Tian drifted across the practice courtyard, his rope dart twisting and piercing like a jungle vine. His rope dart had a big cotton ball wrapped around its head, just for safety’s sake. The kids he was sparring with were still fragile.
“Block him!”
“You block him!”
Xiao Ming and Little Treasure shouted at each other, both dodging furiously as they struggled to close distance. They had learned, painfully, that ‘blocking’ was not something a swordsman could do to someone using a rope dart. At least not on their level.
“One inch longer, one inch stronger. There is a reason every army in the world uses spears. And when they do use swords, they use them WITH SHIELDS.”
That got Tian some dirty looks from the swordsmen loitering around, and muttered comments of “Only an issue for those lacking skill.” Tian didn’t bother correcting the crowd. He was giving his juniors his full attention.
“Focus on your feet. Your pointy sticks can’t help you now, so put your attention on your footwork and on me.” He caught the rope with his elbow and spun it around in a humming arc, slamming into the ground hard enough to raise a two foot tall line of dust from where he was standing to exactly one inch to the left of Xiao Ming’s pinky toe.
“Dodge and weave. A rope dart is all about momentum, and that means it takes time to shift its lines of attack. That’s your opportunity. Dodge and weave!”
Instead, Xiao Ming dove on the rope. “HAH! Get him, Old Jing!”
“Naive!” Tian curled the rope dart around Xiao Ming and flicked him up into the air with it. Another ‘gentle’ move saw him crashing into Little Treasure, sending both of them, and their wooden swords, sprawling.
“Ow. Brother Immortal is too strong! Bullying his juniors.” Little Treasure grumbled, rubbing his arm as he got to his feet.
“Am I? Hmm. Let me show you a little something. I assume one of your senior brothers has demonstrated an ability to slice through wooden posts or rocks or something?”
Two small heads nodded.
“Well, I can’t do that with a rope dart.” The two kids preened slightly. Tian pulled out his string of storage rings and found one that had a load of rocks piled up in it. He dropped a head sized rock on the ground with a thud, then wrapped it with his rope dart.
“Watch carefully, and don’t forget what you see.” He flexed his will slightly, and vital energy poured into the rope. Metal wires extended and burrowed into the rock as Tian lifted it up into the air. Chunks of rock started falling off, then fist sized pieces, and in just a few seconds, the rock was gravel.
“Now imagine that was your chest or your head.” He smiled. “Controlling the rope is a fine idea. You just have to remember there are safe and not-safe ways to do it. The safe ways are generally the most effective ways too. And since you don’t have shields, you don’t have a safe way to control the rope. Which means you should be?”
“Dodging and weaving, Senior Brother.” They chorused, looking a bit pale.
“Better to not stand where the danger is than try to block it. Better still to put yourself in a position to counter-attack.” Tian nodded and collected the gravel from the ground. It wasn’t nice to leave a mess for the next people to use the square, and besides, you never knew when you might need some gravel.
It had been six months since he spoke with Elder Rui. He had made a lot of charcoal. He had also started deliberately stepping into the role of a big brother in the sect. There were very few juniors to be a big brother for, but he reckoned the principle was the important thing. His brothers had done it for him, and it was exactly the kind of filial thinking he could agree with. So he made charcoal, studied medicine, visited patients in the hospital, did his best to suffer the gossip circuit with grace, read the scriptures he was handed, and tried to figure out what kind of life he was living with Liren.
She had, in his opinion, an unfair advantage. She had some concept of romance. He was just muddling along, hoping he was doing the right thing. So far, she wasn’t throwing anything. That, his brothers said, was an excellent sign.
He studied the clouds for a moment. Was this the kind of weather they usually had around their birthday season? It… probably was. He would ask Liren. He wasn’t worried. He had her present almost ready.
Tian bowed to his juniors and returned them to the swordsmen. The kiln should have cooled enough by now. He would collect the charcoal and then practice his stitching. He had been given a series of difficult things to attach- pig intestines, bits of silk, or translucent paper, or the membrane on the inside of an egg, then told to split them apart and sew them back together again. It took a lot of practice, and he was surprised by how quickly his skills degraded without daily effort. The longer he studied medicine, the more he appreciated the monstrous difficulty of becoming a qualified doctor.
