Unintended Cultivator

V13 Chapter 31 – Complicated Question

After giving the matter some very deep and extensive consideration for approximately nine seconds, Sen came to a conclusion.

“You know,” he mused aloud, “I don’t have to answer anyone’s questions. For that matter, neither do you. It’s not like anyone can really make us talk.”

“I wondered if you’d realize that or not,” said Master Feng with an amused smile. “Be aware that, if we don’t give them a story, they’ll make one up.”

“That won’t be anything new. People have been making up stories about me for years. You too, unless I miss my guess. Also, I don’t have any good ideas to explain it away. If I don’t say anything, though, I don’t have to remember anything except to say nothing.”

“I suppose this is a good time to be mysterious. There is that war. It will probably distract everyone. Speaking of which, how much longer do you plan for us to stay here? Not that I haven’t enjoyed seeing my old city, but I doubt the spirit beasts are relaxing right now.”

“I know,” said Sen. “I honestly hadn’t planned for us to stay even this long. I do think the break was probably good for the army. I know the cultivators could have kept going for a long time, but the mortals are a different story. They get tired. If I let that go on for too long, it will get people killed who didn’t need to die. Tired mortals make bad decisions.”

“Are you ready to leave now, then?”

Sen looked at the swords and shook his head.

“I’m more ready than I was,” he said, gesturing at the weapons. “Especially now that I don’t have to worry that any battle with a middle-stage nascent soul cultivator might leave me with broken swords. But I suspect that there are going to be at least a few things to deal with that I’ve just been ignoring recently. Governments don’t do very well when you kill half the people who used to run it.”

“Just one more reason for me to be glad that I’m not the one in charge of all of this. I just don’t have the patience for those things.”

“I’m not sure that I have the patience for it, either.”

“I assure you, more of them survived than I would have left,” said the elder cultivator as he fiddled with the scabbards for the swords.

Sen left that statement alone since he didn’t imagine anything productive would come from exploring that topic. Instead, he asked something that had been preying on him in quiet moments.

“The generals tell me that we’re moving fast. What do you think about that?”

“Are you asking if they’re lying to you?”

“I suppose I am.”

“They aren’t. Moving that many people is never fast. Compared to armies in the past that I’ve seen, you’re moving very quickly,” said Master Feng. “If you mean to keep moving that fast, how do you plan to handle your body cultivation?”

“As and where I can, I expect. It’s not like I have what I need to get started, which is a little humbling if I’m being honest. I’ve got some absurdly rare alchemical ingredients stored away in these storage rings. It never once occurred to me that I might be missing anything I would actually need. Still, that means that I need to try to find the components as we go. And I need to do it without slowing down the army. I’m sure Falling Leaf will be happy, even if everyone else will hate it.”

“Yes, it’s downright shocking how people don’t like it when the emperor and grand commander of the army up and vanishes into the wilds for days at a time. Almost like they foresee that it could, I don’t know, maybe cause problems.”

Sen huffed out a breath and said, “It’ll cause fewer problems than me failing to advance my body cultivation. Given everything it took to find that manual, I’m sure we’ll all discover that winning will depend on it.”

Master Feng stopped what he was doing to look at Sen.

“Do you believe that?”

“I do. I wish I didn’t, but I genuinely do. Not that I needed another problem, but I guess that’s what being emperor is all about. In the end, every problem is ultimately my problem.”

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“That’s just because you’re responsible. Most kings and emperors aren’t.”

“That’s the impression I got from the historical scrolls, but I’m not sure why that happens so often. I have ideas, but not a lot of proof.”

“Well, this is more Kho’s area than mine, if I’m being honest. He’s always been more public-minded than I am. To me, society is good because it makes things like pastry shops viable. It creates cities where there are inns. Inns are more comfortable than sleeping outside. Anything beyond that just wasn’t very important to me. So, I never saw much need to interact with royalty.”

“And, you just didn’t want to.”

Master Feng nodded amiably.

“And, I just didn’t want to. They would have welcomed me, I’m sure, but it would have been a hassle for everyone. It’s very hard for a king to entertain someone like me without making it a huge event. I have even less interest in those things than you do. Better to avoid them, in my experience. As to your question, though, here’s my thinking. Most royalty are brought up to believe that they have an unquestionable right to everything. They think they have a right to the land around them. Every bit of gold in their land. They even think they have a right to execute people who don’t measure up in some way.

