Chapter Text
Chapter Twelve
A new temple in a mid-sized town
The girl ran into the room, out of breath, but beaming. She stiffly raised her arm up and let a scroll unfurl. Everyone gasped as the image was revealed: a gorgeous man mid-battle with a monster, sword still in the after-arc of a blow, blood flying off the edge. His eyes were narrowed in concentration, hair falling from his crown to drape across his face, and several leaves hovering about him, ready to join their fellows embedded in the creature's eyes and pawpads.
An amazing work of art, rendered in dozens of shades of expensive coloring and masterful strokes…and clearly a match with the image displayed above an incense burner at the front of the room.
The same man, in the aftermath of the battle, a weary look on his blood-spattered face, same elegant robes torn in the same manner, sword lowered and leaves drifting to the ground. The determined and focused violence transformed into a dull resignation as a second person, facing away from the onlooker, pointed accusingly at the man, clearly berating him for something.
The scroll displayed in the temple dedicated to ‘The Falsely Accused’ was purchased from a farmer who had no method of contacting the cultivators who left such a clearly expensive and important item in his barn after their stay. He had not even known which sect to contact even if he could, only that they were young, and dressed in a dull yellow, and unable or unwilling to fly through a storm. He had kept it safe for years in case they returned, but now that his youngest daughters, twins, were to be married, he had brought it to town to supply their new households. He had sold it for quite a large sum of money to him and them both, they had to take up a collection to afford it, but still far less than the materials or skill involved deserved.
In fact, where did the girl get this second scroll?!
Just then, a man in yellow entered behind her. He looked over the room and nodded, pulling another scroll out, along with small hooks. A few moments later, three paintings were hanging in the alcove: one mid-battle, one mid-scolding, and a third that showed the same scene, but from behind, where a younger boy in yellow cowered in the first man’s shadow.
“It was a supervised night hunt, with several younger cultivators tracking a group of frog-boars, creatures with the looks and bloodthirst of swine, but the ability to leap such incredible distances that they appear to be flying. Unknown to us, there were also lesser demons in the area stalking them.
We split up…”
Shang Qinghua-Peak Lord of An Ding
In another town far from there, known for their vibrant pink dye
I was overseeing a trade deal, swapping sturdy looks of Ever-Silver Maple wood for several bundles of pink silk. It had been a hard sell. The weavers, employed by the same family that had slowly bought up or married into every step of the production process in town, had not needed to replace their equipment yet, so losing out on the money from the silk’s sale was a heavy loss. But I had successfully argued that they could either recoup their costs by selling the looks to another group, or letting their younger weavers practice without taking up space needed by the more skilled. Those looms would have lasted several years more, true, but these looms would last several centuries! Their grandchildren would teach their grandchildren to weave on these same beams, and the soft glow the wood gave off would improve visibility, especially in the winter, where keeping candles too close could cause issues.
They gave in in the end, the woman softening as she looked toward her daughter, visibly pregnant, clearly picturing her grandchildren sitting at the loom that I insisted be set up so that they could evaluate the item properly (My poor minion. She had joined a cultivation sect to avoid that type of work, but was still setting up looms at the age of one hundred and eight! You may still have to work menial jobs, but at least you could avoid the back pain from aging! Fight on!) and finally agreed to giving me one of the items that had been on Xian Shu’s wishlist for years.
And it technically hadn’t even cost us any money! The (monstrously enormous) tree had gotten struck by lightning, I’d made a deal with the carpenter (another minion’s father) to carve five looms from the wood, if he got to keep one for his wife. All I had to do was talk the people involved around to my point of view. (The carpenter hadn’t needed much convincing, he had been very grateful that I’d taken his daughter in, and his wife had weak eyesight, so the loom meant saving quite a bit on lamp oil.) And now I was walking into a nice Inn while my cute little minions waited to collect and store away the silk. Of course I was going to order snacks for all of us while I waited, we deserved it!
“Would you like me to set them out in the shrine room?”...ah?...People normally didn’t eat in shrines right?...I just blinked at the innkeeper, confused, and they got a bit nervous. (How could I make anyone nervous, honestly?)
“Apologies if I overstepped, it was just, I thought, since you were from the same sect as Him, you might like to see it? People spend so much time there, we have just set up tables and treat it as a private dining room…”
What?
Peak Lord Meeting on Qiong Ding Peak
2 Years into the Seclusion of Qing Jing Peak
Luo Binghe-Former Demon Emperor
I sat upright,eyes sparkling, full of admiration for these amazing persons and humbled by the opportunity to witness the inner workings of Cang Qiong, missing only one of their ever-exalted members. That a lowly disciple like me was given leave to observe the moments when these great men and women decided the future of so many… Perhaps maybe I would possibly be of use to my Shizun upon his return by carrying word of the decisions made here?
