Chương 99: Chapter 97

The afternoon sun filters through the leaves of the trees in the courtyard, drawing a mosaic of light and shadow over the stone floor.

A couple of weeks ago, I couldn't even consider sitting out here at this hour without the reddish glow irritating my eyes, but now, as I look up at the sky, I see that the light is finally beginning to return to its normal state and the column descending from the sky like some sort of divine finger that connected the Celestial Rift to some point of the Central Continent has been reduced to a frayed thread.

And the reddish cloud that tinged the whole atmosphere scarlet, that discount Galactus I had already grown accustomed to ignoring, is dissolving into ribbons that the evening wind is slowly dissipating, as though someone were washing the sky clean to leave the blue that had been beneath. I like to think that's a good sign, but above all, I'd like to be sure that it is.

"Zhāohuán Wen, do you prefer the ginger tea or the osmanthus one?" Lianhua's voice pulls me away from the sky and back to the courtyard, where she, beside me with her usual quiet elegance, is preparing my lunch on the low table.

"The osmanthus, please", I reply, and lower my eyes from the Celestial Rift to my own plate. On the table there is a small wicker basket of steamed buns, a bowl of pickled vegetables, a plate of cold tofu drizzled in dark sauce, and a light soup that's still steaming. A lunch that can be considered modest by palace standards, although I've told Lianhua a thousand times that there's no need for so much food for any ordinary midday meal, that some buns and the tea are enough for me.

But she nods politely every time I tell her so and keeps bringing me three or four dishes, so I think at some point I have to accept that I lost that battle years ago. While she busies herself with the tea set, I try the tofu and let my thoughts return to where they've been heading for days now. I've spent a whole week attempting what on paper should be easy, especially with all the practice I'm supposed to have. I hold ten Qi particles with my mental hands and then I focus on the Yang Gate.

In theory, I should focus on the Yang Gate, which, as long as I maintain that focus, will draw on its own all the Qi surrounding me to fill itself up until it has enough Qi to open. The problem is that, in my specific case, since I add the difficulty of having the ten Qi particles grasped, after two minutes my brain says enough. Literally two minutes, since I've timed it.

Well, timed isn't the right word, since I don't have a stopwatch here, but I've been counting breaths and the beats of my heart to the point of starting to hate the sound, and the result is always the same: around one hundred and twenty heartbeats after starting, my concentration begins to falter and I have to choose whether I want to keep maintaining the Qi particles grasped or stop concentrating on the Yang Gate. And the worst part isn't that my concentration breaks.

The worst part, the thing that really has me frustrated, is that I notice no progress in terms of how long I last. During Body Tempering, when I was breaking my head trying to get more mental hands, at least I could feel something moving. There was progress, exhausting but measurable, since each day I was getting a little closer to the goal or reaching a limit I knew I could surpass later.

But this thing now is like pushing against a wall, without there being any hint that my concentration can be improved or any kind of trick I could use.

"Zhāohuán Wen", Lianhua tells me while I'm lost in my thoughts, and I look up again to meet the cup she's offering me.

"Thank you", I tell her as I take it with both hands and drink a sip to let the warmth of the tea comfort me for a moment. While I entertain myself with the cup, Lianhua continues placing things on the table with that silent efficiency only she has. And then I see it, a bun lifts up from the basket without anyone touching it, crosses the table, and settles delicately at the center of my plate.

I look away from the bun toward Lianhua, who is placing the teapot in its place while it's more than clear that she has used the Myriad of Hands technique to serve me the bun. And I, in that moment, curse myself for my stupidity.

I've been spending days going around this problem of split concentration, reflecting on it and looking for the solution inside my own head when every day I have, no more than two steps from me, the only person I can trust and who is right now going through a problem of an almost identical nature.

Lianhua is cultivating Myriad of Hands, and as became clear in the test we did, she needed practice in order to maintain her concentration if she wanted to create more than two hands, so if there's anyone who can tell me what I'm doing wrong, it's her. The problem is that I can't ask her directly, at least not without using another privacy talisman to safeguard us from the casual, or indiscreet, ears that might be listening to us, whether in my room or here in the courtyard.

