Tian looked enlightened. He slowly nodded, stroked his chin with a small smile, then went back to his breakfast of chicken and chillies paired with glutenous rice. He drank his particularly fiery red tea with a quiet satisfaction, though the tea didn’t suit the food at all. He couldn’t complain about the pairing. He needed a heavy-yang diet.
“What?” Liren asked. Her breakfast was tofu and young cabbage washed down with a bowl of soy milk, and in Tian’s opinion, it was considerably less appealing than his own. The way she was enviously looking over his plate supported his opinion.
“Pardon?”
“You looked smug. Why did you look smug?”
“I did no such thing.”
“You did. Give me some chicken as a fine.”
“Smuggery is not a finable offence, if it occurred, which it didn’t. And it’s my chicken. Doctor’s orders. Drink up your nice soy milk, it’s nutritious.”
“Oh, hello Doctor!” Liren looked up and started to put down her chopsticks. Tian started to look over, but in a stunning reversal, Liren darted forward, her sticks diving for a big piece of chicken.
“Naive!” They were intercepted and deflected by Tian’s chopsticks, which had only seemed to leave the field.
They battled a half dozen rounds over breakfast, each declaring the other the lowest sort of villain. It wasn’t until they returned to the practice fields that Tian explained what made him smile over breakfast.
“I figured out what part of Moon Crossing the Lake is training brainpower.”
“Oh?” Liren looked curious. “I wondered. Everything so far seems focused on body control.”
“Yes, because we are cheating. Or at least we are doing something that the creator didn’t expect. We usually rely on our sense of the elements moving through a body to read what the opponent is going to do next. Most people can’t do that. On the other hand, everyone has some amount of brainpower, and even if we can’t intentionally use it at the Earthly Realm, we can be sensitive to it.”
Liren thought about it for a second, then nodded sharply. “Become sensitive to the attention your opponent is using, because their minds will indicate where and how they will attack… kind of. It works better if they are using a particular art, I suppose. Then, since Moon Crossing the Lake is all about reactivity and yin, you don’t try to get ahead of the attack, you just ride it out and counterattack once it is spent.”
“Essentially. We can already do something like that, but better.”
Liren grunted. “Makes sense. What should we do if someone attacks with arrows or something?”
“What would you do now?” Tian rolled his eyes.
“Point.”
“And…” Tian looked troubled. “I wanted to ask you about buying something.”
“It’s your money, Brother Zihao, why ask me about it?”
“I’m asking if it’s a good idea, not for permission.” Tian clarified, and Hong gave a satisfied nod.
It was a delicate balance. Tian was very happy leaving the trading to his sister, which quickly evolved into her being the treasurer of their duo. This worked well for both of them, most of the time, but it did put Liren in an awkward spot on the rare occasions when Tian did want something expensive. On the one hand, it was their money, collectively. On the other hand, they were cultivators and humans, keenly sensitive to anything that whiffed of being taken advantage of. If she was the one spending down their accounts most of the time, it created the sort of imbalance that turned siblings into sworn enemies. Likewise, being the person who had to say
“No” all the time was an unpleasant burden, and bred resentment.
Liren had just spent a comparative fortune on her new spear. Tian buying something expensive therefore had her wholehearted support.
“Buy it.” Liren said, her voice firm.
“I was asking if it-”
“Buy it.”
“Attack talismans, or controlling talismans or some kind of portable device usable with yin, purchased from the Wangs?”
“Buy it. Them. All of them. Bring a bucket and tell Sister Su to run their production line straight into it.” Hong’s voice didn’t waver.
“That… I know we got a bunch of merits and things for turning in the manuals, but-”
“Brother, do you understand just how valuable those were? Suneater might have been third rate in the Eight Directions Palace, but he would have been an Elder or higher in our sect. If he even condescended to have anything to do with us in the first place, the snobby prick. Those manuals were what he was going to rely on to restart his cultivation from the ground up.”
“Eh?”
