Liang Shufen sat in his healing pond with his son sitting on his lap. Gently he cupped some water in his hand and let it drip over his son's head. He watched in fascination as the unruly curls refused to straighten even when they were drenched.
His son made a dissatisfied grunt as the water rolled over his head once more. With a pout he turned towards Liang Shufen and glared. Liang Shufen simply smiled at the non-threatening glare, thinking instead that it was kind of cute. With an apologetic smile he scooped up some more water and ran it over his son's head once more.
Liang Shufen understood his son's aggravation. They had been sitting in the pond since the sun had risen and now it was well past noon, but Liang Shufen had no plans on getting out.
Something was wrong with his son and he was set on making sure that whatever had happened would not harm his son in any way. The only solution he could think of was the healing pond. After all, it had greater healing properties than most cultivators.
Liang Shufen's worry was not a whim. Last night he had gone to bed with a baby in his arms, but when he woke up, he had a child about four or five years old laying next to him. To say he was startled was an understatement.
He was ready to hunt down whoever had switched his baby out with a child, but the more he took in the child's appearance the more he realized he resembled his son. His face was the same, still full and chubby, his dark hair had grown out into a wavy black mass that barely reached his shoulders and his eyes, they were just like a night sky with countless stars shining within them.
The same eyes as his son.
He only relaxed when the child reached out to him and called out with his tired voice, "Baba."
Liang Shufen's heart melted and without hesitation he hugged his son, burying his head into the fluffy mass of curls.
He wasn't sure what had happened during the night, but whatever had happened he accepted with open arms.
Of course that did nothing to settle his worry.
Why had his son suddenly grown? Was it a plant he ate when he wasn't looking? Did he touch something that was cursed? Was there something wrong with his Qi?
The thoughts became too loud and the worry in his heart only grew. So he did the only thing he could think of at the time. Soak his son in the healing pond. That way if anything was seriously wrong with him, it would be washed away and healed before anymore damage could be done.
Liang Shufen smiled down at his son who was grumbling under his breath as more water washed over his head. Liang Shufen glanced up at the sky. The sun is now beginning to set. 'This should be enough.' He thought.
Gently he grabbed his son's wrist and searched for the Qi running through his veins. It didn't take long. His eyes widened at the abundance of Qi flowing through his son's veins and a sense of pride welled up in his heart. But before he could celebrate his son's talent, something else trickled and probed back at him. It was harsh and-
"Baba." His son's voice broke him from his thoughts. Liang Kuo gently moved his wrist out of his grasp and with his chubby hands he patted Liang Shufen's face. His big eyes gazed into his eyes. Liang Shufen couldn't help but smile.
"Baba?" Liang Kuo tilted his head, a frown painting his face.
Laing Shufen shook his head and scooped up his son into a tight hug, forgetting whatever thoughts that had been on his mind.
"Baba!" Liang Kuo shouted out, slightly aggravated as he was squished against Liang Shufen's chest.
Liang Shufen chuckled, kissed his son's head and let him go. Immediately Liang Kuo darted towards the healing pond and towards a couple of Lotus flowers.
"Baba!" Liang Kuo turned around, his eyes sparkling as he held the lotus flower in his hand and waved it like a priceless treasure. Liang Shufen laughed as his son placed it gently on a rock and went to pick another one. He continued this process until he had a small collection of lotus flowers resting on the rock.
"Baba!" Liang Kuo called out again. Liang Shufen hummed to let him know he was listening. "Baba, what is dis?" He pointed to the pile he had created.
Liang Shufen made his way over to his son. Gently he scooped him up and into his arms, placing him on his hip. He picked up one lotus flower and brought it to his son's grabbing hands.
"This is a lotus flower." He gently explained.
"Lo-tu-s fower?" Liang Kuo brought the flower to his face and took a hesitant sniff before sneezing. As if he were offended, he scowled at the flower and threw it back into the pond. Crossing his arms he said, "It hurt me."
Liang Shufen chuckled at his son's antics. "It did not hurt you. See?" Liang Shufen grabbed the flower and took a sniff for himself, smiling at the gentle scent that drifted into the air.
"No, Baba! Bad fower! It hurt you!" Liang Kuo smacked the flower out of Laing Shufen's hand.
Liang Shufen frowned as the lotus flower gently fell to the ground. Turning around he went to address his son"Kuo-"
"Shizun!"
Liang Shufen's smile dropped. All he had wanted was to spend time with his son, was that too much to ask? He placed his son back into the water, letting out a sigh as his son slapped away the lotus flower in the pond.
Without looking back he said, "I have told you before to not interrupt me while I'm in the healing pond."
