Chương 26: Chapter 24 (R)

I stop peering through the ring to see more clearly how my mother is approaching with her brow furrowed. At her side, the imposing figure of the Nei Baihu advances with a firm, controlled posture while contemplating with a thoughtful gaze the Nei Wei standing behind us. Alongside them walks a middle-aged man dressed in luxurious clothing that glints under the daylight.

I don't have to strain much to deduce that he is someone important, and from my mother's words this morning I imagine he must be some high-ranking member of the Yao clan.

"Sun Wen, what is going on here?" my mother asks me when they reach where we are. Her voice is clear, but her tone makes it evident that she expects an immediate explanation. Before I can respond, the middle-aged man intervenes, his voice laden with indignation "I demand an explanation! The imperial army has been used to attack the guards of my clan. I will file a formal complaint at the palace. My clan cannot be treated in this manner!"

I see that while the man is voicing his complaints to my mother, the Nei Baihu, her expression unchanging, ignores everyone and approaches the Nei Wei who are guarding the guards and the trio in the middle of the street. She surveys the situation and appears to begin asking the Nei Wei something. I ignore the Nei Baihu as I prepare to defend myself and begin the explanation "Mother, this isn't my fault. I didn't start…" Suddenly my explanation is interrupted by Lianhua "Allow me, Zhāohuán Wen."

Lianhua turns toward my mother and begins explaining in a firm and clear voice what happened at the stall. She recounts how, upon taking a ring at a stall, a man named Yao Zhi who was accompanied by a group of people demanded that we hand it over to him. We refused politely, though without revealing our identity to avoid drawing attention.

However, Yao Zhi's group began to insult us, demanding we humiliate ourselves and accept the punishment they wanted to impose, and how finally, upon rejecting their outrageous demand, they drew their weapons with the intention of attacking us. As Lianhua recounts what happened, I notice how my mother's expression hardens and her eyes grow colder and colder.

In contrast, the luxuriously dressed man standing beside her loses his look of indignation and begins to visibly sweat as the account progresses, his nervousness growing as Lianhua's words lay out the events one by one. When Lianhua finishes, silence takes hold of the place for a moment, and my mother turns slowly toward the man as her gaze fixes on him like a sharpened spear.

"Patriarch Yao", my mother begins, her icy tone seeming to pierce the air.

"I think it is an excellent idea to send a formal complaint to the palace. We could recount how the Emperor's daughter was insulted, intimidated, and nearly killed by members of your clan."

The man, now drenched in sweat, opens his mouth to respond, but my mother seems unwilling to give him any respite as she continues "Furthermore, although the palace has permitted your clan to administer this city, I don't believe that permission includes the power to intimidate the travelers or merchants who use the imperial roads. Or am I mistaken?"

The patriarch of the Yao clan seems to shrink before my mother's verbal assault and tries to excuse himself, but his words come out clumsy and filled with fear "I-I don't think it's necessary to trouble the court with something like this, and I'm sure we can reach an arrangement. After all, it's only been a misunderstanding." The Nei Baihu then approaches, slightly tilting her head toward my mother before speaking firmly "Guifei Xiang, the Nei Wei have confirmed Fei Yi Lianhua's account.

My subordinates are ready to receive orders." My mother remains silent for a moment as she appears to consider her options, and I see the patriarch of the Yao clan wipe the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief he pulls from his sleeve before addressing my mother "If you'll forgive me, Guifei Xiang, I believe our clan can offer Zhāohuán Wen a suitable compensation as an apology for what happened, if you will allow us to resolve this matter internally."

My mother looks at the man and asks "And what would this compensation be, Patriarch Yao?"

"I could not help but notice Zhāohuán Wen's age and that she is at the beginning of her path in cultivation", Patriarch Yao begins to explain nervously.

"In our clan we have a ritual that allows the body's resistance to toxins and poisons to be improved, in addition to enhancing the gains from opening the Air and Water Gates if performed during Body Tempering or before beginning it."

"This ritual is only performed on select members of our clan", Patriarch Yao continues.

"But we are willing to offer it as a token of sincerity with our apology." My mother appears surprised by his offer, which makes me think it isn't something ordinary, an assumption reinforced when my mother quickly accepts.

"Patriarch Yao", my mother tells him.

