Chapter 6 - Resting? Why Not?

Qing Shen woke with a start. She had expected her body to be enveloped in pain, and the scent of smoke and blood to be sticking to her incessantly. Instead she smelt of faint flowers and honey. Her body was also not in the least bit of pain; except her eyes which were just slightly sore. The injuries that she knew littered her were oddly not present, and she felt that Zhang Yong had a hand in making some impossible talisman on the spot to help her.

She noted that she couldn't move for a moment, and began to try and flail around until she looked down. Li Ling was wrapped around her in a bone-crushing hug. Her friend's face looked haggard and deep, dark bags were prevalent on Li Ling's face. Qing Shen knew that she had probably forced her friend to make the decision to run away and get help, but, in the heat of the moment, Qing Shen knew no other solution to the matter. She had decided to make it up to the black haired girl later while she took stock of where she was.

She was currently sitting in the small room that was designated as the infirmary. The room hadn't changed since she had last been there, but she knew that it never saw much use till two weeks ago when she first injured herself. As she was feeling embarrassment remembering that specific occurance she realized that she was extremely hungry. Qing She felt as if she could eat that entire tiger from earlier.

In fact, she wondered if they would let her eat; just to see if it tasted any good, of course.

"You certainly like this room don't you?" Her head snapped to the side as she found head maid Li had been sitting placidly next to them for the entire time Qing Shen had been awake. The trapped girl decided that she really wanted to ask if Zhang Yong could get her something for detection quick.

"I told little Yong that we should just move your stuff into this room if you kept ending up in here." Head maid Li said offhandedly, and Qing Shen noticed that the normal bite in her words seemed much more subdued than usual. "Of course, he told me that you'd be hungry when you woke up, and pushed the matter for later."

Qing Shen found a plate full of steaming meats, soups, sauces and other foods she had never seen before next to the unusually nice head maid. She had expected insults or derogatory comments about her performance, but this was new. Definitely welcome, though. She tried to attack the food in her wrapped up state only to wriggle uselessly against Li Ling's strangely strong grip. Qing Shen halted her attempts with a complaining stomach as she realized that should she be any more violent she would end up hurting her friend.

"Here." Qing Shen found a spoonful of multiple food items in front of her.

Her eyes narrowed at the one offering it as if the food was suddenly going to become poison. She had been slowly trying to warm up to the absurd woman ever since her first day here, but that seemed like it was act of futility so far up until yesterday. As such, the sudden shift in the woman immediately set off Qing Shen.

"I figured you would like these. Also, I never would poison food if that's what you were thinking." head maid Li spoke, shifting the spoon in her hand as if to taunt Qing Shen. It worked when the healed girl's stomach got the better of her and she grabbed the food into her mouth.

The taste was heavenly to the former village girl. She had meat before, but it wasn't as soft like whatever she had been fed, almost melting even. She had had soup when she was first injured in her training, but now it was like comparing a thick oil to a particularly tasty cloud. Her mouth watered instantly as her eyes then practically pleaded her once sworn enemy of the villa to feed her again.

Head maid Li compiled without a word, taking little time to take a piece of meat and some soup onto the spoon and feeding the complacent Qing Shen easily. As Qing Shen's mouth was occupied constantly, the older Li took the time to speak, "There is little I could do that would make up for saving my daughter. My gratitude might hold little meaning to you, but I stayed up cooking all the Half-Corrupted beast meat that little Yong brought back with your unconscious body."

Qing Shen paused mid-bite as the realization that she was eating what was her most dangerous enemy that had almost killed her not too long ago. Then she grinned while continuing her conquest of devouring every last bit without remorse.

"Corrupted beast and even Half-Corrupted beast meat is extremely nutritious, so don't worry about if it's poisonous or not. In fact, it is extremely beneficial to any cultivator as it helps one gather more Spiritu-" Head maid Li paused her words as she watched the silent Qing Shen continue to eat with even greater voracity. "And, you don't care…"

Qing Shen slowly consumed the entire banquet of food with the help of her superior finally committing all of her energy to shoveling the delicacies into her. The groans and grumbles of her stomach slowly subsided as she began to feel like her stomach couldn't possibly handle any more. Now that one of her priority problems was done, Qing Shen then brought her attention to the placid head maid in front of her.

"I don't need your gratitude." She began, feeling a little bit of vindication in her actions. "I would've saved Li Ling regardless of whether you asked me or not. I never abandon my friends. I thank you for the food, but it was originally my kill in the first place."

