Chapter 30- Bloody Money, Painful Merits

Tian’s mind was a mess. He latched onto one phrase in particular. “It’s working?”

“In the sense that we have made battling us seem like a bad investment compared to fighting Sword Peak or the others. The gains aren’t worth the losses for the heretics. You couldn’t say we are winning. We have just made winning more expensive for Black Iron Gorge. A price they are currently unwilling to pay.” Auntie Wu nodded.

“It hurts, Auntie.”

“Yes. And it hurts more when you remember the brothers and sisters we have lost.”

The faces of his brothers from West Town Temple flashed through his mind. How they would laugh silently and flick tasty bites of food into his bowl at dinner. The way they were always sparring, or arguing, or sitting up in a tree writing poetry. He remembered Brother Meng’s teasing jokes and fast hands.

So many of them would never come home. Tian could see Brother Tang waiting in his chair by the temple gate, watching them go. It must have gutted the proud swordsman. He probably wished that heretic had killed him on the spot, rather than letting him live and be tortured every day with the thought of his brothers dying while he sat helpless in the Temple. Someone had to be delivering their wills to their families and friends. Tian wondered if it was Brother Tang.

It hurt. The thought was all sharp edges and dripping acid. It was ruthless. And it was working. Trading the few lives of the Outer Court and the more… disposable… Inner Court members preserved the core strength of the Mountain. Better still, it preserved the Broad Sky Kingdom, with all its resources and people. So long as they existed, there would be new cultivators and new resources to nurture them.

In the face of eternity, what are a few brief lives? It’s not like they would be gone forever. In just a few years they would be back, ready to struggle for immortality in a new life or savoring the sweet and bitter of mortality.

It was ruthless. But was it wrong? Was his suffering wrong? He didn’t know. He wanted to say it was. But truthfully, he had known since he woke in the garbage that survival had its price in pain.

“I think I would feel a lot better about this if I knew the Sect Master and the Daoist Masters were suffering. If they understood our pain without needing one of those teaching lies.”

“First, never say that ever again. Ever. Being Unfilial potentially carries the death penalty. Second, they have been exactly where you are. Which one of those ancients hasn’t fought in many wars? Which of them hasn’t lost brothers and sisters? They have known and lived with this pain for longer than some countries have existed. Third- one day I swear I will make you understand metaphors.”

“I understand what they are used for, it just seems dumb. Say what you are trying to say. Don’t make up a little story about it. ‘They were like the dawn in a chamberpot-’ That’s just confusing.”

Auntie Wu laughed softly. “Yes, I too would struggle to figure out why someone was like dawn in a chamberpot. Although that is a simile, not a metaphor. To make it a metaphor, you would say “They WERE the dawn in a chamberpot.”

Tian snorted. They sat together quietly for a few minutes while Tian pulled himself together. Eventually, Tian smiled. It felt fragile on his face. “The world shouldn’t be this way.”

“Perhaps. I can’t fly high enough or see far enough to say what the world should look like.” Auntie Wu’s smile was almost as fragile as his.

“One day, I will fly that high. One day I will stand in a place where I can see how things should be, and put it right.”

Tian was called into the Mission Hall late the next morning. Rather than the usual room with its desks and display boards, he was directed to an office in the back. Hong Liren was already waiting outside the door when he arrived. His inquisitive eyebrow was met with a shrug and a pointed finger- the sign next to the door read “Office of Harmonious Cooperation.”

The Treasure Weighing Magistrate. He looked carefully at Hong. She was openly inspecting him too. She looked like hell, but she didn’t seem broken. His lips twitched. Hers did too. They straightened their robes, settled their faces, and waited patiently.

They were young daoists. They were good at waiting.

When they were finally called in, there were three people in the room. One was sitting behind a large desk with a balance scale on it. He wore the robes of the Inner Court, but the unusual hat perched on his head lent him an extra layer of authority. Blue and red silk brocade, with a bright coral button on the top. It was the first time Tian had ever seen anything like it.

The second person was Elder Rui. And the third was Martial Uncle Ku.

“We greet the Magistrate, the Elder and the True Disciple.” Tian and Hong bowed.

“Mmm. Rise.” It was the Magistrate who spoke. Tian wasn’t quite sure what that signified.

“Hong Liren, West Town Outer Court, assigned to the Disciplinary Squad as a Trainee. Current cultivation- fifth level of the Earthly Person Realm. No disciplinary infractions, consistently above average Military Merits based on her cultivation level since being deployed.” The Treasure Weighing Magistrate had a small stack of papers in front of him, but didn’t bother glancing at them as he recited their information.

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