Chapter 23: Growing Up

Jin really did want to change. The arrogance and stubborn pride he'd shown before disappeared and was replaced with quiet eagerness. Whether it was conversation, etiquette, or simply living in generous humility, he strove every day to improve himself.

Mei Hua and Ye began teaching him the Blue Flower Mountain Arts. Whereas Mei Hua was mediocre (at best), Jin excelled at it in every way. His body, which was already strong to begin with, reached new heights. Whether with sharp steel or with qi, his body could not be slashed or stabbed. His strength was so great that Ye stopped testing him, deciding that if Jin wanted he could probably lift the mountain itself.

It actually irritated Mei Hua how good he was at the mystic arts. She'd been training consistently for years, improving in only small increments, and never got beyond novice. Jin, within two years, had reached the mastery levels.

When she complained bitterly at the differences to Ye in private, he tactlessly pointed out that Jin had the spirit of the very mountain in him and he was also a man. And ended with this finishing blow:

"You can't fight nature, MeiMei."

"…I liked it better when you always sided with me." She replied before stomping away in a resentful huff.

Jin still read through the scrolls, though this time focusing on the ones that dealt with humans. While Jin had been obsessed with his deer as a spirit, he felt that his obsession paled in comparison to his sister's obsession with humans. How many scrolls did she write on the topic? Every time he got to the end of one, he thought there couldn't be any more, but there always was…

Ye had heard him muttering about the endlessness of them one day and chortlingly explained:

"You're not even a tenth of the way through you know. There's got to be over a thousand years worth of research in those scrolls on humans. So it just keeps going. I really want to know why this mountain produced spirits that can't do anything in moderation… Is being so single-minded something to be proud of?" He then tutted before giving a care-free laugh.

The days passed in a steady rhythm. Jin's third year with Mei Hua and Ye approached in, seemingly, a blink of an eye. No trace of the ignorant, childish man of years gone by could be found in Jin. He didn't even try to crawl into her bed anymore, to which Mei Hua was thoroughly grateful.

With Jin's arrival came an increase in animal meats. He turned out to be an excellent hunter. His inhuman strength and speed allowed him to catch whatever he wanted, no matter how clever the animal. But, as per tradition, he only killed animals that were old or injured.

Even with the additional food source, fish was still the primary meat source. Mei Hua generally dealt with catching fish since she had a pretty good system going. Rather than rod or net, which she did occasionally use, she caught most her fish using special basket traps. From time to time, she would go around repairing and replacing them, which is what she was doing that day.

This activity she enjoyed doing alone. Despite all Jin's improvements, he never quite stopped being clingy. So sometimes Mei Hua would forcibly leave him behind with Ye as his guardian, to give herself a chance to be by herself.

It was deep into the Lotus Month, and that year they'd had a streak of unusually hot weather. The heat paired with humidity was enough to make every living thing want to find shade and not move. Even the bugs were struggling. Mei Hua was no exception.

She had tried to do the bulk of her work in the morning, when the weather was cooler. Even so, sweat was pouring off her in buckets, soaking every inch of clothing. Dirt and bits of forest had stuck to her, making her feel even more filthy. Usually she'd go home and take a bath, but the thought of stepping into that steaming hot water made her feel ill.

After thinking about it a bit, she decided a dip in cool mountain water was in order. There were a lot of waterfalls with small ponds around the mountain she could use.

"Ye, when you have a minute I need your help." She spoke aloud and then waited. Sure enough, a short while later, Ye appeared with a bounce. It was amazing that no matter how far apart they were, Ye could always hear her call.

"What do you need MeiMei?" He asked, cheerful and completely unaffected by the heat. It was a struggle for her not to feel intensely jealous of him just then.

"I think I'm bathing outside today. Can you get my bathing supplies from home? I'd go myself but I'm filthy!"

"Sure, I'll be back!"

"Oh, and tell Jin not to come looking for me!" She called out after the retreating fairy's back.

Before she'd lived with humans, she would have simply found the nearest pool of water, took a dip, and counted that as "clean". Now, if she didn't have her soaps and shampoos, no amount of soaking in water would count as a real bath.

Despite her basket of bath supplies being several times larger than Ye, he easily carried them over his head. Watching him come back, she giggled. He was so small it looked like her soaps and shampoo were moving on their own.

With what she needed in hand, she found a pool nearby for taking a dip. Before even starting to clean herself, she stripped her clothes and washed them first. There was no point in getting clean herself if she had to get in filthy clothes afterward.

After that was done, she ran into the cool water and started swimming. Before washing, she had every intention of soaking in the cool water for as long as possible.

Ye watched her for a bit, a glint of mischief in his eyes. He didn't even say farewell to Mei Hua when he left, just quietly slipping away.

When the fairy returned to the Traveler's Cave, he hopped over to the Emperor and greeted casually, "Hey Jin!"

"Hn." Jin nodded in acknowledgment, currently absorbed in a scroll his sister had written. He was reading an interesting study on the changes within the Blue Flower Villagers, how they began to see fairies into adulthood and how their eyes, skin, and hair color changed.

Was MeiMei similar to them somehow? Even if it wasn't very well at first, she was able to see him in his spirit form. And even now that she was an adult, she had no problems seeing Ye. He'd not thought about it before, but why was that?

"It's really hot outside."

"Mm."

"You know what that means?"

"Hm?"

"Outdoor bathing!" Ye flopped his body over the scroll, making it impossible for Jin to continue.

Giving a sigh, Jin leaned back and stretched out the kinks in his back. "And you're mentioning this because…?"

"Come bathe with me!" The fairy suggested, rolling around on the paper.

Annoyed, he flicked the fairy off the scroll, "…since when do fairies bathe?"

"I bathe all the time with MeiMei!"

Jin's face cramped and he glared at the leaf fairy, muttering, "Show off."

"You should try bathing outside! You've never done it before, right? When it's hot out like this, the mountain water feels really good. I know the perfect spot for a dip!"