Akhier
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While I am currently writing another novel this one has been in my head for longer. That being the case it has stewed for much too long and getting it out the door in the first place has become hard. This chapter has been re-written a few times and I am technically still editing it a little. However when I have posted it elsewhere I haven't really gotten feedback on it so I am spinning my wheels as it were.
The story is going to be in the Xuanhuan style. Oh and the working title at the moment is "Blocked Paths, Open Future" because the MC has all his main meridians closed at birth and his future (what with being the MC) has unlimited potential. So if you have a better title for it and don't mind me using it please feel free to make a suggestion.
The story is going to be in the Xuanhuan style. Oh and the working title at the moment is "Blocked Paths, Open Future" because the MC has all his main meridians closed at birth and his future (what with being the MC) has unlimited potential. So if you have a better title for it and don't mind me using it please feel free to make a suggestion.
A stone hits my back, another bruise for tomorrow. On the ground I grasp a small plant close to my chest. All around me a mob of kids are jeering. The biggest boy steps forward with a large rock and sneers, “That’s right you jinx, just curl up and take it you nameless scum!” He hefts the stone over his head. I cradle the plant closer to protect it. A bored voice speaks up, “Oye, don’t kill him you fool. The clan wants no more karma with him then we already have. That Talentless waste caused enough troubles for us. We need not add fratricide to our burden.”
The clans groundskeeper is leaning up against a nearby wall. The man was once hopeful to leave this backwater town. Instead he ended up stuck at the peak of Houtian. Now the man takes pleasure in tormenting me. He smirks, “Hey jinx, get up and come over here. What’s that you got a death grip on.”
He plans to steal from me again. Not that anyone else here would call it that. They don’t allow me to own anything so taking from me is just retrieving the clan’s property. Nevermind I risked myself to harvest even this simple herb. Face down to hide my anger I limp over and hand a small green stalk to him. With a grin he looks at it, “Ah, something to help with bruised bones is it? The clan will reward me for finding this! Now get out of here you waste.”
I limp further into the clan’s compound towards a tilted mud brick house. Sounds of cooking and the smell of rice greet me as I enter through the empty doorway. “Grandma, I’m home!”, I exclaim and she turns around from a small pot over a weak fire. Her white hair throwing stark contrast to the drabness of the room. With a sad smile she greets me, “Welcome back grandson, I‘m almost done with the rice. The clan once again ‘forgot’ to provide any for you but I seem to have misplaced a small bowl from yesterday. You can finish it for me.”
I shake my head, “No Grandma, I told you to eat what you can! You’ve gotten weaker and need it all for yourself. Outside of town there is enough for me to scavenge. In fact, here,” and I pull out a couple root hairs I hid in the band of my loincloth. “These should be from a young ginseng, someone did a bad job at harvesting it so I was able to find two root hairs. Please, add them to your rice.”
A trace of fear flashes through her eyes, “Boy, they’ve taken our names. They’ve banished you to this backwater town. The only shred of clothing they allow is that loincloth and you use it to hide ginseng? Do you want to lose even that?”
I grimace, “They shouldn’t know. I had another herb that the groundskeeper already took. How could they even imagine me finding two herbs? Plus, how else am I supposed to get anything here? They put you in not the most run-down house but rather the one farthest from the entrance. My wood shed is against the back wall!”
She shakes her head and sighs, “I would rather you not come home beaten every day. I have few years left but you have your whole life ahead of you. If you die nothing will remain of your parents and soon enough, me.”
Tears run down my face, “There has to be a way to go out! The clan does not provide enough food for you let alone both of us. If the other grandmothers didn‘t help, we would starve.”
Once again Grandma shakes her head, “I know you silly boy. But hiding herbs in your loincloth isn’t the answer. Take this as a lesson in karma. Even for us still in the Mortal Realm those invisible ties can bind us. I was kind to others in the past and so they help me out. Head Elder is rude to the grandmothers and so they don’t tell him. Now don’t cry, we can still manage.”
Another tear, “But Grandma, things are getting worse! If it wasn’t for the groundskeeper wanting my herb, I would have had a big rock bash my head in. Not even a year ago was when they switched to rocks and now the rocks are getting bigger. I need to go out for food but if I keep going out, they will end up crippling me!”