"If your offer is sincere, we are more than willing to leave in your capable hands the punishment of the members of your clan who offended the Emperor's daughter." The patriarch of the Yao clan seems relieved by my mother's response and tells her "It will take some time to have everything prepared, but if you wait at the inn we will notify you when we can begin."

"We will be awaiting your word", my mother replies, then turns to the Nei Baihu.

"Let the men of the Yao clan go."

"As you command, Guifei Xiang", the Nei Baihu replies with a bow before heading toward the Nei Wei.

"If you'll excuse me, Guifei Xiang, I must restore order and prepare everything for Zhāohuán Wen", the patriarch of the Yao clan tells my mother.

"We leave you free to attend to your obligations", my mother replies.

"We will be awaiting your word at the inn." The patriarch of the Yao clan takes his leave with a bow and quickly heads to where the Nei Wei are freeing the guards.

"Let us return to the inn where we can discuss this whole disaster more calmly", my mother tells us. I hold out my arms and tell her "Mother, pick me up." My mother seems surprised but picks me up, and once I'm in her arms she asks "And why is this, Wen?" I look at Lianhua and reply "Lianhua has to go collect my books and pay for both them and the ring. It wouldn't be right if, after all this, we didn't pay what we owe, would it?"

My mother looks at me fixedly, but I ignore her as I look at Lianhua, who bows and tells me "I'll go at once, Zhāohuán Wen." Lianhua turns and walks away from us to carry out my orders, but I lose sight of her when my mother also turns around and we head for the inn followed by a disproportionate number of Nei Wei.

My mother says nothing to me as we head to the inn, but when we arrive and are in the small courtyard we've rented and she sits with me on her lap to tell the Nei Wei "Notify Fei Yi Lingxi, who is at the camp outside the town, that she may return to the inn. I don't think the Yao clan will be foolish enough to do anything irrational now that it has become clear they are weaker than us." One of the Nei Wei bows before leaving the courtyard, and I ask my mother "Why is Lingxi at the Nei Wei camp?"

"So that someone could notify the Palace in case the Yao clan did something irrational and turned out to be stronger than us", my mother replies, not wishing to add anything more, but I understand the dark meaning of her words.

"But let's set those things aside and tell me, what is this business of a ring setting off this whole disaster?" my mother asks me next, changing the subject. I show her the ring I still have in my hand and reply "It's this ring, Mother." My mother takes the ring and examines it closely as she frowns, then asks me "So why did you take it? It's far too big for you to wear for now."

"The ring drew my attention for some reason, but I couldn't explain the feeling I had when I saw it", I tell my mother partially, since I have no way of telling her it's due to the intuition of my years of experience working with relics.

I see my mother stare fixedly at the ring as though concentrating, but then she sighs and gives it back to me as she says "I sense it is a spiritual treasure, but activating it is beyond what I am capable of achieving with my level of cultivation, and unfortunately no one on this expedition has progressed past the Gate Opening."

"It's better that you keep it", my mother continues as I clutch the ring in my hand.

"If someday you reach a sufficiently high level of cultivation, it may prove useful to you." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Gripping the ring in my hand, I decide to seize the moment and ask my mother "What are the Gate Openings, and what happens after completing them?" My mother looks at me and ruffles my hair as I complain, and replies "That is something we can discuss when you've finished tempering the body. In the meantime, it's better you not worry about it."

"It's not fair!" I complain to my mother.

"I think you hide it just to annoy us while we're children."

"It's not for that reason, Wen", my mother replies.

"I'm going to tell you a tale about a cultivator that will make you understand why we don't tell it."

"A long time ago, there lived a cultivator who had begun his path", my mother starts telling me.

"Like you, he complained that his master was hiding things from him, so he decided to find the information for himself and secretly entered his master's library."

"In that library he found the answer to his questions", my mother continues her tale.

"But upon learning everything he would have to face on his path of cultivation, he began to obsess over that path, and thus he spent countless resources, time, and money preparing and smoothing his future. But in his obsession with the future, he forgot something fundamental, which was to use his time to finish his current step, and so, to his horror, one day he realized he would not be able to advance to the next step with what little life he had left."

My mother ends her tale as she looks at me "And so, the cultivator who could have reached the very top was unable to pass his first step because he spent more time thinking about his future than improving his present."

