Chapter 1: The Escape
As he ran, Sen felt the burn deep in his legs and in his lungs. He could hear the shouts of the noble boys behind him, close, always too close, and tried to run even faster. Sometimes, he could get away. He hoped that today would be one of those days. He clutched the precious burden in his arms as tight as he dared. Not too tightly, or he might damage it, but tight enough not to drop it. His long hair whipped into his eyes for a moment, obscuring his vision. He prayed that no one would step in front of him. Another moment and the wind carried that offending hair out of his eyes. He dodged around a corner, put on a last burst of speed, and cut down a particularly dark passageway between a noodle shop and a merchant's shop.
It wouldn't have worked during the full light of day, but it might be dark enough with dusk settling over the town. He crouched behind a pile of trash and ignored the baleful look that a rat gave him. He tried to still his breathing and slow his heart, sure that everyone could hear that thunderous pounding clear from the street. The moments passed with agonizing slowness. He could hear the people on the street, talking, bartering, or simply making their way home after the day's work. Those lucky, respectable people who could get work. People who could buy their food instead of stealing it to avoid starving. People who proudly bore a family name.
The shouting of the other boys drew near. He heard them out there, confused by his sudden disappearance. They searched up and down the street for a seeming eternity, one even took a few steps down the passage before the others called him back. Sen didn't trust it. Didn't trust them. They'd tricked him before. Tricked him, and then beat him senseless for offending his betters. Offending my betters, he thought with a burst of rage. I offend them by existing. So, he remained crouched in that dark passage, fending off the ever more aggressive rats that could smell what he had clutched in his hand. He waited there in the growing darkness for more than an hour before he finally, cautiously, made his way out. He peeked around the corners, searching the street for his tormentors, but they had apparently given up on him.
He wouldn't pretend that he didn't take some slim satisfaction in foiling their instruction of their inferior. Although, it meant that he would need to remain even more vigilant in the days to come. Those vicious, noble bastards had a long memory for perceived slights. He might not get away next time. This time, though, this time he had gotten away. He trudged away from the meager protection of the passageway and headed to the closest thing he had to a home. His legs ached terribly from the desperate, panicked flight, but at least his lungs didn't hurt anymore. He'd learned to take his blessings, few though they were, where he could find them. Still, it was a long walk back. He sighed, said a quiet prayer to whatever gods took pity on children and thieves, and set out.
***
Full night had settled over the town of Orchard's Reach by the time Sen arrived. He could even see the moon rising over the mountain that cast its long shadow over the population, day in and day out, year after year. Sen wasn't given to deep thoughts, usually reserving his mental energy for survival, but he paused there for a moment. The moon was full and hung there, like a great luminous fruit that had blossomed from the rocky soil of the mountain. Something twinged in him then, as he gazed at that vast, distant orb that some thought was a goddess. He yearned, just for a moment, to hang there in the sky as the moon did, to cast a light over all, a lesser light than the sun, but perhaps a kinder one as well.
Then, he shook himself. Foolish thoughts. He'd never leave this place. Never assume a different station. Oh, there were stories of mighty cultivators who rose to greatness from humble beginnings, but those were just stories. Those things didn't happen to real people. Real people lived the life that fate had cast for them, some prospering, and all too many worn away by too much need and not enough coin.
He reached out and knocked on the door. Then, he waited. There was no point in being impatient. He watched the moon in the relative silence. He listened as the night insects made their own strange music. He used to count the seconds and minutes, but he'd grown at least a little wise in his short years. She would arrive when she arrived. After a minute, or ten, the door cracked open. A dark, piercing eye glared out at him.
"What do you want, boy?"
Sen didn't say anything, simply uncovered his hard-won treasure. She understood what he was offering. She opened the door enough for him to scurry inside before she closed the door firmly behind him. Grandmother Lu gave him a suspicious look, but she didn't ask any questions. He handed her the loaf of bread. She took the food with care. Sen knew that her hands hurt her more days than they didn't. She gestured with her head, and he joined her at the table. She carefully cut part of the loaf into slices with a knife that looked as old and worn as Grandmother Lu herself. She took two slices and handed him two. She conjured a small orange from somewhere. She regarded the fruit for a long moment before handing it to him.
"Peel this," she ordered.
He took great care in peeling the orange as he didn't wish to damage the precious flesh inside. He handed it back to the old woman. She took equal care in dividing the fruit into its individual segments before carefully pushing half to him. They ate slowly. Grandmother Lu had been of a different station, once, Sen was sure of that. He wasn't sure if tragedy or dishonor had left her in her current circumstances, but she clung to a few ideals. Eating should be done with at least a little dignity. Sen wasn't sure if he felt the same way about it, but he respected her wishes.
After they ate, Sen collapsed onto a small pad that just happened to always be empty when he came by. He didn't sleep there every night. In fact, he almost never visited Grandmother Lu unless he had some morsel to share, but on those few, terrible, icy nights when he had shown up empty-handed, she'd simply gestured to the little pad without comment. Sen had no family, no blood, but he did have Grandmother Lu. That one, tiny comfort was enough that he drifted off to sleep and did not dream.
Chapter 2: The Cultivator
Grandmother Lu woke him early the next day. Very early. The sun wasn't even really up yet, just the barest suggestion of light on the horizon, but Sen didn't really mind. He had been given shelter for a night. That was more fortune than most of his ilk enjoyed. He simply bowed to Grandmother Lu and took his leave. There were places where he might find food if he was quick enough. Not the kind of food that would stay good until night, but something that might keep his stomach from aching until he thought it would drive him mad. So, Sen ventured forth. It was early enough that none of the noble brats would hassle him. They didn't rise this early. He might run afoul of a shopkeeper or half-wild dog, though. Both things had happened before and he had the scars to prove it.
Still, some risks were worth the payoff. You simply could not survive without food. He knew that there were other ways. There were hunters who ventured outside of the town into the largely untamed wilderness beyond the walls. There were animals there that you could hunt or capture in clever snares. Sen knew this, but it meant little to him. He had no bow, no spear, and no snares. Even if he had those things, he didn't know how to use them. Staying in the town was dangerous. It would become more dangerous for him in time. He was old enough now that one of the gangs would press him into service if he wasn't very careful. That was a life almost sure to see him dead, eventually. Yet, leaving would mean truly courting death.
In town, he risked the wrath of noble children, the town guard, and gangs. Beyond those walls, he risked the ire of spirit animals that even the unearthly cultivators feared. If those heaven-defying figures of legend tread with care in the wilds, what hope did he have of surviving? One day, if he became desperate enough, he might make the journey beyond the walls, but it would be a day of true desperation indeed. For now, he would simply take his steps with care, and keep a sharp eye out. For the next hour or two, though, he largely had the town to himself.
He took full advantage of that fact, making his way to the Song Wu Dumpling shop. He lucked out and found a few dumplings that the rats and other vermin hadn't found in the trash. He wondered sometimes what they would taste like fresh. Most days he was simply grateful if there was something to eat at all. After he'd eaten something, he went to the central market. There were shadowed corners where he could hide all day, free from the sight of the guard and his own enemies. Although, when he was honest with himself, he was getting a little too big for them. Another year, maybe less, and he'd have to find a new way to stay out of sight.
For now, though, he could watch as people opened their shops and set up stands. He could see the mayor's mansion from his secluded little perch. He was willing to bet nobody there was ever hungry. Even the servants probably ate like nobles there. Not that he could ever dream of even being a servant in such a place. Not without a family name to open doors for him. A part of him that he kept buried deep most of the time seethed at the unfairness of it all. He knew that he should accept his fate, accept the lot that life had handed to him, but it burned all the same. He didn't dream of riches or of glory.
Those things were fantasies without depth or true meaning to him. He simply dreamed of honest work, a safe home, and maybe, one day, a family. Yet, even those modest dreams were out of his reach. No one would hire him. Most people would barely look at him. All he could do was hide in the shadows and watch as other people lived the kinds of lives that he wished he could have. The morning passed slowly. Sen watched for opportunities. He also watched for threats. For some reason, there were more guards around than usual. He also noticed more of the noble brats hanging around the market than usual. Was there some kind of festival happening soon? Sen wasn't sure. He measured time in hours, days, and seasons. Anything in between was lost on him. He knew that there were holidays and festivals but not when or why. Mostly, he didn't care. They didn't mean anything to him. Except, he admitted, when they set off the fireworks. That was something everyone got to enjoy, even him.
