I woke up cocooned in the softest of silk sheets, feeling incredibly well rested and refreshed. I felt the best I think I had… well, ever felt.
You would think after a lifetime of hard beds or the ground I would think “this bed is too soft” and spurn the luxury like all those badass edgy anti-heroes..
Too bad for me I was in the Immortal Medicine Sect, who considered proper sleep medical care, and so over thousands of years had perfected everything to do with it. I fell asleep pretty much the instant my head touched the pillows.
And now I felt amazing. I was so refreshed I was practically jittering.
“Morning Tianlan.” I greeted, leaping up from the bed and starting some morning stretches. The room immediately started brightening, from a darkness that wasn't too dark, to a soft golden colour. White and green silks draped from the ceiling, and the air was at the perfect temperature.
“Good morning, Jin.” came the reply. “I see somebody slept well.”
“Yeah. This bed is dangerous. It was like sleeping on a cloud!”
“Thats because you did sleep on a cloud.” Tianlan replied, her voice full of amusement.
I blinked, and then got on all fours to look under the sheets to see if she was just messing with me and… nope. I had slept on a literal cloud.
‘Its a cloud of aerosolized Medicinal Spiritual Herbs meant to slowly diffuse into the body.’ Tianlan informed me.
Every ache and pain was gone. My bond with Tianlan let me see which ones they were and…. Well, oh. Those were…. Very rare. And very expensive. The kind of Young Master-tier cheat bed that people would kill for.
“You can grow those pretty easy, if you want to pay them back… but I don't think they would accept it.” Tianlan said.
I paused. “I can grow Argent Dreamroot?” That was the top tier of top tier material right there!
“Of course you can! Who does that kind of stuff grow on?” Tianlan asked, and with that information about the Spiritual Herb filled my head. Optimal grow time, what kind of soil it liked and… yeah, that was actually really doable. The only finicky part was how much Qi it needed during its initial growth period, but that was easy enough to solve…
“Huh.” I said. “I guess it is pretty easy when you can just cheat and ask how to perfectly grow it.”
“You would have been able to do it without my help.” Tianlan rebutted. “Your herb-growing technique is really good; and the way you infuse everything, even the soil? You impressed this old lady! It's part of the reason why I noticed you. How much you cared. Not just for the things you were growing, but for the health of the soil, the bugs, the fungus… It was really nice.”
I blushed at her honest praise, and I felt the sensation of a hand ruffling my hair.
“Okay, okay, I believe you.” I grumbled, but couldn’t help but feel a bit better at the praise. I looked around the room, which… didn’t have walls. Just soft white light that trailed off into the distance. “So… how do we get out of here?”
My question was answered immediately, however, as the room… shifted, for lack of a better term, and one of the walls opened to reveal Meiling.
My heart lurched just a tiny bit. I still wasn’t used to her looking so… well, pretty. Every little imperfection Xiaoxing had was gone. Her face was perfectly serene as she walked towards me, then bowed low.
“Divine Ancestor.” She greeted, her tone formal. “Was your rest satisfactory?”
I frowned a bit at the subservience, but pushed through it. “Yeah, that cloud bed sure is something!”
She kept her eyes averted. “We are pleased to have aided the Divine Ancestor. My Lord Father inquires if the Divine Ancestor wishes to break his fast?”
I realised she was going through a bit. All the formal stuff of talking to your lord. Which probably had its place, but.. I was gonna be myself, damn it. Not any kind of regal Divine Ancestor.
“Sure, some brekkie sounds great!” I said and I saw her lips twitch upwards at my absolute bulldozing of propriety. I pounced on it, asking the most inane thing I could think of. “Though, the bed…what happens if you jump on it? Does it deflate? Or does it bounce you back up?”
Meiling’s composure cracked. The little upward turn of her lips turned into a full on amused smile. “Oh, they’re great to bounce on—mother had to scold my little brother when he got a bit too enthusiastic and put his head through the ceiling!”
“Through the ceiling?” I asked, chuckling.
“Right through it, we came in to see his legs dangling down, mother was so mad at him…” She shook her head with a fond smile. “And he's going to be so mad at me for making him look like a fool in front of you, so don’t tell him I told you that please!”
