Chapter 23
One-Handed and Twenty-five
Even my trousers were soiled with this black liquid.
It kept stinking and I kept screaming as if it wasn't first light.
"What is it son?" my father came in a rush and forced the door open with a loud bang. Slower than him, my mother peeked beside him, a towel around herself.
"W-what happened?" their voices although meddled with panic, still sounded like they were half-asleep.
I stood up, looking horrified and death fearing, ushering at the substance cooling down my body.
The stench caught up to them and they plugged their noses with their fingers. After they assessed the situation and noticed what was occurring with me, both wore expressions of saddened blokes and sighed.
I feared the worst. Their reactions did not bode well.
"You explain it to him" my father yawned and returned back to their room. "I need to sleep before I go work the fields today."
Wait…don't go like that when I could be inches away from dying…
Was it that hopeless of a situation?
"Fine…" she sounded as uncaring as he was and yawned in her turn.
I was going to die…
"Sit down sweetie" her hand still plugging her nose from the horrible smell. "I didn't know you were going to do this much progress at such a young age. I think your father and I have been careless to mention some of the effects that cultivation has on one's body."
She found seat atop my bed and steered clear of me until I got a proper scrub of myself.
My heart beat at a very fast rate and my breathing skipped a few times.
Confused and eyebrows pulled together, my mother just became conscious of what I was probably thinking of the situation. She slapped her forehead for she and my father had been acting quite absurdly and made me worry for naught.
"These are only impurities, my little Lei Ba."
"I-impurities?" it didn't really put me at ease.
"En. After cultivating for a considerable amount of time, cultivators often expel impurities out of their bodies to allow the passage of qi into them."
Relief conquered me slowly as I listened to her explanation.
They were seriously going to let me have a heart attack. I was never this scared of something so foreign and mysterious.
I suppose having lived another life has its inconvenience when I knew almost everything back then and nothing now. It became hard to integrate both and expect me to cope with things thrown at me in this world of wonders.
"Try breathing in qi" she suggested, waving a hand and simulating a deep breath herself.
I looked hesitant, frozen by her sheer calmness of the situation when I was panicking not moments ago. Glanced down again at myself and saw that nothing actually ailed me or ached and thought best to comply with her words.
She did know better than I in terms of cultivation after all and she was not weaker than father in any way.
"Okay" I gulped down a mouthful of saliva, closed my eyes and inhaled deeply.
My eyes opened back, widening as ever for what I felt was unprecedented.
When I swept qi through my nose, the essence that penetrated my body went through the very depth of me and I sensed the warmth filling up every part of me. A few channels allowed qi through my body but it was enough to feel a pleasantness unequalled to the first few months of my training.
(And here I was thinking I was going to die…)
"Woah" I finally drooled.
"It is comforting and refreshing, isn't it?"
"En" I rubbed my chest regardless of the impurities upon it. "This is incredible."
She smiled, got up from my bed and went for the door when she stopped herself even though the smell was terribly foul.
"Draw yourself a bath before the whole house stinks" she left me a distant kiss and went back to her room.
Left to ponder on my own on this newfound progress, I smirked extensively fully aware that my cultivation had reached a new height. Breaking through the first layer of the first realm did not look so far anymore with this.
But mom was right…I took a sniff.
I really need to take a good bath and scrub myself heavily.
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I finished after some time and smelled fresh and anew.
I didn't realise how serious it was until I was reeking with scented perfumes and other products we had at home.
Even though I had taken a bath, that didn't mean that my training had to be cut short because I was fully clean. I was a little late to when I planned to practice the Close Half-Step, but nothing could be done. I just had to shorten my practice of the sword today as an exception.
I strapped the space bag with all my items inside and made way to the door, to join the outside.
With my back turned and closing behind me the door, I failed to notice that there were a bunch of people camping before our porch. I got jumpscared at first when I finished and turned around, only to find a few men, with sleeping bags on the floor, sleeping before the entrance of our house.
"Mhm" I cleared my throat in order to wake at least one of them up.
None did.
"Um, excuse me…"
This try, one of them, opened a single eye and saw that I was perching over them. He sat upright almost instantly and elbowed the one beside him.
"Hey, wake up. Someone is already here."
One by one they woke themselves until none of the men present here were asleep any longer. I did not care to notice before, but every one of them had an amputated arm for some reason and by the looks, were just beyond the Qi Harvesting realm. Only a select few were in the third realm of cultivation.
Were they beggars or something? I don't recall seeing them around…
Passing my investigative eye across them, I was able to find that they all wore an appendage to their waists with the word Shui carved upon it.
