The atmosphere on the platform had dropped to freezing. Hong still had her spear out, but it looked like she had forgotten she was holding it. She was, instead, watching her only friend carefully fill a bucket with water then adding a carefully measured portion of harsh soap to it. He pulled a mop from his ring, placed it in the bucket, agitated it gently to make sure the soap was properly combined with the water, then leaned the mop handle against a railing. Preparations complete, he turned back towards the bewildered looking woman with the foul mouth.

“If you have a particular weapon you favor, Failure, now is the time to produce it.” He gently suggested.

“What the hell are you talking about, freak!”

“You challenged me to a life or death bout. Did you already forget? Have you suffered a brain injury?” Tian looked hopeful.

“NO!”

Tian deflated. “Oh. Pity. Anyway. Please step onto the platform and ensure your will is up to date, as there will be no opportunity to alter it later.”

“I’m not going on there!” She started backing away.

“Why?” Tian looked concerned. “A hidden injury prevents you from making a final show of competence? Do you want to postpone this? Dragging it out will only increase your anxiety. Please, let me make it quick for you. You don’t have to linger.”

“I’m not fighting you, freak!”

“You are. Now or some time when you are even less ready.” Tian’s voice was as calm as ever. It was as though he were discussing what might be for lunch. “Although I suppose there is a second option. Tell me, what is your name?”

The girl paused, her face twisted. She slowly ground out the words “Lin Clan, Ninglan.”

Tian nodded slightly. “How curious that you wear our robes but don’t identify what Court you are from. It seems your family matters more than your sect.” She staggered back two steps, her face suddenly pale as snow. “Answer me this, and I will let you drop your challenge.”

He smiled, doing his best to project a friendly intent and gently encouraging the lamp in his heart to burn brighter. “What’s my name?”

Li Ninglan looked murderous, but answered. “Tian Zihao.”

“No, it isn’t. That isn’t how you will address me, is it, Junior Sister Lin?”

There was a frozen moment. Tian quietly crossed his hands behind his back and waited. His smile never wavering.

Lin Ninglan clasped her hands and bowed deeply. You could hear something break in her. “Senior Brother Tian.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Junior Sister Lin. I look forward to working with you. But we have kept the Steward waiting.”

“No trouble at all, Brother Tian. No trouble at all. Let me begin by showing you to your rooms.”

Tian collected his things. He raised the bucket to throw the water overboard, hesitated, then stowed it back in his ring. Everyone was a cultivator. His near silent mutter of “Waste not, want not,” was heard quite clearly.

The group was basically silent through the tour. The manor was just that, with a kitchen, several dining and reception rooms, a library, a small workshop in the basement, a room dedicated to painting, another for music, a half dozen store rooms and many small bedrooms for guests.

Their bedrooms were on the second floor and were a bit more fancifully decorated than the cells or barracks Tian was used to, in that there were decorations. Tian marveled at the picture of carp swimming along a river that was hung over the bed. The artist had used seemingly few brushstrokes, instead letting their brush remain on the page and move as his thoughts took it. Tian thought it didn’t look like a fish or a river, it looked like how a fish or a river felt. Supple, flowing, alive.

White plastered walls, a simple wooden bed with a rough wool blanket, a small desk and a picture. There were even a few small light formations, and a window he could open to let more light in if he wished. Though even with the window closed the waxed paper did a good job letting in just enough sunlight to give the room a comfortable warmth.

Tian opened it anyway. The view of the sky was simply too spectacular to ignore.

“I wonder if any birds will stop by and visit. The Manor would be quite convenient for them.” He murmured.

“Alas, Brother Tian, we are too high for mortal birds, and spirit animals know not to come visiting uninvited.” Steward Pan smiled slightly.

“Ah well.” Tian smiled back and shrugged. It probably made cleaning easier. He didn’t often have to scrub bird dung off the back patio, but when he did, it was a pain in the neck. Amazing how much of studying medicine was studying how to keep things clean. Which was why he was so pleased with the enormous bathroom just down the to the left, with a remarkable indoor privy at the other end of the hall on the right. There was even an elegant sitting room, big enough for ten people to gather in. It was simply impossible for there to be any complaints about comfort.

