Book 3: Chapter 11: Bored and Angry |
Yin Hu looked down at the blank expression Jun had on. As though she had been with him just a few seconds ago, lost in thought. “Everything alright?”
Jun jumped in her spot and scrambled to stand up and tried to bow.
He held her shoulder and shook his head to stop her. Yin Hu had enough of the back breaking, head smashing, and face scrapping they tended to do whenever he spoke with them. He didn’t need everyone to be a disciple or clan member. Yin Hu wanted people he could call family to. People he could be comfortable enough around that they could treat him with respect, but not act as if he was a stone wall.
She looked lost for a second as she stood there. He wasn’t sure if she had heard him the first time.
“Everything alright?” Yin Hu repeated himself.
“I…” Jun bit her lip and shook her head. “It’s nothing important. You have better, more pressing things than to worry about something as small as this.”
Yin Hu blinked at her and frowned.
I need to keep these moments of reverie a bit more secluded. Can’t have my disciples thinking their worries, or worse, their Heart Demons weren’t matters of great concern compared to what I have going on. Rot and corruption will fester in these gaps between our communication if I’m not careful.
He patted her head. “Speak your mind, Jun. Nothing you face is insignificant in my eyes.”
Master. I’m going crazy in here with nothing to do. I could cultivate, but you forbade us from anything more than a few hours a day. I’ve studied my fair share, helped Zhong Da and Wu Xui in the shop and even finished all my daily Katas without overdoing it… and now I’m sitting here doing nothing. I’ve tried baking, but have put it to the side until I find a master. And now I can’t think of anything else to do! Is something wrong with me?”
Yin Hu laughed.
Jun stared at him like he had just kicked a puppy.
“There’s nothing wrong with you, silly girl.” He wiped his eyes.
Man. I needed that badly.
“Then what is it? Another Heart Demon? Rong isn’t here to eat it like last time. Or is it something else entirely. Do I have to do special Katas? Or is this a matter that will pass with time–”
“Calm down,” he held both of her shoulders to stop her from rambling. “There’s. Nothing. Wrong. With. You. You’re just bored.”
Jun reeled back with a disgusted look. “Bored? Bored?I am not bored.”
“Yes you are. That’s exactly what bored feels like.”
She mimed speech and was unable to figure out what words to land on. Eventually landing on nothing but a confused expression, unsure of what she was supposed to do about it. That made sense to Yin Hu considering what he knew of Jun. Her whole life has been dedicated to a single purpose; Shui. When by themselves, that had been enough to keep her busy every waking moment and then sleep too.
Jun had trained herself to always be that watchful eye and now Shui was no longer here.
Yin Hu considered his options.
He could start her on his new method he developed, but that was not fully ready yet for usage until he answered a few more points of concern. He had to also consider that while Jun acted like she was an Elder of a sect or a bodyguard veteran with decades under her belt, she was still a very young adult. Barely older than sixteen or seventeen. Yes, life had made her mature and grow beyond her years, but that didn’t change the fact of her age.
I doubt she ever had anything resembling a childhood.
Yin Hu decided there that it might be wise to push her outside of her limits. Figure out something she could do to keep her preoccupied that didn’t directly involve training. Yet, Jun rarely showed enough interest in anything for long before reverting to the cultivation maniac she was. At one point, she had been super interested in cartography, he recalled. But ever since they entered the ink like fog surrounding the Silver Mountain Gang and her subsequent fight with Shao Yating, she never tried it out again.
He expected this baking thing to end up being the same and forgotten once he started with the new plan.
I need her to calm down a bit on the cultivation. Experience life a bit more, yet without her knowing that I am doing that.
Yin Hu tapped his chin as he thought about what to do.
Jun understood what was happening and looked up at him with expectant eyes. She knew he would figure out a solution for her. She might not like it, but that was better than this strange experience she was going through at the moment. This boredom was foreign to her and she did not like it at all.
“What time is it now?” Yin Hu asked to get a better perspective.
“It just hit midday. The sun is at its highest.”
And she’s done with everything already? Sheesh. When did she wake up? An hour before sunrise? Hmm…
Wu Xui crashed through the courtyard doorway. Her hair was messed up and her face looked like she was about to kill someone. The lady stomped into the courtyard and paused before Yin Hu. She bowed. “Patriarch.”
“Wu Xui? Everything alright?”
She took a deep breath and shuddered as she released all the anger that coursed through her veins. “I…” She took another deep breath. “I will never go back to that shop ever again. Can you believe what happened? How the hell do merchants do that all day?! This fool tried to buy a priceless spear for twenty copper coins and then tried to call it haggling after I nearly killed him for the insult! How dare he–”
Yin Hu and Jun stared as Wu Xui vented to them about her time within the shop and how much she absolutely hated everything about it. Said with so much vitriol that Yin Hu could have sworn she would end up committing mass murder if he ever sent her back.
“–and don’t get me started on the cultivators. Oh… those bastards deserve a thousand deaths by hairpin pokes! Skin them alive! All of them!”
Yin Hu smiled as a thought came to him.
The perfect plan to keep both of them busy before they ended up leveling half the city in their bored wrath.
Wu Xui froze like she had done something wrong. Even Jun inched away, but she could not escape him now. A new plan formulating in his head to help develop Jun mentally and show her the vastness of the world. Plus make it obvious and clear how much superior his path was compared to the peoples around these parts. Many of whom he suspected were all fakes and charlatans.
Yin Hu did not feel an ounce of Qi from anyone in the city after all.
“Calm,” he said to both of them. “I have a new task. For both of you. It will help you solve both your problems, but also advance you.”
Both ladies lined up before him and waited for his command.
He addressed Jun first. “Visit the surrounding dojos and challenge their most powerful practitioners. Use only their level of cultivation and show them the superiority of our techniques. Or take a moment to learn from them if they carry anything worthy of our clan. Of course bring it back to me before you integrate it into your abilities and strengths. No killing or crippling. Understood?”
“Yes, Master!”
“Follow her, Wu Xui. Be her guardian and if anything untoward does happen. Protect her. You never know when someone is a hidden master acting like they aren’t nowadays. It’ll keep you far away from the shop and out of the house so you don’t end up with the same issue Jun is dealing with.” He turned to address them both. “Take your time. Enjoy the city and stroll if you like. But make sure you visit the dojo’s along the way and learn to exercise control and precision rather than overwhelming them with power.”
“Yes, Patriarch!” both shouted at the same time.
Jun ran past him and grabbed her sword. Both smiled wide at having been given a way to resolve their grievances and boredom and ran out of the courtyard.
There were hundreds of dojos within the city, if not thousands. That should keep her busy until he was ready with his new plan. In the meantime, Yin Hu returned to his seat next to the newly named, Ta Rae. Said Demonic Spirit Tree had been buzzing with anticipation as it waited for him so they could finally start enjoying the tea together. It never took a sip after the tree cutting ax threat unless he started now.
It was finally learning some manners.
He pulled out the Compendium and took a sip.
Ta Rae;s branches rocketed toward its cup and finished it in record time. Pouring itself a second cup and patient;y waiting for him to finish his own so it could start again.
Damn greedy shit!