Chapter Seven

The Lowly Dining Hall of the outer disciples was largely silent as the three and only outer disciples of the Whispering Glade took their meal in silence at the lonesome table that lay at the center of the hall. Tales of grander times spoke of how once hundreds of disciples had packed into the hall to receive their meals, the boisterous sounds of budding friendships and rivalries echoing through the great chamber. Yet such years were generations past and even Heron did not believe in such fairy tales. Now, all that remained of those distant times was the hall itself and its lone cook, a construct made from the Heartwood of a Guardian Mangrove that danced silently through its kitchen with the grace of a dancer.

Yet the silence was not to last as a large shadow fell over the entrance to the dining hall.

“Mornin’, y’all! Damn, something smells good today, Cook!” Ri Lee boomed, causing the other to wince at his volume as he marched over to the kitchen counter where a steaming hot plate of dumplings awaited him.

Heron eyed his new brother-in-arms, noting the dark green uniform of the Whispering Glade Sect that Ri Lee now wore with the sleeves ripped off at the shoulder, exposing his powerful arms. The man’s long shaggy red hair remained unbound falling across his face in unruly locks like a lion’s mane.

Most would call him unkempt, but I like the look, Heron thought watching as Ri Lee hesitated before the foreign meal laid in front of him, eyeing the food curiously. Maybe I should remove my sleeves as well.

“Hey, uh, Cook?” Ri Lee began, breaking Heron from his thoughts. “You got any hot sauce back there? Tabasco, maybe?”

The construct paused in its chaotic dance through the kitchen, somehow managing to pull off a look of complete and utter confusion despite not having a face.

Ri Lee and the wooden manifestation of Qi stared back at one another for a long moment, bound together by cultural dissonance and an inability to back away from a staring contest.

Just as the tension was approaching its climax, the construct began to vibrate painfully from strain, and the human’s eyes started to throb with a sharp ache. Ri Lee finally folded, bowing his head in defeat. “Fuck. Almost had ya, Cook!”

The construct thrummed, its best approximation of laughter as it passed Ri Lee another helping of food.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ri Lee grumbled, gladly accepting the second plate despite his clear frustration. “No one likes a bad winner, ya hunk of wood. Just look at Alabama, for Christ’s sake.”

Across the hall, the other outer disciples sat with slack jaws, watching the exchange as the construct vibrated once more in laughter, returning to its work.

“Did he just have a staring contest with a faceless construct? And almost win?” Snake whispered, more to herself than the others. “What the fuck?”

“I’ve never seen Cook communicate with another, let alone like them,” Heron mumbled, shaking his head slowly in disbelief

“Oh Heavens, here he comes,” Egret groaned, dropping his chopsticks mid-bite in despair. “I can still feel where he shattered by damn ribs.”

“Cheer up, brother,” Heron smirked, elbowing his twin right where he knew Egret was still sore. “Maybe he’ll put you out of his misery and eat you, instead of the dumplings!”

Before Egret could respond to his brother’s taunting, the table fell silent as Ri Lee dragged up his chair with a loud scrape. “Mornin’, y’all,” the massive man said, his typical grin flashing across his face. “Man, I’m starvin’!”

Heron nodded, smiling hesitantly in return while the others chose to ignore the newest member of the Outer Sect.

An awkward silence fell over the table before Ri Lee finally shrugged and began to tuck into his meal, devouring everything that lay before him with unholy speed. From across the table, Snake watched with obvious disgust as Ri Lee inhaled his plate, his chopsticks moving so fast that all Heron could see was a vague blur that outlined their movements.

“Disgusting,” she said, taking a careful bite from a dumpling. “But I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised at the poor table manners of a barbarian.”

Ri Lee froze, half of a dumpling sticking out of his mouth. “Wha?”

Heron snorted, burying his face to hide his laughter at the ridiculous look on the man’s face. What a strange creature this man is.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Snake growled, stabbing a dumpling with a chopstick as she jabbed the other at Ri Lee. “Don’t mock me, barbarian! I could have your head for such an insult!”

Oh Heavens, Heron groaned mentally. Not another fight in the Dining Hall! Cook made us clean every inch of the floor with brushes last time!

Ri Lee’s eyes squinted in confusion as he swallowed his last dumpling before apparent realization struck, the man eyeing Snake carefully before finally responding.

Heron winced, awaiting the first thunderous blow to be struck.

“You have a boyfriend?”

W-what?

Silence reigned over the table for an impossibly long moment, settling down upon the outer disciples like an impossibly thick, stifling blanket. Heron watched in complete awe as Snake’s pale skin grew more and more red with each passing second while Ri Lee merely watched on impassively, sipping on his glass of water.