It wasn't until the afternoon that things changed. Sen almost felt the change, like a current that swept through the marketplace. The change was defined by a single word. Cultivator. There was a cultivator in town. Sen didn't believe it, at first. Why would there be a cultivator in Orchard's Reach? Even Sen knew that they were a small place in an unimportant province. Yet, for all of that, he was curious. He'd never seen a cultivator before. Were they really ten feet tall? Did they really have lightning for eyes? A part of him wanted to go and find the cultivator, but good sense prevailed. If he went wandering around and looking for them, his tormentors would have a far easier time finding him. No, far safer to stay quiet, stay hidden.
It turned out that Sen's caution proved the wiser course, for the cultivator came to him. At first, Sen just thought he was another man. He was taller than most people with gray eyes and gray hair to match, but it wasn't his appearance that really gave him away. His robes were finer than most people's. Yet, they were not so much finer that anyone would consider him more than a noble. No, it was something that Sen couldn't name, couldn't see, but he could feel it. So could everyone else. The man strode through the market in a bubble that no one invaded. The crowds parted around the man. Sen shuddered at the invisible pressure that radiated from the man. He'd felt pressure like that, well not exactly like that, but similar enough. He'd learned how to hide from it. So, he did.
Then, the cultivator stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes swept across the marketplace. It looked to Sen like the man meant to bore a hole through the world with his gaze. Sen shuddered as the man fixed on his hiding spot and then took a step in his direction. Cold sweat ran down Sen's back, but then a miracle occurred. At any other time, Sen would have considered the arrival of the mayor and the other local nobles as a dark sign. Today, it was reprieve given human form. The mayor strode up and bowed deeply.
"The mayor of Orchard's Reach bids the mighty cultivator welcome."
The rest of the nobles bowed as well and murmured their welcomes. The cultivator looked, at least to Sen's eyes, like the whole spectacle annoyed him. The cultivator gave one last look at where Sen was hiding, then turned his attention to the nobles. He bowed to them.
"Cultivator Feng greets the mayor."
Chapter 3: Luck?
The mayor and all of the nobles stood straight again. Sen found a bit of grim amusement in their looks of discomfort. The mayor was fat, his belly straining the confines of the robes he wore. Supposedly, he'd been some kind of a warrior in his youth, but Sen found it hard to believe based on the sweat trickling down his face. Yet, all of the nobles looked strained, like they expected a disaster to fall on them at any moment. He decided that he couldn't fault them for that. Cultivators could come as a blessing or a curse, so the stories said. Please a cultivator and they might rain down blessings on your house. Displease a cultivator and they might scour your entire line from the face of existence. You just never knew.
The mayor roused his courage enough to ask, "What brings you to our insignificant town, Cultivator Feng? Perhaps we could be of some service to you in fulfilling your goals."
The cultivator just stared at the mayor for a long moment. "I come to take up residence on the mountain. Closed door cultivation."
The mayor seemed to brighten at that. Sen reasoned that he was relieved that the cultivator planned on leaving soon and shutting himself away.
"I see," said the mayor. "Do you require supplies? We will, of course, provide anything you need within our power."
The cultivator appeared unmoved by the mayor's words. Sen had a hard time keeping himself from laughing as the sweat running down the mayor's face grew heavier. It was nice to see someone else so nervous. The cultivator finally sighed and nodded.
"Yes, I will take a disciple with me. Someone to attend to matters beneath me and, when I'm feeling generous, to receive my instruction. I'll take someone from here."
The mayor and all of the nobles started falling over themselves offering up their children. While no one wanted the cultivator to stay, they all wanted their children to benefit from attending to the cultivator. In the end, the cultivator ordered that all of the young men and women be brought before him so that he might choose the best from among them. Sen relaxed from his hiding. There were plenty of other distractions in the market to keep the cultivator occupied. The mayor tried to convince the cultivator to go to the palace and choose from the young nobles, but Cultivator Feng would have none of it. He asked that all of the youth of the town be brought before him in the market.
So, Sen watched in interest as the word went out. Young men and women from all over the town were rounded up by parents, by aunts and uncles, by teachers, and even by guards. The children of the nobles were given pride of place and paraded before the impassive cultivator. Their parents spoke of their many virtues. Sen snorted at that. Those brats wouldn't know virtues if they fell over them in the bath. Once the nobles finished, things relaxed a little. Young men and women were marched in front of the cultivator. Half of them seemed confused, and the other half looked downright terrified. Sen wondered what their parents had said to them. It took a couple of hours before the last stragglers were set before the cultivator.
Cultivator Feng looked to the mayor. "Is this all of them?"
"Yes, honorable cultivator," the mayor lied.
Sen knew for a fact that there were plenty of children from the poorest parts of town that had not found their way into the marketplace. He wasn't surprised. He couldn't even find it in himself to be annoyed. The cultivator frightened him. That focused, piercing gaze and that invisible presence, like a burden on Sen's heart, had unnerved him. He knew that he didn't want any part of whatever the cultivator had planned for his disciple. The cultivator nodded.
"Very well. I have made my choice."
"I'm very pleased to hear that, Cultivator Feng," said the mayor. "Which of our worthy youths will accompany you."
Sen didn't see it. He barely felt it. One second, he was hiding in the shadows. The next, he was dangling from the cultivator's hand. Sen didn't think. He just struck. His small fist crashed into the cultivator's nose…and did nothing. More accurately, it did nothing to the cultivator. Sen felt like he'd punched a stone. His hand hurt so much that he wondered if he'd broken bones. The cultivator actually smiled at him.
"This one will do nicely," said Cultivator Feng.
There was absolute silence in the marketplace for the space of three heartbeats. Then, the mayor exploded with rage.
"You mean to take this street trash over one of our children?" The mayor demanded.
"Why should I prefer noble trash over street trash? After all, I did ask that all of the youths be presented to me, did I not? Why was this boy not presented? For that matter, if I were to walk in that direction," the cultivator pointed in the direction where Grandmother Lu lived, "how many more youths would I find that you conveniently forgot existed?"
"I, I..." the mayor stuttered, eyes darting around as if to find some escape.
Sen didn't see it happen. He only saw the aftermath. The mayor went from standing there, red-faced and enraged, to sprawled out on the ground, spitting shattered teeth and blood from his destroyed mouth. The cultivator glared at the rest of the nobles.
"Leave my sight before I decide the rest of you deserve the same."
The nobles ran away. If Sen's hand had hurt less, he might have even enjoyed the sight. Mostly, though, he was desperately trying to figure out how he was going to run away from the cultivator. He'd been scared when the cultivator first seemed to notice him. Now, having been plucked from hiding in a move so fast he couldn't even remember the details, he was positively terrified. Sen ran through his options. There were none. Unless the cultivator decided to let him go, Sen sincerely doubted he could escape. The cultivator looked over at him like he could read Sen's mind.
"You don't want me," said Sen. "I don't know how to do anything."
If he could convince the cultivator, then maybe things would turn out alright. The cultivator snorted.
"You should call me master. Besides, you're stuck with me now. If I left you here, one of those nobles would hunt you down and kill you. If not them, then one of their children would."
Sen went very still. He hadn't thought it all the way through. The cultivator was right. If he stayed, he was as good as dead. But, he couldn't leave. Grandmother Lu might well starve if he just up and vanished. They'd never talked about it, but he suspected she depended on him at least a little to help her eat.
"I can't leave," Sen said, his voice firmer than he expected.
"Master," corrected Cultivator Feng.
"I can't leave, master," said Sen.
The cultivator seemed to grow bored with holding Sen up and set him back on the ground. Those gray eyes bore down on Sen.
"Why?"
Sen took a deep breath and then explained.
