There was no road through the desert. Not really. The quickest way to the opposite side of the Tarim Basin was west along the southern trade route, to where the sands ended, then back east along the other side of the Taklamakan.

  And that seemed to be Chen Rulan’s plan. The elder led them in that direction, leaving Hotan by midmorning. They traveled slowly. Pengfei felt that the lumbering beast the elder rode, the camel, could have easily managed a better pace.

  The road west was well worn by centuries of caravans. They saw traders leading trains of pack animals all day. Some towards the Central Plains and others toward the mysterious west. Other than that, there were few travelers. They even had the current watering hole to themselves, another small oasis on the edge of the desert.

  Chen Rulan looked up and down the road, then reached into one of his camel’s saddle bags. He withdrew some clothes and tossed them to Pengfei.

  “Change into these. Kunlun’s robes are too distinctive.”

  “Is that a problem? Are we doing something that violates the sect’s punishment?”

  “Not technically. But we’re alone out here. Better to go unnoticed.”

  Pengfei removed the rough grey robes of Kunlun, exchanged them for the ones the elder had given him. The garments were of similar quality. Black trousers and a blue shirt, but they couldn’t be mistaken for any sort of uniform.

  --These smell like they haven’t been washed in a year. Couldn’t he have bought something new? Ugh… could be worse, I guess. Thought he was going to take me straight through the Taklamakan. That would have been a fucking nightmare.--

  “Mount your horse. We’re cutting through the desert.”

  Pengfei’s mouth gaped dumbly.

  “Come on.”

  “No - we can’t! Sir, the locals call the Taklamakan the ‘sea of death’. We can’t go through there.”

  “Not very original. I imagine every desert on the face of the earth has been called that at one point or another.”

  “But –“

  “Let’s get moving, before someone else comes along.”

  The camel began plodding to the north as Pengfei pulled on the last of his borrowed clothes. He reached out for Horse’s reins, and with a short burst of speed maintained for just a few strides, he had caught up with the elder.

  --This is fucking nuts.--

  Pengfei shook his head at the thought of venturing into the Taklamakan, but didn’t dare to say anything. He just hefted his waterskin and took a conservative sip.

  The soil beneath the hooves of their mounts was hard pack. They moved easily for the time being, but the shifting sands were already visible ahead of them.

  “Are you ready for this?” Pengfei asked Horse. She craned her neck to look back at him curiously but gave no other response. “I’m just saying. It could be awful.”

  --When Pema took me to see the dunes... Shit. Pema.--

  Pengfei’s heart sank at the thought of the Tibetan girl. He could hear almost hear a familiar whistled tune drifting by him on the wind. He gave in to the melancholy for a moment and the shook his head clear of the heartache, focused on memory of their little tryst in the desert.

  --The sand would give way. Horse’s leg would sink up to the ankle. It was fun for an afternoon but if Elder Rulan is planning to be out here longer than that, it will get treacherous.--

  Pengfei looked back at the saddle bags slung behind him.

  --Don’t really have much I can lose. But carrying extra weight will just make matters worse. If I had known we were going off the road, maybe I would have taken the elder up on his offer to get a camel.--

  But another look at the hideous creature in front of him disabused Pengfei of that notion.

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  --Ugh, no, things aren’t that desperate. Still, being out there will be hard for Horse.--

  He considered the realities of traveling across the dunes. A horse could manage the terrain fine. It would just be more taxing than the animal was used to. Need to eat more. Drink more. And that was the rub. Something like a camel was much better suited to the lack of moisture. Anything more than a day away from water, and that difference would become crystal clear.

  --She’ll need all the help she can get.--

  Pengfei rubbed Horse’s neck and then reached for a knife, meaning to cut away his saddle bags. But he stopped short, remembering another way. Instead, he began to circulate his energy according to the methods of his qinggong.

  For his current purposes, the ‘Three Twists of the Dragon in the Clouds’ was identical to the ‘Mountain King Step’. He moved his qi inside his dantian, lightening the body. Felt the result instantly. And Horse noticed it as well. She paused a beat, letting her weight carry her forward and caught herself at the last moment. Her hooves kicked up dust as her balance adjusted.

  --Lightness.--

  Pengfei pondered his qinggong.

  --Not practicing the ‘Mountain King Step’ at the cliffs seems like a waste of time now. Hard to blame myself though. Trying out a new technique for the first time is a lot more nerve-wracking half a li off the ground.--

  Glum for a moment, but then a sudden impulse. He slipped his feet out of the stirrups and leaned forward in the saddle, drawing his feet up underneath. He pressed himself up with his palms to stand and balance on top of the saddle. A short and uneasy squat at first, but slowly straightened his legs until he was standing on Horse’s back.

  --Grasping yang and nimble yin.--

  Pengfei recalled the basic aspects of the ‘Mountain King Step’ that he had first read of months ago. The peculiarities that set methods like this apart from more conventional qinggong styles.

  It was all phrased in terms of climbing a rockface or running down a mountain. But the young disciple reasoned that the principles that could keep him perching on a windswept crag might help him balance on a swaying saddle as well.