“F-fuck you!” Snake finally shouted, leaping from her seat with an ear-rattling screech as it slid back. Within moments, the lithe cultivator was gone from the dining hall yet not before tossing a final look over her shoulder at Ri Lee, her face glowing even brighter upon meeting his gaze.

“Huh. Even in cultivator worlds, girls are the same,” Ri Lee muttered to himself, standing as well from his seat. “Whatever. A problem for another day.” Hesitating, he turned his attention to the twins. “So . . . y’all boys down to shoot some dice tonight?”

Heron and Egret exchanged a glance, before simultaneously shrugging. “Sure.”

“Knew y’all were some gambling men,” Ri Lee chuckled, making his way towards the exit. “I’ll see y’all later then, I gotta go meet Miss Meihua for some training!”

“Elder Meihua? Performing personal training?” Egret murmured to himself. “I know our Elders take far more interest in us than most sects but this is just insane.”

Heron shrugged, piling Snake’s abandoned food atop his plate. “Maybe he really is a genius. And with the Southern Tournament approaching, the Elders must want to show the other sects the rising power of the Whispering Glade by showcasing the younger generation’s might.” Heron paused, squinting as he gave it more thought. “That or they want to experiment on him. Either way, not our problem.”

Egret eyed his twin askance. “‘Experiment?’ The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Dappled sunlight snuck its way through the great boughs of the Guardian Mangroves, birds and insects flickering through the patches of light with the occasional iridescent shimmer. A soft wind, ripe with the tang of salt water, crept through the mangrove forest ruffling Riley’s hair as he sat in the lotus position at the center of the Outer Sect’s courtyard opposite Elder Meihua, listening to her lecture about the mysteries of the Universe and doing his best not to keel over and die.

Christ, this is more boring than university!

Riley had initially been surprised that they were not heading back to the arena to practice more fighting but Elder Meihua had informed him that most days disciples were expected to take their training into their own hands. It was his special circumstances that had caused the elders to take such a vested interest in what their disciples were doing.

And after my talk with Coach Xiao last night, I’m starting to think that they believe I’m some kind of 5-star talent with cultivating. I only ever saw those kids get this kind of attention from coaches.

A sudden spike in the elder’s pitch brought Riley’s attention back to the task at hand, something he had long ago learned to recognize that someone was finishing their lecture and he could soon escape to freedom. And maybe learn some of those awesome Jedi moves from the Senior Disciples.

“Feel the energy of the universe, see it swirling through every facet of life and unlife, extend your senses out and interact with it, guiding it through your skin and into your budding Chi channels and finally towards your dantian. Each cultivator has their personal method of interacting with Chi, but this is the basics that we teach every newly Awakened. As you accumulate more power and your Qi channels spread throughout your corporeal form, you will gain the ability to use Qi in bursts of power. Once the Chi channels have fully formed, you shall ascend from the Corporeal Attunemnet stage to the next level of cultivation; Chi Projection.” Meihua paused, squinting her eyes at her student in sudden suspicion. “Do you understand the significance of what I’m saying, Disciple?”

“No ma’am,” Riley said, smiling happily.

Meihua sighed. “Well, something tells me normal meditation was never going to work for you anyway. You’re path reeks of . . . uniqueness, compared to most cultivators.” The elder leaned back from her lotus position, her robes pulling tightly against her body in such a way that Riley very studiously chose to ignore. For someone called Elder, she sure doesn’t look elderly. “What do you normally do to center yourself, Disciple?”

Riley shrugged, adopting his teacher’s more relaxed posture as well. “I dunno, ma’am. Lots of things. Free time is rare between Coach’s practices and catching up on sleep in class, but I’d say spending a day fishing has always helped me unwind.”

“Hmm . . . fishing . . .” Meihua mused. “Certainly unique, but I believe it could work. Connecting with nature in such a physical manner can help the mind let go of some of its worldly attachments and focus on deeper truths of the Universe.”

Riley nodded, affecting a thoughtful expression to mask his complete confusion. “Yes ma’am. Indubitably.”

“Yes, a most interesting experiment indeed, especially if he survives,” the elder murmured, thumbing her chin in thought. “Besides, even the mighty mangrove can learn from the sapling.”

Uh . . . what? ‘Survive’?

With a sudden burst of movement, Meihua rose to her feet. “Meet me down at the Sodden Gate, Disciple. I shall bring the tools necessary for you to follow your dao.”

Before Riley could respond, the elder exploded from the courtyard in a single bound, bouncing from walkway to walkway as she disappeared high amongst the bough where the inner sect of the Whispering Glade lay hidden from those of the outer sect.

Riley stood silent in the empty courtyard for a long moment, staring blankly at where the elder had just stood mere moments ago before turning to look towards the impossibly long stairs that led down towards the main entrance of the sect.

“Now that’s just some bullshit.”