“Hmmm. Well, I can tell him his sister is gossipping about him, should you incur my wrath.” I declared. “I shall strike at the bonds of Filial piety of the Hong Family! My machinations shall turn brother against sister! Truly, I am an evil mastermind! Muhahahahaha.”
The Young Mistress' cheeks puffed out, and she clapped a hand over her mouth to stop from laughing, but a little squeak came out anyway. She coughed twice, and took a breath, shaking her head.
“...you’re a dangerous man, Rou Jin.” She finally said. “Now, would you like some breakfast?”
“Please.” I replied. We started walking out of the xianxia medical room. “So… what kind of breakfast is this? Some kind of formal thing?”
“Not entirely. My father begs your forgiveness if he was presumptuous, but he thought to keep things... personal. He knows this must be a trying time for you, and wants to keep things as”normal” as possible.” Meiling said, sneaking a glance at me—one full of apology. “There are a couple of people we would like you to meet, however, or rather, who we need to reintroduce.”
“Well, it is what it is. Just gotta roll with it, yeah?” I said, trying to sound chipper.
Meiling took me through the halls of her sect, and like the rest of it, was stunningly beautiful. Nice wooden floors, traditional architecture, carved wooden art on every pillar. There were windows every few feet, and they opened to spectacular views of the surrounding mountains that were shrouded in mist. For all the wealth, it wasn’t gaudy about it. It was subtle, and elegant, and I really appreciated the work the artisans did.
We soon reached the garden where I had met with them the first time. A table and chairs had been prepared. There were several people who I didn’t recognise standing around it, along with a couple people I did.
“Ah! Divine Ancestor, did you sleep well?” Meiling’s younger brother asked, racing up and performing a picture perfect bow. The kid was super earnest about it, and it was pretty cute.
“I did, thank you. Those beds are nice.” I replied, and he beamed. I heard Meiling’s huff of amusement at her brother’s antics.
“That’s grea—I mean, this one is thankful that we were useful to the Divine Ancestor! We have food here for you too!”
His hands came up and grabbed mine to lead me over to the table with a child’s enthusiasm… before he realised what he was doing, and he paled.
Before he could apologise, however, I raised my hand the rest of the way, and knocked my hands into his. He reflexively grabbed, and when my smile didn’t change, his faltering enthusiasm instantly rekindled.
Little Xian pulled me forward, and I looked toward the table. Those who I didn’t recognise had all gone to their knees. Only Lady Liling stayed standing. Her eyes first landed on her son with a small amount of exasperated fondness, before they found mine. Her eyes were the same beautiful purple as Meiling’s. Her smile towards me was warm, and almost motherly.
Then she bowed too. “You honour us with your presence, Divine Ancestor. Please forgive my Lord Husband’s absence, he is currently conversing with the other sects, in accordance with your will. The Immortal Medicine Sect is committed to your privacy, Divine Ancestor… as much as we can be.”
I nodded at her words, and Tianlan didn’t say anything, but she seemed fairly satisfied.
With that out of the way, it was time for introductions. They ended up being like Meiling promised, not completely pomp and ceremony but there was still at least some measure of formality.
I was introduced to a number of people, all massively powerful paragons of cultivation who should have looked at this Initiate like I was an insect; but instead, one and all they bowed, showing utter defference.
I met Lord Yao Che, Lady Tang Mei, and their daughter, Yao Meihua—Spiritual Smiths who were the vassals of the Hong Family. They wore enough Spiritual Silver that it probably could have bought half the Crucible, worked into stunning necklaces and hairpins. Yao Che was as tall as I was, with an immaculate silky beard, while Lady Tang Mei and Meihua were both… well, they were ridiculously beautiful. It was super damn distracting actually, but I managed to pull through… but not before they caught the stares.
“We are of course here to serve you in any capacity. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to call on my Daughter.” Yao Che declared, his voice loud and cheerful. Lady Tang Mei nodded… but for a brief moment, something passed over Meihua’s face before it disappeared. Lady Liling raised an eyebrow.
“Meihua is getting married this year as well.” Meiling commented, her voice idle, but there was something underneath it, as Yao Che glanced at Meiling.
I managed to catch the tone… and realised this was politics. I idly thought she was pretty, and her parents would break her engagement without a second thought so she could serve me.
And Meihua didn’t seem to like that idea, but wasn’t going to complain in front of me.
