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Chapter 55: "Uncontrolled Rumor."
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Long practically dragged Shae back to the caravan. He might have forcefully carried her if she hadn't mentioned that it was nearly lunch and they could just stand still and wait for it to come to them.
The caravan's intended lunch campsite was actually a half-li behind them, so they couldn't actually just wait around. Shae insisted the walk couldn't hurt her any more than Apollo's morning training had. She was also convinced that the result of that single sentence may have generated more visible frustration and emotional reactions in the man than he had experienced all year.
Apollo was, wisely, nowhere to be found.
"What's the big deal anyway?" Shae asked when Long had calmed down enough to direct her to the medical wagon. That particular wagon was also Mistress Ping's office, and served a few other purposes as needed. It was one of the few that had space for a full bed to be laid out and have someone sit beside it, and both while the wagon was still moving.
Long huffed out some of his frustration and took a deep inhale. "Fully draining your mental focus so early in development is like pulling a muscle or damaging a joint. It might only hurt a little bit, but repeated injury can cause long term damage and permanent mental fatigue or pain." He lectured while standing just outside the wagon's rear door, having been forced out by the medic.
Nurse Sin Piket was a trained medic who hated being called Nurse even though it was a more prestigious title than medic. She saw to Shae, simply to check her vitals and reflexes. Even she acknowledged that she wasn't useful for cultivation related injuries but it was her medical wagon, and so she would perform the task now that it was actually being used as such.
Shae had suggested the vitals check, just to annoy Long. It had worked, and he admitted that her reflexes and balance could be dulled if her fatigue was severe. That reminded Shae of her half-day axing trees apart, she said as much or loud, and immediately regretted it.
"What do you mean you almost passed out several times?" He practically shouted, or as close as a cultivator can come to a shout while also clenching their mouth closed in frustration. Which actually turns out to be quite close.
"Hmm, you really shouldn't push yourself so hard," Medic Sin lectured, "Especially through physical labor. It's quite easy to cause muscle strain, even for you young ones."
"Medic Sin, please this is a cultivator matter, not simple farm medicine." Long scoffed.
"Long! Be nice. She's not wrong, severe muscle damage was definitely a possibility since I was strengthening myself with qi. Early signs are always important to watch for." Shae yelled back at him, as loud as her headache would allow. "And didn't you just use a medical analogy, comparing mental focus drain to a long term physical injury."
He worked his jaw like it would suddenly summon a reasonable argument in his favor.
"Apologies to her." Shae gestured at the medic while glaring at Long.
When Long didn't say anything, Medic Sin spoke up. "Not needed. Won't be the first or last time someone says cultivator business near this wagon. Really the only thing that bothers me is the yelling." She glanced between the two cultivator's with the closest thing to a glare that she could get away with.
Shae folded first when Sin tapped her right knee with a little hammer and her whole leg jumped like it had been shocked. "Ah!" She scrunched her face in embarrassment, "Sorry, that leg's weird, my right arm too. And sorry about the yelling."
Sin nodded and went to test her right arm's reflexes. Then reconsidered and tried to move away from its movement range. She found it too difficult in the tight space and gave it up as not worth the risk.
Long still seemed to be seething, but took a slow breath and calmed his voice. "I should also apologize to you, Medic Sin. I didn't intend to demean your profession or skills."
She looked at him like he had told a boring joke, then shrugged. "Thank you, but not necessary. You're the money, Master Long, do as you like."
He nodded like he expected it and looked back at Shae. "What I would like is for you to rest here for the remainder of the wagon ride, then rest again in Gatewash, and again during tomorrow's journey. You'll need some strength for the entrance exam."
"Entrance exam? Unless it's more of that four coins nonsense I can't imagine it'll be a problem. It isn't even a problem now, you're just overreacting."
"Who told you about the four coins? Everyone knows the tester can't know about the test details."
"Heh. A little birdie spilled the beans. Why were you even using that? I hardly could have gotten past two with the knarr."
He huffed loudly. "Obviously there are different patterns for different weapon types. A staff wielder could hardly be expected to perform a perfect leaf or petal cut. Now really, who told you about it?"
"Hah-hah! Chef van only told me the name. You just told me way more!"
He pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "Medic Sin. Please see that Miss Shae remains here to rest and does not cultivate or strain herself. She's already had a very active morning." Then he started walking away.