I take a sip of tea while I try to think of how to phrase the question, and suddenly the solution comes to my mind. Although I can't ask her directly, I can ask her about her training with the technique. No one will suspect anything if I converse about her training, since I've taken interest in it before.

And from there, with care, I'll be able to slip in the specific question that interests me without anyone listening from a distance being able to draw any dangerous conclusions, especially considering how outlandish those conclusions would be.

I wait for her to finish placing everything in its spot for lunch, and when she finally moves away from the table and positions herself beside me, with that definitive gesture that indicates she's finished, I take advantage of the moment to set down my cup and look at her directly.

"Lianhua, how is your Myriad of Hands training going?" I ask her, and I add to the question a slight tilt of my head that I hope emphasizes that I'm asking out of simple curiosity. Lianhua looks at me, blinks once, and then replies in her usual stoic tone.

"I'm progressing, Zhāohuán Wen", she replies.

"Although not exactly in the direction I believed at the start."

"Tell me about it", I say as I pick up the bun she just placed for me and take a bite.

"Soon after starting to practice I was able to manifest a third hand", she tells me as I notice how a napkin moves from its spot and positions itself somewhere easier for me to reach. I raise an eyebrow with a genuine mixture of surprise and respect, since for the time she's been practicing the technique, three hands is certainly serious progress.

"But I realized that the control I had over those three hands was clumsy", she adds next.

"I could move them all at once, yes, but to do so consumed so much of my concentration that the uses I could put them to were too limited and crude."

"Well", I say while continuing to eat the bun.

"And then, what did you do?"

"I decided to abandon the third hand". Her tone in saying this is calm, without any hint of defeat, only the serene acknowledgement of a decision made.

"I considered it better to first learn to use, with the greatest efficiency possible, the two hands I was capable of manifesting without having to dedicate all my attention to them. And once I achieved complete mastery over those two, then I would manifest the third again and train it patiently to be able to use the three at the same level."

I find myself looking at her with the bun half-bitten, since there is something about that decision that is so sensible, so methodical and so characteristically Lianhua that it makes me want to applaud.

"And with those two hands, then, how is the training going?" I ask her, and this time the question is no longer just a pretext, since I really want to know.

"Well", Lianhua tells me, and this time I notice a hint of a smile on her lips.

"I'm capable of doing more and more things with them. At first I could only lift objects like I did with the books in your study, but now I can perform more complex tasks, and recently I even managed to manipulate a needle without creating a disaster." Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

"Well, congratulations", I tell her, and I say it from the heart.

"Thank you, Zhāohuán Wen", she replies as she slightly bows her head.

"With time I trust I'll be able to do even more delicate manipulations, of the level I would do with my real hands. When I reach that point, and only then, will I begin working on the third hand." I nod slowly as I finish the bun along with a sip of tea and place the cup on the table. But on the inside I begin to plan how to phrase the question I really wanted to ask when I started the conversation.

"Say, Lianhua", I tell her, trying to give my tone the lightness one gives a casual question.

"Out of curiosity, what advice would you give to someone whose concentration constantly breaks when trying to do something similar to what you do, that is, maintaining concentration while doing several things at once?" Lianhua's eyes, which until that moment were fixed on me, close as she seems to be focusing on something, and finally she opens them again with a seriousness she didn't have before, lets out a small sigh, and finally replies.

"First I would ask whether they have the Yin Gate open", she tells me, keeping her voice in a low tone and looking like she's choosing her words very carefully. I stay still for a second upon hearing her reply and realize that this answer is clearly being given to me for the sake of any possible indiscreet ears, since I don't have the Yin Gate open.

"And if they didn't have it open?" I ask her, playing along with the conversation to see where she wants to take me.

"I would tell them to wait", Lianhua tells me as she looks at me fixedly.

"To focus on opening it before attempting whatever they're doing. The increase in the capacity for comprehension that this Gate grants helps a great deal with such tasks. The difference between before and after is… considerable, and many things that seem impossible before having it open, with it open begin to be possible with some practice."

I take a deep breath on the inside without it showing on the outside, since this is my answer, but I decide to continue the conversation to throw off the scent in case anyone is paying attention to our exchange.

