========== 28 - Face to face with the enemy ==========
I had seen a lot during my adventure. I could boast that I had seen people united in the face of a common threat, I had seen those whom the problems of the rest of the world did not affect, and I even had the honour of observing people who had miraculously survived from one of the most fortified fortresses in the world. It just so happened that wherever I went, there was always some hope, people were uniting to face danger together. But for no one to survive at all... Stopping at our destination, a small colony a couple of kilometres from the sea, all the circus members stared silently at the coal-black boards of the collapsed houses. The settlement we were supposed to entertain was still actively burning, and it was unclear where the perpetrators had gone. Our ringmaster got off the main wagon and stood in the clearing where we were supposed to make camp. He stood there in complete disbelief that such a thing had happened.
"Who in their right mind would want to destroy a colony that had already been subjugated? - the people around us grumbled while Tai Li and I surveyed the area. Even I couldn't tell if anyone had survived.
"Look, there are pieces of stone. It looks like there was some kind of battle with earth mages... but could everything really have been destroyed?
If I had to guess what was happening everywhere — battles in which mages let loose and destroyed settlements — I had never seen anything like it. Not because it was cruel or anything, no, just because in a normal skirmish, it's unlikely that everything would burn down. Either a very powerful mage had been at work here, or this was deliberate genocide.
"A soldier's body," whispered Tai Li as soon as her eagle gaze caught sight of a crushed body a few dozen metres from where they had stopped. I could feel it myself, the metal and the shape of the fire people. And I could feel someone else...
"Fyurk," Afka tensed, looking towards the forest, at the fast-moving shadows that were afraid to come out into the light, towards the crowd of people. "Dark spirits, emerging from an ocean of negative emotions. We'd better get out of here."
Dark spirits... the antonym of love and a concentration of negative feelings directed against all living things.
Whether the fire mages were the instigators or the liberators from the realm of the earth were to blame, none of us could say, but we couldn't stay in one place. Fortunately for me, instead of stopping, everyone got back on the carriages and drove the animals to their next destination, leaving the burning wreckage and living shadows behind. The mood was not exactly cheerful, and I was unable to smile despite the chakra of joy — I wanted to hope that we would be lucky and the dark spirits would not follow us. Tai Li hugged her knees and stared blankly at the burnt-out houses, her usual smile gone.
"Hmm," I said, twirling the silver beads in my hands, which helped me concentrate and enter a state of meditation, and sat down directly opposite Tai Li. "They disappeared and turned into smoke, ascending to the spirit world. That means... there's no need to regret anything.
Guru Laghima taught that you have to let other people's pain pass through your emotional spectrum. To feel what they feel and... let go of those emotions. Accept them and grow. Until now, I didn't know how that was possible: to let someone else's emotions pass through you, to let them go? Until now, I had been using fairly understandable terms and trying to structure the things I felt myself, but this new requirement had me stumped. But when I saw the dark spirits and felt some kind of malice coming from them, the question resolved itself. Spirits are the concentration of other beings' emotions, which I had to learn to accept.
"The circus exists to prevent this from happening. To bring some joy to the colonies," said Tai Li sadly, allowing me to take her hand. She couldn't see any spirits, but she could feel their corrupting influence. "But I don't know of any other way to help them."
We continued on our way for several more days. Soon enough, those around us began to come to their senses and regain some semblance of their former selves. Those like Tai Li also quickly renounced the bad and tried to replace their emotions with some kind of joy. But it was harder for me. As I fell asleep in our makeshift tent, I heard creatures howling and saw shadows that had been following us the whole way. Dark spirits followed us, trying to extinguish our fires during the darkest nights.
"S-shh! Ryaaah!" purple creatures hiding among the trees growled at me, with sharp teeth and eyes burning with hatred.
"Do you want to come out into the light?" Clutching the torch tightly in my hands, I caught the sound of a creature rushing towards me and knocked the dark spirit away like a ball. They tried to surround me, but they were afraid, because they were too weak to seriously destroy anything," "Come closer, and I'll come back next night with a whole oil lamp," I said, pointing at the retreating creatures, exhaling quietly and returning to the fire. So that the others could sleep peacefully without thinking about what had happened, I was forced to fight... although, why lie to myself? I was just trying to accept and let all that anger pass through me. As you can see from my efforts with the torch, I hadn't succeeded yet.
