Wu Ying grunted. That didn’t sound that different from a peasant. Family, land, and wealth—though the last two were the same for a peasant. If they even had land.
“Your Lord Wen has guaranteed his lineage by having Yin Xue stay in the Sect. He might even take further steps by sending his family to the capital. As such, what you can offer him is protection for his land or his wealth.” Fa Yuan raked her gaze over Wu Ying’s body. “Though…”
“I’m insufficient.” Wu Ying understood that. He was one man. One Body cultivator. He could not destroy an army. He could barely even stop a platoon of normal soldiers by himself.
“Not alone.”
Wu Ying stared as Fa Yuan gracefully picked up her teacup and sipped on it. He weighed her hint then bowed to her.
“Thank you, Senior.”
“Little enough that I can offer. But…” Fa Yuan extended a single finger from her hand. “Be careful. You are at the most physically dangerous stage before your rebirth.”
Wu Ying bowed to her again and retreated, leaving the young lady to her thoughts. Outside, he looked upward, spotting the half moon and the constellation of stars gathered around it, beseeching its company.
“Fitting.”
***
“This is not a Sect assignment, is it?” Tou Hei asked Wu Ying.
The ex-monk was the first person Wu Ying had looked for. He found Tou Hei in his own residence, meditating. Unlike Wu Ying, Tou Hei had a much nicer home, though Wu Ying knew that Tou Hei had little use for the big building.
“No. Just mine,” Wu Ying said. “I might not even need you. But…”
“But if you did, finding me afterward would be difficult.” Tou Hei rubbed his bald head, feeling the coarse edges of stubble regrowing. “Very well.”
“Very well?”
“I’ll come, of course.” Tou Hei smiled. “Sowing seeds of good karma is never wrong. And if I did not, who would watch your back?”
“Thank you,” Wu Ying said. “I’ll make sure to treat you to a meal when we’re back.”
Tou Hei grinned.
“What did I do to have a friend like you?”
Tou Hei looked at the sky, perhaps staring at the very same moon Wu Ying had stared at earlier. “Good karma in the past.”
Wu Ying choked off a snort.
“Who else?”
“That’s coming?” Wu Ying said. “I’ll ask Li Yao, when she’s back.”
“Mission?”
“Yes.” Wu Ying pursed his lips in concern before he shook aside the feeling. “Beyond that…” Wu Ying deliberately shrugged.
“We need more. If we want to do a job at this.”
“Yes.” Unfortunately, Wu Ying could not think of any others. Most of his friends were martial specialists, and they were all either caught up in the war already or busy with assignments and unlikely to run away for something that paid no contribution points. At least Li Yao would be—should be—back in a few days. He could count on her. Recollection of the martial specialists made Wu Ying remember a particular cultivator who wasn’t a member of the group but still had some skills. “I might have one more.”
“Good. I’ll ask around too,” Tou Hei said. “But…”
“Your friends are mostly not around,” Wu Ying said. He could understand that.
“So anything I should know about this Lord Wen?” Tou Hei said.
Wu Ying shook his head. He had never met the man himself. At most, Lord Wen had been a distant figure seen when he arrived on his horse to pick up Yin Xue when he had been late. And that was early on, when Yin Xue was young. “My father never had bad things to say of him. He said that Lord Wen cared about us—his peasants. Better than most other lords. That he wanted his son—Yin Xue—to care about us too. It’s why he was sent to learn with us, rather than receive a private tutor.” Tou Hei nodded, gesturing for Wu Ying to continue. “Mother said that Lord Wen was just cheap and an unthinking traditionalist.”
“Two different viewpoints.”
“Just a little,” Wu Ying said. “Sorry. I wish I could… but…” He shrugged again, feeling somewhat helpless.
“It will be fine. We’ll talk to Li Yao when she’s back, and you’ll speak to your friend. And in the meantime, we’ll get ready,” Tou Hei assured his friend.
“For what?” Wu Ying shook his head. “We don’t even know what we’ll be asked to do.”
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll keep your family safe.”
If Wu Ying thought he could make his parents go without the rest of the village, he’d just ride in and drag them out. He was sure he could bully the guards into letting at least his family through. But he knew his parents. As stubborn as he was, his parents were worse. It left him with… well. Not no options. Just few good ones.
As Tou Hei picked up the wine pot his servant had delivered, Wu Ying regarded the alcohol. The relaxation it would offer. And he nodded. Not too much. But a drink would be consoling. Calming. There was little more he could do tonight. But tomorrow. Tomorrow was another matter.
Chapter 7
The next morning, Wu Ying began preparations for the expedition. The first thing he had to do was get the expedition trip permit from his Master. As a Body Cleansing cultivator, even though he was an inner sect member, Wu Ying was not allowed to leave the sect for extended periods of time without permission. After all, the Sect had spent a lot of resources developing him this far. Releasing him into the wild at his most dangerous and vulnerable time was foolhardy. Missions, close-by and carefully gauged were one thing. A long expedition into war torn regions was another thing entirely. Even his time with the expedition was uncommon, though of course his specialty and the presence of multiple Elders had mitigated the danger. Theoretically.
Luckily for Wu Ying, Elder Cheng was one of those elders who really didn’t care about that particular rule. Once Wu Ying told him why he needed the leave permit, Elder Cheng only raised a single eyebrow before he took Wu Ying’s sect seal and gave his permission. Wu Ying was glad that he did not receive a further lecture about the dangers, even if he was forced to listen to another of Master Cheng’s lecture about fate.
Next in his preparations was the memorization of his martial styles and exercises. Not that Wu Ying had forgotten any of it. After all, one of the first things he had done was to memorize every inch of those books. Still, he often refreshed his memory and referred to the documents and his notes when he tried out another area or faced some problem. Better to be extra careful than risk chi deviation. So once again, Wu Ying went through his notes, making sure they were extensive and clear to him. At the same time, he ensured that they were obscure enough that he would be allowed to take the documents with him. He would not be allowed to take any of the actual manuals from the library out of the Sect, as that would risk the loss of them. Even copying the manuals would be considered theft and punished accordingly. But his own notes, as long as they weren’t something a thief could understand, would be allowed to come with him.
That took him until the end of the evening, but Wu Ying knew that most of it was just a distraction. Wu Ying dreaded what came next, but after thinking of his parents, he strung up his courage and headed to the forge.
The inner sect forgers hall was one of the larger buildings. The sprawling single-story building was set a distance away from any other building due to the constant noise and fumes the forging process created. Within the forge, multiple stations were available for use, and even at this time of night, they were filled with cultivators. For a time, last year, Wu Ying had spent time training here. But he had learned that he had little talent for the forging of iron and steel. Blacksmithing was a powerful and important occupation, but it was not his path. It was, however, the path of the person he was here to speak with.