Ew…
Even in my head that was exhausting! But it was important to keep up the act, even if pretending to look up to these hypocrites grated. I remembered how they acted before! They looked down on Shen Qingqiu for going to brothels, but he wasn’t the only one to do so. They looked down on him for not respecting others, but what respect did they show anyone they deemed ‘lesser’? They whispered about how he abused his students, but I still remembered the day I realized that Shen Qingqiu was no worse than any of them, when after an especially bad qi deviation, Mu Qingfang and Yue Qingyuan had had to sit vigil on Qing Jing, Shizun too bad to even move to Qian Cao. Mu Qingfang had apparently told Ming Fan that it was likely that our Master wouldn’t survive, and that being in a familiar place over a sterile one was the last thread of hope that he could try to pull him back with. The so-called Healer had come into the woodshed and seen me hanging there, and merely sighed before collecting what he had come for and leaving.
I had been left there until Shizun had recovered. After that he had let me down, and had let up on the punishments a bit, and given me a room in the dorms. He was still hateful and cruel whenever he saw me, but in comparison to being punished every day it had seemed so much kinder. I had had renewed hope that I might be accepted and one day please him, becoming an exemplary disciple that he looked upon with pride…
That last hope died in the Endless Abyss.
Though I hated Shen Qingqiu the most, I had no affection for any of the rest of these dogs, wagging their tails whenever they sensed a treat and growling when you turned your back. All of them enabled my scummy Shizun! They knew what he did, whispered about it and looked down on him, but no one ever interfered! Not even Liu Mingyan’s brother! I had heard from my wife that the man was honorable and upright, and he was certainly on Qing Jing challenging Shen Qingqiu often enough in my memory, for every other indecent act. Surely he could have challenged him for his stolen students’ sake? He had wanted me all along, and had no problems confronting that man, so why hadn’t he taken me away?
Then again, my Mingyan had said that he was rather single-minded, and not that bright. Perhaps he had trouble keeping Shen Qingqiu’s crimes in mind when the man was out of sight?
As if my thoughts summoned him, the man slammed the door open. I let my eyes sparkle even more at the sight of the War God Himself, even as I jumped up to shut the door behind him as he stomped around the table.
Oh…the door was kind of,very, broken…I’d just lean it against the wall here, out of the way.
The War God marched up to the table, each step shaking the ground with its strength and determination.
“How do I find out how much money and food I need for the rest of the season?” he slammed his hands down in front of the spy.Surprisingly, the spy did not squeak or cower, only raised his head and gave the taller man a look that made my instincts perk up.
“The best way would be to call for an Audit. An audit is an investigation that tells you how much money you were given, what you said you would spend it on, and what you actually spent it on, for the last several years. That way you can see that if the amount of food you bought was about the same every year, you can ask for that again, and if you are spending money on useless things you can stop.”
“I want an Audit then.”
“Of course!”
“Actually, we should all have an audit. Can Qiong has not had a full audit since the Qing generation took power, it is about time we look things over. Perhaps identify certain areas of…overindulgence…”
She had to be talking about Shen Qingqiu. The man never wore the same robe twice in a row, and seemed to discard ones with amazingly intricate embroidery on a regular basis. Did he have no idea how difficult laundry was? Mother had been threatened and punished harshly over so much as accidentally loosening some threads on much simpler garments!
“Why bother? We all know where it is going.”
“If there is an Audit, will that bring an extension for the budget?” Wasn’t the new season starting soon? Had Wei Qingwei still not completed his proposal?
“Of course Wei-shidi! If, during the course of the audit, money was granted to a certain group in what all the Peak Lords agree is excess, that money could be…re-allocatted.”
“While it would be admirable to thoroughly inspect our already impeccable records, as Qingqi-shimei says, we already know where the money goes. Everyone had put in their proposals before they were even given their allowance in the first place. None of us are careless with our portions, and Bai Zhan’s state is not the normal state of things. There is no need for everyone to suffer, since, as Qinghua knows, no money is to be spent or given out during an audit until it is complete,” the sect leader said.
“I am willing to use my personal funds for emergencies, if An Ding is willing to reimburse me after the audit is complete.”
Shang Qinghua whipped out a message talisman, which flew off, and then agreed.
