Chapter 9- Some Reward

The tea did, in fact, survive. Tian almost didn’t, as the crane limped her way over and glared at him intensely. It seemed that while she might not know what he was talking about, she knew he wasn’t talking about her. Hong had to intercede on his behalf, and he paid an enormous fine in fish and petting.

For most of the brief battle, Suneater had confined himself to brainpower attacks. Tian’s tea set had survived too, except for the murdered cup. His tea pets had come out the best of all of them. They were more lively after they had been fed the ancient’s tea. The phoenix looked glossy, almost ready to start preening. He was tempted to dump a few more servings on them, but… a tea session was a ritual. These things had their own meaning. Patience. There wasn’t any rush.

“He was qi starved. Did you notice he basically never moved and only used Qi when you really forced him? I think it was all locked up inside his bones, and was what was sustaining him.” Tian lay on the floor, looking up at the stalactites. He had an uncomfortable amount of experience with this exact situation, and had already slid a sturdy cushion under his head.

“Sounds right. What cracked him open? Heavenly Swallows?” Hong had her own cushion, of course, but Tian had made a point of fluffing it for her. Her arm had barely started healing. Completely unreasonable to expect her to fluff her own pillow when an expert was at hand.

“Yeah, I punched ‘em through the gap between two cervical vertebrae- those are the ones in the neck. Anyway, I figured that something was holding those bones together and while I probably couldn’t crack the bones directly, I could wedge them apart, maybe break whatever was holding them in place. I disguised the throw with the palm strike, obviously.”

“You attempted a decapitation with needles, and it worked. I’m going to lie and tell everyone qi was flying around the room and in an act of ironic fate, he knocked off a stalactite that wound up falling on him and killing him.” Hong shook her head.

Tian grunted. It had been Liren’s spear that had killed Suneater, turning him into a burning ghost trapped in a jade brazier. He could understand the urgent need to hide your treasures.

“Stalactite it is, then.”

They were lying side by side. They had nowhere to be, and both were used to patience. The crane wasn’t quite as badly hurt, but she wasn’t eager to go rushing around either. Tian could tell she was very disturbed. She chose to lay down next to them and sleep. Smart bird, Tian thought. Liren opened her mouth for a moment, then with a chuffing laugh, closed it again.

“Really? No questions about where the magic spear came from?”

“No.”

“Because it doesn’t matter. I’d tell you if it was important, or something easy to talk about, and since I haven’t, it’s clearly not that important.” She sounded like she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Yes, exactly.” Tian nodded. “Besides, I use rope darts. A magic spear is an ‘Oh. Nice.’ for me. I’d probably give it away to someone better suited for it, if I had it.”

“Ahahaha.” She covered her eyes with her good arm. “Yeah. Yeah, you aren’t suited for this spear at all.”

Tian nodded. It was good she understood. They settled back into quiet. Eventually, Liren couldn’t keep still any longer.

“Want to check out the storage ring?”

“Sure. I’ll do it.”

“You are all banged up, I should do it.” Liren frowned.

“If it’s haunted or cursed or something, I’m going to be the one who can deal with it best. Hell, I’m hoping it’s cursed. I still need a replacement source for curse qi.”

Hong paused to digest that. “Have you ever thought our lives are strange?”

“No, not really. Individual things, sure, but our overall lives seem pretty normal for cultivators. Brother Wang got locked up for heresy and now he’s on the short list of ‘good’ cultivators, married to the second-best librarian in the sect and two wives he poached from the Five Elements Courtyard. THAT’S a strange life.”

“Oi! Second best?!” Liren spoke up for her sister.

“Sister Su informed me, in no uncertain terms, that the Chief Librarian from Depot Four is the best librarian in the sect. Since he got hauled onto the Mountain, his title still stands. Apparently.” Tian could only spread his hands helplessly as he gingerly made his way to Suneater’s remains.

“Well. Whatever that spear is or does, it seems to have knocked the yin right out of Suneater. There is still a good amount of yin qi in the extremities, but the chest and skull are actually pretty yang. Like they were just refined.”

“Didn’t know it could do that,” Hong shrugged. “But I can’t say I’m surprised either.”

Tian grunted and reached for the ring, starting to bend over. His ribs let him know just what they thought of that idea. He opted to kneel down instead. “I know we heal fast, comparatively, but I’d be interested in learning more healing arts. The Demon Pulling Art is good, but we break bones more than I’m comfortable with.”

“Who would be comfortable breaking bones?” Hong shot back. Then added. “You aren’t wrong though. Did you ask at the hospital?”

“Yeah, not much available in the Earthly Realm that’s worth the effort. Medicine, time, and mechanical repairs. Mechanical meaning-”

“Stiches and setting bones.” Hong nodded. “Acupuncture?”

“I’m still some ways away from that. According to the doctors, I’m still lacking in both knowledge and vital energy. I’m studying needle placement on wax dummies for now.”

Tian reached for the ring again, but didn’t touch it. He was trying to see if he could feel any active enchantments beyond the expected. He didn’t, nor did he find any curse qi. With quivering fingers, he gently pulled the ring free of the skeleton’s hand. It was ornate, heavy, and marked with the same eight sided sigil that was on the rock that had sealed the grotto. Tian let it rest on his hand for a moment, just feeling the weight of it, and waiting for it to do something nasty.

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It continued to be inert. He waited a little longer. Still nothing.

“It’s going to look amazing on the string with the others,” He muttered.

“I know I didn’t just hear what I thought I heard. You really-

“It’s a spare ring, Liren!”

“That’s Sister Liren to you! You have two hands, wear it on your other hand. Hell, you could wear a ring on each finger, if you didn’t mind looking like a cheap thug.”

Tian stroked his chin. “I do have two hands. Hmm.” He paused to consider his sartorial options.

“Zihao, if you don’t get that damned ring open right this instant-”

“That’s Big Bro Zihao to you!” Tian held the ring up and sent his awareness inside.

“Huh.” Tian grunted. “Would you believe he had less stuff than I do?”

“Yes. You are a pack rat. You are the only person I know who collects bits of straw in case they are useful some day.”