Book 4: Chapter 29: Let’s Talk (3)

Book 4: Chapter 29: Let’s Talk (3)

Sen’s chat with Chan Yu Ming seemed to shatter a number of illusions she’d had about her clever plan because she almost entirely withdrew from everyone else. He’d see her staring hard at nothing, shaking her head, and even occasionally muttering to herself. He assumed that she was trying to rethink her plan in a way that would actually have some chance of working, but he wasn’t holding out much hope. The young woman’s muttering got so frequent at one point that Lo Meifeng commented on it.

“I think you broke the princess.”

“She should have taken that month I provided to think up a better plan,” said Sen.

“That’s true enough. What about the other one?”

“What other one?” asked Sen.

“You talked to me. You talked to Chan Yu Ming. Are you planning a similar conversation with Shi Ping?”

“About what?”

“I have no idea. Maybe why the Order of the Celestial Flame sent him along with you.”

“Oh, that. I assume he knows already. It’s pretty obvious when you think about it.”

“Yes, it’s obvious to you and me, but I don’t think he knows,” said Lo Meifeng.

“How could he not?”Embark on an adventure to the origins at Nøv€lß¡n#★

“Maybe he was too lazy to think about it.”

Sen wanted to dismiss that idea, but it was all too plausible. At the same time, it wasn’t really his problem. If Shi Ping didn’t want to reflect on his life circumstances, it wasn’t Sen’s place to do it for him.

“I could tell him, but what would that accomplish?”

“Maybe it would inspire something other than apathy in him.”

“Doubtful,” said Sen. “Don’t you think that all of his seniors tried that already?”

“Probably, but I find that certain realities tend to focus the mind, don’t you?”

“I still don’t see the point.”

“Maybe there isn’t one, but he’s not terrible with that jian. With some motivation and training, he could be useful.”

“All right, I’ll talk to him. If it doesn’t change anything, it’s not like I’ll lose anything.”

“You said one of two things. What’s the other thing?”

“You keep traveling with us.”

“I thought you said...,” began Shi Ping.

“You should really let me finish because there are several important details to that course of action. If you decide that you’re going to keep traveling with us, you bury this useless person you are now. All of the laziness, the whining, the overeating, it all dies right here, at this very spot in the road. You will find whatever spark of ambition let you reach peak foundation formation and breathe life back into it. You will train with me daily, without exception and without complaint. You will participate in every fight we face. And, no, you don’t get a week to think about it. You have one minute. I suggest that you think very hard about what kind of person you want to be, and make your decision based on that.”

Sen walked down the road and stood next to Falling Leaf. The two of them watched the fire cultivator mull over his choice.

“Why didn’t you just send him away?” asked Falling Leaf.

“To keep my conscience and karma clear. If I tell him to go and some spirit beast kills him two miles down the road, then I bear a lot of responsibility for that.”

“But you don’t like him.”

“I don’t like him as he is now, but he couldn’t have always been this way. He never would have reached the peak of foundation formation if he was. At some point in the past, he worked hard at being a successful cultivator. I don’t know if I would have liked that version of him any better, but I might have respected him. The way he is now, I don’t like or respect him. As for giving him the choice, if he decides that he’d rather be lazy and useless and goes by his own choice, then that karma is all on him. If he stays, then maybe we’ll meet someone who will be more helpful and that we’ll all like a little more.”

“What if he stays and doesn’t change?”

“Then I expect Lo Meifeng will probably kill him.”

“I will,” said Lo Meifeng, stepping up next to the pair. “That wasn’t quite what I expected from that conversation.”

“He’s an inconvenience for us now. I imagine he’d be a full-blown anchor for us in the capital.”

“More than likely,” said Lo Meifeng.

“So, we deal with the problem now. If he leaves, problem solved. If he stays and actually changes, the problem is mostly likely solved. If he stays and doesn’t change, the problem gets solved another way.”

Sen didn’t enforce the one-minute deadline he’d set. It was a potentially life-changing decision. He gave Shi Ping five minutes before he walked back over to the fire cultivator.

“Well?” Sen asked.

There was a moment of hesitation and Sen was certain that Shi Ping was going to leave. Then, the fire cultivator looked at Sen.

“We’re wasting time,” said Shi Ping and started heading down the road.

Sen lifted an eyebrow at Shi Ping’s back and said, “So, we are.”