The Threshold to Kaidō

Inside the Training Room, the blue spiritual light had just faded.

Hu lowered his finger and let out a long breath. After a whole morning of practicing Hadō and Bakudō, even his fingertips were a little numb. Today, he had managed to cast Kidō reliably every time with the full incantation, but frequently drawing on Reishi had left his head faintly throbbing.

"Take a break," Fon Shaoling said from beside him. "It's a good time to learn something new."

Hu turned and saw Fon Shaoling walk over to the wall and open a hidden compartment. He hadn't seen it before—as the Training Room switched to "Practice Mode," many hidden mechanisms had been unlocked. She took several packages out and returned to him.

"Emergency Bandaging Technique." Fon Shaoling crouched before him and laid out a complete set of first-aid supplies: bandages of various sizes, gauze, splints, and some instruments he couldn't name.

Hu blinked. "Bandaging?"

"Mm." Fon Shaoling nodded. "Kaidō is about as difficult to learn as Bakudō and Hadō, but very few Soul Reapers can use it. Do you know why, Ye Xing?"

Hu thought for a moment.

He had read books on Kaidō too. Unlike Hadō and Bakudō, Kaidō had no so-called incantations. What it required was more knowledge of the composition of Spirit Bodies and the relevant pharmacology. Most damage to bodily tissue could be repaired by using Kaidō to convert Reishi and fill in the injury. He had previously figured that he would just need to spend time learning things like the paths of the meridians and the structure of bones.

"Is it because there's too much to memorize?" he ventured.

"That's not all." Fon Shaoling shook her head. "Those things are complicated, but as long as you're willing to put in the work, you can always memorize them. The biggest obstacle to Kaidō is actually the nature of a person's Reishi."

She raised her hand, and a soft green light glowed in her palm—the color of Kaidō, warm and steady, like the first fresh green of spring.

"The nature of a Soul Reaper's Reishi is usually linked to their Zanpakuto's abilities, and it differs somewhat from person to person." She looked at Hu. "Kaidō requires Reishi with a gentler nature. Like water, it must be able to embrace all things before it can nourish them."

Hu paused, then held out his left hand and tried to use Kaidō.

A deep blue light lit up in his palm.

The color was cold and sharp, with an indescribably piercing quality, a stark contrast to the green light in Fon Shaoling's palm. Even the edges of the light flickered slightly, like flames unwilling to be restrained.

Hu looked puzzled.

That's not right. I didn't remember how to use it wrong...

He tried again. The light was still deep blue. He tried once more, and the light flashed in his palm several times, but its color never changed—the deep blue shone stubbornly, as if announcing its existence.

A giggle came from beside him.

Fon Shaoling covered her mouth, her eyes curving into crescents.

"You're using Kaidō correctly, Ye Xing," she said, suppressing a laugh as her shoulders shook slightly. "It's that color because that's the nature of your Reishi. The more distinct and active a person's Reishi is, the harder it is to use Kaidō. You have to 'deactivate' your Reishi first before you can use Kaidō normally."

"Deactivate it?"

"Mm. Through meditation or by closing off your heart, you can temporarily make the nature of your Reishi less distinct," Fon Shaoling explained, raising a finger. "But that takes time, and you can't convert it all at once. On the battlefield, an enemy won't wait for you to meditate at your leisure. So most Soul Reapers rely mainly on the Emergency Bandaging Technique for urgent treatment during battle."

Fon Shaoling picked up a piece of gauze, took his wrist, and turned his hand palm-up. Her fingers were light and slightly cool to the touch.

"Watch closely."

She placed the gauze over the back of Hu's hand and began wrapping it. Her movements were gentle and fluid, each turn just tight enough. As she wrapped, she adjusted the angle from time to time, making the gauze lie flat against the back of his hand without a single wrinkle.

"The first principle of bandaging is a proper fit," she said as she worked. "It can't be too tight, or it will affect blood circulation; it can't be too loose, or it won't hold anything in place."

She finished the last turn, tied a knot in the bandage, then looked up at Hu.

"How does it feel?"

Hu flexed his fingers. The gauze felt comfortable, neither constricting nor shifting.

"Just right."

Fon Shaoling nodded, removed the bandage, and demonstrated again on his arm. This time she worked on his elbow, taking care to show him how to bandage a joint: first bend it, then wrap it, making sure the bandage wouldn't come loose when it moved.

