Sen did know the next day. While Luo Pingâs leg hadnât healed completely, nor had Sen expected it to, it was substantially better. Most of the inflammation was gone and Luo Ping herself reported that it felt markedly better. Whatever hesitation the woman had felt about him had also disappeared. Now, he caught her staring at him with an expression that he found uncomfortably close to reverence. So, rather than deal with that discomfort, he excused himself and went outside. There was another uncomfortable subject that he needed to address, and heâd struck on a thought that might make it easier for everyone involved.
He found Luo Min gathering up the sparse number of eggs that the chickens had laid overnight. He waited for her to notice him. When she did, she straightened up too fast and lost her grip on the basket holding the precious handful of eggs that she had found. Sen covered the distance fast enough to snatch up the basket before it struck the ground. He just handed it back to her without comment, while feigning interest in something off in the distance. When he finally turned back to her, there was still a faint tinge of pink in her cheeks. Otherwise, she seemed to have collected herself.
âCultivator Lu,â she said, offering him a bow. âCan I help you with something?â
He offered her a smile. The mistake only became apparent when red rushed back into her cheeks. Sen didnât sigh or let his smile slip, which he thought were true victories for his self-control. He nodded at her.
âThere is. I need some things from the village, but Iâm not comfortable leaving your mother unattended just yet. I need to be here in case she takes a turn. Would you be willing to go to the village and get them for me?â
The young woman only hesitated for a second or two before she nodded. âOf course, Cultivator Lu.â
âMy thanks to you, Luo Min,â said Sen.
He handed her a list, which she examined with a frown. âThis is mostly food.â
Sen nodded agreeably. âIâve been eating travel rations. Theyâre adequate, but now I can set aside time to cook.â
The young woman gave him a steady look. âThis is a lot of food for
one
person, Cultivator Lu.â
Sen maintained a perfectly innocent expression. âIs it? Well, I am a cultivator. Our appetites can be formidable.â
âCan they?â
There wasnât a specific change in Luo Min that he could identify, but Sen somehow knew that the conversation had abruptly become about something else. Sen shrugged, but that was somehow the wrong thing to do. Luo Minâs expression became, he wasnât quite sure what the expression was. Speculative, maybe? Sen was very certain he wanted to bring that conversation to a close as fast as possible. He held out some coins for her. It might be too much for what he asked her to buy. He really didnât know. Sen made a mental note to spend some time getting familiar with the prices of things. Luo Min eyed the coins for a moment, clearly amused by something, but she took them. She handed him the basket of eggs. He took it but raised an eyebrow at her.
âIf Iâm going to town for supplies, Iâll need to take the cart. Those need to go inside.â
âAh,â said Sen. âOf course.â
Taking the opportunity to nobly run away from the awkward turn the conversation had taken, Sen went back inside. While the conversation threatened to linger in his mind, he soon found himself caught up in the task of looking at Luo Pingâs condition with his qi and formulating an elixir for the day. He found himself thinking that it would be so much easier if the woman could cultivate. If she could cycle qi, he could make elixirs that she could activate inside of her. It would speed the healing along. But that was a useless thought. He might as well wish that fish had wings. He had to work with what was before him, not what he wished was before him. It was part of the reason heâd sent Luo Min after food. He noticed that the stores of food in the house were meager, at best. Even their rice supply was running low.
Of course, a steady supply of rice wasnât enough to keep someone healthy. It could keep someone alive, but it couldnât keep them healthy by itself. A healing body was even more demanding, requiring more of everything to repair and rebuild what had been broken. In short, Luo Ping needed vegetables, fruits, and some kind of meat.
What a coincidence that all of those there were on my list
, thought Sen. Luo Min clearly suspected his intentions, but Sen didnât mind all that much. As long as she played along, he would give them enough room to avoid embarrassment.
As he let a little corner of his mind wander over the question of food, the rest of his attention went to finishing that dayâs elixir. It relied heavily on wood-attributed qi, primarily to stimulate the necessary growth that body repairs required when dealing with damaged tissues. He also needed to work in a bit of metal qi to help reinforce the older womanâs bones. They werenât in terrible shape, but heâd noticed several weak spots. Yet, Sen was spotting more and more things the more often he examined the woman. He didnât think he was getting better at reading peopleâs health with qi, not in a general sense. Heâd just looked at Luo Ping so often that his understanding was growing through sheer repetition. He slipped a few minerals in that would temporarily bind the metal qi and make it easier for her bones to absorb. Then, came the boring part. Sen just stood by the stove and stirred the mixture as needed.
