Chapter 44: The Cold Hard Fact
Wurth Zhang was ranked seventh of the outer disciples at Drizzle Peak. His experience and influence earned respect and high regard of Nory, Sean, and Zen.
As the four shared the wine, the spirit turned jovial and mellow. Nory and Sean chatted with the self-effacing predecessor, Wurth.
“I watched your display of marrow refinement skills in the battle ring, Zen,” said Wurth, as he tipped his cup back and drained the wine.
Zen glanced at Wurth and answered, “Wurth, you are quite discerning!”
“What? Zen, you have refined your marrow!” exclaimed Nory, unable to contain himself.
Nodding, Zen related, “I probably would've lost to Leo if I hadn't reached the marrow refining level at the right time.”
Shaking his head, Wurth complimented, “The way I see it, Zen, you will be our mainstay so long as you perfect the skills your talent warrants.”
“Wurth, you're exaggerating! I'm nothing more than a novice compared to the masters at our peak!” Zen commented, maintaining a degree of decorum.
“Zen, aren't you being too modest? Have you heard the legend of Lady Peak?” asked Wurth as he looked around with an air of mystery.
“Lady Peak is ranked seventeenth among the Peaks at the Cloud Sect and consists of only women disciples.” Because of the wine, Sean was loosening up, becoming more talkative but remaining sober, thanks to his refining level. Despite the overindulgence, the four present were far from a drunken stupor, and the ambiance remained light and festive.
Smiling, Wurth went on, “Lady Peak is seventeenth ranked Peak this year but, is second to Skytop Peak in the previous years!”
Sean had been at the Cloud Sect a year longer than Zen and Nory. He was also less informed on and blurted, “What? A peak with female disciples ranking higher than men? In my humble opinion, they couldn't overshadow us!”
In Sean's mind, men no doubt prevailed over women in the development of martial arts skills.
“Sean, there's something you don't know, and that is, it was a female disciple who contributed to Lady Peak's ranking and influence.....” explained Wurth smiling.
“And with her endowments, she supposedly overshadowed the rest of the Peaks except Skytop Peak?” added Zen.
“Bravo!”
bellowed Wurth as he applauded before elaborating, “You hit the nail on the head there, Zen! She has an unearthly beauty and is extremely endowed, rising to fame in the two years after her admission to the Cloud Sect. So don't be modest. I believe in you. You can strive to accomplish as much as her, Zen. Unfortunately for her, she was framed and is suffering within the bowels of torture Mountain now.....”
“What's her name?” asked Nory, curious to learn the female disciple's name after hearing Wurth's engaging account.
“Her surname is Luo, the same as Zen. Her given name though is Yan,” added Wurth grinning.
“Crunch!”
Seething with resentment, Zen noticed he was crushing his celadon wine glass until the liquid was streaming down his hand.
His three companions looked at Zen in shock.
“What's wrong, Zen?” asked Nory, thinking a moment, he then continued, “Do you know Yan?”
The others suspected there was a connection between Zen and Yan, but Wurth was the only one to ask Zen if Yan was his younger sister.
It was the first time Zen heard news of Yan since entering the Cloud Sect.
When Zen had spoken to Sean another time, he asked about Hell Mountain, but not about Yan.
Yan was always Zen's biggest worry, and he was stirred up at Wurth's reference to his poor younger sister.
Ignoring Wurth's question, Zen stared at him and asked why Yan was in exile in Hell Mountain.
Seeing the look of concern on Zen's face, Wurth took a serious tone, “There was a rumor that aside from her talent and beauty, Yan holds peculiar lineage. She was pursued by the Cloud Sect playboys, in particular by one named Fancy who is ranked seven hundredth on the Cloud Sect Chart.”
“The Cloud Sect Chart?” repeated Zen. Since he never heard of it, Zen urged Wurth to elaborate.
“I got surprised! No one told you about the Cloud Sect Chart, Zen?” Wurth questioned in surprise.
Cutting in, Sean added his explanation, “The Cloud Sect Chart is a ranking list of the one thousand top disciples!”
“Okay, it makes sense,” Zen said nodding, 'This fellow, Fancy, must be excellent to hold the seven-hundredth rank in the Chart!' thought Zen. Then, eager to find out more of what happened, he stated, “Wurth, don't let me interrupt, please, continue!”