My mother looks at me as though expecting me to say something, while I realize this is the equivalent of the milkmaid's tale from this world, and although I know I'm not going to fall for that trick, it's impossible to convince anyone of it, since that tale seems to be firmly rooted in the culture of cultivation. With a sigh, I realize that in my current situation I can only do one thing, so I tell my mother "I understand what you mean, Mother. I won't do as that cultivator did."

My mother smiles at me and hugs me as she says "Remember that I only want what's best for you, Wen, even if you don't understand the reasons why I do things." Hearing that, I feel a pang of regret at not being able to give her what she so clearly seeks, and which has been more evident during the journey than at court, but a lie of such magnitude would be something very difficult for me to sustain.

Fortunately a knock at the door interrupts the, for me, uncomfortable mother-daughter moment, and my mother breaks the embrace reluctantly as she says "Enter." The door opens and Lianhua enters with the package of books as she tells me "I have done everything you asked of me, Zhāohuán Wen. Here are your books." I inwardly thank Lianhua for being my savior and ask my mother "May I classify the books while we await word from the Yao clan?"

"Of course, Wen", my mother tells me, standing up to set me down in a chair near a table. Lianhua approaches with the package and opens it to lay the books on top. Before I begin looking at the books, I ask Lianhua "Do you think you can find a chain or something similar to hang the ring from? It's too big for me to wear for now."

"I'll look for something, Zhāohuán Wen", Lianhua tells me with a bow, before turning around, and I notice with surprise that she approaches my mother. I ignore them, since I doubt I could make out what they're discussing even if I tried, though I'm almost certain it's about me, in order to devote myself to something more interesting, which is looking at the books I have on the table. I begin going through the books and I clearly realize why they were left unsold in a corner.

They are all old books and clearly without much value. I've even read a couple of them since I had received them as birthday gifts. It's clear I haven't stumbled upon a trove of ancient, valuable books with important information, but at least I'll have something to entertain myself with for a few days as we continue the journey.

I start reading a book that appears to be a kind of hand-illustrated encyclopedia on plants to pass the time, when after a while Lianhua arrives with a small chain of what appears to be silver and helps me thread the ring through it and hang it around my neck, after which I tell her that for the moment I don't need her for anything else and I continue reading the book, despite the nonsense it says about plants.

The afternoon passes peacefully when one of the Nei Wei knocks at the courtyard's door and, upon entering, tells my mother that a messenger has arrived from the Yao clan saying that everything is ready. She also tells her that they have specified that only I, my mother, and a maximum of two bodyguards may come. My mother thinks for a moment and tells the Nei Wei to notify the Nei Baihu to accompany us, and to choose someone else to come with us.

My mother approaches where I am and I stretch out my arms so she'll pick me up, after which she tells Lianhua and Lingxi, who has returned over the course of the afternoon, to wait for us here. We leave the inn and my mother stops. The Yao clan's envoy looks at us unsure whether to ask what we're waiting for, but he doesn't have to wait long since after a moment the Nei Baihu arrives accompanied by another guard.

Upon arriving, my mother instructs them to accompany us as bodyguards, to which the Nei Baihu nods, and my mother tells the Yao clan envoy that he may now lead the way. The walk isn't long, as he guides us to the Yao clan's mansion, where the envoy exchanges a few words with the guards, who I notice have some bruises, and we enter the mansion while they look at us with unfriendly faces.

Upon entering, he leads us to a courtyard on one side of the mansion, where I see there is an enormous tub in the center guarded by half a dozen guards. There is also an old woman who approaches us upon our arrival in the courtyard.

"So this is the little one who has given Zhi a lesson in humility", she tells us as she approaches.

"I beg your pardon, what do you mean?" my mother asks her, as confused as I am.

"Nothing, though I'm almost tempted to thank you", she replies.

"I'm glad this happened with someone reasonable like yourselves. I always told Feng he was spoiling his son too much, and I can imagine a thousand situations where something worse than this outcome could have happened." We're left speechless for a moment at her frankness, but the old woman continues speaking.

"But those are already internal matters of our clan. With you we shall fulfill our agreement, but the ritual carries a certain danger, and I want to explain what it consists of. If after understanding the risks you wish to continue, we shall begin."

"What you are going to undergo is a bath with various herbs that can only be found in the Marsh of Mists", the old woman begins explaining to me.