It was worth it, though. Every day he sat with the long term patients in the hospital, he thought it was worth it. After all, you had to be alive to be a long term patient. The doctors had done amazing work keeping him alive. His brothers needed all the help they could get staying alive. It was definitely worth the effort.
The walk through the woods was calming. It was peaceful, and he rarely had visitors other than Liren and the Wangs. Except one.
“Elder Rui, good afternoon.” Tian cupped his hands and bowed politely. The Elder had turned up a week after his conversation with Tian, carrying a small heap of books on the importance of filial virtue and a slim volume titled Analects of the Ancient Crane. Freshly copied. He had been assigned a chapter a month from the Analects, and told to meditate on every word. It wasn’t hard. The chapters were barely a few pages long. He had long since committed the whole book to memory.
A useless waste of memory, in his opinion. But nobody asked, so he kept his mouth shut.
“Good afternoon. It is time for our final review. Having now read the entirety of the Anelects, do you now understand how your teaching in the sect is derived from it?” Something was a little off about the Elder today. Tian always paid close attention when his elders spoke, and Elder Rui seemed off. Best to be careful.
Tian carefully considered his answer. “No,” was his first instinct, but it wasn’t completely correct. Instead, he set out his small table and some cushions. “Please sit, Elder. Before I give my answer, I have some questions of my own that I hope you can resolve for me.”
“Oh? Very well.” Elder Rui didn’t look like an elder, in the sense of looking old. He looked vigorous, middle aged, perhaps, but at the peak of his strength and skill. He sat with casual propriety, every move flowing naturally and effortlessly from him.
“Elder, I have learned two rough categories of things that I would classify as daoist here. Philosophy on how one should approach life and death, and what I would call skills. Things like medicine, martial arts, cultivation, that kind of thing. Does that sound right?”
“Strictly, there are three types of daoism, but you have the essence of two of them. Philosophical and technical. The third category is religious.” Elder Rui nodded.
“I would categorize the Analects as the first sort- philosophical daoism.”
“That would be a reasonable categorization.” Elder Rui nodded. Emboldened by the blisteringly lukewarm response, Tian pressed on.
“As such, it certainly is in line with what I have been taught here.” Elder Rui frowned at that, clearly dissatisfied with the answer. Tian pressed on before the Elder could correct his phrasing. “However, that raises my next question- why was this book assigned with the other books?”
Elder Rui raised an eyebrow. “Was that… not clear? The Analects are the core of our sect’s entire philosophical and ethical beliefs. It is the highest law when it comes to resolving disputes between Elders, and even the daoist masters turn to it daily for guidance. It is, quite literally, the wisdom of the ancestors, transmitted through the generations. That same wisdom, and the honoring of it, has kept this little ship…”
The elder visibly switched tracks mid oration. Several months of exposure to Tian had taught him that the boy would listen attentively, consider what was said deeply, and simply ignore any metaphors foisted upon him.
“Has kept our sect safe and growing for thousands of years.”
Tian nodded. He didn’t agree, but that wasn’t really the point he was going for. “But it doesn’t lay out rules for running a sect. It doesn’t mention a sect at all, in fact, or discuss how to transmit the dao. Merely that it should be taught, and that teaching it is a virtue. It doesn’t even really discuss the relationships between parents and siblings, or masters and disciples, beyond saying that you shouldn’t mourn the death of your parents.”
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“It said that you shouldn’t mourn them for too long or with elaborate rituals, don’t exaggerate. You have to look at them in context. I’m guessing you have never seen a mortal funeral?”
Tian shook his head.
“Extremely elaborate, time consuming, and expensive. A single high quality coffin could bankrupt a poor family, or wipe out their savings. Nothing strange about someone buying their own coffin while they are still alive, to spare their children a sudden expense.”
“The elaborate rituals are… self indulgent? Showing off for the neighbors?” Tian asked.
“Put in the crudest possible terms.” Rui snorted and shook his head. “Say rather that it shows a lack of proper education and training. Context matters. The Crane was saying grief should be like any of our emotions- felt lightly, and not held tightly, and she used the most powerful example she could to communicate that to the people listening.”
