Chapter 8
The Dao Itself and Bei'ai Jien
What?
Hari almost jumped out of her chair. Surely, Hari had heard of Cultivators who dwelled in the Immortal's army, or even in the higher ranks of Hyperia. Some even said that the Demon Emperor was a cultivator and that was why Rarik's beasts were under his command. But, those things were just stories.
Nobody really believed that normal people could become cultivators, did they? Hari always thought that you would have to be chosen by the heavens, or be born into a family that had special powers in order for your cultivator power to awaken. Now, the Fist Maker meant that she, a war orphan, had used cultivation?
That was absurd.
If normal people could be true cultivators, did that mean that the Cultivator's Treasure was real? One thing was a race of horned humanoids, or giant animals. It was another thing to say that a bunch of strays could become cultivation legends. The scopes were simply mismatched in Hari's mind.
All this time, Hari read The Fortunate Cultivator's Treasure as a children's tale. A way to comfort those who wanted to become cultivators but weren't born into noble families or blessed by the heavens. But now what? He would say that the Jade Immortal was indeed immortal and not just a nickname for the amount of deadly battles he had survived?
“Cu-cultivation? How in…” She could barely say anything else. Her thoughts couldn't translate into words.
"I see you are picking up on some of my quirks too, huh?" he laughed and drank more Qingxiang. "Yes. Yes. Cultivation. Like in the Cultivator's Treasure and blah blah blah. That bunch of imbeciles.”
"But how?" she asked, still in disbelief. He would have to do more than that to make her believe that what she did was indeed cultivation.
"What? Do you want me to demonstrate now?" He took more Qingxiang. "No way. I do not do these insane things anymore. Cultivation is for the youth. Not for old, tired men like me. And I do not want to hurt my back again. Besides, are you not proof enough already? How else would you explain what happened to you today?”
The Fist Maker had a strong argument in his favor. Hari had no other explanation for what happened to her. Fine, she would pretend to believe in his words for now. “And why did you teach this to Alin and never said anything to me?”
Hari felt so small, as if a huge world had just opened up to her. If that was actually cultivation, what were the limits of the universe? Could she fly? Or perhaps, run faster than light and turn swords into an extension of one's own body? Perhaps even, reaching understanding of the Dao itself. Oh no, maybe she was overreacting again.
“I intended to teach you too. But Alin did not handle the cultivation teaching so well. I thought the same would happen to you.” he drank two glasses this time. “I never imagined that she would pass this knowledge on to you and that you would… you know.”
"I know." Hari paused. Was that why Alin fought so well? She was some kind of cultivator in disguise? But she'd never seen Alin lose control during a fight before. And she watched all the fights her sister took part in. Also, Alin never showed anything that reminded Hari of what she knew about cultivation. Alin was talented, a genius, but still a normal person. “And what am I supposed to do now?”
“You must pretend it never happened and disappear. Cultivation without training is dangerous, and Alin taught you poorly. You shouldn't have lost control like that if you had learned the basics.”
The Fist Maker was right. People didn't deal well with news about cultivators. Unless... An idea popped into Hari's mind. "Why don't you teach me, then?"
The Fist Maker spat out a mouthful of Qingxiang onto the floor of the hall. "No way. I just said your sister could not handle it. Why would I teach you?”
"I'm not my sister."
“But she has already contaminated your cultivation. You killed a man.” he hit the table. “Also, you are much more explosive and addicted to fights than your sister. You should never have learned that method of cultivation. Argh, what a headache.”
“Then teach me another one. One that will help me stay in control.” Hari stood up. “If I leave now without understanding how to master this, imagine what could happen? Do you want other Gojos to come my way?”
It was a risky gamble, but Hari had to try. She had never been closer to the Cultivator's Treasure than she was now. Strengthening herself was all Hari needed. That would solve everything. The money, the children, even the Immortal. Perhaps in the future, she might even challenge him to a duel. Hari smiled internally. The idea was a lot of fun.
The Fist Maker raised an eyebrow and scratched his chin. "Fine. You have a point. It is partly my fault for teaching your sister this in the first place. And I definitely own you something.” he took another vial from his pocket and drank something. “Very well, I will teach you. But you do not leave the Alcove nor appear in town until I say so. Captain Fushi will not be happy to hear you are still around in Zhouhei.”
For a moment, Hari thought she would feel happy, but the feeling didn't come. For some reason, she felt sad despite her excitement. The image of Gojo still wouldn't leave her mind and now, she was afraid that if she fought someone again, the same thing would happen.
Hari now feared what her hands could do, so she needed to master them at all costs. "I will do whatever you say."
The Fist Maker reacted in surprise. “This is astonishing. You usually do everything contrary to what I say. Like trying to win today's fight when I told you to lose.”
"You told me it was a matched fight and I didn't want to abandon the kids."
He took the rest of the Qingxiang bottle. “This is my fault too. I asked Fushi to create the fight. The idea of making you lose was mine.”
"What? What else aren't you telling me? Why would you do that?" Hari's indignation already wanted to jump at the Fist Maker's neck.
The Fist Maker sighed. “For you and your sister. I wanted you to have a life outside this place. I thought that if you were forced to lose, you would drop everything and walk away. I told you before, this place does not deserve you and neither do I. You and your sister…” he hesitated. “You are like daughters to me.”
Hari cried.
She felt lighter, as if huge iron bars had disappeared from her chest. All this time, he really saw her as a daughter? She thought she was a nuisance, that he hated her, that he wanted her away from him. But all this time he just wanted to see her happy? What a relief.
“So, all that…”
“Yes. I said. I lied to you. But no more.” he looked for some Qingxiang in the bottle and found nothing. “And… since you will be my student, you deserve to know the truth. So what do you want to know?”
Hari had many questions to ask, but one in particular hovered in her mind. "Your name. You never told me.”
The Fist Maker stared at her, looked at the ceiling, at the table, at the floor and then opened his mouth. “My real name is Bei'ai Jien.”
Hari didn't know if the Qingxiang had been too strong, or if she had actually heard him say Bei'ai Jien. If this was his name, it was the same name as the... "It's a beautiful name."
"Thank you."
"But… I don't know if anyone ever told you this, your name is the same as the name of one of the members of the Cultivator's Treasure." Hari concluded. That was an oddly funny coincidence. Was that the reason he'd changed his name?
"I know, I was one of them." Jien said.
Hahaha. He said he was part of the Cultivator's Treasure. What a funny joke. Hari chuckled. “That was a good one, Fist Maker, I mean Bei'ai Jien. I didn't know you could be so funny."
Jien didn't smile. “You can just call me Jien. And it was not a joke." he stood up and Hari felt the atmosphere around her change. An imperative presence that made all of Hari's instincts prepare to fight. Hari watched as a cold energy exhaled from Jien, causing a faint bluish light to appear around him, as an aura. Hari recognized this, as it was the same description Bakhtam gave of the use of cultivation in the Cultivator's Treasure.
“Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Bei'ai Jien, currently known as the Fist Maker. Yet, in the past I was known as the Moonlight Walker. The Moonbender, founder and leader of the Fortunate Cultivator's Treasure. It is a pleasure to meet you, Wancheng Hari.”
