Book 8: Chapter 8: Obligations

Book 8: Chapter 8: Obligations

“It’s not?” asked Wu Gang, his brow furrowing. “That’s odd. Because lots of people called it a sect. The Judgment’s Gale Sect. The Hand of Chaos Sect. The Heavens Scouring Blade Sect. The Blue Demon Sect—”

Sen’s head shot up off the table. “What?! People are calling it the Blue Demon Sect?”

Wu Gang nodded. Sen turned a chilly gaze on Shen Mingxia. She raised her hands defensively.

“What?” she asked. “You told me not to tell you the other things people call you.”

“The Blue Demon. You didn’t feel like you should maybe lead with that?”

She shrugged. “It didn’t seem that much worse to me.”

“Blue. Demon,” said Sen in a harsh, clipped tone.

“Well, sure,” she admitted, “when you say it all angry and growly like that it sounds terrible. But if you said miracles and sunshine in that tone of voice it would sound like a death threat.”

Before Sen could organize all of the screaming he wanted to do, Wu Gang cut in.

“Well, if it isn’t a sect, what is it?”

“You explain,” said Sen to Shen Mingxia as he let his forehead thump back against the table.

Sen listened as Shen Mingxia explained that it was an academy intended primarily to train mortals in spear and sword techniques. Wu Gang listened, only interrupting once or twice to get clarification. He was quiet for a little while after Shen Mingxia finished.

“Well,” he said, sounding a little apologetic, “that may be what you think it is, but everyone else thinks it’s a sect.”

“I hate everyone so much right now,” muttered Sen, pushing up from his seat and trudging away toward his room.

“I’m sorry,” he heard Wu Gang say. “I didn’t mean to upset him.”

“He’s not angry with you,” said Shen Mingxia. “Well, he’s not specifically angry with you. As much as I hate to say it, though, the best thing that could happen tonight is for some idiot to show up looking for a fight.”

“Why?” asked Long Jia Wei.

“Because then he’d have someone to take it out on.”

As Sen shut his door, he couldn’t help but think that Shen Mingxia was right. The thing he needed most at that moment was for some arrogant young master with more pride than sense to show up and start shooting his mouth off. As soon as that thought passed through his mind, he glanced upwards and grimaced.

“You’re not going to let that happen, are you?” he asked the universe at large.

The universe didn’t deign to answer him, but Sen knew all the same.

“Seriously,” he growled. “Non-stop stupidity for the last week and now, now, you’re going to make sure they don’t find us? Right when I could actually get some practical value from having to kill someone?”

Sen winced at that, recalling a plague village where he’d repeatedly stood that watch like some kind of hellish punishment. Wu Gang lifted an eyebrow at Sen.

“I’ve done that a few times myself,” said Sen, not wishing to relive the memories in any more detail.

“You know, sometimes, I try to weigh it all up in my head. I try to figure out if the good I’ve done outweighs the evil I failed to stop. I try to understand if the lives I’ve saved balance the lives I’ve taken.”

“Did you get anywhere with it?” asked Sen.

“No. Did you?”

“What makes you think I’ve ever done such a thing?”

“Because cultivators don’t do things like open schools for mortals. It’s beneath them unless they have a reason for it. A compelling reason. The kind of reason that haunts their dreams. Are your dreams haunted, Judgment’s Gale?”

“Sometimes,” admitted Sen. “Sometimes, it’s my conscience. I had a conversation about Karma a while back with people who understand it a lot better than me. Any guesses about what they had to say?”

“Not really,” said Wu Gang.

“They basically said that it’s ineffable and that it’s a good thing that it’s ineffable.”

“Why is that a good thing?”

“The consensus seemed to be that it acts as a kind of counterbalance to our worst impulses. If you can’t ever know the full measure of your karma, it may cause you to make different choices, better choices.”

“Do you believe that?” asked Wu Gang.

“The ineffable part, yeah. The rest of it, not so much.”

Wu Gang seemed to consider that answer before he nodded.

“Yeah, I think that’s about where I stand on it as well. So, why the deep questions this time?”

“Curiosity.”

“That’s it?”

“No. I’ve been trying to decide how to handle something. I thought that your answers might give me a clue about how you’d react afterward.”

“Did they?” asked Wu Gang, a speculative look on his face.

“No, not particularly. If it makes a difference, they also didn’t change my mind about anything either,” said Sen staring into the small fire. “I free you, Righteous Wu Gang, of all oaths and promises to me. Your life is your own again.”Reêad latest novels at noov/e/l/bin(.)com