Book 6: Chapter 23: Plan Building
Sen suspected it wasnt an entirely fair question. Hed had a couple of hours to think about the problem and come up with a couple of possibilities. They werent what hed call great ideas. At least one of them would require that he spend some time looking around to see if it was even feasible. Still, he had something to contribute to a conversation about how to get things done. Asking Li Yi Nuo to come up with ideas on the spot without any clear understanding of what he or Laughing River could do made the question substantially harder for her to answer. There was also the knowledge gap about the capabilities of the things in that horde. Of course, Sen was working under similar levels of ignorance there. He only had best guesses about that. The upside of the question was that anything Li Yi Nuo came up with would have to be something that she thought would work for her. That was kind of the point. If she did come up with something that she might be able to pull off, there was a solid chance that Sen and, to a lesser extent, Laughing River could execute a similar idea.
She gave him an incredulous look. He just gestured toward the temple. Realizing that he wasnt kidding, she gave the scene in front of them a hard look. He watched her eyes darting from place to place. He saw the moment when she recognized all of that open ground as the problem it was. Her grimace said it all. Laughing River watched her, choosing to keep his thoughts to himself for once. Sen took that as a good sign. For all of his easy glibness, the fox did take the actual goal seriously. The longer that Li Yi Nuo stared at the situation, the more unhappy she became. In the end, she shook her head.
There might be a way to get someone to the ruins, assuming they can actually enter, said Li Yi Nuo. I dont see a way to do it without alerting them that someone else is present.
So, if you had to try to get in there, what would you do? asked Sen.
Those things down there are in some kind of a mad frenzy. I doubt anyone could sneak past them or through them. One of them would notice you or just crash into you and theres that fight you wanted to avoid. So, you have to draw them away. Create a distraction. If enough of them leave, it could create an opening. It might be enough time for someone to get in, assuming theyre fast enough. Of course, that leaves the problem of getting them back out again. Maybe another distraction would work but only if we can see a signal to activate it from the forest. Anything we can see those things can see. If any of them arent simply insane, theyll be alerted. That also assumes we can stay out here safely. Depending on the distraction, we might end up running for our lives.
Sen looked at Laughing River. At least she sees the problems.
Shes right about getting someone out. Thats going to be harder than getting someone in, said Laughing River. Ive been trying to crack that problem ever since I figured out that Id need to send you, dear nephew, in there to retrieve my little bauble.
Dear nephew? asked Sen.
Of course, youre practically the adopted child of one of my hundred dearest friends. Naturally, that makes you my nephew.
Foxes must have very strange families, observed Sen in a deadpan equal to Laughing Rivers.
Oh, you have no idea. Its always such a tangle to know if youre actually related to someone. Makes seduction a dangerous business.
Is this conversation critical to getting into that temple? asked a frustrated Li Yi Nuo.
It could be. There might be foxes in there. I may have to seduce one of them, said Sen. What if were related?
That earned him a glare from Li Yi Nuo and a proud smile from Laughing River. Maybe he is having a bad influence on me, thought Sen. He frowned out at the temple one last time.
I may have an idea about a distraction, said Sen, but theres no point discussing it here. We should withdraw before something out there notices us and decides to make it an issue.
Fine with me, said Laughing River. Ive been looking at that damn temple on and off now for years. Im not going to learn anything new.
I heard you set the sky on fire, said Laughing River.
I did not set the sky on fire. Thats a complete exaggeration.
I heard you threatened to kill everyone there, said Li Yi Nuo.
Sen sighed. That part may have actually happened, which is irrelevant because it wouldnt work here.
You said you had an idea about the distraction, though, right? asked Li Yi Nuo.
Sen pointed at a spot just beyond where the forest started on the makeshift drawing. He ran his finger in a big circle that stayed beyond the cleared land.
I think I can set up a formation that will do the job. Ill have to go wander around out there for a while to know for sure. Assuming the qi concentrations arent too different from where we are now, though, I should be able to set one up that will hurl fireballs into that horde from a particular area. It should be nice and distracting and help pull some of those things away in a specific direction for a little while. I mean, anything that destructive wont work for very long, but we dont need it to work for very long. If it can keep going for five minutes, that should be long enough. In an area that big, there must be at least one or two potent qi flows that I can tap into. Maybe lightning would be better, muttered Sen, thinking about how to make the formation work.
When no one said anything right away, Sen looked up to find Li Yi Nuo and Laughing River giving him odd looks. The fox looked startled. The sect woman looked like she thought Sen was utterly mad.
What? Sen demanded.
Youre going to set up a formation that stretches for miles? A formation that can hurl fireballs for five minutes? asked Li Yi Nuo.
Yes. That sounds like an accurate summary of what I literally just said less than a minute ago.
Sen, I know that Jaw-Long taught you some things, offered Laughing River in a conciliatory tone, but what youre describing is incredibly difficult to do.
Not really, said Sen. Its a bit more trouble to set up than a small formation because you have to cover so much ground. There are a few extra variables you have to account for, but its not like the principles change. Its the same thing, just bigger.
It is most certainly not the same thing, said Li Yi Nuo. What youre describing is the kind of project that formation masters talk about doing someday.
They should set their sights higher. Ive got this idea for a formation that will use water, fire, and ice qi. Well, originally, I wanted to do one that was inspired by the seasons to give it balance. Water for spring, fire for summer, ice for winter, but I couldnt think of anything for autumn. I mean, if theres such a thing as decay qi, that might work. If it exists, though, Ive never seen it, and I dont have an affinity for it. So, I decided to just go with three Sen trailed off at the looks he was getting. Well, I guess thats neither here nor there.
After a long silence, Laughing River spoke up. After we escape that horde of doom, but before I go off and ascend into foxly godhood, theres this other place we should go, Sen. It turns out that another little treasure of mine was stolen away. Ive been meaning to reacquire it.
Sens shoulders slumped as Laughing River started making grandiose plans about a stealing spree the likes of which Sen had never even heard of before.
