{"id":6744,"date":"2022-03-08T21:29:05","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T13:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.benjamincheah.com\/?p=6744"},"modified":"2022-03-08T21:29:05","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T13:29:05","slug":"road-to-chequn-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/?p=6744","title":{"rendered":"Road to Chequn Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Winter<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wanbak<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

They laid the remains of the dead Outsiders on the snow. Seven warriors, one shaman. It didn\u2019t necessarily mean there were eight enemies, only that they had recovered eight bodies. As Sam Yung stood watch, the Protectors broke out their field knives and multitools, and got down to the bloody and grisly work of field dressing the carcasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process was straightforward. Cut out the carapace plates. Unzip the body from sternum to anus. Remove the viscera. Separate the internal organs from the bowels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And remove the core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where most animals had hearts, Outsiders had cores. A fist-shaped lump of smooth crystalline matter, located in its center of mass. Like the dantin of the human body, an Outsider\u2019s core gathered and concentrated hei from the cosmos. He could turn it in for a bounty. Or\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gam Fong held a core in his hand, admiring it in the sunlight. Grasping it with his fingers, he squeezed the lump, as if trying to crush it with his bare hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStop,\u201d Wai Kit said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gam Fong blinked. \u201cExcuse me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know what you\u2019re doing. Don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s profane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProfane? What do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow does the core feel?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gam Fong hefted it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWarm. Heavy. Dense. It\u2019s filled with hei.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot just hei. Bak.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBak?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. From the term wanbak, the incorporeal essence of consciousness. When a living being dies, its wan leaves the body, while its bak stays behind. That core contains a lingering fragment of consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the problem?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you consume the core, you\u2019re not just consuming the stored hei. You are also absorbing the bak. It is profane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shaking his head, Sam Yung strolled over. \u201cNot that this again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make it any less true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHei exists. But wanbak? Really?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow do you know hei exists?\u201d Wai Kit asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe use it. We can measure it. It powers our guns, our gear, our vehicles. But wanbak? How do you know it\u2019s even there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you cannot measure something, does it mean it doesn\u2019t exist?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAiya<\/em>, you\u2019re not a monk any more. Save it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make consuming cores any less dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not dangerous. It makes you powerful,\u201d Gam Fong said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the short term, yes. But it changes you. When you kill a living being, its mind becomes violently disturbed. It leaves behind a bak filled with hatred and sorrow. When you consume a core, you consume the hatred and sorrow of the one you\u2019ve killed. It contaminates your own wanbak, twisting your very essence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam Yung sneered. \u201cI need that power now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He held out his hands. A bloody bandage covered his right hand. In his left hand, he held a core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook at this, rookie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He crushed the core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A burst of searing golden light flashed from his fingers. Dust showered in the air. Sam Yung inhaled sharply, pulling as much hei as he could into his being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Golden light, softer and weaker, surged through his right arm, gathering in his hand. Sam Yung breathed deeply and audibly, his eyes squeezed shut in total concentration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the light faded, he unwrapped the bandage and flexed his hand. The exposed skin revealed in the torn fabric of his glove was as pink and smooth as a newborn\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSee? Good as new. And now I\u2019ve increased my hei by a hundred and eighty points.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wai Kit shook his head. \u201cThe spine also broke your prism. The magic didn\u2019t fix it. And if you want power, neikung is a safer and more sustainable way to grow your hei.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam Yung waved his hand dismissively. \u201cWe don\u2019t have time for that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gam Fong interrupted the exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow is consuming a core different from eating meat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wai Kit could explain it, but he doubted the kid would appreciate a full explanation at this time. Besides\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFundamentally, there is no difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou eat meat too!\u201d Gam Fong exclaimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly vat-grown meat. Meat that had never been alive, that had never possessed wanbak.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to observe the Five Precepts anymore,\u201d Sam Yung said cynically. \u201cDidn\u2019t you just break the first of them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean I should just turn my back on the teachings completely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur suits and weapons are made from Outsider cores. How are you not contaminated?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How could Wai Kit begin to explain a lifetime of training to someone with no background in such things?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do not eat my kit. That\u2019s the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re down a man. The kid needs to cultivate hei. Why are you stopping him from becoming more powerful?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause trading your soul for mere power is never worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what you think. You had the opportunity to cultivate hei the old-fashioned way from grandmasters. Most of us never will. We have to use what works for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGam Fong, what do you<\/em> think about all this?\u201d Wai Kit asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gam Fong looked down on the core. \u201cI\u2026 I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not expecting to face combat. Just stow it somewhere safe. You don\u2019t have to do anything about it now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gam Fong nodded. \u201cAlright.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam Yung shook his head and walked away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wai Kit reminded himself that the Protector had been wounded. He\u2019d taken a hard blow to the head, then he\u2019d been shot in the hand. Even though he\u2019d just used a healing skill, a man who had recently experienced such trauma couldn\u2019t be expected to comport himself the same way as a calm and healthy one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per Protector etiquette, the spoils of war went to the killer. Joint kills were, in theory, divided among the ones who had worked together to fell a monster. Not Wai Kit. He never split the cores of joint kills, preferring to give them up entirely. The Protectors thought he was strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He didn\u2019t want the fruits that came from splitting a soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wai Kit dropped the three cores into a spare pouch into his backpack. Under more normal circumstances, the Protectors would have continued to process the carcasses. They would remove the skin, pack the meat, take everything useful they could from the bodies. Not now. They\u2019d spent way too much time stationery as is, and there wasn\u2019t any space in the trucks to stow harvested bodies anyway. Instead, they hung them from the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Far, far from the tent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they readied to depart, Wai Kit checked in on the tent one last time. It was a four-man tent, a goodly size for a hunting party. Personal effects lay scattered across the tent floor. Dried blood caked the interior fabric in wild sprays. Drag marks led to nearby trees, to the carcasses Leopard One had spotted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were human bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four men, butchered and gutted and exposed, exactly in the same way the Protectors had done to the Outsiders. But left out for far longer. Long enough for the beginnings of rot to set in. Gut piles lay at their feet, blackened and swollen, infested with mold and maggots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wai Kit didn\u2019t know whether the Outsiders had learned this behavior from humans, or if they had developed the practice by themselves. What he did know was that man and monster alike were caught in this torrid spiral of jangwo, each doing unto the other before they could do the same unto them\u2014or perhaps because<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Outsiders didn\u2019t need to do this to feed. Or if they did, they didn\u2019t have to hang the bodies by the clearing. They\u2019d done it to attract the attention of passers-by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to ensure that the survivors would remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wai Kit stood before the bodies, clasped his hands, and lowered his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNam mou oneitofat<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recited the mantra thrice, then bowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though he had traded his robes for his suit and his begging bowl for his gun, he still remembered the vows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was not a priest. It was all he could do now. The Protectors had to move on. But when he returned, he would pick up where he had to leave off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a man, he could do no less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Newsletter subscribers get advance notice of my upcoming stories and writing updates. Sign up here<\/a> and receive a free<\/em> ebook!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wanbak They laid the remains of the dead Outsiders on the snow. Seven warriors, one shaman. It didn\u2019t necessarily mean there were eight enemies, only that they had recovered eight bodies. As Sam Yung stood watch, the Protectors broke out their field knives and multitools, and got down to the bloody and grisly work of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[143,168,253,270,277,278,289],"class_list":["post-6744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","tag-free-story","tag-horror","tag-pulprev","tag-road-to-chequn","tag-science-fantasy","tag-science-fiction","tag-singlit"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6744"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6744\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}