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Reach Heaven Via Feng Shui Engineering, Drug Trade And Tax Evasion

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Winged_One said:
"I have all sorts of meats here - hot, cold, different cuts, with and without salt - and I want to see which ones you'd like more. Cutting off vision makes other senses a bit sharper, so it will be good for our first proper test -"

"Just give me the plate."

"No," Qian Shanyi said, pulling it further out of Linghui Mei's reach. "I am the chef here. Put the blindfold on, we are experimenting with taste."
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I appreciate Shanyi's dedication to the scientific method! Shame that Mei doesn't seem to have any patience for it. At least not, at breakfast; maybe she'll be more responsive once she's had her morning tea.
 
I can't help but think there has to be a tiny, but enthusiastic, niche market for losing 24 hour of memory on command. Here are a few options: Cultivator A wants some help with something but you will learn deep secrets which nobody can know. A date with Ms Fluffy Tail will help that. Client B has a really terrible job they need done. Not difficult, just excruciatingly unpleasant. It still sucks to do it, but at least you can avoid being haunted by the memory of it. Cultivator C wants to confess their love to someone, but doesn't want to remember getting turned down if it doesn't go well.
 
ptbptb said:
I can't help but think there has to be a tiny, but enthusiastic, niche market for losing 24 hour of memory on command. Here are a few options: Cultivator A wants some help with something but you will learn deep secrets which nobody can know. A date with Ms Fluffy Tail will help that. Client B has a really terrible job they need done. Not difficult, just excruciatingly unpleasant. It still sucks to do it, but at least you can avoid being haunted by the memory of it. Cultivator C wants to confess their love to someone, but doesn't want to remember getting turned down if it doesn't go well.
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do you think this would work for heart demons? like you failed super hard in something and you know it's gonna haunt you until your next breakthrough, kitsune gets a nibble and now you're all good?
 
You know how when you exercise you tear muscle fibres and then they grow back stronger and denser?

I wonder if low-level soul nibbles could have an eventually-beneficial effect on the mind?
Time for science!
 
The Lone badger said:
You know how when you exercise you tear muscle fibres and then they grow back stronger and denser?

I wonder if low-level soul nibbles could have an eventually-beneficial effect on the mind?
Time for science!
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Just as there's a difference between tearing your muscle fibers through exercise and tearing them by letting a starving weasel nibble on your biceps every morning, there's a difference between cultivation and low-level soul predation.
 
vawentine said:
do you think this would work for heart demons? like you failed super hard in something and you know it's gonna haunt you until your next breakthrough, kitsune gets a nibble and now you're all good?
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I was wondering if you could use it o cheat on vows. Swear to the heavens then have the oath scraped off the top of your soul. (Btw typing with pins n needles after sleeping on arm. So many typos)
 
ptbptb said:
I was wondering if you could use it o cheat on vows. Swear to the heavens then have the oath scraped off the top of your soul.
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I don't get the sense that soul-feeding is that precise.

And even if that worked, you're SOL if the Heavens have a separate record of vows. I don't know how they'd react to someone mutilating their own soul to get out of a contract, but you're probably lucky if you just get struck by lightning.
 
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Chapter 64: Count The Deaths And Snooker Love
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    • Author Note: Want to read ahead? You can find THREE patreon-exclusive posts (new one just this saturday!), as well as FIVE more chapters, over on my patreon, for a low price of 3$.
    I also have a discord server, where I post memes I make about FSE, and occasionally discuss some plans and worldbuilding details.​
    "Hm. You don't look half bad, you know," Qian Shanyi said, crouching in front of Linghui Mei, "considering the circumstances."

    The kitsune still shivered slightly, warming her hands against the fire node in their kitchens. She changed into a new set of robes, these ones too big for her figure, fabric bunching up on her sleeves. Her hair was still damp, and so she looked a bit like a wet cat wrapped up in a big towel, ears, tails and all.

    Wang Yonghao soaked in the bath, warming himself up after his own run through the forest. He was humming quietly, with an occasional splash of water.

    Linghui Mei gave Qian Shanyi a soft glare. By her standards, at least - not even a little scowl. "I almost drowned."

    Qian Shanyi waved her off. "Don't worry about it, it happens to the best of us. At least your river wasn't full of glass blades." She tapped her cheek, thinking it over. "Maybe I should have given you one of our frostbite pills after all, risk of incompatibility be damned. Hindsight, I suppose."

    "And why didn't you?" Linghui Mei asked, with a bit of venom in her voice. Seemingly more because she felt obligated to add some, not because she actually felt it.

    "Because you said you've never taken spiritual pills before." Qian Shanyi said seriously, filling a kettle and putting it over the fire node, right in front of Linghui Mei. Best to warm up from inside out as well as outside in. "Some people get a very bad reaction, and you are kitsune, not human. What is medicine for us might be the vilest poison for you."

    There was a test for these incompatibilities, one that all sect disciples were supposed to go through in their first year, consisting of miniscule pills administered by a trained healer - but it took weeks, and they had no time for it.

    Kettle in place, Qian Shanyi went to their storage of robes and fabric, and brought some more for Linghui Mei to huddle up in. The kitsune accepted them gratefully. "You said you should have been able to handle the waters - what did we miss?" Qian Shanyi said as she helped her arrange them into a bit of a nest, "Was it the temperature?"

    "Spirit hunters found me," Lingui Mei said, shivering. Not from the cold, this time. "Had to hide under a bridge until they passed. Froze while I waited."

    Qian Shanyi paused. Not unexpected, but... "Did they see you?"

    "No. The dog got the trail, but I threw them off."

    "Good."

    "You think it's the Heavens already?" Wang Yonghao called out from his bath. "What are the chances she would meet them right after leaving the tavern?"

    "Well over fifty percent, I would say," Qian Shanyi said immediately. "I don't see a need to speculate about Heavenly involvement here."

    "Come on. In the entire town, they just cross paths?"

    "You are thinking about this wrong," Qian Shanyi said, shaking her head. More for her own and Linghui Mei's benefit, since the man couldn't see her. "Spirit hunters would have headed to one of the imperial offices right away, to get a map of the sewers. Then they would have started checking the exits, one by one, starting with the ones closest to the tavern. Their path must have been something of a spiral, with the tavern in the middle, while Mei's was straight towards the river. That they would have crossed paths was certain - it was just a question of wherever it was before or after she had already reached the river. Based on the distances, how fast I imagine them taking to check each exit… Fifty percent seems about right to me."

