Book 2: Chapter 23: Soaring Skies

“Wait! Where are you going?” the woman from the sect shouted as she ran down the road after Sen.

Sen kept walking as he pointed down the road and said, “That direction.”

The stunned silence that had followed Sen’s revelation that he was just a foundation formation stage cultivator was followed by a more awkward silence as the seven surviving cultivators studied him. The men who had been with the hatchet-faced cultivator seemed absolutely baffled by Sen. They couldn’t seem to wrap their minds around the idea that he had beaten their leader. The sect cultivators were a little more varied. The young woman who was the apparent leader of the group eyed him carefully. A hulking man puffed himself up like he thought he could take Sen, right up until the moment Sen met his eyes. All of the pride seemed to drain out of the man under Sen’s cold, steady gaze. The other woman in the sect group was eyeing him, well, like she thought he’d be a delicious steak. It was a little unsettling. Sen had turned his eyes to the last of the sect party, and that young man had gone red to the tips of his ears. It took Sen a moment to recognize the reaction, and then he groaned internally. Sen decided that he needed to start wearing a mask or something.

Maybe some kind of a cowl

, he thought. Losing his patience a little, Sen pointed to the outlaw cultivators.

“Shouldn’t you tie them up or something?” he asked. “That dirt around their feet won’t hold them forever, you know.”

Those words seemed to remind the sect cultivators that they were there for an actual purpose. They descended on the three remaining criminals, tying them up and putting some kind of seal on them that seemed to repress their qi cycling. While the sect members had been busy with that, Sen had taken the opportunity to leave. He’d done his part and more in that little altercation. Let the sect lackeys deal with the mess. He’d gotten almost half a mile before the sect girl had caught up with him.

“Will you please just stop?” she asked, an almost plaintive edge to her voice.

Gritting his teeth, Sen stopped. “Yes?”

“Why are you leaving?”

“Because none of this is

my

business. I’d prefer to keep it that way.”

“But you killed Cheng Bojing. There’s a reward.”

That thought tempted Sen for all of about two seconds. The reward for the man’s death could likely fund his travels for some time to come. Then, reality settled over him again. Claiming that reward would mean dealing with these sect members, possibly for days or even weeks, and then likely dealing with their elders. Two things that Sen had zero interest in doing. Turning back to face the young woman, he gave her a small martial bow.

“Keep the reward with my blessing.”

Then, he turned and started walking down the road again. For a few glorious moments, he thought that it was going to work. Then, the girl jogged after him again.

“We can’t do that. We didn’t kill him.”

“And I’m telling you that you

can

. Let your masters lavish praise and resources down on you for a job well done. You did capture his gang,” said Sen and muttered under his breath, “technically.”

“Just come back to our sect with us. Claim what’s yours.”

At those words, Sen stopped short, and his hand dropped to his jian. “Do you mean to force me?”

The young woman looked genuinely shocked at the very suggestion. “No, of course not.”

Sen relaxed. “Then, thank you, but no thank you.”

He returned to his ground-consuming stride, but the girl from the sect kept pace with him. She didn’t speak for a time, just studied him from the corner of her eye. He bit back the urge to tell her to go away. He was doing his best to follow through on his decision to treat sect members with wary respect. After they’d covered another half mile, she broke the silence.

“Is it me? Do you think my promises aren’t binding on my sect?”

Sen blinked at the suggestion, then laughed. “No, at least that possibility hadn’t occurred to me. Although, I suppose I’ll have to bear it in mind in the future.”

She stiffened a little then and said, “Then you doubt the honor of the Soaring Skies sect.”

Sen knew he was on dangerous ground there, but he also recognized the trap for what it was. If he said yes, she could challenge him to a duel on the spot. If he said no, she could insist that he return to their sect to be “honored.” Sen stopped walking and looked at the young woman. Sen didn’t know exactly what expression he was wearing, but it was enough of

something

to make the sect girl take a full step back from him.

“You misunderstand,” said Sen. “I don’t doubt the honor of your sect, in particular. When it comes to wandering cultivators, I doubt the honor and good intentions of every single sect on this

continent

. So, will it be a challenge now?”