“Yeah, the scholars tore ‘em apart and it was pretty clear what he had in mind. A strong yang qi cultivation art, two brainpower… shen… cultivation arts, a sword controlling art which had the scholars sweating and fighting off the sword cultivators as they worked, Moon Crossing the Lake, and a body refining art. The body refining art, incidentally, is useless for you and I, as what we have is just better. The qi refining art might be useful for me in the Heavenly realm but-” The two shared a look. She would have a better art from wherever she got the Ten Suns Godslaying art from. As for Tian, he had no idea what a pure yang qi cultivation art might do to him. Advent of Spring was intended for Heavenly Realm cultivators in the first place, so his vital energy cultivation needs were met. He wouldn’t change it.
“We don’t use swords, either of us. So other than Moon Crossing the Lake, those manuals were a bust for us until we reach the Heavenly Realm. However, for quite a lot of people, a body refining art that lets you process various types of minerals and imbue them into a physique is fantasticly valuable.” Liren concluded.
Tian jolted. “Wasn’t there a manual that was about material refining?”
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“Yep. How to process almost any type of stone into a fine powder while retaining its essential characteristics, suitable for use with the body cultivation art.”
“Ah. It occurs to me that Brother Wang cultivates earth aligned arts, but lacks any powerful body cultivation methods. At least so far as I know.” Tian stroked his chin in a thoughtful, and definitely not smug, way.
“You are right about that.” Liren said, mild as a bowl of soymilk. “We get a free copy of the translated manuals as part of our reward. And you happen to have an entire ring full of hard to identify, but clearly valuable, stones. Sister Ming should be done identifying them by now, don’t you think?”
Tian slowly nodded, letting the silence build. Then, “It would have to be a quite big bucket, obviously, or they wouldn’t all fit,” he said.
“Nothing to worry about, we can always have them put handles on a water barrel or something. Brother Wang always works so hard to cultivate an image of poverty. Let's help him out, and turn illusion into reality.”
Tian met her eyes, as matching grins crept across their faces. “It’s what good sect-mates should do.”
The Wang family had taken over a coveted courtyard spot by dint having both numbers and a Heavenly Person. Mei was a bit of a tricky case for the sect, but under the circumstances, the official ruling was that she had married into the Wang Clan, and would therefore be considered a person of Ancient Crane Mountain. They wouldn’t be handing over any sect administration tasks to her, but that suited Mei just fine.
Politically tricky was trumped by practicality, especially when every hand was needed. Mei and the equally-tricky-case Ming Yu were alternately working their fingers to the bone crafting devices and arrays, or working with the crafters and quartermasters to devise ways to make locally what used to be imported.
It was an awful lot to replace. The Monastery had stockpiled enough grain to keep considerably more people than were currently on the mountain going for two hundred years, and there was no possibility of running out of water. Likewise, the supply of crafting materials was significant, at least for those materials it was possible to stockpile. Fresh food was harder. There were lots of cultivators with an interest in running a small garden or orchard for their own enjoyment. There were virtually none that wanted to take up cabbage farming, or raising pigs, or herding sheep.
Tian was quite sure someone had said “Isn’t that the Outer Court’s job?” He was equally certain that person had a quiet, but emphatic, facts of life conversation with Elder Rui, starting with population numbers and ending with being handed a plow. The medicine garden was already quadrupled in size, and everyone knew more gardens would be opened as soon as was practicable.
“I think about the Bamboo Medicine Hut a lot,” Tian said, as they walked up to the courtyard.
“Missing Daoist Shu?” Liren asked.
“Worried about her, and the others. Also feeling like a bum and a coward for not cleanly telling her that her crush was one sided and wouldn’t be returned.” Tian rubbed the back of his neck.
“They will be targeted, repeatedly, by everyone. Their best-case scenario is the bastards from Ancient Crane Monastery who didn’t make it behind the ward come in and annex them. Except we know exactly the kind of people on the other side of the ward, so things are going to get very hard for the doctors and medicine farmers. That’s the best scenario. The word ‘slaves’ does leap to mind. Nobody wants to do their own farming. Not when they can own the farm and have someone else plow and pick.” His voice quieted to a growl.
And through it all, Shu would be wondering what ever happened to the talented daoist with haunted eyes and a kind heart she fell for. Shu thinking of him as some ‘young master’ made his interest her requirement…
“You knew you should have.” Liren was unsparing.
“Yeah.”
Liren sighed. “It’s a weakness of yours.”
“Yeah.”
They walked up to the courtyard in a more somber mood. Su was sitting at a table in the shade, keeping the books while she enjoyed the fresh air. Her eyes crinkled slightly- as close to a welcoming smile as they were likely to get, Tian knew, as she stood and bowed.