A small frown traces her lips, “Hm, this outposts karma will be bad for decades because of the Head Elders small-mindedness. To go this far it must be the parents teaching them. Do they think the children will limit this kind of attitude to just you? The other grandmas are heartbroken over their grandkids futures. True, might makes right, but what ‘might’ do they think we have? We can’t even awaken everyone! Over half will never cultivate. They will forever be the lowest of coolies for the clan. Even our slaves get treated better as the clan can sell them.”
Then Grandma lapses into silence. I keep quiet as emotions play out over her face. Then her face goes slack, and she sighs, “I didn’t want to bring this up but fate has forced my hands. The clan doesn’t care if you go out only because they are hoping for you to die somewhere else without causing a fuss. Then they take everything you bring back. We can’t go on like this. I have saved rice for a while so starting tomorrow you will no longer go out!” I panic and try to interrupt but she places a finger on my lips.
“I am not about to suggest you give up and hide. Instead, from tomorrow onward you will be digging. The small storage shack where you sleep uses the coumpounds wall as its back. Being as far from the entrance was so you can’t sneak in with stuff. But now we will turn it to our advantage. With the small shovel by my bed you will dig a tunnel under the wall. While the whole town knows about your lack of Talent. Everyone else just pretends you don’t exist. What you do outside doesn’t get reported to the clan. This plan is risky but as long as you keep quiet enough it should work.”
As I nod in agreement, she adds in one final bit, “Oh and from now on eat more. You have so much work to do. No more turning down the extra rice you hear me?” I Sheepishly grin and continue to nod. After I am scolded we finish dinner and head off to bed.
It feels odd to wake up early. Most days I try to get up after the sun rises to avoid all the other kids. They’re easy to anger after the required pre-dawn training. With a yawn I move the plank I sleep on to the side and grab the shovel. A solid thunk and the dirt comes up. Now where to put it? Random stacks of dirt would stand out. For now, I plug the cracks in my shack. The sun comes up outside and the sound of Grandma cooking breakfast shakes me out of the work. After a stretch I head into the house, “Morning Grandma, I thought of a problem. Where should we be putting the dirt? I can only fill so many cracks in the shack.”
She nods a greeting while stirring the pot. “And a good morning to you. Sit down and have a bowl, I can see you have been working hard. Sadly, there is nowhere for you to wash up.” I take a seat and she hands me my breakfast before continuing, “Anyway, I had planned for this already. Though I must admit I hadn’t thought of plugging the cracks. When you finish the shack, there are spots in here to fill. After that is where I come in. While we can’t just dump it in the yard or the street there is a bit of luck in where we live. Because the entrance to the clans compound is facing the forest, we can take advantage of how the wind comes from that direction at night. During the day I will crumble the dirt you have dug up. Once ground to dust we should be able to just toss it into the air at night and have it float away. Behind us is a disused alley so no one should notice.”
That sounds like a good plan. However, I don’t want her to have to work. While nodding my head I try to dissuade her, “Okay, but let me break up the dirt. Please don’t work yourself so hard. I’m young and can manage it. A few late nights won’t hurt me.”
She shakes her head, “No you silly boy! It isn’t like I plan to bash the dirt with a rock. We don’t use my mortar and pestle for anything else. I can use that to break the dirt up. Also, I might be old but I am still stronger than you! Maybe my cultivation isn’t the best, but I still made it to the fourth level even with no support. My years might grow short but I can still pound dirt. The only reason I am not out there digging the tunnel with you is that people expect me to be puttering around in my house!”
I Sigh, “All right Grandma, but if you feel tired at all take a break! I can help with any you didn’t complete. You might not want to slow me down but if you get sick from overwork, I don’t know what I would do with myself!”
