Blood Cultivation

eight

After Senior Lin had gotten some sleep, presumably, they were all eating dinner in an outside pavilion. Jingyi was actually surprised to see Sect Leader Jiang join them, as he'd assumed that he'd be too busy working on his own sect matters. But here he was, glowering into his food and not attempting to add anything to the conversation, which was about the time Senior Lin had first met Jingyi and Sizhui. Jin Ling wanted to know all the detail about his friends' nighthunting tactics while Senior Wei was alternatively quiet and loud about certain habits the two of them had picked up, like how they did the silent conversation thing too often when others were right there.

"I'm sure most close friends can have silent conversations, Senior Wei," Jingyi sighed. "You and Hanguang-Jun do it all the time and he and Zewu-Jun do it with each other. It's totally normal."

"Aren't Lans supposed to be quiet at dinner?" Sect Leader Jiang groused almost under his breath.

Sizhui looked a little embarrassed, but Senior Wei just laughed and Jingyi thought it he saw a flash of fondness cross Sect Leader Jiang's face before it disappeared into his customary sternness. "We're not in Cloud Recesses, so the kids can talk as much as they like, Jiang Cheng."

"We're not kids." Jin Ling was also somewhat blushing when he said it, though, so it lost a bit of its bite.

Senior Lin tapped Jin Ling's chopsticks with her own. "In rare moments when gifted the opportunity to regain your actual age, do not refuse."

Jin Ling didn't even sputter or turn purple like Jingyi thought he would. Instead, he himself became as unimpressed as Senior Lin. "You should remember how old you are, too. You're too young to be trying to save everybody's lives like it's your responsibility. Nobody said you had to go around cleaning up the resentful energy left by others. And I definitely never said you had try so hard to figure everything out concerning the current problem on our hands. We have friends here now, to help us and share the burden. If I catch you wearing more than one set of robes in a day, I'll stick you in a room with my uncle and let him break your legs."

It was a serious turn of conversation, but Jingyi still had to work hard repressing the urge to tease Jin Ling, give him a hug, pat his head or do all three. Sizhui seemed to notice his inappropriate glee and glared in that soft way of his out of the corner of his eye. Jingyi swallowed his urges with a mouthful of tea, regaining his composure. Senior Lin was also glaring at Jin Ling, also in a rather soft way, similar to the benevolent gaze but this time much more closed. He also wanted to reassure Senior Lin somehow, tell her that they were all going to help solve the problem for sure even if he had no idea how they were going to do that.

Sizhui beat him to it, of course. "Jin Ling is right." Jingyi noticed the change in address but Jin Ling didn't seem to mind. "We're all here now and you don't need to push yourself so hard. Between the five of us, we'll be able to find a solution and prevent any catastrophes from happening. Right, Senior Wei?"

"I'd like to know more about your cultivation techniques," Senior Wei said, effectively changing the course of the conversation yet again. This time, however, everyone seemed to be attentive, even grumpy Sect Leader Jiang.

"I call it blood cultivation." Senior Lin took a sip of tea and sighed, settling back against a pillar and looking out at the garden beyond. "I cannot pretend that it's entirely of my own invention. I do still use basic forms and techniques from both spiritual and demonic cultivation. The difference being that once the desired amount of resentful energy is under my control, I don't use it as a weapon, well, not as an offensive one, anyway. I use talismans to protect myself or trap things as need be, but I most cleanse resentful energy from places or people, using my blood as a tool and the earth and natural energy as filters.