Still Learning To Live As A Cultivator

Chapter One Hundred and Three - His Yin to His Yang

The matter that the Headmaster felt was troublesome and the Teachers had become somewhat flustered over, did not effect the students much at this time. The idle would gossip, so the Teachers would ensure that they were not idle whether it be with practice of their skills and arts, filled to the brim with words of lectures or earning their way into obtaining resources to improve themselves further.

And then there were those who weren't interested anyway, as they didn't feel that it would effect them.

Leon swept cobwebs and lingering, dried out leaves into a pile to one side of his courtyard before scooping the mess up and tossing it outside of the gate. Tomorrow, he wanted to place out many of the large and small pots he'd collected to fill with the edible and alchemical herbs he'd sprouted in the glass side room. Some of these were not common, but not overly fussy herbs, the seeds of which he'd been gifted from his elder brother Stygar in return for some more of the much more challenging seeds he'd obtained in the shattered isles. Some Celestial Tear seeds had also been given to him in exchange for a rare pill Leon had wanted for Caelus, who otherwise would have nothing but experience as a souvenir from their adventures in the Shattered Isles.  Both young men were eager to see the results of their initial attempts at growing the herbs.

Jin Li stepped out of the Coeurl's den, followed by the snapping sounds of bones. The two gluttons were feasting on a wild mountain fowl that was common in the Ascending Mountains. These birds were not an enlightened species and were considered unusual when it came to the care of their eggs; they laid them in warmer locations, such as near to hot springs and in sheltered basin areas, shoved them in mountainous cracks and then left them to hatch alone. The little grey chicks had no voice in which to call their absentee parents, could only fend for themselves and hope to survive. There wasn't much meat on their tiny structures and the wild mountain fowl's bones and beak were almost as hard as rocks, hence they were mostly ignored by predators that preyed on similar species' young ones. Until they grew to adult size, that was. Then, as they were fattest of all birds in winter as they ate many things, including things that might be considered poisonous with no ill effects, they became a favourite of most predators during this more difficult season.

The one they had captured had just laid its eggs, so hadn't lost the delicious layer of fat that had been protecting the unborn offspring in its belly yet, plus the bones were softest around this time to make for easier laying as those eggs had been developing most of the winter, another strange feature of the bird. As for the eggs, they were left in the crevice. Wild mountain fowl's eggs were disgusting, no creature with half a brain would touch them.

Adjusting his eyes to the warm light of the descending sun, Jin Li blinked and caught the happy smile on his lover's face and was instantly filled with thoughts as he stared like a man enraptured. "C-c-come in for d-dinner," Leon invited him, though his brain translated those words to mean something entirely different.

Unaware of the other's thoughts, Leon washed his hands in a bowl of water in his small kitchen and moved towards the stove. Arms wrapped around his waist and warmth spread across his back. He subconsciously leaned against the source, regretting it a moment later as his ear lobe was subjected to a teasing lick followed by a gentle bite. He felt fingers fiddling with the sash of his robes and knew what would soon follow if he allowed it.

There was some temptation, he would privately admit, to succumb to Jin Li's advances, but he also knew that he might not be able to stand up let alone eat tonight should he do so. That wouldn't mean Jin Li would go hungry, though, as the dinner left in the pot would 'mysteriously vanish' while he slept. The excuse that 'it wouldn't have been edible if left any longer' would spill from the suspected culprit's tongue as well as 'this Lord did not wake you, allowing you to rest and yet you still complain!' Jin Li had many selfish traits, especially when it came to food, but in some ways it also made him easier to handle.