The outer sect wasn’t a place Gu Gian enjoyed frequenting. Even though the hall was deserted, she couldn’t help but feel crowded; all around she could feel the lower disciple’s spiritual senses, brushing against her own even though it was compressed down around her body. In comparison to the inner sect, it felt like people here were packed together shoulder-to-shoulder.
I don’t know why I’m even bothering to do this. It isn’t like it’s any of my business. That was a lie; it was exactly business. As much as she might dislike the man – unlike his friend, she had first-hand knowledge that all the rumours about him were true – she wasn’t going to go back on a deal; not only her pride, but also her reputation wouldn’t allow it.
The man’s door came up on her quickly, and she flared her sense to announce her presence – then belatedly knocked as well; the man was still only second realm, he might not notice a flared sense properly if he were deep inside his abode.
She stood straight, hands clasped, resisting the urge to tap her foot.
Thirty seconds passed, but then Lu’s door opened. “Ah, Gu Gian! How nice to see you, come in!”
Her business partner looked… Wrong. There was simply no other word for it. He had always been more expressive than was entirely proper, his face showing his emotions honestly no matter how hard he attempted to erect a facade – but his movements as he beckoned her into the room were wildly overexaggerated to a nearly comical degree, like an actor who had to play for a distant back-row audience. His smile was unsettlingly wide, his pupils small and darting, his teeth subtly stained under his beauty arts.
“Lu, are you… Drunk?”
His eyes widened, impossibly, even further. “Drunk? Oh my, no! Absolutely not!” His attempts to wave her off were uncoordinated, his limbs completely out of sync. “I only drink socially; can’t stand the taste.”
Her senses narrowed. “Oh course. I don’t know why I said that, please excuse me.” He’s unsteady on his feet. I assumed he would be having some sort of emotional issue with Guanyin missing, but this is just… Odd.
She entered the man’s dwelling and blinked when she took in its state. All the furniture had been stacked in a corner, and almost every surface was covered in black soot. Metal tubes were stacked haphazardly everywhere, some bent or blown open. A jade cauldron was set atop an anvil, pills glistening inside through the glass window. Placed next to it was a portable forging treasure, and the whole ensemble was surrounded by piles of spirit stones. The only clean spot was a desk piled high with papers and golden array flags.
“Ah, I apologise. It’s a bit messy.”
She turned, fixing him with a dubious look. “Lu, what have you been doing in here?”
“Just testing, just testing.” Something almost like guilt flashed across his face. “Oh, you’ve come to check up on me, haven’t you? How thoughtful!” The next moment, he had returned to the too-wide smile. “There’s no need to be concerned. I’ve just been doing a little closed-door cultivating, you understand? Perfectly natural.”
Obviously nobody would be concerned over a disciple staying in their rooms for a few months. No, the problem is… “And the steam carriages? Orders have been piling up, Lu. And you haven’t been answering my correspondence.”
His expression went blank, his head turning towards the writing desk. “Correspondence..? I don’t remember seeing any…” His eyes were distant, but suddenly he snapped to attention. His hands rose to grasp at the sides of his head. “Oh Hell, the steam carriages! I completely forgot!” He rushed across the room, digging into the papers frantically.
Gu Gian was frozen. I… Have no idea how to deal with this. She had come to give the man some mild emotional support – or failing that, just hit him a few times over the head. Whatever it took to get him fulfilling his obligations. But whatever this is…
“Some of these dates are- it’s been two months?! How?!” Letters and scribbled schematics alike tumbled to the floor as his jittery movements knocked things aside. “I thought it- that I was a few weeks in, at most! Where did the time go?”
…Is beyond some reassuring platitudes and a pat on the back.
“Lu, when’s the last time you slept? Or ate or drank anything?”
He gestured in her vague direction, sending a golden plate tumbling. “I don’t need those anymore, don’t be ridiculous!”
“I know you prefer grain liberation, but the common pills tend not to provide-“
“Full nutrition, I know.” He snagged some fallen papers, seemingly trying to reassemble the stack in the original order. “That’s why I chose Earthly Golden Bounty pills! …Also, because they’re easy to make.” She nearly choked. Don’t you need specifically prepared spirit earthworms for those? Did you really spend a realm’s worth of spirit stones, just to avoid having to use the toilet? “Besides, I really don’t need to eat or sleep anymore. I’m too high realm for such mortal indulgences.”
Her eyes widened. Wait, is he implying..? For the first time since entering the outer sect, she unleashed the entirety of her spiritual sense. It surrounded the man, pressed against his soul, and he staggered slightly – he turned to her, shocked and affronted. He feels like a second realm disciple on the surface, but now that I’m looking closer… Separate points of information coalesced, and all at once she understood what the problem was.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Gu Gian, that’s uncalled for. How unladylike!” He seemed genuinely offended. “I realise we haven’t always been on the best of terms, but-“ He cut off when she stepped forwards, grabbing his arm tightly.
“Lu, you fool. How many pills have you been taking?”
----------------------------------------
“Lu, you fool. How many pills have you been taking?”
Well, that was just an unfair question. You just heard me realise that I haven’t been keeping track of time properly. How am I meant to answer that? “Ah? I suppose I’ve been taking a few every day. But only replenishment pills, not anything that would poison or damage me.” I’m a bit out of sorts, yes… But that’s just overwork and emotional trauma! Nothing serious!
