Book 3: Chapter 41: An Old Face
With the threat of the demonic cultivators if not entirely gone then largely neutralized, Sen and Lo Meifeng’s journey became a more relaxed affair. They still kept up a fast pace, but it wasn’t the kind of brutal pace that Sen would have demanded if they were still being actively hunted by a cabal of core formation cultivators. Of course, being able to use the roads most of the time hastened their journey a lot. There were a few times that they thought were being followed and they fell back on their old routine of camping deeper in the forests than most people would dare to travel and leaning on Sen’s formation skills. Most of the time, though, they would stay at inns when they were available. Both of them liked hot baths too much to pass up the opportunity to get one. While Sen liked cooking, he wasn’t sad to pass that duty off to others on occasion. Bit by bit, mile by unencumbered mile, the accumulated stress of the last year drained out of Sen. The fate of Lifen still weighed on him, but Sen reminded himself that going back before he was ready was foolhardy.
For all that Sen was more relaxed, he recognized that he’d been permanently changed by the experience of being hunted. There was a part of him that was always wary, always on alert, always looking for things that didn’t fit or didn’t make sense. He understood where it came from, and even saw the value in it from a pure survival perspective. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d lost something important in the exchange. Another piece of what remained of my battered innocence, probably, he thought. It was that heightened wariness that alerted him to the fact that he was being watched in the common room of the inn. Lo Meifeng had been sipping on some drink that smelled of strong alcohol, although he couldn’t see any sign that it was actually having an effect on her. She certainly noticed his change in demeanor almost instantly.
“What is it?” she asked, putting the cup down on the table.
Sen noticed her slip a hand inside her robe, no doubt grasping for one of the daggers she kept hidden. Her eyes swept the room, looking for some obvious signs of danger and, finding none, she turned a questioning gaze on him. He indicated the corner of the room, where a big man sat at a table and tried to be surreptitious about studying Sen.
“Do you know him?” Lo Meifeng asked.
“You could say that,” said Sen. “He used to help beat me up when we were kids. I helped him get out from under a debt before I left Orchard’s Reach.”
“Why?”
“One of those soul-tugging things,” muttered Sen.
Lo Meifeng grimaced. “I’m going to be honest. I haven’t been terribly impressed by the results of those so far.”
“That makes two of us. Although, it hasn’t been all bad where those are concerned.”
“Really? Because experience suggests that he’s going to pick a fight with you and this whole place is going to end up in flames. Then, when we go outside, there’s going to be a hundred people we’ll need to kill.”
“Come on. That’s…probably overstating things a little,” said Sen before he really thought it through. “You didn’t leave anything in your room, did you?”
“Do I ever?” asked Lo Meifeng.
“How would I know?”
Lo Meifeng blinked a couple of times. “Oh, I guess you wouldn’t, would you? For the record, I never leave anything in a room that I’m not willing to abandon.”
“Good to know.”
“So, how do you want to handle this? Do you want to talk to him? Leave immediately? Start the fire yourself?”
Sen rolled his eyes at her. “I’m not sure. I don’t really want to talk to him, but I don’t want to leave if it’s unnecessary. We already paid for the rooms.”
“And, I haven’t gotten my food yet,” said Lo Meifeng.
“Yes, your dinner is my highest priority.”
“As well it should be. I get mean when I’m hungry.”
“Behold my shock,” said Sen while holding a perfectly neutral expression.
Lo Meifeng snorted. “I don’t know how you keep a straight face like that. Is it some kind of special skill you get from body cultivation?”
“Probably not,” said Sen.
“I guess we’re about to find out what he wants,” said Lo Meifeng, nodding at the approaching man.
It took Sen a moment to dredge the man’s name up from his memory. I’m pretty sure it’s Wu Gang, thought Sen. As the man got closer, Sen had to work hard not to laugh. Wu Gang was aimed at him, but his eyes kept drifting to Lo Meifeng. Sen thought he had a pretty good idea about how well that was going to go. Then, the big man was standing next to their table, trying to not stare at Lo Meifeng with lovestruck eyes and failing miserably. Lo Meifeng looked at the poor man and shook her head.
“You have a better chance with one of the horses in the stable,” she said.
Sen was a little stunned at her bluntness. It was simultaneously a heartlessly cruel and kind statement. She’d crushed him mercilessly, but also left exactly zero room for doubt. At least he wouldn’t waste time trying to pursue a hopeless quest. Sen hoped he wouldn’t, at any rate. It would become painful watching her crush the man’s heart over and over again. Sen waited a few seconds while the big man tried to put away his embarrassment at being so obvious and being denied so emphatically. When the wait stretched out to an uncomfortable length, Sen loudly cleared his throat. Wu Gang jerked a little bit and shifted his gaze to Sen. The big man shook his head a little, like he was trying to clear it, and offered Sen a bow.
Sen inclined his head. “Wu Gang.”
The big man seemed surprised that Sen knew his name. This led to another long moment of silence before the big man spoke.
“Sen. Lu Sen,” the man corrected himself.