"For it to work you must enter the tub completely nude so that the liquid covers your entire body." Well, that isn't a problem. At eight years old it's not as though modesty were too important, but the old woman continues explaining "While you're in the bath, in addition to being completely submerged, you must do two things. The first is to keep your eyes open at all times and swallow as much of the liquid as you can so it affects your insides."

"And the second thing is the danger you will have to face, since you must remain half a period underwater without coming up, and moreover you must also breathe in the liquid so it affects your lungs", the old woman tells me. That truly frightens me. How the devil am I going to breathe water and stay inside the liquid for an hour?

The old woman clearly notices the look of fright on my face, and I suppose on my mother's too, but she's clearly accustomed to this reaction since without losing her composure she pulls out what appear to be two spherical pills from one of her sleeves.

"These two pills are what will allow you to do that", she continues explaining as she raises one of the pills.

"This pill will allow you to breathe underwater and thereby let the liquid affect your lungs. To use it you must swallow it just before submerging yourself in the liquid." Then she raises the other pill and tells us "Later, when you come out of the tub, you must quickly swallow this other pill, which will expel all the water from your body and allow you to breathe air again."

"After the treatment you will be weak and drowsy for several days while your body adapts to the changes, but that is normal", the old woman continues as she looks at us with the pills in her hand.

"My final warning is that the last time anyone died from this treatment I was still a young girl, but that doesn't mean it isn't dangerous, so the decision is yours." I hesitate, since the idea of a pill being capable of letting me breathe water is almost too fantastical, so I look at my mother to see if she seems convinced.

My mother looks at me and, seeing my doubts, tells me "I trust that everything will go well as the Elder of the Yao clan says, since if they wished to harm you and succeeded, their clan would have difficulty explaining it to the Emperor. I believe you should do it, but you are mature enough that I won't force you, and you may make your own decision."

My gaze alternates between my mother and the Elder of the Yao clan, as my mother has called her, whose face does not alter in the slightest at my mother's blunt declaration. But I have to make a decision, and if my mother trusts that it will be safe and will benefit me, it's better not to hesitate any longer, so I say "I am willing." Following my words, the Elder wastes no time and brings us over to the tub, where, with my mother's help, they undress me and put me in the liquid, which to my surprise is warm.

My mother holds me at the edge since I can't stand on my own, and the Elder brings the pill she says can help me breathe underwater to my mouth and pushes it inside, and I swallow it. After swallowing the pill she pushes my head downward and I feel her grip me so I don't try to get out of the tub. I'm sure that from the outside it must look as though the Elder is trying to murder me by drowning me in the water.

I can't help it and instinctively I hold my breath, but soon I begin to feel the lack of air, so I steel myself by imagining I'm Dr. Lindsey in the film The Abyss, specifically the scene where she gets into the suit with the liquid oxygen, and against all my instincts, I breathe. I feel how the water enters my lungs as the air leaves, and after a brief moment of panic I notice that the sensation of drowning fades away.

It's true that breathing takes a bit more effort, I suppose due to the difference between a liquid and air, but it isn't too uncomfortable. I remember what the Elder told me and I force myself to keep my eyes open, and I begin to swallow the liquid, which to my misfortune tastes revolting.

After a while, and I suppose when she's convinced I'm not going to come out of the water, I notice that the Elder's hands stop holding me, and since I have no air in my lungs, I remain comfortably inside the water without having to struggle to keep from rising to the surface.

Soon I lose my sense of time as I swallow some of the liquid from time to time, and I spend the rest of the time enjoying the sensation of being in the warm water breathing water while swallowing some of the liquid from time to time, something that in my previous world would have been impossible. But after an indeterminate amount of time a sensation of weakness comes over me and I start to fall asleep.

I resist that sensation with the certainty that it would be bad to fall asleep when I notice that they grab me by the shoulders and arms. With a tug they pull me out of the water and I quickly notice I'm beginning to drown, but someone I can't see due to my state of extreme weakness puts something in my mouth and pushes it down my throat while ordering me "Swallow."

Fighting against the sensation of drowning, I swallow what I suppose is the pill to rid myself of the liquid, and suddenly I find myself not only vomiting all the water from my lungs, which makes breathing painful, but also, to my embarrassment, I notice how my bowels betray me and I soil myself.

But all of that stops mattering when the drowsiness that came over me while I was inside the liquid returns now with greater force as I realize I'm no longer in danger, and unable to help it, I fall asleep as I feel someone wrapping me in some kind of cloth.