Book 4: Chapter 4: Clear Spring

As they drew ever closer to the Clear Spring sect, Shi Ping grew increasingly nervous. He never said anything directly to anyone. It seemed that the combination of getting stabbed in the leg and witnessing Sen’s impromptu declaration of war against an entire species had buried fear firmly in his soul. Instead, the man grew jumpier and jumpier, twitching at any unexpected sound, and eyeing the occasional passing traveler with open concern. Sen let that play out until he was certain they were less than a day out. He could have talked to the man about it sooner, but Sen was honest with himself. He just didn’t want to do it. Shi Ping annoyed him and watching the man squirm had been amusing. Plus, Sen had other things on his mind.

Right at the top of his list, as Lo Meifeng had astutely advised, was the problem of his anger. As often as he turned the problem over in his head, though, he didn’t see any easy solution. Sure, he could keep a tight grip on it, but that wasn’t the same as a solution. He’d never had anger like that before, not even toward those awful noble brats who used to beat him for fun. Oh, he had hated them, but his hate had been almost as impersonal as their beatings. They had seen him as an object to be loathed, and he saw them as objects to be despised. He didn’t think that anyone involved had really seen the others as

people

until the very end. That meant he had limited experience in controlling the kind of towering anger that sprang up inside him at the snap of his fingers or anyone else’s. If not for all those years of personal discipline, he worried that anger would have turned him into a true monster long since.

Even worse, that was just the anger as he was currently experiencing it. If it got worse, which seemed all too plausible and even likely given his track record, discipline simply wouldn’t be enough. He could learn more control, but everything had limits. He needed to address the root of the problem, and that was the real crux of his problem. He didn’t know what the root cause actually was. Lo Meifeng’s theory might hold water, but it might be wrong. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a better theory to work off at the moment. If the nascent soul growing in his core

was

the problem, though, it was a big problem. Sen couldn’t command enlightenment on whatever topic he wanted, regardless of how badly he might

need

it.

And, if Lo Meifeng had the right of it, that was exactly what he needed. He needed enlightenment about something…peace, joy, something. He saw that as the secondary problem. He wasn’t sure what the proper counterbalance to his anger would be. That made looking for it just a touch more complex.

Maybe I need to find some of those monks that pursue inner peace and enlightenment

, Sen thought. That path isn’t the path for me, but they might be able to help pin down what would help me get this under control. Sen reasoned that he didn’t need to embrace their way of life to glean a bit of insight from them. Who knew, helping him might even help them find their own way somehow. Although, that sounded a lot like wishful thinking to Sen.

His other major problem was the one he hadn’t even known about until Falling Leaf told him about it. His body cultivation was going to kill him if he didn’t complete the whole thing. Sen paused at that idea. Falling Leaf hadn’t said he’d die, just that the incomplete transformation would harm him. Still, given the reputation the body cultivation method had, it seemed reasonable to him to assume it would, in fact, kill him. A year, maybe two, and then things would start to go wrong. Sen was no longer part of that group of people who thought a year was a long time. With so much distance between cities in the kingdom alone, let alone across the continent, he could burn up months just traveling. That was before taking into consideration what any of the sects might want from him, or want him to do, in exchange for the manual. Depending on how difficult the task was, he could very well die before completing it. Or, worse still, complete it and then die before he could get back to claim his prize.

With all of those cheerful thoughts weighing him down, he decided that dealing with Shi Ping would probably turn out to be something of a relief. So, he walked over to the man and gave him an unamused look.

“Spit it out,” said Sen.

“Spit what out?” asked Shi Ping, feigning ignorance.

“Whatever it is that has you eyeballing every shadow like a demon is about to jump out of it and eat your soul.”

“You’re going to the Clear Spring sect.”

“Yes,” said Sen.

“The sect that my order was at war with less than a week ago.”

“Yes,” said Sen through gritted teeth. “I recall. I was

there

, after all.”

“I just don’t think that it’s a good idea for me to go there. Your prohibition on fighting doesn’t extend to individuals. I’ll be challenged on constantly.”

“Then, don’t go.”

“You’ll release me?”

“You aren’t a prisoner. I didn’t drag you along in chains. If you sneak off in the night like a coward to avoid doing things that will help your advancement, it’s not my job to stop you.”

“I don’t care for your phrasing,” said Shi Ping.

“I don’t care for your personality, your ethics, your attitude, or your unwillingness to do anything hard,” said Sen, and then he smiled. “Well, I feel better now that we’ve shared. How about you?”

