----------------------------------------

Chapter 4: "An Offer You Can't Refuse."

----------------------------------------

Shae was on the edge of sleep when a footstep to her right woke her. Not a series of steps, just a single deliberate step, like that was all that was needed. She immediately recognised it. She almost got the first word in, but a yawn caught her first.

"I must thank you, Miss Shae."

"For the drop of immortality? Yeah, I'll be sure to yell at you for being shit more." She smirked, that was probably as good as what she had wanted to say before the yawn.

"Just for the yelling, I do believe I needed that, even if I did not like it."

"Ah, well, thank away then."

"Hu-? I did-." The old monster paused. "Alright. Very well then." He paused again, for dramatic effect. "Thank you again, Miss Shae. Even your cruelest words are a boon."

"A bit over the top for a tongue lashing. But I accept. And the light show was completely separate?"

He remained silent.

"Quite the coincidence, that." She waited another beat. "Want to talk about it?"

"Hrmm, perhaps not in the way you would like. Because I must say, among cultivators. Enlightenment is a sacred thing. It is recognition from the heavens themselves, there are tales of mortal enemies, engaged in battles to the death, who paused to allow one or another to accept their heavenly blessing."

"Ah. Well. I wondered if it was a bit over the line." Shae said sheepishly.

"Your regular insults and general disrespect are entertaining and they are a bit over the line. Many cultivators would have you punished or killed for such things." He said calmly, without anger or warning intended. "Interrupting an enlightenment, even accidentally, is death at the least. Those that could might even destroy your soul, simply to make an example."

"And you still came over here to thank me?"

"I did. Even afterwards, you gave me much to think about. I am old and set in my ways, it was good to be reminded that they are not always the best way. A lesson that I once knew quite well." He said, with a fair bit more emotion than Shae had ever heard.

"Careful, your mask is slipping, you almost sound like a person."

"Hah, yes. That is the idea. I will try to be more open with you, the stoic cultivator personality isn't always helpful. Though, if you do interrupt an enlightenment again, mine or others. I will punish you severely and dramatically. Is that clear." Threat clear in his tone.

"Hmmm, perhaps, Miss Shae giveth, and Miss Shae taketh away." She said impetuously. She might have been less flippant if he had put qi behind his words, might have.

"I said it was unrelated."

"Oh, completely unrelated, surely."

The old monster paused, trying to determine how to push the conversation forwards. "It was related to my Dao, a sudden revelation after throwing more wood into the fire."

"After adding more wood to the fire, you say?" Shae asked with a lure on the words. "The fire you always let die. The one which, just earlier today, I had told you to keep going?"

"I was expecting you to come back. Thought you would appreciate the gesture."

"I would appreciate credit where it is due, even third hand." She pouted, "And no, I was not planning on returning. I was nearly asleep before you stepped out here."

"You would sleep out here? On the hard rocks, and what is this strange vine." He shook his head, and even let bafflement touch his voice.

"The blood-red creeper, yes I was wondering as well. It's all over the place. Do you know what it is?" She asked quickly, a bit of concern evident in her urgency.

"Hmmm. Never seen it before. Do you suppose it's dangerous? " He asked.

"You don't know!" She cried out, scrambling up and away from the edges of the rock. She looked back at the old monster catching a clear glimpse of his smirking face in the moonlight. "You're teasing me! Ugh!" She harrumphed, sitting down again.

"Heh, but still, you would sleep out here to make a point?"

She exhaled sharply, trying to settle back into the conversation thread. "Yes. There's certainly something about crawling back to the false safety of the fire that would undercut my words. Especially with you still beside it."

"False safety." He sighed. "Once again, Miss Shae, your words are wise beyond mortal years."

"Hmh! Thank you." She stated smugly.

"Too wise, really. If your soul had a greater presence I would be concerned that you were a demonic nascent soul cultivator that had stolen the body of a child."

"Huh? Can that really happen?" Shae hugged herself.