"And if they already had it open?" I ask her. Lianhua remains a moment in silence at the question as though it surprised her that I asked it, but she plays along and replies.

"In that case I would consider the possibility that they are simply attempting something that cannot be done", she tells me with the same tone.

"Or at least, not as far as I know. Perhaps if Master Mu were here, you could have asked her your doubt." I shift in my chair a little as I think about Lianhua's reply, and I quickly realize I'm at the same point I was when I was trying to create another mental hand and still needed to increase the level of my Body Tempering.

In order to use my mental hands effectively I need something more, and that something, from what Lianhua has just explained to me, is precisely the expanded comprehension that the Yin Gate provides, so just as with the matter of Body Tempering and the mental hands, it all comes down to reaching a specific point in cultivation. For a moment, and as I drink another bit of tea, I'm tempted by a very specific idea: change the order of the Gates and open the Yin first instead of the Yang.

I think about it carefully, but I reach the conclusion that it isn't worth trading my long-term comfort for a short-term boost, however tempting it may be. What I'll do is, simply, prioritize the Yin as the second Gate I open instead of leaving it for later. That way, when I finish with the Yang, the Yin will be next.

"Thank you, Lianhua. I was asking out of pure curiosity", I tell her aloud, and as my mother would say, let any possible spies, in case there are any, wonder why on earth I had this conversation.

"Of course, Zhāohuán Wen", she replies, and adds nothing more. The silence that forms afterward isn't uncomfortable. Lianhua returns to her tasks and rearranges a napkin, refills my cup even though it's still half full, and I decide that I've thought enough for today. That all that reflection deserves to be turned, at least, into a few minutes of enjoying the sun falling over the courtyard and the rest of lunch.

I'm right at that point of relaxation where my eyelids are starting to droop and I'm considering whether a small nap would do me good when I hear quick little footsteps on the flagstones.

"Wen!" I hear a voice exclaim, very happy, coming from the entrance to the courtyard. I open my eyes fully and see Xia trotting toward where I am at a short little run while trying not to spill what she's carrying, a tray with a small heap of golden pastries.

"Slow down, slow down", I tell her half-laughing as I see her.

"Because if you trip now, you'll never finish hearing Lianhua's scolding." Lianhua, from her corner, gives Xia a look with a raised eyebrow that could mean many things, and none of them good. Xia slows her running pace, approaches carefully, and plants the tray on the edge of my table.

"I made them myself this morning!" she announces as she leans toward me with her hands clasped in front of her.

"I wanted you to try them."

"Oh", I say, and I don't hide my smile. I look at the pastries and see they're round, the size of a large chestnut, with a slight golden crust on top and a faint aroma of honey. The presentation already holds up on its own, and if the presentation holds up, half the battle is already won.

"Thank you, Xia", I say, and I pick one up.

"Let me try them." I take a pastry and as I bring it to my mouth I'm struck, all at once, by the memory of the first time Xia brought me, all excited, some buns she had made herself.

How I looked at them, stayed silent for two seconds and thought of all those characters in anime and manga who turned food into a weapon of mass destruction, of that recurring joke about dishes that made people faint, smoke, or see mystical visions before collapsing flat to the floor, and how I expected that, when I took the first bite, something of that sort would happen to me. Not something as dramatic as smoking, but certainly a flavor that would force me to smile fakely for several minutes.

But fortunately I was wrong, and with everything she's learned since then, if she's this excited to bring me these pastries, it's because she's particularly proud of them. So I bite into the pastry now with some expectation, and what happens in my mouth is exactly what I was hoping for. The exterior just barely crunches, with the interior fluffy and still warm, with a thick filling that combines honey, a touch of candied mandarin and something else I can't identify but that gives it depth, making it delicious.

"Xia", I say after finishing it with a genuine smile.

"This is one of the best pastries I've ever tasted." Xia turns red up to her ears upon hearing me.

"You like them?" she asks me, as though she hadn't heard me right.

"A lot. Truly", I gesture at the tray with my head.

"Keep at it and you'll end up being the best cook in the entire imperial court. And I'm not joking." She lets out a nervous laugh upon hearing me, lowers her head, and starts wringing her hands in front of her body.

