Wu Ling had expected that the Hall Master would vent some amount of displeasure on him over his theft of the Myriad Petals Lotus Art Sutra but he'd expected that to come in the form of unpleasant assignments, menial work, or a pile of missions undertaken for no reward other than clearing his 'debt.'
Now, however, pain flowed through his body as though he'd become a young sapling and Bian Xing's erhu bow was a saw, slowly carving its way through his flesh. The absence of visible wounds only made it worse. Wu Ling KNEW that he wasn't truly injured, that the pain his body felt was a manifestation of the Hall Master's will, and that it was all in his head and yet there was nothing he could DO to rid himself of the pain.
The longer he lay twitching on the ground, the harder it was to make any kind of a move. Pain walled him off from his inner world. Agony stopped his energy from circulating. The torture threatened to rip cries from his throat and only pure determination kept the screams of anguish from spilling past his painted lips.
Some dignity, he could cling to, and some he couldn't. Slowly, with bitter tears spilling from his eyes, Wu Ling began to crawl his way forward on elbows and knees. All of the grace and elegance he'd carried when showing Su Yao and Yao Meifeng around the sect had been stripped away. Shame burned deep in his heart as the Burning Yang Sun Bear fur on his midnight blue dress seemed to mock him as he crawled.
What a mighty achievement, what a powerful artist, the fur seemed to say. The power to stand against a rampaging bear under the influence of the lunar eclipse was nothing before the woman who led this branch of the sect. Against such overwhelming strength, it was all Wu Ling could do to crawl to the low table where an expensive tea set awaited him.
Dragging himself into a kneeling position on the cushion, Wu Ling almost immediately blacked out from the pain as his weight settled on his protesting knees and calves. Tumbling from the cushion, his spasming hands barely prevented his head from striking the table as he sprawled across the floor.
"So this is the son of Wu Ningli," Hall Master Bian Xing mocked as Wu Ling struggled to right himself before her table. The mournful playing of her erhu, however, never faltered. "You know, when Disciple Die sent a report from the Drifting Silk Pavilion about a young man with the identity plate of an Elder's direct disciple I expected to see someone who had gained the power to walk against wind and rain to flaunt his power over the disciples so boldly," she continued derisively.
"The notes from Florist Dongtian spoke of unsurpassed potential and the ability to reach the sixth stage or beyond in almost every path of cultivation. I thought, surely, our sect is bound to ascend to the Heavens on the wings of a dragon who mastered a manual no one else could even comprehend."
Finally, after taking several deep, shaky breaths, Wu Ling managed to sit at the table before the Hall Master. "Hall. Master. Praises. Too. Much," he managed to say. Blood thundered in his ears, all but drowning out the playing of the Hall Master's Erhu. Searing pain in his wrists made it impossible for him to achieve any of his normal elegance when preparing tea. Spasming fingers could barely grip the wooden tongs to place rich, aromatic tea leaves in the pot of hot water.
"Praise?" Bian Xing said, her voice thick with sarcasm. "I have no praise for foolish men with more courage than sense," she continued scornfully. "Don't think I'm unaware of your stunt. Sending a letter to your half-sister in the Sanguine Saber Sect? Alerting your enemies to your awakening before you establish a foothold in the Inner City beyond their reach? You are repeating your mother's mistakes," she scolded.
"From what Disciple Die says, the manual you stole has all the power that it promised and more, but it's been inherited by a fool who will die before he reaches the second stage."
Slowly, with shaking hands, Wu Ling poured a cup of strong over-steeped tea. His forearms burned like dozens of fire ants had sunk their jaws into his flesh and the throbbing pain began to flow beyond his elbow toward his shoulder. His toes screamed, his feet wailed, his calves trembled, his knees protested and still he clung to his position kneeling before the tea set. The world around him faded away until he was left with nothing but the agony wracking his body, the tea set, and the sound of the Hall Master's erhu.
Rational thought faded from his mind. He'd done it. He'd poured tea for the Hall Master. All he needed to do was push the cup forward and the pain would end. Just serve the tea and everything would stop. And yet, he couldn't. He couldn't serve tea he knew was bad to the Hall Master.
Instead, with arms shaking and fingers he had to fight to unclench, he poured out the cup of tea and started over. This time, he gave the tea no time to steep before he moved to pour. It took so long to get his protesting limbs to cooperate that by the time he was able to pour the second cup of tea, it had already spent long enough in the pot to properly steep.
"Hall. Master," he forced out haltingly. "Please. Accept. Disciple's. Apologies," he said, sliding the tea cup forward and bowing deeply from his seated position on the cushion.
Setting down the erhu and bow, Bian Xing slowly raised the cup to her green-painted lips, taking a moment to inhale the sweet fragrance of the tea Wu Ling had prepared before drinking the cup in gulp. The tea was far beneath her standards and she knew it was far beneath Wu Ling's as well but she saw no reason to drag his suffering out any further.
"You've been away from the sect for too long, Little Ling," she said, putting the cup of tea down and adopting a less severe demeanor. "You've missed the time that you should have been strengthening yourself for the challenges to come and you've let your early success go to your head. I'm sure your mother has noticed your faults as well."
"The pain you've felt today is what your mother feels every day from the wounds inflicted by the Sanguine Saber Sect," she explained. "I've given you a taste of her agony so you understand what your enemies are capable of and what they'll do to you if they get their hands on you before you're ready to fight back against them. Now, I want you to contemplate what you've learned and return to me in one hour's time," the Hall Master instructed.
"Yes, Hall Master," Wu Ling said, still trembling from the memory of pain even though the sensations had left him when the Hall Master put down her erhu. Slowly, he began to rise from the table only to have his legs give out yet again, sending him sprawling on the floor in an undignified heap.
"Mu Shien," Bian Xing called, summoning the Warden that guarded the highest level of the Twilight Pavilion. Once the gray-haired woman arrived, the Hall Master gave quick instructions. "Take Disciple Wu somewhere she can freshen up and then bring her to my garden to contemplate the lesson I've just taught her. When she feels she's understood it you may bring her back to me."
"As you command, Hall Master," Warden Mu Shien said before gently scooping Wu Ling up in her arms and carrying him away. Only when they had reached the lowest level of the Twilight Pavilion did she address the trembling young woman in her arms. "As bad as you must feel right now, know that you've done well," she whispered in Wu Ling's ear. "If you hadn't, I'd be bandaging bloody wounds right now. Let's get you cleaned up, I'm sure your next conversation with the Hall Master will be just as challenging even if it isn't as painful."
"Thank you, Warden Mu," Wu Ling managed to say, pulling together the scattered fragments of his thoughts. Too much of what had just happened felt like it was obscured by a fogbank of pain but slowly, as the memories of agony began to fade, he started to consider the Hall Master's words.
He had no doubt that he'd angered her, but was it really the theft of the manual that drove her anger? Or was it his actions since he awakened with it? He wasn't sure, but he was grateful to be given time to put himself back together enough to figure it out.
He wasn't sure if he agreed with Warden Mu that he'd done well during his meeting with the Hall Master, but one thing he did agree with her about. His next conversation with the Hall Master wouldn't be any easier than the last one!