A Thousand Li

by Tao Wong

  “Why did you start taking it in the first place?”

  Xiang Wen’s lips pursed. “No. If we are to trade information, we’ll do it in turns. How did you learn about the dark sect?”

  “I was one of those who first publicly exposed them. With Elder Yang.”

  “You were on the expedition. And in the fight against the Heavenly Lake Sect?”

  He nodded.

  “That explains much.”

  “Why did you take it?”

  Xiang Wen hesitated. “It was presented as a new elixir by a well-known apothecarist family. The Shen of Northern Green Lake.”

  Wu Ying nodded, having heard a little of that from Master Cheng.

  “They provided the first sample free. My Master recommended I take it due to…” She hesitated then shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I took it, and it improved my cultivation. We only learnt about the tainted cores that were used to make it later.”

  “Why did you not notice anything before that?” Wu Ying asked.

  “It’s my turn.” But before Wu Ying could protest, she continued. “But I’ll answer this first. The elixirs actually affect your ability to perceive the dependence it creates internally. As for the external changes, we were assured it was just impurities being burnt off.”

  “No, just the lifeblood of others,” Wu Ying said.

  Xiang Wen flinched before she soldiered on. “My turn. Why are you here?”

  “I took an injury fighting the Heavenly Lake Sect.” Wu Ying unconsciously touched his chest, his sleeve falling to expose the bruising on his arm at the same time. “I’m here to be treated as well.”

  “Interesting.” Xiang Wen leaned back in her chair, staring at Wu Ying. She tilted her head, examining the door before going on. “Do you intend to continue to fight the dark sect then?”

  Wu Ying nodded.

  “You’re either foolish or courageous beyond reason.”

  “Can’t I be both?” Wu Ying said, smiling.

  She snorted, standing. “Very well. I accept that you meant no harm, though your actions have impaired my modesty and my honor. I will extract recompense from you at a later date. In turn, I will have the Elder squash the matter.”

  “I…” He paused, considering her position. Being spied upon, even if it was in error, was embarrassing for her. If rumors spread, it could affect her reputation. His too obviously, but hers more. More than that, he was in the wrong. He had acted impetuously, playing hero rather than considering his actions. Tou He had already told him to wait, but Wu Ying had refused to do so. In truth, she could start a full vendetta against him for his actions—one that could encompass himself and his Master—and she would be right to do so. “I’m grateful for your generosity.”

  She inclined her head, breezing past him to the door. As she placed a hand on it, she paused then turned her head to look at him from the corners of her eyes. “You are not the only one who has been harmed by their machinations. It would be best for you to consider that.”

  Wu Ying watched her leave, turning over her words. Her words and the look in her eyes. Anger, not just at himself but those who had harmed her. And, he had to admit, he was lucky that she had forgiven him so easily. Even if he did owe her.

  Something.

  Perhaps it truly was time to focus on his own cultivation and leave the heroics for a later date. Not everything in his life had to revolve around the dark sect and their actions.

  Chapter 15

  “Let me get this right. The big thing you had to tell me turned out to be a not-so-big thing after you walked in on a beautiful young lady in the bath,” Yu Kun said, waving his chopsticks.

  The trio were seated in Wu Ying’s room, having breakfast together. Wu Ying had just finished relating what they knew.

  “But you still think maybe the dark sect could be an issue?” Yu Kun asked.

  “Well, yes.” Wu Ying waved a hand. “And no. I didn’t mean to walk in on her!”

  “What would Li Yao say,” Yu Kun said, making his face look morose. “So soon too.”

  “It’s not soon!”

  “Ah hah!” Yu Kun pointed his chopsticks. “So you did mean to walk in on the lady.”

  Wu Ying growled. “I told you it wasn’t planned.”

  Yu Kun nodded knowingly, making Wu Ying steam even further.

  Tou He, quiet until now, spoke up. “Can we focus on what is important?”

