Shao Jun and Qixie
"Shao Jun and Qixie" is the seventh chapter of the manga Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun written by Minoji Kurata.
Summary[edit | edit source]
Haunted by her Bleeding Effect experience, Kō Risa returns to Doctor Kaori Kagami to continue her treatment. Risa explains how the hallucination has deeply affected her, and wants to know more about what it was. Kagami immediately brushes it off as a temporary condition of using the machine and nothing to be concerned about, as the Animus simulation is not real at all. After being promised the effect will settle down, Risa's curiosity to explore Shao Jun's life wins out, and she enters the Animus.
- Rural China, 1529
Three years have passed since the events of Macau. Within the crop fields of the countryside, Shao Jun is donned in worker clothes, and working to process the yield. She is surprised to see Wang Yangming approach, who in turn is shocked to still find her in the same place three years after he originally left her there to recuperate from the trauma of the fires of Macau. They go inside a barn to continue their conversation in private. Shao Jun expresses how the deaths still weigh heavy on her mind even after three years.
Yangming tries to reason with her, and she is reminded of the words of Ezio Auditore, who told her that the Assassins do not just fight the Templars in order to get revenge, but instead to safeguard freedom—people's freedom. She questions if her actions in Macau really reflected that goal.
Yangming takes it upon himself to remind her of the day that he originally freed Shao Jun from the Imperial Palace when she was younger, and that at the time she had sworn to return one day to release a friend. Given the actions of the Jiajing Emperor, a Templar puppet, Yangming surmises that Shao Jun's friend may very well still need her help more than ever. Shao Jun replies that her friend, Zhang Qijie, is now in fact the Empress and that reaching her would be very difficult as a result.
Whilst Risa remains in the Animus, Kagami and an assistant monitor the simulation from monitors. When the name of Qijie is mentioned, Kagami recognises her to in fact be Empress Zhang. She also mentions that this was pretty much the point in the memories of Shao Jun that she had reached in her research with her previous test subject, Lin, before Abstergo Industries' facility was taken over by Callum Lynch and his allies in 2016. Again expressing her frustration over the events back then, Kagami requests that her assistant record everything but ensures that there are no leaks of this information. He informs her that the simulation has seemingly shifted, as Shao Jun is now recalling her own memories from the year 1517.
- Imperial Palace, Beijing, China, 1517
A 12 year old Shao Jun is outside the palace late at night, leading her friend Zhang Qijie along, who is protesting that they will get in trouble for being out in the middle of night. They come across a soldier from the Ming military carrying a lantern, but Shao Jun distracts him by throwing a rock into a nearby bush, and the two girls sneak by undetected. Once safe, Zhang Qijie expresses her admiration at Shao Jun's stealth skills, and questions what else the Zhengde Emperor expects of her.
Shao Jun mentions that she has learned to run without making a noise, to climb pillars, and to act as a spy for the Emperor. She further explains that she is not considered to be a woman by the Emperor. She has not been asked to bind her feet and chest, as was the common practice for women to be desirable for the Emperor; both practices which Zhang Qijie has already partaken in.
Zhang Qijie says that she always loves to hear about Shao Jun's exciting stories, to which Shao Jun replies that they should go on an adventure together. She mentions that she has found many ways in and out of the Imperial Palace, including one tunnel that has sharp-edged gleaming walls that almost look out of this world. With the promise of this amazing sight, the two girls journey to a small hole in a wall that Shao Jun insists leads down to the wonder.
As Shao Jun starts to scale the wall, Zhang Qijie mentions that she simply cannot climb up towards the tunnel like Shao Jun can, due to the painful feet bindings that she has to wear. She remarks sadly that the binding serves a double purpose beyond that of displaying beauty and status, as it also prevents her from ever escaping the palace.
They return to Zhang Qijie's quarters, with Shao Jun upset over this revelation and apologising to Zhang Qijie. Her friend simply states that they are both different animals, one a butterfly and one a rabbit, and the both of them are unique and amazing in their own way. The two get into bed, with Zhang Qijie wanting to hear yet another adventure story, which Shao Jun is more than eager to share. Eventually, Zhang Qijie falls asleep, and Shao Jun slips away into the night. She swears to herself that she will return to protect her one true friend and that one day they will go through that tunnel together, but in truth she knows that she must leave to perform spy duties upon the invading Mongolians on behalf of the Emperor.
- Yokohama, Japan, 2019
Risa awakens from the simulation, overcome with emotion and tears in her eyes. Kagami asks her what is wrong, but Risa says she is relieved to find out that even the great Shao Jun had someone that she cared about and wanted to protect. She realizes that it is similar to the way that she looked after her own cousin Mari, even recalling a memory of being almost thrown off a balcony by Mari's abusive father.
Kagami is a little troubled by this, and recalls a previous conversation that she once had with her superior, Ellen Kaye. She was warned about the Bleeding Effect, that not only does it cause the user to experience hallucinations, but that the ancestor's physical capabilities and combat skills would be imprinted upon them. Kagami now begins to wonder if Risa is set to become an enemy of her own personal creation.
Characters in order of appearance[edit | edit source]
- Kiyoshi Takakura (flashback only)
- Kaori Kagami
- Kō Risa
- Xiao Hu (flashback only)
- Wang Yangming
- Shao Jun
- Ezio Auditore da Firenze (flashback only)
- Empress Zhang
- Lin (flashback only)
- Callum Lynch (flashback only)
- Mari (flashback only)
- Mari's father (flashback only)
- Galina Voronina (flashback only)
- Desmond Miles (flashback only)
- Ellen Kaye (flashback only)