Book 9: Chapter 17: Flock
Sen regretted inviting them in from very nearly the instant that he’d done it. He didn’t have to let them in. He certainly hadn’t wanted to let them in. Well, he’d have let Li Yi Nuo in out of guilt. He did send her completely in the wrong direction. It hadn’t been intentional, but she’d still traveled all the way to Orchard’s Reach. Even for cultivators, that was a long trip. Bahn Huizhong, on the other hand, wasn’t someone that Sen especially wanted around. With very few exceptions, sect elders had been nothing but trouble for him. They always had some agenda, or their delicate pride had suffered a tiny bruise and they wanted to murder some people to make themselves feel better about it.
As hard as Li Yi Nuo tried to hide it, or maybe because she tried to hide it, Sen realized that she was very concerned that he would send the man away. It might just have been because the man was an elder, but he suspected that the elder was her master. He could just imagine the endless complaining if he up and told her master to go home. That might have been a good enough reason to let the man stay if only for a day or two, but the man had also laughed. It hadn’t been cruel laughter, either. He’d just been entertained by Li Yi Nuo’s awkward moment. Sen thought that was probably the reason he’d let them in.
Beyond that, Bahn Huizhong had actually seemed sincere when he said he just wanted to meet him. Sen wasn’t sure why anyone would want to meet him with his reputation, but he supposed people couldn’t really help what they found interesting. Sen didn’t particularly care about the intricacies of art or tailoring. However, it fascinated some people. He supposed that there was bound to be at least one cultivator out there who found him interesting in the same way. Of course, now that they were inside the wall, he had to figure out what to do with them. He’d never planned on entertaining guests at this place, so he hadn’t bothered putting up a building for them to stay in. I guess I could make them one, thought Sen. But where to put it? Definitely somewhere not too close to my home. Before he came to any final conclusion, he heard something that always brightened his day.
“Papa!”
He looked in Ai’s direction and smiled as the little girl raced across the compound toward him. He also noted the group of people who were none-too-subtly keeping a close eye on her. The sight of them always made him feel better, even if he was very confident that nothing bad was likely to ever happen to her inside of these walls.
“Fly me, Papa!” yelled Ai, stretching her arms out to either side.
Laughing to himself, Sen scooped her up with a bit of air qi and floated her into his waiting arms. She laughed the entire way and then planted a kiss on his cheek. He kissed the tip of her nose, which generated the giggles he so loved to hear. It was only when Ai cast a curious look at the newcomers that Sen remembered they had an audience. Li Yi Nuo was staring at him and Ai with eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. Bahn Huizhong smiled at the scene. If he thought there was anything amiss, it didn’t show on his face.
“Who are they?” whispered Ai.
“I don’t know,” Sen whispered back. “Maybe you should introduce yourself.”