Chapter 4: Leavetaking
It took a couple of days before Sen found himself once more at Grandmother Lu's door. He never came during the day, so even he was a little shocked at how run down her little hut looked in the sunlight. At an impatient noise from Cultivator Feng, Sen roused himself, reached out a hand, and knocked on the door. Then, he stepped back and waited. Sen worried that the cultivator might grow impatient, but the man seemed content to simply stand there at the door for however long it took. After several minutes, the door cracked open enough that Sen could see Grandmother Lu peering out suspiciously at them. Before either Sen or Grandmother Lu could speak, the cultivator stepped forward. He gave a gracious bow.
"Honored Grandmother," he said, "may we please come in to speak with you? I promise, we will not waste your time."
Grandmother Lu looked to Sen and he gave her an emphatic nod. She heaved a great sigh and opened the door enough to let us in.
"Well, I suppose you better," she muttered.
"Gratitude," said Feng.
Sen followed Feng into Grandmother Lu's. He worried what the cultivator's reaction might be, but the man didn't twitch so much as an eyelash at the humble little home. Instead, he bade Grandmother Lu sit and then, seemingly from nowhere, he produced a teapot and cups. Sen had no idea how he did it, but the man produced steaming tea and poured cups for himself, Grandmother Lu, and Sen. The boy awkwardly toyed with his cup but didn't actually drink any. Instead, he looked nervously between Grandmother Lu and Cultivator Feng. Sen had to admit that Grandmother Lu took it all in stride, as though she hosted strangers who performed minor miracles on a daily basis. She waited quietly until the tea was cool enough, then sipped. She closed her eyes and made appreciative noises. Only then did she fix Sen with a stern look.
"Where have you been boy? You don't usually disappear for so long."
"Forgive me, honored grandmother," said Feng. "I fear that his long absence was my doing. I will be taking Sen as my disciple. There were matters that needed resolution before we could leave."
"Disciple," muttered Grandmother Lu. "What sort of disciple?"
"Ah, I failed to introduce myself. I am Cultivator Feng Ming."
Grandmother Lu's eyes went a little wide, but it was the only hint of surprise that she showed. "A cultivator. I see. So, you intend to make Sen a cultivator?"
Feng inclined his head. "I will be entering into secluded cultivation for a time. I need someone to attend to those occasional worldly matters that might intrude on me during this time. In exchange, Sen will receive some small instruction from me."
"A worthy exchange," said Grandmother Lu in a soft voice. "But why have you sought me out?"
"A trifling matter, I assure you. Sen expressed some minor concerns about your disposition while he is away. I cannot have him distracted, so I fear I must impose on your good nature to ease his mind. After all, it is often difficult to focus when one worries for family."
"Oh," said Grandmother Lu. "Yes, he is a distractable boy. I wouldn't want him to fail in his duties out of concern for me."
Cultivator Feng beamed at Grandmother Lu. "Exactly. As such, I have made some small arrangements on your behalf. If you'll allow me, I'd be most pleased to escort you to a modestly more comfortable place for you to stay."
Grandmother Lu gave Sen another inquisitive look. He nodded his head in the affirmative.
"Very well, Cultivator Feng. Since it's for the boy's benefit, how could I refuse?"
After everyone finished their tea, Cultivator Feng made the tea set disappear. Grandmother Lu took a few minutes to gather up a few treasures she couldn't part with and then stepped out of her little hut for the last time. Cultivator Feng took up station at her elbow and walked along at the pace she set, only occasionally directing her down one street or another. He engaged Grandmother Lu in light conversation about things that happened long before Sen was born. If Grandmother Lu found the topics odd, she showed no sign of it. She held up her end of the conversation and, save for the occasional stop so she could briefly rest, the small group made steady progress across town.
When Cultivator Feng led Grandmother Lu up to a finely appointed home, she shot Sen an incredulous look. When a servant opened the door and gave her a deep bow, she finally seemed at a loss. Cultivator Feng greeted the servant and ushered Grandmother Lu into the house. She looked around in pure wonder at the decorative scrolls that hung on the walls and the carefully polished wooden floors. Finally, she turned and gave Cultivator Feng as deep a bow as she could manage. Cultivator Feng gave her one in return. As a final gesture, he handed over a small jade box.
"What is this?" She asked.
"A few medicinal pills," said Cultivator Feng. "They are reputed to provide some minor relief to the joints. One every six months should suffice. Now, I'll leave you to say goodbye to your grandson."
With that, Feng left through the front door. Grandmother Lu looked at Sen with equal parts gratitude and disbelief on her face.
Sen smiled and spoke. "There's money to see you through. I didn't ask for details, but he promised it would be enough that you wouldn't have to worry about things."
"Why would you do this for me?" She asked.
"You helped me when you couldn't really afford it. I'll never forget that. Plus, I don't know how long I'll be gone. I really would have worried. I want you to be here when I get back."
Grandmother Lu didn't cry, but she did pull Sen into an unexpected hug.
"You be careful, boy. Cultivators are fickle and dangerous. You do your best to come back alive. I'll do my best to still be here when you do."
"That sounds like a deal to me, Grandmother Lu."
Grandmother Lu took a moment to straighten Sen's robes, a thoughtful look on her face. "You've been family to me more than mine ever was. From now on, if anyone asks you your name, you tell them that it's Lu Sen. And you just call me grandmother."
It took Sen a long time to find his voice again after that declaration. When he did, all he said was, "Yes, grandmother."
Grandmother Lu gave him a little smile. "All right, boy. I suppose it's time for you to go hold up your end of things with the cultivator. May blessings find you."
Sen walked over to the door and gave her a bow. "And you, grandmother. Oh, make sure you take those pills."
"I'm not senile, boy. I'll remember."
He smiled and slipped out the door. Cultivator Feng was waiting in the yard. He appeared to be in deep contemplation of a small maple tree. Yet, as Sen approached, the cultivator turned and gave him an appraising look.
"I believe I've done my part," said Feng.
"You have, master," said Sen.
"I'll have your undivided focus?"
"You will, master."
"Good. Now, let's be on our way. I don't particularly enjoy this town."
Chapter 5: The Wilds (1)
Cultivator Feng wasted no time, walking directly to the town's western gate. It wasn't a direct path to the mountain, which Sen knew to sit north of the town. Yet, there was no Northern gate. East or West, those were the only choices. For all that Sen spent most days on his feet, and all that the cultivator looked to be keeping an easy pace, the young man struggled to keep up. He found himself almost running in the cultivator's wake. He worried about what might happen once they left the safety of the town and entered the wilds. There were no roads to the mountain, no paths, at least none that Sen had ever heard about. He supposed that there might be one that the cultivator knew of, but he suspected that normal things wouldn't pose much trouble for the man.
As they approached the Western gate, though, the older man slowed and let Sen catch up. Not sure what he was supposed to do, Sen walked a pace or two behind the cultivator. He'd seen servants act that way, so maybe that was what his new master expected. Feng glanced over his shoulder and gestured to his side. Sen hurriedly stepped up next to the man.
"Observe, disciple," ordered Feng.
Sen wasn't sure what he was supposed to observe, but he nodded. "Yes, master."
They were nearly at the gate before Sen finally saw what his master had, apparently, expected. They were at a distance, but he saw the faces of the noble brats who had troubled him so often. They looked angry, violent, and vengeful. Exactly the kind of looks that someone of Sen's station desperately wanted to avoid. Yet, there they were, blithely uncaring of the fact that Sen wanted no conflict with them. He didn't want conflict with anyone. A boy from the streets always lost that kind of fight. On bad days, boys like him lost their lives in the process.
He also saw faces he only knew vaguely. Still, he marked them with care. There was the mayor's son, Jiang Hao. He was lean with an almost fox-like face. Sen wondered if that was what the mayor had looked like as a young man. There was Wu Gang. He was a bulky boy that had often held Sen's arms while Jiang Hao beat him. There was a pale beauty that Sen had never seen before, slender and poised, but her expression twisted with fury. There had to be a dozen of them. Each and every one of them rejected by the cultivator and blaming Sen for that disaster.
"Do you see?" Cultivator Feng asked.
"I do, master."
"Do you understand?"
