Book 3: Chapter 10: Sunset

Book 3: Chapter 10: Sunset

The next morning, Sen woke up early. He’d noticed it more and more since his body cultivation advancement. He needed less sleep, a lot less sleep. Even knowing that moving between major stages meant substantial changes, he’d been a bit hazier about what that meant for body cultivators. With spirit cultivation, he could feel the difference in power between himself and other cultivators. With this transition between body cultivation stages and solidifying the Five-Fold Body Transformation, he was still figuring out what it all meant. He’d gotten stronger and faster. Sen had seen that much with the idiot wandering cultivator who seemingly wanted to die at Lo Meifeng’s hands. He’d crossed the distance in a blink. He’d even noticed stress marks on the wooden floor from when he’d launched himself across the room. Once they were out on the road again, he’d have to find some quiet spot and truly test the upper limits of his strength and speed. Not knowing that kind of information could prove lethal for any warrior, let alone for a cultivator.

Sen had gone downstairs and fetched tea and some food for him Lifen. He’d been so early that the kitchen had barely even opened. So, to amuse himself and to speed things along, he’d helped out in the kitchen for about an hour. The inn owners had gone from shock and horror that a guest was working in their kitchen, to eventual incredulity when they discovered he actually knew what he was doing. He’d just worked with a little smile on his face, remembering better times spent in the kitchen with Uncle Kho and Auntie Caihong. When enough food was ready for himself and any other early risers, Sen gathered up a tray of food and tea. He returned to the room to find Lifen still sound asleep beneath the covers. He poured himself a cup of tea, then stored everything else in his storage ring.

He went over to the window, opened it, and let the cool morning air wash over him for a moment. They were still close enough that he could smell the ocean on the air but without such a concentration of the intense unpleasant odors that had assaulted his sense of smell when they got off the ship. Then, he quietly moved the only chair in the room and just watched for a time as the small town came to life. Such moments were a rare luxury in Sen’s life. Even when he was still, he was almost always still doing something. Cultivating if nothing else. Every once in a while, though, he found that he simply needed to stop, take a brief respite from the worries and demands of life, and just let himself be. He didn’t know if it made him a better cultivator or improved his chances at enlightenment, but he found he was less prone to making rash decisions when he allowed himself those moments.

He heard a rustling from the bed and looked over. Lifen stood and slowly stretched, her skin looking almost alabaster white in the morning light. She seemed to be making a bit more of a production of the stretch than seemed entirely necessary, and Sen caught her peeking over at him to see if he was watching. He gave her a wink and lifted the teacup in acknowledgment. Seemingly satisfied that her performance had been appropriately appreciated, she mostly put on a light robe. It still left enough skin exposed that Sen caught his eyes drifting more than once, which brought a pleased little smirk to Lifen’s face. Before he got distracted again, Sen called the food and tea out of his storage ring. They ate and drank tea for a while before either of them spoke. Ultimately, it was Lifen who broke the silence.

“I really should get that turtle some kind of a thank you gift,” she said, a merry twinkle in her eyes.

“Ah, but what does one get for the divine turtle who needs nothing?” asked Sen philosophically.

“Sacred seaweed?”

The two shared a quiet laugh that was brought to an immediate halt when someone knocked on their door. Both Sen and Lifen stared at the door for a moment with a mixture of uncertainty, apprehension, and anger.

“Who’s there?” demanded Sen in a decidedly unfriendly tone.

“It’s me,” said Lo Meifeng from the other side of the door.

Lifen glared at the door, then stood, walked over to Sen, and draped herself across his lap in a fashion that even Sen realized would be absolutely scandalous in even remotely polite company. Then, the impish part of him decided that he wasn’t really bothered by that idea.

“Come in,” he called.

Lo Meifeng came in and her footsteps stuttered a bit when she saw the two of them. For a few unguarded moments, the woman’s face went from surprise to shock, then to calculation, before settling on annoyed, frustrated acceptance. She closed the door behind her and smoothed her expression into rigid neutrality.

“I need to go back into the city today,” she announced.

“Why?” asked Sen. “We were just there.”

“Yes, exactly, we were there. I have to imagine that our demonic cultivator friends have their people looking for a man and two women traveling together. I needed to get you away from the city. Somewhere that even the two of you will probably see trouble coming. Now, I can go back and send my own report in.”

Sen found that his first instinct was to push back, but he was hard-pressed to think of a good reason to do that. In the end, he realized that he just wanted to be contrary with her. He had done his best to bury his resentment of the woman, knowing full well that she was as stuck as he was, but that resentment still reared its head from time to time. Instead, he just nodded. Lo Meifeng looked a little off-balance, as though she’d planned for this to be a fight. Instead, Sen was just going along with it.

It wasn’t much comfort, but it seemed that the mere promise of being able to stop running, eventually, was enough for Lifen. The rest of the day dragged out for Sen. After the first few hours of simply sitting around their room, counting the seconds, Sen announced that they were going to go for a walk. He’d thought Lifen might object, but she seemed as eager as he did to have something to do. They walked beyond the town proper and looked at the fields of crops. Sen told her what he knew about them, and she told him some things he didn’t know. When he gave her a surprised look, she offered him a sheepish shrug.

“I like plants. I read about them when I can find new scrolls or farming manuals.”

“Do you want to own a farm?”

It seemed like a strange goal for a cultivator, but no stranger than challenging the heavens. Lifen laughed then, seeming to finally shake off some of her dark thoughts.

“I’d be a terrible farmer,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I could probably do the work, but I’d get bored growing the same five crops year after year. I might grow flowers or medicinal herbs one day, though. Maybe a little garden. Find a spot somewhere that no one knows me, and no one will bother me. That would be nice, I think.”

“It can be,” said Sen.

Lifen gave him a questioning look. “Oh?”

“The people who trained me. They lived somewhere like that. So did I, for a long time.”

“Do you miss it?”

“I do. It was dangerous sometimes, but I miss it a lot.”

“How was it dangerous?”

“Uncle Kho built his home in the wilds. Deep enough that you pretty much had to be a core cultivator to even get there. It was safe enough inside the walls, but once you got outside there were a lot of spirit beasts.”

Lifen thought about that for a while before she said, “I might pick somewhere a little less hostile.”

Sen laughed. “That’s probably a good plan.”

As the day wore on, Sen slowly directed them back to the inn. When they got back, there was no sign of Lo Meifeng in the common area or her room. A brief chat with the owners revealed that they hadn’t seen her since she left that morning. As the afternoon inched its way toward evening, Sen’s tension rose and rose. Lifen looked equally unhappy. When sunset was almost on them, Sen turned to Lifen.

“Go get anything you left in the room.”

She gave him a quick nod and vanished up the stairs. She returned a few minutes later, having changed into clothes more appropriate for traveling. As the last lingering edges of the sun made their final descent over the horizon, Sen stood up from the table and gave Lifen a grim look.

“It’s time to leave.”