Chapter 7: A Stubborn Master
It was a starless night.
The sky was dark and hollow, as if someone had smudged out every last star with ink.
There was a bonfire in front of us, crackling gently. Fishes, skewered neatly on sticks, sizzled over the flame, releasing an aroma that normally would have made my stomach rumble.
But tonight... I couldn't find it in me to eat.
Master Song noticed. He chuckled softly, the sound hoarse but warm.
"Such an ominous night," he said, staring up at the blackened heavens. "Not a star to be seen."
I looked at him… really looked at him. His fur was patchy now, his frame thinner than before. The once-lively glint in his eyes was softer, almost faded.
He caught me staring and barked a raspy laugh.
"I will be fine, disciple," he said, waving his paw dismissively. "I've lived enough. Now it's your turn." He nudged a fish toward me. "Eat! It's delicious."
I forced myself to pick up a stick with my beak, but it tasted like ash in my mouth.
Master Song poked the fire with a stick, sending a shower of sparks into the night. His expression grew serious.
"You have to leave by dawn," he said, his tone sharp like the edge of a blade.
I almost dropped my fish. "Why?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly.
He sighed. "Foundation Establishment isn't the highest realm in cultivation, disciple. Not by a long shot." He tossed another stick into the fire. "And the stunt I pulled earlier… you saw it… it wasn't subtle. It would have sent ripples through the qi of this region. Powerful factions will notice. They'll come here. Soon."
I felt panic creeping up my spine.
"But… the tree? Our home?" I croaked.
He smiled gently. "The tree will be fine. I will be fine." His voice hardened. "You, however, must go. Don't be stubborn, disciple."
I fluffed up my feathers anxiously.
"But Master…"
He raised a paw, silencing me.
"The tree is protected by ancient formations," he explained. "They'll hide the treasures inside. Without a Storage Ring, I had nowhere else to put them, so my hoard… and the treasures of our Magical Beast Sect… all lie within. Hidden. Safe."
He poked me lightly with his cane. "You can come back one day, when you're strong enough to claim them properly. But not now. Not when you're still fledgling."
I swallowed thickly, the fire's warmth doing nothing to ease the chill inside my chest.
"And you, Master?" I asked again, fear bleeding into my tone despite myself.
He chuckled under his breath, low and tired.
"Let's just say," he said, staring into the fire, "I want to leave this world with just a little… oomph."
The flames danced in his tired eyes, and for a moment, I could almost see the young, fierce Song Shu he once was… the squirrel who had defied the heavens with nothing but grit and fury.
Silence settled between us, thick and heavy.
I sat there, clutching the half-eaten fish between my talons, memorizing every line of his face, every twitch of his whiskers, every crack in his weary voice.
Because deep down, I knew...
This was goodbye.
Dawn arrived.
I barely had any sleep. My eyes stung and my body felt heavier than ever, but I forced myself to move. I turned back one last time, gazing at the Sacred Hill of our Magical Beast Sect in the distance. The silhouette of the great tree stood against the reddening horizon, proud and unmoving.
My heart ached.
I would miss Master Song's weird jokes and his harsh barked lectures. I would miss the way he always found a way to call me "silly" and then somehow make me laugh despite everything.
I trudged down the worn paths we used to walk together. Soon, I passed by a familiar lake. It was the same one where I used to practice fishing under his careful eye.
I stopped at the edge of the water and stared at my reflection.
The face that looked back at me was no longer the scrawny, clueless bird I used to be. My feathers were glossier, my frame more stout, and my posture more steady. There was power inside me now… the Qi Gathering stage, my first real step into the world of cultivation.
But I couldn't feel any joy.
The surface rippled as I dipped my beak into the water. With a swift peck, I snagged a fat fish and swallowed it down whole. It was delicious, fresh and wriggling, but... it didn't satisfy me.
It didn't taste like Master Song's grilled fish.
That old squirrel had a way of seasoning the simplest things with his odd human-like habits. His little bonfires, his careful seasoning of herbs… small things that made the lonely world feel a little less empty. I realized, with a deep and painful pang, that it wasn't the food I missed. It was him.