The girl didn’t say anything. She just stood there with her mouth hanging open a little, as though Sen’s words had stunned her into a stupor. Sen gave it a mental five count. She still hadn’t said anything.

Tired of this entire encounter, Sen said, “Quickly if you will. I’d prefer it if I didn’t have to kill your three friends as well.”

That seemed to snap the girl out of her daze. “Not all sects are filled with honorless dogs.”

“Let’s say that’s true. By what magical means am I to know which sects are trustworthy and which are not? Take your word for it?”

That problem had apparently not occurred to the young woman, because she didn’t have an answer.

“I have every reason to believe that if I’m stupid enough to walk into a sect compound, I shouldn’t expect to leave it. Now, if you don’t plan on challenging me, I’ll be on my way.”

“No, I don’t plan to challenge you.”

“Good,” said Sen and continued down the road.

“Wu Meng yao,” the girl called after him.

Sen looked back at her. “What?”

“I am Wu Meng yao. If you come to Emperor’s Bay, you can send me a message at the sect. I will personally deliver your rewards to you.”

Sen repressed the snort that tried to escape from him. He had the intuition that Wu Meng yao might actually be as honorable as she seemed. He might trust

her

if the situation were dire. The rest of her sect was another story entirely. He gave her another small bow.

“Travel safely, Wu Meng yao.”

“You won’t even tell me your name?”

He thought for a moment. “Will you share it with your sect?”

“Of course,” she said automatically.

Sen could see the moment she realized what she’d done. He watched as she winced at the knowledge. He could also see that she wanted to take the words back or, barring that, weaken the conviction with which she said them. Yet, she didn’t. His opinion of her rose a bit.

“Then, no, I’m afraid I won’t share that with you. I am but a mere wandering cultivator who came and went without ever introducing himself. After all, us wandering cultivators are all just poorly trained peasants. What can you expect?”

“No peasant taught you to fight like

that

,” said Wu Meng yao.

Sen gave her a bright smile, “You cannot imagine how wrong you are about that.”

Laughing to himself, Sen set off down the road again. Yet, curiosity got the better of him. When he saw Wu Meng yao had turned around and started back toward the other sect members, he slipped off the road. He

hid

and followed her back. He wanted to know if they’d try to track him or not. It might change how he dealt with things when he did eventually arrive in Emperor’s Bay. As Wu Meng yao approached the waiting group, the other girl from the sect looked passed her down the road.

“Meng yao! Where’s that wandering cultivator?”

“He isn’t coming back.”

“What?” the other girl demanded. “If you didn’t want him, you could have at least brought him back for

me

. Did you see him?”

“He wasn’t that good-looking,” said the hulking sect member.

All of the other sect members and even one of the prisoners said, “Yes, he was.”

“Alright, fine, he was sort of good-looking,” said the hulking guy.

“What was his name?” the other girl asked. “Maybe I can find him.”

Sen tensed at those words.

“He wouldn’t tell me.”

“Did you bat your eyelashes at him?”

“It wouldn’t have mattered. He doesn’t trust sects.”

The hulking man piped up then, looking more than a little offended. “Why doesn’t he trust our sect?”

“Not

our

sect, Changpu. He doesn’t trust any sect. He basically said he’d expect to be killed if he ever entered a sect compound.”

“Oh,” said Changpu, his going pensive. “Well, he’s not wrong. I mean, obviously, we’d never do anything like that, but I’ve heard a lot of stories. Other sects just sending their outer disciples out to slaughter wandering cultivators for the experience. Okay, maybe not

that

guy. That scary bastard could probably cut his way out of most sects with a broken piece of pottery. But, yeah, I get where he’s coming from. Hells, I probably wouldn’t have told you my name either. Now that I think about it, I’m a little surprised he didn’t attack you for chasing him down the road like that. Imagine how that looked from his perspective.”

Wu Meng yao jerked a little at those words, and a kind of horrified comprehension arced across her face. “I didn’t even consider that. Well, he’s gone now. I told him who I was and where to find me. Maybe he’ll come and collect his reward at some point.”

“You know,” said the other sect girl, “he basically said we could keep it.”

Having heard enough to satisfy himself, Sen faded back into the shadows of the forest.