Chapter 45 – The Calm Before the Storm

  Snow was falling softly from the sky by the time Jun De returned to his courtyard.

  The mountain air had grown crisp, muffled by a gentle dusting of white that blanketed the ground and the trees that lined the paths of the Sect. His courtyard on the Upper Ridge was far enough away from the other Outer Sect Disciples that he could escape the storm of attention his success in the Tower had brought him.

  He stepped through the gates and breathed in the clean, icy air with contentment.

  “I’m finally back!” Jun De exclaimed happily as he looked around his home to see if anything had changed.

  Snowflakes drifted down onto his shoulders and his hair while the cold was sharp but refreshing. For the first time in what felt like ages, there was no pressure on Jun De. There were no trials to complete, no expectations.

  He boiled a fresh pot of tea and sat down on his chair after using his Qi to brush away the snow. Jun De wore the white robe he had worn when he arrived in this world over his blue Outer Sect Disciple uniform to keep the cold at bay and relaxed.

  He didn’t meditate or cultivate; instead, he rested.

  For the next seven days, he did little else besides take it easy. Jun De would sleep when he was tired, drink tea when he was thirsty and watch the snowfall. The calmness of his courtyard in winter allowed him to process what he had gone through.

  The memories of the trials were fresh in his mind, and it took a while for him to come to terms with what had happened to him.

  Eventually, though, the familiar feeling of boredom returned. It was a longing for company, for activity that he couldn’t drive away.

  So, on the eighth morning, Jun De left his courtyard in search of Mei Lian and Lin Yue. They were both cultivating diligently in their homes near the center of the Outer Sect, having just returned from their latest attempts to progress through the Tower.

  Seeing them both, Jun De felt a sense of ease wash over him, and he asked if they wanted to accompany him to Tranquil City.

  Their response was a delighted ‘yes’ before he could even finish the question.

  Tranquil City in winter was lively and bright, with red lanterns hanging from the eaves of rooves and the sunlight sparkling over the white snow. Street vendors called out cheerfully to passersby, selling roasted nuts, sweet lotus cakes, and savoury skewers of meat on open grills.

  Children ran past, wrapped in thick coats, and it seemed like the cold weather couldn’t dissuade people from going about their business.

  Jun De, Mei Lian and Lin Yue wandered through the city streets, eating whatever smelled good and looking at the stalls in the marketplace that supported cultivators. Although the selection of goods couldn’t compare to the Nine-Treasure Pagoda in the Sect, there were interesting items to be found.

  The highlight of their trip came when Jun De spotted a stall that sold jewelry, run by an elderly woman of the 1st level of Qi Condensation. There were a variety of items for sale, from bracelets and rings to jade hairpins carved in delicate motifs like lotus flowers, cranes and crescent moons.

  Jun De didn’t say anything at first, but he noticed how both girls paused just a little too long while looking at the hairpins.

  So Jun De purchased two as gifts.

  He handed one to Mei Lian and another to Lin Yue. Mei Lian’s was carved in the shape of a white lotus, soft and elegant. In contrast, Lin Yue’s was a silver moon surrounded by stars.

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  Both girls looked at him in surprise at the gift before they smiled brightly and wore the hairpins immediately.

  When the sun began to set, the trio returned to the Sect, and Jun De felt a sense of peace that was absent since he had been thrown into the Ninefold Refinement Array.

  Even now, months later, Jun De made sure to curse the Array every morning when he woke up and say another curse for the Tower before he went to sleep.

  As the months drifted by, the uproar caused by Jun De’s conquest of the Tower of Tempered Will began to settle as he disappeared from the eyes of the public by retreating into his courtyard. The awe, rumours and constant conversation surrounding Jun De faded into the background, replaced by the quiet hum of daily cultivation and life in the Outer Sect.

  When winter finally gave way to spring, buds formed on the bare trees, and thin shoots of green emerged from the ground of his courtyard. The snow seemed reluctant to fully melt from the corners of his courtyard, but it didn’t prevent Jun De from enjoying the sun and letting time pass.

