He Jietang tried to glare at the sun, but mostly just managed to squint. He felt terrible, which was something of an accomplishment for a core cultivator. Their cultivation tended to make it very difficult to get drunk, let alone stay drunk, and hangovers were all but unheard of. But it could be done if a man was willing to work hard enough at it, and He Jietang was no quitter. Now that he thought about it, though, he was a quitter. Quitting was actually something of a pastime for him. He quit things all the time. Especially jobs. Oh, he hated jobs. All that working and sobriety were just so damned excruciating. Except, he had to work if he wanted to stay drunk enough to stay sane.
āGods, the sun is so bright,ā he muttered to himself. āDamn you, Chan Dashi.ā
That bastard had shown up the day before and, grinning like a fool, given away all of He Jietangās liquor. Then, to add insult to injury, the man had hung around until morning, just to make sure that He Jietang got up and went to meet up with that Lu guy. Honestly, he didnāt know what Chan Dishi was so impressed with. Theyād both seen their fair share of heavens-kissed cultivators over the years. Most of them were dead now. Cut down by sects, rivals, or time. Time was another bastard that He Jietang hated so much. All those cultivators pushing through their advancements, aching for more power and more life. He wondered how many of them would have been so eager if anyone had told them what all that extra life
really
was. It was one of the thousand hells. Century after century of life watching everything change, everything die, until the world became a place you didnāt recognize anymore.
Then, you found yourself seeing the faces of the dead on the living bodies of strangers. It was a nightmare, but one that He Jietang couldnāt quite make himself let go of. Heād thought about just ending it all. Even prayed for it a few times. Itās not like it would be that hard to find some idiot young master to cut him down. All that stupid pride made them so predictable. A few well-placed comments and the challenges would start flying. Heād even tried it a few times, only to have it all go sideways on him. Heād been too well-trained. Once the blades came out, he just reacted. Then, itād be him standing over a corpse, or twelve, or twenty. Then, life would get
really
hard for a while as some new sect kept sending idiot after idiot to restore their honor. Honor? What a joke. Heād been just like them once upon a time, but heād seen where that road ended. It always ended at your own grave or the grave of a friend.
If not for Chan Dishi and a few other friends who had managed to survive the grindstone of time, it might have finally become too much. But they would come and find him, give him a touchstone, and balance the universe for a while. He supposed thatās what this new job that Dishi had found for him was about. A way to restore order from chaos, at least for a while. Maybe it wouldnāt be so bad. At least that Lu guy had shown up
after
the killing was done. He didnāt even want He Jietang to fight anyone. He wanted him to teach other people how to fight. Heād even said something about teaching mortals.
That
could be interesting. Or, it might be if his head ever stopped hurting. He paused and leaned against a wall, letting his eyes close for a minute. Gods, he hoped that there were going to be carts or wagons to sleep in on this trip. He really needed some more sleep. A couple days of it would be nice.
Then again, maybe not. He didnāt like to sleep when he was sober. That was when the bad dreams came. Not every night but often enough. Heād seen so much death over the years. So many friends and lovers gone. A few had even died by his own hands. The Jianghu was a possessive mistress. She did not tolerate rivals well. That was to say nothing of all the enemies or supposed enemies heād killed back in the early years, or the countless deaths after heād started selling his skills to whoever was hiring when he ran out of money. Not that core cultivators truly needed things like food or even shelter, not the way the mortals did. He could have gone out and lived in the wilds, again, but that wasnāt really any better. Killing spirit beasts by the score was only marginally less awful than killing people by the score.
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He Jietang forced his eyes open, pushed off the wall, and started moving again. Dishi wouldnāt forgive him if he screwed this up. The man truly liked this Lu Sen kid, which was rare for Dishi. He was friendly with lots of people, but those he liked were as rare as eclipses. Heād also taken a chance by recommending him to the new Lord Lu. That was an idea he didnāt like all that much, a cultivator noble on this side of the mountains, but the kid didnāt seem to be taking it all that seriously. That attitude was something that was both a bit troubling and relieving. On the one hand, it probably meant that Lu Sen didnāt take himself too seriously. That was always a good thing. On the other, it also seemed to mean that he didnāt take the situation seriously. Whether that was a product of ignorance, inexperience, or hubris wasnāt clear. It could very well be all of them. Regardless, that was potentially a very bad thing.
Oh well
, thought He Jietang.
None of that is really my problem
.
My only problem is cramming some fighting skills into a bunch of peopleās heads
.
I can do that
.
Trying once more to glare at the hateful sun, he rounded the last corner and beheld Lu Manor. At least, he beheld the walls. Suddenly, all of those stories and jokes heād heard about Lord Luās Fortress of Doom made sense. The walls were massive and a grey as bleak as a field in winter. That alone made them look intimidating. Even from clear down the street, though, he could feel the defenses crouched patiently and waiting for something to trip them.
That man doesnāt take half-measures
, thought He Jietang. Then, his gaze moved down to the street where he saw all of the glorious carts and wagons. He also saw Lu Sen, smiling happily as heā¦ Was he petting the oxen that were going to pull the carts? He also saw Chan Dishi standing near Lu Sen and talking animatedly about something. Knowing Chan Dishi, it was probably a story about some party that heād turned into a riot.
He started walking down the street and came up short as he felt Lu Senās spiritual sense crash down on him. A moment later, the manās eyes found him. Lu Senās smile disappeared and a deep frown replaced it. He Jietang could read the expression from where he stood. The one that said the man was questioning his own judgment and questioning He Jietangās capacity to do the work that heād been hired to do. It was a familiar look. There was nothing to do now but go and see what this Lu Sen would ultimately decide. As he drew near, Lu Sen gave an ox one last pat on the head and closed the distance with a more-serious-than-usual Chan Dishi trailing behind him. Lu Sen looked him up and down before, against all cultivator rules of courtesy, the manās qi invaded He Jietangās body. Before he could decide if Lu Sen was attacking him, the qi was gone again. With a sigh that said he was sure he was going to live to regret it, the man produced a stone vial from a storage ring and held it out.
āDrink that,ā the man commanded.
Taking the vial and opening it, He Jietang thought his heart was going to stop. Heād had a lot of healing elixirs over the years and exactly none of them had felt like the one in his hands. Chan Dishi glared at him in a very clear
do as you're told
way. He lifted the vial to his lips and drank. He wasnāt sure exactly what heād expected, but within ten seconds his pounding headache was just gone like it had been fog blown away by a great gust of wind. The light stopped bothering him a second later. Then, it felt like that wind passed through him and carried away a thousand tiny ills that heād learned to ignore. He felt clear, healthy, like the man heād been when heād met Chan Dishi all those long years before. Of course, no elixir could wash away what was in his mind and heart, but even those felt a little less terrible.
āGood,ā said Lu Sen. āNow that you wonāt set a terrible example for the children, you can help.ā