Done with breakfast I continue digging. The unchanging work once again lulling me into a moving meditation as the hours slip by. Eventually Grandma whacks me on the head. The sun has almost set and my work now looks like an actual tunnel. She whacks my head again as my eyes start to droop, “Boy! Goodness me, and you worried yourself about me overworking? You didn’t even stop for dinner! Don’t think getting this far means the tunnel will be easy to complete. Once under the wall digging will be a lot harder. They pound out a good foundation and the walls have only compacted it further. We aren’t talking stone here but it will not let you progress quickly. Now come in and eat your late meal before we dust the alley behind us.”
Dinner tasted wonderful though Grandma just scoffed and said something about appetite being the greatest seasoning. Now we are outside playing in the dirt. I take the shovel and get a good scoop full of powdered dirt then fling it up as hard as I can. It then forms a big cloud of dust that drifts over the wall. This would feel like a big accomplishment except for the bigger cloud right next to it. Grandma is grabbing handfuls and tossing them up but with her cultivation this still lets her get twice the work done. We soon finish the pile though I suspect that I did less than a third of the work. My arms are dead to me so I head off to bed, even pushing my plank back into position is hard. Finally, I drift off at some point.
I forgot to close my door last night, so the sun greets me this morning. After an attempt to roll over all I feel is pain. Did I say my arms were dead to me last night? I was wrong. Even the thought of moving my arms causes pain. Did I pull all the muscles in my arms last night?
Enough complaining, I have to get up. As I try to flip over my face pales as I break into a cold sweat, but I finally end up on my belly. Can’t waste the food, need to get work done today. Breathe out, get my arms braced at my sides. Breathe in, tense my muscles. Hold my breath and push. Pain, but keep pushing. On my knees then up onto my feet. Eugh, I am awake now, that’s for sure. Grandma should have rice left for me. Oh, there she is at the backdoor to the house. Her look of concern is clear as I plod towards her, “Good morning Grandma! Don’t worry, just a little sore from yesterday.”
She looks at the sky before returning my greeting, “Why yes, good afternoon to you as well! I wanted to tell you to rest today. As you’ve gotten up though I suspect that wouldn’t do any good?”
I flash her a sheepish grin, “Well the tunnel isn’t going to dig itself now is it? Plus a little movement should chase away the pain! Anyway, I am hungry so I was thinking about eating whatever was leftover from your breakfast?”
She massages the bridge of her nose as she waves me into the house, “Don’t pretend I would feed you cold porridge! I got up early and started this soup. I even used the ginseng root hairs you got.” I open my mouth but she glares at me and continues, “No, no complaints from you Boy. While we don’t have the proper means to get all the medicinal strength from it. Boiling is the best we can do. You need this more than me. Though I will eat it as well. Don’t think I don’t know you would refuse to eat the soup if I didn’t. Now get in here, the faster we eat the faster you can torture yourself with digging.”
I finished the meal and let me tell you; it was amazing! That ginseng was at least 20 to 30 years old. But now I am back out digging. Even if the soil wasn’t hard packed I think little would have gotten done today. As I lift the shovel up my arms burn. Now tossing the dirt onto the pile and it feels like red ants are crawling all over them and biting me. I can’t stop though. A solid thunk but the shovel only goes an inch into the dirt. I lever out that bit and the pain starts all over again. The thought of it being good that I can’t dig as much today crosses my mind. That idea quickly gets strangled though. Even if I doubt my ability to lift a shovel full of dirt, I will not stop. She tried to hide it but Grandma was eating less. I know that pitiful amount of ginseng wouldn’t do much for her but she still needs to eat.
There isn’t much I can do. Even wiping the sweat from my brow causes daggers of pain in my arms. Luckily all the running around looking for food has toughened up my legs. I don’t want to imagine what this would be like if my legs also wanted to die on me. Finally though, my thoughts fade away until I am once again awakened from my work by Grandma. Another day has passed. With a shake of her head, she admonished me, “You did it again Boy. Learn to take a break for goodness sakes. Too much work can weaken you. I expected that after a few attempts you would give up on working today. Instead, you managed twice the work for half the results. Tomorrow you will stay in bed except for meals.”
I frown, “But Grandma, I need to finish the tunnel! You only have a little rice stored.”
