It had been a few days since Lin and Tian spoke privately. She didn’t warm up, exactly, but she stopped giving the feeling of being actively hostile. It was progress, and he’d take it. It wasn’t a peaceful world. “Not actively hostile” was better than a lot of things. For example, there was this afternoon.
“OLD BITCH FENG, COME OUT AND GREET YOUR GRANNY!”
Hovering above the Windblown Manor was a swarm of crows arrayed around the obsidian-winged ancestor of their kind, beak and claws ready to rip apart the corpses of gods and dig out any treasures within. It was the size of a warehouse. They made a hell of an entrance, blotting out the sky while he was training with the Snow Grace Crane.
“I’m really looking forward to flying with you, Your Highness. Just not while that’s in the sky.” Tian didn’t have to look to feel the crane’s complete agreement.
Elder Feng didn’t have anything to say to the daoist Tain assumed was standing on the back of the giant crow. Tian saw her soaring from the manor, sword leading the way. The cloud of crows scattered, shifting around the entire sky barge in a bewildering formation. Tian quickly got dizzy if he looked at them.
“Don't you have anything to say Bitch Feng? How could that be? You love-” There was a crackle of thunder. Tian could see a blur and serpents of lightning coming from the rough area Elder Feng had been, striking down towards the crow.
Sister Liren was the first to join him in the garden, but the others were just moments behind. Everyone had their weapons out, but there was an awkward feeling in the air. Who, exactly, were they supposed to fight? The crows surrounding the barge? They were at least a hundred yards from the sides. Not impossible to hit, just very, very unlikely. And if they did kill some of the crows, so what? The crows weren’t attacking, they were just hiding the fight from the world below.
“Sounds like a female cultivator.” Brother Wang observed.
“Yes. And without the vocal distortions I associate with heretics who have done extensive body modifications.” Sister Su was up on crutches. She planted herself next to Brother Wang like a siege weapon being readied, drawing a little yellow and orange formation flag into her hand.
“That giant crow doesn’t feel evil, exactly, just huge.” Hong idly tapped the but of her spear on the ground, clearly eyeballing the big bird and thinking about where she could stick it for maximum effect.
Sister Lin suddenly looked enlightened. “I know who this is. It’s an envoy from the Seven Stars School. No wonder the crow looks unbothered. Seven Stars are allies of the Ancient Crane Monastery. Our sects have historically been fairly close. It seems the Envoys are merely debating the dao and renewing their acquaintance.”
“Why so quiet, you gloomy old hag!” Elder Feng’s voice crackled through the air. “Did you get cheated on again? At this point, I think you desire unfaithful men!” Bolts of purple lightning struck down at the crow’s back, only to be stopped by a twisting vortex of liquid silver. Then from out of the vortex flew a heavy barrage of needles. Thousands upon thousands of them.
“Sister Su, I see a future path opening before you.” Brother Wang smiled, then looked thoughtful. “We… shouldn’t be hearing this, should we?”
The garden was full of silent agreement.
“You dare!” The still invisible woman on the crow shouted, outraged.
“I do dare. I dare all damn day. This granny woke up daring, dared breakfast, dared lunch, and dares to eat an old crow who’s courting death for dinner!”
“I always wondered about that one.” Tian murmured. “Courting death. Even as metaphors go, it’s kind of dumb, right?”
“What’s wrong with it? It means someone is seeking death. Nothing weird about it.” Hong defended one of her favorite cliches.
“That’s not how people use it, though. It’s not a warning, it’s more like an insult or an exclamation, except worse.”
“It’s not worse, it’s better. It’s full of flavor and character. I bet you have thought of saying it at least once. AT LEAST once!” Hong went on the attack.
“Never.” Tian said, full of righteousness. A memory intruded. He actually might have. No matter. Deny everything and press on.
“You ever get your money back, you old broke bitch?” The voice from the crow sneered, as swimming dragons made of silver needles flew out of the silver vortex. “Or are you still doing ‘favors’ for anyone with two spirit crystals to rub together?”
“Those clouds appear to be unnatural,” Sister Su murmured. “I believe Elder Feng is about done with this debate.”
Thunderheads, black and heavy, gathered with the speed of diving falcons. Lightning sparrows descended on the silver needle dragons, crackling through them, making blue-white lighting arc between them. More and more sparrows descended and swarmed the crow, slipping between the silvery dragons.
“Reminds me of Elder Rui. Brother Zihao, didn’t he do something similar during the battle?” Liren pointed at the lighting sparrows.
“Similar, yes. It must be an Elder level technique. Though his attack involved a lot of chanting and waving a horsetail whisk around, so not quite the same.” Tian nodded.
“Alright, I think you have put on enough of a show for the juniors. They will have gossip fodder for decades.” A man’s resonant voice sounded, and shook the air between the fighting women. It wasn’t enough to smash everything out of the sky, but Tian could see the way the vibrations were disrupting whatever arts the seniors were using.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
There was a pair of feminine snorts, and the arts dispersed. The sky cleared and the dragons vanished with the vortex. Even the surrounding cloud of crows dispersed to who knows where.
“What gossip? Your Madness of Crows barrier has been up this entire time.” Elder Feng said.
“Well yes, it was. And your manor was included inside of it.”
There was a pause.
“You know, once you make someone lose face like that in front of their juniors, there really is only one way things can end, right?” Elder Feng’s voice was suddenly quite conversational. “Children, go inside. NOW.”
They ran in. The noise isolation in the manor was quite excellent. They way the barge shuddered and the piercing smell of burning feathers, however, could not be hidden.
