Heaven's Golden Finger

Two for the Price of One

Not that he minded Shun Shixiong's insistence that he take that step. As far as he knew, he was stuck in this body and this life for good. It behooved him to learn what old Shirong had failed to. Behooved him, as well, to do a better job of being a proper Shidi to Shu Shun than old Shirong had been.

Watching his Shixiong sleep, Shirong felt his protective urge increase. It couldn't have felt good, seeing his Shidi create two powerful and dangerous weapons so easily. That same twisted fortune that made Shu Shun's life more difficult, making Shirong's life simpler. He couldn't protect Shun Shixiong from that, but he was determined to protect him from the effects.

At last, Shirong fell asleep, to find himself sitting with a dozen or so children. A memory from old Shirong's childhood? It seemed so. He and the others were learning the first steps towards cultivation. Nothing complicated, just the fine art of sitting still and learning mindfulness. Shirong himself had learned something similar in kindergarten. It hadn't been called meditation or cultivation at the time, of course, but it had a similar purpose. Keep the noisy rotten brat from running around making a nuisance of himself.

Admittedly, the Sect Elder who raised old Shirong didn't regard his ward as a noisy rotten brat, but Shirong was hard put to think of the child otherwise. As far as he could tell, his predecessor had been handed whatever he wanted without having to work for it and was so accustomed to being spoiled that the mere hint of the word 'no' was unbearable.

Three year old Shirong hadn't been so smart as to understand what was going on around him. That meant dreaming Shirong couldn't make out the words of the adults. It wasn't quite the same as the adults on that one cartoon, but it certainly wasn't comprehensible. He did sense tension in the air, especially when a tall man he recognized as his Shizun brought a very young Shu Shun in to practice with them.

The Sect Elder didn't sound pleased. Something Shizun said soothed him a little, but it was obvious to old Shirong and everyone else that Shu Shun wasn't wanted. Not even the youngster's quiet obedience to the session leader helped. The Sect Elder apparently wanted Shizun to take the boy away but couldn't force the issue.

In the meantime, with admirable speed and no hesitation at all, Shu Shun settled into stance and calmly dropped into the proper state of mind. A faint sapphire and ruby-tinted glow surrounded him, sign he was well on his way to establishing his foundation.

Shirong could tell his predecessor felt challenged. He sat his plump little butt down right in front of the smaller and more fragile looking Shu Shun and began trying to draw on his own inner strength, imitating his future Shixiong's posture and hand seals.

The trouble with having talent but no sense, of course, was that one's confidence wasn't always matched with the results. The hand seals Shu Shun was using weren't complicated but old Shirong had yet to learn their proper use. Had yet to learn how to channel the power correctly. One slight mistake sent him flying backwards.

In the chaos that followed, Shu Shun was automatically blamed for having encouraged old Shirong to try something too hard. It was apparently the first time old Shirong would create havoc, trying to imitate his Shixiong. It wouldn't be the last.

And the sad part was, as far as Shirong could tell, his predecessor's younger self hadn't been doing it deliberately, any more than Shirong himself did. It was admiration, a yearning to be approved of, that'd led to those first disasters. And the Sect Elder's continued conviction that Shu Shun encouraged Shirong's mistakes that led to old Shirong concluding they were, indeed, his Shixiong's fault.