Leaving A Legacy

Bao Hua looked more exhausted than Ren had ever seen him, but his wan smile still held a hint of joy that shone through. He swiftly escorted them back to the second mountain, where he served tea. Bao Hua constantly yawned, as if he were ready to fall asleep at any moment. But when he entered the arrays Ren had set up, he blinked rapidly and perked up.

“Ren what is that sensation? It feels so refreshing, like someone splashed water directly onto my mind!”

Beside him, Mei Ling also looked around curiously, spotting the arrays that hadn’t been present during her last visit.

“Hmm? Oh that! It’s this odd array that I created back during our visit to the Golden Light Monastery. It originally conveyed a feeling of relaxation and safety. I refined it a bit and reduced the intensity slightly, and now it helps me think clearer and rest better. And I need all the rest I can get these days.”

“You come up with the strangest things, brother! But this one is clearly one of the best yet. This is incredibly pleasant… aaah." Hua let out a sigh of contentment.

Then clearly half asleep, he mumbled. “So, have you made any more challenges recently? I’m sure the disciples of the Azure Mountains would appreciate the trials you make.” Inadvertently spilling one of Ren’s most guarded secrets, the damn fool had the audacity to let out a soft snore!

Ren froze and stiffly turned towards Mei Ling, whose face was rapidly shifting from aghast to amazement to cold rage.

"Wai…wait, Mei Ling! I didn’t m… mean to leave you out. Hua just found out on his own a little while before we left for the monastery. I just got so busy, I never got around to telling you. And you know the rest! Amidst all the chaos, I just forgot…" Ren trailed off his stammered excuse.

Not one to hold grudges for long, at least against them, Mei Ling’s anger melted away. “So the mysterious ‘Challenger’ was one of my closest companions? How surprising! So when did it start?”

Relieved at the offer of peace she had extended, Ren told her all about it. He told her about how it had begun small. How he had fun practicing his array skills and coming up with interesting challenges. How it had taken a life of its own as others began to appreciate his efforts. The only thing he didn’t mention was how it tied to his cultivation, nor did she pry.

Private knowledge like that went beyond a matter of social norms of privacy, as there existed methods to extricate secrets even from unwilling subjects. It was actually a burden to bear such deep secrets for others. Some things you only shared with your chosen dao companion, and the core secrets of your cultivation was one of them, and only because it was necessary for dual cultivation.

Mei Ling still listened closely, enraptured by the tale. She laughed at the inspirations behind the challenges, like the ones with bees, and teased Ren with the ripples of his actions, like the creation of the Trial Seekers and Takers organizations. In the end, she smiled proudly at him and said,

“Zhao Ren, you have always been selfless and kind, and learning this about you only makes me admire you even more. This just proves that I have excellent taste in friends!”

Blushing furiously at the sincere praise, Ren wanted to hide. He turned to the one who had started it all, sat napping with impunity, and vented his annoyance by tilting his chair over. Unexpectedly, the reaction was disproportionately severe.

Bao Hua jumped up like a startled cat, instantly drawing his sword, and a monstrously bloody aura came pouring out. Caught off guard, the few tortoises that were napping on him were launched every which way, squeaking with terror. Ren and Mei Ling weren’t much better. It was like they were facing a murderous beast about to slay them on the spot! Though his instincts for battle weren’t honed, he still leapt after the little ones after a beat of hesitation.

“Stop Hua! It’s just us!”

Realization trickled in, and Hua’s eyes became clear. The bloody aura was slowly pulled back into him, and he slammed to his knees.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I couldn’t…”

It took Ren some time to console everyone, though the tortoises refused to emerge from their shells. After calming down, Hua began to explain his outburst.

“I’ve been constantly fighting for the last 3 months, and it’s worn on my nerves. The valley isn’t exactly safe to rest in, and the beasts and demons roaming there won’t forgive a single mistake. It has been excellent training, and I’ve advanced by leaps and bounds, but it also started to affect me like you just saw.