He did. Sen would likely return to the town, one day. He didn't know how long it would take, but probably not that soon. Years, probably. Yet, these were the people who would hold that grudge. They would secret it away in their hearts, feeding that private flame with their resentment and frustration. Then, they would seek to vent that bitter flame on him if they discovered his return. Sen wondered if, perhaps, he should simply never come back to the town. Even as he thought it, he knew that was an empty idea. He would come back if only once. He would seek out Grandmother Lu, or her grave, and pay his respects.
"I think I do. They'll seek vengeance on me for taking what they think was theirs."
Feng gave Sen an appraising look. The answer, it seemed, was more insightful than the cultivator expected.
"Half right," Feng announced.
"Master?"
"You understand half of the lesson. The part you neglected, possibly the more important part, is that those people are why you should attend most closely to what you will learn."
Sen thought that over for a moment. He didn't know what he would learn, so it was hard to understand where it would fit into things. Still, if Feng was so certain, Sen would take it at face value. At least, he would until or if he learned better.
"I see. Thank you for the lesson, Master."
Feng made a noise that could mean anything. Then, ignoring the guards and whatever procedure was normal, he strode through the gate with Sen close behind. As soon as they cleared the gate, the cultivator turned almost immediately North, walking along the town wall. That wall seemed terribly high to Sen, towering at three times his own height. He'd stared at that wall from the inside a thousand times and couldn't imagine anything breaching it. Now that he was outside, though, he could see trees not too far away that were easily higher than that wall. Trees with trunks thicker than he was. Trees that could hide anything.
All too soon, the wall was left behind and they were among those trees. Much to Sen's horror, but not his surprise, there was no road. The cultivator simply walked. It was during that march that Sen started to grasp the difference between a cultivator and a normal man. While Feng was normally content to walk around most obstacles, he would occasionally push boulders out of his way with a casual motion or leap dozens of feet into the air and latch onto a tree to get a view of what was ahead. Even when he walked, it was with a speed that Sen couldn't match. He spent most of the day alternating between a jog and a full run.
As the sun rose into the sky and began to fall again, the hunger began to gnaw at Sen. It was a mild annoyance at first. He had lots of practice at ignoring hunger. Yet, the later it got, the worse that hunger became. It became a persistent ache in his middle. Then, the ache gave way to actual pain. His head started pounding. He struggled to keep his balance. It became an all-consuming act to just keep jogging behind the cultivator. Yet, every time Sen looked up, Feng was farther away. Sen would try to close the gap, only to have his vision go blurry or dark around the edges. Finally, inevitably, Sen tripped over a root and crashed to the ground. He tried to rise. There was a desperate fear in him of being left behind in this wild place he didn't know. Yet, his will faltered and darkness closed over him.
Chapter 6: The Wilds (2)
Something warm and wet splashed over Sen's face, rousing him from unconsciousness. It smelled wrong, almost like metal, but then a noise washed over Sen, freezing him in place. No, he realized, not a noise. It was a roar. His eyes snapped open. He looked up and saw, he didn't know what he saw. It looked a bit like a boar, but no boar had ever been that big. It was as large as a horse, with tusks nearly as long as a sword. Blood was leaking from a slash across its face. It's injured, Sen thought. What happened? A moment later something blurred through the air and struck the beast. It vanished from Sen's sight, apparently carried away by the force of whatever had struck it.
The disorientation and fear that had kept Sen rooted in place snapped as he realized that he was in immediate, terrible danger. He shot to his feet and almost collapsed again as his stomach tried to eat its way out from inside him. The headache that he'd forgotten about reasserted itself, like thunder inside his head. Still, he was in danger. He stumbled away from the beast. He didn't pay attention to where he was going. Anywhere, anywhere that was away was good enough. It was just a blur of greens and browns and the occasional flashes of a sunset-colored sky. He careened off of trees and fell over rocks, leaving bruises and bloody gashes on his body. Yet, he ignored the pain, ignored his stomach, and pushed himself back up. He had to get away.
He didn't stop moving until a hand seized the back of his robes and brought him up short. His head hurt. His hands hurt. His knees hurt. Sen's stomach hurt so much he could barely think. Yet, that abrupt stop shocked him enough that he looked around. He stood on the edge of a gully. It wasn't very deep, but deep enough that Sen might have broken his neck falling into it. Sen let out a belated, startled shout and tried to back away from the edge. The hand that had grabbed him kept him in place. It took a moment to calm down enough to look around. Cultivator Feng stood over him, a splash of crimson across his face. Yet, the man looked calm enough.
"I wouldn't go that way," said Feng, releasing Sen's robe.
"No, master. Thank you for stopping me," said Sen.
He tried to bow to Feng, but it proved too much for the screaming, painful hunger inside him. Sen collapsed, clutching at his stomach.
"Were you injured?" Feng asked.
"No," Sen gasped. "So hungry."
Feng was silent for a long moment before he spoke. "Oh. Food. Right."
Sen only half noticed, so preoccupied was he with his stomach, but it only took Feng a matter of minutes to carry Sen away from the gully, set up camp, and start a fire. With Sen by the fire, Feng made a pile of jerky appear from nowhere and pushed it into the boy's hands. Sen didn't say anything, just started eating as fast as he could chew the dried meat and choke it down. When he looked up from the much smaller pile of jerky, Feng was just outside of the camp. He was cutting up the enormous boar. With the howling inside him finally gone and the wretched headache going away, Sen was finally able to appreciate the speed with which the cultivator worked. The man's hand moved in a pair of blurs. It wasn't instant, but soon the boar was a pile of discarded parts. What Sen couldn't work out was where all the meat went.
Then, Feng made a shovel appear and started digging. It was the biggest hole that Sen had ever personally seen, nearly as deep as a man is tall. Feng hopped out of the hole, shoved the remains into the hole, and then covered it up. He rinsed something off with a water skin and dried it on his robes as he walked over to the fire. Once Feng settled on the other side of the fire, he tossed the object over to Sen. Sen caught the object and looked down at it curiously. It was an orb as big as an apple. It was a deep green shot through with lines of dark brown. It felt heavier than Sen thought it should. He looked over at Feng.
"What's this?" Asked Sen.
Feng looked incredulous for a moment before he burst into laughter. "A keepsake. You should have something to remember this by. It's your first near-death experience with a spirit beast, I expect."
Sen shuddered as he imagined what the beast might have done to him. Sen looked down at the rock for a moment before he slipped it into an inner pocket of the robes Feng had given him after bandaging the boy's wounds. While he was busy with that, Feng had set up a makeshift spit. A piece of what Sen assumed was the boar slowly started dripping over the fire. Feng sprinkled herbs and spices over the meat and then settled back, only moving to turn the spit occasionally. Sen finally worked up the nerve to ask a question that had been steadily growing in his mind.
"Where did it all go? The rest of the meat, I mean."
Feng just held up a hand and gestured at it. Sen looked at the hand briefly before returning his gaze to Feng's face. His lack of comprehension must have shown on his face because Feng tapped a ring.
Sen frowned. "Is it magic?"
"No, of course, it's not," said Feng. Then, he seemed to think it through. "Well, I suppose it is a bit like magic. It's a storage ring. Easier than carrying a pack everywhere. Keeps things fresh too. You've never heard of them before."
Sen shook his head. "Do you think I could get one someday?"
"It's possible. Probably not like this one, though. It can hold quite a lot. They can get expensive. For what this one cost, I could probably buy that town we just left."
Sen's eyes went wide. He decided that a storage ring probably wasn't something he would ever own. He'd just appreciate Master Feng's ring while he could. While a thousand other questions rolled through his mind, he decided not to test the cultivator's patience. Grandmother had warned him that cultivators were fickle. So far, this one seemed mostly amused by Sen. He didn't want to damage that. After a while, the cultivator produced a couple of plates and carved pieces off the meat over the fire. He dropped a peach onto the plate that he handed to Sen. Sen made himself wait to eat this time. He didn't want to burn himself.
"If you get hungry, you have to tell me. When you get as far along with cultivation as I have, you can go for weeks, months even, without eating. I won't remember, so you have to remind me to feed you."
Sen nodded. "Yes, master."
"Good, now eat. I don't want you passing out first thing tomorrow."
