Sky Pride

Vol. 8 Chapter 1- Same Name Saint and Demon

Most would find it hard to take their eyes off a seven foot tall vision of murderous male loveliness. Tian and Hong managed easily enough. The toad on the tray had their full attention. They could see the constellation patterns on its back.

“Dare to ignore-” The cultivator’s eyes flashed lion-gold, his murderous aura gathering near instantly. Tian felt it land on him like a physical force, a bit like an angry pillow descending, with something pokey inside of it.

“Sorry about that!” Tian cupped his hands and bowed. “That was rude. I apologize. My name is Tian Zihao. I believe Sir said his name was Tian Mo? I’m sure we aren’t related, but I do feel a sort of kinship amongst those with the same surname. A pleasure to meet you.”

Liren smiled thinly, but still cupped her fist. “Hong Liren.”

The wrathful stare went a little odd. The murderous aura hung around, but it seemed awkward, as though it didn’t know where to go. The pokey bits made a few efforts to prod him, but it was a bit like being “stabbed” by a leaf blowing in the wind. “This Seat’s name is… none of your concern. He is called Heavenly Demon.”

“Yes? Isn’t that how names work?” Tian blinked, plainly not understanding. The cultivator’s eyes narrowed, searching Tian's face for any sign of disrespect. The lack of it made his distressingly attractive mouth twitch.

“It’s an honor name. A title earned through blood and wisdom.”

“Ah, I see.” Tan nodded understandingly. Then, unsure where to take the conversation next, he said “I see you already have a tray out. I’d love to share a cup with a fellow tea lover, and have a few with me you might enjoy trying. Shall we?”

The cultivator frowned again, the murderous impulse once more trying to condense and finding nothing to land on. His hands twitched, tensing, ready for violence, and then were forced to relax when the violence simply didn’t come. The self proclaimed Heavenly Demon met Liren’s eyes, silently demanding answers. Liren shrugged and spread her hands slightly. What could she say? Her Dao Companion had clearly been kicked in the head at a young age, but at least he was sincere.

“This Demon doesnot want to drink tea, he was cultivating when you intruded.”

“Ah, tea afterward, then. Please, continue. We’ll be just over here. I could certainly use some time quietly meditating myself.” Tian nodded, pointing at a shady patch of pond bank.

“This Seat drinks wine, not tea. Do you mean to sit around until he completes his meditation? Do you really think this Demon won't kill you annoyances?”

“Do you have a special constitution that can only subsist on wine? Fascinating. And… would it really drive you into a homicidal rage to know that people were sitting silently near you?”

“Cultivation is done alone. How could you possibly cultivate to the Heavenly Realm without knowing that?” The murderous aura was really flying around now, battering away at Tian. It was almost refreshing, like a playful spring breeze. It would have been more alarming, if the Demon seemed inclined to move, but he wasn’t so much as preparing a hidden weapon. Tian opted to just shrug and pretend he didn’t feel anything.

“It was probably all the time I spent cultivating around other people that did it. In fact, I almost exclusively cultivate around other people.” Tian smiled, happily reminiscing about his cultivation sessions on the patio behind the hospital at Depot Four.

“Nonsense!”

“Not at all. I’ll do it now if you like.”

“Aren’t you afraid this Demon will strike you down while you are helpless?”

Tian contemplated the question for a moment, then shook his head. “No.”

Heavenly Demon threw up his hands. “Why?! Why bother this Seat? Why stick around? You may desire this Heavenly Demon, but this is not the way to receive his affections. If you desire his treasures, even if they are rich beyond your feeble imaginings, do you think that your tiny strength is enough to win them?”

Tian determinedly ignored most of that, and answered the part he cared about.

“Because your toad’s old master misses him and sent us to invite him home. And to open the way for him since the mountain is sealed by beings far, far beyond the Heavenly Realm.”

It was always interesting to watch someone’s brain freeze. The body locked up while the mind desperately tried to sort out whether it really heard what the ears reported.

“This Seat’s toad’s old master.”

“Indeed.” Tian nodded. Liren nodded with him.

“This toad.”