“That’s when Master Jun Yi finally bothered to appear. The old fart had been in the sect this whole time but only just remembered me! He threw this technique at me, which is supposed to hone this bloodthirsty aura, or killing intent, into a weapon, and told me to find some place to rest a while until then. I couldn’t exactly go to the city like we planned when I’m in such a state, so I reached out to Mei Ling and decided to come here. And this relaxing array made me complacent... Brother Ren, I’m sorry to impose, but can I recover here for a while? At least until I can constantly maintain the technique Master gave me?” He looked so very apologetic that Ren couldn’t help but feel a surge of sympathy.

“Take as long as you need, brother. You can rely on me! I’ll set up the array at a higher intensity to help you rest better.”

Ren nodded in understanding. It sounded like Hua had soldier’s disease, where veteran soldiers suffered from the mental wounds accumulated from their days of battle. Only cultivators would even consider turning something like that bloodthirsty aura into power. Hua’s master may be an unparalleled sword master, but he also had to be a little unhinged.

As he rearranged a section of the array on the second mountain, Mei Ling, with his permission, set up a temporary shelter for Bao Hua. Once Hua retreated to rest, Mei Ling rejoined Ren to sip tea in companionable silence. Ren was thinking about how Bao Hua had pushed himself almost too far and how he hadn’t been there to support his friend, too concerned with his own matters.

Mei Ling seemed to know his thoughts because she patted him on his shoulder. He looked up and saw a communication talisman being held up to him.

“Here. I’ve already added Xi Yuan’s, Hua's, and my information so we can communicate with ease. I figured you would have made the same mistake I did when we considered communication talismans too expensive for our means.”

“What do you mean by that? Aren’t they extremely difficult to make, requiring some very scarce ingredients?”

"That may have been true for the ‘barren wasteland’ that the Heavenly Sword Sect was in, but not for the Azure Mountains. We haven’t been here for long, so the holes in our knowledge are understandable, but we need to shed the biases we have if we are to survive here.

“It’s also part of why I came, too. I intend to explore the Forbidden Region neighboring your abode. I get the sense that the records Master Si Yin obtained about it aren’t telling the whole story. The feeling I had about it during my last visit is something I wish to pursue. I need to accomplish a few tasks for Master first and make preparations, but then I intend to enter the shallows of the forbidden region. Would you like to join me in 2 months’ time?”

Thinking the offer over, Ren was inclined to accept. He had already decided to enter his neighboring territories to further his understanding of their qi and obtain some resources. Having Mei Ling with him would certainly make things safer.

‘Two months would be just enough for my formation to be completed too. At which point I would just be waiting for the plants to grow. This would be a very productive use of my time.’

His mind made up, he agreed to accompany Mei Ling. And thinking the moment was suitable, he put forth a proposal of his own.

“I intend to ask the others too, but would you like to set up a small shop here with me? Like we did back during the beast tides when we were qi gathering disciples. I know it would make more sense if you were to set up shop in the city, but it would also require too many spirit stones to obtain permission anytime soon. I’ve heard of many smaller markets like this near special resources, and even past owners of this abode would occasionally host markets, so there are certain to be some interested customers.”

Ren didn’t need to convince Mei Ling for long, as he could see how much the idea appealed.

“Let’s do it! I think we should also involve Hu Yan. He would definitely be interested in starting a profitable new venture. He can bring in customers with just a well-placed rumor! If my abode were less of a poisonous swamp, then I would have requested to hold it there! But the sacred ground and forbidden region would be a better choice to attract eyes. But aren’t there many points of entry to these lands? Is The Edge that well known?”

“I think it’s out of convenience, but yes, it is one of the more popular points of entry, as these areas are somewhat safer. The terrains inside both places change too frequently to be mapped, but there are some permanent landmarks that have been identified nearby.”

