Book 4: Chapter 45: Legend
For the next few weeks, Sen found that his life took on a disquietingly calm quality. He wasn’t attacked or even accosted by anyone. However, the pile of scrolls and letters he’d been ignoring were replaced by newer versions of the same ones. He’d consulted with the prince on what to do about them, and the prince had said that simply ignoring them was the best course of action in this case. It would help reinforce the idea that Sen was a cultivator first and foremost. That would help him later when and if things with Yu Ming’s plan progressed. As for the princess herself, Sen hadn’t heard anything directly from her since they first arrived in the city. The prince said that he had seen her, briefly, but she hadn’t sent along any messages.
Lo Meifeng had found them someone to act as a representative for them to the Golden Phoenix sect. While Sen would have liked to take a more active hand in picking the person, he knew he lacked the experience to know who would have the best chances of succeeding. He still struggled with trusting Lo Meifeng, but it was that or find someone himself. So, he grudgingly accepted her recommendation. Yet, beyond that first meeting with their new representative, Sen hadn’t heard a word about the sect or manual, let alone seen the man again. Sen had still been making daily trips to the prince’s home. The two men had struck up something of a friendship, much to Sen’s amazement. Still, those meetings were comparatively short, rarely lasting more than an hour or two to accommodate the prince’s other responsibilities, which Sen had slowly learned were many.
That left Sen to his own devices for most of the day, every day. Sen had spent the first few days exploring the surrounding area. While the city had seemed like nothing but an unbroken stretch of buildings and roads from a distance, there were actually small parks scattered across the city. Sen had found one that wasn’t too far from the inn, or at least not too far for cultivators. He’d taken to dragging Shi Ping out there at dawn most days to continue the man’s jian training. While Sen could see the annoyance in the fire cultivator, the man did not revert to his old habits of complaining. Sen wasn’t sure if it was progress, or if the man simply viewed the process as beneficial training that was worth the hassle. As long as the whining didn’t resume, though, it was good enough for Sen. It was during one of those morning practices that Shi Ping disengaged and cast an aggravated look around the park.
“You know we’re being watched, don’t you?” asked Shi Ping.
Using his practice jian, Sen pointed to four different spots in the park where trees offered cover that someone could use to covertly observe them. “Yes, I know.”
Sen had long since sensed the presence of the observing cultivators. As long as they were willing to keep their interference to observation, he was willing to let them do it. He didn’t see any gain in provoking a fight with them if they hadn’t come looking for one. He also didn’t care if they watched. It wasn’t as though they were going to learn anything that meaningful about him by watching him make minor adjustments to Shi Ping’s sword style. At best, they could report that he had a better-than-average understanding of the weapon. After he pointed to their hiding spots, Sen felt the quiet observers scatter, each going in a different direction. He didn’t know, for sure, that they were all from the same sect, but Sen suspected they were. The question he couldn’t answer without going to more trouble than he thought it was worth was precisely which sect they came from. He supposed he should make the time and expend the effort to find out. It just hadn’t felt like a priority.
Sen had also noticed that mortals would gather to watch them train. Most of them looked like off-duty city guards and house guards. Much like the cultivators, they kept their distance. Unlike the mysterious cultivator observers, these people didn’t take any steps to hide their observation. Instead, they watched openly and discussed what they were seeing. A normal person wouldn’t have been able to hear what they were saying, but Sen’s enhanced senses let him pick up their quiet conversations. Most of them drew absurd conclusions, which told Sen everything he needed to know about the quality of their training. A few of them, though, made observations that told Sen that they knew what they were doing. He was tempted to invite that small handful to join him and Shi Ping for some training, but he’d been holding off. If some of them were guards for local noble houses, he didn’t want anyone to think he was showing favoritism or support for those houses. That felt like a quick and easy way to make trouble for himself, the prince, and Chan Yu Ming.
Sen noticed Shi Ping frowning at one of the spots that Sen had been pointing to, seemingly surprised by the revelation. The fire cultivator gave Sen a curious expression before he shook his head.
“I guess they count, but that isn’t who I was talking about.”
