Chapter 4: 4 Stalks: Drawing negative energy, wishing death upon you.


Notes:

A little bit fillery, but I thought, 'Eh. What the hell' and posted anyway.
Skinner arc next chapter~


Ning Yingying was finishing up her report over tea and sweets in the Bamboo House, having brought with her the evening's paperwork baskets.

Shen Qingqiu was listening to her speak, about the progress and problems of the female disciples and interesting gossip on different Peaks, but he didn't take from the selection of fragrant Osmanthus cake, thin oval Tuckahoe pie and water lily crisps in delicate pastels.

They were given to him by Yue Qingyuan during his most recent impulse to intrude upon Shen Qingqiu's private space without warning over the last thirteen days.
As always, Yue Qingyuan had looked at him with eyes full of guilt and regret, they sat in heavy silence with barely five sentences exchanged between them and at the end Shen Qingqiu was left feeling like an unwanted burden.

A burden. An obligation. A filthy stain on the life of Immortal Cultivator and Sect Leader Yue Qingyuan.

The sweets felt like a bribe and a settlement both at once. The scent of them made him nauseous, curdling on his tongue into sour ash.

Shen Qingqiu sipped his tea.

"-and they knocked Ming Fan down and surrounded A-Luo and the ripped off his jade necklace, do you know that his mother gave to him? They were laughing about it being fake, but I know from jade carving class that's wrong even from a distance, with how the light was coming through it, it's low quality but still jade. Chang Ping is from a noble house, he should know better."

She paused to take a contemplative bite of Osmanthus cake.

"But then, he is Bai Zhan, so I suppose one can't expect much from him. But Shifu! He threw it and it went really far away and A-Luo got so angry he started to fight them and Ming Fan helped (they're getting along so much better Shifu, Ming Fan's much better with the other Qing Jing disciples too) and Zhang Hao threw some rocks and they hit rightwhere he aimed to hurt, it was awesome Shifu-"

The tea was a gift as well, from Kai Qingmei on Zui Xian, only this one didn't make him feel like a leech.

White peony. A sweet, fruity taste with a delightfully smooth body and a stronger edge similar to mild green teas. Very pleasant and touchingly thoughtful too, as it calms nerves and reduces the yang in the liver meridians, which reduces the likelihood of fevers.

"-Yue-shimei got a really good hit in, she's the best out of the girls at the Qing Jing style Shifu, she's as graceful as snowfall but strong as a glacier, ah! Shifu! There's this girl on Xuan Shu who was asking about her, I'll organise a small group of us to go over if that's alright Shifu? We can just happen to be walking past when a Xuan Shu girl comes for the missives box, we might even get to watch some ribbon dance practice!-"

As far as men went, Kai Qingmei was one of the more tolerable. He was certainly very warm and friendly, his russet eyes always smiling. It was just... he was very large and very loud and quite a tactile person, very free in casual physical contact and affection...and sometimes, on Shen Qingqiu's worse days, his warm eyes looked like pools of drying blood.

He swallowed and blinked, bringing more of his attention to his Head Female Disciple as she finished her tangent on the Xuan Shu secret ribbon techniques and what she was having difficulty in recreating from what she had seen in a few practice sessions already.

"So we were six against nine Bai Zhan. Qing Jing took no major injuries, but a lot of bruises, Ming Fan the worst with a broken nose and two black eyes. Bai Zhan took a damage to the ribs of one -probably fractured?- by Lan Yue, a dislocated arm by Ming Fan on Chang Ping, A-Luo broke a finger on another one, I knocked out a brute who was going to attack Ming Fan's back while he was dealing with Chang Ping and my littlest meimei really badly bruised a knee of a Bai Zhan girl that went for her. It was so swollen she had to get help walking! And Zhang Hao throwing some of the bamboo leaves and cutting them up all over! I asked and he said one of the seniors showed him how.

"Then they said they were going to tell their Shizun and that we'd regret fighting without honour then, but they weren't fighting fair really, and there were more of them and they started it, so! And anyway, I heard from Liu Mingyan that Liu-shishu is in seclusion, so I hope they go and tell him!"

There was something about that which stirred the soul shade remnants up, something about Liu Qing-.

No.

He shut the thought down before he had a flare up. He'd learned to do this over the course of Yue Qingyuan's repeated visits, to push away thoughts that lead to drowning in memories and emotion...either from that other world or his own past.

"Did Qian Cao treat him?" he asked, worlds still blurring in a shadowy corner of his mind he refused to look at.

Ning Yingying nodded, "White Tiger Balm for his nose and eyes and Red Tiger Balm for A-Luo's bruises because he went with him in case the Bai Zhan tried anything. He asked for more to share with the rest, but Head Disciple Lingzhi said 'none will be prescribed without showing proof of need to a trained healer'."

She gave him a hopeful look, widening her eyes for maximum effect.

He made some salves himself, more so in the days since the fever, Tiger Balm especially. He made a stronger version to the Qian Cao, with more clove oil, to use on his joints when the Quiet Pool didn't numb the aches of poorly healed bones. As an added benefit, the cloves dispelled cold and guided qi flow downward in the stomach, reducing nausea.