"They won't hurt anyone, even if they want to, but they can cause trouble," said Afka, who had sat down.
"Is there any way to calm them down?
"...Your words are too light, they won't pay any attention to such creatures. To leave an impression on their souls, you need to open the chakra of truth in your throat. Only then will you learn to untangle the most complicated emotions with words alone. They'll leave on their own, they can't chase you forever.
And when they are gone, I will have no one left to work on my chakra with.
"Who are you talking to?" But the voice behind me made me turn around quietly. There, opposite my tent, stood a girl dressed in a white nightgown, who slowly approached and sat down next to me by the fire.
"Oh, just talking to my fox," I replied honestly, making Tai Li focus on the little animal staring at the trees.
"They say animals have abnormal vision. If they're staring at something, it means they see something special. Spirits or even another world. Animals are so unique...
"In fact, some animals see the world in a special spectrum — they see rays of light that you might not notice, and they also like to pay attention to the shadows from the fire," Tai Li just chuckled quietly. She was clearly not interested in this conversation. "And animals also have to stand out in some way. Some build magnificent works of art in their nests to attract females, while others compete to see who can bring back the most prey. There are species that will not mate with each other even if they are the only ones left on the planet, simply because their personalities are too different.
"Ha," she smiled, cheering up considerably. "So they have to be different from the rest too? Tell me... was it easy for you to stand out from your peers? Since childhood, I've been looking for my calling, wondering what I could do to distinguish myself from my eight sisters. We didn't want our parents to compare us, and I wanted to be different from them so much that I sometimes did things I regret now. Now I hope I never have to go back to the past. "You can always refuse to do things that don't suit you.
"No... not always.
"Believe me," I smiled, "you can take control of your own destiny.
***
Whatever anyone might think, assuming that all the settlements on our way would now be completely burned down, those people were wrong. Fortunately, the next place we stopped at was completely intact. It was a whole town, where our travelling circus was greeted with great joy, and some of the locals, who had apparently already heard about our magnificent performances, helped us set up our tents, lay out our stalls and hang flyers with the name of the circus throughout the settlement. The sound of trumpets carried a cheerful melody, and people began to flock to the circus; the first to buy tickets were able to watch an excellent acrobatic show featuring Tai Lee, who amazed the audience with her flexibility. She impressed the audience as much as she impressed me.
"Since you arrived, no one wants to call me the strongest man anymore. It was so much fun," said Butch sadly as he prepared for the group performance, rubbing oil on his huge muscles.
"But you like playing the role of a strong barbarian, don't you?
"Of course!
"You have to see the good in everything.
Shaking the man's hand, I saw the girls leaving the stage. Acrobats with perfect figures and cheerful smiles followed us with their eyes and giggled playfully, while Tai Li even waved at me.
Soon the inspector called us to the stage, where heavy weights and steel beams were arranged as usual. After a day of such performances, my muscles usually burned like crazy — and I thought there would be no training in the circus. But before the man in the colourful costume introduced us, he waved his hand and the lights in the tent went out. Then a spotlight illuminated a man who entered and sat down in his seat, accompanied by a whole escort of soldiers of fire.
"Before the amazing show of strongmen begins, please welcome our circus's dear guest, who is staying in this town. He is an excellent commander and a man for whom we have decided to put on an excellent fire show. This is Commander Zhao, who is temporarily in charge of security for this colony.
"Oh, hello, you shouldn't have," I froze with a smile on my face, as a calm man with a ponytail and large sideburns rose from his seat and waved to everyone. "Finding rebels and eliminating the leaders of the uprising is my duty. The main thing is not to hide the enemies of our people, and you will be able to enjoy yourselves in such an excellent place. Please, begin.
I met my enemy in the most unexpected place on the planet. Not on the battlefield or even at the negotiating table, but in a circus. And now he was looking straight into my eyes with the calmest expression on his face. Waiting for me to make a fool of myself in front of him.
========== 29 - Too arrogant ==========
I don't know how many hours before the performance it became known that our guest was coming, but I can say with certainty that if I had known about the presence of this cunning murderer and arsonist earlier, I would not have come to perform today. But it was no coincidence that Ringmaster asked everyone to change into new clothes today. We had to look like the fire people; red was in fashion this season.