Sen doubted that Shi Ping could have looked more stunned if a moon cake the size of an ox cart had fallen out of the sky and landed in front of him. The man even had the nerve to look a little hurt by Sen’s words.

“Not everyone can be like you,” said Shi Ping.

“Like me? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Not all of us can be fearless heroes who face down armies without flinching and crush spirit beasts with brute force.”

“I don’t expect you to be that. I’m not that, not really. I just expect you to be a cultivator. You faced down tribulations before, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” admitted Shi Ping.

“Then how hard is it to simply face the things that are in front of you? How hard is it, really, to simply try?”

With that, Sen walked away. He wasn’t interested in hearing the man’s excuses. Any insights the man had wouldn’t be fast in coming if they came at all. Sen knew all too well that personal change didn’t happen overnight. He was living proof of that. Much to his relief, he saw Falling Leaf appear on the road ahead of them. It gave him an excuse to ignore Shi Ping for a while. While she had laughed at his insistence that she come back every few hours to check in with them, she had ultimately agreed to humor his, as she put it, silly human boy concerns. He was going to have to remind her not to say things like that around other people too often. As he, Lo Meifeng, and Shi Ping came up to her, Falling Leaf fell into step next to him. He’d noticed that she never willingly interacted with Shi Ping or Lo Meifeng. Shi Ping seemed to actively aggravate her simply by breathing in her general vicinity. As for Lo Meifeng, he’d asked about it when they’d had a moment alone.

Falling Leaf had just shrugged at him and said, “You don’t trust her.”

She’d said it like his judgment about the other woman was as absolute as disapproval from the heavens. That was all it had taken for Falling Leaf to simply discard an entire person from her world as not worth the time. Sen realized then that he was going to have to be

very careful

what kind of opinions he expressed to her about other people. The heavens alone knew what the transformed ghost panther might do to someone if Sen said he thought they were an active threat. Still, for all the complications, there was a real comfort in having her with the group. He didn’t question her loyalty or her motives. He also trusted her to speak directly to him about whatever was on her mind. If she wanted to do something or felt she needed to do something, there would be no games. She’d just tell him what it was, why she thought she needed to do it, and let it land however it landed. Given his experiences over the last year, that kind of straightforwardness was appealing to him on a lot of levels.

“Anything interesting ahead?” Sen asked Falling Leaf.

“No,” she answered and then seemed to think it over. “Well, there were a lot of buildings and a bunch of water cultivators a few miles ahead, but they weren’t interesting.”

Sen chuckled. “You do realize that’s where we’re going, right?”

“I do.”

“And that didn’t seem interesting to you?”

“Hum-,” she started to say before she corrected herself, “people go boring places all the time. Ma Caihong took me to a lot of boring places. This place seems like more of the same.”

“Well, hopefully, you’ll find something of interest there. If it helps, I don’t expect we’ll stay long.”

Falling Leaf made a noncommittal noise. “There are things to hunt nearby. I can amuse myself if the…if you do not.”

“Fair enough. I didn’t realize you knew how to use a bow.”

“Bow? Why would I use a bow?”

That comment made Sen all kinds of curious and he was about to ask a lot of questions when he saw a group of water cultivators approaching. He eyed Falling Leaf.

“Were the people headed our way boring as well?”

Falling Leaf gave him an emphatic nod. “Yes. They were

very

boring. They didn’t even notice me. I was barely

hiding

at all.”

Sen gave Falling Leaf a sharp look. The way she had said the word hiding, it almost sounded like she was putting special emphasis on it.

Another question for later

, he thought.

“Are any of the water cultivators dangerous?”

She gave him a curious look. “Compared to you?”

Sen sighed. “Sure. Compared to me.”

“No, but most things aren’t anymore.”

Sen resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Alright, how about compared to you?”

“Oh, then yes, almost all of them are stronger than I am,” she said with a frown. “I need to advance again.”

Sen was about to ask how she went about that now that she was human, but one of the water cultivators broke away and closed with them fast. Sen recognized her well before she reached them. Chan Yu Ming shot Sen a wicked smile and held out her wrists, as though she expected him to shackle her then and there.

“I’m ready for my abduction, you dastardly rogue.”

Then, Falling Leaf and Chan Yu Ming locked eyes and a feeling of dread took up root in Sen’s stomach. He just knew that

nothing

good was about to happen. In unison, the two women spoke the same words.

“Who is she?”