Chương 6: Cold Wind in Ruby

The two boys finished eating their evening meal in silence. Despite Guan Li being a near-total stranger, Paike didn't mind the company. The silence didn't feel awkward, forced, or anything other than companionable. He could get used to this. Unlike when he was with his sister, he didn't get the sense that Guan Li was waiting for him to fill the lull in conversation with something insightful. Guan Li occasionally shot him an indecipherable look, but Paike let it slide.

It would have been odd if he had been trusted right away. It's not like Paike had stopped studying the other boy since they met. Besides, the look wasn't hostile but more assessing than distrustful. As they were putting away their dishes, Guan Li spoke up.

"This Han fellow, are you going to face any repercussions for fighting him?" Paike frowned, thinking about it.

"hmm, maybe," he said after a moment.

"For the most part, it'll likely not go beyond being an inconvenience."

"Really? You humiliated them pretty thoroughly." Gaun Li stated with the slightest hint of incredulity in his otherwise flat tone. Paike nodded.

"True, but it was in a duel. At least the pretext of one. This will constrain any official retaliation to formal actions. If he starts attacking me out of nowhere, it'll make him look extremely petty. If I had surprised him or something, it would have been acceptable for him to ambush me. But now, he likely wouldn't do something like that. Besides, he wouldn't want to offend my family by taking it too far." Guan Li frowned.

"Family? Should I—" He paused, thinking through his words carefully. Paike hid a smile. It was good to see that he was wary of stepping into the politics of cultivator's families. That was always something to be approached with care. It could get messy otherwise.

"Kong Paike, what should I know about your family?" Gaun Li asked after some consideration. Paike was faintly surprised that he didn't know about his family. Still, if he supposed he was right about Guan Li's origins and apparent lack of education, it wasn't that surprising.

"Maybe a few things. Amongst the right circles, we are fairly well-known."

"Well, are you some sort of lords?" Guan Li asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice. Paike shook his head.

"No. Some number of great-grandparents ago made it a point to reject any such titles. A tradition in my family has kept that left us a bit mercenary." He didn't explain more, and Guan Li seemed to understand, simply nodding.

"Speaking of family," Paike said after a couple of seconds, "I should probably go talk to my sister."

"The girl you were with earlier?"

"Yep, I'll introduce you tomorrow at class… Well, I'll see you tomorrow then," he said as he left with a wave. Guan Li was left still sitting thoughtfully at the table.

The sun was sinking toward the horizon, casting long shadows all over the mountaintop, when Paike finally found his sister. Liming was not far from where they had parted, standing in the courtyard by herself. She had a bubble of nearly ten feet around her where people skirted, no one daring to approach her. She watched the top of the stairs with an icy expression on her face. When Paike got too close, he could feel the sharp bite of cold wind around her and was surprised.

He knew she was talented, but usually, this sort of manifestation around someone, intentionally or unintentionally, didn't happen until Topaz, not in Ruby. And she had just awoken a week ago. Was she trying to do this, or was it subconscious? He didn't know, but still, he pushed through, much to the shocked gazes of everyone around her. He forced his qi throughout his channels, just underneath his skin, and began to feel the difference.

It took a while for his qi to complete one revolution, but once he had it flowing, it worked as armor against foreign influence. The cold didn't seep deeper than the first layer of skin for him as he strode through the mystical effect and touched his sister on the shoulder. She jumped slightly, whirling to face him. But even as their eyes met, her face softened somewhat, and the chill in the air diminished significantly. The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

She greeted him with a polite bow.

"Hello, big brother."

"Little sister," he said.

"Any notable entrances?" He indicated the entryway to the sect's courtyard with a tilt of his head. She shrugged one shoulder in an elegant motion before bouncing slightly on her toes, ruining the display of poise she had been managing so far.

"Not really. A few members of notable families, but so far, no one's beaten our time."

"Really?" he said with a raised brow. She nodded.

"You're just too fast."

"I'm pretty sure you beat me." He teased her slightly, and she looked down, blushing while covering her face with a raised sleeve.

