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Chapter 10 Part 2 Calculations and Collisions
What the Empire did not expect was that the Mohists committed their entire strength to the rescue; although the Empire boxed the Mohists into Fangtooth, they escaped by water. Meng Tian's strike likewise came up empty.
On the way back, Zhao Gao proposed that Fusu demand Tianming and Shaoyu from the Confucians; Fusu refused on grounds that the matter touched the Confucians too broadly. He would return to Xianyang to receive the First Emperor's decision.
The Empire made a great commotion and gained nothing, achieving none of its objectives; all knew the thunder of Ying Zheng's wrath would fall upon Fusu.
With Butcher and Daozhi rescued, the Mohists' cooperation with Quicksand ended; the two sides tore the mask off again, and Wei Zhuang took Quicksand back underground.
Fusu and Li Si returned to report; the Shadow Guard escorted them. The Empire's presence in Sanghai was reduced to the Net, Meng Tian, and the Yinyang School.
The Yinyang School had to guard the Mirage and seek the elixir of life for the First Emperor this trumped all else. Although Meng Tian had thrice failed to uproot the Mohists, his main task remained handling the Confucians. The Net, originally to guard Fusu, now remained to watch the many Mohist experts.
The Mirage devoured supplies constantly and had to resupply periodically; only then was there a chance to sneak aboard. Under Quicksand's arrangements, Tianming, Shaoyu, and Stone Orchid blended in and slipped through multiple checks up onto the Mirage.
But since Quicksand gave them no specific mission and no contact, the three found themselves with nothing to do once aboard. Tianming wanted to find Yue'er; Stone Orchid sought her brother; Shaoyu was indifferent.
They decided first to learn the Mirage's layout, find where Yue'er was, and seek Stone Orchid's brother, who would have left marks for Shu Mountain.
The Mirage had six floors, three up and three down. The lower three were for supplies, menials, maids, and hundreds of boys and girls. The upper three had, on the first, the Eight Gardens pavilions and towers for leisure; the second centered on the Three Pavilions; the topmost was the Moon Palace.
The three lived on the lower floors where management was looser, and thus they could gather many rumors. They guessed Yue'er, with Moon God, was in the Moon Palace.
To reach the Moon Palace, they had to pass the Three Pavilions; of these, Cloudsoar Pavilion housed the Cloud Lord, a master of alchemy. To the left lay the Grand Radiance Pavilion; to the right, the Nine Stars Pavilion only a select few could enter the latter two.
Though called "pavilions," they were vast inside, housing many Yinyang disciples; the Great and Lesser Moon Commands also resided among the Three Pavilions.
After scouting the first two upper floors, Stone Orchid, familiar with her brother's habits, found many of his marks; after translating, they learned he had gone to Cloudsoar Pavilion the Cloud Lord's domain.
The Cloud Lord refined different elixirs at different hours and needed many helpers; thus the three slipped in easily. But they soon found no new marks from Stone Orchid's brother.
Stone Orchid grew frantic; though she had feared for him long ago, in the moment her emotions surged. Shaoyu could only hold her and comfort her softly.
Without his guidance, their pace slowed; they blundered into danger several times; the Yinyang School noticed them and tightened security. They chose not to return below, which was now even riskier. The first two upper floors were broad, with many empty rooms, enough to hide in.
With wits and luck, they dodged several searches, but were forced into getting lost; tension rose, and even sleeping all together, they had no mind for anything else.
In sleep, Tianming groggily heard someone call him: "Tianming, Tianming." "Yue'er." He knew the voice at once and snapped awake. "Yue'er, where are you?"
"Tianming!" He followed the voice, glimpsing a figure he could not quite see. "Yue'er," he thought instinctively; he chased, but the figure always remained a fixed distance ahead.
"Tianming, Tianming, follow me." When he stopped, the figure urged him on; this time Tianming stayed calm and soon realized the figure was leading him in circles on a strange route that crossed places they had already walked.
"Tianming, here." Yue'er beckoned. Driven by stubbornness and longing, Tianming ignored his suspicions and followed into a room; when he opened the door no Yue'er, only a white glare that stunned his eyes, and then he woke up.
Shaoyu and Stone Orchid had long noticed and tried in vain to wake him, finally sealing his mute point.
When Tianming came to and told them the strange dream, Stone Orchid, versed in the Yinyang School, judged at once that Tianming had been caught in a dream invasion.
When Tianming described the path Yue'er had led him on, they realized that they were not lost but trapped in a formation and Tianming's path was the exit map.
They didn't know who was helping them, but they followed it and emerged into a garden with a tall, golden tree.
"Fusang sacred wood," Stone Orchid blurted.
After her explanation, they learned the tree had once stood in Shu. Legend said a golden crow had once lived there, hence the name; not the mythical world tree, but a revered tree. When Qin attacked Shu, the Yinyang School transplanted it now it stood on the Mirage.
Tianming, unfamiliar with the golden crow, was given a brief lecture. He called it a three-taloned bird, drawing Stone Orchid's ire after all, the golden crow was sacred in Shu.
Looking up along the trunk, they saw the tree soared even past the second floor's roof. An idea struck climb up it.
Two of them found a room and jumped in right into the Cloud Lord's pharmacy. There Stone Orchid found her brother's marks again, pointing to the Cloud Lord's pills.
Tianming's mechanism skills finally paid off; he cracked the cabinet's traps. At that moment, they heard voices and hid in the inner room.
They listened; Gongshu Chou was requesting pills from the Cloud Lord his age, fear of death, and lust had worn him down. The Cloud Lord handed him elixirs and, after sending him off, strode to the main seat and slapped it; the room sealed instantly.
"Come out, you three little thieves." As an alchemist, his nose was keen; he had scented them and casually trapped them.
The Confucians discovered the trio's disappearance first; Shaoyu had left letters for Master Fan and the Mohists, and the Confucians forwarded them. Hearing the reason had the Mohists fuming.
Xiaoyaozi cast lots for them; the omen said danger without loss disasters would become blessings.
Still, the Mohists wouldn't just sit; they sought plans constantly.
Xue Nu, wishing above all to make it up to Gao Jianli, saw his anxious face and felt deeply for him; she suggested going out to gather news of the Yinyang School.
The two left the Mohist base and gazed out toward the Mirage. "Elder Xiaoyao already said the three have Heaven's aid and will be fine," she soothed.
"Since the Juzi died, not one day has passed without worry; a snake cannot do without a head. We barely hold together, and now Tianming left without a word. He's still our nominal leader; if the others learn of this, what will they say? If something happens to him, the Mohists can't bear it."
Xue Nu gripped his hand. "He longs for Yue'er, and we've kept delaying the rescue he's disappointed. He's a child; we can't fault him. I fear this will turn him against us."
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