    Linghui Mei did not seem surprised by her words. Not her first time evading a search, clearly.

    "Really?" Wang Yonghao called out, "Why didn't you mention this before?"

    "I said it was highly likely they would cross paths."

    "Yeah. I thought it was because of the Heavens, not in general."

    Qian Shanyi scoffed at that. "What does it matter? Probability is probability. The key was wherever the dog would pick up the scent, and Linghui Mei would have known better than me how likely that was."

    Linghui Mei shook her head. "I didn't think it would. But it's not that simple."

    Qian Shanyi waited a moment, but when no elaboration came, she made a gesture, prompting for more.

    Linghui Mei frowned at her. "What?"

    "Not simple how?"

    "You really like that question, huh."

    Qian Shanyi grinned. "To cultivate is to always ask how, and not relent until the universe produces an answer. Now answer."

    Linghui Mei narrowed her eyes and huffed, looking away. She had a tendency to say nothing, reveal even less, unless absolutely necessary. Somewhat annoying, perhaps, but comforting in these circumstances. She wouldn't carelessly reveal their secrets when she went outside.

    "Fine," Linghui Mei finally said, "A scent trail isn't like paint dripping on the ground. It is a blending of scents, of signs in the environment, and all the while, the dog doesn't know if it is following the trail it's master wants. It just guesses. I thought it would guess differently."

    "Because your scent is different."

    "Yes."

    "You said, before, that the transformation had its own musk," Qian Shanyi continued, working through the logic, "one you have washed off before leaving. Your body was different, and so was its smell. I've barely touched the clothes before, so what does that leave? Just the scent of sewage on your hands?"

    "Should be." Linghui Mei nodded slightly. "But that isn't so simple either. Scents are not…independent. They are mixtures. Sewage is one of rot, dung, urine, food waste, wet dirt, and a dozen other things. Every pipe is disgusting in its own unique way. This combination is what identifies a specific scent, like a footprint, like-"

    "Like ingredients in a meal? Distinct, but recognizable when together?"

    "Yes. But all of these things - mud, urine, rot - are everywhere in cities. Mud especially, with the rain outside. I thought the dog would be looking for my musk, and that the rain would wash away the rest. If it smelled some sewage, alongside the scent of a new, unfamiliar person, I thought it would have dismissed it. A person wouldn't, if they had a nose like mine - it is too suspicious, given the circumstances. But a dog isn't a person."

    "Seems you were wrong."

    Linghui Mei scowled. There it was, finally! "I escaped. If I was wrong, I'd be dead."

    "Good point," Qian Shanyi nodded. "Well, I am glad you got out safely. Now let's make sure you stay this way."

    She still hadn't made a full, written inventory of their weapons stores, but her memory was as good as it had always been. She went over to one of the sections of the chiclotron, and took out a dagger. It was short, curved wickedly, the metal shining crimson, as if the entire weapon was a fountain of blood frozen in mid air. Darker glints spread slowly across it, like waves in a pond.

    The dagger came with a sheath, and Qian Shanyi quickly fashioned a belt for it from a spare cut of silk. Coming back to Linghui Mei, she gestured for kitsune to stand. "Up you get," she said.

    Linghui Mei did as she asked, looking at her suspiciously. "What is that?"

    "A weapon. You'll need it," Qian Shanyi explained, kneeling in front of her and passing the makeshift belt through the loops on the robes, securing it in place. She gestured for Linghui Mei to untie it, and made her repeat the motions several times so that the process would stick in her memory.

    "Congratulations, disciple Mei," she said once everything was in place. "You now have your very own weapon, like a real cultivator. For as long as you are in this world fragment, never let it get more than a foot away from you."

    Usually, there was a ceremony associated with the master giving a first weapon to their direct disciple, as a mark they were now qualified to step out of the sect, fully prepared to defend their life and honor - but Qian Shanyi didn't think Linghui Mei would appreciate the symbolism, and she didn't know enough about the kitsune culture to adapt it on the spot. Best to stick to the practicalities.

    Linghui Mei spun around, walking this way and that, keeping her eyes on the dagger. Qian Shanyi was pleased to see she tied it correctly, and it didn't move around - doing it on another person was different, motions unfamiliar, reversed.

    "It's awkward," Linghui Mei said, "what is the point of it? I have my claws."

    "You'll get used to it. The point of it is that you can't manifest a spiritual shield. For me and Yonghao, rosevines are mostly a minor annoyance, unless they catch us while asleep. For you, they are a deadly threat. With this dagger, you can free yourself if they try to kill you." Qian Shanyi paused, glancing at the baths. "It's frankly a wonder they didn't try again while you thawed out in the bath."

    "Hey!" Wang Yonghao shouted in indignation, "I waited around until she woke up! And I even left her a sword!"

    Qian Shanyi nodded to Linghui Mei. "Do you know how to use a sword?"

    "No."

    "Yeah, about what I expected," she snorted, pulling out her own sword and swishing it through the air. "Weapons made for cultivators are not like a knife of mundane steel. The sharpness of our swords is such that there are few things they cannot cut through. A sword - or that dagger of yours - will cut wood. It will cut through any bone. It will easily chip stone, though I doubt you have the strength to actually cut it. And it will never lose this edge. Your claws, I am afraid, cannot compete."

    Qian Shanyi stepped over to the palisade around the bath and easily chopped off a centimeter off one of the poles in a single swing, flicking the bit of wood towards Linghui Mei. It fell on the ground at her feet, rolling away.

    "Please do not destroy my bath with me in it," Wang Yonghao complained. She ignored him.

    She turned around, theatrically pointing her sword at Linghui Mei. The kitsune took a step back. "What I am saying is," Qian Shanyi continued, sheathing her sword with a flourish, "make sure you don't chop off your own fingers by accident. Swords are far too dangerous for you to use until you learn how to manifest a proper spiritual shield."

    Linghu Mei touched her own throat, and swallowed. "Thank you," she said, looking down on her dagger with a mix of trepidation and gratitude.

