Book 9: Chapter 7: The Coming Storm
After that foolishness with Lan Shu, Tong Qianfan, and their students, Sen realized that he simply didn’t have it in him to put up with anything even remotely aggravating. At first, he thought that he was exhibiting a horrific lack of discipline, but he quickly realized that the real problem was that he hadn’t given himself enough time to recover from the tribulation. While he had faced death more often than anyone his age ever should have needed to do so, he hadn’t come so close to it in a long time. He wasn’t sure he could have gotten any closer to it without actually dying. The experience had rattled him more than he realized. So, he simply announced that he was done for the day and walked out of the building.
He’d gone looking for Ai and found her, although he hadn’t approached. She was playing with some of the Xie children. The sight of it made him deeply uncomfortable, but he supposed that’s what it was to be a parent. Watching your child do things that you wished they wouldn’t and keeping your mouth shut about it. Sen didn’t expect that he was going to have fewer of those experiences as she grew up. He could protect her from many dangers, but he couldn’t protect her from forming connections with other people. It was almost inevitable that she would decide that she liked people that he disliked on principle or for good cause. That didn’t preclude the option of keeping a watch over her from a safe distance. He hadn’t been standing there for more than ten minutes when he felt someone approach.
“Master Feng,” said Sen before he could actually see the man.
“Sen,” said an amused Master Feng. “You’re getting better at that.”
“Not really. But I’m not sure I could call myself a cultivator if I didn’t recognize your presence.”
The elder cultivator stepped up next to Sen and eyed the scene with a pensive expression.
“I have to admit, I’m surprised that you allow her to associate with them.”
“It’s not easy,” said Sen, “but the world is already full of senseless conflicts. I will not teach her to hate. I can hate enough for both of us.”
“Hmmm,” said Master Feng noncommittally.