  “Yes! Like the dark sect still being a potential problem. If the Double Soul, Double Body Sect is the best way to fix the issues caused by their cultivation practices, the dark sect will likely try to attack them,” Wu Ying said heatedly.

  “I meant finding a solution for our own cultivation issues,” Tou He said.

  Wu Ying’s eyes widened as he realized he had never asked his friend how his time spent in the tower had gone. He turned a stricken face toward Tou He, who shook his head in mock disappointment.

  “It was good. We did not learn anything particularly new. Just more detailed. I have a list of cultivation manuals to review that should allow me to break through with minimal issues.” The monk grew serious for a second, his usual serene nature breaking. “We need to work on contributing to the sect though.”

  “Expensive?” Wu Ying said.

  “Very.” Tou He rubbed his nose. “My usual methods are…”

  “Less than useful?” Yu Kun said, one of his cheeks stuffed to the brim as he talked around his full mouth. “They don’t really have a lot of spiritual beasts or other violent assignments. And those they do are often quite far away.”

  Tou He nodded. “I did notice one for the nearby mountain range though…”

  “I saw it,” Yu Kun said. When Wu Ying made an inquiring noise, he explained to the eating cultivator. “It’s for a flock of Spotted Hill Cranes. At least a half dozen of them in the high Energy Storage stage, the rest weaker.”

  “Most Hill Cranes are born in the Body Cleansing cultivation level, but these seem to be a mutated variant,” Tou He said, shaking his head. “They’re dangerous, but not a threat.”

  “What do you mean?” Wu Ying said, having placed down his now-empty rice bowl, traded for a cup of tea.

  “The hills they live in are far enough from nearby villages that they aren’t particularly considered a threat. It’s only occasionally that they come out to harass the farmers. And even then, it’s mostly to steal sheep.”

  “Exactly. I was thinking if we went as a group, we could potentially beat them. And with someone’s expertise…” Yu Kun stared directly at Wu Ying. “We could potentially pick up more points on the trip.”

  “I don’t think we’re enough,” Wu Ying said. “A half dozen high Energy Storage beasts would overwhelm the three of us, never mind the rest of the flock.”

  Tou He nodded while Yu Kun grinned.

  “Leave that to me. I’ll find some others to help.” Yu Kun thumped a hand on his chest. “I’ve been busy meeting people while you all have been reading.”

  The other pair exchanged glances. “All right then.”

  As Yu Kun was about to continue, he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Wu Ying came back from the door with a pair of invitations offered to him by the attendant.

  “What is it?” Yu Kun asked.

  Wu Ying opened the documents and read through them. “Appointments to help with a few herb gardens, and one of them is in an hour.”

  “Not much time,” Tou He said.

  “Not at all. But it’s an Elder so…” Wu Ying shrugged. “But we still need to discuss the issue with the dark sect.”

  “Nothing to discuss,” Tou He said, shaking his head. “We keep an eye out, but do you think our hosts have not considered this matter? You have to trust that others will do what is best for them.”

  Wu Ying nodded reluctantly, trying to calm the tremble of fear in him. He knew who the danger was, as did their hosts. They would watch Xiang Wen for any other problems. And if Wu Ying was researching in the tower, he could smell out
trouble too.

  Even if his instincts said that there was more to this, he was still a relatively new cultivator. Perhaps he truly was jumping at nothing.

  Or perhaps everyone else was still taking the dark sect too lightly.

  ***

  Dirt was piled high around Wu Ying as he dug into the ground, muttering curses under his breath. On one side, to his right where he tossed the soil he was excavating, the dirt was yellow and pale, bone dry in the area he was clearing. On the other side was fresh dirt, dark and loamy, slightly damp and already watered. It would need a little more water when he was done.

  “Is this necessary for you to do yourself, Cultivator Long?” The Elder who stood almost diagonally in front of Wu Ying was casually floating in the air, his control of the wind ensuring his robe did not get dirty, even from the occasional stray shovelful of earth. He was no wind cultivator but just a strong Core cultivator who manipulated environmental chi with a powerful qinggong method.