“Worse, their parents encourage them to see other people as beneath them. It’s hard to be measured in your thinking when you view most people as little better than things or as tax revenue sources. I’m sure it’s more complicated than just that, but it’s not something I investigated deeply. Like I said, this is more Kho’s area. If you’re really interested, you should talk with him about it. He spent time with royalty of his own free will. I only ever did it when he browbeat me into it.”

“Hmmm,” said Sen.

“Worried about how you’re going to measure up?”

“A year or two ago, maybe I would have been worried about that.”

“Not anymore?”

“Well, I just figure that one of two things is going to happen. One, people will accurately record that I was a tyrant. They’ll say that I claimed the continent on the edge of a blade and with the threat of devastating qi techniques. All of which will be true.”

“Okay,” said Master Feng. “What’s the other possibility?”

“People will make up unbelievable lies about how benevolent I was. They’ll say something ridiculous like I helped usher in an age of peace and prosperity. You know, right before I was whisked away to the heavens as a reward for my divine actions.”

Master Feng laughed and said, “It would be very entertaining to read those accounts after they’ve been written.”

“I think so, too. But, no matter what happens, I don’t think that I’ll have much say in how I look in those historical scrolls. It also won’t change anything I do. So, I just don’t think about it.”

“Probably the best way to handle that problem. History is many things to leaders, but kind and accurate are rarely among them.”

“What about you, though?”

“What about me?” asked Master Feng.

“Well, I know that I’m going to get forced into ascension. But you told me that you were still deciding if you were going to go through with it. Did you ever decide?”

Master Feng paused for a moment. He didn’t say anything as he slowly slipped the new swords into their scabbards and held them out to Sen. Even as Sen was belting them to his hips, his teacher remained silent. It was only when Sen met the elder cultivator’s eyes that Master Feng spoke.

“That’s a complicated question, Sen.”

“I expect that it is, since it’s an actual question for you.”

Sen’s teacher crossed his arms and closed his eyes. He seemed lost in deep thought for several minutes. Then, he started to talk without changing position or even opening his eyes.

“Part of me thinks that I shouldn’t ascend. I’ve been alive for so long, Sen. More than long enough to understand just how unnatural cultivators are. Human beings aren’t meant to live this long. I think it’s part of the reason why so many cultivators are, for lack of a better description, somewhat unhinged. We truly are fighting the natural order, and doing that has to have some consequences. Seeing the city where I grew up drove that point home to me. It reminded me of the person I was back then. If that young man met me as I am now… If he got to know what I am and what I’ve done, I don’t think he would have made the same choices. That is a particularly damning realization for an old man.”

Sen remained silent. He wanted to speak, but he couldn’t think of what he might say that would be of the slightest value or comfort. Before he came up with anything, Master Feng continued.

“On the flip side, I’ve been alive for a very long time. It’s a hard habit to break. I’ve seen so much. Done and learned so much. If I die, all of that knowledge, experience, and whatever small fragments of wisdom I’ve accumulated just vanish. Washed away in Diyu before I’m sent to my next life. I’ve seen things that no one else will ever see, simply because the places I saw them don’t exist anymore. In my first few centuries, I met cultivators who were ancient. I suspect that I’m one of the last people, if not the very last person, who can claim to have had conversations with those men and women. The thought of all that just disappearing is a hard thing to accept.

“Then, I think about everything that I might learn if I do ascend. Whether it really is godhood, the way some people think, or if it’s just another world, it will all be brand new. That’s exciting, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s not meant for someone like me. Of course, there is one other consideration.”

“Which is?” asked Sen.

“You. Up until now, I would have just had myself to be concerned with. But if you’re going to be there, that might be reason enough to go. We’d both have someone to lean on, which might prove more useful than either of us expects. Of course, that’s assuming that you don’t immediately set off madness on a grand scale and try to upend the fabric of reality there.”

Sen blinked and then scowled.

“Was that last bit really necessary?”

“Yes, Sen. It really was.”