"Oh, stop it," she said, not willing to get into the why in front of so many people. Giving her a break, he changed topics.

"I just wanted to find you and check in to make sure everything was going all right." He gestured to the area around them that had been filled with the biting wind.

"You seemed slightly upset."

"Oh, that was nothing." Liming lowered her arm and gave him a smile.

"Yes, I found a lovely roommate." He raised an eyebrow and looked around. If she didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't press.

"She's getting the house ready," Liming said slightly defensively, slightly misinterpreting his look.

"Oh, who? Would I recognize her name?" She shook her head.

"No. Likely not. I think she might be from a much smaller house, if not a first-generation cultivator, but she clearly has talent. She's around my age, maybe a little older, and is very serious about her studies." Paike nodded in approval. Making good friends would keep her on track. He was glad his sister didn't find anyone too rambunctious. She didn't need any help looking for adventures.

"Good to know, good to know." He mused while watching the people stream past.

"What about you, brother? Did you find a roommate?" He nodded.

"Yes. Guan Li is a fascinating young man. I'll tell you about him later," he said, gesturing to the audience they had.

"Of course. Would you like to explore a little?" she asked, already taking a step towards the inner parts of the outer sect compound. Paike fell into step next to her.

"Of course," he said as they walked towards a hopefully more private speaking area. They found a mostly abandoned training yard, a wide-open area stadium filled with a mostly open field, and some training dummies. A little way up the peak and off to the side, it was isolated by a screen of windswept trees and slightly set into an impression on the hill. A few of the disciples were running laps around the training ground, and a couple more were practicing on the dummies.

The two siblings found a seat in the stands where they would mostly be left alone. He quickly filled her in on what he learned bout Guan Li.

"Classes start tomorrow," Liming commented, and Paike nodded.

"True. What are your plans for them?" he asked.

"I'd like to go, I think. Well, I think it'd be good to meet people there." He frowned, not having considered that angle.

"I suppose you're correct."

"Will you go with me, brother?" she asked with a pleading expression on her face. Paike nodded, having already decided to try them out. But if it was about making connections, maybe he would go for longer.

"Sure, I'll definitely be going to the physical ones. I still need to awaken my physical cultivation, after all," he said, and she nodded.

"True. I don't suppose there's much more of the basics of spiritual reality or spiritual conservation for you to learn." Paike grimaced.

"Mhm. More than you'd think, probably." She looked at him disbelievingly, but he let it go.

"You need to make sure you make more friends than I do," he said in a slightly challenging manner. It was selfish to keep her to himself, but it would also hurt her in the long run. He knew his advancement was going to be slow, and he would likely fall well behind the pack. She needed strong allies, especially if she wanted to test into the inter-sect at the end of the year through the grand tournament.

And if she spent too much time trying to make sure he was all right and getting dragged down by his lacking talent, well, it would hinder her after a while. Besides, maybe if he could skip classes after a while just to cultivate, he could keep up better. He wasn't exactly sure, but, well, it wouldn't hurt.

"I also want to make sure we explore the area," he said.

"We need to look for all the advantages the elders have hidden amongst the mountains, farther down the slopes, and in the valleys." Liming frowned.

"Isn't that dangerous? There should be spirits and wild beasts out there."

"True," he said.

"But isn't that the point of cultivation? To get stronger, to meet challenges? How do we get stronger if we don't face any opposition to sharpen ourselves? Besides, I think I'm going to need a lot of lucky encounters in order to keep up." She looked at him without an ounce of pity and rolled her eyes.

"You'll be fine. You're big and strong." He stayed silent, not wanting to burst her bubble. It felt nice to have someone look up to him, even if he knew he didn't deserve it.

"Yeah, well." They sat watching the few disciples train for several minutes as the sun set off in the distance. Eventually, he stood up and offered her a hand, pulling her to her feet in one smooth, easy motion.

"We should probably get back to our rooms. We have a long, interesting day tomorrow."