Choices

22 - Verity

When the water is purified the stones are revealed - Chinese proverb.

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"What do you think?"

Fengjiu breathed in the aroma of freshly-brewed tea, took a sip, and gave a nod of satisfaction. "It's very good. Your tea-making skills are really top-notch, Mo Shao."

The handsome immortal before her gave that mysterious smile -- one that Fengjiu still couldn't quite decipher the meaning of, given the innumerable variations of expression that this thousand-faced god could make -- and offered her another of his concoctions, this time in a bowl.

"I'm glad you like it. Here, have some porridge."

This time Fengjiu took a careful sniff of the offering. Mo Shao is a passable cook, but all of the food he makes had a peculiar taste to it -- something metallic and bitter, like blood. "Is this to make up for that grilled fish you burned the other day?"

Su Moye -- Fourth Prince of the Western Sea, the fellow fairy whom Fengjiu met quite by accident, and had now become her travel companion -- gave her a wounded look. It was charming and amusing at the same time, and Fengjiu felt she understood why this man was as famous for being a ladies' man as he was for being the most intelligent immortal in the Four Seas.

"That one was a beginner's mistake. But this, I have perfected. Go on, have a taste!"

With a shrug (it wasn't like he was feeding her poison, and Fengjiu is always hungry nowadays) she took a spoonful and had to agree. Weird metallic taste aside, the porridge was quite flavorful and savory. "Not bad."

A pleased look settled upon Moye's boyish countenance. "Good. Here, have some more."

It had been thirty* years since Fengjiu stowed away to the mortal realm after leaving Bihai Cangling, and twenty years or so since she met Moye, just as she arrived in her fifth mortal world. This seaside town was the tenth she's been into, and the fifth one they travelled to together, masquerading as teacher and student.

(Though, if one were to judge the way Mo Shao fussed over her most of the time, it felt like he was some sort of babysitter rather than her Master. But then, Fengjiu supposed that although he isn't much older in years, Moye could be considered her elder brother of sorts, what with he being a close friend of her Fourth Uncle.)

In other words, it's been quite some time, at least in Fengjiu's perspective. Yet, no matter how quickly time passed or how long the years have been where she was, it was still not quite long enough to settle her heart to the calm that she hoped it would have, at least before she returned to the fairy world.

Unfortunately, though, it seems that the time to return came sooner than she expected, if the charm that appeared before her eyes at the precise moment was any indication.

"Bad news?" Moye asked, seeing the look the crossed Fengjiu's face upon seeing the charm.