Chapter 5- Making New Friends

The atmosphere on the platform had dropped to freezing. Hong still had her spear out, but it looked like she had forgotten she was holding it. She was, instead, watching her only friend carefully fill a bucket with water then adding a carefully measured portion of harsh soap to it. He pulled a mop from his ring, placed it in the bucket, agitated it gently to make sure the soap was properly combined with the water, then leaned the mop handle against a railing. Preparations complete, he turned back towards the bewildered looking woman with the foul mouth.

“If you have a particular weapon you favor, Failure, now is the time to produce it.” He gently suggested.

“What the hell are you talking about, freak!”

“You challenged me to a life or death bout. Did you already forget? Have you suffered a brain injury?” Tian looked hopeful.

“NO!”

Tian deflated. “Oh. Pity. Anyway. Please step onto the platform and ensure your will is up to date, as there will be no opportunity to alter it later.”

“I’m not going on there!” She started backing away.

“Why?” Tian looked concerned. “A hidden injury prevents you from making a final show of competence? Do you want to postpone this? Dragging it out will only increase your anxiety. Please, let me make it quick for you. You don’t have to linger.”

“I’m not fighting you, freak!”

“You are. Now or some time when you are even less ready.” Tian’s voice was as calm as ever. It was as though he were discussing what might be for lunch. “Although I suppose there is a second option. Tell me, what is your name?”

The girl paused, her face twisted. She slowly ground out the words “Lin Clan, Ninglan.”

Tian nodded slightly. “How curious that you wear our robes but don’t identify what Court you are from. It seems your family matters more than your sect.” She staggered back two steps, her face suddenly pale as snow. “Answer me this, and I will let you drop your challenge.”

He smiled, doing his best to project a friendly intent and gently encouraging the lamp in his heart to burn brighter. “What’s my name?”

Li Ninglan looked murderous, but answered. “Tian Zihao.”

“No, it isn’t. That isn’t how you will address me, is it, Junior Sister Lin?”

There was a frozen moment. Tian quietly crossed his hands behind his back and waited. His smile never wavering.

Lin Ninglan clasped her hands and bowed deeply. You could hear something break in her. “Senior Brother Tian.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Junior Sister Lin. I look forward to working with you. But we have kept the Steward waiting.”

“No trouble at all, Brother Tian. No trouble at all. Let me begin by showing you to your rooms.”

Tian collected his things. He raised the bucket to throw the water overboard, hesitated, then stowed it back in his ring. Everyone was a cultivator. His near silent mutter of “Waste not, want not,” was heard quite clearly.

The group was basically silent through the tour. The manor was just that, with a kitchen, several dining and reception rooms, a library, a small workshop in the basement, a room dedicated to painting, another for music, a half dozen store rooms and many small bedrooms for guests.

Their bedrooms were on the second floor and were a bit more fancifully decorated than the cells or barracks Tian was used to, in that there were decorations. Tian marveled at the picture of carp swimming along a river that was hung over the bed. The artist had used seemingly few brushstrokes, instead letting their brush remain on the page and move as his thoughts took it. Tian thought it didn’t look like a fish or a river, it looked like how a fish or a river felt. Supple, flowing, alive.

White plastered walls, a simple wooden bed with a rough wool blanket, a small desk and a picture. There were even a few small light formations, and a window he could open to let more light in if he wished. Though even with the window closed the waxed paper did a good job letting in just enough sunlight to give the room a comfortable warmth.

Tian opened it anyway. The view of the sky was simply too spectacular to ignore.

“I wonder if any birds will stop by and visit. The Manor would be quite convenient for them.” He murmured.

“Alas, Brother Tian, we are too high for mortal birds, and spirit animals know not to come visiting uninvited.” Steward Pan smiled slightly.

“Ah well.” Tian smiled back and shrugged. It probably made cleaning easier. He didn’t often have to scrub bird dung off the back patio, but when he did, it was a pain in the neck. Amazing how much of studying medicine was studying how to keep things clean. Which was why he was so pleased with the enormous bathroom just down the to the left, with a remarkable indoor privy at the other end of the hall on the right. There was even an elegant sitting room, big enough for ten people to gather in. It was simply impossible for there to be any complaints about comfort.

They took a few minutes to settle in, just getting used to the space. Tian laid out his books, then put them back in his ring. What if he forgot them when he rushed out somewhere. Then he put out his favorite pillow. That seemed safe enough. And a lamp, even though there already was one. He found himself torn between wanting to make the room cozy, and worrying that he would leave something behind if he had to go somewhere. He didn’t know when, but at some point his storage ring became part of his sense of security. He just didn’t feel right without every possible thing he could think of needing in it.

There was a short knock on the door, and Hong stuck her head in. “I can’t always tell with you. Did you understand…”

“Yes. And I meant every word. I just supremely don’t care about the consequences of offending her. I don’t care who her family is. I don’t care if she is related to half the Inner Court. I know she’s connected way up high, and if someone wants to make that a problem for me, I don’t care about that either.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

He closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. “I’m tired, Sister Liren. I’m so damned tired of the politics and the… the interests of people who I couldn’t trust behind me with anything sharper than tofu. So if someone’s precious little whatever starts going after me and people I do actually care about?”

“Mop and bucket time.”