Sen thought he knew what the other man was getting at, but he’d been trying to ignore them for a week now. “Oh? Who were you talking about?”
“Really?” asked Shi Ping. “You spotted four cultivators hiding in the trees, but you’re going to pretend you don’t see that small crowd of women over there mooning over you?”
Sen looked over his shoulder at the group that Shi Ping was talking about. Technically, there were two groups. There was a small group of women that Sen was pretty sure were nobles, and then there was a bigger cluster made up of what Sen assumed were peasants and the noble’s servants. Both groups included women that Sen considered far too old for him. When they saw him looking their way, many of the women looked away demurely, as though it was pure happenstance that they were there. Some of them didn’t look away at all, though, and it didn’t take any kind of genius to figure out what their expressions suggested. Sen sighed.
“No, I’m not going to pretend. I’m also not planning on doing anything about them unless they come over here and bother us.”
Shi Ping shook his head. “Only you would think of that cluster of opportunities over there as a bother.”
“They’re more trouble than they’re worth,” said Sen. “You have to realize that.”
“The nobles? Sure, they’re nothing but trouble. But the rest of them? I expect they have very realistic expectations. Peasants usually do, unless they’re crazed cultivation overachievers like you.”
“I am not a crazed cultivation overachiever.”
Shi Ping smirked. “It is extraordinary to me that you actually managed to find your way to the end of that statement with a straight face. Honestly, your control over your expression is unnerving at times.”
“Or, maybe it’s just true.”
“Well, since that’s obviously not the case, I’m going to stick with the extraordinary control explanation. Still, I am curious why you haven’t talked with any of those women.”
“You do realize that Chan Yu Ming is going to try to convince people that we’re together, right? How is that going to work if I’m off seducing half the noble girls in the city, or their servants for that matter?”
“I’m just saying that it’s a missed opportunity.”
“Then why don’t you go talk to them? It’s not like I’m keeping you here all day,” said Sen.
“Because they aren’t here for me. And any of them that said they were would be lying or trying to use me to find out more about you for their mistresses. Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll just keep looking for friendly young women who haven’t met you and don’t know that you exist.”
“They shouldn’t be that hard to find in a city this size.”
“It’s not impossible, but it’s not as easy as it should be. You made a big splash killing all those cultivators. Your legend is growing.”
“That’s not a good thing. I never wanted a legend in the first place.”
“Well, it’s a bit late for that kind of thinking. You’re stuck with it, now.”
“I could just change my name.”
Shi Ping rolled his eyes. “That wouldn’t help. You’d have to change your behavior for that to do any good. As long as you keep doing things like picking fights with sect elders and challenging the wills of nascent soul cultivators, the name isn’t going to matter. People will put the pieces together.”
“I didn’t pick a fight with a sect elder. She came looking for me.”
“You and I may know that, but stories take on a life of their own. As far as the people of this city are concerned, you picked a fight with a sect elder and crushed her.”
“That isn’t what happened,” said Sen.
Shi Ping shrugged. “Maybe not, but it is what people think happened. Or, it’s what they want to think happened. That distinction doesn’t make much difference when it comes to legend building.”
“That legend is going to get me killed. Sooner or later, someone is going to show up looking to kill the man behind the legend.”
“I’m surprised it hasn’t happened already,” said Shi Ping with a bit too much cheerfulness in his voice.
“You should at least pretend that idea doesn’t make you so happy.”
“Why is that?” asked a grinning Shi Ping.
“Because if Fa Ling Li sees you acting that way, she’ll probably kill you.”
The grin immediately vanished from Shi Ping’s face. “Oh, yeah, you’re right. I was just giving you a hard time.”
“I know, but she doesn’t really understand that kind of humor. It’s up to you, but you’ve survived this long. It’d be a pity to die over a joke.”
“Sometimes, I think she’s even scarier than you.”
“Really?” asked Sen.
“No. Not really. Not even a little bit. You’re terrifying.”
“I’m not that bad.”
“You once stabbed me because I annoyed you.”
“Right. I forgot about that.”
“I didn’t. Anyway, my suggestion to you is to get comfortable with that legend, because it isn’t going anywhere.”
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