She pokes my arm and I grimace, “Yeah no, the ginseng will have kept you from hurting yourself too much today. In fact, that is the only reason I let you keep going. Tomorrow though you will focus on meditation and letting the medicinal power still in you do its work. Now I have another soup going, this time I used the bone of a level 2 Mortal cow. While the broth won’t fill us by itself, the bone should last us a while. Such a low-ranked bone wouldn’t normally help anyone but for you it should be a gentle way to boost your stamina. Anyway, you better savor it. The bone is one of the few things your father brought with him when he was banished here.”
I slump, “If you insist I won‘t work tomorrow. Sigh, I guess one day won’t matter much in the long run.” Then peaking up at Grandma I quietly ask, “What was my father like?” I know this question will hurt her but I need to understand. It is a rare time she will even mention him.
Her face hardens for a moment then goes slack, “Yes it is about time I told you. Come in and eat while I tell you a story.” I nod and follow her in. Once we sit down she continues, “Numbers and letters have always come easily to me. They just make sense. While I didn’t learn them when young I quickly picked them up after marrying your grandfather. He worked as a messenger for the clan and being able to read and write was part of the job. Noticing my aptitude for it he got me a position managing the supplies at this outpost. When your father was born he took to them even better than I. By the time he was your age, even the Head Elder noticed this. After some training in more advanced words and such they elevated him to a clerk position. Not here, we didn’t need a real clerk but rather at the nearest city. He was a young boy still, so they saw potential in him. The clan is always short of scholarly types. Finally, at the cusp of adulthood they moved him to the main clan holding. Our clan isn’t a small one. The main base is many kingdoms away at the heart of the Empire we live in. It takes years to get there and your father spent most of his time traveling once they chose him.”
At this point we had finished the soup. She looks down and shakes her head, “I only know this from what he told me when he returned. The clan has a reward for finding good potential. With that reward the old head Elder advanced past the Houtian Realm. This in turn got him reassigned to a new post. Anyway, while there your father married a flower gardener from another clan. I never met your mother but from the descriptions she was just like her charges. A delicate flower kept safe in her garden. Beyond that I only know she died giving birth to you. But don’t worry she didn’t hate you for it. I have it from your father himself that her last request to him was to not hate you because of her death. After that you know what happened already but I will state it out. After testing your potential they found you had no Talent. Not a single one of your main meridians was open at birth. While I don’t know all the political maneuvering that went on they banished you and your father back here. A town on the Empire’s edge. To them you are a jinx and so all direct relatives got implicated and stripped of our names. In fact I have to assume the Empire itself got involved in this. To get here as quickly as you did means they used a teleportation formation. Even as rich as our clan is them spending that much to send a baby out here is absurd. Anyway, night is here. Off to bed with you and I better not find you digging tomorrow. Don’t worry about the dirt I can take care of today’s small amount by myself.”
The clans groundskeeper is leaning up against a nearby wall. The man was once hopeful to leave this backwater town. Instead he ended up stuck at the peak of Houtian. Now the man takes pleasure in tormenting me. He smirks, “Hey jinx, get up and come over here. What’s that you got a death grip on.”
He plans to steal from me again. Not that anyone else here would call it that. They don’t allow me to own anything so taking from me is just retrieving the clan’s property. Nevermind I risked myself to harvest even this simple herb. Face down to hide my anger I limp over and hand a small green stalk to him. With a grin he looks at it, “Ah, something to help with bruised bones is it? The clan will reward me for finding this! Now get out of here you waste.”
I limp further into the clan’s compound towards a tilted mud brick house. Sounds of cooking and the smell of rice greet me as I enter through the empty doorway. “Grandma, I’m home!”, I exclaim and she turns around from a small pot over a weak fire. Her white hair throwing stark contrast to the drabness of the room. With a sad smile she greets me, “Welcome back grandson, I‘m almost done with the rice. The clan once again ‘forgot’ to provide any for you but I seem to have misplaced a small bowl from yesterday. You can finish it for me.”
I shake my head, “No Grandma, I told you to eat what you can! You’ve gotten weaker and need it all for yourself. Outside of town there is enough for me to scavenge. In fact, here,” and I pull out a couple root hairs I hid in the band of my loincloth. “These should be from a young ginseng, someone did a bad job at harvesting it so I was able to find two root hairs. Please, add them to your rice.”