"Choose:
1 - Leave and do not perform (Pride and self-respect completely oppose the need to perform in front of the enemy. By leaving the stage, you will upset all the performers who paid for the show. Your relationship with Ringmaster and Tai Li will suffer greatly. It will become more difficult to become Tai Li's apprentice. Note: the third chakra has made you powerful enough to unlock useful options marked with - Pride)
2 - Monk (Why should you have enemies? There are only unwanted people! By developing and controlling your pride, turning your enemy into a simple and insignificant mortal who is incapable of influencing your decisions, you will take a step towards eliminating hatred. You will take control of your essence and unlock options that are partly useful and partly not, marked with - Monk. You agree not to pursue Zhao)
3 - Heir to Two Heroes (You have gained enough combat experience to use against your enemy, so let him fear you. Reveal your true identity and subdue Zhao; he must be brought to justice. Choosing this option will lead to widespread conflict with the army of the Fire Nation, during which you will have an excellent opportunity to develop your Chin experience. Your relations with the circus and other representatives of the Red Nation will be severely damaged).
I haven't seen such a cascade of very important decisions in a long time, and it's not that the importance was determined by the status of another person or their position. Options that open up whole new branches of new choices — that's the difference between Anubis's simple auxiliary decisions, which he made on a whim, and vitally important choices. All the rest can be discarded as unnecessary. But which direction can I go in?Breaking with my plans and continuing to adhere to the image of a conflictual Conqueror could benefit my combat experience and allow me to start a war of authority with the Master of Fire right now. The latter option was precisely what would allow me to take a step towards gaining the authority of kings. It was the best strategic choice, allowing me to get rid of even Zhao and his entire entourage. On the other hand, the path of spirituality — renouncing hatred — could really help with the next chakra: it is an even greater renunciation of what others call grief. In reality, however, it was necessary to renounce the last emotion that was consuming you, all the worst things that were dragging you down. In this sense, it would have been worthwhile to forget everything else, take a leap towards new strength, and open the door to your heart a crack.
Against this backdrop, Pride looked worse than the rest... but not in my eyes. For me, the word "pride" has no negative connotations, even despite the fact that right now, choosing it will lead to bad consequences. For me, it is a steadfast adherence to principles and a strong motivation to open the subsequent chakras, because I do not know what I will have to give up in the future, what important decisions I will have to let go of in order to dispel the illusions of my mind and renounce earthly attachments, but it is pride that will help me in this endeavour. Although it should be described with a slightly different word: willpower, which makes it possible to accept the worst and most difficult options. It is not surprising that it took a lot of spirit to make this decision.
But leaving now, without understanding what good I would get from my choice, was also wrong: I was trading away the excellent path of a monk, and it would take balls of steel or an empty skull to give up something like that so easily. Anubis, as always, had no intention of going into details, as he did not like to be a pen pal, so I had to test the waters.
"Inspector," I whispered to the slightly frightened man who had introduced us. No wonder he was trembling and pale; the sight of Jiao was a trigger for him. "You have no doubt that he did that... to the last village, do you?"
"Monk, you... you should start your speech instead of lamenting what's right and wrong," Oh yes, his answer confirmed my guess.
"What will happen if I leave now? - The man's eyes widened in an instant, just like my performance partner's. I spoke calmly, as if I had already taken control of my emotions, which calmed the inspector as well," - I'll leave, and then I'll perform separately in front of the people. Just so as not to entertain this... creature.
"Dubina, I'll have to find a way out so that the guest doesn't get offended. And Ringmaster will demand a dozen free performances from you to compensate for the blow to his reputation.
"I can help.
It just so happened that Anubis spoke in strict facts, often without details. That's why the first option didn't specify how long our relationship with Tai Li would be ruined. After all, it could easily be repaired. Yes, we might have to take a risk, but there was no other way. Not going after Zhao would be the biggest mistake, as well as a violation of not only our expectations, but also those of Wang Shi Tong. That's what Afka herself would want.
Smiling, he picked up two heavy barrels of nails that were to be part of the juggling act. One accident, and I'd be buried under metal, with a couple of minor injuries, and that would be the end of my career. The inspector shook his head and sighed wearily, but, expressing even partial approval, cancelled the act. It was foolish to think that after everything they had seen, the circus performers would want to clown around in front of Zhao. It was clear from the faces of the people behind the scenes that they themselves did not want to go out and perform. They whispered and quickly figured out who was responsible for setting fire to the village.