Ren handed over copies of some useful information regarding the forbidden region for Mei Ling to prepare and pointed her to some of the resources in the outer sect that she could study. Done with formal matters, the pair relaxed into more upbeat and cheerful gossip.

Bao Hua woke to the alluring aroma of what was doubtless Ren’s delicious cooking. After months of eating tough, tasteless, and at times even raw meat for sustenance, Hua was drooling before he was fully conscious, his tongue screaming for flavor!

He jumped to his feet, his nose leading him to his destination with absolute surety. As he hiked a short distance, Hua couldn’t believe how much better his body felt. He wasn’t recovered by any means, but the thousand aches and protests of his body had dulled from a loud roar to something far more tolerable. Judging by the light of the day, he had spent most of it asleep, and it was only the prospect of mouthwatering food that kept him from slumbering for longer.

Soon he was within earshot of a party in full swing, with muffled giggles, sounds of feasting, and some twangs of a zither playing a cheerful song.

Ren was waving his arms around, clutching a jar of wine. “…And I urp… saw what that old geezer wash actually reading and almost pointed it out and shh… shouted, ‘Thiish ish your important reading? Passionate Dual Cultivation in the Mysterious Forest?’ Hahaha, and it only got ha… urp… rder to contain myself. Cursh that author’sh shwift pen for I saw many… many other such titles in tha series!”

“Heh heh heh! Passionate Dual Cultivation eh? I’ll remember that. Heh heh heh! What other series did you catch him reading?” Mei Ling was utterly failing to muffle her laughter with a hand on her mouth. Hua recognized it as her trying to be sneaky while drunk. Tipsy Mei Ling was a very sly drunk, but whenever she got this far, her tact and wiles became transparent as water! Curious as to what information she was trying to extort from Ren, he approached softly.

“Shaw thoze two sh… series most often, but hmm… Oh! I rem’ber! Exh… expeditions into the twin jade mountains. And… and… what’s it called…. Hmmm, oh, the Encounter books!! Encountered a beauty bathing in the moonlight! Wahahah! So Blunt!”

Hua ears burned at the realization of what the two were talking about. Just then they spotted him.

“Brother!! You’ll need to drink a lot of penalty cupsh if you want to catch urp!!” Shouted Ren, tossing a wine jar in his general direction, even as Mei Ling kept giggling, ‘heh heh heh,' and making notes of the titles.

Bao Hua couldn’t help but feel like he had missed a historic evening as he snatched the jar out of the air.

“I humbly accept this challenge! But first, I’ll trade all the rice and those vegetables you’re roasting for this.” A skinned carcass of a large spirit beast appeared and landed with a thud. If there was one thing Bao Hua wasn’t lacking, it was meat. His spatial ring was stuffed full of it! But the mouthwatering aroma of freshly cooked rice was more appealing than the meat of late stage foundation realm beasts!

Ren and Mei Ling began chanting his name and dancing a primitive dance around the roaring fire in perfect coordination. Ren’s little snake, Yu Ran, was looped around his neck and weaving drunkenly, making Ren look even wilder. They had clearly planned it in advance to cheer him up. He laughed a deep belly laugh at their antics and took a long swig of the jar. He felt far lighter already. Before he joined them, however, Bao Hua had some reparations to make. Some wrongs to right.

He knelt before the tortoises, who shrunk their heads back into their shells. One brave fellow stood at the front, protecting its siblings. Hua took a moment to judge their cultivation and then poured out nearly a hundred different beast cores of all suitable alignments.

“Forgive me little ones. I didn’t mean to scare you like that back then. Eat up and forget that sight of me you saw!”

Then turning around he saw the meat was already roasting on a spit and being masterfully prepared. Even this drunk, his brother was an excellent chef!

“…And he actually sent a recording of his zither playing later! How adorable is he?!” Mei Ling was explaining to Yu Ran, the little snake tilting its delicate snout in curiosity.

“Wait for me!!” Laughed Hua as he hurried over.