Chapter 46- The Arrival of Consequences

“A… mandatory mission, Senior Brother?” Tian wasn’t employed at the hospital, but some habits are hard to shake. It was for this reason that the brother from the Mission Hall found him pushing a mop in the hospital hallway.

“Yes. Here are your instructions.” The Brother handed him an envelope and turned away without another word. Tian silently sighed and opened the orders. His eyebrow raised, and he snorted lightly.

“Well. It would have been too much to expect no reaction. Can’t rip off someone’s face and expect them to like it.” The words came out in a murmur. He wasn’t sure which Heavenly People were listening in, but their attention here in the heart of the sect was always present. Mostly you had to hope that they were practicing selectively ignoring people.

He opened his mouth to ask those seniors a question, then closed it again. It was probably a good time to maintain polite fictions. He had learned at least that much, watching these animals called “people.”

Tian went out to the woods an hour from the sect. His orders came with detailed instructions. This hill and its environs was the place he was to work.

“This… should be a linden tree right? The leaves and bark match the description.” He rested his hand against a tree trunk.

Yes, and it’s not in good shape. Looks like it’s taken some wind damage. It’s a good one to harvest.

Tian set to work, cutting the tree and trimming away the branches. He used a saw to cut the trunk into wide logs, then split the logs with wedges, then split the smaller logs into uniform pieces with an axe. Once he had the wood cut, he swept them up in his storage ring, and consulted the instructions.

“The kiln is just around to the side of the hill? Hmm.”

Tian found a small path, and followed it to a dome shaped kiln built into the hillside. It was hard to spot unless you were standing in front of it- grass grew over the mound, with only the areas around the small chimneys staying clear. It looked like it hadn’t been used in a long while. There were loose bricks heaped next to the entry.

“Where is the fire box? It should be- here we go.”

There was an iron plate covering a hole under the kiln. He pulled aside the plate, and found an ash-filled chamber the size of an oven. He raked it out, got it reasonably clean, and loaded it with dry firewood. The cut sections of Linden wood were stacked vertically in the kiln, with just a tiny bit of room for air to flow between them.

When the kiln was full, he used the bricks to block up the door. He went down to a nearby stream and dug up some clay, carrying it back to the kiln and set about sealing the gaps in the door. Then he lit the fire below the kiln.

It took careful tending. He had to feed it and keep the temperature consistent, but not excessive. Soon, white smoke poured out of the top of the kiln, thick plumes that reminded him of the Potters Quarter in Burning Flag City. He could see how people might find demons in that smoke.

Eventually the smoke turned from billowing white to thin streams of blue-black. It was done. He let the fire burn out, but didn’t open the kiln. It was too hot, now. If he let air in there, his hard work would literally go up in flames. Instead, he set up his tent, ate a small meal, and spent his evening quietly.

The next morning, he set out to cut more wood. When he came back to the kiln in the afternoon, it had cooled enough to open. He removed the bricks and looked at the fruit of his labor. Charcoal. High quality, clean burning, suitable for most ordinary purposes.

A load of charcoal like that could keep a forge going for… days? Weeks? He really didn’t know what their burn rate was like. It looked like a lot, but how long would it really last once you started burning it?

Well, it wasn’t his problem. He was just here to make charcoal. Indefinitely.

He had successfully completed his task fostering the Snow Grace Crane, so the subsidy would be terminated. To make sure he was still able to get by, the sect, after almost two years, finally found him a job. Making charcoal, specifically on this hill, using this kiln, following the simple, clear instructions provided. He was expected to deliver three loads of charcoal a week, with any excess he managed to produce belonging to him. A chance to earn a little extra, if he was motivated and efficient.

He would have to be very efficient if he wanted to make more than his quota. According to the instructions, it could take up to two days for the kiln to cool enough to open between burns.

There were no tricks or hidden traps. He had ample free time to think or cultivate or read, whatever he wanted, really. He didn’t even have to stay up on the hill. If he had the ability, he could commute to and from his home. It was two hours each way on foot, but he could do it.

Every day. Until the Elders changed their minds.

Perhaps they thought it would take the edge off his pride. It was dirty, heavy, repetitive, and boring. There was no great dao to discover here, no great elemental insight, no hidden technique worth knowing. It was lonely, dull, and useful to the sect without being particularly useful to him.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

A very mild punishment when looked at from one perspective. A severe one when looked at another way. The strongest in the Outer Court, burning charcoal? Ostracised, isolated, doing peasant work of the lowest sort. No chance to cultivate a dignified, fearless image within the sect if he was working in the woods. No chance to change people’s view of him. It might even delay his breaking through to the Heavenly Realm. What kind of revelation could he find here? And if he did find something, wasn’t that a blessing from the Elders?

It was, in Tian’s opinion, exquisitely calibrated in both political efficiency, subtlety, and pettiness. After all, they could keep him here quite literally until the day he died. They wouldn’t, but a decade or two would be entirely feasible. After all, it’s not like he had more pressing business to attend to. No wars to fight, or lives to save. No adventures to go on.