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Chapter 84 – Home Again, Home Again, Jiggitty Jig
🕑 Added 2024-10-19 17:52:47 +0000 UTCConsidering how little time Benton had actually spent in the village, it felt strange for him to consider it home. The small, decrepit place filled with starving people besieged on all sides by spirit beasts was his future, though, and that made it home.
The amount of spirit beasts was a bit concerning, more so than he would have thought. The density of them near the village had increased significantly in the time since he’d left, and there were mainly rank twos nearby compared to rank ones before. There were even visible scratches in the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood wall near the gate. Benton doubted if a rank three would be strong enough to make those, meaning a beast of an even higher rank might have been there.
The differences were a clear indication that something was pushing the lower ranked beasts further and further out.
Back where Benton had grown up, afternoon thunderstorms had been commonplace. Not every storm produced a tornado, but some of them did. That was how he’d thought about the chances of a beast tide when he’d left the village. There was definitely a thunderstorm, but there may or may not be a tornado.
The conditions at the village currently were along the lines of a tornado watch. Conditions were right for a twister, but that didn’t mean one would form. The same went for a beast tide.
Only time would tell if that watch would become a warning, meaning a tornado was on the ground. Or in this case, that a tide was coming.
A clamor arose inside the walls when the guards noticed the caravan coming, an event that had to be both unexpected and almost unprecedented in their recent memory. The gate remained closed for several minutes even after the caravan stopped right outside of the village.
Finally, Mo Jian appeared atop the wall, and his eyes went wide. He cupped his hands. “These lowly ones feared that the Esteemed Master Cultivator was lost.”
Benton shrugged. “Better late than never. Can we enter? I’ve got a lot of people and kids out here.”
“Of course. Of course.”
After a couple of shouts from Mo Jian, the gates opened, and the caravan rolled inside.
“Forgive me, but though these ones are glad that the Esteemed Master Cultivator has returned, where is the food?” the mayor said.
“Right here.” Benton walked to an open spot on the plaza just inside the gate and waved his hand. As soon as he’d finished speaking, two wagons overflowing with food appeared.
Mo Jian’s eyes widened, and he bowed lower than he ever had before. “Gratitude, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
“The contents of both those wagons are yours as agreed. I hope that we can now start to build some trust between us.”
“Of course, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
Benton wasn’t entirely pleased with that response. It was entirely polite and appropriate, but it was also distant. He was seeking a closer relationship but, with a bit of reflection, understood that such could only be achieved with time.
“All these people are my disciples, and I will be responsible for their food,” Benton said. “I do need places for them to stay for a short while, so if you can arrange that, I would be grateful.”
“It shall be done, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
“Good. The two of us need to meet later for more discussion, but I want to see Mistress Zhong first. I’ll be at your house in two hours.”
Benton needed to secure land for his new sect, an ongoing mutual commerce agreement between the town and the new sect, and terms for recruitment. He could see that discussion going one of two ways—the mayor rolling over and giving him whatever he wanted or the mayor trying to make things as difficult as possible.
“That is satisfactory, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
Benton almost frowned. He’d stated what would happen, not made a request for the mayor to approve. For the sake of building a working partnership, though, it was probably best not to press the issue.
Bringing only Hao Cheng and the other nine orphans from Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town along, Benton walked to the orphanage, where he was received by a very excited Mistress Zhong.
“Master! You returned!”
“Of course I did. I promised, didn’t I?”
She grinned. “Master did.”
“So, how have things been over the last few months?”
“Does Master want the good news or the bad news first?”
“Good.” Better to get the easy stuff out of the way and deal with any trouble second.
“All the disciples have been doing great, Master. I’ve had the young ones cultivate five hours per day like you suggested, the rest of their time filled with continuing their studies and play time. They’re really enjoying their new strength and energy. Let’s just say I’m very glad both that I now have help and that the three of us have been able to stay ahead of their cultivation.”
“That’s great because I have ten more for you to take care of. Don’t worry, though. I’m not going away again for a while and, even then, hopefully not for nearly so long. We’ll also have more people to teach the kids.” Benton introduced Hao Cheng, who in turn supplied the names of the other nine children.
Mistress Zhong called Xiao Rong to get the new orphans settled.
“The biggest surprise I have for you,” Mistress Zhong said after the newcomers had departed, “is Wan Ai’s progress.”
“I know! Fifth minor realm, and I bet she’s near the sixth by now! She did awesome.”
“How did you… Master truly is unfathomable.”
Benton couldn’t help but notice how much Mistress Zhong’s attitude toward him had changed. “You seem … to have a different attitude from when I left?”
“Master, this one … I … The changes have been amazing. I have so much more energy. None of the kids who started cultivating have even gotten the sniffles. It’s everything you promised and more. And no one went hungry. And then, well, I maybe started to doubt a little, but you came back. You came back!”
If her words represented the attitude of everyone in the house, he had truly managed to produce loyal followers. That possibility made him feel a lot better about his burgeoning sect.
“Let’s find Wan Ai,” Benton said. “I have some stuff for her.”
