No Longer Spring - Writings of tomorrow

XI

It had been quiet. The road was quite long and the silence was heavy in the air. The nature dared make no sound itself.
I was about to say something when Li Wang dragged his voice.

"Something feels odd about this encounter."

The general nodded, holding his horse.
We didn't ride them yet in case we had to defend ourselves one more time.
Whatever else was lurking in there might as well have been watching us then and there.

"It was," he began, "I have raided this town with the leader."

Li Wang raised an eyebrow, "But why didn't they attack her? A ghost of her caliber shouldn't make any difference. Mei Lin came with us. It doesn't just know who comes from where."

I already had a feeling that that was the issue all along.

"The resentment was, anyhow, extremely heavy. There are many types of ghosts, beasts."

Li Wang didn't seem pleasured by the context, not bothering to respond.
I, however, wanted to hear more.

"Why did you attack them?"

It turns out that it had been a long night for the citizens of the Fengdu Town.
Just as the HuoLong sect had always liked to attack from the shadows and, even though they all new its name, to remain unseen, they had decided to settle the score with the Fengdu people as they had started to talk bad about their sect and give out secret information about where they might have been hiding.
You see, Fengdu had a magic of its own, stories over stories trying to explain why it was cursed to be covered by fog and have daily spirit encounters, the most popular one being about sacrificial ceremonies. When the commoners got blessed, a few cultivators that had lived among the people, controlling the already existent malevolent energy from the cursed land, had adventured in search for a way to put an end to the killings and sacrifices made every time the lantern festival* was taking place.

And so, the three cultivators have wondered to nearby locations hoping to find the "equilibrium", a rare talisman created by a so called immortal, Guan Yin*. The very immortal who was said to have ignored the past traditions of their fellow immortals and, instead of living life in solitude and not allowing anyone near, has decided to go around and offer mercy to those haunted by the darkest shades of fate.
They asked questions in search if the mountain supposed to hide such treasure, ready to risk their lives and get the talisman as the fourth cultivator was waiting at home, maintaining peace and quiet among the people.
They were loved by everyone, cherished and, surprisingly, honestly treated with kindness by the commoners.

"They came upon the HuoLong land," said the general, " somehow, instead of finding the mountain, they came upon our land that's purposefully hidden by the eyes of strangers."

They hadn't let them enter.
There had been no name of the HuoLong sect written at the entrance so, since they didn't seem to have ill intent, the guards have decided to let them off with a warning.
They told them to leave and never come back again, or they wouldn't be spared a second time.

"What is this?" Asked one of the cultivators, "Is this a sect?"

And so, the other two backed off, sensing the guards ready to fight any intrusive presence.
They had insisted on leaving, until a new set of HuoLong cultivators appeared to be coming on from the road.
Seeing their black clothing and way of acting, it was obvious that they were some shady sect or cult.

"Just kill them," said one of the HuoLong cultivators, "they've seen enough already."

Seeing how they were close to getting killed they backed off, insisting that they were simply going to leave and never come back. However, one of the cultivators, afraid of how they started to circle around them, had felt threatened and took out his sword.
Blood had begun to shed, leaving two of the cultivators dead bodies on the ground, while the third left sword flying, trying to lose the ones tailing him.
Coming home, he must have given the bad news to the other cultivator and, seeing them two alone and somehow getting hold of the story, the people have used the stories that the HuoLong sect was near to their use, revolting for the lives of those who had died.
Hearing it, the leader feared that they were going to be found by more people, thus losing their privacy, and went on with a crew to murder the entire village.
Perhaps, the dead don't usually speak, but this time, they did.
Being left outside without a proper burial and nothing to calm their angry souls who had seen their families die, they had taken over the entire area so the Fengdu territory had been cursed again, rumored as the town of ghosts.
The general didn't recognize it as they had come from the opposite direction, but when reading the Fengdu Market sign and dared to remember one of the thousands towns he had raided. That's when he understood why the air was so heavy.
A place already cursed can do nothing but thrive when everyone stops fighting its urges. It was the peak performance of the Fengdu, living as a parasite and finally enjoying more resentment than it had had in the last decades.