She stopped her laughter quickly. "Hey! I didn't even get lunch yet!"
"I'll send someone." He waved backwards at her without looking back.
Shae crossed her arms and harrumphed loudly.
Medic Sin tapped her on the shoulder and presented a small flat stick. "Say ahhh, please."
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Shae was well aware she could just ignore Medic Sin and leave the wagon. Yet, she decided that kind of childish behavior was beneath her. Coincidentally, it also gave her the opportunity to peruse her stack of writing from the monks.
Lunch was unexciting but better than her own trail rations. Those were looking dire after ten days on the road. Even with the handful of substantially better meals letting her stretch them out. During the journey she had found her appetite was a bit higher than usual, which she hadn't accounted for when making preparations in Minlin. I shouldn't be surprised though, I have been running a lot.
She couldn't name the person that brought her lunch, and they scampered off with hardly a word. Several people she did know stopped by during lunch, then again once the caravan got moving. It seemed word had traveled fast that she was in the medic's care.
She spent most of their interactions assuring them that Long had overreacted and she was fine. Those she didn't know well clearly doubted her, and her annoyed defense forced them away quickly.
Those few that knew her better smirked and chuckled at her antics. They trusted that her boisterous attitude was a clear sign she would recover and left her to her lunch. A few, like Guard Shu, came back around after she had finished eating and calmed down.
"Feeling better, Sister Shae?" The guard asked as Shae looked up from her reading to see who was approaching.
"Oh! Sister Shu!" She sat up straighter and smiled wide at the friendly greeting.
"Hah! Look at that smile, you must be feeling better."
"Pfft. I wasn't feeling bad to begin with. Little headache, I suppose, and that is mostly gone now."
"I meant more that your social mood improved. You were biting off heads whenever someone asked about your injury."
"Ah! I was no-" she froze. "Wait. Was I really?"
"Heh heh. Weren't you wondering why no one stayed with you longer than a breath?" She chuckled and shook her head.
Shae covered her face with her free sleeve, the other holding a thin set of bound pages.
"Ha!" Shu barked and roughly patted her shoulder by reaching into the wagon, where Shae was sitting sideways on the end of the mattress. "Don't feel too bad. My master always says the first sign of focus drain is a loss of patience. Heh, and she would know, she's super irritable after focus training. Even when it's not her training, hah hah hah!"
The young woman dropped her sleeve and smiled. Then cycled a bit of calming divine qi through her head. Shu's barking laughter wasn't really helping her headache. She sighed in relief. "Thanks, Shu. Hey, could you tell me more about your master? Sitting back here is kinda boring."
"Hmm. I could. Can't stay long, just on break. Anything in particular you want to know?"
"Oh, just anything you find interesting. Doesn't even have to be about her- you did say she is a her?"
Shu nodded. "One of the few Fairy martial Elders. I hope to add to that one day."
Shae smirked. "That's a great goal." She looked around quickly and hopped out the back of the wagon to walk with Shu. "Oh! That's nice!" She stretched herself out as she walked. "Hnngh! I don't think I'll enjoy sparring that much, but I wouldn't mind putting a little muscle on. Always wanted a six-pack."
"A what?"
"Y'know, Six-pack abs? Ugh, sorry, guess that doesn't translate. Hmm?" She made a fist then knocked twice over her abdominals and clicked her tongue, "Tok-tok, these muscles."
"Ah, abdominals? Translate from what? I thought you were local to the Empire?"
"Ab-domin-als. Abdominals." Shae made sure she got the pronunciation correct. "Oh, yeah. I know another language or two, my family lives a good walk east of Minlin, so we got some trade crossing the border." She scratched the back of her neck nervously.
"Huh. I didn't think anyone bothered doing that. Border tariffs are pretty high."
"Well, can't say it was completely legal trade. They sure still complained about the taxes, though."
"Tariffs. At the border they're tariffs not taxes."
"Right, tariffs. Everyone I met still called them taxes." Shae shrugged.
"Well, if you ever have to do accounts paperwork it's a big difference." Shu coughed to the side. "Sorry, that's the merchant family coming out."
"Heh, no problem. So, has your master shown you any good exercises for abdominals?"
"Ha! Depends what you count as good. Definitely a few painful ones. The first time she had me doing a full core workout- core is all these muscles," she quickly pointed, "they're really important for martial arts- I was such a mess afterwards..."
