Book 3: Chapter 55: At the Gate
It took more than a week, and Sen was very nearly to the point of simply leaving the fire cultivator’s valley, before something finally changed. Sen was hiding in his assigned room and pretending not to be there. He’d made the mistake the day before of answering the door and telling someone to go away. That had opened a floodgate of people knocking on his door who just happened to be walking by his room. He eventually went out the window to escape them. He hadn’t repeated the previous day’s mistakes and ignored any and all knocking on his door. At least, he had been doing that until he heard someone come racing down the hall, their footfalls sounding like thunder to Sen’s enhanced senses, and they began pounding frantically on his door. He almost ignored that pounding, but if knocking could have a panicked edge to it, that knocking did. He grudgingly got up off the bed and opened the door just enough that he could see out. There was a young man he didn’t recognize on the other side of the door. He looked pale, shaky, and out of breath.
“Yes?” Sen asked warily.
“Elder Lu, I need you to come with me. There is someone at the gate to see you.”
Sen very nearly shut the door in the young man’s face before the implications sank home. Then, he threw open the door and shot past the young man, sprinting from his room toward the front gate. It was only his preternatural reflexes that let him dodge and weave past the fire cultivators he encountered. Even so, he heard more than one person shout as they were buffeted by his passage. He almost felt bad about it, but he was too excited and too relieved to really let being a bit rude weigh him down. His forced stay with the fire cultivators was finally going to end. He forced himself to slow to a jog and then a walk as he approached the front gate, mostly because he could see a lot of very nervous-looking fire cultivators gathered around the inside of the gate. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten them into doing some ill-considered by arriving in a swirl of wind. Yet, the fire cultivators all looked relieved to see him when he arrived and ushered him out the gate almost immediately.
Sen found a dark-haired figure with a short-trimmed beard. The man held a spear with lightning crackling around the spearhead in a particularly threatening way. Sen burst into a grin and shouted.
“Uncle Kho!”
The lightning immediately winked out and the spear vanished. Uncle Kho strode over to Sen and grabbed him by the shoulders.
“There you are! I thought they might have been lying to me. Let me get a look at you,” said the elder cultivator, holding Sen out at arm’s length. “Well, they haven’t been overfeeding you, that’s for certain. Still, core formation? So soon?”
Sen went to answer, but Uncle Kho shook his head. “No, don’t explain, or you’ll just end up telling the same story over and over again. Tell me truly, though, are you well?”
Sen paused for a beat to genuinely consider his answer. “I’m as well as can be expected.”
Uncle Kho lifted an eyebrow at that but seemed willing enough to accept the answer. He looked past Sen and frowned. “Didn’t Ming assign you some kind of minder? I expected they’d make themselves known by now.”
“She’s hiding over there,” said Sen, pointing to where Lo Meifeng was lurking in some nearby shadows.
“She’s quiet. I’ll give her that much,” said Uncle Kho. “Pretty too. You two aren’t…”
“No,” said Sen in a firm voice.
“Good. Never wise to mix business and pleasure that way. It can confuse everyone’s priorities,” said Uncle Kho before giving Sen a big smile. “It is good to see you, Sen. You had us all a bit concerned when you went silent for a while. Still, I need to thank you. I haven’t had so much fun in centuries. You just don’t bump into demonic cultivator cabals the way you used to. They’ve gotten all careful and secretive.”
“That’s just because they’re afraid of you,” said Sen, grinning at Uncle Kho’s enthusiasm for ridding the world of demonic cultivators.
“Yes. Yes, they are. And for good reason,” said Uncle Kho.
It was Sen’s turn to look past Uncle Kho. “Are the others here? Master Feng? Auntie Caihong?”
Uncle Kho looked a bit sheepish. “They’re close. Caihong decided it was best for everyone if I came down first. Something about not letting Ming and Duan Yuxuan get too close before we all got a chance to see you. Have you met her?”