"You have to be especially careful when bandaging a joint," she said. "Too tight, and it restricts movement. Too loose, and it slips off. The key is finding the right balance."

Hu watched closely, nodding from time to time.

Next, Fon Shaoling demonstrated how to bandage his shoulder, lower leg, and even his head. Each had its own technique: the shoulder needed a figure-eight wrap, the lower leg had to be wrapped from the bottom up, and the eyes and ears had to be left clear when wrapping the head...

Hu felt like a human mannequin, turned this way and that and bandaged over a dozen times.

"Did you remember it all?" Fon Shaoling asked at last.

Hu looked at the bandages still wrapped around him and nodded.

"More or less... I remember."

"Good." Fon Shaoling stood and clapped her hands. "You'll practice it yourself this afternoon."

Hu looked down at the bandages covering him, and an ominous feeling suddenly came over him.

When Hu left the Training Room, he still had bandages wrapped around several parts of his body—Fon Shaoling had told him to leave them on so he could feel what proper bandaging was like.

He walked back toward his quarters, passing several attendants who all gave him strange looks. One young female attendant even covered her mouth and laughed, before a companion pulled her away at a brisk pace.

Hu pretended not to notice and quickened his steps.

Just as he reached the entrance to the dining hall, a familiar voice called from the side.

"Hu!"

Hu turned and saw Shimizu standing in the corridor, with a woman in a light purple kimono beside him.

"Shimizu?" Hu hurried over. "You're back already?"

"Yep, I was discharged yesterday." Shimizu smiled and patted his chest. "The doctor said I'd recovered well and could return to my post. I just came to report in, and I can go back to work as usual tomorrow."

The woman beside him inclined her head slightly. "It's been a long time, Hu."

Keiko. She was as gentle and graceful as ever.

"Never mind that for now. What's with all those things wrapped around you?"

"Oh, these? We were practicing bandaging today. Shaoling put them on me so I could feel what proper bandaging was like," Hu replied with a smile.

But Shimizu looked Hu up and down, taking in the absurdly large bow on top of his head, and the corners of his mouth twitched. He couldn't help feeling that Hu had been made fun of, but he was a guard of the Fon Clan, and the one who had done it was their princess, so he could only keep quiet about it...

Hu looked Shimizu up and down.

"But you really do look much better."

"Of course." Shimizu lifted his chin proudly. "I've been lying down for almost half a month. I've pretty much healed everything that needed healing."

The three chatted for a while. Shimizu said the days in the hospital room had nearly driven him mad, and he'd spent every day hoping he could get out for a walk. Hu said he'd memorized dozens of books over the past half month, and now the sight of words made him want to throw up.

After they had talked for a while, Shimizu suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right. My shift ends tomorrow afternoon. Want to go fishing?"

"Fishing?"

"Yeah, didn't we agree before?" Shimizu looked at him. "Once I recovered, we'd go fishing together."

Hu thought it over. Tomorrow afternoon...

Kidō class should end sometime after four, so there should be enough time.

"Sure." He nodded. "Where are we going?"

"There's a good spot downstream from Bamboo Creek Plain," Shimizu said. "There are lots of fish, and the scenery's nice too. I'll come find you when my shift ends tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay."

Having made their plans, the two went their separate ways.

Hu's steps were much lighter as he headed for the dining hall.

Fishing.

It had been a long time since he'd last gone fishing.

That afternoon, there was an extra human-shaped object in the Training Room.

It was a training dummy, about the height of a person, with a layer of skin-like material covering its surface. Its limbs could move, and there were conspicuous markers on its chest, abdomen, and arms.

"This is a practice dummy." Fon Shaoling patted it on the shoulder. "It can simulate different injuries and also check how effective the bandaging is."

She crouched down and pressed something at the dummy's waist.

Click.

A gash suddenly opened in the dummy's chest, red liquid seeping from its edges. It looked gruesome.

"Three centimeters deep, eight centimeters long, reaching the muscle layer." Fon Shaoling stood up. "You bandage it."

Hu swallowed and picked up the bandage and gauze beside him. He took a deep breath and got to work.

He was only halfway through wrapping the gauze when he realized something was wrong.

He had wrapped the wound on the dummy's chest so tightly that it had become distorted, and the simulated red liquid was squeezing out from the edges of the gauze and running everywhere.

"The tightness is wrong," Fon Shaoling said beside him. "Start over."

Hu removed the gauze, took a deep breath, and tried again.

