v7c8: Party Formation

It was only once we started really planning things out for our little adventure south that it really hit me that this was going to be the longest amount of time I would be spending from my home since arriving here.

This wasn’t going to be the roughly two weeks I had spent at the Dueling Peaks. This was going to be closer to five or six months. Five or six months of constant travel, constant meetings, and constant cultivator… stuff.

Five or six months where I wouldn’t be tending to my home, where I wouldn’t really be farming.

It felt kind of wrong; an uncertainty, deep in my soul.

And yet, it was necessary. Tianlan had been hurt during the solstice, in some places, quite badly. Her Qi leaked out into the world like blood, and as long as those rips and tears were there, she wouldn’t get better.

The problem was that to fix them, I had to actually go there. I had to be the one to help Tianlan physically put those locations to right. I was the locus of her power, and of her thought. While she could send little tendrils of herself to go and watch over others; she needed her full and undivided attention to actually fix the damage, along with my help.

Tianlan was hurting. The dull ache deep in my bones scratched at the back of my mind constantly. This was getting fixed, so she could have some relief. And if we were going south anyway, might as well combine the trips. All of the sects of the Azure Hills wanted to meet with me, so why not? I would meet them. Reassure them that the whole demon invasion thing had been taken care of.

And finally? Meimei wanted to see more of the province. Though there was a bit of trepidation and worry in the way she was doing things, I could tell she was excited to travel with me, to see things she had only read about, and learn whatever she could.

I had promised to take her around the province. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t deliver?

Outside of what we would pack, and where exactly we were going, there was another important thing we needed to decide.

Who would be coming along, and who would be tending to the farm in our absence.

“So who wants to come along, and who wants to stay?” I asked at dinner, opening the floor.

The first person to speak was actually Big D.

“My Qi is still unstable from my injuries,” the rooster said, in his natural form at the moment. “I still need time to rest and recover. Perhaps, when I am fully well, I shall join you. But for now, I’m just happy that I get to take up my original duty once more. Rest easy, Master. Your First Disciple shall guard your coop.”

That, at least, was quite a relief. If there was anyone I could trust with my home, it was Big D.

“Naturally, I shall also be staying,” Peppa stated primly. “The house needs to be tended to and be readied for your return, Master.”

“It is good that you are staying, for I shall need your guidance, Sister, lest things fall into disarray!” Big D said with a crooked smile. “Last time I was alone tending to the house, I made a mess of things!”

He was referring to the whole situation that had happened with the rats in our first year, who had eaten nearly all the Jewel Herbs, and who had nearly killed both him and Chunky.

His tone was joking, but there was a certain amount of seriousness there.

“Impossible,” Chunky rumbled. “Brother never makes same mistake twice.”

“My husband is correct. The First Disciple never makes the same mistake twice, and we are happy to follow him as Steward while the Master is away,” Peppa finished. Big D looked quite touched by their words.

“Chunky will stay with wife,” the boar said with a small, serene smile. “Land here still hurt. Will help fix.”

From there they turned to Ri Zu. The little rat glanced from them to Meiling then back again, obviously conflicted, before letting out a breath. “Ri Zu has been away for a while, and has gone on many adventures recently. A bit of a break seems like it would do her some good.”

The four of them nodded.

“What about you, Wa Shi…?” Big D trailed off when he turned to look at the fish, an eyebrow raised. Washy looked up from where he was arranging cooking utensils, preserves, and bags of nuts on top of a cloth that was lying beside a pole.

His fishy eyes stared back at them.

“I’m going to where the food is,” he stated. “Tigu bragged so much about trying new things! How ever could I not go?”

His eyes blazed with passion, and a single muscled arm was raised into a fist.

“Fair enough,” I said, amused. Washy nodded happily, then turned back to planning his pack.

Noodle, Bowu, and Vajra were staying, though Vajra was going to send a couple of her bees to accompany us.

“After we finish this up, we’ll join you.” Yun Ren said, tapping the checklist Gou Ren had given him. “Ain’t much to do when everything is planted anyway.”

‘Master said I should stay here for a while, if that’s alright with you?’ Spooks asked. ‘He says your home is very good for me.’

“Of course! You can stay as long as you like,” I said, and the Thunderhoof preened. I then turned to the last of our number. “What about you, Babe?”

The ox considered my words carefully, mulling them over.

‘If you shall have me, I would travel with you. Though the thought of going south makes my spirit waver, it is something I must conquer. And chronicling this adventure seems like it would make for a good story,’ he said. His voice was calm and quiet as always.

“Of course, we’ll be happy to have you.” I said. “Gramps?”

“Oh, I shall be here and there, I suppose,” he said enigmatically. “My disciple here still needs training, and I must recuperate. I may join you for a day or two, and then be gone the next.”

I nodded.

So me, Mei, Zhuye, Babe and Washy. With gramps, Yun Ren and Biyu popping in and out every so often. Not a small group, but not a large one either.

And the next day Peppa did bring up a good point while meeting with the foxes. We might have to go and do cultivator stuff for hours. An extra pair of hands to keep everything running smoothly – and our son occupied – would probably be helpful.

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Su Suyan’s breathing was calm and even. Her ears betrayed not a moment of her discomfort, standing as she was in the home of Master Jin. Her black hair was pulled into a no-nonsense bun, and her tail was immaculately groomed, the white tip drawing the eye like a banner.

It felt good to have them out in the open and unrestrained, without the undercurrent of worry that it normally had.

“This is the most important assignment of your life, Suyan,” Lady Nezuhua had said, her eyes focused and serious.

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Her mission? Serve Master Jin and attend to his son and heir.

A heavy task indeed for one not yet into the Spiritual Realm.

At first, the idea had been floated that Lady Yuanlin should take the role… but that idea was quickly discarded.

Lady Yuanlin was the strongest of them outside of Honoured Uncle and would make for the best bodyguard. Yuanlin was strong and fierce. She was a hunter and tracker without compare, and could spirit away entire groups of their kin without a trace… but Yuanlin wasn’t exactly domestic. She was made for the rough and tumble frontier, wild and untamed. She could probably do everything a maid could do, but first she would have to learn all the duties of one.

So instead, they turned to the weaker, but better-prepared option. Suyan, at the Fourth Stage of the Profound Realm.

She was not the strongest of them. She was not the most talented of them. She was, in the end, nothing really special; her only ability was that she was good at working hard. She had the blood, when so many didn’t. She was trueborn, her ears, tail, and illusions proof that she was related to their forebears. She had to be strong, for the rest of them.

When her family called, Suyan answered.

The rich and the powerful paid very well for cultivator bodyguards and couriers, and that money went to her far-flung kin. Suyan could not remember a time when she wasn’t working. Fighting off assassins, braving the secret paths of the mountains through Spirit Beast-infested territory. Cultivating as hard as she could on the scraps she kept, eking out just a bit more strength that could be used to protect her kin.

Suyan never said no. Whenever they asked for help, she was there. Nothing was beneath her. She could cook, she could clean, she watched children, and had even delivered them, in the truly far-off villages.

The decades had taken their toll. She was tired. She was exhausted.

But her family had called. Suyan would answer. Even here, where the others could rest, she had work to do to ensure their safety. So she shrugged off the exhaustion and bone-deep weariness as she always did, forming a mask of ice. An illusion, but one that had served her well all these years.

Guard the Young Master with your life, she had been commanded. And so she would.