The good news, to Senâs mind, was that his presence wouldnât be required for much longer. While her recovery wasnât as fast as Sen would like, she was still mending quickly. He thought it would be a few more days until the woman could move around as she wished, as long as she was careful. Give it another week, and Sen could simply prepare a few mixtures to leave with them. Beyond that, nature would have to take its course. He could shepherd the woman along and give her some advantages, but his active participation in her healing process would soon be unnecessary and even unhelpful.
âThere is something every doctor, apothecary, and healer must come learn,â Auntie Caihong had said.
âWhatâs that?â Sen remembered asking.
âWhen to stop. Look hard enough, and youâll always discover something else to treat or try to fix. Sometimes, someone is so far gone that they simply cannot be helped by anything short of the intervention of the heavens. Itâs a line that everyone draws in a different place, but itâs a crucial line. You need to figure out the point at which your help is no longer helping.â
It was one of many conversations on the mountain that Sen hadnât really grasped at the time. A fact that Auntie Caihong no doubt knew full well. Yet, he hadnât forgotten it either. Now, with Luo Ping, he finally understood at least some of what Auntie Caihong had been getting at. If he let himself, he could spend the next six months on this farm doing nothing but putting together treatments for the woman. Yet, those treatments wouldnât substantially improve her life. She might experience fewer aches or see a slight improvement in her energy levels, but even cultivator alchemy couldnât truly turn back the ravages of time for mortals.
Sen knew he hadnât decided where the line was for him, or even if he believed he really needed one. He didnât have plans to set himself up as a healer. He did, however, have a better idea of where he would eventually draw that line. Sen noticed that heâd filtered the elixir and put it into a small bottle without even realizing he was doing it. Frowning a little, Sen decided that heâd been doing far too much alchemy lately. Walking over to where Luo Ping sat in a chair near a window, he tried to ignore the intense look she gave him. She took the bottle when he handed it to her but didnât drink it immediately.
âMy Min thinks Iâm blind to the truth, but Iâm not. Youâre a cultivator.â
Sen considered lying, but there was no point to it. He inclined his head to her.
âHow did you know?â
âI wasnât born here. I grew up in, well, thatâs a different story. The point is, Iâve known a few alchemists. I never met one who would miss an opportunity to make a pill, but you havenât made a single one. I also never met one who could do half the things you do with elixirs. The only way you could do what youâre doing and look as young as you do is if youâre a cultivator. Youâre probably older than me, arenât you?â
The question made perfect sense, from one angle, but it wasnât an angle that Sen normally thought from. So, the question caught Sen off guard. He laughed as he shook his head. âNo, Luo Ping, I am not older than you. Iâm not even older than your daughter. Iâve told you no lies, except the one by omission.â
The older woman lifted an eyebrow at that. âYou said you were a humble student of alchemy. Not a master alchemist.â
âI
am
but a humble student of alchemy. My knowledge is a shallow thing compared to the one who taught me. She is a true master alchemist.â
âI suppose youâre too young to understand what a frightening thing it is that you just said.â
Sen just blinked at her a few times.
What was frightening about saying his teacher was a far more skilled alchemist?
Luo Ping nodded to herself. âI have to ask. Why have you done all of this? Do you mean to take Min as payment?â
âTake Min as payment,â repeated Sen.
He couldnât make sense of the statement. The very idea of taking a
person
as payment was just absurd to him. Even if something like that were common practice somewhere, Sen would have no part in it. Sen felt himself getting angry. He glared at the older woman who shrank back from him.
Doing his best not to clench his teeth, he said, âNo, I donât intend to take your
child
as
payment
.â
While the woman was clearly frightened by Senâs anger, she persisted.
âThen, why do all of this? Why go through all of this trouble for strangers?â
Sen almost let his anger answer again, but the woman wasnât being unreasonable. When he looked at it from her point of view, he must have seemed like some kind of madman. A largely benevolent madman, perhaps, but a madman all the same. Who
would
go through all of that trouble for strangers? There had to be a reason. Like it or not, he was also a guest in her home. That it was a humble home didnât change anything. She was the mistress here. If she wanted to understand his motives, he owed her some kind of explanation.
âI was led here, by power, by karma, by the heavens, I donât truly know. I was brought here to learn something.â
âLearn what?â
He offered her a bemused smile. âI donât know. When I do, I expect thatâs the day Iâll leave.â