"Indeed." The older woman agreed easily. "And thinking further, I will no longer thank you as I feel that my words will not hold the same weight as your actions. Instead, tell me if you have something you want; I will do whatever you desire."

Qing Shen was rather startled by the abrupt change in the head maid's attitude. Technically, as she thought on the situation, the head maid wasn't really changing in her way of looking down on Qing Shen, but it was more like she was being extremely tolerant. Her gaze fell to the girl that was wrapped around her torso like a leech, and she slowly began to feel like she had underestimated how much Li Ling's mother cared for her. The resolve in the older woman's eyes said that she would really do whatever Qing Shen asked.

Her tongue felt a little heavy as she felt out her next words, "Then… if you must have something to thank me by, I want to know why you've been so aggressive to me. I get that I might've had a couple misunderstandings in the beginning, but that doesn't excuse you from attacking me verbally everytime we see each other."

The older Li's coal black eyes stared at her for a second before she coldly spoke, "How much do you know about the Sacred Blossom Pavillion in the Song Monarchy's capital?"

"Uh... I don't know." Qing Shen stumbled, her mind trying to trace back that name. "I think I remember my parents getting asked to send me there when I was little, but I don't remember much really."

"Then there is not much I can tell you without saying too much. I can tell you that everyone working here was once… employed there, but my lips will not speak other's secrets. No matter how much I owe you, I'm sorry but I cannot comply with that request." Head maid Li said with finality, ending the matter entirely while giving Qing Shen an idea of where to start. Her mind was moving through different scenarios when she caught something that her superior said something under her breath, "... at least your parents had some sense…"

Qing Shen pursed her lips while remaining silent and pretending she had not heard that. Clearly the pavillion that they were referencing wasn't the nicest of places, but Qing Shen really didn't really know anything to comment. All she could do was grow stronger. That was currently her solution to everything so far, and strength held a kind of weight she needed.

"I see you're finally up." Zhang Yong had picked a good time to show up as Qing Shen had no idea what to say, and head maid Li was electing to stay silent.

"Miss Qing has finished eating the Half-Corrupted fire cat meat." The older woman reported as she stood to leave. She spared a glance back at Qing Shen, pausing her steps at the door before speaking, "I have other matters to get to now that little Yong is here, but that favor I owe you is still in effect. If you figure out what you need, ask away… In the meantime, just keep doing what you have been doing."

Qing Shen watched as the one who she had been at odds with since day one had left with those words of encouragement. Was it the same person? Her mind was too disarrayed to see that Zhang Yong was now sporting a smug grin as he took the seat next to her bedside.

"I see you both are finally seeing eye to eye?" He asked, a smile gracing his innocent face.

Qing Shen scoffed derisively. "Yeah right, if it was just me in the forest when that Corrupted beast attacked then she would've berated me again."

"True." Zhang Yong agreed. "But you should know that that fire cat was just a Half-Corrupted beast."

"Wait?" Qing Shen blinked as if believing her struggle against her most hated foe was inconsequential. "I know the head maid had something similar, but I wasn't really paying attention. How could that monster have only been a Half-Corrupted beast?"

"Well, truth be told, Corrupted and Half-Corrupted beasts are just mutated animals that normally can manipulate an element or have some other ability tied to nature. Half-Corrupted beasts are actually only around the Cycling Essence stage and extremely weak compared to normal Corrupted beasts, but they are followed by some aura that slowly kills weaker people around it so it evens out." Zhang Yong explained.

"That thing was actually considered weak..." Qing Shen lamented, slumping slightly in her friend's arms. Li Ling seemed to squeeze her unwilling pillow harder in response.

"That doesn't mean that your accomplishments aren't still amazing! In fact, I don't think I have heard of anyone below the Spiritual Warrior stage ever fighting a corrupted beast or half-corrupted beast without dying instantly or dying slowly from whatever poison that seems to follow them." Zhang Yong hurriedly corrected, his face then falling into a deep frown. "In fact, I believed you to be dead when Li Ling had burst through the villa's entrance hysterically yelling for me to go help. I've never had a chance to study whatever causes the slow death of anyone near a Corrupted or Half-Corrupted beast."

Qing Shen was startled by the revelations that were thrust onto her, and sat in silence for a bit. When she finally got her thoughts in order, she first asked, "What is a Spiritual Warrior?"