“Qingqi-shimei is very generous! But it is unnecessary. An audit will take time to complete, and not everyone has your resources. An Ding is already short of hand as it is. Until Qing Jing returns, it is better to make certain that we all work hard to give them a healthy and peaceful sect to return to. Thus I am denying the request.”
“Sorry Yue-zhongzhu!” the spy chirps…chirps!...”If seven Peaks agree to an audit, we are required to go through with it, even against the sect leader’s orders. Just in case, you know?” Know what? “Also, I already have all of the documentation ready!”
“What?!”
“My…father… always said that you should keep your financials as if expecting that a government official should ask to inspect them at any moment. So the new year after we settled into our new positions, I started making clean copies of everything and keeping it all bound up and ready. How much money the sect brought in, how much money was requested by each peak, how much was given, and what it was spent on, and if it was what the personal requesting it said that it would be used for. Everything.”
Some of the Peak Lords looked a bit nervous.
“Why wouldn’t it be used for what they said it would be?” Liu Qingge really was too pure. Sometimes people stole. Or lied.
“Sometimes things cost more, or less, than expected. Sometimes you use the money for new training weights on new furniture after the dormitories were flooded and everything ruined.”
“Training is important, it is why we are here in the first place. Why couldn’t they just wash the things that got wet, or just sleep outside?”
“You cannot train well if you are too tired to stay awake, and not everyone can sleep soundly outside.”
“They should just stop being so soiled.”
“Can you tell your body to stop sneezing?”
“What? No, of course not.”
“You are the most well-trained and strong person on Bai Zhan, if even you can not completely control your body, why would untrained students?” Liu Qingge looked shocked.
“Also, sometimes you need to use the money to repair a courtyard after a peak lord picks a fight in it.”
“The one who broke it should fix it.”
“Do you know how to fix tiles? Or replant the garden and fix the pond?”
“No.”
“So we needed to pay someone else to fix it for you.”
“When did I break a courtyard?”
“Ahem,” Ku Xingqiu coughed from the other side of the room. What was that supposed to mean?
“And also four other times in various places with Shen Qingqiu over the past year before he went into seclusion.”
“Maybe he shouldn’t pick fights with Liu Qingge then, that man should be paying for the damages.”
Ku Xingqiu took offense at this.
“I didn’t pick a fight with him, that hothead starts fights all on his own! I was leading a group of new disciples in meditation!”
“I meant Shen Qingqiu of course, not you!”
“One of the times he fought with Shen Qingqiu was during a music lesson. Seventeen qin had to be replaced.”
Winces all around, even me. Many of my wives played the qin, and quality instruments were not cheap.
“Luckily for Bai Zhan, the sect leader ruled that they were not responsible for the damages, as if Shen Qingqiu hadn’t dodged Liu Qingge’s strike, nothing would have been damaged.”
“Nothing, sure, only a few bones,” muttered the irate monk, scowling at Yue Qingyuan. In this case, I agreed with him, even if that man had picked the fight ( because of course he had done something to offend the War God, his existence was offensive to all righteous men, or should be) it was not cowardice to avoid a blow from a superior opponent, only common sense. Liu Qingge was in the right to attack the evil in front of him, but he should still avoid collateral damage. What if he had hit Ning Yingying?!
A moment of silence. Perhaps Qing Jing needed their overblown budget after all. Everyone knew how often the Qing Jing and Bai Zhan peak lords clashed, but no one had stopped to consider the cost of replacing the art and music supplies that the scholar’s peak would have had to front.
A disciple came in with a pouch and handed it to Shang Qinghua, leaving with a huff and a glare to the ruined door. Yue Qingyuan tried to snatch the object away, only for chains of light to appear and bind him to his chair.
“Our ancestors were wise. They prepared for if any peak lords objected to an audit that would bring their secrets to light.”
“I never saw anything about this in the notes!” Xu Qingli stood up and rushed to the sect leaders’ side, not to help him, but to examine the restraints. “Every array used within Cag Qiong’s grounds should be listed in our records.”
“Ahahaha, well, when was the last time someone checked?”
“As it is meant to prevent corruption, it might have been kept secret.”
“We are still supposed to have records, we have notes on all kinds of ‘secret’ arrays and artifacts used here!”
“Moving on!” Shang Qinghua sang out, opening the pouch and removing several thick books, each with a year labeled on the front. XXxX took the one labeled with the year of their ascension to their posts and opened it, revealing a stack of papers with holes along one side, threaded onto metal rings set into the book’s spine, and with colored tabs sticking out from the far end. Turning the first, blank, page, revealed a paper with “Xian Shu’ written across it and a pink tab stuck to the edge of the paper.