They took a few minutes to settle in, just getting used to the space. Tian laid out his books, then put them back in his ring. What if he forgot them when he rushed out somewhere. Then he put out his favorite pillow. That seemed safe enough. And a lamp, even though there already was one. He found himself torn between wanting to make the room cozy, and worrying that he would leave something behind if he had to go somewhere. He didn’t know when, but at some point his storage ring became part of his sense of security. He just didn’t feel right without every possible thing he could think of needing in it.

There was a short knock on the door, and Hong stuck her head in. “I can’t always tell with you. Did you understand…”

“Yes. And I meant every word. I just supremely don’t care about the consequences of offending her. I don’t care who her family is. I don’t care if she is related to half the Inner Court. I know she’s connected way up high, and if someone wants to make that a problem for me, I don’t care about that either.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to NovelBin for the genuine story.

He closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. “I’m tired, Sister Liren. I’m so damned tired of the politics and the… the interests of people who I couldn’t trust behind me with anything sharper than tofu. So if someone’s precious little whatever starts going after me and people I do actually care about?”

“Mop and bucket time.”

“The Elder doesn’t deserve to have guests messing up her house. I’m used to keeping floors clean.”

Elder Feng met them in her study- a beautiful room lined with shelves holding scrolls, rolled bundles of bamboo sticks with characters painted on them, and even texts carved into jade. There were books too, naturally, but shoved into a plainly disfavored corner of the room on far less beautiful shelves. Lighting arrays dotted the room, giving everything a soft glow. Most of the light came from the back wall. To Tian’s utter bewilderment, the back wall did not exist. It folded up like a screen, leaving the entire wall open to the sky.

The office was on the third and topmost floor of the Windblown Manor. Yet there wasn’t so much as an errant breeze stirring the scrolls. All was well in hand for the Elder. A mortal might have found it vertigo inducing. For a Heavenly Person cultivator, it simply made stepping into the private back garden that little bit easier. There was a faint smell of sandalwood and pine. Some deep herbal smell that Tian couldn’t place, but seemed to come from the inkstone on the wide desk.

“Welcome, all of you, to Windblown Manor. My home. I am Feng Tingwei. You may address me as Elder Feng.”

The five juniors bowed and greeted the elder. It had been surprisingly easy for Sister Su to reach the third floor. A tiny flying cloud seeped out of a small tube hidden behind some latticework at the foot of the stairs and carried her to the top. All at the press of a gem. Sister Su clearly wasn’t the first to visit without full use of her legs.

Tian looked over their new… boss? Leader? He wasn’t quite sure how to call the Elder in his mind. She was stern, handsome, her close cropped hair subtly patterned with swirling wind. A lapis ornament hung from a thin gold chain and rested on her forehead, while three pearl earrings hung from each ear. Luminous white pearls on the left, inky black pearls on the right.

Her robes were the same sky blue and the trousers the same white as the outer sect disciples, but that was where the similarity ended. The fabric shimmered and shifted like it was breathing. It had a radiance that came from within the weave. Fine embroidery added drifting clouds to the sleeves, and subtle gradations of color could be seen depending on where you stood and how the light struck it.

“The sky. Her robe looks like the sky. Who knew Elder Rui was considered low-key?” The revelation made Tian snort internally. He previously thought Elder Rui always made a point of arriving dramatically. His sense of drama was clearly in need of work.

“Juniors Su, Wang, Hong and Tian are here to heal and work on their dao as they support my mission to the Five Elements Courtyard. As Elder Rui may have told you, we will be passing through the Broad Sky Kingdom to reach the Five Elements Courtyard. As we go, we will take the opportunity to perform a few stabilizing tasks and missions within the Kingdom. This will give you the opportunity to test your theories and check your development.”

The four bowed in gratitude.

