v4c11: The Senior Disciple

One Month Ago

 

Lu Ri, Disciple of the Cloudy Sword Sect, placed one hand against the gate that barred his way into the Cloudy Sword Sect. He had set out from Rou Jin’s home with his mission, which was for the moment, complete. He had accomplished his goal: he had delivered Shen Yu to an amicable meeting with his grandson.

 

Now, it was time to make his report. With one hand, he pushed on the door and the massive gate moved like it was made of paper. He took a deep breath and allowed the smell of the Sect to fill his nose. Crisp, pure air.

 

“Brother Lu Ri!” His fellow Senior Disciple Yichou exclaimed from his post at the gate. Lu Ri turned to him, and his fellow raised an eyebrow. “You’re certainly in a good mood. I trust your mission went well?”

 

Lu Ri paused, then realized he was smiling. He had been doing that a lot lately. “It was time well spent, Brother,” Lu Ri responded.

 

“So I see.” His fellow Senior Disciple looked Lu Ri up and down before continuing. “Elder Ge wishes for you to join him in one day’s time; he bids you to rest and recover yourself, and on the morrow meet in the Hall of the Elders so that you may be debriefed.”

 

Lu Ri smiled and nodded, setting forth into his Sect. His clean, freshly and lovingly repaired Sect.

 

His feet took him to one of the amphitheaters—where the various disciples were having a calligraphy contest arranged by one of the Core Disciples. The works on display were bold and evocative, and Lu Ri spent several long hours admiring their work and listening to the arguments over the arrangement of characters and brush strokes.

 

He was just preparing to join in himself when a voice caught his attention.

 

“Junior Brother?”

 

Lu Ri paused at the unexpected development.

 

“Senior Sister Yeo Na,” he said respectfully.

 

The bandaged woman smiled at him.

 

===========================

 

Lu Ri found himself in Crimson Crucible City, sitting with his Senior Sister on top of the Grand Balcony, one of the highest points in the metropolis.

 

It was a beautiful sight. The fortress city was built partially into the great Cloudy Mountain mountain, and then extended outwards on the few pieces of flat and solid ground of the tiered and river-crossed province. The outer bailey extended out into the Great Plunge, the edge of the waterfall that was the end of the Great Snake River. It descended into one of the gorges Raging Waterfall Gorge was named for. It fell over a thousand Li into the depths of the earth—a vast curtain of water thundering ever downwards and into the unknown.

 

Massive bridges and roads stretched from all directions to the great walls, as the precipice of the Great Plunge was the end of a trade route that spanned most of the Empire. People streamed in and out of the great city constantly, and Lu Ri could see the smoothness which the design of the roads imparted upon the masses in their motion. It was an efficient and well-run place; clearly proximity to the Cloudy Sword Sect and the teachings of the Honoured Founders had influenced them greatly.

 

After his time in Verdant Hill, Lu Ri looked at it with new eyes.

 

“You’ve grown quite a bit, Junior Brother. There is a new light to your eyes,” Senior Sister said, and Lu Ri was startled out of his reflections, turning his attention back to his companion who looked quite amused.

 

It seemed like a lifetime ago that Senior Sister Yeo Na had trained him to resist killing intent. Now, his kind—if still imposing—Senior was not quite so fearsome. Her wounds in the final battle against the Demonic hordes had been quite severe. Now she looked tired, with one arm and one leg completely covered in seals and bandages.

 

She did not seem quite so imposing; and that was honestly a travesty. “You look best stern and uncompromising, Senior Sister.” Lu Ri murmured.

 

She smiled at him, a chuckle escaping her lips. “Your words are dangerous weapons, Junior Brother, even when you do not mean them like that. It’s quite flattering that you hold this old lady in such high regard.”

 

“Always, Senior Sister,” Lu Ri replied. “One must always pay respects to those who have shown them the correct path.”

 

Senior Sister shook her head, her voice fond. “Always so earnest. That part of you has not changed.” She took a bite of the pastry that Lu Ri had given her. He saw how her eyes widened as the maple hit her tongue. “Oh! This is quite good.”

 

“Indeed. I must confess a weakness for it.”

 

“I can see why.” She took another bite. “It’s quite delicious. But I do have a hunger for a different thing. Tell your Senior Sister, what changed you so? Your eyes are one thing, but you hold yourself differently. I can tell you’re close to being able to use the Raging Cloudy Sword Formation.”

 

Lu Ri nodded. His Senior Sister was incredibly perceptive. “This Lu Ri, in the course of his mission, was rewarded with pointers from a cultivator in the Imperial Realm.”

 

Senior Sister’s eyes widened. “Diligence and good karma have truly rewarded you, Junior Brother,” she praised.

 

Lu Ri smiled. Shen Yu was one of the preeminent Masters of the world. His lessons had skyrocketed Lu Ri’s understanding of himself and his abilities. That alone would have been a princely reward for his work.

 

But it was not all he had received.

 

“It was that… and I suppose I found a kindred spirit, of a sort. A man who seemed like he was birthed directly from the pages of the Honoured Founders.” A gem of a mortal that had understood Lu Ri perfectly. The Lord Magistrate of Verdant Hill was a rare sort of man. A true ruler, lifted directly from the texts that Lu Ri held so dear. He had heard Lu Ri’s ideas, and immediately grasped their value.

 

“Oh? He sounds like an interesting man.”