Wei Qingwei noted that one of the books had moved to rest in front of him and opened itself “Xian Shu budget, income, and expenditure for *** year.”
“This is the original budget for the first year after we gained our positions.” Who?! That creepy disappearing guy! I hated him so much, and all of his only slightly less creepy followers. At least I didn’t have to think about him unless he was there, the others’ camouflage slipped enough to cause what the rat-spy called ‘jump scares’ constantly.
“Yes, that first year, I didn’t know how much we’d be getting, or how much everyone would need, so I just split it equally in thirteen, a share for each peak and the emergency fund.”
“Hey, you made us write budget proposals for that year too, why did we have to do that if you already knew how much you were going to give us already?”
“Well, if what you needed was more than what I was planning to offer, I needed to find a way to get more money quickly, but if it was less, I could always give you more later, or add it to the emergency fund.”
“If you could ‘get more money quickly’, why didn’t you just do that anyway?”
“Longer term investments are usually more profitable.”
“Why haven’t we used the emergency fund for the requests we made after that? You already have money set aside, so why not use the other money instead of adding more to it?”
“You never know what might happen. Remember a few years ago when Chuang Zao Peak burnt nearly all of Rìcháng Zhízé down?”
“It is also better not to forget the pending war with the demon realm.”
What?!
Everyone turned to look at me. Oh no. I said that out loud…
“All of you are so amazing! Did you really win a war against demons so fast that no one ever heard about it?” Why hadn’t he ever heard about it? The only large-scale efforts he heard about the demons moving against cultivators were Sha Hualing and Mobei-jun attacking, separately at that.
“Shen-shixiong doesn’t teach his students history?”
“There was no war, what are you talking about?”
“No one really talks about it,” ‘explained’ Shang Qinghua. “Fighting demons is all well and good but no righteous cultivator wants to talk about how we lured Tianlang-jun into an ambush and ganged up on him several thousand to two.”
“...I thought he sent a challenge?” Everyone ignored Liu Qingge.
“Why is a junior disciple questioning us? Do not speak before your betters. You may ask your questions to your teachers in private.”
What betters? All of you are rotten.
“Where is last year’s book? Qing Jing didn’t use any of their money for the last two years. Even if we set aside the first year’s allowance for them, we should be able to split this year’s,” Qi Qingqi reasoned.
Mu Qingfang nodded, “There is much that Qian Cao could do with twice our normal budget.” All of them started muttering to themselves as Wei Qingwei dug through the pile, fantasizing about what projects they would be able to fund with their sudden windfall.
“After three years away, Qing Jing will have to replace even more than normal.”
“They can send an emergency request just like the rest of us then.”
“Here it is! Wei Qingqei waved the book above his head before opening it as Yue Qingyuan continued to struggle against his bonds. “The total amount allotted to Qing Jing for last year was…two hundred and twelve taels of silver?!”
“What?!”
“You misread that.”
“Did you mean two hundred thousand taels?”
“That is less than my parents use to run their households!”
“Qing Jing Peak has fewer disciples than any other, their allowance has been reduced accordingly.”
“Qing Jing has fewer junior disciples, they have plenty of seniors, elders, and staff.”
“Wait, didn’t all of the elders and seniors leave or go into seclusion to protest Shen Qingqiu’s appointment?”
“They went into seclusion to prepare for war,” Shang Qinghua rolled his eyes. “Did everyone here forget the way we came into power? Our teachers were not ready to hand over the reins yet, they had to complete the ceremony in a hurry with lightning all around them, and skin cracking to show the golden glow beneath! Everyone was trying to eke out every last drop of power before the demons took advantage of the balance of power shifting.”
“But the demons never attacked.”
“They haven’t attacked yet. It has only been ten years, not that long even for mortal politics, we are supposed to be thinking much longer term than that.” Surprisingly, that was Ku Xingqing. That man had been so bland in my past life that I hadn’t thought he had an opinion on anything. Seeing him show so much emotion in this meeting was out of the ordinary, to say the least. And now to see him argue?
“Wait, the reason that there are no warriors on Qing Jing is not because none of the scholars bother to train, but because they were too busy training?” As the others continued the conversation about money, Liu Quingge seemed to be having some sort of revelation.
“Even if there were only junior disciples, supplies to promote serious scholarship are expensive. ”
Wei Qingwei continued to look over the papers, he looked up grimly. “Every peak received roughly the same amount except two: Qing Jing, which receives far less… and Qiong Ding, which receives half of the annual income for the year. The rumors were true, only the recipient was mistaken.”
