Chapter 14- What Kind of Teachers Are These?

Tian wasn’t sure how he felt after his first day of tutoring. Cranky, probably. It had certainly been educational, but being repeatedly poisoned was stressful. Nourishing. Very nourishing. He could feel the increase in vital energy seeping through his body. But unquestionably stressful.

It was interesting to see how the energy… he had to work to find a different word than “infiltrated.” How his body digested the grasses and turned that plant matter into streams of medicine, and how that medicine was endured by his body. He was used to seeing things as elemental streams, flowing from one place to another. Watching how those elements operated in the body was pretty interesting.

He could see what Voidcatcher was getting at, and why he considered this building a foundation in herbal medicine. It was one thing to know a plant was medicinal, another to know its elemental properties, but a third thing entirely to see how those medicinal properties interacted with the organs. He was inducing elemental imbalances within himself, and observing their progress. He really would have an excellent foundation in diagnosis after a while.

Tian had known, since he first started studying medicine with Brother Wong, that the elements were impossible to separate from both medicine and the human body. Both because everything was made up of the five elements, but also that the organs in a person’s body were elementally aligned. It was as close to an explanation as he had heard for why medicine worked. Your organs were unbalanced. Better drink some tea about it.

Why some medicines worked on some diseases but not others, despite having similar elemental matchups, still hadn’t been adequately explained to him. He had the sneaking suspicion that his teachers didn’t know either. There was a very great deal of medicine that seemed to operate on the theory that someone’s teacher had tried it and it worked for them so it would probably work for you. Beyond that? The theory of elements, yin and yang, and the intercession of your ancestors.

If even that failed, well, such is life. Hope you were good, better luck next life, remember to tip the Black and White Impermanences, they are public officials and underpaid.

The thought snagged his attention. On the one hand, as a proud member of the Brotherhood of Empty Pockets, he was against bribery. On the other hand, if he was remembering correctly, the Impermanences didn’t want paying in actual legal tender. There was paper Hell Money that got burnt, as well as incense and other offerings. He knew they worked at earning the favor of ghostly beings, because he had helped make Ghost King Zhong. Well, Zhong was already a meritorious ghost, a real pillar of the post-mortal community, but he helped pave the way for his elevation. He and Liren had worked on Senior Zhong’s sword together.

A smile crept across Tian’s face, as the idea took hold. Incense and offerings, shrines and talismans were all things that did cost money, yes, but were also things he could make. He wasn’t any sort of craftsman, but so what? If random peasants could make offerings, why not him? And since the offerings worked, why wouldn’t he incorporate them into his medical practice?

Why not make a project of it? Immortals loved working on projects. And what sort of project would it be if he didn’t invite Liren to make it with him?

That evening was awkward. Tian pulled the water up from the well, and it was indeed very heavy. He suspected the qi in it was dense enough to qualify as a Heavenly Realm water. Perhaps that was why it was so heavy- the exaggerated yin qi of the water was pulling down as he was pulling up. Still, it steamed the vegetables well enough, and the rice tasted very nice, even if it took an unreasonable amount of charcoal to bring the water up to a boil.

Liren helped with the chopping, though she still wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“Did you happen to ask what sort of beast your teacher is?” Tian asked.

“He told me first thing. A Xiezhi, apparently. Not a popular species, according to him. They tend to keep to themselves, unless they have made arrangements with a local hegemon. They are referred to as auspicious beasts, as the consequences of not being auspicious are very bad. For other people.”

“Oh?”

“En.” Liren looked like she wanted to fall back into silence, but Tian’s eyes pushed her to keep talking. “They are extremely sensitive to lies and injustices. To the level that it is impossible to deceive them. That’s before they start cultivating. As they advance in strength, their abilities become more comprehensive and subtle.”

“I can see why that would make them unpopular with humans, but why don’t other animals like them?”

“Because, despite those teeth and claws, Xiezhi are territorial herbivores. Ones that feel the best defense is a good offence. They tend to gore anything they feel is a threat. Then rip apart what they gored. Then trample it. Then tear the big pieces into little pieces. Just to be sure.”

“Ah. That… might do it.”

“And lies trigger the same instinct in them. So.” Liren’s lips twitched into the start of a grin before settling back. “Magistrates and lords tend to love them, though the lords try to keep them far, far from court.”

“Huh. What an interesting being.”

“Yeah.”

Silence settled down again. Liren shifted a bit.

“He can sense self deception, huh?”

“Yeah.” Liren buried her face in her hands. “And I know it’s all crap and I know it’s an attack on my dao heart, and the point was to see if I would crack. I managed to hold it together enough to pass, I guess, or maybe Teacher Merciless wanted someone who had my kind of damage. But I just can’t shake the illusion.”

“Because it felt plausible.” Tian concluded the thought, as he lifted the lid on the steamer basket.

“Yeah.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Well. We have time. And a new project.”

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow in the direction of the rice pot, which was at least in the general direction of Tian.

“I want to make bribing ghosts part of my medical practice.”

“Better go call your teacher, your brain is poisoned. Possibly has worms. Tian Zihao the point of medicine is less ghosts not more!”

Tian quickly felt the project was a massive success, even if they didn’t have so much as a plan by the time they turned in for bed.

The morning started with a sudden spike of alarm. “Liren! You completely forgot my birthday!”