    "Don't mention it. You are entitled to it, as my direct disciple."

    "Disciple?"

    Qian Shanyi nodded. "You have agreed to learn to cultivate from me, have you not? That makes you my direct disciple. I am obligated to provide you with help, instruction, materials. Even food and housing. Of course." She grinned mischievously. "There are certain responsibilities as well. For example, you have to address me as 'Master Qian, grandest beneath the Heavens' -"

    Wang Yonghao groaned in the bath. "You absolutely do not have to call her that."

    "- and kowtow no less than five times any time I walk by -"

    "You don't have to do that either. She is just joking."

    Linghui Mei looked between Qian Shanyi and the bath, confusion plain on her face. Qian Shanyi turned to the bath with a mock frown. "Joking? Do you doubt my words, Yonghao?"

    "Words? I even doubt your silence."

    "Such disrespect. I should duel you over this insult." Qian Shanyi ran a hand through her long hair, pretending to consider it. "Fine. If you do not believe me either -" she pointed at Linghui Mei "- then we can make a bet -"

    "Do not gamble with her. She is a fraudster and a cheat."

    "Silence, insolent voice of the baths! You dare interfere with me instructing my direct disciple?"

    "I dare - "

    "Show some respect to each other," Linghui Mei suddenly snapped at them. "Husband and wife, yet you argue like common peddlers at market."

    A loud splash from the baths - Wang Yonghao must have slipped up from the shock, sending a small wave of water through the palisade. His voice cut off mid sentence, drowned out by the water.

    Qian Shanyi quirked an eyebrow at Linghui Mei. "Husband and wife?"

    Wang Yonghao surfaced loudly, coughing up water.

    "You even have your hammocks hanging one over the other," Linghui Mei sneered. "I do not know what kind of perversions you cultivators get up to, but there is no mistaking it."

    "SHE IS NOT - SHE IS NOT MY WIFE!" Wang Yonghao shouted, before descending into more coughing.

    A mischievous twinkle passed through Qian Shanyi's eyes. She gasped, both hands going up to her mouth. "Yonghao! Was that your intention all along?!"

    "Shanyi! You - "

    "You pervert! You tricked me, a young, innocent girl -"

    "Shanyi, damn you -"

    "- without a single lustful thought in the corner of her eye -"

    Wang Yonghao's head showed up above the palisade, hands cupped together, wet hair pulled away from his face. "Mei, I beg for your understanding, she is lying again."

    "- into sharing a room with you?! How could you?!"

    "Oh stop it," Linghui Mei snapped again, glaring at both of them. "Like an old married couple, yet you can't make peace?"

    "WE ARE NOT -"

    Qian Shanyi gasped, fell on her knees and theatrically shielded her eyes with one hand. "Ah Yonghao, even she doesn't believe our lies! Fine, Mei, we admit it! Our love is so strong it could shatter mountains!"

    Wang Yonghao's face went white with terror, his hands grasping at his hair. "Absolutely not! No love, no nothing!"

    "- so mighty that even if heaven and earth mingled, we would withstand it all together!"

    Wang Yonghao's face went even whiter, pale as death. He hiccuped. "I can't even withstand this…" he whispered.

    "- so fiery, it can melt through even the coldest blizzard!"

    Linghui Mei stared at her antics with narrowed eyes. "This is all one big joke to you?"

    "My entire life is a joke," Wang Yonghao moaned, burrowing his face in his palms.

    "A joke?!" Qian Shanyi gasped, sweeping the hand that shielded her eyes wide, the other grasping at her heart. "Is this…truly how you feel, Yonghao?" She sniffled, wiping her right eye with one finger, pushing a single tragic tear out of her tear ducts with her spiritual energy. "Had even my love been… just one big joke to you?!"

    Qian Shanyi stretched one hand to Linghui Mei, bending down until her forehead touched the tall grass. "Please… Do not believe his sweet lies… At least you, should keep your heart whole…"

    Linghui Mei looked between Wang Yonghao, his face still buried in his hands, and Qian Shanyi, kowtowing down on the grass, one hand stretched towards her feet. Her face passed from confusion, to annoyance, to fury, and then settled on disdain. "Cultivators," she ceded through her teeth.

    Qian Shanyi started to cackle, then laugh, toppling backwards onto the grass, clutching at her chest. "Oh saints and heavenbreakers, you should have seen your faces!" she laughed, wiping tears of joy from her eyes.
    It took them another twenty minutes to convince Linghui Mei that they haven't been married, and that despite Qian Shanyi's character, she was still a serious and mostly reliable cultivator.

    Qian Shanyi still snickered, as she sat back down in front of Linghui Mei. "We have more important things to discuss, in either case," she said, her face growing serious. "I think I have figured out what I meant by helping you develop a new spiritual energy recirculation law."

    Linghui Mei's eyes flew open, full of cautious hope. Suspicion that this was a trap was gone, replaced with somewhat justified suspicion that Qian Shanyi was having her on. "Really?"

    "Yes." Qian Shanyi paused, chewing on her lip. She wasn't looking forward to this, but it was best to have everyone on the same page right away. "You aren't going to like it."

    Suspicion changed, growing more serious. Qian Shanyi sighed, getting her writing set out. She'd need some numbers, diagrams. "Let me explain my reasoning first. The biggest problem isn't so much the spiritophagy, it's that the Empire will kill you on sight."
    Linghui Mei gave her a hesitant nod.

    "Let's consider what it would take to get kitsune taken off the slaughter list," Qian Shanyi continued. "I only know the broadest bureaucratic details, but essentially, this is a matter of proving there is a path towards coexistence. And spiritophagy isn't as big of a hurdle as it may at first seem."

    Qian Shanyi picked up a clean sheet of paper, starting to write. "You said you need to feed once or twice a week? Let's suppose we can find some volunteers. Perhaps you could feed on them while they sleep, so not much of value is lost."

    There was a slight twitch to Linghui Mei's ears, a narrowing of her eyes. It seems Qian Shanyi's suspicion was correct, and she already did so. Easy enough to find a drunkard to feed on, one who will not be suspicious of feeling terrible after a bad night out, who won't go to a healer. No need to hide a body, to worry about a missing person being traced. Perhaps she even worked in taverns before - a good place to find "food".

