Taoist Master

Three Choices

Storming away from the bubbling laughter behind him, Mo Yuans cheeks felt hot even though those he happened to pass, felt the ice cold chill of his energy snapping at their heels in his wake.

Infuriated beyond measure, he ignored the stares from those brave enough to have followed him.  Instead his mind churned over every word that had come out of her mouth.  Understanding certain concepts of the Tao was not really all that difficult, after all Lao Tsu had written the Tao with the uneducated in mind.  His words were phrased for ease of understanding, however, there were many other concepts that were deemed ambiguous and so interpretations could easily cause confusion.  

However, to his mind, Bai Qian not only had a good grasp on most concepts and hidden pearls of wisdom, but she was also capable of verbalizing her understanding.  This was important to Mo Yuan, because understanding and then interpreting it for others, was not easy, in fact it was exceptionally difficult to do. 

One needed to be able to express their interpretations in such a way that was not only accurate and insightful, but they needed the stage presence to carry the weight of believability which she did.  But there also needed to be a heavy dose of humility which he had not yet seen.  If anything she was outright cocky and arrogant.  And it was this that was confusing him immensely.

Arrogance disinterested him.  He refused to give into it, he ignored it or walked away, only with this woman there was something in the arrogance that had him wanting to turn back around and finish the argument.  He had no idea what it was about her that not only infuriated him, but he couldn't get her out of his head.

Yet both his anger and the inability to stop thinking of her, went against the Tao.  One was meant to show tolerance at all times no matter how difficult an obstacle was and one was meant to keep a clear head, free from distractions if one was to maintain the order of their minds.  Yet in such a short amount of time, not only had she all but upset his perfect and orderly world, but for the life him, he couldn't understand why.

"Insufferable!" he mumbled under his breath as he made his way back to the hall.  He had noticed Ci Hang sitting in the back and he wanted to know why.  Ci Hang was only two ranks below him, so he should have been at the front, only the moment he entered the dining hall where refreshments were waiting and the rest had gathered , then he suddenly found himself surrounded by angry men and one in particular.

"What seems to be the problem King Lao Fei Wan?" he asked clenching his fist tightly to stop himself from clutching at his head while taking a deep breath to stop the impatient sigh that almost escaped him seeing as this was just one more problem she seemed to have left him to deal with.

"You know her identity, yet you refuse to name her.  Why?" he asked stepping into Mo Yuans personal space and making it clear that he was angry and would not allow him to walk away this time.

"You know as well as I do, that there is no rule that says she must give her name and nor is my place to do so." he answered calmly even though they could all feel his energy rising again.

Ignoring the anger, Fei Wan shook his head as his own anger rose.

"I don't care for the rules.  It is a given regardless.  No Master of the Tao has ever refused before and being female should not make a difference.  I want her name and seeing as you are the only one among us who seems to know her, then I ask you High God Mo Yuan, why are you covering for her?  Is there something about her that we should be aware of?  Is she from the darklands?  Is that it?" he asked and setting off the grumbling behind him having spent the last hour deciding that the beautiful woman had to be an undesirable and that was why her identity was being covered up.