They returned back to the rented house and had a cold dinner with the rest of the group.
Ma Ruiman chewed on his dry meat and grumbled "I can't wait to go back to the company and have some of Weifa's cooking."
Jack swallowed his mouthful and said "We had to leave the rest of the supplies to them. She has enough wood to make the company's meal for a while, but we should get her some too."
He looked at old Long and asked "How was your luck today?"
The old man didn't join them in the meal because a trader he did business with treated him.
He patted the Star Bag on his hip and answered "I managed to meet a couple decent fellows that sold lumber at the duel and bought enough for the smith. If you want to restock for Weifa too, that might stretch our budget. The fellows might be decent, but they're still merchants."
Jack thought about it for a few seconds before he decided "Take as much as you need from your savings. I will pay you back when the White River family comes."
He considered something for a moment longer, then added "Buy scrolls and ink too, as much as you can get your hands on. Even better if you find some straight pieces of paper and colored ink. Also, see if anyone's giving away scrap metal. If not, try to buy some, but don't buy anything good."
Old Long's brows furrowed before he said "Are you sure? This will not come cheap, and neither will I."
Jack nodded his head as confirmation and continued eating.
A minute later, Bai Maolong asked "What about the wood the Tribes use for their masks and spear shafts? Can't we buy that from them cheaper?"
Tong Huakun twitched, but in the end, Jack had to say "I asked Pan Xinfa already. It's not flammable, and the few Tribes that have them have a limited supply. I tried to burn the few spears we have in our possession and they wouldn't take no matter how long I kept them in the cookfire."
With that, the table turned silent once more.
He tried to keep his gaze away from Tong Huakun during the whole meal because she still seemed angry, but he couldn't keep quiet any longer and turned to her to ask "Should we start our return trip tomorrow evening or on the morning of the next day?"
She looked up from her food and questioned in return "Want to know the best time when to slip out unnoticed after what you did?"
Any time she took a bite she had to lift her mask to free her mouth up. They tried to tell her that she didn't have to do it, but she said it would be disrespectful if she took it off.
Jack didn't hesitate to square his shoulders and say "Of course. It would be a shame to put in so much work only to get ambushed on the road. I think the three of us can get away, but I'm afraid for you and the old man."
Tong Huakun glared at him through the slits in her mask for a couple seconds before she sighed and declared "Best go tomorrow night and sprint the whole way while avoiding the usual paths. They will try to follow in the start, but if we keep at it we'll lose them."
Jack nodded his head and said "Then we'll do it like that." He looked at old Long to add "Try to get everything ready by then and make sure to have a full dantian for the run."
The old man's pleased expression at the thought of the interest he would charge Jack turned sour.
After dinner, everyone went to sleep; only Jack went into the small courtyard in front of their house with his water basin and continued his practice under the light of the moons.
'I succeeded in cleaning the water with the traditional spell, but I don't know if my intent strayed too much from removing all the particles.' He thought and started using his modified spell with full force while focusing his consciousness on the connections between the attraction and white water sigils.
The Clear Water spell formed its open-ended ball structure and hovered over the basin filled with water. For a minute he tried his best to absorb the minute particles, but he couldn't see anything.
He let out a sigh of relief and stopped the absorption.
A tiny white drop fell out of his disappearing spell structure and merged back with the water in the basin. If Jack didn't cycle his spirit energy through the meridians around his eyes and optic nerve and focus on the rods in his retinas he would have missed it.
His face turned dark for a few seconds before he shook it off and constructed another Clear Water spell structure. This time he went back to the old version that the Tribes used and tried to focus his intent on getting all the particles.
After a minute, he stopped his spirit energy's flow and stared at the collapsing spell structure. An even tinier speck of white fell back into the water this time.
Nothing showed on Jack's face as he formed the Clear Water spell's structure once more and added an extra minor connecting sigil between the attraction and white water sigils. He continued like that into the night.
When morning came, Tong Huakun found him sitting with his back leaned on the rented house's earthen wall. He had several threads of spirit energy extending from his body and forming a Clear Water spell over a basin filled with clean water.
She looked at his closed eyes in the predawn light and asked "Why are you cleansing clean water? Did you even get any sleep?"
Jack opened one eye and stopped giving spirit energy to the spell. It fell apart and plopped a drop of the same size as the first one back into the basin, but Tong Huakun didn't notice because she had her back turned to it.