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They chatted for what felt like only a dozen breaths but was probably a third of an hour. Shae was excited to try some of the exercises Shu mentioned, especially if she was going to be stuck in the medical wagon the rest of the day. Yet after Shu left, Shae tried to remain out of the wagon. Walking along behind it and counting her steps while cycling the day's Manifold Journey practice.
A few false starts and some experimentation later: she had worked out a method to help count with less chance of making a mistake. She quickly found that her instincts for counting like she was on Earth was a great way to make a mistake. Too often she switched over to base ten without realizing it right away. Her talks with, and occasional pop quiz from, Scribe Bai had forced her to acknowledge that she needed to practice base twelve more, and she wanted to stick to the spirit of the practice, meaning base ten wasn't even an option.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
That didn't mean she couldn't take a little shortcut to do it, of course. One designed to fix a problem with counting out in Imperial. The problem was that it took longer than a step to say or even think through most numbers above a square set. So, she began using her fingers to track the second and third digit; only counting the ones-digit in her head, and then the whole when the ones rolled over.
This was done the same way they taught children to count to twelve in most villages. So long as you have all your fingers intact, you can count the small bones of your fingers to get to twelve. Using your thumb to indicate where you were at also meant you didn't need to perfectly remember it constantly.
She walked a li and a half before someone new interrupted her. She knew it was that far because she had counted into the fifth square set.
"Are you counting your steps?" A male voice questioned, loudly.
Loud enough for her to startle and lose the correct qi cycling rhythm. She sighed dramatically and dropped her hands, releasing her current count at five-square-set, six-sets, and three. "Not anymore, Disciple Zhango."
He looked offended but held his tongue for a beat to control his expression. "Miss Shae, Disciple isn't wholly appropriate. Cultivator would be the correct term. I'm not your disciple, nor is your cultivation significantly advanced enough for me to call you Senior."
"Hmm, Senior Shae. It has a nice ring to it. Have you begun qi cleansing already then?" She smirked.
"Well, no, not officially. Last night Master Long advised me to remain at peak qi gathering to stabilize my water aspect."
"Then I am a stage ahead of you, no? I'll not insist you call me Senior, but Wise Shae is my preferred cultivator title."
His eye twitched and an unpleasant expression started on his face before he caught it. He forced a cough to the side. "Wise Shae, aren't you supposed to be resting from your injury?" He pointed at the wagon's vacant interior.
She sighed, rolled her eyes, and waited for a breath to glare at him. Then pushed off harder with the next step of her right foot, launching her smoothly into the back of the wagon. "Better?" She turned and smirked.
Zhango's surprise lasted only slightly longer than his other expressions. His mouth clicked shut and he nodded then looked away.
She had actually practiced the maneuver several times. Specifically, each time she became frustrated from losing count. "So, did Long just send you to ensure I wasn't having fun or was there something else?"
He flashed a frown then smoothed the front of his robes. "Master Long did suggest I drop by to ensure you were not overly taxing yourself. Though, he suggested a brief visit to not strain our professional relationship with you.-"
Shae snorted.
He raised an eyebrow, then continued when she waved him to, "and he hinted that I should try to get an explanation of mental focus from you."
She snorted again. "Ha-ha! He did not!"
Zhango coughed into his sleeve. "Well, I suppose it could be seen another way. Strictly speaking. He said I shouldn't ask you about it. But then, implied his own viewpoint might be out of date as: it has been ages since I learned it, and your fresh perspective may be insightful."
"Hah, did he really say insightful?" She chuckled, then looked around the wagon and found a small crate to sit on. The mattress might have been more comfortable, or hanging her legs off the back. Yet that would put them at eye level, and she was enjoying the dynamic of forcing him to look up at her.
"Hrrmm, he may have simply mentioned your unique perspective."
Shae chortled to herself. "Yeah, that sounds more likely." She looked up at the clear sky briefly then back to Zhango. "And you? What do you think of my unique perspective? Surely a filthy peasant can't know anything better than a noble Master."
He looked to the side and Shae almost thought she saw a blush in his cheeks. "Well, I admit we got off on the wrong foot. I might have let my opinion of you be clouded by your rather disheveled state."
She baked out a laugh, "Hah! Might have!"