    "How many volunteers do we need?" Qian Shanyi continued, not letting her thoughts show. If Linghui Mei wanted to keep this a secret, she could make an effort at pretending ignorance, "Let's think of this in terms of hours of memory you need to consume."

    "It's not direct -"

    She waved Linghui Mei off. "Yes, yes, I can imagine, it won't be a direct translation from soul damage to days lost. I had experienced that on my own self already, but we are just estimating for now. Say you need to eat twenty four hours of memory equivalent per week - we can split this across four volunteers, just to be safe. Let's assume that these volunteers - not cultivators, just ordinary people - fully recover within two months. In that case, you can survive by rotating between thirty to forty people, like goat farmers rotate their herds between different fields."

    Linghui Mei pursed her lips, unhappy about being compared to a ravenous goat. "Your tails are much fluffier than goat ones, do not worry." Qian Shanyi assured her, which only seemed to make her grumpier. Strange.

    "Forty volunteers might seem like a lot, but… It isn't," Qian Shanyi said, writing out more numbers on her piece of paper. Demographic ones now, from what she could recall. "This is about making peace, the core spirit of reformation. Even if only one percent of people are idealists like me and would help you out, we are talking about two to three kitsune per ten thousand people, at an easily sustainable rate. Any town the size of Glaze Ridge would be more than enough for you."

    She turned back towards Linghui Mei. "But unless kitsune are much better at hiding than I suspect, there aren't anywhere near that many of you around," Qian Shanyi said, "in fact, I'd bet there are a good ten to a hundred times fewer than this. I do not know wherever the food ever was a problem, what truly happened with the kitsune lords - but it no longer is."

    The kettle started to whistle, and Linghui Mei took it off the fire, pouring them both some tea. She looked thoughtful.

    "You really think people would go for it?" Wang Yonghao asked. His head poked out above the palisade again, wet hair slicked back, away from his face. "I did, but I am…"

    "Insane?" Qian Shanyi offered, accepting her cup of tea with a grateful nod.

    "Altruistic." Wang Yonghao scowled. "I don't know how many other people would be like me."

    "I know a couple back in my city, who would go for it for sure," Qian Shanyi said, "Admittedly, for them it would have been a sexual thing, but food is food."

    Wang Yonghao rolled his eyes at her, for some reason assuming she was joking. Linghui Mei blushed deeply.

    "It's not my preference - but there are all sorts of strange people out there," Qian Shanyi finished with a shrug. "The point is, it's not an insurmountable obstacle. We would have to prove your feeding is safe, but that is much simpler than developing a whole new recirculation law."

    "But?" Linghui Mei said, full of anticipation. "You said I wouldn't like it."

    "But there are two sides to spiritophagy," Qian Shanyi said with a sigh, leveling her gaze at Linghui Mei. "That you need it to survive, and that you grow stronger when you feed. Am I wrong?"

    Linghui Mei drew herself up, ears flattening against her head, eyes narrowing. Qian Shanyi watched her calmly.

    "What are you implying?"

    "Nobody is attacking you here," she said impassively. "Just answer the question."

    "We are not like you -" Linghui Mei growled, with a bit of a scowl.

    "Save your outrage. Stronger or not?"

    "Yes, but -"

    "As I've expected." Qian Shanyi cut her off. "Cauldrons, demonic cultivation techniques… Feeding on innocents had always been the fastest path towards power. This would be the actual threat in the eyes of cultivators - that some kitsune will take it, grow beyond all limits. And with your transformations, hiding from justice becomes surprisingly easy. Even easier, if you could cultivate."

    "We are not like you," Linghui Mei growled, "We keep watch of our own, we do not take more than we need, we -"

    "Can you guarantee that none of your fellow kitsune would be seduced by power? None at all?"

    Linghui Mei scowl grew wider. "Stop using that word," she said, quietly.

    "What word?"

    "Kitsune," Linghui Mei hissed, leaping up on her feet, "It's not our word, it is yours. It's jiuweihu. Jiuweihu!"

    Qian Shanyi blinked. An old term, was it not? She said it before, too. A bit of oral culture, shared by all jiuweihu, or something Linghui Mei herself researched at some point? "Okay," she said easily, "Can you guarantee that none of your fellow jiuweihu would be seduced by power?"

    "Can you guarantee that none of your fellow cultivators will slaughter innocents?"

    "No. I know well that some do."

    Linghui Mei threw her hands up in the air. "Then why do you expect us to uphold a standard you do not?" she shouted. "This isn't fair!"

    "I am not expecting anything," Qian Shanyi explained patiently. "Nor am I talking about what is fair. I am talking about what it would take to present a good case. To build trust. Some people - me included, frankly - would say we cannot tolerate a conflict based on a maybe. That we'll figure out how to catch and slaughter jiuweihu who turn to demonic cultivation when and if they become a problem, separate from you simply needing to feed. Others will say that we will need a solution well in advance. If we had one on hand, it would all be that much simpler."

    "So what do you propose?"

    Qian Shanyi sighed, looking up at Linghui Mei, not getting up off the grass. This wasn't going well, but she had to finish. "Spiritophagy, by itself, is not the problem. Transformation, by itself, is not the problem. Only their combination. So this gives us two potential approaches." Qian Shanyi wrote them out on her sheet, as branches off a tree. "One: develop a new spiritual energy recirculation law that not only removes your need to feed on souls, but also your ability. Reconstructs your soul from the ground up. It takes many weeks to fully adjust to a new recirculation law - if some jiuweihu tried to back out, other cultivators would notice. Two: develop one that removes your ability to transform." She tapped the second option. "Destroying is always easier than creating. Perhaps we could even manage it on our own."

    "No." Linghui Mei scowled, fangs growing out in her mouth. "Leave me defenseless, unable to run? Absolutely not."

    This isn't just about you. How many other jiuweihu would take that chance for peace?

    "Yeah." Qian Shanyi sighed again, rubbing her hair. "About what I expected. So that only leaves the first option. The much, much harder one." She tapped the back of her writing brush against her forehead, thinking. "Well, one step at a time. If we could develop a different way for you to feed, or at least prove it does not harm ordinary people in the long term - it would help, give us options. Allies, perhaps. And the first step is to teach you how to cultivate."