He sighed and opened both eyes to look up at the looming muscular woman.
"I've been waiting for you to wake up." He answered and, with a groan, stood up and stretched his muscles. They didn't feel stiff or ache at all, but he liked the mannerisms.
Tong Huakun gave Jack a suspicious look through the slits of her mask and asked "What do you want?"
He waved a hand towards the water in the basin and said "Try to clean it."
When she looked like she wanted to argue, Jack added "Please don't be difficult and just do it. I'll tell you when to stop."
Tong Huakun stared at him for a couple of seconds, huffed, and walked to the water basin. She extended a hand and formed the Clear Water spell over it.
A minute later, when she started to give Jack glances of annoyance, he said "You can stop now."
She did, and the spell's structure collapsed. Nothing fell into the water.
Tong Huakun looked at Jack and asked "What was the point of that?"
He gave her a grim smile and said "Watch closely." With that, he formed his Clear Water spell's structure and turned to walk back into the house while he added "When you see it come and talk to me."
A minute later, Tong Huakun walked into the house and sat down at the table opposite Jack. She took her mask off and showed her pale face to him.
He glanced at the mask and asked "Is that a threat or did you want to show me your pretty face?"
Her face remained cold as she questioned "Why did you show that to me? If I were to spread it around, all the tribes and the White River family would fight to the death over the knowledge you have."
Jack shrugged his shoulders and retorted with "Why would you do that when I'm willing to teach it to the Haechi members of the Immortals' Lament?"
Tong Huakun's brows furrowed and she asked "What about the rest of the Tribe?"
He shook his head slowly and explained "Only people that learn my language can understand the principles behind my spells, and I won't teach it to anyone that isn't under my command."
Her face darkened for a second before she glanced at the wall which hid the water basin and it lost all blood again. She took a deep breath, placed her hands on the table, and asked "Let me join your company."
Jack didn't hesitate to respond with "I will if you teach me the spell to see better into the distance."
Confusion flashed in Tong Huakun's eyes, but it disappeared almost as fast as it appeared when she thought back on the lesson she learned yesterday. This strange cultivator in front of her never did anything without reason.
Due to that, she concluded that he wouldn't have shown her the new Clear Water spell just to make her join him. He always had an ulterior motive for his actions.
"Why do you want the Farsight spell so much?" she asked with narrowed eyes.
Jack spread his hands and said "You didn't think that little demonstration out there took out all the white water from the basin, did you? Once I have your spell I'll be able to see what I'm doing much better, and perfect the Clear Water spell for future generations."
Tong Huakun snorted but she didn't doubt that he planned to do the first part of his explanation at least. She thought about it for a while before she extended her hand over the table and declared "I will teach you once we get back to the Tribe."
Jack's face spread into a smile and he clasped her hand as he exclaimed "Welcome to the Immortals' Lament!"
After breakfast, he went back to the steps near the White River to perfect his new version of the Clear Water spell. Bai Maolong decided to spend his day keeping watch on the top of the stairs.
Old Long and Ma Ruiman left to find the items Jack wanted, while Tong Huakun went to report her decision to join the Immortals' Lament to Ran Huankuo and get information on the movements of the other tribes.
When night came, they walked out of Tribal Assembly under the gazes of numerous hidden eyes.
Once they reached the last point where they could see the town, Tong Huakun took her mask off and changed into her Haechi clothes. After that, she led the group in a mad dash across the barren landscape towards the northern mountains.
A few times she thought she saw Lolin beasts in the distance with the Farsight spell, but soon after they would push themselves even more and elude their pursuers.
It took them three days to reach the Haechi Tribe. Bai Maolong and Jack had to take turns in carrying an exhausted old Long for the last stretch of their journey but they never got caught.
The company had a celebration once they returned safely with the fresh supplies.
Tan Boli especially had tears in his eyes when Jack presented the meager amount of metal they managed to acquire for him.
He set the smith and his sons to work at once and requested that they made as many Deep Water Iron cylinders and metal balls as they could with the materials they had at hand.
A week later, Jack stood on the hill overlooking the Immortals' Lament's camp and held his hands in front of his face.
Between them, spirit energy shimmered and formed a blurry picture of a column of at least fifty people in golden robes marching towards the camp.
He lowered his hands and looked to Shi Furui on his side to say "Get the men ready, we have prestigious guests to entertain."