“How can I help you?” Sen asked, wanting to move things along.
“I just,” the man’s eyes flicked toward Lo Meifeng and back to Sen. “You said that you expected to see me out on the road. I just wanted you to know that I’ve done as you said.”
Sen thought back. Had he told the man to do anything specific? Beyond telling the man not to make him regret helping, Sen couldn’t think of anything. Had there been something implied? Sen gestured to the unoccupied chair across from them.
“Why don’t you sit and tell me what you’ve been doing this last year or so,” said Sen.
The big man hesitated for a moment before he sat. He took a moment to collect his thoughts.
“After you helped my family, I left the way I said I would. I became a wandering cultivator.”
Sen nodded. “And how have you spent your time?”
Wu Gang's eyes went a little distant. “At first, I just wandered. You know how it is when you first leave. Everything is new. New people. New places. New customs. I made some mistakes. Got into some fights I could probably have avoided if I used my brain more than my arms.”
Lo Meifeng only half-stifled her laugh. Wu Gang seemed confused and unsure if he should be offended. She pointed at Sen.
“He knows all about getting into fights he should avoid.”
Wu Gang glanced nervously at Sen. Sen shrugged.
“She’s not wrong. I expect it happens to every wandering cultivator at some point. After that, though, what did you do?”
“Once I’d been out in the world for a while, I started to see things a bit clearer. There are a lot of people out there who need help. People who can’t get it.”
Sen wanted to lift an eyebrow. This wasn’t what he’d expected from the boy he remembered or the man he’d briefly fought back in Orchard’s Reach. He had expected that the man would pick fights and get in trouble. This person felt like a stranger to Sen. Someone who seemed reflective and concerned with others.
“That’s true,” admitted Sen. “There are a lot of people in one kind of trouble or another.”
Wu Gang nodded eagerly at that. “I help them. When I can, I mean. It’s not like you. I hear the stories about you. Fighting sects. Destroying beast tides. Challenging demonic cultivators. Saving princesses.”
Lo Meifeng had just taken a sip from her cup when the man had said that bit about princesses. She choked and sprayed half the table with the liquor, while Sen stared at Wu Gang.
“Saving princesses?” Sen asked.
“Oh yeah. They talk all about how you’re always saving beautiful princesses and carrying them away from danger. You know, like her,” said Wu Gang, gesturing at the still-coughing Lo Meifeng.
Part of Sen thought he should correct Wu Gang, but an impish part of him he’d thought was dead peeked out from wherever it had been hiding in his heart. He nodded at Wu Gang.
“I guess we couldn’t keep it a secret forever, your highness,” said Sen, giving Lo Meifeng an apologetic look.
She shot him a glare that promised certain death if he ever repeated those words to her. Sen immediately committed to calling her “your highness” at every opportunity. He turned his gaze back to Wu Gang.
“Okay, so you’re not saving princesses or challenging sects. What have you been doing to help?”
“It’s just small things,” said Wu Gang. “I help farmers get their goods to market when they don’t have help. I killed a spirit beast that was threatening a village. I helped one place rebuild after a spirit beast attack. I don’t know much about carpentry or masonry, but I’m strong. I could carry five times as much as anyone else. Hold things up that no one else could. They said I helped them save weeks of time,” he paused and gave Sen a serious look. “I just wanted you to know that I’m doing my best to make sure you don’t regret helping me.”
Sen leaned back in his chair and regarded the man. They were about the same age, but Sen felt like Wu Gang somehow saw him as older, or wiser, or maybe both. More importantly, it was clear that man was desperate for some kind of approval from Sen. He wanted some kind of validation that he was doing the right things and on the right path. Sen searched inside himself, hoping for some kind of guidance. He didn’t find insight or inspiration. Then again, maybe he didn’t need it. This wasn’t some hideously complicated situation with layers of politics and finance attached. Wu Gang wasn’t looking for profound wisdom or the secrets of enlightenment. He was just a person trying to do what he thought he should. A man trying to keep his word to someone he didn’t really know but felt a debt toward. Sen couldn’t know that any of what the man had said was true, but that was a kind of cynicism that he wasn’t ready to embrace. He felt that he’d gotten the truth from Wu Gang, or at least what Wu Gang thought was true. That was enough. And maybe, thought Sen, this is more for my benefit than his. A sign from the world that not everything turns out badly in the end.
“I don’t regret helping you,” said Sen. “Honestly, you’ve probably done more good in the world than I have. I hope you’ll keep helping people who need it.”
Wu Gang broke out into a bright smile and nodded. “I will. Just you wait. Someday, people will talk about all the people I’ve helped like they talk about you.”
Sen hoped, for Wu Gang’s sake, that wasn’t the case. Because Sen knew what kinds of things you had to do, what kinds of dangers you had to face, to get people talking about you like that. He wouldn’t wish that on the man sitting across from him. Of course, he couldn’t say any of that because Wu Gang wouldn’t, maybe even couldn’t understand. So, Sen just smiled and nodded.
“I’ll keep my ears open for the tales of Righteous Wu Gang,” said Sen.
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