Sen ate the meat and peach but did his best to do it with a little dignity, the way Grandmother Lu had taught him. After he ate, Sen felt an odd surge of energy. It seemed to pulse through him in waves. He was sure he imagined that the energy seemed to gather around his hands, knees, and feet. Part of him felt like he could walk for miles, while the rest of him demanded rest. Sen took a final look at the cultivator who was reading a book that had come out of that miraculous storage ring. Sen wrapped himself up in a blanket. He didn't think he would be able to sleep, but it swooped down on him in moments.
Chapter 7: The Wilds (3)
Morning came all too early for Sen's tastes. The sun wasn't even up yet. Instead, there was a kind of gray, pre-dawn illumination that made it just possible to see. Despite the early wakeup, though, Sen felt good. In fact, he felt better than good. It was like energy was bursting from his entire body. Sen felt ready, if not enthusiastic, for walking all day. A quick peek under the bandages on his hands showed that the cuts from the previous day's mad flight were healed. The skin looked healthy and perfect. Stunned, Sen looked around the campsite. Cultivator Feng had let the fire die down to a small bed of coals. It was enough for Sen to warm his hands over, but looked like it would be easy to put out. The cultivator himself was sitting a little way off from the campsite in a cross-legged position. Sen studied the motionless man for a while. He decided that Feng must be meditating. He'd seen monks sitting like that before to meditate. Or is it cultivating, he wondered. What's the difference?
The longer he studied the sitting cultivator, the less comfortable Sen felt. It was almost like he could feel the man doing, well, doing something. It wasn't anything he could see or hear. It was more like something underneath his senses. Like a current in all of nature itself. Something that made his very soul shiver. It wasn't that the man was acting hostile. He was just sitting there. Yet, Sen couldn't shake the sensation that something was wrong. It was like he was under observation. Sen froze. He'd felt that sensation before, all too often, right before something awful happened. He slowly turned and looked over his shoulder. A lightning bolt of fear left him fixed in place, mouth open, and staring.
Not three feet away was the biggest cat Sen had ever seen. It was massive, bigger than the biggest dogs in town. Much like the cultivator, it wasn't doing anything specific to threaten Sen. Its mere existence was more than enough for that. Even worse, Sen felt his eyes trying to slide away from the beast as it almost seemed to disappear into the foliage behind it. The cat eyed him curiously for a moment, then stood, and stepped forward into a stretch that nearly brought its massive front paws, paws big enough to crush him, to Sen's feet. It was the motion of the cat that forced a strangled cry from Sen's throat. The beast's eyes snapped up, and then to Sen's right.
"Easy little brother," said Cultivator Feng.
Relief washed over Sen. He hadn't heard the cultivator move, but his presence was a comfort in that terrible place. The cultivator would no doubt slay the beast as he had done with the boar. Except, nothing happened. Sen glanced at Feng. The man stood next to him. His posture was relaxed and the cultivator's face serene as he gave the big cat a nod. It was only then that Sen finally realized that the cultivator had been talking to the beast.
"Aren't you going to kill it?" Demanded Sen, his voice cracking.
"Why?" Feng asked. "It's been here for an hour. It would have done something by now if it planned to."
As if to prove that it was somehow friendly and harmless, the beast slumped onto its side and began licking one of its paws. Sen was not tricked. Anything that big with paws, claws, and teeth was not to be trusted. He glared his distrust down at the massive cat. Once again, his eyes tried to look somewhere else as the cat seemed to almost fade into the ground.
"What is it?" Sen asked, forcing his eyes to stay fixed on the beast.
"Ghost panther," murmured Feng. "You don't see many of those."
The cultivator chuckled to himself like he'd told some particularly amusing joke. Sen didn't laugh. He didn't see anything funny about a giant predator lounging in their campsite. Then, Feng's words finally struck home in Sen's mind.
"It's a ghost," Sen yelled as he stumbled backward and promptly fell over his own discarded blankets.
Sen knew better than to treat ghosts lightly. He'd heard stories about hungry ghosts. What could be hungrier than a ghost panther? Feng let out of derisive snort and shook his head, almost like he couldn't believe Sen had actually asked him that.
"It's not a ghost. It's a ghost panther. Look at it."
Sen studied the beast with wary, distrustful eyes. It only took him a moment to make the connection. The cat clearly had a physical body, demonstrated by the fact that it idly batted a small stone into the underbrush. Somehow, some way, the animal could fade into the background. Then, finally, he understood the joke that Feng had made. In spite of himself, Sen sighed at the terrible humor. Through all of that, the cat watched him. Sen was certain that he saw laughter in its huge, feline eyes.
Sen got to his feet and muttered under his breath, "How was I supposed to know?"
Feng seemed ready to get moving, stopping only long enough to give Sen some leftover boar meat and another peach. After a moment of thought, Feng tossed the big cat a piece of meat. The cat went from casually lounging to pouncing toward the meat almost instantly, catching it in mid-air. Then, the cat went back to lounging while it chewed on the meat. Sen did his best not to imagine the cat doing that to his leg. Instead, he turned his attention to his own breakfast. For a boy who had gotten most of his meals from the trash for years, sometimes forcing down food that was only questionably safe, the boar tasted heavenly.
It was fresh. Fresh enough that not even a hit of rotten sourness marred the experience. He'd been too hungry and distracted by pain the night before to enjoy the food. With those impediments out of the way, he was free to relish in the flavors of the food. Free to bask in the fact that he didn't need to fight off rats or dogs to get it. Meat in any quantity was a rare treat in Sen's world, so he didn't take it for granted. He lingered over it, chewing slowly and deliberately. It wasn't juicy in the same way it had been when it was hot. It was still tender, though. The spices were unfamiliar, but they gave the meat an almost sweet crust with a hint of spiciness. After he slowly, but inevitably, finished the boar's meat, he turned his attention to the peach.
Fruit wasn't quite as rare as meat. There were orchards outside the town, after all. Yet, rarely had Sen enjoyed fresh fruit. The peach was firm. Its sweet juice was almost an assault on Sen's untrained palate. He found himself letting out a little moan in pleasure. Once again, he found himself feeling almost overfull with energy. It roiled inside him, the energy washing out from his stomach into his chest. Then, it expanded out into his limbs and head. The energy left him with the sense that he had woken up a second time. Everything around him seemed sharper, clearer, and it was all he could do to sit still. By the time the peach was half gone, Sen felt like he might vibrate apart.
Abruptly, he became aware of the fact that the cat was so close that he could feel its hot breath on his face. He forced himself to move slowly as he turned his head. The cat was so close that he could make out the individual hairs on its face. At that distance, the cat's whiskers no longer looked delicate, but like tiny spears that jutted from around its fearsome maw. If the cat had actually been looking at him, Sen might have screamed. Only, it wasn't looking at him. Its eyes were fixed on the half of the peach in his hand. Sen looked closely at the beast. It wasn't hostile. It didn't even look hungry. If anything, there was an expression of yearning in the cat's eyes.
Sen sighed. He supposed that he owed the beast something for not murdering him in his sleep. He lifted the rest of the fruit toward the beast. It sniffed at the fruit but didn't take it. Sen frowned.
"You want it, don't you?" He asked, lifting the fruit a little closer. "Go on. Take it."
The cat's eyes flicked to his face for just a moment, as though it was trying to weigh his sincerity. Then, the cat lowered its mouth toward his hand. Sen steeled himself for the betrayal. At this range, the massive beast could take his arm off and flee into the forest with it before anyone could do anything. It turned out that Sen's fears were misplaced. The beast picked the fruit up so gently that all Sen felt was the barest brush of fine, soft fur against his palm. The cat backed off a few steps, as though it could sense Sen's apprehension. It didn't immediately swallow the fruit like Sen thought it would. It seemed to take its time with peach in the same way Sen had, savoring the sweetness of the flesh, before it finally let the fruit slide down its throat.
Chapter 8: The Wilds (4)
"Did you really just feed that cat some of your breakfast?" Feng asked in a voice that was half-amused and half-exasperated.
Sen shot to his feet. He hadn't thought about what Feng would think of him just giving away part of the fruit. Would the man be angry? Sen wondered if he was about to be punished. It was a monumental effort of will to remain still.
"Yes, master," he answered.