A trace of fear flashes through her eyes, “Boy, they’ve taken our names. They’ve banished you to this backwater town. The only shred of clothing they allow is that loincloth and you use it to hide ginseng? Do you want to lose even that?”
I grimace, “They shouldn’t know. I had another herb that the groundskeeper already took. How could they even imagine me finding two herbs? Plus, how else am I supposed to get anything here? They put you in not the most run-down house but rather the one farthest from the entrance. My wood shed is against the back wall!”
She shakes her head and sighs, “I would rather you not come home beaten every day. I have few years left but you have your whole life ahead of you. If you die nothing will remain of your parents and soon enough, me.”
Tears run down my face, “There has to be a way to go out! The clan does not provide enough food for you let alone both of us. If the other grandmothers didn‘t help, we would starve.”
Once again Grandma shakes her head, “I know you silly boy. But hiding herbs in your loincloth isn’t the answer. Take this as a lesson in karma. Even for us still in the Mortal Realm those invisible ties can bind us. I was kind to others in the past and so they help me out. Head Elder is rude to the grandmothers and so they don’t tell him. Now don’t cry, we can still manage.”
Another tear, “But Grandma, things are getting worse! If it wasn’t for the groundskeeper wanting my herb, I would have had a big rock bash my head in. Not even a year ago was when they switched to rocks and now the rocks are getting bigger. I need to go out for food but if I keep going out, they will end up crippling me!”
A small frown traces her lips, “Hm, this outposts karma will be bad for decades because of the Head Elders small-mindedness. To go this far it must be the parents teaching them. Do they think the children will limit this kind of attitude to just you? The other grandmas are heartbroken over their grandkids futures. True, might makes right, but what ‘might’ do they think we have? We can’t even awaken everyone! Over half will never cultivate. They will forever be the lowest of coolies for the clan. Even our slaves get treated better as the clan can sell them.”
Then Grandma lapses into silence. I keep quiet as emotions play out over her face. Then her face goes slack, and she sighs, “I didn’t want to bring this up but fate has forced my hands. The clan doesn’t care if you go out only because they are hoping for you to die somewhere else without causing a fuss. Then they take everything you bring back. We can’t go on like this. I have saved rice for a while so starting tomorrow you will no longer go out!” I panic and try to interrupt but she places a finger on my lips.
“I am not about to suggest you give up and hide. Instead, from tomorrow onward you will be digging. The small storage shack where you sleep uses the coumpounds wall as its back. Being as far from the entrance was so you can’t sneak in with stuff. But now we will turn it to our advantage. With the small shovel by my bed you will dig a tunnel under the wall. While the whole town knows about your lack of Talent. Everyone else just pretends you don’t exist. What you do outside doesn’t get reported to the clan. This plan is risky but as long as you keep quiet enough it should work.”
As I nod in agreement, she adds in one final bit, “Oh and from now on eat more. You have so much work to do. No more turning down the extra rice you hear me?” I Sheepishly grin and continue to nod. After I am scolded we finish dinner and head off to bed.
It feels odd to wake up early. Most days I try to get up after the sun rises to avoid all the other kids. They’re easy to anger after the required pre-dawn training. With a yawn I move the plank I sleep on to the side and grab the shovel. A solid thunk and the dirt comes up. Now where to put it? Random stacks of dirt would stand out. For now, I plug the cracks in my shack. The sun comes up outside and the sound of Grandma cooking breakfast shakes me out of the work. After a stretch I head into the house, “Morning Grandma, I thought of a problem. Where should we be putting the dirt? I can only fill so many cracks in the shack.”
She nods a greeting while stirring the pot. “And a good morning to you. Sit down and have a bowl, I can see you have been working hard. Sadly, there is nowhere for you to wash up.” I take a seat and she hands me my breakfast before continuing, “Anyway, I had planned for this already. Though I must admit I hadn’t thought of plugging the cracks. When you finish the shack, there are spots in here to fill. After that is where I come in. While we can’t just dump it in the yard or the street there is a bit of luck in where we live. Because the entrance to the clans compound is facing the forest, we can take advantage of how the wind comes from that direction at night. During the day I will crumble the dirt you have dug up. Once ground to dust we should be able to just toss it into the air at night and have it float away. Behind us is a disused alley so no one should notice.”