  A jolt almost tossed him to the ground. Pengfei crouched and caught himself then raised up again. He glanced forward to Chen Rulan and the camel, but the man wasn’t paying attention to him.

  --Feel the grasping yang.--

  He let his energy flow naturally through the channels in his legs.

  --Where is it?--

  He didn’t try to direct it or magnify the qi. Just felt it. Like he was reaching out more with his mind than his internal energy.

  --Is that it? Maybe?--

  “Shit!”, Pengfei screamed as his boot slipped off its resting place. He fell crotch first onto the leather-covered wood of the saddle. “OOOFFF!”

  He couldn’t see through the pain to stop his fall. He slid sideways of Horse’s back and into the dirt. The mare’s nickering was a clear and intentional mimicry of human laughter.

  “Fuuck youu!” The boy groaned.

  “What are you doing?” Elder Rulan called back to him.

  “Nothing. Nothing sir.”

  “Do nothing quieter.”

  “Yes elder.”

  ******************************************************************************

  They were in the dunes proper by nightfall. The desert was not what Pengfei had imagined. He kept waiting for the oppressive heat to descend but it never came. The temperature went from cold to colder as the sun disappeared. It seemed winter came to the Taklamakan as well.

  The vegetation had mostly disappeared, but the occasional poplar tree still managed to find its way up through the sand. The elder sat beneath one now. Pengfei glanced at the man as Horse ate from the bag of oats he held up for her and the camel spit in jealousy.

  When the mare’s evening ration was gone, she started rooting her snout through the saddle and bags sitting in the sand. She pulled some of Pengfei’s clothes free of his luggage before he could push her away.

  “Piss off!” he chastised, replacing the pair of pants. His hands met a hilt, and he grasped at the weapons he had stowed with his belongings. He pulled his short swords free of the bag and hefted them thoughtfully. He was tempted to draw the blades free and slice at imaginary opponents. He hesitated, looking back to the elder.

  --Feels weird to practice in front of him. Like he’s not my teacher anymore.--

  Away from the bustle of Hotan, and with the day’s travel at an end, there was nothing to buffer the awkwardness. Their interactions between the pair of travelers had been short and stilted for more than a week. Since leaving Kunlun.

  The silence was oppressive now.

  With every other option seeming inappropriate, Pengfei shuffled to the other side of the poplar tree and sat with the scabbard of his swords in his lap.

  He remained still for a time, his mind empty, then hesitantly broke the silence.

  “Elder, can I – “, Pengfei began and stopped again. But when Rulan glanced up at him, he continued. “Why are we crossing the Taklamakan, sir?”

  The elder shivered as he spoke. “We’re he-headed to the Tian Shan mountains are on the other side of the desert.”

  The large man – no, he didn’t seem quite so imposing now. Like he had lost some of his age-defying muscle. He had wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and pulled it tight against the wind that rushed unimpeded across terrain.

  Pengfei processed the information, not feeling the cold. “The Tian Shan are even more remote than Kunlun.”

  Pengfei sat with the news for a time. The scabbard of his short swords rested across his lap and he ran his hand over it absentmindedly.

  --From one frozen waste to another. I thought I might at least get some good meals and entertainment out of this trip, but I guess not. --

  He his chaperone discreetly.

  --And he doesn’t seem happy about it. Looks miserable in fact. Still not taking it out on me though. Only said a few dozen words to me since we left the sect, but none of them were a complaint or reproach.--

  The boy sighed and gave voice to his guilt.

  “Elder Rulan,” he began. “I’m sorry that I caused you so much trouble. Sorry that you have to babysit me in the middle of nowhere.”

  The old Taoist locked eyes with him for a moment, but his face was placid. No hint of the anger he was entitled to.

  “I don’t blame you, boy. So, don’t waste any time blaming yourself.”

  Pengfei nodded in a humble acknowledgement of the man’s words. He couldn’t accept them yet, but didn’t want to contradict them either. After a brief pause, he spoke again with a lighter tone.

  “Seems like there would be better places to hide though.”

  “Hmm?” Rulan questioned. “What do you mean?”

  “The Tian Shan mountains. Seems like it would be easier to hide in the Central Plains. Somewhere we blend in.” Pengfei said, then added below his breath, “Somewhere civilized.”

  “We’re not going there to hide.”

  “I though you said – ?“

  “It’s true you needed to leave the sect. Provide some deniability in case the Strangers came to investigate their missing comrades. But the Sect Head saw that as an opportunity to send us on an errand.”

  “Ah. Okay!” Pengfei said, suddenly happy to be out conducting the business of Kunlun. His temporary banishment seemed to sting a little less for it. “Then, can I ask, what will be doing there?”

  Elder Rulan stared ahead, his eyes lost in the distance, looking at nothing. Pengfei was about to speak again, but the man continued, quietly.

  “A negotiation. I suppose you could call it a negotiation.”

  The disciple furrowed his brow, started to inquire, but the elder answered before the question could be formed.

  “With the Demonic Cult.”