“Lord Lu,” said Long Jia Wei in a strained voice.
“Yes?” asked Sen, his eyes never wavering from the horizon.
“You should go.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll—” Sen started.
“Lord Lu,” Long Jia Wei said through clenched teeth. “I am begging you to go. You’re literally vibrating with impatience. Frankly, I’m concerned the wagon will fall to pieces if this continues.”
Sen looked at Long Jia Wei and then down at himself. The other man was right. He was actually, physically vibrating. They were so close now that Sen could practically hear Ai laughing. It would just be another two or three days, and it wasn’t as though the caravan had no defenders. Sen suspected that He Jietang could probably defend the entire caravan by himself, to say nothing of Long Jia Wei, Glimmer of Night, Shen Mingxia, and the other cultivators Sen had hired as instructors. Anything short of a nascent soul cultivator or one of the truly powerful spirit beasts from the inner wilds would pose no real threat. Plus, with three nascent soul cultivators so close by, he doubted any of those spirit beasts were likely to come anywhere in the vicinity. The caravan genuinely did not need him to stay. He looked into the back and saw Shen Mingxia nodding her head with more vigor than was strictly required.
“Very well,” he said, not even trying to hide his glee before he looked at Glimmer of Night. “Do you want to come now?”
Glimmer of Night looked at him with his strange impassive human disguise and shook his head.
“I like the wagon,” said the spider before a slight frown marred the impassivity of his expression. “May I have it?”
Sen blinked a few times. That was a very odd request.
“The wagon? You want to keep the wagon?”
“Yes,” agreed the spider.
Sen had no earthly idea why Glimmer of Night would want the wagon, nor what he would do with it. Odd as it might be, though, there also wasn’t any particular reason to say no. Sen looked at Long Jia Wei.
“Do we own this one?” asked Sen.
“We do,” said the man.
“Then, yes. After we get back, you can have the wagon.”
“Thank you,” said the spider, offering up something that might generously be called a smile.
Sen stood and reached into the back of the wagon to grab a large sack. It contained some of the best treasures from the cultivator lair he’d discovered at the former Xie manor. It had taken more than a little restraint not to read the Shadow Gate manual, but he didn’t want to expose its existence or the existence of any of those other treasures to anyone he didn’t trust completely. Given how many complete strangers there were in the caravan, that meant he had to leave it hidden.
With the sack slung over one shoulder, he said, “I’ll see you all when you arrive.”
He jumped up into the morning air, caught himself on a qi platform, and shot down the road at speeds he expected anyone else would have found somewhere between uncomfortably fast and terrifyingly fast. It still wasn’t fast enough for him. He wasn’t sure anything would have been fast enough unless he could have figured out a way to transport himself immediately back to his own galehouse. What a comfort it would be to sleep in his bed in his home. What a relief it would be to speak with people who had no agendas for him, or at least none that were so obviously detrimental to his well-being. His life had been busy before he went to the capital, but it had also possessed a stable rhythm. There had been no other choice. Ai needed to eat, sleep, and get lessons on a mortal schedule. That meant that Sen had to operate on a similar schedule. All of that stability had gotten thrown out the window the second he’d headed out for the capital.
Now, he could start to reclaim some of that stability. The addition of the Xie children would be a complication, but he was hoping to slowly reduce his direct involvement with them over time. At least some things would be easier once they arrived. Their hours would be filled with things like classes and, eventually, apprenticeships. In other words, a lot of their hours would be taken up with tasks that did not need to involve him. A fact that made Sen very, very happy. Feeling annoyed with himself, he pushed all thoughts of the Xie children out of his head. For today, he could let them be someone else’s problem.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
He slipped into a modified version of an old routine of qi cycling. Except, this one was designed to support the qi platform, rather than supporting a qinggong technique. He let the familiar qi cycling approach soothe away his cluttered thoughts until his mind was still again for the first time in what felt like forever. He didn’t want to see his daughter with a million other things vying for his mental attention. He wanted it all available for her. He barely registered what was around him as he went. He might have flown over farmers, herds of animals, or an army on the march and he wouldn’t have noticed or cared. As the afternoon started to fade into evening, he realized that he’d been moving for the entire day without pause. He’d also made incredibly good time because the walls of the town and the buildings of his academy swept into view. Grinning like a crazy person, he skimmed over the tops of the academy buildings and dropped himself to the ground right outside of the galehouse. He burst through the door.