"Wen", she tells me.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead", I smile at her.

"Ask whatever you want." She breathes once as she seems to gather her courage.

"When am I going to be able to begin Muscle Tempering?" she finally asks me. I find myself looking at Xia after her question without understanding what exactly she's asking me. And then it hits me.

"How could I have forgotten your birthday?" I exclaim aloud as I give myself a slap on the forehead.

"It's the silliest mistake I've made in months."

"Xia, I'm so sorry. Truly", I tell her seriously as I look her in the eyes.

"It slipped my mind completely. Between the lessons, the books, and the matters with Master Mu, I've lost track of the days and skipped something I should have kept in mind."

"It's all right, Wen", she tells me quickly.

"I knew you were very busy and didn't want to bother you, that's why you didn't know."

"That is not a bother", I retort, and the tone comes out firmer than I intended, so I soften it as I continue.

"That, Xia, is never a bother." I turn toward Lianhua, who has witnessed the whole exchange without uttering a word.

"Lianhua, cancel this afternoon's class, please", I tell her.

"Of course, Zhāohuán Wen", she replies as she bows her head. I look back at Xia, who has been left with her eyes a little wider.

"It may be a little late", I tell her.

"But this afternoon we're celebrating your birthday, even if it's belated. I officially apologize for the oversight, and we'll dedicate this afternoon to having a good time. Sound all right?" Xia opens her mouth, closes it, and nods very quickly as though she didn't trust her own voice.

"And now tell me one thing", I continue.

"Can you already grasp six Qi particles?" Upon hearing me, Xia changes completely. Her shyness disappears and gives way to something resembling pride as she lifts her chin a little.

"Yes", she tells me, and although she tries to say it modestly, a trace of satisfaction escapes her.

"Just as you told me to do."

"Perfect", I tell her as I nod.

"Then you can begin cultivating Muscle Tempering whenever you wish." She nods very seriously, with the solemnity required by the fact that something she had been waiting for weeks has just been officially authorized. And here my mischievous streak comes out. I can't help it, since there are occasions when one has to tease a little the people one loves.

"In fact, I'm going to challenge you", I add with a sly smile.

"Do it as fast as you can. Let's see how long it takes you, because it took me a while to manage it, and perhaps maybe, just maybe, you'll be able to beat me." Xia stares at me, and on her face there appears first a very clear expression of doubt. Then, a hint of competitiveness, which is followed by the furrowed brow of a child who has been deceived on other occasions by the person speaking to her.

"Wen", she tells me very carefully.

"This time are you telling me the truth, or are you just trying to swindle me again so I'll work harder?"

"Ask Lianhua", I tell her as I smile with all the innocence I can manage to project. Xia immediately turns to look at Lianhua as she clearly asks her for help with her gaze. Lianhua, who lets out a sigh upon hearing how I divert the conversation toward her, looks at Xia as she replies.

"Zhāohuán Wen was fast for what is considered normal", she tells her without making the slightest attempt to continue my ploy.

"Although since you use the same methods she used, it's possible that perhaps, and only perhaps, you'll be able to surpass her." Xia goes very still and her expression slowly changes after hearing Lianhua. The doubt fades, her eyes shine with that light that I, personally, love to see in her because it's the antithesis of the state in which I first met her, and an expression of resolve settles on her face.

"But there is one thing that has to be made clear", Lianhua adds in a tone of warning.

"Regardless of what you decide, I am not going to grant you permission to be absent from your tasks. You are going to have to continue with your apprenticeship and your duties as they are no matter how much you want to beat Zhāohuán Wen. The cultivation you will do during your free hours as you've been doing." Xia looks at her, then looks at me, only to look at Lianhua again afterward.

And finally, with no shadow of doubt left and her whole body tensed in an attitude that I would recognize in any world as the universal posture of someone accepting a challenge, she replies.

"Don't worry about it", she tells her, and then looks at me directly.

"Even with that handicap, Wen, this time I'll do everything I can to beat you."

"Sounds fair to me", I tell her as the last thread of the column descending from the Celestial Rift dissolves in a blink.

"May the best one win."