"What a disgrace.
Zhao was, of course, disappointed and lost much of his interest in the performance: some families with children left, and I was put on a bench, bandaged and treated for my injuries, then left alone.
The inspector told the Ringmaster what had happened, and Tai Li, who had approached, crossed her arms in dissatisfaction.
"Did you really ruin the show because of one person? You could have tried to entertain the others.
"I will. I'm sure the boss will make us work a hundred times harder, but at least it won't be in front of the killer," the last word triggered Tai Li to sniffle and remember how unpleasant the last few days had been. "I don't know about you, but I... I want revenge on Zhao.
"Revenge?! That would be treason!" she exclaimed, putting her hands behind her back. The young girl tried to take her homeland's side, forcing herself into a box. But Tai Li's heart was filled with pain, for she did not know whose side to take.
"But aren't you the one who runs around the city in your free time, using martial arts on anyone who doesn't behave the way you think is right? - She froze with her mouth open. Yes, soldiers of her nation were not beaten for trivial reasons, she clearly knew what they were doing and was strongly against it."Choose:
1 - Revenge - is a dish best served cold (You have chosen the path of the proud. You are too proud to kill a piece of trash named Zhao, so make him look into the eyes of his decisions. With Tai Li's help, you will take your relationship with her to a new level...)
2 - Two in a room (Sometimes fear can blind you. Deal with Zhao yourself, leaving a message to all the people of fire that the sand mage is watching and pursuing his enemies. You will gain an even more fearsome image and an advantage in further negotiations with the Fire Lord, but you will not gain any advantages with chakras).
Lower your status only to increase it many times over later. That was the cunning trick I began to realise before making my previous decision.
"... Remember I told you that spirits always remember the moment of their death? Believe me, they follow you, waiting for the moment to sink their teeth into their abuser." I needed to find out only one thing. Secret information that the fox could well provide.
I shot Afka a warning glance, and she immediately jumped onto my lap and chirped happily. Ready to answer any question.
***
"I apologise, Commander Zhao, my people must be very tired after their long journey. You know that we did not stop to rest on the way because the village was burned down," said an elderly man with his head bowed in the private tent of the circus director, whose performances had been cancelled one after another that day. Sweat dripped from his forehead, and his speech was imbued with an ancient fear, as if a man without any of the willpower so characteristic of the fiery people had appeared before the hearth of a mighty fire. This was not far from the truth, as the guest of the failed ringmaster was known for his hot temper and his tendency to easily lose his temper.
"It wasn't the best entertainment show I've ever seen, that's for sure," said Zhao, sitting arrogantly opposite the old man with his leg crossed over his knee, waving his hand in an indefinite direction. "But who knows, maybe if the village hadn't been cleared of enemies, you wouldn't even have been able to get here. And to think that there could have been a sand mage there? That monster would have mutilated you so badly that your own mother wouldn't have recognised you. That monster hates our nation.
"Ahem, yes... but isn't that sand nomad gone? We haven't heard anything about him for a couple of months.
"That coward is hiding! - raising his voice, he slammed his fist on the table, making it shake. The ringmaster even turned pale," - Ahem... several months of searching have yielded no results, but we will find him. That's why I came. I'm interested in your strongmen. Their performance may have been as ridiculous as the floundering of the nation, but it was still entertaining. I want to talk to them. More precisely, to that one, what's his name... the monk.
"W-what for?
"You see, monks are exceptional keepers of knowledge. I wouldn't mistake a monk's robe for anything else, even if it's been altered. He really is a member of some wise order, isn't he? - Zhao pressed Ringmaster, causing the old man to nod absentmindedly. "Well... I'm not the kind of person who can miss out on wisdom. Prepare us a cup of this tea and call the guest. Quickly.
========== 30 - Evil Diarrhoea ==========
My new collaboration with Tai Li was an excellent opportunity to extract information about martial arts from her. As it happened, the girl didn't think too long before agreeing to any provocative act that would cause trouble for Zhao, for which she was even willing to use force: break through the guard, capture or strip of magic, it didn't matter, just a certain past had taken away her fear of battle. The most interesting thing was that the thought of betrayal was not something categorical for her; she had already run away from her friends and new military achievements for the sake of her world. And considering that there was no need to kill anyone, only to make them feel the consequences of their decisions, she completely took my side.
