Unintended Cultivator

Sen briefly brooded about the missed opportunity to deal with Zixin but decided it was something he could put off for at least one more day. Based on what Lo Meifeng had told him, the guy had been coming around on an almost daily basis.

“Is that why the formations are active?” asked Sen in a flash of realization.

“It is,” said Lo Meifeng, her expression going dark. “I keep hoping he’ll get the message.”

“I’m a little surprised that you haven’t killed him,” noted Sen, standing up and walking over to the stove.

He started pulling ingredients out and rummaging around for pots and pans.

“I’ve thought about it, but the sects here don’t like it when unaffiliated cultivators start murdering each other. I don’t have a nascent soul sect matriarch lusting after me to keep the rank and file at bay.”

Sen shot Lo Meifeng a dirty look. “She isn’t lusting after me.”

“Yeah. Sure, she isn’t.”

After a little more fruitless searching, Sen gave Lo Meifeng an exasperated look. “Don’t you ever cook anything?”

Sen thought back. Now that she said it, he couldn’t really remember her ever cooking anything more complicated than some basic rice. Even that was only occasionally and usually only half edible. Shaking his head, Sen started pulling out the pots and pans he used to cook in camp. There wasn’t anything wrong with them, but they’d been chosen more for their durability than their quality. Still, he’d cooked a lot of pretty good food in them, so he just went to work.

“You really should get some pots and pans. Even if you don’t cook, you know that I do.”

“Well now that I know you aren’t dead, I’ll think about it,” she snapped in a waspish tone.

Sen winced. “I guess had that coming.”

“You’ve got a lot more than that coming.”

“Well, maybe just save it up until after I finish cooking.”

She looked from him to the piles of food he’d pulled out and nodded. “I suppose I don’t want to distract you if you’re cooking.”

“So, what have you been doing if you’re not problem-solving for Master Feng?”

Sen focused on chopping vegetables for a time before he looked over his shoulder at the silent Lo Meifeng. If he didn’t know better, he’d have thought that she looked almost sheepish. She noticed him looking at her and straightened up in her chair. She got an almost defiant look on her face.

“I’ve been focusing on my cultivation.”

“Oh,” said Sen, a little surprised. “Good for you.”

“No need to sound so surprised.”

“It just never seemed like a high priority for you.”

“Do you mean when I was chasing you across half the kingdom, or when we were fleeing for our lives from demonic cultivators? Or, maybe you meant when I was trying to figure out if you were going to get us all murdered by cultivator criminals.”

Sen didn’t have a good answer to any of that, so he tried redirecting. “So, tell me more about your cultivation efforts. Are they paying off?”

Lo Meifeng sighed. “I spent too much time around you. Watching you advance every other week made me feel like I was falling behind. It turns out, it’s still a slow process for everyone who isn’t you. Even doing it here.”

“What do you mean, even doing it here?”

“The qi concentrating formation you set up. This house is probably the best place in the entire city to cultivate.”

“Right. I guess that makes sense. Remind me to fix those formations later.”

“Fix them? What’s wrong with them?”

Sen shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with them, exactly. They’ll all function as designed. I’ve just had some time to think about them. I did kind of throw them together in a rush.”

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“You were in a mad scramble to save your own life and learn how to refine pills, and you found time to think about these formations.”

“It’s less absurd than you might imagine. All I was doing was alchemy. It’s a great way to learn, but there’s a point where thinking more about something becomes counterproductive. You get stuck in the same lines of thought and stop having new insights. Thinking about something else, something completely unrelated, is helpful. Even if it’s just for an hour or two. Doing that once or twice a week doesn’t take anything away from what you’re trying to learn, but it adds up over the course of a year.”

“There’s a certain logic to that,” admitted Lo Meifeng. “Do you really think can you make the formations around the house better?”

“Oh yeah, easy,” said Sen, throwing some meat into a pan that had a bit of hot oil in it. “Seeing them active today helped. I spotted some of the places where they’re not as efficient as they should be. It’s always like that with rushed work.”

“They always looked pretty efficient to me.”

“There’s always room for improvement.”

Sen focused on the pan and getting a good sear on the meat before he moved it to a plate. He dropped some of the chopped vegetables into the pan and tossed them a few times to get them coated with a bit of the oil. Lo Meifeng watched in interest as he let the vegetables finish cooking, added the meat back into the pan, and started adding in ingredients to make a thin sauce. Once he was satisfied with the sauce, he moved the pan off the heat. He dished up some rice onto plates he pulled from a storage ring and topped it with the vegetable and beef stir fry he’d made. He handed one of the plates to Lo Meifeng before he sat back down at the table. He gave Lo Meifeng a bemused look as she took a deep breath through her nose.