An hour later, Steward Pan made the rounds and informed everyone to dress for a formal dinner that night.
“How is that different from a normal dinner, Steward Pan?” Tian asked.
“In your case? It isn’t much different. Just put on your best clothes and expect to be on your best behavior.”
Dinner was held in a formal dining room. The juniors sat at a lower table, with a wide variety of dishes set out. The upper table consisted of Elder Feng, and the strangest looking woman Tian had ever seen. The strangest, and the most beautiful.
Gloriously, abundantly female- curvy and slender in exaggerated proportion, especially compared to the generally slim senior sisters Tian knew. Skin as pale as porcelain, with a vivid blush to her cheeks and a rich red on her lips. Her eyes were endlessly black, endlessly lively, and all of that would be enough. But it was her hair that set her apart.
A woman’s hair is short cropped. That was how it was. Mortals wore theirs a little longer, but never much more than a finger-width or two in length. Men grew theirs long, but even the roughest sort would have it up in a bun or tied back in a braid. Loose hair was a sign of madness and barbarism. Tian had that lesson drilled into his bones.
Yet the woman in front of him had long hair, black as a raven’s wing, pouring like midnight down to her narrow waist. All of a sudden, her elements were stirred into such chaos they found a new form of beauty. Masculine, yet undeniably feminine. Pale, but vivid. Barbaric, yet refined. Tian thought he could feel several important parts of his brain melt and fuse, dragged into the bewitching madness.
He was only saved from terrible embarrassment by rote courtesy. He bowed and made his greetings with the others, speaking and moving on sheer training.
“Juniors, this Daoist has the honor name Steelshimmer, and should be addressed as Elder, or Daoist Steelshimmer. She is the elder generally responsible for inter-sect diplomacy at the Seven Stars School, and since we are now just a week from the Five Elements Courtyard, she will be traveling with us. She will be training your ability to resist illusion and other mind effecting spells, as well as identifying certain tricks sly people enjoy.”
Tian breathed out a silent sigh of relief. His reaction was a result of a senior’s spell. There was nothing wrong with him, and he was growing up perfectly normal and healthy.
“Incidentally, this isn’t an illusion. She does actually look like this.” Elder Feng unkindly added.
Tian tried to think of just where he went wrong. It’s not like he didn’t notice his various sisters were pretty. Daoist Shu was pretty. He just didn’t care about it. It was hard not to care about Daoist Steelshimmer. She was so beautiful she was hard to look at, yet almost impossible to look away from.
“Quite a promising batch of juniors, Daoist Feng. I have no doubt they will surpass you soon.” Her voice was high and sweet, but filled with a hidden richness. The words landed in the ear with subtle inflections, turning speech into melody.
Heh heh. Once again, I am pleasantly surprised by the Ancient Crane Monastery. Told you being a first rate talent got the best of the best treatment. I doubt any of your senior brothers got this kind of training at your age. Or any age.
“Training, Grandpa? We haven’t started training.”
Oh yes you have. And she’s teaching you a lot. Lesson number one is on how human brains work. Start tearing apart what you are feeling. You already spend a lot of time introspecting. Introspect this over dinner.
They ate in silence as usual, everyone minding their manners. Tian really didn’t understand what made this “formal.” He was probably messing up. He stole the occasional glance at the high table. He could see the way they held their chopsticks and served each other was quite different to how he was doing it. More rules to learn.
Daoist Steelshimmer was teaching him already? Elder Feng said this wasn’t an illusion, but that didn’t mean qi wasn’t being used. He subtly felt for any changes in his qi, and didn’t find anything. Nor did there seem to be any enchantments or the like pressing on him. This was something else. It had to do with how human brains worked, according to Grandpa.
He couldn’t figure it out. He just kept picking at the idea while keeping focused on his food. He happened to glance over as Sister Liren while reaching for the spicy cucumber salad. Her eyes had gone tight at the corners, and he could read the tension in her neck. The tendons on the back of her hands were popping too. He glanced over at Sister Su, who seemed coolly indifferent, and Sister Lin who looked like she was taking great care to follow etiquette.
Brother Wang steadily worked through his rice, not neglecting to top it with little slabs of eel. But Tian knew him better, now. He could see the forced casualness of the big man’s breath and the faint tremor in his hands. Brother Wang was eating much more than his normal portion too- so much so that Tian thought he might be sick.
He was scared. Tian didn’t know why, but Brother Wang was scared.
When the meal was over, Elder Feng set her chopsticks down and addressed the room. “The Five Elements Courtyard specializes in arrays. Did you wonder how a single looted caravan, no matter how rich, could change the fate of a sect and guarantee its rise? Simple. Arrays are about leverage. By means of specially prepared inks, carefully researched runes, special tools, coordinating geomancy, astronomy, the five elements, yin and yang and numerous treasures, an array master can achieve things that would be impossible for ordinary cultivators.”
She paused to let her words sink in, then smiled. “Of course, without those things and, most especially without sufficient time to prepare, any random cat or dog can bully an array master, never mind a martial cultivator. The caravan was carrying enormous stocks of Heavenly Person realm beast blood, literal tons of all manner of ores, and other feedstock for the high-end magical industries of the Gorge. Highly valuable cargo in our hands. For the Five Elements Courtyard? They are sect-defining treasures.”
Tian nodded along with her, not seeing where this was going.
“The Seven Stars School are old friends of ours, and also have their concerns about the sudden rise of a hegemon in the region. Remember our last meal together? Daoist Steelshimmer will help you learn how to grab a fatty piece of meat for yourselves and get away with it. Starting tonight.”