"Shui clan members?" I did not miss the opportunity to say it out loud. "What are you doing here?"
As a representative, one of them stepped up to do the talking.
"Greetings to you" he hunched and cupped his fist.
"Greetings. What is your name?" I asked immediately, not sparing any moment as I was quite late to begin my trainings.
"This one is called Shui Wu*."
I wasn't sure, but for them to come here, looking like that, was, and I'm willing to bet an arm, due to what Chu Qiang did to them.
Were they here to apologise as well? Bearing gifts?
I mean, I had enough gifts to last me a lifetime after everyone came a few days ago. I threw my gaze at each and I could see no such things in their possession. While some did have space bags on them, I doubt they carried anything intended for me.
So what was their purpose here?
I counted twenty-five men.
Three were in the third realm since I could not scope their level properly. Ten were in the Qi Harvesting realm. And the remaining twelve were in the Corporeal Alteration realm.
As far as I was concerned, they were here to gang up on me and take revenge. But if that were to be the case, they wouldn't have waited in front of the house, allowed themselves to sleep carelessly and even talk to me with such dignified respect.
They were here to ask something.
"What is the purpose of your visit?" my expression unchanged towards them and yet wary.
"We would like to speak with honourable Ke Qi Tian if it is possible" he lowered his head sincerely.
My father? Why did they want to see my father?
At the opportune moment, he stepped outside himself, still adjusting the clothes he was wearing for work. Unlike me, whose senses are close to none, he got out, knowing that there were several people waiting and not hiding their presence from him.
"Lei Ba" he was still tucking his shirt under a pair of brown trousers, "I noticed a few presences here. Are they acquaintances of yours?"
"They actually came to see you father."
"Oh. Then how can this humble farmer help you?"
Shui Wu, who had elected himself as the leader and not one of the three with the highest realms, stepped up and spoke for the rest.
"My name is Shui Wu" introducing himself to him, "we would like to ask the honourable master for work."
He finally tucked his clothes properly and stood upright before them, frowning at what they just said. It was out of the blue that they came, all twenty-five of them, seeking work from him like that.
"Work? On the farm you mean?"
"Indeed, mister Qi Tian" he didn't waver even when my dad displayed an awkward glare.
"What is the reason? Does your Shui clan not have proper jobs for you perhaps? Or is it something else that you seek here?"
(He was quite perceptive, my father. I just hope they don't spill the beans on what happened.)
They hesitated and even looked towards me with expecting eyes, thinking I would vouch for them or something of the sorts. I had no such plans and simply made sure that my eyes were threatening enough so they did not speak of what transpired back at the clans.
It was early for my parents to know such details. My wish is for them to still believe I'm their little innocent son for now.
"There is no definite reason. We only hoped to find a decent job where our talents would not be wasted and our cultivation unhindered still" Wu glanced towards the field in view and breathed intently, emphasizing the comfort that the air brought.
"The air in here is rich in qi, and since we all are…one-handed, we thought such an environment would not impede our meditation and training."
"I see" my father found himself considering it.
To my knowledge, he indeed needed much people to work here. But he was unsure if a group of one-handed people would fit in his criteria.
"Please consider it. We are willing to be payed the lowest wages possible if it comes to it."
"Very well" he was quick to choose. "Since you care for the rich qi in here, I'm afraid I'll have to pay less than usual. Is that alright?"
They all nodded and cupped their fists in thanks to my father's choice.
No longer patient to hear the rest of their negotiations, I took myself and went to the forest where I previously practiced my movement technique.
Like yesterday I performed the sequences for a double-hour and a half. After finishing, I indeed noticed my steps getting lighter and quicker, even more so than the last time. It was of course yet insufficient, but with time would the reaps and the rewards of my hard work bear fruit.
Satisfied, I returned to the farm, where I would train with my short sword, in hopes of getting the hang of it with this disadvantageous body of mine.
I did the same moves and I was going nowhere with it. Lost and discouraged, I cursed under my breath for my inability.
"Hey" I heard a familiar voice.
It was Shui Wu, the man I met this morning.
He and his companions had worked as a test the whole day in order to prove to my father of their efficiency and diligence and he was convinced of them. They could work as hard as any worker he's ever had and even better at some point even with a limb missing.
They did not complain about their pay so father was glad and employed them at the end of the day.
"Are you training in swordsmanship?" he asked me although it was quite obvious I was.
"I…am" my tone was not the most appealing, I had already wasted time and needed to make the most of the remaining sun light.
"Would you like a sparring partner then?"
"Huh!?"
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*Check the very first chapters at the very beginning for the Index*