They found the shy girl in a room that had been repurposed for cultivation. She stood up at their entrance and offered a deep bow.
“This lowly one greets Master.”
“Wan Ai, you have done amazing. I am so proud of your diligence. To reach the peak of the fifth minor realm so quickly!”
The girl timidly stared at the ground.
“I have presents,” Benton said.
She looked up. “Presents, Master?”
“Remember the maxim of any sect. Hard work is rewarded with more work.” He pulled three books from his ring. “First these. One beginning book each on growing herbs, preparing herbs, and basic alchemy.” Next, he produced a small pile of herbs and seeds. “These are what you’re going to be dealing with, so you can get familiar with them. We’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m going to get you some help, but you’re going to be in charge.”
“Me, Master?”
“Of course. You’re one of my core disciples. There aren’t many of my members who are as important as you.”
She looked stunned.
“I wasn’t finished with the gifts, though.” He pulled an alchemy set from the ring and showed it to her. “And finally…” The knife he’d purchased for her appeared in his hand.
She looked overwhelmed. “Gratitude, Master.”
“Actually, the real present is this.” Benton pulled a jade with the dagger technique he’d created for Zou Tian. “Learn this in your spare time. It’s for both self-defense and to aid with your herb preparation.” He created a new technique that he set to any qi aspect and handed her a second jade. “This one is the important one for you, Foundational Herb Gathering and Preparation. The books will help you advance the technique some, so I still want you to read them. The real way to get the technique to Large Success, though, is practice, and you’re going to be getting lots and lots of that.”
He and Mistress Zhong left Wan Ai to soak in all that had just happened, and he made a mental note to send Yang Xiu to check on the younger girl later.
“I’ve made a decision about the sect,” Benton told Mistress Zhong. “After my members reach the third minor realm of Qi Gathering, they can start learning techniques. Usually one at a time unlike with Wan Ai. So far, I’ve mostly had everyone start by choosing a weapon technique, but I’m not sure what to do about the children.”
Mistress Zhong shivered. “I was just envisioning eight hyper superhuman children running around with weapons, and my first instinct was to say no. The world is a dangerous place, though, and they are now cultivators. They must be able to defend themselves.”
Benton nodded. He really wanted her input on how to proceed.
“I think we should proceed but with two caveats. They should all learn the same weapon, and they should only use the weapons when in an organized class taught by someone.”
“That’s fair. It might be a few days, but I can easily arrange for classes. Thank you for your advice.”
She nodded graciously.
“Oh, wait,” Benton said. “You said something about bad news.”
Mistress Zhong’s face fell. “Something happened, but I’m not sure how bad it actually is. Jin LiJuan ate some spirit beast meat a couple of weeks ago. She was impatient that you hadn’t returned and was convinced that eating it would let her cultivate. She’s been in bed since.”
That wasn’t good. Both his Pill Basics technique and Su’s memories said that Bad Things happened to mortals who were exposed to too much qi.
“Take me to her,” Benton said.
Mistress Zhong let him to the girl’s bed. He scanned her.
G spiritual roots and no qi aspect. It was worse than he had feared.
###
As soon as Mo Jian had found subordinates to coordinate the sudden housing crises that the cultivator had thrust upon the village, he summoned Guang Yin to his house.
“Yes, Honored Mayor?”
“The cultivator returned. With food. And with a host of newcomers. There were over forty of them.”
“That’s … unexpected, Honored Mayor.”
“You’re darn right it’s unexpected, Guang Yin! What does it mean? What does he want with us? The spirit wood can’t be that valuable to him to go through all this trouble.”
“I don’t know, Honored Mayor.”
“And what was with that pin he and his disciples wore?”
“What pin, Honored Mayor?”
“All three were the same. A green snake.”
Guang Yin’s eyes went wide. “A green snake. Are you sure, Honorable Mayor?”
“I’m not so old as to be blind yet. Of course, I’m sure.”
Guang Yin legs grew shaky, and he sat down. “When this one had dealings with the Righteous Rain Sect, it was always with very junior members. Outer sect only, Honorable Mayor. I never even met an elder.”
“Okay. Great anecdote, I guess, but what does it have to do with anything?”
“The pin. That’s the symbol of the Poison Claw Sect, Honorable Mayor. They’re one of the big four, now big three I guess, sects on this continent. They are as important as the Righteous Rain Sect was.”
Mo Jian took a deep breath. “What does it mean that he’s wearing it, then?”
“It means that anyone he meets should treat him like a member of the Poison Claw Sect, Honorable Mayor. But it’s even more significant than that. It means he drew the attention of sect elders. Highly placed sect elders. In a way, he represents the Poison Claw Sect. His honor is their honor. It means we have to treat him as an elder of one of the most prestigious sects on the continent.”
Mo Jian groaned. “Just what we needed.”
“It could be a good thing, Honorable Mayor. It means whatever he is doing here has the tacit blessing of one of the big three sects. Maybe he is here to clear out the beasts and restore wood production.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it.”