It's funny that she wasn't afraid, even Zhao wasn't an authority figure, and she dismissed the rank of Commander with nothing more than a smirk. Her main requirement was secrecy, so that no one would catch her.
Of course, such a situation required a plan, which Afka decided to take full responsibility for developing. Until now, she had done an excellent job of hiding her feelings towards the destroyer of an entire library department, not even trying to break his spine, so imagine my surprise when I saw the cruel plan, devised by some incredibly well-read creature, combining things I either never knew about or never thought of using in this way. Her hatred was hidden in this elegance.
But before we could discuss who would play which role, I was summoned to the Ringmaster for some reason...
"Here's our clumsy strongman!" exclaimed the head of the arena, not too happily, as I entered his tent with less than friendly intentions. The reason was clear; my sixth sense told me that the man I had been plotting against was inside. No, it was not surprising; my damn luck had to pull a stunt like this. "Sit down, Zhao would like to talk to you..."
"I can introduce myself to my guest," the man with sideburns stopped the ringmaster and focused on me. "Sit down, I've made some tea."
"Pff," snorted the old man who had left the tent, leaving us alone for some reason. Yes, just the two of us... Here was the source of most of my recent problems: the man who had set in motion the chain of events that had ultimately led to Shen Guan's downfall was standing right in front of me. He was sitting there, hardly ready to react to a blow to his face or a punch to the liver. It was... a monstrously perfect moment, but right now, outside the tent, there was a whole squad of more than a dozen soldiers, and the city was flooded with even more. Kill him and run away? Bury him in the ground so that no one would ever find him again?
Yes... I would have liked to, but I had to sit down carefully at the table, after which Zhao cast an expressive glance at the teacup, urging me to take a sip.
"May I ask why you summoned me, Commander?
He remained silent, literally forcing me to pick up the mug. Bringing it to my mouth, I slowly inhaled the aroma, watching the ripples on the water, and looked at my hand. If it weren't for the first chakra, it would have been trembling. Anubis said nothing: could this be a sign that the mug was safe? Or did he know I wouldn't drink it, and that's why he didn't do anything? What should I do?
Zhao frowned. Obviously, my hesitation had raised questions in his mind, so I made a decision. Taking a deep breath, I took a small sip.
"Excellent aroma and taste," I replied, making the man smile.
"I thought you would appreciate it. The old man said that you are a real monk who came to the circus quite recently, straight from some monastery. And you showed phenomenal strength right from the start! It's amazing - why would hermits perform in a place like this? "Leaning back in his chair, he smiled." "Monks often drink it to achieve moments of calm. It works for them. From what century was that, again? Ten thousand years before the genocide of the air nomads, if I'm not mistaken?"
"You're right.
"Ha-ha, of course," he froze for a couple of seconds, looking closely at me and my features, "And don't remind me, what is the name of the famous monastery tea?
"White Dragon. It is often confused with the White Jade flower, which is extremely poisonous; they even have the same aroma," I didn't take my eyes off the black pits in place of this murderer's eyes for a second.
"Yes, that's right. I always confuse those names, I think they're useless. Although if I didn't know them, I could have made a mistake and died, couldn't I? At that moment, all suspicion faded from his face, and he smiled sincerely, taking an identical, deep sip. "In fact, I deeply respect monastic customs, despite my military status. I consider this hermitage and clergy to be pure nonsense that should be burned, but everything has a practical use: you monks are amazingly adapted to threats. You drink poisons in small doses and train so that you grow to such sizes. It's useful.
"There is such a thing.
My words caused a wave of euphoria to wash over the man's face, even causing him to rise from his chair.
"That's why I'd like you to share this experience. What methods do you know for building immunity to various substances, for toughening the body so that it's harder to kill you? You can give me some tips, can't you?
"So you... just want to prepare for possible assassination attempts?
The man smiled broadly, delighted that I had so quickly understood his motives. The commander just wanted to be ready for attacks against himself, maybe there had been some previous incidents, or maybe he had just realised that such knowledge could be useful, I don't know. It was clear that he hadn't read about this in the library. But I had!
"Easy. In that case, try making ginger tea with oak leaf tincture. It will turn your stomach into an iron fortress. There are some minor side effects, but once you get through them, you'll be as tough as the strongest furnace. And also...
