~~~

So far, everything has been working out better than expected. All the Elders that Liu Jin has approached have been open to his terms. While he is expected to attend a public hearing within a few days, the whole thing will be largely performative. Until then, all Liu Jin has to do is stay inside the Apothecary, something he would have done regardless.

Due to Liu Jin’s continued refusal to acknowledge Elder Fa’s invitations, the Elder requests have become increasingly irate. There is also the matter of Lord Feng Gui and Lady Ling. The former has already agreed to meet him after the hearing. The latter has yet to make a single attempt to contact him.

While Lady Ling is probably not pleased about him hiding his ancestry, she should also be smart enough to realize there is no point in her acting against him. That would make things needlessly complicated for her husband, especially with Lord Feng Shang ready to capitalize on any possible mistakes.

All the same, Liu Jin feels wary of her.

It’s a pity. If not for Lady Ling, he’d have already visited Feng Hao. However, it’s best if he waits until after his hearing. His relationship with the Eternal Flame Clan should be secure by then. In the meantime, he has quite a bit of free time to do whatever he wants as long as it’s within the confines of the Apothecary.

It’s not a particularly limiting limitation for someone like him. In fact, with Elder Xun’s words still lingering in his thoughts, Liu Jin has been indulging in various activities he enjoys. Already, he has made several medicines and elixirs and has even been testing out some theories regarding the arts of the Death Fashioning Scripture.

All of it has guided him to this moment.

The dog on his desk barks as if agreeing with his thoughts. Once one of the Fleshcrafter’s creations, the dog now wears a dopey smile and wags its tail cutely. A pity many would not think so. Apparently, the appearance of his dog is considered unnerving.

Liu Jin doesn’t get it.

The dog barks in agreement once more, though it is not really agreeing with anything. It is as Qing Guo said back in the Storm Dragon Empire. The dog is not truly alive. It might have a brain, one made of several brains put together into a coherent whole, but it lacks a will of its own. Liu Jin’s thoughts, combined with the inherited patterns of behavior leftover from its materials, are the ones that guide its actions.

But what if there was a way to change that?

Slowly and with visible hesitation, Liu Jin reaches into his spatial pouch. He has a great many things hidden there: several precious herbs, weapons, and even the box with Old Jiang’s memory jades. However, Liu Jin does not reach for any of those. He takes out a glass jar with several temporal talismans stuck to it to help preserve what is stored inside, a thing that could have been a person but wasn’t.

A long time ago, before the fall of Eastern Port City, Liu Jin and Xiao Nan visited a place called New Moon Town. There, Liu Jin met Xiao Heng, the son of the Branch Master, a young man who suffered from an odd malady that hampered his cultivation. Liu Jin offered to help him, and in doing so, discovered an odd black mass inside his lungs.

He had little idea of what it was back then, so he presented it to his master, who revealed its true nature to him. Xiao Heng had been part of a set of twins. However, his brother died in the womb. At least, that should have been the case. Instead, the sibling attached himself to Xiao Heng and lived on that way, resulting in Xiao Heng’s sickness.

Old Jiang told him that as long as a proper body could be provided, it would be possible to help the lump become a person. For the longest time, Liu Jin was unable to secure a body for it, but now…

Liu Jin looks at the dog.

He originally made it to better understand the arts of the Death Fashioning Scripture, but there is no denying the opportunity before him. One is a body without life. The other is a life without a body. At a glance, it seems like a perfect match.

And yet, Liu Jin’s brow furrows as he considers a worrying possibility.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Is he about to play with someone’s life just because he does not know what to do with his own?

In a way, Liu Jin has achieved most of what he set out to do after the fall of Eastern Port City. Murong Bang is dead, and the Storm Dragon Empire has been freed from the never-ending civil war. With General Nie Dan at his side, Liu Jin can ensure the people will prosper.

He has done a good thing.

It’s just not enough.