“Well, I suppose he is his own toad, but it would get confusing if I just said ‘the toad.’ I think we are all clear that I am referring to the money eating toad sitting on the tray on your lap.”

“This Seat is not from this kingdom, or the Wasteland of Song for that matter, and this toad has accompanied him throughout his entire journey. Yet you still dare to say you know this toad's so-called master, and will lead the way to him?” The wrath built with each word. Heavenly Demon’s waist length hair grew fluffy and spread outward. A bit like a cat, in Tian’s opinion.

“Yes, I do. He’s on Ancient Crane Mountain, which if you didn’t know, is that one really big mountain in the middle of the country. It’s sealed off right now, but since Teacher sent us out to find him, we can obviously get him back in again. No promises about getting you in too, but his master can be very generous with the people who look after his old disciple. You might just be able to cultivate in the most qi-dense spot in the kingdom.”

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“Wait, master? As in, Master and disciple?” The Heavenly Demon was rapidly cycling between absolute confusion and growing irritation. His hair seemed to puff, settle, twist, all in line with his emotions. When he got really irritated, long strands started to float, reminding Tian of when he settled into a bath and let his hair down. “Who, then? Who is this so-called master?”

Tian hesitated, then asked “Are you any good at formations? I’m happy to tell you, but Teacher has spent the last little while cleaning up his disciples… problems… and wants his movements to remain secret. But you are looking after his disciple, so I think it’s only fair you know who he is. Can you make some sort of formation to conceal us from diviners and the like?”

The toad blazed into life, the patterns of stars on his back shifting and twisting, turning the day into night in the glade around the pond. “He can’t, I can. Speak the name of my so-called master.” The toad croaked, his voice magisterial.

Tian could only blink with surprise. Old Toad had never spoken. He had never magically shrouded the heavens either. This was amazing! It was actually Liren who answered. “The Venerable Voidcatcher. And if you don’t remember him, it was in your previous life.”

The Heaven Shrouding formation trembled, “I know that name! I’ve never heard it before, but I know that name! Little Mo, this is it! This is the fortuitous encounter we have been looking for!” The toad roared, round eyes looking ready to weep with joy.

“Old Chanchu!” Heavenly Demon looked down on the toad with immense affection. “At long last, you will find what you have been missing all this time.”

“Heavenly Demon.” Liren messaged Tian, the implication heavy in her thoughts. “That sounds like a heretic to me. And do you remember that rankings booklet? He was number one, with a reputation for unfathomable cruelty and violence.”

“All true, but look at him. I’m not even seeing any sin. I’m getting a bit of that instinctive dislike I get from some of the lower grade evil things, but not on the order of even a moderately serious heretic. He’s definitely done some evil. I just think there is more going on here. There is also an opportunity.” Tian’s mild smile never shifted.

“What’s that?”

“We can make him someone else’s problem. I don’t know if Teacher is still hanging out with Merciless, but even if he isn’t, he’s an old hand at managing difficult people.”

Liren immediately brightened. “That’s true! We take them straight to the mountain, hand them off to Voidcatcher, let teacher Merciless know the job is done, collect Burning Heaven, and then back to our home. It’s been forever.”

It really felt that way. It was one thing to know that you had, in theory, at least centuries ahead of you. Definitionally, there was no rush. In practice, spending almost two years away from their little cave home hurt. There was an ache to the thought, a longing for a moment in time.

“We have lots of new things we can decorate the house with. We can plant the tea tree too. Even if it’s just growing in a pot for the next decade or so, we can still have it out and spruce up the cave. Have you been collecting seeds, by any chance?”

“No, it never occurred to me.” Liren smiled slightly. “Let’s start on the way back. Vegetables, flowers, maybe some bushes or something. It will be nice to have a chance to really re-decorate the garden. Oh, we should keep an eye out for good rocks. Nothing says ‘tastefully laid out garden’ like a big, unnecessary rock.”

“Hmm? What are you two scheming? Confess before this Heavenly Demon!”

Their attention snapped back to the toad and his demon. The Demon hadn’t stood yet, but Tian could see him gathering qi to his fingertips. It was an interesting technique, as it didn’t seem like he intended to stab with the fingers. Still, no need to let things devolve into violence.