"It is rare, as stronger cultivators always crush those who try it. And it is quite noticeable, supposedly. As it stands I have sent an information request to my sect about your mention of 'inch' an odd unit of measurement I have never heard of. So if that is telling of your origin... Well, we shall see."

"Hmm." Shae thought for a moment, "Does that make me an official prisoner now?"

She saw him shrug in the darkness. "I have no reason to suspect you of wrongdoings. Even the theoretical possibilities of your origins, the more plausible ones, leave no reason to entrap you."

"So, what now? You've had your drop of immortality from me, yes? Can I go home now?"

"Hmm, are you sure you want to go home?"

"Huh?"

"When you first arrived, you asked to learn about cultivation. Without the spiritual root test, tempering was the best option. Even if you go back home. How long will you stay? Just enough to get tested? Maybe until a powerful sect sends a recruiter? While you may not consider yourself a cultivator, you have already stepped onto that path."

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"I thought it was an affinity test?"

He shrugged, "Same thing. Some say it is a measure of your potential, but it is rarely a direct correlation. Even handling the tempering well is not an indication of potential or affinity."

"Sooooo, I should consider my future now, instead of just trying to get home?"

"You should always consider your future. But yes. From here you could go directly to a sect."

"Yours? Is this a slow lead up to a sales pitch?"

"Hmm, for a more naive potential, I would push you directly into my sect. But given our... frigid relationship so far, that seems unfair. I would need to travel with you to the sect to sponsor you, forcing us into a more direct master-disciple relationship. Which I think you would take issue with."

"I would, yes. You've not done much that qualifies as masterful that I've seen."

"Harsh." He grumbled. "I could bargain with you, make deals for additional information from each of us. Yet, I have been in strict control of our interactions, and perhaps that is the blockage." He shuffled in place, "Using your metaphor, you are not just a fruit to be squeezed but one that has resisted squeezing. You've held onto what juice you have, and I do think you have quite a lot. But I'll never find out if I continue to try to tear it out. So I must ask, I must plead. What can we do so that both of us become satisfied?"

Shae grimaced at the poor wording. "Satisfied? I'm not sure 'satisfied' is on the table, 'contented', perhaps." She paused to think. "There's the classic 'alternating questions', but I find that too formal, and I think it favors you heavily."

"Hmm? How so?"

She made a noise and waved her hand, dismissing the question. "Something less rigid, maybe. We each select a topic, one the other is willing to speak on, and we discuss until we are equally satisfied- err, contented. But..." She trailed off.

"An interesting idea. Less strict, yet requires us to be fair and open so we can reach the next topic. ...but what?"

"Hmm, it is still... too direct? No! Too demanding. That is the issue, it means we must demand a topic from one another. Ah! Let's flip it! Ummm, we will need to have discussions about what the other is interested in, especially at first. Then we make offers, we offer up our knowledge of a topic, as an exchange, same rules but offers instead of demands. Much friendlier." Shae grinned, quite pleased with her suggestion.

"I'm surprised, Miss Shae."

"Hmm?"

"After your speech, I had expected this to be much more difficult." He let out a great sigh of relief, "I think this agreement will work quite well. Knowledge is much easier for me to provide than direct cultivation support."

"That's nice. So, it's a bit late to start the first trade session, but we should have a quick chat. Tell me about Dao."

"Uh, what?" He actually sounded flustered, "Miss Shae, that is not a trivial request, and I thought we were making offers not requests."

"Yes, but I need to know what your whole deal is to make a useful offer. I keep hearing 'Dao' and I don't know what it is. Am I even using the word correctly? Should it be, 'What is your Dao?'"

He groaned, "Ugh, yes that is a better way to ask. But you shouldn't be asking. It is a very personal topic for cultivators. I would only discuss my own Dao with my master and only in passing, or metaphorically."

"Huh. Okay. So, what is Dao more generally then?"

