Chapter 7: Cultivators - A Fragment of the Past.
An hour later, after the gathering near the well.
Back inside the shed, Shu Li was currently using a knife to cut wood, at close inspection he was fletching the wooden shaft for arrows, the room was silent with only the sound of shavings dropping to the worktop.
His expression was filled with doubt and worry, he had decided to come here to attempt to calm himself down.
All of a sudden the door burst open and-
"Father! Please tell me what a 'cultivator' is!"
-a loud voice filled with determination filled the small shed, making Shu Li turn around and stare at the figure who spoke a word he didn't expect to hear from him.
"Where did you hear about that word?" He asked, yet he already had an idea, the coincidence was too real to ignore.
"I heard you talk about it earlier!" Shu He didn't try to lie or hide it, rather he didn't really care about doing so right now.
In the five years he had lived this life he had come to assume this world was rather normal, there were plants and fauna that he had never heard about but 'that was to be expected' was what he thought, 'it was another world after all' those thoughts erased any doubt about this world.
Yet one word seemed to completely blow his vision away, the word 'Cultivator'!
He wasn't a stranger to it, he had read many novels that had detailed such things and even looked up how such legends and myths existed in his world, granted there was no proof nor historic examples that were without doubt, it was still an entertaining thing to read and fantasise about nonetheless.
And now, in this world he had just been presented the idea that it was real, how could he not be excited! He could picture himself, flying in the sky on a sword, making pills that caused miracles and controlling fire! Just these simple prospects filled his mind with endless wonder to no end.
He couldn't help but think though, how did he go 5 years without hearing about them before?
In the end, he decided to be direct and went and asked his father, ignoring any consequences of revealing his sneaking about.
"You… Ahhhh…" Shu Li clutched his head as he to think for a second, this child of his was truly a headache sometimes.
"What did you see?" He wanted to know exactly how much his child witness, so he didn't speak about anything un-needed.
"I only heard what came after Elder Cao asked you 'what did it'" Shi He replied, though honestly he couldn't remember much after the word cultivator was mentioned.
'At least he didn't see the body then' Shu Li sighed.
"Why do you want to know about them? About Cultivators?"
"Because I'm interested! II haven't heard about them until now, yet you mentioned them when it came to a murder, I want to know what they are!".
Shu Li looked at his son's eyes, they were filled with a flame he'd only seen once before, back when he was first given that book.
"If I'm honest, I don't know much myself" Shu Li awkwardly said like scratching his head.
"…Eh?" That wasn't an answer he expected to hear from his father, who seemed well versed in a lot of things. "But you sounded sure that It was a cultivator that did it, how do you know if you don't know what they are?" He continued questioning.
"The only thing I know about them really, is what they can do" Shu He could see his father's eyes glaze over for a second, before he looked back at him to continue speaking.
"I would call them monsters in a way".
"Monsters?" That was not the image he had of cultivators, weren't they graceful and proud?
"I'm not saying they look inhuman, it's just what they can do is beyond what a human can" He explained to his son.
"They're really strong, but why does that make them monsters?" Shu He still felt like he had to ask.
His Father's brows furrowed for a few seconds before he relaxed a bit.
"When you're facing another human, you have expectations on how they'll act, what their limits are or their means, you don't fear them because they're the same as you, but not for a cultivator, a single fist can kill you, you make a misstep and you can turn in to a ball of flames or find an enemy that was far away from you with their blade taking you head." He spoke as if chanting, a hint of darkness flickered in his pupils.
"D-did you fight them?" She He felt he could tell, that his father was speaking from experience, and Shu Li nodded in confirmation, he took a few breaths before continuing.
"I was in… a mercenary group of sorts before I met your mom, before we had you; We took out many enemies, we were fairly known and strong… but then we made a mistake." He bit his lip, showing regret for the actions they did.
"What was it?" Shu He was almost enthralled, this was the first time he'd heard about his father's life before he was born so he paid full attention.
