Tian looked out across the green water of the lake, dotted with its white cranes and brown ducks. Felt the breeze on his face and the remnant bitterness of his apparently diabolical tea. The call of the masses had become overwhelming. He would need to get better tea. Which meant the orderly job was out for the foreseeable future. That was okay. He didn’t want to go back to the desert at all. He didn’t want to be the kind of person who hid at home either.
“I don’t know if what I want to do has a name, Elder.”
“You would be amazed at all the ways people have found to keep themselves usefully occupied as they journey towards immortality. Let me help you a little- nobody sits in the garden for weeks, staring out into the sky and sighing, unless they want to fly away. You want a job that takes you away from the hideous ugliness of our self-inflicted wounds, but you feel guilt and shame over leaving behind the people who are fighting on the front lines. No need to justify or explain. Tell me what you want.”
Elder Feng sat easily on a cushion next to the low table, unconcerned that her beautiful, shimmering robes were laying in the mud. The black and white pearls dangling from her ears swayed gently with the soft breeze, and the pendant on her forehead seemed to come alive in the sunlight. Tian mostly saw her in her office. He didn’t know how he failed to connect her clothes, her job, and the name of her manor with what was clearly the desire in her heart.
Elder Feng felt the same need to travel that he did. She felt the same need to fly. She just decided to do it in the comfort of her own home. There truly were infinite paths to immortality, it seemed.
“To travel around the kingdom, adventuring, killing heretics, studying medicine. When I need money, I’ll visit a sect and sell them a cup of tea and an experience. I thought I could also act as an emissary for the sect as I went. I am on the responsible list, Elder.”
“Alone, or with a very few companions.”
Tian nodded and refilled the tea cups.
“No snacks?” The fisherman asked.
“If the seniors don’t like my tea, I’m afraid they will take my snacks as an actual insult.” Which had stopped being funny, and was starting to sting. He didn’t have much money. He was okay with not having much money. He was offering what he had. Why were people complaining so much? At least the whiners usually turned up with their own snacks. He appreciated that. They were often quite good.
“Mmm. I have some fish jerky.” The fisherman set out a bowl full of it.
“I will contribute fruits, then.” Elder Feng set out a basket of lychees.
“My thanks.” Tian bowed.
“It’s another form of hospitality, you know.” Elder Feng smiled. “Sometimes, the host should provide everything. This is the best way with strangers. But with friends and old colleagues, they will become uncomfortable or even resentful if they keep receiving without giving back. Allowing them to contribute encourages harmony and deepens the emotional meaning of the gathering.”
Tian rocked back. He hadn’t considered that at all. But now that she said it, it seemed quite obvious. Brother Wang was always insistent on providing snacks, and Sister Su seemed downright resentful if she couldn’t take notes. Even Sister Liren made a point of contributing tea or snacks of her own. He thought they were just making fun of him for being poor.
Well. They were definitely doing that too. But it seems their hearts were still kind.
“I have learned something. Thank you.” Tian clasped his hands and bowed.
“Emissary might be a bit much for you. Messenger, certainly. Perhaps certain very specific emissary missions. But I don’t think it would be a good full time job for you. It requires a degree of subterfuge and cruelty you would dislike.” Elder Feng looked a little self mocking. “For example, if I asked you to lead on that Shu girl from Bamboo Medicine Hut and develop her as a spy for our sect-”
Tian jolted, his guts suddenly twisting into tight knots. How could he ever-?
“And that’s why we won’t be doing that,” Elder Feng nodded at Tian, but her eyes were on the Fisherman.
Tian reached out and peeled a lychee to steady himself. The smell that rose from the white flesh was almost overwhelming. Sweet, tart, tropical, so vibrant and alive you could barely stand it. He popped it in his mouth without thinking and had to control his hands to keep from smacking the table. Wood qi, water qi, and even subtle threads of fire qi wove through waves of sweet, tangy flavors. It was like eating a bouquet and a basket of citrus all in one bite.
He had found his new life’s mission. More of these lychees. Maybe he could arrange some kind of exchange- so many dead heretics or cups of tea served for so much fruit.
“Oh, these are quite nice. Where did you get them?” The fisherman chewed happily on his own lychee.
“A gift from an admirer. Before you eat another, Junior, do try the jerky.”
Tian had sacrificed much for the sect, but his duty here was grim. Despite wanting nothing more than to grab the whole basket of lychees and run, he reached out and took a piece of dried fish from the bowl. It smelled fishy, but beyond that, he didn’t get much. It felt qi dense. He popped it in his mouth and nearly passed out.
Wood and water. The feeling of being a fish darting through tangles of dead trees in the river and nibbling on the tiny plants and algae that grew on the rocks. The feeling of warm water through mangrove swamps and the lazy fish hiding under a riverbank, eating whatever it could dig up from the riverbed. Always growing, even when it looked like it was standing still. A perfect yin-yang duality that was screaming with life, all from a dead, dried bit of fish.
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“The princess likes how he smells. He’s got good elemental sensitivity, a good heart, and he’s not pushy. But I’m pushy.” The fisherman nodded approvingly, then glared at Elder Feng.
“It’s not like I haven’t been trying. These juniors came straight off the battlefield carrying enough pain for people ten times their age. I don’t know if it’s good character or fear of me that’s stopped them from beating her to death and claiming it was suicide. She hasn’t wanted to reach out to them, either.” Elder Feng spread her jade white hands helplessly.
“I don’t care about the others. It’s these two that need to get along.”
“Your words might carry more weight than mine, at least with her.”