"Again, that is not something openly discussed." He exhaled in minor defeat. "Philosophically, it is not meant to even be explained. It is not possible to put into words. Neither the whole Dao or one's personal Dao."

"There are like tens of thousands of words, countless combinations of simile and metaphor. Endless analogies, even poor ones. You are saying you can't even give me the most basic of explanations?"

"I am saying that I should not do that. A poor explanation can do more harm than good. It is like-" he cut himself off.

"Like...?" Shae asked with a leading tone.

"No, I'm not going to be tricked into giving you a metaphor. Perhaps, if I feel truly in your debt we can continue this discussion. Not now, hard stop."

"Ugh, okay. So secret words for secret personal secrets. Sure whatever."

She almost heard him grinding his teeth. "Ha ha, funny. Do not internalize that, it will not help you understand."

"Sure. So. You are out here cultivating, asking about plants and animals. You mentioned using your divine sense, and how broad and detailed it was..." She tried to give him an assessing look in the dark. "What is your area of study?"

He gave her an inquisitive glare. "A suspicious question. You had better not be trying to guess my Dao?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"It is not your dreams I am concerned with." He hummed a low monotone. "Over the years I have studied many things. Plants, animals, even erosion. The mountain is a good place for these. My current focus is adaptation. How nature changes its surroundings and is changed by them."

"Right, so nature, biology, earth and life sciences, and adaptation would be... evolution." As she said the word, it thrummed through the air around them. As though she had shouted it, even though she did not. And as though it had echoed off a cave wall, yet the wall was the old monster. "Uh, I didn't," she stumbled, "was that you?"

The old monster stood there, eyes wide, ignoring her question. Not even looking at her, but staring above her and into the distance.

"You're not going to do..." she looked up and pointed at the sky, "that, again? are you?"

After a few more unsteady breaths, he looked down at her. A raging fire behind his eyes like she had never seen before. "That, I need that, whatever e-, tell me about whatever that is." An unspoken 'Now.' was in his eyes, and a barely restrained pulse of qi accompanied each word.

Shae shuddered under the intense glare and qi pulses. The only thing to crack her out of the terror was his refusal to even say the word again, as though it was a word of power or a sacred curse. The only real answer was to deny him, but could she and would she regret it after. "N- not right now." She barely whispered. "It is-" she hesitated.

"You would deny me this. After what you just felt at that singular word." It was an accusation, not a question.

"It is not so simple." she rushed through. "You can't just- Would you- You wouldn't try to teach me how to nurture a nascent soul tomorrow, would you?" She gasped and caught her breath, fumbling through what she hoped was an apt simile.

That seemed to knock him partway out of his intensity. "I would not."

"And even the steps before that would not be helpful for years, yes?"

"Decades probably." He calmed to a simmer.

Shae had stopped shaking. She thought she had some control of the situation again. "So, while I'm sure you are no bumbling novice, we should make sure the foundations of knowledge are in place. Then.." she hesitated, this would be risky, "if I feel truly in your debt, we can discuss it."

She caught his quickly restrained rage on a faint wave of qi. His face was a grimace, even in the darkness of night. "So that is how it is?"

"Offers, not demands." She simply said.

He inhaled and exhaled, loudly and slowly. An equally slow wave of qi on the exhale, but with no emotion in it. The old monster still held a frown on his face. "Very well, get some sleep." His words had calmed, at least. He turned to leave.

"Did you have questions for me? for what to offer?" She asked quickly, before he left.

His posture stiffened slightly, "I can think of a few things. You still wish to know of cultivation, yes?"

"Yes."

"Then rest well. Perhaps not on the rocks." And he left, stepping away with as little impact as he had arrived.

The sound of rock gently crumbling drew her attention. The rock he had been standing on was shattered. Not from his exit, it must have happened earlier. Pieces fell away as the pile of shards settled. Shae slowly stood and carefully made her way back to the fire. Where it was warmer, and where the light held a certain false sense of safety that she desperately wanted right now.

----------------------------------------