“I’m home!” he shouted.
It was only when no one answered him that he really looked around. The place was empty. A bit of frustrated disappointment cascaded through him. He took the time to put the sack of treasures in his own room before he went back outside and tried to decide where the best place to start looking would be. I should probably start with Uncle Kho and Auntie Caihong’s house, he thought. If she’s not there, I’ll head into town. She might be at her friend’s house. He managed to take two steps before he heard a shriek of joy.
“Papa!”
Sen turned to look. He was very surprised to see Master Feng walking toward him, but then his eyes fell on his little girl and nothing else in the world mattered anymore. Her smile was as big as the sky itself. She was racing toward him, her little arms and legs pumping for all they were worth. He dropped down to a knee and opened his arms. She didn’t even try to slow down, choosing instead to crash into him with another jubilant yell.
“Papa!”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her close.
“There’s my beautiful orchid.”
They just stayed like that for a long, long time. Knowing that it would be a while yet before she was going to let go, he lifted her when he stood up. She did lean back a little to give him a stern look that he was just certain she’d been practicing.
“You were gone for so long!”
“I know I was. I’m very sorry about that. Some things happened that kept me away a lot longer than I wanted to be gone. But I’m home now.”
She seemed to weigh how long she wanted to be stern and disapproving with him before she smiled again. She twisted a little to look at Master Feng, who stood nearby beaming at them with paternal benevolence.
“Grandpa! Papa’s home!”
“I see that,” agreed Master Feng with a sage nod. “Did you scold him the way I told you to?”
She gave Master Feng a very serious nod and said, “I did.”
“Good girl. Well, Sen, I see you’ve safely returned from your little adventure in politics.”
Sen suppressed a groan.
“I have. It’s good to see you again. You were missed,” said Sen.
“Unavoidable, I’m afraid,” said Master Feng. “We’ll have to talk about it later. There are some things you should know, things your friend Jing should know, about what’s happening with the spirit beasts.”
Sen felt his entire being try to stiffen up in preparation for some terrible news.
“So, you figured it out?” asked Sen.
“I did, but it can wait until you’re settled in. In the meantime, though, Ai has been telling me marvelous tales of these little cakes that you make. Maybe we should head inside and you can catch us up while you make some,” suggested Master Feng.
There was an amused glint in the old man’s eyes that Sen didn’t miss. He should have expected it from a man who once invested in a pastry shop. Ai gave Sen a hopeful look. He was trapped.
“Well, how can I possibly turn down such a selfless request from my master?”
“I don’t think you can and still claim to be a filial student,” said Master Feng with a pious expression.
“Well then, let’s go inside. If you’re both good,” said Sen, “I might even have a few presents to hand out.”
“Presents,” said Ai, her hopeful look intensifying. “What are they?”
“You’ll have to be good to find out,” said Sen.
“I like presents,” said Auntie Caihong as she and Uncle Kho strolled toward them.
“I think I have something for everyone,” said Sen with a laugh.
“He’s going to make some of those cakes that Ai keeps talking about,” confided Master Feng to the other nascent soul cultivators.
“Then, we’re definitely staying,” said Uncle Kho. “I’m not missing out on those. I imagine there’s a story or two to be told as well.”
“Yes. It’s a grand tale of adventure where I battled mighty trees.”
Ai giggled and poked Sen’s shoulder.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “You didn’t fight trees. You’re silly.”
Sen kissed Ai on the cheek.
“You’re right about that. Your papa is a very silly man.”
Shifting Ai so she sat a little more snugly on his arm, Sen led everyone inside. With a flicker of will and qi, he lit the interior of the galehouse with a bright and cheerful light. Ai immediately took control of the conversation to tell him about her exciting adventures in making birds eat bugs. He was dutifully impressed with her hard work. As he prepared the requested cakes, tension began to slide out of him. Falling Leaf soon joined them. She didn’t try to pry information out of him, but that had never been her way. She simply positioned herself next to him, helping him prepare food, or holding Ai when he needed both hands. She was, as always, a pillar of stability for him. Sen knew there were problems waiting to be solved, and new ones surely waiting to pounce on him from some unexpected places. For those few hours he spent with the people he loved most, though, everything was right in his world.