"Huh? Wait, you don't know?" Zhang Yong questioned back, his face pulling into one of astonishment when Qing Shen nodded. "Well, it's supposedly the stage when someone truly becomes a cultivator. Really, it's just the stage directly after the Forming Core stage; which is right after the Cycling Essence stage that you had just reached. Congratulations on that, by the way."

"Thank you… Um, I think my knowledge on cultivation is no longer as good as it was. The teacher I had back in my village was only at the Cycling Essence stage like me. I don't mean to be rude, but could you tea-"

"Yeah, no problem. I'm definitely taking over your training from now on; after your little tussle with that half-corrupted cat I decided that you're really not ready for the world of cultivation." Zhang Yong interrupted easily, sparing her a calming smile. "Li Ling also told me you picked out a rather different weapon too. A guandao?"

Qing Shen nodded, face morphing into a frown as she let the insults she had heard sink in. "Yeah, but mine was destroyed in the fight… Wait don't change the subject! What do you mean by 'tussle'? That fight nearly killed me several times, I would've died had I 'not been ready' for the cultivation world!"

"Now, what I meant by that wasn't to insult you. Your skills are obviously well trained, but there are some things you're not informed about. The stages after the Forming Core stage for instance."

"I guess you are right…" Qing Shen allowed. Her recent near death experiences were definitely adding unnecessary stress to the whole conversation.

"Now that that has been sorted; we've gotten slightly off topic. Can I ask what you did to survive the encounter?" Zhang Yong patiently asked, giving a mental sigh of relief that his unknowing insults didn't incur the wrath of his newest friend.

Qing Shen thought over her experiences, and began relaying her struggles against the beast. She began with her realizations about her Essence Vision to the final desperate fire pillar from the half-corrupted beast. Zhang Yong kept the same expression throughout the entire conversation, taking in the information about how corrupted beasts had some type of energy that somehow absorbed Spiritual Essence.

As she finished her tale, Zhang Yong had adopted his thinking pose, and began to beat his fingers against his lips, theories spilling from his mouth seconds later, "That does make sense really… everyone naturally has Spiritual Essence, and it had been proven that forcefully taking another's Spiritual Essence can result in them dying. It would explain why they are drawn to large sources of cultivators too. However, what is this new energy? I would need to capture a Half-Corrupted beast to test some things."

"Um, I don't mean to impose, but I would like to advise against that idea." Qing Shen piped in after hearing some rather disturbing things from a child next to her. He barely looked up before once again falling back to his mutterings. This time, Qing Shen decided that she didn't really want to know what crazy plan he had come up with.

She waited for him to reach a point where he had stopped before she spoke again, "By the way, when you say you will train me, what exactly does that mean? You can't cultivate, right?"

"No, but I was in the Song Kingdom's Dancing Cloud sect for a little while before being expelled, so I should be able to direct you to a somewhat better degree. Anyways, I'll have to take you with me to go and get another guandao made for you at the nearby city." Zhang Yong began. "Of course, I need to restock on talisman materials too."

"Don't we have enough talismans? There's still crates full of them in that armory."

Zhang Yong smiled sardonically at her as if he was about to depart some of his infinite wisdom. "We can never have enough talismans."

"Mmmm, explosions…" Li Ling mumbled from her sleeping deathgrip on Qing Shen.

"Right well, I guess it will be fine so long as I can rest." Qing Shen stated tiredly. She had endured enough crazy complications of waking up so far.

"Yeah, rest as much as you can, but come find me for training when Li Ling finally lets you go." Zhang Yong said, pointedly ignoring Qing Shen's looks of annoyance. "If it makes you feel better than we can train in the guandao you love so much."

Qing Shen's expression cleared up right away at the mention of her now favourite weapon. Even if she was miraculously healed, probably by one of Zhang Yong's talismans, she still hadn't gotten rid of the mental exhaustion of her previous experiences. However, she didn't have any time to rest, and Zhang Yong's next words told her that she really needed to train.

"This is just a guess, but I think that us using those Essence Gathering talismans may have attracted that Half-Corrupted beast and maybe more. It would fit why its tracks were found so close to the villa. Of course, Corrupted beast use Half-Corrupted beasts as subordinates, and they normally are around the strength of Spiritual Warriors, if not stronger. No need to worry about that now though. Just rest up well, Miss Qing."

Qing Shen slowly knew that resting would be the last thing on her mind.