    Qian Shanyi looked in Linghui Mei's eyes. She was still glaring at her, agitated after the outburst. "How about we take ten minutes before we continue?" Qian Shanyi said, getting up off the grass. "I'd prefer for you to calm down first. An agitated mind is one unprepared for cultivation."

    Linghui Mei huffed, stalking away. Qian Shanyi watched her go.

    With any hope, this wouldn't put her off the idea entirely.
     
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    • As I've previously decided to recommend other stories, here's another one - Ruinous Return, a story about a hero who was screwed out of credit after she defeated a demon lord, and is on a quest to build an empire and get back what she deserves. If you feel that the speed of power growth in Feng Shui Engineering is pretty slow, and would like to try something faster, with wider societal focus, then I found it to be a pretty good, light read, though maybe other people would dispute the light label due to mentions of abuse. She is also bisexual, if that matters.

    ​
     
    Winged_One said:
    "There are certain responsibilities as well. For example, you have to address me as 'Master Qian, grandest beneath the Heavens' -"

    Wang Yonghao groaned in the bath. "You absolutely do not have to call her that."

    "- and kowtow no less than five times any time I walk by -"

    "You don't have to do that either. She is just joking."

    Linghui Mei looked between Qian Shanyi and the bath, confusion plain on her face.
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    I'd say "thank goodness there's someone who can translate Shanyi Bullshit," but I doubt Shanyi would have bullshitted like this if there wasn't.

    "Ah Yonghao, even she doesn't believe our lies! Fine, Mei, we admit it! Our love is so strong it could shatter mountains!"

    Wang Yonghao's face went white with terror, his hands grasping at his hair. "Absolutely not! No love, no nothing!"
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    No love at all? I doubt it. There has to be some reason you haven't strangled her in her sleep.
    Platonic love is still love.


    "Cauldrons, demonic cultivation techniques… Feeding on innocents had always been the fastest path towards power. This would be the actual threat in the eyes of cultivators - that some kitsune will take it, grow beyond all limits. And with your transformations, hiding from justice becomes surprisingly easy. Even easier, if you could cultivate."

    "We are not like you," Linghui Mei growled, "We keep watch of our own, we do not take more than we need, we -"

    "Can you guarantee that none of your fellow kitsune would be seduced by power? None at all?"
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    And more importantly, can you convince an Imperial judge that they wouldn't?
     
    Winged_One said:
    Linghui Mei looked between Wang Yonghao [...] and Qian Shanyi [...] Her face passed from confusion, to annoyance, to fury, and then settled on disdain. "Cultivators," she ceded through her teeth.
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    It's kind of funny, that a kitsune would have no appreciation for Shanyi's trickster nature, or that it is a pretty good sign she's starting to open up around Mei... but it also make complete sense given Mei's past and personality. (as we've seen so far)

    I'm actually really curious to see how Mei is, in an environment where she feels safe, but that may be a long way off.

    GreatWyrmGold said:
    I'd say "thank goodness there's someone who can translate Shanyi Bullshit," but I doubt Shanyi would have bullshitted like this if there wasn't.
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    I don't think she's the kind of character to take advantage of the defenseless, even in a battle of wits. And that doesn't necessarily mean someone who is unintelligent, here what Mei would have been lacking is the shared context between Shanyi and Yonghao.

    Plus, private jokes aren't nearly as fun without anyone who can appreciate them... or at least be embarassed by them. 😹

    GreatWyrmGold said:
    No love at all? I doubt it. There has to be some reason you haven't strangled her in her sleep.
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    To be fair, Yanghao is a cinnamon roll and I doubt he ever considered strangling someone in their sleep even as an idle thought.

    That said, he does seem to be, if not aromantic, at least entirely inexperienced with that, if only because he spent so long on the run from his "luck" and couldn't form any sort of lasting relationship (be it friendships, sexual partners, or romantic ones)

    Shanyi is the first person (since the Heavens started messing with him) to actually stick around, despite Yanghao's attempt to ditch her, the Heavens' attempts to kill her off, and Shanyi herself being fully cognisant of the risks. It would be implausible for Yanghao not to feel anything about her, though it doesn't have to be romantic.

    Plus, giving Shanyi one's romantic feelings, might be like giving a chicken a toothbrush.
     
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    nicoo said:
    Shanyi is the first person (since the Heavens started messing with him) to actually stick around, despite Yanghao's attempt to ditch her, the Heavens' attempts to kill her off, and Shanyi herself being fully cognisant of the risks. It would be implausible for Yanghao not to feel anything about her, though it doesn't have to be romantic.
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    There's more than one kind of love, nicoo.
     
    Chapter 65: Meditate On Peace And Track Your Future
  • Threadmarks
    • Author Note: Want to read ahead? You can find THREE patreon-exclusive posts (new one just this saturday!), as well as FIVE more chapters, over on my patreon, for a low price of 3$.
    I also have a discord server, where I post memes I make about FSE, and occasionally discuss some plans and worldbuilding details.​
    Linghui Mei stalked over to the edge of the world fragment, far from Qian Shanyi, fuming. Qian Shanyi kept track of her out of the corner of her eye, giving her space to relax. It was an understandable reaction, especially since Qian Shanyi had apparently been stepping on her toes every time she called her a kitsune.

    Qian Shanyi spent their break drawing up the diagrams she would need for the lecture and bringing a couple other odds and ends over to the kitchens. Tea was good for the mind, there was little reason to move somewhere else.

    Minutes ticked by, one after another. The time of their break had passed, but Qian Shanyi didn't call Linghui Mei back. They were in no rush, and It was best for her to decide to return herself.

    Wang Yonghao stayed in the bath, splashing around like an enormous carp.

    Finally, four minutes later than she said, Lingui Mei came back, looking contrite. "I am sorry for my outburst," she said with a short bow, "you haven't said anything deserving of it. I should have already known there would not be a simple solution, and you have agreed to help me despite me bringing you nothing but trouble. I'll try to keep my temper under control."