Every Peak Lord took a moment to digest this. Every year they had, more or less carefully, put in budget requests that covered what they needed, plus a few things that they could use or just wanted. Every Year, much was denied. They usually got what they needed, along with a little extra, and Shang Qinhua would often come along later, claiming that he just happened to find a better deal on this or that, but they did not forget that they were denied first. Each one had, at some point, complained bitterly about Shen Qingqiu’s lavish budget and special attentions and allowances. To hear that the man who nodded and claimed to be unable to help was the one ultimately responsible for that? And not in the indirect way that they had thought, giving a greedy man free reign and turning a blind eye, but by being, himself, a greedy man. One who threw suspicion on another to hide his deeds at that!
“I was told to give Qiong Ding half the budget every year, and then take Qing Jing’s allowance out, and then split it between everyone else.” Shang Qinghua wiggled, looking satisfied with himself.
Truly, this version of the spy was the best at sowing discord. I sat, forgotten, as everyone screamed at the bound sect leader, demanding changes and attempting to shame him. I was also surprised, I never knew that Yue Qingyuan was using Shen Qingqiu’s evil to hide his own foul deeds. I was not overly surprised though.
As I said: I saw their true selves in my first life, where they did not bother to hide their wickedness from one who had no power to address it.
“Enough!” A wave of power swept over the room as, with a sword seal, the Xuan Su sword was drawn enough to shatter the bonds holding its master to his chair. Thus freed, he let his aura build more, pressing everyone down into their seats, making our lungs struggle to fill and our heads swim.
The last thing I saw was the sword sliding back into its sheathe.
Liu Qingge-Peak Lord of Bai Zhan
My body refused to listen to me. It was not often that I felt fear, though I often fought beats that could kill me I relished the joy of battle. Yue Qingyuan felt as if he could not only kill me, but unmake me, destroy my soul entirely if he wished. It took everything I had not to flee.
My siblings were all also still, and the random child was flat on the floor. Was he still breathing? No, he was too still. Finally the sect leader sheathed his blade, and everyone gasped for breath. The child shook as he started breathing again.
“As the sect leader of Cang Qiong, it is my privilege and responsibility to dictate where and how Cang Qiong spends its money. I may do as I wish to make certain that Cang Qiong presents itself well to the public and our allies, and uphold our image and reputation with the wider world. As long as no peak is left destitute, a few personal gifts and expenses are allowed, as per our founding charter.
That was unfortunately true. It was expected that the highest lord pamper himself a bit, or who would want the job? But still…
“Qing Jing was left destitute! I have no idea how that man kept himself clothed at all, let alone in such splendor as he does.”
A look toward the dazed child on the floor, somehow still conscious.
“That one appeared in rags, we assumed because he was living in the woods for months, but are all Qing Jing’s disciples wearing that? Is that where the rumors of inappropriate conduct come from, everyone running around naked?!”
“No,” I disagreed. Occasionally Shen Qingqiu would be naked when I went over, due to his habit of taking baths at random moments of the day, but I’d never seen a naked child on his peak.
“Were you all not the ones to tell me to reduce Qing Jing’s budget?” Yue Qingyuan’s voice was low and smooth, his smile sly, “Hasn’t every single person here told me to do so?”
“I didn’t!” Shang Qinghua pointed out, but he was the only one to speak. I had told the sect leader to stop giving Shen Qingqiu so much money and other gifts, but that was when I thought that he was wasting all of it on his flimsy fancy outfits and fans. If you were going to buy something expensive, at least make sure that it will not shred to pieces under a sword glare!
“Yes, but…”
“We didn’t realize…”
“I thought that…”
“It seemed as if…”
Surprisingly, Shang Qinghua jumped in…and on Yue Qingyuan’s side! “None of you knew what Qing Jing’s budget was, and you all still said it.”
“The rumors said…”
“The rumors said? Who told you these rumors? Were they from the An Ding Accounting Department? No. I know they were not, because they are all oathbound up to their eyes. Who else would know? So what if Shen-shixiong wears pretty clothes? That’s his business. You don’t criticize Qi-shimei for her thousand-lotus silk scarves!”
“I buy those with my own money!”
“So? Apparently all I have to do is say that you used sect money to do so, and that will make it true. Oh wait, I actually am part of the Accounting Department, so I’m actually a credible source, unlike Fu Wanqing!”
“Who?”
“A former Chuang Zao disciple who sent Shen Qingqiu a marriage proposal,” said Shang Qinghua, “She said that she didn’t care about his affairs as long as he gave her pretty babies.”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
Well that was wildly inappropriate.
