He never had a plan, he just went with the flow

Chapter Fourteen

A-Yuan was lying on the floor of his room, wrapped up in a heated blanket that A-Niang had given him when he returned. The winter storm had hit Cloud Recesses a few days ago, and he was freezing despite having a core now! So, A-Niang, who also hates the cold, made two of these heated blankets, one for him and an extra one for when he visits.

He was on the ground instead of his bed because he was reading one of the books Shishu gave him.

This was all about plants and minerals that absorb chi easily. It mentioned some of their most common uses; for example, Green Jade was used to catch any extra Yang energy that made its way down the mountain. Those jade monuments are still around, but due to them not being kept up with, the area became so flooded with Yang energy that they became useless, and the Clan was too lazy to find a way to cleanse it. This is also why their clan has to import all of its food; the land here has too much Yang energy to make it sustainable for life.

It was fascinating, how some things absorb different types of energy. It made him curious about something else, such as whether some plants and minerals naturally attract resentment. He's learned that just using music on Baxia is helpful but not a viable solution, as it's putting a bandage on an open wound. But, since this is their clan's way of cultivating, they probably can't change without dire consequences.

So, once he learns how to make balms or wax, he could find a way to make them using ingredients that attract resentful energy. Then, he could use songs to remove it from the body.

He may need to widen the meridians. That's technically how Xiao-qianbei and Song-qianbei are helping A-Die. The impurities and resentment do look similar and work in similar ways. Maybe they are similar things, just that Impurities are physical and resentment is spiritual.

He frowned at the paper; all this was making his head hurt.

Maybe he should treat resentment the same way impurities are treated. This means it can be purified and turned into spiritual energy or guided out by expanding the meridians. But then, if they started cultivating again, the resentment would grow!

He groaned before standing up and sulking to A-Die's room. "A-Die," He called softly as he knocked on the door. The music stops, and the door is gently pushed open, "My head hurts." He whined, extending his hands out.

He heard the tiny puff of air his A-Die released, which was the equivalent of a full-bellied laugh for him. He was carried inside the room to where A-Die had been playing his guqin. A-Yuan loves Wangji because it's so unique. Not in its simplistic design but in its vast depth of spiritual energy that seems to grow everything A-Die plucks its strings.

Sometimes, when A-Die's deep asleep, he sneaked inside his room to play with Wangji. He wonders if it's possible for instruments to cultivate like it's possible for animals, too. All living things can cultivate, but are they considered living?

No! He came in here to stop thinking!

He leaned against A-Die's chest for only a few days, and he's leagues better than he was a month ago. Maybe he should do something nice for Xiao Xingchen and Song Zichen. But, it should be done after the storm because having fun in this weather is impossible. He closed his eyes and allowed the music and cold to guide him to sleep.

(333)

"Are you telling me you made this using the wool of the spiritual beasts?!" Wei Ying looked at the woman before him as if she had lost her mind, a first of him as he usually receives that look. Yan Liang just continued smiling. "I needed to do something with my hands, and I noticed one of those weird sheep nearby."