“Sister Hong, Brother Tian, it is good to see you both.”
“Good to see you too, Sister.” Tian and Hong returned her bow. Tian found Su restful. You could skip so many useless rituals and get straight to business. “Is Brother Wang around? We have a trade we want to discuss, and it involves him personally as well as your business generally.”
Su fixed Tian with unblinking eyes, and struck a little bell on her table. The sound was soft, but carrying. A moment later, Brother Wang came shuffling out of a storehouse. His robes were properly tied and brushed, but something in the way he wore them spoke of suffering. Of a man doing his best to maintain appearances despite banal misfortune. Tian had the uncanny impression of a patient who was about to spend thirty minutes telling him that dogs just didn’t like him, and how that made his childhood sweetheart despise him too.
“Brother Wang, you look prosperous and sprightly. Blessed in both business and family, congratulations, congratulations!” Liren struck first. Tian could only admire her initiative.
“Haaah? Family is a blessing of course, but it is a burden too. Do you know what it’s like, trying to run a business when you have no suppliers? I have designs, I have the people, but materials? Even if I turn my purse upside down and shake every spirit stone out, I can barely buy chips of jade the size of my thumbnail. We are making our own inks, and dyeing our own clothes with what we can scavenge.” The big man’s big head shook slowly from side to side.
Tian walked up and sympathetically patted his brother on the shoulder, ignoring the way he had to reach to manage it. He pulled out a storage ring that looked like it had been repeatedly kicked, and from the ring, withdrew a few leaves. “Here, Brother, look at this. See how the leaves are long and somewhat wrinkled? Don’t mind the insect eggs, that’s perfectly normal. Wild lettuce. We have been doing our best to supplement our meals from the mountains. I can’t spare these, but just memorize the shape. I’m sure you can find some.”
Tian hesitated, then put away the leaves and pulled out some worn out shoes. “Brother, a big man must wear out shoes quickly. I cannot make new shoes, but I have learned to repair the ones others throw out. I pick the best grass to dry for straw, and the thread is all good, strong linen recovered from good quality rags that some spendthrift senselessly discarded. The quality is guaranteed. Well. Not guaranteed, but I worked hard and did my best. For you, I can offer these shoes at a fair price, yes a fair price…”
Brother Wang looked envious yet grief stricken at the health hazards Tian offered. “Shoes? Brother, were it not to preserve my thin face, you would see me barefoot. I dare not go shod all the time, for the exact reason you say. Wear and tear on my shoes would see me begging by the side of the road.” Brother Wang pulled out a wide wooden bowl. “I took your advice and carved a bowl that was wide but not too deep. A fine bowl for begging, I think, or at least I hope so.”
The two brothers studiously ignored the beady looks from the women, and commiserated. Liren caught Su’s eye and jerked her thumb towards the house. Su sighed and nodded, leading her tall sister into their comfortably furnished home.
“Brother Tian, your hair is such a beautiful white. It must be difficult to keep clean. I can offer you a special soap, wonderful for keeping hair clean and shiny, made from the sap of a certain tree and sweetened with fragrant grasses. I sifted the potash myself, four times I sifted it. I guarantee, well, not guarantee, but I can say with my whole heart that this is the finest soap I can make. I would never offer you my second best, Brother.”
“I’m moved. Who says brotherhood is dead? Who says adversity doesn’t breed suffering?” Tian clutched his hands to his chest.
“Isn’t the saying “adversity builds character?"
“What idiot would say that? Haven’t you seen starving people fighting over a fat grub?”
“I can’t say I have, Brother.”
“Want to?” Tian looked up and blinked with wide eyes.
There was a loud clap, followed by an emphatic ringing of a bell.
“Our business is concluded.” Su’s voice was cool, verging on wintery. “I am so glad you two had a productive conversation. Brother Tian, please deliver the goods. Husband, set out the good tea snacks. Our sect siblings have done us, and you in particular, an enormous favor.” She fixed her eyes on Wang, and didn’t elaborate.
Wang, used to his wife’s funny little ways, went. Sister Su waved Hong and Tian towards some stools set out under a camphor tree. Seemingly out of the blue, Su asked. “So, when do we all leave for the trial grounds?”