Feng eyed Sen for a moment. "Care to explain why?"
"I, well," Sen stumbled to explain. "It didn't eat me. I thought it deserved something for that."
The cultivator looked startled for a second before he threw his head back and roared with laughter. The sound boomed through the trees, joyful and uncomplicated. The cultivator was bent over at the waist and slapping his hands against his legs before he finally got his laughter under control. Feng stood back up straight and wiped at his eyes.
"Of all the reasons," Feng said, shaking his head. "Of all the reasons, that might be one of the purest ones I've ever heard for trying to make friends with a spirit beast."
"I wasn't," Sen protested as he eyed the semi-visible cat. "I wasn't trying to make friends. Spirit beasts are dangerous, aren't they?"
Feng gave Sen and the cat an appraising look. "Yes, spirit beasts are all dangerous. But, and listen well my young disciple, that doesn't mean that every spirit beast is dangerous to you. If you treat them all like they're bloodthirsty man-killers, they'll respond with violence. Yet, spirit beasts can also offer you wisdom, boons, and even power, if you can befriend them with the right kind of heart. They are also wise. If you meet them with trickery in your soul, they will know."
Sen wasn't sure he really understood Feng's meaning, but he nodded anyway. "Yes, master."
Feng gave him a smile that said he knew that Sen didn't understand, but the cultivator didn't offer more of an explanation. "Alright, it's time to head out. Pack up your things."
All Sen really had was the blankets, so he folded them up and handed them to Feng. The cultivator waved his hand at the blankets, and they vanished into the storage ring. The cultivator eyed the remaining coals before he doused them with water and covered the ashes with damp earth. Sen watched the process with open curiosity. He knew very little about how or why things were done beyond the walls of the town.
"Any kind of fire, even coals, are dangerous in the woods. If the wind kicks up, it could set the underbrush aflame. This forest stretches almost unbroken for hundreds of miles. Can you imagine the devastation if it burned?"
Sen honestly couldn't imagine what hundreds of miles of burned forests would look like or what it would do to anyone living nearby. Still, he had seen burned out homes in the town. He tried to imagine that same kind of destruction on a massive scale. He shuddered. Feng noticed the shudder and nodded. Without another word, the cultivator started walking in that strange way he did that ate up distance. Sen jogged after him, casting a furtive look back at the campsite. The ghost panther was gone.
***
The morning had evaporated into early afternoon. Sen expected that he would feel the same terrible weariness and awful hunger that had plagued him the day before. Yet, it didn't come. He found it a little easier to keep pace with the cultivator. It wasn't easy, but it didn't leave him wrung out and certain that he would die either. By mid-afternoon, though, his stomach was growling at him. It wasn't painful, just insistent. Feng had said to remind him about food, but Sen hesitated. He didn't really know the cultivator. The man frightened Sen a little. It wasn't Feng, in particular, but there were stories. Cultivators who killed people who annoyed them. Cultivators who destroyed towns and even cities for perceived insults.
While Sen had few cares for the people he'd left behind in the town, Grandmother Lu was still there. He didn't even want to imagine the cultivator killing her because Sen had annoyed Feng. As if to spite him, his stomach gave off a loud gurgle. Feng stopped short and looked around.
"What in the world was that?" Asked the cultivator.
Sen felt his cheeks burn a little in embarrassment. "It was me, master."
Feng looked back at Sen with a mystified expression. "You made that noise? Why?"
Sen's cheeks felt even hotter. "It wasn't me. It was my stomach."
Feng's confusion evaporated into annoyance. "Didn't I tell you to remind me about food, boy?"
"Yes, Master."
"So, why didn't you?"
Sen considered lying, but he thought the cultivator might have some way to know. "I go without a lot of days. I also didn't want to make you angry. I was worried you might destroy the town if I did."
The cultivator grimaced at those words. "There's a clearing up ahead, it's as good a spot as any to take a break."
Sen followed the man to the clearing. There were a few rocks big enough to sit on scattered around the area. Sen sat down on one, and Feng absently handed him some rice balls and a melon almost as big as Sen's own head. Then, the cultivator made his tea set appear. The man focused on the tea set as Sen made short work of the rice balls. His stomach stopped making noises at him. Sen regarded the melon, perplexed about what he should do with it. If he had a knife, he could cut it, but Sen had never owned a knife. Sen almost fell off the rock as the ghost panther seemed to materialize out of nowhere right next to him. The big cat eyed the fruit with curiosity. Sen clutched at his chest and could feel his heart pounding wildly.
"Maybe a little warning next time," he hissed at the cat.
Feng looked over at Sen, saw the cat, and snorted.
Sen sighed, looked at the beast, and hefted the melon. "If you can get this open, you can have some."
Sen felt the air move and looked down at the hand holding the melon. The big fruit split in two, severed cleanly though the center. He was so startled that Sen nearly dropped both halves. He stared at the melon before he felt the cat looking at him. He held half of the melon out to the cat.
"A deal's a deal," he muttered.
He felt the melon lifted out of his hand, while he concentrated on his half. It still wasn't exactly ideal, but Sen made do. He scooped pieces of the melon out with his fingers and ate it. The taste was light and sweet. He had never tasted, never even seen, a melon like it before. He wondered where the cultivator had gotten it. Sen glanced over at the cat. It was lying on the ground nearby, absently licking the perfectly clean melon rind. Sen wondered how the cat had managed that without fingers. Feng eventually came over and handed Sen a cup of tea before settling on a nearby rock.
"I'd like to tell you that you're wrong about cultivators, that they don't go around killing people or destroying things for no reason or bad reasons. I can't, though. Some cultivators are arrogant. I was like that when I was young. Some of it is because of the sects and how they train people. Some of it is just that people are people. I'll have to teach you about all of that eventually. Fortunately, some of us grow out of it. For now, just remember this part. I give you my oath that I will never punish you for doing what I ask you to do. I will certainly not punish other people for you doing what I ask you to do. Do you understand, Sen?"
Sen looked down into the tea. Some of what his master said made sense. Some of it left him cold. He understood the most important part, the promise that had been made.
Sen nodded. "I do."
"Good," said Feng.
Then, they both fell into silence, sipping their tea, lost in their own thoughts.
Chapter 9: The Wilds (5)
Sen wasn't sure exactly when it had happened. Yet, at some point on their third day out from the town, they had transitioned from the forest onto the mountain. It wasn't that there were fewer trees. Much of the lower part of the mountain was covered with them. Rather, it was the transition from relatively flat ground that Sen could jog on to relatively steep ground that Sen spent time either scrambling up or outright climbing. Sen had done his best but ultimately had to beg Feng to find an easier path. The cultivator frowned a little, took in Sen's sweaty, exhausted face, and nodded. After that, Feng didn't simply walk in a straight line. He took more detours. He was always headed in the same general direction, but Sen often looked back and saw where the cultivator had deftly navigated them past something Sen could never have traversed.
Sen had also started noticing the ghost panther more often. It was a wily beast, routinely vanishing for hours at a time. Yet, every once in a while, he caught a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye. Despite those long absences, the beast seemed to have a sense for when Sen would get hungry. It invariably showed up at mealtime. At first, it just hovered near Sen, looking at whatever food was in his hand. By the time they stopped for lunch on the mountain, the cat had taken to putting its huge head on Sen's legs and staring up at him imploringly. While an ill-defined uncertainty about the beast still lingered in the back of his head, Sen was fairly confident that the beast wasn't about to attack him anymore. He would sigh, then dole out a portion of his meal to the cat. It wasn't like Feng was stingy with the portions. The man only seemed to have a vague notion about how much food people actually ate.
Even Sen, coming off years of semi-starvation, was a bit staggered at the mounds of food that Feng casually handed to him at every meal break. Despite the grueling pace, Sen felt better than he ever had before. He felt stronger every morning and seemed to do a little better at keeping up each day. If Feng noticed the change, he didn't mention it. Sen was flicking little pieces of a plum to the cat, who seemed to take enormous pleasure in snapping the bits of fruit out of the air, when Feng spoke up.
"I think we'll stop here for the day."