That sounds like a good plan. However, I don’t want her to have to work. While nodding my head I try to dissuade her, “Okay, but let me break up the dirt. Please don’t work yourself so hard. I’m young and can manage it. A few late nights won’t hurt me.”
She shakes her head, “No you silly boy! It isn’t like I plan to bash the dirt with a rock. We don’t use my mortar and pestle for anything else. I can use that to break the dirt up. Also, I might be old but I am still stronger than you! Maybe my cultivation isn’t the best, but I still made it to the fourth level even with no support. My years might grow short but I can still pound dirt. The only reason I am not out there digging the tunnel with you is that people expect me to be puttering around in my house!”
I Sigh, “All right Grandma, but if you feel tired at all take a break! I can help with any you didn’t complete. You might not want to slow me down but if you get sick from overwork, I don’t know what I would do with myself!”
Done with breakfast I continue digging. The unchanging work once again lulling me into a moving meditation as the hours slip by. Eventually Grandma whacks me on the head. The sun has almost set and my work now looks like an actual tunnel. She whacks my head again as my eyes start to droop, “Boy! Goodness me, and you worried yourself about me overworking? You didn’t even stop for dinner! Don’t think getting this far means the tunnel will be easy to complete. Once under the wall digging will be a lot harder. They pound out a good foundation and the walls have only compacted it further. We aren’t talking stone here but it will not let you progress quickly. Now come in and eat your late meal before we dust the alley behind us.”
Dinner tasted wonderful though Grandma just scoffed and said something about appetite being the greatest seasoning. Now we are outside playing in the dirt. I take the shovel and get a good scoop full of powdered dirt then fling it up as hard as I can. It then forms a big cloud of dust that drifts over the wall. This would feel like a big accomplishment except for the bigger cloud right next to it. Grandma is grabbing handfuls and tossing them up but with her cultivation this still lets her get twice the work done. We soon finish the pile though I suspect that I did less than a third of the work. My arms are dead to me so I head off to bed, even pushing my plank back into position is hard. Finally, I drift off at some point.
I forgot to close my door last night, so the sun greets me this morning. After an attempt to roll over all I feel is pain. Did I say my arms were dead to me last night? I was wrong. Even the thought of moving my arms causes pain. Did I pull all the muscles in my arms last night?
Enough complaining, I have to get up. As I try to flip over my face pales as I break into a cold sweat, but I finally end up on my belly. Can’t waste the food, need to get work done today. Breathe out, get my arms braced at my sides. Breathe in, tense my muscles. Hold my breath and push. Pain, but keep pushing. On my knees then up onto my feet. Eugh, I am awake now, that’s for sure. Grandma should have rice left for me. Oh, there she is at the backdoor to the house. Her look of concern is clear as I plod towards her, “Good morning Grandma! Don’t worry, just a little sore from yesterday.”
She looks at the sky before returning my greeting, “Why yes, good afternoon to you as well! I wanted to tell you to rest today. As you’ve gotten up though I suspect that wouldn’t do any good?”
I flash her a sheepish grin, “Well the tunnel isn’t going to dig itself now is it? Plus a little movement should chase away the pain! Anyway, I am hungry so I was thinking about eating whatever was leftover from your breakfast?”
She massages the bridge of her nose as she waves me into the house, “Don’t pretend I would feed you cold porridge! I got up early and started this soup. I even used the ginseng root hairs you got.” I open my mouth but she glares at me and continues, “No, no complaints from you Boy. While we don’t have the proper means to get all the medicinal strength from it. Boiling is the best we can do. You need this more than me. Though I will eat it as well. Don’t think I don’t know you would refuse to eat the soup if I didn’t. Now get in here, the faster we eat the faster you can torture yourself with digging.”