“She left the sect to get married to a Huan Hua disciple. They have a decently cute son.”
“Since everyone seems to be in agreement that Qing Jing requires a larger allowance, I shall allow An Ding to return to splitting your half of the money equally. I’m certain that Xiao-Jiu will be grateful that you are all giving up part of your shares for his sake.”
No. No he would not. They all knew that.
“This meeting is adjourned.”
“Wait, you can’t just!” Yue Qingyuan walked out without another word, leaving the boy still sprawled out on the floor.
“Well, now we know why we never see Shen Qingqiu wearing any of Yue-shixiong’s gifts. He’s probably re-selling them to afford food!”
-Xu Qingli wasn’t so sure. If that was true, why hadn't those items turned up in another sect later? Even if one person had kept it a secret, none of the more than mildly rare and famous gifts had resurfaced. A kirin-horn throne was not exactly inconspicuous. Where were they going?-
With nothing new to say to each other, and feeling upset about their upcoming budget cuts and guilt over Qing Jing’s situation, the Peak Lords slowly drifted out.
The disciple, left behind again, approached me. “This one is called Lue Binghe!” He smiled at me and waited…What exactly was he waiting for? Did he want me to introduce myself? There was no way he didn’t know who I was!
“What do you want?” I asked.”
“Oh, um, I just wanted to meet you. You’re so amazing! Such a strong and righteous man! I just wanted to properly meet you, since I almost became your disciple.”
“There is no ‘almost’” I scowled, “You are a Bai Zhan disciple or you are not. Who are you in the first place? I've never seen you before and you already said that we never met.”
“This one is called Luo Binghe. Wei-shibo said that you wanted me for Bai Zhan, but Shuzun wanted me more back then, and the sect leader gave me to him…Not that he wants me anymore…” The last bit was said quietly. I ignored it, when you answered people said things like that, they always got angry at you, I long since had learned that lesson. The rest of it…I didn’t take disciples from the Selection Ceremony, my students had to earn their place.
“I don’t take disciples from the Selection Ceremony, my students have to earn their place. You must ascend Bai Zhan on your own and fight to secure your position.” Oh no, Shang Qinghua was leaving, I had to catch him!
I got to him before he got to the door and pulled him back. Catching the flying books as he flailed, I dumped them onto the table and pushed him back into a chair.
I sat down and leaned forward, locking eyes with him as he looked at me warily.
“Explain.”
Previously, on Bai Zhan Peak
I had filled out an emergency food requisition form, and told the disciple to camp out on An Ding until it was ready. I asked for a dan of rice and several jin of meat. The rice arrived uncooked, the meat dried, and several unasked-for raw vegetables that came with a note warning that growing disciples could lose their hair and teeth if they did not eat them. The dried meat was immediately snatched up and fought over, with much getting ruined during said fights. Normally I would let them decide among themselves, but without meat, how could growing students gain the strength needed to fight for said meat? The local wildlife had long since been depleted, so there was no way that they could hunt for themselves. So I beat them all and re-collected the surviving pieces. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough left for everyone to have more than a piece each.
The rice was left untouched. No one knew where the kitchen was, and we had nothing to cook the rice in. One person had tried to roast the rice on a piece of bark like you would a fish, only for the grains to explode like fireworks and leap into the flames.
I had had to hold down the younger disciples and force them to eat the vegetables.
They had cried.
It had only been one day, and we were once again out of usable food. The meat was gone, the vegetables despised, and ruined by a spiteful child still spitting out the taste of the roots I had forced her to swallow, and the rice pointless without the tools and knowledge to cook it.
I didn’t even know where to start to solve the problem.
Present Day
“Explain what?” Shang Qinghua’s voice wavered, but unlike before, he barely cringed, and still met my gaze…For a moment at least, then his eyes returned to darting around the room.
“The meat, there was barely enough for everyone. The rice wasn’t cooked. The disciples cried when I made them eat the vegetables. Nothing has been delivered since.” He stared at me like I was missing something.
“There was enough food for over a week. You don’t have enough money in your budget to afford more than the basics, so I sent things for basic meat and vegetable stews and rice. I know that none of the hallmasters or servants that are supposed to be there are, but are you telling me that no one on Bai Zhan knows how to cook rice?”
“Hallmasters can cook?”
“Most people can at least cook rice. What did he say when you asked him?” I hadn’t asked, and avoided Shang-shixong' s eyes. Thinking back, it seemed like an obvious question to ask. Maybe the man also knew where the kitchen was.