Sen looked up at the sky. There were still hours and hours of light left. He looked over at Feng. The man was stroking his chin and looked lost in thought. Sen shrugged. If his master wanted to call a halt to the brutal trek early today, Sen wasn't going to complain. A thump against his arm nearly sent Sen toppling off the fallen log he sat on. He looked around wildly before realizing that the cat had batted at him. For a second, he got angry. Then, sense reasserted itself. If the beast wanted to hurt him, it would have used its claws. Instead, it was staring at him with expectation in its eyes. It wasn't until Sen remembered that he still had part of the plum in his hand that it made sense.
"I'm spoiling you," he muttered to the cat.
Still, he resumed their game. The cat bounded and leapt, never once missing a bit of the fruit until only the pit remained in Sen's hand. He showed it to the cat, who immediately lost interest and flopped onto the ground. It still took an effort to keep the beast in sight once it settled down somewhere. The cat huffed a breath and went to sleep. Sen looked at the pit for a moment before tossing it out into the forest. Who knew? Maybe a tree would grow from it. Sen idly imagined coming back to this spot in a few years and finding a plum tree heavy with fruit. He was still fantasizing about all of the plums when his master thrust a water skin into his hands. Sen jerked out of his wandering thoughts and looked up. Feng was holding out a pill to him. Sen took the pill but wasn't sure what to do with it. It smelled like medicine to him.
"You should take that," said Feng.
"What is it? I don't feel sick."
"It just helps clean impurities out of your body. I imagine you've accumulated quite a lot of those over the years."
Sen thought back to some of the things he'd eaten before he nodded. He went to put the pill in his mouth, but Feng stopped him. "Master?"
"You should probably take off those robes first. Lay down on this," said Feng, handing Sen an old, worn blanket. "Then, take the pill."
Sen shrugged and did as he was ordered. He stripped out of the robe, stretched out on the blanket, and took the pill with a big gulp of water.
"Now what?" Sen asked.
Feng considered the question for a moment. "It might be a bit uncomfortable. Don't fight it."
Sen sat up in sudden alarm. "How uncomfortable?"
Before the cultivator could answer, Sen's inside caught fire. At least, that's how it felt. The fire roared inside his stomach, but soon it engulfed his entire middle. He collapsed back onto the blanket with his teeth and fists clenched. The initial explosion of pain soon refined itself into different kinds of agony inside of Sen. The fire in his middle wasn't actually in his stomach. It was closer to his navel, a living star of suffering that pulsed to a rhythm that Sen didn't understand. As bad as that was, there were scorching lines searing their way throughout his body.
Those lines burned upward through his chest, down into his legs, out into his arms, and finally up into his head. Sen wasn't sure if he screamed or just thought he should be screaming, but he was certain that the fire would leave nothing but scorched holes where his eye should be and a charred hunk of meat in place of his brain. The energy in those flaming channels seemed to move, traveling out into his extremities, then back to that star in his middle, where they could renew their strength and make another pass. Even that wasn't where it ended.
Around the time that he realized that he wasn't simply going to burn away from the inside out, the heat moved out from those lines of fire into his organs and muscles. The lessening of the heat was a momentary, ephemeral relief. The heat immediately transformed into pressure. It felt like his muscles would rip themselves apart, simply shredded under that pressure. His lungs couldn't find air anymore. His heart was beating so fast that Sen knew it burst. For some reason, the cultivator had brought him all the way out here to murder him. He didn't know why the man had chosen such a painful way to do it. He could have just stabbed him or broken his neck. This suffering seemed so unnecessary. Unfortunately, to Sen's mind, he didn't die. He simply hovered in a state of such complete physical anguish that rational thoughts stopped forming.
He wasn't Sen anymore. He wasn't anyone. He was just empty, floating in space, lost to everyone and everything. He was aware of the pain, the suffering, but at a distance. It was too much, too terrible, so he had retreated from it. Yet, he was also abstractly aware that he wasn't dying, wouldn't die, from what was happening. It would end, but until it did, he would just stay where he was and hover like a ghost.
Chapter 10: The Wilds (6)
Sen opened his eyes and said the most appropriate thing that came to mind. "You bastard. A bit uncomfortable?"
Sen's voice sounded off to him. He supposed that maybe he'd gone hoarse with all the screaming. Feng's face appeared in Sen's line of sight. The man looked like he wanted to laugh but schooled his face into paternal disapproval.
"Such language," said Feng before the stern mask cracked. "I'll admit that things were a bit more intense than I expected. On the bright side, the next time will be much, much easier."
"Like I'd ever do that again," said Sen.
Feng gave him a half-smile. "You will. Many times."
Sen decided that the fight wasn't worth it, not right then. "Did it work?"
Feng sniffed, grimaced, and nodded.
"It did. There's a creek over there," offered Feng with a gesture. "You should go and cleanse yourself."
"Yeah. I'll do that. Any day now."
Feng rolled his eyes. "Trust me, sooner is better."
Before Sen could sit up, a giant cat face appeared over him. He was so tired that he couldn't even muster the energy to let out a manful shriek. The cat sniffed, laid back its ears, and vanished from sight. What was that about? Then, a smell balled up its fist and punched Sen in the nostrils. It was so bad that he didn't even have words for it. He'd spent years digging through other people's trash and become all but immune to the stink of rotting food and human waste. The smell that assaulted him in that moment simply dwarfed all previous smells. It was a thick, cloying, all-consuming foulness. He had to fight back the urge to vomit. He sat bolt upright and stumbled to his feet. It didn't help with the smell at all. It was as if the stench was a living thing that had wrapped itself around him.
Even worse, the blanket was stuck to his back. He reached up, grabbed a corner of it, and jerked. For a moment, the blanket held fast. Then, it peeled away from his body. He held it in front of him. The blanket had been soaked through with, Sen didn't even know what. It was all kinds of awful colors and the smell got even worse. Feng swiftly lifted the desecrated blanket from Sen's hand with a long stick. Then, the cultivator threw the blanket onto the fire. It caught almost immediately and began emitting a noxious, greasy smoke. Feng turned and gave Sen an almost pleading look.
"The creek, Sen. Go."
Sen didn't need any more encouragement. He stumbled in the direction the cultivator had pointed out, trying to take shallow breaths through his mouth. That made things worse. He could taste that smell. He gave up on breathing altogether and simply ran until he found the creek. Sen plunged into the water, ignored the icy feel of it, and started scrubbing at his body. It wasn't deep enough to truly submerge himself, but Sen did his best to get as much of his body into the water as he could. He grabbed handfuls of sand from the creek bed and scoured his skin. Putrid filth floated away on the creek's current. Some of it was black, but plenty of it was brown and he even saw the occasional streaks of yellow. The idea that all of that had been inside of him left Sen feeling more than a little ill. After a while, Feng showed up and tossed Sen a bar of rough soap.
"You'll need that to finish. Don't forget about your hair."
One thought of all that vileness stuck in his hair made the decision easy. "Give me a knife. I'll just cut it off."
Feng gave him a look. "Don't be stupid. Use the soap. Get clean. I'll leave your clothes over here."
Feng dropped a pile of clothing on a big, flat rock, and disappeared. It took a long time to get his hair clean, but it also gave Sen some time to reflect. He looked down at his own body. He didn't remember having quite that much muscle before. He didn't remember having any muscle if he was being honest. He'd always been thin. On the occasions when he could safely sneak a bath somewhere, he could always see his ribs. Now, he saw lean muscle over his frame. He wasn't massive, but he didn't look like a strong gust of wind would knock him down anymore either. What had been in that pill?
When dunking his head only left suds floating on the water, he moved on to his body. He thought he'd gotten most of the foulness off of him, but the soap revealed that there was more. It was much thinner than it had been, just a vague discoloration in the water, but he was more than willing to scrub himself raw to be rid of it. When he'd scrubbed every inch of his body at least twice, he finally called it good enough. The smell was gone, and the water was cold enough that he'd started shivering. The sun was also dropping fast. The last thing Sen wanted was to find himself walking through the forest in the dark. He climbed out of the creek and went over to the rock where his clothes sat. The ghost panther was sitting nearby, watching him with curious eyes. It made him feel a little self-conscious. Feng had included a towel, so Sen quickly dried himself off and dressed.