  “It’s faster this way,” Wu Ying said.

  Wu Ying turned, looking at the pair of servants packing away the extracted earth into hemp-woven shoulder bags with shovels of their own. They had been ordered to dump the soil on the riverbank, to let it wash away and return to the earth.

  Of course, if it was up to Wu Ying, he would have kept the earth and reworked it with carefully treated compost compounds to be useable again. But considering the amount of damage the various spiritual herbs that had been grown in the herb garden had done to it, it would be the work of months before the old soil was viable. Better to extract and toss it away, allowing nature to deal with the damaged earth.

  “Really?” Doubt tinged the Elder’s voice as he stroked his beard. It was an impressively long piece of follicle marking, reaching nearly his belly button and full in its glory.

  “I need to check on the chi as I work…” Wu Ying bent, pressing his fingers to the earth, then nodded. A pulse of energy confirmed his initial misgivings. Damaged still, but much less. Of course, he was now nearly eight feet deep.

  “Of course, of course. It just seems so…” The Elder turned his gaze over his ravaged herb garden.

  Wu Ying had arrived expecting to trim a few plants, remove a few others, and optimize the layout. Instead, he had found a garden in the terminal stages of growth, half of its plants growing without check across previous boundaries and choking out the other half, yet failing to provide any quality cuttings. Large sections of the garden were completely bereft of plants, the soil drained of essential chi and nutrients, with only scraggly weeds growing in their expanse.

  Wu Ying had taken to cleaning with a vengeance, ordering around the servants, tearing up plants, and verifying the soil contents below. He harvested what few herbs were viable and left the few surviving plants in their places. In doing so, the garden had taken the look of a spent battlefield of greenery, with flowing sap and weeping drainage ditches.

  “Only a temporary situation,” Wu Ying said, hopping out of the hole easily using his light movement skills. He brushed off his hands, looking around at the damage then ordering a slacking attendant to work before turning to the Elder in full. “But we first need to finish readying your garden again.”

  The Elder reluctantly nodded, watching as his attendants trudged around the courtyard with sacks of earth. “I place myself in your hands.”

  “Good. Now…” Wu Ying stretched, smiling as he felt a knot in his back release. The exercise and work in the dirt, contrary to his expectations, actually made him feel better. The throb in his head lingered, as did the ache in his bones, but it was faded as he stood among the dirt and wood, in the fresh air of the hillside mansion. “Let’s discuss what you want from your garden.”

  “Is that not simple? Spiritual herbs suitable for my cultivation. You were provided a list, were you not?” the Elder said.

  “It’s not that simple. Many of the spiritual herbs you requested are in direct conflict with one another. Others need special care—for example, the moonlight blossom can only be watered at night, between the third and fourth hours.” Wu Ying flicked his hand, extracting the document he had been given. “We will need to trim down your list, verify what you need when, and work out a rotation plan. In many cases, you will not be able to grow them without more skilled workers. You’ll also have a lot of extra space, so adding other spiritual herbs will help the entire garden flourish and maybe even provide additional contribution points.”

  The Elder frowned. In the end, he let out a grumpy sigh and gestured up to the mansion. “Shall we continue the discussion in my residence?”

  “Yes. Just give me a moment to finish giving orders and we’ll go in,” Wu Ying said.

  He turned to the attendants, watching as the head gardener hurried over. Wu Ying laid out his plans, including the extraction of soil to the same level across much of the marked areas, the replacement of other kinds of soil, and the necessary development of compost bushes, before leaving the attendants to work. The rest, he would deal with when he came back.

  Finally done, Wu Ying thanked the impatient Elder for his patience and followed, smiling a little to himself. This kind of work was much more satisfying than sitting in a stuffy library, reading manuals over and over and trying to tease esoteric secrets from professionally obtuse scholars.

