While he hadn’t expected it, Bahn Huizhong surprised Sen by saying that he would consider Sen’s offer to join the sect. It was a few days later that Sen found himself at the gate of the compound saying goodbye to the man and Li Yi Nuo.
“Here,” said Sen, holding out a box.
Bahn Huizhong took the box and, after a nod from Sen, opened it.
“What is that?” asked Li Yi Nuo leaning in to get a closer look. “Is that a beast core?”
“It used to be,” said Sen. “Now, if it works, it might become a lifeline for us all when—”
Sen trailed off as he realized that he had no idea if Bahn Huizhong had revealed the coming war with the spirit beasts to Li Yi Nuo.
“When what?” she asked, looking back and forth between her master and Sen.
At the slight shake of Bahn Huizhong’s head, Sen decided to keep the secret for now.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Sen.
Li Yi Nuo glared at him and said, “You and your secrets.”
“That’s enough,” murmured Bahn Huizhong
It was the gentlest rebuke Sen had ever heard, but Li Yi Nuo snapped her mouth closed.
“It was a beast core,” Sen offered, picking up where he’d left off. I’ve modified it with help from Glimmer of Night. If it works the way we hope it does, it should provide a means of communication over long distances.”
Li Yi Nuo gave the core a wide-eyed look of wonder. The better-informed Bahn Huizhong immediately grasped the significance of that modified core. The ability to communicate over distances could let the sects and mortal forces coordinate in ways that were impossible before. It would also let them send warnings or ask for help when attacks came. It wasn’t a cure-all for all of their problems, but it might be a fix for some of them.
“Does it work?” asked the older cultivator.
“So far,” said Sen, “but it’s new. There’s a lot we don’t know yet. They’ve worked successfully as far away as the capital, but they can be temperamental. We don’t know if it’s a problem with distance, the composition of the core, environmental qi, or any of a hundred other possibilities. Right now, we’re mostly testing to see if they work at a distance. If they work approximately the same at different distances, we can start looking at other things that might be interfering.”
Bahn Huizhong was staring down at the beast core like it had dropped from the heavens themselves.
“This could change everything,” he said. “You’ll have to teach others how to make them.”
Li Yi Nuo looked annoyed at having him answer the question before she asked it, but that only slowed her down for a moment.
“Why shadow qi to activate it?” she asked.
“That’s a good question,” said Sen.
“And?”
“And, what?”
“And what’s the answer?” asked Li Yi Nuo.
“I’m not going to tell you that,” said Sen.
Before the woman could start saying all of the things she clearly wanted to say, Bahn Huizhong closed the lid on the box with a sharp snap. The noise seemed to make Li Yi Nuo realize that she was about to start a pointless argument because she slumped a little and looked away.
“I’ll get this activated once we’re at the sect. There should be at least one person there with enough shadow affinity to do it. You said it doesn’t need much.”
“A very minor amount,” confirmed Sen.
“I can’t say I agree with the secrecy, given everything, but I can see why you’re not interested in sharing,” said Bahn Huizhong before he gave Sen a serious look. “Be careful.”
“I will,” said Sen.
“Be careful? Why do you need to be careful?” asked Li Yi Nuo.
“Oxen are heavy,” said Sen. “If they step on your foot, it can be a real problem.”
Bahn Huizhong snorted, while Li Yi Nuo’s eyes flared with anger. Sen supposed he was enjoying not satisfying her curiosity a little more than was necessary. He offered the departing pair a shallow bow.
“Travel safely,” he said.
After returning his bow, Li Yi Nuo and Bahn Huizhong turned and walked through the gates. It’ll be me leaving before too long, thought Sen. Ai is not going to be happy with me. Trying not to consider his unavoidable daughter’s wrath, he started making his way toward his office. He needed to finish handing out responsibilities so he could focus on the last things he needed to do before he left.