"So, what is it that you wanted me to make for you," Wu Ling said, gesturing to the pile of bones. "I'm sure it'll be a while before I can make anything of quality but I can at least set aside the right piece of bone if I know what you need."
"You won't be able to make it on this trip," Xiong Dahuo said bluntly. "When we get home, I'm hoping to have a new saber made," he explained. "I'd like you to work with a sword maker and carve a hilt for me using the bones from the leader of the wolf pack."
"Ah, I understand," Wu Ling said. After discussing the matter with Yu Jinqi, the group set aside all of the materials from the body of the Wolf King for the duration of this trip. There was too much spiritual energy that was too difficult for first-stage cultivators to tame in those materials. While Yu Jinqi had become a Novice Scholar, he lacked the confidence to handle materials at his upper limit without oversight from a more experienced alchemist.
Likewise, Wu Ling was adopting a conservative approach to using the bones they'd gathered so far. He intended to use the bones of the boar that Xiong Dahuo hunted as his first practice materials before moving to the bones of the Red Mist Wolves and finally the bones of the Blood Moon Mist Wolves. The latter were all but irreplaceable treasures and he didn't want to make mistakes on the only such bones he was likely to acquire for years to come.
"You said that your sect's methods were 'primal' and that you needed help to draw out the power of bones," Wu Ling prompted. "What are you hoping that this hilt will do for you? How do bones figure into your sect's methods? Or are you just looking for it to be sentimental and decorative?"
"If Brother Ling is carving it, I don't expect it to be ordinary," Xiong Dahuo said honestly. "According to Master, all living beings store their most primal energies in their bones and marrow. More sophisticated energies and a being's vitality can be found in its blood, viscera, meridians, and the like, but if you want to reach the most primal, core energies of what something truly is, look to its bones."
"That's actually not very different from what my own manual has to say about it," Wu Ling mused. "According to the manual my Master provided, the most fundamental application of bone carving is the creation of Totems. The manual is very explicit that you cannot simply create a totem out of any piece of bone and expect it to function properly. As much as I might want to create a defensive totem, with wolf bones, the closest I might get is harvesting a mother's primal drive to protect her young, but that would have to come from a wolf who had borne pups."
"Right, that's it exactly," Xiong Dahuo nodded. "There are some people in my sect who have fashioned armor from the bones of beasts they've killed but they only hunt beasts with strong defenses to use in creating such armor. I don't know if you'll be able to do it, but if you could use the jaw bone of the wolf to carve the hilt of my next blade, I hope that it might gain a shadow of the Blood Moon Mist Wolf's fearsome bite."
"I can understand that," Wu Ling said, nodding along. "It seems like your Master is a font of knowledge about these things." While Xiong Dahuo referred to Hong Xuefeng as Wu Ling's 'Second Mother', Wu Ling himself struggled with how to relate to the woman he'd never met. His mother acknowledged her and the woman herself seemed to acknowledge her relationship with him, and yet… it was difficult to afford her the same status in his heart that he gave to his blood-related little sister. Perhaps, on the day he finally met her, he would feel differently.
"Master is incredibly knowledgeable," Xiong Dahuo said, his voice containing respect that bordered on awe. "I told you that she's a Martial Champion but she's also an Independent Scholar. For as long as she's been confined, she's dedicated much of her time to studying what she calls 'natural history'," the red-haired brawler explained. "She knows more about Ancestral Spirits than anyone I've ever met and her knowledge about the powers and capabilities of different spirit beasts is second to no one in the whole of the Outer Sect, not just our branch."
"Master also has an extensive library of ancient rituals," Xiong Dahuo continued. "But when I asked her why she spent so much time studying the beasts of the world when she wasn't allowed to go hunting, you know what she told me?"
"My mother had nothing but praise for your master," Wu Ling said. "I'm sure she had many considerations."
"She said she became a Scholar to teach your sister something other than the violence of the sect," Xiong Dahuo said, reaching out and placing a hand on Wu Ling's knee. "Your little sister loves books. She also loves the stars in the skies and the lyrical histories. When Brother Ling meets her, bring her a book of songs and stories."
"Brother Dahuo," Wu Ling said, pulling a slate and chalk from his cosmos sack. "Would you… Would you describe her to me? I'd like to have an image of her in mind, even if it's just a sketch from your words."
"Of course, I will," the other man said with a smile that was uncharacteristically gentle.
Slowly, as the sun rose, the mist burned off the lake revealing a surface with only the gentlest ripples, much like the ones flowing across Wu Ling's heart as the family he'd never met became increasingly clear in his mind's eye. The more Xiong Dahuo spoke, the more he resolved himself to find a way to reach them. To meet, and to rescue them from the prison of the Sanguine Saber Sect.
Elsewhere in the camp, Fang Lin clenched his fists and jaw against the pain while Yu Jinqi removed his bandages and applied a fresh layer of medicinal paste to the ghastly wounds. The young scholar had taken one look at the discolored bandages Yu Jinqi removed and the angry torn flesh beneath and promptly screwed his eyes shut before his stomach expelled the remnants of last night's feast.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but was actually less time than it would take a stick of incense to burn, the young alchemist finished securing the last of the fresh bandages in place. Now that Fang Lin was conscious, he'd added an additional element to the medicinal paste to suppress the pain and the itch of regenerating flesh but with wounds that had scratched bone, there was a limit to how comfortable he could make the healing process.
"All done," Yu Jinqi said gently. "You look a great deal better than you did a few days ago. Seven or eight more days and you'll be able to stand and walk short distances. Another ten days after that, if all goes well, you'll be completely healed."
"You'll still want to take it slow for a bit after that," Yu Jinqi cautioned. "You'll need to rebuild the muscle after so much bed rest, but Wu Ling plans to spend a month here to give you plenty of time to recover."
"I'm imposing on everyone," Fang Lin said, hanging his head low in shame. How much would the others come to resent him as this month dragged on and they were unable to progress toward the Gold Veined Spirit Jade? At the moment, they accepted his injuries, but would that acceptance last?
As much as Wu Ling had reassured him that everyone would give him this time, deep in his chest, Fang Lin began to worry about what would happen if the group failed to meet their other goals because he held them back. Would they still be so forgiving of him then? Or would they, like his father, accept it because they had no choice, and bludgeon him with it later when they needed to put him down?