I never in my life thought I'd need a recipe for a drink that could cause severe diarrhoea and raise my temperature to thirty-seven degrees. Life is truly an amazing thing.
***
Cruel and fierce, filled with malice but hiding in the shadows, these dark spirits continued to circle the city, afraid to approach its gates simply because of the large number of torches, various lights and noise. But few knew that cities were the most preferred places for embittered spirits - dark streets and alleys were the source of the worst emotions of human society, and all they had to do was overcome the wall, bypass the torches, and they would be able to flourish! And I was going to help them. "It's funny how the darkest ones pursued the circus, people for whom fun and other positive emotions are a source of income.
"I don't understand you. Who are you talking about?
Tai Li and I stood before walls shrouded in steel, a stronghold protected from invasion by earth mages. In fact, it was the first city I had ever seen that was encased in iron; previously, only certain bases located near very important strategic cities had been given such protection. Since we were passing through here for the first time on a cart, I didn't have time to walk around and look, but now I was touching these walls and realised that the scale of the work was impressive. Their skill with metal had led these people to develop special methods of defence: they were excellent at working with angles and knew which areas required special attention. In short, I studied this new method of architecture with interest while preparing to extinguish a nearby torch.
"You'll understand soon enough. These creatures usually hide from prying eyes, and it's impossible to spot them until they choose to reveal themselves. But first, let's jump over the wall.
The girl just frowned. Such uncertainty annoyed her, but it also intrigued her. Stretching her legs, she quickly ran and literally ran along the wall, deftly and quickly clinging to protruding brackets and huge bolts. She climbed up the four-metre wall and looked down at me with a smirk. In her opinion, I would never be able to repeat such a stunt. I had to dispel this misconception, and after running a few steps, I managed to climb up a couple of steps. Yes, I started to fall, but my hands had already grabbed the edge, and I could easily pull myself up. I conquered this height purely thanks to my height, and not a drop of magic.
"There they are.
I smiled as soon as I saw the faint shadows in the forest, trying to get closer. Moving away from the city by a dozen metres and peering into the darkness hidden among the trees, Tai Li began to get quite nervous.
"What's going on here? Why did you even bring me here?
"...They're close.
Keeping my hands ready, I saw a sudden movement from the side, something lunged at Tai Li and jumped at her. To my great relief, she managed to react and instantly moved her body to the side, following with her eyes the deformed thing with large fangs and a purple colour. Although it was difficult to say what colour it was, it was more like a glow. The dark spirit exuded such an unpleasant aura that it attracted its fellow creatures. Because of this, we were surrounded by many similar creatures that began to click their teeth menacingly. Some looked like small spiders, others resembled moray eels flying through the air. The largest of them was the size of a dog, with six red eyes on its head and sharp claws on its paws.
"I've never seen anything like this before," Tai Lee exclaimed.
"Dark spirits. Many of them cannot even be hit, and they will feed on your life force until you lose your mind," said Afka. Dark spirits will pursue anyone, any creature that can be inconvenienced, but when they see the source of their hatred, their attention will quickly shift, and... well, I want to see the rest with my own eyes.
And if before they wouldn't listen to me or Afka, who was capable of literally interacting with these ferocious creatures, now they wanted something more. They could smell the enemy and were ready to forget about us.
"We'll help you.
A fox appeared behind me, snorting in her native language. If the situation hadn't been so convenient, they would have simply attacked us and tried to tear us apart, but we managed to return to the city without making any sudden movements. Once there, in the dark alleys, they disappeared without looking back at us. It was impossible to tell where they had gone.
"We didn't make a mistake, did we?" Tai Li asked, swallowing hard. After all, one mistake and the spirits would have started attacking ordinary residents, running into houses and ruining the lives of peaceful people. I would have been happy to say that I had clear confirmation of our actions from Anubis, but I didn't. We were guided only by Afka's knowledge, and she ran to the place where Zhao had stopped, so we had to run after her.
Instead of our usual clothes, we were wearing black raincoats, and I also made Tai Li put on something else under her cloak, a red circus costume that didn't stand out too much. She didn't understand why it was necessary, but she followed my advice anyway. Holy simplicity.
When we reached the iron-clad part of the city, which was a separate military base, we just stood and watched. There was no point in rushing any further.