    Qian Shanyi's eyebrows rose of their own volition. She expected her to simply try to sweep it under the rug, not apologize. "No harm done," she said easily, "I must apologize as well, for calling you a kitsune."

    Linghui Mei let out a breath she had been holding. "Thank you," she said, sitting down opposite Qian Shanyi on the grass.

    "It seemed that there was some history there," Qian Shanyi continued, seizing the opportunity. "I haven't heard of 'jiuweihu' being an endonym. I'd love to hear what you know of your own history - I imagine it's quite different from what the empire teaches."

    The history books called that time period the "reign of the kitsune lords", but she didn't think it was worth mentioning.

    Linghui Mei chewed her lip nervously, thinking it over. She opened her mouth, then closed it, swallowing her first response. "We don't know much," she finally admitted, voice full of quiet loss. "Many songs, stories passed on from parent to child. Tales of how we have built great cities and palaces, and how it all came crashing down. I have made it my life's work to collect more than most, but… It is still just scraps of what we had before. "

    "Nothing about cultivation?"

    "Cultivators? Plenty. How you've slaughtered us."

    Qian Shanyi chuckled quietly. "No, cultivation. Most historians agree that jiuweihu cultivated back then - it was one of the reasons the war with them was so bloody. One of the reasons I do not particularly doubt you'd be capable of learning, even."

    A flurry of emotions passed over Linghui Mei's face, before it settled into an uncertain frown. "No," she said, "nothing like that. I suppose we talk more about the feats we could do - but not how we achieved them."

    "Understandable." Qian Shanyi nodded. "Perhaps you can sing some of those songs to us later. But for now - let us talk about cultivation." She glanced towards the bath. "Yonghao, will you join us? You must already know everything I have to tell. I'd appreciate your assistance in teaching."

    "I could assist you from here."

    Qian Shanyi frowned. "No. This is a complex topic. It has to be taught properly, not half-assed."

    There was a glimmer of appreciation from Linghui Mei's eyes.

    "In that case… I think I'll stay out," Wang Yonghao said lazily.

    "Are you ever getting out?"

    "It's comfortable in here. Have I told you that it was a great idea to build a bath? Because it was. One of your best ones."

    "You'd soon turn into a fish."

    "Maybe I'd like to be a fish. Swimming all day, not worrying about anything, it's great."

    "Then Mei would eat you up."

    Linghui Mei blushed. Qian Shanyi rolled her eyes. "Well, no matter," she said, pulling out her diagrams, arranging them in front of herself. Creative and destructive cycles, a sketch of the meridian network, key differences between an ordinary person and a cultivator. "If you won't help, then stay quiet while I teach Mei. She won't need more distractions." She nodded to the jiuweihu opposite her. "Are you ready to begin?"

    Linghui Mei nodded, sitting down in a lotus pose. It took her a moment to fold her legs, clearly unused to it as she was. Much calmer than before, at least, ready to listen.

    "You don't have to sit like me," Qian Shanyi said, gesturing to her legs. "Sit how you are comfortable, please."

    Linghui Mei breathed out, and untangled her legs, putting her feet to one side.

    Qian Shanyi nodded. "Tell me what you know about spiritual energy."

    "My mother taught me about qi," Linghui Mei said self-consciously. "Is that what you mean?"

    Qian Shanyi inclined her head, considering another outdated term. If her mother taught her - one jiuweihu to another, all oral tradition - no wonder they were still using it. Hopefully there won't be too many bad habits that would have to be unlearned. "Qi is an old term," she finally said, motioning for her to continue. "It's not used anymore, but it used to be mostly synonymous. Just give me the summary, so I know where you are starting from."

    "Okay," Linghui Mei breathed out, "Qi is -"

    "Why isn't it used anymore?" Wang Yonghao's voice interrupted them.

    Qian Shanyi pursed her lips, angling her head slightly towards the bath. She specifically asked him to shut up. "Is this relevant, Yonghao?"

    "I mean, I am interested. It's all over the scrolls and manuals, and some of the old monsters -"

    "I ask," she cut him off sharply, "because we were starting the most introductory class on cultivation, and you've said you'll stay out of it. I have done this lecture many times back in the sect. There is already a lot to remember, all out of the gate. Offsides like that only make the students more confused."

    "So what, if a student asks a question -"

    "And if Mei asked me this question, I would have responded differently," Qian Shanyi said, eyeing Linghui Mei. Jiuweihu in question sat patiently, eyes darting between her and the bath, head bowed down slightly. "You aren't my student, she is. I asked you to stay quiet for a reason."

    "Sorry!"

    Qian Shanyi motioned to Linghui Mei with a sigh. "Do you want to know? It's about a history of terminology, at the end of the day. It doesn't matter what you call a pot as long as it cooks rice."

    Linghui Mei considered her question for a moment, before shrugging with one shoulder. "You've said I could pretend to be a cultivator, hide among them. Would this be something most of them would know?"

    Qian Shanyi sighed. She still didn't want to call herself a cultivator. Frustrating, but understandable. "No. As you can see, Yonghao is ignorant." She tapped her cheek, considering it. "Then again, you would always be missing a lot of context. Perhaps it's best if you could pass for a bookish disciple, someone who could speak about these topics but be too shy for much else. It isn't such a long digression, either."

    Linghui Mei inclined her head, deferring the decision to her.

    Qian Shanyi did always like talking about the history of the reformation. Perhaps she could indulge herself as well…

    No. She had a duty to her student. She couldn't afford to waste more time than necessary.

    "The key question always was: what is Qi?" she said, after a short pause, cutting down a much longer lecture down to bare essentials. "Sixty years ago you could ask a dozen different cultivators and get two dozen different answers. Some would talk about the focus a fighter puts on different parts of their body as they take a swing, and how this focus switches throughout the fight. Others about the speed, movement, and the force in their muscles. Still others, about breathing techniques, how they imagine a sort of 'energy' spreading through their limbs. Or about emotions, how you feel anger squeezing your chest or love fluttering in your belly. And some would talk about what we today term spiritual energy."

    Linghui Mei listened attentively. Perhaps one of those descriptions resonated with what she "knew".