  Then, one morning, he heard a gentle knock on the gate of his courtyard that interrupted his daydreaming.

  When he opened it, Jun De was surprised to see Mei Lian standing there. She had never visited him before, and she hadn’t even been to the Upper Ridge, but today, she stood at his doorstep with her hands clasped in front of her while a soft breeze played with the edges of her blue robes.

  Jun De immediately noticed that the jade hairpin he had bought her in Tranquil City was carefully tucked into the braid of her hair to keep it in place.

  “Mei Lian? Is something wrong?” Jun De asked with genuine surprise.

  She smiled slightly in response and shook her head.

  “No, nothing is wrong. I just wanted to see you before I left.” She replied.

  “You’re leaving?” Jun De responded in shock. He stepped back from the gate to allow her in, and the young woman stepped inside, walking with slow purpose as if her thoughts were somewhere else.

  Mei Lian nodded.

  “I’ve been stuck at the peak of the 3rd level of Qi Condensation for some time. The Elders explained that I’ve reached a bottleneck and that I shouldn’t rely on pills to break through. They recommended I take a Sect mission outside in order to see more of the world.” Her voice trailed off before continuing.

  “They told me that sometimes, experience is the best for cultivation.” She finished softly.

  “I suppose that makes sense.” Jun De said, nodding slowly.

  There was a quiet pause, and Mei Lian stepped closer to him.

  “I wanted to thank you for being kind to me. For the pills you gave me and the hairpin.” She said, touching the pin slightly.

  Jun De opened his mouth, unsure what to say.

  “You don’t need to-.”

  But Mei Lian moved before he could finish. Her hand touched his arm, and she rose slightly on her toes to lean in closer to him.

  The kiss she gave him was soft, her lips barely brushing against his, but it was enough to leave Jun De’s mind blank.

  When she stepped back, Mei Lian was blushing.

  “I just wanted you to know. Please take care of yourself, Senior Brother Jun. I’ll be back soon.” Mei Lian said quickly as she turned away.

  Before Jun De could react, she was already walking through the gate, and her figure disappeared down the path back to the Outer Sect.

  Jun De stood there for a long while, his lips still tingling, with one hand half-raised in a confused farewell.

  “What the hell just happened?” Jun De muttered to himself, dumbfounded. No one had ever shown up on his doorstep in his previous life, let alone to kiss him, and he didn’t know what to think about it.

  Jun De was almost embarrassed by his lack of response as he turned back to his chair and decided he needed another pot of tea and several hours to process anything remotely related to women.

  In the weeks after Mei Lian’s departure from the Sect, Jun De slipped back into his routine of cultivating for a few hours every day, resting when he was tired and generally enjoying his laziness for as long as he could.

  But that didn’t mean that everything in the Sect was fine. The Outer Sect’s mission board, which was dominated by monster-hunting tasks, escort requests and patrols, were beginning to have a few other missions that were drawing attention.

  There were disappearances on the outskirts of Tranquil City. While it was still being attributed to bandits and beasts, it was becoming a bigger issue as weeks passed, and no progress was made in finding the cause.

  None of the disappearances were serious enough to cause alarm in the Tranquil Mountain Sect. The Inner Sect hadn’t issued any formal tasks for their Disciples, and the Outer Elders barely mentioned it at all since a handful of mortals going missing wasn’t out of the ordinary.

  There seemed to be a new fervour amongst the Outer Sect Disciples with spring’s arrival. Everyone was throwing themselves into their cultivation or attempting to conquer the Tower. The task board was constantly being refreshed as people competed for the best-paying tasks in order to purchase cultivation resources or other materials.

  A number of disciples attempted to find the cause of the disappearances, but no one had any luck, and the task continued to stay on the board, unsolved.

  Things would have remained that way for a long time if two different events didn’t occur to change the outcome.

  The first event was the sudden disappearance of an Outer Sect Disciple who had been visiting Tranquil City.

  And the Second was Ren Qiu inviting Jun De to visit the Ren Clan.