~~~

The sun shines brightly as Liu Jin and Old Jiang walk away from Eastern Port City. The two have gone out to gather herbs. For Liu Jin, it is an opportunity to discuss the many events that transpired in New Moon Town with his Master.

“Ho, it certainly seems like you had an interesting time.”

Interesting is one way of putting it. Had Liu Jin been a person less in control of his faculties, he would have snorted. Instead, Liu Jin keeps quiet, waiting for a judgment that never comes.

“Master,” Liu Jin begins after the silence stretches for too long. “Are you not disappointed with me?”

Old Jiang looks at him as if he had just said something immensely stupid. “And what reason would I have for that?”

“Your teachings,” Liu Jin tries to explain. “I misused them.”

When fighting against the Fifth Commander of the Black Bear Group, Liu Jin used his knowledge of acupoints to fight rather than heal. Shameful as it is to admit it, at that moment, medicine had been the furthest thing from his mind.

“Pay no mind to such small things.” Old Jiang waves a hand dismissively. “What I have taught you is already yours. How and when you use my teachings is up to you and no one else. If you want to use them for healing, that's fine. If you want to use them for combat, that is also fine. What matters to me is that you learn and that, when the time comes, you pass down that knowledge to someone you deem worthy.”

There are many things Liu Jin wants to say to that, but Old Jiang keeps going.

“Scolding you is the farthest thing from my mind, disciple. Rather, I am pleased you were successful in using that technique while fighting for your life."

“It was only once,” Liu Jin says, trying to downplay his achievement, “but it is indeed true this disciple used the Art of the Roaming Thief during combat.”

Liu Jin fights back a shiver as he recalls his fight against the Fifth Commander of the Black Bear Group. Although it didn’t help him win, he’d have certainly died if he hadn’t been able to use that move.

“Compared to that bit of luck, the amount of needles in this disciple’s body is still only nine.”

Nine Needles.

Ever since the day Old Jiang took him to see Nine-Headed Snake God, Liu Jin has been keeping control of the poison inside his body by using needles to alter the flow of his Qi. While this protects Liu Jin from Nine-Headed Snake God’s poison, it also severely hampers his cultivation. Since that fateful night, he has not progressed even a single step.

As time passed, Liu Jin has been able to remove a number of needles from his body thanks to his growing control. Currently, there are only nine needles in his body at all times. However, at the rate he is going, it is almost certain he’ll not be able to remove all of them before the three years have passed.

It is a bitter pill to swallow, but Liu Jin will remain in the first level of the Inner Realm until then.

“That is only to be expected,” Old Jiang says, not sounding particularly bothered. “That you managed to use the Art of the Roaming Thief under those conditions speaks well of you. Regardless, make sure you keep practicing it. If at all possible, I would prefer if you could use the first step without trouble before the year is over.”

The Art of the Roaming Thief.

Though the technique’s name is without a doubt suspicious, his Master had assured him that it was vital for Liu Jin to master it.

“Is that technique really so important?”

Certainly, the technique saved his life against the Fifth Commander. However, the Art of the Roaming Thief is just a movement technique that has nothing to do with medicine, and a needlessly complex one at that. If Liu Jin were to try, he is certain he’d be able to use the Ground Contraction Xiao Nan showed him while they were on their way to New Moon Town with just a few weeks of practice.

Meanwhile, Liu Jin has been trying to master the Art of the Roaming Thief for months without much success. If he takes his time to focus, he can manage to use the technique. However, using it while in combat is simply too complicated. It is a wonder he managed it during that fight.

“Is it really so important?” Old Jiang echoes him. “Oh, foolish disciple of mine, of the many things I have taught you, the Art of the Roaming Thief is among the most important.”

Liu Jin almost trips over a stone.

“Truly?”

“Think carefully,” Old Jiang says, raising a finger. “I have repeatedly told you many would kill to know my secrets. Indeed, if the wrong people were to learn you have been taught by me, they would try their hardest to take that knowledge out of your brain. They would capture you and torture you. That is why the Art of the Roaming Thief is so important. I am teaching it to you so you can hide from those who’d attempt to steal that knowledge. In other words, the Art of the Roaming Thief is there to protect your life and my teachings.”

Liu Jin blinks. Is the Art of the Roaming Thief truly such an amazing technique?

“Of course it is!” Seeing Liu Jin’s surprised look at having his thoughts guessed so easily, Old Jiang says, “I am old and dying. Not blind.”

The reminder of his Master’s health makes Liu Jin wince. Heedless of it, Old Jiang continues speaking.

“The Art of the Roaming Thief has seven steps. Right now, you are barely able to use the first of these steps, reading the flow of Qi to slip into your opponent's blind zone. Compared to other movements techniques which simply boost the user’s speed, this is considerably more complicated as I am sure you have noticed.”

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Liu Jin nods. Even when he fought Xiao Dong, who had been close to his level, he had not been able to use the technique freely.

“In the beginning, the technique may not seem worth it, but... well, I might as well show it to you.”

Then his Master is gone.

Liu Jin is left blinking before suddenly looking left and right to find his Master. Even though the area surrounding Eastern Port City is mostly comprised of soft plains, he cannot see his Master anywhere.

For a moment, Liu Jin considers asking the old man next to him if he has seen his Master. However, the idea quickly slips from his mind. There is no need for him to trouble the old man.

“I am here, child.”

Just like that, the spell is broken.

Just like that, Liu Jin recognizes his Master once more. Liu Jin feels as if a bucket of cold water has been dropped on him. He cannot believe that, for a moment, he had been unable to recognize his Master.