  Best of all? He was going to be paid in contribution points.

  Twice.

  ***

  Stupid, stuffy libraries. Idiotic cultivators who felt the need to be poetic in their descriptions rather than being straightforward. How hard was it to ask someone to push their chi through the jianzhen, yamen, then dazhui meridian points rather than speaking of the flow of one’s natural essence where the heart and liver chi met north of the conception meridian before a swallow’s breath of energy should be added to the kidney meridian, where the branch of energy formed from the wood asp began.

  Of course, Wu Ying knew part of the issue was the different methods of designating various meridians. Depending on when a document had been initially written—the second, sixth, or two hundred eighteenth calendar year for example—the way meridians and meridian points were named changed. It was only in the last century that the use of specific names had taken hold and a common naming system adopted.

  On top of that, of course, was the fact that many cultivation manuals had been written obtusely to protect the cultivation manuals from being exploited by others if they were to fall in the wrong hands. Part of the documentation provided when one purchased a full cultivation manual from a sect library was the interpretation of said obtuse passages. Wu Ying had even heard of some particularly paranoid manuals having shifted entire passages by a few meridian points, ensuring that anyone using the method without knowing this information would break their own cultivation base.

  Even so, the new manuals that had been provided to him were much better in quality than the others. Never mind the potential application in making him a stronger cultivator, the writing in itself was clearer, sparking inspiration while simplifying some of the chi flows. He could tell, with the little that he had studied, that these were likely to provide better results.

  Most importantly though…

  “There’s a cleansing method,” Wu Ying said with wonder, tracing his fingers down the diagram with meridian points outlined. This was in one of the other documents, not the Five Winds cultivation manual like Wu Ying had expected, and was focused on chi deviations. But it looked to work even with his own issues, if what the writer had said could be trusted. “If…”

  That, of course, was up to interpretation. And research. He sighed and stood, looking for an attendant. Research in stories of other cultivators who had used this manual would tell him how efficient this process truly was. Which meant… more reading.

  Even if this manual did not work out, it was clear there were ways to deal with his issue. Already, the body cultivation he had done had had some effects, at least in slowing down the damage. He had hope of finding a cure.

&nb
sp; He just had to find it.

  And then pay for it.

  ***

  It took some bargaining, a lot of wheedling, and all of the contribution points he had—including the ones he had received for his work earlier in the day and the promise of the rest for his next few gardening jobs—but Wu Ying had managed to receive a portion of the cultivation manual. Specifically, the part that spoke about how to cleanse his body.

  Practical pragmatism had won out when Wu Ying pointed out to Elder Zheng that if he sickened to the point that he could not acquire additional contribution points, none of them won. Even so, Wu Ying burned with shame at being put in the position of having to beg for such consideration. But his failing body offered him little recourse.

  Once he acquired the document, Wu Ying spent the rest of the evening reading it, only to journey back to the same Body Cleansing cultivation room with Tou He tagging along to watch over him. His friend had acquired a few documents to read while watching Wu Ying as the injured cultivator readied himself to test the new cleansing exercise.

  Legs crossed, Wu Ying stared at the foul-smelling brew before him. One of the requirements of the cleansing exercise was the consumption of the brew, similar to the months of cleansing he had undergone. In this case, he would not be expected to throw up the resulting mess, though sweating it out was a potential issue. Which was why he was in the Body Cleansing cultivation room with its open-grated seating area, ready for such an occurrence.

  Waiting made it all the harder, pushing up the dread of the taste of the drink. Yet he knew he had little choice. If he wanted to test this, he would have to drink it. Still, his hand stilled every time he moved to pick up the drink. Perhaps he was a little scared after months of drinking such herbal potions.

  “You know, the light in here isn’t the best for reading,” Tou He called, drawing Wu Ying’s attention to where he was seated with his back against the wall right next to one of the few glowing spirit lamps. It provided decent illumination for reading, though obviously not as bright as daylight.