42. Library
Pi Phon was eating in his room when the servant brought in a small card informing him that a minor matter on the agenda had been moved up to the top. He inspected the revised schedule and shrugged, going back to his eggs and pork.
Tonilla had been increasingly shutting him out after she’d finished exploiting his relationship with Little Bug to build her own. He was, if anything, grateful for the relief, as there was only so much that duty can take from a man and she’d been pushing him to his limit for a while. He might be a cultivator, but after a certain point enough was just enough.
Fortunately her efforts at building a kingdom for herself had taken her full priority lately, allowing him much needed rest.
Instead she spent all of her time cultivating her relationship with Little Bug’s Avatar.
He grinned, chewing on his pork, reflecting that he knew something that she didn’t. There was simply no way that Little Bug had sent his real self to the council. It was obvious to anyone who’d known him before that his mannerisms were different. He was louder, more boisterous, and in general less … Little Bug, than his true self.
He’d figured it out after spending about two hours with the avatar, but remained silent on the matter ever since. It was a clear advantage for the boy that he was reluctant to spoil anytime soon.
After he finished eating, he returned to the meeting room and sat on his cushion, patiently waiting for the others to arrive. Once everyone was present, Tonilla arrived and called the meeting to order.
“As chairperson of this council, I made an executive decision to move the matter of Hien Ro to the top of the agenda on the account that he was extremely prompt at answering our invitation, and as such I thought it would be discourteous to force this close ally of Po Guah to wait while we discuss minor matters,” she said.
“The hereditary dispute between the Ouster Monkey Sect and the Western Jade Sect isn’t a minor matter!” one of the councilpersons objected.
“No, the resolution of that grudge remains a significant priority for the council. But that is something which has been ongoing for six generations and so it can wait thirty minutes while we deal with something which is somewhat more time sensitive,” she amended, conceding a point while remaining in control.
The man who made the complaint grunted and seemed mollified.
“Remind me, what is the matter with Hien Ro in regards to?” Pi Phon questioned.
Tonilla had the grace to look embarrassed. “Well, Pi Phon, you see, some members of the council wish to invite him to join their sect. With the trouble in the north, you must understand, it would be a shame for such a promising young talent to—”
Pi Phon closed his eyes as he recognized that he was being managed. The members of the council were attempting to poach Hien Ro from the Six Mountain Sect right in front of him and they worried that he would be upset.
To his surprise, he was upset. It was an insult to his sect that they would do this, a minor slap in the face. But at the same point, they weren’t wrong. The schism, the oncoming fight, it only made sense that Hien Ro might seek refuge in the south. And so far the faithful of the Six Mountain Sect hadn’t shown any reason why the south should be afraid to poach its talented young members.
“I understand,” Pi Phon said, interrupting his former lover with an icy tone. “Rest assured that I shall allow Hien Ro to come to his own decision on this matter without interference from me.”
The others seemed to relax at seeing that he wasn’t rising it outrage. He sighed, suppressing his anger inward as the boys were called into the room.
He recognized immediately that this was the true body of Little Bug, but he made no sign of it. The others greeted him cordially, but he knelt on the cushion next to Hien Ro as a supplicant rather than part of the council, leaving one cushion on the council empty.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“I am here to advise my brother on how to proceed and not to take part in your discussions at this time,” Little Bug said. “I request that, at present, you treat me as a stranger.”
The others, surprised by the request but eager to play along, all agreed, and the matter was opened.
One by one, three of the sects represented in the council made their pitches to Hien Ro, explaining briefly of their heritage and their techniques and their standing and the many other things that they had to offer him. When they finished, they reluctantly allowed the next to speak, until they had all had a turn.
Hien Ro listened impassively. He looked like he was about to say something at the end, but looked at Little Bug instead.
Little Bug just smiled. “It’s time to part with your ring, Hien Ro.”
At that moment, everyone glanced at Hien Ro’s hand and saw that he had an opalescent ring. However, when he took it off, he handed it to Little Bug, and the room suddenly spun and they were in a dark place.
The others jumped in surprise. Pi Phon was surprised as well, but he saw something that immediately put him at ease.
The sign for “Library” and “Six Mountain Sect” towered before him.
~~~~~~
I sometimes forget out jumpy people can be, or else I would have given more warning before opening the gate to the library and bringing everyone inside the ring. It took them ten minutes for everyone to calm down and allow me to explain my purpose in those actions.
“I brought you here to demonstrate that you are all underestimating the value of the traditions of the Six Mountain Sect,” I explained. “I encourage everyone to wander these halls for an hour and examine the books that you find. When you have finished, I wish for you to reevaluate what it is that you offer my brother, Hien Ro, when he already possesses this treasure trove.”
The others were surprised, and some of the elders got the expressions of immense greed, forgetting for a moment that they couldn’t read the language of the north and had to resort to only looking at the diagrams of the techniques and manuals.
Pi Phon stepped up to me when the others were occupied, an angry expression on his face. “These are the secrets of the Six Mountain Sect, Little Bug. You cannot just—”
“The advanced library is impossible to get to from here. This is the common area, where the copies of the common books and scrolls are kept,” I assured him. “And even so this library is six decades out of date. I believe that its old caretakers passed away of old age and Di Phon never replaced them.”
“The age of a secret makes it more precious, not less,” Pi Phon argued, but hearing that the secret areas were sealed off seemed to take some of the thunder out of him. He turned and looked around at the emptiness outside of the library. “I carried this with me without realizing, didn’t I?”
“Yes,” I said. “And you carried me, once, without realizing what I was.”
“I did, didn’t I?” he said. “What are you, Little Bug?”
“I am what I am,” I answered with a shrug. “What are you?”
Pi Phon was silent after that.
Once the hour had concluded, I spun the others out of the library and everyone found themselves back in the council chamber. Some few checked their pockets and were disappointed to find that the books they had stolen had been whisked away by the magic of the library.
Immediately, the Sects that had made their offers began clamoring to increase what they had offered previously, while the other sects present quickly tried to throw their hats into the ring as well. Hien Ro silently turned to me for guidance.
“That is the library of the Six Mountain Sect, and it shall be returned to Di Ram to assist him in his efforts of turning back the scourge in the north,” I explained. I took the ring and patiently handed it over to Pi Phon, whose eyes went wide. “In the mean time, I offer those who offered to give refuge to my brother in this turbulent time a treasure even greater than this. You may each choose one of your disciples who has not yet reached the bronze path, and within a year I shall raise them to the silver,” I said.
Then I patted Hein Ro on the shoulder and motioned that it was time to go.
On the way out the door, I split off that part of me that I’d made to deal with the petty bullshit of Tonilla’s court and sent it back to her side.