"Would you like me to apologize for it? Master Long and others have repeatedly advocated for you, even dispelling other rumors among the recruits."
"Ooo! Rumors! What are they saying about me?" She leaned forwards, propping her head up with her palms under her chin and her elbows on her knees.
This time she was sure she saw a blush. He turned away again and coughed. "Surely, Wise Shae, it would be inappropriate to repeat such talk directly."
"Probably, but I don't care. Tell me anyway then I'll tell you if they're true or not, and maybe tell you something about mental focus."
He frowned slightly. Looking down at the dirt under the wagon without tilting his head down at all. A breath later he sighed through his nose and nodded. "Very well, the most concerning rumor is about your cultivation stage. Several individuals have claimed they sensed you at low qi gathering in Minlin City and during the trip. The going theory is you acquired a spiritual tool to fake your current progress." He spoke calmly but didn't meet her eyes past the first sentence.
"Hmmm." She hummed loudly, stretching out the tension Zhango clearly felt. "False, yet supported by truth."
"Huh?" His jaw dropped open and he looked at her with confusion, clearly completely forgetting his previous awkwardness.
"When we first met, I was covered in impurities. Clearly a sign my cultivation stage is at cleansing. Even ignoring the physical signs on my body, that is undeniable. Yet, without a certain spiritual tool, qi scans read me as low qi gathering, that is the truth buried in the rumors."
He frowned and tilted his head. "So you are faking your stage?"
She shook a finger at him. "No. Not faking. The problem is the qi scans, they are wrong, they always read me as low qi gathering, regardless of my actual progress. The spiritual tool I have corrects the scans to read as cleansing. As I progress it will need to be modified because it always reads the same, or I'll need to solve the problem properly."
He scrunched up his forehead as he worked through her words.
She waited until it seemed like he had understood. "It would be more accurate to say that I am tricking the scan to read as low qi gathering, when I'm not. But I can't actually control that, so..." She shrugged and displayed an open palm to either side.
"Huh." He nodded slowly in understanding. "Okay." He took another breath. "Uhm. A few people are saying you're not actually a sect recruit. Because you didn't do the spirit root test in Minlin City?"
She nodded. "That's correct, actually."
"What? Then why are you with the caravan?"
"It's a caravan, anyone can join it. They just need to ask Mistress Ping."
His jaw worked once with nothing to say, "Okay, right, that does make sense, but it seems like Master Long is treating you like a recruit."
Shae shrugged. "I am a cultivator. I intend to apply for entrance to the sect, that's not much different from the recruits."
"No, we're already in the sect, we have formal invitations to join."
Shae gave him a toothy smile. "That's not my understanding of it. There's still one more entrance test. Recruitment or invitation just means the sect will do the work of getting you there to be formally tested, and it sounds like your chances of passing are high. Don't ask me for specifics, though. I really don't know what the test will be."
His expression looked like a kicked puppy. "I- I really thought I was already in."
"Nothing's ever set in stone until the stones are forever set." Shae repeated an idiom she learned back in her village, then shrugged. "If it helps, your noble training has made you more prepared than most. Just don't trip on the doorframe." She chuckled.
He didn't seem to find it as funny, and it showed because he wasn't guarding his worried expression.
Shae sighed silently, she had seen this kind of behavior before, usually in children half his age, but no one was immune from anxiety. "Something happened that has you worried?"
That snapped him out of his worry. He swallowed and smoothed the front of his robes. "Nau-" his voice cracked. He blushed and cleared his throat, "A-hem. Just a small matter between me and my Master."
She hid her smirk with her sleeve, then thought about what he had said earlier. Something happened last night... and Long had that half-used cleansing bath this morning. She inhaled deeply as she connected the dots. "Ah! I see. Then he's punishing you by keeping you at peak qi gathering."
Zhango couldn't hide his surprise, but he sure tried. He forced a cough to the side again. "I'm not sure what you mean, Wise Shae."
"Sure you do. This morning Master Long had half an impurity cleansing bath that Apollo and I had to dispose of. Which must have been yours. Ah-ha, so you have started cleansing. Except, Long didn't like some part of what you did, and so he's holding you back? Do you believe his reasoning?"
He grimaced slightly then sighed. "Yes, that was from me. He was fairly clear that I used less of it than he expected. But his reasoning is... Uh, fine."
"Heh. You don't sound convinced."
