Emerging from his Inner World, Wu Ling looked first to the moon, seeing the red shadow retreating and the silvery hue of the natural moon regaining primacy. The surrounding mountains still carried a hint of the dark orange glow but only the snowy peaks and the reflective surface of the lake still clung to the bloody light of the eclipse.
"My turn to say congratulations on your breakthrough," Su Xiang said with a smile. "Middle-stage Aesthete within a single moon of awakening. I doubt there are many Artists in all of Silver Sword City who could boast of that kind of accomplishment."
"Thank you," Wu Ling replied. Countless etiquette courses surged within him to demure, to minimize his accomplishment and pass the praise to some other factor like the intense energy of the eclipse or good fortune but he shoved that reflex down firmly. Today's breakthrough had stemmed from the work he'd put in to reach this point. He'd felt himself approaching the threshold days ago after the battle at the bridge. If the lunar eclipse had done anything for him it had provided a moment of clarity and a wellspring of energy that allowed him to push almost all the way to late-stage Aesthete. But the eclipse hadn't been responsible for his breakthrough and he wouldn't pass the accomplishment away when he'd worked so hard for it. "I sorted some things out," he finally added. "I have a better idea where I'm going now."
"That's good, you've seemed off the last few days since the battle," Su Xiang said, slipping an arm around Wu Ling's slender shoulders and pulling him close. "I don't like being too far ahead of you either. Your Elder Sister should be ahead but we should both have gains on this adventure and I didn't want to see you left out."
"Elder Sister by six months," Wu Ling teased, reaching out to pinch her ribs. "But it's fine I," he started to say only to cut off when a fearsome noise tore through the night.
ROAAAAARRRRRR!
The bellow of rage from the east felt loud enough to shake the branches of trees and several startled birds took flight at the sound. All around the lake, the sounds of small creatures fleeing could be heard as nothing wanted to be close to the source of that roar!
AO, AO, AOOO, AAAAAOOOOOOOOO!
Several high-pitched howls seemed to answer the roar from the west, blending together from the throats of multiple beasts into a clarion cry that didn't lose in intensity to the roar from the east!
"Tell me they aren't," Su Xiang started to say only to shake her head at the look on Wu Ling's face. If anyone could discern the intention of a bestial cry, trust an Artist to be in tune with the feelings of others. "They're challenging each other."
"And we're in the middle," Wu Ling added, his mind turning over the possibilities rapidly. "Ji Wufei!" Wu Ling shouted, calling out to the willowy Scholar in her mid-fifties who had come to observe the effects of the eclipse on the local wildlife. "Sister Xiang and I could use your expertise!" To win in any game of chess, you had to know both yourself and your opponent. Right now, Wu Ling was immensely grateful that if they had to face an unknown beast, they were at least traveling with a group of scholars who would know something useful. Even small pieces of information could make a difference!
Rushing up the shore to the place Wu Ling had initially set up to paint the lake, the older woman gave the burned painting a single glance before looking anxiously at the sworn siblings who had already fought hard to keep them safe on this expedition. She'd come out here to study the Pure Yin Lunar Jay that nested on the shores of the lake along with the Moon Swallowing Trout that lived in the lake. The creatures roaring and howling in the distance weren't supposed to be anywhere near the lake! "Aesthete Wu," the researcher said with a slight bow. "How can I be of assistance?"
ROAAAAARRRR!!!!!
"It's closer," Wu Ling said with a frown. "Looks like it's taken up the challenge. Do you have any idea what these beasts might be? We're afraid that they're both headed this way to fight each other and we're in the middle," Wu Ling told the nervous Scholar.
"That, that… makes sense," the older woman said with a frown as her scattered mind caught up to what was happening around them. "The howls should be Red Mist Wolves, they're probably responding to the blood energy of the lunar eclipse. If any of them are Greater Red Mist Wolves they might have been able to awaken additional powers but that's supposed to be a rare event that only occurs every five hundred years or so."
"Rare things happen rarely but that doesn't mean they never happen," Wu Ling said with a nod. "What kind of powers do we need to worry about from these wolves? Even if it's rare, it's better that we know so we can plan."