Gu Gian’s grip on his upper arm tightened, and he winced. Elder sister, there’s no need for that. “Idiot. Imbecile. To advance to third realm so quickly – how many spirit stones have you stuffed into your body?”
His expression wavered between offense and sheepishness. “I’m not an idiot! Okay, yes, I’ve been absorbing a lot of them…” Wait, why am I feeling chastised? She’s the one who came in and assaulted me! The wavering stopped, settling into a harder demeanour. “But it’s not as though I can’t afford it. This is my own money; you have no right to tell me how to spend it. Please unhand me, Lady Gu Gian.”
She bared her teeth, and he startled at the unexpected show of emotion. “Do you think I’m blind? I can barely even tell you’re in the third realm at all, even looking closely. You must have cut every corner imaginable, to advance so swiftly while gaining so little spiritual presence. Did you even compact the qi down at all?” Despite being visibly upset, her words were even.
“I… Of course I did! If I didn’t, my dantian would be the size of a melon!” But… I suppose I did cut a few corners. Little ones! He looked inwards; his dantian was perfectly fine. A bit lumpy, but… It’s not as though it needs to be completely homogenous to function; the appearance doesn’t matter, that’s a well-known fact. Skipping the last little bit of circulation to save time is just good sense, given the situation! “I admit that I might be rushing things just a tad – but I can fix it later.” He blinked. “Not that it’s any of your business! And please, could you stop squeezing my arm?” I feel like a bruised fruit…
She let him go, and he took a step back. But the severe expression was still on her face. “I’m only fourth realm; my grip shouldn’t be able to hurt you so easily.” Yes yes, I’m physically weak, I know. There’s no need for you to say it outright. “Why even bother ascending, it you do it so shoddily you don’t gain any benefits? Lu, think about this logically; you’re going to need to use even more qi to shore up your foundations, because you built them from sand.”
“I only have so much time! Bull is-“ He was forced to pause to rein in his emotions. “Obviously, I know Bull can take care of himself. But this is something I can do, something tangibly useful.”
Her face softened, just slightly. “…Lu, you need to see a physician. And then you need to properly repair your dantian, no matter how long it takes.” She adjusted her spectacles, the empty frames flashing in the candlelight. “I am… Glad,” she said the word grudgingly. “That I decided to check in on you. You are obviously not well, and I don’t believe Guanyin would wish for you to damage yourself for his sake. So please, slow down.”
He let out a chuckle. You obviously don’t know Bull very well. ‘No pain, no gain’ may as well be one of his guiding philosophies. But, when he looked at things from her perspective… Have I really not ascended properly? He felt stronger, but his aching arm said otherwise. “I will… Take your words seriously, Gu Gian.”
He inclined his head, and she gave the room a pointed look before stepping towards the exit. “That is all I can ask, I suppose. Do finish your sections of the carriages as soon as possible, they are quite late.” She opened his door. “And I will state it again, in case your addled mind has already forgotten: see a physician. Today.”
His door closed firmly, and through his sense he observed her making her way down the hall, her stride quick but unhurried.
----------------------------------------
He stepped out of the medical wing. His head was… Better. He could walk in a straight line, at least. Stepping out of my room and learning that I couldn't at first was quite the shock.
And even more than that… Two months? I realise I’ve been focussing quite hard, but… Two months! It’s nearly summer already! That was a slight exaggeration, but still, he had wasted so much time!
…Okay, not wasted. That was another exaggeration. Even in his overworked state he had made great strides; the guns were coming along as well as he could hope for, with a simple rifle practically complete, and he was legitimately at the third realm. Working the half-processed qi in would take time, but he had been making real progress, just… Inefficiently.
According to the doctors, his impaired physical and mental state was the result of uneven qi flow, owing to the state of his dantian. He would return to normal function as he worked to restore an even balance to his spiritual veins’ throughput, and he hadn’t actually damaged himself in any permanent fashion.
Apparently my condition is quite rare, occurring almost exclusively in rich scions; normally it’s impossible to take in qi at the maximum possible rate, so people have natural downtime. Properly circulating your existing qi is the obvious thing to do while you’re gathering more, so situations like mine only happen in very extreme circumstances. I had enough spirit stones on hand to just… Keep going, to my detriment. The thought was a sobering reminder that while his body was naturally suited to qi cultivation, it was still possible to step in hidden pitfalls.
He entered his rooms, sighing at the state of them. Now that he had been snapped out of his fugue state, his bedroom looked more like a madman’s fever dream than anything else. The walls were bearing sound-dampening formations to protect him and his neighbours from the explosive gunshots his experiments produced, but he hadn’t set up anything to keep the resulting residue off his furniture. Having spent explosives contaminating my pills was probably not helping the situation, either.
Alright, I suppose I’ll have to clean up first, before anything! He rolled up his sleeves. Summer starts in thirty days. The exact date of the diplomatic event still hasn’t been settled – apparently the flow of time between realities isn’t consistent, which is muddying the situation – but I definitely don’t have more than three or four months to prepare.
Hopefully Bull would be standing there the moment he passed through, but if not… Lu would just have to go out and find him.
…With backup! Obviously, with backup!