    "All using the same word to talk about entirely unrelated concepts - a complete mess," Qian Shanyi continued. "It didn't help that many sects deliberately perpetuated the confusion, to keep their lower ranked disciples fumbling in the dark, using them for their labor while feeding them scant scraps of true knowledge. The era of reformation brought about standardization in many areas, terminology among them, and so thirty-odd years ago "spiritual energy" was canonized as the new, precise term. There is a law that requires all newer books to abide by the terminology, with limited exceptions. This way, If you see 'qi' written in a book, you know that it's an old text, and to be on guard for inaccuracies."

    Linghui Mei frowned at that last word. "So because my mother talked about Qi," she said slowly, "it means what she told me was all wrong? I will not believe that for a second."

    Qian Shanyi shook her head, deciding to be diplomatic. "Not necessarily. It just means she would have been imprecise. This isn't surprising - it would be a miracle if a scant few jiuweihu, working without books, without true research, based on scraps of knowledge carried all the way from… the distant past could manage to rival an entire cultivation civilization. But it does mean there may be misconceptions in what she told you, simplifications, theories that have since been proven wrong. Please simply tell me what you know - we can go from there."

    That seemed to relax Linghui Mei, and she began her tale. Much of it was already familiar to Qian Shanyi - it wasn't uncommon for new inner disciples to come into the sect full of 'ideas' about how spiritual energy worked, and there tended to be many commonalities. Though to Linghui Mei's credit, her words were fairly close to the truth - she recalled the five major types without error, and her descriptions of the process of absorbing and utilizing spiritual energy were very accurate. It came with the species, Qian Shanyi supposed - if you hunted with spiritual energy, you would know it intuitively. She made notes throughout, for later reference.

    "This is fairly good," Qian Shanyi said once the explanation concluded. "A bit imprecise, like I have said, but very good otherwise." She glanced down at her notes. "Only one thing I have to address right away. You said that ordinary people have no 'qi', only 'life force'. It's an understandable mistake, but there is no fundamental difference between the two. These are both just different types of spiritual energy, and ordinary people of course have both. One is gaseous, the other much more solid, formed into a soul."

    "There are techniques to reverse this transformation, too," Wang Yonghao chimed in.

    Qian Shanyi sighed in annoyance, but ignored the interruption. Pivot, move on. "Yes. There are demonic cultivation techniques to reverse this transformation, to use human beings for power." She paused, glancing at one of Linghui Mei's tails. "Arguably, what you do is one of them."

    "Also non-demonic techniques! Though they are pretty rare."

    "Yonghao, if you don't stop interrupting me, I'll move this lesson into your bath."

    "...I'll be good."

    "Thank you." Qian Shanyi sighed in frustration, and turned back to Linghui Mei. "Now, you have said you can sense spiritual energy?"

    Linghui Mei nodded silently.

    "Show me," Qian Shanyi said, taking out a blindfold and handing it to Linghui Mei.

    "I'll expel spiritual energy from one of my fingers," she explained while Linghui Mei put it on. "You just have to say which one - the blindfold is so that you do not cheat, rely on my face to guess. It's a standard test, most inner disciples go through it at some point."

    "Okay."

    Qian Shanyi raised her hand in front of herself and started, but stopped when she felt Linghui Mei's spiritual tails rise up towards her hand, surrounding it from different directions. "You sense with your tails?" she guessed.

    "Yes," Linghui Mei nodded, pulling the tails away. "Should I keep them at a distance?"

    Qian Shanyi tapped her cheek. Complex question, really. "Humans do not have tails," she said, "We sense using the cilia of our soul, hair-like threads that grow on its surface. My own senses are not precise enough to tell if you have any. Yonghao, I don't suppose you have an advantage here?"

    "So now I can talk?"

    "When I ask you a direct question, obviously."

    "No, I can't sense that precisely either."

    "Would it be bad if I didn't?" Linghui Mei asked.

    "It will be a disadvantage," Qian Shanyi said neutrally. "My own cilia are a good twenty meters long, and can sense spiritual energy in all directions, even through walls. If you have to rely on your tails, only sensing through touch…"

    "I don't." Linghui Mei interrupted. "It's… it's like a second nose. There is a smell to the qi, how it flows through the air."

    Qian Shanyi leaned back. "Interesting. I'll modify the test a bit, so we can figure out the differences."

    A couple minutes of experimentation showed that Linghui Mei could sense spiritual energy as well as any other high refinement stage cultivator, and even better up close. With her tail almost pressed up against Qian Shanyi's soul, she could even distinguish between individual spiritual pores that vented spiritual energy. Qian Shanyi had to rely on her own internal senses to reach that level of precision.

    There were some drawbacks. Cilia of a soul filled a space, bending all around obstacles, even passing through walls, though it reduced their sensitivity a fair bit. Qian Shanyi could sense anything that happened near her to a uniform degree; but Linghui Mei's senses dropped off sharply depending on the direction in which the spiritual energy moved; if it was expelled directly away from her, she sensed almost nothing. Furthermore, there was a bit of a gap between when the spiritual energy began to move, and when Linghui Mei sensed it.

    On the other hand, she could follow a trail of spiritual energy in the air, left by a cultivator's passing. Just like a scent, in that respect.

    "You are sensing the degenerate form of spiritual energy as well, I think," Qian Shanyi said, ruminating over the results. "The form it turns into once used. It would explain how you can trail cultivators so well."

    "Cultivators cannot sense it?"

    "No," Qian Shanyi said, scratching her chin. "At least, not generally. It's interesting. Now try hiding your tails - let's see if you can at least sense the presence of spiritual energy without them."

    She could. Very imprecisely, and only within about five meters of herself, but she could.

    "Probably you likewise have the cilia, simply untrained," Qian Shanyi said, pleased with the results. "This is very good. Now, can you sense the flow of spiritual energy within your body?"

    Linghui Mei gave her a strange look. "Of course not. It'd be like smelling my own organs."

    Qian Shanyi laughed slightly. "I am afraid this is where the scent analogy breaks down. Sensing the flows of your inner spiritual energy is the first step on the path of cultivation - you cannot learn to control its movement without it. You should have an advantage here, at least - your body already has much more of it to be sensed than a normal disciple. So this will be where we start - it's very different from sensing it on the outside, but not too complex in itself. Are you comfortable?"

    "What?"