"Huh?" frowned one of the soldiers who had stepped back, as if a ghost had passed through him. "Hey, have you seen anyone?"
"Hm? No, but I suddenly felt very cold.
Then we just lay in wait. Using our senses, we could tell when something strange was happening to the guards: people either recoiled and felt chills, or their bodies were covered in cold sweat, followed by a feeling of malaise. At one point, they even made their way into the houses, including the one where Zhao had locked himself in the bathroom...
"Ugh, damn tea. Why the hell do monks drink it? Hmm?
Shuddering from a couple of unexpected blows to the chest, the man tensed and looked around.
"Is anyone there? Hello?
All we could do was leave him there to marinate. The longer they were attacked by weak evil spirits, the better our plan would be. For several days, Tai Li and I kept coming back to the soldiers' camp and watching from a distance. He didn't come to our circus anymore because he was running to the toilet more often than anywhere else, and feeling the evil influence, he grew paler and paler, feeding the spirits.
At this rate, the spirits would grow and become so strong that eventually they wouldn't even have to hide.
"Hey, Monk, I need you," one day, as I was leaving my tent, Zhao decided to come to me personally. He was clutching his stomach in pain, wanting to run to the toilet, but he endured. All so that we can talk," he said. "Tell me... what the hell is happening to me? For the last few days, I've had a high temperature, severe chills, and I've been hearing voices. Could these be hallucinations because I've been so often... ahem, distracted by the toilet?
"Oh... - thoughtfully placing his fingers on his chin, he began to shake his head lazily, glancing at the sweet cotton candy, wondering how delicious it would be to eat it, then at the cheerful people, on whom I was definitely not wasting my time. For almost a minute, the man shifted from foot to foot, sincerely believing that I was pondering the question. "I don't know, you must have something serious going on. It's definitely not the tea, its effects don't last longer than three hours.
"What... only three hours? I haven't left the toilet for three days! I've shit myself senseless!" His cry echoed throughout the street.
"Are you sure it's the tea? Have you been upsetting the spirits lately? Maybe you've done something to anger them, and now they're taking revenge? The bastard's eyes widened in realisation. He turned pale and wiped the cold sweat from his brow, wailing about the damn spirits. "If you hear any voices next time, try using your fire magic, it might scare them away.
I gave him advice as he hurried to the toilet. As soon as the limping man disappeared, Tai Lee approached me, laughing cheerfully.
"Well?
"It's time to let the negative emotions flow through you. Some will be able to do it and become stronger, others will go mad... Just do it discreetly, no one must realise that you had anything to do with it.
***
Dim moonlight filtered through the uncurtained windows of the metal building. The silence in the room was occasionally broken by the quiet moans of a man lying in bed. Tossing and turning in his sleep, he had already thrown off all the pillows, kicked off the blanket and crumpled the sheet, leaving a wet patch of sweat under his head. During a particularly loud cry, he opened his eyes wide and began to breathe heavily.
"Damn it, those voices," feeling his mouth dry, Zhao grabbed a glass from the bedside table and drank it in one gulp. But as soon as he laid his head back on the bed, he heard...
"You killed us," a quiet, chilling voice sounded right next to his ear, causing Zhao to jump up abruptly. He clenched his fist and struck the air sharply, trying to release his flame. However, instead of fire, his hands, which had weakened for some reason, did not even produce a pitiful flash. At that moment, a regular lighter would have been much more useful.
"What? Why is my magic...
"Die," the loud voice rang out again, this time pushing Zhao against the wall.
"You made us suffer.
"N-no. Get out of here, I know that spirits only remain in the place where the misfortune occurred. Why the hell did you follow me?
"Ha-ha-ha.
"Burn. Burn like we did.
"A-a-a-a-a-a!
***
"Hey, can dark spirits talk? Why did Zhao say he heard strange voices? - Sitting in the empty tent on a pleasant evening, drinking hot tea from a cup, I looked at Afka, who was reading.
"Most likely, it's all hallucinations after tea. There are very few intelligent spirits who can speak human language. Especially dark ones.
"But... tea doesn't cause such severe diarrhoea that it could cause hallucinations. It doesn't cause hallucinations at all; it's just a common remedy for clearing the bowels.
"So, you're saying he really hears the voices of spirits? Pfft, don't make up nonsense.
"Well, whatever. It's none of my business.
Hlyurp*