Chapter 51: Spirit Basin Grotto

Chapter 51: Spirit Basin Grotto

In the first few days of our new, temporary base of operations, it is impossible to cultivate together. I am eager to reach the Foundation realm and to experiment with my pillar mystery. But Lan Xiaohui, it becomes clear, is not able to do it. Her recovery is taking some time. Her expenditure of spirit was significant, and all she can do, for most of the day, is rest and meditate.

Every time she goes to sleep, I feel the black sphere in my sea of consciousness pulse and flash. I detect a sudden inrush of consciousness from Lan Xiaohui, that disappears into my sphere. Once is a coincidence. Twice is a pattern. And it has happened, without exception, at least five times now. I am certain that when Lan Xiaohui sleeps, her consciousness flows into the black sphere.

Even with this knowledge, I cannot find any input channels on the black sphere, or figure out how to operate it. I am starting to become frustrated. I considered asking Lan Xiaohui about it, but I doubt she knows either. What she does is automatic, and happens long after her active consciousness has gone to sleep.

But the black sphere is not the only mystery. After the first day of staying in this place, the pool had turned into a hot spring with medicinal properties. Even if I was incapable of confirming that there was no heat vent or any indication of tectonic activity seventy steps below the pool of water, I would still find this awfully strange and convenient. A hot spring with medicinal properties is exactly what Lan Xiaohui needs.

The wild growth also undergoes an unforeseen change. Many of the vines climbing the walls of the grotto bear fruits infused with spiritual essence but no medicinal properties unfortunately and they just happen to do so now. In winter.

It reminds me of Zhao Wei the way he spoke sweetly and like a brother, offered gifts and favors freely, only to try to poison Lan Xiaohui and kill her. I believe the phrase is: too good to be true.

But Lan Xiaohui, I realize, has something that will eventually help her surpass the depth of my Dao. She makes herself like a reed blown about in the wind come hail, come storm. She does not care that this grotto is clearly unnatural and worthy of suspicion. She rests in the hot springs; she eats the fruits; she even lets the spiritual fox make a home in her hair, while she recovers from her wounds and exhaustion.

There is an honesty in her actions that, while destructive like gambling with her life to find out if Zhao Wei would truly betray her is also what will ultimately allow her to reach the Dao.

She truly is like a sword.

So am I, I remind myself. I know this. I know that the shape of the road does not matter only the journey is relevant for the Dao.

I realize, belatedly, that I am developing an attachment to Lan Xiaohui. She is becoming something that is no longer just a convenient transportation method. Perhaps it is because of the modifications I performed and our connected consciousnesses that have affected me so, but I now desire to see her succeed.

You are so confident, Lan Xiaohui says brightly, but I hear regret in her voice. I understand this regret and bitterness. I know where it comes from.

I am the only one Lan Xiaohui can rely on now. There is only myself, and perhaps these passive critters around her. Her own kind has betrayed her.

I cannot replace that loneliness in her heart. I cannot fulfill her wish to have a companion that is like me, but also of her own kind.

You are too, I tell her. A boost to morale is the best I can do for her now. It works, because she cracks a genuine smile albeit small and then reaches over to me and grabs me.

With a sigh, she wraps her arms around me, like she usually does, and pulls me in closer, resting her cheek on my cross-guard. If only a little bit, I feel that absence in her heart disappear.

Maybe the Galaxy Sword Sect will be different, she whispers, once more with that tone of regret.

I consider directly calling her a fool for still harboring optimism about the nature of her kind, but the way she says those words makes me reconsider. She speaks as if joining the Galaxy Sword Sect is inevitable her confidence is so deep that it leaves no room for any other outcome. Her optimism is specifically about the people in the sect.

Does she know on some level that it is foolish?

That is when it occurs to me. The regret in her tone is not disappointment. It is anticipation. She knows that the deeper she hopes for a good outcome, when the time comes that her ideals crumble, what will remain behind is a sharper sword, and a more profound Dao.

You are a fool, I tell her anyway.

She laughs it is the first time I heard such a genuine laugh. Mm, she hums happily. I know.