The fisherman grumped, harumphed, and viciously ate another lychee. Tian had recovered enough to take a sip of tea. For some reason, it really did taste terrible now. He set it down firmly and reached for another fruit.
“Don’t worry, your tastebuds will reset after a while. This food is just at the lowest edge of the Heavenly Person level. Your body can tolerate the Qi quite well for Level Six of the Earthly realm. Well done.” Elder Feng explained.
The fisherman ignored all that and leaned towards Tian. “If it isn’t already clear to you, somehow, we are talking about you fostering this Snow Grace Crane. Notice carefully that I didn’t say anything about you making her your pet. It would be your responsibility to help her grow and, should she wish it, awaken her spiritual intelligence. So you understand why I’m insisting on you and the Lin girl reconciling. She’s hardly the only one that could assist in the awakening, but then, you are hardly the only one I could find to foster the Princess.”
The fisherman gave him a piercing look. Tian didn’t know why. It’s not like he asked to look after a strange bird with a deeply, profoundly, unfortunate face. Not to mention this conversation seemed to be going in two directions at once. How did this have anything to do with him roaming the Broad Sky Kingdom and maybe one day flying?
The crane was much too small to carry him. He had to imagine it took a long time to grow that big.
“Then perhaps Senior had better find a more suitable person. I’m sorry I can’t be of assistance, but I did meet some people rich in wood qi at the Bamboo Medicine Hut. They could provide a stable, quiet environment suitable for nurturing.” Tian cupped his hands and bowed apologetically.
This, somehow, was not the right answer. He could see the senior’s yellow eyes narrowing, and heavy spiritual pressure descended on him. Elder Feng and the fisherman shared a glance and the fisherman relaxed the weight.
“A little too modest. And much too frugal.” The fisherman looked dissatisfied. Tian saw Elder Feng nodding minutely as well.
Tian controlled the impulse to flip the table and walk away. He had been ambushed by a nosy bird, nearly broke Crane Law, and now people were trying to stick him with unwanted responsibility. And for what, exactly? The future friendship of an insufficiently-feathered princess?
He regulated his breathing, sliding back into Advent of Spring. He couldn’t do anything about his seniors, but he could control his breath at least. As the breath calmed, so too would the heart.
Elder Feng laughed lightly. “I really, really must thank Elder Rui for sending such endlessly fascinating juniors. Junior Tian, she can already transform into a giant crane for short periods. No more than a few days at a time, and then she would need a week to rest and recover her vital energy afterwards, but she can do it. The cultivation of cranes isn’t exactly the same as human cultivation- they don’t divide their realms into levels. She is roughly as strong as a Level Nine Earthly Realm human.”
Interesting to know. Tian nodded understandingly. Then waited.
“Do you have… any comment or reaction to that information you would like to share, Junior Tian?”
“Not really, thank you Elder.”
The elegant Elder Feng started rubbing her temples. The determinedly inelegant fisherman was giving him a look that was hard to interpret.
Tian chose not to elaborate. Clearly he was on a losing streak with the “talking” thing. He had forgotten the path of wisdom- only ask questions. Statements are dangerous, but people like answering the right sorts of questions.
“Are you one hundred percent sure he’s human?” The fisherman tilted his head to the side in much the same way he presumably did in his feathered form.
“Yes. We have checked. Repeatedly. You would not believe the depth of examination his background has undergone. Even our diviners could only come up with ‘Cursed and discarded.’ And literally nothing else.”
They had? That seemed nosy. Understandable, but nosy. Nice to have the confirmation that he was thrown away. There hadn’t been any lingering hope, but hearing it said out loud wasn’t pleasant. The irritation was rising again. He kept breathing, imagining his breath blowing the irritation away. Letting it drift out over the beautiful lake. Those birds were silent until they had something meaningful to say, and it was working out for them. Good behavior to imitate.
They didn’t worry about shitty parents. They were just birds. Good thing to be, a bird. You could fly away from annoying things.
Their cups were empty. Tian poured a fresh steep and served his elders, then himself. He ate another piece of fish jerky and marveled at the magical sensation it gave him. Breathing in and out. Just watching the birds flying into the wild blue.
“Junior Tian?”
“Yes, Elder Feng?”
“Would you kindly take on the responsibility for fostering this young crane? In exchange, she will carry you around the kingdom and help you fight should you need it. This would require you to work, at least for short periods over the next few years, with your Sect Sister Lin, and others of her clan. Reconciliation between the two of you would help prevent serious future political problems within the sect, which means your father won’t have to worry about you or be distracted from the work he is doing now. In addition to Junior Lin’s services, the Sect will provide a small monthly salary, a food allowance, access to the mission system, and I will personally permit you to continue using my messenger system for Intra-Kingdom messaging. Anything going outside the Kingdom is on you, but I can at least tell you how to send the message.”
“And my job within the sect?” Tian’s mouth went dry. It sounded too good to be true.
“Fostering the Snow Grace Crane would be your job. But like any youngster, she needs stimulation and education. That’s what the missions are for. You want to kill heretics? Good. Hunt to your heart’s content. Want to deliver messages across the kingdom? Want to explore and hunt for rare herbs and natural treasures? Recover ancient artifacts, stop plagues, heal the princess of a merchant clan, raise a beggar to be the local hegemon, battle and befriend the heroes of the age along the rivers and lakes? Good. Do so. You will be assisting the sect and providing the home support your brothers on the front lines need.”
Elder Feng smiled gently. “You will start by finishing our ambassadorship to the Five Element Courtyard, and then you will be on your way. So, Tian Zihao. Are you finally ready to shake off the jungle mud and leap into the sky?”