"This one apologizes Shizun." Chun Hua was pale. She stood in the doorway, her head bowed and her hands clenched.
She knew better than anyone to not disturb her Shizun while he was in the healing pond, but she couldn't back down not now.
Taking a deep breath she took a step forwards and bowed while holding the letter out, "This lowly one didn't mean to interrupt, but this one believes that this matter can not be delayed."
Liang Shufen moved towards her, the water rippling as he did so. Picking up the letter he noticed the familiar name and scowled.
He could faintly hear his son maneuvering behind him and a soft tug on his robe indicated that his son was now right behind him. Liang Shufen reached back and patted his son's head while he read the letter. The scowl on his face deepened as he read it, once, twice. He threw it on the ground.
"Shizun?"
"I don't want them coming here." Liang Shufen gritted out.
Liang Kuo gazed at the letter with curious eyes. Scooting forward he reached over, grasping the letter with his small hands. Uncrumpling it he gazed at the unfamiliar words that littered the letter. A scowl similar to Liang Shufen's made its way onto his face. With a soft humph, he crumpled the letter back up and threw it into the water, watching with dark eyes as it sank to the bottom of the pond.
Liang Shufen missed what his son had done, his mind focused on the content of the letter. "Send a response of a refusal." He turned around and hugged his son.
"Shizun?" Chun Hua gazed up at him in shock, "Shizun..this-this one doesn't think she can."
"What?" Liang Shufen turned around in confusion, "What do you mean you can't?" He shook his head, not wanting to deal with the matter anymore. "No, it would be better if I wrote it." He waved his hand dismissing her so he could write the letter and be done with it.
Chun Hua did not leave, but instead took a hesitant step forward,"But, Shizun, the bottom of the letter…did Shizun notice?"
Liang Shufen paused. He had been too focused on the contents of the letter to notice anything at the bottom. He sucked in a breath as a single thought flashed through his mind, "…It can't be." He brought a hand to his forehead, a headache already forming.
Chun Hua bit her lip and nodded, "Yes, Shizun. They placed a seal on it."
Liang Shufen cursed inside.
It was a known fact in the world that requests sent to Sects could be either accepted or denied, even if the request came from neighboring Sects. For a long time this was accepted, after all each Sect focused on different aspects of cultivation and it was expected that not all requests would be doable. Of course over time the Sects became too proud in their ways and eventually the people began to notice that the only requests accepted were those from families of higher standing.
This was also the case for Sects.
Sometimes a Sect would send a request to another Sect, but if a Sect was viewed as below them, then the Sect would refuse their request before it even reached the Sect Leader's hands.
This caused great strife between Sects and eventually they Sect Leaders came together to create a solution.
Every ten years the Sect Leaders would be able to use a Seal on a request. This seal meant that no matter what their request must be accepted and completed.
And it seemed that those three decided to use one on him.
Liang Shufen cursed in his heart. They were going to come here and there was nothing he could do to stop them. The request alone was simple enough, but from the looks of it they would be staying on his Peak for more than a month, maybe longer.
He glanced at his son who was looking up at him with wide innocent eyes. 'Will they come and take him away as well?'
He reached down and hugged his son tightly. He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let that happen.
He took a ragged breath, "Fine. Let them come."
"Shizun?" Chun Hua gazed up at him with red rimmed eyes.
"Have one of the storage houses cleaned and prepared for guests." Liang Shufen nodded as he spoke. There were a couple of storage houses that were not in use on the far end of the Peak, away from his home. A perfect place to keep unwanted people.
"Shizun…" Chun Hua murmured, her eyes wide with realization and with a firm gaze she asked, "Will both Sect Leaders and their disciples be staying in the guest house?"
"Yes. While they are here I don't want them wandering anywhere near me or my house." He brushed his son's hair with his fingers. His son smiled up at him while humming a small unknown tune. Laing Shfuen frowned, 'He will need guards.'
"Xing Fu and Qing Jie will move into my house during their stay."
"Shizun?"
"They will act as guards, keeping the pests away from me and my son while they are here." Liang Shufen's tone was firm as he spoke, his hand faltering for a single second before continuing.
Chun Hua gave a half hearted smile, "But Shizun…they fight constantly."
"Then this will be a good lesson for them. Go, get everything ready."
"Yes, Shizun." Chun Hua bowed and left with a determined look in her eyes.
"Baba?"
Liang Shufen glanced down at his son, a smile painting his face. "Come, let's get you dried off." He picked up his son and walked out of the healing pond and into his room, not noticing that the lotus flowers once littering the pond had vanished, leaving nothing but black dust in their wake.