"Um, Red Mist Wolves are known for their saliva," the older woman said as she gathered her thoughts. "They have powerful jaws and wicked fangs but if they slobber on a wound then your blood will flow freely, the wound won't clot or scab, it'll just keep bleeding. The 'red mist' refers to a spray of blood when they bite their foes and shake their victims. Um, rare things," she said, thinking rapidly. "Greater Red Mist Wolves have more power over blood that can allow them to command a pack of wolves and sometimes grants them regeneration capabilities. It isn't usually so exaggerated that they heal as soon as they've been cut, but if you don't kill a Greater Red Mist Wolf, it can usually restore itself even if you've severed a limb. Does that help?"
"Immensely," Wu Ling said gratefully. "What about the roar? Do you know what that is?"
"That's… I'm not sure," the older woman finally confessed. "It sounds like the roar of a bear but it's still very cold and early in spring. The bears up here should still be hibernating, that's part of why we were willing to take the risk to come up here for this eclipse. If we had a true apex predator up here we'd never have dared come up here so lightly defended."
"What kind of bears are up here?" Su Xiang cut in. They were rapidly running out of time and now wasn't a time to place blame, they just needed to know what they were fighting! "Are there any who might be sensitive to the eclipse?"
"It shouldn't be the Jade Clawed Grizzley. They've almost been hunted to extinction in these mountains because their claws can be fashioned into incredibly sharp knives that are favored by some of the broader blade sects. The ones that are left are all higher in the mountains and avoid anywhere that people might go," she explained.
AAAAOOOOOO!!!!!
"Less on what it isn't, more on what it is," Wu Ling prompted, trying to gauge the distance and speed that the beasts were approaching. The bear sounded further away and its approach was slower but neither would take longer to arrive than the time it took to brew a cup of tea and every minute wasted was a minute he wasn't prepared for whatever would arrive.
"I'm thinking, I'm… Ah! I know what it is!" Ji Wufei cried out jubilantly. "It's a Burning Yang Sun Bear! It shouldn't have woken this early in the season but it must have responded to the rich yang energy of the eclipse!"
"Okay, you stay here," Wu Ling said to the excited scholar who had clearly forgotten the danger they were in when she realized that a new research subject was rapidly rushing their way. "Sister Xiang, it's your turn to deal with a crowd this time. You take the approaching pack, I'll take care of the bear."
"What, no," Su Xiang protested. "You're much better at fighting groups than I am, I should take on the bear."
"We don't have time," Wu Ling said with a shake of his head. "We need your Radiant Flash Steps to intercept the Red Mist Wolves far enough away from camp that they won't slip past you to strike at the scholars. I'd never make it in time. Fenglun's thugs might have wanted to kill you and me first but the wolves won't make that distinction. You have to stop them short. Go, run, I'll be here when you get back."
As much as Su Xiang wanted to argue, she saw the logic in Wu Ling's plan and she knew that every moment she wasted only increased the odds that something would slip past her. "Keep Yue and Hou to protect you this time," she said, turning away to sprint through the night. There was more she felt she should say but there just wasn't time.
"Okay, now that she's gone," Wu Ling said, returning his attention to the excited scholar. "Tell me what's special about the Burning Yang Sun Bear. Should I expect it to ignore Hou's flames? Will it have flames of its own?"
"Um, the Burning Yang Sun Bear is usually a lazy opportunity hunter. It suns itself on rocks by streams and rivers full of fish to snatch its prey as it swims by. It's called a Sun Bear because it can absorb the hot yang energy of the sun, storing it up in its golden fur to blind and dazzle its prey," she explained. "They're most dangerous in mid-summer when they've stored up enough of the sun's heat to radiate heat of their own along with the flashes of light. It's hot enough that the lightwave it releases can blister the skin of even second-stage cultivators and if it focuses the heat on its claws it can melt through weapons and armor."
"All of that assumes it's soaked up sunlight," Wu Ling said, digging through his art supplies and starting to paint on a nearby rock. "Can it soak up fire? Is Hou useless in this fight?"
"I don't know. I've never heard of anyone fighting a Burning Yang Sun Bear with fire before. The people who hunt them usually bring ice cultivators along with chain masters who can restrain them," the older woman explained. "Their pelts are very valuable and no one wants to damage a pelt if they can avoid it."
"Okay, that's enough," Wu Ling said, ideas beginning to form in his mind. "Go tell the others that they should look for a place to hide. Hopefully, this is all over soon."