“A sort of alternative take on filial behavior. Honor your parents by not letting them become a burden.”
That got Tian a very flat look. Tian tried to diffuse it by waving his hands a bit.
“We aren’t mortals. Our seniors do know vastly more than we do, and are vastly more powerful than we are, generally. But why should we listen to their arrangements if they are manifestly not using that power and knowledge well? That is a question the Analects don't answer. If anything, it makes the opposite argument- don’t listen, turn your attention inward, improve yourself. If that gets you killed, oh well. Easy come, easy go.”
“Generally fear of death is sufficient motivation. As is the promise of a better life if people do follow the arrangements of their elders, and the whole gratitude thing. The whole gift of life, immortality and the dao thing. Those are considered pretty major motivators. Obedience is a rather small price to pay for all that.” Rui’s voice was acidic. This wasn’t the first, or fifth, time they had debated this exact point. This time, however, Tian was on a rat hunt.
Tian set out the half dozen books on filial piety and ethics he had been assigned to read alongside the Analects, heavily thumbed through and clearly much read. “Have all of these books been written by members of our sect?”
“No. These two were, the rest are wise teachings from others that have been found not to conflict with the words of the Ancient Crane. Supplemental to it, and they can be taught without letting her direct teachings out of the path of direct transmission from master to disciple.”
Ding Ding Ding.
“Yep. Got him.” Tian nodded, smiling slightly. “Will I be allowed to read the technical manual that goes with this philosophical manual, Elder?”
The forest went silent. Tian thought it was pretty interesting that he didn’t feel the qi move, or feel the pressure of the Elder’s brainpower. But the birds still were silenced, the insects ceased their hum, and even the wind stilled around them. Interestingly, some of that pressure clearly wasn’t coming from Elder Rui. Someone had been listening in. Either that, or he didn’t understand how brainpower worked on some very fundamental level.
“A Daoist Master. I’ve heard of them, but never met one.”
Probably.
“What led you to believe there was a technical manual that accompanied the Anelects? I know nobody suggested that to you.” Rui’s voice had become eerily calm.
“Because one of the very first things I learned at the sect was that I shouldn’t try to guess the minds of the leaders, or read their faces. They were too good at hiding their true thoughts. I should look at the organization, because the organization would reveal the leader’s real nature and thinking.” Tian could remember Brother Fu telling him that vividly. It was why he dared ask Elder Rui for a perception or light body art.
“And?”
“And, Elder, there are currently thirty five Shen cultivation manuals in the sect, while there are more than six hundred for cultivating vital energy. The Inner Court and Monastery members hoard shen arts, treating them like secret weapons rather than giving them to the library. The Inner Court, despite all its adventuring and treachery, still cleaves to the Monastery. If anything, they are even more desperate to join it than the Outer Court.”
“And?” Were the clouds starting to gather in front of the sun? It did seem to be getting darker out.
“And while there are a lot of obscure metaphors in the Anelects, it’s not saying anything that isn’t consistent with what these other philosophical daoist texts are teaching. There is no good reason not to publicize it. Publish it in bulk and hand it out to story tellers and street preachers, it would do no harm and much good. It would generate substantial merits. We know that, because that’s what the Ancient Crane did when she first proclaimed the Dao to the Sect’s ancestors.” Tian smiled slightly. “But it’s hidden, restricted to Direct Disciples. Can Core Disciples read it?”
“No.”
“So it is reserved for the inheritors of the true sect.”
“In essence. You are a test case.” The sky cleared and the birds resumed their song. “I see where you are going with this. If the book is restricted, it must be the key to actual power. Since the text itself does not contain cultivation wisdom, the lock it opens must exist elsewhere. A secret worth protecting to the point of excluding even the core disciples from learning it. A shen cultivation manual, or at least a cultivation method that incorporates shen. Something so mighty, even those… difficult people… of the Inner Court would become obedient in the hope of obtaining it.”
“Exactly, Elder.”
The elder continued to look calmly at Tian. He had the sudden sense that he was being dissected. He knew that was nonsense. They had been dissecting him for years now. It was just more urgently noticeable right now.