    "This is important. We don't want any distractions, and this will take a while."

    It would still take a good month in the very best case scenario, but Qian Shanyi didn't want to discourage the jiuweihu right away.

    Linghui Mei shifted around, changing her posture on the grass, rolling her neck. "Can I lie down?"

    "No. You are a beginner, you'd fall right asleep."

    After a minute, Linghui Mei nodded. "Okay," Qian Shanyi continued. "The first step is to learn to consciously focus on the sensations of your body. Close your eyes, if you still have them open beneath the blindfold. Focus on your breathing, on the feel of air passing through your nose. In and out, in and out. Gentle movement of your nostrils alongside it."

    Linghui Mei did so. Her ears flicked slightly with every breath.

    "Your mind will begin to drift," Qian Shanyi continued. "You will start to think about what happened over the last day, your plans, your fears. This is normal - do not get disappointed when it happens. I find that giving a bit of token acknowledgement to the thought helps, before bringing yourself back to just breathing. The goal is to have it occupy your entire awareness. Once you get used to bringing your mind back on track, I'll teach you how to analyze your own body."

    "Mostly I am just smelling you two. Tea. Wood, wet grass."

    "That… might be an issue," Qian Shanyi said, frowning. "Closing the eyes is meant to cut off your external senses, but we can't close your nose. Perhaps we'd need to build you some enclosure, with a stable scent, to help you focus."

    "Can I go to the edge, at least?" Linghui Mei asked, lifting her blindfold over one eye. "There is too much here, next to the kitchen. I still smell the meat."

    "Absolutely," Qian Shanyi said, standing up and stretching her limbs. "In fact, experiment on your own for a while. I'll keep watch topside, while Yonghao takes a nap here. Then when I return, we can discuss how well it's going."

    She walked over to the bath. "Yonghao, get out of the bath. I need your help."

    "Must you?"

    "You know I won't hesitate to walk in and dress you up myself, right?"

    "Fine…"
    Wang Yonghao's fingers were all wrinkled from the water as he tied the rope harness around his waist. "It's nice that you've figured out a plan for Linghui Mei," he grumbled quietly, "but don't you think you should pay more attention to this duel you got yourself into? With Jian Shizhe?"

    "I am paying exactly as much attention as little Shizhe deserves."

    Wang Yonghao glared at her. She shot him a satisfied grin. "Do you at least have a plan?"

    "Of course. Step one is to wait for my body to recover."

    Wang Yonghao stopped working on the harness, turning to face her fully. "Recover from what?"

    "The tribulation?" Qian Shanyi said, blinking in confusion. "My healer said I should refrain from cultivation for two weeks, out of which six days had already passed, as far as my body is concerned. The duel is in three days, at noon - this gives me sixteen full days in the world fragment, if I spend all my time here. Plenty of time to quietly recover and then prepare for the duel. I'll be entering it at full strength, while Jian Shizhe is still adapting to his prosthetic - not that he'll know this."

    "Did you also figure out what in the name of the netherworld you were trying to do by getting into it?"

    Qian Shanyi blinked. "Didn't need to. That part was obvious."

    "Enlighten me."

    "Didn't you read my notes?"

    Wang Yonghao glared at her again, and stormed off, the rope whipping on the ground behind him. He came back, holding her stack of notes. "DP: Chakr. con-zap trap, trade F. for M-set," Wang Yonghao read out loud, before looking up at her. "What is any of this supposed to mean?"

    "Duel plan: use chakram, confidence lightning trap, trade face for - better - mindset," Qian Shanyi translated easily with a smile. "It's shuttle diplomacy."

    "Do I even want to know what shuttle diplomacy means?"

    "Hm. Let me explain with an old joke," she said, "how do you make the daughter of an ancient sect patriarch marry a completely ordinary peasant?"

    Wang Yonghao stayed silent, staring at her. She waited patiently. Finally, he sighed, and gave in. "How?"

    "Very simply!" She grinned wider. "First, find your peasant, and ask him: do you want to marry a woman you've never met? He says, why would I? Then you say, ah, but she is the daughter of a sect magnate whose wealth eclipses the sky - and he agrees, because it's a completely different question. Then you go to the biggest bank, and ask - do you want an ordinary peasant to be your boss? Of course they refuse. But what if he was the son in law of an important sect patriarch? Well, then it's a completely different question. Then you visit the sect patriarch, and you ask - would you like to marry your daughter out to an ordinary peasant? And before he laughs you out the doors, you say - alright, fine, but he is the president of this enormous bank. Finally, you visit the daughter, and you ask her - do you want to marry the president of a bank - and she says, feh, I've seen a hundred thousand young masters, they are all the same - he will forget about me in a week and I will die alone. And then you say - ah, but he isn't even a cultivator, he would live with you as equals - and now it's a completely different question."

    Wang Yonghao kept glaring at her once she finished up. "This explained precisely nothing."

    Qian Shanyi snorted. "Meditate on this, junior. Now get me back up into the tavern. I have books to read, and you should take a rest while I keep watch. We can talk more about this in a couple hours."
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Winged_One said:
    That we'll figure out how to catch and slaughter kitsune who turn to demonic cultivation when and if they become a problem,
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    Winged_One said:
    if some kitsune tried to back out, other cultivators would notice.
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    It seems Shanyi is trying to use Mei's preferred terms, so I wanted to let you know that she says kitsune twice in the last chapter immediately after being corrected.
    Winged_One said:
    The era of reformation brought about standardization in many areas, terminology among them, and so thirty-odd years ago "spiritual energy" was canonized as the new, precise term. There is a law that requires all newer books to abide by the terminology, with limited exceptions. This way, If you see 'qi' written in a book, you know that it's an old text, and to be on guard for inaccuracies."
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    I love this so much. The reformations are one of the things that are so fascinating about this setting, and that seem to be why cultivators act so differently here. Looking forward to hearing more!
     
    Mathematicae said:
    She'll just do her lie shamelessly strat like usual.
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    Importantly, once everything is said and done, everyone has what they asked for. So it's not just lying shamelessly.

    Though I wouldn't call it an honest transaction, any more than I'd call getting (and paying back) a loan for an entirely legitimate business with a fraudulent surety honest.
     
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