“Junior Lin will primarily focus on those stabilizing missions and supporting the mission to the Five Elements Courtyard.” Elder Feng nodded at the subdued Lin. “Though it seems she has some healing to do as well. I have prepared scrolls for each of you. Read them. Study them. Compare notes. We shall meet again in three days.”

They all knew a dismissal when they heard it. They bowed and turned to go. “One final matter. There is to be no fighting here. That includes sparring, trading pointers, or any other frauds. There is certainly to be no killing.” Tian bowed particularly low in acknowledgement.

Good thing he didn’t just attack the girl on the spot. It seemed that fear of one social error had saved him from another, larger one.

When they were safely back out in the hallway, Tian glanced over at Hong. “Read for a few hours, then gather for tea and notes in the common room?”

“Mind if I join you? And do you think the Steward would deliver tea if we asked?” Wang’s voice was a bit like him. Heavy, and difficult to ignore. He sounded more curious than hostile.

“Ah, forgive me, Brother Wang. I should have made myself clear. All are invited. And I wasn’t going to presume on the Elder’s hospitality. I have an interest in tea, so I was intending to serve.” Tian cupped his hands politely.

“Oh! Good thought. I’ll bring a few snacks.” The big man nodded.

“Good. I’m sick of eating his. He always buys the same three cheapest snacks, over and over again.” Hong grumbled. It had gotten to the point where she was turning up with entire side dishes and baskets of nibbles, just to discourage Tian from pulling out the same seasoned rice crackers again and again and again.

“Frugality is the second of the Supreme Virtues. I regret nothing.” Tian looked down on his less moral little sister. Even if that meant having to tilt his head to the point where his ear practically touched his shoulder and then leaning over to the side a bit. He had to look some ways up to look down on her these days.

Tian knew girls hit their growth spurts before boys and he was a slow grower, but he was fourteen, damn it all! She should be shorter than him by now, and the gap between them hadn’t closed a bit. But that was fine. He would get there. One day, he would pat her on the head and occasionally use her as an end table as was fitting for her diminutive, nay, tiny stature.

“Sister Su?” Tian looked over at the librarian, who shrugged. “I cannot contribute much, but I take excellent notes. Should we need them.”

“Thank you sister, your company and insight is all I would ask.” Tian hastily checked his memory. Yes, he had used the phrase correctly. These sorts of many sided conversions were stressful. It was hard to use his usual techniques to navigate when he was talking to more than one person at a time.

“Junior Lin?” Tian slid his eyes over to the wide-eyed girl who had clearly wanted to slip away, but couldn’t get past them in the hall.

“I’ll pass.” Tian gave her an inquisitive look. She grinned nastily. “No fighting, so you can shove your bullshit senior brother crap. I hope you fucking die so you and your girlfiend can finally be together forever.”

Tian shrugged. He would simply have to triumph with virtue and moral example in the future. Or revisit the topic when they were both on the ground. Serves him right for trying to make peace, really.

“Alright, the four people with jobs will gather for tea, and the failure can sit quietly by herself somewhere. See you all in a bit.” Sister Hong’s grin was no less nasty than the Lin girl’s had been. Tian sighed lightly and went to his room.

He unfurled the scroll on the table. On Plagues, Famines, Forest Fires, Floods, Landslides and Other Human Disasters. Not his usual thing, but it made a change from all the dull history texts.

Within life there is death, and within death is life. The cycle is not to be feared but understood. With understanding comes a measure of control, if not of the cycle, then of the self. Since ancient times, the people supplicated themselves and made offerings to the heavens to guard them from natural disasters, not realizing that so many disasters were of their own making. Famine born from poor farming practices and worse trade. Floods from poorly managed rivers. Country slaughtering plagues that spread because doctors were considered no better than frauds. Disasters for humanity, but also disasters compounded by humanity. This, then, is a study of Human Disasters, made in the hopes that the later generations will honor their ancestors by learning from their suffering the proper methods.

“Interesting.” Tian stroked his chin in a very Brother Fu manner.

Very interesting. But your missing the most interesting question.

“Oh? What’s that?”

Why does she want you to read this now? Out of every possible thing, why this, and why now?