Chapter 23- Young Master Tian

Tian realized he was being rude about ten seconds after people started staring at him. He jolted to his feet and cupped his hands towards the new arrivals, bowing almost ninety degrees. “I am sorry! I was completely lost in my thoughts.”

“Understandable. You were just out in the desert, weren’t you?” This from a daoist of around thirty years old. Tian pegged him at the seventh level of the Earthly Realm, which for the Bamboo Medicine Hut made him something of a talent.

“In multiple senses, yes. Sorry, I missed Fellow Daoist’s name?”

“Bamboo Medicine Hut, Jun Pengxi. This is my apprentice brother Ho Muchen.” He introduced the sallow faced man next to him. Unlike everyone else Tian had seen in this sect, Ho carried a wide saber stuck through the belt of his robe. Also level seven. Tian was somewhat fascinated by him- the man had the most remarkable mole just under his left eye. Tian hardly ever saw cultivators with moles.

“A pleasure to meet you both.” He bowed again. Ho grunted and looked away, while Jun cupped his hands and returned the bow.

“Daoist Jun is cousins with Sister Lin.” Brother Wang chipped in.

“Oh? What brought you to the Bamboo Medicine Hut then?” Tian asked.

“Ah, well, the main line of the family is based on Ancient Crane Mountain. All us side branches of the Lin family scatter out to other sects in the Kingdom. My Jun family has been here for… twelve generations?” He glanced over at Lin, who shrugged and wiggled her hand.

“I see! I had no idea the Lin clan was so huge. Are you also a herb cultivator?”

That got a round of laughter from the table. “You really don’t know our clan at all, do you?” Jun shook his head.

“I’m afraid not. I didn’t grow up in the sect.”

“That might explain it. Most of the time we are animal tamers, sort of. More like we help animals and birds cultivate rather than use them to fight, but “animal tamer” is easier to say.”

“Fascinating. And the rest of the time?”

Jun chuckled, subtly straightening his back. Tian could see Lin doing the same out of the corner of his eye.

“The rest of the time we help animals awaken their spiritual intelligence. If you have ever met a guardian beast of a sect, or almost any animal that has its intelligence for that matter, odds are good that it was someone from the Lin Clan that helped them awaken.”

Tian had the inexplicable feeling that the world stumbled for a second. He wasn’t able to keep up with the sudden shifts in his mind. “Sorry, your clan… makes animals smart? Makes them talk?”

“‘Makes them’ might be too strong a phrase. We train them. We help them cultivate. And should an animal have the potential to unlock its spiritual intelegence, we help it examine whether it wants to do so. Then, if it has resolved to walk that hard road, we do our best to assist it in awakening. Leaving it’s bestial thought patterns and becoming closer to human in mind.”

Tian shook his head, trying to process the idea. How many animals were capable of cultivation? Should he take up vegetarianism?

“Why would an animal with the potential to awaken its spiritual intelligence not do so?” Sister Su asked.

Jun smiled. “They become a lot worse at cultivating for one, and suffer more. The better question might be, why do they choose to awaken?”

“They get worse at cultivating?” Brother Wang was openly disbelieving.

“Sure do. You can ask Cousin Lin if you like. Think of it this way- an animal cultivating in the wild is following its instincts. However it is cultivating is as close to perfect as it can manage, given its circumstances. Humans might not be so smart or lucky. It has no extraneous thoughts. It’s not worried about anything other than food, shelter, predators and mating. And it’s only worried about that last one at certain times of year, or even every few years, for a lot of species. But humans? Human minds are full of noise and desires.”

Tian could agree with that, certainly.

“More tea, Daoist Tian?” Disciple Shu gestured towards the pot.

“Gladly. Thank you.” Tian smiled and handed back his cup. The conversation swirled on around them, going back and forth over the virtues of self awareness as opposed to an animalistic no-self. Tian reckoned he was a long way from having a useful opinion there. He liked to think, but sometimes, he really needed to stop thinking for a while. How could he say one is better than the other?

“Daoist Tian has a lot on his mind. If I may ask…” Shu scootched a little closer to Tian, keeping her voice soft and low.

“It’s a bit bleak for the tea table, I’m afraid. It hasn’t been a good…” Tian tried to think. How old was he when he left the temple? Twelve? Thirteen? Thirteen felt right. So he had been out for almost two years. “It has been a difficult couple of years.”

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“You were in the wastes the whole time?”

“Pretty much. Violence was like the dust- it got into everything.” He smiled bitterly. “Even my mind, it seems.”