When Sen got back to the clearing, Feng looked him up and down before nodding.
"Much better. Although, I suppose you'll need new robes. Those are a bit short."
Sen looked down at his feet. Several inches of bare skin were exposed between the bottom of the robes and the tops of his shoes. He shrugged. It wasn't like he could do anything about the robes.
"Is there anything to eat? I'm starving."
With the great filth crisis finally dealt with, Sen was keenly aware of his hunger. It was more than just his stomach. It was as if every muscle and organ in his body cried out for sustenance. Feng pointed toward the small fire. Sen walked over and sat by it. Given that he'd slept for hours, it didn't really seem fair that he was feeling so thoroughly drained. Feng came over and handed him a cup of tea. Sen took it but recoiled when he saw Feng holding out another pill.
"No!" Sen shouted. "I'm not doing that again!"
Feng shook his head. "Obviously not. There's no point in doing that again now. Just take the pill. It will help."
Sen gave the cultivator a look that was equal parts suspicion and doubt. Sen reluctantly took the pill from Feng. Almost as if he didn't trust himself to wait, Sen put the pill in his mouth and washed it down with the tea. When he felt a warmth growing in his stomach, Sen very nearly started screaming at the cultivator. Yet, the feeling peaked at warmth. Unlike the last pill, Sen felt it immediately when the warmth moved to that same place near his navel. The warmth spread along those same channels and an ache he hadn't even registered eased inside of him. Bit by bit, his muscles relaxed as the warmth spread into them. Even his hunger eased up a little.
Even so, the minute a plate appeared in front of him, Sen started shoveling the food into his mouth. Plate after plate of food appeared in front of him, only for the meat, rice, vegetables, and fruit to vanish. Sen was only vaguely aware that he was still handing some of the food off to the big cat. Something odd did happen while he was eating. While some of the food was just food, some of it captured his attention. Sen could swear that the majority of what Feng gave him felt like it had more energy than the rest. It felt like that special food shocked his fingers every time he touched a piece of it. He also felt better whenever he ate those bits and pieces. That spot near his navel seemed to slowly fill up. Only when it was full did he finally feel like he could stop eating.
"You had a hard day," observed Feng as he tossed some blankets to Sen. "You should get some rest."
Sen spread out his blankets while muttering about evil cultivators. Once he stretched out beneath a blanket, though, exhaustion pulled him into a dreamless unconsciousness.
Chapter 11: A Manor in the Sky
Sen was wary of the cultivator the next morning. He kept waiting for another agony pill to appear. The memory of pain was still fresh, but Sen felt oddly removed from it. It felt like remembering something that had happened to someone else. He was at a loss to explain it. Sen's fears notwithstanding, Feng didn't produce any more pills. He just provided more of that food that Sen was increasingly sure had an extra something in it. Yet, he wasn't sure. It didn't feel like waves of energy coursing through him the way it had the day before. Instead, there was just a gentle pressure that left his insides feeling ever so slightly out of place. It wasn't terrible, just a terribly odd feeling. Sen noticed Feng staring off into the distance with a faraway look in his eyes.
"Master Feng?" Sen asked quietly.
The cultivator gave himself a minor shake and looked over at Sen. "We should arrive today."
"Is there a cave up here?"
Feng blinked several times before he cocked his head to one side. "Cave? Why would there be a cave?"
"Is that what cultivators, you know, do? Sit in caves for centuries and," Sen wasn't quite sure how to finish that thought. "Eat power."
Feng gave Sen a level look for five seconds. It was long enough that Sen started to feel a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck. Then, Feng snickered. Sen released the breath he'd been holding. Feng just shook his head.
"While there may well be a cave somewhere on this mountain that might benefit a cultivator, I won't be sitting in one for centuries."
"Then, where are we going?"
Feng offered Sen a little smile. "You'll know it when you see it. Now, let's clean all of this up and get moving."
Sen found himself looking around for the ghost panther, but it was either hiding or had wandered off after claiming its part of breakfast. Sen decided that he was just getting used to having the thing around. It was hard to stay afraid of something that shamelessly begged for food and chased things around whenever it could get someone to throw them. Even Feng had caved in a few times and thrown little treats to the oversized feline. Cleaning up was a swift process and Sen soon found himself trailing behind the cultivator. Yet, for all that the cultivator was still moving fast, Sen was sure that his own pace had improved. He still needed to jog along to keep up, but it had become hard work, instead of an impossibly difficult thing that he could barely maintain.
The farther up the mountain that they traveled, though, the warier Sen became of their surroundings. In town, there had been walls and guards to keep them safe. Although, after seeing that boar and the ghost panther, Sen's faith in those protections had grown rather thin. He wasn't sure if a similar boar could charge straight through the town's wall. He did know that it wouldn't have shocked him if it happened. He was supremely confident that the ghost panther could come and go through the town's defenses at will. That was assuming it could be bothered to venture that far. Part of Sen had concluded that, all things being equal, the cat would choose laziness. Why go all the way down to the town when you just find or catch something close to home? Then again, the distance might not seem like that much to the big cat. With so much uncertainty, Sen kept a close eye on the surrounding forest. By the time lunch rolled around, he was wondering if it was a wasted effort. He hadn't seen a thing, not even the big cat.
Sen was a little relieved that the forest was thinning out as they moved up the mountain, even if it was getting a bit colder. With fewer trees around, he could keep a better eye on their surroundings. Feng seemed unconcerned, but Sen didn't feel comfortable adopting the same casual air. Feng could seemingly kill powerful spirit animals with his bare hands. Sen didn't have that option. Late in the afternoon, the panther reappeared. It took up station by Sen matching his pace. It wouldn't have bothered Sen, but the cat made it look like it was taking a calm stroll. They continued on that way for the better part of an hour before the cat abruptly stepped in front of Sen and stopped. The move was so abrupt that Sen very nearly toppled over the cat. If he had fallen, he'd have gone right off a small cliff face. After regaining his balance, he went to yell at the beast. Except, the cat wasn't paying any attention to him.
Sen followed the cat's gaze and came up short. He could see for miles and miles. He could see the town near the base of the mountain. He was surprised that the place that had loomed so large in his mind could look so very small. Instead, it was nature that loomed large from this vantage point. He could see that the forest stretched out to the horizon. The green canopy was only occasionally broken by small patches of blue that Sen assumed were lakes and one distinct blue line that must be a river. There were indistinct blurs that might or might not be other towns and villages. Like a lightning bolt, it hit Sen that he had likely ventured farther than almost anyone else in town. The world was so much bigger than the mayor, or the noble brats, or even Grandmother Lu.
The world was vast. There were things to learn out there. There were deep secrets and power, certainly, but those things only came if fate willed it. There were other kinds of secrets that Sen wanted to know about. Small secrets. He wanted to know what it felt like to stand in the sea. He wanted to know what tilled fields smelled like. He wanted to know if the sunset looked the same in a desert, whatever a desert was. While Sen wasn't looking, wasn't paying attention, the length and breadth of his universe expanded. The warm ball near his navel, something he'd nearly forgotten about during the long hike, flared to life. Sen reflexively clutched at his stomach, but the sensation wasn't painful. If anything, it felt joyous. Just for a moment, it felt like the world was pouring energy into him. Then, the moment passed, and he was just Sen again. The cat never looked at him, just turned and trotted toward Feng. Feng, on the other hand, was staring at Sen with dark, intense eyes. Yet, the cultivator also said nothing. He just turned and resumed walking. At a loss, Sen followed along.
When the moment arrived that afternoon and evening were balanced on a knife's edge, Feng, Sen, and the ghost panther entered a clearing. Sen was left speechless. Here, high up on a mountain, was a massive house. No, Sen thought, house isn't the word for it. It was a manor, or maybe even a mansion. What was such a place doing so far up the mountain that it nearly touched the sky? Yet, Sen only got a brief look at the manor, rising behind the stone walls like a phoenix. Something far more alarming snared his attention. Standing in mid-air over the gate was a man, glaring down on them with fury in his eyes. He held a spear in one hand and pointed it at them, lightning wreathing the shining blade.
"Feng!" Roared the flying man. "You court death! What madness brought you to this place?"