I finished the meal and let me tell you; it was amazing! That ginseng was at least 20 to 30 years old. But now I am back out digging. Even if the soil wasn’t hard packed I think little would have gotten done today. As I lift the shovel up my arms burn. Now tossing the dirt onto the pile and it feels like red ants are crawling all over them and biting me. I can’t stop though. A solid thunk but the shovel only goes an inch into the dirt. I lever out that bit and the pain starts all over again. The thought of it being good that I can’t dig as much today crosses my mind. That idea quickly gets strangled though. Even if I doubt my ability to lift a shovel full of dirt, I will not stop. She tried to hide it but Grandma was eating less. I know that pitiful amount of ginseng wouldn’t do much for her but she still needs to eat.
There isn’t much I can do. Even wiping the sweat from my brow causes daggers of pain in my arms. Luckily all the running around looking for food has toughened up my legs. I don’t want to imagine what this would be like if my legs also wanted to die on me. Finally though, my thoughts fade away until I am once again awakened from my work by Grandma. Another day has passed. With a shake of her head, she admonished me, “You did it again Boy. Learn to take a break for goodness sakes. Too much work can weaken you. I expected that after a few attempts you would give up on working today. Instead, you managed twice the work for half the results. Tomorrow you will stay in bed except for meals.”
I frown, “But Grandma, I need to finish the tunnel! You only have a little rice stored.”
She pokes my arm and I grimace, “Yeah no, the ginseng will have kept you from hurting yourself too much today. In fact, that is the only reason I let you keep going. Tomorrow though you will focus on meditation and letting the medicinal power still in you do its work. Now I have another soup going, this time I used the bone of a level 2 Mortal cow. While the broth won’t fill us by itself, the bone should last us a while. Such a low-ranked bone wouldn’t normally help anyone but for you it should be a gentle way to boost your stamina. Anyway, you better savor it. The bone is one of the few things your father brought with him when he was banished here.”
I slump, “If you insist I won‘t work tomorrow. Sigh, I guess one day won’t matter much in the long run.” Then peaking up at Grandma I quietly ask, “What was my father like?” I know this question will hurt her but I need to understand. It is a rare time she will even mention him.
Her face hardens for a moment then goes slack, “Yes it is about time I told you. Come in and eat while I tell you a story.” I nod and follow her in. Once we sit down she continues, “Numbers and letters have always come easily to me. They just make sense. While I didn’t learn them when young I quickly picked them up after marrying your grandfather. He worked as a messenger for the clan and being able to read and write was part of the job. Noticing my aptitude for it he got me a position managing the supplies at this outpost. When your father was born he took to them even better than I. By the time he was your age, even the Head Elder noticed this. After some training in more advanced words and such they elevated him to a clerk position. Not here, we didn’t need a real clerk but rather at the nearest city. He was a young boy still, so they saw potential in him. The clan is always short of scholarly types. Finally, at the cusp of adulthood they moved him to the main clan holding. Our clan isn’t a small one. The main base is many kingdoms away at the heart of the Empire we live in. It takes years to get there and your father spent most of his time traveling once they chose him.”
At this point we had finished the soup. She looks down and shakes her head, “I only know this from what he told me when he returned. The clan has a reward for finding good potential. With that reward the old head Elder advanced past the Houtian Realm. This in turn got him reassigned to a new post. Anyway, while there your father married a flower gardener from another clan. I never met your mother but from the descriptions she was just like her charges. A delicate flower kept safe in her garden. Beyond that I only know she died giving birth to you. But don’t worry she didn’t hate you for it. I have it from your father himself that her last request to him was to not hate you because of her death. After that you know what happened already but I will state it out. After testing your potential they found you had no Talent. Not a single one of your main meridians was open at birth. While I don’t know all the political maneuvering that went on they banished you and your father back here. A town on the Empire’s edge. To them you are a jinx and so all direct relatives got implicated and stripped of our names. In fact I have to assume the Empire itself got involved in this. To get here as quickly as you did means they used a teleportation formation. Even as rich as our clan is them spending that much to send a baby out here is absurd. Anyway, night is here. Off to bed with you and I better not find you digging tomorrow. Don’t worry about the dirt I can take care of today’s small amount by myself.”