Chapter 35- Not Just Enemies Meet on a Narrow Path

Tian felt his muscles try to jump him to his feet before his brain had fully caught up. Yes. Ten thousand times yes! This sounded excellent. This sounded like the best deal he had heard in a long, long while. And then Grandpa coughed, cutting through the sudden surge of enthusiasm. Grandpa had warned him, repeatedly, that anything too good to be true probably was.

His mind started working very quickly, sorting through what he knew and what he suspected.

“I’m not convinced he’s human. Humans would jump on an opportunity like this, no questions asked. You said he was fifteen?”

“Going by his bone age, yes. Though according to his file, he has no recollection of his life before the age of six.”

“Any dark history there?”

“Certain to be. He has also shown a strong aversion to trying to uncover his past, and an active loathing of his birth family, which correlates what the diviners reported.” The two elders discussed Tian, not bothering to keep their voices down. Tian waited until there was a pause.

“Our meeting today was not coincidental. This… young lady was the person I was here to meet. Are the others having similar fortuitous encounters?”

“Yes. And no.” Elder Feng shook her head. “Not everyone is temperamentally suited to raise a non-human Daoist. You happened to suit this particular crane. Incidentally, you may remember Senior Windmother?”

“We never met, but I heard her illustrious name.” Tian remembered she had been carrying Direct Disciple Sung, and contributed a lot to the battle at Depot Four.

“She is a Stormchaser Falcon. Senior Redmane needs no introduction nor explanation, I think. He was fostered by a now-deceased elder. Should this Snow Grace Crane awaken her spiritual intelligence and decide to join the sect, we could be living and working with her for a millenia. Potentially longer. You can understand why we take such care arranging companions for them.”

“Then why call it ‘fostering’ instead of companionship?” Tian had always enjoyed eating rat. He could smell a rather large, fat one scurrying around somewhere.

“Remember our conversation on Filial Virtue? You are their foster parent, but she is not fully sapient. In other words, you are responsible for a wild animal who is very intelligent, often in extremely problematic ways, backed by Level Nine strength.”

Tian nodded. It was indeed quite a juicy rat. Responsibility without authority. Lovely. No wonder Grandpa gave him a cough and a nudge. He tried to think of any other questions he should really be asking, and drew a blank. Then cheated.

“Elder Feng, this junior thinks this is an amazing opportunity, and is quite eager to agree. But because he is a junior, he knows that there are many things he does not know. Before I agree to this, what are the things you would wish to know before you accepted such a fostering arrangement?”

The two seniors looked like they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Grandpa Jun was sniggering too. It was really a sensible question. The kind of thing you would want someone to ask if you were entrusting them with the development of someone in your care. It was also bloody inconvenient.

“One hundred percent sure-”

“Yes. I should also mention that he is the inheritor of the closest thing to an ascetic lineage we have. It has been a revelation, seeing how someone wanting to be helpful and not wanting material things can become a full scale regional problem. Junior Tian, we aren’t pushing you out of the nest, as it were. You will have months on Windblown Manor to figure things out with my supervision and support. I will also ensure that your messages reach Senior Deepwalker who will, I am sure, be only too happy to answer all your questions.”

“Just not right now, huh? Hmm. But I don’t think it’s a trap.”

It’s not. You are driving them crazy because you are asking them how to raise a well adjusted Heavenly Person Crane. If they knew the right answer, would they be asking you to do it? Think about it- what they are trying here is kind of how the sect raises human cultivators. Once someone hits level nine, they send them out adventuring and gathering new experiences. Meanwhile, their seniors stay busy at home and keep their fingers crossed for good luck.

That, and they want you to be responsible for someone. It’s another kind of healing, and another way of guiding your character. Not in a malicious way. This little girl is quite thoughtful about what would suit you best.

Tian closed his eyes while he momentarily consulted with Grandpa, then opened them. “I thank the seniors for this amazing opportunity. I will do my best to raise the best Crane Immortal I can. I just worry she won’t have good things to eat. If I could trouble the seniors to send snacks-”

There was a sudden sensation of general dampness. When he fully recovered himself, there was a fish as big as he was pinning him down, and what appeared to be dozens of small fruits scattered over his body. The Snow Grace Craine was looking down at him, bright yellow eyeball calmly deciding which of her options was going to be food next.

“Grandpa, I have to know. Is her face meant to be that way? All… bright red and featherless?”

No sign of disease, and I’m not seeing any signs of her losing feathers or anything. I’m going to say this is just how her species looks.

Tian smiled up at her. It was a freaky looking face. But he really should be the last one to throw stones.

He quickly picked up his first snack delivery and packed it away in his storage ring. He’d have to figure out how to make fish jerky later.

“I don’t know how much longer the Elder will keep us here, Sister. But let’s get to know each other. Can you show me how you hunt?”

It was several hours later when Brother Wang crashed through the reeds to find Tian knee deep in the water next to a snowy white crane. Both were glaring into the water, Tian holding his rope dart, the crane with her neck retracted and ready to strike.

There was a sudden “Plop” and the two struck nearly simultaneously. The crane came up with a frog in her beak which she swallowed with relish.

“I didn’t know a bird could look smug. I have learned something today.” Brother Wang nodded sagely.

“Not one frog! Not one! I haven’t even caught a fish! She’s too good at this.”

“Do you often hunt frogs?”

“I grew up eating them. They were a rare treat, and I loved every bite. Frogs were right up there with bamboo rats and much better than most grubs. I am, or I thought I was, an expert at hunting frogs. And yet Her Highness here has been snagging every single one.”

“Well, you are probably out of practice.”

“Yes. I, the immortal with magic tools, am clearly a worse hunter than a starved, crippled, sickly, dying, nearsighted child.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Brother Wang coughed and looked away. “So, do you have a favorite recipe for frog?”

They were able to lure the Crane back to the Windblown Manor with fishy bribes and sweet words. Tian was confused by the bird’s intelligence. Sometimes, it seemed to understand his words, other times, it just ignored him. He was worried that the crane would just fly off one day, but the elder assured him that wouldn’t happen. How or why was not explained.

Tian got the feeling the elder was a bit exhausted, behind the elegant facade. The piles of books and scrolls in her library kept growing and shifting. Tian learned from Steward Pan that one of the reasons for significant portions of the manor being off limits was because there was an aviary for very, very special birds used for courier work. The exact nature of how all that worked was restricted to just a few elders.