“I forgot that you’re this good at cooking,” she muttered. “I guess I will have to get those pots and pans if you’re not making fresh plans to run off and die.”

Sen snorted around a mouthful of food and shook his head. “No plans to run off and die that I’m aware of. I’ve got other plans and some annoying responsibilities, but no dying for me.”

The two lapsed into silence as they ate. Sen wondered what, if anything, he should do about Zixin. He didn’t appreciate the man coming around and bothering one of his friends or trying to get more information. At the same, he hadn’t come to the capital to make noise or get noticed. He had brought this annoyance down on Lo Meifeng’s head, however unintentionally, so he felt like he ought to do something about it. He waited until she finished eating before he brought it up again.

“Do you want me to do something about that Zixin guy?”

Lo Meifeng smirked at him. “Are you offering to kill him for me?”

Sen waggled a hand in the air. “I guess I could. I was more thinking that I’d threaten to kill him slowly if he ever bothered you again and see if he took it seriously. Go from there.”

“I suppose that’s the more reasonable plan. It might have a bit more weight if it comes from you.”

“He clearly doesn’t understand who he’s dealing with if he thinks that I’m more dangerous than you are.”

“That’s one of the benefits of being unbelievably loud when you decide to make a statement. People pay more attention when you threaten them.”

“I’m not that loud.”

Lo Meifeng gave Sen a decidedly flat stare. “Oh really?”

“I’m not always that loud.”

Lo Meifeng shook her head and held out her plate. “More please.”

Sen loaded up her dish with another serving. “Glad you’re enjoying it.”

“I usually need to go find a restaurant to get a real meal. Not that I have to eat that often, but it’s still nice to have someone cook for me here.”

“Couldn’t you hire someone for that? I mean, I left money for that.”

“I can’t stand the idea of some stranger being here all the time.”

“You stayed in inns all the time,” objected Sen.

“Yeah, but you know there are going to be strangers there. You also know you’re going to leave. I live here. It’s different.”

Sen mulled that over before shrugging. “It’s your home. You should be comfortable.”

“So, what are you doing here? I am happy to see you, but I have been wondering.”

“I wanted to pass along a message to Master Feng, Uncle Kho, and Auntie Caihong. I figured you were my best bet for pulling that off. Then, it’s off to see the stupid turtle.”

“You’re going back to that beach?”

“That’s the plan,” said Sen, before scooping a bit more food into his mouth.

“Does that seem wise? I mean, it’s not like it worked out all that great for you last time.”

“I have it on good authority that not going back will be worse than just going. If I decide to go, I can at least control the timing.”

“Yeah, but should you go when you’re this angry about it?” asked Lo Meifeng.

Sen hadn’t even realized that he was scowling. He made a conscious effort to smooth his features.

“I don’t know. Maybe not. But I don’t want a divine turtle showing up to have a chat when I’m in the middle of some crisis.”

“Are you planning a crisis?”

“Does it matter if I’m not planning on one?”

“I suppose it doesn’t. One will just show up to find you if you don’t find it first,” said Lo Meifeng.

“That does seem to be the pattern. I’m crisis-free at present, though. While it’s not ideal in terms of how angry I am, it’s the best time to do it. I don’t think I’m going to be any less angry at that turtle in a year or five. So, why put it off?”

“As long as you’re sure,” said Lo Meifeng. “Are you planning on seeing any of your royal friends while you’re here?”

Sen shook his head almost violently. “That seems like a decidedly bad idea. Especially if Chan Yu Ming is still around. I'm not here for a fight with anyone. Well, except maybe with that Zixin guy. I might need to fight with him if he insists on being an idiot.”

“I have to be honest. This all feels kind of surreal. You’re making sensible choices. Actively avoiding unnecessary fights. Are you feeling well, Sen?”

“Oh, ha, ha. You’re living the quiet life. Are you feeling well?”

Lo Meifeng let out a musical laugh. “That’s a fair point.”

Sen went to ask a question when he heard a sound he very much didn’t want to hear from outside. Lo Meifeng frowned at him before she cocked her head to one side.

“What’s the noise?” she asked.

“Unless I miss my guess,” said Sen with a sigh, “it’s that crisis I wasn’t planning on having.”

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