I stared longer at the reflection in the lake.
The bird that stared back seemed... disappointed. Accusing.
Was I abandoning him?
I tried to shove the guilt aside. Master Song was at the peak of Foundation Establishment… a realm that even now felt impossibly distant to me.
Meanwhile, the strongest cultivators around these parts were barely at the peak of Qi Gathering. Between us and them, the difference wasn't just a simple step… it was a chasm, a gap as vast as the sky itself.
The Foundation Establishment realm... that was the third stage of cultivation. Qi Gathering was the second. Just one stage apart, but it was a difference of heaven and earth.
Master Song had insisted I leave. He made me promise.
He wanted me to find a Qi-rich area, to build my strength faster, to form my Qi layers properly. He wanted me to live.
I took one last, long look at the Sacred Hill. I pressed the image into my heart.
Then I turned away, my steps slow but firm, walking toward the unknown future.
I was a coward.
I chose the easy way out, didn't I?
But nothing about this felt easy. Every step I took away from the Sacred Hill, away from Master Song, felt heavier than the last, like chains dragging behind me.
I stopped abruptly.
Something prickled at the edge of my senses… my Divine Sense, the faint sixth sense Master Song had helped me awaken flickered at the back of my head as if it was radar. I froze, focusing carefully, feeling a disturbance just beyond the trees ahead. Pockets of gathered qi shimmered faintly like flickering stars hidden by leaves.
People.
It was so obvious, because of just how many there were…
I crouched low and crept forward carefully, rustling not even a leaf as I approached. I peeked through the underbrush.
There, in a clearing, stood a group of humans dressed in ornate red and gold robes.
I listened, my dodo ears straining.
Thank the heavens for Master's long, tiresome language lessons. My speech still had the clumsy twang of a dodo bird, but my comprehension had improved tenfold. Even now, I could catch enough words to piece together their meaning.
"There's an old monster around here," one of them said, voice sharp with arrogance. "If it's a demonic beast, the Huo Clan shall deal with it."
My heart clenched. They were talking about Master Song.
I squinted harder at them. I wasn't trained in sensing cultivation levels yet, but even my crude Divine Sense could tell most of them were about the same strength as me… Qi Gathering stage. Maybe one or two were a bit stronger, their auras feeling denser and more oppressive.
I didn't dare get any closer.
I had no stealth techniques and no means of hiding my presence properly. The only thing saving me was the fact that I had just broken through to Qi Gathering… my presence was still faint and unrefined, almost blending into the environment.
I listened more, heart hammering in my chest.
"The kingdom expects results," another said, a tall man with a spear slung across his back. "We can't have wild beasts challenging our authority. Once we find it, we'll crush it. A mere beast won't cow us, the Huo Clan!"
Huo Clan.
The name seared into my mind.
The local tyrants of this region, propping up the puppet kings ruling over these lands. They were infamous even in Master Song's old stories… greedy, ruthless, and merciless to both human and beast alike.
Suddenly, one of them, a young man wearing robes more elaborate than the rest, stiffened and turned, staring directly toward the bushes where I hid.
Our eyes met.
I felt my heart lurch violently.
Without a thought, I turned and ran, crashing through the underbrush in a blind panic. I sprinted harder than I ever had before, my wings flapping uselessly by my sides as my legs powered me forward.
I didn't look back until I had crossed a stream and scrambled up a rocky slope, my breathing ragged.
No one followed.
No sounds of pursuit.
I slumped to the ground, trembling.
I... I was safe.
For now.
There had been so many of them. Their qi had felt oppressive and violent. I had no chance against that kind of force.
I stared down at my trembling reflection in the familiar lake.
The water rippled gently, distorting my image… a stout little bird, stronger than before but still so weak in all the ways that mattered. I hated this feeling. I hated feeling so powerless. I hated running.
I hated myself.
I clutched my claws into fists, digging them into the soft mud. I had to tell Master! I couldn't just run away like this, knowing the danger creeping closer to the Sacred Hill.
