Sky Pride

”Really? You always struck me as one who favored orchids.” He lifted his cup for her to refill. She made no move.

”I did. They are out of season now.”

The sectmaster gasped, clutching his chest. His tendons started popping, the cup shattering in his hand. His throat swelled, and his eyes rolled up. Dozens of items fell from his storage ring, boxes of spirit stones, precious medicines, talismans, weapons, herbs and manuals she wasnʼt qualified to even know about, let alone glance at the cover of. He thrashed, some of the things on the ground stirring without ever rising from the floor.

Shu waited until his body stopped seizing, then waited longer, the length of time it took a stick of incense to burn. Every now and then she looked upwards, like she was expecting something that never came. Then she held her own ring over the pile of fallen goods. A single letter, neatly folded, written in the Sectmasterʼs fine handwriting, fell on top of them.

”Someone come quickly, there is something wrong with the Sect Master!”

Her screams were, everyone later agreed, quite heartfelt.

A week later, a delegation from the Radiant Dawn sect was met with a raised sect-defending array. Obscuring mists covered the valleys and hills of the Old Bamboo Medicine Hut, and the faint medicinal aroma on the breeze did not inspire feelings of comfort. They were met by a half dead old man, a patient from the hospital, no less. He explained that, tragicly, Sectmaster Ping had committed suicide, overcome with shame at his inability to defend the sect and shaming the teachings and examples of the ancestors.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The ruined man sounded like he was describing a stranger failing to buy the best fish at the market, quite indifferent to it all.

Leadership had fallen to the Hospital Director, supported by the leaders of the Medicine Compounding Hall, The Grand Alchemist, the Disciplinary Elder and the Chief of Guards, as well as most of the Heavenly Realm cultivators, including those who were patients in the hospital. The Bamboo Medicine Hut was willing to trade with all, but would remain sealed behind its wards. If someone managed to force the wards, so sorry, but the fields were all undermined with explosive arrays, poisons, and even the flow of energy through the whole valley would be sabotaged, ruining it for future cultivation. The medicine storehouse was even more thoroughly primed for destruction.

The losses, simply put, would far outweigh the gains for any invader. But they were quite open to trade. On the right terms. Being farmers, they really didnʼt need much from the outside world. Safety? Security? In this day and age, did such things even really exist? They would look to themselves for safety, from now on. The days of relying on the benevolence of the mighty were quite done.

While the foreign delegation was raging in front of the sect gate, Shu made her way to the washing room behind the kitchen. There were big tubs of hot water there, some filled with bowls and dishes, others with sudsy water and laundry. The operation was overseen by their newest batch of recruits. Once, the older women would simply have been servants. Now, they were disciples. Mostly not very good ones, but cultivators nonetheless.

The golden-eyed children they brought with them were very good cultivators indeed, racing through the levels of the Earthly Realm like they were nothing at all. Though, their mentality was a bit… special. As were the cultivation chants they shared like they were cherries stolen from an overburdened tree. And the one adult male in the group was very ʼspecialʼ indeed.

”Kiddo, I donʼt know how often I have to tell you. I will make it very plain. The purpose of a fish trap is to trap fish. When the fish is caught, the trap is forgotten. A rabbit snare snares rabbits. When the rabbit is caught, the snare is forgotten. Words convey meanings. When the meaning is conveyed, the words are forgotten. So the fact that I forgot means I understood it perfectly, and that means I know more than you!”

”Bleh, bleh! Uncle Discombobulated is a fake diviner, canʼt remember where he put his shoes, bleh!”