“With an ongoing audit, An Ding will be looking into where all the money sent to Bai Zhan has gone. Unlike the other peaks, I didn’t bother double-checking how you spent the money; since you never sent in a budget proposal either there wouldn’t be much point. Once we recover what we can, we’ll put that toward getting more food. Until then, I’d talk to your disciples. Send them on hunting trips, see if anyone has relatives that would be willing to come work as servants, maybe think of using some of those ‘pointless status-symbols’ your parents send to pay for grain and vegetables for them to cook. By the way…the vegetables I sent you were supposed to be cooked before they were eaten.”
I didn’t understand most of that. Wasn’t the audit already done? He took out all of the books and we looked at them …Then again, I didn’t really understand what everyone was reading either. My disciples couldn’t hunt, all the prey on Bai Zhan had already been eaten. How could I use the jewelry and robes my family sent to pay for grain and vegetables? You used money to buy things, I knew that much. And why would disciples’ parents agree to being servants?
“I don’t understand most of that. Wasn’t the audit already done? You took out all of the books and we looked at them. I don’t understand what they meant but the others did. My disciples can’t hunt, all the prey on Bai Zhan has already been eaten. How can I use the jewelry and robes my family sent to pay for grain and vegetables? How would disciples’ parents agree to being servants? Explain.”
“Oh boy,” Shang Qinghua sat back down and sighed heavily. “Well, let's start with the last question then. What do you mean ‘how’ would you get them to agree?”
“I mean how? Why would they leave their house to go serve in another household? My parents would never agree to that, even though they love me.”
“Liu-shidi, your parents are nobles.”
“...They are…”
“It would be very strange for nobles to become servants, yes, but are all of your students actually nobles? Most of Cang Qiong’s disciples are not nobles, they are fourth and fifth children of lower-class families. There are more orphan children than actual nobles.”
“I thought that most children were taught their parent’s trade, and that younger children were sent to sects so that their parents did not have to split their estate as much.” Or at least that was what I’d heard. My relatives had complained about me leaving. They said that since I was the eldest son I should take over from my father, and asI only had one other brother and the Liu Estate was vast and powerful, there was no need to worry about splitting it.
“Yes, but if a tailor has five sons, will the town need six tailors when they grow up? If they all have five more sons, will the town need thirty?” A town with thirty tailors did seem strange. I knew a lot of people took clothing more seriously than they should, but thirty was too many wasn’t it?
“They could try to go to another town, but what if that town already had a tailor with five sons? Sometimes you can find a person with no sons to teach their trade too, but a lot of people end up becoming servants. A lot of them try to become cultivators first.”
“Try to become cultivators first?”
“What did you think happened to the disciples that failed, but didn’t die?”
I thought that they went home. But if they went home, and couldn’t learn a trade…
“What about the servant’s children? All of the Liu's servants were from families that served us for years. All of my family's friends' families are the same. Where are they getting hired if all the servant jobs are getting taken by the servants' children?”
“Are all of the servants from long-serving families? Or just the ones you see all the time? Serving the family directly is usually reserved for the higher -ranking people. (Servants had rankings?) Does the Liu family employ all of their servant’s children? Even if they have ten children, do all of them stay on the estate?”
I wanted to say that they did, that my family wouldn’t throw out anyone who had loyally served us for years, but there were already so many servants in that house, if all of them had ten children…Now that I was thinking about it, many of the servants were unmarried women, where had all of the sons gone? And what would happen when those women married and left?
I didn’t even know enough about the house I grew up in to answer these questions. It was a little embarrassing. This wasn’t something a warrior should have to worry about, but something had gone wrong somewhere, so now I had to fix it. To fix it, I had to learn these things. Maybe I would write to my mother. Before marriage, she had been a cultivator, and now she ran a house. Maybe she would have advice on how to deal with it?
“If you have any servant’s children on your peak, they may have siblings or cousins that are in need of work and willing to come here. For another question, you sell the items, and use the money to buy goods.”
“I am not a merchant.”
“Selling a few unwanted items does not make you a merchant. Farmers sell their crops, and it does not make them merchants. And there is no dignity in starving to death, or letting those you’ve sworn to protect starve.”
There went my half-hearted plan to make everyone old enough to practice inedia and force the younger to learn it as soon as possible. I had sworn to protect those on Bai Zhan.
I realized that, though I had sworn to lead, teach, and protect those on my peak, I didn’t even know how many lived there, let alone who all of them were…
I had a lot of work to do.