"Well. It's just that aspecting my qi to water wasn't recent. My family has had several experts assure us that it has settled properly and is now stable. So, it's a little weird for him to say to wait more. Uh- I mean- I believe him and trust his opinion. He is an experienced water user."
"Hmm..." Shae mimed stroking a beard she didn't have, then sat forwards with her chin on her fist and squinted at Zhango. A few breaths later, when he was looking uncomfortable, she asked, "Why did you stop cleansing last night?"
"Uhh. I uh- I can't share details of my cultivation." He looked away quickly.
"I don't care how you did it. Why did you stop? Run out of qi? Was it painful? Did you throw up from the smell?"
He shook his head reflexively before he caught himself. Then coughed to the side. "No, none of that. It was a little itchy, but that's not why I stopped."
Shae waited patiently while giving her best 'well? Keep going' look.
"It's just... I thought... Okay, I guess I thought I was done, ya' know? Can we talk about something else?" He waved across his face and looked away.
She paused to see if he would continue, then shrugged. "Sure. I didn't mean to hit a nerve, or imply you or Long made a mistake."
"Master Long wouldn't make a mistake..." He looked up at her with indignation, but his sentence trailed off, almost leaving it as a question.
"Master Long is human. A powerful cultivator, for certain, yet anything that can make decisions can also make mistakes." She let the statement hang in the air for a breath. "I could give you some advice about talking to him, but if you start talking like me he'll know right away. And it might be a particularly bad habit to develop before entering the sect." She chuckled dryly.
He just looked confused. "He told me what to do. I just..."
Shae waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. I don't need you to make excuses. Not for me, not for yourself, and not for him. I'd bet he gave you as little instruction as possible, and you were too intimidated or self-sure to ask questions." She stood and exaggerated a pose, holding her nose high while pretending to stroke a beard. Then she pitched down her voice in a clear imitation of an older man. "Now Disciple, listen carefully. Follow your cultivation manual exactly, and you'll know when it's done. The room beyond has everything you'll need."
He weakly snorted a laugh. "Har-har. It wasn't that bad." Then he frowned. "But it really was my fault. I stopped too soon."
She sighed and sat back down on the small crate. "But you won't say why. No, don't worry about it, I don't really need to know. I can guess you're embarrassed about it, but I can also guess that you probably shouldn't be." She gave him a more assessing look as she tried to guess the problem.
Zhango took the added attention smoothly. Switching back to his false front, an imitation of Long's stone faced indifference. His only tell was nervously adjusting his clothes.
This kid, friggin' looks like he fell out of a fashion magazine, not like he's been on the road a handful of days. She shook her head and looked at her own worn and dusty travel robes. His look cleaner than mine did after Apollo used that technique. Did he pack a dozen brand new robes? Maybe there's even alchemy made hand sanitizer. She saw his hands were clean and white, not even dirt under the nails. Aaah! That's probably it then.
She took another breath to nod slowly to herself. "Well? Were there any other rumors about me?"
"Oh. Uh, a couple, but they aren't really bad. Did you really help a dozen monks and military personnel in Minlin City?"
She shook her head. "Ugh. That story gets more out of control every time I hear about it. No, it was three people, at most. Two of the soldiers had cultivation damage that they were having a hard time overcoming. I was talking to their Staff Sergeant about it and said something that resonated with them. A third cultivator, a monk, was also listening and had a similar reaction. All three were able to gain enlightenment from the conversation."
Zhango's eyes went wide but Shae stopped him from interrupting with a raised hand.
"Not just from my words, it was the whole situation and conversation that did it. They were all very thankful afterwards, but I didn't hear if they overcame their cultivation troubles. Now, the reason the numbers in the rumors are whacky is probably because of the monk's ritual. They have a tradition when one of them has an enlightenment, they gather around the person and help them contain the enlightenment qi."
"Really? I thought no one was supposed to disturb someone having an enlightenment?" He half-frowned at the thought.
Shae shrugged. "Generally that's correct. And they didn't interact with the monk directly, just surround them, more like setting up a formation around them. It's their tradition and it seemed to work well. I gained an interesting insight from it as well."
"You had an enlightenment too?"
"No. Just learned something new. I'm still new at this, so there's lots to learn. Speaking of, we should get to that mental focus talk."
"Ah! Yes please, Wise Shae!" He bowed slightly.
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