“What a frightening mind you have,” the Elder murmured. “It’s not that you are brilliant, it’s that you are paying attention all the time, and you remember what you are told. You believe it too, provisionally, and discard it ruthlessly if what you are told doesn’t match your observations.”
Tian blinked at that one. “Respectfully, Elder, isn’t that what everyone does?”
“To a degree.”
The Elder looked off into the woods for a moment, then looked back at Tian. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Yes, Elder, I think it is fair to say that I understand quite clearly how what I have learned in the sect is derived from the teachings of the Ancient Crane.”
This time he did feel the qi stir the forest and the brainpower condense around him. “There are worse places to be confined than this hill, Junior.”
“I truly meant no disrespect, Elder. None.”
The Elder’s eyes searched his face carefully, then he snorted. “And yet, you are being disrespectful. It seems I have wasted my time.”
Tian wasn’t sure how to answer that. He certainly felt his time had been wasted, though it did help him understand his elders more.
“Did you really deduce the existence of a technical manual from simply observing the sect?”
“It seemed the more respectful of the two logical explanations, Elder.”
He saw the Elder’s cheek twitch. “Respectful? What was the other explanation?”
“Vanity. It would be quite flattering, thinking you were one of the rare chosen who got to learn the true teachings of the Godly Ancient Crane. Unlike all the rest, grubbing around at the base of the mountain, filthy and ignorant.”
He saw the Elder’s cheek twitch harder. “Which means you actually thought of three explanations.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“It could be power and vanity, both.” But neither of them said it out loud.
“It seems we have taught you… very well. And yet, very poorly.”
“Elder, may I ask another question?”
“Mmm?”
“Why are the Elders so fixated on this? I am obedient. I have fulfilled every order and every mission the sect has assigned to me, not merely with a token effort but with all my ability, every time. I volunteer my time to the sect even if I’m not asked, just because I think I should. I hold to the three supreme virtues to an extent that most in the Sect consider excessive. They call me an ascetic, but all I see is living in accordance with the teachings of the Ancestors. Teachings I have often placed above my own life. What could be more filial than that?”
Tian leaned in, stretching his open hands towards the elder.
“I truly love and support my Brothers and Sisters, and have fought with my life to defend them. So why? Why is it so important that I accept those who are more powerful than I am are morally entitled to my obedience?”
“You know it’s more than morality at question.”
“I do, but it seems to be the core of it. If someone yells ‘Follow Me!’ shouldn’t the first thing a sensible person does is ask ‘Why?’ And if that is true, why be mad if they do ask?”
The elder stood abruptly. “In four thousand years, you are the only person I have instructed for six months that was worse at the end of it than the beginning.”
“Do Heavenly People really live that long? I thought it was less.”
Tian spread his hands helplessly. “Does the Elder just want me to say that the ancients are without error, and mean it? Has that truly been all I was supposed to achieve these last six months?”
“You were supposed to learn it was not your place to judge! That a decent person owes everything good in their life to their parents, and they have a duty to repay those blessings. That duty includes an obligation to extend those same blessings to their children. It is a chain of virtuous obligation and duty that binds society and builds harmony. You want to know what life is like without those bonds? Look at the heretics! Look at the Redstone Wastes and, yes, the damned slave camps and salt trade and every scumbag landlord that ever starved their peasants or raped a maid! If a junior does not believe in an obligation of duty and care, they won’t believe it when they are a senior either, and then all the evils of the world come pouring in. THAT, Junior Tian, is why I’m so damned mad!”
Tian stood and bowed. “Am I without virtue? I believe that most of the Elders are virtuous, most of the time. I have always believed that the Elders were well intentioned. Just that they weren’t always reliable.”
For the first time, he saw strong emotion on Rui’s face- surprise. Genuine, eyes opened so wide he could see the whites of them all the way around, surprise. Rui let out a bark of laughter. “Kindly incompetents. The sect leadership is well intentioned, but not competent, and therefore the teachings should be honored by ignoring the teachers. You must be right. Look how you turned out. I’ve really brought honor to my master, haven’t I?” With a twist of wind, vanished.
Tian looked upward. “Elder thinks I disregard filial virtue, but I disagree. I plead that the Elder consider this- even if he feels I haven’t been filial to the Elders and the Ancients, haven’t I been filial to my juniors?”