 

“Indeed. He and his subordinates are truly pearls hidden in the dirt.” The people of Verdant Hill had heard the Lord Magistrate’s request to begin naming and numbering houses, and had immediately accepted the command. The Lord Magistrate said it would better facilitate the distribution of mail, and the people had immediately recognised the usefulness of such measures. Even those who did not fully understand the plan simply shrugged their shoulders, confident that the Lord Magistrate would not lead them wrong.

 

The Ideals of the Founders, recreated in a far flung village. The rulers, gentleman scholars who guided with a firm and steady hand; the people, confident and eager to elevate the society.

 

His Senior Sister listened quietly as he spoke of his experiences, his ideas for connecting the provinces. She seemed amused by his passion though Lu Ri noted her careful pose and the lines of pain on her otherwise smooth face.

 

“Before I departed, I left special instruction with my organization, the Plum Blossom’s Shadow, to begin their own work. The maps and census data needed to be redone.”

 

They had kept their faith admirably, providing services and gathering information, consolidating their hold, but they were coasting with no clear goal in mind beyond that. They had been completing tasks for the sole sake of completion with no true purpose.

 

So he had provided one, and his subordinates, truly receptive to the words of the Founders, had grasped his intentions perfectly. Taking control of the province’s mail, linking the entire province together with superior infrastructure, and providing an invaluable service took ahold of them. Already the ‘mail corps’ was being rapidly assembled, routes being planned out and rest stops being designated on maps and built upon the land.

 

“You sound like you can’t wait to go back.”

 

Lu Ri paused at her words before a realization struck him. “Yes. It’s true.” Lu Ri nodded. “I want to see how far this goes.”

 

His Senior Sister graced him with a warm smile. “I do believe that attitude shall take you far. Your Senior Sister expects plenty of stories, later, for she must take her time in purging this demonic corruption.”

 

She paused as a spasm of pain rippled across her face. He could sense the Demonic Qi churning within her.

 

“I do believe I have something for that. Though it is for the Elders tomorrow—”

 

“Then do your duty first, Senior Disciple Lu Ri.” Senior Sister laughed, waving her uninjured hand in humorous but clear dismissal. “I shan’t keel over in the meantime—but what is this about the Plum Blossom’s Shadow? Is my Junior going around naming things after himself?”

Stolen story; please report.

 

Lu Ri flushed slightly at the teasing tone. His name was spelled with the character for Plum…

 

He spent the rest of the day deflecting her amused remarks, and occasional bouts of Intent—just like old times.

 

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When Lu Ri, Senior Disciple of the Cloudy Sword Sect, gave his report, he had been expecting Elders Ge, Ran, and Chen. He had not been expecting Elder Yukong of the Artifact Pavilion and Elder Shou of the Medicine Pavilion to also be in attendance. Both had been in Closed Door Cultivation for centuries.

 

He was instantly under the focus of five elders, their intent heavy. He bore it with the ease of practice and bowed respectfully.

 

“Senior Disciple Lu Ri reports his mission accomplished,” he declared.

 

“Excellent,” Elder Ge replied, smiling. He already knew of the mission’s success, but he seemed to be using this bit of theater to introduce Lu Ri to the newly awakened Elders. Lu Ri was quite flattered to be introduced like this, but was it not written by the Honoured Founders that a leader had to set their followers up for success?

 

“So, this is your boy, Ge?” Elder Shou asked, scratching at his short beard. He was thin and lanky, with a bald head and the wrinkles of age. He had one half of his robe’s top off, exposing his wiry muscle. Sharp, intelligent eyes roved over Lu Ri’s body. “Doesn’t look like much.”

 

“He comports himself well, husband. You at his age would have fallen to your knees under the weight of the intent upon him,” Elder Yukong observed, her voice quiet. She looked not a day over twenty, but instead of jade, she was hard granite; stark, like the face of a mountain.

 

Elder Shou increased the pressure upon Lu Ri, and he did not move. The Elder snorted and relented.

 

“Indeed, this is Disciple Lu Ri, whose actions have benefited our sect greatly.” Elder Ge gestured towards a chair. “Sit, Disciple, for we have much to discuss—and be free with yourselves, my friends. He is ‘my boy’ as you say. I hope to have him join our number in the future.”

 

“Thank you, Elder Ge,” Lu Ri intoned as he sat down. Elder Ran was similarly smiling, while Elder Chen was inscrutable. Instead of trying to divine meaning in that impassiveness, he turned to the two he had not yet interacted with. “It is an honour to see you both awake, Elders.”

 

Elder Shou snorted, while Elder Yukong’s eyes narrowed slightly.

 

“Well… it was simply time to come out of seclusion,” Elder Shou said, shrugging.

 

“The state of the Sect was appalling,” Yukong stated simply. “Inattention nearly had it end in disaster.”

 

Shou grunted again. “So many things left to fall to the wayside… but I suppose it’s our fault in some ways.” The admission looked like it physically pained him, before he shook his head. “But enough about that. How is that bastard doing, eh? We don’t have to prepare for a sword to cut our mountain in two?”

 

And thus, Lu Ri recounted his dealings with Shen Yu, his grandson, and his grandson’s newfound sect.

 

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When he finished his tale, the room was warmer and the mood lighter. Elder Ge sat back with a satisfied smile. Even Elder Chen looked a bit less worried.

 

“So… everything has been resolved,” he said.