This time, he loosened his grip. But as he wrapped, the gauze went crooked—what should have lain flat twisted into a strange shape in his hands, with one side hanging completely free.

"It doesn't fit closely enough," Fon Shaoling said. "Again."

On his third attempt, he carefully controlled the pressure and angle. After three turns, it looked pretty good. But when he secured it at the end, he fastened the bandage so tightly that it couldn't be adjusted at all.

"The knot is wrong." Fon Shaoling reached out and undid it. "Again."

After that, he tried a different wrapping method, but halfway through he found the gauze wasn't long enough. When he started over, it was too long.

Afterward, he finally produced a bandage job that looked presentable. But Fon Shaoling pressed it with her hand and shook her head.

"The pressure is uneven. It's too tight over the center of the wound and too loose at the edges."

Hu: "..."

He stared at the wound on the dummy's chest, which he had worked over who knew how many times, feeling somewhat discouraged.

"It's normal for a first practice session." Fon Shaoling's tone was calm. "It'll get better after a few more tries."

Hu nodded and took a deep breath.

"Again."

He struggled repeatedly with all kinds of bandaging problems. He wrapped and unwrapped the dummy's wound over and over, until even the material covering its surface bore marks from being squeezed.

But he could feel himself improving.

From fumbling in the beginning, he had progressed to completing a bandage job consistently—though there might still be a few small problems...

Fon Shaoling glanced at the sky. "Let's stop the bandaging practice here for now."

Hu let out a long breath and slumped onto the floor.

After a ten-minute rest, Fon Shaoling helped Hu reinforce his Bakudō and Hadō practice.

"Hadō #1: Shō."

"Hadō #4: Byakurai."

"Bakudō #1: Sai."

"Bakudō #4: Hainawa."

Fon Shaoling's voice rang out in the Training Room again and again, and the light of Kidō lit up in Hu's hands each time.

Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.

When the sunlight outside the window had turned completely orange-red, Fon Shaoling finally called a stop.

"That's all for today."

Hu lowered his hands and flopped onto the floor, gasping for breath.

Fon Shaoling walked over and looked down at him. Seeing him like that, she gave a soft laugh.

"We'll continue tomorrow."

Hu nodded weakly.

As he got up to leave, he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right, Shaoling."

"Hmm?"

"I have something to do tomorrow afternoon."

Fon Shaoling turned to look at him.

"What is it?"

Hu sat up and scratched his head.

"Shimizu asked me to go fishing. We agreed on it before, that we'd go together once he recovered."

After hearing him out, a subtle expression flickered in Fon Shaoling's golden eyes.

"Fishing?"

"Mm." Hu nodded. "Downstream from Bamboo Creek Plain. He said there are lots of fish there."

Fon Shaoling fell silent for a moment, then the corners of her mouth curved upward slightly.

"All right, then."

Hu paused.

"You agree?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Fon Shaoling looked at him. "You've been practicing for half a month. It's good to relax a little."

Hu was somewhat surprised, but more than that, he was happy.

"Then it's settled."

He stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and prepared to leave.

Just as he reached the door, Fon Shaoling's voice came from behind him.

"Oh, right, Ye Xing."

Hu turned around.

"Make sure you catch plenty of fish."

Hu blinked.

"Catch plenty?"

"Mm." Fon Shaoling nodded, a gentle smile on her face. "The more, the better."

Hu didn't quite understand why, but he nodded anyway.

"Okay, I'll do my best."

He pushed open the door and left.

In the Training Room, Fon Shaoling stood where she was, watching his figure disappear through the doorway.

She gave a soft laugh.

Fish...

They'd be just right for Kaidō practice.

The setting sun slanted westward.

Hu walked back to his room, his steps much lighter than usual.

Tomorrow afternoon, fishing.

He didn't know why Fon Shaoling wanted him to catch more fish, but since this was about relaxing, he might as well relax properly.

Meanwhile, Fon Shaoling had left the Training Room and was thinking:

Fishing... fishing is good. I wonder how skilled Hu is, and how many he can catch.

The fish can be used to let him practice Kaidō and show him the consequences of using Kaidō carelessly—it's better for a fish to be "healed" to death in his hands than for a real person to get hurt.

Why didn't I think of that before?

Now that Kaidō practice was on the agenda, she needed to prepare a batch of these biological materials for him.

She raised her head and looked at the evening glow on the horizon, a smile on her lips.

It looks like it'll be an interesting day.