Chapter 89 – Virtues of a Master (IV)

Chapter 89

Virtues of a Master (IV)

I came back down, staring at the glazed eyes lost in a dream before the fade.

It was the same as I remembered it being and why I stopped coming here in the first place: depressing. No… that’s selling it short, honestly. Unlike your standard fare brutality of the world that I’m (somewhat) accustomed to, this here reeked of something deeper. Not necessarily sinister, as it were, just… colder.

I used all my Creator’s Eyes charges, but they yielded little besides what I already expected: four kids, aged between eleven and sixteen, each a few days away from dying.

There was a difference, however, from the last time I was here. Not about the place, but about me. That haze, that abject elusiveness, almost, that I noted above the town… I sensed it here, too. But it was far too vague to make anything of it. It’d be like identifying a killer by saying, ‘He smelled somewhat familiar to the scene of the crime’.

Perhaps it was my mind playing tricks on me, feeding me what I maybe wanted to believe. Because, if the Seed were somewhere here, a lot of things would fit into a puzzle that I only ever got glimpses of.

I spun and left before the shadows swallowed me up, too.

Perusing the market for a little while yielded little to no news, so I headed over to a peak I’d never visited before, strangely: Elder Qin’s.

Though it wasn’t as vastly wealthy as the Spirit Sage’s Peak, it was still leagues above my own. Plus, there were far more kids–hundreds, in fact–rushing about everywhere. Domestic pavilions lined the uphill climb, courtyards decorated in unique ways, with trees casting shade rather symmetrically on both sides.

Most disciples looked at me oddly for a moment, though, strangely, they all greeted me… and did so politely. Not that I think they respected me, but more that these were the ways of a man who taught them.

Once at the peak, a steward approached me and guided me to a small hall to the left, round and pleasantly scented. It was jasmine, or an ersatz scent of it, and before I knew it, I was served a spirit tea. Far more pleasant and tantalizing than the mildew tea I’ve been drinking all this while.

I patiently waited for about half an hour before a tired figure came through the doors, his face seemingly having aged another decade since I last saw him not a few hours ago.

“I hope you haven’t waited for long,” he said, pushing out a smile.

“… it must be infernal.”

“Hm,” he sighed, sitting down, creases in his forehead quite a bit deeper than I remembered them being. “You could say.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

“Just remember all I ever said to you,” he smiled deeper this time, and I bit back my words. “I should rest for a little while.”

“Ah, yes. Of course. Forgive me for disturbing you.”

So… I learned nothing.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Hm.

It’s a bit frustrating, being kept in the dark. I mean, he probably did it with good intentions, and perhaps for a good reason, too, but still… damn is it frustrating.

By the time I came back home, the sun had already set. Somebody had gone down the mountain to the restaurant and picked us up a dinner, and thus we all sat in a circle to eat.

Unlike me, who was wrecked with worries, the others chattered rather freely. Well, ‘others’ really meant only three–Dai Xiu, Xi Zhao, and Light on occasion. Long Tao and Hua remained the silent oaks they’d always been, appearing disinterested in everything.

The war’s in fifteen days… which means, in all likelihood, we’d be departing the Sect soon enough, too. But I’m not ready. Nowhere near ready, in fact.

I don’t even have a functioning map of this world, for crying out loud! I don’t know where to go, what to do, or how to do it… I mean, I have an okay-ish vault of wealth, but how long can it realistically support these little monsters around me?