“We were talking about finding a big rock for our garden, as well as some vegetable seeds and flowers and things. Being able to grow your own food at your doorstep is very reassuring. Our cave dwelling is quite cozy, but you can always make it a bit nicer. Ah, it’s not one of those fancy caves, if you were wondering. It’s a little place around the side of the mountain, not too high up. There is a hole in the cave roof where the light shines in, so we can do some gardening. I even installed a pond. That was a bit of work, got my robes all wet, but well worth it in the end.”

The Heavenly Demon’s mind appeared to have, once again, tried to step on solid ground and fallen through a hole. The hair fell flat, looking rather messy. Almost curly, the way twists and wisps of it seemed to jut out from every side. Not normal for such long hair, in Tian’s experience.

The qi dissipated from Mo’s fingers. “You know, even after wandering through the Wasteland for a century or two, This Demon keeps forgetting just how deprived it is. This Demon at least had a house to live in, with a roof that didn’t have a hole in it. It was only a side palace, barely a small manse, but it did have a roof.”

“Oh, you grew up in a home? I grew up in a dump myself. Fighting with rats and foxes for whatever scraps I could find, hiding from the wild dogs, I suppose childhood is similar everywhere. Monsoon season was always the toughest, because you had to worry about the trash heap collapsing and burying you. Which happened to me once, and let me tell you, it was a bad time. It took days to crawl out, and I was scraped raw afterwards. And I was pretty small in those days! Being a cultivator is much, much better. How did you manage the monsoon season?”

Heavenly Demon and his toad both found their eyes magnetically drawn to Liren, who covered her face and nodded silently.

“This Demon must assume you are after the bounty on him then, gambling your cheap life for-”

He paused as Tian tilted his head, uncannily resembling a dog not understanding the whys of doors.

“Bounty?”

“The Ten Sect Alliance Bounty on this Seat’s-” Tian started shaking his head and the Demon cut himself off. “You haven’t heard of the bounty.”

“Haven’t heard of the Ten Sect Alliance either. Sorry. I remember you are in that bird and snake ranking, but I don’t remember anything about money on your head.”

“It did say to forget the bounty. It didn’t say how much it was or who offered it.” Liren supplied. Tian gestured at her and looked over at the Demon.

“That must be it. They said to forget it and I did. It wouldn’t have mattered to me anyway.”

“Enough wealth to buy five mountains wouldn’t move you?”

“Why would I want five mountains? I can’t even sit on all of one.” Tian sighed. “Everyone acts like being an ascetic is some big sacrifice, but really, it just seems like being a sensible, reasonable person to me. Five mountains, honestly. I’d just leave ‘em be if I had them. Maybe do a little gardening or something. Make charcoal when I got the urge. It would be a different story if there were tea trees there, of course. Must keep those safe.”

A tragic silence gathered around the pond. Eventually, it fell to the senior generation to break it.

The toad spoke, his voice rich with sorrow. “No, junior, you aren’t an ascetic. An ascetic has to have something to give up. You are merely broke, and more than that, generationally broke. Even for the benighted denizens of this hole called a wasteland, you are in a position to receive charity from beggars. Your pockets are so empty, you can study the elemental void within them. One day a stray dog shall look at you and shake its head before running away, as there is just no meat on your bones. It is the nature of my species to draw fortune to those who feed us, but I don’t think I can be of any help to you. First, because I doubt you could feed me, and second, because there just isn’t enough fortune in the whole world. Perhaps when I ascend a few realms, or achieve godhood. Don’t fear if it takes a while- you are so broke, your reincarnations will be bums too, and the blessings will be needed. Nothing shall be wasted.”

“Oh, that’s very kind of you.” Tian beamed. More blessings were always welcome.

The Heavenly Demon raised his strong, slender hands, and covered a face that was exceeded only by the sun in beauty and radiance, creating a local eclipse of aesthetic joy. He groaned, none too softly, and said “Any chance we can go right now? Immediately? And then you can go away? To think this Demon could have heart demons of his own!”