Even before the civil war ended, Liu Jin realized that more problems loomed on the horizon: the pressure from the Eternal Flame Clan, the threat of those on the other side of the Dead Plains, Xun Huwen’s existence...

The Wandering Wind and Su An.

Liu Jin’s fists clench. His Qi goes unnaturally still around him, becoming tainted with the scent of poison. Not for the first time, he finds himself badly wanting to charge into the Endlessly Raging Valley.

Liu Jin tells himself that there is no need for something like that. The Crimson Cloud Tournament is only a few years away. He will be able to meet Su An and the Wandering Wind there. He does not even have to worry about the Wandering Wind lying to him because deception like that would be beneath her. The wisest thing for him to do now is train and cultivate his power.

A vial breaks somewhere in the room.

Yet again, he is forced to follow the guidelines set out by someone stronger. Liu Jin could try leveraging the Storm Dragon Empire against the Endlessly Raging Valley, but what good would that do? Even if he could get the support of the Divine Frozen Palace and the Eternal Flame Clan, indirect means would only let him reach the Endlessly Raging Valley. The Wandering Wind would remain out of his reach.

Even though he has so much power, it is still no good.

And that is the problem, isn’t it? Not that he cannot accomplish things, but that he cannot be satisfied. If he rescues Su An, will he be able to rest? Or will he find another problem to focus on? Will there ever come a time when he can sit down and enjoy what he has with those he loves?

It is scary to think about. Too scary. Focusing on something else–anything else–is preferable.

And so, he is here. With a dog and a black lump sealed in a jar. Contemplating a highly questionable experiment. There is a reason why he has not tried to give the black lump a body until now.

Using a corpse would have never worked. There is no guarantee the body would have stopped decomposing after inserting the lump. Using a living person would have been abominable, and using an animal would have been cruel in a different way. It would have permanently limited its cognitive capabilities. The same went true for a Spirit Beast. Only by raising its cultivation could that have been avoided, and that presented a challenge of a different type.

However, the creature of the Death Fashioning Scripture brings no such limitations. It is technically a dog, but that is simply the form Liu Jin has chosen for it. Its malleable body should make it possible to gradually enhance its intelligence. He’d only be temporarily limiting the lump to the state of an animal.

In theory.

Should the experiment fail, Liu Jin would be dooming the lump to the state of an animal forever or worse. He might have offered Su Daj to create a body for her, but that does not mean he trusts himself to do something on that scale just yet. There is no telling what will happen if he gives someone a body made out of material created by the Death Fashioning Scripture.

Is that better than remaining as a lump? Of course. However, Liu Jin has already waited years. Why not wait a few more? There is no reason why he has to do this today, this week, or even this year.

Thus, he must ask himself the question once more: Is he doing this for himself?

The arts of the Death Fashioning Scripture and their potential applications have always been a point of fascination for Liu Jin. The integration of the lump would be an enjoyable exercise. He can already visualize the process and possible complications. It would be challenging but fun.

However, if he plays with someone’s life just to have something to do, wouldn’t that be the same as the behavior he has scorned so far?

Liu Jin sighs and looks at the sealed jar. No one told him to keep it. No one told him to find a body for it. He just decided that if he could do something for it he would. He wanted to help it.

Why taint that?

Ever since Elder Xun made him think about his Dao, he has been seeking activities that make him feel better, but was that the correct thing to do? It may have helped him relax a little, but seeking enjoyment for the sake of enjoyment will never really fill him.

That's it, isn't it? Fulfillment and pleasure are not the same. He already knew that. It is why he found Su Daji's Dao unacceptable.

What does it mean to be Hollow?

What does it mean to be not?

Those are not questions that can be answered in a matter of days.

"I am being silly, aren't I?" He asks the dog.

The dog licks his face.

Liu Jin laughs. He shakes his head and stands up, feeling a little lighter as he does.

"I am going to help you," He says, looking at the jar and the dog. "It is not going to be today, but I promise I will help you."

~~~