Unintended Cultivator

Lo Meifeng had explained her plan to get out of the city to Sen several times, and he finally decided that he just needed to know his part. He was happy to discover that, aside from putting up a little bit of the gold he’d "acquired" from the demonic cultivator, his part was mostly to do nothing special. Instead, he was to spend his day visiting places he’d been to before, get seen by people, and then very publicly arrive back at the Silver Crane. That worked out for Sen since he actually had a few errands to run. His first stop was the alchemist shop he’d acquired a stake in. He was happy to discover that the husband-and-wife alchemist team who ran the place had already started putting his investment to good use. The front of the shop had been cleaned up, repaired, and given a fresh coat of paint. The interior had new shelving, and Sen caught the lingering scent of freshly sawed wood in the air.

The couple were eager to show him around and point out the improvements. Yet, their real joy wasn’t in the shop itself, but in the space where they did their alchemy work. They showed him several of the powerful pills and elixirs they’d made with the beast cores and a handful of other ingredients he’d left behind. They also explained that they’d sold a few new pills and potions and that new orders from more affluent customers were starting to arrive. When they tried to press some money on him, he waved them off.

“I don’t need it right now. Invest it in the business instead. Buy more components. Set something aside for me every few months, if you have something to spare. If you don’t see me for a year, take my share to Grandmother Lu’s Heavenly Wares. They can hold it for me, or see to it that I get it eventually.”

Satisfied that the couple was putting his investment to good use, Sen made a quick stop at Grandmother Lu’s. He didn’t have anything specific he needed to do there. It was just somewhere he’d been before. He reassured himself that it didn’t have anything to do with feeling a little closer to home and everything he missed there. The manager of the place almost flew out of the back office to greet him.

“Honored guest,” said Li Fang. “How may I be of assistance to you today.”

“No assistance is necessary. I just came by to thank you for the excellent research you did for me. I did end up investing in one of those alchemist shops you pointed me to. The one run by the husband and wife. They may come by occasionally to leave money for me with you. I trust that you can hold it or see to it that it’s passed on to me?”

“Of course, honored guest. I am most pleased that my assistance was useful to you.”

Sen paused to look at the man for a moment, and an idea struck him. He took the manager into the back and handed the man a meaningful amount of the gold he had stuck in his storage ring. The manager’s eyes looked like they might fall out of his head as he took the gold in trembling hands.

“If you come across other opportunities like the one I invested in, I’d like you to make similar investments for me. You can keep,” Sen paused, “what’s a fair percentage of the profit for that kind of work.”

Sen didn’t know if that was actually a fair number, but it wasn’t like it was really his money he was throwing around. “Fine. You can keep ten percent of the overall profits if there are any.”

“What should I do with the rest?”

Sen frowned. “Set aside ten percent for me. Reinvest the rest.”

“Honored guest, what if I fail?”

Sen shrugged, “Then, you fail. As long as you do so honestly, you’ve nothing to fear from me.”

From there, Sen made his way back to the tea shop where he’d met not one, but two sect elders. He was developing a taste for a particular brew they made there. He made a mental note to see if they would sell him some of the blend. He’d been seated for several minutes when he got the distinct impression that he was being watched. Well, he’d expected as much. He gave it five minutes before he began a casual inspection of his surroundings. While he’d expected to see some shadowy figure lurking at a corner or in an alley, what he found was Wu Meng Yao. She was sitting at a table across the room. When she saw him notice her, she hurriedly looked away.

Sen debated with himself about whether to go speak with her. He hadn’t been particularly happy with how their last meeting had ended. Yet, he didn’t know how to fix it, either. He didn’t even know if it could be fixed. He hadn’t specifically done anything to her. It wasn’t like there was some easy apology he could offer that would make it better. It was the fact of his existence that seemed to unsettle her. That was ultimately a her problem, and she would have to resolve it or fail to resolve it on her own. Nothing Sen could say or do in that tea shop was going to help her in that task, so he simply finished his tea. When he left, he paused long enough to nod at her and then went on his way. He hoped that in a few years, or a few decades, they’d cross paths again and things would be different.

Sen’s final stop of the day was at the Celestial Arch sect. The guards stopped him at the gate, but they seemed regretful about it. He dismissed their concerns with a casual shake of his head.

“It’s nothing to concern yourselves about. I don’t need to go inside. I’d just like to get a message to one of your elders. I have a gift for them.”

The guards perked right up at Sen’s nonchalant attitude and one of them cheerfully took the message inside. Perhaps five minutes later, the guard returned with a bemused-looking elder in tow. The elder gave Sen a gracious nod in acknowledgment of Sen’s bow.

“I must say, I did not expect to see you again this soon,” said the elder, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

“It was a last-minute thought on my part. A gift for your sect to say thank you for an excellent dinner and enlightening conversation.”

Sen held out a small pouch that the elder gently grasped. Giving Sen a curious look, the elder turned the pouch over and stared down at the small pile of rings that dropped into his palm. It only took the elder a moment to understand what he held. He immediately tried to give them back. Sen calmly put his hands behind his back and smiled at the elder.

