Immortal Connections - Chapter 43 preview

Chapter 43 - Tou He

Returning to camp with the smell of slow-roasting meat filling the air was a wonderful surprise. The soldiers, beaten and battered after hours of training - including late into the night as the colonel took advantage of the presence of two cultivators as the antagonists - picked up their pace, moving towards the glowing fires in the distance. They were still disciplined enough to make sure to properly store their equipment before they made their way to the cooking lines though, though some of that discipline might have come from the stern glares their officers sent their way.

Moving behind the group, idly strolling over with the colonel were the pair of smiling antagonists. Tou He was busy undoing his robe, dusting down the dirt that had accumulated all over his clothes, never having bothered to solidify his aura against the dirt. Compared to the disheveled Tou He, Hua Ren in his pristine armour looked to have only stepped out of his tent early that day. 

“Thank you for your aid,” the colonel said to the pair. “We managed to do much more with the intercepting groups than if you had not taken part.”

“No need, Colonel Lo,” Tou He said. “It was our pleasure.”

“It was an interesting workout,” Hua Ren said. “Though you need them to work on improving their cultivation. Most of your men are in the low stages of Body Cleansing.”

“Most guards never improve beyond two or three meridians opened,” Colonel Lo said. “Many have no chance to improve further, their meridians clogged by impurities. They neither have the strength of will to push through the pain or the opportunity to do so.”

“Do you not test them with other cultivation systems?” Tou He asked. “Surely the kingdom has sufficient funds to purchase a few.”

“The Yellow Emperor’s system is the only one that we teach. Every other system has a chance to damage or injure our soldiers. What are we going to do with a crippled soldier?” Colonel Lo said. “No, better for them to just stay as they are. A more powerful army is a dream, but it brings with it issues. Too strong an army and they start thinking of ruling the country and that never ends well.”

“I don’t know, might make things more orderly,” Hua Ren grunted, staring around the well laid out encampment, the soldiers all in neat lines waiting for their meal, the meal already ready for them.

“Loyalty and duty are important, but soldiers are terrible rulers mostly. So many grow up in the system, that they don’t know a world outside of it, where commands are not to be questioned, where everything is taken care for us.” Colon Lo smirked. “Though, I guess you could say that about royalty too.”

 “Dangerous words,” Hua Ren said.

“What are they going to do? Make me a soldier?” 

“The royal executioner is quite bored these days, I hear.” 

“Not a single rebellion in a decade, yes.” Colonel Lo let out a long and dramatic sigh. “I feel for him. Though I hear he’s become quite well versed in the flute. Spends a lot of time in the dungeons playing for the captives there.”

Tou He cocked his head to the side. “Why would the royal family have their own dungeons?”

“Well, when a man and a woman get quite bored with one another…” Colonel Lo began only for Hua Ren to make a loud and shocked noise.

“That’s not how it is.” He looked at Tou He and clarified. “The royal family have their own investigators via the chamberlain’s. They are the ones who check upon the workings of the rest of the court, are the only ones allowed to question the royal family and their servants.”

“Servants are given exceptions too?”

“In many cases, yes.” Colonel Lo shrugged as he guided the pair over to a table not too far from the campfire. At their approach, the pair of soldiers who were eating there vacated it with ill-haste, preferring the ground rather than join their leaders. It saddened Tou He a little to see that, but he understood it. “It’s necessary to ensure loyalty and that our secrets are not spilled outside the royal palace.”

Tou He noted he used the term our in this case, though not always. It seemed the colonel shifted his allegiance – and viewpoint – of his station on the regular. Not that he blamed him, not when he was so obviously both held at a distance and also, occasionally, drawn in.

“I must agree with the colonel. It is unlikely that a military leadership will promote the progress of their nation along the precepts.” He smiled and thanked the attendant who came up to them with a bottle of wine, pouring a generous amount into a bowl but then watering it down further with boiled water. “It would be in opposition to their very occupation.” 

“And yet, you join us, our little Buddhist friend.”

Tou He inclined his head, not looking perturbed at all. “I am not, as you might have realized, a good follower. I seek a shorter, more immediate way, rather than letting matters play out, only offering the most benign of aids. Rather than admonishing others and leading by example, I fear I push – or beat – them to it.” 

Their meals arrived not long after, the attendant placing bowls and slices of the roast lamb down beside them. The smell of demonic beast rose up from the sliced plates, the skin lightly crisped with small fat bubbled poking through at points. Along the crispy and well salted lamb slices were vibrant greens, stir-fried with the smell of hot chili peppers rising from them. An additional claypot filled with slices of vegetables, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and portions of tougher meat was added to their table, filling out the simple meal.

“Tell me,” Tou He asked, curiously. “What drove you to specialize your regiment in demonic formations and cleansing? Surely it’s not a particularly busy or prestigious line of work. You could, I assume, have found more regular duties for the regiment.”

Hua Ren looked a little horrified at how blatant Tou He was, but Colonel Lo just laughed. “It was because it’s not very prestigious – or until lately, busy – that I chose to lead the Sixteenth Demon Slaying Regiment. We mostly train around the capital, and have little enough to do. The occasional jianshi uprising, some ghosts that the individual units must handle and – rarely – a demonic infestation. Quiet work, overall, as you said.”

“No desire for more glory?”

“What use glory? Can you eat it?” Colonel Lo said. “I already am covered enough in it.” Gesturing down his armour, one hand indicating the imperial dragon crest that only members of the royal family were allowed to wear. “It makes no difference, except in the whore houses.”

Tou He could not help but look disapproving.

“Now, don’t look at me like that. I only frequent the legitimate ones, where the women have a chance to buy themselves out and were initially sold into for a good price. No backalley, gang run ones for me. I dislike those most of all.”

“Yet, they have little choice.”

“You think most of my soldiers do?” Colonel Lo jerked his head over to where many sat. “Many of those who join, they come because it’s better than starving. Marginally. Some have no skills worth talking of, others are terrible at their family’s job, or their lands could not sustain the mouths to feed. They sell their bodies, just like the women do.

“The only difference is who gets to do the poking.”

Hua Ren snorted, while Tou He rolled his eyes. Rather than continue that argument, knowing that he was not going to change any of their minds, he turned his attention to the meal. Nor would the fact that he believed the soldiers were victims just as much as the whores likely to be appreciated.

Sometimes, all you could do was gently admonish and push others into a change of mind, taking the time to build the necessary connections. Sometimes, you took the victories you achieved, and waited before pressing further.

Sometimes, you just accepted that this world was imperfect and filled with pain.