Buncha bullshit, really.
‘That it is.” Tianlan said, and I could feel her slight frown… but no real opinion. She didn’t like it because I didn’t like it. Which was… again a whole lotta stuff to sort out. Damn, I had to be careful with this shit. Having this much power was stressful.
“You are? That's wonderful.” I said, putting as much earnestness into my voice as I could. “I don’t have much, but I would like to send along a gift.”
Meihua’s posture went from courteous subservience to shock. Her eyes darted to Meiling, who seemed marginally happier, then back to me, gratitude flooding their depths. She went to a knee again, bowing deeply. “The Divine Ancestor blessing this Meihua’s wedding is the greatest honour she could ever receive in ten thousand lifetimes.” She looked up again at me. “And as my Lord Father said. Should you need anything, this Tang Mei shall put her soul into serving the Divine Ancestor.”
I nodded, a small pleasant smile on my face, and the next set of people came up.
Who were foxes and monkeys. Well, not really. But they were god damn real life kemonomimi; A sly looking lady with fox ears, and four blushy, fluffy, kind of distracting tails, and a man who basically looked like a saiyan—copper gold hair, and a long monkey tail curled around his waist like a belt. Hu Li and Xong Ten Ren were their names, and they also had two sons. Well at least one son, the other was a bit androgynous.
“Fox blood. Shapeshifter.” Tianlan informed me
Yun Ren and Gou Ren bowed.. and both of them looked incredibly contrite.
“Firstly, we must beg your forgiveness, Divine Ancestor. Under orders from our liege, we approached under false identities, and deceived the Divine Ancestor.” Yun Ren said, kowtowing.
“We have no excuses, and ask for the judgement of the Divine Ancestor for this sin.” his brother spoke next.
I just sighed. “Good to see you again, Hu Lian and Huo Ji.” I said, using the fake names they had given when they had accompanied Meiling to my house “It's fine. I talked with Meiling about it… and if you require forgiveness, you are forgiven. Though I will repeat what I said to Meiling. Did you actually find what I was talking about interesting?”
“I had the La Ku Ruose sticks commissioned.” Yun Ren replied.
“I had Meihua make the skates for the ice. I was looking forward to playing Ha Qi.” Gou Ren said. Both of them looked up at me with hope.
And it would be nice… if I could have some friends.
I closed my eyes. “Then my judgement is that you shall be my opponents, without holding back.”
The Xong Brothers perked up.
“By your will, Divine Ancestor!” they both chorused.
There were a few other instructions after that and then we started breakfast in earnest. The ice was broken at least with the Xong Brothers. Yun Ren was clearly good at talking and steering conversations, but I didn't mind that conversation went from "the grand pronouncements of the Divine Ancestor” to talking about the rules of hockey. Little Xian looked enamoured by the sport, and Meihua started sketching out skate designs. She was a friendly, upbeat gal when her dad wasn’t implying that he would break off her engagement. Very much big sister energy.
It was kind of nice.There was still a barrier… but it was quieter than normal.
And then, most of the way through breakfast, Hong Xian arrived. The Lord of the Immortal Medicine Sect, looked rather tired.
“Divine Ancestor.” He greeted, nodding to me. “All is well. I have managed to forestall any…grand processions. I was surprised at how easy Grand Master Sun Ken was to convince, in truth.”
I sighed, feeling relieved. “Thank you, Lord Xian.” Tianlan seemed quite pleased with that as well, her Qi moving around beneath our feet happily.
“No thanks is necessary, Divine Ancestor. As I said, your will is ours.” He replied with a small smile.
“But… I’m guessing that this is not something permanent.” I said.
“It is not. People will eventually march north to determine the truth of what has happened here. If the Divine Ancestor wishes… we shall travel to Pale Moon City at his convenience, so that the Divine Ancestor may deliver to his subjects his will. That will cause the least disturbance, in this humble one’s opinion.”
I thought for a moment. “Then thats what we’ll do.”
I’ll just tell everyone to keep on doing what they’re doing… and then go back home.
I’d get it over with, and hopefully everyone would be able to lose interest.
Though… I don't know if I was counting on that.
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Unedited as always. this one was kicking around for a while. not entirely happy with it. Theres one scene I do kind of want to hit with Unbroken, but IDK about how the story is progressing.