With their mission commencing tomorrow, aid for settling a stomach of nerves and skin of swells and bruises may be a necessity.
Shen Qingqiu sighed.

"This master has some pots of salve made. Ning Yingying may distribute them along her peers." He endured her small cheer and smoothly distracted her. "Is there no more news of note from other Peaks?"

She bit off half of a water lily crisp and chewed thoughtfully, "Oh! I overheard from some An Ding disciples that Mu-shishu and Xia-shigu are taking most of the Sect horses and eagles up to the Northern Plains for training; they were complaining about having to organise the qiankun pouches and Everflow Ewers to be checked by Fa Bao and then filled by Zui Xian. And there was something else..."

She trailed off and Shen Qingqiu started sifting through the papers basket for Huang Ye's orange marking... there. He read it and felt his eyebrows furrow.

Of the twenty nine horses requested, only twenty one were available for travel.
Six of his disciples were officially exempt from Cultivator duties, like preternatural investigation and night hunts, by request of noble families looking to gain an Official in the line, beginning the path at Cang Qiong and taking the Imperial Exam.

While Shen Qingqiu would usually take them along anyway to give them the choice of becoming Cultivators proper and generally impart some skill in information gathering and creative problem solving...

Still two horses short, including the fact that one disciple would be driving Shen Qingqiu's carriage...The driver's space could hold two, leaving two spare. Ning Yingying would be needed among the disciples to prevent boredom-induced antics, unfortunately.
So. Which two whiny sprouts might he be able to endure close quarters with withoutblood shed and delicate egos shattered?

Perhaps... yes.

He hadn't had a chance to properly check in on their progress.

"That's what it was!"

Shen Qingqiu did not flinch. No matter how slight.

"I can't believe I forgot! Shifu! Jing Shen's primary roaming team is coming back to Cang Qiong! It's been years! They're sure to have all sorts of new entries into the Bestiaries and Herb Compendiums and changes to the maps to make! From what I heard in the food hall, Li-shishu is coming back with them too! Is he really like moonlight on a still lake when the air is heavy with the scent of lotus blooms?"

Shen Qingqiu sipped his tea. It really was sublime.

"This master does not prescribe thought to the appearance and manner of his martial siblings."

A lie. The girls at the Pavilion had needled him enough for details to force him to form an opinion.

It was inappropriate to share such musings with a disciple however.

...but she did look so disappointed...

"However, from an artistic perspective, Li Qingrong is the perfect subject to depict the noble and mysterious Immortal Cultivator, as envisaged by the average mortal."

She made a sound of appropriately awed appreciation.

Ning Yingying had a rich imagination and an eye as beauty, but unfortunately lacked the patience for layered painting or artfully subtle poetry. It was this that restricted her from true excellence in artistry.

She would be struck when she learned that Li Qingrong was rarely to be viewed properly, as he always wore a full length veil embroidered with various arrays to shield his sensitive skin from the sun due to his albinism.

Allowing a small, sly smile to twist his lips (behind a fan, of course), Shen Qingqiu dismissed Ning Yingying with her salve and the rest of the sweets to share, with a stern reminder to ensure the girls slept early to prepare for the mission on the morrow.

House quiet once more, he systematically worked through the stacks by Peak of origin and placed them in qiankun boxes, colour coded with designation, to be delivered the following morning.

Then he slipped out the door and went for a walk among the whispering stems of tall bamboo, as dusk painted the glimpses of clouds like roses.

He followed along the familiar, winding paths and felt in his soul that whatever happened next, it would bring change.

Whatever he learned once he assimilated the memories of that broken soul of his, whether he followed that path or chose a new one; it would be the end of his days of the greatest peace he'd ever experienced.

His days of monotonous but strangely soothing paperwork, calm Arts sessions, intelligent poetry and ethics debates, of standing still in the evenings to drink in the light through the bamboo... it was all drawing to a close.

Soon, he would Know.

He would feel the hand of Fate.

He would be doomed to walk a path.

A path, that in one world, had already broken him down to the soul.


OC list:
• Chang Ping, Bai Zhan junior disciple, his names ironically mean 'unhindered, smooth, free' and 'peaceful, level'.
• Shu Lingzhi, Qian Cao head disciple, stern and meticulous, especially regarding the Inventory Stores and medicine distribution.

• Kai Qingmei, Zui Xian (9th, Alcohol Peak) Lord. Name meaning 'Victory/Music of Triumph, Clear Plum'
• Xia Qingfeng, Huang Ye (11th, Beasts Peak) Lord. Name meaning 'Rosy clouds, Clear Phoenix'
• Li Qingrong, Jing Shen (12th, Elementalism Peak) Lord. Name meaning Black dawn, Clear Harmony.

• Fa Bao, Immortal Treasures Peak, 10th. Research, development and production of items, talismans and arrays for warding, sealing etc. Quite reclusive, closest links with Wan Jian (3rd Peak. Swords Smiths. Also reclusive).

I had so much fun looking up traditional Chinese deserts. You have no idea. So pretty. Looks so tasty I can't even.