“That,” his Master says with a smug smile, “is what one can do when he has mastered all seven steps. How do you think I escaped the people who tried to kill me? How do you think someone who stands in the Emperor Realm stayed beneath everyone’s notice all this time?”

“That’s…” Liu Jin struggles to find the right words. “I thought you were merely hiding your Qi. You have been using… that?”

“Hiding my Qi would not have hidden me nearly as well. I daresay some of the people from that Yun Sect would have found out about me if I had done just that.”

The way he mentions one of the strongest Sects in the city is completely dismissive. Of course, his Master is strong enough to talk about them that way.

“But no,” his Master adds. “I’ve not been using the Seventh Step all this time. Such a thing would be complicated even for me. The Fourth Step is more than enough for my purposes.”

So every day his Master has been using that technique?

Amazing.

Absolutely amazing.

“I will do my best to master the technique, Master!” Liu Jin swears with renewed enthusiasm.

“Good.” Old Jiang gives him an approving nod. “See that you do. Now, about the thing you showed me.”

Liu Jin watches as Old Jiang reaches into his spatial pouch and takes out a jar. It is the same one in which he stored the black mass that came out of Xiao Heng's body. He gave it to his Master the night before, though there hadn’t been much time to talk about it. The temporal seal Liu Jin placed on the jar has been replaced by a newer one, suggesting Old Jiang took it out to study the black mass.

“I must admit it has been a while since I saw something like this.”

“Have you figured out what it is already, Master?”

Liu Jin is eager to know. Had it not been for everything else that happened in New Moon Town, he’d have probably spent most of his days poking at the black mass.

“It’s a person.”

Liu Jin blinks. Slowly.

“What?”

“It’s a person,” Old Jiang repeats, holding the jar against the sun. “Or to be more accurate, it was a person.”

“How can that be?”

“You said this was inside a boy, right?” Old Jiang does not even wait for Liu Jin’s nod to continue. “It is likely the boy was to be part of a set of twins. However, the other twin died in the womb, or at least, that’s what should have happened.”

Liu Jin’s gaze slowly moves to the black mass. His skin is pale.

“Then that’s…?”

He cannot bring himself to say it. It is simply too horrifying.

“This is what remains of that person, although even calling it a person is too much. Normally, it should have died, but it didn’t. Even though it never formed a brain, a heart, or lungs, it kept living as a simple lump of flesh. Well, it probably would have died if there hadn’t been another source of Qi so close by.”

“Xiao Heng,” Liu Jin breathes out.

“Correct. It attached itself to its brother’s body even as it was developing and survived that way.” Old Jiang smiles. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen something this curious.”

“Can anything be done for it?” Liu Jin asks, looking at the black lump with different eyes. “Should we help it, Master? Is it not suffering?”

“This? Suffer? No.” Old Jiang shakes his head. “It lacks the sentience necessary to suffer. The tree you found in New Moon Town is more of a person than this.”

The mention of the Tree of Deceitful Whispers makes him frown.

“Ah, Master. About that.”

“You don’t have to worry about it,” his Master says.

“Talking trees and talking objects are a fact of life. Not all of them are to become demons. In fact, most don’t. As for this...” Old Jiang looks at the jar nonchalantly. “You could try to find a proper body for it if you wish.”

“A proper body?”

“A body with working organs and preferably with no big will of its own. Here.” Liu Jin yelps as Old Jiang tosses the jar at him. “Keep it. You might find a use for it eventually. Consider it a project, though make sure to focus on it later. Right now, I am fairly sure you have more important things to worry about. Your bride would so hate to be second place to a jar.”

Ah, the wedding. Liu Jin makes a face as he thinks about it.

“Master,” he says, “what is your opinion on this wedding?”

"It pleases me to have a disciple so willing to keep his master’s spirits up with the vicissitudes of his life.”

Of course, it does.

“Master, please. Your disciple is humbly asking for your guidance.”

Old Jiang looks at the serious Liu Jin and sighs.

“Very well, I will impart some wisdom on you, disciple. The deal is not particularly bad for you. If your horizons are limited to this town, then marrying into the Xiao Sect is not a bad idea. By marrying Xiao Zheng’s daughter, you will have a high position within the Xiao Sect. Meanwhile, the Xiao Sect gets you. Obviously, they are getting the better part of the deal, but it is not a bad option if you wish for a quiet life.”

“What?”

Liu Jin blurts out the word without thinking. Once again, his Master has caught him completely by surprise.

“Master, did you just say the Xiao Sect is the one who benefits most from the engagement?”

The look Old Jiang gives him is nothing if not exasperated.

“Oh, foolish disciple of mine. Out of all your flaws, it is your inability to see your worth that troubles me the most.”

“But Master, I am still only in the Inner Realm!”

“Does that matter?” Old Jiang says. “True, you are still in the Inner Realm, and you will remain that way for another year. However, what then? Once you pass the trial, you will be able to cultivate once more. I daresay you will be surprised at how quickly you’ll progress once your Qi starts flowing properly once more. There is also your knowledge to consider, or are you perhaps saying my teachings are worthless?”

Liu Jin furiously shakes his head.

“No, Master! This disciple would never even think such thoughts!”

“Good, then understand that it is you who will inherit all I can teach. That makes you worth more than this entire city.”

To that, Liu Jin has nothing to say.

“Know your own worth, disciple. A man who cannot discern his worth will sell himself cheaply.”

~~~