Three more days passed as she tutored me. Along the way, as I stopped making egregious mistakes, she stopped hurting me, thereby improving the efficiency of my learning. As it turned out, fearing corporal punishment when trying to use my mind was not the best way to have me use it.

The moment she wised up, we became much more productive, until finally, she decided to have us check out of the inn. With backpacks filled with clothes and other essentials, we made to leave.

“So,” I said. “We’re heading west to this Kunlun place. How far is it?”

“Three thousand miles.”

I almost staggered at the proclamation. “Excuse me? So, what, we’ll get there in like a year?”

“If we walk like snails,” she said. “No. We will be there in two months. During our journey, we continue to train. Now that you are literate, you won’t be completely helpless if something happens, and I am forced to leave you be for a short time.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “Would you leave me?”

“Not forever,” she said. “You still owe me five years, after all. No, just in case some duty or other calls, we might not always be together. As such,” she pulled out a slip of a shiny green material adorned with flowers and threw it to me gently. “Keep my jade slip. It is infused with my essence, and will inform you if I still live. It will also point towards me at all times.”

I inspected the jade slip. “How?”

“Spin it on top of your finger,” she said. I did, putting the center of gravity on the tip of my index finger, and spun it. Somehow, it continued to spin, faster and faster even as I didn’t provide it more speed.

Then, it began to glow with an ethereal green before lifting off my finger slowly. Abruptly it stopped, the narrower end pointed directly at the Old Woman, mid center.

I plucked the jade slip from the air gingerly, still amazed at the display. The Old Woman came over to me and shut my jaw gently. “Close your mouth, dearie. You wouldn’t want to swallow a fly, would you?”

With that, she continued walking. We were on a beaten path, the road signs pointing us to a place called Jixing City.

When night broke, we walked off the beaten path and set up our bedrolls before sparring. As always, she gave me the old one-poke on the nape, and had me further perfect my movement style.

When I was too tired to continue, she caught something for me, and I ate what I could before going to sleep on the insect-ridden grass.

Travelling was bothersome, but nine out of ten times, it beat prison.

000

On our fourth day of travel, we stopped by a creek banked with rocks.

She dropped her bag and motioned for me to do the same. “Today, we shall try something a little different.”

“Please be the State of Wu,” I muttered.

“How about something better?” She asked. Appearing before me instantaneously and tapped me harshly on both my temples. I staggered, trying to clear away the increasing amount of stars in my vision, but none of them went away, not until my entire vision had been obstructed by white, gradually dimming until pitch black.

“W-what- what’s happening?! Why can’t I see?” I stumbled back and forth before tripping over a rock, falling on the shallow creek. “Why can’t I see?!”

“Use your ears, faux-disciple,” she said. “Today, we learn to react using our most important sense; our hearing. Stand up, faux-disciple. Your eyesight has not disappeared completely. Your eyes remain healthy. I merely paralyzed your optical nerve.” What did that even mean? I got up shakily, blinking wildly as I waved my hands around.

“Okay, so-” Before I could finish, what had to be a rock flew into my shoulder, bouncing off, but not without leaving a bruise. “Okay, so what? I avoid the rocks?” I asked.

“That’s the plan,” she confirmed. “Though I’ll make sure to have them bother you a little more.” I heard the swipe of her robes all too late as the pebble struck me in my forearm, causing it to radiate with agony. “Shit,” I bit out. “Okay,” I said, looking around, trying to lock onto her with my hearing. “Let’s do this.”

It was a difficult going, trying to hear her as she prepared to throw a pebble, and then trying to dodge it. As it turned out, I was not nearly fast enough to dodge the pebbles the moment I heard them zipping in the air. The trick was to hear the shifting of her robes as she prepared to throw, and half a moment sooner, dodge the trajectory.

Initially, I had pegged the exercise as a waste of time, but there would definitely be situations where a battle would occur in the dark, like at night.

At the very least, I didn’t have to constantly agonize over every single movement. I had finally impressed the Old Woman sufficiently with the control I had over my motion. Now, all that was left was to weave my punches and kicks into a coherent tapestry which I could use in a battle that actually mattered, not just me picking on drunk old men for sport.

When practice was over, my vision gradually cleared up. Today’s menu was fish. While we ate, the sun slowly setting, I began with some questions. “How many… people have you killed?”

“Lost count,” she responded casually. “Not really a thing that I think about all too much. I try not to kill lightly, but in this world, there are too many people that do not deserve to live.”

True, that.

I was one of them.

The slap to the back of my head came completely out of the blue. “Wh-hey!” I rubbed the sore spot, looking at her indignantly. “What did I do, now?”

“You just thought lowly of yourself,” she said. “Now, I thought that taking you to the beautician would boost your sense of self-worth, but clearly there is something we need discussed.”

I finished eating the fish and threw the stick on the river before turning to her. “What is there to talk about? I’m not a good person, and I don’t think that will ever change.”

