanked by sharp rock piles—not a deep moat, but ankle-breakers for man or mount.
And sheer cliffs impossible to scale.
A natural fortress supreme!
But the party's awe deflated swiftly.
The distant plains teemed with revenant hordes.
Wang Yi Sam swallowed hard, murmuring,
"All those... revenants?"
Tens of thousands, nearing.
The soulless undead shuffled aimlessly. Slow, but inching toward the pass.
"In three days—no, tomorrow—the main gate will be overrun."
Jeong Su Sa Tae said quietly.
"At this rate, the pass falls inevitably. Thus, this poor nun has one countermeasure."
Seo Baek realized then.
Why she'd personally escort unknown martial artists here.
Ami Sect needs outside help too.
He was spot on.
"In Ami Sect's name, I ask your aid."