Wurth continued weaving the tale, “As far as I am concerned, Yan was provoked, and castrated Fancy, which had the Yun Clan, one of the top seven noble clans in an uproar. The Yun leader has only two sons and he asked the Cloud Sect to deal with the incident. The leader at Lady Peak, in deference to Yun leader, had no choice but to exile Yan to Perdition Mountain. Actually, it was more like a last resort to save Yan's life!”
Hearing about the ill-treatment his younger sister received made Zen furious beyond measure, and he instinctively dug his fingers into the table.
As they watched Zen's reaction, his three buddies understood Zen's indignation.
At that moment though, Zen was losing the composure he managed to hold earlier leading to his victory against Leo.
But then Zen always was too quick to react when it involved his sister, Yan.
The Yun Clan.....
Now that Zen heard the name, the three words were burned into his mind.
Among the top seven noble clans, the Yun Clan, was the third uppermost clan in the imperial capital.
After mulling over what he learned, Zen thought, most likely, this guy, Fancy took liberties with Yan, driving her to act out of desperation, based on the sparse details Wurth gave.
'I am bound to utilize my consummate skills to exterminate the Yun Clan avenging my younger sister!' vowed Zen silently.
“Hey! Zen, are you alright?” asked Nory, genuinely concerned for Zen, and worried Zen might doom himself by acting as desperately as Yan once had.
Zen pushed the thoughts about his sister's plight away for now, and forced a smile. “Yes, I'm okay. Everything's fine, and it's nothing serious.....” “But, how am I going to rescue Yan from within Mountain?” wondered Zen aloud, intent on saving his younger sister.
Wurth went on, “Chair Xue, an inner disciple here at the Sect, was sentenced to four years Mountain, but received a reprieve after he paid a fine of four thousand points.”
'If I spend a thousand points, they'll shave a year off Yan's suffering!' Zen was determined about that.
As he thought about the prospect of being able to help lessen his sister's sentence, Zen's face lit up, and now more hopeful, Zen asked, “How long was Yan sentenced to?”
Knowing he had to be truthful, Wurth inhaled deeply, and as he sighed, he said solemnly, “She was sentenced to serve one thousand years.”
The words swirled in Zen's brain, and he deliberated, 'How could they do this to Yan? A thousand years Mountain? Wow, one thousand years hinders my plans!' As he weighed his options, Zen started feeling overwhelmed by a growing sense of hopelessness.
Cold, hard fact was that Zen would need over a million points to free his sister, Yan, from her purgatory Mountain.
Such a punishment was too grave for a young girl like Yan to be given. The Cloud Sect was condemning her to live out the remainder of her life there!
Subsequently, as Zen's thoughts lingered on Yan, his hatred toward the Cloud Sect grew.
Sensing that Zen was seething over his sister's plight, and seeing the anger spark in Zen's eye at what the management did, Wurth immediately tried to appease him by stating, “The top seven noble clans bind the Cloud Sect, and important matters are at the discretion of the privileged. Still, Yan's case evoked sympathy, especially in the two masters from Lady Peak. They worked tirelessly and vigorously appealing her case, and in the end, it cost them, and they were forced to resign.”
At Wurth's words, Zen expressed that it angered him when anyone perpetrated evil and thanked his friend, Wurth for the reminder.
With the light tone of the night gone, and the hour growing late, the dinner party ended and the four dispersed.
To let off the steam of his pent up frustrations, Zen headed straight to the exercise room.
'I'm too weak to rescue Yan, for the time being, at least!' reflected Zen, dwelling on his inability to save his younger sister.
Getting into the Cloud Sect was just one small step in Zen's plans to save Yan.
It was Wurth's reminder that made Zen realize he had horrible enemies to confront, and they could effortlessly smash him like an ant!
“Crumble!”
“Crush!”
“Crash!”
All that remained of the statues of human figures and dumbbells were rumble blanketing the floor and dust covering his hands, reducing the exercise room to a ruin.
After working out for a few hours, Zen left the exercise room feeling reenergized and much calmer after venting his anger through the intense, violent session.
Early the next morning, Zen climbed Drizzle Peak's ridge to where the masters lived.
To get assigned to restricted tasks he wanted, Zen was told he needed to speak to the masters.