“Why do you think that?” She asked.

Now, she was beginning to annoy me. “Why do you think I was in prison?”

“Ostensibly, for a crime,” she said. “And what, pray tell, was that crime of yours.”

“I killed three men,” I said. “But it’s not just that!” I added hastily, remembering her own body-count. “I stood by while my father was being killed, and…” I could barely find my words, slogging through my confession like I was jogging through mud. “I let him die, but when I saw that it was what he wanted in the end, I killed three of his killers. I… hated that man. With every fiber of my being, I hated that man.”

My eyes started itching, like someone was poking hot needles in them. Did her little blindness trick not stop working? Things were getting gradually blurrier and blurrier until…

A tear trickled down both cheeks, and suddenly, the world had cleared. I was crying. Great. I suppose I wasn’t completely inhuman after all.

She only smiled, as if I was telling her something I was proud of. “A real parent does not inspire such hatred in their child. If you had a good reason to hate him, then chances are that he was the one who wronged you.”

“W-what?” I asked, tripping over my words. I simply couldn’t believe it. She was being supportive? “That’s not a good thing! And I’m supposed to be a filial child, but…” my breath hitched as I spoke. “I don’t-”

“Don’t,” she commanded. “Don’t say that. The burden of attaining a child’s love and devotion lies with the parent. If the parent has not provided sufficiently, a child can never be filial. You were wronged, Kang Yilan. Kang Yilan you were wronged.”

“Wronged?”

She just nodded, reassuring me infinitely. I was… wronged. I was wronged by my father, by my village, by everyone in my life.

The only one who had done right by me was… her.

Overcome with an intense sense of gratitude and a need to do something, I could do nothing but spring over, taking my ‘mentor’ in a hug, warming a deep coldness in my heart.

Eventually, she hugged back, wrapping her arms around me gently. I was lost in the feeling of the embrace, soaking in her warmth, for the first time feeling accepted somewhere.

This was it. If there was somewhere I could belong, someone I could be affiliated to, it was my mentor.

I gradually released myself from the embrace, stood in front of her, and proceeded to kowtow three times. On my knees, I looked up at the pole-axed Old Woman. “Please accept me as a true disciple… mentor.”

My heart pounded in my chest at the thought of being rejected. I didn’t know what I would do if that happened. I staked all the trust I had left in my heart in this one gambit, and if it did not pay off…

She smiled disarmingly. “Very well, disciple. I am thankful that you have finally accepted me,” she smiled slyly. “Because now I do have a responsibility to guide you in life. Now, sit still while I comb your hair.”

She went to the creek to wash her hands, and I followed. Once done, she pulled out a comb from her backpack and approached me. “Wait, you’re… actually going to comb my hair?”

“You obviously won’t, and I am not going to let you waste your good looks like that. You should be more proud of yourself.”

I groaned. “It’s not like I’m going to get married anytime soon.”

As she combed my hair, she spoke. “Oh?”

I shrugged. “I just don’t see the need to, and besides, who would even tolerate-“

She smacked my head. Hard. “What the f-” another slap. “Why?!”

“Don’t curse. I cannot tolerate that anymore. Also, no self-recrimination. You have done nothing to deserve it.”

“Alright, then,” I said testily. “Then, I don’t want a husband because the idea is f-,” I bit my lip. “It’s stupid. I’d much rather live life, and sample all it has to offer before I lock myself down.”

“It gets lonely,” she said. “Take it from me. A companion in life is nothing to truly shy away from. As you are, I would give you ten more years to explore all that life has to offer before I implore you to marry someone. The Wulin have no shortage of married couples that ride to adventure. Unless the idea of a lifelong companion doesn’t fundamentally appeal to you?”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “What does that mean?”

“You aren’t attracted to males. Or females, for that matter.”

“How would that work?” I asked.

“People make it work,” she said idly. “They make friends, instead, and are content that way. Is that your path?”

I shrugged, my cheeks burning. “No, I mean… I see the appeal of guys and…” I trailed off, no longer interested in this conversation.

“Then, I recommend you find someone that sees you,” she said. “Make sure to run them by me, first, to give them my stamp of approval.”

I groaned. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Alright,” she accepted easily. “Then I need you to know this, deep in your heart; you are desirable, and even if someone doesn’t desire you, it doesn’t matter at all, because you still have value.”

“Okay,” I shrugged.

“Say it,” she said, her tone steely.

“I am… desirable, and… even if someone doesn’t desire me, I’m still valuable.” It felt… oddly freeing to say that.

“Good,” she pulled the comb free. While the carmine and the white clay had washed off, my hair would always be that lustrous.

Silently, I vowed to take better care of it.

I… deserved as much, anyway.

“Hey,” I turned towards my mentor, my expression inquisitive. “You never really told me what your name was, and I’m getting tired of referring to you as Old Woman in my head.”

She smiled, less grandmotherly, now. Only motherly. “My name is…”