“I have no need of them,” said Sen. “Put them to good use, and I’ll be satisfied.”

The elder made another half-hearted attempt to give the storage treasures back, but Sen politely insisted that the sect keep them.

“I take it from this gift, you’ll be leaving the city soon?” the elder asked.

“I am. You know how us wandering cultivators are. Always off to cause trouble in the next place.”

The elder snorted out a laugh. “Well, perhaps, you’ll find a bit more enlightenment and a bit less excitement at your next stop.”

“One can always hope. Until I see you again,” said Sen, offering another bow.

“Travel safely if you can,” said the elder, offering Sen a bow in return.

The last of his errands run, Sen returned to the Silver Crane for what he expected would probably be the last time for some time. While the outside looked the same as always, the interior was barely controlled pandemonium. There were people everywhere, chatting, eating from a buffet that someone had set up, and Sen didn’t recognize nearly any of them. As he slipped through the crowd, though, he did notice that almost all of the new people were about his age. That was when he remembered the other part of Lo Meifeng’s plan. Sen opted to steer clear of the chaos and went up to his room, where he found Lo Meifeng standing and glaring down at the floor.

“What are you doing?” asked Sen, baffled by her presence and her apparent new loathing for wooden floors.

“They’re so loud,” she complained, gesturing downward.

“Ahhhh,” said Sen, finally understanding. “Yes, I noticed that on the way up. We are compensating the Silver Crane for this massive disruption, aren’t we? It’s not like they can do business with all of those people down there.”

Lo Meifeng gave a tired nod. “I worked out the details with the manager. She didn’t want to take anything, but I told her that you insisted. You insisted, by the way, in case she asks.”

“Noted. So, now what?”

“Now, I try to make it until morning without murdering all of those actors.”

Sen smirked a little and asked, “How are the odds on that looking?”

“Bad,” growled Lo Meifeng.

“Just don’t scare them all away,” said Sen, flopping back onto the bed.

She turned a glare on him. “You could always help me wrangle them.”

“Really?” asked Sen, a little amused. “You want me to go downstairs and talk with all of those young men and women?”

Lo Meifeng stared at him for a long moment, then shuddered. “No. Gods, no. You stay up here and out of sight.”

Much to Sen’s surprise, Lo Meifeng managed to keep her murderous impulses in check the whole night. Things were still pandemonium the next day, but it was a much more structured pandemonium. The young men were all wearing blue robes that looked enough like Sen’s to pass for identical, at least at a distance. The young women were all wearing dresses that looked like things that he’d seen Lifen wearing. He pulled Lo Meifeng aside.

“Where did all these clothes come from?”

“What do you think I spent all of that money on?”

Then, as if a signal had been given, the young men and women paired off and lined up by the door. There was another brief pause, then they started leaving.

“Where are they all going?” Sen asked.

Lo Meifeng laughed. “I think a better question is where aren’t they going? They’re going to the city gates, to local restaurants, to wander around in circles, to visit markets, and a bunch of other places I can’t remember right now.”

Then, she had him and Lifen dress in peasant clothes. After that, she had someone come in and put cosmetics on their faces. That was all topped off by a wig. Sen found a small mirror and got a look at himself. He looked old, and so did Lifen. Lo Meifeng had opted to change her clothes to something nicer than what Sen was wearing, but not nearly nice enough to draw notice. She and Sen waited by the back door, as Lifen had a short, emotional conversation with her mother. That conversation was followed by Sen being called over. The older woman gave him the hardest look he’d ever gotten from someone who wasn’t actively trying to kill him.

“I’m putting her in your care. Do not fail in that duty.”

Sen was momentarily taken aback by her vehemence, but not by her words. He offered her a deep bow. “I will see to her safety.”

With that, the trio were off. They walked at a casual pace, even going so far as to stop and look at things in windows from time to time, but they did eventually find their way to the harbor. While Sen had no clue where they were supposed to go, Lo Meifeng seemed to have a very specific destination in mind. The ship they boarded wasn’t the nicest ship he saw, nor was it the most weathered. It was altogether unremarkable in color, shape, and even in the appearance of the crew. Lo Meifeng had a brief conversation with someone that Sen assumed was the captain before they were led below to a pair of very cramped cabins. Lo Meifeng pointed to one of the cabins.

“That one is for you two. Ships are small places, by the way. Sound carries. So, bite down on a pillow or something.”

When Sen clearly had no clue what she was getting at, Lo Meifeng looked at Lifen. “You explain it to him. And both of you stay off the deck until we’re out at sea. And don’t bother me for anything short of an attack, the ship sinking, or food until tomorrow. I need a break from people.”

With that, the core cultivator stepped into her cabin and closed the door firmly behind her. Sen frowned at the door.

“She’s kind of weird,” he said to Lifen.

“I can hear you,” shouted Lo Meifeng through the door loudly enough that Sen jumped a little.

“Come on,” said Lifen, “I’ll show you what she meant about the pillow.”

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