v6c5: Through a Falcon’s Eyes

“… first thing in the morning he takes a big swig—and gets a mouthful of horse piss!”

Tianzhe Minyan, who had been restraining herself, couldn’t help the honest laughter that broke free. Ge and Shou made not even a token effort—both started howling. Ge was holding his stomach, while Shou was hitting the table with his fist. Yukong’s shoulders shook with mirth, hand planted onto her face as if to hide her laughter..

Minyan could just imagine Shen Yu, his eyes bugged out comically and a look of dawning horror upon his face—an expression she had seen enough times.

And really, the sheer audacity! That a boy had dared to visit such indignities upon the Unconquered Blade—and that Shen Yu had fallen for them—was truly adding flowers to a lovely view.

“How did you even get enough horse piss to fill a drinking gourd?” Ge asked, a giant grin on his face.

“With patience, quick feet, and a bucket,” was the cheeky reply, provoking a fresh round of laughter.

“Nephew, your uncle pays his respects to your skill!” Shou managed to get out between his laughs, and Minyan shook her head with amusement. Shou had always been prickly and concerned with propriety… but that was apparently thrown behind his head when the target was Shen Yu.

“Look at this. I do everything for him, and he visits such a grievous injury upon his Grandfather!” Shen Yu had a look of mock offense on his face, but he too had a massive smile, his eyes twinkling as he just laughed along with the tale.

“Haaa?! You deserved it, you old goat! I bought those candied nuts with my own money, and you decided that they went well with your booze!” came the instant rebuttal, and both of them started childishly swatting at each other. Beside the boy, his wife and Shen Yu’s other disciple—in his human form—were chuckling along. All of the others had retired to look after the babe and grant them some privacy.

It was an honest struggle for Minyan to compose herself enough to stop laughing at the tale. The boy was not just good but great at telling stories. His depictions of the antics he’d indulged in was enough to break even Minyan’s composure.

She finally managed to calm herself by taking a sip of the mead, a pleasant, golden yellow drink that tasted and felt like the first time she had ever consumed alcohol—warm in all the right ways.

They were quite deep into their cups, all of the high level cultivators allowing the pleasant buzz to be felt. Minyan took one of the last rice noodle rolls, filled with beef, fresh herbs, and familiar spices. Shen Yu had most assuredly kept and instructed the boy on how to use the spices, but the fact that he had gotten this close to the familiar taste of the Isle was impressive.

She looked up at the boy and his bright smile, then sighed.

Minyan had arrived at this place wanting to dislike the boy.

When she had first met him and he had been introduced as Shen Yu’s grandson, she had nearly struck him down. Grandson. The blood of that beast, the wicked fruit of that woman. The woman who had ruined everything. Who had stolen Shen Yu’s heart, wrapped him around her fingers, only to produce a disgusting, vile creature—a worthless thing that killed her.

Pathetic.

Even thinking about it made Minyan’s Qi grow sharp and jagged, like icicles violently bursting out of a body.

She hated few things—most simply were not worthy of that level of her attention. She was indifferent to them.

Tianzhe Minyan loathed that bitch and her spawn with every fiber of her being.

They had marred, tarnished the wonderful, beautiful blade she had gotten the privilege of seeing forged. A blade of such breathtaking majesty that it shone over the entire world.

One of her oldest and dearest friends, the one she had known would ascend and become immortal—reduced.

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Her heart broke, and at the same time it burned with fury that he was doing that to himself. Hurting himself for nothing. It had been a monster. Cast it down and think no more on it.

Shen Yu had nearly broken from her. He had then run from the very thing that had brought him low, refusing to sire more children. A weakness. A flaw in his cultivation. One that saw him turn from the vital force that he was, the Unconquered Blade, into something nearly unworthy of himself.

He should be stronger than that. He would be stronger than that… perhaps with some more time, had been her thought.