The rational part of me screamed to keep running, to disappear into the deeper wilds where no human could find me. If I went back, I would only be a burden. Worse… my presence could be used against him.
But the irrational side of me… the foolish, emotional, Dodo side… it won out.
I ran.
I am a dodo bird, after all. Of course I made dodo decisions.
I knew it wasn't an excuse. I wasn't proud of my recklessness. Maybe, in some foolish corner of my mind, I even thought that if I died, I might wake up back on Earth. Back to a life I could barely remember but missed all the same.
Stupid. Stupid wishful thinking.
Yet, even knowing it was stupid, even knowing it was selfish and heartless to go against Master's final wishes… I couldn't stop myself. He deserved better than to be left alone in his final battle. He deserved someone to stand by his side.
I remembered my past life in flashes. How selfish I had been without ever realizing it. Always thinking of myself first, always finding excuses.
It seemed some things didn't change, even across lifetimes.
I sprinted back toward the Sacred Hill, heart pounding with fear, hope, and guilt.
"Master!" I shouted, my words slurred in my dorky dodo accent, as I burst through the treeline.
There he was.
Standing tall at the foot of the mountain.
Master Song, my Master, was fully geared. He hefted the greatsword, its blade nearly humming with qi. His figure looked smaller, older, yet more imposing than ever before.
He turned sharply as he heard my voice.
"Disciple, why have you returned?!"
There was anger in his tone, but it wasn't the kind that hurt. It was the anger born from fear, from desperation, and from caring too much. His eyes, those sharp little eyes, shimmered in the dim light.
He let go of his sword. The weapon, massive for his size, stabbed into the ground with a dull and heavy thud.
I stared at him, wide-eyed, heart hammering against my ribs.
There was anger, yes. But also fear. And something else...
Was it frustration? Relief?
I couldn't tell.
Maybe he couldn't either.
But he didn't move to send me away.
And so, without saying another word, I waddled stubbornly closer to him… choosing to stay, no matter how foolish, no matter how selfish.
Because he was my Master. And I was his disciple.
Until the end.
But I wouldn't let this be the end.
"Master, I don't want to see you go!" I cried, tears streaming uncontrollably from my eyes.
My little body trembled like a leaf in the wind as I sobbed, unable to hold anything back. Every step I had taken until now led me here, to this unbearable moment.
"Come with me, Master," I begged, choking on my own emotions.
When he didn't immediately answer, when I saw the stubbornness harden in his old eyes, I did something even worse.
"If you don't," I threatened, voice cracking, "I will suffer the same fate as you! Together we will perish, and your legacy will turn to ash!"
The words were ugly and cruel, but I meant them. I would not live a life without him.
For a brief moment, fury colored the old squirrel's eyes. His qi surged, shaking the very air around us like a brewing storm.
"You—!" he spat. "You ungrateful disciple!"
He picked up his great sword, and for the first time ever, I felt his killing intent directed at me. It was suffocating, like a mountain crashing down onto my back. My legs wobbled, but I stood firm. I stared at him through my tears, daring him to do it.
"Master, let's go before it's too late," I pleaded again, stubborn even in the face of death. "Dying surrounded by enemies isn't cool!"
Master Song froze. His killing intent faltered, then crumbled completely.
"You foolish... foolish disciple..." he muttered. His great sword fell from his paws for the second time, embedding itself into the earth with a heavy, defeated thud.
He slumped, the strong, proud figure suddenly looking so very old. So very tired.
"Why do you have to make things so difficult?" he whispered, tears brimming in his own sharp eyes. "Oh, my disciple… just why?
I couldn't even speak. I could only stand there, sobbing quietly, refusing to move an inch without him.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he let out a heavy, shuddering sigh.
"Let's go," he said.
Relief flooded me so hard I nearly collapsed right there.
I ran to his side, brushing my wing against his arm like the clumsy bird I was. He grunted but didn't push me away. Together, side by side, we left the Sacred Hill behind.
I didn't look back.
Not because I wasn't sad.
Not because I wasn't scared.
But because I knew if I looked back even once, my heart would shatter.