“You are not able to leave your peak, but your disciples are. Send them to hunt boar or deer. If they can kill swift-footed venom-fluffs, they can kill rabbits. Heck, let them kill swift-footed venom-fluffs! Those can be eaten as long as you avoid the venom-sacs.”
…I should not have had to be told this. But I had never been involved in who to send on what hunt, so it didn’t occur to me that even though I couldn’t leave to hunt, they could. I should probably change that too.
“Last of all. Let’s go over what a budget proposal is and what an audit does. Then we can talk about what an audit means to Bai Zhan, specifically.”
Oh no, he was pulling out papers and grinding ink.
Mu Qingfang- Qian Cao Peak Lord
Yue Qingyuan had left the Qing Jing boy behind. He was looking a little lost after Liu Qingge’s abrupt dismissal.
Hmmm.
He was a Qing Jing disciple, even if only a junior one. Those were always useful when I was able to borrow one, and I’d heard that this one was being passed around. Surely no one would object if I volunteered myself for the next placement…
Luo Binghe-Former Demon Emperor
“What are you doing?! I jumped, the knife slicing much deeper than I intended, blood splashing all over the unconscious woman’s face. I knew that lovely, bloodstained, face, it belonged to one of my wives. Last time, she had slept through the destruction of Cang Qiong, arrays hiding the long-term care ward from me. I had discovered the ward years later, full of long-dead bodies of invalids that had starved to death as well as her, trapped in a death-like sleep.
My heart was moved by her beauty, and I had laid a kiss upon those perfect lips. She had woken, and we had quickly fallen in love and married. There was a little hiccup when she found that I was the one that had destroyed the sect, but we had worked through it. After all, everyone she had been attached to had long since moved on during her long slumber. She had been sleeping since the Ming generation was in their prime!
Now, a kiss hadn’t worked. Perhaps because I was still sealed? So I had decided to try feeding her my blood. I couldn’t control the parasites yet, but they would embed themselves in her body until that day came. The blood itself may even wake her, Heavenly Demons contained the cure to nearly anything within them after all.
“I said, ‘What are you doing?’” The Qian Cao disciple repeated himself, yanking the blade away from me, having come closer while I was distracted.
“Um, well, she isn’t hurt?” So I thought I would give her some of the strength in my blood and she would wake up!” Not how it worked with most people, but there were enough tales and superstitions about gaining your enemies power by drinking their blood or eating their heart that it should work as an excuse. Hopefully they’d think that I was just an ignorant peasant-raised brat, like I used to be.
This body was making me careless. I’d never been caught so much or snuck up on once I was unsealed. But now, not sensing anyone nearby didn’t mean I was alone, it just meant my dulled and stunted senses didn’t notice them!
“Does everyone on Qing Jing practice demonic cultivation?”
“What?! How?! Where had my disguise slipped?!
“What did I just hear?” a passing senior stuck her head through the open doorway. She took in the room: An unconscious, blood-covered patient, an older disciple holding a knife, and a younger one with a wounded hand. A very bad looking scene for the older boy, but accusations of demonic cultivation always came with extra suspicion toward the accused. If not for the words my shixiong had just uttered, I’d probably have been able to pretend that he’d attacked me or the patient, and I’d tried to stop him!
“This boy was trying to feed Shijie his blood! Ingesting human body parts is demonic cultivation!”
“He’s a peasant.” The orderly rolled her eyes. “Remember last year when that outbreak was tracked back to an alchemist selling dried blood scabs because ‘Drinking the blood of the rich will make you rich’?”
“Oh…Right…” My cover was intact.
“You, remember that eating, or feeding yourself to, your fellow cultivators is forbidden.”
“But what about talismens and artifacts, don’t they use blood?”
“They use it, but a person doesn’t activate an artifact by eating it. Ask your Shizun about what happens when humans drink each other’s blood.”
What would Shen Qingqiu know about it? Did he try to gain strength that way instead of cultivating properly and ruin his foundation that way?
“What are you two supposed to be doing anyway?”
“I came to see what the brat had screwed up this time.” Somehow, when I wasn’t looking, the boy had managed to bandage his hand and was now cleaning my wife’s face. “He was supposed to be cleaning bedpans, but he wasn’t, so I came to find him and saw him standing over Lin-shijie with a knife.”
“This is the female ward. You should have alerted one of your Shijies instead of coming in yourself.”
“Of course. My mistake, I will do better next time.”
“And you…”
I had a bad feeling.
Far from there, a mortal man who claimed all power under heaven met with an immortal who, himself, reached for the heavens to discuss the man’s fellows.
--Note: Sorry about being late. Next chapter may also be later, in March instead of January.