Still Learning To Live As A Cultivator

Chapter Eighty Four - Jin Li's Grandfather comes to visit

Time moved differently for cultivators of later stages.  What felt like a minute might actually have been an hour.  What felt like an hour might actually have been a day.  What felt like a day might have actually been a month or so.

Jian Juren, therefore, didn't rush back to the higher realm to discreetly inform his daughter and son-in-law that their youngest child was alive and well, just currently in a lesser realm.  Telling them in a month or so would not be much different to them than telling them tomorrow.  Indeed, Jin Li's mother would know that her son was not the sort to run off with a woman, especially not a nominal aunt.  And Jian Juren knew that her anger was due to the rumour marring her son's reputation, not so much to do with his disappearance.  Life and death in the higher realm (as was often considered in this realm) was much like cultivation, down to luck and ability.

Jin Li's father also knew his son well and believed he would not be so easy to kill.

So telling them of his whereabouts could wait.  He also wanted to investigate deeper the circumstances in which Jin Li came to this realm more deeply if he could and settle his suspicions.  Whether Jin Li was actually targeted.

A temporal distortion, even one that a man was sucked into whole, was not something that was survived easily.  That Jin Li lived to pass through it and appear in Xulaphrey with just some internal and external damage as well as a little cultivation loss was already excellent.  That he had met Leon, who had provided him with something he needed, could be considered a miracle.  Jin Li simply had the tenacity and fate to be able to continue living.  But it didn't mean that the individual or individuals who had schemed against him wouldn't try again, if they discovered that he lived, and succeed in the future.

So Jian Juren was really in no rush.

Besides, he really wanted to meet with the little boy who'd made his grandson push to one side his familial duty, his martial arts and cultivation to provide enough space for a fourth body of importance. 

Their paths had crossed once during Jin Li's confession and then once before.  Jian Juren's first impression of Leon was a small, striped rabbit.  Jian Juren was a fox; he liked to toy with cute little rabbits.  Alas, his 'grand-kit' got there first!  And he'd always believed Jin Li took after his father!  His grin widened as he mused himself with his thoughts... before realising that he was lost!

He pouted, sticking out his lower lip as he glanced around the woodlands trying to figure out how he'd managed to fail to find the small villa said to be just outside the boundaries of the outer alchemist school.  Retracing his steps, which were quite clear to see in the light frost settled upon the sloping ground, he realised that he'd unknowingly stopped moving forward in a straight line and veered off north, towards the edge of this mountain!  It had occurred once he needed to bypass this large tree...

He glanced back at the unassuming deciduous tree and a flash of movement caught his eye from the lower branches.  It was a small, wooden wind chime, which swayed in thanks to a light breeze, though it was not strong enough to cause its clapper to rattle against the hollow tubes surrounding it.  The clapper was a stylistic koi and on one fin was a symbol that he recognised.  But it was not a symbol of this realm.  His lips curved and he took a path around the tree, but this time to the south of it.

Two more foreign symbols he noticed carved into two Coeurl carvings that 'lounged' in the branches of two young, slim trees.  They almost seemed to stare at him as he stepped in between them and continued on his path straight.

Finally he came to the wall of a small courtyard style property.  There was a metal chimney sticking out of the side and stretching upward above the tiled roof.  Smoke was drifting out of the side openings near the top of it.  There was the scent of something savoury in the air.  Jian Juren felt his stomach grumble, a phenomenon that usually only happened once a century or so.  He followed the wall to the courtyard's outer gate before pushing it open.

There was a low rumble of a yawn coming from the one building to his right that was separate from the main property and his head turned to glance that way. The heavy door of the building opened and the musky scent of predators poured out of the space, not followed by the tall, Phoenix-eyed youth that had some similarity to himself.

If Jin Li was startled by his grandfather's presence, he didn't let it show upon his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Didn't you intend to introduce me to your little lover?" Jian Juren's smile spread across his face and his eyes curved wickedly.

In front of his father or mother, Jin Li would have answered this extremely politely, in front of his older brothers, he would have been short, but for some reason in front of his maternal ancestor, he revealed more of the real Jin Li. "You've met him already," he sneered. "This doesn't explain your presence here and now."

"I want to be served tea!" Jian Juren sulked. "All the other grandfathers receive a tea ceremony from their descendants, why can't I?"

"....Isn't that sort of thing for the parents and in-laws following marriage?" Jin Li distinctly recalled Uncle's first and second wives performing filial piety tea ceremonies for his paternal grandfather... before the old patriarch lost his mind after failing the lightning tribulation.

"Don't argue, what does a child know," Jian Juren crossed his arms and continued to act childishly.

"Tch," Jin Li did not hide his contempt, just closed the stable door behind himself and strode to the door of the rear, main building. Jian Juren followed with a bright grin.

"Are the C-Coeurl settled in n-now?" The soft, stammered words reached Jian Juren's ears as he crossed the threshold after his grandson.

"En," Jin Li replied in a tone that was two tenths softer than that which he used when speaking to his grandfather. Just this small distinction alone naturally did not go unnoticed by the older man.

He watched as his grandson stepped lightly towards the low table in the centre of the room, which was decorated with a plain, but functional tea set, the pot of which already had steam curling out from the spout. Leon's eyes had not left Jin Li's form as it moved with grace and without extraneous, unnecessary movement, the little rabbits eyes calm and clear, while revealing their heart. Jian Juren hadn't felt like the third wheel before, not even at when his daughter tossed him aside for that villain. He wasn't sure whether he should feel uncomfortable or amused.

He coughed lightly, capturing Leon's attention. The small rabbit looked at him with his large black eyes encircled by the frames of his spectacles and looked horrified. Jian Juren chuckled inwardly. "T-t-Teacher!" Leon stuttered out, before looking flustered as he recalled the older man's other identity.

"Just ignore him," Jin Li suggested, "he came here without invite."

"Jin Li," Leon chided him, before bowing apologetically to Jian Juren. "P-please, T-Teacher, m-make yourself at home. The t-tea is freshly b-brewed. Ah, I'll get another c-c-cup!" He frantically wiped his hands on a towel before reaching for a clean cup on the shelf. The little rabbit almost dropped it in his haste before clutching it to his chest with a sigh of relief that it was safe.

Jian Juren really struggled to hold back his laughter. He really did like cute rabbits after all...