"…We got into a conflict with people that were under the protection of some cultivators, at that time we didn't know much about them, only rumours" The candle light that lit up the small shed flickered from the small draft creeping in between the wooden planks.
"Then, it wasn't long before we learned of our mistake, a small group of about 5 of them turned up at our band of just over 200 at midnight, the yells immediately got our attention, but by the time we reacted barely a minute or two having passed, nearly 50 of us were dead already".
'50?!' Shu He couldn't imagine that number of people dying so fast, that was equivalent to a small disaster in his old life and only 5 did it.
"I remember watching them down the end of my arrows, the magic they used to incinerate people, the speed and power combined with accuracy they used when cutting down people, it left me shaking where I stood."
"How did you deal with them?" Obviously, since his father was alive he was either spared, escape or… dealt with them.
"They were arrogant and young, I would say barely an adult some of them; we were… experienced in dealing with people like that, the others managed to suppress them after tiring them out, but I… I couldn't do anything".
He stared at the candle's flame, the flickering light reflecting in his eyes like the flames that scorched his allies' bodies that day.
"I froze, I couldn't even use my bow, I just watched as it all unfolded, I realised we had accidentally crossed into a realm we didn't live in" He shook slightly, Shu He's heart clenched, his father, that reliable and strong figure, was reduced to this? Deep inside, he didn't want to believe it.
"I told you before, that my bow is the equivalent of my life"
"In that moment… I realised said life was worthless."
Those words scratched at the very core of Shu He's soul, that feeling of worthless despair was something he felt many times before as he lived his previous life.
"So after a while, I ran and never looked back, I don't know what happened but I'm guessing that wasn't the end of the attacks, I feared that retaliation so I left"
He finished speaking, taking deep breaths before calming once more.
"Sorry, Shu He; You're young and probably didn't need to hear this stuff… you wanted to know about cultivators, there's only one other thing I learned"
Shu He listened intently without commenting on his father's past, he couldn't find the heart to say anything.
"We managed to scavenge some information about cultivation from the belongings of the attackers, but it was only basic information, or rather somewhat of a saying"
"Saying?"
"Accept the heavens, ignite the flame; The path before you shall unfold".
'What does that even mean?' Severely confused, Shu He continued to run the line in his head to no avail.
"There was a subtext to it as well, it was "Those who cannot take the first step themselves, are not worthy""
"How pompous" Shu He couldn't help but remark.
"I thought so as well" Shu Li chuckled a little, he seemed to have calmed down now.
"You couldn't figure it out?" Shu He had to ask, out of curiosity.
To his disappointment, Shu Li shook his head.
"Not me, not anyone else could make heads or tails of it, we tried a bunch of random things but nothing".
The lines rotated around Shu He's mind, he felt for sure they were important; he could feel it.
'Is this the starting line, some sort of test?' He thought to himself.
"Well, that's all I know unfortunately, sorry." His father said with a slightly downtrodden tone.
Shu He shook his head and spoke calmly "It's fine, that's enough… But there's one thing I know for sure".
"What is it?"
"No matter what happened in the past, I'm happy that you're my Father" He said with a smile, this was his honest thoughts straight from the heart, it didn't matter what happened before he was born, to him Shu Li was the best father he could have asked for.
"You really are odd" Shu Li said while chuckling "But- Thanks Shu He" He said with a gentle tone, a brilliant smile grew on his face.
"Oh- I just remembered something, come outside" His father's tone changed in an instant, confusing Shu He.
"Okay?" He said, following him along.
"Kneel here"
Doing as his Father said, he kneeled while wondering what was going on.
'Did he remember something to do with cultivation?' He thought, until a minute later his Father came back with a stone slab in his hands.
"Uh… F-father, what is that for?" He immediately got nervous.
"I told you last night, remember? 3 hours. I was going to spare you but since you did that today… I won't spare you after all".
"Yes…" He accepted his fate.
And so began a painful three hours of punishment.
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