“I did. She’s interesting,” hedged Sen, not certain if the matriarch could hear him in her office all the way from the front gate.
“Yes, that is a word for her. Yes, I know you’re listening in Yuxuan,” said Uncle Kho, which answered Sen’s question. “Anyways, I was supposed to send up a signal once I confirmed you were here. Caihong isn’t going to let me live this down for a while. She’ll say I was monopolizing you.”
“Were you?” asked Sen with a bit of morbid curiosity.
Uncle Kho laughed. “Of course, I was.”
With that, he pointed a finger into the sky and sent up a sheet of tiny lightning bolts that could have been seen for miles. Sen wasn’t sure what else it could be used for, but he was absolutely certain he needed to learn how to do that. Even if it wasn’t useful, it was really damned impressive to look at. Just the kind of thing he could use as a distraction for annoying, needy fire cultivators who wouldn’t leave him alone. Uncle Kho and Sen made small talk about the trials and travails of camping in the wilds while they waited for everyone else to arrive. It didn’t take long. Within a few minutes, three figures flew into view. Sen squinted up at them, not sure what to think. He saw Master Feng glaring at the fire cultivator compound with a stern expression. He also saw Auntie Caihong. He didn’t recognize the young woman who was apparently sharing Auntie Caihong’s qi platform. The girl had a look of fierce joy on her face as the pair of them flew. Sen wondered if Auntie Caihong had taken a disciple the way that Master Feng had taken him in.
The trio landed close by and Auntie Caihong gave Uncle Kho one of those looks that promised they were going to have a very one-sided talk later. Master Feng spared Uncle Kho one brief head shake and spoke in a mildly chiding voice.
“You took your time.”
Uncle Kho looked completely unrepentant as he smiled at Master Feng. “I only took the time that was needed.”
“I’m sure,” said Master Feng before he walked over and put a hand on Sen’s shoulder. “Don’t you ever eat, boy?”
Sen did his best to hide his smile. “I try to get in a meal every week or two.”
“It shows. Wait, core formation? Did you advance your body cultivation too?”
“I,” started Sen, but Auntie Caihong cut him off.
“We can talk shop later,” she said, all but shouldering Master Feng aside and wrapping Sen in a hug. “Didn’t I give you a kit to write us letters?”
Sen felt a stab of guilt. He had meant to write them more often. “Things did get a little hectic this last year. I’ll try to do better.”
She shook her head at him.
“Just a little hectic, was it? That one clearly taught you understatement,” said Auntie Caihong, jerking a thumb at Master Feng.
Master Feng lifted his chin in a look that bridged the divide between grave dignity and mockery. “I am the master of accuracy, not understatement.”
While all of that was going on, Sen felt a gaze boring into him. He looked over and saw the girl who had come with Auntie Caihong. She had bright green eyes, which startled Sen. He’d never seen eyes that color before. Of course, what really caught his attention was the intensity of the way that she looked at him. There was an almost hungry quality to it. It made him nervous. When she walked over, he went to introduce himself only to have the words die in his throat as she threw her arms around him. That got indulgent looks from Uncle Kho and Auntie Caihong, while Master Feng just rolled his eyes and said something about foolish young people. Then, all three of the elder cultivators seemed to realize something at the same time.
“Oh!” said Auntie Caihong, reaching out and grabbing the girl’s arm. “Sen hasn’t seen you since you changed.”
“Seen who? Changed what?” asked Sen, thoroughly confused.
“You should introduce yourself,” said Auntie Caihong to the girl.
The girl pulled back and gave Sen a look that was equal parts annoyance and amusement. “He should know me, even in this graceless form. I suppose his poor human-boy senses aren’t good enough. I am Falling Leaf.”
Everything around Sen seemed to get a bit wobbly like it was made from some kind of jelly, and he just stared at the girl for a long time. When the ability to speak finally found him again, all he could think to say was, “What?”
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